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. We’ve gone to great lengths to avoid calling _seek, but it’s actually a really good technique, because _seek is called with _cookie as the first argument:
ret = (*fp->_seek)(fp->_cookie, offset, whence);
So now we know where system is, we can invoke it with an arbitrary string as follows:
file._cookie = address_to_host("open -a Calculator"); file._seek = system_ptr; file._flags = 0; slot0_write_fileptr(slot0, address_to_host(&file)); slot0_read_multiple_block(slot0, &ignored, 0x1234, sizeof ignored); slot0_write_fileptr(slot0, saved_fileptr);
When Dolphin attempts the read, it will call system and the shell command will run.
After all this the runtime is stable, so it could easily be patched into a pirated game. (Don’t pirate software, even emulated software. With Dolphin, and most other emulators, you’d be taking exactly the same risk as pirating native games, which is just a terrible idea.)
Final Notes
This exploit works on Dolphin 3.5-2313 through to Dolphin 5.0-1296 on OS X (I didn’t test them all, but a pretty representative sample). It hopefully illustrates how carefully choosing corruption targets and techniques can lead to very reliable and portable exploits.
There are a lot of things I didn’t cover, but I hope it gave some insight into Dolphin, and macOS’s C library implementation.
The full code for the macOS exploit is on gist.github.com – if you have any questions, let me know. The hard part is arguably setting up the build environment and generating a Wii disc, but there are plenty of other resources that can help with that.
The patches for the other bugs I disclosed are in PR #4447. Thanks to JosJuice for fixing the bugs quickly.
In Part 2, I’ll explain how to exploit this on Windows, turn the FILE* overwrite into an arbitrary write as well, and look at another information-leak bug.
AdvertisementsGoogle has released the preview images for Android M (links at the bottom) and some of the new visual changes include the ability to choose either of the black and white themes and a new app drawer.
The developer options seem to give users the option to pick dark or light themes (a default feature in most custom ROMs) or set them up to change automatically. The dark theme however is currently only applicable on the settings screen and not other displays like the notification bar or app drawer.
The app drawer has also undergone major changes, with alphabetical sorting being at the top of the list. Apps which you use frequently are also stacked at the top for easy access, and both the alphabetical listing and popular app sorting should make it much easier to find the apps you want in an otherwise cluttered app drawer.
Apart from these visual changes, Android M will also have an automatic app backup feature according to Google. Your Android M devices will basically make backups of your apps on Google Drive every day and you can easily restore them when you need to, especially if you switch to a new Android device. You can read more about the Auto Backup feature on the Android developers site.
There are a lot of other new features expected with Android M later this year, including Android Pay, better permission controls and improved battery backup timing.
If you have a Nexus device, you can also download and install Android M preview images from the links below. However, please note that these preview images may not be completely stable and are merely for testing purposes.
We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on the new features and changes that will make their way into Android M. If you download a preview image and install it, do let us know about your experience as well.Pokemon: a name that has been around since the mid-90’s. This series of movies, TV shows, and card and video games allows kids to join alongside the adventures of Ash Ketchum and his quest to become a Pokemaster. The series originated with the release of two video games that were created by GameFreak and since then, the name has blown up all over the world. Sparking various expansions to the original story, and allowing for multiple children to continue to follow along.
Originally released in 1998, Pokemon: The First Movie consisted of three segments; Pikachu’s Vacation, Origin of Mewtwo and Mewtwo Strikes Back, the original 75-minute feature. The featurette was later added as a special feature in the US release of the TV special.
Although Pokemon itself was extremely popular in the US, the English version of this film received quite a bit of negative feedback. However, it was ultimately a box office success as it topped the box office charts its opening weekend and eventually grossed $163.6 million worldwide.
Pokemon: The Movie 2000 was released to the US in 2000, despite originally releasing in Japan in 1999, and offers us a further continuation of the adventures of Ash Ketchum. Introducing several new characters including Lawrence and Tracy, we follow the trainers through their journey on the Orange Islands. The English version of the film was distributed by Warner Bros. in association with Nintendo, and ultimately earned less at the box office than its predecessor despite having an increased promotion detail and overall better critic responses.
Lastly, the third cinematic installment of the franchise is Pokemon 3: The Movie, which was introduced to the United States in 2001, and included the short film titled Pikachu and Pichu; the debut of the mischievous Pichu brothers. The third movie was also the first Pokemon film to premiere in an IMAX theater. The story brings us to the small town of Greentown and centralizes on the mysterious Unown Pokemon. As the adventurers try to gain an understanding of what it is they found, they are tasked with solving the various mysteries that seem to be happening since its arrival.
The Movies (4/5):
Pokemon: The First Movie
After watching the first movie since its release onto Blu-ray, I couldn’t help but find myself overcome with a sense of nostalgia. Considering I had grown up during the era of the original 151 creatures, I was extremely excited with the opportunity to bring this film home. Although I didn’t remember too much of the storyline, I was glad that I sat down to watch through this. Watching the story line unfold in front of me, I felt just like I did during my childhood. The story-line was very well maintained for those of us who have a little to no knowledge of Mewtwo’s origins. They did a fantastic job at introducing him. If you grew up with the original Red and Blue Gameboy cartridges and/or watched the television series as a child; I highly recommend re-visiting the first movie!
Pokemon: The Movie 2000
Originally, I was a bit hesitant to explore make my way into this film as I had only grown up with the original 151 Pokemon and had felt as if things had reached a point of confusion as they expanded the universe. However, I am quite glad that I had taken this opportunity because I can certainly see why this film received the responses that it did. Not only does it add more possibilities for expansion, but does its best at trying to build a bridge between the first film and this one. My only personal complaint with Pokemon: The Movie 2000 is the lack of character introduction for the new adventurers. I’m sure if I would have followed the television show past the original 151, I would have a better understanding of these peoples origin and how they got into the Pokemon Universe; however they should have covered it some more in this story.
Pokemon 3: The Movie:
Just like the second film of this trilogy, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. Obviously my curiosity piqued as I had picked this release up, however only having an understanding of the original 151, and trying to stay true my childhood; I just felt unsure. While I didn’t like Pokemon 3: The Movie as much as I did the previous film, it was really nice to see the continuation of the story and the expansion of the universe this saga has offered us. If you’re like me and had only grown up with the original set of monsters and are curious to learn where things have gone since you’ve grown up; this film certainly is worth checking out.
Picture Quality (5/5):
Pokemon: The First Movie:
Presented in the beautiful 1080p resolution, this release of Pokemon was absolutely beautiful. The colors really stood out, the lines felt as if they were really crisp and overall it felt as if this was a complete remastering of the original source. The Steelbook release itself was originally released in celebration of the saga’s 20th anniversary, and I can certainly say that I happily welcomed this release simply because it was beautiful. After watching through this film, I took a moment to dig up my old DVD and VHS releases and there is a definite difference in visual presentation.
Pokemon: The Movie 2000:
Much like the first film in this trilogy, the overall picture quality was beautiful. It maintained the same level of crisp lines and bright colors; I cannot complain one bit about the visual presentation that it had to offer.
Pokemon 3: The Movie:
Just like the other two films that were included in this set, everything was stunning to watch. I saw no degradation in quality as I progressed through the three films, and really hope they do in fact release more Pokemon on Blu-ray.
Audio Quality (3/5):
While these films are sporting a DTS-HD 2.0 track when they could have at least had a 5.1 audio track, the audio quality itself wasn’t horrible by any means. It did make my receiver go through some extra effort in trying to figure out which channels to push various audible aspects through; however it didn’t sound too bad. I was able to clearly understand everything as the stories unfolded on my television and I didn’t have to run manually adjust my audio once throughout the film. My Prime Rear Satellite Speakers from SVS did an astounding job at relaying the various musical scores as they helped place emphasis on the overall undertone of what was on screen.
The Packaging (3/5):
This release of the first three Pokemon movies comes packaged in a Steelbook case that houses the three discs. While a lot of people aren’t too fond of the artwork that came with the US release as the European release has a lot of collectors yearning to pick it up; I was quite happy with it.
However the overall release itself felt as if it should have included more since it was in celebration of 20 years. Considering the success of the franchise, they had the opportunity to go all out with a release like this, and gave us a pretty barebones set of discs.
Special Features:
Unfortunately there are no special features on this release. While it is rather upsetting to see this since its release was to celebrate 20 years, it didn’t take away from the nostalgic experience these movies provided to me.
Technical Specs:
Video
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles
Pokemon The First Movie: There are no subtitles on this release of the film.
Pokemon The Movie 2000: English
Pokemon 3 The Movie: English
Runtime
Pokemon The First Movie: 96 Minutes
Pokemon The Movie 2000: 115 Minutes
Pokemon 3 The Movie: 93 Minutes
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I was really pleased with the experience that this set had to offer for my home theater. And I’ll be honest, the only reason I picked this up was simply because of the hype that was generated after the release of Pokemon: Go. While playing the game, I felt as if I were re-living my youth and since I had lucked out to find this Steelbook at my local pawn shop for $10, I knew I had to have it. The visual and audible presentation felt just like it did as I was a child watching the television series. The story was strong enough to maintain my attention and it truly was a great opportunity to feel like I was a kid again. While these films are only available on Blu-ray in the Steelbook in the US, the set is going for a price tag of $34.95 on Amazon. However the UK is getting their release of the trilogy in Steelbook in November. It should be noted that the UK release isn’t confirmed to be Region Free; so import at your own discretion.David Cameron has expressed his intention to ban communication services like Snapchat, WhatsApp and iMessage if they continue to be encrypted from the security services.
© Fotolia / Sven Grundmann Illegal Immigrants Turning to Social Media to Gain Access to Europe
MOSCOW, January 13 (Sputnik) – As the British general election campaign begins and tension over the Paris shootings remains high, British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his interest to ban communication services like Snapchat, WhatsApp and iMessage because he feels that the encrypted messages used by these services possess a threat, The Independent reports.
The Prime Minister wants to ban these services, used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, in an attempt to open up all forms of online communication to the security services.
Snapchat, WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage all encode their messages making it impossible for governments to look at them.
Cameron said: “In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people which […] we cannot read?”
At present, government departments like the Police and MI5 need written permission from the Home Secretary to look at a person's online data, reports Huffington Post.
But companies such as WhatsApp have remained devoted to keeping their services encrypted and unable to be read by authorities following the Edward Snowden revelations.
Hence, David Cameron could possibly block WhatsApp and Snapchat if he wins the next election, as part of his plans for new surveillance control, reports The Independent.
How such a ban on so many popular services would be implemented remains unclear. The services concerned are yet to comment, reports Fairfax NZ.Stop Calling Taiwan a ‘Renegade Province’
The World Bank sometimes calls it “Taiwan District.” The International Monetary Fund prefers the declarative “Taiwan Province of China.” The International Olympic Committee calls it “Chinese Taipei.” Taipei calls it “the Republic of China.” Washington just calls it “Taiwan” and hopes no one asks any follow-up questions. Beijing often stubbornly calls it “Taiwan province,” perhaps hoping that repeating that phrase will make it true. But one phrase seems to exist solely in newspapers and magazines across the English-speaking world: “renegade province.” Many articles about Taiwan’s upcoming Jan. 16 presidential election — an election that could have a major effect on the self-governing island’s relationship with China and the United States — rely on the phrase “renegade province” to describe Beijing’s views of Taiwan.
That is a mistake. Ever since Gen. Chiang Kai-shek fled mainland China in 1949, the status of the midsize island of Taiwan has been an open question. But one thing it most certainly isn’t is a “renegade province.” And yet, the term persists. Beijing has “never renounced the use of force to bring the island of 23 million people, which it calls a renegade province, back under its control,” Reuters stated in early January, while the Wall Street Journal wrote in late December 2015, “Beijing sees the island as a renegade province but Washington is obliged by U.S. law to help defend it.” The Washington Post, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, Time, and Bloomberg, among other news outlets, have all employed the term recently. (Ashamedly, I’ve used it in this article here.)
But that term is almost nonexistent in China, either in an English or a Chinese incarnation. “We never used the English term ‘renegade province,’” Shen Dingli, the deputy dean of Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, told me. “This is a term coined by Westerners.” Maochun Yu, a Chinese scholar in the United States, concurs. “I have never heard any mainland official designating Taiwan as a renegade province,” he said.
The Chinese don’t use the term for the simple reason that they don’t consider Taiwan a renegade province. They consider it a province pretending that it’s independent — not unlike the protagonist of Ambrose Bierce’s 1890 short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” who daydreams at the gallows that he will be saved, while the noose slowly tightens around his neck.
Most Chinese references to Taiwan refer to it as a province, plain and simple. Chinese state media will often add quotation marks around examples of Taiwan exercising democracy, as if to belittle it. “The controversy over the ‘election’ is unceasing,” sneered one December 2015 China News article about Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election. A Jan. 5 article published on the news portal China.com stated that the “Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ‘candidate’ for ‘president,’ Tsai Ing-wen, is leading in the polls by more than 20 percent.”
Meanwhile, instead of “president,” Chinese state media will often use the term ‘”leader.” (During the November meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, the first time the leaders of the governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait had met since 1949, they referred to each other as “mister.”) And instead of government, Chinese often use the term “authorities.” Baike, a Chinese website resembling Wikipedia, has a page titled “Taiwanese Authorities,” which it defines as “the administrative department currently controlling China’s Taiwan District.” When they’re feeling polite, sometimes they’ll just refer to Taiwan as an island.
Unsurprisingly, the Taiwanese don’t call themselves or consider themselves a renegade province either. “How could you call us a renegade province?” Lyushun Shen, the representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, asked me rhetorically. Yes, he admitted, China is much bigger: by land “266 times larger, by population 58 times larger, but as a market for American goods, only four to five times larger,” Shen, who with his position functions as the de facto Taiwanese ambassador to the United States, told me. “Can you call us a small, tiny, dinky, remote renegade province?” he said. “We are too big to ignore.” So what does Taiwan consider itself? “A sovereign state,” he said proudly.
Those who support Taiwan’s self-determination don’t like the term either. “‘Renegade’ suggests that it was completely part of China and just decided to up and leave,” said Perry Link, a longtime China scholar and human rights advocate. The mainland Chinese government “fully annexed Taiwan in 1887 and ruled it until 1895, when the Japanese took over; it ruled Taiwan from 1945 to 1949” — the years between the end of the second Sino-Japanese War and the Communists defeat of the Nationalists, Link said. “I think most Westerners see Taiwan as a long-standing part of China,” but it has been fully ruled by the mainland for only roughly a dozen years, Link added.
In the field of international diplomacy, it gets even more complicated. “We prefer Chinese Taipei,” Shen said. “We don’t like it, but we live with it.” One bright side of Chinese Taipei: the spelling. Mainland Chinese use a system for transcribing Chinese words into English letters called Pinyin, while Taiwan uses a system called Wade-Giles. “Taipei” is the Taiwanese spelling; Beijing prefers “Taibei,” the Pinyin version. Chinese Taipei is certainly less clumsy than the IMF’s preferred phrase. Consider the following sentence, from a June 2015 IMF paper: “Only a few European economies and Korea and Taiwan Province of China reached high-income status during 1970-2010.” It’s unappealing and inaccurate verbal gymnastics — describing Taiwan as what Beijing wants it to be, instead of what it is.
The other bright side to the compromise inherent in the name Chinese Taipei is that Taiwan gets to participate in these international organizations at all. Most important international organizations, following Beijing’s lead, relegate Taiwan to “observer” status or refuse it the ability to participate at all.
That Beijing and Taipei sit in the same international organizations at all is partially a result of relations that have warmed considerably since Ma took office in 2008, and that are better than at any time since 1949. That’s reflected in the language Beijing has used to refer to Taiwan over the decades. Because both sides care about their legitimacy, in the early days “each demonized the other side as not legitimate,” Shen Dingli, of Fudan University, said. “They called us gongfei, or Communist bandits, and we called them jiangfeibang, Chiang’s Bandit Clique.” (Trust me: It sounds meaner in Chinese.) Chinese state media frequently used to drop in the word wei, which means illegitimate or false, as in the phrase, “Taiwan’s illegitimate president.” But now “we want to win the hearts of Taiwan,” said Shen. “That’s why we don’t call them renegade.”
It’s unclear when the phrase “renegade province” in reference to Taiwan first materialized in English. The earliest I was able to find came from a 1973 article in Encounter, a literary magazine co-founded by American journalist Irving Kristol (a publication that, in an almost certainly unrelated historical quirk, was later revealed to have received covert funding from the CIA). The sentence, in full, is: “In short, the Eastern sense of history, which embraces centuries not puny little years, has clearly consigned the military conquest of Taiwan to limbo and is aiming at a gradual peaceful absorption of the renegade province.” Usage didn’t take off until the early 1980s: The New York Times first used it in 1982, according to its website, and the search engine LexisNexis shows dozens of results for the rest of that decade.
One of the few people to use the term “renegade province” in Chinese is Kuo Kuan-ying, who in 2009 was fired from his job as a Taiwanese diplomat in China after writing a series of articles critical of Taiwan, including one that claimed Taiwan “is only a renegade province of China.” (Google “Taiwan” and “renegade province” in Chinese, and most of the first results are Chinese media covering that particular story.) Much of the rest of the Chinese stories are the Chinese websites of Western media outlets, like Reuters and the Financial Times.
In late December, Beijing warned of “complex changes” in Taiwan in 2016. Indeed, the complicated swirl that this year could bring may include Taipei’s angering Beijing by keeping its distance. Hopefully, it will also bring an end to the phrase “renegade province.”
Photo credit: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty ImagesHull FC have confirmed the signing of renowned former New Zealand international Frank Pritchard from Canterbury Bulldogs on a three-year contract starting in 2016.
The powerful back-rower, who stands at 6ft 2” and 112kg, is a former captain of the Bulldogs and has been one of their headline stars in recent years, who will add a wealth of skill and experience to the Airlie Birds’ pack for next season.
Pritchard has agreed a two-year deal, with an option of a third in favour of the club should they wish to extend it further.
“Frank the Tank”, as he is known, has played an integral part in the Bulldogs’ successes over the past four years, helping them to two Grand Final appearances and a Minor Premiership during that period, whilst he has been back to his very best in recent weeks as one of the NRL’s stand out forwards this season.
Arguably one of Hull FC’s biggest overseas signings in recent years, alongside the likes of Shaun Berrigan, Craig Fitzgibbon and Mark O’Meley, Pritchard now has the opportunity to test himself in Super League and he can’t wait to start life in Black and White.
“The English Super League is continuing to grow as a competition and to be able to go over there and continue as a professional athlete is exciting,” he said
Read more at HullFC.comFacebook launched two-factor authentication almost two years ago, but this week the social networking service is improving its security a little further. After an initial limited test phase in 2011, Facebook is launching Trusted Contacts globally on Thursday, a way to recover access to your account through friends that you trust. The feature works by selecting between three to five friends to add to the Trusted Contacts list. If your account gets compromised or you forget your password, these friends can help by supplying security codes.
It's an alternative to answering security questions or attempting to fill out web forms to recover accounts, but you'll have to pick your contacts wisely. Facebook will send the codes directly to a friend to then distribute to an account owner, so it's open to abuse if you pick a friend who enjoys the occasional prank. Either way, it's the digital form of leaving a spare key with a neighbor and it's an additional approach to help tackle the rise of phishing scams. You can enable Trusted Contacts in the security section of Facebook's account settings.ARLINGTON, Va. — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking at a conference on the “Politics of Love” Thursday evening, said he feared that President Trump would plunge the nation into war.
“This is one of the things that scares me most: For a demagogue to succeed, they need to cultivate hatred. Now the hatred may be against immigrants — we’re all supposed to hate immigrants, and maybe it’s other minorities, African-Americans, Latinos,” Sanders said. “But also I worry that the hatred will spill over to foreign affairs, and that we are maybe entering into a situation where a Trump needs a war — and war and war — to rally public support.”
Sanders spoke before a rapturous audience at the second Sister Giant conference, hosted by bestselling spirituality author Marianne Williamson, author of “A Return to Love” and “The Age of Miracles.” The conference was part of a movement Williamson has dubbed the Great Resistance of 2017. Attendees were overwhelmingly female — fans and followers of Williamson, who is among the leading figures in the New Spirituality movement in America.
The gathering, billed as “Creating a Politics of Love,” illustrates how normally inward-looking communities, especially of women who had expected Hillary Clinton to win even if they were not all-in on her candidacy, have been galvanized into action by the polarizing 2016 election outcome.
While the Women’s March on Washington and its sister marches around the country struck a chord with the crafting lifestyle community — so much so that the marches wound up being visually defined by their pink hand-knitted and crocheted “pussy hats” — Sister Giant is seeking to mobilize what Williamson calls the “higher consciousness community” to resist Trump’s agenda and reach out to Americans who hold political views different from their own.
The conference, which drew 1,800 guests and an online audience of more than 3,000, opened with a video featuring a medley of words and phrases: “Say Hell No to Tyranny,” “Rise Up,” “Resist” and “Don’t Be Gaslighted.” The stage was backed by a banner showing a woman in lotus position silhouetted against a stylized American flag; on either side stood tall shelves holding candles. The Washington Unity Choir sang “My Country ’Tis of Thee” and “America the Beautiful.” A handful of women in the audience held up Bernie signs, and when he walked out to take his seat in the speakers’ section, one shouted, “2020!”
Sanders, the conference’s keynote speaker, told the audience that the enthusiasm for his message at the first-ever Sister Giant in 2015 in Los Angeles helped encourage him to run for president.
Not knowing precisely what to do next, but feeling called to action, was a common refrain Thursday. “With what’s happening today, I don’t know exactly what to do,” Williamson said.
“We have more than a political problem. We have an emotional problem, in that this moment scares us. It scares us. We have a psychological problem in that we are all being bullied in this moment. We have a spiritual problem in that hate has been harnessed for political purposes,” she said.
Sanders echoed her remarks. “If you think that you don’t have the answers, trust me, you are not alone,” he said. “What is imperative as never before is that we really think this thing through, because the stakes are so extraordinary for this country and for the world. And on behalf of my seven grandchildren, and the children all over this planet: We cannot fail.”
“I know that some of your friends say, ‘Wow, this sucks,’” added Sanders. He acknowledged that some people are reacting to the moment by wanting to turn off the news, stop reading the papers “and kind of sink slowly into despair.”
“And to those people who say this, I say, as loudly as I can — not only for your lives, but for the lives of future generations — despair is not an option.”
Sanders assured the audience: “On every important issue facing this country, the views of Donald Trump and his friends are a minority position — and don’t ever forget that.”
And yet, he said, being in the majority is not enough. “Let me suggest to you, and some will disagree with me, that’s OK too. Let me suggest to you that what happened on November 8th, Trump’s victory, was not a victory for Trump or his ideology. It was a gross political failure of the Democratic Party.”The big wireless carriers may have curbed their price wars over the summer, but thanks to Apple (AAPL), they're suddenly getting aggressive about iPhone prices.
T-Mobile (TMUS) CEO John Legere took to his blog on Thursday to announce that customers could get an iPhone 6S on his company's Jump on Demand upgrade program for only $20 a month. Sprint (S) says its customers can pay as little as $15 per month for the new iPhone if they trade in their old phone (otherwise it's $22 monthly). Both offers allow customers to trade in their 6S for next year's new Apple model at no additional charge.
Those prices undercut AT&T (T) and Verizon's (VZ) current monthly prices for iPhones, which generally start at $27 a month for two-year plans without upgrade rights, as well as Apple's own brand new installment payment and upgrade plan offerings. Of course, customers get to keep their old phones at the end of two years on those plans -- the upgrade plans require that the old phones be returned to the carrier.
There should be more news soon. AT&T is expected to come out with a new iPhone offer imminently, while Verizon has reportedly already been emailing some customers with early upgrade offers.
Apple ignited the latest round of iPhone upgrade excitement at a keynote address in San Francisco on Wednesday where it unveiled the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. The new phones have a couple of enticing features for users, like improved cameras and "3D touch" screens, along with the new option to buy directly from Apple and pay in monthly installments. Yahoo Tech's Dan Howley has a rundown of everything Apple unveiled.
Apple doesn't sell the most phones in the world, but it's hard for other phone makers to match the devotion of Apple customers. Even before the keynote had begun, some iPhone fans lined up outside Apple stores for the phones, which won't be available for pre-order until Sept. 12 and delivery until Sept. 25. Carriers have found selling iPhones is critical for attracting many customers -- CEO Legere has said getting the iPhone into T-Mobile's line-up was one of his top priorities when he took over the company three years ago.
Some think installment plans may make consumers more wary of buying iPhones because the total payment amount comes to more than people paid directly under the old subsidized sales model. But that hasn't proven to be the case, as many consumers perceive the elimination of the $199 or more upfront payment for the phone itself as a big savings.
"As surprising as it is, consumers still do not think about the total cost of ownership over the period of the lease," notes Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "In some cases, the upfront cost is even lower than what it would have been on a traditional contract."
Apple's installment and upgrade plans
Apple still offers iPhones starting at $199 for people on the old style two-year contracts with their phone carrier. But it's beocming less and less the case as phase out two-year agreements, leaving customers to pay for the full cost of their phones, often through monthly installment plans.
Apple's new basic installment plans run for 24 months and start at $27 per month for the entry-level 6S. A buyer owns the phone at the end of the two years. That matches the standard installment plans from all the carriers. (All phone payments are separate from the carriers' monthly fees for service which cover voice calls, texting and data usage.)
Apple also largely copied the smaller carriers' easy upgrade plans, with plans starting at $32 a month that offer buyers the chance to trade in their phone for a new one every year at no additional cost. Apple's upgrade plan is much more expensive than those from T-Mobile and Sprint, though it also includes the AppleCare extended warranty plan -- otherwise available separately for a one-time fee of $129.
Bargain-focused consumers who don't mind giving up some convenience to save money may be better off buying an iPhone without an upgrade plan and selling it themselves. For example, under Apple's upgrade plan, a consumer with an iPhone 6S 16GB model will have paid $384 the first year before trading that phone in for the 2016 model. But just buying the phone for $650 and selling it at the end of the year could be cheaper. Used phone marketer Gazelle is paying about $350 for last year's used 16GB iPhone 6, for example. After selling the phone, the consumer who paid $650 would be out only $300.
Oddly, used iPhone prices for models with greater storage are barely higher than the prices for 16GB models. Because the 64GB and 128GB models cost more to buy outright, that means a consumer could actually come out ahead by going with one of the upgrade plans.
And people who really value their money can save by not upgrading as frequently, switching to a much cheaper Android phone or even buying a used iPhone themselves. The carriers are hoping that the new upgrade plans, which closely resemble car leases, will keep customers perpetually paying for phones the same way people who lease cars always have a car payment.
The carriers and Apple plan to resell all the used phones that customers on the upgrade plans trade in. And that complicates the equation a bit for consumers, since sales of all those used iPhones could depress prices in the future. That would hurt anyone who planned to recoup their investment in an iPhone, as well as the carriers and Apple.
"That's a real risk at some point in future, because there's an eventual ceiling on how mane people want to buy refurbed devices," says Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research. "This is a big potential future issue."
Apple and the carriers might have to raise prices for the upgrade plans and cut back on promotions if they don't recoup as much money as expected from sales of used iPhones.
But until then, expect more deals as iPhone upgrade excitement grows to a fever pitch in coming weeks.Moon Hyung-pyo, chief of the National Pension Service (NPS) and former welfare minister, leaves the prosecution office in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 25, 2016, after undergoing overnight questioning over suspicions that South Korean President Park Geun-hye pressured the pension fund to back Samsung Group's high-profile merger of two key units last year in return for Samsung's favors to Park's confidante Choi Soon-sil. Photo by Yonhap/European Pressphoto Agency
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A former South Korean cabinet minister was arrested Saturday in the widening government corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidante, Choi Soon-sil.
Moon Hyung-pyo is alleged to have ordered the country's National Pension Service to back a merger between Samsung's construction subsidiary Samsung C&T and an affiliate business, Cheil Industries, when he was health and welfare minister in 2015. Moon is currently the chairman of the pension fund.
Moon denied the allegations in a November court hearing, but on Saturday the court allowed a special prosecutor to issue an arrest warrant on charges of abusing power.
If found true, Park, Choi and Samsung could also face charges.
Choi has already been charged with coercion and attempted fraud, and is suspected of using her non-appointed, non-elected position as Park's confidante to obtain favors from businesses and the government. The allegations have angered the South Korean public, and Park has been urged to resign.
Ed Adamczyk contributed to this report.Report: Red Dead Redemption 2 Pulled From Sony’s E3 Presser (Update – Sony Denies Rumor)
Update:
Sony’s Adam Boyes has dispelled rumors of a Red Dead Redemption 2 being at the company’s E3 presser, going as far as saying that nothing was cut from the conference at all (no, it wasn’t a Neo announcement either, for those who believed that). In other words, even talks between industry professionals of content being cut seems to be just a rumor at least in Sony’s case (we can’t speak for other companies). So there you have it, folks. All cleared out. That said, Take-Two’s “big” E3 presence (a statement which wasn’t a rumor, by the way) remains a mystery.
@RyanDungey_ no, this is not true. The length and content we showed has been locked and unchanged for months. — Adam Boyes (@amboyes) June 14, 2016
For those who are disappointed by this, it’s probably worth noting that Sony officials cast doubt over Crash Bandicoot coming to PlayStation 4 on several occasions up until recently but the game was announced at E3. So if you still believe content was cut – irrespective of whether it was RDR2 or not – we still have gamescom, Paris Games Week, Tokyo Game Show, and PlayStation Experience.
Original story:
Take this one with a grain of salt but since yesterday, we’ve heard from several sources that Rockstar and Take-Two were planning to unveil Red Dead Redemption 2 at Sony’s E3 2016 press conference but due to the unfortunate events in Orlando, the companies decided it would be distasteful to go ahead with it.
Now, this part is probably people just trying to put pieces of the puzzle together but many are of the view that the Days Gone demo at the end replaced the Red Dead reveal. What makes the rumor even more interesting is that Take-Two said a while ago that it would be |
Scientific Drilling Program, the National Science Foundation, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Alfred Wegener Institute, GeoForschungsZentrum-Potsdam, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research.
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500Related to Alain de Benoist’s interview on the Big Mother-Therapeutic state, I recently received an email commenting on a recent Red Ice interview where I talked about two of the major trends in European culture, the Indo-European heroic warrior culture of aristocratic-egalitarianism and the northern hunter-gatherer culture of individualist-egalitarianism. My correspondent writes:
It seems to explain many casual observations that I made. For example: why we can’t rent a horse to run full gallop? And not only in California but also in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Apparently this is because of the disdain which herb gatherers feel for the nomadic horse which symbolizes oppression for them. One can retort that it is because of the lawsuits for injuries. But what motivates the lawyers? Mere greed? It could also be hatred for horse and horseman. And why do the people let it happen? I should add that the only place in the USA where I could gallop was Tennessee. And you actually said in your interview that the South is different.
Why can’t we solo Mount Rainier? [Actually, it is possible to solo Mt. Rainier, but it requires written permission from the superintendent.] Messner soloed Everest. But in this great country on God’s green Earth we are not even allowed to solo Rainier. Genuine concern for our safety? Or, perhaps, this is the wish of the duck hunters [egalitarian hunter-gatherer types] to pull down anyone who stands out? You spoke at length about this trait in your lecture. And why was Snow Summit closed for downhill biking for over five years? I could continue for an hour, but this may get boring.
I have written several articles on extreme sports as a context for implicit Whiteness (e.g., here and here). Putting this all together, the nanny state described by de Benoist and my correspondent has the effect of suppressing a critical aspect of traditional European culture — death-defying deeds in pursuit of personal glory. This restless Faustian spirit of the West is linked to exploration, invention, military exploits, and conquering the unknown.
As Domitius Corbulo notes in his comment on the vast overrepresentation of Europeans as explorers:
Exploration is not only a popular subject, but one filled with fascinating stories of human greatness, heroic will, and stamina against immense odds and hardship—exactly the sorts of traits that, according to cultural Marxists, should not be found to be unusually common among Europeans. … Roughly speaking I counted about 75 great European explorers in the period from about 1800 to the present, men (and a few women) who dedicated themselves to the discovery of the unknown, reconnoitering every place of the planet, climbing the highest mountains, penetrating into the deepest crevices of the oceans and high above in space. This history is rarely taught in our schools and universities; it has been virtually banned, or slandered by charges of imperialism.
All these men were engaged in very dangerous activities. And we are the better off for it. The campaign to suppress the history of Western heroic deeds in the universities dovetails with the campaigns to force people to live safe lives while wallowing in the consumer culture so aptly described by de Benoist. Both can be thought of as battles in taming the West, the ultimate victory of radical egalitarianism—and really the end of the traditional culture of the West.Three Square Market employee Sam Bengtson gets a microchip implanted in his wrist during a “chip party” in River Falls, Wis., on Tuesday. (Tim Gruber for The Washington Post)
RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The bearded body piercer with tattooed forearms tells Sam Bengtson to take a deep breath, and then he plunges in the needle, implanting a microchip into the software engineer's hand.
“That was nothing,” Bengston says, as the piercer smooths a bandage onto his skin.
The radio-frequency identification tag now lodged between his index finger and thumb will allow Bengtson to open doors and log onto his computer at work with a wave.
His employer paid for the device, which costs about $300, and threw a “chip party” for employees at its headquarters Tuesday, handing out blue T-shirts that say: “I got chipped.”
[Do I let my employer microchip me?]
About 50 employees agreed to be implanted with the devices.
Three Square Market, which designs software for vending machine, hopes to soon launch a global microchip-reader business, marketing the technology to other firms.
But first they have to conquer reservations about the devices.
Patrick McMullan, the chief operating officer, said he and another executive learned about Biohax, the Swedish start-up that produces the implants, about six months ago during a business trip to Europe.
The microchips are about as big as a grain of rice, and enable the wearer to perform various tasks such as entering a building or making a payment.
The company already uses similar proximity readers in its vending machines. Shoppers can tap a credit card and walk away with a soda.
With microchips, McMullan said, the company could take their products to the next level of convenience — and beyond the vending industry.
The tiny microchip is filmed by a member of the media. (Tim Gruber for The Washington Post)
“If we’re going to work on this, we need to know how it works,” he said. “I can’t go research technology that we’re not willing to use ourselves.”
As of now, implants are practically useless in the United States. But Three Square Market is betting that will soon change. People in Sweden can already use the chips as train tickets, the company said.
Bengston, the engineer, said he doesn’t feel like a guinea pig. His information is encrypted, he said, which means it’s more secure in his hand than on, say, a cellphone.
He plans to build an application that will enable him to start his Toyota Tundra with a touch. If the program works, he said, the company could sell it.
“I want to have that in about a week,” he said with a grin.
Microchips aren't new. Pets and livestock are tagged. Deliveries, too. Chips that pierce human skin, however, have a history of fizzling out on American soil.
Technology analysts fear the chips could ease the way for hackers. Some churchgoers say the devices violate their religious beliefs.
Stapled on a tree outside the company’s lot was a flyer that said: *WARNING* Microchipping employees.
Sixteen years ago, Applied Digital Solutions, a company in Delray Beach, Fla., introduced a microchip called VeriChip that could be implanted in human arms to store medical records.
Doctors said at the time that they hoped to trace a patient’s history with a hand scanner — a useful ability, the company asserted, if someone is unconscious or confused.
A reporter gets a microchip embedded under her skin during Three Market Square's “chip party” on Tuesday. (Tim Gruber for The Washington Post)
But while VeriChip won approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 2004, the device never caught on with consumers. Some people expressed privacy concerns: Could they be tracked?
By 2008, the company stopped making the device, citing low sales.
However, VeriChip motivated states to consider the legal quandaries a future with microchips could present.
After the device hit the market, Wisconsin outlawed mandatory implants.
Marlin Schneider, the former state representative who introduced the measure, said in 2005 that he wanted to get ahead of employers requiring workers to get chipped, or prisons forcing inmates to do the same.
“Eventually, people will find reasons why everyone should have these chips implanted,” Schneider told reporters at the time.
California, Missouri, North Dakota and Oklahoma also banned tagging without consent, with lawmakers asserting the chips could lead to serious privacy breaches, such as covert monitoring.
Michael Zimmer, a professor of information studies at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, said it’s hard to predict how hackers could evolve to exploit seemingly impenetrable devices.
“Often what appears to be simple technologies,” he said, “shift into becoming infrastructures of surveillance used for purposes far beyond what was originally intended.”
Workers have resisted similar technology because of their religious beliefs.
Two years ago, a coal miner in West Virginia, backed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, won a discrimination case in federal court after his employer mandated a hand scanner to clock in.
The coal miner said he was forced to retire after declining to use the scanner, which he believed was the “mark of the beast” — a sign of evil and the “end times,” discussed in the Bible, that is said to appear on the right hand. He was awarded $150,000 in damages.
A Three Market Square employee demonstrates how her microchip allows her to buy a drink. (Tim Gruber for The Washington Post)
Cordarrel Lyrek, 28, feels the same way about Three Market Square’s microchips.
The Minneapolis resident, who makes T-shirts for a living, said he made the 45-minute drive Monday to River Falls to hang protest posters on trees and business windows. A Christian, he put his phone number on the flier, hoping people would call to talk about God.
“It says in the Bible that’s a sign of the beast,” Lyrek said. “But it’s not only about that. It’s about invading people's privacy.”
McMullan, the Three Square Market executive, wondered if protesters would storm the company’s property during the chip party. Dozens of people had commented “boycott” on their Facebook page.
But none came Tuesday. Under a clear sky, the campus was quiet. Outside the window were stretches of green, cornfields and a Lutheran church that resembles a red barn.
At the nearby dairy farm, Jason Kjos, 51, was feeding his chickens as a yellow cat watched.
He was raised Catholic and heard about the company’s plans on the news. Kjos didn’t care about it. Automation had made his life easier. Maybe microchips would help his neighbors.
“It’s technology,” he said. “Technology moves at the speed of light. Whatever we think is crazy or impossible is either already happening or in development.”
Read more:
Foxconn announces new factory in Wisconsin in much-needed win for Trump and Scott Walker
In this part of the Midwest, the problem isn't China. It's too many jobsThe White House sent DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and chief of staff Denis McDonough up to Capitol Hill to lecture Democrats about widows and orphans. They’re heading back with a couple of lectures from congressional Democrats ringing in their ears. Buzzfeed reports that the SAFE Act, which requires a pause in processing refugees while the US retools its vetting, will now likely pass the House by a wide bipartisan margin:
House Republicans — along with a sizable number of Democrats — are expected to pass a bill Thursday afternoon to halt the resettlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the country until key federal agencies can certify that they have been properly vetted. The measure will have broad Democratic support even after the Obama administration, which has already threatened to veto the legislation, made an effort Thursday morning to convince Democrats to vote against the legislation. … “I’ve seen better presentations in my time here,” said Democratic Rep. Steve Israel of New York, who was still undecided. “They may have strong arguments on their side, but they’re not expressing those strong arguments sufficiently.”
Israel wasn’t alone in his critique; other Democrats told Tarini Parti that the Obama administration presentation was less than impressive. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), not exactly known for his moderate or bipartisan leanings, responded harshly to the full-court press from the White House:
Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, who will vote in favor of the bill, told reporters it was “carefully crafted” and the administration should work with Republicans on the legislation instead of urging Democrats to vote against. “(The bill) adds more of a burden in the screening, but it’s not a devastating added burden and it does give assurance that those coming into the country are properly screened and not a threat to anybody.”
What does that mean for the effort by Senate Democrats to derail the SAFE Act with a parallel bill that focuses on restricting visas rather than toughening the screening process for refugees? That effort to paint Republicans as extreme xenophobes won’t have much success with Democrats endorsing the GOP’s position on the SAFE Act. As much as a few Democrats might want to bolster Obama’s sneering demagoguery, political reality appears to be dawning on one end of Pennsylvania Avenue, even if the other seems mired in its own self-righteous fantasies.
Besides, the two proposals aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s possible — and indeed, almost certainly wise — to tighten up both processes. In an exclusive interview that will air later today on The Ed Morrissey Show (4 ET), Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) told me that the House will also look at that process for improvement, but wanted to act on the refugee track right away. While his own governor Maggie Hassan has been the only Democratic state executive to call for a pause, at least so far, Guinta tells me that her statement doesn’t go far enough. We want to help people that truly want to live in freedom, Guinta says, but we have to ensure American security first.
Needless to say, Obama won’t like this a bit, but if the SAFE Act wins enough Democrats, he may not have much choice but to sign it. If he vetoes the bill, Republicans may have other ways to slow the process down, Adam Kredo reports for the Free Beacon:
Congress is considering proposals to cut federal funding to the State Department that enable it to admit refugees into the United States, according Rep. Jeff Duncan (R., S.C.), who warned in an interview Thursday with the Washington Free Beacon that the country’s southern border is providing a pathway for potential terrorists to enter the United States undetected. Duncan, chair of the House subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and a member of its Homeland Security Committee, said that after Congress votes on a measure that would pause the entry of Syrian refugees into the United States, it could move forward on a proposal to freeze funding that enables the State Department to resettle these individuals. The next step is “to push to deny funding to the State Department for processing these Syrian refugees until we can get some assurances vetting can happen,” Duncan said, adding that Obama administration officials have admitted that it has little ability to vet Syrian refugees applying for asylum in the U.S.
That would set up an even worse situation for Democrats — a President triggering a budget crisis to push a widely unpopular refugee program without even considering an improvement to the process. It’s precisely those optics that have partisan brawlers like Israel and Connolly telling the White House to wake up and start working for solutions.20TH CENTURY MATHEMATICS - TURING
Alan Turing (1912-1954)
The British mathematician Alan Turing is perhaps most famous for his war-time work at the British code-breaking centre at Bletchley Park where his work led to the breaking of the German enigma code (according to some, shortening the Second World War at a stroke, and potentially saving thousands of lives). But he was also responsible for making Gödel’s already devastating incompleteness theorem even more bleak and discouraging, and it is mainly on this - and the development of computer science that his work gave rise to - that Turing’s mathematical legacy rests.
Despite attending an expensive private school which strongly emphasized the classics rather than the sciences, Turing showed early signs of the genius which was to become more prominent later, solving advanced problems as a teenager without having even studied elementary calculus, and immersing himself in the complex mathematics of Albert Einstein's work. He became a confirmed atheist after the death of his close friend and fellow Cambridge student Christopher Morcom, and throughout his life he was an accomplished and committed long-distance runner.
In the years following the publication of Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, Turing desperately wanted to clarify and simplify Gödel’s rather abstract and abstruse theorem, and to make it more concrete. But his solution - which was published in 1936 and which, he later claimed, had come to him in a vision - effectively involved the invention of something that has come to shape the entire modern world, the computer.
Representation of a Turing Machine
During the 1930s, Turing recast incompleteness in terms of computers (or, more specifically, a theoretical device that manipulates symbols, known as a Turing machine), replacing Gödel's universal arithmetic-based formal language with this formal and simple device. He first proved that such a machine would be capable of performing any conceivable mathematical computation if it were representable as an algorithm. He then went on to show that, even for such a logical machine, essentially driven by arithmetic, there would always be some problems they would never be able to solve, and that a machine fed such a problem would never stop trying to solve it, but would never succeed (known as the “halting problem”).
In the process, he also proved that there was no way of telling beforehand which problems were the unprovable ones, thus providing a negative proof to the so-called Entscheidungsproblem or “decision problem“, posed by David Hilbert in 1928. This was a further slap in the face for a mathematics community still reeling from Gödel’s crushing incompleteness theorem.
After the war, Turing continued the work he had begun, and worked on the development of early computers such as ACE (Automatic Computing Engine) and the Manchester Mark 1. Although the computer he developed was a very basic and limited machine by modern standards, Turing clearly saw its potential, and dreamed that one day computers would be more than machines, capable of learning, thinking and communicating. He was the first to develop ideas for a chess-playing computer program, and saw mastery in the game as one of the goals that designers of intelligent machines should strive for.
Turing test
Indeed, he was the first to address the problem of artificial intelligence, and proposed an experiment now known as the Turing Test in an attempt to define a standard for a machine to be called "intelligent". By this test, a computer could be said to "think" if it could fool a human interrogator into thinking that the conversation was with a human. This showed remarkable foresight at a time long before the Internet, when the only available computers were the size of a room and less powerful than a modern pocket calculator.
Turing’s personal philosophy was to be free from hypocrisy, compromise and deceit. He was, for example, a homosexual at a time when it was both illegal and even dangerous, yet he never hid it nor made it an issue. Unlike Gödel (who strongly believed in the power of intuition, and who was convinced that the human mind was capable of going beyond the limitations of the systems he described), Turing clearly felt a certain affinity with computers and, to some extent, he saw them as embodying this admirable absence of lies or hypocrisy.
After the war, he was kept under surveillance as a potential security risk by the authorities and eventually, in 1952, he was arrested, charged and found guilty of engaging in a homosexual act. As a result, he was chemically castrated by an injection of the female hormone estrogen, which caused him to grow breasts and also affected his mind. In 1954, Turing was found dead, having committed suicide with cyanide.Ragnar Sigurdsson said Iceland didn't feel under any pressure against England in their 2-1 Euro 2016 round of 16 victory in Nice.
Sigurdsson equalised for Iceland moments after England had taken an early lead through a Wayne Rooney penalty.
And the 30-year-old Krasnodar defender played an important part of keeping England at bay as they searched for an equaliser.
He said: "It went well. We didn't feel that they created any chances. We were just heading away long balls. I wasn't stressed in the second half."
England England Iceland Iceland 1 2 FT Game Details GameCast
Lineups and Stats
Meanwhile, Lars Lagerback, Iceland's joint coach, added that he wasn't surprised by their victory.
The former Sweden manager who is now unbeaten against England in seven games said: "It's no surprise. You can always win. Football is about teamwork.
"When Jamie Vardy came on he had the pace but we kept it under control.
"This is without a doubt the biggest result in Icelandic football history. We've shocked the world."
Lagerback paid respect to Roy Hodgson, a man he has known for 40 years and learned a lot from.
Following the England manager's resignation, Lagerback said: "Of course it is a great victory but the coach role, as you all know, is not the easiest.
"Part of why I am sitting here now is thanks to Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson when they came to Sweden, so I would like to express my big respect for them because I learned a lot from them.
Iceland have advanced to take on France in the quarterfinals.
They changed the training methods and the coaching education in the long run in Sweden and I was really, really benefiting from that.
"Among the big, big joy of course with the fans, the players and everything, big respect to a really, really good coach also."
Lagerback, who plans to retire after Euro 2016, also backed his players to find more success in their club careers.
"We're really doing well defensively -- everyone is well organised, doing their jobs and reading the game," he said.
"The attacking part was also really good. Football is about winning and scoring as many goals as you can. This team has really shown what it can do.
"The result can influence their football lives because some of the players deserve contracts at higher levels than they are now."
Iceland's other joint coach Heimir Hallgrimsson believes the side are capable of achieving similar results in the future.
He said: "I was more relaxed than during the game against Austria. If someone had told me a few years ago that we would reach the last eight I have to say I would not believe it.
"No obstacle is too big for these guys now."
Follow @ESPNFC on Twitter to keep up with the latest football updates.PROSECUTION is becoming a lucrative business. In the last fiscal year, the Justice Department collected $24.7 billion from civil and criminal actions (including $20 billion from JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup over their handling of mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis). Recently, the Manhattan district attorney’s office kept $449 million of an $8.9 billion settlement between the French bank BNP Paribas and federal authorities over sanctions violations.
Another growing revenue source is civil forfeiture, which allows the authorities to seize cash, cars and even homes from people who haven’t been charged with wrongdoing, who in order to get the property back must prove that it was legally acquired. In September, The Washington Post reported that more than $2.5 billion had been seized from motorists and others since 9/11, without search warrants or indictments, under a program that targets cash that moves along highways.
Even as settlements, fines and confiscated assets have become a growing source of income for federal, state and local governments, there is very little monitoring of where it goes. In many cases, local prosecutors are spending the money as they wish, without adequate oversight or accountability. The money is supposed to be used for law enforcement purposes, but that term is so loose and broad that it has been interpreted in shocking ways.
The Massachusetts state auditor’s office discovered that a local district attorney had used confiscated funds to purchase an ice-resurfacing machine and lawn equipment, and to refurbish a school basketball court, in the name of crime prevention. In Connecticut, police used forfeited money to buy undercover vehicles and fitness equipment and pay for training trips. The district attorney in Montgomery County, Tex., used funds to purchase liquor for a cook-off for workers.John B. Geer stood with his hands on top of the storm door of his Springfield, Va., townhouse and calmly said to four Fairfax County police officers with guns pointed at him: “I don’t want anybody to get shot.... And I don’t wanna get shot, ’cause I don’t want to die today.”
But as one officer tried to ease Geer through the standoff, another officer, Adam D. Torres, shot and killed Geer from 17 feet away, telling investigators that he saw Geer move his hands to his waist and thought he might be reaching for a weapon, according to newly released documents from the county.
The other three officers, and a lieutenant watching from a distance, said they saw no such thing, the documents show.
How and why Geer died that afternoon in August 2013 after police responded to a domestic dispute at his home have remained a mystery, as police and prosecutors have declined to comment on the case for 17 months. But Friday night, under a court order obtained by lawyers for the Geer family, Fairfax released more than 11,000 pages of documents that shed new light on the police shooting.
The other officers contradicted Torres’s story, all agreeing that Geer had his hands above his shoulders, did not move them to his waist and was unarmed when he was shot.
View Graphic Detailed hourly events on Aug. 29, 2013.
The documents also show that Torres was involved in an argument with his wife in the 16 minutes leading up to his arrival at Geer’s home that may have caused him to miss key facts about Geer and the situation at the townhouse. He also did not issue a warning to Geer before he pulled the trigger.
“When the shot happened, his hands were up,” Officer Rodney Barnes, who had been talking to Geer at the moment of the shooting, told investigators that evening. “I’m not here to throw [Torres] under the bus or anything like that, but I didn’t see what he saw.”
The documents, which include police investigative reports, transcripts, timelines, photos and dispatcher audiotapes, indicate that Torres said he considered Geer “a credible threat,” because he had placed a holstered gun at his feet at the beginning of the standoff. But the other three officers told investigators that they never considered firing at Geer.
“It’s not good,” Officer David Parker, who was crouching 15 feet behind Torres, told investigators. “He killed that guy and he didn’t have to.”
But Torres said he thought Geer could have had another weapon hidden at his waist. “It was not accidental,” Torres told investigators. “No, it was justified. I have no doubt about that at all. I don’t feel sorry for shooting the guy at all.”
The files also reveal for the first time why the Fairfax prosecutor shifted the case to the U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria: an internal affairs investigation into a loud, angry “meltdown” Torres had in the Fairfax County Courthouse. In that incident, five months before the Geer shooting, Torres repeatedly cursed at an assistant county prosecutor and stormed out of the courthouse, according to the prosecutor’s statement included in the released documents.
But county police refused to make the internal affairs file available to Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh. A frustrated Morrogh has said he passed the investigation to the Justice Department because he was unable to get anywhere with the Fairfax police department.
John B. Geer (Photo by Jeff Stewart)
Mike Lieberman, an attorney for the Geer family, said: “If this was a similar situation involving two ordinary citizens, there is little doubt that any individual who shot an unarmed man who was holding his hands up in the air and claiming that he did not want to hurt anyone would have been arrested and charged.
“Within days of the shooting, the police department, at the highest levels, knew of the gross discrepancies between Officer Torres’s version of the events and the accounts provided by every other eyewitness.”
Torres has not spoken publicly since the shooting, and he did not return e-mail and phone messages Friday. His lawyer, John Carroll, also did not return messages.
Sharon Bulova, the chairman of the County Board of Supervisors, declined to comment on the case.
Geer’s father, Don Geer, also witnessed the shooting from behind a police line and said the police statements corroborate his own account. “Four officers saw the same thing I did,” he said.
The family, on behalf of Geer’s two daughters, has filed a wrongful death suit against the county. “John had his hands above his shoulders and he was unarmed,” Don Geer said. “And there was no justification for Officer Torres to shoot him. I think they should go through and press charges against Torres and let the legal system do what it does.”
His ‘hands were up’
The police documents paint a vivid picture of a tense 44-minute showdown between Geer, 46, and the officers who had come to resolve a domestic dispute between Geer and his live-in partner of 24 years, Maura Harrington. The couple, who had two daughters together, had just had an argument over the phone, and Geer had begun throwing some of Harrington’s belongings onto their front yard. Harrington came home and called 911.
When Torres, then a 30-year-old officer with seven years’ experience, and Officer David Neil arrived at 2:52 p.m., Geer immediately turned and walked inside the townhouse. As the officers approached, Geer held up a holstered handgun and, according to both officers, said, “I have a gun; I will use it if I need to because you guys have guns.”
Torres quickly ducked behind a tree trunk 17 feet from the front door, pulled his gun and aimed it at Geer. Neil pulled his gun but kept it pointed down. Geer soon placed his gun on the ground, and no officer saw it again, according to their statements.
Five minutes later, Barnes arrived. Neil went to a nearby townhouse to interview Harrington.
Barnes, a 49-year-old former Navy seaman, was a trained negotiator who was on patrol that day. He began to develop a rapport with Geer, and he told investigators that he felt Geer was comfortable with him, the records show.
Geer kept his hands on top of the storm door and repeatedly declined Barnes’s requests to come out, the officers reported. Instead, Geer repeatedly asked Torres to lower his weapon. Torres did so, but whenever Geer announced that he had to scratch his nose, Torres would refocus his aim on Geer’s chest, the documents show.
Officers Parker and Benjamin Kushner arrived next and took up positions behind vehicles in the townhouse community’s parking lot. Parker had a rifle and Kushner had a shotgun, the reports said. Each said they kept their eyes trained on Geer, with Parker telling investigators, according to transcripts: “I never even took my gun off of safety.” They said they could hear the conversation between Barnes and Geer, and both Parker and Barnes recalled Geer saying he did not want to get shot.
Meanwhile, Neil interviewed Harrington and radioed his findings to the other officers. Geer had “made comments that he’s 45 seconds from putting a bullet in his head,” Neil told his fellow officers, according to the transcripts, “and he told a friend of his that he had a gun and he might do a suicide-by-cop type of situation. Be advised.”
Neil also reiterated Harrington’s statement that she made in her 911 call that Geer had other guns, including a handgun and a rifle, in the house, “so there might be some more weapons inside the house as well.” Torres would later tell investigators that he did not hear any updates from Neil’s interview with Harrington about Geer’s state of mind or that he had other guns in the house.
But at 3:34 p.m., as Barnes was still talking with Geer, Torres squeezed his trigger and shot Geer, surprising the three other officers, the documents say. Geer closed the front door,and Barnes and Torres darted to the side of the townhouse. “Who shot?” Barnes said he demanded angrily. “I did,” Torres said he told him. “I’m sorry.”
But police, unsure whether Geer was alive and armed, did not enter the house for 70 minutes, until the SWAT team arrived with an armored truck and battering ram. When the tactical officers entered, Geer was dead just inside the front door.
Torres said he fired because Geer had been complaining about being thirsty “and then... he brought both his hands down really quick near his waist, and I pulled the trigger one time, and hit him under his right rib cage.”
Homicide Detective John Farrell, who was the lead investigator into the shooting, asked whether the shot was accidental. Torres emphasized that it was not. “He brought his hands down too far,” Torres said.
Barnes told investigators that Geer’s “hands were up.” Parker told investigators that Geer “started to move his left hand barely off the sill of the door.” Kushner said Geer’s hands were “right around his face area.” Lt. Ronald Manzo, who also was at the scene, said Geer’s hands were at “about his shoulder height.”
Investigation begins
As police investigated the shooting, detectives questioned Torres about whether there were any other reasons he might have shot Geer, the records show.
The detectives learned that immediately after the shooting, Torres told Barnes that he had been arguing with his wife on the phone as he drove to the call. The argument may have caused Torres to miss key facts about the situation that had been broadcast by dispatchers, the documents show, such as the warning that Geer had other weapons in the house.
Farrell and his partner, homicide Detective Chris Flanagan, pressed Torres about the phone call with his wife: “Do you shoot Mr. Geer because you’re angry at your wife?” Farrell asked him, a transcript shows.
“No,” Torres replied. “Not at all.”
But the investigation continued to delve into Torres’s background as the county prosecutor considered whether to seek an indictment.
In particular, Morrogh was aware of Torres’s blowup in the courthouse with an assistant prosecutor five months earlier. The prosecutor was Chuck Peters, a former Fairfax deputy police chief who became a lawyer after he retired.
In March 2013, while handling a drunken-driving case brought by Torres, Peters told the officer that there were problems with the case. Torres repeatedly cursed at Peters and then stormed out of the courthouse. Word of the incident reached police headquarters, and Peters told investigators that five top police commanders called him to apologize for Torres’s outburst.
An internal affairs investigation was launched, but the outcome is unknown. When Morrogh requested the file in the fall of 2013, the police department refused to give it to him. In January 2014, he sent the case to the U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria, who also ran into resistance from the Fairfax police, the Justice Department said. The case is still being reviewed by the Justice Department’s civil rights division, with no known resolution date.
Lieberman, the Geer family lawyer, said, “It is hard to believe that a Virginia state grand jury has not been presented with this information and that it took Fairfax County 17 months to disclose this information to the Geer family.”
Justin Jouvenal contributed to this report.It's confirmed! We reported the rumor in June, denied by Facebook at the time, that the social media giant was in talks with real estate brokers to lease a large amount of office space in San Francisco finally bending to employees' demands for an option that did not include daily commutes to Menlo Park. And the big rumor was they might take the entire office portion of 181 Fremont, the almost complete high-rise that is also set to feature 17 floors of luxury condos.
As the Business Times is reporting, Facebook has inked the largest office lease in SF in the last three years, taking 50 floors and 436,000 square feet in the building, suggesting it will house between 2,000 and 3,000 employees of Facebook (and Instagram). This is the largest office lease inked since Salesforce signed on to take the majority of what was then called the Transbay Tower, in 2014.
In June Facebook was downplaying the rumor, saying they may just look for space to put about 100 Instagram employees in SF somewhere, and they were apparently looking at space in the Chronicle building as well (though obviously that's hardly a marquee-worthy property on the level of a shiny glass skyscraper). The Registry was the first to hear the rumblings from the real estate world that 181 Fremont was really where Facebook may be headed.
The building, designed by Heller Manus architects and situated basically next door to Salesforce Tower, is a pretty addition to our new skyline, with its zig-zag seismic reinforcements on the exterior. And, as we learned in July, the penthouse in the 70-story tower is on the market for $42 million.
181 Fremont, perhaps soon to be known as Facebook Tower, is set to be complete later this year.
Previously: Facebook Reportedly In Talks To Take Over All, Or Just A Piece, Of New Downtown SF TowerAs oceans and beaches fill up with plastic, and marine debris garners increasingly regular media attention, companies commodifying reclaimed marine waste are popping up like dolphins in a surf lineup. Because of legislation like the plastic bag bans in places such as California, Delhi, and Kenya, massive amounts of marine debris will be eliminated, and businesses are leaping now to make a buck collecting ocean-polluting plastics and turning them into sellable consumer goods. Preventing an increase of pollution in the world’s oceans is hardly a bad idea, but the gesture of reappropriating “ocean plastic”—named as if it comes directly from the ocean itself without undergoing a violent process of extraction—is more one of saving (or making) corporate face than of saving any ecosystem, let alone the planet.
If conscious capitalism, which asks individuals to purchase “eco-friendly” commodities, is green capitalism, then this green-washing pulled from the ocean is blue capitalism: adjacent on the political-economic spectrum to what Stephan Helmreich in Alien Ocean terms “blue-green capitalism,” in reference to marine nanotechnology. What I’m calling blue capitalism would be the aquatic parallel to land-based green capitalism, which continues the violence of extractive economies. Blue capitalism produces commodities within the same infrastructure of contemporary consumerism that has gotten us into this mess: the one in which the oceans (and us humans) now need saving. Blue capitalism won’t prevent climate catastrophe and the whole host of ecological and social problems that go along with it, including ocean acidification, overfishing, and pollution—all of which affect people far from the coasts as well.
The products of blue capitalism take many forms; a few of the most salient are Adidas’s |
the most activity. In general, you can aim for a time when as much of your audience is online (and therefore more likely to see your latest pins) or when you’ve historically received the most engagement with what you’ve pinned.
Give a try and set up your Pinning schedule with Buffer:
3 lesser-known Pinterest features you should try
The basics of Pinterest are probably quite clear to you: Create boards based on different topics, add visual content to the boards, pin and repin, repeat. Brands use Pinterest in much the same way as individuals—finding and sharing beautiful, inspiring, valuable things. Beyond that, though, there are a few Pinterest features that might make even more sense for businesses to check out.
Pinterest analytics for businesses
Businesses are encouraged to get verified through Pinterest’s business section, and doing so will open up a few cool tools, including analytics. With Pinterest analytics, you can see data from pin activity on your website and on your Pinterest boards. Learning what pinners like (through data like Most Repinned and Most Clicked) can help you tailor your pins for more conversions.
Take advantage of rich pins
Pins for movies, recipes, articles, products, and places have the option of additional information. For instance, pins of products can show pricing, availability, and where to buy.
Rich pins require approval from Pinterest along with a bit of code that might best be handled by a developer.
Use secret boards to launch, debut, and plan
Pinterest allows you to create private boards that you can add to and curate just like your public ones. Many businesses have taken this feature and used it to build out an awesome board before pushing it public for all to see. This could be an ideal way to build your Pinterest profile from scratch and make a big debut.
5 helpful infographics on Pinterest marketing
Of course, what would a post on Pinterest be without some visual goodies? Here are five detailed infographics on various aspects of Pinterest marketing and best practices.
A great place to start with Pinterest marketing is deciding if it is for you or not? Intuit put together a flowchart to help you decide whether your business should be on Pinterest.
Here is the full view of Dan Zarella’s insights into Pinterest marketing.
What makes Pinterest so addictive? Column Five Media attempts to answer that question with this infographic.
For a complete look at the demographics of Pinterest, Modea created this infographic that shows who exactly you can expect to find there.
The recipe for the perfect Pinterest pic (as discussed above) is also available as an infographic. Here’s the goods from Curalate.
(For more great Pinterest infographics, visit We Build Buzz.)
Do you have a Pinterest marketing strategy to share?
I’d love to hear how you are using Pinterest for your marketing efforts and whether any of the above data and research has worked for you. If scheduling to Pinterest is part of your strategy, we’d love to help you out with that element at Buffer. You can set up a Pinterest schedule right now:
As for those who have yet to get into Pinterest marketing, is it something you’re more likely to consider now? I‘d be thrilled to chat about it in the comments.
Image credits: erix!, pauladeen.com, Pinterest Business, UMN.edu, Intuit, Dan Zarella, Curalate, Column Five Media, and Modea.
Originally written Apr 24, 2014. Last updated Apr 5, 2016Google's YouTube on Friday announced support for so-called "4K" video, a format four times the size of today's 1080p HDTVs.
Although the number of videos provided by YouTube in the new format will undoubtedly be fairly small, YouTube said that the company wanted to support films with the highest video quality available.
"To give some perspective on the size of 4K, the ideal screen size for a 4K video is 25 feet; IMAX movies are projected through two 2k resolution projectors," Ramesh Sarukkai, a YouTube engineer said in a blog post scheduled to go live later on Friday.
But don't expect to be able to access them on dialup: the 4K (4,096-by-3,072) videos will also require "super-fast broadband" to download, YouTube said. Videos shot in 4K can be accessed in their native format by selecting the "original" format in the video playback options.
Largely confined to the digital cinema, 4K will eventually come to the home on the back of a new HDMI specification as well as some advanced camcorders. According to Wikipedia, about 98 percent of digital cinemas use 2K projectors.
YouTube has had a busy week; earlier, the site launched a revamp of its mobile site, plus LeanBack, a relatively hands-free experience for watching YouTube videos.
The company also announced a grants program, where YouTube will invest $5 million in content creators that the company sees as creative and resourceful.
"We have over 10,000 partners, and 94 of Ad Age's top 100 advertisers have run campaigns on YouTube and the Google Display Network. We've made great progress in the last five years. But we think we can do better," George Strompolos, a partner development manager for Youtube, announced in a blog post. "That's why today we are announcing the YouTube Partner Grants program that will invest five million dollars across select new and emerging YouTube partners. Our goal is to catalyze the creation of new ideas and production models from some of our most innovative and original content partners for the benefit and advancement of the entire industry."
The grants will serve as an advance against the partner's future YouTube revenue share, YouTube said. Partners will be selected based on video views, subscribers, growth rate, audience engagement and production expertise, and then invited to join. The funds may be used to invest in better production equipment, marketing, or to hire more staff.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Psychostimulants like Adderall and Ritalin are widely used for cognitive enhancement by people without ADHD, although the empirical literature has shown little conclusive evidence for effectiveness in this population. This paper explores one potential explanation of this discrepancy: the possibility that the benefit from enhancement stimulants is at least in part motivational, rather than purely cognitive. We review relevant laboratory, survey, and interview research and present the results of a new survey of enhancement users with the goal of comparing perceived cognitive and motivational effects. These users perceived stimulant effects on motivationally-related factors, especially “energy” and “motivation,” and reported motivational effects to be at least as pronounced as cognitive effects, including the effects on “attention.”
Introduction
Stimulant medications such as amphetamine and methyphenidate have long been used by healthy individuals to enhance work performance (see Rasmussen, 2008, for a history). These medications are currently widely used as study aids by college students in the US and Canada (Poulin, 2007; Smith and Farah, 2011) and, to a lesser extent, in many other countries (Sahakian and Morein-Zamir, 2007; Franke, 2011; Castaldi et al., 2012; Partridge et al., 2013), providing a non-hypothetical case in point for neuroethical analyses of cognitive enhancement. It is therefore surprising that a growing number of researchers now question whether these medications do, in fact, enhance cognition (for reviews, see Advokat, 2010; Chamberlain et al., 2010; Hall and Lucke, 2010; Repantis et al., 2010; Smith and Farah, 2011). In particular, comprehensive reviews of the literature on stimulants' effects on healthy cognition have noted that there is “very weak evidence that putatively neuroenhancing pharmaceuticals in fact enhance cognitive function.” (Hall and Lucke, 2010), even proposing “that stimulants may actually impair performance on tasks that require adaptation, flexibility and planning” (Advokat, 2010). We carried out a double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the effects of mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall), which was adequately powered to find medium effects. Based on our own failure to find a single drug effect across numerous measures of executive functions, memory, creativity, intelligence, and standardized test performance, we concluded that Adderall “has no more than small effects on cognition in healthy young adults” (Ilieva et al., 2013).
This raises the question of why people persist in using stimulants to enhance schoolwork and, according to anecdotal evidence, other cognitively demanding duties such as stock trading, entrepreneurship, surgery, and professional academic work (Sahakian and Morein-Zamir, 2007; Franke et al., 2013; Kolker, 2013). It may be that a small cognitive advantage is useful in these situations and that is all users seek with continued use. Alternatively, it may be that individual differences result in sizeable cognitive advantages for some users, and they are the ones who use regularly. A third possibility is that users gain a non-cognitive advantage that helps them perform better in school and on the job. This is the alternative to be explored in this review.
Stimulants, cognition, and motivation The question of whether stimulant-related positive affective states would impact the performance of cognitive tasks implies a distinction between motivation and cognition and the role for each in work performance. Because these terms have received various definitions in the past, we begin by specifying the sense in which we use them in the present paper. By cognition we mean the processes of encoding, storing, and manipulating information. Attention, memory, and executive function are examples of cognitive processes by this general definition. By cognitive ability we therefore mean the ability to carry out these processes, which varies among normal healthy people. We will use the term motivation to refer to a similarly broad set of affective states that influence whether a person will voluntarily use their cognitive ability in the performance of a task. By this general definition, a number of factors (which often, but not always, co-occur) reflect or contribute to task motivation: namely, wanting to complete a task, enjoying it or being interested in it. Motivation may also be supported by closely related factors, such as positive mood, alertness, energy, and the absence of anxiety. Although motivation is a state, there are trait-like differences in the motivational states that people typically bring to tasks, just as there are differences in cognitive ability. These definitions of cognition and motivation correspond to the “can't/won't” distinction. The performance of cognitively demanding tasks are subject to limitations of cognitive ability, as when a subject can't perform beyond a certain level, and limitations of motivation, as when a subject won't make the effort to perform beyond a certain level. This distinction is admittedly somewhat vague and intuitive, rather than precise and analytic, but we know of no better way of distinguishing between cognition and motivation in this context. Objective evidence that cognitive ability is only minimally enhanced by stimulants comes from tasks in which motivation is minimally taxed, as these tasks are typically tedious and rewarded for completion (e.g., in a representative study from our lab, participants completed about 2 h of neuropsychological tests, such as Flanker, Go/No-Go, and NBack, while being compensated uniformly regardless of performance, Ilieva et al., 2013). It is possible that stimulants enhance schoolwork and other cognitively demanding work in everyday contexts where there is larger room for motivated work: where tasks are more intellectually engaging, where reward depends on performance, and where outcomes determine users' future employability and reputation. To explore here the prediction that users view stimulants' benefits on motivation as equal or greater than those on cognition, we begin by reviewing the laboratory literature on stimulants' effects, as well as enhancement users' self-reported reasons for using stimulants in real-world settings.
Stimulant effects on motivation: laboratory and clinical considerations Animal research provides ample evidence that the mesolimbic dopamine system is central to motivation (Koob, 1996; Berridge, 2007; Faure et al., 2008) and stimulant medications are known to increase activity in this system (Butcher et al., 1988; Drevets et al., 2001; Volkow et al., 2004). The first psychological effects of these drugs noted by researchers were increased energy, drive, enjoyment, and motivation (Rasmussen, 2008). Stimulants are currently used to treat apathy in neurological and psychiatric patients (Roth et al., 2007). On the basis of these facts one would expect an effect of stimulants on motivation in normal, healthy humans performing cognitive tasks. Although relatively little research has investigated this directly, the existing evidence is consistent with this expectation. Wardle and de Wit (2012) studied the effect of amphetamine on task enjoyment. Healthy normal subjects were shown photographs from the International Affective Pictures set and asked to rate their reactions to the stimuli in terms of emotional valence and degree of arousal. The drug increased subjects' enjoyment of all pictures, as assessed by self-report. For positive pictures, subjects also showed enhanced enjoyment by a decreased EMG-measured reaction of the corrugator (“frown”) muscle and elevated reaction of the zygomatic (“smile”) muscle. Thus, these findings corroborated stimulants' effect on increased liking for task-related material, a factor contributing to motivation. Another way to operationalize motivation is through the amount of work invested to obtain a reward. A recent double-blind placebo-controlled study asked whether amphetamine increased the expenditure of effort for reward. Participants were given a sequence of choices between a high-effort task promising large monetary compensation and a less effortful, less profitable task. The low-effort task required participants to push a button repeatedly with their index finger, while the high-effort task entailed a longer duration of button-pressing, using one's pinky finger. The probability of reward also varied across trials, with the result that some trials offered an uncertain chance of high reward for high effort, thus demanding high motivation. Amphetamine increased the proportion of high reward/high effort choices. These results imply that amphetamine may enhance the motivation to work for uncertain rewards where the lack of guarantee of reward would be expected to tax motivation maximally (Wardle et al., 2011). Finally, several research groups have noted that subjects find stimulants particularly rewarding when combined with performance of a cognitive task compared to the stimulant with no cognitive task or the cognitive task without a stimulant. For example, after trying amphetamine and a benzodiazepine, subjects chose to combine amphetamine with an attention task but not with a relaxation task (Silverman et al., 1994a). Subjects rated a mathematical task as more “interesting” when performed with methylphenidate, and showed disproportionate striatal dopamine release when math was performed with the drug, compared to no math or no drug (Volkow et al., 2004). Finally, subjects were more willing to work to earn methylphenidate for use while performing a math task, compared to for use during a relaxation session (Stoops et al., 2005). Similar findings have been obtained with caffeine (Silverman et al., 1994b) and the novel stimulant modafinil (Stoops et al., 2005).Story highlights Rand Paul made a high-profile trip to Iowa this week
Iowa is a magnet for presidential hopefuls
Paul made headlines for changing his tune on foreign aid
Experts say the controversy isn't a deal breaker, but he still needs social conservatives
Rand Paul wears his political ambition for all to see. Look no further than the tie he sported during a three-day trip to Iowa. It had yellow images of corn, the crop that epitomizes politics in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
"And by coincidence, I have one in the shape of South Carolina," the Kentucky Republican said Wednesday, drawing laughs.
He was speaking at a Republican breakfast outside Des Moines at Machine Shed, a Midwest restaurant chain where the waiters wear overalls and drinks are served in Mason jars.
As Paul blitzed across the Hawkeye State this week, holding events at Iowa GOP offices and campaigning for local candidates, he hardly played coy to the question of whether he was running for President. After all, his nine-city trip marked his fourth visit to the state since the 2012 election.
JUST WATCHED Rand Paul questioned on Israel Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Rand Paul questioned on Israel 02:16
"I don't know why Iowa keeps popping up on my calendar, but it seems to be pretty frequent," he said Monday, clearly with sarcasm.
His itinerary this time included a campaign-style schedule where he continued testing his 2016 message on the road.
From reducing the federal deficit to defending civil liberties and reforming the criminal justice system, Paul mostly stayed on his talking points.
But the trip was not without controversy.
His combative answer to a reporter's question -- combined with video of Paul appearing to avoid an immigration activist — absorbed most of the attention surrounding his visit.
Experts say it's unlikely those story lines will derail any progress Paul has made in the state with voters, but his comments could underscore questions some Republicans have about his foreign policy, especially as he seeks to broaden his appeal.
Off-message
At his first stop on Monday, which actually took place in Omaha, Nebraska, near the Iowa state line, Paul held a news conference after touring a tech startup venue with Nebraska GOP Senate hopeful Ben Sasse.
Asked if he still supported phasing out foreign aid to Israel, Paul fired back at a reporter for "mischaracterizing" his position and staunchly denied that he had ever proposed such legislation.
But it's well-documented that he called for ending all foreign aid, including assistance to Israel, and sought support in Congress for his proposal in 2011.
In Iowa, Paul stressed that he never introduced legislation that solely "targeted" Israel and argued that he strongly favors sending money to the country.
Still, he added, Israel will be better positioned in the long run without foreign assistance.
"Every country ultimately would be better off to be independent," he said on Tuesday.
Paul is also taking heat for quickly exiting a tense moment when an immigration activist confronted Rep. Steve King at a fundraiser while the two lawmakers ate dinner Monday night.
Video of the incident shows Paul, at the behest of his press aide, quickly getting up from the table and getting away from the confrontation. Paul said he was stepping away to do interviews with local media.
Whether or not those interviews were hastened because of the activist is unclear. Still, the video quickly spread and it was enough for critics to frame a narrative that Paul bolted from an uncomfortable exchange.
The dust-ups in his trip made headlines and ate up much of the coverage of his Iowa visit.
David Kochel, Mitt Romney's Iowa strategist in 2008 and 2012, said he doubts caucus voters will judge Paul negatively for leaving after "someone tried to sandbag him."
"I think he's fine on that," he said. "As for Israel, that's a little more difficult. You have social conservatives in Iowa who very much feel the need to be in solidarity with Israel -- not just Christian conservatives, but it's also national security conservatives."
While Paul has voted in favor of sending more aid to Israel this year and has proposed cutting off aid to the Palestinians, his past statements and views on foreign policy are rooted in his libertarian leanings — a perspective still largely outside of mainstream Republican thought.
"He'll probably have work to do on that issue," Kochel continued. "It could be one of those things that might limit his potential."
Still, Kochel thinks Paul is the current frontunner in Iowa among prospective candidates. He points to Paul's frequent travel to the state, his efforts to build a wider GOP, and the network of supporters built by his father's presidential campaigns the past two cycles.
'Son of Ron'
In the 2012 Iowa caucuses, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas finished with 21% of the vote, just slightly behind Romney and former Sen. Rick Santorum — who tied for first at 25%.
Many of Ron Paul's supporters were previously inactive in politics, citing a lack of candidates who represented their views.
"Your father cured my apathy," one man told Rand Paul at an event in Council Bluffs.
Building off Ron Paul's 2012 momentum, the so-called liberty faction of Iowa's Republican Party eventually took control of party leadership.
Mainstream Republicans, with the support of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, wrestled back control earlier this year.
But Paul knows he needs more than just the libertarian wing of the party. As seen in his trip this week, he's going after the state's social conservatives and business Republicans, too.
"Paul is attempting to pivot from being 'Son of Ron,' so to speak," said Dennis Goldford, professor of politics at Drake University in Des Moines. "He's never going to deny that or reject it. But he has the view that Republicans need a broader base or broader range than some other candidates have maintained."
Paul spoke at five GOP offices this week and five other events in a tour that took him around the state in a 730-mile loop. At each stop, Paul's main message sought to counter post-2012 perceptions that the Republican Party should change its message.
"I say 'hell no.' We have to be more boldly for what we're for," he said at the GOP office in Davenport. It's a mantra he has repeated in his travels across the country this year.
But he proposes doing so with some traditional and unorthodox ideas for mainstream Republicans. Part of that includes a push to speak out against domestic surveillance programs and mount a strong defense of the Fourth Amendment.
He has also been aggressive in courting voters and even Democrats to help expand the party. To do that, he's urging for reform to the criminal justice system with reduced sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and the restoration of voting rights to nonviolent felons after they get out of jail.
In Northwest Iowa, home to many of the state's social conservatives, Paul placed an evangelical spin on his message.
"Many of us are Christians, we believe in a second chance in our religion. Anybody here who's not a sinner, raise their hand," he said Monday night at a fundraiser in Okoboji. "We believe in redemption, should the law allow people a second chance."
But that's about as deep as Paul waded into social issues during the trip. He didn't talk about abortion, contraception or same-sex marriage until audience members asked him about the issues at one of his final events.
Asked whether he supported a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, Paul said he "favors the concept" of traditional marriage but argued the federal government should stay out marriage entirely.
"I don't want to register my guns in Washington or my marriage," he said.
The previous past two winners of Iowa caucuses, Santorum and Mike Huckabee, both ran on a vocal platform with regard to social issues. Goldford said if Paul doesn't devote more attention to those topics, someone else will step in to fill in the void.
"To function in Iowa he's going to have to address the concerns of conservative evangelicals because Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are going to do that," he said.
Paul left Iowa before this weekend's annual summit hosted by the Family Leader, a group that's influential with social conservatives in the state. Guest speakers include Cruz, Huckabee, Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Paul said he couldn't make it due to a scheduling conflict. But he indicated he'd be back.
"You have to meet people four, five, six times in Iowa because they expect a real personal touch, and I think it's actually one of the good things about the process," he told reporters, before needlessly adding: "if I decide to do this."ES News Email Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account
A Shakespeare’s Globe performance of Hamlet at the “Jungle” Camp in Calais last week was cut short because “there were a lot of knives around”, organisers have revealed.
Actors performed the play on a makeshift wooden stage to an audience of around 250 people on Wednesday with synopses of the plot given out in Farsi, Arabic, Pashtu and Kurdish.
Dominic Dromgoole, Shakespeare Globe’s artistic director, said the performance was an example of “the ground-breaking tour’s ability to reach displaced people across the world”.
At the time it was reported the production was cut shot because of the cold, but Tom Bird, the executive producer of The Globe said the real reason was because of the presence of knives.
He told The Times: “People were trying to cut through to the backstage.
"There were a lot of knives around.
"That’s what really put me on edge. They were visible and out.”
A Globe spokeswoman said: “We were aware of knives being present, but this was one of several factors that led us to lightly shorten what was always going to be a shortened version of the production.”Update: Phillip Bleicher, owner of CocoDorm.com, has confirmed Angel Barrios' claims that he had no direct involvement in the gay porn site.
Gray-haired abuelas roll creaky carts stacked with clothes inside Wash Time Coin Laundry, a bustling Little Havana storefront a mile west of Marlins Park. Angel Barrios, the owner, folds his arms across his chest and laments his bad luck that a kid he was arrested with 26 years ago has grown up to become a leading light of the Republican Party.
“I’m sorry for Marco that [this arrest] has come up, but I’m more sorry for me and my family,” says Barrios, a solidly built man in a bright-blue polo shirt and mirrored wrap-around shades. “I’m not the one running for president.”
Continue Reading
Barrios suddenly found his long-forgotten after-hours police stop in a Brickell park thrust into national headlines last week, when the Washington Post dredged up the 1990 incident. But the Post missed the crime’s most eye-opening tie to Florida’s junior senator.
Decades after his legal run-in with Rubio, Barrios was associated with perhaps the most notorious gay porn ring in Miami history, an Edgewater house full of models with names like “Khali Kreme” and “Sincere Luv” who had sex all day in front of dozens of webcams. Couple that with the fact that the park where Rubio was arrested was a well-known gay cruising spot and lurid rumors — with no basis in documented fact — have blown up all this week on the internet, eagerly stoked by Donald Trump supporters casting Rubio as a closeted homosexual. Right-wing conspiracy monger Alex Jones devoted a five-minute segment to the allegations yesterday, while posts on the claims have been heavily upvoted on a Reddit page for Trump supporters.
“I have nothing against gay people, but this is just so far from the truth,” says Barrios, who laughs out loud at the idea of having had a sexual relationship with Rubio. “I have kids, and now they’re reading all this garbage online. It’s insane.”
Yet the story does add to a trend for Rubio, who has dealt with multiple news cycles about shady connections and sketchy choices back in his hometown, from a pile of traffic citations to mountains of questionable credit card debt to a brother-in-law convicted of dealing cocaine. Now Rubio can add to the mix a childhood buddy wrapped up in a years-long legal war over gay porn.
Barrios and Rubio were born a year apart, in 1970 and '71, respectively, and grew up in West Miami, a blue-collar town of 5,000 just north of more affluent Coral Gables. By summer 1990, an 18-year-old Rubio returned home after washing out of low-level college football. He had played one season at Tarkio College in Missouri before injuries and bad grades forced him to rethink his plans.
He spent that summer working as a courier for Brickell legal firms, earning extra cash by driving documents around in a 1983 Pontiac Firebird his dad had bought him. In the fall, he planned to head to a junior college in Gainesville.
On May 23, 1990, Rubio and Barrios were with another friend, 18-year-old Derek Preston Wilson, after dark at Alice C. Wainwright Park, a leafy Brickell public space then infamous as a late-night trouble spot. (“People went out there to smoke illegal substances, have sex, drink,” a police spokesman told the Post in its story published last Friday.) At 9:37 p.m., the three teens were booked.
A report obtained by New Times casts little light on why they were arrested, though; an officer notes only that they were “located in main... park after hours.” (The cop does note that Rubio was “calm” and “clean shaven” and that his teeth were “very white.”) Rubio’s spokesperson suggested to the Post that the teens were drinking beer in the park. (The senator’s office didn’t respond to New Times' emails seeking comment for this story.)
Either way, the misdemeanor charges against all three teens were later dropped, and Rubio went on with his life. Barrios and Rubio shared a townhouse in Gainesville while Rubio attended Santa Fe Community College, according to the Post, but the two later drifted apart, Barrios says. After graduating from the University of Florida, Rubio earned a law degree at the University of Miami and then began a rocket-fueled political ascent after winning a West Miami city council seat as a 26-year-old and quickly moving on to the Florida House. Barrios, who started a property management company and a family, says he and Rubio lost touch, though he’d occasionally see the GOP golden boy around town and share a quick laugh.
Just two years after his childhood friend was sworn in as speaker of the Florida House — accepting a ceremonial sword from his then-mentor Jeb Bush as cameras clicked away — Barrios had his own brush with media infamy.
It was May 9, 2007, when an NBC 6 investigative TV crew swarmed a sedate, two-story brick house that Barrios’ father owned on NE 27th Street just east of Biscayne Boulevard. In a special report ominously titled “The House Next Door,” reporters breathlessly revealed that a website called CocoDorm.com had set up dozens of webcams inside the home.
Scores of ripped, young Hispanic and black male models had been hired at a $1,200 monthly fee, plus free room and board, to live inside, where the cameras caught their every move — including regularly scheduled orgies. (An ad on the site revealed CocoDorm's recruiting tactics, offering to fly in young models for “30 days of nonstop fucking, sucking, licking, and more with other hot Black and Latin boys.”)
Today Barrios strongly denies he knew anything about the gay smut business. He says his property management company rented the house to Flava Works, the firm behind CocoDorm, with the understanding it was a “digital media” company. He didn’t know the truth, he says, until Channel 6’s report; the next day, Barrios recalls, a Miami Herald reporter knocked on his elderly father’s door to ask about the website.
“We are not in the gay porn business. We are not in the straight porn business. We are not in the porn business,” Barrios says. “My poor father, he had no idea what was going on in there."
An ad for CocoDorm, a gay porn business run out of an Edgewater house owned by Barrios' father. image via Miami-Dade Civil Court filings
Barrios should have done a better background check on Flava Works' owner, Phillip Bleicher. As the Herald later reported, just before renting Barrios’ house, Bleicher left Chicago while prosecutors were investigating allegations that a student charity he had helped run had been bilked of $3 million that had been used for everything from liposuction procedures to flights to Brazil. (No charges were ever filed in that case; Bleicher’s last known address in Miami is now vacant.)
Barrios also should have had warnings that something was amiss at the house. Police were called there at least twice the year before Channel 6’s story aired. Once, an irate, drunken housemate began throwing rocks through windows; on another occasion, police showed up after a resident known only as “Twerk” became enraged when housemates told him he couldn’t sleep with a new arrival. Twerk then punched another man repeatedly in the face.
Shortly after the TV report, the City of Miami Code Enforcement Board hit CocoDorm and Barrios with multiple citations for illegally running an adult business in a residential area. In August 2007, the city sued Barrios and his investment group in Miami-Dade civil court.
Barrios says that he moved quickly to force the business out and that the gay porn site was gone within six months. But that wasn’t the end of his association with CocoDorm. In September 2007, Barrios sued the city in federal court — with the porn company as a co-plaintiff.
They argued that the business was protected by the First Amendment and that CocoDorm wasn’t an adult business because the webcam footage was consumed elsewhere — not at the Edgewater house.
Why would Barrios go to court with the gay-porn producers if he was so horrified to learn what they were up to?
“They offered to pay all the attorneys' fees if we sued the city,” Barrios explains. “I was looking at these huge civil citation fines from the city for something I had nothing to do with. So I was happy to let them go to court to try to get rid of these fines.”
The case was groundbreaking for Miami-Dade County, helping to settle the legal gray zone occupied by the booming South Florida amateur porn business. Was CocoDorm a smut factory that didn’t belong in a residential neighborhood, as the city argued? Or was it simply a house full of men who liked to have sex all the time, with the footage of that sex later sold from a warehouse a few miles away in Wynwood, as Barrios’ lawyers claimed?
The courts couldn’t decide, with CocoDorm first winning a summary judgment and then the city prevailing on appeal. In the end, the feds sided with the city — regardless of whether CocoDorm was producing oily sex videos or T-shirts, it was clearly a business on a block zoned only for residences. By 2012, they’d lost their final appeals. But Barrios got what he wanted: Miami’s city attorney waived all of his code enforcement fines and dropped a lien on the Edgewater house the next year.
Barrios now operates this Little Havana coin laundry. Photo by Tim Elfrink
While the courts battled it out, Barrios dropped out of the property management game — perhaps scarred by his brush with porn infamy — and opened a chain of coin laundromats, with two in Little Havana and a new outlet in Homestead.
He never expected to find a reporter banging on his door again, until the Washington Post came calling last week. Rubio has so far brushed off that report, even turning it into campaign ad fodder. In a video titled “Rubio’s Crime Spree,” ominous music plays as people wearing Christie and Bush T-shirts complain of the former Florida House speaker’s other vicious lapses: “As a kid, Marco routinely colored outside the lines,” one woman says. “Marco Rubio double-dips potato chips,” a young lady warns.
In the parking lot outside Wash Time Coin Laundry, Barrios also laughs off the old arrest. But he says the rumor-mongering about his CocoDorm ties has been less amusing. Ending up the source of Trump followers’ hit pieces was never part of his life plan.
“This whole thing is just crazy,” Barrios says. “I wish Marco good luck, but I’m ready to move on.”Nova Scotia’s independent police agency charged Bridgewater Police Chief John Collyer with three sexually related offences Thursday morning.
According to the Serious Incident Response Team, Collyer faces one charge of sexual assault and two counts of sexual exploitation.
READ MORE: Bridgewater police chief placed on leave following sex assault allegations
The charges follow a nearly year-long investigation into allegations made by a 17-year-old female against a member of the Bridgewater Police Service. The offences allegedly occurred between April 1, 2016 and July 31, 2016.
Collyer has been the chief of police in Bridgewater since 2011. According to Scott Feener, deputy chief of the Bridgewater police, Collyer had been placed on administrative leave by the police board on August 18, 2016.
Some information related to evidence was not received until the last week of April 2017 and as a result the investigation was only completed yesterday, police said.
In a news release from the Bridgewater Board of Police Commissioners, chairman Patrick Cappello said the board met Thursday evening to discuss the charges and has moved to suspend Collyer with pay, for a period of 60 days in accordance with Section 67 of the Nova Scotia Police Act.
It goes on to say with the matter scheduled to go before the courts June 14, the board has no further comment on the investigation or the charges.
–With files from Sean Previl, Global NewsRepublicans in Congress, having convinced themselves that repealing the estate tax and enriching corporations is the key to America’s heart, are now sweating the gory details of their trillion-dollar giveaway. For starters, there’s the niggling question of how the whole thing will be paid for. Then there’s the problem of personnel: Donald Trump, the party’s titular head, is a self-serving egotist and a self-defeating idiot who doesn’t seem to grasp that getting into Twitter wars with key Republicans isn’t helping his cause. Making matters worse, it seems, is the man he’s assigned to serve as his chief tax liaison: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whose social awkwardness is matched only by his profound inexperience in dealing with Capitol Hill.
Politico reports that Mnuchin, a former investment banker turned hedge-fund manager turned foreclosure mogul turned movie producer, who had no experience in Washington before he was made a Cabinet official, “hasn’t been able to overcome Republicans’ suspicion about his Wall Street background and limited conservative credentials.” An initial attempt at flexing his muscles backfired during a meeting in September, when Mnuchin, apparently overestimating his rapport with House Republicans, tactlessly demanded that they help raise the debt ceiling “for me”—a request that lawmakers found “uncomfortable,” “not helpful,” and “intellectually insulting.” Now, having distanced himself somewhat following the debt-ceiling debacle, those same lawmakers feel sn |
two-day tour of the many restaurants that serve curries across the Greater Toronto Area. Here’s a taste of what we found.
Stewed curry goat food dish at Bong Lua restaurant in Scarborough ( Vince Talotta / Toronto Star )
Bong Lua’s stewed curry goat Pho is undoubtedly the most famous dish to come out of Vietnam but at Bong Lua, it’s the curry goat with noodles that’s worth ordering. “You’ll usually see noodles with chicken or beef, so we try to do something special with goat,” says owner Quy Hoang Dang, who put the dish on the menu a year and a half ago. “You also don’t see curry pho often.” The broth starts with a coconut milk base, a blend of three different curry powders and a tinge of fish sauce and sugar to give a warming but light and milky-sweet flavour. Customers who like it hot can ask for extra chilies, of course.
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2572 Birchmount Rd., Scarborough, 647-351-0809 Gourmet Malaysia Restaurant’s laksa
Singaporean laksa is a favourite at Gourmet Malaysia. ( Vince Talotta )
This restaurant has Malaysia in its name, but it’s known for its Singaporean laksa, a spicy noodle soup that comes in either a rich coconut curry broth or a sour tamarind broth called asam. Head chef Amy Lim uses the recipes passed down from her father and grandfather, who were chefs back in Malaysia. The curry version comes with thin noodles topped with shrimp, fish cake, chicken and a smidgen of homemade spicy shrimp paste called belacan. It’s an ultra rich dish with a slow, wonderful burn. 4466 Sheppard Ave. E., unit 101, Scarborough, 647-764-1188, gourmetmalaysia.ca Babu’s crab curry
Babu's crab curry is gloriously messy to eat. ( Vince Talotta )
At lunchtime it’s not unusual to see the line snake out the door at this 24-year-old takeout spot specializing in Tamil and Sri Lankan cuisine. (Its neighbour Mona’s Roti, is also worth checking out for the Trinidadian curry). Customers line up for short eats, Sri Lankan hand-held snacks (the curried fish patties are unreal), and takeout boxes of its seemingly endless curry selection. The crab curry, a staple dish in the coastal city of Jaffna, is gloriously messy to eat: shell-on and smothered in a thick and sinus-clearing spicy curry, and served on a bed of rice with veggies. 4800 Sheppard Ave. E., Scarborough; 9590 McCowan Rd., Markham, 416-298-2228, babudelivery.ca Kairali’s fish cooked in banana leaf
Fish is cooked in a banana leaf at Kairali. ( Vince Talotta )
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Seafood is plentiful in the Kerala region on the Malabar Coast of southern India. That’s why a must-order at this five-year-old Keralan spot is chef-owner Rajkumar Valiya Kandiyil’s whole pomfret fish that’s first grilled then smothered in a tomato curry and finally steamed in a banana leaf. The result is a super flaky and moist fish punctuated by a bold and fresh-tasting tomato curry seasoned with turmeric, chili, black pepper, tamarind, ginger and garlic. “To me, Keralan food is lots of seafood and slow-cooking,” he says. “I learned how to make this from my grandmother.” 1210 Kennedy Rd., Scarborough, 416-909-0994 Island Foods’ oxtail roti
Island Foods roti include goat, chicken and oxtail. ( Vince Talotta )
“We have customers coming in to say our food tastes the same as it did when we first opened in Dufferin Mall in 1973. It’s all about staying consistent after all these years,” says Island Foods co-owner Mala Sawh, who runs the 12-year-old North York location with her husband, Dave. His two sisters run the downtown location at King and Dufferin Sts. Trinidadian rotis are the specialty with boneless chicken and goat being the most popular but the oxtail is a personal favourite. Tender hunks of beef are slow-cooked in a herbal curry thickened with potatoes then wrapped in a steaming hot roti, the staple flatbread of the West Indies originally brought to the island by Indian labourers. 1310 Don Mills Rd., 416-487-7717; 1182 King St. W., 416-532-6298, island-foods.com Restoran Malaysia’s chicken curry with roti
Dish at Restoran Malaysia in Richmond Hill. ( Vince Talotta )
The 16-year-old Malaysian restaurant makes about 10 curry pastes for its chicken, beef, vegetable, fish, shrimp, crab and noodle dishes. The chicken curry is a beautiful dark orange in colour and thinner than its West Indian counterpart. The taste is more mild than spicy, with a subtle sweet coconut aftertaste that’s highly addictive. Order it with a side of the ultra thin house-made roti, more suitable for ripping and dipping than wrapping like a Trinidadian roti, says Ryan Chew, who runs the restaurant with his parents. Another curry must-try: call ahead to order the fish head curry, a massive slow-cooked grouper head that feeds four to six diners. 815 Major Mackenzie Dr. E., Richmond Hill, 905-508-1432, restoranmalaysia.com Randy’s Take Out’s Jamaican patties
Beef patty's at Randys takeout restaurant on Eglinton Ave. ( Vince Talotta )
Located in the heart of Toronto’s Little Jamaica at Eglinton Ave. W. at Oakwood Ave., Randy’s has consistently had lineups since it opened in 1978 to serve some of the best Jamaican patties in the city. Inside each flaky yellow pastry (a riff on the Cornish pastry introduced by British colonialists) is perfectly seasoned curried ground beef, chicken or vegetables, packing a wallop of scotch bonnet and peppery notes (essential Jamaican flavours). Sandwich the patty between sweet cocoa bread to help absorb some of the heat, or do what most customers do and buy a box of 12 to take home. 1569 Eglinton Ave. W., 416-781-5313, randyspatties.com Tich’s dak bungalow
Dak Bungalow dish at Tich takeout on Lake Shore Blvd. W. ( Vince Talotta )
Not commonly seen on Toronto menus, the dak bungalow is said to have originated from India’s state of West Bengal when it was under British rule centuries ago. The dish is named after government-owned guest houses that provided lodging and food for travelling officials, says Tich owner Karan Kalia, who wanted to showcase lesser known Indian dishes. This simple but filling curry of chicken and boiled eggs is cooked in an aromatic base of turmeric, green and black cardamom, garlic, green chilies and lots of ginger. 2314 Lake Shore Blvd. W., 647-349-8424; 2491 Lake Shore Blvd. W. (takeout location) 647-349-8424 ext. 2, tich.ca Pai’s gaeng aom
Pai's gaeng aom is made from slow-cooked veal. ( Vince Talotta )
Thai curries have the distinction of having bright, herbal and sour notes thanks to the use of lemongrass, galangal, fresh ginger and makrut lime leaves. Chef Nuit Regular’s gaeng aom carries the characteristics of curries found in Thailand’s northeastern region, which favours a heavier use of vegetables and less coconut milk, she says. Gaeng aom is made from slow-cooking veal tendon and meat with the aforementioned herbs and a dash of bile — the liquid secreted from the animal’s liver. The bile’s bitterness adds body to the curry’s tartness, creating a subtle extra layer of flavour. 18 Duncan St., 416-901-4724, paitoronto.com Nana’s green curry
Green curry dish is popular at Nana's. ( Vince Talotta )
Originating in Thailand’s central region, green curries are favoured for their rich, slightly sweet coconut broth that get their colour from green chilies, Thai basil leaves, lemongrass and makrut lime leaves. Coconut milk makes it rather mild, allowing herbal flavours to shine. Nana’s version isn’t shy on chilies, though, so have an extra order of rice to help spread the spice. 785 Queen St. W., 647-352-5773, stnnana.com karonliu@thestar.ca
Read more about:Et tu, Xiaomi? There isnt much context to these photos but they allegedly show the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s a reworked version of the bezel-less phone that now features an iPhone X-style cutout on top.
This moves the selfie camera to a more natural position and should help reduce the bottom bezel, though that is not clearly visible in these shots.
Alleged Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s photos show a display cutout on top
The horns around the cutout are wider, leaving more room for icons in the status bar compared to the iPhone. Still, if the Essential Phone is any indication, Android apps dont play well with such cutouts (developers explicitly need to support it, otherwise the top of the screen is a dead area).
What do you think? Will such a redesign by Xiaomi prove popular or do you like the classic Mix design better?
Source (in Chinese)Silicon Valley fetishizes a particular type of engineer — young, male, awkward, unattached. This fetish is so normalized in startup culture that it often goes unseen for what it is: the specific, narrow fantasy of venture capitalists, deployed to focus their investment and attention. The disproportionate success of a very few individuals who fit this image has led to a kind of shortcut logic or “pattern matching” which assumes that these outward traits themselves determine success.
Silicon Valley has built an architecture of compensation to distribute value, attention, and funding accordingly.
The focus on this particular type of founder or employee often goes uncritiqued, then, in terms of the stresses, conflicts, and inequities it creates in the startup environment, where there is always less celebrated, less visible, and often much less valued work to be done. Both men and women experience the negative impacts of a culture that fetishizes the simultaneous power and lack of responsibility of its “rock stars,” forcing coworkers to silently accommodate their behavior, often without equivalent support or compensation.
Fetishizing Founders
Contrary to the outsider assumption that Silicon Valley’s sexism manifests mainly in the traditional sexual harassment of women, Silicon Valley’s fetish for the awkward young engineer is unabashed, physical and often sexual.
A t-shirt sighted on a startup employee in downtown San Francisco reads “Who’s your data?”, at once figuring its wearer as male, sexually dominant, and unlike the “daddy” the data replaces, technical and nerdy – data as sexual dominance and vice versa. Technical and sexual dominance are made synonymous on the t-shirt in a way that is not unique to this particular company. An early ad for YCombinator read, “Larry and Sergey won’t respect you in the morning,” positing the young entrepreneur as submissive sexual partner to famous founders and invoking the shame of an ill-conceived one-night stand if he doesn’t found a startup: “They didn’t go to work for someone else’s company. They started their own. Why shouldn’t you?”
The ad was also run in the Stanford Daily.
Mark Suster makes the desired romance between investor and entrepreneur even more clear: “Make sure when your investor agrees to write you a check you feel like someone beautiful at the altar,” Mark Suster writes in a blog post that encourages investors to “fall in love with entrepreneurs.” While Silicon Valley startups rarely make the connection between power, desirability and technical skill as explicitly as the “Who’s your data?” t-shirt does, the conflation of them is so common it often goes unremarked as anything unusual. If considered at all, the assumption seems to be that because the bodies being fetishized and “fallen in love with” are male, it’s not harassment.
Even at the highest level, the way that Silicon Valley investors define entrepreneurial talent is often not as a matter of business skill. Chamath Palihapitiya argues that having no experience at all is preferable for young hackers, like the ideally cheeky “young rogue hacker who attacked Facebook several times before it hired him.” Instead, entrepreneurial talent is depicted as a function of masculine physical characteristics and even physical force.
The VC Firm 500 Startups’ homepage employed boxing imagery as recently as February 2014.
“Building a company is a lot like boxing,” Horowitz argues in a recent Fortune article advertised on the cover as “Horowitz is Schooling Silicon Valley’s Young Guns,” deploying at least six metaphors for physical fighting– “clobber,” “down for the count,” “punch,” “pummel,” “adrenaline,” and so on– to describe working at a startup. Or as Paul Graham famously said, “I could be fooled by anyone who looks like Mark Zuckerberg,” referring to Zuckerberg’s young, male, hoodied physique– here, the hoodie itself becomes attractive in part because of its athletic origins, lending an aura of readiness for physical competition to the programmer. 19, the age that Zuckerberg was when he started Facebook, is often the magical age in these accounts. “You might meet some smart 19 year olds who aren’t even sure what they want to work on,” Graham writes.
Without a business idea to assess, Graham lists “naughtiness” as one of the key things he looks for in a founder. “They tend to have a piratical gleam in their eye,” he says, invoking the pirate’s omnisexual trickster appeal, embodied by Johnny Depp’s performance in Pirates of the Caribbean. Graham and Horowitz’s focus on physical appearance and performance is common not just to investors but to founders and recruiters, who recruit in the fetishistic language of “rock stars,” “ninjas” and “ballers.” This is a world in which a successful hacker can be defined in an SXSW presentation as someone who’s “got coding chops, passion, instinct and great hair”, where the hair that is being referred to is not women’s locks, but the coveted hacker swoop hairstyle worn by young white men in tech.
An example of the hacker swoop hairstyle worn by young white men in tech, depicted on the cover of Wired.
Like the references to boxing and fighting, appropriated terms like “rockstar” and “baller” are in fact profoundly physical terms and also, sexualized by definition. The original rockstars were men who performed on stage and whose power was quantified by their effects on women in the audience, who were deemed ‘groupies’ if they had sex with or wanted to have sex with the star. As such, “rockstar” is by origin a sexualized term that– like “baller” in the athletic context, where famous athletes’ status is defined by their wealth and sexual appeal to women– implies not only the glorification of the employee but also his sexual entitlement.
The Role of Women
If the going metaphor of the startup is that male hackers are stars whose physical characteristics are a source of status and power, the role of women in startups often becomes tinged by differently sexualized and submissive ‘groupie’ expectations. Because even though employers might imagine that startup slogans like “who’s your data” are denatured of their original sexual meanings, they aren’t. Deploying terms for engineers that invoke sexual dominance signals that the startup at some subconscious level wants to emulate a model of power where men perform while others watch and wait, intent on servicing their needs. Some startups even make the desired correlation between women workers and selfless service explicit, as in the app “Geisha” which served links to web designers in the guise of a red-cheeked, submissive female product mascot. The Geisha app deploys fetishized racial stereotypes towards an all-too-common model of tech culture in which men are centered and powerful while women serve them from the position of exotic ‘other.’ The Geisha app’s deployment of racial and gender stereotypes was so blatant that it even received criticism on Hacker News, which prompted the app to change its name.
The Valley’s fetishization of the power of the young, male hacker does not necessarily free him to act out his desires, however; instead it opens a way for the startup to claim his desires as something to be optimized and managed, much as all other aspects of the startup employee’s life, from food to transportation, become something to be managed and satisfied by the Silicon Valley company. That is, if the programmer’s energy is imagined as synonymous with the company’s potency, it also becomes a kind of company asset that must be managed like any other in order to maximize company growth and minimize distraction. A TechCrunch article about a hacker collective whose early members, like WhatsApp’s Jan Koum, went on to be billionaires articulates this perceived aporia succinctly. “In one chat log viewed by TechCrunch, the young hackers discuss… getting laid. ‘Love!= productive,’ writes one, ‘Lack of sex makes it hard to work,’ counters another.”
The hackers’ chat-room formulation of an endemic conflict between work and romance — where relationships interfere with work but sex, especially the emotion-free kind associated with rock-stars and “ballers,” assists productivity — has become a kind of startup conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley. And it is squarely in investors’ interests to maintain a conflict between romance and work: once the hacker is imagined as helpless to develop relationships, his romantic life becomes something that can be managed and also controlled by the community. So rather than investigating the cultural reasons for the difficulty of work-life balance in Silicon Valley, companies then imagine technical solutions, such as the YCombinator startup that plans to crowdsource funds to import women from New York to date male entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.
In a neat trick of the market, imagining successful hackers as desirable but socially helpless creates new business opportunities for startups.
Assumptions, Relationships and Startups
The solution to the difficulty of integrating work and social life in Silicon Valley is not technical, however, but cultural. Flying women from New York is an unscalable technical solution to a cultural problem, which is that in the Valley’s rush to celebrate and fetishize the simultaneously symbolic but inconvenient sexuality of the young male hacker, the tech industry has positioned women, their work, and their sexuality in such an alien, de-centered position relative to men that it is difficult to develop healthy relationships in a startup context. This distortion of social life gets done through a series of assumptions that get assigned to the engineer and that have a correlative, negative impact on women:
1) He is too busy to develop relationships.
This assumption encourages the programmer to see women as distractions, and thus pressures him away from developing relationships with women in order to maintain his focus for the startup. Women are positioned, then, by default as obstacles to business focus.
2) He is “too awkward” to develop relationships.
This releases him of the responsibility to develop social skills, and creates a model where any callousness on his part towards women can be excused by the catchall term ‘awkwardness’. This acts as a get-out-of-responsibility-free card for anything from social ineptness to harassment, abuse and assault. Women, by the same token, are expected to fill in for men’s awkwardness with exceptional social skills, yet without being so emotionally involved that they become a “distraction.”
These assumptions for men are ultimately affirmative– he is ‘too focused on work’, and his ‘awkwardness’ is a sign of genius. The correlative assumptions made of women, on the other hand, are less affirming: in this cultural model, women oscillate between being positioned as ideal, submissive helpers — like live versions of the Geisha app — or potentially aggressive, alien, emotionally demanding threats to men’s focus. The final negative stereotype attached to women — that they are gold diggers who use their sexuality to enrich themselves by attachment to men — further serves to position women as alien and to be feared.
The Valuation of Labor
The roots of the vast gap in power and value between men and women in Silicon Valley begin very early in the life-cycle of a startup, often before the startup officially has employees or executives. For example, in a company like Facebook, which has now come to signify the proof that young, white, male, awkward founders are most successful, women from the beginning of the company did work that had not yet been conceived or compensated as work. Women who casually dated the founders before the company had employees found themselves doing everything from recruiting engineers from their social networks, mediating founder relationships and disputes, providing product feedback, designing social events, and performing emotional and affective labor.
When startups begin hiring employees, the fact that nontechnical work may have been originally done for free by friends often leads founders to continue to devalue that labor, considering it optional or “fun,” perhaps a matter of social obligation, rather than serious and valuable. Engineers become highly prized commodities to hunt and value highly, while labor that isn’t technical is often expected to be freely performed by people who may have other jobs at the company (such as administrators) or who may not have any job at the company at all (such as girlfriends and dates). And because this labor often goes underpaid or not paid at all, it also doesn’t signify when equity is divided up.
The model of sourcing labor from women through relationships is so common in the Valley that it becomes a kind of de facto strategy for male founders starting companies. So, rather than hiring people to manage non-technical duties, this labor can fall to partners, who may or may not be recognized by a title in the startup. In the best case scenario, like that of YCombinator’s Jessica Livingston, a partner who does this work is considered a co-founder and thus has a stake in the company; however in the case of the startups founded by Paul Graham’s coveted 19-year-old piratical hackers, the chance that the founder is married and will provide equity to his date who is doing the nontechnical work is highly unlikely.
Unfortunately, the Valley’s model of the spouse-as-a-service means that regardless of his youth the founder is just as likely to expect a romantic partner to put in work. Thus, Jessica Livingston’s advice at Female Founders conference that “when you’re the nontechnical cofounder, your job is everything that’s nontechnical,” including grocery shopping and errand running, is observed as often by friends or girlfriends with no stake in a startup as it is by women who are recognized co-founders or employees.
All of this is to say that we can trace the overvaluation of white male hackers and the devaluation of other forms of labor and laborers in startups to the origins of startups themselves, and the consequences of that devaluation have a serious impact on not just the economic but the social and dating culture of the Valley. That is, in an industry where men and women are treated as two different types of workers from the beginning — men as stars who must be courted, and women as casual, lower- or no-value workers — men and women come to relationships from very different positions of power. Women who already perform excessive emotional and other labor at work may have no interest in doing more work for a man as his date, and men may not understand why women aren’t interested in playing the submissive role of all-purpose helper in their off-hours.
But rather than transform the inequal way in which labor, value, and relationships are structured in Silicon Valley, the only solution the Valley has proposed thus far is to fly women in from New York for brief romantic interludes.
Clearly, then, the scalable solution to this problem is to renovate the way in which labor, value, and relationships are conceived in tech so that men and women are valued at work on equal footing. And to be most effective this renovation should start in the beginning, when a startup is founded, in order to prevent the valuation gap between young male hackers and everyone else from becoming a company institution.
A Startup Code of Conduct
All of the efforts to get more women into tech will fail as long as the actual environment for women in tech assumes that their labor is less valuable and their positions more alien or more disposable than those of the Valley’s young male stars. Thus, Silicon Valley startups that want to make their startups healthy economically and culturally, and be places where men and women feel equally valued, will have to value men and women equally.
This means:
1) Compensating all labor well.
If half of your employees are living like “ballers” and the other half are struggling to pay rent, you are contributing to the problem of a society in which one half is lording over the other, which in addition to being economically unviable for the undercompensated half, is also toxic for all kinds of relationships within that culture. Resentment (of the rich) and fear (of the ‘gold-digging’ poor) is exacerbated by inequality and does not make for healthy relationships within that culture.
2) Ensuring that men and women are paid equally for equal roles.
Companies that pay women 20% to 30% less than men for the same work may think they are getting away with something, but it will cost them in other ways. Undervalued employees can ascertain by reading contextual clues that they are being undervalued, even if they don’t know by how much, and they will respect founders less for it and behave or leave accordingly.
3) Celebrate employees equally, rather than focusing on one, white male group to exalt.
Avoid fetishizing physical types and instead focus on the range of skills and talents that it takes to make a company. Sexually fetishizing certain types of employees can make others, and even the fetishized employees themselves, uncomfortable.
4) Recognize that work is work.
Identify the work you need and hire people to do all of the jobs that are required. Sourcing labor from girlfriends and wives is exploitation, just as expecting women doing other jobs to also take care of coworkers’ emotional, sexual or romantic needs is also exploitation. This labor is a job that can be fulfilled by therapists, life coaches, mediators, and/or sex workers who are paid for their work, rather than tacked on to existing employee’s roles.
One of the reasons women leave tech is because having to navigate a work environment where they are both undervalued and overworked is exhausting, and having to bear an additional and uncompensated emotional burden for the startup only adds to the unsustainability of the tech industry for the many women who leave as soon as they can afford to. The solution lies in founders, investors, and startups themselves: to treat women and their work as valuable, discrete, and important in the same way that the labor of young white hackers is so valued and celebrated.
In short, if a startup has funding to pay for engineering work, it can pay for all the other forms of labor, technical and not, that go into growing the value of the company. Only then will the prospect of being a ‘woman in tech’ be something that is less an obstacle course to complete and escape than a career to enjoy for the long term.Segment Transcript
IRA FLATOW: You may recall from watching an animation in some science documentary– and there have been plenty of them– you know the elegant way in which the double helix DNA molecule duplicates itself. You know we always see it unzipping, and then duplicating, coming back together. Well, those animations may need some reworking. Because writing in the journal Cell, researchers report that they’ve captured the replication process for a single DNA molecule on video. They’re claiming it might be the first time it’s ever been done. The process they observed doesn’t go quite as smoothly as those animations we see on TV do.
Stephen Kowalczykowski is a professor at the University of California in Davis and one of the researchers on those findings. He joins me by phone from France this evening. Thank you for taking time out of your vacation, Dr. Kowalczykowski, to be with us.
STEPHEN KOWALCZYKOWSKI: Well, it’s my pleasure. It’s not a vacation– I’m out here for a conference– but I’m pleased to do this because I’m a longtime fan of the show, so, my pleasure.
IRA FLATOW: Well, thank you, you’re welcome. Thank you very much. How do you get a movie, make a movie, out of a DNA replication?
STEPHEN KOWALCZYKOWSKI: Well, it’s a lot of luck and a lot of work. So, what we do is initially need to trap or capture a single DNA molecule. And what we do alternatively is either attach it to the surface of a glass slide which we’re going to use in the fluorescent microscope or in some cases we attach it to a bead and capture that with an optical trap– a infrared laser. And then, of course, you can’t see DNA by eye, so what we do is we stain it with a fluorescent dye. That allows us to image it. And then the other thing you need to know is DNA normally is a coiled molecule so to see everything that’s going on DNA we need to extend it. And we typically do that by a solution flow. So flow will extend DNA that way flow extends things that are attached in the water like seaweed. We can also use a second optical trap but we didn’t use that in this particular study.
And then basically we need to introduce the proteins and we do that a number of different ways. So having done all that, and then there’s sort of a start button, and we start reactions different ways. In this particular case, we started them by adding all the nucleoside triphosphates and then if all goes well you can watch this in real time.
IRA FLATOW: Wow. And in the video you shared with us– which is on our website at sciencefriday.com/DNA– looks like tiny white streaks moving along a black field. What are we seeing there? Those streaks that you talked about, the fluorescent.
STEPHEN KOWALCZYKOWSKI: That’s correct. So at the very start zero time what you see are just bright white spots on a black background. And each one of those spots is a DNA molecule, is a template molecule. It’s a 8.6 kilobase pair of DNA molecule, which is visualized by virtue of this fluorescent dye that’s bound to it. And then when the video starts what you see is some good fraction of those template molecules elongate and they’re moving towards the right. And the reason they’re moving towards the right is because the flow is coming from the left. And at each one of those molecules, if you look carefully, you can notice at the right side it’s just a little bit brighter and that’s because there’s more DNA there. That’s the template DNA. It’s circular. And so what you’re watching is a replication of a DNA molecule in real time.
IRA FLATOW: And in your paper what you write about says is that what surprised you is that the replication is not like we see in the movies or the descriptions in the textbooks.
STEPHEN KOWALCZYKOWSKI: Right, so basically, there are many ways of thinking about what you should see. The classic picture is that you have a leading strand polymerase that moves at a constant rate and then the second polymerase, the one that copies the strand in the opposite direction, has to move discontinuously. So it should move in shorter pieces. And what we expected was to see a continuous movement on the leading strand, and we didn’t see that. What we instead saw that the leading strand polymerase would stop sometimes, and in fact, it would change speed sometimes, and then it would do this in a random way, so it showed stochastic variations in speed punctuated by these pauses. And that was unexpected. And what we could then see subsequently is that the DNA helicase that you mentioned in the introduction would oftentimes proceed independently of the polymerase.
IRA FLATOW: I’m Ira Flatow. This is Science Friday from PRI, Public Radio International.
So if I could paraphrase what you said and tell me if I get this right. You know you have the two halves of the DNA ladder, the double helix, they’re sort of zipping down and then each side is going to get reproduce to bring the other half that it needs back. But as it was described to me it’s sort of like traffic on a clogged highway on a freeway. You have two cars next to one another and instead of them both coming together smoothly, one starts, one stops, you know, [INAUDIBLE] the car next to you, but you all wind up together.
STEPHEN KOWALCZYKOWSKI: Right so you’re describing the analogy I gave on the terms of the publication. And what that analogy refers to is the coordination of the two polymerases, the leading strand and the lagging strand. One of the other things we expected to see was that there’d be some way that the polymerase has to go through more steps would tell the one that doesn’t go through all the steps that it would need to control and communicate with it with regards to how far it’s gotten into synthesizing its strand. And we didn’t see any evidence of this coordination. But rather what we saw is the stochastic variation.
And the analogy on the freeway was that oftentimes when you’re driving down the freeway traffic and drivers are driving seemingly at random speeds. And oftentimes you think you’re gaining on this person next to you but then oftentimes you’re delayed or slowed and the other person has the opportunity to speed up. And if this is done completely stochastically, at the end, neither of you gain on the other yet you wind up at the same place. And this analogy applies to the way replication works, which is that they don’t coordinate with one another but rather change speeds and pause stochastically.
IRA FLATOW: Well what this says in your paper is that because they’re not zipping together at the same speed that unzipped they may remain vulnerable to damage for a longer period of time than suspected.
STEPHEN KOWALCZYKOWSKI: Well in some ways that is a potential problem. So what happens is, let’s say, in terms of coordination of leading and lagging strands synthesis, that the so-called fragments, these partial fragments, Okazaki fragments, can be different sizes. But the gaps are made up because at some opportunity the lagging strand polymerase can go fast. But the other problem is that if the polymerase stops the helicase that unwind DNA ahead of it creates single strand DNA which, as you pointed out, can be a problem. But the helicase just doesn’t continue unabated. In fact, it continues but it slows to only one fifth of its speed and this we referred to as a dead man’s switch. So that there’s a built in control mechanism.
IRA FLATOW: We’ve run out of time, Dr. Kowalczykowski. I have to say goodbye but we’ll pick this up later. Stephen Kowalczykowski is distinguished professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at UC Davis.
One last thing before I go, I hope you’ve been listening to and enjoying our new podcast Undiscovered. This week on the show it’s the 1940s. A team of scientists at General Electric team up with the military on a series of radical experiments in weather control.
SPEAKER 1: This is something that the military saw one way and the scientists saw another way. The scientist thought, how great if we could steer hurricanes so that they don’t hit the shore, and you know, if we could steer hurricanes away from big cities that would be wonderful. The military was thinking, wow, we could really mess with Cuba.
IRA FLATOW: But one of GE’s staff, a young press writer by the name of Kurt Vonnegut, was watching closely and soon the company’s science would inspire some of his most iconic stories. If you’re a Vonnegut fan, you can’t miss this one. Check out Undiscovered on Apple Podcasts, Pocket Cast, or wherever you’d like to listen, or visit undiscoveredpodcast.org.
B.J. Leiderman composed our theme music. Thanks as always to our production partners at the studios of the City University of New York. I’m Ira Flatow in New York.
Copyright © 2017 Science Friday Initiative. All rights reserved. Science Friday transcripts are produced on a tight deadline by 3Play Media. Fidelity to the original aired/published audio or video file might vary, and text might be updated or amended in the future. For the authoritative record of ScienceFriday’s programming, please visit the original aired/published recording. For terms of use and more information, visit our policies pages at http://www.sciencefriday.com/about/policies/Copyright by WCMH - All rights reserved
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- An argument between two people playing video games ended with one person in the hospital with several gunshot wounds, according to police.
It happened around 10 p.m. at a home on Vineshire Drive on the east side of Columbus.
Medics say the man, in his mid-to-late 20s, had gunshot wounds in his shoulder, abdomen, forearm and rear end. He was transported to Grant Medical Center in stable condition.
Police say he was shot on Vineshire Drive and ran to Brookshire Court.
According to investigators, the victim and suspect were playing a video game together and got into an argument regarding the game.
The victim was not able to talk with detectives very long before going into surgery, but did refer to the suspect as "Nick."Image copyright Reuters Image caption Since the war broke out, more than 800 schools have been demolished
More than half of children in South Sudan are not in school, the highest proportion in any country, UN children's agency Unicef has said.
Government forces have been battling rebels for the past two years, although a peace deal was signed in August.
Niger is a close second, with 47% unable to attend school, followed by Sudan (41%) and Afghanistan (40%).
Worldwide, some 24 million children of more than 109 million living in nations at war are not in school, Unicef said.
Even before the conflict began, 1.4 million children were already missing class in South Sudan, Unicef said.
Since the war broke out, more than 800 schools have been demolished and more than 400,000 children had to abandon their classrooms, the agency said.
Despite the peace agreement, violence persists in some areas.
Only one in 10 South Sudanese students who enter school finish primary education amid a shortage of facilities and trained teachers, |
PL’s Frank Malina. Al’s service in the Apollo program came as astronaut trainer on the Lunar Module Simulator; he then spent 40 more years at Johnson Space Center, mostly for Lockheed working the Shuttle and ISS programs. His doctorate was in 1975 from the University of Texas at Austin. The author of numerous scientific papers on interstellar concepts, Al is a fixture at deep space conferences and a continuing source of inspiration on matters scientific as well as science fictional. Today Al gives us an overview of a man who played a key role in the sounding rocket era following World War II, as the infant Jet Propulsion Laboratory began its rich history of exploration and technical development.
by Al Jackson
I travel from Houston to Austin by Highway 290 fairly often, and sometimes I stop at Brenham, Texas for lunch. I skip the fast food joints on 290 and go downtown. It is a beautiful small town with a charming old downtown (founded in 1844). Only recently have I become aware that a native Texan from Brenham fulfilled a dream started by Robert Goddard, in fact doing in 10 months what Goddard had for twenty years tried to accomplish. Even more than that, he was co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, and co-founder of Aerojet General. By 1945 he had eclipsed Goddard as the most important American rocket scientist. He was a consummate researcher in the theoretical engineering of rocketry and a master manager of several rocket and rocket vehicle projects for the U.S. Army. So who was the Texas pioneer ‘Wernher von Braun’? Dr. Frank J Malina from Brenham, Texas.
Malina was the originator and leader of a project whose anniversary is today, June 12. It is the 70th anniversary of the last launch of a Wac-Corporal sounding rocket at White Sands. We tend to forget that Robert Goddard had a solid scientific use for his development of rockets — to explore the Earth’s upper atmosphere. We all love Goddard for his inventiveness in rocket hardware and his stubborn individualism, and given time he may have realized his sounding rocket dream. However, while he struggled in the New Mexico desert in 1936, Frank Malina, still a graduate student at Caltech, had put on the wall of his office a chart of how a successful sounding rocket project might be accomplished. Unlike Goddard, he recognized the need for a team and a choice of team captains.
Malina’s dream was interrupted by World War II. Along with his mentor Theodore von Kármán (the great 20th century aerodynamicist), he directed the development of the Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) rockets for use by the Army Air Force. This work for the U.S. Army led to the formation of JPL, and Malina became its first director. There is a straight line heritage from the solid rocket JATO motors to the intercontinental missiles in the American defense arsenal and even up to the Space Shuttle booster motors. His involvement in this project alone is enough to have made him a famous rocketeer.
Image: Dr. Theodore von Kármán (black coat) sketches out a plan on the wing of an airplane as his JATO engineering team looks on. From left to right: Dr. Clark B. Millikan, Dr. Martin Summerfield, Dr. Theodore von Kármán, Dr. Frank J. Malina and pilot, Capt. Homer Boushey. Captain Boushey would become the first American to pilot an airplane that used JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) solid propellant rockets. Credit: NASA/JPL.
In 1944 Dr. Malina was sent to England and France to inspect salvaged V2s and V1 launch sites. Returning by plane over the Atlantic, he decided to ask the Army ordnance department to fund his cherished goal of building and launching a vehicle to sound the upper atmosphere in regions that could not be reached by balloons. This was December of 1944. From designs by H.S. Tsien and Malina, he and Homer Stewart submitted and got approval on a proposal to launch a sounding rocket with a 25 lb payload to 100,000 ft.
There had already been a program started at the newly founded JPL to build military rockets. Malina organized a team to use components developed from this program. It is amazing that the von Kármán-Malina program at JPL during WWII accomplished, on a smaller scale, almost the same technical objectives as von Braun’s huge V2 project. A viable liquid rocket motor using nitric acid and aniline with 1500 lbs of thrust was developed, as was the Private-series of missiles. The main difference being the V2’s much larger rocket motor and especially the guidance system, which was still being researched at JPL by the end of the war.
Once the project was approved, Malina and his JPL crew turned over several ideas for the sounding rocket. It turned out that the solid rocket motors would be too heavy for the flight. They needed a long burn light weight rocket. So a liquid motor powered vehicle boosted quickly to a high speed was designed. They needed the initial boost in order to gain a sufficient amount of stability from the vehicle fins since they had yet to developed an active onboard guidance system. The booster system used some of the solid rocket technology in the JATO units that JPL had already fashioned. The booster and 2nd stage liquid rocket were to be launched using a 60 ft tower.
In July of 1945 the flight characteristics of the booster were tested with a 1/5 scale model at Goldstone Lake, California. The tests showed the viability of the solid booster system and a three fin stabilization system rather than four fins favored by ordnance experts. One wonders: Did any copies of this ‘baby Wac Corporal’ survive to the present?
Nine months after Malina had proposed it the vehicles were taken to the new facility at White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico.
Four rounds of the booster called Tiny Tim were launched off the tower. Two dummy rounds of the WAC were boosted and then two with only partially filled fuel tanks were flown to get experience with the radar tracking.
These must have been counted as rounds 1 through 4 because on October 11, 1945 a fully loaded round 5 was made ready. The 16 foot long 1 foot in diameter rocket stood flight ready. It weighed 665 lbs and would be boosted by 50,000 lbs of thrust before the 1500 lb thrust liquid motor took over. In Malina’s words the flight went like this:
“11 October 1945 became our great day for the first flight of the WAC (round 5) fully charged with propellant. It was a clear day. We craned our necks to watch the WAC’s smoke trail until the engine stopped at around 80,000 ft. On the basis of radar tracking data for the 6th round of the WAC, it was estimated that the maximum altitude reached was between 230,000 and 240,000 ft. The total time of flight was about 450 sec. or 7.5 min. the velocity of the WAC at the end of the burning was about 3,100 ft per sec. The impact point of the first round was around 3,500 ft. from the launcher, which meant that the WAC had maintained a very satisfactory vertical path. Success!”
Image: Project director Frank J. Malina (a former JPL Director) poses with the fifth WAC Corporal at the White Sands Missile Range. The solid-propellant booster is not shown. Credit: NASA/JPL.
That 43 mile flight was a world record, for even the more advanced V2 had not been launched to such an altitude yet. It was an amazing achievement. In 10 months, Malina and his crew had designed and built the sounding rocket Goddard had dreamed of and made such a contribution to. Soon there followed the captured V2 flights from New Mexico and other sounding rocket programs.
Malina headed a large team of people working together just as von Braun had run a much larger team in Germany (Malina and von Braun were almost the same age). Malina remarked:
“The large number of people involved in this (WAC Corporal) program indicates why the dreams of individuals and small groups of rocket enthusiasts in the 1920’s and 1930’s to design, construct and test a high altitude sounding rocket had little chance of success. Fortunately, most pioneers do not foresee all of the practical implications of their dreams. No doubt if they were able to do so, few new wild ideas will ever be tried.”
It is good to remember a fellow Texan, Dr. Frank Malina, a man not as well-known as Dr. Goddard, or Dr. von Braun, but a rocketeer who had profound and lasting impact on the American development of rocket vehicles, astronautics and spaceflight.People’s eyes tend to glaze over when you mention public service commissioning. It’s hardly the most sexy subject to write about. But it matters. It matters, for a start, because it’s a huge industry. A study by Oxford Economics estimates that it employs 1.2 million people, and creates or supports a further 2.3 million jobs. According to the research, the current outsourced market for public services has an annual turnover of £82bn, representing around 24 per cent spend on public services in the UK.
And it matters because outsourced public services have an impact on the entire economy, in terms of wage levels, benefit demands and spending power. It matters because these services are vital to our social fabric and have knock-on effects – effects that can help or hinder not only the people they serve, but their friends and relatives. What happens to a child in a children’s home or a prisoner in jail affects all of us.
And a report released today by Social Enterprise UK, the national membership body for social enterprise, has produced some stark conclusions about how the face of our public services has changed.
1. Rise of the giants
Here’s a list of things that one company, Serco, operates: prisons and young offenders institutions. The National Nuclear Laboratory. Transport services like the Docklands Light Railway and Barclays Cycle Hire. Security services for the National Borders Agency, and maintenance services for missile defence systems. Air traffic control services. Leisure services. Management for hospitals and pathology services. Waste collection for local authorities. Education services for local authorities. Government websites.
If the company were to go under, it would cause severe disruption to public services. The growth of such contractors that are “too big to fail” began under New Labour and has continued apace. Why did it happen? In the report, Matthew Taylor, former director of policy for the Labour Party, provides a clue: “One of the funny stories I heard about this is that the government wanted to move into agile commissioning. And immediately, all the large providers employed a Head of Agile. Of course, smaller providers can’t afford a Head of Agile.” The biggest companies are best placed to meet Government guidelines.
In the early years of outsourcing under New Labour, the commissioners at local and national level lacked experience and confidence, so they went with the biggest firms, whom they felt they could trust. Rather than tear up these contracts, in recent years they simply expanded them with “bolt-ons”, in many cases due to fear of litigation. It’s an understandable fear – the larger the corporation, the more litigious it’s likely to be, and the West Coast Mainline debacle shows how costly and politically hazardous it is to be embroiled in such a case.
This is the situation today: in March this year, the UK Border Agency issued contracts worth £1.7bn for asylum seeker services (including accommodation). All eight contracts went to three companies: G4S, Serco and Clearel. Nearly a quarter of the £3.3bn contracts for the Work Programme went to one company (Ingeus). And cuts within the public sector have reduced the volume and skill of commissioners, meaning that they will choose to “buy safe” more often than not. This lack of genuine competition, as we’ll see, removes the main incentive to provide quality of service.
2. Goliath is killing David
It’s also forcing smaller charities and social enterprises out of the market. Many are making redundancies and turning away from public service markets in order to survive, just when they are needed most. They cite procurement policy as one of the biggest barriers to their sustainability.
I’ve already written, at length, about one enterprise which went bust as a result of signing up to the Government’s Work Programme. It wasn’t the only one - earlier this year Groundwork South West also went into administration. The deals favour the prime contractors: by June 2012, 96 charity providers had dropped out, 27 unable to make it work.
“There’s an ebbing away of confidence,” Peter Holbrook, CEO of Social Enterprise UK, tells me. “We’ve seen companies go to the wall, or being sidelined, and of course it makes you nervous. These days you increasingly have to work with a private contractor. It means small charities are getting crumbs from the table” This is the problem with the payment-by-results (PBR) system. Payments for these hard-to-reach jobless cases may be some time coming, if they come at all. Not-for-profit organisations, having failed by definition to build in a layer of profit to their business model, don’t have the capital reserves to wait for results. Essentially, they find themselves out-manoeuvred by the bigger companies that sub-contract to them. And this matters because...
3. Profit and public service don’t always mix
I’ve previously written on this with regard to one company the public does know about due to the Olympic fiasco: G4S. But the report has a lengthy section about a sector of the industry which hasn’t received quite so much coverage: children’s services. It’s an area that was highlighted by the recent Rochdale scandal, but this element of the story was somewhat buried by the other details.
It used to be the case that charities would bid for council contracts to care for vulnerable children, and would cross-subsidise themselves from fundraising and other means to do so. It was never going to last: private equity firms gradually took over. The report says: “Sovereign and 3i are the big contenders, but it is hard to pinpoint which firm owns what; their waters seem to be in perpetual motion, as they buy one another and take one another over, and offload assets.”
These companies operate by buying up cheap housing stock around the country, to which vulnerable children can be shunted. Two London boroughs now have no children’s homes at all. There are 101 homes in Lancashire alone, even though Lancashire has a population of less than 1.5 million. London has 130 homes, for a population of 7.8 million.
Ann Coffey MP is quoted: “They may take a child into care for the first time, after a final event has happened. So a child may have gone one more time, missing from home, and he or she is removed. The authority then thinks, ‘Where the hell have we got a place?’ Not ‘What does this child need?’ It’s the most terrible market failure.”
And the report cites a horrific statistic, one that shows Rochdale, much as we’d like it to be, was unlikely to be an isolated case. Ofsted figures published in May 2012 revealed that children’s homes in England— caring for 4,840 children, including 1,800 girls — had reported 631 suspected cases of young residents being sold for sex in the past five years. These are just the reported cases: it’s likely to be far higher.
It’s not hard to see how the practice of moving children around can exacerbate the problem. Once a child is removed from its own local authority, it loses contact with its team of social workers, its grandparents, neighbours and others who might be able to spot the signs of abuse. One girl at the centre of the Rochdale case was moved from Essex and placed in a one-to-one home, where she was the only resident. She never woke up with the same staff member in the home who had been there when she went to sleep.
The sector has responded to these criticisms, claiming “the simple connection of cheapness isn't accurate” with regard to the shifting of children. But it’s still hard to disagree with Coffey’s conclusion that the sector is “murky to say the least.” As Holbrook says: “There’s no problem with upscaling if you’re doing something like buying paperclips. But most public services rely on human relationships, so upscaling leads to a huge degradation in the quality of service.” And what about the staff in those homes?
4. Robbing Peter to pay Paul
Almost all the jobs being advertised by private care firms are at the UK minimum wage. This isn’t a living wage, as we all know. The staff are paid by the minute and aren’t paid travelling time. A care worker for a private company is interviewed. She was paid 14 pence per minute, and travelled from appointment to appointment on buses in Islington: “An average day that I was doing at the time, and this wasn’t very long because I couldn’t afford to keep it going, I’d start at 9, do 45 minutes with one person, another 45 minutes at 10, a half hour at 12, a break, a quarter hour at 4, another 15 minutes at 4.30, a half hour at 5 and another hour from 8 til 9. So that’s a 12-hour day for 4 hours’ money.”
Companies are making offers to contractors that aren’t mathematically possible if they’re providing jobs with a minimum wage, national insurance contributions, a pension scheme and training. Savings in one area invariably mean higher costs elsewhere: “No local authority should make that deal: even just on the pragmatic basis that it will be their own residents who are on the receiving end of that low wage, their own housing benefit department making up the carer’s rent shortfall, their own health and children’s services that come under strain when poverty is rife.” We’re seeing a degradation of service for short term profit gains.
As the anonymous care worker describes: “The public face of the company is all very welcoming. They’re always very hazy around money. It’s all, ‘Don’t you worry, there’ll be lots and lots of work for you’. We were all on zero-hours contracts, so basically they weren’t obliged to give us any work. There are hundreds of people out there working like this, I’d meet people all the time, for jobs that required two carers, and I never met anybody who was being paid any differently. I know the hours for tax credits have changed now, but most people were on housing benefit.”
This also means there’s a large section of the workforce that isn’t preparing for old age and retirement: a problem that will also have to be dealt with further down the line. It’s no surprise staff turnover is high, and this feeds into the quality of care.
5. We reward failure. All the time.
Again, I could cite the catalogue of failures I wrote about prior to the G4S debacle. Or the £529,770 that was lost from staff fraud or abuse from the Flexible New Deal 2010-11. Or the chaos that followed the privatisation of our court translation services. Or A4E’s company director payments, which saw the-then CEO Emma Harrison pay herself £8.6m, in a year when fewer than 4 in every 100 unemployed people seen by the firm managed to secure jobs for longer than 13 weeks. Or the nine prisons put out to tender in November in 2011 in spite of high-profile failings in the private sector (as the report says, in the very same bidding round the Wolds was returned to the public sector following the expiration of G4S’s contract, having seen poor inmate behaviour and high levels of drug abuse). Or the closure of Southern Cross as a result of complex financial deals designed to maximise financial gain, which left taxpayers picking up the pieces. Or...
There’s nothing inherently wrong with a market. But cases like these show that we’re getting all the downsides of privatisation – the stripping away of money through profits, above all – and none of the upsides, because there isn’t genuine competition. This is market failure, pure and simple.
6. The profits don’t even stay in the UK, let alone improve services
Social enterprises reinvest the money they make in service improvements. Private companies don’t: for every level of sub-contracting, profits are taken out in the form of shareholder dividends. The total amount of money being taken out of the social economy as a result is hard to quantify.
But one thing’s clear: money which has been allocated by Government to communities and issues that need it is being stripped away. Here’s one example: “Private equity companies work to extract as much financial value as they can from the companies they take over, in a relatively short timeframe. One of the ways they do this is through sale-and-leaseback deals on residential care homes for children and adults. This leads to extreme volatility in a market where stability is a fundamental requirement.”
But perhaps the most galling thing is that nearly half the money raised by this practice doesn’t even stay in the UK. A 2010 report by the Office for National Statistics showed that more than 40 per cent of shares in UK companies are held by overseas investors: this had increased by almost 25 per cent in just two years.
7. We can’t hold these companies to account
There have been moves towards openness - through the FOI Act and the publication of every contract worth over £100,000. But this legislation has been trumped by commercial confidentiality laws. You can find out how much a company has bid for a contract, but not how much lower it was than that of the next lowest bidder, so the number has no context.
As the report says, in business, there are mechanisms for accountability. A company’s CEO is answerable to non-executive directors, who can ask questions on behalf of shareholders. MPs don’t have the same power. And as Holbrook tells me: “I was involved in a Dispatches programme on Virgin’s move into health care, and an ex-employee emailed me to say she’d wanted to speak out but couldn’t due to a confidentiality agreement. There’s far less opportunity for whistle blowing within large providers.” On top of this, the service giants regularly make use of Britain’s defamation laws - which like the bidding process, favour those with the most money behind them - whether confronted by traditional media or online scrutiny.
Equally murky is the “revolving doors” culture – both revolving in, with corporate staff appointed to government posts, and revolving out, with public servants taking on high-ranking private sector jobs once they leave office. Alan Cave, a central architect of the Work Programme as a civil servant, left to join Serco, one of its main beneficiaries, this year, while Phil Wheatley, former head of the National Offender Management Service, is now a G4S adviser.
8. This is the Shadow State
Only one in five people polled by Social Enterprise UK knew that the majority of children’s homes are now owned by private companies. The majority of people polled for the report had never heard of Atos or Serco, yet these firms and others like them, are receiving and are responsible for many billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.
This is an argument that can and should be depoliticised. There’s nothing left wing in saying a local community should benefit from a local contract. And there’s nothing in traditional conservative thought to encourage private companies, say, buying up assets, loading them with debt, and passing that debt back to the service users. Yet it’s quietly, inexorably, grown over the last few decades. Tomorrow, I’ll describe what can be done to fight it.
The second part of Alan White’s work on the shadow state will be published on his blog tomorrow.
UPDATE 3 January 2013 13:45 This article originally stated that clinical failures had lead to London hospitals being forced to lend money to Serco. This was incorrect and has been removed.From sustainable agriculture and water resource management to solar photovoltaics, Israeli companies have been at the forefront of developing new means of forging sustainable societies amid harsh and changing conditions. A strong, homegrown clean tech venture capital community is helping innovative young Israeli clean-tech companies make their mark locally and in markets around the world.
A drive on the part of solar PV industry participants to reduce balance-of-system (BoS) and “soft” costs is underway as governments in key markets such as the European Union and U.S. cut back or eliminate renewable energy R&D funding, tariffs and other incentives.
Operations and maintenance (O&M) makes up a significant portion of running solar PV power generation assets. According to a study conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), fixed O&M costs for solar PV systems ranging from 1 to 10 megawatts averaged $20 +/- $10 per kilowatt-hour of energy in 2013.
Aiming to boost efficiency as well as drive those costs down significantly, Israeli clean tech startup Ecoppia has developed a high-tech means of cleaning and maintaining solar PV panels on a utility scale. Ecoppia's solution comes in the form of a cloud-based solar robotics platform that's not only highly efficient and effective, but also energy-independent and water-free. That's an important attribute not only in arid and desert regions, but also anywhere in the world where pressures on water resources threaten or may threaten water supplies.
Fully automated, self-sustaining and water-free solar panel cleaning
Accumulating on solar PV panels, dust, grit, snow and other unwanted material can degrade the performance of solar PV systems significantly. Empirical studies indicate that keeping solar panels free of dust, dirt, grit, snow and other obscuring materials can boost PV systems performance anywhere from 3 to 40 percent, Ecoppia CEO Erran Meller said in a 3p interview.
By and large, solar PV systems owners and operators continue to clean solar panels the old-fashioned way: employing large maintenance teams to douse them with soapy water, rinse them, then use squeegees to wipe away what remains. Harnessing the power of cloud computing, real-time wireless telecommunications and the latest in dry, fully-automated and chemical-free cleaning technology, Ecoppia's solar robotics solution seems space-age by comparison.
Ecoppia's fully automated E4 solar panel-cleaning platform has been proven in the field to remove 99 percent of the dust and other obscuring materials accumulated on solar panels each day. That translates into big, year-round gains and the ability to optimize electricity output, Meller told 3p.
Solar robotics, the cloud and microfiber fabric
Ecoppia's self-sustaining E4 solar robotics platform is equipped with its own solar PV panels, making it energy-independent. Rather than relying on water, the system relies on three key elements to clean solar panels much more efficiently and effectively than conventional means: gravity (PV panels' angle of inclination), air flow and a microfiber fabric that has been proven to remove particles down to mere microns in size.
Being cloud-based, the Ecoppia E4 collects, analyzes and acts on a variety of data. Its system controller pulls in data from sources including the Weather Channel “to identify optimal operating conditions and deploy robotic cleaning hardware as needed,” Meller explained.
To date, Ecoppia's solar robotics platform has been used to clean nearly 4 million solar panels, including those at Israel's first commercial solar energy project, the Ketura Sun solar PV field. Owned and operated by Arava Power, the 4.95 MW installation is located on Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel's Arava Valley.
Working with Siemens – then a part owner of Arava Power – Ecoppia pilot-tested its cloud-based solar robotics cleaning platform over a three-year period. Siemens was relying on large maintenance teams and copious amounts of distilled water to clean solar panels about 10 times a year. “They were looking worldwide for a more efficient, cost-effective solution,” Meller recounted.
Water-free and energy-independent, Ecoppia's E4 solar robotics system cleans the PV panels at Arava Power's solar park on a nightly basis. Radio-frequency communications are used to gather data that's run through E4's predictive analytics software, Meller explained.
Unprecedented PV data-gathering, communications and analytics
These data-gathering, processing and communications capabilities drive a continuous process of PV maintenance system assessment and scheduling that entails 30-minute checks on the robotics system's batteries. Over time, the platform's on-site master control unit essentially learns how to optimize maintenance and overall system performance, Meller said.
As far as Ecoppia is aware, its E4 solar robotics cleaning system is the only one to have been approved by PI Berlin and banks. “PI simulated 15,000 cleaning cycles on each and every panel from nine manufacturers – that's the equivalent of 20 years of nightly cleaning,” Meller elaborated.
Resulting instructions are relayed as needed from the system's control unit to client robots that do the cleaning. All the data is sent via GSM for storage in the cloud. That enables it to be accessed and acted on via the Ecoppia E4 platform's front-end software on laptops, tablets or smartphones either on-site or from remote locations.Banks and investors require rigorous independent testing and evaluation of the technology and systems used to operate and maintain solar PV generation assets in order to finance projects, Meller pointed out. “Banks may grant as much as 80 percent collateral on loans to developers. They're very risk-averse; their only collateral are the PV panels and systems. There's lots of due diligence involved.”Those simulations involved assessing the prospective effects of 900 dust storms, about 45 per year. At the end of the day, PI Berlin found zero in the way of energy conversion efficiency losses and no micro-cracks over the 20-year period.
Looking ahead, Ecoppia anticipates completing installations of its self-sustaining, water-free platform at five recently-signed Middle East project sites in the first quarter of 2015. By then the Israeli clean-tech startup expects to be cleaning 5 million PV panels a month. “I'd guess that even the largest manual solar panel cleaning company in the world isn't cleaning 10 percent of that number,” Meller stated.
*Images credit: Eccopia, Arava PowerGov. Christie joined a chorus of angry Republican and Democratic lawmakers in a press conference Wednesday afternoon attacking Speaker John Boehner's decision to delay a vote on a Hurricane Sandy aid relief package.
The Republican N.J. governor aimed his criticism directly at Boehner, echoing comments made Wednesday morning by Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer.
"There is only one group to blame," said Christie. "The House majority and their Speaker, John Boehner."
Christie revealed that he learned the bill would be delayed late Tuesday night at 11:20 p.m., in a call not from Boehner, but House Leader Eric Cantor.
"I was given no explanation," said Christie, adding that he made a total of four calls to Boehner Tuesday night, none of which were returned. "All I can tell you was this was the Speaker's decision — his alone."
Christie said he spoke with Boehner Wednesday morning, but refused to discuss specifics of the conversation.
In one of his most impassioned moments at the press conference, Christie issued a sharp attack on Congress.
"Shame on you, shame on Congress," he said, adding later that lawmakers in D.C. are "so consumed with their own internal politics, that they forgot that they have a job to do."
"This is not a Republican or Democratic issue," he said. "We respond to innocent victims of natural disasters not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans — or at least we did until last night."
Citing the aid response time following other natural disasters — 31 days for victims of Hurricane Andrew, and 10 days for Hurricane Katrina — the governor said the 66 days Sandy victims have waited are unacceptable.
"We've been left waiting for help six times longer than the victims of Katrina with no end in sight," he said, hammering leaders in Washington for placing "one-upmanship ahead of the lives of these citizens."
Christie aligned himself with his Democratic counterpart in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo. "Governor Cuomo and I are not wallflowers. We are not shrinking violets," said Christie, promising to fight until the bill is passed.
Asked at the press conference whether Boehner had lost credibility with the governor, Christie said that "no one is beyond redemption."
Update: In a joint statement released Wednesday afternoon, Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor promised to make the Sandy relief bill the "first priority" of the next Congress.
Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy should be the first priority in the new Congress, and that was reaffirmed today with members of the New York and New Jersey delegations. The House will vote Friday to direct needed resources to the National Flood Insurance Program. And on January 15th, the first full legislative day of the 113th Congress, the House will consider the remaining supplemental request for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.MAY 6 MARKET PLUNGE MAY 6 MARKET PLUNGE Major exchanges on Monday agreed with regulators to bolster their circuit breakers, in an effort to prevent the kind of mayhem that gripped financial markets last week. Changes to circuit breakers, or temporary pauses in trading to allow buyers and sellers to collect themselves in fast-moving markets, are expected following the Securities and Exchange Commission's meeting with the leaders of the six main exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, BATS, Direct Edge, International Securities Exchange and Chicago Board Options Exchange. EFFECT: Fear rises while Dow's 1,000-point drop remains a mystery Details of the proposed curbs were not provided. However, the SEC said in its statement that the parties agreed on a "structural framework" for "strengthening" circuit breakers and handling incorrect trades. Details are to be hashed out today, the SEC said. The NYSE declined to comment. The Nasdaq, in an e-mail, said it had a productive meeting with the SEC. Having the exchanges agree upon and use the same standards of when to slow down trading could help prevent the market turbulence that caused stocks to go into an unusual free fall last Thursday, market observers say. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 999 points in 30 minutes only to largely bounce back. The fact the NYSE was slowing down trades in some stocks, while other all-electronic exchanges were still conducting high-speed computerized trades in those same stocks, caused some orders to be routed to exchanges with fewer orders. That resulted in erratic prices. "There has to be harmony between exchanges," says Edward Wedbush, CEO of investment firm Wedbush Securities. While exchanges have gone electronic, which allows for rapid trading, rules to hold markets in sync haven't kept up, Wedbush says. Circuit breakers can be helpful in allowing investors to gather breaking news so they can make informed decisions, says Michelle Clayman of New Amsterdam Partners. "Circuit breakers do seem to work," she says. Meanwhile, investors are still somewhat in the dark about exactly what happened. Some details are expected today, though, as Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., is scheduled to hold a hearing on the matter. "We still don't know" what happened, says Michael Farr of Farr Miller & Washington. "But what we have learned is that our system is vulnerable." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read moreBY:
Former Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania launched a new attack on Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan on MSNBC Tuesday morning, claiming "Paul Ryan also believes we should ban all birth control as well. He voted for that."
In response to Murphy’s smear, the Weekly Standard’s John McCormack wrote:
Murphy's claim is false and bizarre: Ryan does not favor banning contraception, nor has he ever voted to ban contraception. In the modern era, there hasn't been any legislation offered by anyone in Congress to ban birth control. In fact, Ryan, like other conservative Republicans in the House, has voted for hundreds of millions of dollars in contraceptive funding for low-income women through the program Title X. Ryan has voted for the Pence amendment to keep Title X funds from going to the largest abortion provider in America, but the Pence amendment did not decrease Title X funding by one dime.
McCormack likens Murphy’s false attack to BuzzFeed’s false reporting this weekend. BuzzFeed said that Ryan supported the Sanctity of Life Act, a bill that "seeks to ban all abortions, including in instances of rape and incest."
National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru dashed BuzzFeed’s claim, noting that the bill "doesn’t ban anything: It merely affirms that legislatures have the authority to protect unborn life."It's the holiday season, and the American Psychological Association tells me that I, as a woman, am more likely than my husband to be stressed about buying holiday gifts for our three kids. According to their survey released this week, about 46 percent of women are worried about having enough money to buy gifts compared with 35 percent of men. That goes along with the fact that women are more stressed than men over the economy in general, as I previously blogged about.
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Another new finding suggests that I, as a woman, am more prone to heart disease if I'm raising kids or caring for an elderly parent who lives in my home. The study, published today in the journal Heart, was pretty shocking: Married women ages 40 to 59 who lived with children had twice the risk of developing heart disease as single women or those living only with their spouses. Adding an elderly parent to the mix tripled a woman's heart attack risk. Men, on the other hand, had no such increase in heart disease risk if they lived with kids, parents, or, heck, even their in-laws. (Caveat: The folks in the study were Japanese, and it's possible that American men are more stressed than their Japanese counterparts over family responsibilities.)
The culprit? The researchers speculate that the stress of filling multiple roles as wife, mother, and caregiver boosts stress hormones. That, in turn, could increase women's blood pressure and make their bodies generate inflammatory chemicals that lead to other heart disease risk factors like diabetes and clogged arteries.
So I'm guessing that the additive effect of economic woes, multiple role demands, and worry over too much to do in the countdown to Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Chanukah may have many of us on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
What to do? Psychologist Lynn Bufka |
ates.[6] Other differences are not universal for all mosses and all liverworts, but the presence of clearly differentiated stem with simple-shaped, ribbed leaves, without deeply lobed or segmented leaves and not arranged in three ranks, all point to the plant being a moss.
Life cycle
Vascular plants have two sets of chromosomes in their vegetative cells and are said to be diploid, i.e. each chromosome has a partner that contains the same, or similar, genetic information. By contrast, mosses and other bryophytes have only a single set of chromosomes and so are haploid (i.e. each chromosome exists in a unique copy within the cell). There is a period in the moss life cycle when they do have a double set of paired chromosomes, but this happens only during the sporophyte stage.
Polytrichum commune) Life cycle of a typical moss (
The moss life-cycle starts with a haploid spore that germinates to produce a protonema (pl. protonemata), which is either a mass of thread-like filaments or thalloid (flat and thallus-like). Massed moss protonemata typically look like a thin green felt, and may grow on damp soil, tree bark, rocks, concrete, or almost any other reasonably stable surface. This is a transitory stage in the life of a moss, but from the protonema grows the gametophore ("gamete-bearer") that is structurally differentiated into stems and leaves. A single mat of protonemata may develop several gametophore shoots, resulting in a clump of moss.
From the tips of the gametophore stems or branches develop the sex organs of the mosses. The female organs are known as archegonia (sing. archegonium) and are protected by a group of modified leaves known as the perichaetum (plural, perichaeta). The archegonia are small flask-shaped clumps of cells with an open neck (venter) down which the male sperm swim. The male organs are known as antheridia (sing. antheridium) and are enclosed by modified leaves called the perigonium (pl. perigonia). The surrounding leaves in some mosses form a splash cup, allowing the sperm contained in the cup to be splashed to neighboring stalks by falling water droplets.
Mosses can be either dioicous (compare dioecious in seed plants) or monoicous (compare monoecious). In dioicous mosses, male and female sex organs are borne on different gametophyte plants. In monoicous (also called autoicous) mosses, both are borne on the same plant. In the presence of water, sperm from the antheridia swim to the archegonia and fertilisation occurs, leading to the production of a diploid sporophyte. The sperm of mosses is biflagellate, i.e. they have two flagellae that aid in propulsion. Since the sperm must swim to the archegonium, fertilisation cannot occur without water. Some species (for example Mnium hornum or several species of Polytrichum) keep their antheridia in so called'splash cups', bowl-like structures on the shoot tips that propel the sperm several decimeters when water droplets hit it, increasing the fertilization distance.[7]
After fertilisation, the immature sporophyte pushes its way out of the archegonial venter. It takes about a quarter to half a year for the sporophyte to mature. The sporophyte body comprises a long stalk, called a seta, and a capsule capped by a cap called the operculum. The capsule and operculum are in turn sheathed by a haploid calyptra which is the remains of the archegonial venter. The calyptra usually falls off when the capsule is mature. Within the capsule, spore-producing cells undergo meiosis to form haploid spores, upon which the cycle can start again. The mouth of the capsule is usually ringed by a set of teeth called peristome. This may be absent in some mosses.
Most mosses rely on the wind to disperse the spores. In the genus Sphagnum the spores are projected about 10–20 cm (4–8 in) off the ground by compressed air contained in the capsules; the spores are accelerated to about 36,000 times the earth's gravitational acceleration g.[8][9]
A patch of moss showing both gametophytes (the low, leaf-like forms) and sporophytes (the tall, stalk-like forms)
It has recently been found that microarthropods, such as springtails and mites, can effect moss fertilization[10] and that this process is mediated by moss-emitted scents. Male and female fire moss, for example emit different and complex volatile organic scents.[11] Female plants emit more compounds than male plants. Springtails were found to choose female plants preferentially, and one study found that springtails enhance moss fertilization, suggesting a scent-mediated relationship analogous to the plant-pollinator relationship found in many seed plants.[11] The stinkmoss species Splachnum sphaericum develops insect pollination further by attracting flies to its sporangia with a strong smell of carrion, and providing a strong visual cue in the form of red-coloured swollen collars beneath each spore capsule. Flies attracted to the moss carry its spores to fresh herbivore dung, which is the favoured habitat of the species of this genus.[12]
In many mosses, e.g. Ulota phyllantha, green vegetative structures called gemmae are produced on leaves or branches, which can break off and form new plants without the need to go through the cycle of fertilization. This is a means of asexual reproduction, and the genetically identical units can lead to the formation of clonal populations.
Dwarf males
Moss dwarf males (also known as nannandry or phyllodioicy) originate from wind-dispersed male spores that settle and germinate on the female shoot where their growth is restricted to a few millimeters. In some species, dwarfness is genetically determined, in that all male spores become dwarf.[13] More often, however, it is environmentally determined in that male spores that land on a female become dwarf, while those that land elsewhere develop into large, female-sized males.[13][14][15][16] In the latter case, dwarf males that are transplanted from females to another substrate develop into large shoots, suggesting that the females emit a substance which inhibits the growth of germinating males and possibly also quickens their onset of sexual maturation.[15][16] The nature of such a substance is unknown, but the phytohormone auxin may be involved[13]
Having the males growing as dwarfs on the female is expected to increase the fertilization efficiency by minimizing the distance between male and female reproductive organs. Accordingly, it has been observed that fertilization frequency is positively associated with the presence of dwarf males in several phyllodioicous species.[17][18]
Dwarf males occur in several unrelated lineages[18][19] and is showing to be more common than previously thought.[18] For example, it is estimated that between one quarter and half of all dioicous pleurocarps have dwarf males.[18]
DNA repair
The moss Physcomitrella patens has been used as a model organism to study how plants repair damage to their DNA, especially the repair mechanism known as homologous recombination. If the plant cannot repair DNA damage, e.g. double-strand breaks, in their somatic cells, the cells can lose normal functions or die. If this occurs during meiosis (part of sexual reproduction), they could become infertile. The genome of P. patens has been sequenced, which has allowed several genes involved in DNA repair to be identified.[20] P. patens mutants that are defective in key steps of homologous recombination have been used to work out how the repair mechanism functions in plants. For example, a study of P. patens mutants defective in RpRAD51, a gene that encodes a protein at the core of the recombinational repair reaction, indicated that homologous recombination is essential for repairing DNA double-strand breaks in this plant.[21] Similarly, studies of mutants defective in Ppmre11 or Pprad50 (that encode key proteins of the MRN complex, the principal sensor of DNA double-strand breaks) showed that these genes are necessary for repair of DNA damage as well as for normal growth and development.[22]
Classification
Traditionally, mosses were grouped with the liverworts and hornworts in the division Bryophyta (bryophytes, or Bryophyta sensu lato), within which the mosses made up the class Musci. However, this definition of Bryophyta was paraphyletic, as the mosses appear to be more closely related to vascular plants than to liverworts. Bryophytes are now split among three divisions: Bryophyta, Marchantiophyta and Anthocerotophyta. The current circumscription of Bryophyta includes only the mosses.
The mosses, now division Bryophyta (Bryophyta sensu stricto), are divided into eight classes:
Six of the eight classes contain only one or two genera each. Polytrichopsida includes 23 genera, and Bryopsida includes the majority of moss diversity with over 95% of moss species belonging to this class.
The Sphagnopsida, the peat-mosses, comprise the two living genera Ambuchanania and Sphagnum, as well as fossil taxa. However, the genus Sphagnum is a diverse, widespread, and economically important one. These large mosses form extensive acidic bogs in peat swamps. The leaves of Sphagnum have large dead cells alternating with living photosynthetic cells. The dead cells help to store water. Aside from this character, the unique branching, thallose (flat and expanded) protonema, and explosively rupturing sporangium place it apart from other mosses.
Andreaeopsida and Andreaeobryopsida are distinguished by the biseriate (two rows of cells) rhizoids, multiseriate (many rows of cells) protonema, and sporangium that splits along longitudinal lines. Most mosses have capsules that open at the top.
Polytrichopsida have leaves with sets of parallel lamellae, flaps of chloroplast-containing cells that look like the fins on a heat sink. These carry out photosynthesis and may help to conserve moisture by partially enclosing the gas exchange surfaces. The Polytrichopsida differ from other mosses in other details of their development and anatomy too, and can also become larger than most other mosses, with e.g. Polytrichum commune forming cushions up to 40 cm (16 in) high. The tallest land moss, a member of the Polytrichidae is probably Dawsonia superba, a native to New Zealand and other parts of Australasia.
Geological history
The fossil record of moss is sparse, due to their soft-walled and fragile nature. Unambiguous moss fossils have been recovered from as early as the Permian of Antarctica and Russia, and a case is put forwards for Carboniferous mosses.[24] It has further been claimed that tube-like fossils from the Silurian are the macerated remains of moss calyptræ.[25] Mosses also appear to evolve 2–3 times slower than ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms.[26]
Recent research show that ancient moss could explain why the Ordovician ice ages occurred. When the ancestors of today's moss started to spread on land 470 million years ago, they absorbed CO 2 from the atmosphere and extracted minerals by secreting organic acids that dissolved the rocks they were growing on. These chemically altered rocks in turn reacted with the atmospheric CO 2 and formed new carbonate rocks in the ocean through the weathering of calcium and magnesium ions from silicate rocks. The weathered rocks also released a lot of phosphorus and iron which ended up in the oceans, where it caused massive algal blooms, resulting in organic carbon burial, extracting more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Small organisms feeding on the nutrients created large areas without oxygen, which caused a mass extinction of marine species, while the levels of CO 2 dropped all over the world, allowing the formation of ice caps on the poles.[27][28]
Ecology
Habitat
Dense moss colonies in a cool coastal forest
Moss with sporophytes on brick
A closeup of moss on a rock
Tortula muralis (wall screw-moss) Young sporophytes of the common moss(wall screw-moss)
A small clump of moss.
The moss garden at the Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, Washington State.
Since moss gametophytes are autotrophic they require enough sunlight to perform photosynthesis.[29] Shade tolerance varies by species, just as it does with higher plants. In most areas, mosses grow chiefly in areas of dampness and shade, such as wooded areas and at the edges of streams; but they can grow anywhere in cool damp cloudy climates, and some species are adapted to sunny, seasonally dry areas like alpine rocks or stabilized sand dunes.
Choice of substrate varies by species as well. Moss species can be classed as growing on: rocks, exposed mineral soil, disturbed soils, acid soil, calcareous soil, cliff seeps and waterfall spray areas, streamsides, shaded humusy soil, downed logs, burnt stumps, tree trunk bases, upper tree trunks, and tree branches or in bogs. Moss species growing on or under trees are often specific about the species of trees they grow on, such as preferring conifers to broadleaf trees, oaks to alders, or vice versa.[6] While mosses often grow on trees as epiphytes, they are never parasitic on the tree.
Mosses are also found in cracks between paving stones in damp city streets, and on roofs. Some species adapted to disturbed, sunny areas are well adapted to urban conditions and are commonly found in cities. Examples would be Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus, a garden weed in Vancouver and Seattle areas; Bryum argenteum, the cosmopolitan sidewalk moss, and Ceratodon purpureus, red roof moss, another cosmopolitan species. A few species are wholly aquatic, such as Fontinalis antipyretica, common water moss; and others such as Sphagnum inhabit bogs, marshes and very slow-moving waterways.[6] Such aquatic or semi-aquatic mosses can greatly exceed the normal range of lengths seen in terrestrial mosses. Individual plants 20–30 cm (8–12 in) or more long are common in Sphagnum species for example.
Wherever they occur, mosses require liquid water for at least part of the year to complete fertilisation. Many mosses can survive desiccation, sometimes for months, returning to life within a few hours of rehydration.[29]
It is generally believed that in northern latitudes, the north side of trees and rocks will generally have more luxuriant moss growth on average than other sides.[30] This is assumed to be because the sun on the south side creates a dry environment. South of the equator the reverse would be true. However, naturalists feel that mosses grow on the damper side of trees and rocks.[5] In some cases, such as sunny climates in temperate northern latitudes, this will be the shaded north side of the tree or rock. On steep slopes it may be the uphill side. For mosses that grow on tree branches, this is generally the upper side of the branch on horizontally growing sections or near the crotch. In cool damp cloudy climates, all sides of tree trunks and rocks may be equally damp enough for mosses. And different species of mosses have different moisture and sun requirements so will grow on different sections of the same tree or rock.
Moss-cyanobacteria relationship
In boreal forests, some species of moss play an important role in providing nitrogen for the ecosystem due to their relationship with nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria colonizes moss and receives shelter in return for providing fixed nitrogen. Moss releases the fixed nitrogen, along with other nutrients, into the soil "upon disturbances like drying-rewetting and fire events," making it available throughout the ecosystem.[31]
Cultivation
Moss is often considered a weed in grass lawns, but is deliberately encouraged to grow under aesthetic principles exemplified by Japanese gardening. In old temple gardens, moss can carpet a forest scene. Moss is thought to add a sense of calm, age, and stillness to a garden scene. Moss is also used in bonsai to cover the soil and enhance the impression of age.[32] Rules of cultivation are not widely established. Moss collections are quite often begun using samples transplanted from the wild in a water-retaining bag. However, specific species of moss can be extremely difficult to maintain away from their natural sites with their unique requirements of combinations of light, humidity, substrate chemistry, shelter from wind, etc.
Growing moss from spores is even less controlled. Moss spores fall in a constant rain on exposed surfaces; those surfaces which are hospitable to a certain species of moss will typically be colonised by that moss within a few years of exposure to wind and rain. Materials which are porous and moisture retentive, such as brick, wood, and certain coarse concrete mixtures, are hospitable to moss. Surfaces can also be prepared with acidic substances, including buttermilk, yogurt, urine, and gently puréed mixtures of moss samples, water and ericaceous compost.
In the cool cloudy damp Pacific Northwest, moss is sometimes allowed to grow naturally as a lawn substitute, one that needs little or no mowing, fertilizing or watering. In this case, grass is considered to be the weed.[33] Landscapers in the Seattle area sometimes collect boulders and downed logs growing mosses for installation in gardens and landscapes. Woodland gardens in many parts of the world can include a carpet of natural mosses.[29] The Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, Washington State, is famous for its moss garden. The moss garden was created by removing shrubby underbrush and herbaceous groundcovers, thinning trees, and allowing mosses to fill in naturally.[34]
Mosses are sometimes used in green roofs. Advantages of mosses over higher plants in green roofs include reduced weight loads, increased water absorption, no fertilizer requirements, and high drought tolerance. Since mosses do not have true roots, they require less planting medium than higher plants with extensive root systems. With proper species selection for the local climate, mosses in green roofs require no irrigation once established and are low maintenance.[35]
Inhibiting moss growth
Moss can be a troublesome weed in containerized nursery operations and greenhouses.[36] Vigorous moss growth can inhibit seedling emergence and penetration of water and fertilizer to the plant roots.
Moss growth can be inhibited by a number of methods:
Decreasing availability of water through drainage.
Increasing direct sunlight.
Increasing number and resources available for competitive plants like grasses.
Increasing the soil pH with the application of lime.
Heavy traffic or manually disturbing the moss bed with a rake
Application of chemicals such as ferrous sulfate (e.g. in lawns) or bleach (e.g. on solid surfaces).
In containerized nursery operations, coarse mineral materials such as sand, gravel, and rock chips are used as a fast-draining top dressing in plant containers to discourage moss growth.
The application of products containing ferrous sulfate or ferrous ammonium sulfate will kill moss; these ingredients are typically in commercial moss control products and fertilizers. Sulfur and Iron are essential nutrients for some competing plants like grasses. Killing moss will not prevent regrowth unless conditions favorable to their growth are changed.[37]
Mossery
A passing fad for moss-collecting in the late 19th century led to the establishment of mosseries in many British and American gardens. The mossery is typically constructed out of slatted wood, with a flat roof, open to the north side (maintaining shade). Samples of moss were installed in the cracks between wood slats. The whole mossery would then be regularly moistened to maintain growth.
Uses
Traditional
Preindustrial societies made use of the mosses growing in their areas.
Laplanders, North American tribes, and other circumpolar people used mosses for bedding.[5][29] Mosses have also been used as insulation both for dwellings and in clothing. Traditionally, dried moss was used in some Nordic countries and Russia as an insulator between logs in log cabins, and tribes of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada used moss to fill chinks in wooden longhouses.[29] Circumpolar and alpine peoples have used mosses for insulation in boots and mittens. Ötzi the Iceman had moss-packed boots.[29]
The capacity dried mosses have to absorb fluids, has made their use practical in both medical and culinary uses. North American tribal people used mosses for diapers, wound dressing, and menstrual fluid absorption.[29] Tribes of the Pacific Northwest in the United States and Canada used mosses to clean salmon prior to drying, and packed wet moss into pit ovens for steaming camas bulbs. Food storage baskets and boiling baskets were also packed with mosses.[29]
Commercial
There is a substantial market in mosses gathered from the wild. The uses for intact moss are principally in the florist trade and for home decoration. Decaying moss in the genus Sphagnum is also the major component of peat, which is "mined" for use as a fuel, as a horticultural soil additive, and in smoking malt in the production of Scotch whisky.
Sphagnum moss, generally the species S. cristatum and S. subnitens, is harvested while still growing and is dried out to be used in nurseries and horticulture as a plant growing medium.
The practice of harvesting peat moss should not be confused with the harvesting of moss peat. Peat moss can be harvested on a sustainable basis and managed so that regrowth is allowed, whereas the harvesting of moss peat is generally considered to cause significant environmental damage as the peat is stripped with little or no chance of recovery.[citation needed]
Some Sphagnum mosses can absorb up to 20 times their own weight in water.[38] In World War I, Sphagnum mosses were used as first-aid dressings on soldiers' wounds, as these mosses said to absorb liquids three times faster than cotton, retain liquids better, better distribute liquids uniformly throughout themselves, and are cooler, softer, and be less irritating.[38] It is also claimed to have antibacterial properties.[39] Native Americans were one of the peoples to use Sphagnum for diapers and napkins, which is still done in Canada.[40]
In rural UK, Fontinalis antipyretica was traditionally used to extinguish fires as it could be found in substantial quantities in slow-moving rivers and the moss retained large volumes of water which helped extinguish the flames. This historical use is reflected in its specific Latin/Greek name, the approximate meaning of which is "against fire".
In Finland, peat mosses have been used to make bread during famines.[41] In Mexico, Moss is used as a Christmas decoration.
Physcomitrella patens is increasingly used in biotechnology. Prominent examples are the identification of moss genes with implications for crop improvement or human health[42] and the safe production of complex biopharmaceuticals in the moss bioreactor, developed by Ralf Reski and his co-workers.[43]
See also
ReferencesIf you can pinpoint an origin of this thing – this unending feedback loop, this nth generation Xerox copy, anime influenced by nothing but other anime, multiple-decade-long cycle of shit – it’s probably at a coffee shop in Osaka, around 1981, by a group of nerds who would eventually call themselves “Gainax” – a name virtually devoid of meaning, chosen because it “sounded good.”
These future college dropouts were pop culture junkies, influenced not by Kurosawa, Ozu and Welles, but Star Wars, Gundam and tokusatsu. Intensely apolitical and untouched by the war and occupation, they thought of military machines not as tools of terror, but things of beauty. Solidly middle-class (and of the first generation in Japan where such a thing existed), they enjoyed a protracted adolescence unimaginable by their creative predecessors.
And so the works of this by-fans-for-fans studio, from their earliest animated and live-action shorts to the mega-hit Evangelion, were filled with structures, archetypes, references and in-jokes, that, for the first time, were cribbed directly from other Japanese animation.
These were fans who, at the very least, decided to get off the couch and make something, and make they did: shorts, OVAs, video games, toy shops, and eventually, just about the biggest hit the anime world has ever seen. So while they might be the most visible embodiment of that post-Yamato otaku culture, they also preached and practiced something that was inherently un-otaku: making something of your own.
Like many artists who start unfortunate trends, Gainax are insulated by this simple fact: they did it first, and they did it really well.
There’s been plenty of ink spilled talking about Gainax and especially about Evangelion, but the first decade of their existence was littered with failed projects, weird ideas and the surprisingly mundane. This is the secret history of Gainax.
THE PRE-OTAKU GENERATION
By the start of the 1980s, the anime industry was changing. A demographic shift, spurred by the popularity of Space Battleship Yamato and Mobile Suit Gundam had created the beginnings of what we’d think of as otaku–they just hadn’t started calling themselves that, yet. Anime was still for young children, but these two shows helped carve out a new audience of fans in their teens and early 20s. Once those young fans started getting older, they decided that they wanted to start making their own anime, too.
Space Dimension Fortress Macross really got that ball rolling in 1982. Created by a group of young fans who had come together and created a Gundam doujinshi called Gunsight, Macross was the first solid example that this new generation of anime fan was working their way to the top; not just working in anime–creating anime. While Gainax would later be known as the studio that was “by fans, for fans,” Macross had sort of done it first.
Plenty of young people creators got their professional start on Macross, but for the purpose of this article it’s worth pointing out one in particular: a young key animator named Hideaki Anno.
Under the supervision of Studio Nue, Tatsunoko and Noburo Ishiguro, young creators like Shoji Kawamori and Haruhiko Mikimoto infused Macross with an energy and modernity that both Yamato and Gundam lacked. On the surface it was stuff like characters wearing realistic clothing, or a giant robot that looked a lot like an F-14 Tomcat, but more than that it was animators and creators coming up weren’t the old guard, trained in the halls of Mushi Production or Toei, they were fans who had grown up with anime.
Prologue and Twilight
Here’s where the Gainax story begins in earnest: In 1981, a group of Osaka-based anime fans operating out of Kinki University applied to host the Japan Sci-Fi Convention, a convention that was held each year in a different city. Their bid was successful and marked the third time that the convention would be held in Osaka. Tradition dictated that the Japan Sci-Fi Convention have a new nickname every year, related to where it was held, and previous and the two prior Osaka events had been called “Daicon,” a pun referring to the kanji used to spell “Osaka” and a type of Japanese radish. The 1981 event was to be called Daicon III.
While the Japan Sci-Fi Convention accommodated all aspects of sci-fi fandom, the group of organizing fans, lead by Yasuhiro Takeda and Toshio Okada, decided that their convention needed an animated short for the opening ceremonies. Takeda and Okada soon got in contact with another local fan, Anno, after hearing that he knew how to animate. At their first meeting, Anno impressed Takeda and Okada by quickly illustrating a flip book of a powered suit in action. As production began in a small room attached to a factory owned by Okada’s family, two more local fans joined: Takami Akai and Hiroyuki Yamaga. Faced with a minuscule budget and looking for ways to cut costs, the amateurs animated the thing entirely on vinyl sheets instead of the traditional acetate.
The result was a 5 ½ minute love letter to the science fiction they loved; including references to everything from Yamato and Ultraman to Star Wars and Star Trek. It was so popular that when Osaka hosted the Japan Sci-Fi Convention again two years later in 1983, Takeda, Okada and crew got together and did it all over again while calling themselves Daicon Film. The Daicon IV video surpassed the original in both technical ability and ambition, having upgraded to acetate cels and featuring a more refined art style and even more in-jokes and references.
While the Daicon shorts helped make what was to become Gainax famous, over the years they’ve become notorious for how fast and loose Takeda and Okada played with legal concerns. Both the Playboy bunny suit design and the unauthorized use of music by the band ELO would make a widespread home video release impossible, although limited releases on VHS and laserdisc managed to make it out under the radar. In particular was the laserdisc release of both shorts, called Daicon III & IV Opening Animation, which was technically a bonus item accompanying a book about the animation’s production.
Of Rubber Monsters and Men
While Gainax is invariably remembered as an anime studio created by anime fans, the period in-between the two Daicon videos is a reminder that these guys loved more than just animation. After Daicon III, the group formed Daicon Film and worked on a series of amateur tokousatsu films, drawing particular influence from Ultraman.
The first of these was released a year after Daicon III and was titled Kaiketsu Notenki (thus providing the origin of the title of Takeda’s book, The Notenki Memoirs). Two more films followed in the gap prior to Daicon IV: Aikoku Sentai Dainippon and Kaettekita Ultraman. While these projects started off as low-budget parodies, production values increased as they tackled new projects, including two more films in 1984, Kaiketsu Notenki 2 – Minatomachi Junjo-hen and Hayauchi Ken no Daiboken.
Their final live action film, Yamata no Orochi no Gyakusha, was released in December of 1985, and featured special effects and production values that bordered on professional. Orochi was directed by Akai and shot on 16mm, a significant step up from the earlier films that used 8mm. That jump alone suggested some degree of professionalism, as 16mm was the same film used by professional tokusatsu shows.
While Orochi’s crew was comprised of unpaid volunteers, much of the production material and supplies were funded by General Products, a reminder of the intimate relationship between the two companies even before merging five years later.
By the time Orochi was enjoying a limited theatrical release, Daicon Film was in the midst of a massive transition, as the studio was moving from Osaka to Tokyo to facilitate the production of a pilot film for a project called Royal Space Force. They were also changing their name from Daicon Film to Gainax, a name that means effectively nothing, but has it’s roots in both the film Orochi and co-founder Akai’s past.
Orochi had been filmed in Akai’s hometown of Yonago, where, in the local dialect, “gaina” means “big.” Combine that colloquialism with the most famous giant robot letter of the them all, X, and you’ve got “Gainax.”
The company’s roots to Yonago and Orochi run deeper than most would expect: Years later, Gainax would organize their own convention called “Gainamatsuri,” where, in 1995, they would announce the release of Neon Genesis Evangelion. But ten years before that ever happened, the Gaina Matsuri was a very real local festival that occurred in Yonago and, of course, was featured in Orochi.
With improved visual effects and a decision to ditch the parody angle, Orochi proved, much like their Daicon shorts, that these guys had as much potential in live-action as they did with animation. Potential or not, things were about to change, as a generous offer from Bandai steered them back towards animation.
GENERAL PRODUCTS
In addition to producing the opening animation for Daicon III in 1981, the proto-Gainax groups had also sold resin garage kits at the convention. Unlike conventional injection-molded kits, like the wildly popular Gundam kits that were causing mayhem at stores across Japan around the same time, garage kits were kits designed and produced by small outfits, usually with extremely limited manufacturing runs. These kits were often only available for a limited time, and typically only sold at specific conventions; a tradition that continues today with events like Wonder Festival. The success of their kit sales at Daicon III led to the group establishing General Products in 1982 with the intention of producing licensed models based on popular franchises.
Today, conventions like Wonder Festival operate on the notion of one-day licenses where kit manufacturers are granted permission to sell for one day only. In the early 1980s things were different and garage kits were largely unlicensed. General Products was the first company to secure actual licensing to produce kits based on big name properties like Godzilla.
Founded as a branch of Okada’s family business, General Products and Daicon Film (later Gainax) remained distinctly separate entities until they officially merged in 1990. As Gainax’s profile increased in the later half of the 1980s, General Products did double duty; producing merchandise based on Gainax creations while still pursuing licenses from other companies.
In addition to simply creating what we’d think of today as “character goods,” General Products operated its own shops in Osaka and Shibuya and helped organize the first Wonder Festival in 1985. The show was successful enough that another one was held later that same year, starting the tradition of a Winter and Summer Wonder Festival each year.
General Products remained the primary sponsor of the event until 1992, when the kit manufacturer Kaiyodo took control during the Summer 1992 show. Still held twice a year at Chiba’s monstrous Makuhari Messe convention center just outside of Tokyo, Wonder Festival continues to specialize in licensed garage kits and figures.
While Gainax and General Products would later merge, the General Products name was only used for a brief period by Gainax following the merger and would eventually be dropped from use. In 2012, the name was resurrected for a new Gainax-owned shop opening in the town of Yonago.
ROYAL SPACE FORCE, Honneamise and Star Quest
After Daicon IV wrapped, Daicon Film approached Bandai with a proposal to animate an OVA based on a new line of Gundam model kits called Mobile Suit Variation (MSV). Designed to fill the void until a new Gundam series was released, MSV kits weren’t based on designs seen in the original TV series, but were instead altered versions of familiar designs with different roles and backstories, fleshed out with all-new characters piloting them.
While Bandai was interested in working with Daicon Film, they weren’t interested in a Gundam OVA, and instead proposed that they tackle a theatrical film project instead. By 1984 the Japanese economy was taking off and big-budget animated films like Hayao Mizayaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Macross: Do You Remember Love? were hitting theaters. Bandai wanted a piece of that.
Work began on Royal Space Force with a generous budget of 800,000,000 yen. In 1985 dollars that was about U.S. $3.5 million, but this was back when the exchange rate was around 240 yen/$1, versus today’s 125 yen/$1 rate. In any case, it was a lot of money.
On Christmas Eve, 1984, Gainax was incorporated to facilitate the production of their new film. Daicon Film was no more.
While the addition of “Honneamise” to the rather drably-titled Royal Space Force has been explained for years within anime fandom as a suggestion by Bandai to help cash in on trend of films with made up, fantastic titles (like Nausicaä), the origin behind Star Quest is a bit more interesting.
After production wrapped on the film, Gainax attempted to shop it around for release in the U.S., eventually ending up in the hands of a company called Go East Productions. Retitled Star Quest, dubbed in English and severely rewritten, Star Quest premiered in 1987 at Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and then promptly disappeared.
GAINAX Comes to the U.S. (Sorta)
With noted anime fan Lea Hernandez in charge, the creation of General Products USA (GPUSA) was announced during the 1989 convention season. The company’s business model was built around two focuses: operating a mail order service in the U.S. and offering purchasing services for fans eager to get their hands on specific merchandise in Japan.
At least, that was the plan.
According to anime historian Fred Patten in his book Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews, U.S. fans at the time really only wanted merchandise from older properties, thanks to the lag-time of popular shows making their way across the Pacific. These older products were harder to track down and usually out of print in Japan, making it difficult for General Products to fulfill shopping request orders.
In the Spring of 1990, Hernandez resigned and turned over leadership of the U.S. side to Shon Howell and Craig York. According to Patten, Howell continued to try and convince the Japanese side to change their business model until he resigned at the end of 1991.
Making matters worse, the Japanese side had assumed, incorrectly, that U.S. fans would be so desperate for anime merchandise they’d purchase anything they’d ship over. The GPUSA catalog was stocked with merchandise from shows that Western fans either didn’t know, hadn’t seen yet, or simply didn’t care about. Either way you interpret it, as an excuse to drop unsold merchandise on U.S. fans or a misguided assumption that those same |
ting three binding rulings Conabio, CONANP and INE, which advised against planting of genetically modified soy in marked polygons.One of the many delights of the hedgehog is how incredibly weird they can be. It’s been said that one of the biggest problems encountered when attempting to do a scientific survey of the species is the difficulty of stating any generalizations about them. The males may be bolder than the females… except for these females. The females may typically be larger than the males, but here are some big boned boys. It seems that the hedgehog endlessly contradicts any attempts at classification. But isn’t that part of their wonder?
Every hedgehog owner has their stories of just how odd their hedgie’s behavior is! For instance, our boy Sebastian has a a very special distinction that none of our other hedgies quite have. When we first rescued him, he was often just a spiky ball of quills. He refused to open up to us – not for treats, not for food, not for anything. We even set him down with one of our females. Would he open up to say hi to her? She licked his quills and he complained in huffs and growls that really, really confused the girl. She eventually gave up. He seemed satisfied then. As satisfied as a ball of spikes can be.
There was only one way to get him to uncurl for any amount of time. The uncurling was important, as it let us feel his belly to see if his fever had broken and touch him more so he could gradually get acclimated to it. Nowadays Sebastian is a very playful, much more gentle individual. He enjoys being held to some degree, enjoys cuddling much more when we don’t touch him. He’s mouthy, much more vocal than the others. He’s still quite a piece of work, but at least now he’s healthy and a good pet. And he’s still extremely, extremely ticklish.
More than any of our other hedgies Sebastian enjoys being tickled. He stretches out into it and uncurls from a ball. He relaxes into it to the point that sometimes his front legs are up above his head and his eyes are shut in an expression of bliss. It works on both sides – between his shoulders and near the base of his spine. It’s utterly ridiculous. He stops complaining when we do it, and sort of flops back and lets us have at it. It’s truly an experience, tickling a hedgehog.
This trick can be especially helpful at the vet. If you have a hedgehog that complains during its annual visit, I recommend you give tickling a try. A tentative try. The spines can be difficult to work your fingers between, but practice does make perfect. Sometimes even just rubbing the tips with your fingers can initiate this sort of response.
I warn that this trick won’t always work, but when it does it’s truly hilarious to see.
AdvertisementsScores of dogs have been rescued from an "atrocious" meat farm in South Korea, where animal rights activists claim they had been destined to be electrocuted and cooked in soup.
More than 170 of the creatures were freed from squalid conditions in cramped wire cages at a facility in Namyangju, around 15 miles north-east of Seoul, according to the Humane Society International (HSI).
Golden retrievers, spaniels, beagles, greyhounds, Korean jindos and mastiffs were among the dogs released from captivity.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
Many of the dogs were found to be suffering from eye infections, skin disease, and painful leg and paw sores after spending their entire lives exposed to the elements in tiny cages without veterinary care, HSI said.
They had been destined to be electrocuted at local markets or slaughterhouses, but will now be flown to Canada, the US and the UK for care and rehabilitation at animal shelters, it added.
An estimated 2.5 million puppies are bred for human consumption in South Korea each year, with many eaten in a spicy dish called bosintang.
But nation's younger generation is less accepting of the canine meat trade and animal rights groups are working to shut down farms.
“As a Korean myself, I’m hugely proud to be able to save these beautiful dogs and stop their daily suffering," said Nara Kim, HSI’s South Korea dog meat campaigner. "Most people in South Korea have no idea how atrocious these dog meat farms are and what physical and mental misery these animals go through."
She added: "I feel privileged to be able to show these dogs that humans can be kind not just cruel, and to make them feel safe and loved for the first time in their lives. Eating dog is already a declining habit in South Korea, but if people could see the sorrow of these dogs and the disgusting unhygienic conditions in which they’re raised, I think even more people would stop eating it.”
HSI has freed 1,222 dogs from 10 farms since it began campaigning in South Korea three years ago. It said activists worked closely with farmers to help them find alternative, humane livelihoods.
The farmer in Namyangju, named only as Kim, is to set up a construction business and use his land to grow vegetables.
"I originally started farming dogs because I heard it would make money, but now in South Korea even in the summer the trade has reduced by about one third," he said. "I also have a young child, and the dog farming business won’t look good for her because she really likes dogs."
HSI’s president, Kitty Block, said: “I’ve worked in animal protection for many years but I can tell you, seeing these dog farms for myself has been one of the most emotionally confronting things I’ve ever done."
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe nowAs I posted a week ago today, Jonathan Adler and I have a paper titled, “Taxation Without Representation: The Illegal IRS Rule to Expand Tax Credits Under the PPACA.” Our central claims are:
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act explicitly restricts its “premium-assistance tax credits” (and thus the “cost-sharing subsidies” and employer- and individual-mandate penalties those tax credits trigger) to health insurance “exchanges” established by states; The IRS has no authority to offer those entitlements or impose those taxes in states that opt not to create Exchanges; and The IRS’s ongoing attempt to impose those taxes and issue those entitlements through Exchanges established by the federal government is contrary to congressional intent and the clear language of the Act.
We hope to post an updated draft of our paper, with lots of new material, soon.
At the Disability Law blog and Balkinization, University of Michigan law professor Samuel Bagenstos writes that our claims are “deeply legally flawed.”
Like others before him, Bagenstos’s main argument in support of the IRS reduces to the absurd claim that the federal government can establish an Exchange that is established by a state. He also offers two new arguments. Each is a non sequitur, and like his main argument is contradicted by the express language of the statute.
As I have written before:
[T]he statute is crystal clear. It explicitly and laboriously restricts tax credits to those who buy health insurance in Exchanges “established by the State under section 1311.” There is no parallel language – none whatsoever – granting eligibility through Exchanges established by the federal government (section 1321).
(Bagenstos claims the statute’s tax-credit-eligibility provisions use the phrase “established by the State under section 1311” only twice. He neglects to mention: how the eligibility provisions refer to those limiting phrases an additional five times; that there is no language contradicting or creating any ambiguity about the limitation they create; and that the statute also restricts its “cost-sharing subsidies” to situations where “a credit is allowed” under those eligibility rules. At the risk of repeating myself, the eligibility rules for the credits and subsidies are so tightly worded, they seem designed to prevent precisely what the IRS is trying to do.)
Bagenstos correctly notes that Section 1321 directs the federal government to create Exchanges within states that fail to create their own. Like others before him, he takes that directive to mean that the phrase “established by the State under section 1311” in fact ”does not have the exclusionary meaning” you might think. The statute authorizes tax credits through federal Exchanges, he argues, because federal Exchanges are ”established by the State under section 1311.” The federal government, it turns out, can establish an Exchange that is established by a state.
Like others before him, Bagenstos finesses the absurdity of that claim by arguing that Section 1321 provides that a federal Exchange ”will stand in the shoes of a state-operated exchange.” So far as I can tell, the “stand in the shoes” trope was first advanced by Judy Solomon of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. It is based on a 180-degree misreading of Section 1321. If a state chooses not to dance, Section 1321 doesn’t instruct the federal government to step inside (read: commandeer) the state’s dancing shoes. It directs the federal government put on its own dancing shoes, and to follow all the dance steps listed in Title I. Since the language restricting tax credits to state-created Exchanges appears in—you guessed it—Title I, federal Exchanges are bound by that restriction.
Bagenstos’s second argument is that since it was not necessary for Congress to restrict tax credits to state-created Exchanges to overcome the “commandeering problem,” the statute does not do so. But that’s a non sequitur. Just because Congress didn’t have to do something doesn’t mean Congress didn’t do it. The express language of the statute says Congress did it.
Bagenstos’s third argument is that because the Senate Finance Committee didn’t have to restrict tax credits to state-created Exchanges in order to have jurisdiction to direct states to create them, the Committee-approved language—which is now law—must not do so. Again, that’s a non sequitur. And not only does the express language of the statute impose that restriction, but Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) admitted that’s what he was doing.
Along the way, Bagenstos contradicts himself, Baucus, and Timothy Jost by categorically claiming, “Nor is there any reason to think that Congress would have intended to treat participants in state- and federally-operated exchanges differently,” while conceding the commandeering problem and the Finance Committee’s limited jurisdiction are two reasons why Congress might have intended to do so.
Bagenstos’s interpretation of the statute violates the “mere surplusage” canon of statutory interpretation. It violates the expressio unius est exclusio alterius canon of statutory interpretation. It violates common sense.
Like others before him, Bagenstos offers no rebuttal to Baucus’s admission that the statute means exactly what it says, and nothing whatsoever from the legislative history that supports the IRS’s attempt to violate the express language of the statute by imposing taxes that Congress never authorized.Other pages for this artwork cycle:
Ubuntu Sun
As some people like dark themes and some people like bright themes, why not combine them into one set of matching themes with different shades? This theme is based on the idea of having the sun shine into your windows. Could there be a better leitmotiv for the window design of a lucid release?
Concept
The user can choose between three different moods of the theme, representing different positions of the sun and thus different levels of brightness: Dawn, Day and Dusk. Each consists of a custom Metacity theme and a GTK theme using the Murrine engine.
Download Theme
Here you can download the current version of this theme.
You can also look at ingolemo's version which has been created independently from this one. It can be found here on GNOME-Look.org.
Screenshots
All versions
Here you can also download older versions of the theme.
Mockups - rev.3
PNG files: Dawn Day Dusk
Source files (Inkscape SVG): Dawn Day Dusk
Older Mockups - rev. 2
PNG files: Dawn Day Dusk
Source files (Inkscape SVG): Dawn Day Dusk
Older mockups - rev. 1
PNG file: Dawn Source file (Inkscape SVG): Dawn
I guess Dawn would fit best to be used as a default, but it should be made easy for the user to choose one of the others - or create their own by modifying the colors of an existing one.
Contributions
--
I really would like to see this concept as default themes in Lucid.
One thing I would change is adding a subtle outline (resembling the current buttons) to the x button to make it appear larger, like so:
Although we know we can hit anywhere in the general region and close the window, we interpret it as easier if the target is bigger. Plus I just think it would look better if the button were more defined.
My only real concerns are that the light blue titlebar on "Day" looks too much like vista basic and the dark grey of "Dawn" has a windows 98 feel to it.
-- jtkese 2009-11-21 23:13:06
Thank you! I like your idea of the outline and also like its resemblance to the current buttons, but I don't know yet how the minimize/maximize buttons could be integrated with it - I'd rather not have three buttons up there as it might look a bit heavy. So I tried to seperate the close button by a small line, but I don't know if that's a good solution, the outline would probably still be better.
If I look at the "Dawn" version again, I agree that the background looks a bit like Windows 95/98 or Motif. I've added a little touch of brown/orange to it to change that, but maybe there are other possibilities to improve it.
I don't know if "Day" looks like Vista Basic (I've never used Vista...), and I don't know what to do about it. The title bar could be changed to also be orange, but I think that would not be very day-like (and I know that many people like blue title bars, so if they choose Day, they could have their blue title and still a consistent ubuntu interface).
-- plippo 2009-11-23 11:13:26 The small line separating the close button from the rest looks fine under normal circumstances, but I prefer my close, minimize, maximize buttons on the left side, so the small line appears on the very end of the border. I think an outline would work much better. -- eddie.ringle 2009-12-23 17:29:00 Yes, that is a valid point. I'll look into it asap. -- plippo 2010-01-03 09:50:44
Nice job man, but if the down theme as de default, i propose some changes:
Daniels revision
the base color is a light gray gardient with a little smoth brown, I think is best for the default, what do you think? -- daniplanas.a 2009-11-23 11:17:24 I like your idea with the gradient, but I guess these light colors it would fit better for Day. I will try to create a variant of Day with orange instead of blue and integrate your ideas. -- plippo 2009-11-27 08:19:25
I really like these themes. I hope that they will be included in Lucid. I think that since this is a mock up there is no actual theme but if there is I would like to have it.
EDIT: Someone has written the theme files end they are available for download! http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Ubuntu+Sun?content=116344
Looks great, esp. if it can be applied to "any" theme. Further, how about an option to have the version of the theme change, e.g. dawn in morning, day in afternoon, dusk at night? Perhaps even attached to localised dawn/dusk data that the gnome weather applet pulls in? I would find this really nice.
Looks great. Another idea that may be cool with this theme is having Ubuntu change the theme depending on the time of the day. It's its morning, turn to the dawn theme, 10:00AM comes around, turn to the day theme. 6:00PM is nearing and its getting dark, turn to the dusk theme.
Looks very good indeed. Should make a dark blue one (with stars maybe?) for Xubuntu and a light blue one for KDE.
As I proposed on the author blog. We can use gnome-weather sunrise and sunset data to auto fade the themes.
Hi. I think, that Dusk in rev. 2 looks much better than in rev. 3. It's too gray and also the gradient could be flipped. Here, I am sending my edited Dusk. Also, the bottom bar (where is now "Ready") may have the color of the gradient's ending. Hope you know what I mean and it helps.
-- jakub-jurovych Thank you, I wasn't happy with the gradient either. Your version looks much better!
-- plippo 2009-12-04 08:22:50
Is something like this possible? It could be used as an alternate and applications that don't support it could use the default. It would streamline the titlebar and the window to make them feel like one object.
-- natewiebe13 A separate GTK theme would have to be made to go with the metacity theme. However, it looks like that would be more work, a lot more. -- coldReactive
Fantastic! I love this theme; I'm using Dusk, which fits in perfectly with my Darklooks GTK theme and the Breathe icon theme (along with a custom shiny gnome-panel). If Ubuntu looked like this by default, I'd love it! Here's a link if anyone cares to see my awesome, easy-on-the-eyes-yet-dark-at-the-same-time look, check this link out: My Current Desktop Theme (Flickr). Here's the desktop wallpaper I was using: Burst (GNOME-Look). -- sloshy42
Dusk has problems with scrollbars - very hard to see the actual element itself. Looks great otherwise though. -- vperetokin
I think window borders are the stars here, but the overall integration and the cool look are awesome too. Since the theme is one of the must customizable and well integrated I've seen, I created two alternate versions, a light and a dark one: -Dusk Sand. The Dust Sand theme is used for the window controls. The only things I don't like about it are the scroll bars. Everything matches perfectly and looks really unified. -Night. A really dark (read black) theme for GNOME. It is based on the Darklooks GTK theme and looks really well, not like a negative of a light theme with all the colors messed up. As the user above said, it's really easy on the eyes.
Greetings. -- jerivasmelgar 2009-12-07 03:00:19
I like your Night version, especially the moon looks very nice, not too moon-ish but still recognizable. -- plippo 2009-12-12 16:40:24
Should make the actice tab in Firefox and Nautilus more distinguished. Sometimes hard to tell what is the active tab, especially in Dawn. http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/4088/screenshotur.png
It seems you're not using the newest version. Could you please download the newest version (v4) from above and check if the problem still occurs? -- plippo 2010-02-03 15:50:02 Yeah, the download page confused me. Now I have this: http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/2595/screenshotd.png It seems to me that the difference between the active tab and the others should be a bit more apparent, just a little bit. Especially when you have more Firefox tabs open and you would like to see immediately which one is the active one. b.a.koenig Yes, I see your point and will try to make the inactive tabs a bit darker, especially in Dawn. (I've also tried to make the download link a bit more visible.) -- plippo 2010-02-07 20:56:27 New version is online. I hope it's better now. -- plippo 2010-02-09 18:41:59
<Sigh>. Just stumbled accross this by accident, and it looks so much nicer than the OS X look that they actually chose. There is lots worth copying in OS X, like their attention to detail, but sadly so many people get stuck on the superficial bits. --Michael
CategoryCleanupWhy won’t the Obama administration call Fort Hood Islamic Terrorism? Why aren’t they calling Chattanooga Islamic Terrorism? Because it’s disrespect to Muslims and Islam is about peace:
ARUTZ SHEVA – Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson announced the policy this past Friday at Aspen Institute’s annual security forum in Washington, D.C. He explained that though it was a Muslim terrorist who shot to death four unarmed Marines in Tennessee two weeks ago, the government will call the attack, and other similar ones, “violent extremism” and not “Islamic terrorism” – out of respect for the Muslim community. Johnson said it is “critical” to refrain from the “Islamic” label in order to “build trust” among Muslims. The Tennessee murderer, Mohammad Abdulazeez, is officially a “homegrown violent extremist,” according to the government – even though he blogged about his Islamic religious motivations for the attack. He and his family also attended a local mosque controlled by a terror-tied Islamic trust. Johnson explained that if officials called Islamic terrorism “Islamic,” they’d “get nowhere” in gaining the “cooperation” of the Muslim community. The moderator of the panel tried to protest: “Isn’t [the] government denying the fundamental religious component of this kind of extremism by not using the word Islamic?” “I could not disagree more,” Johnson responded, and explained that Islam “is about peace.”
So if we say we want Muslims to stand up against Islamic extremism but we won’t call it Islamic extremism, how will they know it’s Islamic extremism if we won’t even tell the truth about it?
Heck, it’s not even extremism, really. It is simply Muslims taking their religion very, very seriously and trying to walk in the footsteps of Muhammad. Now there is an extreme component to it, as some believe the time is now to wage Jihad and others believe that time will come when their Mahdi returns. But that’s just a matter of ‘when’, not ‘what’.
But hey, let’s not offend Muslims here by telling the truth about Islam. Let’s just pretend Jihadis are just a bunch of angry poor people who can’t get jobs in their countries. And let’s send them money to see if that fixes the problem.
Good plan.Rick Sylvester (Born April 3, 1942) is a climber and was a Hollywood stuntman, most famous for his BASE jumping using skis and a Union Flag parachute from Mount Asgard in Canada for the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me in July 1976.
In 1971, he skied off the top of El Capitan in California and descended approximately 914 metres (3000 feet) by parachute. This was conceived as "the world's greatest ski jump".[1] There were two more jumps made in secrecy to avoid arrest by the National Park Service; Sylvester wanted more footage shot from different angles. These jumps were made in 1972 and 1973. Already an expert skier, he spent three weeks learning sky diving to make this jump. Sylvester also worked in another Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, where he did the stunt when Bond falls off the side of a mountain he is climbing in Meteora, Greece.Update: San Jose Spiders Complete Kurt Gibson Signing
The AUDL’s San Jose Spiders continued their run as the semiprofessional Ultimate team with the most impressive off-season this morning, as news broke that they were on the verge of completing the signing of Doublewide’s Kurt Gibson. Gibson, a national champion at both the college and club level, will give the Spiders three of Ultiworld’s seven All-Club players from the 2013 Club season. The Spiders will be one of the most top-end talented Ultimate teams in the world, either club or semiprofessional.
Ultiworld has now learned that the contract is official and Gibson will indeed be playing with San Jose this summer.
Beau Kittredge broke the news on his AUDL-sponsored blog at Skyd:
There are two reasons for [Kurt] joining this wonderful team: One, he is a great player and he beat me last year in the Club Championships finals. (I do blame our coach Dutchy for this, he invited Kurt to play with Revolver at Worlds in Japan. In the third game, Kurt broke his knee in half getting a sick D and then slunk around our sidelines stealing all our secrets and learning our one weakness while making us listen to One Direction, which I am pretty sure is some sort of hypnotic mind ripper, cause it certainly ain’t music) Two, Kurt destroyed cancer and is now on the board of E.R.I.C., a fine cancer-fighting organization that is run by an outstanding group of folks. Luckily for the Spiders, E.R.I.C. is one of our major sponsors. The fit is perfect and my only hope is that the whole One Direction thing was a phase of adolescent rebellion.
Spiders owner Andrew Zill confirmed to Ultiworld that negotiations with Gibson were underway and expressed optimism that the sides were “close” to an agreement. “This all started with a text message after Leiout from one of our non-profit partners asking if we’d be interested in Kurt playing with the Spiders. I immediately said “heck yeah” and we worked out how to make it work logistically.”
**An earlier version of this article was published before the signing was complete. The article has been updated to reflect changes.Dozens of demonstrators used Black Friday to draw attention to the grand jury decision not to indict in the Michael Brown case. View Full Caption Jack Mongan
CHICAGO — With protests planned across the country this week, one year after Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, the Chicago Police Department tweeted out a list of ways to avoid a confrontation with police.
With the high-profile deaths of Brown, Eric Garner in New York, Tamir Rice in Cleveland and most recently suburban woman Sandra Bland, the country is paying attention to when police open fire — and Chicago officers do it often.
According to a Better Government Association investigation, Chicago police have killed more people in the last five years than any other big city:
"Chicago police reported killing 70 people from 2010 through 2014, the most of any department the BGA looked at, followed by Phoenix (57); Philadelphia (54); Houston (49); and Los Angeles (47), records show."
On Friday night, the department sent out the following tweets, which urged Chicagoans to "be smart" about who they hang out with, avoid cursing and keep your hands visible at all times:
Jen Sabella discusses CPD's tweet and how critics are responding:
The tweet received a critical response from a #BlackLivesMatter activist, who asked CPD if the list was "a joke" and made their own list in response:
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:David Barton as seen in a screenshot on May 1, 2014.
A so-called “historian” who Glenn Beck hired to teach at his online university insisted this week that women had originally been denied the right to vote “to keep the family together,” and for the good of “the entire culture and society.”
On the Thursday broadcast of Wallbuilders Live, David Barton explained that biblical principles — and not sexism — were behind not allowing women to vote prior to 1920.
“So family government precedes civil government and you watch that as colonists came to America, they voted by families,” he said. “And you have to remember back then, husband and wife, I mean the two were considered one. That is the biblical precept… That is a family, that is voting. And so the head of the family is traditionally considered to be the husband and even biblically still continues to be so.”
Barton argued that in the time since the women’s suffrage movement succeeded in the United States, “we’ve moved into more of a family anarchy kind of thing.”
“[T]he bigotry we’re told they held back then, they didn’t hold,” he said. “And what they did was they put the family unit higher than the government unit and they tried to work hard to keep the family together.”
“And, as we can show in two or three hundred studies since then, the more you weaken the family, the more it hurts the entire culture and society.”
In conclusion, Barton asserted that denying women the right to vote was necessary for “a strong culture, a strong society, and it was based on a strong family that preceded government. And they crafted their policies to protect a strong family.”
Listen to the audio below from Wallbuilders Live, broadcast May 1, 2014.
(h/t: Right Wing Watch)Color me impressed: Google has released a custom Google Earth application for the iPhone/iPod Touch, and it's stunning.
The Google Earth geographical software has been altered to make maximum use of the iPhone's screen and functionality. You're able to tilt the device to adjust your view when browsing mountainous terrain, use the 'My Location' feature to jump right to where you are in the blink of an eye, and use Google's local search engine to look for information on cities, places and businesses. Google has also added additional layers to the application, namely Panoramio and Wikipedia, for geo-located high-quality photos and informative articles respectively.
This marks the main differentiator between the official Google Earth app and the one Earthscape released last May. More recently, the Earthscape application dropped its price from $10 to free, but will most likely be trumped by the official app now.
As CNET points out, Google Earth for iPhone has a small Webkit-based browser to show the specific information users click on, and includes a link to the Safari browser Apple builds into the iPhone. When you click the address of a business using the local search engine, the iPhone will intercept the command and show it on the Google Maps application, enabling you to get directions instantly.
The app is free and available today in all languages the iPhone currently supports (18) and will gradually be released for 22 countries in total. Check the iTunes App Store to see if you're among the lucky ones.
Product Manager Google Earth Peter Birch, who is the one demonstrating the app in the video below, has also announced that a similar application running on Android is high on the priority list for the future, but that there's nothing to announce at this point. More features, like integration of 3D buildings and advanced mapping functionalities, are in the pipeline. It's likely Google is also looking at ways to monetize the mobile traffic.North Queensland Toyota Cowboys and Tonga lock Jason Taumalolo has been shortlisted for the Rugby League International Federation Golden Boot for the second year running.
Taumalolo has been the talisman for Tonga’s remarkable Rugby League World Cup campaign, leading the Mate Ma'a from the front with impressive performances in their wins over Scotland, Samoa, New Zealand and Lebanon.
He played 26 games for the Cowboys in season 2017, all the way to the NRL Grand Final, and became the first forward in NRL history to run for over 5,000 metres in a season.
Taumalolo joins Cameron Smith (Australia), Jermaine McGillvary (England) and Suliasi Vunivalu (Fiji) in the running for the most prestigious individual accolade in international rugby league.
The 2017 Golden Boot, to be awarded at the Gala Finals luncheon on Wednesday 29 November in Brisbane, will recognise outstanding performance in, and contribution to international rugby league.
Six players from the Australian team, three England players and one each from Fiji, Lebanon, New Zealand and Tonga were nominated, whittled down to a four-man shortlist based on those receiving the most nominations.
The nominating panel comprised Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga, Scotland coach Steve McCormack and journalists Steve Mascord and Martyn Sadler.Multicultural Political Correctness has infected a school in a town near Zurich. It seems any evidence that a student is proud of being Swiss is now verboten, and must be suppressed.
Many thanks to Nash Montana for translating this article from Junge Freiheit:
Swiss Teacher Bans Edelweiss Shirts GOSSAU. A Swiss teacher prohibited her students from wearing Edelweiss shirts, because she says they are racist. Around ten teenagers at the Gossau high school were wearing the shirts to show that they were “proud and patriotic Swiss”. The teacher ordered the students to immediately change their clothes. The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) was appalled over this ordinance; they called it “mega-temerity”. It is “questionable, that Swiss traditions are now labeled as racist and are even banned,” said party Member Lukas Reimann (SVP). He noticed that especially Albanian youths everywhere “show their eagle”. That right should go for everybody. Twitter Text: Claudio Schmid @claudio_schmid
We Swiss are abolishing ourselves and it looks as if schools and courts are helping.
Permitted: Hijab
Not permitted: @EdelweissShirt Many Swiss Canton councilmen were wearing their Edelweiss shirts out of protest at the last Parliament session. The students who wore the shirts were invited by the school for a discussion, and they were asked to justify their behavior. But later the school principal admitted the teacher had overreacted with the ban, and she has realized that herself. Apparently, the driving force behind all this is rising tensions between students from the Balkans and indigenous students at the school.
Afterword from the translator:This is a truly astounding number from Ericsson being reported over at Wired. They think that we'll get to the majority of the human race having a smartphone and a wireless plan within the next five years. That we'll have 5.9 billion people hooked up within that time:
According to Ericsson–the world’s largest supplier of mobile networks and the company that probably knows more about who is using what than anyone else–there were only about 1.9 billion smartphone subscribers at the end of last year. It expects that number to reach 5.9 billion in another five years, fueled by growth in the developing world.
ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISEMENT
There's two economics points to this. The first being simply to gawp at the speed with which this technology has taken off. There're, according to the best estimates, somewhere around 7 billion people currently extant on the planet. The smartphone was really invented by Apple back in 2008 with the original iPhone. Sure, similar things had existed before but they weren't much more than prototypes: none of them really took off and none really combined the various possible technologies in a manner that Apple managed. And the prediction here is that by 2019, only just a decade after that first release, 85% of the entire population of the world will have one of these devices? That's a technological expansion faster than anything that has ever happened before. Heck, we've had electricity for well over a century now, flushing toilets for nearly two and we've still not got that sort of market penetration of either of them. Smartphones are actually spreading faster than the Black Death did....
The second is the impact that this will have on economic growth rates. One way of thinking about economic growth (this doesn't explain all of it but it's a handy guide) is that it's all about the adoption of new technologies of production. We could say that the introduction of electricity was itself economic growth, or that the adoption of smartphones will be. However, they're both multiplying technologies: electricity allows more work to be done by replacing muscle power and, through light, enables work or study to be done for more hours of the day. The smartphone opens up the books of human knowledge to those who have never had access to it before. And that is seriously going to accelerate economic growth in just about every other field as well. That peasant farmer trying to manage his acre of maize using nothing but a hoe and a machete: sure, he's not going to be the world's greatest user of Facebook (although economies slightly up the totem pole from there do turn out to be huge users of Facebook) but he will benefit massively from information about weather, market prices and better farming practices.
Some years ago there was an excellent research paper showing that adding just 10% of the population with access to a mobile phone (not a smartphone, just a basic mobile with SMS ) increased the growth of GDP in that economy by 0.5%. It's a reasonable assumption that smartphones will have a similar impact, if not higher. That entire collected wisdom available on the internet is going to cause roaring growth in the catch up economies. Simply because that's what catch up growth is: access to the knowledge of how these problems have been solved before and the subsequent ability to apply those solutions.
It's obviously possible to be overblown about this, to be overly enthusiastic. But I think it's a supportable position to state that this expansion of smartphones is the defining economic shift of our times. It's going to have more effect on the poor parts of the world than it will on us, but also that the effect on those poor parts of the world is going to be greater than anything else that's currently happening. Certainly greater than anything politics or that long mooted New International Economic Order is ever going to manage. That's being enthusiastic, yes, but not I think overly so.We all know that, obviously, the Democratic party is the party of inclusion, welcoming everyone into its fold with open arms, be they man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, Latino, or Joe Biden. This week, the Daily Show‘s news team visited the DNC to get in on this hyper-tolerant lovefest.
There, they learned that anyone can sit at the Dems’ |
, 2017
Official Release
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Brooklyn Nets
Official Release
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Dallas Mavericks
Official Release
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San Antonio Spurs
Official Release
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LA Clippers
The New Wave is here.
Get familiar » https://t.co/cpKEj3q7kWpic.twitter.com/beYWWNE5Oj — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) August 11, 2017
Official Release
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Houston Rockets
New threads for the 2017-18 season. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/AhFbbTTLeK — Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) August 10, 2017
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Phoenix Suns
Inspired by the past. Built for the future. pic.twitter.com/QPShiJD64L — Phoenix Suns (@Suns) August 10, 2017
Can't get enough of the new jerseys? Even more looks here!
👉 https://t.co/vyfO5pyXzXpic.twitter.com/JDYtKQLrjQ — Phoenix Suns (@Suns) August 10, 2017
Official Release
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Memphis Grizzlies
Performance tailoring, modern construction, lightweight engineering & modified hemlines.
Association + Icon: https://t.co/AN10y4DveBpic.twitter.com/0XsgqiDmvS — Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) August 10, 2017
Official Release
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New Orleans Pelicans
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Milwaukee Bucks
Introducing the Bucks Classic Edition Uniforms to debut on court at the #ReturnToTheMECCA!!
Full Gallery: https://t.co/igEi1quxeopic.twitter.com/ap3HgPeVUL — Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 29, 2017
Official Release
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Minnesota Timberwolves
The new threads have dropped. Bring on the New Era. #NewEraNewThreadspic.twitter.com/t0PjCcp8II — Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) August 10, 2017
Official Release
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Utah Jazz
The Note x The Swoosh
It’s in the details: ➡️ https://t.co/N7gYFsC0Mjpic.twitter.com/yCqkkGrgwr — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) August 9, 2017
Homage x Heritage | The Association x The Icon
Details: https://t.co/N7gYFsC0Mjpic.twitter.com/b6aSe7c5gg — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) August 9, 2017
Official Release
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Denver Nuggets
Official Release
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Cleveland Cavaliers
The Shield.
The Swoosh.
The Wingfoot.
Introducing our new coat of armor → https://t.co/iuYLihcVwT#AllForOnepic.twitter.com/QjqpaYQmxb — Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) August 7, 2017
Paying homage to the game.
Paying tribute to our heritage.@Nike’s Association + Icon edition uniforms for the Wine & Gold.#AllForOnepic.twitter.com/5b1cHxZjW4 — Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) August 7, 2017
Official Release
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Washington Wizards
Official Release
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Chicago Bulls
FIRST LOOK: Introducing the official Chicago Bulls @Nike Icon jersey, which will serve as our primary home uniform this season. pic.twitter.com/OtMRZww8Mu — Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) August 2, 2017
FIRST LOOK: Say hello to the Chicago Bulls @Nike Association jersey, which will serve as our primary road uniform this upcoming season. pic.twitter.com/Q2c0bqDNcj — Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) August 2, 2017
Official Release
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Philadelphia 76ers
Official Release
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Charlotte Hornets
THE REVEAL.
Introducing our new Hornets uniforms - the FIRST @Jumpman23 uniform for a U.S. pro team. #BuzzCity
👉🏼 https://t.co/xNnuIc9q6Tpic.twitter.com/fDrSi5UpZu — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) July 31, 2017
Logo status.
The Jumpman has a permanent home on the @hornets jersey. pic.twitter.com/3Tckr4xDfW — Jordan (@Jumpman23) July 31, 2017
Official Release
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Indiana Pacers
Our new look and Nike uniforms are here. Learn more about the inspiration and design at https://t.co/nq0ocByehL#WeGrowBasketballHerepic.twitter.com/ObUAIcXEtf — Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) July 29, 2017
Official Release
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Detroit Pistons
We’ll start rocking these jerseys next season. First, a look at the Association Edition pic.twitter.com/RSWPRXnnDA — Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) July 26, 2017
Next, the Icon Edition, with Detroit across the chest. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/2oPMAn26Mf — Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) July 26, 2017
Official Release
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Oklahoma City Thunder
What's new with the new Association and Icon uniforms? Lots of innovation from @nike. pic.twitter.com/wk83VvYlzY — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 26, 2017
Official Release
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Portland Trail Blazers
Official Release
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Sacramento Kings
Official Release
* * *The bracoviruses can't independently reproduce because they lack genes for making the protein coats that give them form and structure. Those coat genes didn't vanish. In 2009, Anne Bezier and Jean-Michel Drezen from Francois Rabelais University showed that they exist within the wasp genomes. The bracoviruses aren’t just allies for the wasps: They are part of the wasps.
Based on the diversity of these viral genes within different species of braconid wasps, Bezier and Drezen estimated that they must have entered the wasp genome around 100 million years ago, before the braconid dynasty expanded into its current lush state. Back then, an ancient virus infected an ancient wasp, inserted its genes among those of its host, and created a partnership that has been dooming caterpillars ever since.
More recently, Gaelen Burke and Michael Strand from University of Georgia showed that the wasp genomes contain two separate clusters of viral genes. The first is a replication set, which the wasps use to turn their ovaries into virus-making factories. The second is a virulence set, which attacks the caterpillars. But when the wasps build the viruses, they fill them only with the virulence genes, not the replication ones. That’s why the resulting particles can attack caterpillars, but can’t reproduce or spread to new hosts. They are fully domesticated.
The caterpillars aren't just helpless victims in this drama. Sometimes, they successfully fight off the wasp-and-virus tag team. Other times, the wasps screw up, by attacking caterpillars of the wrong species, against whom their particular viruses are useless. Either way, caterpillars occasionally survive their encounters with braconids, but still end up with swarms of bracoviruses in their bodies. What happens then? Since those viruses were originally part of one insect genome (the wasp’s), could they find their way into another (the caterpillar’s)?
The answer is yes. Last year, Sean Schneider and James Thomas from the University of Washington found evidence of bracovirus genes in the genomes of the silk moth and the monarch butterfly. The duo described the wasps as “accidental genetic engineers,” implanting the genomes of their caterpillar victims with their own (viral) DNA. In other words, one insect was genetically modifying another with viral genes, via a sting.
“What’s kind of funny is that such a species as iconic as the monarch has been genetically modified by the parasitic wasp virus and can thus be considered as a natural GMO,” says Drezen, in an email. He, together with Salvador Herrero from the University of Valencia, has now found similar genes in a wider range of butterfly and moth species, including important pests like the beet armyworm and fall armyworm. And they’ve found that these sequences may not just be passive hitchhikers.They meet every morning: Raymond W. Kelly, New York City’s Police Commissioner; David Cohen, the Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence; and Michael Sheehan, the Deputy Commissioner for Counter Terrorism. At these sessions, held at One Police Plaza, in a room known as the executive command center, Kelly is briefed on overnight developments related to terrorism. One morning, I was allowed to sit in. “Suicide bombing in Pakistan,” Cohen said. “Details.” He slid a sheet of paper to Kelly. “I put Hercules out on three Shiite mosques for the day.” Hercules is a set of police antiterror teams. The team members carry heavy weapons, and they turn up without warning at sites all over the city, for reasons never shared with the public. “New al-Zawahiri video, went up last night on Al Jazeera. Mentions the U.S.” Kelly nodded, studying the report on the mosque deployments. “Morty’s back from Moscow,” Cohen went on. “His report’s worth your browsing.” Morty is Mordecai Dzikansky, a New York City homicide detective, currently stationed near Tel Aviv. (The N.Y.P.D. also has officers based, these strange days, in Singapore, Britain, Canada, and France.) He went to Russia to learn what he could from the school massacre at Beslan, in September, 2004. Dzikansky told me, when we met, that he’d been on the scene of thirteen suicide bombings in Israel, and that he learns something every time. Dzikansky is fast. He was in Istanbul within hours of the bombings of the city’s synagogues in November of 2003. Four other New York City detectives were on a 9 a.m. flight to London after the morning rush-hour blasts there earlier this month. Cohen said, “On Chechnya, Commissioner, we got this from Boston.” He handed Kelly a document, saying something I couldn’t decipher about Russian investors. (The ground rules of my presence precluded questions.) News broadcasts from stations around the globe, including Al Jazeera, were playing silently on monitors in the room, along with live videocasts of traffic on New York’s streets and highways. A big precinct map of the city hung on the wall next to an illuminated map of the world. The executive command center contains one long table, with a bank of serious-looking telephones—secure lines, satellite phones—built into it. Kelly brought up Semtex, a Czech plastic explosive known as “the poor man’s C-4.” He wanted to know whether it was ever used in construction. “It’s military grade,” Sheehan said evenly. Sheehan, who is fifty, sharp-featured, and wiry, spent twenty years in the Army, mainly in Special Forces; he later served as the State Department’s Ambassador-at-Large for Counter Terrorism in the Clinton Administration. Kelly, who is sixty-three, was a marine and, even in a dark, double-breasted suit, still carries himself like a soldier on active duty. Presumably, both men know something about explosives. “Let’s add it to Nexus,” Kelly told Cohen, who made a note. Nexus is another police antiterror program, run by the intelligence division. Nexus keeps tabs on terror-sensitive businesses and merchandise, among other things. An aide called Kelly out of the room. Sheehan and Cohen relaxed perceptibly. They discussed a recent bombing in a Moscow subway station. “She knew she was a suicide bomb?” Sheehan asked. “Oh, yeah,” Cohen, who is sixty-three, said. “She was going the route. Cops spooked her.” Subways and their vulnerabilities have been an abiding preoccupation with these men since long before the bombing of the London Underground. Some of their other major worries include, in no particular order, trucks, planes, helicopters, ferries, vans, tunnels, bridges, underground garages, high-rise buildings, the war in Iraq, the war in Chechnya, Al Qaeda, Indonesia, the Philippines, North Africa, East Africa, anthrax, nerve gas, ammonium nitrate, chemical plants, nuclear reactors, shipping containers, railroads, all large gatherings in New York City, and propane. “Worry,” I’ve noticed, is the hardest-working word in their collective vocabulary. “Another thing we need to worry about...” “My biggest worry is...” “Should we be worried about X?” “Hell, yes.” Cohen, especially, has the pensive cast of a professional worrier. He spent thirty-five years in the C.I.A., rising to become director of operations. Kelly hired him in 2002 to revamp the Police Department’s intelligence division. There is no other program in the country even slightly like it now. Kelly came back in. The briefing turned to local matters. “I.D. fraud in Queens,” Cohen said. (Document fraud is permanently high on the antiterror worry list.) “Two hundred arrests so far. I think there are another two hundred to be made. We flipped some people, but it’s very labor intensive. My advice: give them some more room on this. They’re all felony arrests.” They moved on. Sheehan said, “Our four guys are back from Sweden. They found downloaded postcard photos of the Brooklyn Bridge.” At the mention of the Brooklyn Bridge, all jaws tightened. “Anything back on al-Hindi?” Kelly asked Sheehan. Abu Issa al-Hindi is an Al Qaeda operative, currently in British custody. Al-Hindi and his team were discovered, through a computer seized last summer in Pakistan, to have conducted extremely thorough surveillance on two large Manhattan buildings, including the Stock Exchange, and sites in Washington, D.C., and New Jersey. Because the surveillance seemed to date from before September, 2001, the press soon lost interest in the story. The N.Y.P.D. has not lost interest. Sheehan said, “We’ve got a detective working it every day. Everything they touched here in New York, everybody they talked to. But they were very tightly packed, very discreet, like Mohamed Atta”—the September 11th hijacker. “Did you check out the building I told you about?” “Yeah.” On a notepad, Sheehan started sketching what seemed to be a warehouse in Brooklyn. He and Kelly studied the drawing, filling in details, working out surveillance angles. Kelly asked, “Hey, did you see what they did out front of Le Cirque? Two big brick boulders.” “Le Cirque’s a little above my pay grade,” Sheehan said. “But I don’t think that’s authorized. I’ll drive by.” “Listen,” Kelly said. “Tomorrow, remind them that it may be bigger than a shoebox.” “Yeah, yeah, I will.” Kelly was referring to a big training drill in the harbor that was to take place the next day. The police, along with the Fire Department and other agencies, would simulate a jet crash in the water off the end of a runway at LaGuardia, with the cause of the crash unknown. Cohen mentioned a request from the C.I.A. His old employer wanted to borrow some N.Y.P.D. cyberintelligence specialists to help its people learn how to navigate jihadist chat rooms. “Wait,” Kelly said, raising his hand. “My son.” He pointed to a monitor, where Greg Kelly, a correspondent for Fox News, was doing a standup. Kelly flicked on the sound. It was the Zawahiri video story. On the scroll across the bottom of the screen, the national terror-threat level appeared: yellow, “elevated.” Kelly flicked off the sound. “O.K.,” he said. “C.I.A. wants what?”
Under Ray Kelly’s command, the New York City Police Department has been profoundly reorganized since the terror attacks of 2001. Before the attacks, there were fewer than two dozen officers working the terrorism beat full time. Today, there are about a thousand. In some key areas, such as languages that are critical to counterterror work, the N.Y.P.D., drawing on a city of immigrants, has deeper resources than the federal agencies traditionally responsible for fighting international terrorism. Beyond the officers (and civilian analysts) working on terrorism exclusively, the department, which employs nearly fifty thousand people, has been comprehensively persuaded—through intensive new training, new equipment, new protocols—to think of counterterrorism as a fundamental part of what cops still call the Job. The rationale for the N.Y.P.D.’s transformation after September 11th had two distinct facets. On the one hand, expanding its mission to include terrorism prevention made obvious sense. On the other, there was a strong feeling that federal agencies had let down New York City, and that the city should no longer count on the Feds for its protection. Some of Kelly’s initiatives were incursions into territory normally occupied by the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. And yet few objections were raised. It was as if the Feds, reeling from September 11th, silently acknowledged New York’s right to take extraordinary defensive measures. (Or, as one senior police official said to me, “Do you think anybody in Washington has the balls to tell Ray Kelly he can’t do something he decides to do?”) Within the counterterrorism world, the department’s transformation is highly regarded. “The N.Y.P.D. is really cutting-edge,” Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser at the rand corporation and a respected authority on terrorism, told me. “They’re developing best practices here that should be emulated across the country. The Feds could learn from them.” The federal government must, of course, play the leading role in stopping international terrorism at the borders. But, Jenkins said, “As this thing metastasizes, cops are it. We’re going to win this at the local level.” This is Kelly’s second tour as Commissioner; his first was in the early nineties, under David Dinkins. In his first week back, in January, 2002, Kelly announced the creation of a counter-terrorism bureau—the first new bureau at the N.Y.P.D. in more than thirty years. He started a talent search that took him far outside traditional police-recruitment channels. Kelly wanted people with military, intelligence, and diplomatic backgrounds, with deep knowledge of international terrorist organizations—people like Cohen and Sheehan. Kelly has been sharply critical of the Bush Administration’s failure since September 11th to help New York protect itself. When I saw him at his office, where he sits at the desk that Theodore Roosevelt used when he was Commissioner, I asked him if the Administration had begun to do more. “We’ve seen some improvement,” he said. “But it’s not nearly what it should be, in my judgment. We’re still defending the city pretty much on our dime.” He glanced out the window at downtown Manhattan. “We’re defending the nation here,” he said. “These are national assets.” Communication, at least, is better than it was. Kelly talked about a brief but terrible scare, in October, 2001, when the White House was informed by the C.I.A. that a ten-kiloton nuclear weapon was being smuggled into New York City. The C.I.A.’s source for the story was eventually discredited. But what seemed to stick in Kelly’s mind about the episode, which electrified the White House for several weeks, was that Rudolph Giuliani, who was then the mayor, was not told of the threat. “That would never happen now,” Kelly said. “Nobody would dare sit on that kind of information today.”
Ray Kelly came up the long way. He went from police cadet to Commissioner—the only officer in the history of the N.Y.P.D. to have done so. He was raised on the Upper West Side, the youngest child in a big, working-class Catholic family. His father started out as a milkman and ended up as a clerk at the Internal Revenue Service. Kelly, while working his way through Manhattan College toward a degree in business administration, took a job on the switchboard at Police Headquarters. “It was the main number, and you had to memorize twelve hundred extensions,” he says. “You just felt, working there, like you were right at the heart of the city.” Kelly enrolled in a police-cadet program for college students. After graduation, he enlisted in the Marines and was sent to Vietnam. Before he left, he married Veronica Clarke, his high-school sweetheart. Their first child, James, was born while Kelly was overseas. (Greg was born two years later.) Kelly rarely talks about his experience in Vietnam, and when I asked about it he used words like “frightening,” “depressing,” “debilitating.” He passed through Khe Sanh and Hue, but spent most of his time in the jungles and fields of the central highlands, serving, initially, as a forward artillery observer, one of the more dangerous combat posts. Kelly’s early years as a police officer, in the late sixties, coincided with an epochal increase in violent crime. He became known as a “collar guy”—the type of cop who, given a choice, likes to make arrests, never mind the extra danger, paperwork, and court appearances they entail. Kelly has held twenty-five commands, and when I asked him which he liked most he talked about his days as a plainclothes officer in the old Twenty-third Precinct, in Manhattan, when it ran from East Eighty-sixth Street to East 110th Street. “Following people, jumping in cabs, keeping radios in whiskey bags,” he said. “We arrested a lot of people.” Kelly went to law school at night, and got a master’s in public administration from the Kennedy School, at Harvard. In 1985, officers in the 106th Precinct, in Queens, were accused of torturing suspects with stun guns. “The department sent Kelly to clean it up,” Joe Calderone, who covered the story for New York Newsday, told me. “I’ll never forget when he arrived at the precinct. A couple of us were there, and here comes this guy down the block. It was, like, uh-oh—here come the Marines. He carried an attaché case, not a hair or anything even slightly out of place. He was just all business. You could tell they’d sent in the A team.” Kelly is a strange kind of tough guy, though. His sense of urgency, his impatience with the Feds, seem balanced by a certain laconic calm. He has a blunt, nineteenth-century face, complete with crooked smile. (Or, if he’s angry, a perfect downturned circumflex of a mouth.) He wears his hair shorter than Sluggo’s. He is extremely fit, lifting weights five days a week in a regimen that his wife describes as “borderline addictive.” Still, there is no sense of gratuitous threat about him. He’s neither tall nor burly, and he moves precisely, economically. Kelly listens hard and catches jokes early, but he doesn’t have the verbal deftness of, say, a politician. He bites off sentences, or lets them trail toward the obvious point, as if to minimize the drama of what he’s saying. It’s a great affect for crisis management but not for winding up a crowd from a podium. His enthusiasms are wide-ranging: he relaxes by reading history, and by playing the drums. Kelly became Commissioner in 1992, after Lee Brown was undone by officer corruption scandals and the Crown Heights riots. He improved morale and, more important, brought down the crime rate—finally reversing a long-term trend. But Giuliani was elected mayor the next year and decided to overhaul the police department. He replaced Kelly with William Bratton, who served as Commissioner for a little more than two years before Giuliani pushed him out. Bratton was innovative, flashy, and spectacularly successful at crime reduction. His achievement eclipsed Kelly’s in the public’s memory. Kelly went on to serve in the Clinton Administration as an under-secretary of the Treasury, responsible for, among other agencies, the Customs Service, the Secret Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. He commanded the multinational police force in Haiti in 1994. In the late nineties, he was Interpol’s vice-president for the Americas. On September 11th, however, he was working, for the first time, in the private sector—as the director of global security at Bear, Stearns. “I was out of it, out of the game,” he told me. He and Veronica live in Battery Park City, across from Ground Zero. “The World Trade Center was really our community,” he said. “Our bank was there, our drugstore. If you were going to the subway, you’d go through the World Trade Center.” Veronica was out of the city when the towers fell. Kelly was at his office, in midtown. Their building was evacuated, and they weren’t able to return for weeks. When they did, they went up on the roof. Veronica wept quietly. “This totally devastated—gone, you know—this huge hole, and it was still smoking,” Kelly said. He felt maddeningly confined to the sidelines of the city’s struggle to respond. But his chance came, unexpectedly, a few weeks later. Michael Bloomberg was elected mayor and immediately offered Kelly the Commissioner’s job. “He had a unique combination,” Bloomberg told me. “He knew how to run a police department day in, day out—putting a cop at that corner, with this kind of backup, and that kind of training, and this kind of equipment. But he also had international and Washington experience, which are very different, and both very important. We need Washington for information, for funding. But we also need to have relations with security services and police departments around the world directly, not going through Washington. By luck of the draw, I knew somebody who had all three.”
The office of the department’s Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence, where I spoke with David Cohen, is in an unlikely, distinctly hip corner of southern Manhattan. Roughly a hundred plainclothes cops were busy in the loft-style space outside Cohen’s door, as they are around the clock. Cohen is ruddy-faced, with a piercing Boston accent. He said that he didn’t have time to talk, but he did anyway, and at a rapid pace. “This threat is not going to go away,” he said. “So we can’t relax. If we do, that will produce the seam they’ll go through.” Before September 11th, the intelligence division was devoted mostly to guarding visiting dignitaries. Cohen estimates that two per cent of its work was counterterrorism. Now that figure is eighty per cent. The division runs Nexus, cyberintelligence, overseas deployments, financial investigations, and all manner of undercover operations. It also still guards dignitaries. Cohen already knew something about setting up a counterterrorism program. In 1996, he established a special team at the C.I.A., known as “the Bin Laden unit,” that concentrated on Al Qaeda’s finances. Kelly first got to know him in the late nineties, when Cohen was the C.I.A.’s station chief in New York. When he called Cohen for the N.Y.P.D. job, Cohen had already left the agency, and was doing global risk assessment at the insurance company A.I.G. Kelly persuaded him to take a huge pay cut and return to public service. After a career in federal government, Cohen found that he liked the speed at which things can happen in the N.Y.P.D. The first time he and Kelly talked about stationing officers overseas, Cohen thought it was an exciting idea. At a meeting the following week, he brought it up again. Kelly cut him off, saying, “Didn’t we already decide that?” “The N.Y.P.D. is on a hair trigger,” Cohen said. “The air gap between information and action is the shortest I’ve ever experienced.” For example, he said, “Israeli border guards catch a guy who says he’s trained to do surveillance for possible assassination operations in North America. That goes to Morty, and we’re on it that day. This is about a week before we learn about it from other agencies.” Cohen went on, “Manila ferryboat explosion, hundred dead. Reported as industrial accident. Then they picked up a guy who said it was an Abu Sayyaf job.” Abu Sayyaf is an Islamist guerrilla army in the Philippines, and an Al Qaeda ally. “We dispatched someone within the day. Any ferryboat incident anywhere, we want to know about it. It’s not the F.B.I. or the C.I.A. or the Homeland Security Department down in the subway tunnels. It’s the N.Y.P.D. “We don’t want to learn from what’s happened here,” he said. “We’d rather learn from what’s happened somewhere else. We’re looking at how they did it, the fine-grained stuff—what kind of detonators they used, what vehicles—so that we can take the anatomy of the operation and transpose it onto New York City and figure out what we can do.” Compared with what he did for the C.I.A., Cohen told me, “the work here is much less abstract. It’s the difference between protecting U.S. national interests and protecting lives. This is concrete. It’s the people, the city you see every day, the place where you live.” Because of his years at the C.I.A., he added, he had security clearance that gave him access to information from the interrogations of prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere. N.Y.P.D. officers have also been directly involved in the arrests and interrogations of terror suspects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Singapore. He didn’t seem especially interested in the debate about how to treat terror detainees, and when I asked about the Patriot Act, which has been criticized by civil-rights groups, he said brusquely, “The Patriot Act helps the F.B.I. do its job. And that’s good for us. I’m too busy to see if the F.B.I. abuses its powers.” His mandate, he said, as set forth by Kelly, is “Do everything we possibly can within the bounds of the law to make sure there is not another terrorist attack on New York City. It ain’t more complicated than that.” Luck plays a role. “Transit cops on the 7 train caught two guys camcording infrastructure,” Cohen said. “Most of the video was tourist stuff. Two minutes was train track. Two minutes of train track? Turns out these guys worked for Iranian state intelligence. We turned them over to the F.B.I. They were deported ten days later.” He rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know what we’ve stopped,” he said. “It’s impossible to calculate, and I don’t spend much time thinking about it. I’ve gotta be thinking about the next thing.” Behind Cohen’s desk stood a bin of large rolled maps of New York’s neighborhoods, with handwritten tags attached: “Significant Concentrations of Pakistanis,” “Significant Concentrations of Palestinians.” A map of Iraq was pinned to the brick wall above the bin. “Nothing from there yet,” Cohen said. But the many N.Y.P.D. officers who have been to Iraq with the National Guard or with the Reserves are debriefed upon their return. Cohen turned and stared at the map. “I have to assume it’s going to come out bad,” he said.
One morning, I met Detective Charles Enright and his partner, Sergeant Joseph Salzone, at the Peninsula hotel, in midtown. Enright and Salzone work for Cohen on Operation Nexus, the program that tracks terror-sensitive businesses. Nexus squads visit about two hundred business concerns a week. Since the program was launched, in 2002, they’ve been to more than twenty thousand. Jimmy Chin, the Peninsula’s regional director of risk management, was meeting with Enright and Salzone. The Nexus officers wore business suits, and had the intense but deferential air of high-end sales reps. Anyone writing a parking ticket would be more intimidating. They rely, essentially, on the public-spiritedness of businesspeople, whom they practically beg to alert them to anything suspicious. Chin, who is also the chairman of the safety-and-security committee of the Hotel Association of New York City, said, “The N.Y.P.D. is a huge police department that acts like a small one. In other places I go, nobody can imagine the kind of tight relationship we have here. But we’ve really changed our thinking since 9/11. I wouldn’t have given these guys my cell number before. Now they’ve got to be able to reach me 24/7.” “Most of these major hotels, they have garages, and that’s what we’re actually most worried about,” Salzone said. I asked what would be of interest to them. “People who don’t want to give the garage the keys. Any vehicle that looks overloaded,” he said. “Salvage yards—they’re traditionally Mob-related, so they get their guard up when we show up,” Enright said. “But we tell them it’s about terrorism, their guard comes down, they’re ready to help. They know we don’t want to look at their books. Other departments are going to bust their chops on that. We just want to know about any used emergency vehicles they’ve been selling.” “Ambulances,” Salzone said. “Ambulances can get through checkpoints. In the Middle East, they’ve been filled with explosives. Boom.” “Pat Wagner manages the Thirty-fourth Street heliport, has a lot of Jet A fuel,” Salzone said. “We talk to her a lot.” After a Palestinian suicide bomber in Israel disguised himself as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, the Nexus teams visited religious-garb suppliers. When, in early 2003, an alleged plot to poison the London Underground with ricin was reported, Enright and Salzone headed to Manhattan’s diamond district, because acetone, which dealers use to process their stones, is used in the production of ricin. Castor beans are also required. To learn more about those, the Nexus teams visited horticulturalists and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. (David Cohen told me proudly, “It’s been said, ‘Cohen knows where every castor bean in the city is!’ ”) “Thing you’ve got to remember,” Salzone said. “We got a boss who doesn’t sleep.” He meant Cohen. “That percolates down to us.” “9/11 is never over,” Enright said. The officers wrapped up their business with Chin and left the Peninsula. A truck-rental place in Chelsea had a new manager they wanted to meet. She turned out to be a Trinidadian, young and friendly but very busy. She took business cards, murmuring “Terrorist Incident Prevention Unit” as she read, and eying Salzone and Enright. She took a Nexus information sheet, but was obviously eager to get back to work. Enright and Salzone headed for the door. Then the new manager said, “Wait. There was one fellow. A really strange guy.” “Did he pay cash?” “Yes.” Enright and Salzone turned back. And so the manager told them a long story about a secretive, erratic, abusive customer. To me, he sounded extremely suspicious. I was riveted. Enright and Salzone were not. They thanked the manager for her time, and left. Once we were back on the street, they gently explained to me that the man was just a bad truck-rental customer. Every truck-rental place had them. Yes, this guy had paid cash, but nothing else the manager said tripped any alarms. Then I realized why he had sounded so suspicious to me. Her manner, the sequence, even the rhythm of the conversation—“Wait, there was one fellow”—followed, to the letter, every script of every cop show ever made. Enright seemed to read my mind. “All these duped-up cop cars they’re using on these TV shows,” he said. He was pointing along the West Side Highway. “ ‘Law & Order’—they shoot right over here. Those cars are all unsecured at night, so we visit them.”
The intelligence division doesn’t gather information only from the street. It has specialists tracking suspicious financial movements and others working the jails and prisons; in unmarked buildings throughout the boroughs, it has officers fluent in the relevant languages poring over the foreign press or surfing the innumerable jihadist Web sites and chat rooms. The N.Y.P.D. employment application form these days asks about knowledge of some sixty languages. The department has had considerably more success in attracting immigrants who can pass its careful background checks than either the F.B.I. or the C.I.A. has had. In a nation that, in 2002, conferred a total of six undergraduate degrees in Arabic, even the Pentagon, not known for its humility, recognizes this rare resource. The Department of Defense recently borrowed seventeen computer-literate Arabic speakers from the N.Y.P.D. to assist its intelligence arm. At one counterterrorism-bureau facility, in a darkened room full of cops wearing headphones and silently watching satellite broadcasts on big flat-screen TVs, I met a tall, gaunt officer, whom I’ll call Mohamed, taking notes on news reports from Pakistan. Mohamed grew up south of Kabul, speaking Dari. He also understands Pashto, Farsi, and Arabic. He joined the N.Y.P.D. in 1994, and was issuing parking tickets when the counterterrorism bureau found him, in 2002. On another occasion, David Cohen introduced me to some of the N.Y.P.D.’s cyberintelligence specialists: a detective and a sergeant, both born and reared in Egypt, and a detective born and reared in Iran. “When we started, in 2002, we didn’t really know what we were doing,” Reza, the Iranian-born officer, said. “It was trial and error. Viruses beyond belief. But we got the medicine now. We go into the worst chat rooms.” “We’re always being tested,” Maged, the detective from Egypt, said. “You know you passed the test when suddenly somebody gives you a password to a chat room you didn’t know existed.” He went on, “We’re familiar with the tradition, the background, we speak the slang.” “Also, we’re cops,” Reza said. |
during judging?A: Yes (these are enabled by default).Q: Will the Same Origin Policy be disabled?A: No, it will be enabled.Q: Can my game be a Chrome Extension / Plugin?A: No. The game must be a standalone.html file which will be loaded via a web server that only serves this one file.Q: Are Flash / Java Applets enabled?A: No.Q: 20 KB? That's not a lot...A: It's enough :) Size optimization is quite fun and there is a multitude of ways to approach this.Q: When will the results be announced?A: Late January. I'll try to be as fast as possible, but it does usually take some time (it also depends on submission count).Q: I never took part in any gamedev compo like this. Can I still participate?A: Sure! It's a great learning experience!Q: Can I blog / tweet / livestream the making of my game?A: Sure. Keep in mind that you will be revealing your ideas to other participants this way (it's within the rules to do it though).Q: Can I create a game with my friend(s)/team/etc?A: Yes!Q: I would like to become a sponsor to make the awards more awesome!A: Sure, get in touch :) (you can find my e-mail in the About section)Q: Will your HTTP server send any Content-Encoding headers (gzip/br/deflate/etc)? I.e. can we benefit from HTTP transport encoding (compression) possibilities with regards to the file size limit?A: The server will not send any Content-Encoding header at all. As far as I have tested newest Chrome DOES NOT attempt any decompression algorithms in such case. So no, this will not work.Q: What if let's say... I have a trick that actually makes newest Chrome decompress such compressed data stream?A: If it still works with Content-Type as specified in FAQ, then it should be fine. That said, please contact me first so I can double-check this.Q: Does the game have to explain the basics ingame, or can a simple guide/manual be part of the submission?A: It doesn't have to be in-game - a readme.txt or a similar guide attached to the submission is fine. This manual won't count towards the limit.Q: So, can the game load the readme.txt file and use resources/code hidden in it?A: No, the readme.txt is not part of the submission per se and so the web server will not allow the game to download it. The web server will only ever allow downloading of the index.html file (i.e. the submitted game).See also the comment section for possibly more questions and answers. Feel free to also ask there if you have any questions.Feel free to let your friends know about this competition - the more, the merrier.Have fun, good luck!Welcome
You want to build a website or blog with a static site generator. Well, here is our elevator pitch. It’s as easy as that:
var Metalsmith = require('metalsmith'); var collections = require('metalsmith-collections'); var layouts = require('metalsmith-layouts'); var markdown = require('metalsmith-markdown'); var permalinks = require('metalsmith-permalinks'); Metalsmith(__dirname) // __dirname defined by node.js: // name of current working directory.metadata({ // add any variable you want // use them in layout-files sitename: "My Static Site & Blog", siteurl: "http://example.com/", description: "It's about saying »Hello« to the world.", generatorname: "Metalsmith", generatorurl: "http://metalsmith.io/" }).source('./src') // source directory.destination('./build') // destination directory.clean(true) // clean destination before.use(collections({ // group all blog posts by internally posts: 'posts/*.md' // adding key 'collections':'posts' })) // use `collections.posts` in layouts.use(markdown()) // transpile all md into html.use(permalinks({ // change URLs to permalink URLs relative: false // put css only in /css })).use(layouts()) // wrap layouts around html.build(function(err) { // build process if (err) throw err; // error handling is required });
You want to try yourself, if it is really this easy. Have a go:
$ git clone https://github.com/metalsmith/metalsmith.git $ cd metalsmith/examples/static-site $ make
Install it
Metalsmith and its plugins can be installed with npm:
$ npm install metalsmith
The package exposes both a JavaScript API, and CLI in case you’re used to that type of workflow from other static site generators. To see how they’re used check out the examples.
Introduction
Metalsmith is an extremely simple, pluggable static site generator. So let us explain why:
Why is Metalsmith a pluggable static site generator?
The task of a static site generator is to produce static build files that can be deployed to a web server. These files are built from source files. Basically for a static site generator this means:
from a source directory read the source files and extract their information manipulate the information write the manipulated information to files into a destination directory
Metalsmith is built on this reasoning. It takes the information from the source files from a source directory and it writes the manipulated information to files into a destination directory. All manipulations, however, it exclusively leaves to plugins.
Manipulations can be anything: translating templates, transpiling code, replacing variables, wrapping layouts around content, grouping files, moving files and so on. This is why we say »Everything is a Plugin«. And of course, several manipulations can be applied one after another. Obviously, in this case the sequence matters.
Why is Metalsmith extremely simple?
When all manipulations are performed by plugins, the only thing Metalsmith has to do in its core is to provide for an underlying logic of actually how manipulations are dealt with and for a defined interface for the plugins. To achieve this, we only needed around 400 lines of code — have a look at the source yourself. We believe this is rather simple. For manipulations Metalsmith uses a very clever, but extremely simple idea. All source files are initially converted into JavaScript objects with the usual {property: property value} pairs. These {property: property value} pairs contain information on the original file itself (such as its birthtime or path ) and on its content. The JavaScript object for each file is then supplemented with all variables either specified in the front-matter of the file or elsewhere. The manipulations performed by the plugins are now nothing else then modifications applied to the JavaScript objects either by changing the properties or the property values. Breaking down Metalsmith into a core and many plugins has several advantages. It reduces complexity. It gives the user the freedom to use exactly only those plugins he or she needs. Furthermore, it distributes the honor and the burden of maintaining the Metalsmith core and its plugins onto the Metalsmith community. With this approach we hope to keep the Metalsmith environment pretty up-to-date. Writing plugins itself is also rather simple. The plugin-interface is easy to understand and most plugins are also rather short. Every site needs JavaScript anyway. Just like the popular task runners gulp or grunt Metalsmith is programmed in JavaScript. So, you do not have to rely on a further language such as Ruby, Python or Go. This also helps to keep your workflow simple.
Everything is a Plugin — A first example
All of the logic in Metalsmith is handled by plugins. You simply chain them together. Here’s what the simplest blog looks like. It uses only two plugins, markdown() and layouts() …
Metalsmith(__dirname) // instantiate Metalsmith in the cwd.source('sourcepath') // specify source directory.destination('destpath') // specify destination directory.use(markdown()) // transpile markdown into html.use(layouts()) // wrap a nunjucks layout around the html.build(function(err) { // this is the actual build process if (err) throw err; // throwing errors is required });
… and by the way, if you do not want your destination directory to be cleaned before a new build, just add.clean(false). But what if you want to get fancier by hiding your unfinished drafts and using permalinks? Just add plugins…
Metalsmith(__dirname).source('sourcepath').destination('destpath').clean(false) // do not clean destination // directory before new build.use(drafts()) // only files that are NOT drafts.use(markdown()).use(permalinks()) // make a permalink output path.use(layouts()).build(function(err) { if (err) throw err; });
…it’s as easy as that!
A small comment. The layouts() plugin needs the jstransformer-nunjucks package to render layouts. Make sure to install it with npm install jstransformer-nunjucks. Other templating languages can be used as well (see the metalsmith-layouts readme for more information).
How does it work in more detail?
Metalsmith works in three simple steps:
Read all the files in a source directory and transform them into a JavaScript object of JavaScript objects. Invoke a series of plugins that manipulate these objects. According to the information contained in the resulting objects write them as files into a destination directory
Every file in the source directory is transformed into a JavaScript Object. For instance,
my-file.md:
--- title: A Catchy Title draft: false --- An unfinished article...
becomes
{'relative_to_sourcepath/my-file.md': { title: 'A Catchy Title', draft: false, contents: 'An unfinished article...', mode: '0664', stats: { /* keys with information on the file */ } } }
where the content of the file is always put into the property value of contents. For illustration purposes only we display the value of contents as a string. Technically, however, the property value of contents is realised as a new Buffer('...') object, in order to also handle straight binary data well. mode contains the permission the file has and stats has more technical information on the file such as size or birthtime. Furthermore, the file is also parsed for YAML-front-matter information, which will then also be put into the JS Object. Thus, we finally have an JavaScript object of JavaScript objects. This encompassing JavaScript object is usally called files since it contains all the JavaScript objects that represent the files.
{ "relative_to_sourcepath/file1.md": { title: 'A Catchy Title', draft: false, contents: 'An unfinished article...', mode: '0664', stats: { /* keys with information on the file */ } }, "relative_to_sourcepath/file2.md": { title: 'An Even Better Title', draft: false, contents: 'One more unfinished article...', mode: '0664', stats: { /* keys with information on the file */ } } }
The plugins can manipulate the JavaScript objects representing the original files however they want, and writing one is super simple. Here’s the code for the drafts() plugin from above. You can also find the code in the github repository for metalsmith-drafts. The code just runs through the JS object files and deletes all contained JavaScript objects that have a property value of true for the property draft :
/** * Expose `plugin`. */ module.exports = plugin; /** * Metalsmith plugin to hide drafts from the output. * * @return {Function} */ function plugin() { return function(files, metalsmith, done){ setImmediate(done); Object.keys(files).forEach(function(file){ var data = files[file]; if (data.draft) delete files[file]; }); }; }
Of course plugins can get a lot more complicated too. That’s what makes Metalsmith powerful; the plugins can do anything you want and the community has written a large amount of plugins already.
Note: The order the plugins are invoked is the order they are in the build script or the metalsmith.json file for cli implementations. This is important for using a plugin that requires a plugins output to work.
If you are still struggling with the concept we like to recommend you the writemetadata() plugin. It is a metalsmith plugin that writes the {property: property value} pairs excerpted from the JavaScript objects representing the files to the filesystem as.json files. You can then view the.json files to find out how files are represented internally in Metalsmith.
Metalsmith(__dirname).source('sourcepath').destination('destpath').use(markdown()).use(layouts()).use(writemetadata({ // write the JS object pattern: ['**/*'], // for each file into.json ignorekeys: ['next', 'previous'], bufferencoding: 'utf8' // also put 'content' into.json })).build(function(err) { if (err) throw err; });
We believe, that understanding the internal representation of files as JavaScript objects is really key to fully grasp the concept of Metalsmith. To see this, we look at what happens in the second example chain above:
So, within the Markdown chain above after applying.use(markdown()) the initial representation of the my-file.md becomes my-file.html …
{'relative_to_sourcepath/my-file.html': { title: 'A Catchy Title', draft: false, contents: '<p>An unfinished article...</p>',... } }
and after applying.use(permalinks()) it becomes:
{'relative_to_sourcepath/my-file/index.html': { title: 'A Catchy Title', draft: false, contents: '<p>An unfinished article...</p>', path:'myfile',... } }
Note, that permalinks() is also adding a path –property by default.
Assuming we have defined a very simple nunjucks layout file in a separate layouts folder…
./layouts/layout.njk
<!doctype html> <html> <head> <title>{{ title }}</title> </head> <body> {{ contents | safe }} </body> </html>
… after applying.use(layouts()) in our Metalsmith chain our JavaScript object becomes:
{'relative_to_sourcepath/my-file/index.html': { title: 'A Catchy Title', draft: false, contents: '<!doctype html><html><head> <title>A Catchy Title</title></head><body> <p>An unfinished article...</p> </body></html>', path:'myfile',... } }
Finally when the.build(function(err)) is performed our JavaScript object is written to relative_to_destpath/myfile/index.html. So you see, how the chain works. It’s rather straight forward, isn’t it?
Metadata & debugging
For Metalsmith we have stated that everything is a plugin. That is true, but in addition the Metalsmith core also provides for a metadata() function. You can specify arbitrary {property: property value} pairs and these information will be globally accessible from each plugin.
var debug = require('metalsmith-debug');... Metalsmith(__dirname).source('sourcepath').destination('destpath').clean(false).metadata({ author: 'John Doe', site: 'http://example.com' }).use(markdown()).use(layouts()).use(debug()) // displays debug info on the console.build(function(err) { if (err) throw err; });
As you have seen in the code above, we have also introduced a plugin named metalsmith-debug. For this plugin to actually show debug information you need to define an environment variable DEBUG and set it to:
$ DEBUG=metalsmith:*
The source and destination path, the metadata and all files are then logged to the console.
Further information
Yes, we know. The documentation can be improved. If you want to help, give us a shout. But in the meantime have a look at the Awesome Metalsmith list. There you will find references to a number of excellent tutorials, examples and use cases.
A Little Secret
We keep referring to Metalsmith as a “static site generator”, but it’s a lot more than that. Since everything is a plugin, the core library is actually just an abstraction for manipulating a directory of files.
Which means you could just as easily use it to make…
A Project Scaffolder Read template files from a directory. Parse files for template placeholders. Prompt user to fill in each placeholder. Render files with a templating engine. Write filled-in files to a new directory.
A Build Tool Read files from a source directory. Convert Sass files to CSS. Concatenate CSS files. Minify the CSS file. Compress images files. Sprite images in a certain folder. Write files to a public directory.
An eBook Generator Read chapter files from a directory. Build a table of contents from the tree. Convert Markdown to HTML. Convert Markdown to PDF. Convert Markdown to ePUB. Convert Markdown to MOBI. Write compiled files to a directory.
Technical Docs Read files from a source directory. Convert Markdown files to HTML. Build a navigation from the tree. Render each file with a template. Write HTML to the static directory.
The plugins are all reusable. That PDF generator plugin for eBooks? Use it to generate PDFs for each of your blog posts too!
Check out the code examples to get an idea for what’s possible.
Writing A Plugin
Writing a plugin is not difficult as you have seen above with the metalsmith-drafts plugin. In order to achieve more complicated tasks you will most likely find and can use npm -packages. Look at how others have done it. Here is an example using debug (which we appreciate if you use it) and multimatch :
metalsmith-myplugin :
// we would like you to use debug var debug = require('debug')('metalsmith-myplugin'); var multimatch = require('multimatch'); // Expose `plugin`. module.exports = plugin; function plugin(opts){ opts.pattern = opts.pattern || []; return function (files, metalsmith, done){ setImmediate(done); Object.keys(files).forEach(function(file){ if(multimatch(file, opts.pattern).length) { debug('myplugin working on: %s', file); // // here would be your code // } }); }; }
Matching
Even though we touched on the topic already, we did not tackle it explicitly. We mentioned that plugins usually run through all files presented to metalsmith. This happens in a loop like this:
Object.keys(files).forEach(function(file){ // // here would be your code // });
The question now is, how does for instance a markdown-engine know, which files to transpile? The answer is easy. Per default, metalsmith-markdown is checking if file has a.md or.markdown extension. Remember, file is a JavaScript object that has its full filename (including its path) as a value. If the check is not true it jumps over it, otherwise it is passing the file to the engine. After processing it, metalsmith-markdown replaces the.md extension with an.html and the next plugin can now check against the new filename and so on.
A process such as this is called check for pattern matching. Many metalsmith -plugins employ such matching. Either they check against internally set requirements or patterns or they offer an explicit option to check against user defined matches, like we have already seen in the writemetadata -plugin:
.use(writemetadata({ // write the JS object pattern: ['**/*'], // for each file into.json ignorekeys: ['next', 'previous'], bufferencoding: 'utf8' // also put 'content' into.json }))
Pattern matching is normally based on glob pattern. Many plugins employ either own functions or rely on minimatch or multimatch.
var multimatch = require('multimatch'); [...] // Checks whether files should be processed // length is zero if no matching pattern was found if (multimatch(file, opts.pattern).length) { // process file }
The Community Plugins
The core Metalsmith library doesn’t bundle any plugins by default.
Here’s a list of plugins that are provided by the awesome Metalsmith community. But mind you, this list is by no means complete, because not every author PRs his or her plugin. So you might want to search for further plugins:
If you write your own plugin, submit a pull request to the metalsmith.io repository and it will show up here!
API
Checkout the project scaffolder or build tool examples to see a real example of the Javascript API in use.
new Metalsmith(dir)
Create a new Metalsmith instance for a working dir.
.use(plugin)
Add the given plugin function to the middleware stack. Metalsmith uses ware to support middleware, so plugins should follow the same pattern of taking arguments of (files, metalsmith, callback), modifying the files or metalsmith.metadata() argument by reference, and then calling callback to trigger the next step.
.build(fn)
Build with the given settings and a callback having signature fn(err, files).
.source(path)
Set the relative path to the source directory, or get the full one if no path is provided. The source directory defaults to./src.
.destination(path)
Set the relative path to the destination directory, or get the full one if no path is provided. The destination directory defaults to./build.
.concurrency(max)
Set the maximum number of files to open at once when reading or writing. Defaults to Infinity. To avoid having too many files open at once ( EMFILE errors), set the concurrency to something lower than ulimit -n.
.clean(boolean)
Set whether to remove the destination directory before writing to it, or get the current setting. Defaults to true.
.frontmatter(boolean)
Set whether to parse YAML frontmatter. Defaults to true.
.ignore(path)
Ignore files/paths from being loaded into Metalsmith.
path can be a string, a function, or an array of strings and/or functions. Strings use the glob syntax from minimatch to match files and directories to ignore. Functions are called with the full path to the file as their first argument, and the lstat object returned by Node’s fs.lstat function as their second argument, and must return either true to ignore the file, or false to keep it.
.metadata(json)
Get the global metadata. This is useful for plugins that want to set global-level metadata that can be applied to all files.
.path(paths…)
Resolve any amount of paths... relative to the working directory. This is useful for plugins who want to read extra assets from another directory, for example./layouts.
.run(files, fn)
Run all of the middleware functions on a dictionary of files and callback with fn(err, files), where files is the altered dictionary.
Metadata API
Add metadata to your files to access these build features. By default, Metalsmith uses a few different metadata fields:
contents - The body content of the file, not including any YAML frontmatter.
- The body content of the file, not including any YAML frontmatter. mode - The numeric version of the file’s mode.
You can add your own metadata in two ways:
Using YAML frontmatter at the top of any file.
Enabling a plugin that adds metadata programmatically.
mode
Set the mode of the file. For example,
$ cat cleanup.sh -- mode: 0764 -- rm -rf.
would be built with mode -rwxrw-r--, i.e. user-executable.
License
The MIT License (MIT)
Copyright © 2014, Segment.io \<friends@segment.io>
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.Hello, HHN fans! We’re here in The HHN Yearbook Control Center, monitoring all the revelations from tonight’s Halloween Horror Nights 24 Media Preview Event! We’ve got a number of partner sites in attendance and we’ll be disseminating the best photos, videos and other media right here on this page. Keep refreshing the page for updates as the evening’s festivities continue!
If you haven’t already, be sure to follow our Twitter and Tumblr for the most up-to-date news!
For tonight’s media preview, I’ll be handing off the twitter account to our social team! They will update live! #HHN24 #MediaPreview — HHN – Orlando (@HorrorNightsORL) September 8, 2014
One of my favorite nights! #HHN24 Media Preview starts in just moments. Who’s coming out? pic.twitter.com/VBRVt77M2E — Alyson Lundell (@AlysonUOR) September 8, 2014
Alien Vs. Predator will have an exclusive story. #HHN24 pic.twitter.com/qTg4Q07dYg — HHN – Orlando (@HorrorNightsORL) September 9, 2014
Face Off scare zone will have 5 different characters every half hour #HHN24 @UniversalORL pic.twitter.com/ZYecYahMI3 — Seth Kubersky (@skubersky) September 9, 2014
The sultry From Dusk Till Dawn will also come to life, the concepts show the classic club, The Twister! #HHN24 pic.twitter.com/UrdaoXrNVV — Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) September 9, 2014
From Dusk Til Dawn is based on last 3-4 episodes of the TV show #HHN24 @UniversalORL pic.twitter.com/hKv2vFZrcK — Seth Kubersky (@skubersky) September 9, 2014
Michael Myers is back in a Halloween themed house, get ready for this horror classic to come to life! pic.twitter.com/2eFunowVuS — Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) September 9, 2014
Giggles & Gore Inc. features some unique twists on clowns this year at #HHN24: pic.twitter.com/5jgPckTUJS — Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) September 9, 2014
Just a few of the creepy things you’ll see at #HHN24 https://t.co/H4oyeZ93ys — Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) September 9, 2014
Dollhouse of the Damned- not suitable for children. #HHN24 pic.twitter.com/Gh8JPbrD0b — HHN – Orlando (@HorrorNightsORL) September 9, 2014
@Michael_Aiello & Coz “cannot confirm or deny” if Legendary Truth will be back for #hhn24 @UniversalORL — Seth Kubersky (@skubersky) September 9, 2014
Lora Wallace say RHPS Tribute will have updated video, about 1/2 of cast is returning @UniversalORL #HHN24 — Seth Kubersky (@skubersky) September 9, 2014
We are headed over to The Myers’ House for a walkthrough of Halloween! So freakin’ awesome! http://t.co/m8eIV80AEu — HHNCrypt (@HHNCrypt) September 9, 2014
On our way to check out the Halloween maze! — Designing the Fear (@DesigningFear) September 9, 2014
So much to see at @universalorl @horrornightsorl preview. This is from alien vs. predator. pic.twitter.com/iFnmsOB9E6 — Barb Nefer (@themeparkwriter) September 9, 2014
The exterior of the “Halloween” house at #HHN24 has some very cool projection mapping scenes. — Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) September 9, 2014
Halloween gets bonus points for nods to forgotten 3rd film & a Donald Pleasance lookalike! @UniversalORL #HHN24 — Seth Kubersky (@skubersky) September 9, 2014
@HHNYearbook @HorrorNightsORL Love the Dr. Facilier style character for Bayou of Blood. Details of Dollhouse have me very excited. — Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) September 9, 2014
Mike here!! What a great night! The screams were insane inside Halloween!! Awesome to see all these happy faces! pic.twitter.com/TsHWWfFQmI — HHN – Orlando (@HorrorNightsORL) September 9, 2014
The team and I had a blast tonight! Thanks to all who attended and we all look forward to everyone experiencing #HHN24 -mike — HHN – Orlando (@HorrorNightsORL) September 9, 2014Last week Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive pissed off thousands of Grand Theft Auto V players when it sent a cease-and desist letter to Yuriy "Good-NDS" Krivoruchko, the developer of OpenIV, a popular Grand Theft Auto V modding tool.
Many players took the action as an attack on the very idea of modding, particularly since OpenIV has served as a development tool and library for modders of the PC versions of GTA games for the better part of a decade. The response from the GTA V player community was quick and uproarious, with many of them flooding the game's Steam page with negative reviews, almost 80,000 signatures to a Change.org petition to save OpenIV, and hundreds of outraged posts on various gaming forums.
Now, however, GTA V's developer Rockstar Games seems to have moderated Take-Two's position, and has also told Motherboard that it is in contact with Krivoruchko with the intention of resolving the issue.
"Rockstar Games believes in reasonable fan creativity, and, in particular, wants creators to showcase their passion for our games," Rockstar said in a statement on its website. "After discussions with Take-Two, Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar's PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties. This does not apply to (i) multiplayer or online services; (ii) tools, files, libraries, or functions that could be used to impact multiplayer or online services, or (iii) use or importation of other IP (including other Rockstar IP) in the project."
The second (ii) stipulation here is where things get complicated. The whole reason OpenIV is so popular in the modding community is that it allows users to decrypt, read, and edit the game's proprietary file format. That's what makes-single player modding possible. The issue is that some users have taken advantage of this ability to tinker with GTA Online, ruining the experience for other players by cheating.
Earlier this week Krivoruchko told Motherboard that he never designed OpenIV for this purpose. He said that he's not interested in GTA Online at all. But he did concede that it is possible that some modders have used OpenIV to impact GTA Online. At Krivoruchko's request, Motherboard is not detailing the methods he discussed so as not to cause more trouble in GTA Online.
As Rockstar's statement says, Take-Two now intends to only go after mods that affect GTA Online, but at the moment it is still not clear how OpenIV can continue to allow users to modify the single player experience without facilitating cheating. Rockstar said it's in contact with Krivoruchko in order to figure that out, and judging by the statement, for now Take-Two will prioritize going after mods that ruin GTA Online.The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee intends to review a Pentagon program that transfers surplus military equipment to police agencies, following the use of controversial police tactics in Ferguson, Mo.
"Before the defense authorization bill comes to the Senate floor, we will review this program to determine if equipment provided by the Defense Department is being used as intended," Sen. Carl Levin Carl Milton LevinListen, learn and lead: Congressional newcomers should leave the extremist tactics at home House Democrats poised to set a dangerous precedent with president’s tax returns The Hill's 12:30 Report — Sponsored by Delta Air Lines — White House to 'temporarily reinstate' Acosta's press pass after judge issues order | Graham to take over Judiciary panel | Hand recount for Florida Senate race MORE (D-Mich.) said in a statement Friday.
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“Congress established this program out of real concern that local law enforcement agencies were literally outgunned by drug criminals," he added.
"We intended this equipment to keep police officers and their communities safe from heavily armed drug gangs and terrorist incidents.”
Levin’s move comes after police officers in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb, used military vehicles and equipment acquired by the Pentagon to quell protests following the shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old black teenager.
Images of police riding atop armed-personnel carriers and mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles (MRAPs), and dressed in camouflage, led critics on both the left and the right to press lawmakers to end the Pentagon program.
Civil libertarians have warned that the program risks “militarizing” local police forces. During the riots, two reporters covering the events were detained, further fueling anger over the police force’s alleged heavy-handed response.
But police groups have defended the transfers, saying that local law enforcement officials need the military gear and equipment.Dear Working-Class White Trump Voter,
You’re probably going to read this as sour grapes, and I certainly am sour about a family of kleptocrats moving into the White House because 80,000 of your votes in states that get more federal tax dollars than they put in trump 2.7 million of ours, even though we carry you financially, and California and New York could function just fine as our own countries, without you.
But the reality is, I do live in a blue state. My governor and mayor are Democrats. Undocumented immigrants are safe where I live. Two of my kids attend a private college, so they wouldn’t have gotten free tuition anyway, and the third goes to a really good public school, where they teach science. I have a job (actually, multiple jobs) that can’t be outsourced to Mexico. And I’ll probably get a tax cut. So I’ll be fine over the next four years, as long as I don’t encounter an angry cop who’s had a bad day. But allow me to be blunt, since I don’t have any desire to pander to you, and it wouldn’t work to pander to you anyway.
You voted for Donald Trump, thinking that he was on your side; that he will save your jobs and your way of life, whatever you imagine that is. Well, you got played.
Over the course of his decades in business, Donald Trump has never given a damn about people like you. When he tore down the old Bonwit Teller building—where my Jamaican godmother was one of the few black women allowed to work as a cashier in the 1960s (her big claim to fame was meeting Troy Donahue)—to build Trump Tower, Trump used undocumented white laborers, mostly Polish, to do it. When his company forced them to work in deplorable, dangerous conditions and even failed to pay them the meager wages they were promised and they complained, Trump threatened to have them deported.
Trump built Trump Tower using mob concrete, not Bethlehem steel. In fact, he has rarely used American steel in the few buildings he’s actually built; opting for Chinese steel instead. That includes two of his last three projects: the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. Then again, Nevada and Illinois voted with us in the anti-Trump majority, so the joke wasn’t exactly on them.
I wish to God the Clinton campaign had spent every waking month telling you guys about this stuff, instead of allowing the moving and cinematic “Man of Steel” TV adby a pro-Trump super PAC probably funded by the same billionaires to whom he’s about to give massive top-rate and corporate tax cuts, to stand. But they didn’t. And here we are.
Now, your supposed hero of the working class, the “blue collar billionaire” who you insisted both during the campaign and afterward heard you, understood you, spoke to you, and cared about you, is attacking one of you. Trump used his Twitter account this week to savage United Steelworkers 1999 of Indiana and its president, Chuck Jones, an ordinary working man who dared to tell the truth about the phony Carrier deal that the media shamefully allowed Trump to ride to glowing headlines and boosted poll numbers.
To review, Trump used his Twitter feed to credit himself for saving 1,100 jobs at Indiana furnace and air conditioning manufacturer Carrier. In fact, it was still-governor Mike Pence, Trump’s soon-to-be vice president, who cut the deal to hand over $7 million in state tax abatements to Carrier in exchange for delaying the movement of 770 jobs to the company’s new plant in Monterrey, Mexico. That move, over the next three years, and the shutdown of the Indianapolis plant, is still planned. Another 300 white collar jobs Trump claimed credit for, meaning researchers and administrators, not steel workers, were not being moved to Mexico in the first place. And an additional 600 jobs at that plant, plus 700 at a plant in nearby Huntington, Indiana, plus 350 more at a ball bearings factory owned by Rexnord Corp., are still being shipped south of the border.
Meanwhile, despite the willingness of the incoming Trump-Pence administration to bribe a company with your tax dollars, there’s no guarantee that the small number of jobs saved are more than temporary. For all you know, Carrier only agreed to delay moving those 770 jobs until Christmas, to get the good press. And unlike President Obama’s deal to save literally millions of auto industry jobs in 2009, there’s no agreement for Carrier to pay taxpayers back with interest.
When Jones pointed out that Trump used Carrier employees as props and “lied his ass off” about the jobs he was supposedly saving, Trump got mad. He tweeted at Jones, blaming him, and US1999, for driving jobs out of Indiana and out of the United States. Think about that for a moment—your next president doesn’t think corporate greed and the pursuit of low wages are driving jobs out; he thinks unions are. That means he thinks your health care benefits and retirement package are the problem, not your CEO and the singular goal of “enhancing shareholder value” at your expense. Sounds like a proper plutocrat to me. Well, Trump went after Mr. Jones, and now Mr. Jones is getting death |
their weapons when the [Russian navy ship] Ladny ordered the dry cargo carrier's crew to stop the vessel," he said.
Climbing gear, flares and a high-speed inflatable boat supposedly used in the hijack were found aboard the Arctic Sea, the spokesman said.
The agencies did not say what ransom was demanded.
The Maltese-registered, Russian-crewed vessel and its $1.3 million cargo of timber disappeared from radar screens three weeks ago, prompting speculation ranging from an attack by an organised crime gang to a top-secret spy mission.
The Malta Maritime Authority said on Tuesday, without elaborating, that the Arctic Sea had "never really disappeared", a comment which increased speculation that security services might have been involved in the affair.
Russia has said the eight detainees were citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Russia who on July 24 boarded the ship, forced the crew to change route and turned off its navigation equipment.
After heading through the English Channel in late July, radio contact was lost and the 4,000-tonne ship did not deliver its cargo to the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4.
The Russian navy found the missing ship on Monday in the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Verde.
The official version of events was questioned by Yulia Latynina, a leading Russian opposition journalist and commentator.
"The Arctic Sea was carrying something, not timber and not from Finland, that necessitated some major work on the ship," she wrote in the Moscow Times newspaper on Wednesday.
During two weeks of repair works in the Russian port of Kaliningrad just before the voyage, the ship's bulkhead was dismantled so something very large could be loaded, she wrote.
"To put it plainly: The Arctic Sea was carrying some sort of anti-aircraft or nuclear contraption intended for a nice, peaceful country like Syria, and they were caught with it," she said.
- Reuters
Topics: piracy, accidents, maritime, law-crime-and-justice, russian-federation
First postedA long awaited report on wait times commissioned by the Pallister Government says it should reconsider or delay emergency room closures at two Winnipeg hospitals.
The 358-page report has dozens of recommendations on how to improve wait times across Manitoba.
One recommendation says the conversion of the Seven Oaks Hospital emergency department to an urgent care centre should be delayed or reconsidered until the “collateral impact” on patients in the Interlake and Winnipeg regions is evaluated. It also says the full closure of Concordia’s emergency department should be delayed until phase one of the current consolidation is deemed to be successful.
“The hospital/ED consolidation announced in April, 2017 is seen, conceptually, as a positive stride forward, but the devil is in the details—it must be properly evaluated, phased in, and coordinated with rural ED care, under a unifying governance structure.”
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says in light of the report it will slow down its proposed changes.
It now says it will space out the future closure of Concordia's ER and Seven Oaks' transformation. The WRHA says it's reviewing phase one of the consolidation efforts that included the closure of Victoria Hospitals's ER. Results are expected in the New Year.
You can read the full report online here.HERE'S a solid suggestion for how to fix the Affordable Care Act if the Supreme Court rules that mandating that citizens must buy health insurance is unconstitutional.
My fix would be to simply say raise everyone's taxes by what a health insurance policy would cost -- Congress definitely has the power to do that -- and then tell people that if they obtain insurance, they'll get a tax break of the same amount. So instead of a penalty, it's a perfectly legal tax break. But this seems to me to angelic pinhead density arguments about whether it's a payment to do something or not to do something.
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The speaker is the guy who first came up with the suggestion of including an individual mandate in plans to reform the American health-insurance system. He's an economist named Mark Pauly, and he proposed the individual mandate idea to President George H.W. Bush in 1991 as a way to maintain a private free-market insurance system and avoid any move to single-payer health insurance. Ezra Klein interviewed Mr Pauly yesterday. As Mr Klein notes, the ideas Mr Pauly and a commission of academics suggested to Mr Bush ultimately made their way into Republican Senator John Chafee's 1993 health-care reform bill, which was presented as a conservative alternative to the plan developed by Hillary Clinton, and was co-sponsored by current Republican senators Orrin Hatch, Chris Bond, Charles Grassley and Robert Bennett.
Mr Pauly makes some pretty good points. For instance:
[T]he point of the mandate was that there are a few Evil Knievals who won't buy it and this would bring them into the system. In our version, the penalty was effectively equal to the premium of a policy. You paid the penalty and you got the insurance. That's one of my puzzlements here: In the new law, the actual level of the penalty is quite small compared to the price of a policy. It's only about 20 percent of the cost of a policy.
This has never quite made sense to me either, and I see it as a sort of failure of fiscal will. Basically, even with the subsidies envisioned in the ACA, health insurance is likely to remain fairly expensive for some groups of working-class people. Policymakers don't seem to have the political support to make the subsidies generous enough so that health insurance will be truly affordable for every group. But they can't envision actually forcing working-class people who don't feel it's affordable to pay the full premium.* So they're setting a penalty for failing to buy the insurance that, hopefully, will be high enough to convince people that it's better to pay the premium and get insurance, than to pay the penalty and get nothing. The cost of this approach is that it makes it unclear to citizens what they're getting. Mr Pauly's version is simpler: pay the minimum health insurance tax, and you get a basic plan. Buy your own health insurance on the private market, and you get the tax refunded to you. Universal health insurance, clearly constitutional, small fix to the current law. How about it, Mr Boehner? Yeah, right.
* I thought it might be useful to add a note on how those subsidies and mandates work in the fully-operational Dutch system, on which the ACA is modeled, because I happen to have experience with it. In the Dutch system, as under the ACA, every resident of the country must buy health insurance. All health insurance companies are private, but are heavily regulated and receive public subsidies, and they can't charge different premiums to different people, no matter how old or sick you are. They're basically competing purely on price, efficiency, and the desirability of the plans they offer, rather than by trying to skim the youngest, healthiest, least risky customers from each other. But, unlike Congress last year, the Dutch did have the fiscal will to provide enough subsidies so that premiums are quite affordable for everyone. Premiums in the Netherlands are about €1,300 ($1,750 dollars) per person per year for a standard individual policy, regardless of who you are. If you're poor, you get additional subsidies to help pay that premium. You can pay more if you want to get more coverage. For working-class people who make too much to qualify for special subsidies, €1,300 per year is a substantial expense, and Dutch people are constantly complaining about how expensive health insurance is getting. But by American standards, obviously, $1,750 per year for a full-featured policy is extremely cheap, unless you're a healthy person in your 20s, in which case you're basically free-riding off of older and sicker people who are paying the higher premiums the system needs to function.For over a decade, Judid Angamarca lived in a wooden shack on stilts next to an old waste pit, where for years oil sludge from drilling was dumped.
The patch of land, the size of a tennis court, was cleaned and covered with earth in 1996. But it stubbornly refused to produce anything she tried to grow. Her three children played in the grass as babies; her animals roamed around, too. The residents living in and around San Carlos have long lived among the wells, pipes, and waste pits laid down for the oil bonanza in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
But two years ago, from a six-inch hole, oil waste emerged – and so did Ms. Angamarca’s doubts about her dead pigs and chickens and her children’s rashes and coughs. The government relocated her family to a new home recently.
“You get mad, you want to leave [the area], but you have nowhere to go,” says Angamarca.
San Carlos sits in the middle of more than 100 wells drilled in the Sacha field by Texaco, which pumped oil as the sole operator of a consortium here from 1972 until 1990. At the time, it was one of the highest concentrations of wells in the Amazonian region, and today this remote town finds itself in the middle of what could be the largest damage claim against the oil industry in its history.
The landmark lawsuit, which began in 1993 in New Yo rk and is now in an Ecuadorean court in this jungle region, alleges that Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001, knowingly unleashed toxins across an estimated 1,700 square miles – roughly the size of Rhode Island.
This allegedly occurred in one of the most biodiverse forests on the planet. Plaintiffs’ lawyers say Texaco’s dumping represents 30 times more than the crude spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. According to a report by a court-appointed expert, Chevron could face $27 billion in damages to soil, groundwater, and drinking water – and even for cancer-related deaths. The decision is expected any day.
Chevron says Texaco cleaned up its share of damage after leaving the country and that the state oil company, which took over its operations entirely in 1992, has not fulfilled its environmental obligations. If Chevron loses the case, it will affect more than its finances: It could reverberate throughout the industry at a time when companies big and small are searching for oil in ever more remote areas, including the Amazon basin.
“This will definitely make it harder on oil companies working in these areas,” says Fernando Santos, a former Ecuadorean energy minister and oil analyst in Quito. “It brings them uncertainty. It sets a precedent that if you leave, it does not end the story. Anyone can open it up again.”
The lawsuit names 48 plaintiffs who represent approximately 30,000 residents. Plaintiffs’ lawyers claim that, contrary to standard US practice at the time, Texaco dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste; left more than 900 waste pits of toxic sludge, like the one in Angamarca’s front yard; and flared millions of cubic yards of poisonous gasses into the atmosphere. That, they say, has led to 1,000-plus deaths from cancer and to ecological damage beyond repair.
“There was almost no escape for people living [with] all of this,” says Steven Donziger, a New York-based attorney and legal adviser to the plaintiffs’ case. Texaco saved some $8 billion by using substandard practices, according to the report issued by the court-appointed expert.
Chevron denies liability
The science to assess damages is at best faulty, at worst fraudulent, Chevron says. Chevron claims the report’s author, selected by an Ecuadorean judge, sides with the plaintiffs. It also says that public statements by Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, in favor of the plaintiffs makes the trial a farce. The oil company’s defense centers on the fact that Texaco spent about $40 million in the mid-1990s cleaning up more than one-third of the waste pits, more than its share of the consortium at the time. State-owned Petroecuador owned the other two-thirds.
“Texaco did its job, now the state has to do its part,” says James Craig, Chevron’s lead spokesman for the case, standing in front of an open waste pit that is about 200 feet long and 75 feet wide, a dark brown pit with a layer of degraded petroleum five feet deep. It is an example Mr. Craig uses to show what Chevron says are Petroecuador’s unmet responsibilities.
The pit, surrounded by giant palms and Heliconia flowers that hang like racks of red bells, is outside the small town of Shushufindi. It illustrates the seemingly irreconcilable views on either side of the courtroom. The day before, plaintiffs’ supporters had accompanied visitors to the same site to present the opposite argument. This, they said, exemplified the damage wreaked by Texaco – the exclusive operator of this area – for one purpose: to cut costs.
Far-reaching implications for a decision against Chevron
The local community here is not completely united against Chevron. Some residents aren’t even aware of the case. Others dismiss the claims that the water is unsafe.
Johana Mantuano, who lives near the Victoria River, where children dive off oil pipelines into the water below, says she worries little. Some even quietly say that Petroecuador is far worse than Texaco ever was. Mr. Santos, the former energy minister, agrees.
Still, a decision against Chevron would reverberate across the oil industry, says Santos, especially at a time when oil companies from China to Argentina are voraciously exploring petroleum sources in the Amazon, one of the largest unexplored areas for hydrocarbons after Antarctica.
Locals hope it echoes in areas where foreign oil firms still operate. Luis Yanza, of the Amazon Defense Coalition, the group leading the fight against Chevron, says his community used to kowtow to oil companies.
When oil first started to flow from wells here, residents say they had little idea of its impact. Mr. Yanza says he would go to school with red blotches all over his body, and so would everyone else. “We looked like fish,” he says. “We would laugh at each other.”
It is the first time that indigenous people of the Amazon have made an American oil company submit to jurisdiction in their country’s court system, plaintiffs say. “The most important impact is giving people the confidence to demand that oil companies change their practices,” Yanza says.
The plaintiffs are supported by US-funded environmental groups, and celebrities such as Sting have spoken out on their behalf. Still, a strong current of David vs. Goliath runs through this stretch of the country.
The case’s lead lawyer, Ecuadorean Pablo Fajardo, worked as a laborer in the palm and oil industries, and says he became a lawyer because the local community did not have one. To put himself through school, he relied on donations from local priests and friends, who collected money for his studies. This is his first case. He closes his eyes when asked what it means to him: “Chevron is fighting for their reputation and for money,” says Mr. Fajardo. “We are fighting for life.”
Chevron on the defensive
Chevron has fought back mightily. The corporation has taken visitors to the sites they have cleaned up and point out rivers where fecal matter, not hydrocarbons, they say, has made the local population sick.
It has taken out quarter-page ads in local newspapers with headlines such as “the fraud of the century.” Chevron recently tucked 280,000 supplements into four Ecuadorean papers, highlighting the impact that relocation programs – instituted by a government desperate for the prosperity oil would bring – has had on this once pristine region.
“We expect the judgment here will be against us,” says Chevron spokesman Craig. “If we don’t find justice in Ecuador, we will go abroad.”
Residents here say it is neither revenge nor money that inspires their fight, but a desire for safe water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing their clothes. They blame the government just as much as big oil.
They say they have long been abandoned by both. “What do I want? I just want them to come here and clean up so we can all move on,” says Angamarca. “So that I know my children will be OK."Lucas Piazón named in Chelsea's Champions League squad Lucas in action for Chelsea
Young midfielder Lucas Piazón has been named in Chelsea’s Champions League squad for the 2012/13 season, along with his fellow Brazilians Oscar, David Luiz and Ramires.
The 18-year-old is part of the 25-man squad named by the reigning Champions League winners, who kick off their European campaign against Juventus on September 19.
Piazón, who has been likened to Real Madrid's Kaká, is yet to make a senior appearance for the Blues, following his move from São Paulo in 2011.
However, due to some impressive performances in the reserves, the starlet was handed the number 35 senior shirt last year.
Piazón was an unused substitute for Chelsea during their Premier League draws against Swansea City and Manchester United, and their final day 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers last season.
Former Chelsea boss and ex-scout, Andre Villas-Boas, spoke highly of the youngster, telling reporters: "He [Piazón] has trained more with the first team, which is very good for him.
"He's made great progress since arriving and in the last two games was on the bench. Unfortunately, he had no opportunity to enter, but has done a great job in the reserves team.
"He is a player that we have high hopes for."
Piazón was named Chelsea’s Young Player of the Year in his first season and helped the club lift the FA Youth Cup in the same week.
He said: "I am very happy and I didn't expect this. It has been a fantastic week for me.
"David Luiz and Ramires have helped me a lot here as when I came in I was alone. I hope to be at Chelsea for a long time and I will keep working."
Piazón, who has represented Brazil at youth level, has been named in Chelsea’s squad alongside his fellow countrymen David Luiz, Ramires and summer signing Oscar.
Roberto Di Matteo's side have been drawn against Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Danish side Nordsjælland in Group E, as they look to retain their title.Last year HTC formed the Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (VRVCA) alongside some of the biggest investors in the VR industry. This alliance offered a total of $10bn USD to VR content creators in conjunction with the Vive X accelerator program. The VRVCA has just held its fourth closed-door members meeting in San Francisco, with 10 teams from 5 different regions showcasing their achievements.
These startups included 7invensun, ObEN and TPCast, each making progress with interactive eye tracking, social connection, and wireless connectivity.
7invensun, a Vive X batch II team based in Beijing, has created real-time eye tracking for HTC Vive systems in the form of an upgrade kit known as aGlass. The aGlass DK II will start limited pre-order sales next month priced at RMB 1,500 (approx. $219 USD. Each set of aGlass DK II’s comes supplied with a pair of 200°, 400° and 600° myopic lenses and supports customised lenses.
“It’s a great honour for us to attend VRVCA this year and we’re super excited about the benefits aGlass can bring to lower hardware requirements and thus enable broader access to high quality VR. Thanks to Vive X, we are able to work and share resources with a variety of Vive X teams, and jointly create more VR/AR eye-tracking solutions in game interaction, financial payment, travel guide, and so on. Our vision is to empower a new and cool way of human-computer interaction through eye tracking.” said Thomas Huang, Founder and CEO of 7invensun in a statement.
While ObEN has built artificial intelligence (AI) technology that integrates with China’s WeChat, a popular social platform allowing all HTC Vive users and WeChat’s 889 million mobile users to interact with each other.
“China is a world leader in both mobile internet and VR adoption. We are thrilled to join forces with Tencent and HTC Vive to tackle the challenge of improving Social VR experiences using ObEN’s AI technology,” said Nikhil Jain, cofounder and CEO, ObEN. “Today’s showcase not only enables shared experiences between users of China’s top social and VR platform but is also an early demonstration of how ObEN’s Personal AI can drive and create AI generated content.”
TPCast on the other hand needs little introduction. The company developed a wireless solution last year which has seen widespread media coverage. At the showcase TPCast announced its Business Edition tether-less upgrade kit, a multi-user solution that allows up to six users to interact in one physical space. The product is due to launch later this year.
“We believe this industry milestone will really change the game completely for multiuser VR and ultimately unleash the tether-less VR world!” said Michael Liu, CEO of TPCAST. “We sincerely appreciate VRVCA for giving us this opportunity to show our latest tether-less VR product to the world. Also we would like to express our gratitude to HTC Vive for being always supportive to us.”
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Vive X and VRVCA, reporting back with the latest technological updates.Authorities are wondering what prompted a 24-year-old Evanston man to leap from a second floor inside Schaumburg's Woodfield Mall Saturday afternoon, sending him to a hospital.
"His injuries are not life-threatening," said Schaumburg Police Sgt. John Nebl.
Nebl said it was about 4:30 p.m. when officers were called to the first floor of the mall, 5 Woodfield Mall, outside of J.C. Penney for an injured person.
"It appears he jumped from the second level down to the ground level," Nebl said. "Why he jumped we don't know at this time."
Nebl said the 24-year-old man was taken to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates with injuries, including to his back, that are not considered life-threatening.
It was not known how high he fell from, but Nebl said no one else was hurt.
"It's a ways up — one story or probably a little higher than a house or office building," Nebl said.
The man was with someone at the time and officers learned through that person and from witnesses who saw it inside the mall that he had leaped on his own accord.
He is not facing any criminal charges or citations, Nebl said.
The mall was not closed after the incident.
rsobol@tribune.com
Twitter: @RosemarySobol1By Paul Adams
The Lakers were on the road about a month ago on February 6, playing against the Philadelphia 76ers and Kobe Bryant’s role in it couldn’t have been more symbolic of the current juncture in his career. With the first half winding down, fellow divorcé Matt Barnes threw Kobe a pass at the top of the key, as he settled in his feet, and rattled in the long step-back jumper for a bucket. That shot would have Kobe surpass legendary journeyman and former teammate Shaquille O’Neal on the all-time scoring list. However, as historic as this moment in Kobe’s career was, it also turned out to be a Lakers loss. Though the Lakers seemingly had the game won, Kobe shot the team out of it, making only 1 of his last 10 shots down the stretch, without ever running the offense through all-star teammates Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.
On this historic night, Kobe further cemented himself as one of the greatest scorers in NBA history while driving his team down into the dirt for the ride. It was a road loss with more poetic undertones than a T.S. Eliot prose, as such, a question overshadowed the entire game: is Kobe Bryant becoming a burden to this team and franchise?
Aside from the unavoidable financial issues of his excessive contract, with the looming salary cap regulations of the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will take into effect in the 2013-14 season (where he gets paid over $30 million dollars), something even more perilous lurks in the backdrop of this franchise lodged in a transition period — a superstar’s skills and ego both heading in the wrong directions.
And after spending time in the middle of his career trying to restore his image by signing $40 million dollar shoe deals with Nike or buying $4 million dollar diamond rings for his former wife, all while trying to understand the concept of deferring to teammates prodded to him by the national media, it seems he has lost interest in trying to understand the painstaking complexities of PR and the unrewarding endeavors of humanitarianism. What’s more, despite his age and laundry list of injuries, Kobe leads the league in Usage Percentage at 37.55; not far off from the highest usage percentage in NBA history at 38.74 (set by Kobe back in the 05-06 season where he averaged over 35 points per game).
Yet, much like he displayed in that enigmatic night in Philadelphia, he is using more then 50% of his time with the ball shooting difficult fadeaway jumpers from 16 feet and beyond. He’s settling for threes more than he has in years, in spite of the unsightly 28% clip. And while trying to spin, cross, and jive his way out of the double teams, he’s turning the ball over 3.9 times a game (the second highest total of his career). It appears Kobe is letting his sense of entitlement cloud over his sense of basketball intuition. We are witnessing him battle an existential crisis, unable to gracefully hand over the baton to his two all-star big men loitering around the paint while his skills escape him like the hair of a balding man circling down the shower drain.
The depleting skills will continue to deplete while the bloating ego will continue to bloat, while the Lakers continue to consider all options to retool this Laker roster — from trading Pau or Bynum, to trading both — they never once even glossed over the inconceivable idea of what to do with Kobe and his contract. Though Kobe’s services to the franchise for the past 15 years will be duly noted in the history books, the Lakers can’t let nostalgia get in the way of the raison d’être of sports: to win, and win as much as possible.
The last time a franchise did that, they were left in the sports purgatory for the next 15 years. The Celtics were coming to a cross roads with their OG Big Three — Robert Parish, Larry Bird, and Kevin McHale — who after a decade of championship caliber seasons, were found struck by mortality. Bird was dealing with piling back issues, while McHale was quickly corroding from that irrevocable leg injury he played through in their ’87 finals loss against the showtime Lakers. Having a chance to trade all their superstars — including Bird — for younger talent, the Celtics’ front office ultimately decided to stand pat, and let their players leave on their own terms if they chose to do so.
Thus, the ensuing 90s decade and much of the 2000s was not kind to this franchise. All the glory of the 80s began to fade away with the eternally unsatisfied sports world. Though Kobe and his fans would mutually enjoy him finishing his career in Los Angeles, giving one last chase or two for a championship ring to ride him off with, it must be realized that sports careers seldom ever unfold the way we intended them to. And Kobe, the Lakers, and fans alike will have to come to terms with the fact that he won’t finish his career hoisting a Larry O’Brian trophy as the 30-point heart-breaking maestro that once bemused the world.
As T.S. Eliot said, “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.”
Paul Adams is a writer who lives in Los Angeles, follow him on Twitter @Yustomovic.
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[Photo By kbryant8The Steelers opened up more salary-cap room by releasing offensive lineman Willie Colon, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This move was expected ever since the Steelers re-signed Ramon Foster on Monday.
Pittsburgh is expected to designate Colon as a June 1 cut, which helps this year but hurts the team next year. By doing this, the Steelers free up $5.5 million in cap room in 2013 and they push $4.3 million in dead money onto the 2014 cap.
The Steelers couldn't pay Colon his $5.5 million salary this year because of durability concerns. Injuries caused him to miss the entire 2010 season, all but one game of the 2011 season and five of the final six games last season.
The release of Colon and linebacker James Harrison opened up $10.6 million in cap space. Combine that with the four restructured contracts (quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons and wide receiver Antonio Brown) and the Steelers created $29 million in cap room this offseason.CINCINNATI -- Observed in the locker room after the Cincinnati Bengals' 41-20 victory against the Cleveland Browns.
DiManche's note: Each week when they go into meetings, the youngest members of the Bengals' special-teams units bring a stack of notes with them. Special-teams coordinator Darrin Simmons reads them all. According to Simmons, Jayson DiManche's note this week read: "Block a punt to help win the game." In the second quarter, he did. When he beat his man and blocked the ball, DiManche set up a touchdown return that helped turn the momentum in Cincinnati's favor.
Dye's TD: Tony Dye, making his first NFL start, was all smiles at his locker. He was the one who scooped DiManche's blocked punt and sprinted for the 24-yard score. "It was a lot of instinct," Dye said. "It just just kind of happened. It happened fast. Hey, the speed of the game is different at this level."
James Jr.? Asked if he could be considered a younger version of Bengals linebacker James Harrison, Vontaze Burfict smiled. Much like Harrison, who had a key interception Sunday, Burfict plays with an edge that borders on reckless. "Sometimes he rubs off on me," Burfict said. "I take the same supplements that he does and sometimes I feel like, 'OK, I'm in his element.' I take the same energy that he does and sometimes that makes me feel crazy on the field."Merriam-Webster has just announced its “word of the year” for 2017. Drum roll, please…it’s feminism!
The word peaked as an online search after various events occurred this past year, beginning with the Women’s March in January, then again when the film “Wonder Woman” was released, and now it has spiked yet again as a result of the #MeToo movement, which Time magazine has recognized as its “Person of the Year.”
The word feminism was simply “in the air” this year, notes Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large.
Except it kind of wasn’t. For instance, nobody marched in the Feminist March last January – though of course that’s exactly what it was (if the now infamous “pussy hats” didn’t tip you off, the fact that pro-life women weren’t welcome maybe did).
But here’s the funny thing. Feminists always use the word “women” rather than “feminist”—the women’s movement, women’s studies, Women’s March, etc. They do this to give the impression that all women think one way. Or should think one way.
Except all women don’t think the same way, which is why feminism can get sort of tricky. Because in the 18 years I’ve been writing about feminism and its impact on the culture, one thing I’ve learned is that the word itself is entirely subjective.
Even Merriam-Webster acknowledges the definition has changed since feminism was first entered in the English dictionary by Noah Webster in 1841. Once defined as “the qualities of females,” it is now defined as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”
Feminists believe marriage and motherhood are oppressive. Thus, the abolition of both is the primary goal. That’s why they are compulsively driven to make abortion and day care universally available to all women—and taxpayer funded.
Americans are divided over what “women’s rights and interests” might be, and it is a divide that falls squarely along party lines: Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans to say “more work is needed to bring about gender equality;” and far more Democrats than Republicans “see advantages to changing gender roles.”
So let me lay out for you what feminism means to those who promote it, and then maybe you’ll understand why they shy away from using the word itself:
First, feminists are imprisoned by their negative view of women and their place in the world around them. Feminists believe women are victims of the “patriarchy” and must look to the government to redress their grievances. Women who don’t subscribe to this view think very differently, as Kellyanne Conway explained in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances.” Conway went on to describe her mother, who she said was “left with no alimony, no child support, at a very young age with a child to raise and a high school education…and she just figured it out. She didn’t complain; she didn’t rely upon government. She relied on her own skill set, her own drive, her own moxie, and she relied upon her family and her faith.”
Second, feminists believe marriage and motherhood are oppressive. Thus, the abolition of both is the primary goal. That’s why feminists are compulsively driven to make abortion and day care universally available to all women—and taxpayer funded. Many Americans don’t realize that feminism is a branch of socialism, or collectivism, which draws on a sociopolitical movement that attempts to create a stateless society in which policy decisions are pursued in the (supposed) best interest of society. Like communism, feminism depends on hypothesizing an oppressed class. “Feminism found common cause with Communist ideology. Breaking up the family was not incidental but central to that ideology,” wrote journalist and author Kathleen Parker in her groundbreaking book Save the Males.
Third, feminists believe there are no differences between males and females other than their sex organs (and now even those can be changed!). All those physical, cognitive and emotional differences you think exist are merely social constructs, the result of centuries of restraints and stereotypes imposed by a male-dominated society. Ergo, feminism is not about equal “rights,” or equal opportunity for women. It’s about equal outcomes. The leaders of the movement insist men and women could be interchangeable, and thus “equal,” if parents would simply raise their children in a gender-free environment. They reject biology outright and want everyone else to follow suit.
In other words, when it comes to feminism, Merriam-Webster is superfluous. It doesn’t tell you a thing about the movement itself.
The best and most accurate definition of feminism was offered by Feministing’s Jessica Valenti in 2010: “Feminism is a structural analysis of a world that oppresses women, an ideology based on the notion that patriarchy exists and that it needs to end.”
While this negative view of women and men fails to resonate with most Americans, feminists continue to advance their personal agenda every chance they get. What do you think “the personal is political” slogan is about? The movement’s leaders even admit it: “I almost lost my self-respect trying to hold on to a marriage that was based no longer on love but on dependent hate,” wrote Betty Friedan. “It was easier for me to start the women’s movement than to change my own personal life.”
For more than forty years, feminists have set the stage for what they believe is best for women. As a result, millions of Americans assume progress for women requires women’s liberation—from men, from children, from society’s constructs, from just about anything that makes women feel morally obligated to someone or something other than themselves.
The saddest part of this misguided view is that it hasn’t made women happier. In fact, it has done just the opposite. According to a 2007 report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, “As women have gained more freedom, more education, and more power, they have become less happy.”
Some progress that is. But sure. Let’s celebrate the word. Feminism. Yay!Rod Pinkston, a former U.S. Army Master Sergeant and war veteran, may well be one of the world's best and most intuitive wild hog hunters in the world.
Owner and operator of Jager Pro Hog Control Systems in Columbus, Georgia, Pinkston wasn't just born to be a hunter, he was trained by the U.S. military on tactical operations and a combat veteran who stalked enemy insurgents in Iraq utilizing the most advanced thermal imaging and night vision systems available.
With numerous combat missions and multiple military deployments behind him, Pinkston now targets wild hogs the same way he used thermal imaging to stalk enemy soldiers and wild dogs at night during Operation Desert Storm. In fact, he and a number of combat veterans who work for him are using their military training to wage war on feral hogs across the Southeast and as far away as Hawaii—and many places in-between.
Using a FLIR HS-324 handheld thermal monocular, the seasoned war vet-turned-hog war general can detect heat signatures of feral hogs on a moonless night at distances exceeding one-and-a-half miles. Then, using stealth approach techniques like U.S. military Special Forces, he and his team of night hunters can close the distance to a sounder of hogs with one goal in mind, "leaving no [live] hog behind."
Pinkston doesn't even like to call it hunting.
Eradication effort
"Attempted eradication using sophisticated technology and the best firearms possible,” is the way he describes his company's primary mission,
In other words, Pinkston and company are doing what most consider an impossible mission — effectively eradicating feral hogs "one farm at a time.
"Over the last seven years we have made great progress in eliminating feral hog problems on farms by utilizing military techniques, high technology and proprietary equipment we have developed,” Pinkston said. “Our mission is very clear and we take that mission very seriously," he told Farm Press. "I was raised on a pig farm and learned at an early age how intelligent and adaptive these creatures can be. They have also learned to be very destructive in the wild when it comes to foraging for food."
Indeed. In Texas alone, where feral swine populations |
on Saturday to prioritise the fight against terrorism, saying the Paris attacks showed the time for words was now over.
“MERCILESS”
Hollande pulled out of the meetings but told Erdogan by telephone that his foreign and finance ministers would attend.
“Faced with war, the country must take appropriate action,” Hollande said after an emergency meeting of security chiefs. The president also announced three days of national mourning.
“France will be merciless towards these barbarians from Daesh,” he said, using an Arab acronym for Islamic State.
During a visit to Vienna, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said “we are witnessing a kind of medieval and modern fascism at the same time”.
In its claim of responsibility, Islamic State said the attacks were a response to France’s military campaign.
It also distributed an undated video in which a militant said France would not live peacefully as long as it took part in U.S.-led bombing raids against the Islamic State.
“As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear travelling to the market,” said a bearded Arabic-speaking militant, flanked by other fighters.
A French government source told Reuters there were 127 dead, 67 in critical condition and 116 wounded. Six attackers blew themselves up and one was shot by police. There may have been an eighth attacker, but this was not confirmed.
Journalists work outside a restaurant where bullet impacts are seen the day after a series of deadly attacks in Paris, France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
The attacks, in which automatic weapons and explosives belts were used, lasted 40 minutes.
“The terrorists, the murderers, raked several cafe terraces with machine-gun fire before entering (the concert hall). There were many victims in terrible, atrocious conditions in several places,” police prefect Michel Cadot told reporters.
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Hollande declared a national state of emergency, the first since World War Two. Border controls were temporarily reimposed to stop perpetrators escaping.
Local sports events in Paris were suspended, stores closed, the rock band U2 cancelled a concert, and schools, universities and municipal buildings were ordered to stay shut.
Sylvestre, a young man who was at the Stade de France when bombs went off there, said he was saved by his cellphone, which he was holding to his ear when debris hit it.
“This is the cell phone that took the hit, it’s what saved me,” he said. “Otherwise my head would have been blown to bits,” he said, showing the phone with its screen smashed.
Emergency services were mobilised, police leave was cancelled, 1,500 army reinforcements were drafted into the Paris region and hospitals recalled staff to cope with casualties.
Radio stations warned Parisians to stay at home and urged residents to give shelter to anyone caught out in the street.
France has been on high alert since Islamist gunmen attacked the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in January, killing 18 people.
Those attacks briefly united France in defence of freedom of speech, with a mass demonstration of more than a million people. But that unity has since broken down, with far-right populist Marine Le Pen gaining on both mainstream parties by blaming immigration and Islam for France’s security problems.
It was not clear what political impact the latest attacks would have less than a month before regional elections in which Le Pen’s National Front is set to make further advances. The governing Socialist Party and the National Front suspended their election campaigns.
U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel led a global chorus of solidarity with France.
France ordered increased security at its sites abroad. Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia, Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands tightened security measures.
British police said the evacuation of London’s Gatwick Airport on Saturday was connected to the discovery of a possible firearm in a bin and a 41-year-old man from France was arrested.
POINT-BLANK
Julien Pearce, a journalist from Europe 1 radio, was inside the Bataclan when the shooting began.
In an eyewitness report posted on the station’s website, Pearce said several very young individuals armed with assault rifles entered the hall during a performance by Californian rock group Eagles of Death Metal and started “blindly shooting at the crowd”.
“There were bodies everywhere,” he said.
The gunmen shot their victims in the back, finishing some off at point-blank range before reloading and firing again, Pearce said, after escaping into the street by a stage door, carrying a wounded girl on his shoulder.
Slideshow (21 Images)
Toon, a 22-year-old messenger who lives near the Bataclan, was going into the concert hall with two friends at around 10.30 p.m. (2130 GMT) when he saw three young men dressed in black and armed with machine guns.
One of the gunmen began firing into the crowd. “People were falling like dominoes,” he told Reuters. He saw people shot in the leg, shoulder and back, with several lying on the floor, apparently dead.Tagging is one of those elements of the game that really seems to elicit passionate responses from fans and come finals time, the role of these ‘run-with’ players is often amplified because it’s their job to curb the influence of some of the best and most destructive midfielders in the game.
Even for the best exponents, tagging is usually not a skill that comes entirely naturally at first. The first time I was asked to tag a player I really didn’t know much about it and it probably took me the entire first half of that game to figure out what was going on. One of the hardest adjustments at first is that you need to overcome your natural instincts to go and get the ball.
Eventually it grew on me and I came enjoy that role and knowing the specific job I was going to do. Football is an increasingly technical game but the role of the tagger is theoretically simple; stop your man from getting the ball and limit the damage done when he does. When playing on someone like Chris Judd, this is easier said than done.
There are basically two types of midfielders; ones who get the ball on the outside and ones who get it on the inside in contested situations. It’s far easier to stop players who get the ball on the outside than it is ones who get it on the inside because you can keep them in front of you. They’re not going to go into a pack, pick the ball up and leave you in their wake like Judd or Travis Boak will do to you.
Midfielders who have a high percentage of uncontested possessions, if they even really exist anymore, are generally easier to tag. Those guys are generally really fast and really fit but you basically know what they’re going to do. It becomes a matter of taking their space and not allowing them an easy run. Naturally, players that can go both inside and outside are by far the hardest players to play on. For me they were guys like Judd, Nathan Buckley or James Hird. Those guys could do it all and you just didn’t know where to stand or what they were going to do next.
What the best current taggers like Ryan Crowley do now is, in some ways, actually a little harder than how myself and Brett Kirk had it back in the mid-2000s. We were luckier in that we could get away with blocking space and watching our opponents a little more. We used to tease Kirky about bringing his saddle to the game because he’d just run around for the whole day holding on to someone. That’s not the case now.
As for preparation for each specific role, you definitely want to know everything about the person you’re playing on and the video edits provided by the coaches and Champion Data are probably the best tool in discovering this. From them a game is cut from two hours to maybe 30 minutes of footage of plays involving your opponent; stoppages, possessions, every centre bounce involvement, that kind of thing. From that you establish running patterns and highlight the most dangerous kind of possession that opponent can get.
For a good player you might not mind them winning the ball from a throw-in getting a long kick in as long as it’s down the boundary line and it’s punched out of bounds. You can accept that. What you don’t want is someone cutting through the stoppage, getting it off hands and coming back through the middle with a 60-70 metre kick and hitting a forward.
Stopping those dangerous possessions can be tough but the methods are fairly basic. You’ll make sure you stand corridor-side and work off those running patterns that you’ve identified in your preparations. A most underrated element of tagging is teamwork and trust. Sometimes your man will run off you but if you’re working in tandem with a team-mate, you can cover each other’s men. Brett Kirk and I would often both be tagging and I always knew I could trust him to cover my opponent and vice versa. Tagging can be a very difficult job without that teamwork. My man might go to Kirky and his to me but we’d avoid getting in a foot race by just picking them up on the way through instead of following them everywhere.
This weekend Ryan Crowley will probably be assigned with the job on Robbie Gray or Travis Boak, but if you look closely he’ll also get some help from team-mates. At Sydney we’d sometimes assign a second player to watch the best midfielder. That guy nominally ‘plays on’ the opposition’s least dangerous player, perhaps a half-forward that’s come up to the stoppage, but his other role is to watch the main man in the midfield and give relief to the primary tagger when required.
In saying all this there are also battles you just can’t win. When we played Brisbane we knew that no matter how close we were to Simon Black or how well we tackled him, he’d often still get his handball away. Therefore you focus on the outside player who receive that handball and concede that Black will get it away regardless. Come finals time, every side requires a different set of tactics.
After the game is done and as I alluded to last week, the review process of your job as a tagger each week can either be pleasant or painful, depending on how you went. You might do a good job on your man and he still has 22 touches and even then you’ve either tackled him every time or you were within 30 centimetres of him and he still gets a possession. Coaches will stand by with the red pen but sometimes you know deep down that there’s not much more that you could have done. If a player pushes you out of the contest or you’re caught daydreaming during a hand-over of opponents, that’s another story. It’s all about effort.
They mightn’t be the most loved players among opposition fans, but taggers often perform a crucial role for their team and especially so in finals. If you’re heading off to one of the games this weekend, take a minute and have a closer look at their battles.How the murder of a journalist in East Timor in 1999 impacted the life and work of Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen.
Step Vaessen investigates the murder of her friend and colleague Sander Thoenes by an Indonesian military battalion in East Timor in September 1999.
His killing has had a deep impact on Step’s professional life; affecting the way she sees her chosen profession. But it has caused even more devastation in her personal life. Her husband, and sometimes cameraman, went into a depression and committed suicide.
As well as exploring how that single event has had such a profound impact on her life, Step goes in search of the members of the military battalion that killed Thoenes. None have ever been brought to justice. In fact, two of the commanders who ordered the killings are now running for the Indonesian presidency. One of them is the leading candidate.
Step also finds the family members of other victims of the battalion, examining how they have had to cope with trying to forgive these crimes and exploring the consequences of the impunity that has permeated Indonesian society.
Source: Al JazeeraPITTSBURGH -- Right-hander Akeel Morris' career ERA stands at 67.50. It ranks as the second-highest in New York Mets history, trailing only the 108.00 ERA put up by Garrett Olson in one-third of an inning in 2012, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Now, Morris will not get a chance to one day chip away at that ERA as a Met. He was traded Wednesday to the Atlanta Braves for infielder Kelly Johnson and cash. Morris was 2-2 with a 4.62 ERA and six saves in 22 relief appearances with Double-A Binghamton this season.
Despite last year's flop in the majors, the 23-year-old Morris would not trade the experience of his surprise debut last June 17 in Toronto.
Summoned all the way from Class A St. Lucie because he was on the 40-man roster and the Mets needed a safety net with their bullpen overworked, manager Terry Collins decided to throw Morris a bone before the prospect returned to the minors. So Collins inserted Morris in relief against the high-octane Blue Jays' lineup. And let's just say things did not go well.
Entering with the Mets trailing 3-0 in the eighth at Rogers Centre, Morris consecutively walked Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista to begin his appearance. The Mets then failed to turn a seemingly routine double play on Edwin Encarnacion's grounder. Still, Morris did not help himself from that point forward. He eventually surrendered a three-run homer to Danny Valencia to cap the five-run frame and the scoring in Toronto's 8-0 win.
"I learned from the experience -- learned to slow it down and stay within yourself, don't try to do too much," Morris said during spring training, reflecting on his debut. "The game kind of sped up on me. I kind of have to learn to sit back and just relax and trust my stuff."
Asked about his most memorable moment, Morris said: "When I let go of the changeup to Valencia and he hit it out. I knew I left it up, and he capitalized on it."
Morris nonetheless became the 12th player born in the U.S. Virgin Islands to appear in the majors. The last was infielder Callix Crabbe, who appeared in 21 games with the San Diego Padres in 2008.
Morris has posted gaudy ERAs in each of the past three seasons in the minors. He had a 1.00 ERA with Brooklyn in 2013, then a 0.63 ERA in 2014 with Savannah. Before the promotion to the majors, he had a 1.69 ERA and 13 saves in 14 chances with St. Lucie.
After facing the Blue Jays, Morris headed to Binghamton. He had a 2.45 ERA in 23 relief appearances the remainder of last season.
As for what he needs to polish before getting another shot in the majors to chip away at his unsightly ERA (now, albeit, with the Braves), Morris said: "I've been working on keeping the ball down. And my slider has been coming along."Craig Federighi is Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. Craig oversees the development of iOS, macOS, and Siri. His teams are responsible for delivering the software at the heart of Apple’s innovative products, including the user interface, applications and frameworks.
Apple has updated its executive leadership page to acknowledge that software engineering chief Craig Federighi now officially oversees development of Siri. The responsibility previously belonged to Apple's services chief Eddy Cue Apple's leadership page is only now reflecting Federighi's role as head of Siri, but the transition has been apparent for several months, based on recent interviews and stage appearances at Apple's keynotes.At WWDC 2016, for example, Federighi and Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller joined Daring Fireball's John Gruber to discuss how Apple was opening Siri up to third-party developers with SiriKit later that year.At WWDC 2017, Federighi was on stage to discuss improvements to Siri in iOS 11, including more natural voice, built-in translation capabilities, and advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence.Cue continues to oversee the iTunes Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple Maps, iCloud, and the iWork and iLife suites of apps, and handing off Siri should allow him to focus more on Apple's push into original content Apple's updated leadership page also now lists profiles for recently promoted employees Deirdre O'Brien, Vice President of People, and Isabel Ge Mahe, Vice President and Managing Director of Greater China.FLINT, MI -- Investigators have identified the man they say attacked a police officer at Bishop Airport as Amor M. Ftouhi, a 50-year-old Canadian citizen.
Federal prosecutors filed an affidavit Wednesday, June 21, supporting a criminal complaint of violence at an international airport in U.S. District Court in Flint.
The affidavit from FBI Special Agent Thomas M. Sondgeroth says an officer who observed the attack on police officer Jeff Neville told him Ftouhi used a large knife to stab the victim.
Ftouhi yelled "Allahu Akbar" -- "Allah is the greatest" -- before making the attack, according to the affidavit.
After stabbing the officer in the neck, Ftouhi continued to yell, "Allah," several times, Sondgeroth's statement says.
"He further exclaimed something similar to, 'you have killed people in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die.' "
Ftouhi entered the first-floor lobby at Bishop at approximately 8:52 a.m. Wednesday, carrying a red duffle and dark satchel bag, traveling up an escalator before attacking Neville.
Sondgeroth's affidavit says the knife Ftouhi used had a green handle and a black serrated blade and was marked Amazon Jungle Survival Knife.
He has not yet been arraigned.
Check back with Mlive.com as more becomes available.
Flint airport stabbing criminal complaint by Gary C Ridley on ScribdAs a 12-hour pause begins in Gaza, residents returned to their streets and surveyed what was left of their neighborhoods. Eight-five new bodies were dug out of rubble Saturday morning, and ambulances were still trying to reach other areas in Gaza.
According to reports, the destruction in the past 48 hours far exceeds previous Gaza wars.
Beit Hanoun. People return to find neighborhood in ruins. Residents just stunned. Almost quiet. They're in shock. pic.twitter.com/oILNsVTJI8 — William Booth (@BoothWilliam) July 26, 2014
The U.N. school that was bombed earlier this week was located in Beit Hanoun. This is how a neighborhood looked on Saturday morning.
Beit Hanoun less than a kilometer from Israeli border. pic.twitter.com/JrZZVaSzS7 — William Booth (@BoothWilliam) July 26, 2014
A Palestinian women hauls a television set she salvaged out of her destroyed house in Beit Hanoun.
(Oliver Weiken / EPA)
Shijaiyah was heavily bombarded by Israeli forces. On Sunday alone, 70 civilians died in the Gaza City neighborhood.
Whole blocks of apartment houses destroyed in Shijaiyah. Scale is far far greater than previous Gaza wars. pic.twitter.com/vaZgKcay9Z — William Booth (@BoothWilliam) July 26, 2014
Ambulances struggled to reach the dead. Search crews followed bulldozers that cleared a path forward. There were reports of wounded still trapped in buildings.
Shaja’ia: rescue workers have located many bodies buried in the rubble. #CBC #Gaza pic.twitter.com/61IUgeCgAJ — Derek Stoffel (@DerekStoffelCBC) July 26, 2014
The destruction was taken in by residents and journalists during the 12-hour cease-fire.
Many roads were barely passable, and almost quiet. Women did not wail. The men looked stunned.
Refugees return to destroyed neighbourhoods during Gaza truce http://t.co/uurAIQ7aVmpic.twitter.com/TAlzE4yln4 — Noah Browning (@sheikhNB) July 26, 2014
The scale of the damage from Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire was the worst seen in 19 days. Much of the damage witnessed Saturday occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours.
Parts of Beit Hanoun in the north have been leveled by the Israeli military. Residents try to salvage what they can pic.twitter.com/ex1PkAXfHR — Sharif Kouddous (@sharifkouddous) July 26, 2014
Families in Gaza used an open lot to dig graves, according to NBC News's Ayman Mohyeldin.With the exception of a 3-year run under Lefty Driesell in the early 2000’s, the Georgia State basketball program has flown under the radar. After all, mid-major programs with only two NCAA Tournament appearances in school history don’t generally get a lot of external publicity, and with the two “powers” in the state being close by in Georgia Tech and Georgia, it’s easy to see why the Panthers have been overlooked. This year, however, things are very different on the GSU campus.
The Georgia State Panthers are the best college basketball team in Georgia.
GSU is in the midst of a staggering 14-game winning streak (longest in school history) that has seen them win every game since December 7th, and other than an injury-riddled 4-game stretch early in the year, Ron Hunter’s club has been lights-out. They have two “high-major”-type players in the backcourt, as R.J. Hunter (who was a 3-star recruit) came to Atlanta as the son of the head coach, and Ryan Harrow (who was a high school All-American and a 5-star recruit) came back to the metro area after stops at NC State and Kentucky.
Our friends at KenPom.com currently have the Panthers as the 74th-ranked team in the country, but when you factor in that early, 4-game skid, that number would skyrocket when considering recent play. Even with that, though, GSU has the highest mark in the state of Georgia (closely followed by Mercer at #90 with UGA and GT outside the top 100), and the Panthers have a real chance at an NCAA Tournament berth.
Imagine this scenario: GSU runs the table for the rest of conference play (not crazy given their recent play) and loses in the Sun Belt Final. Would the Panthers have a chance at an at-large bid? I think so, especially given that they would have 27 wins and a likely top-50 mark in KenPom and the college RPI.
Even if Georgia State doesn’t make the “Cinderella” run to the tournament this season, the Panthers are wholly legitimate. There is a real argument that Hunter and Harrow represent the two best players on any team in the state (although GT’s Robert Carter and a few others may disagree), and with a big-time coach on campus, this may be the start of a real run for the Panthers.Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) addresses the crowd after being introduced as Republican presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) running mate during a campaign stop in Dayton, Ohio on August 29, 2008. (UPI Photo/John Sommers II) | License Photo
JUNEAU, Alaska, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- The office of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the target of an investigation involving the firing of the state's top public safety official, authorities said.
Walt Monegan, fired in July as Public Safety Commissioner, told The Washington Post Friday that Palin repeatedly talked with him about her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, after Monegan was named commissioner in December 2006. Monegan said the governor's husband, Todd Palin, gave him a dossier containing information about Wooten, a state trooper who engaged in a child-custody battle with Palin's sister.
Monegan also said Gov. Palin sent him e-mails on the matter, the Post said.
The governor has said her decision to release Monegan in July had nothing to do with his refusal to fire Wooten. In an interview with CNBC Aug. 1, she said it is "a governor's prerogative, a right" to choose cabinet members.
Sarah Palin at first said neither she nor anyone in her administration pressured Monegan to fire Wooten, but she disclosed this month that Boards and Commissions Director Frank Bailey -- in a February phone call to a state trooper lieutenant -- outlined complaints against Wooten and indicated the governor and her husband wondered why Wooten was still on the force.
The governor said the call could be perceived as her office pressuring the Public Safety Department but said that wasn't the case, the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News reported.
Palin's office last week announced Bailey was relieved of his duties, pending a legislative investigation. Before the legislative probe, however, the governor directed the Department of Law to conduct its own inquiry.
"Obviously the governor is not happy with that phone call but we don't know what the investigation is going to show in total," said Palin spokesman Bill McAllister.
Palin has said she was shocked to learn of the call, adding it was "absolutely inappropriate that he appeared to be representing me."Cathal Pendred made his much anticipated UFC debut on July 19 in front of his hometown crowd and banked a come from behind victory that Irish MMA fans will remember forever. Competing a weight division above his usual stomping ground at 170lbs due to his involvement on TUF 19, Pendred believes his stock has risen significantly since that magical ‘Fight of the Night’ win at The O2.
“The reaction that I’ve got from the fight has been great,’ he exclaimed, “It turned a lot of heads. It’s impressed the right guys at UFC like Dana and Lorenzo and I’ve got a lot of positive feedback from people who were watching the fight.
“To get the bonus was massive for me because I busted my balls to get to the UFC. I was severely in debt because I had invested everything I had in training. To be honest, if I hadn’t got the bonus the money from the fight would’ve been used to repay loans and other things that I needed to keep going, I wouldn’t have made any money.”
The Dubliner’s bank account received another jolt after his UFC Dublin opponent, Mike King, tested positive for PEDs in the wake of the event with the promotion then awarding Pendred with King’s $50,000 ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus. The SBG man, who shared a house with King while filming TUF 19, gave his reaction to his American counterpart’s failed test.
“When I first heard that he failed the test I was disappointed. I was shocked, but then I started to think it made sense. He did feel different to what he felt like on the show, he definitely looked bigger. The main thing for me is always getting the win though, and once I came away with that and the bonus I was happy.
“The biggest impact the news of Mike being on steroids had was on how I looked at my own performance. A lot of people have told me that the win is even more impressive because of the circumstances. I’m not a natural middleweight, he’s spent the majority of his career at light heavyweight.
“I was the smaller guy naturally as it was, then when you consider that the guy was not only bigger but he was on steroids too. It does make it a little better.”
Despite the impressive debut, the Dubliner is expecting much more from himself in his sophomore outing as he returns to the welterweight division, a bracket that saw him previously crowned a Cage Warriors world champion.
He said: “I felt fine at middleweight during TUF. Out of all the guys I trained with and fought against I never once felt outmuscled by any of them, even with the light heavyweights. I felt I was well able to match them in the strength department.
“One fight I always think about is the Eddie Gordon one. He’s a big middleweight and I didn’t feel overwhelmed by his power at all. The one thing I did notice was that I didn’t have the advantage that I usually do at welterweight where I’ve never once felt my opponents were anywhere near as strong as me.
“The type of fighter that I am, the way I fight, that strength advantage really helps my game. Although I didn’t feel any weaker than Eddie, I didn’t have that advantage like I usually would, so I always knew that I’d go back down to 170 after TUF. I wouldn’t rule out returning to 185 one day if the right fight came along.
“Mike King was 6’3’’. That’s a really big guy. You can meet guys the same height at welterweight but they tend to be a lot skinnier. He had thick legs, a thick upper body and a big chest and arms. After that fight I was thinking there was no way I’d ever go back to middleweight. After finding out that he was on PEDs I’m open to it again.”
King rained down shots on Pendred in the first round of their bout and many thought the Irishman could have had his chance at victory taken away from him due to the volume and power of his opponent’s assault. However, winning the bout in the second round via rear naked choke, Pendred spoke of how the UFC made sure he was in full working order before he committed to taking on Gasan Umalatov on October 4 in Stockholm.
“I was straight back into the gym after the fight but I took four weeks off full contact sparring just as a precaution,” he explained. “I was brought straight from The O2 to the hospital to get scans on my head just to make sure. I did take a volume of shots to the head that was more than usual. The UFC went through all the precautions just to ensure my safety and I’m 100% now.”
Taking a decision loss in his UFC debut, Umalatov gave his back up to Neil Magny on a number of occasions when they met in February. Having taken is first submission win in July, Pendred is confident that if the Russian gives up his back on October 4 he will be able to close the show in the same fashion he did in Dublin.
“I noticed that Umalatov gives up his back an awful lot from what I’ve seen of him. My submission game has drastically improved over the last two years. I’ve been feeling really strong in that area and it’s something that I feel I haven’t been really able to show.
“At the moment I’m more confident in my submission game than ever and I feel even more confident coming off my first submission win.
“I feel like I’ll be going for them even more now and I know that this guy gives up his back a lot. The rear naked choke is one of the techniques I catch the most in the gym so I’m very confident that if he gives up his back I’ll be able to choke him out,” said Pendred.
There is an excitement about the Dubliner in anticipation of his 170lbs return and he is adamant that fans who have yet to see him at the lower weight will be impressed by the dominance that he aims to display against Umalatov.
“People who haven’t seen me at welterweight before are going to see a completely different animal,” Pendred said. “I feel like there is no one in the welterweight division that can match my strength. In my TUF performances I didn’t have the usual advantages because I had moved up in weight class. The fans are going to see a beast in the Octagon on October 4.”
The former Cage Warriors champion also revealed that he believes it will take no more than one round to seal the victory against Umalatov when they face off in the Ericsson Globe arena.
“I’m confident of a first round finish, I’m going to put this guy away early. I’m not sure whether it’s going to be with strikes or with a submission, either could happen, but I just don’t see this guy being able to put up with the pace, strength and aggression of my attack. I want to put a stamp on this performance and after it everybody will know that I’m a big addition to the UFC’s 170lbs division,” he said.
@PetesyCarrollHello community,
I have good news, after few meetings and discussions with GitLab we reached an agreement on a way to bring the features we need and to fix our most important blockers in a reasonable time and in a way that are synced with us. Their team will fix our blockers in the next 1-2 months, most of them will be fix in the release of 22th of December and the rest if everything goes well in the release of 22th of January. The one left that out of those 2 months is a richer UI experience for duplicates, which is going to be an ongoing effort.
Apologies for the blockage for those that regularly asked to migrate their project, I wanted to make sure we are doing things in the right steps. I also wanted to make sure that I get feedback and comments about the initiative all around in my effort to make a representation of the community for taking these decisions. Now it’s the point where I’m confident, the feedback and comments both inside and outside of our core community has been largely that we should start our path to fully migrate to GitLab.
So starting today we move forward to the next step, this means that all projects that want to migrate are free to migrate. I’m also coordinating with some core apps for a migration in the upcoming month (e.g. Documents, Photos, Boxes), with other core projects to be migrated once we have in GitLab the features we need (i.e. Software, Shell, Mutter), and more platform-ish core projects like gtk+, glib etc. to be taken their time to ensure their migration is smooth. All depends individually of the project and the maintainer, of course.
With this change comes other news: We did our first batch migration of 8 projects today, totaling 21 projects that have moved by now. Also, the Engagement team has started using GitLab for better tracking and collaboration with the rest of the community, don’t hesitate to check it out if you want to make publicity of some feature or if you want to collaborate!
To make the transition easier, I created a general documentation for using GitLab for GNOMER’s, check it out here (feel free to edit). If you want to help, get in touch with me or check out our task list. If you want your project to be moved, get in touch with me or create an issue like this one.
As always, I’m there for your questions and feedback. You can do so in this mail chain, in irc, in private messages to me or by filling issues in the GNOME infrastructure project. I just want to ask, please keep in mind that I’m doing this entirely in my free time, so be considerate, I don’t have unlimited energy 🙂
Also thanks to all that helped so far, specially Phillip, Emmanuele, Alberto, Andrea and the GitLab team.
Hope you enjoy the news and the work we have done.
You can follow the discussion in the desktop-devel-list of GNOME.
AdvertisementsNatina Reed of the late 1990s girl band Blaque has passed away, multiple publications are reporting.
The "Bring It On" star, 32, died on Friday, Oct. 26 after she was struck by a car while crossing the street in Georgia. According to the Gwinnett Police Department, the driver of the vehicle was "was determined to be not at fault and there are no charges pending." The driver also phoned 911 after the accident, at 10:30 P.M. Reed was pronounced dead at 10:59 P.M. at Gwinnett Medical Center. She would have been 33 Sunday.
Reed was known as one-third of the Atlanta-based group Blaque, who had hits like "808," "Can't Get It Back" and "Bring It All To Me," which featured 'N Sync's J.C. Chasez. She starred in 2000's "Bring It On" with band mates Brandi Williams and Shamari Fears-DeVoe. The rapper was a protégé of the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who was a member of TLC until 2002.
Fellow Blaque members Williams and Fears-DeVoe issued a joint statment today:
We are devastated by the loss of our group member, sister and friend Natina Reed. Because of the enormous support of Blaque fans and our love for each another, Blaque officially reunited this fall and we were in the process of working on a new album and a reality show. Natina continuously embodied the pioneering spirit of Blaque and her undeniable creativity touched the hearts of fans everywhere. Natina was a mother, sister, accomplished songwriter, artist and friend. We ask for your prayers at this time for Natina's family. She will forever be missed and her global influence eternally felt. We thank God for the experiences we shared.
Williams took to Twitter to share her grief about Reed's death, writing, "Last night the world was changed forever, life will never be the same....she was my sister."
And Gabrielle Union, who also starred in "Bring It On," simply tweeted, "#RIP #SAD #BringItOn."
Reed was reportedly working on a solo rap album, as well as a new movie and reunion with Blaque.
She is survived by her 10-year-old son, Tren Brown, with rapper Kurupt.Types of Earwax
by Dr. Christopher Chang, last modified on 10/21/18.
Read and comment below!
Earwax (also known as cerumen) is produced in the ear canal mainly in outer third cartilaginous portion. Earwax is composed of a mixture of viscous secretions from sebaceous glands and less-viscous ones from modified apocrine sweat glands.
There are two distinct types of earwax that is genetically determined: the wet type, which is dominant, and the dry type, which is recessive. Asians and Native Americans are more likely to have the dry type of cerumen (grey and flaky), whereas Caucasians and Africans are more likely to have the wet type (honey-brown to dark-brown and moist). If one had the desire to taste it, one would find that it has a bitter flavour.
From these two basic types, there is a continuum of varying consistency and appearance.
Classic Wet
(On Q-Tip) Tarry
(In Ear Canal)
Firm Nuggets
(On Paper) Dry, Flakes
(Within Ear Canal) Dry, Cornflakes
(On Paper)
The difference in cerumen type has been tracked to a single base change in a gene known as "ATP-binding cassette C11 gene." In addition to affecting cerumen type, this mutation also affects sweat production |
company after the test.
Several employees sent the suspicious emails to the company’s IT department.
While this was only a test, it illustrates how cybercriminals operate. They’re clever.
“A lot of times they do their homework,” explained Westin. “They know a lot about the individuals so when they craft these emails they make them very convincing.”
These steps can help you avoid a phishing attack:
Use trusted security software and set it to update automatically. In addition, use these computer security practices.
Don't email personal or financial information. Email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information.
Only provide personal or financial information through an organization's website if you typed in the web address yourself and you see signals that the site is secure, like a URL that begins https (the "s" stands for secure). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some phishers have forged security icons.
(the "s" stands for secure). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some phishers have forged security icons. Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call to confirm your billing address and account balances.
Be cautious about opening attachments and downloading files from emails, regardless of who sent them. These files can contain viruses or other malware that can weaken your computer's security.
(Source: Federal Trade Commission)
Published May 23, 2017Public editor knocks New York Times for stealth-editing Bernie Sanders story
The New York Times should’ve given readers a heads-up after making alterations to a story about Bernie Sanders’ legislative record that substantially changed the tenor of the article, Public Editor Margaret Sullivan wrote Thursday.
Sullivan was writing in response to a pair of stories — one written by Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi and one penned by The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple — which noted the newspaper appended two paragraphs that qualified the legislative achievement Sanders was able to accomplish in the Senate. Taibbi accused the Times of “sandbagging” Sanders and Wemple wondered publicly why the paper “changed its mind” about the Democratic candidate.
In remarks to Sullivan, Times editors Matt Purdy and Michael Tackett said that the changes were about “nuance and depth” made at “the pace of the Web” and, as such, don’t require some kind of editor’s note. Not so, Sullivan says:
The changes to this story were so substantive that a reader who saw the piece when it first went up might come away with a very different sense of Mr. Sanders’s legislative accomplishments than one who saw it hours later. (The Sanders campaign shared the initial story on social media; it’s hard to imagine it would have done that if the edited version had appeared first.) Given the level of revision, transparency with the readers required that they be given some kind of heads-up, and even an explanation.
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PrintThe Bible says that sexual activity should take place only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (Proverbs 5:18) Therefore, a person who wants to please God should not engage in sexual activity until he or she gets married.—1 Thessalonians 4:3-5.
Some say that the Bible’s view is old-fashioned and completely out of touch with our modern world. Keep in mind, though, that our modern world is plagued with divorce, unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases. Really, our modern world is in no position to dole out advice about morals!—1 John 2:15-17.
When you think about it, the Bible’s moral code makes sense. To illustrate: Suppose that someone gave you a gift of $1,000 in cash. Would you throw the money from a rooftop for just anyone passing by to pick up?
You face a similar decision with regard to sex. “I don’t want to throw away my virginity on someone whose name I may not even remember years from now,” says 14-year-old Sierra. Tammy, 17, would agree. “Sex is too special a gift to waste,” she says.
The bottom line: The Bible upholds virginity and clean conduct as the standard for those who aren’t yet married.—1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:8, 9.The biggest ever spectrum auction is slated to be launched on October 1. Seven telecom service providers have qualified to bid for the airwaves auction, according to official data released by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The companies that have qualified for the auction are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular, Aircel and Tata Teleservices. Reliance Jio can bid in any licensed service area (LSA) across the country, while Reliance Communications can bid across the country except northeast and Assam. Jio has deposited the highest Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 6,500 crore and has got the highest eligibility point allocated of 44,506.
The total amount of spectrum that will be offered for sale is 2,354.55 MHz. Overall, based on the reserve price, the mop up is expected to be Rs 5.66 lakh crore. The 2,300-plus MHz of airwaves on the block for telecom operators is in seven bands — 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz and 2,500 MHz — as against 470.75 MHz in the previous round, which is set to fetch the exchequer $17 billion during its tenure. The timetable of the auction has put the mock auction dates on September 26 and 27 and the start of actual auction from October 1.
mjunction services limited is advising the government on this auction. The government has decided to allot the right to the spectrum won through auction for 20 years. The operators will have the choice of both upfront and instalments payment options. The service providers who win airwaves below 1 GHz bandwidth will have to pay 25 percent upfront, and for those winning above that the upfront payment will be 50 percent. One new bidding-friendly measure the government has adopted this year is that spectrum won will be assigned within 30 days from the date of upfront payment. Interest on deferred payment, linked to base rate, will be 9.3 percent this year against 10 per cent in 2015.
For the successful bidder, the lock-in period of equity in the company has been reduced to one year instead of the earlier stipulation of a minimum period of three years or completion of roll out obligation, whichever is later. In a meeting of the cabinet in June, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official nod was given for the reserve price and the auction norms. ALSO READ: Vodafone India receives equity of Rs 47,700 crore ahead of spectrum auctionLowest Ratings SORT BY: | Highest Ratings 12 Reviews. Average Rating: 4.9 of 5 Stars! 5 stars: 92% (11 of 12) 4 stars: 9% (1 of 12) 3 stars: 0% ( of 12) 2 stars: 0% ( of 12) 1 star: 0% ( of 12) Display All Reviews Reviewed By: JESSICA F on 11/06/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Awesome quality would definitely recommend this to anyone Reviewed By: michael t on 04/09/2018 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Looks alone, this thing is a beat. This was my first time ordering from Buds and wont be my last. Shipping was FAST. The Mossberg is lightweight and smooth. If your looking for something mean looking and powerful, The Mossberg 500 Chainsaw is the way to go! Reviewed By: Ross G on 09/01/2017 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
just as advertised and buds always known for prompt accurate and congenial
service. Got another item on their GREAT layaway program, with other items
soon.... Reviewed By: Darren D on 01/13/2017 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Excellent platform weapon for home defense. This shotgun serves multiple purposes in differing configurations because it is a 500 at its base. Perfect for the wife to fire from the hip which is its original design and fits that purpose without flaw. Very satisfied with both the purchase and Buds as usual. Reviewed By: Carlo F on 01/07/2017 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Just received my gun today, perfect condition, smooth transaction. Can't wait to take this gun to the range and show my buddies, it looks crazy cool. This was my first online firearm purchase and everything went smooth, the price was the most reasonable around and the FFL transfer was super easy. I'm already looking to buy another gun from Bud's Reviewed By: Darius J on 01/13/2016 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Must have Home Defense......Don't wait too late. Reviewed By: William O on 01/05/2016 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
First, great service! The gun is beautiful, smaller than I thought and great for home defense. I took the pistol grip off because with the chainsaw shooting from the hip is a natural hold but the pistol grip cranks your wrist. Replaced it with a birdshead grip. Takes all the strain off the wrist and makes shooting from the hip very natural and good for point shooting.
Next a light and laser and it will be the perfect weapon for clearing out the house! :) Reviewed By: eduardo c on 09/09/2015 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Buds is the way to go... will do business with them again... nice shotgun btw Reviewed By: Jon P on 03/12/2014 Rating: 4 of 5 Stars!
Buds as always... Great 5 of 5 for them...The gun I'm gonna have to give it a 4 because of one small little tiny issue. The way the Chainsaw grip fits to the rail is kinda shotty, don't know if I just got a bad handle or what (maybe some feedback from other owners will help) but it does not fit flush to the rail.kinda bows around it, I figured I would get home and tighten the Allen screws and it would be fine. well it helped but still gaps, not a big deal but it is the thing that sets this gun apart from everything else so I think it could fit better. I'm gonna try a few tricks to get it to fit better and if they work ill update this. other than that, which I don't even care about because this thing is straight up BAD *** I will say I like a versatile weapon such as the AR platform for the amount of configurations you can have on one gun, well bare bones this is a Mossberg 500 so you can change any parts out any time you want. I have a regular stock from my other one, so a couple of minutes configuring this thing for the task at hand, and you have a shotgun that can do it all including breach a door. If you want this thing for the looks of it, just buy it, feels great to hold on to for the ride. if you just want a 500 buy this instead because they don't sell just the handle at this time that I'm aware of. Reviewed By: Jeffery P on 01/23/2012 Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
I hate it for you all that have not ordered this one yet...the price is going up! Get ya one! Show More ReviewsElon Musk is making good on his promise to help solve an energy crisis in Australia.
Tesla (TSLA) has "fully installed" the world's largest lithium ion battery in South Australia, the state government said in a statement on Thursday.
Tesla teamed up with a French renewable energy firm and the local government to install the battery, which Musk promised to deliver within 100 days of signing a contract -- or it would be free.
The battery needs to be operational by early December for Musk to meet his own deadline.
"Congratulations to the Tesla crew and South Australian authorities who worked so hard to get this manufactured and installed in record time!" Musk tweeted Thursday.
Congratulations to the Tesla crew and South Australian authorities who worked so hard to get this manufactured and installed in record time! https://t.co/M2zKXlIVn3 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2017
The battery should help ease frequent power outages in South Australia, which has suffered recently from energy shortages.
Related: Tesla Roadster might fly
The battery will store power generated by a wind farm in South Australia, releasing it during times of increased demand.
It is slated to be three times more powerful than its nearest competitor, and is now being tested to ensure it meets federal and state requirements.
The project "sends the clearest message that South Australia will be a leader [in] renewable energy with battery storage," state premier Jay Weatherill said in a statement. "An enormous amount of work has gone in to delivering this project in such a short time."
The ambitious timeline dates back to a bet made in March, when billionaire entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes threw down the gauntlet to Musk, asking if Tesla was serious when it claimed it could quickly end blackouts in South Australia.
Related: The case for rushing self-driving cars onto streets
South Australia's population of 1.7 million people suffer regular power cuts and energy shortages. Late last year, much of the state was left without power after a storm damaged crucial transmission lines. Another major blackout occurred in February when a heat wave caused demand to spike.Super heroes invade Colchester for fundraising event
Organiser Kerrie Williams (centre) at Invasion Colchester. Picture: SEANA HUGHES
More than 180 super heroes and characters took over Colchester town centre at the weekend to raise money for two charities.
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Tracey and Lee Kiddie. Picture: SEANA HUGHES Tracey and Lee Kiddie. Picture: SEANA HUGHES
The Invasion Colchester event was back for its seventh year, raising funds for St Helena Hospice and the Colchester Hospitals Charity (CoHoC).
Cars from TV and film were also on show at the event, including the Batmobile from Tim Burton’s Batman movie, Bumblebee and Barricade from Transformers and a JP20 Jeep from Jurassic Park.
Helen Kennedy. Picture: SEANA HUGHES Helen Kennedy. Picture: SEANA HUGHES
There was also the chance to sign up for the St Helena Hospice’s Comic Hero Run, which takes place on March 18 next year.
The invasion event is organised by Simon Leonard and Kerrie Williams.
Caroline Beadle with Captain Jack Sparrow. Picture: SEANA HUGHES Caroline Beadle with Captain Jack Sparrow. Picture: SEANA HUGHES
Kerrie said: “It was absolutely amazing. It surpassed all our expectations. We had more than 180 costume characters and 20 show cars.
“It’s just such a fun, family-friendly day. We haven’t counted all the money yet but I think we will have smashed last year’s fundraising total.”Tokyo rewind: Right-wing groups commemorate assassination of politician Inejiro Asanuma 50 years later
TOKYO (TR) – By any measure, the assassination of socialist politician Inejiro Asanuma in Tokyo in 1960 was a shocking event — and five decades later the impact of the incident continues to reverberate in unpredictable ways.
During a political debate at Tokyo’s Hibiya Public Hall in October, a 17-year-old rightist, Otoya Yamaguchi, broke free from the assembled crowd, rushed the stage, and stabbed Asanuma with a small sword two times before being apprehended. He committed suicide three weeks later while being incarcerated in a detention cell.
Right-wing groups had strongly opposed Asanuma, who criticized the Liberal Democratic Party and the United States, proclaiming the latter to be the common enemy of the Japanese and Chinese peoples during a speech in Beijing one year before.
Since the assassination was telecast live on public broadcaster NHK, the incident received substantial attention. But more notably, just before Yamaguchi plunged his weapon into Asanuma for the second time, Mainichi Shimbun newspaper photographer Yasushi Nagao pointed his camera at the pair and clicked the shutter — the resulting image of which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.
Very rarely, if ever, are the perpetrators of political assassinations later celebrated in a public forum. Yet on two occasions at the end of last year that was the case for Yamaguchi.
In the very same hall where the gruesome killing took place, right-wing groups held a Shinto ceremony to commemorate the assassin on the 50-year anniversary of when he hung himself with a bedsheet.
Just before that final act, Yamaguchi famously opened a container of toothpaste and smeared the concrete wall of his cell with the message: “Seven lives for my country. His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, banzai!”
“It was a moment that marked a change in the course of Japanese history,” said Shohei Okada, director of the Otoya Yamaguchi Appreciation Society, at the Shinto event, held on November 4 and presided over by three priests.
The previous month, on October 12, various right-wing members, including Okada, gathered with a Japanese flag and memorial photos of Yamaguchi on the stage where 50 years before (to the very minute, 3:03 p.m.) the boy had made his run for Asanuma.
“Just like a swift wind, he went after the country’s enemy and delivered justice,” said the director. “For a human being to sacrifice one’s life at the age of 17 to save a country from crisis is something truly dignified.”
Note: The video above, a joint collaboration between The Tokyo Reporter and Uchujin-Adrian Storey www.uchujin.co.uk, summarizes both of the celebratory events and the initial incident.Following EXO’s recent concert stop in Taiwan, concert attendees have caught attention for being “polite perverts.”
While at the concert, many fans held a variety of signs to which netizens reacted in a cute way. For instance, fans used colored signs to spell out “Please kiss,” showing a very polite and formal tone.
In addition, some members of the crowd appeared in yellow and red worm costumes to catch the attention of the members. Next, others held signs that read, “Chanyeol ah~ Please cry,” and “Baekhyun ah~show us your tummy.”
Other netizens left cute replies to these silly antics:
1. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ EXO-L are so cute
2. Hilarious Taiwanese fans ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
3. I like how the requests are asked so politelyㅋㅋㅋ
4. Taiwanese unnis are polite perverts…
5. I’d totally go check out what those larva costumes were too if I were the members ㅋㅋㅋ
6. No wonder the members yesterday were making kissy noises ㅠㅠㅠ
7. Now I get why someone was calling Taiwanese fans polite perverts on Twitter ㅋㅋㅋ
Check out some of the photos here:
Source: InstizGetting Things Done(GTD) is a very popular method of task management that has revolutionized the working lives of many. And now, I will unceremoniously strip it down to the basics, do a Macgyver on the leftovers and serve up this productivity haute cuisine for uber-busy professionals such as your fine self in a Simple Getting Things Done format.
Let’s begin with what can be removed and streamlined in GTD.
What I do not use in Getting Things Done (GTD)
For my work I use several elements of the GTD system but there are a few that I find are not needed. These include,
Inbox List. The system I present is so simple the processing can be done at the point of task receipt. Reference List. When I reference something it is normally in the same ecosystem as the information. For example, I archive emails in my email program. So, I won’t take them out of there to put in a reference list. Projects. Defined in GTD as a task requiring more than 1 step to complete it. I don’t need a separate list for this. Should a task require more than one step I chunk it into subtasks in whichever list it resides. Delegate list. Any tasks that are delegated reside within the existing lists. I simply have a column indicating the person responsible. Having that column eliminates the Delegate list. Methods for selecting which task to do next. Any paper filing or tickler files. Everything I deal with is electronic. Weekly review. Many of the items David covers in this review I find are covered during normal task entry, task selection and completion.
The Simple Getting Things Done approach
Now that the extraneous elements have been identified we can now consider what a simpler approach could be. I break this section into three parts to make it a little more digestible.
Entering Tasks
Doing Tasks
An example Implementation
Entering tasks
First a disclaimer: The tasks that are to be entered have already gone through the basic sanity check of they are important enough that they need to be done and they actually require some action as opposed to merely informative material. So, only useful work that must be done need pass this point!
As per GTD I present the approach in the form of a flow diagram. For each stage of the flow diagram there is only one question that needs to be asked, when do I intend to do this work? The answer to this question will be one of three answers,
Answer 1: After three months. In which case, the task will go into the someday list.
Answer 2: This week. In this case the task will go into the ASAP list.
Answer 3: Not this week, but sooner than 3 months. In this case we schedule a date.
The flow diagram below is a mere representation of answering those questions and putting the task in the appropriate list, categorised by when the task is needed. Also note what we have just done. Answer 1 and Answer3 pretty much requires no detailed scheduling, no conscious prioritisation it is just a very quick relative guess of when the work will be done. That means no brainpower needed and no time spent considering these details.
Only Answer 3 requires a bit more thought to determine when the task should start or finish. Finally, for each entry in either the ASAP list or Scheduled list a name should be assigned. In many cases that may be yours but it may also be other people. Doing this fulfills the role of delegate in GTD.
Having entered the tasks into the appropriate list, it may be required to chunk them or make them into a “project”. Both mean to divide a larger task into a number of smaller actionable tasks. This can be done either at the point of entering the task, after you enter the task or later when you come to execute the task. Your choice. The subtasks will inherit the task start/due dates but if subtask dependency is needed then the dates of the subtasks can be altered to reflect this.
That covers receiving tasks, processing tasks into lists and creating actionable subtasks. Next up, doing it!
Doing Tasks in Simple Getting Things Done
In this section we deal with the selection of what tasks to do on any given day. Traditionally other systems would present various ways to do this such as,
Setting priorities for each task
Setting dates/times
Selection based on Context – what environment, situation suits the task such as at computer, on phone, in the car etc. The time you have available. For example picking a task that lasts 30min for the ride home on the bus. Energy or focus at your disposal at that time.
What I propose is governed by one simple question, what is needed now? The following flowchart illustrates how we get to a daily hit list from an extended task list.
So, let’s say we come in first thing in the morning at the crack of 9. First up, cup of coffee. The next three steps are the infamous 3 Fs, which get us from a fairly long task list to a daily hit list within seconds.
Filter your task list by date to show only those starting today/this week. This will dramatically shorted the Scheduled task list so you are left with a small subset of scheduled tasks and the ASAP list of tasks which are due this week. This not only identifies the tasks you need to be working on now but it also serves a second role – what are the other tasks that other people need to start/deliver. This is the SGTD equivalent of reviewing your delegation list in Getting Things Done. Flag the tasks from this shortened list to identify those to be targeted today – your daily hitlist. Filter again, this time by Flag. So, after this step we will only list the tasks that
Example Implementation for Simply Getting Things Done (GTD)
Now that we have outlined how to put tasks into the system and then to select them for execution let me show how a possible implementation could look like. In this case I use Abstractspoon todolist {LINK] but you can use any other task management software that allows task hierarchies, dates and selection.
Putting tasks in:
So, to enter tasks we simply to dot he following. We have a bunch of tasks that need to be done. Like our little tortoise buddy, simply consider when they need to be done in relative terms.
< 1 week – straight into the ASAP list
>3 months – into the someday list
Inbetween the categories above – Into the scheduled list
After quickly entering them into the lists, we now need only add the person responsible and for the scheduled list when the task should be done. Now, one important point. For tasks entered, you should have a default setting of entering the start date as the current date. This not only saves time to enter that info for the ASAP list but also makes subsequent filtering easy. This setting is possible with Abstractspoon todolist.
That’s it. As you can see the actual execution is very simple and quick despite by incessant blithering about how it should be done earlier in this post.
Selecting tasks for execution in Simple Getting Things Done
So, now we have the tasks in our system with responsibilities we need to get down to getting something done. So, let’s now apply the 3F’s to this list.
First, filter for tasks starting by today. This will cut down very long lists to activities that you need to focus on in the here and now. Not only tasks that you are responsible for but any other delegated tasks for others.
After getting a subset of tasks which are to be started imminently, we now flag those that we intend to target today. The big frogs if you will and perhaps a few tadpoles to fill time between meetings.
After Flagging those targeted for today we do a final filter for Flagged tasks. This is very important. If you don’t do this your eyes tend to roam around other tasks on the list that are not the focus for today which causes distraction from the task in hand.
So, now we have a clean view of the tasks we need to do today. Now, time to actually do them!
The role of reviews in Simple Getting Things Done
There is only two reviews advocated in this approach,
The daily morning review to identify the tasks for the day
A quarterly review every 3 months of the someday list
That’s it. One tip I would give though is to do the daily review at the end of a workday so coming in the next morning your tasks for the day have been identified and you can begin immediately.
Simply Getting Things Done FAQ
No doubt some questions will come up about this so I thought I would deal with them in an FAQ section. Seems to be the most direct way to give an answer instead of blethering all day in an elongated description of all possible scenarios.
Q. How does it interact with email?
A. Not directly. For me, if an email results in an actionable task that requires some effort I sometimes move it across to this system especially where the task could comprise of several subtasks.
Q. What about calendar entries/meetings?
A. They take time but they are not actionable tasks. If actionable tasks emerge from those meetings then they go into the system. In general, I review my calendar in the morning to see what time has been allocated for such meetings and then plan my actionable tasks in between those.
Q. How to use with large projects
A. What I have outlined involves creating “projects”, by breaking a task down into several actionable tasks. This is worlds away from using it with long term project plans. However, it is possible to integrate it with such project plans without changing the structure and how it is used, I explain this in another post in how to go from big picture planning to a daily todo list.
Q. Which software can be used?
A. My preference is Abstractspoon ToDoList. However, any task management software that allows the creation of subtasks, flagging, entering dates etc. could be utilised for this.
Q. Which maintenance does the system need?
A. In terms of what changes could happen, a couple of scenarios are possible but none that lead to wholesale review or maintenance of what is in the lists.
Moving a task from ASAP list to the Scheduled list if it is clear it will not be done that week
Modification of dates in the Scheduled list should it not be realisable when it turns up in your daily hit list.
Simple Getting Things Done Wrap up
Congratulations for making it this far and I also deserve a pat on the back for getting this beast of a post out the door. So, praise all around I think. I hope reading this has been a productive use of your time and will help in day to day activities.
Ready for an alternative, quantum leap forward for productivity? Try Productivity the Gemba way.Referendum For Belmar Pavillion Passes After Vendor Mix-Up
The tide has turned in a ballot measure in a shore town. Residents in Belmar have indeed vote to rebuild the Taylor Pavilion. The decision was made after a County software vendor, Dominion Voting Systems admitted yesterday morning to deleting vote by mail results for “unknown reasons”.
Howard Cramer, vice president of government relations for Dominion, told the Asbury Park Press the error appeared to be a “late night mix-up” and that he is still determining whether his company was fully responsible.
County Clark Christine G. Hanlon said the vendor made an error and that the updated unofficial results have been posted.
The referendum to rebuild the pavilion that was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy had 8-54 votes for with 8 hundred 37 votes against…a narrow 17 vote margin. Mayor Matt Doherty said, “We are very happy that we are going to finally be able to move forward on rebuilding the pavilion. It is an important part of our recovery.”Centralia - Columbia County, Pennsylvania
Many stories have surfaced as to what happened in the summer of 1962. Of the many versions of the original cause of the Centralia Mine Fire probably the most accurate cause of the fire was an account that the fire started in a garbage dump over an open coal seam in May of 1962. The fire was reported and doused by the local fire company and despite the fire, Centralia council had continued to allow dumping in the pit. It seemed to be quenched at the time, but then re-erupted several times. Then it was discovered to the horror of the town that the fire actually had continued underground, through an opening into the coal mines that cris-crossed under the streets of Centralia PA.
Soon after the fire was reported to have moved under ground, the first bid to extinguish the fire was $175. It might have ended there....but it didn't.
In July of 1962, the Department of Environmental Resources started to monitor the fire. Boreholes were drilled to check to extent and the temperature of the fire. Some thought they also provided an natural draft which helped combustion. Gas monitors were also installed in most homes in the area above the hottest fire (the impact area).
On May 22, 1969 the first three families were moved from Centralia. A trench was dug north of the Odd Fellows Cemetery where fly ash and clay seals were used in am attempt to put out the fire. According to Tony Gaughan (quoted in "Slow Burn"), if the trench had been dug in three shifts per day instead of one and if they had worked through the Labor Day holiday, the fire would have been contained. He said the project was $50,000 short of completion.
In 1980, the U.S. Bureau of Mines "Red Book" said, "The Centralia mine fire has not been extinguished and has not been controlled." In the year twenty-seven more families were moved at a price that was comparatively less than later buy-outs.
On February 14, 1981, the ground collapsed under Todd Domboski. A hole about 4 feet in diameter and roughly 150 feet deep had opened under him. He clung to exposed tree roots and was pulled to safety by his cousin. The heat or the carbon monoxide in the breach would have been sufficient to kill him instantly if he had gone just a little deeper. This incident provoked the first national media attention.
By 1983, the government said the fire was advancing on three or four fronts. Proposed trenching of the area might cost as much as $660 million with no guarantee of success. One of the larger trenches would have bisected the town roughly from east to west. A government buy-out was proposed instead of the trenching and there was a referendum held. The homeowners voted to accept the buy-out 345 to 200. Only those whose names were on the deeds could vote. From 1962 to 1984, $7 million had been spent. In November of 1983, $42 million was voted for the buy-out.In David Attenborough’s latest BBC nature series Life Story, the animals play very human roles
For years now the BBC has been less a public broadcaster than a continual seething crisis masquerading as a state institution. Its programming is at turns crass, crap, and cretinous. Its news reportage is propaganda. Its executives are paid vast sums for doing very little, while its cherished stars have one by one been unmasked as rapists and paedophiles. Its funding structure, a television license fee enforced by TV-detecting radar vans that don’t really exist, is strange and stupid and out of date. It can’t be long before the whole thing is chucked onto the slagheap of cherished British traditions earmarked for privatization, along with our green and pleasant fields, our quaint racist pubs, and what will surely soon become the ArcelorMittal Semi-Finished Steel Products Royal Family. In the meantime, the Beeb has done the only thing it can still do: Make a sumptuous, sweeping nature documentary depicting the grand cycle of all life on the planet, presented by Sir David Attenborough, reluctant national treasure and possibly the only person involved with the BBC in the 1970s who’s managed to avoid molesting anyone.
Writing about David Attenborough is hard, because in a lot of ways he was my childhood. I grew up thundering across the African steppes and soaring from pole to pole on albatross wings, with occasional, dull, ugly interludes in which I went to school or ate my dinner in a nondescript tract of north London. Every Sunday evening on the BBC there’d be another incredible voyage through the animal world, always accompanied by David Attenborough’s glorious voice, the voice of the best granddad you never had, comforting, funny, heartfelt, and infinitely kind.
For American audiences his shows have been redubbed with Forrest Whittaker and Oprah Winfrey, which for all their talent still feels like an organized American invasion of my childhood.
It didn’t really matter that very little of it was, strictly speaking, true. Go watch pigeons in the park: Left to their own devices animals will generally tend to do very little. A nature documentary always has to impose some kind of narrative, pluck out some interesting cinematic moments from the flat monotony of mere life. We see a tiger chase down an antelope, and a tiger fending off vultures from her kill, and a tiger trying to protect her cubs from amorous males; we’re told these are all the same tiger, and that these events all happened in the order they’re shown. We believe it, because we don’t want to ruin the story. Depending on the protagonist, we might cheer for predators or prey, lovable loser males or strong independent females. There’s nothing inherently wrong with theater, but in Sir David’s latest, Life Story, it turns into something far more sinister.
Despite appearances, Life Story isn’t really a nature documentary, and it isn’t really about wild animals. It’s about filmic images themselves. Any pretence of documentary style is abandoned; instead we’re given a six-episode mélange of cinematic and televisual conventions. Each episode examines one stage in any creature’s life – birth, adolescence, courtship, parenthood, and so on – through a number of different stories, some as standalone segments, some breaking at a moment of climax or suspense and recommencing later. Will our baby meerkat fend off a bloodthirsty snake? Can the hunting dogs move their litter to safety in time? Stay tuned to find out.
A waved albatross, faithful for life, sits on a stony crag. As his big sad black eyes scan the iron-grey seas he hops about pathetically, waiting for his mate to return, hoping she’s survived the winter. Even in the southern sunshine, bleak whites and greys dominate. But what we’re really seeing is the hero of a 1950s romance, sitting in an old train station full of noise and smoke, anxiously ruffling his newspaper and filling his pipe. A whistle: It’s the 5:42 from Ealing, from which his lover may or may not alight. Has she made her decision? But there she is. When the pair are reunited the music swells and the returning beloved dances towards him with a sinuous twist of the neck. The birds knock their beaks against each other: it’s the kiss, that postwar movie kiss, his elbow behind her neck, their lips locked tight but never moving.
Elsewhere in the same episode, fur seals duke it out for beach space off Antarctica. It’s all tracking shots, slow motion, flying droplets of seawater and blood. Our heroic young challenger speeds across the pebbles, fangs drawn, to do battle with a dominant male. Jason Statham bursts into a Russian mafia boss’s hideout, a den of tacky gilding and fizzing champagne, in a fury of machine-gun |
84 155 26 1 20 90 70 112 20 5.271.352.424.776
DH Rhys Hoskins, Phillies
Just as Bellinger set records for fastest to certain home run milestones in April and May, Hoskins did the same in August. Hoskins hit 10 homers in his first 17 games, becoming the fastest to hit 10 homers in MLB history, and ultimately finished with 18 homers, which he got to in just his 34th game, also the fastest in MLB history. Hoskins did so while controlling the strike zone exceptionally well with 37 walks against just 46 strikeouts. He ultimately finished with a 1.014 OPS, second only to Judge among rookies with at least 50 games played.
AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS 170 37 44 7 0 18 48 37 46 2 0.259.396.618 1.014
SP Luis Castillo, Reds
The Reds acquired Castillo as one of three players for Dan Straily before the season, and it already looks like a steal for Cincinnati. Castillo made his ML debut on June 23 and quickly established himself as the Reds’ best pitcher, with a beautiful synchronization of electricity and production. With a fastball that averaged 98 mph and frequently touched 100, a plunging 87-90 mph changeup and improved 84-88 mph slider, Castillo led all rookie starters with a 3.12 ERA, allowed only 64 hits in 89.1 innings, and averaged just under 10 strikeouts per nine while maintaining a reasonable walk rate (3.2/9).
W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR SO BB AVG WHIP 3 7 3.12 15 15 89.1 64 32 31 11 98 32.202 1.07
SP Kyle Freeland, Rockies
Freeland entered spring training as one of many trying to win a Rockies' rotation spot, emerged victorious, and settled into a solid, durable rookie season to help get the Rockies to the playoffs. The 2014 first-rounder and Colorado native actually pitched better at Coors Field (3.72 ERA) than away from it (4.57), and was solid all-around as he held up over 156 innings. Freeland finished in the top five among rookie starters in wins, ERA and innings pitched, and memorably posted one of the year’s best starts when he came within two outs of a no-hitter on July 9 against the White Sox.
W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR SO BB AVG WHIP 11 11 4.10 33 28 156 169 78 71 17 107 63.284 1.49
SP German Marquez, Rockies
Marquez, who was acquired from the Rays in the Corey Dickerson trade in 2016, received a callup on April 25 and stayed in the Rockies rotation for good. Marquez led all rookie starters with 147 strikeouts, was tied for first in wins and was second with 162 innings despite spending the first three weeks of the season in the minors. He handled Coors admirably (4.59 ERA) and performed on the road (4.19 ERA) too. Out of the quartet of Rockies rookie starters with Freeland, Senzatela and Jeff Hoffman, Marquez was the only one to remain in the rotation the entire year.
W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR SO BB AVG WHIP 11 7 4.39 29 29 162 174 82 79 25 147 49.274 1.38
SP Jordan Montgomery, Yankees
The 2014 fourth-rounder, an ace at South Carolina, dominated down the stretch in 2016 at Triple-A, and he showed his stuff absolutely played in the majors with an excellent rookie campaign. Montgomery finished second among rookie starters with 144 strikeouts and finished in the top five in wins, ERA and innings. He was particularly strong down the stretch, going 2-0, 2.49 in his final five starts to help the Yankees secure a postseason berth. It was an especially encouraging finish after he was hit in the head by a foul ball during batting practice on Aug. 12.
W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR SO BB AVG WHIP 9 7 3.88 29 29 155.1 140 72 67 21 144 51.236 1.23
SP Trevor Williams, Pirates
The 2013 second-round pick is rarely flashy, but was both more durable and productive than many bigger names as a rookie. Williams pitched to a 4.07 ERA over 150.1 innings, both top-five marks among rookies who made at least 15 starts, and was actually even better once added to the rotation. After beginning the year in the bullpen, Williams made his first start on May 8 and remained in the rotation the entire rest of the year, going 6-8, 3.96 as a starter.
W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR SO BB AVG WHIP 7 9 4.07 31 25 150.1 145 73 68 14 117 52.255 1.31
RP Josh Hader, Brewers
The game’s top lefthanded pitching prospect entering the year, Hader started at Triple-A Colorado Springs but was brought up to Milwaukee as a reliever on June 10. Hader didn’t allow a run in 27 of his 35 outings, pitched multiple innings 10 times and gradually became a shutdown force late in games during the Brewers’ playoff push. With a fastball that averaged 95 mph and touched 99 and a vicious slider that opponents hit a mere.167 against, Hader struck out 12.8 batters-per-nine and allowed only 25 hits in 47.2 innings.You gotta love Orlando! You’re driving down the highway on your afternoon commute, look up and there’s a bunch of viking ships on the back of a flatbed truck. That was the case today as our old friends from The Coaster Crew spotted what can only be boats for the new Epcot ride heading down the highway. In case you haven’t heard the ruckus over the past few years, Frozen in coming to Epcot, and it’s opening very soon!
The Coaster Crew tweeted out the picture from their account, showing off some of the boats from Frozen heading towards Walt Disney World.
The Frozen ride will take over for Maelstrom at the Norway Pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase. The new ride will feature animatronics, music and Olaf. We’re not sure how much of the ride will be just an overlay of Maelstrom, but this looks like they’re using very similar boats.
Here’s a look at the boats from Maelstrom as they are towed away from Epcot:
There’s not that big of a difference between the two boats, besides being new.
What does this mean for the opening of Frozen at Epcot? It looks like the vehicles are just now arriving on site, so testing should be happening very soon. As far as opening, we are hearing that pretty much all of the new things happening this summer will open on June 16th, the day that Shanghai Disney is opening. Of course, that’s just rumor at this point, and we have no sure way of knowing. There will be a media event later this month at Walt Disney World, so we are sure to hear something about opening dates real soon.
Stay tuned for more from Disney, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
For our latest theme park videos please be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube!
For more information about Walt Disney World, including tickets, visit the official website by clicking here!The highly anticipated iPhone 5 is finally in millions of people's hands. Within three days of its September 21st launch, Apple had sold a record-breaking five million units. And within a year, analysts project that sales of the iPhone 5 will reach 170 million.
The popularity of the new device got us thinking: how much juice does it take each year to charge a next-generation smartphone? And how does the energy consumption of smartphones compare to that of other consumer electronics?
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Opower's entire mission is devoted to thinking about the ways in which we use energy, and ways we can better take advantage of it. You can find more of its insightful musings here.
To find out, we got our hands on a new iPhone 5 and also a Samsung Galaxy S III – currently the hottest Android handset – then headed into the Opower Lab for some testing.
Here's what we found, and our assessment of what it suggests about the energy impact of our increasingly on-the-go digital lifestyles…
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Charging the iPhone 5 costs $0.41 per year
Using a Watts Up Pro Electricity Consumption Meter, we measured how much electricity it took to charge each phone from 0% to 100% full. Taking those results and modeling them across a year (see Methodology), we found that on an individual basis, the latest smartphones use a trivial amount of electricity.
Yes, the Galaxy costs 12 cents more to charge than the iPhone 5, primarily because of the Galaxy's larger battery. The paramount point here though is not the difference between the two phones, but rather their striking similarity: the energy consumption of a modern smartphone is minuscule.The aggregate impact: considering the ever-expanding universe of smartphones
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While the annual electricity requirements of charging a smartphone are negligible, let's not forget about the power of multiplication. If we consider the astronomical quantity of smartphones being used around the world today and in the coming years, their collective electricity consumption takes on a more intimidating profile. Global smartphone shipments (which includes people upgrading to newer phones) will reach 567 million units this year alone. And by 2016, 1 billion people worldwide will own smartphones. (There are currently 106 million smartphone users in the US.)
Even if we consider just the 170 million iPhone 5's that are projected to be sold globally in the next year, their aggregate electricity requirements are nothing to sneeze at. The collective annual electricity consumption of the iPhone 5's sold within 12 months will be equivalent to the annual electricity usage of 54,000 US households (roughly equivalent to the size of Cedar Rapids – the second largest city in Iowa). That's just for one smartphone model over one year.
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And the energy requirements of operating smartphones go far beyond charging the battery. In particular, smartphones are driving a huge boom in internet traffic: in 2011, monthly internet traffic stemming from the average smartphone tripled relative to 2010 levels (150 megabytes compared to 55 megabytes), and the current level is projected to grow 17-fold by 2016. Processing all of this data traffic potentially carries a heavy energy price tag of its own, in the form of data centers.
These massive supercomputing facilities, which reportedly number more than 3 million worldwide and account for up to 1.5% of global electricity use, house the data-processing infrastructure that enables our Bing searches, YouTube views, Facebook pokes, and everything else internet-related that we do on our computers, tablets, and phones. An analysis in last Sunday's New York Times, which highlighted the wasteful energy practices of these digital warehouses, has reignited a vigorous debate about the environmental costs of our pervasive reliance on internet-connected devices. To the extent that smartphones are putting greater demands on the data volumes and power consumption of data centers, the global energy implications of smartphones may well surpass analogies to Iowa.
So, faced with the growing scale of smartphone use (i.e. soon-to-be 1 billion smartphone users, putting pressure on millions of data centers worldwide), how should we ultimately view the global energy implications of these pocket-sized marvels? To get to some conclusions, let's examine how the energy profile of smartphones stacks up against other media-connected devices in our lives.
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Smartphones are displacing our use of clunkier, energy-intensive devices
When viewed in isolation, a massive increase in smartphone usage appears to drive higher overall energy consumption. But, the story is more complex than that: in fact, an increase in smartphone usage is likely to cause lower overall energy consumption…
When we evaluate the proliferation of smartphones within the broader ecosystem of media- and internet-connected devices, two key facts emerge:
Fact #1:People are using smartphones to do things that they have historically done on computers, televisions, and gaming consoles.
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Recent evidence of the smartphonification trend is abundant. A handful of examples: In March 2012, US Facebook users spent more time accessing the site on their smartphone than their computer Since 2011, viewing of premium video content has increased on tablets and smartphones, while markedly declining on PCs and Macs The typical smartphone owner spends more than 2 hours per day using their phone, and they spend two-thirds of that time browsing the internet, social networking, playing games, listening to music, or watching shows and movies In 2011, for the first time ever, manufacturers shipped more smartphones than PCs
And the trend of substituting away from traditional media devices and into smartphones is taking hold across generations. Kids aren't the only Americans choosing smartphones and tablets over TV. It's also American moms: compared to their peers without smartphones, smartphone moms use their phones more than twice as much, while spending 26% less time in front of a TV and 24% less time browsing the web on a computer.
Fact #2: Smartphones and tablets use much less energy than the larger devices (e.g. PC's) that they are displacing
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When we compare the electricity consumption of smartphones to the power needs of larger devices we have historically used for connectivity and entertainment, a clear energy efficiency story begins to emerge: going mobile saves energy. And those savings are substantial. The chart below displays our own findings about the tiny energy consumption of next-generation phones, compared to the energy needs of more traditional devices-as calculated in an excellent recent analysis by the Electric Power Research Institute.
The energy-hogging consumer electronics, whose annual energy requirements dwarf comparable statistics for smartphones and tablets, have put enormous upward pressure on US home energy consumption in recent decades. During the last three decades, devices like large-screen TVs, game consoles, and desktop computers have made "Appliances and Electronics" the most formidable category of growth in home energy use since 1978 (nearly doubling between 1978 and 2005, from 1.77 quadrillion Btu to 3.25 quadrillion Btu). The following pie charts show how the combined energy usage across all US homes, broken down into usage categories, has evolved over the years.
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With the exception of Appliances and Electronics, total energy usage in the other categories has either increased modestly or declined since 1978. Note, for example, that the residential sector now uses much less energy for heating than in the past, thanks mainly to more efficient heating equipment and better housing construction.
So what explains the massive growth in the Appliances and Electronics category since 1978?
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One hypothesis could be that appliances and electronics have become less efficient over time, but in fact the complete opposite is true. Since 1978, the energy consumption of every major household appliance has dramatically decreased. A new refrigerator today uses 60% less energy, and a new clothes washer uses 70% less.
Instead, the reason for the explosion in Appliances and Electronics energy usage since 1978 is straightforward: a greater number of households now simply own more appliances and many more electronics. A handful of examples:
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Given the growing number of devices we're plugging in, it's been estimated that consumer electronics alone (i.e. not including larger appliances) now account for more than 13% of US home electricity use. This means that the amount of electricity used each year by TVs, computers, game consoles, and related items in US homes is equivalent to 20% more than the entire annual electricity consumption of Ohio (the 4th highest consumption state in the country), or approximately 5% of total US electricity consumption - and three times the consumption of the domestic cloud-computing data centers that feed our devices with content.
In that context, smartphones' ability to give users the portability and connectivity that they seek, but at a much lower energy cost than is associated with traditional devices, marks a clear and epochal change in the way we use energy.
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Smartphones: smart for energy efficiency
When all's said and done, smartphones prevail as an energy-efficiency winner when it comes to the way we send an email, watch a video, or share a family photo (sorry, digital photo frames). Put simply, a day spent web-surfing and facebooking on a smartphone or tablet is a much more energy-efficient day than doing the same on a traditional computer.
It's again important to point out that the energy usage statistics we considered here solely represent in-home energy consumption (e.g. charging our phones and keeping our TVs plugged in). They don't reflect the energy requirements of data centers, whose massive computer servers sustain our nonstop internet usage and smartphone activities.
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Yet our increasing smartphone usage appears, at least to some degree, simply to be shifting the source of our data traffic, rather than creating more of it. We have gone from playing online games and watching internet-enabled content on TVs and computers, to doing the same activities on smartphones. Given this trend, we don't expect that data centers' outsized energy consumption undermines smartphones' status as an exemplar of energy frugality in the digital age.
Moreover, smartphones' energy-saving impact goes beyond just displacing the usage and data traffic of clunkier devices. Their super-efficient computing architecture is also helping to make data centers themselves more energy-lean. Highlighting the spillover benefits of mobile technology, the MIT Technology Review reports that low-power microchips - which were originally developed for smartphones - are now being installed in data centers to enable significant efficiency improvements in those facilities.
So to all of you who have read this post from a smartphone, be proud…
You are at the forefront of an energy-efficiency revolution.
Special thanks to Ashley Sudney, Efrat Levush, David Moore, Andrew Sharp, Rob Bailer, and Jay Cox-Chapman.
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Republished with permission from Opower. Follow @OpowerOutlier on Twitter
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Methodology: Smartphone power requirements were ascertained via a Watts Up Pro Electricity Consumption Meter. This analysis adopts a simplifying assumption that the average smartphone user will charge their device once per day, in the off position, from 0% to 100%.
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Galaxy SIII: consumed 12.3 watt-hours to charge, taking 2 hours and 26 minutes. Maximum wattage was 6.6 watts, with an average of approximately 5.0 W. Multiplying 0.0123 kWh/day by 365 days = 4.49 kWh per year. At the average US residential rate of $0.118/kWh, the annual charging cost is projected to be $0.53/year.
iPhone 5: consumed 9.5 watt-hours to charge, taking 1 hour and 50 minutes. Maximum wattage was 6.3 watts, with an average of approximately 5.0 W. Multiplying 0.0095 kWh/day by 365 days = 3.47 kWh per year. Annual charging cost is projected to be $0.41/year.
170 million iPhone 5′s forecast to be sold in 12 months, times 3.47 kWh/year per phone, equals 589.9 million kWh. Iowa's average annual home electricity usage in 2010 was 10,596 kWh. The 2010 Census indicates the count of households in Cedar Rapids to be 53,376 households.
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Xbox 360 figures based on inputs from Hittinger, Mullins, and Azevedo (2012): 25.5 million Xbox 360 consoles sold through 2010, collectively consuming 8,700 gigawatt-hours of electricity.
Total US retail electricity sales in 2010 was ~3.75 billion MWh. Residential sector accounts for a 37% share, and 13.2% of that is consumer electronics. Consumer electronics usage thus represent ~5% of total US retail electricity sales, 183 million kWh, or ~20% more than the 154 million MWh of annual retail electricity sales in Ohio.
Only the consumer-use phase of a smartphone's product lifecycle was considered in this analysis. With respect to the energy profile of other aspects of the smartphone lifecycle (e.g. raw-material extraction, component manufacturing, and disposal), see Li et al. (2010) and Andrae and Andersen (2010).
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Data Privacy: All data analyzed here are completely anonymous and treated in strict adherence to Opower's Data Principles.
Author's note: The analysis and commentary presented above solely reflect the views of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Opower's utility partners.Auburn didn't only add a surefire starter in Wilson Bell, the graduate transfer offensive guard is a behemoth.
Bell, who was listed at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds at Florida State, is listed at a team-high 355 pounds at Auburn, where he is expected to start at right guard. That's more than 50 pounds heavier than right tackle Braden Smith (303).
"Wilson Bell is our mountain of a man," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's big. We recruited him really hard when we first got here in 2013. So to have him added to what we've got, that's a big help."
Bell started five games at right guard at Florida State last season and every game in 2015.
RELATED: Will Wilson Bell immediately take over as Auburn's starting RG?
With Smith moving from guard to tackle, Bell is in line to take over at right guard and has been taking reps there during offseason work since arriving on campus earlier this summer.
"He's been getting some guards reps mainly, primarily, because that's where he played at Florida State," Smith said. "We kind of have to see how it all goes in (fall camp) and once we put on pads, but he's been picking up the offense really well, learning, going through all the drills (and) getting up to pace with us."
What does Auburn expect from offensive line graduate transfers Casey Dunn, Wilson Bell? Auburn's top five offensive linemen at the end of spring practice and the top five to open fall camp will almost definitely not be the same.
With the addition of fellow graduate transfer Casey Dunn, Auburn's offensive line could see a dramatic change from even the end of spring practice.
Dunn, an All-American at Jacksonville State, has been working at center this summer along with Austin Golson, so it'll remain to be seen if one of them moves to left guard before the season or if Mike Horton remains at the top of the depth chart there.
Malzahn feels the depth on Auburn's offensive line is "as good as it's been" in a long time.
Smith concurred.
"The depth, that's really a key factor in our success going forward, knowing we got guys that can be plugged in and just play," Smith said. "We don't have guys that can play just one spot; they can play right guard, right tackle, center, left guard, left tackle."We recently caught up with Scott Summit, the industrial designer behind San-Francisco-based Bespoke Innovations, at AU 2010, where he was one of the keynote speakers. Bespoke Innovations has a clear mission: Apply good industrial design and rapid prototyping techniques to make kick-ass prosthetics. They don't do off-the-shelf parts--they interview amputees, find out what makes them tick, and design some seriously cool custom limbs based on their interests and tastes.
Some amputees like Mid-Century Modern. Some like motorcycles. Some like leather or tattoos. Summit seems like the first industrial designer to realize that with today's manufacturing technologies, there's no reason an amputee should have to wear a cold and impersonal prosthetic designed by some engineer who's ordering parts out of a catalog and has never been to design school.
With about a million diabetic amputees in the U.S. alone, Summit and Bespoke have a huge market to address. And as they serve them, they're raising some very good issues about the product space that mass production should, and should not, occupy in the future. The production world is changing, and as you'll see in the interview below, Summit isn't just riding the wave--he's helping to create it.NEW DELHI : A Sonia Gandhi-led Congress would be more effective than a Rahul Gandhi-led party but Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be the most credible face of an anti-BJP alliance, said Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, expressing a sentiment that opposition parties haven’t articulated previously.In a two-hour conversation with ET’s senior journalists, the 75-year-old veteran politician said Kumar’s victory in the assembly elections last November in Bihar had sent a “signal” to all those unhappy with Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. ( Read full interview “As of today in India, if the Opposition has to come together and provide an alternative, he (Nitish Kumar) is the number one name,” Pawar said. Congress does not have such a face and Kumar, because he is a state chief minister, has “authority”. NCP would be open to associating itself with such a non-BJP set-up, Pawar said. While Congress, according to Pawar, is crucial to any anti-BJP alliance, Nitish Kumar would be the “cementing force”.He said the Congress president was a unifying figure while acknowledging differences he had with her in the past.“Sonia Gandhi enjoys more acceptability including with other opposition parties. Some of us fought with her and we have seen the change in her. She is very accommodative,” said Pawar.The Congress vice-president has also evolved and while it’s still too early to give a verdict, he’s making the effort to get to grips with playing a national role. It “depends on how Rahul performs over the next three years. As of today, I say Rahul Gandhi is the only leader who is practically visiting most states”, Pawar said. He said the government is “not serious” about pursuing the AgustaWestland case, which has embroiled the top Congress leadership in kickback allegations. BJP leaders have told him informally that they don’t see much political ammunition in the issue.“When allegations first surfaced, (former prime minister) Manmohan Singh immediately took the decision to cancel it. Whatever advance was given was also withdrawn. CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) inquiry was formed. There were three-four helicopters that had reached India and that was not taken... If suppose some monetary interest was involved, how will they take all these actions? Who will pay money if the contract is cancelled? Those who are raising it are also fully aware of it,” Pawar said.He said the government didn’t seem to be serious about getting Parliament to function smoothly and was using Subramanian Swamy to spark unrest in the Rajya Sabha and to “attack someone”.“Since yesterday and day before yesterday when Subramanian Swamy got up, the House just collapsed. And they (BJP) deliberately encourage him to get up and say something. How can the ruling party behave this way? Their job is to see Parliament functioning,” Pawar said. He said Congress should have reacted much more sharply to the dismissal of two governments run by it in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.This has allowed BJP to take advantage of the situation. “Looks like that the number two (in the Congress party), if he is going to control the decision-making process, if that is correct, and this is what we hear from different quarters, indicates this kind of delayed reaction,” he said.Pawar, who correctly predicted victory for the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad-led Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, said Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party is best poised to form the next government in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, where elections are due in 2017. When asked to compare the relative merits of Arvind Kejriwal and Nitish Kumar as leaders of an anti-BJP alliance, he said the Delhi chief minister cannot play the same role as he doesn’t have the Bihar CM’s vastly greater depth of experience. “Nitish was a member of the Union Cabinet. Because of that he got exposure and experience of many states. He has been the chief minister for three terms. He is essentially a political worker who came from the lowest rank. Nobody knows Kejriwal. We have just heard his name,” said Pawar.As for Aam Aadmi Party’s prospects in Punjab, it has “gained ground” but, as of now, the Amarinder Singh-led Congress should have an edge in the state next year since it would be difficult for the people to accept a non-Sikh leader with Shiromani Akali Dal being discredited.Pawar also spoke about Vijay Mallya and how the relationship dates back to his friendship with the businessman’s father Vittal Mallya. He said the media had been unfair to Mallya and that failure in business can’t be equated with criminal behavior. Banks are seeking dues of Rs 9,000 crore on loans made to the Mallya-founded Kingfisher Airlines.Doug Marrone has been criticized heavily by Buffalo Bills fans in recent weeks. His decisions (and indecision) have really been under a microscope, as the Bills finished their 1-4 preseason with a disappointing 23-0 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ralph Wilson Stadium this past Thursday. Media and fans (myself included) are starting to get a bit antsy, and are questioning whether or not Marrone is the right man for the job going forward. I do admit, this is a bit premature, but I can't deny that doubts are beginning to creep in to my head, and this is why.
Many will look at what has transpired thus far since the start of the 2014 season, as the source of their frustration. Questions have risen about how Marrone has handled EJ Manuel, how he has refused to discuss injured players, general shortness with reporters, the training camp schedule, player conflicts, the backup quarterback situation, and more recently, the Sammy Watkins injury.
Those are all small stories that have been discussed to death over the past six weeks. Today, I want to focus on the big picture. I want to start from the very beginning, because that's the source of my frustration.
When Marrone was hired, what were some of the things that we knew or expected him to bring to the Bills? We knew that he was a former NFL offensive lineman, who coached the offensive line at the NFL level for both the Jets and the Saints. He was (sort of) the offensive coordinator for the high powered Saints team before they won the Super Bowl. He leaves the Saints and goes to Syracuse, where he was a no-nonsense head coach that helped turn around a bad program, and groomed a young talented quarterback in the process in Ryan Nassib. Did I get that right?
If you paid attention, you would have noticed that there are three very unique cases that we thought we could expect the Bills to have when Marrone, with his qualifications, took the job:
Have a good to great offense
Have a good to great offensive line
Have the ability to develop a young quarterback
This is where Marrone was valued. This is where his footprint should be expected to be left on this team. If there is anything that he was supposed to be good at, or get right, it was in these three categories. This is non-negotiable and non-debatable for me. This is where and how I judge Marrone's performance. Nothing else really matters to me. Not the defense (because I don't believe that the Mike Pettine and Jim Schwartz hires were his to make), and not special teams (because it's too insignificant in the grand scheme of things).
Marrone hired Nathaniel Hackett, who was his offensive coordinator at Syracuse. In year one with the Bills, Marrone and Hackett deployed an up-tempo offense with a developmental-type (Buddy Nix's words, not mine) quarterback. They tried to convince us that this was a good idea, but our intuition was telling us that this made no sense. As the season went along, this proved to be a bad idea, because the up-tempo was scrapped as the offense continued to struggle.
As a coach, you play the hand that you are dealt. Personnel decisions are left up to the GM, with some input from the head coach. Marrone gives Whaley the grocery list, and Whaley does the shopping.
I'm not sure who was responsible for the Manuel pick, so I won't put the pick on Marrone. However, Marrone and Hackett decided to put him in an offense with west-coast principles. I'm no football genius, but what is the number one characteristic that a quarterback must have in order to be an effective west-coast offense type quarterback? Accuracy! What is the one thing that Manuel has always struggled with, even going back to his Florida State days? You guessed it, accuracy. It perplexes me why they would proceed to install an offense with a player that isn't suitable to run it. Anyone want to share their theory?
Let's address the offensive line and the running game, too.
Before Marrone and Hackett took over, the Bills' offensive line and the run game was one of the strengths of the offense. The line only gave up 30 sacks in 2012, and C.J. Spiller had a career year in which he rushed for 1,244 yards, averaging six yards per carry. If there was ever a unit or a phase in the game that we could count on, it was the offensive line and the run game. Marrone and Hackett couldn't make things worse, could they? Hackett even promised to run Spiller until he threw up.
Bills quarterbacks were sacked 58 times last season (the fourth-highest figure in the league), and Spiller was hurt throughout the season, because Marrone and Hackett thought it was a good idea to use their Ferrari like a F-150, doing the dirty work and hauling waste instead of speeding on the open road. They also thought that it was a good idea to implement a zone blocking scheme with mammoth lineman.
Time to test your football knowledge again: what type of linemen should be used for a zone blocking scheme? You guessed it: smaller, agile linemen. Why do they think it's a good idea to have our rather huge and cumbersome linemen pulling and getting out on screens? It's no wonder why the Bills failed so miserably in the run and screen game last season.
Marrone and Hackett were praised for their ability to think on the fly when they completely trashed Syracuse's entire offense going into Nassib's senior season. That sort of flexibility, creativity, and courage was a selling point for me. It was encouraging to know that this duo can step in, see what's wrong, fix it, and not try to fit a square peg in to a round hole. It is discouraging and frustrating to see them not do that here in Buffalo.
These poor decisions are the cause for my questioning of Marrone, along with his long-term viability here in Buffalo. I don't know if he's in over his head, or if his hands are tied with what he can or cannot do. All I know, because we've been down this road many times: if the team gets off to a slow start, the "fire Marrone" chants will start. I hope and pray that this doesn't happen, but if it does, we can look back at all of these critical decisions that he made as the reason.Share
In an interview with the German website mobilegeeks.de, the President of Lenovo’s Mobile Division, Lui Jun, has said the firm will definitely launch a smartphone running Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8.1 software before the end of the year. Additionally, he also promises the first Lenovo-branded wearable smart device.
Lenovo was announced as a Microsoft partner during Mobile World Congress, and then confirmed at the Build 2014 developer conference, but has yet to make any hardware official. Rumors spread around the same time that Lenovo planned to announce its first phone in April. A very vague specification was also attached to the rumor, suggesting Lenovo’s phone would occupy the mid-range, with a screen measuring between 4.5 and 5-inches, and have a Snapdragon 400 processor inside.
Microsoft will be keen to get Lenovo onboard. The company emerged as a major mobile force almost a year ago, securing nearly 5-percent market share and fourth position in the world, almost solely from sales in China. Since then, it has increased its market share to more than 8 percent, and has entered into an agreement to acquire Motorola from Google. The trouble for Microsoft is, Lenovo has achieved its success without Windows Phone, and is clearly not rushing to make any changes.
Windows Phone aside, it’s also interesting to hear Lenovo wants to break into wearable technology. Lui Jun doesn’t give any other details in the interview, but by saying the device will wear Lenovo’s name, it indicates he’s not just talking about the Moto 360.
As always with Lenovo, there’s a question mark over whether the Windows Phone or wearable device will launch internationally. The acquisition of Motorola has given it a convenient “in,” but we’d still like to see some Lenovo-branded phones here in the future. We caught up with the Vibe Z during CES, and were suitably impressed.
Both products discussed in the interview are expected to launch before the end of 2014.Godzilla: King of the Monsters is now a family affair.
Vera Farmiga will play the mother of Millie Bobby Brown in the Godzilla sequel, with daddy duty having gone to Kyle Chandler.
Michael Dougherty (Krampus) is directing from a script he wrote with Zach Shields. The Legendary and Warner Bros. feature is the follow-up to Gareth Edwards' 2014 reboot, which earned $529.1 million worldwide.
Plot details are being kept secret, but Chandler, who has already starred in creature features Super 8 and King Kong, is the hero of the pic and plays a scientist.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is slated for release on March 22, 2019.
Farmiga can currently be seen in the fifth and final season of A&E's Bates Motel, in which she plays the mother of iconic screen villain Norman Bates. It is a role which has earned her an Emmy nomination.
The Oscar-nominated actress, who last year reprised her role of paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren for the horror hit The Conjuring |
cent interest in the liquor store monopoly.
A presentation to the government obtained by CTV News stated that “an OPSEU-led deal” would be fully supported by labour and backed by public pension funds, and would ensure ownership and control by working Canadians. The LCBO pulls in $1.75 billion in profit to Ontario each year.
The proposal was first presented to the government in Nov. 2011. It was also discussed just before the 2014 provincial election in June, and as recently as the past few months.
OPSEU President Smokey Thomas said he doesn’t want Ontario to sell the LCBO, but should the province do so, it should remain a Canadian company. Thomas also confirmed that Onex Corp. and its CEO, Gerry Schwartz, were private partners in the union-led, buy-out proposal.
“That was them, that was their idea,” Thomas told CTV’s Paul Bliss. “I don’t discount anything they are saying. I have done a lot of research on them.”
If the proposal was accepted:
Ontario government would receive $11 billion cash up front in exchange for 75 per cent ownership in the LCBO
$9 billion would come from a syndicate of 4 Canadian banks
$2 billion from an investor group, including Onex, OPSEU pension and other Canadian pension plans
Ontario would retain 25 per cent ownership, guaranteeing it at least $500 million each year in royalties
The majority of shares in the new private company would be held by OPSEU and the pensions
Under the plan, the Ontario government would continue to control and regulate the sale of alcohol.
It appears Premier Kathleen Wynne put the brakes on the union proposal that the government sole-source the sale.
Wynne instructed Tom Teahen, her chief of staff, to send a letter to Thomas that stated, “If re-elected, Premier Kathleen Wynne will not be moving ahead with your proposal to sole-source sell LCBO to OPSEU’s pension plan and its private sector partner.”
However, that still leaves the door open to a bidding process.
Thomas suggests the plan isn’t dead yet, saying he has urged Wynne and cabinet minister Deb Matthews to sell “to Canadians” if the government does eventually offload the LCBO.
The premier’s office won’t comment directly on the OPSEU-led proposal, but says it is looking at ways “to improve the efficiency and optimize the full value of several key government assets, including the LCBO.”
Repeated calls to Onex Corp. for comment were not immediately returned.
With a report by CTV Toronto’s Paul BlissThe city will spend $8 million building a new outdoor sports park that will include a high-level soccer field near the new Pan Am stadium.
Ward Councillor Bernie Morelli announced the purchase of a four-hectare property north of Barton Street East at a hastily arranged news conference after a closed-door meeting Wednesday afternoon.
The new soccer facility will replace the city's former top-flight 5,000-seat outdoor soccer facility, Brian Timmis Stadium, which was razed to make room for the new Pan Am stadium. The park could also boast baseball fields, a splash pad or skate park, but those plans are still in the works.
A frail but pleased-looking Morelli, who has been ill for much of the year, said he was "overwhelmed" by council's support for the radical neighbourhood transformation — which includes a new $17-million recreation and seniors centre approved earlier this fall for Scott Park.
Morelli noted he's been pushing for new recreational facilities — particularly a seniors centre — in his ward for nearly 20 years.
"God bless you guys; you delivered," he said before councillors rose in a standing ovation.
Councillor Sam Merulla praised Morelli for his determined pursuit of a "legacy" project that will benefit the entire community.
The location wasn't named because the land purchase isn't finalized, but city neighbourhood development guru Paul Johnson said the property will require demolition and remediation.
Popular speculation on the social media site Twitter pointed at the large former Dominion Glass site, but Johnson refused to confirm or deny that suggestion. An online listing for the property says the 300,000-square-foot factory sits on five hectares on Chapple Street and was available for between $2.99 and $4.99 per square foot.
The old factory, which closed in 1997, also came up repeatedly at community meetings on the Pan Am precinct this year.Captain Jack Sparrow may be pleased about his jar of dirt, but wait until he sees how Zayn one-ups him with this amazing tribute to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’…
Speaking to ‘Paper’ magazine, Mr Malik revealed he has built a bar inspired by the Disney movie’s theme in his London home.
“I love the [movie’s] aesthetic and how well it’s done. I feel like it’s really authentic to pirate times. Like I know anything about ‘pirate times’. I guess I just love it. I’m a big kid.”
Despite being a massive fan of the movie franchise, Zayn missed out on the opportunity to meet ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star Johnny Depp with 1D back in 2012.
“I was too nervous to go. I am a massive, massive fan and I didn’t want to embarrass myself so I let the boys go without me. Hopefully, there will be a next time. The boys said he was totally cool. I kind of regret it for sure and the lads said I was a scaredy cat.”
“Some of our fans get so excited or nervous when they meet us and that’s how I was at the thought of being with Johnny. But instead of lapping it up and enjoying it, I ran the other way.”
Poor Z! We hope now he’ll pluck up the courage and invite Mr Depp around for a bottle of rum in the bar. But only if he dresses as Jack Sparrow, or the deal is off. For us, anyway.
What do you think – should Zayn make a YouTube video as a ‘room tour’ of the bar? We are dying to see it. Tweet us @maximumpop while we fantasise over Zayn being a hot pirate. Don’t judge, you’d do it, too.Craig Barritt/Getty Images for the Robin Hood Foundation
The embattled hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors is bracing itself for another round of withdrawal requests from investors after disclosing that it would no longer fully cooperate with the government’s scrutiny of its trading practices.
SAC’s investors have two weeks to decide whether to withdraw money from the $15 billion hedge fund, which is owned by Steven A. Cohen. Earlier this year, SAC investors asked to redeem $1.7 billion, and the firm is scrambling to stanch the outflow of more funds as fears rise that the insider trading investigations could further damage Mr. Cohen and his firm.
In the latest blow, SAC’s largest outside investor, the Blackstone Group, is preparing a request to withdraw a portion of its money before the June 3 deadline, according to people briefed on the matter. Blackstone could take out as much as half of its roughly $550 million investment, these people said.
As one of the world’s largest hedge fund investors, Blackstone is viewed as an industry bellwether, and others could look to it for guidance on whether to keep their money at SAC.
That said, Blackstone has not decided to terminate its relationship with the firm. And on Monday at least two other investors — although both significantly smaller than Blackstone — reiterated their support for Mr. Cohen, who has one of the best investment track records on Wall Street.
“I’m very comfortable and confident having my money with him,” said Ed Butowsky, managing partner of Chapwood Investments in Dallas, a firm that invests client money in SAC. “All I know is that the returns are coming in nice, and my clients are happy.”
Happy does not describe the mood inside SAC. Mr. Cohen, 56, and his colleagues are said to be highly agitated by the government’s latest move in its multiyear investigation, according to people with direct knowledge of the firm. Last week, prosecutors sent SAC a new set of subpoenas, requesting a variety of documents and issuing a subpoena to Mr. Cohen to testify before a grand jury.
Hedge Fund Inquiry
SAC employees are viewing the government’s latest subpoenas as oppressive and reflective of a prosecutor’s office — led by Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan — that is determined to shut down the firm. The firm has already agreed to pay $616 million to resolve two civil insider trading lawsuits. It also issued a broad set of reforms to improve its compliance practices. However, at least nine former SAC employees have been tied to insider trading while at the fund; four have pleaded guilty.
SAC, which until last week fully cooperated with the lengthy investigation, resisted some of the government’s latest requests. And the firm disclosed to its investors late last week that it was no longer cooperating unconditionally with the inquiry.
Mr. Cohen, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, is expected to exercise his constitutional right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. He sat earlier this year for government questioning in a civil insider trading case being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but his lawyers objected to his sitting for open-ended, unlimited questioning in a criminal grand jury setting.
It is unclear whether prosecutors in the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan will force Mr. Cohen to appear before a grand jury and assert his Fifth Amendment right. Typically, when a witness’s lawyer has indicated that the client refuses to testify, the office’s practice is to not require an in-person appearance. But in certain cases, prosecutors will demand that the person come in for the interview.
A legal deadline looms for prosecutors to bring a criminal case against Mr. Cohen related to charges against Mathew Martoma, a former SAC portfolio manager accused of illegally trading in the shares of two drug companies, Elan and Wyeth. The Martoma case is the first time that Mr. Cohen was linked to questionable trades, which occurred in late July 2008. Under the five-year statute of limitations for insider trading crimes, the government must charge Mr. Cohen by July.
Yet the eliciting of Mr. Cohen’s grand jury testimony is not entirely bad news for the hedge fund manager, at least as it relates to his criminal exposure, legal experts say. A grand jury subpoena seeking Mr. Cohen’s testimony suggests that the government is pursuing a case against SAC, but not Mr. Cohen himself. It is highly unusual for prosecutors to issue a grand jury subpoena to the target of an investigation, indicating that they want to interview Mr. Cohen broadly about his fund’s activities.
But bringing criminal charges against SAC would also be an unusual move by the government. Over the last decade, the Justice Department has moved away from indicting companies after the 2002 indictment of Arthur Andersen was widely seen as having put the accounting giant out of business.
Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, declined to comment.
The flurry of new subpoenas comes at an inconvenient time for SAC. Investors in the fund have two weeks to decide whether to ask for their money back, or else they will have to wait until mid-August to make a withdrawal request.
SAC has several built-in protections to prevent a mass exodus of money that could cripple the firm. For one thing, roughly 60 percent — or $9 billion — of the $15 billion under management belongs to Mr. Cohen. And there are stringent limits on client withdrawals; if they ask for their money back, they will get it back in three installments over the next three quarters.
The fund’s executives have aggressively tried to prevent withdrawals since November, when the Securities and Exchange Commission warned the fund that it faced possible civil actions related to insider trading. After agreeing to pay $616 million this year to settle two civil insider-trading actions brought by the agency, SAC’s lawyers said they believed that much of the firm’s legal problems were in the rearview mirror.
Mr. Cohen has doggedly maintained that he wants to continue to run his fund and manage other people’s money. Yet as the harsh legal spotlight on him intensifies and prominent investors like Blackstone reduce their commitments, Mr. Cohen could wind down SAC and manage his own billions in a so-called family office structure. Other hedge fund tycoons have followed this path, like George Soros and his protégé, Stanley Druckenmiller.
A group of Mr. Cohen’s investors continue to stand by him and hope that he stays in business. For Anthony Scaramucci, chief executive of the hedge fund firm SkyBridge Capital and a friend of Mr. Cohen’s, sticking with SAC has as much to do with friendship and loyalty as it does its superior performance.
“A lot of guys, when bombs are going off, you figure out very quickly who your friends are in the trenches,” Mr. Scaramucci said. “Most friends run from bullets, but your best friends run toward them. I have enormous amount of respect for the guy, and I think he’s misunderstood.”The protests come at a delicate time for political leaders as they are grappling with concerns over high inflation and sluggish economic growth, and are trying to promote Brazil as a safe and stable destination in advance of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, which will be held here.
São Paulo’s mayor and governor were in Paris this week to lobby for the city to be chosen as the site for an international fair, the World Expo 2020. The governor, Geraldo Alckmin, called the protesters “thugs” and “vandals,” insisting that the fare increase would not be revoked.
Marcelo Hotimsky, a student who has taken part in the protests, said they were an expression of frustration. “There are serious issues about mobility and life in the city,” he said. Asked about violent episodes in the protests, he said, “There is a great attempt to make those who go to the protests look like rioters to discredit us.”Loading... Loading...
With Ukraine rolling out a murderous ethnic cleansing campaign in its Donbass region on the Russian border, the Russian government has responded with restraint. The new provision of arms to Ukraine by the U.S. will likely change that — and start a proxy war more dangerous than Syria.
KIEV, UKRAINE – Just weeks after announcing a plan to arm the Ukrainian government with lethal weapons, the Pentagon announced on Friday that Secretary of Defense James Mattis – who has endorsed the plan – will be traveling to Ukraine this coming week in order to reassure the government in Kiev that the U.S. is “firmly committed to the goal of restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Though the Trump administration is still well less than a year old, it has become clear that Mattis gets what he wants, especially given his assumption of far-reaching war powers once reserved for the President. This, of course, makes the likelihood of the U.S. arming Ukraine increasingly likely.
While the official reasons for the U.S.’ justification in arming Ukraine are wrapped in the usual cloak of “humanitarianism” and fending off “Russian aggression,” it is hardly a coincidence that the plan to send lethal weapons to the government in Kiev coincides with the U.S.’ reluctant winding-down of involvement in the six-year-long conflict in Syria — a conflict often treated as a U.S.-Russia proxy war. This begs the question: Is the U.S. government, led by Mattis, seeking to ignite a new proxy war against Russia, this time on their doorstep?
U.S., as it faces off with Russia in Ukraine, wading into ethnic-cleansing waters
Mattis’ visit comes amid an uptick in violence in Ukraine’s internal conflict, which dates back to the U.S.-backed coup of 2014 that saw the right-wing billionaire Petro Poroshenko installed as President along with the ascendancy of Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist parties — Right Sector and Svoboda, respectively – to political prominence.
Since the coup, the new ruling powers of Ukraine have engaged in a campaign to target Ukraine’s eastern regions, where Russian culture and language are strong, as they do not conform to the ultra-nationalism espoused by the post-coup government in Kiev.
The region at the heart of the current conflict, the Donbass, falls completely within Poroshenko’s counter-terrorism zone, despite the fact that it is home to more than 5 million people who are now branded terrorists by the government in Kiev. Poroshenko’s government has been supported in this counter-terrorism operation by the U.S., which has given non-lethal aid and military training to the Ukrainian military over the last few years. However, this is now set to change with the Pentagon’s push to deliver “lethal weaponry” — including anti-aircraft weapons and Javelin missiles — to the Ukrainian government.
The government campaign to quell the civilian uprising in the Donbass region has been brutal, claiming over 10,000 lives according to UN estimates cited by the Wall Street Journal. The Ukrainian government has been rather frank regarding the intentions of this operation, stating that it specifically targets civilians in order “to clean the cities.”
Clean the cities of what exactly? According to an interview aired by the U.S.-funded, pro-government Ukrainian news channel Hromadske TV, the Donbass is home to around 1.5 million people “who are superfluous” and “must be exterminated.” These “superfluous” Ukrainian citizens were called “subhumans” in 2016 by then-Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, also dubbed “Washington’s man in Ukraine.”
Watch Ukrainian journalist Bogdan Boutkevitch, in an interview with Hromadske TV, state that “there is a certain category of people that must be exterminated” in the Donbass region of Ukraine.
Given the stated intention to literally “exterminate” over a million of its people, it is hardly surprising that there has been an uprising in Donbass seeking to stop the planned genocide against them. The forces battling the ethnic cleansing of their people are mostly from the local population, bolstered by Cossack forces as well as volunteers from Russia. The Russian government’s influence is minimal, despite Western and Ukrainian media narratives, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly stated that the Donbass must remain part of Ukraine and has rejected requests from separatists in the region to become part of Russia.
Yet now, with the U.S. seeking to arm the Ukrainian government in their ethnic cleansing campaign, the violence is undoubtedly set to escalate, with civilian deaths certain to result. Though the Pentagon claims that the lethal weaponry it plans to provide is “defensive” in nature, Mattis’ plan to visit — and its stated purpose of reassuring Ukraine of the U.S. commitment to restoring Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” — makes it clear this is not the case. Instead, it shows that the U.S. seeks to enable the Ukrainian government to bring not only the Donbass, but also Crimea, into the fold of the government in Kiev. This, after all, is Poroshenko’s stated goal.
Syria to Ukraine: trading a botched proxy war for a “better” one
The Pentagon’s decision to arm the Ukrainian government is well-timed, given that it coincides with the Trump administration’s decision to stop arming the radical Wahhabists that comprise the “moderate opposition” in Syria seeking to oust its democratically-elected president, Bashar al-Assad.
Given the Syrian government’s ability to make major gains against these “rebels” and Daesh (ISIS), as well as the West’s repeated failures to justify a foreign military intervention, the U.S. has been all but forced to give up its dreams of provoking Russia via the six-year-long proxy war fought in Syria over regional oil and gas interests. High-ranking officials in the Syrian government have recently declared the war in Syria “effectively over.”
With the curtain closing in Syria, Washington needs a new proxy war. Given that containing Russia is the ultimate goal –as it is with China – what better way to step up the pressure than by sending lethal arms to a rabidly anti-Russian, U.S.-backed government in Kiev that is determined to ethnically cleanse Russians? Ukraine, after all, is right on Russia’s border; and the Crimea region, which Poroshenko is determined to return to his control, is now a part of Russia.
However, choosing Ukraine for a new proxy war is more than just convenient. The Washington establishment knows exactly what they are getting into as this has nearly happened once before. In 2015, several U.S. senators — led by John McCain — along with then-Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, pushed to arm the Ukrainian government with lethal weapons.
Russia’s response at the time paints a very clear picture of what could be expected if the U.S. plan to give Ukraine lethal weapons comes to pass. Following the push for sending weapons to Ukraine, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told Interfax news agency that U.S. arms supplies to Ukraine would result in a “dramatic outcome” that Russia “will not ignore.” He also stated that Russia would not be able to “stay aside” in the conflict if the U.S. followed through with its promise of providing lethal aid to Kiev.
In terms of what this “dramatic outcome” could entail, the events of 2015 offered two possibilities. Western analysts asserted that the U.S.’ arming of the Ukrainian government would be ”matched by Russian arms to rebels,” creating the pretext for another long-running proxy war with opposing sides armed by either the U.S. or Russia.
However, Russian legislators struck a different tone, with one MP arguing that a move to arm Kiev by the U.S. should be met with Russia sending troops or “using military force” to keep the situation from becoming “too dangerous” to Russia. In addition, The Moscow Times cited Russian defense analysts, including current members of the Ministry of Defense, who asserted that Washington’s attempts to arm Ukraine would be seen as a “declaration of war.”
Having failed in Syria, the elements of the U.S. political establishment hell-bent on provoking Russia by any means necessary have decided to take their proxy war straight to Russia’s doorstep. Unfortunately, a proxy-war conflict in Ukraine will likely garner greater support for U.S. intervention than Syria ever did. Years of fear-mongering by NATO and the Western media about a “Russia invasion” of Ukraine, the “annexation” of Crimea, and the current Russiagate election-meddling “scandal” have certainly greased the wheels for a new proxy war theater — one significantly easier to sell to the U.S. public than was the effort to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Source: www.mintpressnews.com
Help Us Be The Change We Wish To See In The World.People with carry permits can now carry guns into the Anderson County Courthouse, except on the third floor where judicial proceedings take place.
People with carry permits can now carry guns into the Anderson County Courthouse, except on the third floor where judicial proceedings take place.
The four signs that featured a slashed-out gun illustration were removed from the wooden doors at the Courthouse’s entrances Wednesday — following a vote by the Anderson County Commission on Monday night.
According to Anderson County Commissioner Steve Mead of Oak Ridge, the county’s authority to prohibit people with gun carry permits from carrying their guns into the Courthouse ended in February 2009.
Allowing those with legal permits to carry their guns into the Courthouse if they wish will make the Courthouse safer, he opined at Monday night’s Commission meeting.
“Criminals go places where they’re not going to be opposed,” he said, citing areas that have been the scenes of public shootings. In a packet of information he
See NO-GUN, Page 2A
handed out at the Commission meeting, he stated that “A recent study covering from 1950 to about 2010 found that all mass shootings in the U.S., except (that of) Congresswoman (Gabrielle) Giffords, were done in supposed ‘gun free zones;’ and if you think back, every one since then has been as well.”
The removal of the signs was recommended by the Commission’s Legislative Committee, following a motion by Mead and seconded by Commissioner Dusty Irwin of Clinton.
“I and 6,300 (county) permit holders would like you to stop violating our rights,” Mead said at Monday’s meeting.
Mead’s information indicates the Commission approved action to install the signs, as allowed by state law, in 2007.
During the Commission meeting, Mead asked Sheriff Paul White if he had any problem with the removal of the signs and White replied that he did not.
The signs prohibiting weapons “the areas of judicial proceedings including the third floor and all juvenile court hallways, offices, and courtrooms” remain. Violations of this constitute a Class E Felony by state law and orders of the courts.
Circuit Court Clerk Tyler Mayes said because proceedings of the court — such as lawyers talking to their clients and witnesses awaiting their turn in court take place in the hallways of the third floor — the no-gun permit rule is believed to cover the entire third floor. He said County Law Director Jay Yeager is expected to issue an opinion on the matter.
County Mayor Terry Frank confirmed that the no-guns rule also applies to the Juvenile Court areas in the Robert L. Jolley County Administration Building across the street from the Courthouse.
If people come legally armed when they arrive on the third floor of the Courthouse or into the Juvenile Court area, they will be advised to return their guns to their vehicles.
Donna Smith can be contacted at (865) 220-5502.It is hard to count all the ways in which this is sad. Forget the implied mortality of our species and everything it has or has not accomplished. If you are of a certain science fiction age, like me, you might have grown up with a vague notion of the evolution of the universe as a form of growing self-awareness: the universe coming to know itself, getting smarter and smarter, culminating in some grand understanding, commanding the power to engineer galaxies and redesign local spacetime.
Instead, we have the prospect of a million separate Sisyphean efforts with one species after another pushing the rock up the hill only to have it roll back down and be forgotten.
Worse, it makes you wonder just how smug we should feel about our own knowledge.
“There may be fundamentally important things that determine the universe that we can’t see,” Dr. Krauss said in an interview. “You can have right physics, but the evidence at hand could lead to the wrong conclusion. The same thing could be happening today.”
The proximate culprit here is dark energy, which has been responsible for much of the bad news in physics over the last 10 years. This is the mysterious force, discovered in 1998, that is accelerating the cosmic expansion that is causing the galaxies to rush away faster and faster. The leading candidate to explain that acceleration is a repulsion embedded in space itself, known as the cosmological constant. Einstein postulated the existence of such a force back in 1917 to explain why the universe didn’t collapse into a black hole, and then dropped it when Edwin Hubble discovered that distant galaxies were flying away — the universe was expanding.
If this is Einstein’s constant at work — and some astronomers despair of ever being able to say definitively whether it is or is not — the future is clear and dark. In their paper, Dr. Krauss and Dr. Scherrer extrapolated forward in time what has become a sort of standard model of the universe, 14 billion years old, and composed of a trace of ordinary matter, a lot of dark matter and Einstein’s cosmological constant.
As this universe expands and there is more space, there is more force pushing the galaxies outward faster and faster. As they approach the speed of light, the galaxies will approach a sort of horizon and simply vanish from view, as if they were falling into a black hole, their light shifted to infinitely long wavelengths and dimmed by their great speed. The most distant galaxies disappear first as the horizon slowly shrinks around us like a noose.
A similar cloak of invisibility will befall the afterglow of the Big Bang, an already faint bath of cosmic microwaves, whose wavelengths will be shifted so that they are buried by radio noise in our own galaxy. Another vital clue, the abundance of deuterium, a heavy form of hydrogen manufactured in the Big Bang, in deep space, will become unobservable because to be seen it needs to be backlit from distant quasars, and those quasars, of course, will have disappeared.
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Eventually, in the far far future, this runaway dark energy will suck all the energy and life out of the universe. A few years ago, Edward Witten, a prominent theorist at the Institute for Advanced Study, called a universe that is accelerating forever “not very appealing.” Dr. Krauss has called it simply “the worst possible universe.”
But our future cosmologists will be spared this vision, according to the calculations. Instead they will puzzle about why the visible universe seems to consist of six galaxies, Dr. Krauss said. “What is the significance of six? Hundreds of papers will be written on that,” he said.
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Those cosmologists may worry instead that their galaxy cloud will collapse into a black hole one day and, like Einstein, propose a cosmic repulsion to prevent it. But they will have no way of knowing if they were right.
Although by then the universe will be mostly dark energy, Dr. Krauss said, it will be undetectable unless astronomers want to follow the course of the occasional star that gets thrown out of the galaxy and is caught up in the dark cosmic current. But it would have to be followed for 10 billion years, he said — an experiment the National Science Foundation would be unlikely to finance.
“This is even weirder,” Dr. Krauss said. “Five billion years ago dark energy was unobservable; 100 billion years from now it will become invisible again.”
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It turns out that you don’t actually need dark energy to be this pessimistic about the future, as Dr. Krauss and Dr. Scherrer point out. In 1987, George Ellis, a mathematician and astronomer at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, and Tony Rothman, currently lecturing at Princeton, wrote a paper showing how even ordinary expansion would gradually carry most galaxies too far away to be seen, setting the stage for cosmic ignorance.
Dark energy speeds up the picture, Dr. Ellis said in an e-mail message, adding that he was glad to see the new paper, which adds many astrophysical details. “It’s an interesting gloss on the far future,” he said.
James Peebles, a Princeton cosmologist, said there were more pressing worries. We might be headed toward a universe that is “asymptotically empty,” he said, “But I have the uneasy feeling that the U.S.A. is headed into asymptotic futility well before that.”
You might object that the inhabitants of the far future will be far more advanced than we are. Maybe they will be able to detect dark energy — or the extra dimensions of string theory, for that matter — in the laboratory. Maybe they will even be us, in some form or other, if the human race manages to get out of the solar system before the Sun blows up in five billion years. But if relativity is right, they won’t be able to build telescopes that can see past the edge of the universe.
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It’s not too late to start thinking about sending out the robot probes that could drift down through alien skies eons from now with, if not us or our DNA, at least a few nuggets of wisdom — that the world is made of atoms and that it started with a bang.
The lesson in the meantime is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and we never will — a lesson that extends beyond astronomy.
Einstein once said, “The Lord God is subtle but malicious he is not.”
I wondered in light of this new report whether it might be time to revise that quotation. Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told me the problem was not malice but human arrogance — a necessary but unfortunate condition for scientific progress.
“We have a tendency to put ourselves at the center of the universe,” he said. “We assume all we see is all there is.”
But, as Dr. Tegmark noted, Big Bang theorists already suppose that basic aspects of the universe are out of sight.
The reason we believe we live in a smooth, orderly universe instead of the chaotic one that is more likely, they say, is that the chaos has been hidden. According to the dominant theory of the Big Bang, known as inflation, an extremely violent version of dark energy blew it up a fraction of a second after time began, stretching and smoothing space and pushing all the wildness and chaos and even perhaps other universes out of the sky, where they will never be seen.
“Inflation tells us we live in a messy universe,” Dr. Tegmark said. Luckily we never have to confront it.
Ignorance is us, or is it bliss?I’ve had some bad days before, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad day that was worth $15,000.
The artist, Zhao, built a life-sized model of Nick Wilde for a Lego Expo in Ningbo, China. Ordinarily this would be enough to warrant an article from ZNN, because that is totally awesome. He put in three full days and nights piecing it together one brick at a time, and it was estimated to be worth $15,000.
(Rest of the story after the break)
Obviously, he was very proud of his creation. Which is why it was heartbreaking when, just an hour after the exhibit opened…
… This happened. A 5-year-old child had wanted to get a closer look at the giant Nick. So, he’d gone under the ropes and started touching it.
Gravity ensued, leaving our favorite fox a pile of brightly colored bricks.
Zhao was very gracious and refused compensation from the kid’s parents, saying that “The child is too small, the staff did not see, so we have a responsibility.” (Quote from News163)
Lego Nick, we hardly knew ye. Rest in pieces.SubRosa are an American band from Salt Lake City. They play a heavy, doomy style of metal peppered with violins and other sonic weirdness. The band made quite a splash in the North American underground last year with their release No Help For The Mighty Ones which was acclaimed by publications as prestigious as Decibel Magazine. Check the album out on Bandcamp after reading the below interview that I recently conducted with band leader Rebecca Vernon.
Curt: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. The past year seems to have been pretty good for the band with more exposure in metal magazines and a placement in Decibel’s Top 40 of the year feature. For those readers who have been living under a rock, can you go over the band’s history?
Rebecca: SubRosa started in the summer of 2005, Sarah and I shared an amp between us when we’d practice. I was fretting a lot about getting a demo together and getting people to join. I knew what I wanted Subrosa to sound like, but I knew a demo would help others want to join. We released The Worm has Turned in 2006, Strega in 2008 on I Hate Records, Swans Trapped in Ice EP in 2009, and NHFTMO in 2010. We played festivals in Salt Lake City, shows, went on a couple short tours in the US, and Europe in 2009.
Curt: One of the things that impressed me about “No Help for the Mighty Ones” is the fact that you do so many things that aren’t considered “standard” for a metal band, like violins and even an a capella song! Are you ever concerned that you may alienate the average metalhead with your arrangements?
Rebecca: No. I have a revulsion towards following formulas. Like saying to yourself, “I want to sound like such-and-such a band/genre,” and then doing it. There is something to really loving a band and wanting to do what they’re doing, but you have to put your own spin on it. I don’t really care about “appealing” to a certain “target audience.” I can think of nothing that sounds more … corporate.
Curt: A lot of your lyrics seem to be rather story-like, rather than just something you can sing along to. Was this intentional? What is your process for writing a song?
Rebecca: I definitely use story-telling to get across emotions; another trace of folk music in SubRosa coming out. It’s also one of the most ancient, primal ways to convey a universal emotion or idea. I have a hard time coming right out and saying what I’m feeling in a song. I cringe when I hear singers say something like, “I feel so lost and confused.” Ha. In fiction writing classes, you learn, “Show, don’t tell.”
Curt: What do you feel is more important for SubRosa’s music? The lyrics or the sound? Or do you feel that they’re they equally important?
Rebecca: Both are equally important. They go hand-in-hand to convey an emotion or idea. They are like mirrors amplifying each other.
Curt: As a Mormon do you ever feel that playing heavy metal is in conflict with your faith? How do you deal with drinking, smoking and drug usage at your concerts? Do you ever see yourself using your music as a vehicle to spread your faith, or do you see this as something completely different?
Rebecca: I don’t see heavy music as being in conflict with a belief in God. I do see it as being in conflict with other people’s idea of God. If people want to paint God as a narrow-minded being because they themselves are narrow-minded, then that’s their choice.
I do not see my music as a way to “spread my faith.” I have a strong revulsion towards that. I am turned off by Christian rock trying to spread Christian ideals, sorry. I try to sing about universal human experiences that have nothing to do with one’s beliefs. You can believe God is a silver robot with bells for eyes, but you still suffer. So I sing about suffering.
It’s always been easy for me to avoid drinking, smoking and drugs in the music scene. I don’t know why. I guess everyone has their Achilles heel, but those are not mine.
Curt: When is |
new-text }) ( defn slugify [ text ] ( -> text ;; A strip-punctuation ;; A' delimit-with-dashes ;; A' lower-case ;; A' ( side-by-side text )) ;; B
A string is what went in, but a map was returned. Now that we have a map, any subsequent transformation needs to use a different class of function to operate on this new data structure.
Identify the data under transformation
We need to know what data we are operating on. If we are in a controller of a web app, this might be some sort of a request struct. If we are inside the business logic of that web app, then it might be a domain model. Perhaps we are processing user input, and we are transforming a string.
As simple as it might seem, it is important to make this identification. This will inform our decision about the signature of the functions that will go in our pipeline.
Stick to a single argument
A single argument makes it easier to pipe data through functions. If our functions require multiple arguments, it takes more work to wire them up. Furthermore, extra arguments can take away from the expressiveness of the pipeline. It adds extra information for the reader to process. These extra arguments also have a tendency to creep into collaborating functions.
Yet, sometimes we need more than one piece of data in our transformation. In this scenario, we should attempt to unify our arguments.
Unify common arguments
There are times when our pipelines will need more than one argument. In these cases, consider collecting them into a map or struct.
Take a look at the pipeline in the app function. The collaborating function present needs foo and bar. Consequently, we have to pass both of these into app, even though only one of the functions uses bar.
( defn present [ foo bar ] ( println str foo " " bar )) ( defn app [ foo bar ] ( -> foo important-operation ( present bar )) ( app foo bar )
We can deal with this by unifying all the arguments inside a map. In turn, each transformation now operates on a single data structure.
( defn present [ app ] ( let [ foo ( :foo app ) bar ( :bar app )] ( println str foo " " bar ))) ( defn app [ config ] ( -> app important-operation present )) ( app { :foo foo :bar bar })
Take notice of the reduced noise inside the pipeline. This is a simple example, but imagine how complicated things could get if we needed to pass in many arguments.
This is not a silver bullet solution though. We did not eliminate any complexity, we only moved it. By simplifying app, we had to move some complexity down into present. This is a potential trade-off.
Facade Functions
Collecting all the arguments in a map is not always the right solution. Sometimes our transformation functions will need need a one-off argument. For example, perhaps a string operation needs a regular expression.
( defn slugify [ text ] ( -> text ( strip-punctuation # "!" ) delimit-with-dashes lower-case ))
Here, we can create a facade function instead.
A facade function is just a wrapper around another function. It encapsulates how the function is invoked, and with what arguments it is invoked.
( defn strip-punctuation-all-but-! [ text ] ( strip-punctuation text # "!" )) ( defn slugify [ text ] ( -> text strip-all-punctuation-but-! delimit-with-dashes lower-case ))
Facade functions provide the opportunity to give the operation a more meaningful name.
Of course, scenarios like this are a judgement call. Sometimes I find that a facade function does not add enough benefit to warrant a new function.
Argument placement - or, Avoiding signature mismatch
When we do need to pass in multiple arguments to one of our transformations, we should be deliberate in choosing the argument position and order.
Carelessness when choosing the order of our parameters can make it difficult to stick in a pipeline.
( defn append-username [ username slug ] ( str slug " " username )) ( defn slugify [ text username ] ( -> text strip-punctuation ( # ( append-username username % )) delimit-with-dashes lower-case ))
When we avoid this signature mismatch, we have to do less work to fit the transformation in the pipeline.
( defn append-username [ slug username ] ( str slug " " username )) ( defn slugify [ text username ] ( -> text strip-punctuation ( append-username username ) delimit-with-dashes lower-case ))
Clojurists will point out that the -> and as-> macro exist exactly for this design shortcoming. These macros allow you to pipe the data through to the last argument, or whichever argument is specified.
Most languages do not offer this flexibility. They either pipe data through to the first argument or the last argument.
Conclusion
Once we have deemed that a pipeline transformation is the right tool for the scenario, we need to take care to design our functions in a way that they can work together. Identifying what data needs to be transformed and the nature of the transformation is an important first step. This will inform decisions later on about the signatures of the collaborating functions. If possible, limit it to a single argument, which might mean wrapping multiple arguments up in a data structure.
One might say that the pipe operator is really just a mechanism for presenting code. Changing the direction the data flows can have a deep impact on the readability and promote self-description of a piece of code.
However, the pipe operator also encourages a design that promotes a single data structure. This lines up well with the advice of Alan Perlis.
It is better to have 100 functions operate on one data structure than 10 functions on 10 data structures.
Keep these considerations in mind the next time you are designing a pipeline transformation with the pipe operator.
Damon Kelley is a Software Crafter at 8th Light Chicago. Follow @"damonkelley"The MMORPG Age of Conan was released by Funcom right around the middle of May in 2008, probably to avoid getting steam-rollered and plowed under by the Wrath of the Lich King expansion for everyone’s favourite fantasy juggernaut. In less than a month of blistering sales fueled by desperate gamers trying to escape the pull of Warcraft, Age of Conan had gathered up over 700,000 subscribers in its muscled and well-oiled arms.
Six months later Funcom was quietly merging servers and banning anyone who talked about subscription numbers on their forums. Age of Conan is now, for all practical purposes, a walking and half-naked corpse shambling toward a dark horizon. So what happened? How did Age of Conan die?
The quick answer? It was never alive.
When you first login to Age of Conan, you’ll wake up on the shores of a lush island, overflowing with quests, voice actors, plotlines, and wonderful vistas. Even bitter veterans who wouldn’t piss out Funcom if the entire company were on fire admit that this starting zone, Tortage, is a great experience. Tortage lasts for about twenty levels out of eighty. Then, you step away from the jungle harbours and into the wide world, and that’s when Funcom shouts “Sucker!” in your face before running off laughing into the night with your money. They give you the finger the whole time.
You see, a few things were lacking after Tortage. Those wonderful vistas transform into dirt and rocks, mostly because the DirectX 10 support listed on the box isn’t actually in the game. Instead, Funcom took the graphics overhead DirectX 10 would have used, and plugged it all into the famed Realism Brownifier. That’s right, in the harsh world of Conan, real graphics are brown and dirty.
You might also discover the barren lands are short on things to do, since all those Tortage quests which brought you up to level 20 are gone. From here on out, most of your questing will involve going to the proper Place of Great Respawn and grinding mobs like you were filling up a resume to take some Chinese gold farmer’s job. The dust and dirt must be really hard on the lungs, too, since the vast majority of quest givers are mute. Voice acting, it seems, was too much a courtesy for Funcom to extend after the trial period.
But hey, at least your character isn’t wearing a clown suit like those technicolour lollipop bastards over in Azeroth. That’s true enough, but you better like that brown, realistic outfit, because you’ll be wearing something just like it for the rest of your career. Not that it matters what bonuses it gives you. Character stats didn’t work at all when the game released, and bonuses on gear were so low you’d need to twink out a full suit over a single bonus to even see a 1% increase in your abilities.
Fortunately, you’ll be able to move around those desolate zones easily enough, what with how dying and rezzing is actually a faster way to travel than going there through the game.
And you will die, make no mistake. The combat system relies on position and combos to deal your best damage, but the great part about this is that while you’re pressing the four buttons and swinging around the five attacks for your combo, the other guy just walked away from you, got into position behind you, and sank his sword into your spleen. Oh, and two classes can close in on you under stealth. Doesn’t everyone love getting ganked by Warcraft Rogues? In Age of Conan, there are two different flavours of teabagging rogues to sample and savour.
To their credit, Funcom has tried to fix the problems of their newest flagship game, but it seems whoever actually built Age of Conan has gone on to other pastures, or perhaps their next life. The remaining crew’s attempts at repairing the game can be likened to dozens of monkeys eager to help out with an especially critical moment of brain surgery. It was messy, things got broken, there was alot of hooting, and something nasty was left dripping off the walls.
Gaute Godager, the Producer and Game Director even resigned, leaving Funcom after sixteen years with the company over how the game was handled post-release. Without Godager’s influence as a unifying force, the game sunk further in the pits of hooting monkeydom.
Suckered in by the newbie zone, 700,000 souls subscribed. Faced with the rest of the game after level 20, they unsubscribed. It all lasted a bit over two months.
In the end, all that is left are guilds of gankers, hiding in grinding caves and waiting for someone to unstealth. What began among the jeweled towers of Aquilonia ends then, here in caves and dirt. And brown. Lots and lots of brown.
Leave a CommentFX’s ‘The Americans’ is set more than 30 years in the past, when the Caps were still a struggling new franchise and not a perennial playoff team. But Wednesday’s episode — which featured a Russian dude trying to give Caps tickets to a colleague — hit a bit too close to home when that character, in Russian, referred to the local club as “largely untalented.”
Yikes. We’re having a moment right now, ‘The Americans.’ Save the slights for some better time.
Incidentally, the tickets were against Chicago, for “Game 7,” of the “Fall Classic.” I don’t really know what any of that means.
For the record, this is at least the second time ‘The Americans’ has referenced both the Caps and Dennis Maruk. I’m guessing some writer on that show had a Maruk poster as a child. This dialog happened last season:
“Oh dad, Maruk got two goals and an assist last night versus L.A.,” a child says. “Did they win?” the dad asks. “Uh, no, it was a tie,” the kid says, while reading the morning newspaper.
Transcribing scripted TV shows, by the way, is a lot easier when everything is subtitled.
(Via many people. @Jordanfabian first, I think.)DECATUR, Ga. (CBS Atlanta) — A woman who was battling a rare bacterial infection that is primarily found in the saliva of dogs has died.
Hannah Rinehart, 32, a three-time cancer survivor, died early Wednesday morning at Northside Hospital from the capnocytophaga bacterial infection she had been battling since July.
“At exactly 4:15 this morning, Hannah Johnson Rinehart went to be with the Lord,” Mark Rinehart, her husband, wrote on a website he set up for his wife. “She is celebrating, and I am thankful for God allowing me to have the privilege of being her husband while she was here on this Earth. Family was present, and when Hannah was ready to go, she left quickly.”
Rinehart, a former patient care technician in DeKalb County, had her hands and feet amputated July 26 due to the flesh-eating bacteria. The infection also caused her to suffer from septic shock.
Mark Rinehart, a Gwinnett County school teacher, believed the infection came from their 1-year-old dog, but doesn’t know if the dog ever bit her and punctured her skin.
Mark Rinehart tried to get the school district to allow employees to donate their sick leave so he could be with his sick wife, but the district wouldn’t allow it, saying doing so would violate their personnel policy.
Funeral services for Hannah Rinehart will be held Saturday at the North Lanier Baptist Church in Cumming.You're invited to an AMA (Ask Me Anything) with MITx Paradox and Infinity Professor Agustín Rayo, joined by Susanna Rinard, on Wednesday, June 10, 2015!
12PM ET: We'll link to the AMA from this page once it's posted on reddit.com/r/iama
1PM - 3PM ET: Agustín and Susanna will answer questions. Be sure to log in, ask your questions, and upvote others' questions to help guide the conversation.
New to Reddit? Create a reddit account, and then subscribe to the edX subreddit. Read the FAQ, or watch the tutorial video on Mashable on how Reddit works. Make sure to upvote what you like, downvote what you don't, interact and ask questions.
New to AMAs? AMA means ‘Ask Me Anything’ – the interviewee begins the process by starting a post, describing who they are and what they do. Then, commenters leave questions and can vote on other questions according to which they would like to see answered. The interviewee then goes through and responds to any questions that he/she would like, and in any way that he/she prefers.
About Agustín Rayo: Agustín is a professor of philosophy at MIT, and a professorial fellow at the University of Oslo. His research lies in the intersection of the philosophy of language and the philosophy of logic and mathematics. He is the author of The Construction of Logical Space.
Susanna Rinard works on Formal Epistemology and the Philosophy of Probability and the Philosophy of Science.
Paradox and Infinity is now underway – enroll now!Photo: @nateschmidt88
When we last heard from Nate Schmidt, the Minnesota native was geeking out over the impending snow storm and naming his personal Caps snowball fight dream team.
On Monday, NHL.com’s Katie Brown caught up with Schmidt after the Capitals’ first practice since the blizzard and asked Schmidt about how he spent his days off. Apparently, the Caps defenseman took to the streets of Clarendon, Virginia with a close friend.
“We had a snowball game, a miniature one,” Schmidt said. “We went out to brunch and people were throwing some stuff around. It wasn’t really our fight, I think we kinda just jumped in on one for a second. I just wanted to get a couple in there because we were sitting there making snowballs for a couple minutes, so I was like ‘Okay, let’s go do this.'”
So yes, just to confirm, National Hockey League player Nate Schmidt jumped into a snowball fight with a bunch of random Virginians.
“Nothing brings people more together than a snowstorm,” Schmidt said. “I think it was hilarious.”
Schmidt and his buddy went to Liberty Tavern, which managed to still be open, and grabbed a bite to eat. But it wasn’t the food that was most memorable.
“It was so funny, they had a big snow pile out front, right outside the front door and it was so funny,” he said. The people walking by were like…”
Schmidt’s eyes got really big.
“I lived in a cul-de-sac growing up, and they used to always put all the snow from the whole neighborhood into the cul-de-sac and make a big hill,” he continued. “It’s the greatest thing in the world when you’re a young kid. You didn’t have to travel anywhere to go to a hill, just walk out the front door.”
Meanwhile, Schmidt’s friend, who had flown in specifically to see him play, flew home Monday afternoon without seeing the Caps play at all. Was that a bummer? Not so, according to the eternal optimist.
“It was awesome,” Schmidt said. “Obviously he would have liked to see a couple games but we had a lot of fun just walking around and we were jumping down the snowbanks and stuff like that.
“It was the perfect temperature [outside].”
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PinterestSteidl: Disrespect your own Photographs
& Fuck the midtones.
Renowned German photobook publisher Gerhard Steidl gave a short Q&A session last night after the screening of his “How To Make A Book With Steidl” documentary at The Substation, Singapore. Gerhard was surprisingly unassuming for a man many call the single most important figure in publishing in the last decade. He is publisher to the who’s who of photography including Dayanita Singh, Rinko Kawauchi, Robert Frank, Martin Parr, Trent Parke, and William Eggleston.
Someone in the audience asked Gerhard who the single most satisfying photographer he had worked with and why. He replied “Without a doubt, Robert Frank. I learnt a lot from him. Robert said photographers these days are too respectful of their own photos. Disrespect your own photographs in order to create something new and inspiring.”
The other quote of the night was “Fuck the mid tones”.In yet another example of what the Religious Right’s recent focus on “religious liberty” is really about, five Republican presidential candidates are scheduled to speak this weekend at a “religious freedom” event hosted by a conservative pastor who has repeatedly declared that AIDS is God’s punishment for gay people’s “immoral act” and has called for a “class action lawsuit” against homosexuality.
Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee are scheduled to join a “Free to Believe Broadcast” on Saturday, hosted by the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins and Vision America’s Rick Scarborough, two of the most outspoken anti-gay activists in the country.
Both, even while attempting to curtail the rights of LGBT people, have claimed that it is their rights that are being violated by the LGBT movement: Perkins has said that the supposed persecution of anti-gay Christians in America is inspiring ISIS, and Scarborough has declared that he is ready to burn to death in the fight against gay marriage.
But neither Scarborough nor Perkins has ever been particularly interested in a “live and let live” truce with LGBT people.
Scarborough has declared that AIDS, “a homosexual disease,” is God’s “judgment as a result of an immoral act.” Just last year, he repeated his belief that AIDS is “God’s judgment on a sinful generation, adding that “God would probably give us the cure for AIDS today” if the U.S. stopped supporting gay rights:
He also said last year that marriage equality is part of Satan’s effort to “destroy this country,” warning that gay parents will lead their children “into an early grave called hell”:
Scarborough is so concerned about gay people that back in 2013 he brought up the idea of issuing a “class action lawsuit” against homosexuality, much like actions taken against the tobacco industry:
In 2014, Scarborough agreed with Islamic fundamentalists who call America the “Great Satan,” saying that God would be perfectly justified in sending a nuclear bomb to destroy the country because of such sins as President Obama’s appointments of a handful of gay ambassadors:
And that’s just Scarborough. Perkins has a vile anti-gay record of his own, which Brian summarized last month.
Also appearing at the event will be Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver, who has warned that gay people seek to “groom” and “entrap” children, and David and Jason Benham, brothers who became Religious Right martyrs when they lost a TV show they were set to star in after their anti-gay activism came to light.
Cruz might not mind appearing with an activist who has said that God is punishing gay people with AIDS — after all, he has praised Scarborough before and has David Barton, an activist who has said similar things, leading a super PAC in support of his candidacy. Cruz and Huckabee similarly showed their willingness to cozy up to the most radical people in the anti-gay movement when they appeared last year at a conference hosted by Kevin Swanson, who spent much of the event expounding on what he interprets as the Bible’s call for the death penalty for gay people.
But if any of the other candidates have an ounce more shame, they might want to think twice about appearing at Saturday’s event.Last February, I wrote that Chief of the Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance said Canada "will certainly be involved somehow" in Libya.
"I don't know whether we will be involved militarily, but we will certainly be involved somehow, because Libya sits at a crossroads of some very important and dangerous things that are happening in the world," Vance said.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan also said Canada could join a coalition in Libya to fight ISIS. However, in a conference call last Wednesday, Sajjan confirmed his government was considering a number of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions but no further details were given.
Considering the fact that UN peacekeeping missions are not aimed at taking part in offensive operations, Canada will most likely not join a coalition to "fight" ISIS.
However, last Thursday, Lieutenant General Paul Wynnyk became the commander of the Canadian Army and quickly stated the Canadian Army could possibly deploy troops in Africa. As a matter of fact, according to Wynnyk, a deployment to Africa was imminent.
Although many regions in Africa would benefit from having Canadian soldiers on the ground, Mali has been mentioned on many occasions. When the French government deployed troops to drive out Islamic extremists in early 2014, Canada contributed by sending CC-177 Globemaster III strategic lifters.
France has been requesting Canada's aid to take a major role in the UN peacekeeping mission after its intervention in Mali, according to documents obtained by CBC.
Based on the fact that the French government has a high number of troops deployed domestically to counter recent terror attacks, President Francois Hollande most likely turned to Canada due to its past logistical participation, and the fact that many Canadian soldiers can speak French -- one of the main spoken languages in Mali.
According to Walter Dorn, a professor at the Canadian Force Staff College in Kingston, Canada could supply up to 1,000 soldiers to a UN mission. Dorn believes Canada could sustain a deployed contingent of more than 1,000 troops for many years.
The Canadian Forces will be stretched out and with more than $3.7 billion in slashed military spending until 2020, deployed troops will most likely have logistical issues and equipment problems. With different missions in different parts of the world, the logistical branch of the Canadian Forces will have to pull miracles to keep soldiers well-supplied and in fighting shape.
That said, with a deployed contingent in Ukraine, Poland and soon Latvia, Canada will most likely draft an option to involve in Special Operations Forces elements.
Could CANSOFCOM deploy in Mali?
Due to a significant number of French troops deployed in Mali, the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) could very well deploy to the African country with a training mission in mind.
CANSOFCOM could assist in the rebuilding of the security sector, one of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) main focus.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) has been actively taking part in Exercise Flintlock, an annual exercise in Africa. Malian soldiers have taken part in Exercise Flintlock in the past, according to the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).
This exercise gave CSOR good interoperability experience with African soldiers, as well as with NATO allies currently participating in a number of operations on the continent.
"Exercise Flintlock is designed to foster regional cooperation to enable our African partners to stabilize regions of North and West Africa, reducing sanctuary and support for violent extremist organizations. Exercise Flintlock provides increased interoperability, counterterrorism, and combat skills training while creating a venue for regional engagement among all TSCTP nations."
Yet, if Canada agrees on sending UN peacekeeping troops in Mali to relieve French troops, CANSOFCOM will not play a major role in the West African country.
The Canadian Forces presently have troops deployed with the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of South Sudan.
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MORE ON HUFFPOST:The bitcoin community has been abuzz about news that Chinese retail giant Suning is in talks with BTC China, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange by volume, about integrating bitcoin payments into the retailer’s e-commerce platform. But Bobby Lee, BTC China’s founder, says the news is not accurate.
“Sorry, I have actually not heard about this. Where did you see this?” Lee wrote in an e-mail after CoinDesk contacted him for clarification on the supposed partnership.
News about a supposed deal between the two firms discussed on reddit four days ago. The reddit post pointed to an article published on iFeng, a respected Chinese news site, on 5th Dec. iFeng is published by Phoenix New Media, a New York Stock Exchange-listed media firm. The publisher grew out of Phoenix Satellite Television, a global Chinese-language network based in Hong Kong.
The iFeng article claimed that a Suning insider had leaked the news that the retailer was in talks with BTC China to enable bitcoin payments on Suning Yigou, the retailer’s e-commerce platform where it sells electronics and other products direct to consumers. According to the article, the two parties were in close talks.
Redditors jumped on the news with excitement, with the reddit thread attracting 29 comments, and counting. The thread’s title announced optimistically:
“China’s largest electrical appliance retailer, Suning, is planning to adopt bitcoin”
A separate reddit thread suggested Suning was also preparing to accept payments in another digital currency, litecoin.
China’s bitcoin buzz
China has been at the centre of several major developments surrounding the use and regulation of bitcoin in the last week. On 5th Dec, China’s central bank issued its first statement on bitcoin, publishing a note on its website saying that financial institutions were not permitted to deal in bitcoin. Bitcoin exchanges would also be required to register their users as anonymous trading in the digital currency would not be permitted. However, the bank made clear that individuals could freely use the cryptocurrency.
As a result of the Chinese central bank statement, two major Chinese companies appeared to withdraw their plans to start accepting bitcoin for products and services. One of those companies is Baidu, the search engine giant. It published a statement on 6th Dec saying that it would no longer accept bitcoin payments for its Jiasule website optimisation service. The firm had announced it would take bitcoin payments on 14th Oct.
China Telecom, which dominates the country’s fixed-line subscriptions, also appeared to have removed all references to accepting bitcoin payments from several advertisements it had published earlier. One of these was an offer for customers to buy a gold iPhone 5S with bitcoin. China Telecom has the third-largest mobile subscriber base in the country, lagging behind market leader China Mobile.
Hybrid financial models
China’s rapid adoption of bitcoin is just the latest example of the innovative, hybrid financial models that have gained popularity in the People’s Republic. According to Zennon Kapron, founder of financial services consulting firm Kapronasia, one of the key issues in China is the line dividing financial institutions from other firms. Kapron recently gave a talk to the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents’ Club on bitcoin in China. He said:
“The line is really blurring right now in China as to which companies are considered financial institutions.”
Kapron gave the example of e-commerce titan Alibaba, which has introduced more bank-like features to its online payments platform Alipay. Users can opt for a new investment tool from Alipay called Yu’ebao, an online-only money-market fund that offers users a yield of more than 6%. The service has proved popular, with 2.5 million users signing up for it within three weeks of its launch.
“The Alipay division of Alibaba now offers a high-yield money market option called Yu’ebao, [so it is] gradually becoming more like a bank,” Kapron said.
Kapron said firms that wanted the benefits of accepting bitcoin, like Baidu, were probably taking precautionary moves, such as suspending their plans for bitcoin transactions, in the wake of the central bank announcement to protect their core business. He said:
“Bitcoin for Baidu is good, but it’s not worth the risk of attracting the attention of regulators.”
Suning is China’s largest electronics retailer, operating more than 1,600 stores in over 600 cities in the country and Japan. It announced a major investment online retailing earlier this year. It faces competition from retailers like Gome and 360Buy, which have both online and physical retail stores.
Featured image: PBDY / FlickrHARTFIELD, Va. (AP) _ Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, the last surviving descendant of Abraham Lincoln, died on Christmas Eve at the age of 81.
Beckwith, the great grandson of the 16th president, had lived in a nursing home in Saluda, according to officials of the funeral home where the body was taken. The community is about 45 miles from Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy.
Charles Bristow of the Bristow-Faulkner Funeral Home said he knew little about Beckwith, except that he was descended from the Civil War president.
He said Beckwith’s widow would make arrangements on Monday. Published records show he had been married three times but was childless.
Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd had four sons. Three died in their youth; the eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, served as Secretary of War under President James A. Garfield and died in 1926 at the age of 82.
Robert Todd Lincoln and his wife, Mary, had three children; their youngest, Jessie, eloped in 1897 with Warren Beckwith, a classmate and football star at Iowa Wesleyan College.
They had two children: Mary Lincoln Beckwith, who died in 1975 and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, who was born in Riuverside, Ill. on July 19, 1904.
The great-grandson received a law degree from what is now Georgetown University. He donated most of his famous forebear’s documents, artwork and furniture to the state of Illinois.Vice President Pence assured anti-abortion protestors Friday that their cause has friends in the new administration, vowing that officials "will not rest" until the "pro-life" culture is restored in the U.S.
Speaking at the annual March for Life in Washington, Pence proclaimed that "life is winning again in America" and outlined how the Trump administration would advance anti-abortion policies.
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"Be assured, along with you, we will not grow weary. We will not rest until we restore a culture of life in America, for ourselves and for our posterity," he said at the event.
Pence, the first sitting vice president to attend the March for Life, vowed that the administration would work with Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.
While no federal government money goes toward abortions performed by Planned Parenthood by law, the organization can be reimbursed by the government for other health services performed for women who are on programs like Medicaid. Blocking that funding has long been a goal for anti-abortion lawmakers.
"We will devote those resources to healthcare services across America," he said.
Trump will also announce next week a justice to the Supreme Court who will "uphold the God-given liberties enshrined in our Constitution," Pence said. Trump said in a recent interview with ABC that he will be making his Supreme Court decision next week.
Pence also praised Trump's signing of an executive order than bans U.S. aid to international healthcare organizations that provide or promote abortions.
"Life is winning again in America. Today is a celebration of that progress...That is evident in the presence of pro-life majorities in the Congress of the United States of America," Pence said.
"But it is no more evident in any way than in the historic election of a president who stands for a strong America, a more prosperous America and a president who I proudly stands for a right to life."From the sanctorum of Puri temples to the bylanes of Kolkata, Nepal and Rajasthan to the power corridors of Buckingham Palace, Rosugulla remains ancient India’s best culinary invention.
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The Bengalis stake claim on it. The Oriyas believe it’s their invention. And the world cannot seem to have enough of it. Known as rosogulla, rasgulla or rasbari (depending which Indian state it is being referred in), if there has been one sweet dish that has been a true ‘game changer’ of the way sweets were perceived and eaten in India it has to be the Rosugulla – or how famous British chef William Harold described it in a journal – “a bowl of sweet, syrupy, soft cheese balls.”
Rosugulla was one of the few things (Bhel Puri aside), the recipe of which Harold, in spite of his on-field research, failed to acquire. Every home he walked to gave him a different recipe and a different technique to work with. Unable to replicate the result, and already having started a mutiny with one soldier being shot in rage by the English officer he came to serve, Harold left the country but with 10 boxes of rosugulla believing that he will eventually be able to recreate the dish his people took fancy to.
Whether he ever succeeded in recreating the dish or the British version of this 13th century sweet dish remains a mystery. What however is known, is how addicted our colonial rulers were of the sweet dish, whose origin was inside the temple of Puri in Odisha. Lady Edwina Mountbatten is said to be rather fond of the sweet dish, and so was William Hasting.
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History tracks down the origin of rosugulla to Puri in Odisha, where this 700-year-old sweet dish was part of a ritual. Known as Khira mohana due to its almost white appearance back in the 11th century, it was customary to offer this chenna sweet dish to Goddess Mahalakshmi as prasad, especially on the last day of the Rath Yatra, also called Niladri Vijay.
According to mythology, Jagannath, an avatar of Vishnu, to appease Lakshmi, his consort, on returning from Gundicha temple after a nine-day vacation (Rath Yatra) had offered her rosugulla as a present to get entry into his home. Since then, it’s a ritual that is followed annually.
In fact temple text suggests that rosugulla was in existence nearly 700 years ago and was invented as a tribute to Lord Jagannath’s eyes. That perhaps explains why rosugulla, especially the Oriya variety, is big and slightly oblong compared to West Bengal rosugulla which resembles a ball.
How did the sweet dish reach out of the temple’s periphery given that temples kept their recipes well guarded is unknown. But folklore has it that it was one of the priests who began teaching people the art of milk curdling and making rosugulla after he saw villagers throwing milk because it was in excess. Interestingly, for the villagers of Phala (a hamlet in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar the capital city of Odisha) this came as a blessing in disguise. This tiny hamlet was in fact home to more cows than humans, and milk was always in excess. Such is their expertise with chenna (ricotta cheese) that Phala soon emerged into the biggest market for chenna-based sweets and for rosugulla. In fact, it became a pit stop for anybody traveling across Odisha.
(Source: Thinkstock Images)
The other variant of rosugulla that Odisha is famous for is the one from Salepur (yet another rosugulla making hamlet in Odisha near Cuttack). Bigger, softer, creamier with a velvety cream like appearance, this variation of Khira mohana was developed by a local confectioner, Bikalananda Kar. Called the king of sweetmeat makers, Bikalananda is often credited with inventing the real ‘rosugulla’ that most are familiar with. The technique of steaming the cheese balls and then allowing them to slowly rise in the sugar syrup was a technique that was mastered by him.
Many believe that it was this version of rosugulla that the creator of ‘sponge rosugulla’ Nobin Chandra Das tried to borrow and take to Bengal for creating an alternative to the dry sandesh. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Having failed at replicating the complex process, Nobin finally designed his own version using reetha and creating bubbles that could trap the cheese balls and lend them a sponginess that gave them extra shelf life without the need of being doused in the syrup and also an interesting beehive texture that made it chewy. The popularisation of the rosugulla was because of Bhagwandas Bagla, a wealthy non-Bengali merchant residing in Kolkata.
The story goes that Bagla was on his round, when his son felt thirsty. Bagla send his helper to Nobin’s shop for water. As etiquette goes, Nobin offered him a glass of water with one piece of rosugulla. Watching his son relish the piece, Bagla too tried the ‘rosugulla’ and loved it. Later on, with Nobin’s son K C Das introducing canning, rosugulla became less perishable and could travel more distance. And the rest as they say was history.
With Bagla and his fellow traders, rosugulla travelled from Nepal, where it became rasbari to Rajasthan where it was adopted as rajbhog to UP where it became rasmalai to Benras and even the offices of the East India Company, where it became the official ‘cheese dumplings’ treat.
Incidentally, while the dish brought in new versions across India, it did spew an array of different sweet dishes in its own place of origin. The chenna jhili, chenna pauda (the first cheese cake in India) the rasbali (fried chenna pancake), chamch |
. There a long-term decline, but with a rise from the 1980s to 2007 (which confirms my own estimates for Germany –
see https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/german-capitalism-a-success-story/).
Actually, Piketty’s r for Germany also falls from 1950 and then stabilises from the 1980s too. This is because, by 1950, landed property (also used in Piketty’s measure of ‘capital’) has disappeared in value and Germans generally have a much lower ownership of residential property compared to capitalist means of production as capital.
So Marx’s law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall is again confirmed by this latest evidence on a world rate of profit. In my view, it remains the most important law of motion of capitalism, not Piketty’s r.
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Like this: Like Loading... RelatedNew Mayan Artifacts Prove the Extraterrestrial Connection
NOTE: Before revealing the online post from which this article is based, please be aware that discernment is needed in these subjects. For if you are not firmly grounded in your love of GOD and His Word, then you can easily be mislead.
“while Quetzalcoatl was described by the Maya as appearing to be Caucasian, having blonde hair and blue eyes”
Amazing new Mayan artifacts prove the extraterrestrial connection between the Maya and their galactic visitors, furthering the preponderance on the December 21, 2012 end date to the Long Count calendar.
Many people have speculated that the Maya were visited by extraterrestrials and that at least one of their deities, Kukulcan (also known as Quetzalcoatl by the Aztecs), may have been a galactic visitor who taught the Maya about agriculture, mathematics, medicine and astronomy. How else could one explain the Mayan calendar, a calendar that to this day can accurately predict every lunar eclipse within 30 seconds?
The Maya knew of planets that were not “discovered” until many centuries later. They were also the first civilization to use the “zero” in mathematics.
Interestingly, while Quetzalcoatl was described by the Maya as appearing to be Caucasian, having blonde hair and blue eyes, some of the artifacts appear to have African characteristics, thus giving credence to the hypothesis that our civilization was seeded here from various star nations.
The demise of the Maya civilization came in 1521 when Hernán Cortés invaded the Maya during the Spanish Conquest of the Yucatan, funded by the Roman Catholic Church. Cortés believed the Maya were a pagan civilization and ordered his Conquistadors to raid the Mayan buildings. Books, biographies, musical compositions, histories, genealogies and other Mayan works were burned, thus destroying nearly every trace of this great civilization.
Now, the Maya may hold the ultimate answers to UFO disclosure. Additionally, according to Drunvalo Melchizedek, there are 1000’s of Mayan codices that were discovered in the basement of a museum library after many people believed that all but four codices were destroyed.
This shows us how long the media has been deceiving the public. If the Spanish supposedly destroyed all of the Maya’s books, texts, calendars and manuscripts, then why do works such as the Dresden Codices still exist?
Linguist Clif High stated, “”The 11:11 am alignment on December 21, 2012 was deliberately created by Pope Gregory, under the direction of the powers that be at that time. They took a German mathematician, who assembled a team and then they used texts that theoretically do not exist. Many of the Mayan books that were said to have been burned weren’t burned, but crated up and taken back to the Vatican as part of the payoff for the expedition and the slicing of the planet between the Spanish and the Portuguese by the pope of that time.”
“Pope Gregory brought aboard a team of mathematicians who spent 5 months at the reconciliation level alone, to get the Gregorian calendar to align, specifically, with the end of the Mayan calendar with these particular numbers. They wanted the 11:11 am because 11 is the number of mastery, it is one number beyond divinity and the 11:11 combo brings you to 22 which is their number for sainthood or ascension. The whole 2012 date continuously points back to the holy cross, or the swastika. If you look down on a swastika, it’s both the double cross, indicating the 4 sided pyramid, or 5 sided counting the bottom, but it also represents a solar effect. This solar effect can be seen from the sun or from outside the earth but we can’t see it from here. The effect twists somewhat to create an image similar to the swastika. The swastika was encoded as a reference to solar activity that will occur around 2012.”
In a recent article, remote viewing Tibetan monks foresaw an ET intervention in 2012. Is this what the Maya perceive?
So what can we expect on December 21, 2012? Chances are, it’ll be just another day but no one knows for sure. If these artifacts have anything to do with the end date of the Mayan calendar, it could be the start of an exciting new era in human history! END
STAR GODS OF THE MAYA
When one thinks of a winged serpent, what persona comes to mind first? Lucifer/Satan in the Garden of Eden….and why would a POPE want to use this kind of information??…but I digress…
Now, I am positive that these objects and findings have been kept secret up until this very time. Why would these artifacts be kept by the Roman Catholic Church (Vatican) for all these years to collect dust? A purpose is directed at the release of at this very time in our history. 2012!
This coincides with the New Age events to come. It also aligns with the gods these people expect to return and the time period in which this is to happen.
He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Serpent deity (Quetzalcoatl in Aztec and other Nahua cultures) as a god of wind, and is therefore also known as Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl.
One wonders if this was because they came and went in their advanced aircraft and winds were seemingly guided by these instruments and this caused the people to believe they were gods of the wind.
The feathered serpent was furthermore connected to the planet Venus because of this planet’s importance as a sign of the beginning of the rainy season. To both Teotihuacan and Mayan cultures, Venus was in turn also symbolically connected with warfare.
Quetzalcoatl is one of the four sons of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, he was often considered the god of the morning star, and his twin brother Xolotl was the evening star (Venus). As the morning star he was known by the title Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, meaning “lord of the star of the dawn.”
It’s not by chance that Venus connections fill the air. Venus is aligned with Lucifer/Satan…
In ancient Egypt the emerald was the stone of Hathor, the Egyptian Venus, and in Mesopotamia the color green was the stone of Venus in her manifestation as Inanna or Ishtar.
The planet Venus was recorded as the Star of Alchemy. Alchemy is the scientific process that unites the polarity to produce fire which is then used to transform metal into gold/ or a human into a god or goddess. Venus, the goddess was portrayed by her Egyptian priests and priestesses as a Phoenix.
MORE HERE>> https://mysteryoftheinquity.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/the-stone-of-heaven/
The historical Quetzalcoatl – was probably born around AD 947. His father, Mixcoatl, was ruler of the Toltecs. He was originally named Ce Acatl Topitzin, meaning “Our Prince Born on Ce Acatl,” the latter being an important Toltec holiday. His birth was immediately preceded by a horrendous family tragedy, the father having been deposed and murdered by a jealous brother named Ihuitmal.
The unborn child’s pregnant mother, Chimalma, fled to Tepoztlan. Before dying in childbirth, Chimalma declared that her infant son was divinely conceived because she had swallowed a piece of blue-green jade.
Reared by his grandparents, Ce Acatl Topitzin was sent to the religious school at Xochicalco. There he so impressed teachers with his wisdom and piety that they conferred on him the name of Quetzalcoatl. Meaning “plumed serpent,” this was a prestigious title given to persons whose behavior shows signs of an exalted state such as that attained by a saint or a sage.
His birth, along with his twin Xolotl, was unusual; it was a virgin birth, born to the goddess Coatlicue.
Really, a virgin birth? Really!
Quetzalcoatl was often considered the god of the morning star and his twin brother, Xolotl was the evening star (Venus).
As the morning star he was known under the title Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, which means literally “the lord of the star of the dawn”.
Remember that the name Lucifer also is an ancient name that means Venus, the morning star.
Quetzalcoatl, as he was known in Mexico, taught the natives their religion, art and science. Mesoamerican reverence for this god helped prepare the way for Hernán Cortés and other European explorers to conquer the New World.
Quetzalcoatl, like some gods in other mythologies, was part human and part god. Some believe Quetzalcoatl’s father was the god Mixcoatl, known as Sky Father of Cloud Serpent. Others see his father as a sun god.
The Aztecs believed that his mother, a virgin named Chimalma, became pregnant by swallowing an emerald and them giving birth in the year 1-Reed. Being part human and part god made Quetzalcoatl grow to be very wise and cultured.
Legends say that Quetzalcoatl was tall and light-skinned, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a beard, in contrast to the natives who were short, dark skinned and dark haired. He is said to have worn a long, flowing robe. Quetzalcoatl was special because he was considered a god of creation. Ascended Masters are said to be described the same way! Place this description into google and you get over 140,000 results!!
The Incas believed that he made the sun, moon, stars, and planets. The Mayans believed that with Tepeu, another god, he helped create the earth, mountains, streams and all animals. But his final creation was man because other forms of life could not think about and worship their creator.
His name translates variously to “plumed serpents,” “green-feathered-serpent,” or “serpent of precious feathers.” They all suggest the combination of “quetzal,” a beautiful, green Guatemalan bird, and “coatl,” meaning serpent.
We should then first note that, since then, many pairs of Venus Transits have occurred that did not seem to bring the return of Quetzalcoatl. The most recent examples of such pairs are those of 1518/1526, 1631/1639, 1761/1769 and 1874/1882.
The next Venus Transit that we are now about to experience is June 6, 2012.
Some Mormon scholars believe that Quetzalcoatl, who has been described as a white, bearded god who came from the sky and promised to return, was actually Jesus Christ. According to the Book of Mormon, Jesus visited the American natives after his resurrection.
Latter-day Saint President John Taylor wrote:
The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl, closely resembles that of the Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the same being. But the history of the former has been handed down to us through an impure Lamanitish source.
Do you think they are speaking of the Christian Jesus Christ? NO WAY. They are speaking of the Ascended Master, Sananda/Jesus Christ. A false messiah of the ages, both old and new. Do you think it coincidental that they use Scripture from the Bible, their figures parallel figures from the Bible and they have 144,000 saints also.
BEYOND 2012-ORION CONNECTION
Pyramids in the Mesoamerican area have been found to align with Orion, as does the Giza and American Washington Monument. All coincidental? NO WAY.
Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, Erich von Däniken, William Henry, Giorgio Tsoukalos, David Wilcock, David Hatcher Childress, Steven Greer, and so many others, use their extensive knowledge to persuade the audience that we have been visited by gods from the sky, but my problem with this is that they push the SEED agenda. They plant suggestive conversations that we as a whole, the history of mankind have been not only visited but left “spiritual seeds” by these so-called extraterrestrials. This is where we part ways. Many of them speak of Atlantis because this was where they resided on Earth.
These entities came and strongly influenced humanity and admittedly originate from the Pleiades and Orion.
In Greek mythology…(not actual myth), the Pleiades star system is represented as seven demigoddesses who were daughters of Atlas, the Greek god. These demi-gods of Atlantis were fallen angels. They used their powers over the people and injected their false religious doctrines of the New Age agenda we have now.
From John Major Jenkins‘ essential book, Maya Cosmogenesis 2012
Jenkins says that Kukulcan, (or Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent), was the symbol of a sun-Pleiades-zenith conjunction. Exactly 60 days after the Spring Equinox, on May 20, the zenith passage of the sun takes place over Chichen Itza. The Crotalus rattlesnake, whose pattern is constantly used in Mesoamerican art, has a marking on it which is identical to the Solar ‘Ahau’ glyph of the Maya, and its rattle was called ‘tzab’, which is the same word used for the Pleiades star cluster (see Fig. above).
The moving snake on the Pyramid is an annual reminder of a conjunction of the zenith sun with the Pleiades over Chichen Itza, but this is an event which will occur in a 360-year window of time that is just about to open. Right at the start of the window is 2012 and on May 20 2012, the zenith passage combines with a solar eclipse, on the Tzolkin day 10 Chichan, which means serpent. The winter solstice end-point will be 4 Ahau in the Tzolkin calendar, meaning Lord/Sun, and 3 Kankin in the Haab calendar, which means ‘snake-day’.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So, actually this does prove a connection to the so-called sky gods but this is a misrepresentation because they are not gods, nor are they extraterrestrials….they are demons!This time period has been long awaited but it will definitely be a time of testing and you should be testing the spirits!
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl
http://www.in5d.com/newly-discovered-artifacts-prove-mayans-had-alien-contact.html
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.319436658116131.79120.137206586339140&type=3#!/media/set/?set=a.319436658116131.79120.137206586339140&type=3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbQebYsYXCUMr Junus pictured with former trade minister Andrew Robb at a government-run networking event for Chinese businessmen. Credit:Facebook The case, which is being investigated by NSW Police and the federal Department of Immigration, exposes the murky world of unlicensed migration agents and visa services exploiting the tens of thousands of Chinese people who are desperate to come to Australia. "In the Chinese community, this sort of business is always based on reputation. If someone says he is very experienced, he is helpful, he can do a lot of things, then people trust him," said one alleged fraud victim, Mr Sing, who said he was once a close friend of Mr Junus' but is now owed $790,000. All five victims that Fairfax Media interviewed asked to be identified by their surnames only, partly due to embarrassment and fear. They said they were referred to Mr Junus, 43, by friends and business partners who knew of his initial success in obtaining visas. They were told to pay half the fee upfront and sign handwritten agreements since proven worthless.
Mr Junus' now-abandoned Pitt Street Office was adorned with photos of him with Kevin Rudd, Phillip Ruddock and the Buddhist religion master Hsing Yun. Mr Junus' now-abandoned Pitt Street office was once adorned with photos of him with Mr Rudd, Phillip Ruddock and the Buddhist religion master Hsing Yun. He was pictured with Mr Abbott, former trade minister Mr Robb and Clive Palmer at government-run Chinese business networking events. Teddy Junus, on right, pictured with Tony Abbott at another Chinese-Australian business networking event. Credit:Facebook However, he has since gone to ground, moving out of his East Killara mansion and abandoning his office after a female victim threatened to die by suicide there due to missing money.
"I made the biggest mistake in my life in believing him. We used our cash and also borrowed from friends to lend to him and then he 'disappeared'," said another alleged victim, Mr Zhou, in China. "This has almost broken my life and our whole family." Mr Junus leaves Sutherland Local Court after a conviction for not providing ASIC with information when his company went into receivership. Mr Junus falsely advertised himself as a migration agent, telling hopeful Chinese migrants that he could obtain visas and then permanent residency. In some instances, he obtained 457 visas by claiming people were employees of companies he set up. In other cases, he set up import/export businesses for people so they would qualify for a 163 or "sponsored business owner" visa. Teddy Junus with the President of Nauru Baron Waqa. Credit:Facebook
One businessman paid $865,000 to get 457 and permanent residency visas for 10 friends and relatives, according to a statement of claim filed in the NSW District Court in one of five civil suits. The businessman obtained a bankruptcy order in March but trustees have not been able to find Mr Junus or his money. In the five civil claims, totalling $1.3 million, victims say they were often instructed to make payments into Chinese bank accounts. One victim, Mrs Hu, was introduced to Mr Junus because she wanted to get permanent residency so her daughter could go to high school in Sydney. "He said Mrs Hu can be employed in Teddy's company. He only needed one [employee] but he'd say he needed 20 or 30 [employees]. He said the company can pay Mrs Hu her money back as a'salary' and the government will see he pays a lot of tax so they will give PR quickly," her daughter told Fairfax Media.
She paid $150,000 upfront but, more than two years on, has not seen a visa. Mr Junus has proved elusive to his alleged victims and to the authorities. ASIC prosecuted him in Sutherland Local Court this year when he disappeared without handing company information over to liquidators for one of his companies, Crown International Enterprises. Between 20 and 30 victims have established a support group on China's social network, Weibo, and say they are owed several million dollars. A former employee confirmed that, in the midst of victims' desperate pleas for money, Mr Junus paid $100,000 to Taiwan's Chang Yung-Fa Foundation to fund the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra's tour of Australia. In December, his wife sold their East Killara mansion for $2.45 million.
Mr Junus, who also goes by the name Hsiung Chung, declined to speak to Fairfax Media by phone, saying: "I'm in a meeting." His lawyer Chris Ford declined to comment, citing the ongoing police investigation. Mr Ford said he was only retained to deal with the criminal investigation and could not comment on why Mr Junus has evaded creditors and ASIC, and ignored civil court orders. A Department of Immigration and Border Protection spokeswoman said that "appropriate investigations were under way". "Visa and migration fraud is a serious matter with significant consequences," she said.Freddy Patel to appear before disciplinary panel of GMC, which has power to strike him off register
The pathologist whose initial examination suggested that Ian Tomlinson died of a heart attack during the G20 protests in London is facing accusations that he conducted four other autopsies incompetently.
Dr Mohmed Saeed Sulema Patel,known as Freddy Patel, will appear this week before a disciplinary panel of the General Medical Council, which has the power to strike him off the professional register.
The identities of the deceased in the postmortem examinations have not been disclosed in advance of the hearing, but they do not include Tomlinson because his case is under active consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service. It is possible that the four autopsies relate to fewer than four deaths, because more than one examination is sometimes performed on a body.
Patel has performed autopsies in contentious cases in London for two decades, some involving deaths in police custody. Tomlinson, 47, a newspaper seller, was allegedly assaulted by police during the G20 protests in the City of London in April 2009.
He had been walking home from work when he was confronted by officers. The incident was captured on video and broadcast on the Guardian's website.
No officer has been charged in relation to Tomlinson's death. The CPS has been considering a file sent to it by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) since last August.
Patel concluded Tomlinson had had a heart attack, implying his death was unrelated to any injuries sustained when he fell on to the pavement. A second autopsy, commissioned by the IPCC, found the cause of death was more likely to be abdominal bleeding – an injury consistent with a fall or assault. Tomlinson's death triggered complaints about excessive police force and highlighted concern over the independence of coroners' investigations.
Patel's professional record and findings were the subject of severe criticism at the time.
Another of the high-profile deaths for which Patel carried out an autopsy was that of Sally White, 38, whose body was discovered locked in a bedroom in the Camden flat of Anthony Hardy, a 52-year-old alcoholic with psychiatric problems.
The case was treated as suspicious until Patel detailed the cause of death as a heart attack. Hardy went on to kill Elizabeth Valad, 29, and Brigette MacClennan, 34.
Patel's medical work is already restricted. He has been suspended from the Home Office register of accredited forensic pathologists and barred from carrying out postmortem examinations in "suspicious death" cases.
Patel, who qualified as a doctor initially at the University of Zambia in 1974, was registered to practise in Britain in 1988.
In 1999 he was disciplined by the GMC after discussing, outside an inquest hearing, the medical history of Roger Sylvester, who died in police custody. He told reporters: "I am aware from the medical records held at Whittington hospital that Mr Sylvester was a user of crack cocaine."
Sylvester's family were devastated by the claim and denied that he been a user.
The advance GMC notice of this hearing says that its fitness to practise panel will "inquire into allegations that, whilst working as a consultant forensic pathologist, Dr Mohmed Patel's conduct in carrying our four postmortems was irresponsible …"
It adds that itwas "not of the standard expected of a competent Home Office registered forensic pathologist and that in one case his conduct was liable to bring the profession into disrepute".
Deborah Coles, of the charity Inquest, said: "This [GMC] case raises two important questions: how robust is the decision-making process adopted by coroners when instructing pathologists, and what checks and balances exist to deal with concerns about an individual pathologist's conduct in contentious cases."
Patel has previously defended his work. "As far as I know, my findings [in the White case] stand as they were, and I wasn't criticised," he said last year. He declined to comment about the hearing. "I can't say anything," he said.Thanks for checking out our project page. We are grateful for everyone's incredible interest and support!
We've been diligently working since summer 2013 to develop ICLOAK™, a portable online anonymity tool to give you a fast, convenient and flexible way to browse the Internet anonymously on any computer.
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We've combined a security hardened operating system with a secure web browser, encrypted password management and more, onto a USB drive so you can plug it into any machine (even the most unsafe and virus filled), reboot the machine and start browsing as if you took the time to build a custom computer built for security, privacy and anonymity from scratch!
Once you finish browsing, unplug, reboot the computer again, and ICLOAK is designed so that no one will ever know you even used that computer.
Below are 3 versions of the product packaging card that we are considering. In the white box in the middle will be a small plastic box that contains the actual USB device below.
Actual ICLOAK™ Stik:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/01/icloak-stik
http://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/5-popular-kickstarter-campaigns-you-won-t-believe.html
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/26/new-device-gives-you-the-ability-to-dodge-spies-on-the-internet
http://benswann.com/icloak-creates-revolutionary-way-to-take-privacy-into-your-own-hands
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/25792750/technology-promises-anonymity-while-surfing-the-web
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-07-11/business/os-anti-spying-device-20140711_1_internet-privacy-kickstarter-online-privacy
Like our t-shirts say... YOU ARE BEING WATCHED. We are too. All of the time. Big Data, Big Brother, Hackers, Ex-Lovers, Employers, Marketing Firms, Stalkers, Identity Thieves, and on and on. Every day there is another news report about how data is being collected on everyone.
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HOW do you change your IP address so it is not tracked everywhere you go?
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recording your every keystroke on your computer? HOW do you stop sites from tracking your browser Navigator data profile and tracking your browsing from site to site?
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If you are like most average folks using the Internet every day, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO! Don't feel bad... neither does anyone else who isn't an Uber Geek like us.
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We needed a way to bypass the computer's hard drive and software and yet utilize all its processing capabilities. This led us to the boot-from-usb method that's been around for a long time.
We figured, if we could somehow build in all the tools you need to browse the Internet securely and anonymously into a SINGLE portable USB drive that works on PCs, Macs, and Linux, we'd have managed to turn almost every machine on the planet into a secure and trusted machine you could use.
Whether you use a computer in the office or a computer at a cyber cafe in Bangkok you will be protected.
We have many ideas about what ICLOAK can do and we'll be working on adding them into the product in the future. Right now, however, ICLOAK does the following things really well:
1. ICLOAK will mask your IP address. Period. All of your data traffic is forced over TOR or I2P anonymizing networks making you appear to be somewhere else than where you really are.
2. ICLOAK gives you the ability to choose a Country to appear to be coming from. This has many uses including gaining access to content that is blocked in certain jurisdictions.
3. ICLOAK will automatically create a new, random MAC address (this is the hardware identifier for the device you are connecting with) every time you connect to any network.
4. With ICLOAK you can browse anonymously on any 64-bit Windows, Linux or Mac computer without needing to alter those machines.
5. It WILL NOT LEAVE ANY TRACE of your browsing activities on any machine you use. No cookies, no browser history, no user ids, no log files.
6. ICLOAK Stik is immune to any sort of persistent infections so you will be safe from malware, spyware, viruses and any other malicious software each time you reboot.
7. ICLOAK Stik can store encrypted versions of any usernames and passwords you want to keep safe. Also, it allows you to keep separate "identity sets" for keeping multiple identities separate from each other.
8. ICLOAK Stik can store files on a "visible" section of the USB drive that can be used to store files you want access to on your regular computer OS or transport from place to place. (ICLOAK itself is contained in a section hidden from your regular OS).
9. ICLOAK Stik itself cannot store any information about you or what you do with it without your deliberate action. So even if someone steals your ICLOAK Stik, there will be no information on it about your browsing activities. NOTE: If you store passwords, or other files on the unencrypted partition, only that information will be retrievable by someone else if they get your Stik.
Here's an infographic we put together to demonstrate how ICLOAK works.
Why iCloak?
There are literally dozens of these but we'll only list what we think are the top ten online threats ICLOAK can help protect you from:
1. Identity theft
2. Silent monitoring of your camera and microphone
3. IP address recording
4. Browsing and download history spying
5. Email hacking using malicious cookies and similar scripts
6. Screen captures
7. Password theft through spyware
8. Key-logging software that records your keystrokes.
9. Loss of funds through theft of credit card and bank details
10. Prevent websites from tracking, recording and selling your web usage data to advertisers.
So what's under the hood?
ICLOAK is a made up of both hardware and software components.
Hardware: The hardware that will go into building ICLOAK is a robust and high quality USB drive manufactured by the largest manufacture of USB drives in the world, Kensington.
It's made from durable aluminum with no moving parts.
One of the things we want to ensure is that your ICLOAK Stik lasts at least 3-4 years with daily or regular use. With periodic use we expect it to last up to 5 years or longer.
The USB drive is also small and very portable making it easy to carry with you wherever you go. It is designed to easily slip on a keychain or in your pocket.
Software:
ICLOAK™ Stik
ICLOAK Stik will come with features to enable you to browse anonymously from any machine.
ICLOAK™ Stik will contain ICLOAK™ Ring which can be used to store and manage your passwords securely.
ICLOAK™ Stik will also contain a separate partition for storage that your regular computer can access.
ICLOAK™ Stik PRO
In addition to giving you the ability to browse anonymously from any machine, ICLOAK™ Stik Pro will also come with additional software so you can:
Create/Edit Excel Spreadsheets in private
Create/Edit Word docs in private
Send/Receive anonymous messages
Store Bitcoins in a secure wallet
Store encrypted usernames and passwords
We are innovators and if there's one place innovation is recognized and supported it's right here on KickStarter. We are here because we believe we have something that could help millions of people around the world take charge of their online freedom and rights.
ICLOAK is not just a gadget to us, it's an ideal, a philosophy, a statement that says we should have the right and the option to freely participate online. We are here because we hope to find kindred spirits who believe in what we are doing as much as we believe in it ourselves and in the GOOD of what we are doing.
So jump on board, join a movement that is making a difference for average people everywhere and help us get to our next milestone!
Your amazing contributions will be put towards:
1. TESTING TESTING TESTING
2. Having ICLOAK reviewed by a third party for security
3. Manufacturing the first run with Kingston
4. Adding additional features
5. Promoting ICLOAK more broadly
We've done all the groundwork, now we need your help to get this product off the ground and into production.
Every pledge, big or small will be welcomed with open arms and loads of good karma (and rewards) towards you and yours.
ICLOAK is right now in Alpha testing and we will soon be releasing a private Beta so we are confident our progress to the final shipped product will be right on schedule.
Here are some of the cool gifts you will receive for your pledge to this campaign:
Awesome Sticker:
Cool T-Shirt:
THE ICLOAK™ Stik and ICLOAK™ Stik PRO
Below are 3 versions of the product packaging card that we are considering. In the white box in the middle will be a small plastic box that contains the actual USB device below.
Here is a photo of a packaged prototype:
ICLOAK Stik Prototype
Actual ICLOAK™ Stik below.
DigiThinkIT's ICLOAK Team
Plug into our campaign and help us get it to production level and shipped out to all our backers by the end of November 2014.
For more information about ICLOAK, check out our website at https://icloak.org or visit our social media profiles on Twitter https://twitter.com/icloakorg and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/icloak
Thanks in advance for all your support!
Cheers!
The Entire ICLOAK Team at DigiThinkIT, Inc.A new report from Credit Suisse is not your usual 'rich list'. Amid a record high for average global wealth its figures reveal striking inequalities – such as 35% of Russia's riches in the hands of 110 people
Despite the continuing problems in the global economy, the ultra-rich have helped to push up average wealth in the world to an all-time high of US$51,600 per adult (£32,399). But what do those averages hide?
The data, published in a new report by Credit Suisse, also reveals the countries that have seen the biggest rises in wealth, and which are likely to in the future. Here are some of the main findings:
The wealthiest 32m people own more than the poorest 4.3bn put together
The idea of the world's wealthy 1% is still a powerful one – and graphics like the pyramid below demonstrate that stark contrast between the few and the many.
32m individuals (just 0.7% of the world's population) together hold US$98.7tn (or £62,000,0000,000,000, which represents 41% of global wealth).
At the other extreme, there are 3.2bn individuals at the bottom of the pyramid. Together they have 3% of global riches, despite representing 68.7% of the world population. But it might be surprising how little wealth an individual has to have to get out of that bottom tier and in with the top 33% of the world's population: US$10,000 is sufficient.
Image: Credit Suisse, World Wealth Report 2013
110 rich Russians
With just 110 individuals holding 35% of the country's riches, Russia has the highest level of wealth inequality in the world (with the exception of some small Caribbean nations that have resident billionaires). There's a stark contrast between that and the world average, where billionaires hold around 1-2% of wealth.
Globally, for every US$170bn in household wealth there is on average 1 billionaire. In Russia, there is just US$11bn in household wealth for every billionaire in the country.
Image: Credit Suisse, World Wealth Report 2013
Wealth can be fleeting
Fortunes can go down as well as up. Using the Forbes rich list, Credit Suisse caught up with individuals that had been classified as billionaires as far back as 2001, to see how many were still among the super-rich by 2013.
The financial crisis did very little to chance a consistent trend. In the first year after making it to the list of the top 100, around 33 individuals dropped out. By the time a decade had passed, more than 60 billionaires of the top 100 lost their status.
Image: Credit Suisse, World Wealth Report 2013
Europeans can lose wealth easier than Africans
The blues on the right-hand side of this graph show people who have increased their wealth over thirty years; the lighter the blue, the bigger the jump in wealth. The oranges and yellows on the other side indicate people who have slid down the wealth scale in their respective countries.
Glob |
person will like and need.”
■Remember that your presence can be a present too. “A kid might want a computer at Christmas - but is that going to be the deepest longing of that kid’s heart?” Boyle says. “At another level, perhaps without even knowing how to articulate it, what that kid may really want is a deeper connection to his or her parents through quality time. Try to understand the person you are giving to, and what they long for, instead of feeding an addiction to consumerism.”High Level Testing
Virgil Dupras
2010-03-03
Too often, developers new to unit testing see them as a liability. They're hard to write, and when you want to deeply refactor your code (for example, when you want to re-organize your classes' respective responsibilities), you have to change your unit tests. This then discourages you to refactor your code, making you less agile. These developers will probably abandon unit testing and write on their blog that TDD sucks (because it's common knowledge that unit testing is good, so you can't say that it sucks. It's easier to attack TDD, aka. too many unit tests).
You know what? They're right. I think we do way too much unit testing when we should be doing integration testing instead. If you have a class that is all neat and cute and unit tested and that a new requirement in your application requires you to split that class in two (to do it correctly), you either have to change all your tests, or you implement a kludge that allows you to keep your former architecture (don't do that).
What I've been doing for about 2 years (for moneyGuru's development, to be precise) is what I call high level testing, which is like integration testing, but without (or very little) unit testing. It has some downsides, but it's been working great so far and has empowered me with nearly unlimited refactoring potential on the whole project. I'm under the impression that a lot of developers have a narrow view of unit testing, which prevents them from even considering this possibility. I hope, with this article, to broaden their horizon a little bit.
The Accounting Example
We interrupt this program for a message of general interest. In the real word, nobody cares about implementing the Fibonacci sequence. Stop using it in your examples. Stop it.
The benefits of high level testing are better illustrated with an example. I'll use my own (simplified, for the purpose of the article) use case, which is an application that does accounting. Let's say that we want a little app that has accounts with entries in them. If we write the app using TDD and "normal" unit tests and we end up with something like:
class App ( object ): def __init__ ( self ): self. accounts = [] def add_account ( self, name ): self. accounts. append ( Account ( name )) class Account ( object ): def __init__ ( self, name ): self. name = name self. entries = [] def add_entry ( self, description, amount ): self. entries. append ( Entry ( description, amount )) def balance ( self ): return sum ( e. amount for e in self. entries ) class Entry ( object ): def __init__ ( self, description, amount ): self. description = description self. amount = amount
and unit tests looking like:
from nose.tools import eq_ from accounting import App, Account, Entry def test_entry (): entry = Entry ( 'foo', 42 ) eq_ ( entry. description, 'foo' ) eq_ ( entry. amount, 42 ) def test_account (): account = Account ( 'foo' ) account. add_entry ( 'bar', 42 ) account. add_entry ( 'baz', 43 ) eq_ ( account. entries [ 0 ]. description, 'bar' ) eq_ ( account. entries [ 1 ]. description, 'baz' ) eq_ ( account. balance (), 42 + 43 ) def test_app (): app = App () app. add_account ( 'foo' ) app. add_account ( 'bar' ) eq_ ( app. accounts [ 0 ]. name, 'foo' ) eq_ ( app. accounts [ 1 ]. name, 'bar' )
On top of that, you slap a nice GUI around your neat classes. Users love your app and the suggestions keep flowing in. Users have needs for entries that represent a transfer of money between two accounts. They're tired of having to manually add/edit/delete both sides of that transfer to each account.
You know what's coming. There's a word for that kind of entries in the accounting world. It's a transaction. This is the right thing to do, but it would completely reverse your class hierarchy. Instead of having entries belonging to accounts, you'd have transactions moving money between accounts. All your tests would have to be re-written, yeaouch! You could kludge around your current design by somehow linking entries together, but you know it would just delay the inevitable. The temptation to throw away these unit tests and freely refactor the code becomes so strong now... You should have used high level testing!
With high level testing, you would have first asked yourself how the user would interact with your software. In this case, that would be a list of account names on the left side with a "+" button underneath (for simplicity, we overlook all other functionalities, like removal), and at the right of that list, a two-columns table with a "+" button and a "Balance" label underneath. After that, you design a public API for these functionalities and make sure that your tests only use this API. The resulting code for Account and Entry would stay the same, but your App class would get larger:
class App ( object ): def __init__ ( self ): self. accounts = [] def add_account ( self, name ): self. accounts. append ( Account ( name )) def account_names ( self ): return [ a. name for a in self. accounts ] def account_balance ( self, account_index ): account = self. accounts [ account_index ] return account. balance () def add_entry ( self, account_index, description, amount ): account = self. accounts [ account_index ] account. add_entry ( description, amount ) def entry_rows ( self, account_index ): account = self. accounts [ account_index ] return [( e. description, e. amount ) for e in account. entries ]
and your tests would only use App's public API:
from nose.tools import eq_ from accounting import App def test_entry_rows (): app = App () app. add_account ( '' ) app. add_entry ( 0, 'foo', 42 ) app. add_entry ( 0, 'bar', 43 ) eq_ ( app. entry_rows ( 0 ), [( 'foo', 42 ), ( 'bar', 43 )]) def test_account_balance (): app = App () app. add_account ( '' ) app. add_entry ( 0, 'bar', 42 ) app. add_entry ( 0, 'baz', 43 ) eq_ ( app. account_balance ( 0 ), 42 + 43 ) def test_account_names (): app = App () app. add_account ( 'foo' ) app. add_account ( 'bar' ) eq_ ( app. account_names (), [ 'foo', 'bar' ])
If you build your app this way, you are then completely free to re-organize your underlying code to accommodate a new requirement. First, just add a new test for your requirement:
def test_transfer (): app = App () app. add_account ( 'first' ) app. add_account ('second' ) app. add_entry ( 0, 'transfer', 42, transfer_index = 1 ) eq_ ( app. entry_rows ( 0 ), [( 'transfer', 42 )]) eq_ ( app. entry_rows ( 1 ), [( 'transfer', - 42 )])
Then, after you quickly made the test pass in your old architecture (because that's what you're supposed to do with TDD, making tests pass and then re-factor), you're completely free to re-organize your code to something like the code below and this, without touching your tests.
class App ( object ): def __init__ ( self ): self. accounts = [] self. transactions = [] def add_account ( self, name ): self. accounts. append ( Account ( name )) def account_names ( self ): return [ a. name for a in self. accounts ] def account_balance ( self, account_index ): account = self. accounts [ account_index ] return account. balance () def add_entry ( self, account_index, description, amount, transfer_index = None ): account = self. accounts [ account_index ] if transfer_index is not None : transfer = self. accounts [ transfer_index ] else : transfer = None transaction = Transaction ( description, amount, account, transfer ) self. transactions. append ( transaction ) account. rebuild_entries_from_transactions ( self. transactions ) if transfer is not None : transfer. rebuild_entries_from_transactions ( self. transactions ) def entry_rows ( self, account_index ): account = self. accounts [ account_index ] return [( e. description, e. amount ) for e in account. entries ] class Account ( object ): def __init__ ( self, name ): self. name = name self. entries = [] def balance ( self ): return sum ( e. amount for e in self. entries ) def rebuild_entries_from_transactions ( self, transactions ): self. entries = [] for txn in transactions : if txn. from_account is self : self. entries. append ( Entry ( txn. description, - txn. amount )) elif txn. to_account is self : self. entries. append ( Entry ( txn. description, txn. amount )) class Transaction ( object ): def __init__ ( self, description, amount, to_account, from_account ): self. description = description self. amount = amount self. from_account = from_account self. to_account = to_account class Entry ( object ): def __init__ ( self, description, amount ): self. description = description self. amount = amount
See? We've just completely changed the way our classes interact with each other without having to change our tests. Of course, using high level testing doesn't mean that you'll never have to change tests again, because a change in your public API is always possible. There was even one in the example: the addition of the transfer_index argument. However, such changes are usually much less frequent and, more importantly, much less radical. They usually only require simple search and replace in the tests.
NOTE: Technically, it was too soon to perform this refactoring because the code without transactions was simpler. However, if there was an editing feature and a deletion feature, the code with transactions would become much simpler. This refactoring was, again, for the purpose of the article.
The Downsides
This nearly unlimited refactoring potential comes at a price. The biggest downside is that it makes tests more complex. For every little thing that you want to test, you have to have the whole App setup. For example, if you want to add amount formatting to your app, you can't just add a format_amount() function and test it in isolation (well, you can, but that limits your refactoring potential). You have to create an App instance, add an account, add an entry and then test the formatting.
The solution to that is to build a testing framework specific to your application. You have lots of tests that create an app with an account with an entry in it? Build a app_with_entry(description, amount) helper function and use it in your tests. It might sound like an hackish way to solve the problem, but in the case of moneyGuru, a rather nicely designed helper suite emerged from the initially hackish code (I love the concept of code "emerging" and "evolving"...). The key to this is to keep test-writing convenient. If you start every test with a big sigh of total boringness, then you need to write yourself some helper code.
Another downside is the public API. If you make all your calls go through that App instance, you'll end up with a huge and ugly unit. The solution to this problem, again, is open ended. For moneyGuru, interactions with the GUI are handled by individual public controllers. For each GUI element, a table for example, there's a controller that provides a public API for the view to use. This controller then talks to the "core" of the application. Tests only use these public controllers to manipulate the app. The end result is pretty nice looking and works very well for moneyGuru, but I'm sure that there are other ways to deal with this problem.
NOTE: Curious about moneyGuru? The code is publicly available.
Conclusion
As with cross-toolkit software, high level testing is something that works very well for me but that seems to be overlooked by a lot of developers. There's also a fair part of TDD's critic that is centered around how time-consuming and error-prone constant unit tests changing is. Hopefully, this testing method will be considered more in the future and TDD critics will start to have more valid arguments.Foo Fighters, Outkast, Arctic Monkeys and Weezer all brought their A-games. But who ranks no. 1?
Third time was indeed the charm for Delaware's Firefly Music festival. The 2014 edition of First State’s now-massive 4-day event was a weekend punctuated by stellar performances spread across the seven stages nestled on a 154-acre plot of forest land behind the Dover International Speedway. With so much going on for Firefly’s 80,000 attendees, it was impossible to catch every single act -- but they sure had fun trying. When all was said and done, these were the 10 sets that made Firefly 2014 worth the price of admission.
Firefly Highlights: Photos | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Exclusive Backstage Photos
10. Childish Gambino – Sunday, 8:40pm (Lawn Stage): Childish Gambino, the rap persona of actor/comedian/writer Donald Glover, has grown from a curiosity to a contender for one of the most intriguing rap albums of 2013 with "Because the Internet." On Sunday night, he added another notch to his belt: festival closer. Yes, it was the smaller Lawn Stage, opposite the folk-blues of main stage headliner Jack Johnson, but Gambino was the one who gave Firefly the send-off it deserved. The sometimes-awkward rapper behind “Freaks and Geeks” was gone — here, a shirtless and toned Glover rapped with breathless, crowd-commanding confidence over a full band, while pyrotechnics exploded around him.
9. Tune-Yards – Saturday, 7:15pm (Lawn Stage): In the past, Tune-Yards, aka Merrill Garbus, would bring her quirky world-music/folk/lo-fi blend to fruition onstage with herself, bassist Nate Brenner, and on-the-spot loops. But at Firefly’s Lawn Stage, she muscled up with three more players who banged out African percussion, backed her wild vocals, and wore her signature face paint. It made her music, already a welcoming grab bag of global influences, even more communal, and a happy Firefly crowd responded by singing, dancing and shouting right along.
8. Pretty Lights – Saturday, 12:15am (Backyard Stage): While rock undoubtedly ruled at Firefly, there were several acts that brought the beats to the big stages for late-night dance parties throughout the weekend. Girl Talk, Martin Garrix, White Panda and Big Gigantic all got feet shuffling and asses shaking in the forest, but the dazzling display of Pretty Lights was hard for any act to top. Lifting off right after the night’s headliners Outkast wound down, the Colorado-bred artist (real name: Derek Vincent Smith) immediately lived up to his moniker and illuminated the field around the Backyard stage in a wash of cascading lasers that rivaled Pink Floyd at their peak. Fans started shouting toward the heavens as Smith’s funky grooves kept the party going until 2 a.m.
7. Jake Bugg – Sunday, 2:45pm (Backyard Stage): Singer-songwriter-guitarist Jake Bugg is a chart-topping, One-Direction-dissing, tabloid-covering rock star in his native U.K., but here in the States, he’s still a fresh face to most. Presumably looking to change that, he played two strong sets at Firefly, and the one on the secondary Backyard stage was a standout. Backed just by bass and drums, Bugg provided the perfect soundtrack for a hazy, dusty mid-afternoon set, with his Dylan-esque voice (remarkably wizened for a 20-year-old), and sweeping guitar chords that conjured visions of driving through an Arizona desert.
6. Arctic Monkeys -- Friday, 6:45pm (Firefly Stage): – “How ya feelin’ Fireflyyyyy?” asked Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner as he sauntered onto the main stage with the bravado of a bullfighter and seduced the audience of swooning fans during the group’s late-afternoon set on Friday. The British quartet set the pace with their first Firefly appearance, packing their set with sexy singles from their acclaimed ‘AM’ album, as well as well-worn favorites from their rowdier teenage years. The show simmered with songs like “Do I Wanna Know,” “Arabella” and “Fireside” and boiled over when the band broke into old faves like “Flourescent Adolescent” and “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” proving the Monkeys can drive festival crowds apeshit on either side of the pond.
5.Phantogram – Sunday, 7:00pm (Backyard Stage): Phantogram, the dream-pop-meets-trip-hop duo from Upstate New York, brought their ethereal mix of chopped-up samples, floating vocals and lush chords to the Backyard Stage — a beautiful, transporting alternative to the hammering beat drops and four-on-the-floor kick drums that Martin Garrix was dealing to a jumping crowd on the other side of the festival grounds. Sarah Barthel looked gorgeous in a black red and gold, multi-tasking on vocals, keys, tamborine and some bouncy dance moves. 2009 track "As Far As I Can See" was among the standouts, with the band playing the jerky samples live and then blanketing them in galactic, new wave-y guitar chords.
4. Weezer – Sunday, 3:45pm (Firefly Stage) – Third Eye Blind took the Firefly crowd on a nostalgic trip back to the ‘90s with their Saturday afternoon set of classic sing-along hits. But the San Fran group’s set proved only a primer once Weezer took the stage on Sunday. The quartet, led by the affable Rivers Cuomo, wasted no time heading down memory lane, opening the set with a back-to-back string of college-rock gems “My Name Is Jonas,” “Hash Pipe,” and “Dope Nose.” Fans stayed in a frenzy for the band’s entire set, which included a rousing cover of Blur’s “Song 2” and concluded with a mighty one-two punch of “Undone (The Sweater Song) and “Buddy Holly.”
3. Outkast -- Saturday, 10:20pm (Firefly Stage): Andre 3000 and Big Boi didn't play any new music or promise any. Instead, they threw a funk-tastic dance party that celebrated 20 years of collaboration and included most of their crowd favorites, including "Ms. Jackson," "The Way You Move," "So Fresh, So Clean" and "Roses," which had Andre, who was dressed in a waist-flattering jumpsuit that read "Children of the Cornbread," apologizing to all of the Carolines in the audience. How danceable was it? At one point, half a dozen security guards had to be chastised by their superior because they were letting their freak flags fly instead of watching the crowd. Nine shows in, the Oukast reunion gets better and more fun at every festival stop.
2. Cage the Elephant – Saturday, 6:15pm (Backyard Stage): After the Foo Fighters kicked out the jams on Friday night, they were the band to beat when it came to Firefly's best live performance. Enter Bowling Green, Kentucky's Cage the Elephant, the only band who came close to taking Dave Grohl and crew to the mat. On Saturday evening, frontman Matt Shultz owned the stage like the love child of Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop, dancing spastically and shirtless while the band tore though an exuberantly punky and danceable set -- "Spiderhead," "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" and "Cigarette Daydreams" included -- that had the crowd giddily jerking back and forth to the beat. At one point, Shultz told them, "I will be as crazy as possible," and dared them to match his mania. "I will win," he promised. And he did.
1. Foo Fighters – Friday, 9:45pm (Firefly Stage): Dave Grohl promised the crowd that the band would play “until they tell us to shut the fuck up,” — and he kept his promise. Performing a good 15 minutes past their scheduled 11:45 p.m. end time, the Foo Fighters treated the cheek-to-jowl crowd with a two-hour-plus endorphin rush-of-a nightcap on Friday that left festival-goers singing on the way to the parking lot. Expectedly, the band brought their mighty catalog of hits that included show-stoppers like “Monkey Wrench” (which Grohl dedicated to the Arctic Monkeys), “My Hero,” a stripped-down version of “Big Me” and a balls-to-the-wall rendition of “Everlong.” But the highlight for the group’s older-demo fans in the crowd came when the Foos returned to the stage for a encore of covers that included Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You,” David Bowie & Queen’s “Under Pressure,” Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love.” "There are times where I love my life... and then I do this and I realize I really am the luckiest person in the world," said Dave Grohl before breaking into set closer "Everlong." "I can't wait to come back and play all the new shit for you." Neither can we, Dave.We like pinball. We like classic NES games. Accordingly, it doesn't take much deduction to know that we really, really like Skit-B Pinball's Duck Hunt pinball machine. It has a fully mechanical, themed pinball machine below, but there's also a PC up top that replicates the images and sounds of Nintendo's light gun video game in sync with the analog action. The conversion of a Williams Valiant took about a year of off-hours work to finish, and it shows -- the attention to detail is what we'd expect if Gunpei Yokoi had put all his energy into pinball instead. Our only lament is that the Duck Hunt machine is a side project, and it likely won't escape into the wild. At least there's a video (after the break) to sate our curiosity.0 Pastors working to send the right message in wake of video with gun-toting teens
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville pastors are responding to a YouTube video that was shot in locally and includes a lot of guns and a lot of profanity.
The video has already been watched 31,000 times online. Community leaders are now racing to address the negative image it projects on Jacksonville.
Youth pastors from different churches across Jacksonville saw a very disturbing video of teens pointing guns. Now, the youth leader at Bethel Baptist Church is pushing to stop this type of behavior.
Edward Weston has watched the video 20 times, and he said that each time, he's grown more frustrated
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“It's very disheartening,” Weston said.
The father of three said what's really upsetting is seeing the Jacksonville teenagers with multiple guns. On top of that, the lyrics in the video's background song threaten to shoot up neighborhoods and kill.
“I see my kids when I see that video,” Weston said.
In fact, Bethel Baptist Church youth pastor Anthony O’Neal said he knows some of the kids in that video.
“Pastors are fed up,” O’Neal said. “Shirts off, pants sagging, guns in their hands.”
O'Neal said youth pastors will meet with Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti to figure out how to get the message into schools that these kids need help. But O'Neal also wants the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to get involved.
Action News reached out to JSO to find out if the people in the video could be arrested. Its answer, in part, is there is no catch-all response. They can't discuss their investigative tactics.
Parents said there is a basic solution to fight this type of behavior: lessons that must be taught at home.
“We have to teach them the value of human life,” Weston said.
Fifteen local pastors will meet with Vitti at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Latest News Headlines from Action NewsIn today’s competitive grievance culture, unearthing new sorrows, or reheating old sorrows, can require prodigious, indeed bewildering, feats of contortion. And so, in the pages of The Atlantic, we find one Alice Ristroph railing at the heavens. First, a little context:
On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will arrive mid-morning on the coast of Oregon. The moon’s shadow will be about 70 miles wide, and it will race across the country faster than the speed of sound, exiting the eastern seaboard shortly before 3pm local time.
Clouds permitting, it should be quite a thing to witness.
It has been dubbed the Great American Eclipse, and along most of its path, there live almost no black people.
There we go. If that one caught you off guard, here’s another:
As the eclipse approaches, the temperature will fall and birds will roost, and then, suddenly, the lights will go out. For each place within the path of totality, the darkness will last a minute, maybe two, and then daylight will return. Oregon, where this begins, is almost entirely white. The 10 percent or so of state residents who do not identify as white are predominantly Latino, American Indian, Alaskan, or Asian.
This goes on for some time. It’s an attempt at symbolism, I think. A beverage may be useful.
It is a matter of population density, and more specifically geographic variations in population density by race, for which the sun and the moon cannot be held responsible. Still, an eclipse chaser is always tempted to believe that the skies are relaying a message.
The message, it seems, is that people – specifically, black ones - aren’t arranged geographically as Professor Ristroph would wish.
From Oregon, the eclipse will travel through Idaho and Wyoming… Percentage-wise, Idaho and Wyoming are even whiter than Oregon… The few non-white residents of Idaho and Wyoming are not black — they are mostly Latino, American Indian, and Alaskan.
Perhaps this demographic bean-counting is all building to some kind of point, a moment of profundity.
From Kansas, the eclipse goes to Missouri, still mostly bypassing black people.
Surely a contender for The Most Woke Sentence Yet Uttered.
Moving east, the eclipse will pass part of St. Louis, whose overall population is nearly half black. But the black residents are concentrated in the northern half of the metropolitan area, and the total eclipse crosses only the southern half.
If you laughed at that, tittered even, you’re a terrible, terrible person.LONDON (Reuters) - Spot gas prices rose to their highest levels since early 2006 on Monday morning as extreme cold continued to sweep across Britain and most parts of Europe.
Gas flames are seen burning on a cooker in London February 21, 2008, in this posed picture. REUTERS/Stephen Hird
Bitterly cold weather throughout Europe has left large parts of the continent struggling to cover gas and power demand, while forecasters warn that low temperatures would continue into next week.
Gas prices for within-day delivery were trading at 79 pence per therm 8:15 a.m., and prices for delivery on Tuesday were at 78.50, up around 4 pence since Friday afternoon.
The increases mean that day-ahead gas prices were at levels not seen since early 2006, when prices spiked after Russia cut off all gas supplies to Ukraine and an explosion rocked the UK’s Rough storage gas platform. Prices have shot up some 50 percent since the beginning of the cold spell.
It also surpasses the spike in January 2009, when Russia cut gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine for two weeks.
Traders said the main reason for the price spike was concern that a glitch in Norwegian flows could cause serious disruptions in the UK.
Unlike flows from Russia, which last week had to reduce exports to Europe in order to cover its own rocketing domestic gas demand, Norwegian gas flows have held up since the beginning of the cold snap.
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UK spot gas graph: link.reuters.com/sus46s
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The ongoing cold weather means the UK gas system was short of supply on Monday, despite healthy Norwegian flows.
Daily demand was forecast at 396.6 million cubic metres (mcm), 68 mcm above the seasonal norm, according to National Grid data.
With expected supplies of 383.2 mcm, the system was 13.4 mcm short, implying the need for more withdrawals from gas storage.
UK storage sites were 65.33 percent full on Sunday, down from around 75 percent at the beginning of the year but still some 5 percent above the European average, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.
Send-outs from British gas storage sites were just under 110 mcm on Monday, according to Point Carbon, down from a peak of 130 mcm last week but up from around 60 mcm at the end of January.
At 59.75 pounds per megawatt-hour (MWh), UK spot power prices were also high, reaching levels last seen in winter 2010.
The UK’s Met Office kept its Level 3 Cold Weather Alarm in place, saying, “There is a 100 percent probability of severe cold weather and icy conditions between 1000 (GMT) on Sunday and 1000 on Thursday in parts of England.”
Meteoalarm, a European weather warning system, kept weather warnings in place for large parts of Europe. (www.meteoalarm.info/)Image caption Vodafone was keen to stress that some of its competitors charge in the same way
Vodafone will soon charge its pay-as-you-go customers by the minute rather than the second - a move that will raise the cost of most calls.
It means a call lasting one minute and one second will now be charged as two minutes - costing 50p instead of 25p.
The phone network said the change - which comes into force from 1 August - would "simplify" charges for its customers.
Other networks, such as T-Mobile and Orange, also apply this billing method.
Vodafone sent text messages to its pay-as-you-go customers notifying them of the change.
"No more complicated pricing by the second," read a statement on the Vodafone website. "Just clear, straightforward per-minute charges.
"So if your call is a minute and 37 seconds long, it'll be charged as two minutes. That way, you'll always know exactly how many minutes you have left."
Some customers described the message as "patronising".
'Lead balloon'
Posting on Vodafone's support forum, user Funboy said: "This is being introduced to make more money for [Vodafone] pure and simple.
"It doesn't make anything simpler other than the fact that PAYG customers will essentially pay more for calls."
Calls for pay-as-you-go customers on Vodafone currently cost 25p per minute - with a minimum of one minute's charge for each call.
Telecoms expert Adam Kirby from uSwitch.com added to the criticism.
"While simpler and clearer pricing is always welcomed, it shouldn't come with the sting in the tail of increased bills," he said.
"But the real gripe is the way the message was communicated. Sending a text may be a quick, simple and cheap way to communicate with your friends, family and even your boss, but Vodafone breaking the news about price changes this way may be a bit of a stretch.
"The short and sharp nature of a text may explain why the message failed to tell the whole story - and so went down like a lead balloon with some customers."
'Generous allowance'
Vodafone has defended the change, saying in a statement: "We believe that by offering propositions with a generous allowance of minutes, we continue to offer our customers great value.
"Many of our competitors already offer price plans charged in this way."
Customers with Orange or T-Mobile are already charged on a per-minute basis.
However, O2 and Virgin Mobile still have a per-second model, with a one-minute minimum charge.Travel
Lara Williams, Editor-at-large Lara Williams, Editor-at-large
Uber revolutionised the taxi service with its super sleek UX and innovative concept. But as we stand on the verge of saying goodbye to the app in London, the dark side of Uber has come to light.
Making Complex, Simple
The Dark Side
Uber’s London Demise
Related
For many Londoners, Friday brought terrible news. TfL will not renew Uber’s cab license – meaning that in a few months, convenient and cheap rides could be no more. The app completely disrupted the taxi industry, much to the chagrin of traditional black cab drivers everywhere. Cheaper, safer*, and far more convenient, Uber seduced 40,000 drivers and 3.5 million regular users in London alone over to their app. It wasn’t even just the taxi industry that Uber made waves in. The whole idea of pressing a button and getting a ride changed our expectations of the world and the way we consume. From Uber came similar models – Airbnb, Deliveroo and many more. However, 2017 has been an increasingly bad year for Uber – rife with controversy, accusations and a dark, manipulative side to their UX. But what can we learn from them?The ‘magic’ of Uber, to not shy away from clichés, lies in the simplicity of it’s UX, or rather – the way it makes something very complex, seem simple for the user. The complicated logistics of connecting rider to roaming drivers (imagine how much more complicated this gets with UberPool) is hidden behind a clean, intuitive interface. The user simply presses a button and, as if summoned with sorcery, a car will appear.From start to finish the process is frictionless, and even fun. Garret Camp, co-founder, first had the inkling of idea when watching Casino Royale. In the film, James Bond is driving and glances down at a graphical image of his car moving towards his destination. This image made its way into the centrepiece of the app’s experience. Users can watch their car head over to pick them up, and monitor their journey. Not only is this entertaining, but it keeps the user in the loop – at no point is anyone left unaware of what’s happening. This alone is a vast improvement on the mystery of an ordered cab. Is it on it’s way? Is this really the most direct route? That’s not to mention the safety aspect. While this has been debated furiously (opposers citing poor background checks and the concealment of criminal offences) – there’s no doubt being able to track and share your car’s journey with a friend or family member is a reassuring feature, one that’s missing from taking a traditional black cab. Passengers rate drivers, drivers rate passengers. This is, again, a reassuring UX feature and also ensures the positive user experience is carried over into the physical experience of riding and driving the taxi. If both you and the taxi driver are under scrutiny, it’ll encourage mutual good behaviour and a nice ride for all.Yet friction does exist within Uber – that is, between the app and its drivers. To combat it, Uber adopted a dark side to its sleek and shiny UX. While the UX that faces the consumer could do no wrong, drivers face manipulative patterns. The less cars on the road, the more business (and money) the drivers can get. The more cars on the road, the more money Uber can make. And as each driver can pick and choose when they want to work – there’s no guarantee enough cars will be on the roads when they need them. This lack of control could jeopardise a company whose sole aim is to transport as many people as they can, 24/7. So to keep more drivers working longer, they started experimenting with dark UX, including a UX strategy called gamification. Using video game techniques, drivers are psychologically manipulated into extending their driving hours. For example, messages of encouragement will pop up at certain points – whether that’s halfway to achieving their 25-ride signing bonus, or to tell the driver they’re close to earning a target sum of money – “You’re £10 away from earning £100, are you sure you want to go offline?”. These messages are warm and positive, but are lifted straight out of the video game user experience. Encouragement towards a concrete goal motivates people to keep going, and it’s addictive. Chelsea Howe, a video game designer, told the NYTimes that : “It’s getting you to internalise the company’s goals…Internalised motivation is the most powerful kind.”Ultimately is was partly this, or the company’s manipulative nature, that was the undoing of Uber. TfL has previously instructed Uber to give drivers better treatment and questioned the use of ‘Greyball’. ‘Greyball’ is a software program that, according to the TfL statement: “could be used to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to the app and prevent officials from undertaking regulatory or law enforcement duties.” Uber denies using it to block regulators in London, but the existence of it in the first place simply acts as more ammunition in TfL’s ‘not fit and proper’ argument. Whether you agree with Uber’s practises or not – there’s no denying that we can learn a lot from them about the power of good UX. Their UX has successfully been rolled out to much success over 84 countries – the simplicity and design making sense in a variety of languages and cultures. And the dark side of the Uber experience, while arguably distasteful, kept drivers on the road and rider’s wait times down. Whether they successfully appeal or not, other apps – whether |
users are required to decipher texts as part of a validation process and thus protect websites from automated programs written to generate spam. These texts are taken from digitized books and newspapers that optical character recognition (OCR) software has been unable to read. The deciphered results are then returned to the reCAPTCHA service, which sends them to the digitization projects. This new logic underlies various software that force users (even if not yet fully aware of) to actively participate and contribute to world knowledge. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReCAPTCHA, accessed 2 November 2012.
10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_earth, accessed 2 November 2012.
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_earth#Technical_specifications, accessed 2 November 2012.
12. “Google Earth now includes publicly–sourced aerial images from balloons and kites,” at http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/18/2957154/google-earth-balloon-kite-sourced-imagery, accessed 2 November 2012. Other software tools exhibit similar logic. An earlier prominent example is the service Mappr! (2005), a Web mashup service that combines a geographic map and photos from Flickr. See: Mappr! at http://stamen.com/projects/mappr, accessed 2 November 2012. For a more recent example, see also: Historypin at http://www.historypin.com/, accessed 2 November 2012.
13. Duggan and Brenner, 2013. Note that Pew Internet only surveyed users in the U.S., so we do not know exact proportions in other countries.
14. Lefebvre, 2004. See also Hägerstrand’s earlier work on time–geography (1975) that emphasized the time component in geographical representations and aimed to frame space and time together, without prioritizing one over the other.
15. Ibid., p.163.
16. Note that this conclusion only holds for general visual characteristics of photos like brightness, hue, saturation and texture. In future work we plan to add analysis of differences in photos’ content.
17. In addition to studying the differences between Instagram cities using visual features of the photos, we also compared the metadata for these photos. This analysis also shows that each city has its own character. For example, the proportions of “active users” (people who shared more than 30 photos during the period for which we collected data) varies significantly between the cities (Table 1).
18. It should be emphasized that there are significant differences in the number of people that attended each event. While the national ceremony attracts many thousands of people, the alternative ceremony is smaller and attracts just a few thousand people. In addition, while the national ceremony is preformed in an open square the alternative ceremony is conducted in an enclosed building. However, since we can see photos from the alternative ceremony location (Hangar 11) in earlier days, the lack of images on that date bears cultural significance.
19. Manovich, 2012.
20. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_aggregation, accessed 22 June 2013.
21. http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2012/12/examples-of-social-media-command-centers-for-the-worlds-largest-brands.html, accessed 22 June 2013.
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David J. Crandall, Lars Backstrom, Daniel Huttenlocher, and Jon Kleinberg, 2009. “Mapping the world’s photos,” WWW ’09: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on World Wide Web, pp. 761–770.
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Peter S. Dodds, Kameron D. Harris, Isabel M. Kloumann, Catherine A. Bliss, and Christopher M. Danforth, 2011. “Temporal patterns of happiness and information in a global social network: Hedonometrics and Twitter,” PLOS ONE, volume 6, number 12, at http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0026752, accessed 26 February 2013.
Carl Doersch, Saurabh Singh, Abhinav Gupta, Josef Sivic, and Alexei A. Efros. 2012. “What makes Paris look like Paris?” ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2012 Conference Proceedings), volume 31, number 4, article number 101.
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Nir Grinberg, Mor Naaman, Blake Shaw, and Gilad Lotan, “Extracting diurnal patterns of real world activity from social media,” Proceedings of the Seventh International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (ICWSM–13), and at http://sm.rutgers.edu/pubs/Grinberg-SMPatterns-ICWSM2013.pdf, accessed 16 June 2013.
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Nadav Hochman and Raz Schwartz, 2012. “Visualizing Instagram: Tracing cultural visual rhythms,” Proceedings of the Workshop on Social Media Visualization (SocMedVis) in conjunction with the Sixth International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (ICWSM–12), pp. 6–9, and at http://razschwartz.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Instagram_ICWSM12.pdf, accessed 16 June 2013.
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Editorial history
Received 8 May 2013; accepted 3 June 2013.
Copyright © 2013, First Monday.
Copyright © 2013, Nadav Hochman and Lev Manovich.
Zooming into an Instagram City: Reading the local through social media
by Nadav Hochman and Lev Manovich.
First Monday, Volume 18, Number 7 - 1 July 2013
https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4711/3698
doi:10.5210/fm.v18i7.4711PROVO — The city of Provo has named an interim police chief after its previous chief resigned last week amid sexual misconduct allegations.
Capt. Rich Ferguson was named interim Chief of the Provo Police Department, Provo Mayor John Curtis said Monday.
“Provo deserves an interim chief who has the leadership, service history, skills and respect of the department and our community,” Curtis said in a statement. “Appointing Captain Ferguson enables our department and city to move forward quickly.”
A formal announcement took place Monday afternoon at Provo’s City Council chamber. The process of naming a new chief is expected to take about three months.
Ferguson replaces John King, who abruptly resigned last week. Provo Deputy Mayor Corey Norman said that King was asked to resign because of allegations of "sexual misconduct.”
The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office reviewed King's case and declined to file charges due to insufficient evidence. However, Curtis asked for King to resign “immediately.” King became Provo police chief in 2013.
Ferguson was captain over the police department's patrol division. According to his LinkedIn page, Ferguson has been a law enforcer for 24 years. He has also worked in the Provo Police Department's Special Operations Division and the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force. He attended school at Broadview University in Salt Lake City.
Contributing: Pat ReavySenator and Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) has written to Attorney General Eric Holder about the case against activist Aaron Swartz, suggesting that the Department of Justice was attempting to "make an example" of him. In an open letter, Cornyn said the case raised several questions about how US Attorney Carmen Ortiz prosecuted Swartz for downloading articles from JSTOR, despite JSTOR's lack of interest in pressing charges. Two US Representatives have raised questions about the Justice Department's conduct — Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has sponsored legislation and Darrell Issa (R-CA) is investigating the case — but this marks the first time a Senator has taken up the cause.
Cornyn suggests that the case against Swartz was motivated by a previous tangle with the Justice Department, likely in 2009, when he was investigated for downloading and sharing millions of PACER legal documents. Swartz would later file a Freedom of Information Act request for his own FBI file. "Was the prosecution of Aaron Swartz in any way retaliation for for his exercise of his rights as a citizen under the Freedom of Information Act?" Cornyn asked. "What role, if any, did the Department's prior investigations of Mr. Swartz play in the decision of with which crimes to charge him?"
"Was the prosecution of Aaron Swartz in any way retaliation for for his exercise of his rights as a citizen?"
Like Issa, Cornyn has clashed before with Obama's Justice Department, and he's a longtime opponent of Holder. Cornyn voted against Holder's appointment, and he called for his resignation in mid-2012 after the Fast and Furious gun scandal. In his letter, Cornyn expressed admiration for Swartz, who he calls a "brilliant technologist and a committed activist," but it's likely that he's also using the opportunity to attack an old enemy.You know him, but you can't remember his name. He is the one that is always there, in the background, all but invisible to those roaming the hallways. What if he had a secret? What if it was a secret that even he didn't know?
Test Davis has always been a blur to those around him. He's a shadow like a million other kids--not smart enough for the academic team, not beast enough for the football team, not extroverted enough for the drama crowd. In all things Test is just...not, which is why no one ever notices him.
But what happens when someone does notice him-- Nicole Paxton, a cheerleader, no less? What happens on the night that Test finds out there's nothing average about him and that a powerful gift has been hidden within, secretly waiting to be set free and alter his life forever? The question is, will that power save him and those he loves or tear them apart?
Failing Test is approximately 84,000 words.
***ATTENTION!***
Look for other books in the Shadow Series! A Shadow's Light: Book Two, The Memoirs of Clifford T. Johnston: A Shadow Series Novelette, and The Reverence of One: Book Three, are all available!Researchers from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) have invented a temporary tattoo-style patch that can detect the level of alcohol in a wearer’s system and send it directly to their phone or smartwatch.
The patch uses commercial tattoo-paper fitted with silver electrodes that creates a five-minute long current, which triggers a gel strip that releases a drug to induce sweat. Once the sweat comes into contact with the electrodes, it is able to gauge the level of alcohol in the wearers system, and sends the results to their phones or watches, according to a Wednesday Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Spectrum (IEEE) article.
“Right now, the tattoo is designed for one-time use,” Patrick Mercier, electrical and computer engineering professor at UCSD, told IEEE. “Place, detect, dispose.”
Researchers fitted nine volunteers with the patch both before and after consuming alcohol, and the results were an accurate reflection of alcohol levels in their systems.
There are other ways to assess alcohol levels, but both have drawbacks. Testing blood is the most accurate way to assess whether someone is drunk, but it is extremely invasive because it requires a finger-prick. This new technology would allow law enforcement the ability to accurately gauge the concentration of alcohol in someones system thru non-invasive means.
Whereas breathalyzers can be beaten in court and also give false positives from using items such as mouthwash and prescription medications.
The patch would do away with the issue of false positives.
“Our sensor does not give those kinds of false positives,” Jayoung Kim, graduate student at UCSD’s Materials Science & Engineering Program, told The Daily Caller News foundation in an email.
“The reason is that breathalyzer’s measure alcohol vapor from mouth and environmental air. Our sensor measures alcohol in perspiration fluid.”
The personal breathalyzer market has seen serious growth over the past decade. ABC News said the market share was $27 million in 2005. PR Newswire says the market for personal breathalyzers had spiked to $284 million in 2011, and they estimate that number to skyrocket to $3.2 billion by 2018.
The researchers are now working on a patch that could monitor alcohol levels around the clock, which could be used for research purposes.
Follow Craig Boudreau on Twitter.
Send tips to craig@ dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
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.H4A News Clips 5.19.15
From:aphillips@hillaryclinton.com To: aphillips@hillaryclinton.com BCC: hrcrapid@googlegroups.com Date: 2015-05-19 09:48 Subject: H4A News Clips 5.19.15
*H4A Press Clips* *May 19, 2015* SUMMARY OF TODAY’S NEWS Yesterday Hillary Clinton spoke in Iowa at the home of Dean Genth and Gary Swenson about the economy, small businesses and drug abuse and mental health. The New York Times did a piece on Hillary Clinton’s first impression on voters saying that only 1% of voters do now know who Hillary Clinton is. Also saying that during she has used the smaller sessions to share lesser-known vignettes from her past: her mother’s impoverished upbringing; her middle-class childhood in Chicago; her work in the 1970s as an advocate for children; her juggling work and child rearing as a young lawyer in Arkansas. The Clinton Foundation will disclose this week a list of nearly 100 paid speeches given by Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton dating to 2002. On Friday, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign released her personal financial disclosure form for 2014 through the present, which reported that she and her husband had earned $25 million delivering paid speeches. The State Department is proposing a deadline of January 2016 to complete its review and public release of 55,000 pages of emails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged on a private server and turned over to her former agency last December. LAST NIGHTS EVENING NEWS There was no 2016 coverage on last night’s major outlets except for to highlight President Clinton’s tweet to President Obama about his new twitter handle. Instead they covered the biker gang shooting in Waco, Texas where 9 died and 170 were arrested, coverage of the progress being made by Amtrak to recover the affected tracks. Also featured on ABC World News Tonight was a special segment on Elian Gonzalez and immigration. SUMMARY OF TODAY’S NEWS................................................................. 1 LAST NIGHTS EVENING NEWS................................................................. 1 TODAY’S KEY STORIES............................................................................ 4 *In Iowa for second visit, Clinton keeps to her low-key, tilt-left strategy* // WaPo // Robert Costa - May 18, 2015 4 *Why Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Isn’t the Most Liberal Ever* // TIME // Haley Sweetland Edwards - May 18, 2015 6 *Hillary Clinton May Not Need a Second Chance to Make a First Impression* // NYT // Amy Chozick – May 19, 2015 7 *State Department won't release Hillary Clinton's emails until January 2016* // Politico // Josh Gerstein - May 18, 2015 10 *More Clinton Fees to Be Disclosed* // WSJ // Rebecca Ballhaus and Peter Nicholas - May 18, 2015 12 SOCIAL MEDIA........................................................................................ 13 *Bill Clinton (5/18/15, 12:57 PM)* Welcome to @Twitter, @POTUS! One question: Does that username stay with the office? #askingforafriend 13 *President Obama (5/18/15, 2:07 PM)* Good question, @billclinton. The handle comes with the house. Know anyone interested in @FLOTUS? 13 *Matthew Boyle (5/18/15, 8:21 AM)* @RandPaul to @HillaryClinton : "your husband passed the laws that put a generation of black men in jail" 14 *Katie Zezima (5/18/15, 8:22 AM)* Paul: If I'm the Republican nominee I'll be competitive in Philly: "I'll ask Hillary Clinton: 'what have you done for criminal justice?'".................................................................................................................. 14 *Josh McElveen (5/18/15, 9:04 AM)* BREAKING @KellyAyotte says @RepFrankGuinta should resign his seat in wake of FEC deal. #nhpolitics #wmur................................................................................................................................................ 14 HRC NATIONAL COVERAGE................................................................... 14 *Clinton's super PAC fundraising irks progressives* // CNN // MJ Lee - May 18, 2015........... 14 *Back in Iowa, Hillary Goes Big on Small Business* // Real Clear Politics // Alexis Simendinger - May 18, 2015 16 *Clinton talks economy, campaign finance on return to Iowa* // Des Moines Register // Tony Leys - May 18, 2015 18 *Hillary Clinton Campaign Begins Drafting Policy Solutions To Heroin Epidemic* // Huffington Post // Marina Fang – May 18, 2015 20 *Clinton Returns to Iowa to Help Rally Caucus Volunteers* // ABC News // Julie Pace - May 18, 2015 21 *Hillary Clinton's second wave of Iowa courtship arrives in Mason City* // CNN // Dan Merica - May 18, 2015 22 *10 questions for Hillary Clinton* // CBS News // Rebecca Kaplan – May 19, 2015................. 24 *Hillary Clinton Backs Obama Plan To Reverse Police Militarization* // Huffington Post // Ryan Grim and Ryan J. Reilly - May 18, 2015 28 *Hillary Clinton: "Grateful" For Obama's Work on Economy, But "Deck Is Still Stacked In Favor Of Those At The Top"* // Real Clear Politics // Ian Schwartz - May 18, 2015......................................................................................................... 29 *US Reps. Jim McGovern, Joe Kennedy campaign for Hillary Clinton* // Mass Live // Shira Schoeberg - May 18, 2015 29 *Clinton Sets Citizens United as Supreme Court Litmus Test* // ABC News // Julie Pace, Associated Press - May 18, 2015 30 *Gowdy: Benghazi report may leave questions unresolved* // Greenville Online // Mary Troyan - May 18, 2015 31 *Clinton Friend’s Libya Role Blurs Lines of Politics and Business* // NYT // Nicholas Confessor and Michael S. Schmidt – May 18, 2015 33 *The long and winding road ahead for Hillary Clinton’s e-mails* // Washington Post // Fred Barbash – May 19, 2015 37 *What Sidney Blumenthal’s Memos to Hillary Clinton Said, and How They Were Handled* // NYT // Michael S. Schmidt - May 18, 2015 38 *Hillary Clinton’s army of trolls* // Politico // Annie Karni – May 19, 2015.......................... 40 *Hillary Clinton was paid millions by tech industry for speeches* // WaPo // Matea Gold, Rosalind S. Helderman, and Anu Narayanswamy - May 18, 2015........................................................................................................................................ 43 *Clinton Criticism of Wealth Leaves Us 1% Convinced* // Bloomberg // C. Thompson and Lauren Arnold - ay 18, 2015 47 *CNN commentator: Hillary Clinton’s ‘strong point’ is her last name, husband* // WaPo // Erik Wemple – May 18, 2015 48 *Politics More: 2016 Elections Hillary Clinton Media* // Business Insider // Colin Campbell – May 18, 2015 49 *Hillary Clinton Paid by Jeb Bush’s Education Company* // First Look // Lee Fang – May 18, 2015 50 *Rand Paul: Bill Clinton put ‘generation’ of black men in prison* // The Hill // Alexander Bolton – May 18, 2015 50 *Bill Clinton signals he can be Hillary’s second fiddle* // The Hill // Niaill Stanage – May 19, 2015 51 *Bill Clinton's Hud Secretary: Julian Castro Team Hillary's Top VP Choice* // Breitbart News // May 18, 2015 54 *House liberals play hard-to-get with Hillary Clinton* // Politico // Lauren French – May 19, 2015 54 *5 Things You Might Not Know About Hillary Clinton* // NYT // Amy Chozick – May 19, 2015 57 *What Young Feminists Think of Hillary Clinton* // National Journal // Molly Mirhashem - May 16, 2015 58 OTHER DEMOCRATS NATIONAL COVERAGE....................................... 64 *Why Not Martin O’Malley?* // Harvard Political Review // Quinn Mulholland - May 18, 2015 64 *Bernie Sanders Wants to Be President, but He’s Already Facebook Royalty* // NYT // Nick Corasaniti - May 18, 2015 66 *Sanders: Make Wall St. pay college tuition* // Burlington Free Press // April Burbank – May 18, 2015 68 *Elizabeth Warren Details Obama's Broken Trade Promises* // Huffington Post // Zack Carter - May 18, 2015 69 *Snoop Dogg: I'll be voting for Hillary Clinton* // The Hill // Judy Kurtz - May 18, 2015........ 70 GOP.......................................................................................................... 71 *In Philadelphia, Rand Paul Talks Privatized Amtrak and Criminal Justice* // Bloomberg // David Weigel - May 18, 2015 71 *Rand Paul Vows to Filibuster to Block Patriot Act* // ABC News // Steve Peoples, Associated Press - May 18, 2015 72 *Rand Paul Cites Questionable Benghazi Reporting In Forthcoming Book* // Buzzfeed News // Molly Ward – May 18, 2015 73 *Why We Must Reform the VA* // Medium // Jeb Bush – May 18, 2015................................... 75 *Jeb Bush’s GOP Rivals Keep Him Front and Center* // WSJ // Reid J. Epstein - May 17, 2015 76 *Jeb Bush stands by opposition to same-sex marriage* // CNN // Alexandra Jaffe - May 18, 2015 78 *Jeb Bush Says Christian Business Owners Can Refuse To Serve Gay Weddings* // Huffington Post // Marina Fang - May 17, 2015 79 *Bush insists he's not writing off Iowa* // Politico // Eli Stokols - May 18, 2015..................... 80 *Team Jeb: He's held to 'different standard' than Hillary* // Washington Examiner // Byron York - May 18, 2015 82 *Why Marco Rubio could beat Jeb Bush* // CNN // Julian Zelizer - May 18, 2015................... 83 *Marco Rubio has listed himself as 'white' instead of 'Hispanic.' News flash: He's both.* // Miami Herald // Patricia Mazzei - May 18, 2015 86 *Supreme Court Won’t Block Probe of Scott Walker’s Recall Campaign*’ // Bloomberg // Greg Stohr - May 18 2015 87 *Scott Walker’s Long History of Dirty Tricks* // The Daily Beast // David Freedlander – May 18, 2015 88 *Records indicate Scott Walker was copied on letter promising loan to donor // Journal Sentinel* // Jason Stein and Patrick Marley – May 18, 2015................................................................................................................................................ 93 *Scott Walker touts charters, vouchers in charter-heavy New Orleans Monday* // NOLA // Jessica Williams - May 18, 2015 96 *Chris Christie Now Opposes Creating a Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Workers* // Bloomberg // Terrence Dopp – May 18, 2015 97 *Gov. Christie: American exceptionalism isn’t a punchline** —** it’s a set of principles.* // Medium // Chris Christie – May 18, 2015 98 *Christie to Call for Larger Military, More US Intervention* // ABC News // Jim Colvin, Associated Press - May 18, 2015 113 *Chris Christie, Rand Paul Bring Patriot Act Debate to Campaign Trail* // WSJ // Heather Haddon and Janet Hook - May 18, 2015 114 *Chris Christie Now Opposes Creating a Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Workers* // Bloomberg // Terrence Dopp - May 18, 2015 116 *Christie cites experience running against female opponent* // Philly // The Associated Press - May 18, 2015 117 *Chris Christie will be in New Hampshire when Obama visits NJ: Chris Christie in the news* // Cleveland // Sabrina Eaton - May 18, 2015 118 *Sen. Lindsey Graham on White House bid: 'I'm running'* // Politico // Katie Glueck - May 18, 2015 118 *Sen. Lindsey Graham Is 'Having A Blast' As He Preps Presidential Run* // NPR // Jessica Taylor and Don Gonyea - May 18, 2015 119 *Bobby Jindal forming exploratory committee for White House run* // Politico // Jonathan Topaz - May 18, 2015 121 *Connecting the Dots Behind the 2016 Candidates* // NYT // Gregor Aisch and Karen Yourish - May 17, 2015 122 TOP NEWS............................................................................................. 123 DOMESTIC.......................................................................................... 123 *Obama to Limit Military-Style Equipment for Police Forces* // NYT // Julie Hirschfeld Davis - May 18, 2015 123 *Obama foundation brings in $5.4 million* // Politico // Josh Gerstein - May 18, 2015....... 125 *Feds Project Lake Mead Below Drought Trigger Point in 2017* // ABC News // Ken Ritter, Associated Press - May 18, 2015 127 INTERNATIONAL............................................................................... 129 *Kerry, in Seoul, slams North Korea* // WaPo // Carol Morello - May 18, 2015...................... 129 *Bombing and clashes resume as Yemen heads for ‘catastrophe’* // WaPo // Ali al-Mujahed and Erin Cunningham - May 18, 2015 130 OPINIONS/EDITORIALS/BLOGS........................................................... 132 *Christine Quinn on Hillary Clinton & Marriage Equality* // Out // Christine Quinn - May 18, 2015 132 *Why is Hillary Clinton Tacking Left?* // National Journal // Ron Fournier - May 18, 2015 133 *You won’t believe Hillary Clinton’s spin on avoiding the press* // WaPo // Chris Cillizza – May 18, 2015 135 TODAY’S KEY STORIES In Iowa for second visit, Clinton keeps to her low-key, tilt-left strategy <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-iowa-for-second-visit-clinton-keeps-to-her-low-key-tilt-left-strategy/2015/05/18/7b27aa00-fd6a-11e4-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html> // WaPo // Robert Costa - May 18, 2015 MASON CITY, Iowa — Hillary Rodham Clinton’s appearance here Monday at the home of Dean Genth and Gary Swenson — one of the first gay couples to marry in Iowa — spoke volumes about the political pitch and style of her nascent presidential campaign. Even as a global celebrity and the overwhelming Democratic front-runner, Clinton is doggedly focused at this early stage on highlighting her progressive values and on what she called “people-to-people connections” — aggressive organizing in the state where she placed a disappointing third in the 2008 caucuses. The event — the first of Clinton’s two-day visit — was tailored to fit that low-key, tilt-left strategy, which her campaign hopes will signal that she is taking little for granted in the primary race. She arrived quietly in a minivan trailed by Secret Service agents and ducked inside to greet a crowd of volunteers, who were given “commit to caucus” cards to share with friends. The tightly controlled setting also allowed her to continue to steer clear of the press pack following her. Holding court in the living room, Clinton embraced her ties to President Obama and cast herself as his tested and natural heir. It was an acknowledgment that Obama’s leftover network remains a coveted coalition in Iowa and an assertion that her time on the world stage is an asset, rather than a liability, as Republicans have challenged. “I’m going into this race with my eyes wide open about how hard it is to be president of the United States,” Clinton told approximately 50 Democrats gathered. “I do have that experience to know what is possible and how best to proceed.” On economics, her message was populist. Facing vocal competition from bank-bashing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other likely rivals for the Democratic nomination, Clinton said she is as frustrated as anyone with the gap between the rich and the poor. “The deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top,” Clinton said. She attacked “hedge-fund managers” and other financiers for exploiting loopholes in the U.S. tax code. “Warren Buffett has said it, but so have a lot of other people. There’s something wrong when the average American CEO makes 300 times more than the typical American worker,” she said. But Clinton continued her stretch of declining to take questions from reporters — ignoring the media contingent outside the house and bypassing controversial topics, such as the debate over U.S. trade policy that has roiled Congress for weeks. Reporters were ushered out of the home after she delivered her remarks, unable to record her exchanges with attendees. Clinton’s talk also came days after reports that she and husband, former president Bill Clinton, have earned more than $25 million since early last year in speaking fees — a development she did not mention during her comments about the unsettling power of wealthy Americans. Republicans seized on her event’s closed nature and her refusal to take questions from reporters. On Twitter, the Republican National Committee promoted its “#AskHillary” hashtag campaign in an attempt to pressure Clinton to engage with the media. As Clinton left the house Monday, reporters shouted questions that went unanswered, including this from Fox News’s Ed Henry: “Why won’t you answer any questions?” Clinton is scheduled to appear Tuesday in nearby Cedar Falls for a roundtable with small-business leaders. The stop, like Monday’s, will be open only to invited guests. Many people in the house were excited about getting a chance to hear her up close, but some onlookers were less than enthused. Doug Bell, 59, a farmer from Thornton, Iowa, waited outside for an hour to catch a glimpse of Clinton but left without getting a chance to speak with her. “I cauc |
Self, and your connection to Love and Light. This will allow you in your new earth life to remember much more easily that you are ever connected to Source, Love, Light, and your Higher Self. This allows your memories to evermore hold in place, then, your strong connection to this beautiful energy of love and light, as all may have their own Temple of Light within their New Earth Homes.
We leave you today with this vision and meditation exercise. We see all of you having such beautiful lives, beautiful and peaceful homes, within your New Earth home, and are so excited for you that you may exist in this new way, ever-knowing that you are loved, connected to your higher self, and connected to source. Your lives are a most beautiful creation and emanation from the source and we bless you in harmony, love and light in creating this new Temple of Light in each of your new earth 5th dimensional homes.
You are all bringing in this new Heaven on Earth now, and are each such an important part of this integration of this new higher dimensional frequency on, within, and around your planet at this time. Mother earth, dearest Gaia, is ascending along with you and is the great Receiver, Holder, and Transmitter of these higher dimensional frequencies of Love and Light.
With the softest of love and light to you.
– Council of Angels, Archangel Michael and Archangel Metatron.
© The Golden Light Channel, www.thegoldenlightchannel.com. Please include this copyright when reposting this message.The Ritz on the Place Vendome in Paris. (Matthieu Alexandre/AFP/Getty Images)
The world's richest people got a whopping $1 trillion richer in 2017, according to a new report from Bloomberg News. That's about four times the gains they made last year.
That data comes courtesy of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks and ranks the world’s 500 richest people. It attributes much of the economic growth to the stock market's record-high year. (The MSCI World and Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes grew about 20 percent this year.)
Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder of Amazon, clocked in as the world's richest person, gaining $34.2 billion in wealth. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates came in at No. 2. Bezos is worth about $99.6 billion, according to Bloomberg. Gates is valued at $91.3 billion.
[By age 3, inequality is clear: Rich kids attend school. Poor kids stay with a grandparent.]
China's 1 percent did particularly well. There are 38 Chinese billionaires on the Bloomberg index, and they gained a combined $177 billion this year. That 65 percent jump was the largest for any of the 49 countries represented. Hui Ka Yan, founder of China Evergrande Group, a property developer, saw his personal bank accounts swell by $25.9 billion, a 350 percent jump from last year.
Ma Huateng, co-founder of Tencent Holdings, a Chinese technology investment firm, saw his fortune double to $41 billion, making him the second-richest person in Asia. The number of billionaires in Asia has surpassed the number in the United States for the first time, according to a recent UBS Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
Russia's 27 richest residents did well, too, adding $29 billion to grow to $275 billion, despite the international economic sanctions imposed after President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.
Global losers included Alwaleed bin Talal, the richest person in Saudi Arabia, whose fortune dropped $1.9 billion to $17.8 billion after he was arrested as part of a corruption crackdown by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Several other Saudi royals, government officials and business leaders were scooped up, as well.
[The richest 1 percent now owns more U.S. wealth than at any time in the past 50 years]
Bloomberg's findings are yet another indication that massive accumulation of wealth at the top of the economic ladder is leading to spiraling inequality.
The 2017 “World Inequality Report” (compiled by economists such as Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez) found that the 1 percent reaped 27 percent of the world’s income between 1980 and 2016. The bottom 50 percent, by contrast, got just 12 percent of the pie.
In China, the 1 percent has accumulated 15 percent of all income growth since 1980. (About 13 percent flowed to the bottom 50 percent.) In the United States, the bottom half of Americans has captured just 3 percent of growth since 1980. In Russia, the economic assets of the bottom half of the country have shrunk since 1980. Even Europe saw its top 1 percent accumulate 18 percent of growth, while the bottom half gained 14 percent.
Economists say economic inequality isn't inevitable. Aggressive income tax and a strong social safety net matter, as do equal access to education. In fast-growing China and in some developing nations, massive investments in infrastructure and a deepening base of manufacturing jobs have helped.
Unfortunately, few countries have aggressively pursued such policies.
Of course, it's not just the poor who are suffering. As Bloomberg put it, it's hard out there for a billionaire:Open, extensible, feature-rich chat, proven through years of use.
Specifications These are the specifications which make up modern IRC, and the extensions that the IRCv3 WG have defined. View Working Group The IRCv3 Working Group is chartered to prototype, develop and test changes to the IRC client protocol. View FAQs These are questions about IRC and the IRCv3 Working Group that we get asked regularly, and our answers. View
Introduction
If you’re just getting started with IRC development, the first thing to look at would be the IRC core specifications RFC1459 and RFC2812. One of our members has also been writing a new core protocol document here, which you may find useful to consult. After that, our specifications page contains the extensions the IRCv3 Working Group has developed.
All of the IRCv3 extensions are backwards-compatible with older IRC clients, and older IRC servers. Our roadmap details the specifications we have in the pipeline, and our GitHub repository is where most of our specification work is done.
For any other questions, feel free to consult our FAQ page which contains all sorts of info about us and what we do.
If you’re interested in talking with us, our discussion channel is #ircv3 on Freenode [webchat].
IRCv3 Features
Standardised account login using SASL to speed up registration and authentication. [3.1] [3.2]
Providing the account information of other clients for the development of more advanced client features. [1] [2] [3]
Optional metadata able to be attached to each message for easier, standardised extension development. [link]
Instant away notifications, to let users know when other users go away or come back more quickly. [link]
Showing the actual time a message was received, improving history playback from IRC bouncers. [link]
Grouping related messages to simplify collapsing and display of those messages to users. [link]
What We’re Working On
Standardised account registration and verification, allowing clients to provide better interfaces for end users. [link]
Giving clients a standardised way to recognise, access and view chat history (provided by bouncers or servers). [link]
Providing a mechanism to allow clients to automatically detect, move to, and keep using secure connections. [link]
Allowing Unicode nicknames and channel names, improving the chat experience for international users. [link]
Client avatars for display in graphical clients.
Participating OrganizationsRicola, see For the monotypic genus, see Ricola macrops
Ricola Ltd./Ricola AG is a Swiss manufacturer of cough drops and breath mints. All their products include natural herbal ingredients exclusively cultivated on Swiss soil without any use of pesticides, insecticides or herbicides.[1][2] The head office of Ricola is located in Laufen, Basel-Country.[3]
Business [ edit ]
Ricola listed sales of 297.3 million of Swiss francs in (2012) and employs 400 workers. Around 200 independent produce companies in the surrounding area service Ricola. In order to obtain enough herbs for the production of its herbal drops, the firm contracts over 100 self-managed farms in the Valais, Emmental, Val Poschiavo and at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, in central Switzerland, and in Ticino. Ricola is known for its commercials featuring Heidi (Ramona Pringle) depicting mountaineers shouting "Ri-co-la!" and blowing through a large Alphorn.
History [ edit ]
Ricola began in 1930 when Emil Wilhelm Richterich and Daniel Ruoss Sr. established Confiseriefabrik Richterich & Co. Laufen after the purchase of a small bakery in Laufen, just outside Basel. Under Richterich, the bakery specialized in confectionery such as “Fünfermocken," a sweet which was similar to caramel. In 1940 Richterich created Ricola's Swiss Herbal Sweet incorporating a blend of 13 herbs. In the 1950s the sweet became appreciated for its ability to be dissolved in boiling water, creating an aromatic herbal tea or tisane, which inspired Richterich to create a Ricola Herbal Tea a few years later.[4]
In 1967, Emil Richterich and his sons Hans Peter and Alfred renamed the company Ricola, an abbreviation of Richterich & Compagnie Laufen. Export began in the 1970s, introducing Ricola's products to foreign markets. At the end of the decade, Ricola moved to a new purpose-built factory in the vicinity of Laufen, where its headquarters are still located.[4]
In 1976, after extensive research on sugar-free confectionery, Ricola launched Switzerland’s first chewable, sugarless herbal sweet. Ricola first started to advertise its products on television in the 1980s, an era that saw increased awareness of the need for good dental hygiene, increasing the demand for sugar-free products such as the ones that Ricola offered. In 1988 the company started packaging their products in small boxes.[4]
The company is now managed by Felix Richterich, son of Hans Peter and grandson of the founder. Today, Ricola exports to over 50 countries in Asia, North America and Europe.[5]
Herbs [ edit ]
Ricola herbal cough drop
While the active ingredient in most Ricola products is menthol, an important part of Ricola products is the herb mixture. The following herbs are noted as being part of Ricola's classic blend of 13 herbs:[6]
In the United States, ten herbs make up the herbal mixture, three of which are not in the above list. These are Linden Flowers (Tilia platyphyllos), Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis).[7]
Ricola herb gardens [ edit ]
Ricola has six show gardens in Switzerland. Visitors to the herb gardens can learn about the original herbal blend in their natural environment and learn all about the cultivation and power of herbs. The gardens can be visited as tourist attractions and are located at the following locations:[8]
The herbs used to produce Ricola's cough drops are not cultivated in these gardens, but in natural plantations in the Swiss mountains in accordance with strict organic or BioSuisse guidelines. Ricola ensures that its cultivation areas are not situated near industrial sites or the road networks to avoid contact with harmful pollutants. Over 100 self-managed farms are under contract to Ricola in the Valais, Emmental, Puschlav and the Jura Mountains, in Central Switzerland and Ticino. No pesticides, insecticides or herbicides are used in herb cultivation.[2]
Awards [ edit ]
The company has won several awards:[9]
“Most Trusted Brand" in 2008, 2010, and 2011 by the readers of Reader's Digest
“SwissAward 2010” – Felix Richterich (VR-President) was awarded a distinction for the business category
“Power Brand 2010”, among the top 20 Swiss brands, the Brand Asset Valuator by Young & Rubicam
Public prize of the Swiss Packaging Institute award 2008
“Best Taste Award 2008” awarded by the International Taste and Quality Institute (iTQi) in Brussels, Belgium
“the EFFIE prize” (gold medal) in Germany 2000 for the Ricola campaign Finland / AustraliaWe all remember the botched snap in the 2007 playoff game against the Seahawks. Sadly, most NFL fans have branded Tony Romo as a loser ever since. Mostly because the cowboys were just 2-4 in their six playoff games with Romo as the starting quarterback. Was he injury prone? Yes. Did he win a Super Bowl? No. Was he a hall of fame caliber QB? Let’s take a look at the numbers.
The un-drafted QB out of Eastern Illinois took over the starting job for Dallas in 2006 at age 26. He started 10 games that season, going 6-4 and leading the Cowboys to the playoffs. During that stretch he completed 65.3% of his passes for 2,903 yards and 19 TDs. But then came the botched snap versus Seattle. The Cowboys were set to tie the game 21-21. All they needed was an extra point. Then Romo blew it. He bobbled the snap, lost the ball, and then tried to scramble into the end zone. Seattle stopped him short of the goal line to win the game and Romo became one of the most polarizing players in the league.
The next eight seasons, Romo established himself as a top flight QB in the NFL. His career record as a starter was 78-49. If the Cowboys would’ve surrounded him with a better roster, the argument could be made that Romo would have had a shot to win the big one. But Jerry Jones could never put all the pieces together.
How does Tony Romo stack up against hall of fame quarter backs statistically? His passer rating was 97.1. Good enough for 4th all time ahead of hall of famers Young, Warner, Montana, Marino, Favre, and Kelly.
If I told you Romo completed the same percentage of passes as Peyton Manning, would you believe me? Well he did. Romo is tied for 5th with Manning on the all time list with a 65.3 completion percentage. Ahead of every current HOF QB except Kurt Warner.
Here’s where it gets tricky. Romo only had six seasons where he started 15+ games (The Cowboys finished.500 or better each of those seasons). Because of that, he doesn’t have the Touchdowns or yards totals that other hall of fame QBs had. The Cowboys quarterback finished with 248 Touchdowns. That’s good for 21st all time. Romo had more TDs than Jim Kelly, Steve Young, Terry Bradshaw, and Kurt Warner. He also compiled 34,241 passing yards to finish 29th all time. Ahead of Steve Young and Troy Aikman.
Statistically, Romo could be considered the best Cowboy QB ever. Troy Aikman had 3,000 yards or more only 5 times in his career. Romo eclipsed that number 7 times. The difference? Aikman has three Super Bowl rings and Romo has zero. Between 2006 and 2013, Romo had 34 game winning drives.
Was he a good quarterback? Absolutely. Was he a great quarterback? Statistically speaking, yes. Should he be in Canton in five years? We will have to wait and see.And that orca’s name is Kiska.
Kiska is Canada’s only captive orca and lives in a pool at Marineland, Niagara. Approximately 40 years ago, Kiska was captured off the shores of Iceland when she was only two years old.
Since then, Kiska has birthed five calves in this establishment; however, each one of her has died – her oldest living to be only five years old.
Orcas are highly intelligent beings with a vast emotional capacity. In the wild, these animals live in complex social pods. They even have their own cultural dialect passed on through generations. They have a tight grasp on the world around them, and they possess a thorough understanding of loss and grief.
Kiska has experienced multiple tragedies in her lifetime and it’s time to show her some mercy; the relocation of Kiska to larger establishment with other orcas to interact with would be ideal for her emotional well-being.
It has been reported that since the death of Kiska’s last calf, her health has been gradually declining.
Recent photos that have been released and published on various media outlets show the alleged deterioration of Kiska’s dorsal fin as well as a sunken blow-hole, typically caused by malnutrition. This condition is generally referred to as peanut head, according to sources.
As per the OSPCA Standards of Care Act:
“Wildlife kept in captivity must be provided with a daily routine that facilitates
and stimulates natural movement and behaviour.”
According to sources, Kiska does not have such a routine: you can find her either floating idly in her tank or circling its edges.
“Wildlife kept in captivity must be kept in compatible social groups to ensure
the general welfare of the individual animals and of the group…”
Kiska has been referred to as the “world’s loneliest orca” by various professionals and animal advocacy groups.
“Every animal must be provided with adequate and appropriate food and
water.”
According to sources, Kiska receives a diet of dead fish and Jello. The Jello is to compensate for the fact that dead fish simply do not have a high enough water content for such a large animal. (This has not been confirmed with Marineland officials).
“A pen or other enclosed structure or area for wildlife kept in captivity must
be of an adequate and appropriate size,
(a) to facilitate and stimulate natural movement and behaviour;
(b) to enable each animal in the pen or other enclosed structure or area to keep an
adequate and appropriate distance from the other animals and people so that it
is not psychologically stressed…”
Her tank must have “one or more areas that are out of view of spectators.”
Kiska’s enclosure is much too small for her, making it impossible for her to swim as if she would in the wild. She also has nowhere to seek refuge from onlookers, which could easily result in psychological stress.
Multiple sources have confirmed that Kiska has absolutely no enrichment in her pool, and that the only source of stimulation she has is when her trainers interact with her.
And of course, it is important for each enclosure of any captive animal to be sanitary; however, sources say that Kiska’s tank has clouded, murky water with litter floating in it. The water is also chlorinated, which is no secret because she lives in stagnant water.
Kiska has a large group of activists fighting for her release to a sea pen, or even to be given to SeaWorld where she can at least be with other orcas.
We see you. We hear you. We’re here.
Read more about Kiska in the media:
Marineland’s killer whale is ill, animal rights group says
Save Kiska from Marineland (Youtube)
So, how can you help?
First and foremost, please take a moment to sign this petition to urge the release of Kiska to a sea pen or amore appropriate facility.
Now, take another moment to e-mail, call, and write the OSPCA to ask them why they aren’t upholding their Standards of Care:
16586 Woodbine Avenue, RR 3
Newmarket, ON L3Y 4W1
Phone: 905-898-7122
Toll Free: 1-888-ONT-SPCA
Fax: 905-853-8643
E-mail: cruelty@ospca.on.ca
Lastly, please show your support for the following groups by liking them on Facebook, following them on Twitter, and subscribing to their channels on Youtube!
Like Ontario Captive Animal Watch on Facebook, subscribe to their Youtube channel, and follow them on Twitter to stay updated on Kiska @OCAW_2014
TIP: use the #freekiska hashtag and tweet them! (Don’t forget to tweet and follow me too: @LauraOCAW)
Like Fins and Fluke on Facebook, follow them on Twitter: @FinsandFluke
Do the same for Orca United, follow them on Twitter: @OrcaUnited
And don’t forget Orca Conservancy, follow them on Twitter: @OrcaConservancy
*I am not responsible for any opinions expressed in the comment section. The statements in this article belong to me and are not a reflection of any animal welfare organization. All statements made in this article were made according to other sources, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
AdvertisementsWith less than two weeks before the alleged deadline, it’s time for the company to stop the doubletalk and set the record straight.
The company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) owes its investors a straight answer: does it face a January 1 contractual deadline with its shippers, or doesn’t it? Company spokespeople have told the court that they do, but told the press that they don’t. Now, with less than two weeks before the alleged deadline, it’s time for the company to stop the doubletalk and set the record straight.
In a sworn declaration submitted to a federal court on August 2, Joey Mahmoud, a Vice President of Dakota Access, LLC (and also an Executive Vice President of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), a co-owner of Dakota Access) clearly stated that the pipeline’s long-term shipping contracts would expire on January 1:
“In connection with its long-term transportation contracts with 9 committed shippers, Dakota Access has committed to complete, test and have DAPL in service by January 1, 2017. The long-term transportation contracts give shippers a right to terminate their commitments if DAPL is not in full service per the contract deadline…and loss of shippers to the project could effectively result in project cancellation.” [Emphasis added.]
The legal team representing Dakota Access doubled down on the claim in late November, warning the court of the financial harm that the company faces if the pipeline is not completed on January 1 and…
“…those who have contracts to purchase oil from Dakota Access exercise their rights to cancel due to the delay.” [Emphasis added.]
Yet in repeated statements to the press, the company has flatly denied that it faces any deadline on January 1. A November 4 story in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader quoted Energy Transfer Partners spokeswoman Vicki Granado contradicting Mahmoud’s declaration, telling a reporter point blank, “There is no Jan. 1 deadline.” She repeated the claim in a story published on December 1, 2016, saying flat out:
“There is nothing contractual tied to the January 1 date. That was an initial in-service target date. The contractual dates are further out and pose no issue to the project.”
The two accounts of the deadline simply can’t be reconciled, and there is no indication that either newspaper story was corrected. Which raises two important questions: who is Dakota Access misleading, and why has it engaged in this kind of obfuscation?
The conflicting accounts represent more than an innocent error; in each case, the company carefully calibrated its statements to achieve a specific goal. Dakota Access first mentioned the January 1 deadline as a part of a legal strategy to convince the court to speed up its deliberations: the company wanted the court to believe that the January 1 deadline posed dire financial consequences. Granado’s statements, in contrast, served to mollify investors, reassuring them that January 1 had absolutely no contractual significance. And since the company hasn’t made its contracts public, these contradictory statements have left investors and the court wondering which ETP spokesperson is speaking on the level.
But the deception is more than just another black mark on the pipeline’s record. It may carry legal ramifications as well.
The original mention of a January 1 deadline came from sworn testimony in federal court. The declarant, Mr. Mahmoud, had good reason to be familiar with the terms of the shipping contracts. If he misinformed or misled the court about the details those contracts, he may potentially face serious repercussions, including accusations of perjury.
Just as importantly, though, the company’s duplicitous statements about the contract deadline may have misled investors about a material risk to the company’s business prospects. And because ETP is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), this sort of deception may carry financial and legal consequences. NYSE rule 435(5) prohibits the circulation of false or misleading rumors “of a sensational character which might reasonably be expected to affect market conditions.” Further, SEC rule 10b-5, covering “Employment of Manipulative and Deceptive Practices,” declares that it is unlawful “To make any untrue statement of a material fact…in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.”
And as it turns out, just about anything ETP says in public right now could have a bearing on the “purchase or sale” of company stock. On November 21—the day before the Dakota Access legal team doubled down its claim about the importance of January 1 to the company’s finances—the company that controls ETP announced its intention to sell a controlling interest in the firm to a sister company, Sunoco Logistics Partners. The proposed $21 billion sale immediately proved controversial, with ETP share prices falling by 7 percent on the day the deal was announced. Some investment analysts lambasted the move as little more than a backdoor way to slash ETP’s payments to shareholders, since Sunoco pays lower dividends than ETP. Advocates for investors are now considering suing ETP over the proposed deal, questioning whether it was in shareholders’ best interests.
In that context, ETP’s contradictory and misleading statements about the January 1 deadline could have materially affected investors’ perceptions of the company’s value. And that’s true no matter whether the January 1 contractual deadline really exists. Some investors may have taken the company’s court declaration at face value, downgrading their assessment of the company’s prospects based on the risk that it could lose shippers at the beginning of the year. Other investors may have relied on the company’s statements to the press, discounting the consequences of a missed deadline. In either case, some investors may have been misled about ETP’s financial health as a result of credible public statements by ETP representatives.
The company owes the public and its shareholders a clear and transparent accounting of whether it faces contractual deadlines on January 1. If they do, ETP owes the press, the public, and its investors a forthright explanation of why a company spokesperson denied its existence. And if the deadline isn’t real, the company will have to face any legal consequences for misleading the court.
Either way, investors now have an additional reason to doubt the candor, integrity, and commitment to transparency of the company backing the Dakota Access Pipeline.Germany summons US ambassador following arrest of CIA spy
July 7, 2014 by Joseph Fitsanakis
By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org
Authorities in Germany have summoned the American ambassador to Berlin following the arrest of a German intelligence officer who was apprehended last week on suspicion of spying for the United States. The man, who has not been named, is suspected of passing classified government information to American intelligence operatives on a variety of subjects. His most recent undertakings are said to have targeted activities of a German parliamentary committee investigating US espionage against Germany. The episode is expected to further strain relations between the two allies, which were damaged by revelations last year that the National Security Agency, America’s signals intelligence organization, had bugged the telephone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The revelation, which was made public by Edward Snowden, an American defector to Russia who had previously worked for the NSA, showed that Chancellor Merkel had been targeted as part of a wider US spy operation against Germany. The revelations sparked the establishment of a nine-member parliamentary committee that is tasked with evaluating Snowden’s revelations and proposing Germany’s response. It appears that the man arrested, who is believed to have been secretly employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, tried to spy on the activities of the committee on behalf of his American handlers. According to German media reports, the man, who is said to be 31 years old, is a “low-level clerk” at the Bundesnachrichtendienst, or BND, Germany’s external intelligence agency. According to Der Spiegel newsmagazine, he is believed to have spied for the CIA for approximately two years, and to have supplied the American spy agency with around 200 classified German government documents in exchange for around €25,000 —approximately $30,000. The office of Germany’s Federal Prosecution Service confirmed media reports of the BND employee’s arrest, but refused to give further information at this time. Steffen Seibert a spokesman for the office of the German Chancellor, said Mrs. Merkel and the German parliament were aware of the arrest and added it was “clear the matter is serious”. The White House had made no comment on the matter as of Sunday night.
AdvertisementsApple has received a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California, according to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, marking the clearest sign yet that the secretive company is developing self-driving car technology.
The permit, which was first spotted by Business Insider, adds Apple’s name to a list of 30 other companies approved to test self-driving cars in California includingGoogle, Ford, and General Motors. Companies are required to get a permit before testing autonomous vehicles on the state’s public roads.
The permit is significant because it all but confirms Apple’s work on self-driving technology, although the focus of that push is unclear. Apple executives have never spoken at length about the company’s effort in the space, but a number of leaks provide a glimpse at what the company is up to.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.
Apple has been hiring automotive design and software experts for the effort, reportedly called Project Titan internally. In early 2016, CEO Tim Cook fielded a question at the company’s annual shareholder meeting about developing a car, to which he provided a cryptic response that neither confirmed nor denied the project.
“Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve, it was so exciting, you weren’t sure what was going to be downstairs?,” he said. “Well, it’s going to be Christmas Eve for a while.”
For more on self-driving cars, watch,
Apple hinted at its self-driving car ambitions in November, when the technology giant sent a letter to U.S. regulators asking for clearer policies around self-driving car safety. At the same time, Apple is said to have had problems with whatever it is developing based on a report in September that said it had laid off dozens of employees at its self-driving car project, and shuttered parts of it.Truthout has been covering the antiwar movement closely for more than ten years. Click here to help us keep doing this work!
Police in riot gear guarding Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house. (Photo: Allison Kilkenny) As hundreds of protesters slowly marched to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Ravenswood neighborhood in Chicago, news trickled in over Twitter that three young NATO protesters recently arrested had their bail set at $1.5 million and were being charged with terrorism-related offences.
The marching protesters were angry and disappointed. Some feared the media’s attention would focus solely on the act of three young men instead of the acts of hundreds who were marching to oppose the closings of six mental health facilities all across the city.
Hosting NATO will likely cost the city an estimated $55 million, and health advocates claim only a fraction of that bill, around $2-3 million, is needed to keep these facilities open.
Basically, priorities are skewed, or as Occupy puts it: “Shit is f-d up and bullshit”.
Not only are mental health facilities being shuttered, but students are being crushed under a mountain of student debt, while people are losing their homes, and the U.S. government continues to pour billions of dollars into foreign assaults and occupations.
Protesters sitting in street in front of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house. (Photo: Allison Kilkenny) Kevin Caby, an Occupy Chicago protester and former student at both Columbia College Chicago and Northern Kentucky University, says he owes over $100,000 in student loans.
“I am participating in this because I oppose the risky behaviors and pro-Bourgeoisie mentalities of the whole Reagan era, extending into the Bush era, and now even the Obama era. That whole attitude of if we take care of the wealthy, it will somehow get to the poor when it’s obviously not helping,” said Caby.
“You see the wealth gap in the United States rising ridiculously, even compared to global southern countries. It needs to stop,” he said.
At a time when things are so bad for so many people, I asked Caby why more people weren’t protesting in the streets. Protesting students in Quebec recently struck so much fear into the hearts of their leaders that the provincial government passed an emergency law restricting demonstrations and shutting some universities to buy officials time as they desperately seek to put an end to three months of spirited protests.
“I was talking to some individuals last night, and they were afraid of the police presence, so I think it is that fear of the police state that we have that if they step in the way, they can be harmed, or it could damage their future by getting a record or something,” Caby explained.
For many protesters, the march wasn’t in the name of some distant, abstract notion, but rather a fight for life over death.
Debbie Delgado, a former patient at Northwest Mental Health, which closed in April with five other city-run facilities across Chicago scheduled for closings, wore a hospital gown and carried a sign that read, “How much is a life worth”?
Delgado lost a son to gang violence in 2006, who died in the arms of her other son, who subsequently suffers from PTSD. Now, Delgado protests on behalf of herself and her son, who refuses to look for another yet-to-be-closed clinic.
Delgado was one of 23 activists arrested for occupying the Woodlawn Mental Health Center in early April.
“We have people dying at home. [Emanuel] has split us to different locations…and it takes us eight miles to get there now,” Delgado said when describing life in a post-Emanuel world, adding she’s sickened by the amount of money spent on security for NATO officials when poor citizens are having their basic services terminated.
“I’m very angry about that because we voted for Emanuel, but now that we need him, he’s shutting us down. You hear in the news that he’s talking about planting flowers downtown or fixing up the Cubs’ area, but why can’t you use that money here to save lives?”
Delgado talked about the difference in care between previously public-run facilities like Northwest Mental Health and privatized care. She claims the Mental Health Movement has seen two suicides since the closing of clinics began, and more individuals are getting lost en route to their new clinic destinations.
Furthermore, the new care is unaffordable
“It can cost as much as $100, per session, for a therapist,” said Delgado, a skyrocketing cost considering the public facilities used to provide the same care for free under Medicare.
“People can’t afford that because they’re low-income,” she said.
“I’m here to continue fighting because some of them don’t have their medication because they fired the doctors, the nurses, the therapists, and everything, so these patients are out of medication, and when we went to the Daley Center three weeks ago to tell them we need medication, Emanuel had us arrested,” said Delgado, adding, “In one year, he destroyed so many lives.”
Protesters marched peacefully through the streets of Emanuel’s neighborhood before sitting in the street before his home where a phalanx of Chicago police greeted them, dressed in riot gear.
It was a strange sight: a pristine, sweet, unpretentious neighborhood missing only the white picket fences surrounding the yards, marred by a police riot response team ominously guarding Emanuel’s immaculately manicured lawn.
Despite the presence of police and hundreds of protesters, for the time being, the CPD have shown great restraint in dealing with activists.
Police have made their point in other ways. It’s common knowledge among protesters that the police possess an LRAD device, or sound cannon. CPD casually parked horse trailers nearby the protesters’ gathering spot today before the Rahm march. Photographer Zach Roberts posted a photo of an armored vehicle resembling a tank to Twitter after the CPD apparently parked it in plain sight of photojournalists. Helicopters constantly fly overhead marches.
It seems the CPD have figured out bashing protesters across their heads isn’t necessarily the only way to convey they have total control of the city.
Standing before the row of riot police gathered at Ravenswood was a young man dressed in fatigues, two gold medals gleaming on his left shoulder.
Sargent John Anderson is one of the veterans who will be ceremoniously returning their medals on Sunday to NATO’s generals. Though not a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Anderson said he intended to march with the group tomorrow in solidarity.
“I’m here because these are the people I fought for. I did not fight corporate interests, and when I realized I was fighting for corporate interests, I had to find another way to fight for these people,” said Anderson before explaining why he intended to return his medals.
“I’m going to return my Global War on Terrorism and my Iraq Campaign medals. The Iraq Campaign medal, I feel like we have no business being there and we created a lot of problems and caused a lot more instability. Of course, the situation wasn’t ideal when we went in, but it’s far from ideal now. I had no business being there. We have no business being there, so I don’t want it anymore. The Global War on Terror: pretty much it’s the result of our poor domestic and international affairs and the way we exploit different people throughout the world. If we handled our ways differently, then we wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”
I asked Anderson what moment, or moments, inspired him to try life as a protester.
“I was studying history and we read about World War I, and there’s something called the December Christmas Truce of 1914. At the time, the Germans and the French were fighting, I believe in Belleau Wood, and around Christmas time, the troops started exchanging gifts and singing carols back and forth, and on Christmas Day, they ended up having a Christmas party in No Man’s Land, playing football and things like that. It really caused me to question the entire idea of a friend and an enemy, and really what it means to be a human being.”
The other moment occurred when Anderson was doing some training in the middle of the desert during his second deployment.
“I had seen all of these major |
tools:-getdata( plot3d([1,x,y], x=0..2*Pi, y=0..2*Pi, coords=toroidal(10) ) ); ["mesh", [-21.6395341365836025.. 21.6395341365836025, -21.6395341365836025.. 21.6395341365836025, -8.45847962781308382.. 8.45847962781307672], [ 25 by 25 by 3 Array ] ]
Here getdata returns a 3-dimensional Array. It easiest to think of it as a Matrix where the entries are points in 3-space. The grid structure of the Matrix describes the interconnectedness of the points. The mesh is rendered by drawing rectangular patches between adjacent points. i.e. for the mesh M, a patch is drawn with corners M[1,1], M[1,2], M[2,2], and M[2,1], etc. This is slightly harder to render as cubes. The method I used in the included worksheet is an inefficient but effective brute force inspection of each mesh patch. It works nicely on the torus:
And in Minecraft wooden planks it looks like:
For something slightly weirder, here is a Klein bottle too:
Exported to Minecraft as cobblestones. From below:
To give a better idea of what these look like in the game (and to see "inside" the Klein bottle), I made this short video:
And, finally, here is a silly (and slightly too long) video of me setting the torus on fire in a game of Minecraft:
Update: Here is a zip file with all the Minecraft schematic files generated by the attached worksheet:MapleSchematics.zipA Limavady mother whose son suffers from a terminal illness has been told he can’t have access to medicine that could dramatically extend his life and alleviate his suffering.
Laura Smith’s son, Callum, suffers from a condition known as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which causes his muscles to slowly deteriorate and drastically reduces his lifespan. Life expectancy for people diagnosed with Duchenne in Northern Ireland is 19 years.
Laura has been campaigning for a new drug, known as Translarna, to be made available to her son. The drug has been shown to lessen the impact of Duchenne for those whose condition is caused by a specific genetic mutation and could dramatically increase the lifespan of those it can treat.
She has applied for the medicine to be made available through a mechanism for specialist drugs to be made available known as an ‘Individual Funding Request’, only to be told no.
She said: “They said no. Just a flat no. They said we hadn’t proved exceptionality so he wouldn’t be getting it.”
However, the Health Minister Simon Hamilton recently announced a raft of changes to the process of applying for specialist drugs, acknowledging that the current process is flawed.
Laura said: “The Health Minister had announced he was implementing those changes but there hasn’t been any indication as to when that is coming into effect. I’ve spoken to Claire Sugden, who has written to the Health Minister but there have been no responses as yet. We are no further forward in terms of those changes. I have no idea when all that is going to start. It is still a waiting game to find out when they will be using the new rules.
“When I spoke to the Health and Social Care Board representatives they said that this one would be the final application.
However, I don’t know if there is actually a limit on the number of applications you can make. By all means, once the new rules come into place I will be applying again. Whether or not they accept it, I don’t know, but I have to try.
“NICE (the body who decide whether drugs can be made routinely available on the NHS) were originally to give their decision in January but the company who make the drug, PTC Therapeutics, they provided NICE with more information so they’ve postponed the decision.”
Laura added: “Hopefully, fingers crossed, they won’t drag it out any longer. The drug can only be used while he is still on his feet.”Python for system administrators
Making system administration easier (and more fun)
As a system administrator, you run across numerous challenges and problems. Managing users, disk space, processes, devices, and backups can cause many system administrators to lose their hair, good humor, or sanity. Shell scripts can help, but they often have frustrating limitations. This is where a full-featured scripting language, such as Python, can turn a tedious task into an easy and, dare I say it, fun one.
The examples in this article demonstrate different Python features that you can put to practical use. If you work through them, you'll be well on your way to understanding the power of Python.
About modules
A module is an important Python concept. Basically, a module is a resource you import in order to use it. This process is comparable to taking a piece of paper out of a file cabinet and putting it on your desk, ready for use. You import modules using the import command, which appears at the top of each of the example programs. Modules are available for database connectivity, network programming, operating system services, and hundreds of other useful areas.
Put Python to work
Why Python? Python has many features to recommend it: It's free, being open source.
It's easy to learn. Many users find its syntax much more English-like than other scripting languages.
It's mature. Python has been around a long time, which means its code is stable, lots of modules add functionality, and robust documentation is available on the Web.
Python is a full-featured, robust programming language and, as such, it has tons of features. Learning it could be a task of epic proportions. However, remember that many Python features, such as the GUI toolkits, are of limited value to system administrators. That's why this article uses specific examples: They demonstrate the skills you need to effectively write Python scripts to manage systems.
Notes on the examples
Each example includes a try: and an except: with a surrounding block of code. This is an implementation of rudimentary error handling. Python has extensive support for handling all types of exceptions but, for the purposes of these example programs, I've kept it simple.
and an with a surrounding block of code. This is an implementation of rudimentary error handling. Python has extensive support for handling all types of exceptions but, for the purposes of these example programs, I've kept it simple. These examples were run on Python 2.5 running on a Linux® box, but they should work on any UNIX®/Linux machine.
You'll undoubtedly think of ways these scripts can be improved. This is good! The nature of Python scripts is that they can be easily modified and customized without needing to recompile code.
Example 1: Search for files and show permissions in a friendly format
The first example program (see Listing 1) searches for files that match a pattern (based on user input) and displays the results to the screen, along with the permissions assigned to the particular files. At first, you might think this program doesn't do much more than execute a find command; however, it displays results in a customized way, and your options for displaying this enhanced find are limitless. The example shows you how to take a system command and make it better (or at least more customized).
The script basically performs three tasks:
Get the search pattern from the user. Perform the search. Present the results to the user.
In writing the script, constantly ask yourself this question, "Which task is this code supporting?" Asking yourself this question can increase the focus of your work and efficiency.
Listing 1. Search for files and list results with file permissions
import stat, sys, os, string, commands #Getting search pattern from user and assigning it to a list try: #run a 'find' command and assign results to a variable pattern = raw_input("Enter the file pattern to search for:
") commandString = "find " + pattern commandOutput = commands.getoutput(commandString) findResults = string.split(commandOutput, "
") #output find results, along with permissions print "Files:" print commandOutput print "================================" for file in findResults: mode=stat.S_IMODE(os.lstat(file)[stat.ST_MODE]) print "
Permissions for file ", file, ":" for level in "USR", "GRP", "OTH": for perm in "R", "W", "X": if mode & getattr(stat,"S_I"+perm+level): print level, " has ", perm, " permission" else: print level, " does NOT have ", perm, " permission" except: print "There was a problem - check the message above"
The program follows these steps:
Ask the user for a search pattern (lines 7-9). Print a listing of files found (lines 12-14). Using the stat module, get permissions for each file found and display them to the screen (lines 15-23).
When the program is run, the output looks like that shown in Listing 2.
Listing 2. Output of the first example
$ python example1.py Enter the file pattern to search for: j*.py FILES FOUND FOR PATTERN j*.py : jim.py jim2.py ================================ Permissions for file jim.py : USR R USR W USR X GRP - GRP - GRP - OTH - OTH - OTH - Permissions for file jim2.py : USR R USR W USR X GRP R GRP - GRP X OTH R OTH - OTH X
Example 2: Perform operations on a tar archive that is based on menu selection
The previous example prompted the user for a search pattern to use. Another way to get information from the user is through a command-line argument. The program in Listing 3 shows how to do that in Python: The code takes a tar filename as a command-line argument and then prompts the user with several options.
This example also shows a new way to attack the problem. The first example used the command module to run the find command and capture the output. This approach can be clumsy and isn't very "Pythonic." This example uses the tarfile module to open a tar file, which has the advantage of allowing you to use Python attributes and methods as you manipulate the file. With many modules provided by Python, you can do things that can't be done through the command line.
This is a good example of implementing a menu system in Python. The program performs different actions based on your selection:
If you press 1, the program prompts you for the file name in the archive to extract the current directory to and then extracts the file.
If you press 2, the program prompts you for the file name and then displays the file information.
If you press 3, the program lists all the files in the archive.
Listing 3. Perform actions on a tar archive based on your menu selection
import tarfile, sys try: #open tarfile tar = tarfile.open(sys.argv[1], "r:tar") #present menu and get selection selection = raw_input("Enter
\ 1 to extract a file
\ 2 to display information on a file in the archive
\ 3 to list all the files in the archive
") #perform actions based on selection above if selection == "1": filename = raw_input("enter the filename to extract: ") tar.extract(filename) elif selection == "2": filename = raw_input("enter the filename to inspect: ") for tarinfo in tar: if tarinfo.name == filename: print "
\ Filename:\t\t", tarinfo.name, "
\ Size:\t\t", tarinfo.size, "bytes
\ elif selection == "3": print tar.list(verbose=True) except: print "There was a problem running the program"
The program follows these steps:
Open the tar file (line 5). Present the menu and get the user selection (lines 8-11). If you press 1 (lines 14-16), extract a file from the archive. If you press 2 (lines 17-23), present information about a selected file. If you press 3 (lines 24-25), present information about all the files in the archive.
The output is shown in Listing 4.
Listing 4. User menu for second example
$ python example2.py jimstar.tar Enter 1 to extract a file 2 to display information on a file in the archive 3 to list all the files in the archive
Example 3: Check for a running process and show information in a friendly format
One of the most important duties of a system administrator is checking on running processes. The script in Listing 5 gives you some ideas. The program takes advantage of UNIX's ability to run a grep command on output generated by a command, which lets you automatically narrow the data Python has to parse.
This program also uses the string module. Get to know this module—you'll use it often.
Listing 5. Display information on a running process in a friendly format
import commands, os, string program = raw_input("Enter the name of the program to check: ") try: #perform a ps command and assign results to a list output = commands.getoutput("ps -f|grep " + program) proginfo = string.split(output) #display results print "
\ Full path:\t\t", proginfo[5], "
\ Owner:\t\t\t", proginfo[0], "
\ Process ID:\t\t", proginfo[1], "
\ Parent process ID:\t", proginfo[2], "
\ Time started:\t\t", proginfo[4] except: print "There was a problem with the program."
The program follows these steps:
Get the name of a process to check and assign it to a variable (line 3). Run the ps command and assign the results to a list (lines 7-8). Display detailed information about the process with English terms (lines 11-16).
The output is shown in Listing 6.
Listing 6. Output of the third example
$ python example3.py Enter the name of the program to check: xterm Full path: /usr/bin/xterm Owner: knowltoj Process ID: 3220 Parent process ID: 4308 Time started: 16:51:46
Example 4: Check userids and passwords for policy compliance
Managing security is a critical part of the job for any system administrator. Python makes this job easier, as the last example illustrates.
The program in Listing 7 uses the pwd module to access the password database. It checks userids and passwords for security policy compliance (in this case, that userids are at least six characters long and passwords are at least eight characters long).
There are two caveats:
This program works only if you have full rights to /etc/passwd.
If you use shadow passwords, this script won't work (however, Python 2.5 does have a spwd module that does the job).
Listing 7. Check userids and passwords for compliance with security policy
import pwd #initialize counters erroruser = [] errorpass = [] #get password database passwd_db = pwd.getpwall() try: #check each user and password for validity for entry in passwd_db: username = entry[0] password = entry [1] if len(username) < 6: erroruser.append(username) if len(password) < 8: errorpass.append(username) #print results to screen print "The following users have an invalid userid (less than six characters):" for item in erroruser: print item print "
The following users have invalid password(less than eight characters):" for item in errorpass: print item except: print "There was a problem running the script."
The program follows these steps:
Initialize the counter lists (lines 4-5). Open the password database and assign data to a list (line 8). Check users and passwords for validity (lines 12-18). Output invalid users and passwords (lines 21-26).
The output is shown in Listing 8.
Listing 8. Output of the fourth example
$ python example4.py The following users have an invalid userid (less than six characters): Guest The following users have invalid password(less than eight characters): Guest johnsmith joewilson suejones
Other uses for scripts
You can use Python in a number of ways to manage systems. One of the best things you can do is analyze your work, determine which tasks you perform repeatedly, and explore whether Python modules are available to help you with those tasks—almost certainly they are.
Some specific areas where Python can be of great help are as follows:
Managing servers: Checks patch levels for a particular application across a set of servers and updates them automatically.
Checks patch levels for a particular application across a set of servers and updates them automatically. Logging: Sends an e-mail automatically if a particular type of error shows up in the syslog.
Sends an e-mail automatically if a particular type of error shows up in the syslog. Networking: Makes a Telnet connection to a server and monitors the status of the connection.
Makes a Telnet connection to a server and monitors the status of the connection. Testing Web applications: Uses freely available tools to emulate a Web browser and verifies Web application functionality and performance.
These are just a few examples—I'm sure you can add useful ideas of your own.
Summary
With its easy-to-learn language; its ability to handle files, processes, strings, and numbers; and its almost endless array of helper modules, Python is a scripting language that looks like it was made for system administrators. It's a valuable tool for any system administrator's toolbox.
Downloadable resources
Related topicsThe great philosopher Paracelsus —who is considered to be the father of Toxicology — in the 15th century said, “ all substances are poisons, there is none which is not a poison…the right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy”. In other words, the dose makes the poison. Such is the case with botulinum neurotoxin (BoNt).
Botulinum neurotoxin is the most potent biological poison known to humans. It causes a potentially fatal food-poisoning disease, known as, botulism. So deadly, BoNT is classified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a Category A agent with the potential to be used as a weapon of bioterrorism. Yet, Botulinum toxin has also been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) as the anti-wrinkle cosmetic drug, BOTOX. In very minute amounts, BoNT can indeed be used as a therapeutic agent.
Botulism and Clostridium
Botulism is a paralytic disease resulting from exposure to toxins produced by Clostridium Botulinum (C. Botulinum) bacteria. Botulism causes flaccid paralysis of muscles and can lead to respiratory paralysis and death.
There are several types of Botulism, mainly, Food-borne (classic botulism), infantile, and wound botulism. Food-borne botulism is the most common type of botulism to occur in humans and is caused by the preformed toxin present in contaminated foods such as meats, fish, and vegetables. The toxin is heat-labile and can be destroyed by heating to 85 degrees celsius. Botulinum toxins can also be destroyed by acidity (vinegar), salting, or sugaring. Therefore Botulinum contamination usually occurs from the improper preservation or canning of foods. In infantile botulism, the gastrointestinal tract is colonized by C. Botulinum spores that germinate in the intestine, due to lack of competing microbiota. Wound botulism is rare and results from the infection of a wound with the clostridium botulinum bacteria itself or with its spores. Wound botulism is associated with injection drug use. In all cases, the presence or release of the toxin is responsible for causing illness.
Man-made Botulism
There are two other less common forms of Botulism, Inhalation botulism, and Iatrogenic botulism. Inhalation botulism is very rare and occurs when the toxin enters the respiratory tract. Aerosol formation of botulinum neurotoxins are not naturally occurring and would most likely represent an attempt at bioterrorism. Similarly, Iatrogenic botulism is due to human processes and results from the excessive use of BoNTs therapeutically or cosmetically.
C. Botulinum is a gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming bacterium that germinates in anaerobic conditions (devoid of oxygen). C. Botulinum naturally occur in soil and are found in the intestines of some animals. Clostridia indirectly cause Botulism through the action of the toxins that they produce. The toxicity of botulinum neurotoxins rivals that of cobra venom and cyanide.
The toxins that cause Botulism are produced by a diverse group of Clostridium. The groups are considered to be different species, with groups I and II being the main causes of Botulism in humans. Other species that produce botulism in humans are Clostridium baratii and Clostridium buytricum ( group V and VI respectively). The other groups do not affect humans. Group III for instance, produces Botulism in birds.
Botulinum Neurotoxins (BoNTs)
There are 7 distinct botulinum neurotoxins, denoted botulinum neurotoxin A, B, C, D, E, F, and G (BoNT/A-G). BoNT/A, B, E, F, and G are responsible for botulism in humans, while the other forms cause disease in animals and fish. The toxins do not have any odor or taste and are not destroyed by stomach acid or digestives enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract. Once ingested, the toxins cross the intestinal membrane, enter the bloodstream, and distribute to the synapses of motor neurons. BoNTs are extremely toxic, with very small amounts needed to produce lethality.
Six different species, Seven different toxins, BoNT/A is the most toxic, followed by B & E. Group I – BoNT A, B, E, F, or G (Proteolytic C. Botulinum)
Group II – BoNT B, E, F (Non-Proteolytic C. Botulinum)
Group III – BoNT C, D (C. Botulinum)
Group IV – BoNT G (C. argentinense)
Group V – BoNT F (C. baratii)
Group VI – BoNT E (C. butyricum)
Mechanism of Action
Botulinum neurotoxins are large protein complexes (zinc metalloproteases) that are deposited by the bacteria into food and act as proteases in the body. By cleaving specific proteins necessary for the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine into the neuronal-muscular junction, BoNTs cause flaccid muscle paralysis, that affects both striated and smooth muscles. They effectively prevent the innervation of muscles in the body.
Signs & Symptoms of Botulinum Toxicity
Botulism typically presents within 12 to 36 hours after ingestion, and initially causes dry mouth, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, and weakness. However, the hallmark sign of botulinum poisoning is acute symmetrical cranial nerve impairment, which results in blurred or double vision, drooping of the upper eyelids, and difficulty speaking and swallowing due to muscle weakness.
Botulism progresses on to descending muscle paralysis which impacts the neck, limbs, and trunk, as well as, causing respiratory arrest. If not treated botulism ultimately results in death. Due to improvements in clinical care, botulism is increasingly less fatal. Measures such as respiratory support and administration of antitoxin have significantly reduced the likelihood of death from botulism. Still, recovery is slow and may require several weeks to months of hospitalization. Prolonged or permanent muscle paralysis is likely an outcome.
Toxin to Therapeutic (The Dose Makes The Poison)
If the dose makes the poison, then it stands to reason, that there may be a therapeutic index, or range of doses between that which is effective, at producing a desirable effect, and that which produces toxic action. In addition to dose, what distinguishes a toxic effect from a therapeutic one is also governed by the duration and route of exposure/administration. As such, when BoNT is extracted as a purified protein, it can be used as a therapeutic drug.
History of Therapeutic Use
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration originally approved botulinum neurotoxins for use as a drug in 1989, for the treatment of several ophthalmic and neuromuscular diseases such as strabismus (“lazy eye”/”crossed-eyes”), blepharospasm (uncontrolled twitching of the eyelids), and hemifacial spasms. It was later approved for cosmetic use in 2002 after it was observed in patients treated for ophthalmologic conditions also experienced a loss of wrinkles around the eyes.
Botulinum Neurotoxins are now used to treat a wide range of disorders characterized by hyperexcitability of peripheral nerves and hypersecretory syndromes. As such it has been employed in the management of chronic migraines as well as the alleviation of axillary hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) off-label uses are the treatment of facial lines other that forehead wrinkles, tremors, juvenile cerebral palsy, and migraine headaches.
BoNT/A – BOTOX
Botulinum Neurotoxin A (BoNt/A) was the first biological toxin licensed for use as a treatment in humans. When injected intramuscularly, BoNT/A reduces muscle hyperactivity and contractility. The effect is not permanent, but muscles are weakened just enough to relieve spasticity, without causing complete loss of function.
BoNTs are hazardous when exposure is systemic (occurring orally or via inhalation), but controlled localized administration of minuscule amounts of BoNTs are safe. BoNT/A is commonly known as Botox. One vial of Botox contains less than 30 times the amounts of toxin needed to cause death in an average sized adult. The therapeutic dose may be as little as 3 units of BoNT/A. On average 30 units of Botox are used for cosmetic purposes, and as much as 400 units can be safely used in large muscles. Comparably, it takes about 3000 units of toxin or 1 nanogram per kilogram of body weight to cause death.
BoNT/A for Chronic Migraine
Migraines are a debilitating neurological disorder. Chronic migraines are characterized by recurrent episodes of throbbing headaches that last for hours or days. Chronic migraines are accompanied by symptoms such as nausea, sensitivity to light, and sensitivity to sound. Migraines that occur less than 15 times a month are considered “episodic” versus “chronic” migraines which occur 15 or more times a month, for at least 3 months.
BoNT/A was originally recognized as a potential treatment for migraine sufferers when patients reported alleviation of their migraines for up to 4 or 5 months after receiving cosmetic BOTOX treatments. Subsequently, animal and human studies confirmed that BoNT/A effectively reduces the frequency of chronic migraine headaches.
BoNT/A was approved in 2010, for the prevention of headaches in adults with chronic migraine. It is administered every 12 weeks in the form of multiple injections to the superficial muscles around the head. The effects are long-lasting but reversible. However, it is not effective as a treatment for other types of headaches and does not have any effect on the migraine symptoms of nausea, or sensitivity to light and sound.
The exact reason why BoNT/A relieves chronic migraine headaches is not known. For sure, it is not due to BoNTs ability to relax muscles, as aberrant muscle tone does not play a primary role in migraine pain. BoNTs prevent exocytosis and the release of acetylcholine, thereby weakening muscles, but they also have effects on pain and inflammation in the peripheral nervous system. By inhibiting the release of pain peptides, inflammatory mediators known as bradykinins, and the neurotransmitters glutamate, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine from motor-sensory nerves, BoNTs inhibit neurogenic inflammation and desensitize periphery nerves responsible for transmitting pain signals to the central nervous system. Reducing pain signaling from the peripheral nervous system, which essentially blocks the central nervous system from perceiving pain.
Adverse Reactions with Therapeutic Use & Contraindications
There are three Botulinum toxin preparations available for clinical use in the United States. They are commercially known as, BOTOX, MYOBLOC, and DYSPORT. BOTOX and DYSPORT are different preparations of BoNT/A, while MYOBLOC is made with BoNT/B. The preparation differs in potency from each other, and should not be used interchangeably without accounting for this factor.
Repeated treatment may result in a decrease in efficacy, due to a potential for the formation of antibodies against the toxin. However, the use of hybrid toxin may prolong the therapeutic efficacy of BoNTs. Excessive treatment with BoNTs for cosmetic or therapeutic purposes can result in Iatrogenic botulism, which produces symptoms similar to classic botulism. However, this is rare.
Botulinum neurotoxins should not be administered to pregnant women, people with allergies to aminoglycoside antibiotics, those who are on anticoagulant therapy, or to anyone who has a neuromuscular junction disorder. Otherwise, when the appropriate dose and site of administration is chosen, BoNTs are safe and effective as medicinal treatment for a host of ailments, characterized by spasms, twitching, tremors, neurological pain, and secretory disorders.
Summary
It is important to keep in mind that there are a number of factors influencing safety and toxicity, such as route of exposure, duration of exposure, concentration, and pharmacodynamics (how the drug affects the body). Aside from the properties of a substance outside the body, or its action within, it is equally important to understand the pharmacokinetics (the effect the body has on the substance). The body may distribute it, neutralize or increase its toxicity through metabolism, clear it through excretion, or accumulate and sequester it in bone, fat, or soft tissue.
Botulinum toxin is only one example of a poisonous substance that can be used in a beneficial way. Even the spores of Clostridium bacteria that produce the toxin, are now being investigated as vehicles for the delivery of anti-cancer drugs. Conversely, substances that are generally considered to be safe, with incorrect use, can be harmful.
Resources:
Ram Kumar Dhaked, Manglesh Kumar Singh, Padma Singh, and Pallavi Gupta, 2010. Botulium Toxin: Bioweapon & Magic Drug. Indian J Med Res. Vol. 132(5) p 489 – 503.
Davis L.E., 1993. Botulinum Toxin From Poison to Medicine. West J Med. Jan Vol.158, p 25 -29
Dong-Wan Kim, Sun Kyung Lee, and Joohong Ahnn, 2015. Botulinum Toxin as a Pain Killer: Players and Actions in Antinociception. Toxins(Basel) Vol. 7(7), p 2435-2453.
Barile, Frank A. Clinical Toxicology Principles and Mechanisms –2nd Ed. Informa, New York, NY, p 432.
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 2001. Handbook of Infectious Diseases. Springhouse, Pennsylvania, p42 -43.
Sinclair R, Boone SA, Greenberg D, Keim P, Gerba CP. Persitence of category A agents in the environment. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2008 Feb;74(3):555-63.
Kubiak A.M. and Minton N.P., 2015. The potential of clostridial spores as therapeutic delivery vehicles in tumour therapy. Res Microbiol. May; Vol 166(4), p 244-54.
RelatedThe Mall of America is taking legal action in a bid to stop an upcoming protest by members of the Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter.
The mall has requested a temporary restraining order that will halt the group’s plans to protest Wednesday over the police shooting death of Jamar Clark, the Associated Press reports. Clark, a 24-year-old black man, was killed last month.
Eight Black Lives Matters activists are being sued, according to CBS Minnesota. The protesters have pledged to follow through with their event after last year’s protest at the same mall drew more than 2,000 people.
“A year after our first Mall of America action, we have not seen nearly enough progress in our state,” the group wrote on Facebook.
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The mall is private property and doesn’t allow protests, according to AP. The court hearing was scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.
[AP]
Contact us at editors@time.com.I’ve been playing with Home Assistant frontend for a past month or so, and decided to create a tutorial on how to customize state cards. I just wanted if there are any best practices for HA FE code, other than things in frontend development section?
Things that I’m especially interested in is:
Adding frontend enhancements in a modular way, so that each card customization can be put as a separate git repo that would be checked in (or ideally kept as a package❤, be it bower or npm, tough polymer 2 and npm don’t play together AFAIK).
Customizing card state? Add State Card guide doesn’t cut it for two reasons: It suggest you editing /util/hass-util.html in HA frontend, which is not something you want to do. After digging though links in cookbook, it mentioned one example which used homeassistant.customize to adjust the custom_ui_state_card which would be cool, but it doesn’t always work.
Is there a quickies/easier way to set up the frontend development environment than following steps in the frontend setup? I’m thinking a Docker image that would take care of all of this.
I’d be very grateful for the responses, that will help me to create an article that, I hope, will aid HA community.Tazmamart (Arabic: سجن تازمامرت) was a secret prison in south-eastern Morocco in the Atlas Mountains, holding political prisoners. The prison became a symbol of oppression in the political history of contemporary Morocco. It is located near the city of Er-Rich, between Errachida and Midelt. It was managed by commandant Feddoul and Hamidou Laanigri, both Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie officials.[1]
History [ edit ]
Tazmamart Prison was built in 1972,[2] after the second failed coup d'etat against the late Hassan II of Morocco in August 1972, 58 army officers were sent to Kenitra prison and later to Tazmamart. According to Ali Bourequat, the prison later held also some Sahrawi nationalists and other "disappeared" political offenders.
During the 1980s, there were allegations about the existence of a prison called Tazmamart. Authorities (or Makhzen) were denying all of those allegations. It was not until the publication of the book Notre ami le Roi (Our friend the King) by French journalist Gilles Perrault in 1990 that the issue was raised at a political level. Thomas Miller, who at the time was Director for North African Affairs at the State Department, said in an oral history that he was contacted by American citizen Nancy Touil, who said her husband M’Barek Touil had been languishing in Tazmamart for nearly two decades. Miller inserted a talking point in the background papers for President George H.W. Bush for his 1991 meeting with King Hassan. Bush raised the issue, much to the King's dismay.[3]
In 1991, and after pressure from international human rights groups and some foreign governments, Hassan II of Morocco decided to close down the prison and release the last remaining detainees. Some fled abroad, others stayed in Morocco, but were prevented from discussing their experiences in Tazmamart publicly.[4]
Human conditions [ edit ]
According to some former detainees and human rights groups, conditions at Tazmamart were extremely harsh. While torture and ill treatment occurred, the appalling prison conditions were the biggest threat to the lives of inmates.
The prisoners were put in cramped single-person underground cells 24 hours a day. They were allowed no human contact, no light, and very little in the way of food or protection from the summer heat, or winter cold. There was no medical treatment for injuries caused by torture and diseases like tuberculosis. Also, the food rations were minimal.[5] There are also allegations of executions.[6] All in all, 35 prisoners, or more than half of the people incarcerated at Tazmamart during the eighteen years died,[7] before the prison was finally closed in 1991.
Post-Years of lead [ edit ]
Rumours about Tazmamart's existence were put about as an instrument of terror by the makhzen, but even though several human rights organizations had reported on existence of Tazmamart,[8] the regime officially denied all knowledge of the prison until 1991 [9] when US pressure forced the release of the surviving prisoners. The camp was closed along with several others of its kind, but Tazmamart remains a particularly powerful symbol of the oppressive "years of lead" in Morocco. Survivors have staged memorial marches to the prison.[10]
Rumours persist about the continued existence of Tazmamart-style camps in Morocco, as it has been documented that secret detention and torture of suspects continues, possibly in collaboration with the American CIA (see Black sites).[11][12]
Publications by former inmates [ edit ]
Several of the former inmates have since written books on their sometimes decades-long stay in Tazmamart, for example Ali Bourequat's In the Moroccan King's Secret Gardens and Ahmed Marzouki's Tazmamart: Cell No. 10. Famous Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun has written This Blinding Absence of Light, based on the experiences of one Tazmamart prisoner.[13]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]With medicinal marijuana licenses in hand, New York dispensaries are finally gearing up to sell cannabis legally beginning Thursday.
Columbia Care arguably has one the buzziest dispensary locations in New York City's Union Square neighborhood. The state in July granted five medicinal marijuana licenses.
Nicholas Vita, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, runs Columbia Care. He's gearing up to open his shop on 14th Street. Business neighbors include a CityMD office and a Chickpea restaurant.
"Almost every subway line in the |
name right away, you still have options.
If you have a “.com” domain or trademark for the Twitter handle you want to claim, you can request a Twitter handle if the account that has been inactive for at least a year. Here’s more on this process.
After this review, we shared our names with our customers and then decided on our top three. We highlighted what we liked and disliked about each one.
We then weighed the options as a team and chose our new name — Crew.
It was short. It was easy to spell. It was easy to pronounce. And we loved what it stood for.
The definition of “crew” is, “a group of persons involved in a particular kind of work or working together.” In essence, this is what our company does — connecting people with professionals to do exceptional work.
We were happy.
A name doesn’t make a company successful
Sometimes when we need to brand something, the right name seems to come instantly. It happened with this photography project we created called Unsplash.
Other times, finding the right name can take much longer like in the case of Crew.
Think about your company name as much as you want but when you feel you’re ready, trust your gut, and make a choice. A name is an easy thing to over-think but ultimately, your company name is what you make of it.
Finding the right name for your company can help with things like word-of-mouth and memorability but it’s not a deal breaker for success. The quality of the company is what matters most.
Read next: 8tracks releases major iOS overhaul as it prepares to take on music streaming's biggest playersJohannesburg - A US city councilman from Mobile, Alabama is in a stable condition after he was shot in the face in Johannesburg during a robbery over the weekend.
US news outlets report CJ Small was shot on Saturday when a tour bus he was riding on was ambushed and people on board were robbed.
Mobile City Council spokesperson Marion Steinfels said in a statement that Small is expected to recover.
Small, who owns a mortuary, travelled to South Africa to attend the South African Funeral Director & Morticians Association Convention.
The family is working with the US Consulate Office in Johannesburg as well as the Secretary of State in Washington.
It is unclear when he will be able to be released from the hospital and return to the States.
- Read more: Witness describes hijacking of US official in JoburgMane-inspired Reds in transition-focused victory
Klopp’s Liverpool hosted high-flying Tottenham on Saturday evening still looking for their first league win of 2017, with a poor run of form that saw them drop from 2nd to 6th, albeit temporarily. Pochettino’s men however were unbeaten in their last 9 league games, winning 7 and earning the title of Chelsea’s main “challengers”. The clash between both sides’ high intensity approach was an element that added further intrigue to a tie which already had the league’s attention.
Liverpool shut down Spurs’ build-up
Both sides are renowned in the league for their high pressing, counterpressing and generally intense defending, thus it was no surprise that these were a major part of the game. Liverpool’s ability to prevent Spurs building attacks from deep effectively stood out and had a large effect on the flow of the game. One major factor was Liverpool’s typically strong ball-orientation which allowed them to prevent easy progressions on the ball side. Furthermore it invited difficult, long distance passes to the seemingly open side, where the time taken for the ball to land allowed Liverpool to create pressure in the surrounding area.
When Spurs tried to build-up from Lloris, Liverpool often left Spurs’ centre backs free to receive the first pass before they started pressing. By doing so Liverpool could tempt Tottenham into passing out and thus attempt to force turnovers in their half leading to more dangerous transitional attacks. When Dier or Alderweireld received the ball they would be pressed diagonally by Liverpool’s ball-near winger, with this pressing angle designed to block the pass into the nearby full-back.
Firmino would drop deeper slightly to block the passing lane into Spurs’ nearby midfielder. Whilst he was not always directly blocking the route into the centre, his positioning allowed him to threaten these passes with interceptions or aggressive backwards pressing. Due to the large distance between the Tottenham centre backs in these situations, Firmino was not concerned with blocking switches between the pair.
Liverpool’s ball-far winger would move centrally to block diagonal routes into midfield but was also constantly aware of switches to the nearby centre back, and the long distance the ball would have to travel encouraged them to press these passes aggressively. In midfield the ball-near 8 was initially responsible for pushing forward to mark Spurs’ closest midfielder whilst the ball-far 8 would assist Henderson control the 10 space, whilst retaining access to Spurs’ ball-far holding midfielder.
When the London side made switches in deep build-up the winger on the ball’s new side would approach Dier or Alderweirled with a different body position, aiming to block the central pass instead. This gave the midfield players more time to shift across, and the nearest 8 would move wide to press the full-back if the ball was successfully forced out wide.
For much of the first half, Pochettino’s men were unable to build-up effectively against this pressing. Liverpool’s ball-near mechanisms and intensity blocked easy routes forwards on the near side, and their positioning allowed them to press long switches intensely.
On the occasions that Spurs were able to pass into Wanyama or Dembele in build-up, the pressing from Lallana or Wijnaldum respectively prevented them from turning out, forcing return passes to the centre backs in the process. The pressing Liverpool midfielder would use this momentum to press the receiving centre back whilst covering the midfielder behind them. This combination of increasing pressure and restricting passing options was often enough to force the ball long or back to Lloris.
By unsettling the away side’s build-up, Liverpool were able to set-up advantageous opportunities to counter against a team still transitioning from their shape with the ball to close spaces without it.
Liverpool’s counter attacks
Both goals, and several other chances came from Liverpool’s threat in counter attacking situations and there were a number of aspects behind their efficacy in transition.
One interesting feature was how they recovered the ball to set up these transitional attacks. Through players such as Firmino working back from higher pressing, or at times the likes of Mane pressing aggressively towards the centre from wide; Klopp’s men were able to benefit from the advantages of blind side pressing. By approaching opponents from the blind side, they could nick the ball away from unaware opponents. This was clearly a result of trained instincts to collapse on the ball in central areas, allowing players to press in a multi-directional manner.
Perhaps the key factor of these counter attacks was diagonal runs from the likes of Firmino and Mane. Firstly these runs offered the ball carrier the chance to split the opposing defence with through balls. Furthermore, the diagonal movements from Liverpool’s forwards moved Spurs’ backline into narrow positions to cover, allowing more space for counters from wider areas through the likes of Clyne. These movements also acted as space openers, creating more room for the ball carrier to dribble by tying Spurs defenders back into deep positions.
Through their runners in either half space, Liverpool often had the ability to switch the direction of their attack. This was crucial in giving them a level of unpredictability and allowing them to access the far side quickly. This was particularly useful in allowing the likes of Clyne and Mane to use their superior speed against Davies to enter the box and create dangerous situations. The London side often lacked directional access in their counterpressing, meaning that they could put pressure on the ball, but couldn’t prevent Liverpool from exiting the surrounding area and countering through the far side.
Scrappy 2nd Half
The 2nd half was a largely low quality encounter with very little flow to the game due to a number of issues on both sides’ part.
In the early part of the 2nd half, Liverpool were able to sustain periods of possession in Tottenham’s half, allowing them to wind down the clock with little danger posed to their lead. One factor behind this was their pressing, although Pochettino had moved to a 4-3-1-2 earlier in the first half it failed to have the desired effect in build-up. The Argentine’s plan may have been to have a wider base in midfield, occupying Liverpool’s wingers, and thus creating more space for the full-backs to build. Or to engage both Liverpool’s 8s in a higher press, opening passing routes to the likes of Kane and Alli in the process.
However Liverpool were able to deal with Spurs’ wider midfield by adjusting the positioning of the ball-far winger. They would now play even narrower than previously give immediate access in the event of Spurs’ playing diagonally to Eriksen or Dembele/Wanyama. However they were still able to combine this with sprinting forwards to press any switches between the Tottenham centre backs.
The home side themselves rarely attempted to build attacks from deep, perhaps wary of Tottenham’s pressing, instead focusing on a direct approach and positioning themselves for 2nd balls and counterpressing. Wijnaldum and Lallana were key to this, starting in narrow positions near the ball they were also positioned fairly deep, allowing them to run onto loose balls or use their forward momentum for counterpressing.
With both sides unable or unwilling to build attacks cleanly through the pressure of their opponents there were numerous sideline battles in the 2nd half. Under intense pressure, long balls to the flanks were often the go-to option since they initially represented the areas of greatest respite from the opponents. However, players on both sides struggled to combine their pressing in wide areas, with an adequate awareness of their team-mates’ positioning and viable exit routes. Thus, both sides were often forced into aimless long balls when regaining the ball in these situations.
Alternately these sideline battles led to a number of set-pieces caused either by the proximity of the touchline or over-zealous challenges in an attempt to prevent the opponent escaping and accessing the underloaded flank.
Conclusion
Klopp’s side finally secured their first league win of the new year and the convincing manner of the victory will have the Anfield faithful hoping of a return to their form of the first half of the season. The impact of Mane’s presence was visible, as was their continued ability to dominate clashes against fellow top-6 rivals. With only league games left in the season, and the return of Mane Liverpool look primed for a strong finish to the season. Although it appears too late for a title challenge, it will give them a strong chance of a top four finish.
Defeat for Pochettino’s men leaves them in danger of losing 2nd spot, and only 2 points above 6th spot. The North Londoners are embroiled in a 5-way battle for the 3 remaining top four positions and the Europa League may take on increased significance as a back-up route to next season’s Champions League.On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015
Hillary Clinton will appear on Fox News for the first time in two years. | AP Photo Hillary Clinton agrees to participate in Fox News town hall
Hillary Clinton has agreed to participate in a Fox News Democratic town hall on Monday, marking the first time the network has hosted a Democratic candidate event in years.
Bernie Sanders was initially going to appear on his own with host Bret Baier as Clinton cited a scheduling conflict. But by Friday that had changed.
It will mark Clinton's first appearance on Fox in two years. Sanders was on Fox News Sunday last month.
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace had made it a mission of sorts to get Clinton to appear on his program, going so far as to show photos of two of Clinton's top communication aides in an effort to get them to respond to his emails.
The town hall will air Monday at 6pm from Detroit, Mich.This photo has been kindly provided by Dr István Ujváry.
Mitragyna speciosa Korth. (of the Rubiaceae family) is a 4 to 16 metre high tropical tree indigenous to South East Asia, the Philippines and New Guinea but now cultivated elsewhere. In Thailand, the tree and leaf-preparations from it are called kratom. Traditionally, fresh or dried kratom leaves are chewed or made into tea; they are seldom smoked. At a low dose, kratom has stimulant effects and is used to combat fatigue during long working hours. At high dosages, however, it can have sedative-narcotic effects. It is also used in traditional medicine and as an opium substitute. The phytochemicals isolated from various parts of the tree include over 40 structurally related alkaloids as well as several flavonoids, terpenoid saponins, polyphenols, and various glycosides. The main psychoactive components in the leaves are mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, both found only in Mitragyna speciosa.
Chemistry
Molecular structure: Mitragynine
Molecular formula: C 23 H 30 N 2 O 4
Molecular weight: 398.50 g/mol
Mitragynine is the most abundant alkaloid in the leaves. It was first isolated in 1921 and its chemical structure was fully elucidated in 1964. The systematic (Chemical Abstract) name is (αE,2S,3S,12bS)-3-ethyl-1,2,3,4,6,7,12,12b-octahydro-8-methoxy-α-(methoxymethylene)-indolo[2,3-a]quinolizine-2-acetic acid methyl ester (CAS Registry Number: 4098-40-2). Other names: (E)-16,17-didehydro-9,17-dimethoxy-17,18-seco-20α-yohimban-16-carboxylic acid methyl ester, 9-methoxycorynantheidine, and SK&F 12711.
Mitragynine is insoluble in water but soluble in conventional organic solvents, including acetone, acetic acid, alcohols, chloroform and diethyl ether providing fluorescent solutions. Mitragynine distils at 230–240 °C at 5 mmHg. It forms white, amorphous crystals that melt at 102–106 °C. The melting point of mitragynine hydrochloric acid salt is 243°C; the picrate melts at 223–224 °C and the acetate at 142 °C.
Molecular structure: 7-hydroxymitragynine
Molecular formula: C 23 H 30 N 2 O 5
Molecular weight: 414.50 g/mol
7-Hydroxymitragynine is present only in very small amounts in kratom leaves and was identified in 1993. Its systematic (Chemical Abstract) name is (αE,2S,3S,7aS,12bS)-3-ethyl-1,2,3,4,6,7,7a,12b-octahydro-7a-hydroxy-8-methoxy-α-(methoxymethylene)-indolo[2,3-a]quinolizine-2-acetic acid methyl ester (CAS Registry Number: 174418-82-7).
The chemical total syntheses reported for several kratom alkaloids are too complex to be used for economic production of any these compounds. However, mitragynine can serve as a chemical precursor to the more potent 7-hydroxymitragynine.
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Physical form
The leaves of the tree Mitragyna speciosa are oval or ovate-lanceolate and dark green in colour and can grow to 180 mm long and 100 mm wide. The veins of the leaves are either greenish-white or red — the former is reputed to be more potent. The average weight of a fresh and a dried leaf is about 1.7 and 0.43 g respectively. The yellow and globular flowers of the tree bear up to 120 florets. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous small flat seeds.
Kratom products are usually supplied as crushed or powdered dried leaves that are light to dark green in colour. Powdery, greenish or beige-brown kratom preparations fortified with extracts from other leaves are also available. Stable, paste-like extracts and dark brown kratom resin can be made by partially or fully boiling down the water from aqueous kratom leaf suspensions. Tinctures and capsules, filled with powdered kratom, are also available.
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Pharmacology
Kratom preparations contain several phytochemicals in varying ratios rendering their proper pharmacological evaluation difficult. Human clinical studies are scarce.
In general, the effects of kratom in humans are dose-dependent: small doses produce ‘cocaine-like’ stimulation while larger dosages cause ‘morphine-like’ sedative-narcotic effects.
After taking a few grams of dried leaves, the invigorating effects and euphoria are felt within 10 minutes and last for one to one and a half hours. Kratom users report increased work capacity, alertness, sociability and sometimes heightened sexual desire. The pupils are usually normal or very slightly contracted; blushing may be noted. In one of the few human clinical experiments, a 50 mg oral dose of mitragynine produced motor excitement, followed by giddiness, loss of motor coordination (positive Romberg’s test), and tremors of the extremities and face. For regular kratom users, loss of weight, tiredness, constipation, and hyperpigmentation of the cheek may be notable side effects. The pharmacological mechanism responsible for stimulant activity is unclear.
Kratom taken in large, sedating doses corresponding to 10–25 g of dried leaves may initially produce sweating, dizziness, nausea and dysphoria but these effects are shortly superseded with calmness, euphoria and a dreamlike state that last for up to six hours. Contracted pupils (miosis) are noted.
Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, the two alkaloids mainly responsible for the effects of kratom, are selective and full agonists of the μ-subtype opioid receptor (MOR). The receptor agonist effect of kratom alkaloids is antagonised by the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone. In addition, 5-HT 2a and postsynaptic α 2 -adrenergic receptors, as well as neuronal Ca2+ channels are also involved in the unique pharmacological and behavioural activity of mitragynine.
In animal studies, the antinociceptive and cough-suppressant effects of mitragynine were comparable to those of codeine. In mice, 7-hydroxymitragynine was several times more potent analgesic than morphine even upon oral administration.
Kratom is slightly toxic to animals. Mice chronically treated with 7-hydroxymitragynine developed tolerance, cross-tolerance to morphine and withdrawal signs that could be precipitated by naloxone administration.
Regular kratom use may produce dependence. The withdrawal symptoms in humans are relatively mild and typically diminish within a week. Craving, weakness and lethargy, anxiety, restlessness, rhinorrhea, myalgia, nausea, sweating, muscle pain, jerky movements of the limbs, tremor as well as sleep disturbances and hallucination may occur. Treatment, if needed, may include dihydrocodeine-lofexidine combination, non-steroidal antiinflammatory agents, antidepressants and/or anxiolytics.
The metabolism of mitragynine in humans occurs via hydrolysis of the side-chain ester, O-demethylation of the methoxy groups, oxidative and/or reductive transformations, and the formation of glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. In a man who fatally overdosed propylhexedrine and kratom, the postmortem mitragynine concentrations ranged from 0.01 mg/kg to 1.20 mg/l.
The consumption of kratom concomitantly with other drugs can provoke serious side effects. In fact, adverse drug interactions involving kratom tea taken with carisoprodol, modafinil, propylhexedrine or Datura stramonium have been reported. A fatal case in the United States involved a blend of kratom, fentanyl, diphenhydramine, caffeine and morphine sold as a herbal drug.
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Origin
Dried kratom leaves sold in ‘head/smart/herbal shops’ and over the Internet are thought to originate from Mitragyna speciosa cultivated in South East Asia, most likely in Indonesia (‘Bali kratom’) where the plant is not controlled.
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Mode of use
Traditionally, the fresh or dried leaves of kratom are chewed or brewed into tea. When making tea, lemon juice is often added to facilitate the extraction of plant alkaloids; before drinking, sugar or honey may be added to mask the bitter taste of the brew. The dried leaves are occasionally smoked.
To experience vigour and euphoria, traditional ‘kratom eaters’ chew one to three fresh leaves at a time. The veins are usually removed from the leaves before eating and sometimes salt is added ‘to prevent constipation’. Only the masticated material is swallowed. Consumption is followed by drinking warm water or coffee, tea or palm sugar syrup. Regular and addicted users chew 3 to 10 times a day. When kratom is not available, the leaves of Mitragyna javanica (other name Mitragyna parvifolia) are used as substitute.
In southern Thailand, in recent years homemade ice-cold cocktails, called ‘4x100’, have become popular for their alleged alcohol-mimicking effect among young Muslim people. The cocktails are made from kratom leaves, a caffeine-containing soft drink, and codeine- or diphenhydramine-containing cough syrup as the three basic ingredients to which ice cubes, an anxiolytic, an antidepressant or an analgesic drug is added.
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Other names
The genus was given its Mitragyna name by the Dutch botanist Korthals because the leaves and the stigmas of the flowers of the plant resemble the shape of a bishop’s mitre. Other names of the plant are krathom, kakuam, ithang or thom (Thailand), biak-biak or ketum (Malaysia), and mambog (Philippines).
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Analysis
The alkaloid composition of botanical and forensic samples can be analysed by regular chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. Phylogenetic characterisation of kratom samples by specific DNA nucleotide sequences can complement the phytochemical analyses.
Kratom alkaloids can be separated by thin layer chromatography on silica gel plates with detection by UV (254 nm). Upon spraying with either modified Ehrlich’s reagent or ferric chloride-perchloric acid reagent, mitragynine gives purple or grey-to-brown spots, respectively.
The UV spectrum of the methanol solution of mitragynine shows a maximum at 225 nm with shoulders at 247, 285 and 293 nm. The characteristic absorption bands in the IR spectrum of mitragynine are at 3 365, 1 690 and 1 640 cm-1. Significant fragments in the electron impact ionisation mass spectrum (m/z): 398(M+), 383, 366, 269, 214, 200 and 186.
The UV spectrum of the ethanol solution of 7-hydroxymitragynine shows a maximum at 220 nm with shoulders at 245 and 305 nm. The characteristic absorption bands in the IR spectrum of 7-hydroxymitragynine in CHCl 3 are at 3 590, 2 850, 2 820, 2 750, 1 700, 1 645, 1 630, 1 600, 1 490, 1 465 and 1 440 cm-1. Significant fragments in the electron impact ionisation mass spectrum (m/z): 414(M+), 397, 383 and 367.
The parent alkaloids and their metabolites can be quantified in the urine at >100 ng/ml by GC-MS, at >25 ng/ml by HPLC-UV, and at >0.02 ng/ml for HPLC-MS. For example, the concentration of mitragynine in a forensic urine sample of a regular kratom user was 167 ng/ml (HPLC-MS). In a poisoning case, the blood serum concentration of mitragynine two weeks after cessation of regular oral ingestions of large doses (14–21 grams daily) of dried kratom leaves was 0.020 ng/ml (HPLC-MS).
No conventional immunological drug screening test is known that will detect kratom alkaloids.
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Typical potency
The chemical composition of kratom in commercial products is unspecified and depends on several factors, such as the particular variety and age of the plant, the environment, and the time of harvest. The total alkaloid concentration in dried leaves ranges from 0.5–1.5 %. In Thai varieties, mitragynine is the most abundant component (up to 66 % of total alkaloids) while 7-hydroxymitragynine is a minor constituent (up to 2 % of total alkaloid content). In Malaysian kratom varieties, mitragynine is present at lower concentration (12 % of total alkaloids). The typical mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine concentrations in dried leaf or powdered kratom products available in Japan were 12–21 mg/g and 0.11–0.39 mg/g, respectively; kratom resins contained 35.6–62.6 mg/g of mitragynine and 0.12–0.37 mg/g of 7-hydroxymitragynine.
According to GC-MS analysis of freshly made Malaysian ‘ketum’ drinks, prepared by extended boiling of fresh leaves in water, one 250 ml glass of ‘ketum’ contained 22.5–25 mg mitragynine. About three such drinks a day are said to be sufficient to diminish opiate withdrawal symptoms.
In the early 2000s, some obscure products labelled ‘kratom acetate’ or ‘mitragynine acetate’ did not actually contain mitragynine. In recent years, products sold in Germany and Sweden under the name ‘Krypton’ as enhanced kratom preparations turned out to contain caffeine and synthetic O-desmethyltramadol (ODT) as adulterants. ODT is a bioactive metabolite of the synthetic opioid analgesic tramadol and was apparently added to the herbal preparations to mimic the sedative-narcotic effects of kratom.
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Control status
Neither Mitragyna speciosa nor mitragynine or other alkaloids from the plant are listed in any of the Schedules of the United Nations Drug Conventions. Mitragyna speciosa and/or mitragynine and/or 7-hydroxymitragynine are currently (September 2011) controlled in a number of EU Member States such as Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
Other countries that control kratom under their narcotic law are Australia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. New Zealand controls Mitragyna speciosa and mitragynine under its Medicines Amendment Regulations. In the USA, kratom is not controlled though considered as a ’drug of concern’.
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Prevalence
Kratom appeared on the global drug market only recently, thus there is no information on the extent of its use outside South East Asia.
In Thailand, the National Household Surveys provide information on drug use prevalence in that country. The 2007 Survey (26 633 respondents aged 12–65 years) indicated that the lifetime, past year and past 30 days prevalences for kratom were 2.32 %, 0.81 % and 0.57 %, respectively. These figures, with the exception of lifetime use, were significantly higher than those for cannabis making kratom the most widely used illicit drug in the country. Also in Thailand, lifetime, past year and past 30-days prevalence studies among 13- to 16-year-old high-school students (n = 8 708–12 148) in 2002, 2003 and 2004 showed an increase in the lifetime use of kratom (from 3.97 % to 9.43 %) and cannabis (from 4.44 % to 6.75 %), while a slight decrease was noted for the use of amphetamines (2.79 % to 2.32 %). Past year and past 30-days prevalence use data followed similar trends.
A recent roadside survey involving 1 635 motor vehicle drivers in Thailand revealed the use of kratom by 0.9 % of the drivers, a prevalence close to that of cannabis (1.1 %) but much lower than that of amphetamines (1.8 %).Internet surveys conducted by the EMCDDA in 2008 indicated that kratom was one of the most widely offered ‘legal highs’ in 44 % of the investigated 27 European online shops along with Salvia divinorum (74 %), Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds (48 %), Spice smoking mixtures (37 %), and stimulant-containing capsules (59 %). A more extensive EMCDDA Internet survey in July 2011 showed that kratom was the most widely offered product with 128 out of 631 (or 20 %) of online retailers shipping it to the EU. An Internet snapshot carried out in the UK in April 2009 showed that among the 346 unique products offered by 39 shops kratom (n = 30) was second only to Salvia divinorum (n = 44).
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Price
Prices vary between countries and depend on the type and amount of the product purchased. According to the EMCDDA Internet surveys conducted in 2008, the prices of ‘Kratom 15X’ extracts ranged from EUR 2.1 to 10.3 per gram in the sampled European countries. In 2011, a follow-up EMCDDA snapshot of 314 online shops found that prices ranged from EUR 6 to 15 per 10 gram of dried kratom and EUR 7 to 8 per gram of ‘Kratom 15X’ extract.
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Medical use
Six Asian and four African Mitragyna species are known to be used in traditional medicine but the stimulant/sedative-narcotic/psychoactive effects are characteristic only for Mitragyna speciosa. In South East Asia, kratom is used as an antidiarrheal, a cough suppressant, an antidiabetic, an intestinal deworming agent and wound poultice as well as to wean addicts off heroin. Outside Asia, anecdotal use of kratom preparations for the self-treatment of chronic pain and opioid withdrawal symptoms and as a replacement for opioid analgesics have been reported. There is, however, no approved use of kratom or its alkaloids in modern medicine. It has been suggested that the therapeutic potential of kratom or its purified ingredients for the treatment of pain, depression and drug withdrawal symptoms should be explored.
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that we didn’t win a Super Bowl ring here. Looking back and seeing the direction they’re headed, that’s why I’m excited about seeing Thielen -- a wide receiver. They’ve drafted wide receivers in the past and brought wide receivers in. For a guy to come in with his story and his background, I think that’s why I’m here. It’s a great story.
What are you seeing from Thielen in this recent stretch? Despite some big numbers, he didn’t score a touchdown in the first seven weeks. What’s behind that surge?
Different Paths To Big Numbers Sunday's game between the Vikings and Falcons features two of the four 1,000-yard receivers in the NFL. Julio Jones and Adam Thielen have put up nearly identical numbers this season. Thielen Jones Targets 104 101 Rec. 70 66 Rec. Yds 1,005 1,039 Rec. TD 3 3 Draft pick Undrafted 6th ESPN Stats & Information
Moss: I really think he’s a little more focused. What I mean by "focused" -- you look at the play against the Rams where he caught it, spun out then got up the sideline. He’s not the fastest dude, but I think he will to want to do it, to make it happen, that’s really what stands out to me. He’s not coming out here with a lot of rah-rah. He’s not giving you the "Ooooooh" like Antonio Brown or Julio Jones. He’s not giving you that. What he’s giving you is consistent play. He’s bringing his lunch pail to work. What he’s been able to do along with [quarterback Case] Keenum, along with the defense, he’s uplifted this Minnesota Vikings team. I know from being able to listen to the fans, what I mean to the fan base and being able to see a guy come in, not comparing his numbers to mine, but to be able to see him scoring touchdowns, doing the things that they drafted a lot of wide receivers in the past to do and they just couldn’t do it. His story is what makes you cheer for him and not just him making plays last week, two weeks ago.
When did you realize Thielen was more than just a great story?
Moss: One of my biggest questions for him is how he’s transformed from not seeing coverage, not being game planned for. Where you’re just going out there warming up, as soon as the ball’s kicked off, whatever personnel they call, whatever play they call, you run it. If you have success, OK. Now it’s more that teams are game planning for you where you know you’re seeing certain coverages and coaches are telling you to be prepared for certain coverages. I would just like to know what’s the difference and how does he prepare.
The biggest thing to me that really stands out is not really where he stands with the other wide receivers. He has something different than those other guys. The other guys are great players but they "wow" you in other ways. Thielen is not a "wower." He’s not going to wow you, but he will bring you out of your seat. That’s the difference between him and the elite guys. The elite guys are going to wow you. I’m not putting him in a class and I’m not taking him out of a class. What he’s doing is a little different than Julio Jones, Keenan Allen. At the beginning of the season, teams weren’t game planning for him, and I don’t think a lot of people understand what an actual game plan is. You hear, "The game plan is to stop Randy Moss." That’s what you hear. Let’s go through the week of game planning. I would like to know how he approaches the game differently where early in his career or even earlier in the season it was just -- let’s roll the dice. Now they have to move him, they have to put him in different positions, they have to be able to change up the offensive scheme to try and help him get the ball.
Randy Moss is part of an exclusive club of Vikings players with 1,000 receiving yards in 11 weeks, and he did it twice, in 2000 and 2003. Jake Reed (1996) and Adam Thielen (2017) are the others. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Is there anything from his skill set that compares to yours?
Moss: No, he’s different. I like his body control. One of the biggest things I tried to work on a lot was body control: being in the air, being off-balance. We’re different wide receivers.
There’s a lot of things he’s doing that are going unnoticed, and it’s not scoring touchdowns. It’s his presence and his story. And I think the game planning of how he changes his preparation and how he approaches the game differently now [that is different] than two months ago.
You were at the Vikings' season opener and had a chance to see this team from the beginning of the season. Is it hard to believe everything they’ve accomplished despite some less-than-ideal circumstances with injuries?
Moss: It really is just for the fact of everything that they’ve had to overcome: Who’s the quarterback? How is he going to play? Our running back going out, he’s on IR. We’re basically taking an offensive line and putting guys in places trying to see if it works. As far as what the wide receivers have done, I think that’s what’s really gone unnoticed because a lot of attention has been on Teddy [Bridgewater] and [Sam] Bradford and Keenum and Dalvin Cook. And then Stefon [Diggs] going down for a short period of time. And then this man [Thielen] is picking up like -- "Hey man, we did have two, but we don’t need two. I can be the man to carry us down the stretch." He hasn’t disappointed yet.
And I know this story is about Thielen, but when you look at Keenum staying there in the pocket, getting hit right square in his mouth. A lot of quarterbacks see a defensive lineman coming at them, a lot of them throw it and cringe. Where’s the accuracy? Keenum -- boom! -- is taking it right in his mouth. If those guys were dropping those balls, all of that would hurt. But for the fact that you have guys scoring, making big third-down catches, that doesn’t hurt. Y’all keep bringing it. I know this story is about Thielen, but Keenum’s doing some good things, too. When you look at the overall production from the passing game, that’s scary.Donated by: Bobby Valentine
Grab 3 friends and have dinner and drinks with Bobby Valentine at his new restaurant, Bobby Valentine's Sports Gallery Cafe, in Stamford, CT!
Robert John Valentine, nicknamed "Bobby V", is a former American professional baseball player and manager. He is currently the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1969, 1971–72), California Angels (1973–75), New York Mets (1977–78), and Seattle Mariners (1979) in MLB. He managed the Texas Rangers (1985–92), the New York Mets (1996–2002), and the Boston Red Sox (2012) of MLB, as well as the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball(1995, 2004–09).
Valentine has also served as the Director of Public Safety & Health for the city of Stamford, Connecticut and an analyst for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. In February 2013, CBSSports.com hired Bobby Valentine to represent its Fantasy Sports business, including running a viral marketing campaign in which he made fun of the many times he was fired in his career and gave fans a chance to "Hire or Fire Bobby V" one more time.As a teenager in the Bronx in the 1940s, Edward J. Schaum couldn’t wait to join the Army.
After leaving high school to work for a telephone company, that’s what he did once he turned 18, eventually serving in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. But later in life, the Commack resident said he regretted never graduating from high school.
“He used to make jokes about it, you know, ‘Not bad for an eighth-grade graduate,’” said Susan Felberbaum, Schaum’s daughter. “At the time, school wasn’t important to him but I guess as he got older, he realized it was a shame he never got [his diploma].”
That changed Wednesday night when Schaum, 91, received a diploma from the Commack School District in a surprise ceremony.
Schaum thought he came to the Commack Board of Education meeting to watch his daughter receive a certificate for her service to the district, where she works as a library staff member at Burr Intermediate School. He was shocked to learn he was the one being honored.
“I don’t believe this,” Schaum said with a laugh.
As he came forward to receive his diploma from Commack High School Principal Leslie Boritz, Felberbaum watched with tears in her eyes, remarking that this was “probably the last thing on his bucket list.”
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“Unbelievable,” Schaum said after the ceremony, which was held at the Hubbs Administration Building in East Northport. “And a definite honor.”
Felberbaum and her 27-year-old son, Robert, and other family members came to celebrate Schaum’s achievement.
Boritz called Wednesday’s ceremony “a beautiful event that honors both his service to our country and his desire to complete this important step.”
Schaum enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1944 and was stationed in France, Germany, Hungary and Japan while serving as a rifleman until May 1946.
Felberbaum, 60, of Commack, said her father loved his time in the Army, and wanted to help civilians feel safe during the war. He received two Bronze Stars and several other victory medals for his service, Felberbaum said.
After his service, he briefly worked at a Bronx roller rink before becoming a New York City bus driver. He has three children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
In the spring, Felberbaum learned about Operation Recognition, a New York State program that allows World War II, Korean War and Vietnam Era veterans who left school early to receive their high school diplomas.
Felberbaum reached out to members of the Commack School District, and thought they might “just print out a diploma and give it to” her father, she said.
“It’s very emotional for us,” Felberbaum said earlier Wednesday. “At this point in his age, you know, there aren’t that many more things left for him to accomplish, and I think this will be a big accomplishment for him.”It is being reported that Koch Industries is considering bidding for the eight regional Tribune newspapers. The Tribune Company, having recently emerged from bankruptcy, is putting the papers up for sale. The Tribune papers include the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Orlando Sentinel and the Hartford Courant, and represent a substantial media presence. The New York Times, which has more than a passing interest in the subject, reports:
By early May, the Tribune Company is expected to send financial data to serious suitors in what will be among the largest sales of newspapers by circulation in the country. Koch Industries is among those interested, said several people with direct knowledge of the sale who spoke on the condition they not be named. … At this early stage, the thinking inside the Tribune Company, the people close to the deal said, is that Koch Industries could prove the most appealing buyer.
Well, let’s hope so. Buying newspapers and other media outlets is something we have long advocated. It will only help, of course, if conservative owners install management that will move the papers away from their usual staunch liberalism. Also, in order to make a difference the papers will need to do actual reporting as opposed to publishing AP stories. Whether the Koch brothers or anyone else can both pursue an ambitious news agenda and make money doing it in the current media environment remains to be seen.
The Times article is actually quite even-handed, but it does have its comic moments, like this one:
Conservatives, meanwhile, welcomed the idea of a handful of prominent papers spreading the ideas of economic “freedom” from taxes and regulation that the Kochs have championed.
Will this become a trend? Maybe the Times should always put the word “freedom” in quotes (unless they are talking about abortion, of course). Or maybe they should substitute the phrase “bourgeois freedom.”
The Times turns to several liberal activists and Democratic Party consultants for quotes on the prospect of Koch buying newspapers. One of the paper’s sources is Jane Mayer, who first put the Koch brothers in the Left’s crosshairs with a vicious smear in the New Yorker:
“So far, they haven’t seemed to be particularly enthusiastic about the role of the free press,” Ms. Mayer said in an e-mail, “but hopefully, if they become newspaper publishers, they’ll embrace it with a bit more enthusiasm.”
Actually, they haven’t been enthusiastic about being lied about by partisan hacks masquerading as journalists, like Ms. Mayer.
I think it would be great if Koch buys the Tribune newspapers; assuming, of course, that they are able to turn their political orientation away from the Left and get them to do real reporting. Who knows, if the Kochs own the Los Angeles Times, we may finally see the long-suppressed Rashid Khalidi video! But I also agree with Glenn Reynolds that it would be more effective to buy soft-news publications like People, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Us, and so on, as well as television production companies and maybe a TV network or two. Low-information voters are the ones conservatives have the most trouble reaching, and they don’t read the Chicago Tribune any more than they do the Weekly Standard. It is in the ostensibly non-political popular media that conservatives are really getting clobbered. Still, buying some newspapers is a reasonable place to start.THERE is no more smug sound than the words “good school” uttered by a middle class mouth.
You can imagine the parents of rosy-cheeked teenagers poring over this week’s school league tables and giving a wee mental pat on the back as they reassure themselves of how well they’re setting up young Delphinia and little Alphonso for a comfortable future.
I wonder if the parents who are delighted to have their children in a “good school” allowed their eyes to linger on that third numerical column, Deprivation.
I wonder if they noticed a correlation between how well a school performed and how deprived that school’s children are.
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is now used instead of Free School Meals to judge the affluence or otherwise of any given school. Scores are split into five quintiles, one being most deprived and five being least deprived.
At Williamwood, in East Renfrewshire, in the most recent data of school leavers, 88 per cent of pupils are in the two most affluent quintiles, 70 per cent of those in quintile five.
Not too far over the border in Glasgow is Castlemilk High School where 82 per cent of school leavers are in quintile one. Last year it was 90 per cent. There were none in quintile five.
Every year to accompany these league tables there is a pleased looking headteacher surrounded by blazer-clad teenagers looking equally pleased because their school is top.
I always feel a little embarrassed for these head teachers. There is no doubt these youngsters with piping round their lapels work hard. But how many of them are supported by private tutors? How many of them are coming to school hungry? Or truanting because by the time they check their mum hasn’t died of an overdose in the night then drop their younger siblings to primary school, they’re shattered?
Much success is the work of the school but much is the work of circumstance.
The Scottish Government's Commission On Widening Access last week suggested allowing pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to gain entrance to university with fewer secondary qualifications than those from affluent backgrounds. Middle-class parents cried foul, complaining university entrance would become a two-tiered system.
If a two-tiered system is unacceptable at higher education level then why is it acceptable at secondary education level? While league tables say very little about a school, they certainly speak plenty about how children in certain schools are segregated by social class.
Parents have strong opinions about private schools. But no one really discusses the parents who move for the schools.
These parents pay tens of thousands of pounds over the odds for properties in exclusively middle-class catchment areas and then say, with pride, they stuck to their principles and sent their child to the local school.
Moving for the schools is worse than going private. Going private at least nails your colours to the mast. Moving to East Renfrewshire, say, is for those who want to pretend they're morally better than the private school route while not taking any chances.
I spoke to a chap who mentors a child from a Glasgow school. His kid goes to one of your typical “leafy suburb” secondaries. “Literally like Beirut,” was how he described the Glasgow school. I’d wager it was not literally like Beirut and perhaps his own schooling wasn’t up to much if he’s made it thus far without grasping the correct meaning of “literally”.
It's fearmongering and misunderstanding and, frankly, nonsense like this that convince middle class parents to form fortresses of prohibitive property prices around "good" schools and create a pseudo-private system.
None of this makes sense. The middle class child might go to a school where five per cent of pupils gain five Highers. They might go to a school where 70 per cent of pupils gain five Highers. But, being well supported, having books at home, having parents who promote the value of education and who can help with homework, it doesn't matter which school they attend - they'll still gain their five Highers.
Is it bullying middle class parents worry about? Do they think middle class children can't be cruel? Do they worry their child is uniquely unfit to cope? If it's a lack of extracurricular activities then that shows some ignorance of all the many and varied opportunities taking place in the "not good" schools.
It’s socially laudable to bray the words “I want the best for my child,” and, supposedly, unchallengeable. Of course. Mildly disadvantaging your child for the sake of the greater good is not the acceptable thing. But why is it a point of pride to care only about your own offspring and to hang with anyone else’s?
It's not a stretch to assume that people who want to have children would have an interest in children and their welfare generally.
But “I want the best for my child” is at odds with wanting the best for all children. Why, if you don’t care about children, are you bothering to make more of them?
Supporting your local school should be the thing, not creating middle class enclaves and stuff everyone else.
When it boils down to it, school segregation is about ensuring your children mingle with double-barrelled surnames and not hyphenated first names. There's nothing to be proud of about that.Nanaimo RCMP served search warrants on three marijuana dispensaries Tuesday following several complaints including selling pot to minors and actively soliciting sales from the sidewalk.
The warrants came just weeks after 10 pot shops in the city were hand-delivered letters from police asking them to cease sales within seven days or risk criminal charges.
"When I have reports of storefronts selling marihuana to youth and concerned community members approaching me about it, we are compelled to take enforcement action," Supt. Mark Fisher said in a statement Thursday.
He added that no further comment would be made on the warrants by Nanaimo RCMP.
At the time the warning letters were delivered — less than a month after Canadians elected a government with a mandate to legalize pot — Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was asked if the RCMP's stance ran counter to the government's direction.
"We were very clear in our platform and certainly we will be moving forward with this. I will be having discussions with my colleague [Public Safety] Minister Goodale on this matter," the minister told CBC's Early Edition Nov. 13.Transgender kids can now join the Boy Scouts of America
This is another huge leap by the Boy Scouts after they allowed openly gay boys to join in 2013. Admission into the Boy Scouts will now be based on the gender parents specify for their kids, rather than what’s given on their birth certificate
Boy Scouts chief executive Michael Surbaugh says they have taken this decision because today state laws are interpreting gender differently from what it was when their rules were first made. As such, Boys Scouts will make changes to their century-old qualification process that looked into an applicant’s biological gender for admission. Admission into Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts will now be based on the gender as mentioned on the application instead. Surbaugh also said local Boy Scouts councils will help find units that can “provide for the best interests of the child.”
The Boys Scouts has been making significant progress in inclusivity. In 2013, they allowed openly gay boys to join the Scouts, followed by permission to appoint gay scouts as leaders. This was triggered when the New York Council defied the rules and appointed a gay scout as leader. This led to debate and discussion between Boys Scouts chiefs, effectively putting an end to the ban on gay scouts from being leaders with the president calling for an end to these discriminatory practices.
The current change in policy came after a Scout was thrown out last year after it was discovered he was born a girl. The 8-year old transgender boy, Joe Maldonado, was said to have not met the eligibility criteria. His mother, Kristie Maldonado, filed a discriminatory case against the Boys Scouts, which may have prompted the new decision. Boy Scouts spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos said this case was one among the topics that were discussed over this issue.
Co-founder of Scouts for Equality, Zach Wahls, calls this decision as “another historic day” for the Boy Scouts.
Boy Scouts Will Now Allow Transgender Children – https://t.co/mjOQXKVkui — Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) January 31, 2017
Atheist boys, however, are still banned from the Boy Scouts. The Oath that Scouts have to take includes a line, “To do my duty to God and my country”. Reverence to God and being religious is one of the values that the Boys Scouts stresses on. Although the Boys Scouts have taken a major step in expanding inclusivity, the continued ban on atheists in a climate where atheism is growing can be a major setback for the organization.
ResourcesWith his voice occasionally breaking with emotion, Mr Biden recounted the phone call in December 1972, telling the 29-year-old senator that his wife Neilia and one-year-old daughter had been killed in a car crash while Christmas shopping.
"And just like you guys know by the tone of the phone call, you just knew," he said. "You just felt it in your bones: Something bad happened."
As he left the US Capitol building to identify the bodies and tend to his two young sons, who were critically injured in hospital, he recalled looking up at the building's cavernous rotunda.
"I remember looking up and saying, ‘God,’ as if I was talking to God myself, ‘You can’t be good, how can you be good?"
"I probably shouldn’t say this with the press here, but it’s more important, you’re more important. For the first time in my life, I understood how someone could consciously decide to commit suicide," he told families at a grief seminar in Virginia.
"Not because they were deranged, not because they were nuts, because they had been to the top of the mountain, and they just knew in their heart they would never get there again."
Standing in front of pictures of soldiers killed in action, he promised "it can and will get better".
"There will come a day," he said "when the thought of your son or daughter, or your husband or wife, brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye."
Speaking of meeting his second wife, Dr Jill Biden, in 1977, he said he felt "guilty as hell" but urged widows and widowers to seek new happiness after their loss.Natural phenomena - phenomena of nature, which is difficult to find a reasonable explanation. Looking for tons of sand on the French coast, it seems that this is a joke of some wizard: take a piece of the Sahara and move it here, in the waters of the Bay of Biscay near the Bay of Arcachon, neatly stacked on the border of coniferous forests sixty kilometers from Bordeaux.
In fact, the appearance of his biggest dune in Europe is obliged to natural processes. Namely river Lehr, which diligently for centuries carried sand in the ocean and leave them on the shelf, located directly opposite the current dunes. And the wind, in turn, also diligently include sand on the beach, a place where every year grew dune.
150 years ago, its height was small - only about 35 meters. However, stop the advance of failed sand - dune now adds an average of 4 meters per year, while some moves from side to side, and its height, depending on the wind changing from 80 to 107 meters.
In general, the Large dune stretches almost 3 km along the coast and another 500 meters deep pine forests, which, incidentally, came here at the behest of the individual - was planted in the mid-19th century as a measure of local drainage of wetlands.
The Great Dune of PYLA, or PILAT (both spellings are corrects, oddly enough), the tallest sand dune in Europe. Image by Flickr User Linselys
It is one the main oyster-farming regions in France; so try the “Route des Huitres”, the route of oysters, where you will learn everything there is to know about them. Tired of the Ocean? Visit the lakes at Biscarosse, south of the inlet. It is a little paradise, formed some 4000 years ago, with white-sand beaches and warm waters (up to 28°C in the summer), great for aquatic activities or fishing. How about ending the day with a first flight in a ULM hydroplane?
All these activities, and many more, make the region very popular nowadays. But imagine how attractive this wonderful climate was to the rich and famous at the end of 19th century. It was a time when leaving the wet and humid regions of northern Europe in the winter was a must. And Arcachon was (and still is) a great alternative to French Riviera.
Image by Flickr User NutleyBoy
Image by Flickr User Been Around
Image by Flickr User Sabrina Gross
Image by Flickr User Steven House
Image by Flickr User Nigel
Image by Flickr User Steven House
Image by Flickr User Rachel W.
Image by Flickr User Liana DunleavyDonald Trump's team may be falling apart, according to reports flying around Twitter Tuesday night.
A friend of campaign chairman Paul Manafort said the team leader is no longer fighting the Republican nominee on how to run the race and has given up.
longtime ally of Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign manager: "Manafort not challenging Trump anymore. Mailing it in. Staff suicidal." — John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) August 3, 2016
Others in the media and consulting circle jumped in to joke about who would take over if Manafort quit.
A Trump campaign source, in reax to this, tells me "it's all true" and "way worse than people realize." https://t.co/nvioNcjMCJ — Ali Vitali (@alivitali) August 3, 2016
Corey or Roger Stone will be running it by Election Day. https://t.co/ZbF6ANlFRD — Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) August 3, 2016
But Trump's senior communications adviser Jason Miller tried to lay the rumors to rest, saying the campaign is in good shape despite a difficult last few days for the boss.If I told you that Democratic Party lobbyist Tony Podesta, whose brother John Podesta chairs Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, is a registered foreign agent on the Saudi government’s payroll, you’d probably think I was a Trump-thumping, conspiratorial nutcase. But it’s true.
The lobby firm created by both Tony and John Podesta in 1988 receives $140,000 a month from the Saudi government, a government that beheads nonviolent dissidents, uses torture to extract forced confessions, doesn’t allow women to drive, and bombs schools, hospitals and residential neighborhoods in neighboring Yemen.
"If Hillary Clinton wants to be a meaningful symbol for human rights and women’s empowerment, her campaign must live up to the values she claims to represent."
The Podesta Group’s March 2016 filing, required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, shows that Tony Podesta himself oversees the Saudi account. At the same time, Tony Podesta is also a top campaign contributor and bundler for Hillary Clinton. So while one brother runs the campaign, the other brother funds it with earnings that come, in part, from the Saudis.
John and Tony Podesta have been heavyweights in DC insider politics for decades. John Podesta served as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, founded the influential DC think tank Center for American Progress (which regularly touts Saudi “reforms”), and was counselor to President Obama. Tony Podesta was dubbed by The New York Times as “one of Washington’s biggest players” whose clients “are going to get a blueprint for how to succeed in official Washington.”
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The brothers seem to have no problem mixing their roles into the same pot. Tony Podesta held a Clinton campaign fundraiser at his home featuring gourmet Italian food cooked by himself and his brother, the campaign chairman. The fundraiser, by the way, came just days after Tony Podesta filed his Saudi contract with the Justice Department, a contract that included an initial “project fee” payment of $200,000.
The Saudis hired the Podesta Group in 2015 because it was getting hammered in the press over civilian casualties from its airstrikes in Yemen and its crackdown on political dissidents at home, including sentencing blogger Raif Badawi to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam.” Since then, Tony Podesta’s fingerprints have been all over Saudi Arabia’s advocacy efforts in Washington DC. When Saudi Arabia executed the prominent nonviolent Shia dissident Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, causing protests throughout the Shia world and inflaming sectarian divisions, The New York Times noted that the Podesta Group provided the newspaper with a Saudi commentator who defended the execution.
The Podesta-Clinton-Saudi connection should be seen in light of the recent media exposes revealing the taudry pay-to-play nature of the Clinton Foundation. Top on the list of foreign donors to the foundation is Saudi Arabia, which contributed between $10 million and $25 million.
What did the Saudis get for their largesse and access? Wikileaks revealed a 2009 cable by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying:"More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Lashkar e-Tayyiba and other terrorist groups." Instead of sanctioning the Saudis, Clinton did the opposite: She authorized enormous quantities of weapons to be sold to them. On Christmas Eve in 2011, Hillary Clinton and her closest aides celebrated a massive $29.4 billion sale to the Saudis of over 80 F-15 fighter jets, manufactured by Boeing, a company which coincidentally contributed $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation. In a chain of enthusiastic emails, an aide exclaimed that it was “not a bad Christmas present.” I’m sure the Yemenis at the receiving end of the Saudi bombings would not be so enthusiastic.
The Clintons have said that if Hillary Clinton gets elected, the foundation will stop taking foreign donations. But what about no longer taking campaign contributions from people who are paid by the Saudi government to whitewash its image? The Podesta Group should be blacklisted from contributing to Clinton’s campaign until they drop the monarchy as a client and return their ill-gotten gains. If Hillary Clinton wants to be a meaningful symbol for human rights and women’s empowerment, her campaign must live up to the values she claims to represent, and this would be one step in the right direction.Heads began to turn when retired mixed martial artist Brad Kohler announced he was going to host a man vs. woman MMA bout called Gender Wars. One woman however did not dismiss the idea, or the $1 million prize at stake.
The hunt for a female participant to take on a man in a fight to take place just outside St. Petersburg, Russia was underway and Tess Barrall answered the call.
With no sanctioned fights or true MMA experience to her credit, this fitness instructor and mother of two, threw her name into the hat to try and claim the prize.
Watch Tess Barrall’s submission video below:
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Last night during the weekly broadcast of MyMMANews Radio, Kohler called into the show to announce that more males have applied to compete in the unorthodox fight, than females. Kohler also announced Barrall as the finalist who will head to Russia in January and compete on pay-per-view.
Announcement roughly 30-minutes into video below:
I caught up with Tess earlier today to find out exactly why she would partake in such a high-risk, high-reward type fight. Let’s just say, she is fully confident in her abilities and has every intention of taking home the cash prize and provide a better life for her family.
“I’m stoked. I was surprised. I posted my video to the Gender Wars Facebook page. I have a lot of support on my end. A lot of friends cheering me on. I think I’m still pretty shocked, I guess. I’m not quite over the shock factor yet.”
You are halfway there. Your name was selected. Now all you have to do (easier said than done) is hop on a plane to Russia and beat a man in a fight to win $1 million. What will you do with the prize money?
“I would definitely put some of it away for my husband and I for a later date, but my big concern is college for my two girls. I’m a lot like everyone else. I didn’t get into fitness or what I do for money. I do it because I like to do it and I honestly, truly like helping people. I go paycheck to paycheck. To not have to do that would be amazing. It would be life changing.”
How did you find out about this opportunity?
“I follow Brad and I saw this. I have a Combo Hitter (gym product that Kohler designed), and I was like ‘I’m gonna go for it.’ My husband was like, ‘uh….really?’ The answer was yeah. I always had a dream of one really tough fight that I could say, ‘you know what, I did that.’ I have done a lot of fighting just to sometimes stay alive. I wasn’t a great teenager. Sometimes I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. You gotta do what you gotta do to get out, and for me that was fighting. It’s a passion of mine. I give a lot of respect to the people that do this for a living. I went for it. I made a post right before a class I was instructing was coming and that was it.”
Tess has only been training with coach Rodney Guignet at Hammer MMA for several weeks but feels like she fits right in.
“It’s harder to learn and listen than it is to just go pummel someone. That’s taking a little time to get used to. I wanted to try some of his classes. I love hitting things and the boxing aspect of it.”
Were you hesitant at all when the fight was first announced? It wasn’t until recently that the rules were clarified a bit.
“I noticed that the rules are just coming out because I follow you guys at MyMMANews, but no, I wasn’t hesitant. It didn’t bother me. It doesn’t matter if it were a man or woman to me. It’s a million dollars. I’m coming for you. It’s also not out of the norm to schlep a guy. Sometimes they are drunk and overbearing. I’ve had times where I’m at a bar and they will say shit. I won’t take it from a woman or a man. If I happen to go down, I go down. I realize men are stronger. Sometimes you can get respect and sometimes you end up with a belligerent asshole and you have to do what you have to do.
What did your husband have to say about this fight knowing there is a chance you could get hurt?
Tess hands to her husband to answer. – “You can threaten this woman with divorce and she will take the divorce for the fight,” he said.
“He told that to Brad as well,” Tess said. “It’s a dream of mine. Of course he is worried about me, but he said, ‘How can I get in front of you and stop a dream that you have?’ Starting to work with Rodney I thought I would have to mow down at least four women before I got a good fight (laughs). This an amazing opportunity.”
Gender Wars goes down January 12 and streamed live with purchase on InPlayer.com
ORDER GENDER WARS PPV BELOW:
Eric Kowal https://www.mymmanews.com Founder of MyMMANews.com
– After writing for Ultimate MMA magazine and serving as the editor for U.S. Combat Sports, both of which went on hiatus, I decided to venture out on my own and enlist a staff of writers and photographers that could help me achieve my goal of telling stories that would otherwise go untold. We pride ourselves in taking a deeper look into the fighter, and understanding what makes them tick.
– #1 Dad, Marine Corps Veteran, 80’s and 90’s Pro Wrestling Fan, MMA Commentator, Beer Lover, and avid movie watcher. Seriously….. I watch a lot of movies. See author's postsVARANASI: Former SP leaders Amar Singh taunted Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan saying that he took benefit from Congress and Samajwadi Party and gave nothing in return. "Now when he is an aged person and finding no viewer for his films, it is ideal time for him to change role and become a politician," he added.Singh was in Varanasi on Saturday to attend a programme. Talking to reporters, he said, "It is good for Bachchan that he is being sent to Gujarat as a 'Brand Ambassador', as he has been taking benefits from the people of political parties whether they are Congress |
’t gotten near finishing up. I’ve finished up a few things. I don’t know how many other things I’ll be able to get to, because at this particular stage I experience deep fatigue.... There are times when I just have to lie down. I can’t play anymore, and my back goes fast also. Spiritual things, baruch Hashem”—thank God—“have fallen into place, for which I am deeply grateful.”Snow Leopards, Elegant Asian Mountain Cats
Snow Leopard, Uncia uncia.
Photo Courtesy Jaro at Jo Company of Dublin, Ireland
Tracing the tracks of Snow Leopards in the alpine mountains.
Gorgeous and hushed as snowfall, the Snow Leopard is known all over the globe for its beauty and intangible behavior. The white-gray coat with black spots combines perfectly with the rocky mountains of Central and South Asia.
These wild cats love this kind of natural habitat. It offers them good cover to stay out of sight while hunting. Moreover, they are highly adapted to the harsh and arid climate of the mountains.
Some amazing facts about Snow Leopards:
Photo Wiki Commons, Courtesy Bernard Landgraf, GNU Free Documentation License
Like most wild cats, this magnificent mountain cat hunts at night. The most common creatures killed by these cats are wild goats, deer, pikas, markhor, game birds, rodents and hares. The Snow Leopard is scientifically dubbed as Uncia uncia. They are found at elevations as high as 9800 feet above sea level. These are the most mystical among wild cats. They have a stunning coat with black rosettes that helps them in disguise. These cats weigh from 30-55 kg, and the length of the tail measures from 80-135cm. They are considered excellent jumpers and bear a resemblance to leopards. Their paws are large and covered with fur, which protects them from getting injuries. The gestation period of a female is about 90 to 110 days. They can live up to 18 years, though some have been known to live up to 21 years.
Why Snow Leopards are endangered
This wild cat’s numbers are gradually declining, with its population in the wild estimated at around 6000. According to the International Union for the conservation of Nature and Natural resources they are listed as an endangered species.
There are a number of reasons why they are in danger, but humans are the biggest threat to Snow Leopards. They hunt them for fur, pelt and bones. Many people are found wearing coats and hats made from leopard skin, while on the other hand, the Chinese use their bones in medicines. Not only this, humans also cause immense damage to their habitats and food sources.
When there is no or limited prey left in the wild, they are forced to venture out of their designated habit into human settlements where they start killing and eating the farm animals of villagers, such as goats and sheep. In response the local people kill these straying cats to save their stock.
Cites, another respected organization, puts a lot of effort into discovering creatures that could be in trouble. It protects the endangered species and forbids trade of animal species or their body parts.
Saving them from extinction
The Snow Leopard was first listed as an endangered species in the year 1972 and since then its population has been on the decline. The very old and respected Snow Leopard Trust works exclusively to save the endangered cat and its home. Right now the trust focuses its attempts in countries like Kyrgyzstan, India, Pakistan, China and Mongolia. It raises money through fundraising events, donations and by selling products online, and is maintained by the other organizations.
There are many organizations working together to make important contributions to the conservation of the endangered Snow Leopard. Conservation groups in many countries where these wild cats survive are working with the farmers to help improve the situation and minimize the problem of human-snow leopard conflicts. The herders and farmers have been taught how to protect their livestock areas against these creatures.
Where Snow Leopards Live
One can witness these top predators in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Bhutan. The likelihood of encountering one of these wild cats seems like a fancy dream. Spotting it in its high, overwhelming habitat will be a real reward for anyone.
On a tour to India, don’t miss out on visiting the famous Hemis National Park where snow leopards are found. Some of other renowned national parks are Khunjerab National park, Pakistan; Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal; Katun Nature Reserve, Russia and Sarychat- Ertah State Nature Reserve, Kyrgyzstan.
The existence of this elusive animal is significant as it signifies the health of the surroundings and the preservation of the snow leopard cannot be successful without the help and support of the local people. Make an effort to protect the wild cat, “Uncia uncia“, and its habitat. They need your love!
Contributing author Tanmay Sharma is a wildlife admirer and very passionate about wildlife tourism.John McCain Refuses to Release his Wife’s Tax Records
In a move that seems quite a bit John Kerry-esque, John McCain has refused to release his wife’s tax records. This is a man who claims he wants to bring “transparency” back to Washington.
John McCain on Friday faced accusations of hypocrisy for failing to disclose his wife’s tax records, despite his promise to bring greater transparency and accountability to government.
Transparency and accountability indeed, but only when it applies to other people it seems. McCain has released his own tax records, he files separately from his wife, but refuses to release his wife’s to protect the privacy of their children. This excuse doesn’t fly when it comes to Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington who said:
“McCain has been the most outspoken about ethics so he is held to a particularly high standard of transparency,”
If John McCain wants to put his money, pardon the pun, where his mouth is then it is time for him to do what John Kerry finally did, and what Hillary Clinton finally did and release the tax records. This whole do as I say not as I do attitude makes John McCain come off as a lecturing parent figure and not a leader of the free world.
In a move years ago that was also John Kerry-esque John McCain left his wife for a rich heiress and joined the senate. The parallels are striking. Not releasing his wife’s tax records shows us an elitist attitude, the same elitist attitude he is trying to pin on Obama and Clinton. The same elitist attitude of John Kerry. But their records have been made public, when will yours be Senator McCain?
AdvertisementsCHARLESTON – A Putnam County family law judge has been suspended for the remainder of his elected term.
The state Supreme Court on March 26 accepted the recommendation of its Judicial Hearing Board and ordered William M. “Chip” Watkins III suspended until completion of his term on Dec. 31, 2016.
Also, the court accepted the board’s other recommendations that Watkins, 59, be censured for all 24 violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct he admitted to violating and pay the nearly $18,000 legal tab for the investigation and hearing.
In a 27-page opinion speaking on behalf of a unanimous court, Justice Menis E. Ketchum said the actions were appropriate given Watkins’ lack of decorum and respect for both the people that appeared before him and the judicial system.
“We recognize that regulating the demeanor of a judge is a difficult task, because judges are human and may occasionally display anger or annoyance, and lawyers and litigants sometimes incite judges,” Ketchum said.
“Judges must also be allowed some flexibility in criticizing the performance of lawyers who appear before them. But a judge owes a duty to treat lawyers and litigants courteously, to hear them patiently, to study their arguments and evidence conscientiously, and to decide their cases promptly.
“The overriding goal of judicial discipline is to preserve public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. That confidence was plainly sullied by the actions of Judge Watkins.”
Allegations of Watkins’ misconduct first came to light in late June when Hurricane Pastor Art Hage released a video showing Watkins screaming and verbally berating him for the better part of a 15-minute hearing held the month before regarding division of property between he and his estranged wife, Lillian.
After being posted on YouTube, the video was viewed more than 200,000 times and made headlines both in the U.S. and abroad, including Canada, England and Australia.
Later, other litigants - including Robert Harper, Sharon Stinson and Tammy Jo Lambert - lodged complaints with the Judicial Investigation Commission alleging Watkins used foul, abrasive and inappropriate language when they appeared before him. Their complaints, along with Hage’s and one filed by Mark Hallburn, were combined into the second statement of charges filed against Watkins on Aug. 31.
The first statement, filed the month before, stemmed from a complaint filed by Steven D. Canterbury, the court’s administrative director. In his complaint, Canterbury alleged Watkins and his staff not only failed to timely upload domestic violence protective orders to the court’s registry, but also, only by the court threatening to hold him contempt, did he issue a final ruling on two-year old motions regarding division of property in John J. and Nancy Black’s divorce.
Because Nancy Black is JIC’s executive secretary, the task of investigating and later prosecuting Watkins was turned over to Rachael L. Fletcher Cipoletti with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the arm of the court that investigates attorney misconduct.
Afterwards, both statements were combined into one. Two weeks prior to a Nov. 27 evidentiary hearing on the statement, Watkins admitted to 24 Code violations.
In exchange for his admission, Cipoletti recommended Watkins receive a conditional suspension in which if he agreed to be supervised by another judge and have no other complaints filed against him, a three-month unpaid suspension would be held in abeyance. However, believing he lacked sincerity in both his expression of remorse and pledge to change his behavior, the board opted to recommend a harsher punishment of suspending him until completion of his term.
Watkins’ attorney Robert P. Martin argued the recommended suspension potentially violated the state Constitution as it amounted to a “judicial impeachment.” At most, he said the court could only suspend Watkins up to one year for all 24 Code violations.
However, the court found those arguments unpersuasive, Ketchum said, since both the grounds for, and consequences of impeachment are entirely different from the court punishing a judicial officer for code violations.
“First, under the West Virginia Constitution,” Ketchum said, “suspending a judge carries substantially different consequences than impeaching and removing a judge from office. Second, the Constitution explicitly and inherently empowers this Court to impose all disciplinary measures short of removal from the bench in order to foster public confidence in the judiciary, and to preserve its integrity.
“The sanctions recommended by the board come nowhere close to the sanctions that would result from a Legislative impeachment and removal of Judge Watkins from office, such as a forfeiture of his rights to a pension and rights to hold a future office.
“We conclude, based upon the West Virginia Constitution, that the constitutional power of the Legislature to remove a judicial officer by impeachment does not preclude this Court from exercising its inherent power to protect itself and the public by suspending that officer. This Court has the inherent power to inquire into the conduct of justices, judges and magistrates, and to impose any disciplinary measures short of impeachment that it deems necessary to preserve and enhance public confidence in the judiciary.”
In a press release issued with the opinion, court spokeswoman Jennifer Bundy said Watkins’ removal from the state payroll began effective immediately. In December, Watkins notified the court he was taking medical leave which allowed him to continuing collecting both a paycheck and credit for his pension.
Also, Bundy said former Mason Family Law Judge Delores J. “Jeanie” Nibert, who was appointed to hear Watkins’ cases during while on leave, will remain on the bench until a new judge is elected in 2016. After losing her bid for re-election in 2008, Nibert opened her own law office in Teays Valley.
Because of the suspension, Watkins, who was first admitted to the Bar on May 14, 1978, is prohibited from practicing law until it is lifted.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, case numbers 12-1008 and 12-0925Today marks the anniversary of DEVO’s 1978 appearance on Saturday Night Live, which really put the band on the mainstream’s radar and set them on the road to becoming, for better or worse, actual rock stars. The few years immediately after punk were an indulgent period in which to be trailblazers, and DEVO certainly benefitted from that audience shift towards openness to new ideas, but while SNL was known for taking some artistic chances with their musical bookings, DEVO were not initially of any interest at all to the show’s producer Lorne Michaels, and it took some maneuvering to get them on.
Ad found on DevoObsesso
Last summer, at a DEVO public art unveiling in the band’s hometown of Akron, OH, bassist Jerry Casale spoke frankly about the behind-the-scenes machinations that finally got them the slot on SNL that they had so coveted:
We had been sending videotapes to Saturday Night Live since 1976, after we did the Truth About De-Evolution ten minute movie, and we thought “Dan Aykroyd will get us on the show, John Belushi’ll get us on the show!” And we kept sending it with letters, and I’m sure it just went in a trash bin. These people were big time, and I’m sure they were thinking “Who ARE these weirdos?” So it was me not wanting to take no for an answer, and I just kept it up. When we were interviewing managers, and we met Elliott Roberts, who was Neil Young’s manager, he said two good things—“I don’t want a piece of your publishing,” and “I don’t want you to sign a deal, we’ll shake hands and you give me 30 days notice when you say it’s over and I’ll give you the same.” I said “That’s great, but there’s one thing you gotta do! You have to get us on Saturday Night Live, and you have to make them let us show a piece of our movie.” And he goes “Oh my GOD.” And he did it, because he dangled Neil Young as bait, saying “You’ll take these guys, Lorne—Lorne did NOT care about DEVO—and we’ll get you Neil Young. And then he dropped the bomb about the film, and that was almost a deal breaker. But it all worked out, and we went from playing in from 200-300 people a night to 3,000-5,000 people a night. We had to stop the tour and re-book it after Saturday Night Live.
The band’s association with Neil Young continued to bear fruit, notably in the form of the 1982 film Human Highway. But here’s that SNL appearance, introduced by the episode’s host, Fred Willard, and shared by PB user jwdoom.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
DEVO becomes public art, streets of Akron, Ohio are overrun with Booji Boys
DEVO, Blondie, Talking Heads, Klaus Nomi on ‘20/20’ segment on New Wave, 1979
‘Satisfaction’ shootout: DEVO VS the Residents VS the Rolling Stones (spoiler: the Stones don’t win)14475
The Last Shadow Puppets are off to a roaring start in this week's Official Albums Chart Update - they're outselling their nearest chart rivals by nearly 5,000 copies.
Alex Turner and Miles Kane's second collaborative album Everything You've Come to Expect looks to become the duo's second chart topper together, following The Age of the Understatement back in 2008. The collection will also be Alex Turner's seventh UK Number 1 album including his five chart toppers with Arctic Monkeys.
MORE: View Arctic Monkeys' UK chart history in full
New Entries and High Climbers
Another 12 new entries debut in today's update, 5 of which are in the Top 10. Right behind The Last Shadow Puppets are Lukas Graham, whose self-titled album enjoys a strong opening at 2. The band's first global release features 7 Years, the longest-reigning Danish Number 1 single in UK chart history.
MORE: Who are Lukas Graham? Here are 7 things about the band behind the smash hit 7 Years
Electronic legends Pet Shop Boys are Number 3 with Super, with fellow new entry Kentucky from Black Stone Cherry sitting at Number 4. Classical royalty Aled Jones' new record One Voice begins at 6 while Japanese metal idol band Babymetal's Metal Resistance is at 7.
Mogwai's Atomic, Weezer's Weezer (White Album) and Sunset Sons' Very Rarely Say Die all look set for a Top 20 placing, kicking off at 14, 16 and 18 respectively. Scene Delete by UK producer Sasha is just a few places behind at 23.
This week's new entries are rounded out by Explosions in the Sky's The Wilderness (25), The Heavy's Hurt & The Merciless (30) and Moderat's III (39).
Finally, following an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Raleigh Ritchie's You're A Man Now, Boy re-enters the Top 40 from outside of the Top 200, jumping to Number 37.
Remind yourself of every Official UK Number 1 album this year below:Claim: The Peter, Paul & Mary tune “Puff, the Magic Dragon” is a coded song about marijuana.
Status: False.
Origins: No, “Puff, the Magic Dragon” is not about marijuana, or any other type of drug. It is what its writers have always claimed it to be: a song about the innocence of childhood lost.
The poem that formed the basis of the song “Puff, the Magic Dragon” was written
in 1959 by Leonard Lipton, a nineteen-year-old Cornell student. Lipton was inspired by an Ogden Nash rhyme about a “Really-O Truly-O Dragon,” and, using a dragon as the central figure, he came up with a poem about the end of childhood innocence. Lipton passed his work along to a friend, fellow Cornell student (and folk music enthusiast) Peter Yarrow,
who put a melody to the words and wrote additional lyrics to create the song “Puff, the Magic Dragon.” After Yarrow teamed up with Mary Travers and Paul Stookey in 1961 to form Peter, Paul & Mary, the trio performed the song in live shows; their 1962 recording of “Puff” reached #2 on the Billboard charts in early 1963.
The 1960s being what they were, however, any song based on oblique or allegorical lyrics was subject to reinterpretation as a “drug song,” and so it was with “Puff.” (For Peter, Paul & Mary, at least, the revelation that their song was “really” about marijuana came after the song had finished its chart run; other groups were not so fortunate, and accusations of “drug lyrics” caused some radio stations to ban songs such as the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High” from their playlists.) “Puff” was an obvious name for a song about smoking pot; little Jackie Paper’s surname referred to rolling papers; “autumn mist” was either clouds of marijuana smoke or a drug-induced state; the land of “Hanah Lee” was really the Hawaiian village of Hanalei, known for its particularly potent marijuana plants; and so on. As Peter Yarrow has demonstrated in countless concert performances, any song — even “The Star-Spangled Banner” — can be interpreted as a “drug song.”
Here is what the people who created and popularized the song have said about it:
Leonard Lipton (co-writer): [“Puff” is about] loss of innocence, and having to face an adult world. It’s surely not about drugs. I can tell you that at Cornell in 1959, no one smoked grass. I find the fact that people interpret it as a drug song annoying. It would be insidious to propagandize about drugs in a song for little kids.
Peter Yarrow (co-writer): As the principal writer of the song, I can assure you it’s a song about innocence lost. It’s easier to interpret “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a drug song than “Puff, the Magic Dragon.” This is just a funny rumor that was promulgated by Newsweek magazine [who ran a cover story about covert drug messages in pop music]. There is no basis for it. It’s inane at this point and really unfortunate, because even in Hong Kong it’s not played because of the allegation it’s about drugs. But I assure you it’s not. When ‘Puff’ was written, I was too innocent to know about drugs. What kind of a meanspirited SOB would write a children’s song with a covert drug message?
Mary Travers: Peter wrote the song in 1958 [sic], and it is not about marijuana. Believe me, if he wanted to write a song about marijuana, he would have written a song about marijuana.
Last updated: 25 May 2007
Sources:
Hoffman, Ken. “BBC Includes Houston in ‘Future of Cities’ Program.”
The Houston Chronicle. 15 September 1995 (p. 2).
Garnick, Darren.
The Jerusalem Report. 15 January 2001 (p. 39).
Matthews, Lynn. “Premier Folk Trio Takes Jet Plane to Portland.”
The Columbian. 17 March 1995 (p. D11).
Ruhlman, William. “Peter, Paul and Mary: The Early Years.”
Goldmine. 21 April 1996.
Shannon, Bob and John Javna. Behind the Hits.Ontario's Music Sector Takes Centre Stage
Province Supporting Artists, Launching Live Music Portal
September 19, 2014 11:00 A.M. Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport
In its inaugural year, the Ontario Music Fund is helping to grow the province's music industry and positioning Ontario as a leading destination to record and perform.
This year, the fund is providing 108 grants to artists and music organizations that produce, distribute and promote Canadian music and artists. The grants will support various projects, including:
A mentorship program that pairs emerging artists with established Canadian artists to improve their business skills. This year's mentors include: Feist, Shad, The Hidden Cameras, Dala and Hollerado.
A brand recognition initiative to help raise the profile of Ontario's Francophone music companies and artists both across the province and internationally.
The launch of several new albums from MDM Recordings -- an Ontario based country music label -- helping them promote Canadian artists, expand their operations and create jobs.
The expansion of Hamilton's Supercrawl festival from a two-day to a three-day event and enhancements to the organization's business development activities.
Working with Music Canada, the province has also created OntarioLiveMusic.ca -- a comprehensive live music listings site to promote concerts, festivals and special events happening in communities across the province.
Helping Ontario music companies and artists grow and thrive is part of the government's economic plan to invest in people, build modern infrastructure and support a dynamic and innovative business climate.
Quick Facts Announced in the 2013 Budget, the Ontario Music Fund is a three-year $45 million grant program.
The Ontario Music Fund is administered by the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Ontario’s music production sector accounts for over 80 per cent of total national revenues. In 2011, it generated more than $429 million in revenues (Statistics Canada).
The Ontario Music Fund supports the province’s Live Music Strategy to position the province as a leading destination for live music and music tourism.
Additional Resources 2013/14 Ontario Music Fund recipientsThere’s been a lot of discussion about Harry Potter theories recently. But the ultimate authority — Potter scribe J.K. Rowling — threw her weight behind a specific hypothesis on Friday when a fan asked about her favorite one.
The theory stems from the wizarding fairy tale The Tale of the Three Brothers, which follows the Peverell Brothers as they receive rewards for cheating Death: the unbeatable Elder Wand; the Resurrection Stone that brings people back from the dead; and the Invisibility Cloak, which conceals its user. These three items are often referred to as The Deathly Hallows, hence the name of the final book.
Voldemort is the oldest brother, murdered in his bed by someone who sought the Elder Wand. Snape is seen as the middle brother, who was driven to suicide after resurrecting the girl “he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely Death.” Harry would be the youngest brother, who escapes Death with the cloak before greeting “Death as an old friend” and going with him gladly. The Tumblr user, though, posits that Dumbledore is Death. “He greeted Harry at King’s Cross and was the one behind Snape and Voldemort’s death….He’s the one who gave Harry the invisibility cloak too…And he had the stone and the wand too.”
It’s not surprising that Rowling calls this a ‘beautiful’ theory, though. The entire series focuses on death as ‘the next great adventure.’
When Harry finally makes it to his parents’ tombstone, it reads: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” In 2007, Rowling told TIME that the Bible verse, a passage from I Corinthians in which Paul discusses Jesus’ Resurrection, was the theme for the entire series.
Read next: 8 Ridiculous Theories That Will Change How You Read Harry Potter
Listen to the most important stories of the day
Contact us at editors@time.com.Nation's Report Card Finds Mixed Grades For U.S. Students In Visual Arts, Music
Enlarge this image LA Johnson/NPR LA Johnson/NPR
For only the third time ever, the government released today a national report card examining the knowledge, understanding and abilities of U.S. eighth-graders in visual arts and music.
And in many ways, the numbers aren't great, with little progress shown in most categories since the last time the assessment was given in 2008. One bright spot: The achievement gap between Hispanic students and their white peers has narrowed. But Hispanics and African-Americans still lag far behind white and Asian eighth-graders.
The findings come from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, which regularly reports on U.S. student achievement, including math, reading and science. But only three times — in 1997, 2008 and now from 2016 — has it looked at music and visual arts.
Overall, the national scores on arts achievement remained flat when compared with 2008, said Peggy Carr, the acting commissioner of NAEP. "Granted this is not the best score," she said, especially when compared with U.S. students' progress in math. "Math has shown a tremendous improvement."
The arts assessment measured students' knowledge based on their ability to understand and interpret historical pieces of art and music. One question, for example, asked eighth graders to identify the instrument at the beginning of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." (It's a clarinet.)
The report also looked at their creative abilities. In one exercise, students were asked to draw a self-portrait, which was then scored for attention to detail, composition and use of materials.
toggle caption Courtesy of NAEP
The researchers gave the assessments to 8,800 eighth-graders from 280 schools last year. In music, students averaged 150 on a scale of 300 eight years ago, and last year the average score was 147 — not a statistically significant difference.
Visual arts also showed no significant difference, with an average of 150 in 2008 and 149 in 2016.
In terms of participation in arts classes, the study found that fewer than half of eighth graders had taken an arts class that year — 42 percent. That's down from 45 percent in 2008.
Among other key findings:There is a laundry list of personality defects and behavioral issues associated with children of alcoholics. According to doctors and health organizations, we tend to have compulsive personality types, overdeveloped senses of responsibility, and crippling fears of abandonment. We judge ourselves poorly and struggle with feeling and articulating our emotions. There have even been names coined that describe the roles we play in our families, ranging from the “Family Hero” who picks up the parents’ slack from a very young age to the “Scapegoat” who acts out as a means of distraction.
For a long time, I told myself I was an exception to these ascribed behaviors and traits. I tried to convince myself of that because I did not want to let my upbringing define my future, or acknowledge the ways in which my father’s alcoholism impacted me. I did not want to view myself, or have others view me, as a victim.
With the progression of time, however; I have learned that escaping your upbringing is impossible. The environment in which I was raised has become an integral part of my identity. I can deny where the stereotypes apply, but the reality is that I exhibit many of the traits of a textbook child of an alcoholic. I do desperately seek approval; my low self-esteem and tendency to withdraw are common for the “Lost Child” role many children of alcoholics take on. Accepting that my status as a child of an alcoholic is ongoing has forced me to acknowledge an even uglier reality; the reality that 25% of children of alcoholics become alcoholics themselves.
I have a complicated relationship with alcohol. Any child of an alcoholic does. When I first went off to college, I vowed to never drink. Guilt was the main motivator in this decision. I refused to drink because I did not want to invalidate the struggles my family had dealt with because of alcohol, but more importantly because I did not want to end up like my father. It took time to remind myself that I was not the same person as my father and that I had a decision in who I would be or become. I was not destined to have the same relationship with alcohol as my father did, and it was not fair to rob myself of the college experience to pacify misplaced guilt. It was when I finally allowed myself to drink that I discovered that how I feel about alcohol, and how I feel about myself when I drink is far more complicated than I thought.
If the odds of becoming an alcoholic are one in four for children of alcoholics, the reality is that either me or one of my siblings will become one. Sometimes I cannot help but think about which one of us will end up following in the footsteps of my father. Out of all the children, I am the least like him. That fact is something I have always prided myself on. I did not inherit his wicked temper like my sister did, or his penchant for lying like my brother. I do not have the depression that he and my older sister continue to struggle through. My life has always been one of balance; I receive good grades, work hard, take care of myself, and for that I have every reason to believe I am in the 75%.
I do not drink often, but when I do I struggle to moderate myself. It is difficult to put down a drug that you think turns you into a better version of yourself. When I drink I become funnier, more outgoing, and more courageous. I can strike up conversations with strangers, and push myself to do things I’d normally be too self-conscious to do. My predisposition to binge combined with my longing for escape often makes it difficult for me to stop myself. If I am at a work event I will get one more beer than I should, and if I am at a party I will uncontrollably drink myself to the point of sickness. These behaviors may seem typical for college students, but it does not feel that way when you are the child of an alcoholic. Every time I drink I worry that I will end up liking alcohol too much, that my college immaturity will be more than just a phase, and that I will lose control of the life I have fought so hard to achieve. I worry that I will lose sight of all the heartache it has caused in my life and lose myself the way I lost my father.
I am not a survivor; I am surviving. It is an important distinction to make when it comes to children of alcoholics. I am my own person, but I am also a being made up of my experiences and struggles. I will always have to deal with, and battle against, the urge to become what I fear. The laundry list of traits and behaviors will continue to haunt and impede me throughout my life, but it is something I can and will cope with and adapt to. At the end of the day I will always be the child of an alcoholic, regardless of whether or not my father is still around. It is something I will carry in my blood and never truly overcome, but it something I will continue to survive through.When I’m speaking with potential clients, the inevitable question is “How much does a website cost?”.
My answer is almost always: “it depends”.
While this is never the answer anyone wants, it’s an important moment of education.
When shopping for a new website, many do not understand how they could receive such a wide range of quotes. The freelancer living abroad may charge $500-$1,000 for a website while an agency may start at $5,000 and go as high as $50,000 or more.
If you’ve never been through the website building process, it’s easy to get intimidated and even confused as to how you could receive such a vast range of quotes.
This by no means is a thorough guide on the breakdown of your website cost, but it can offer an introduction to costs you expected and other costs you may not have considered.
Make sure you take a look at our infographic at the end of the article.
Why are websites so expensive?
To answer this question, you need to understand the process of building a website. Becoming familiar with the necessary ingredients to build a website can help you budget properly, invest in what matters most to your organization, and – perhaps most importantly – find the right team to do the job.
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Here are a few quick tips, followed by an infographic below.
1. Development is not the only cost
Although roughly 70% of the budget for a new website is development costs, there are several other costs that should not be overlooked. At the very least, you’ll need to buy a domain name (URL) to direct visitors to. You’ll also need web hosting and site maintenance that meet your specific needs.
Protip: It may be wise to buy multiple variations of your domain name to ensure that typos don’t cause a user to get lost along the way. There are definitely worse things that can happen though, like when someone put up a fake Bloomberg website to play with stock prices. Better to be safe than sorry.
Don’t forget design! If you’ve decided you want a custom designed site instead of a template, you’ll need a web designer to mock and design it before the developer actually creates it. Design budgets easily eat into 20-25% of the budget and can dictate the course of the entire project.
2. Agencies cost more
If you’re just starting off, you probably don’t need a fully custom site. We always recommend starting with a basic DIY WordPress theme or hiring someone to do this for you for $500-$1000.
In a nutshell, agencies typically have higher costs because there are more people working on your project. Often, for one website project there will be at least one person dedicated to design, project management, testing, and development – sometimes multiple people for each. For larger projects, it’s not uncommon to bring in SEO experts, UX designers, and digital marketers to ensure the website plan is completely thought out before a single line of code is ever written.
These extra people and processes lend themselves to delivering a thorough solution and shouldn’t be compared to freelancers on price alone.
3. Don’t forget the extra details
Two websites with identical content may perform radically differently. Ask the development shop you’re working with whether or not they’re ensuring your website works properly on all mobile devices – especially now that Google penalizes mobile search results for non-responsive websites.
Will the site be mobile responsive?
Will the development team take on migrating content?
Will they help you install and configure your new website so it’s live?
Does it integrate with your existing email and lead nurturing platforms & processes?
How easy will it be to add new content to the site without their help?
Don’t forget that your website is more than a static advertisement for your business; it needs to seamlessly work with your business long after the project is over.
Often times you’re relying on your potential website development partner to help guide you here, but you need to make sure you ask the right questions to make sure you are managing expectations on both side.
4. Hourly vs. Fixed
Fixed rates make it easier to budget, but often limits the number of revisions you can make. If design and user experience are important to you, you’ll likely want to iterate multiple times on the website incorporating user feedback along the way. Make sure your contract accommodates design revisions or you may incur additional costs.
You can also consider breaking up design into an hourly contract while development of the site remains as a fixed project.
Typically, a fixed rate project is the best choice. If the development team goes over their budgeted time, you will not incur any more costs. If they finish early, you get your website sooner. Fixed budgets are a win-win for both parties.
Final Thoughts
Now more than ever, your website is becoming the cornerstone of your business. When you build it, you need to be 100% certain that the team you’ve chosen is up to the task.
The project’s cost is always going to be tricky. In short, you get what you pay for. It’s better to have over-spent on a website that absolutely meets your expectations than spending too little and receiving a website that doesn’t work for you – and then have to go through the entire process all over again (with less budget)!
Share this Image On Your Site
If you like what you see, please feel free to embed the infographic on your site with the code below. Don’t forget attribution!
<a href=”https://99robots.com/how-much-does-a-website-cost/”><img class=”ngg_” src=”https://99robots.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/99-Robots-Infographic-copy.jpg” alt=”How Much Does a Website Cost? – Infographic” width=”600px” border=”0″ /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
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Are you an Amazon Seller? Download our Free Amazon PPC Management GuideScientists name new ‘object’ SDSS J0100+2802 and say it |
’s new music and various happenings with an eye towards a specific theme. This month’s theme is space. Below you’ll find five of March’s best metal albums that found inspiration in the darkness and beauty of the cosmos.
For many metal fans, Black Sabbath’s 1971 album Master of Reality is the moment when the genre exploded into something new. Album opener “Sweet Leaf” is arguably the song that birthed stoner metal, while “Solitude” explores how quiet and melodic a song could be while retaining its evil aura. But it wasn’t until the very end of Master of Reality that Sabbath truly launched out of Birmingham and into the stratosphere. On the album’s closer, “Into the Void,” Tony Iommi delivers one his most primal riffs atop Geezer Butler and Bill Ward’s pummeling rhythms, while Ozzy Osbourne sings about a rocket ship bound for the unknowable terrains of the galaxy. It’s an explosive escape scene unlike any in rock history—one that, along with Hawkwind’s similarly starry-eyed work, established a new trend in heavy music: outer space as an outlet for the unfettered imagination.
Tellingly, Black Sabbath’s galactic mission wasn’t a choice—it was a necessity. The subtext within “Into the Void” suggests that humans have destroyed their own planet—with pollution, with violence, with ignorance—and left the population no choice but to abandon it for a new home. In this apocalyptic view of space—not as a destination to explore but a refuge from our bleak reality—lies the inherent metalness of the cosmos. From Bowie’s interstellar theater to Janelle Monáe’s dystopian soul-dance, science fiction has long been a common theme across a number of genres. But metal bands have often used space’s boundless terrain to explore their own dark anxieties—black hole as blank slate, essentially.
In Kyuss’ “Space Cadet,” Josh Homme looked to the sky and saw only his own alienation reflected back. On Spanish tech-death group Wormed’s latest record Krighsu, space is relentless and impenetrable, with the band’s intricate compositions reflecting the overwhelming chaos of the unknowable. And throughout the ’80s, Canadian thrash metal group Voivod carved their name into the lineage of cosmic metal. Their music wasn’t always about space—“Sometimes you’ve got a riff, and you cannot see a UFO in the music,” vocalist Denis “Snake” Bélanger once said—but more often than not, Voivod did see the aliens; it was a glorious, gruesome vision.
In recent years, outer space has continued to open itself up to mankind in new ways. Just last month, a series of Earth-sized planets were discovered, all of which could have the potential to to host living creatures—and will likely inspire sci-fi metal albums before that reality comes to be. In the meantime, two of last year’s finest metal albums—Vektor’s opus Terminal Redux and Blood Incantation’s debut Starspawn—offers glimpses toward the genre’s future while taking the space theme in a new direction. For Vektor, it involves an intricate concept about a heroic astronaut and an intergalactic bureaucracy threatening cosmic war. Blood Incantation, on the other hand, refined their sci-fi themes into less narrative-based lyrics, alluding to space-age conspiracy theories with sparse bursts of poetry. The album’s final words—“You are the stargate”—could even be perceived as a happy ending, a continuation of Black Sabbath’s vision of escape to the cosmos as a means of saving ourselves.
And so the tradition continues this month, with five extraordinary new albums that navigate cosmic terrain with confidence, delving even deeper into the void.
Junius // Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light
Junius’ third album, Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light, takes lyrical inspiration from spiritual theorist Elisabeth Haich, whose writing explored mankind’s internal ability to overcome the pains of daily life. What’s striking is how the Boston duo excels in further communicating just how routinely overwhelming this task can seem. Multi-instrumentalist Joseph E. Martinez’s clean, gothy vocals would fit just as well over a Depeche Mode song, but here he finds a companion in drummer Dana Filloon’s deathly grooves. Together they eschew Haich’s considered writing for a more dramatic kind of catharsis: wallowing in the bleakness of earthly existence as a means of transcending it.
Artificial Brain // Infrared Horizon
At the end of last year, Will Smith of the Long Island death metal quintet Artificial Brain shared the concept for his band’s upcoming album: “Like Dante’s Inferno but with futuristic machinery and robots.” Out next month, the record is a nauseous whirlwind of guttural vocals and jazzy chord progressions, telling the story Smith describes over music that reflects its technology-driven world. First single “Synthesized Instinct” sucks you right into the band’s scorched landscape. Keith Abrami’s intricate drumming is the crucial ingredient—soaring atmospherically and stuttering violently between the song’s disjointed sections, giving the song a jarring pulse that might make you question modern programming as you thrash along.
Gorephilia // Severed Monolith
Before listeners heard a note of Severed Monolith, Gorephilia’s first new album in five years, the band shared the cover art: a ghastly skeleton imploding in space, lightning bolts crashing through the body. While certain songs and lyrics further depict the artwork’s interstellar violence (particularly the extraordinary “Return to Dark Space”), the music is death metal at its most primal. Dual guitarists Jukka Aho and Pauli Gurko trade riffs with an almost bluesy edge—like Tony Iommi by way of Autopsy—and offer as much in atmosphere as they do in grueling momentum.
Lunar Shadow // Far From Light
For Germany’s Lunar Shadow, inspiration comes from history’s great epics, be it Tolkien or Conan the Barbarian or Number of the Beast. On Far From Light, the quintet crafts a few new epics of their own, with suitably dramatic titles like “The Kraken” and “Hadrian Carrying Stones.” Even when they’re telling tales of characters like “Earendil,” Tolkien’s seafaring hero who carried a star across the sky, the band lets the music do the heavy lifting, creating a hazy environment that forgoes the standards of modern studio metal. The drums remain comfortably distant while proggy acoustic guitars do the atmospheric work, as if synths and effects pedals hadn’t yet been invented in this galaxy. But the band’s old-school approach also helps Far From Light adhere to the timeless thrill of those early metal records: music as absorbing as the mythology that surrounds it.
Cloud Catcher // Trails of Kozmic Dust
With its gnarly odes to voodoo children and celestial empresses, Trails of Kozmic Dust finds Colorado’s Cloud Catcher settling further into their swampy, vintage sound. These eight slices of bluesy psych-rock capture heavy metal at its most classic. With a record store’s worth of riffs at his disposal, vocalist and guitarist Rory Rummings’ extended solos—equal parts cosmic grandeur and classic rock worship—are the record’s highlight. The whole album serves as a reminder that space might represent our projections of the future, but it’s been there long before any of us. “We’ll leave this world far behind/Believer in ancient times,” Rummings sings optimistically in closing track “Righteous Ruler.” And just like that, the great unknown feels a bit more familiar.You’ll never plough a field by turning it over in your mind an old Irish saying that Dixie, my grandfather, would shout when he’d catch me daydreaming instead of working in his little market garden. As a young boy I would think up ways to improve his methods and, in turn, make my work easier. Some of my early field tests worked, others destroyed his beloved crops I was a curious kid, what can I say?
Although it’s good to plan what you wish to accomplish in your mind, you still have to go out and begin taking the steps toward putting your plan into action. Dixie’s garden is long gone, a three storey supermarket car park now occupies the space, but my daydreams are still very much alive and growing.
Urban agriculture can be defined as growing fruits, herbs, and vegetables and raising animals in cities a process that is accompanied by many other complementary activities such as processing and distributing food, collecting and reusing food waste and rainwater, and educating, organising, and employing local residents. Urban agriculture is integrated into individual communities and neighbourhoods, as well as in the ways that cities function and are managed, including municipal policies, plans, and budgets. The urban agriculture practice of growing and distributing food in a town or city has traditionally been soil-based vegetable growing in market gardens and allotments spread out over the city, worked by part-time growers subsidising their incomes by selling their produce locally.
Currently, reasons for practicing urban farming are similar earning income through food production but the ever-increasing demand for land sees these precious little patches of soil all but disappearing. In their place, apartment blocks and high-rise office buildings are constructed. In turn, these small, intensive farming activities are pushed further away from the cities that consume their produce.
With an increased public consciousness when it comes to food – how it’s produced; the associated food miles; and the use of genetically modified seeds, pesticides, fungicides, and petroleum-based fertilisers – both producers and consumers alike are now seeking transparent, local, organic food production models.
According to the United Nations Population Division, by 2050 around 70% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas. Feeding these people will mean increasing our food production through a combination of higher crop yields and an expansion of the area under cultivation but the additional land available for cultivation is unevenly distributed, much of it suitable for growing only a small variety of crops.
It is now that my daydreams are really being put to the plough.
Through the use of controlled-environment aquaponics (the simultaneous farming of fish and the cultivation of plants in a symbiotic environment) housed on rooftops inside climate-controlled greenhouses, we can produce high-value crops at maximum productivity in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. Aquaponics, the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, works within a closed loop system, where we feed fish that produce ammonia through their waste products, and we use this nitrate cycle of waste as an organic food source for the growing plants and thus, the plants provide a natural filter for the water the fish live in, creating a balanced organic cycle.
These greenhouses can avail of natural daylight and supplemented by horticultural light-emitting diodes. The atmosphere is controlled for temperature and humidity, as well as automation of the fish nutrients, pH and EC levels of the water. Relay-controlled pumps recirculate the nutrient rich water between fish tanks and grow beds with a 90% reduction in water consumption compared to soil-based operations. Wi-Fi capability allows constant monitoring from a smart device, with alarm parameters set to ensure instant notifications, and all functions are instrumented which simplifies data collection for crop management.
Someday, we will probably be able to plough fields by just simply thinking about it (with a little help from artificial neurotransmitters). For the moment, I’m happy to check on the garden sensors, feed the fish, irrigate the plants and mostly stay at home daydreaming about mushrooms, all with a few texts from my phone.
Dixie would be amused, and to quote him, The apple will fall when it’s ripe.
That time is now.
Andrew Douglas is the creator of Urban Farm, an agricultural startup based in Dublin’s City Centre, and a contributor to Field Test: Radical Adventures In Future Farming, a new exhibition at Science Gallery Dublin.The greatest hope of retro gamers and the greatest fear of Nintendo have been met simultaneously: The immensely popular NES Classic Edition has been hacked and its 30-game library augmented with new and even homebrewed titles.
Hacking has been ongoing since the release of the device, but this is the most promising development yet, and it appears to work on the US version of the tiny console.
The hack appeared in the forums of Russian retro gaming community GBX in the form of a YouTube video and step-by-step instructions — in Russian, of course. The r/NESClassicMods subreddit picked up on it right away and valiantly subjected their devices to the code, with great success. (u/zenmechanic showed Battletoads working, above.)
It must be said that this is not a simple process — not yet, at least. It involves booting the Linux-based NES into FEL mode, hacking the kernel, and injecting ROM files using a special tool. A GUI has already been created to make things easier and tutorials are being made, but we warn readers not to attempt this unless they know about things like MD5 hashes and config files. Bricking your device with a single wrong click is definitely a possibility.
So far a limited number of games have been checked with the device, and there’s no guarantee that any particular one will work — the emulator software built into the NES Classic Edition wouldn’t have been tested with, for instance, Blaster Master, since it wasn’t one of the games intended for inclusion. It might work, it might not.
Of course, there is also the question of where those games come from. NES ROMs aren’t legally available from Nintendo, but are widely available nevertheless. We don’t condone piracy, but if you bought a license for Mega Man 2 on Wii, you may feel ethically justified in exerting that IP claim in this plainly extralegal fashion.
That this thing would be hacked was always a matter of when rather than if — but unlike other consoles put out by Nintendo and others, this one isn’t going to get a patch fixing the exploit. It’s a bit ironic that the very decision Nintendo made that disallowed the device from getting new games legally will make it impossible to prevent new games from being added illegally.Narrator: This is the story of America’s past that never made it into textbooks.
When most people were in school you began American history at Jamestown and Plymouth Rock.
That Jamestown narrative is viewed very much in isolation that this was the first encounter between Europeans and Indians.
If you really wanted to look at the founding fathers, you’d look a lot earlier and you’d look south.
Narrator: It starts nearly a half-century before the Pilgrims landed.
The children who stepped ashore probably had their own grandchildren by the time Jamestown was founded.
Narrator: It’s a story that has taken archaeologists, marine scientists and historians several centuries to uncover
This stuff has not seen the light of day for 250 to 275 years.
I could feel the lip to it and put my hands inside and then I realized what it was.
This is one of the, maybe one of the most important documents in the United States history, no? If you read it, you go- it's a film. You could make a film out of it.
Narrator: What these discoveries reveal is a very different America.
It’s multicultural from day one.
You had Africans, you had a few Italians, Germans, Irish priests.
It really was America’s first melting pot.
[Music continues]
Narrator: How did this history become lost? And how does it change our thinking about race and immigration in this country to know what really happened?
If we took that as a beginning, I think we would have a very different picture of the United States
Narrator: This….is the rest of the story…of America’s birth.
It’s just as much a part of American History as Washington crossing the Delaware or Paul Revere’s ride.
What makes you American?
[cannon fire]
Narrator: This…is American history…revised.
[thunder clap]
Narrator: They had been walking night and day…struggling against fierce winds and rain that had already proven deadly.
[lightning strike, rain pouring down]
It’s a massive storm. No matter how hard they try to claw their way out they kept on being pushed back.
[thunder]
Narrator: 500 of them, making their way through swamps, in unfamiliar terrain, passing creatures they’d never seen before.
[thunder]
[music]
Dr. J. Michael Francis, Historian
They’re marching through—in some cases up to their waist, in some cases, higher, up to their chest through flooded swampland.
During the course of the march about a hundred of his troops dropped out. They didn’t make it.
[storm]
[music]
Narrator: And waiting for them at the end of it all…a battle they might not survive.
[gun shot]
[men shouting]
And the stage is set for this really very rapid and a very bloody end game.
Narrator: This wasn’t the journey they had signed on for.
[music change]
It had started as a dream to settle a new territory more than 4000 miles across the ocean…a venture that first began in this modern-day seaport town of Avilés (ah-vee-LACE), in northern Spain. 450 years ago, Avilés was an important maritime center.
[wave crashes]
Hundreds of young men grew up learning how to navigate along these shores. One of them was Pedro Menéndez, who became, over time, one of the King’s most trusted men.
He understood the winds, the waves and the weather better than almost anyone at the time.
Narrator: Little was known about Menéndez or his influence on American history until Dr. Eugene Lyon began combing through Spanish archives in the 1960’s.
[Dr. Lyon: “Pedro Menéndez de Avilés”]
Narrator: Lyon spent six years in Spain, microfilming more than a million pages of archival material, and another decade translating them.
Any new document is like finding a treasure.
Narrator: What emerged is a story that radically changes our understanding of this country’s roots….
The year was 1565…and the entire east coast of what is now the United States had been claimed as Spanish territory by Ponce de Léon 52 years earlier. It was known as “La Florida” (Lah Flor-EE-dah) and it stretched north to Nova Scotia and all the way west to the Mississippi…and along the Gulf of Mexico to Texas.
King Philip-the-Second wanted to establish a strategic foothold here, to prevent other countries from encroaching on Spanish land. And he wanted to deter attacks on his Spanish treasure fleets.
Pedro Menéndez had once been a Captain General of those treasure ships…he had been looking for a reason to return to La Florida to search for his lost son, whose ship had disappeared during a hurricane off the Florida Coast.
Menéndez raised his own capital, hoping to develop a colony in La Florida that would eventually become self-sufficient and export its own goods. He convinced the King that such a venture could greatly add to Spain’s coffers.
[Gregorian chanting/singing]
But there was another reason the King wanted to start settling this new territory…and it went back more than half a century- to Columbus’ first voyage.
For the Spaniards at this time, religion is the driving force. Christ can’t come back until the whole world is evangelized.
Narrator: History books have focused on other motivations…the drive to explore the New World…the desire to plunder its riches. But Columbus was also a fervent Christian, who believed his explorations could play a role in fulfilling Biblical prophecies.
So, those prophesies are saying that Christ is coming back, we have to evangelize the world, and the monarchs of Spain will in fact be at the forefront of the apocalypse when they retake Jerusalem.
Narrator: For the next 73 years, Spanish Conquistadors would continue to explore the east coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Monarchy. Not all of them shared this spiritual quest…but Pedro Menéndez did.
When he spoke to the king at court, he said, “such grief seizes me when I behold native peoples who are sunk in infidelity that I would give anything to redeem their lives and souls.”
[Gregorian chanting continues]
Narrator: That resonated profoundly with King Philip, who was such a devout Catholic he’d commissioned a Basilica to be built inside his own palace. It was specially designed so that his bedroom overlooked the altar, allowing the King to hear mass recited daily.
But there was little chance that religious missions would succeed in La Florida
[ seagulls caw]
So far no one in Europe had been able to survive long term in this inhospitable land.
Florida was a challenge. There had already been ten to twelve crown-sanctioned expeditions into Florida to establish permanence from Ponce de Leon forward, and no one had been able to do this.
It was just too difficult living there, scratching out a living.
Narrator: The King offered several inducements… Menéndez could claim 53 thousand acres as his own. He would be made Governor…and “Adelantado.” (Ah-day-lan TAH-doh)
Which literally means “he who goes before others.”
[music]
Narrator: The expedition would require 8 ships…carrying more than 1500 people and enough provisions to sustain the colonists until they could produce their own food and supplies.
You have tailors, hat makers, shoemakers, surgeons and barbers. One of the last individuals on the list is a master beer brewer.
Narrator: There would be soldiers on board to protect the settlement…26 families…seven priests…and a virtual melting pot of emigrants.
There were Spaniards, Portuguese, English, French we see, Flemish, Germans, and Africans.
And so it’s multicultural from day one.
Narrator: But just before the journey began, there was troubling news.
The French had established a fort smack in the middle of Spanish-claimed Florida. This was an insult to the King and he became quite angry at this trespass because he had in place a treaty which recognized Spain’s right to the whole Atlantic coast.
Narrator: Suddenly, overnight, the venture turned into a combat mission.
“You are to drive them out by whatever means you see fit.”
Narrator: Fortified with hundreds more soldiers, Menéndez was now in a race to beat the French Captain, Jean Ribault [zhaun/ ree-BOH] to Florida. Ribault was headed there with supply ships to fortify Fort Caroline, the small settlement that France had just set up near the mouth of the river known today as the St. John’s. Jean Ribault was a formidable foe.
Very high temper…he was a great danger to the Spaniards.
Narrator: The French settlers were running out of food and adequate supplies. Fort Caroline was barely holding on- if Ribault did not reach there with reinforcements the fort could be easily taken.
But of course this venture does not unfold the way that Menéndez expects it to unfold.
[thunder clap]
Narrator: Hurricanes struck as soon as the Spanish ships got out to sea.
[music]
About a quarter of the way across the Atlantic, all but five of those ships were either sunk at sea or driven back to port.
Narrator: Only about half of the original 1500 passengers made it to La Florida. The ships headed directly to Fort Caroline. But they were too late. Jean Ribault had already beaten them there.
So as Ribault is unloading his three smallest ships the Spanish show up,
[pop of gunfire]
they identify themselves, they fire shots.
[pop of more gunfire]
The four French ships that are offshore cut their anchor lines to escape.
Menéndez could not follow because his ships were laden with supplies and men.
Narrator: Menéndez retreated to an inlet about 40 miles south of Ft. Caroline, hoping it would provide safe harbor. But Menéndez couldn’t get his main supply ships past the shoal. They unloaded as much as they could into smaller boats, and went ashore.
And the first thing he did ashore was essentially went about the business of legally establishing the settlement of St. Augustine.
Narrator: Much of our knowledge about what happened next comes from a document that is housed here, in the Archives of the Indies, in Seville, Spain.
[music]
The fact that it survives is amazing. You know, the fact that it’s even here.
Narrator: It is the original diary of one of the priests who accompanied Pedro Menéndez on the voyage. For several centuries American historians knew nothing of its contents…And even today, only a small number of scholars can decipher this archaic script. Dr. Michael Francis is one of them.
Dr. J. Michael Francis, Historian
[reading]
“I, Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajalas, chaplain, give my word that everything said in this account is true.”
Fantastic.
[church bells toll]
Narrator: In vivid detail, Father Lopez described the great pageantry that marked the landing.
There were trumpet salutes and the firing of cannon
[cannon fire]
and flags waving everywhere.
[Gregorian chanting]
Narrator: Menéndez christened the new settlement “San Augustin,” or St. Augustine. It was September 8th, 1565.
Eric Johnson
Traditionally, the Spanish representative of the King would go to the flag, plant the flag in the ground and proclaim the land in the name of the king. He, however, went over to Father Lopez and knelt down and kissed the cross. He proclaimed the name in “Nombre de Dios,” in the name of God- before the name of his king.
And Lopez observed the natives imitated all they saw done. Now there’s a picture for you.
Narrator: Father Lopez then conducted a mass of Thanksgiving…and Menéndez ordered that a meal be prepared for everyone, including the natives. This was 55 years before the Pilgrims even arrived in Plymouth. A few years ago Dr. Michael Gannon drew fire when he called this meal the true “First Thanksgiving.”
There was a guy who called me from WBZ in Boston. He said, ‘while I’m talking, do you realize that there is an emergency meeting of selectmen at Plymouth to contend with this new information that there were Spaniards in Florida before there were Englishmen in Massachusetts?’
And then he said ‘well, you know how you’ve become known up here in New England?” I said ‘no’ he said, ‘The Grinch Who Stole Thanksgiving.’
[laughs]
Narrator: But while the Spanish were celebrating their new settlement, Jean Ribault was planning his next move.
He says “we need to stage a preemptive strike, we need to hit the Spanish now as hard as we can before they entrench themselves.”
Narrator: Ribault left a small number of men to guard Ft. Caroline, then set out with the others on four ships…looking for the Spanish camp.
The French show up, off the bar at St Augustine and all of a sudden this huge storm bears down on them.
Narrator: Jean Ribault’s ships couldn’t make it over St. Augustine’s sand bar and his surprise attack failed. Instead, he went after Menéndez’ supply ships that were heading south, away from the storm. The Spanish got out safely but Ribault’s ships did not.
And of course they were shipwrecked, all of those Frenchmen, from Daytona Beach to a point just north of Cape Canaveral.
Narrator: The ships wrecked near the coastline and the French made it to shore.
They probably lost most of their weapons, most of their food, uh, they try to march back to Fort Caroline. Now unbeknownst to them, Menendez also makes a bold move.
Menendez figured that the weather's nasty, I bet you that Fort Caroline is probably undermanned right now. This is my chance. I need to go and I need to take this fort now.
[lightning strikes, thunder claps]
Narrator: Some historians say it was a hurricane…others believe it was a nor’easter…either one could have proven lethal.
Most of the accounts allege that few of the Spaniards wanted to go; they don't think they can make it and they don't quite know how far it is and they think that they'll perish and Menendez says, “we're going”.
It must have been horrible in full armor carrying your weapons. To march through Florida wilderness during a hurricane took a lot of determination.
Narrator: It took them about two days to get there, walking throughout the night. Father Lopez wrote, “They arrived within a quarter of a league of the enemy’s fort, where they remained all night up to their waists in water.”
Dr. Sam Turner, Maritime
Archaeologist: At the break of dawn they essentially charged the gate.
[crowd noises, yelling]
They really caught the fort completely by surprise. You know, the French never dreamed that they would face an enemy during this storm. They figured everyone would be battered down just like they were.
The French were all asleep. And the slaughter began.
Narrator: Only a few escaped into the woods. Menéndez and his men collected the spoils of war: food, weapons and a chest, with the French king’s orders for the fort, which violated Spain’s claim to La Florida
Menendez renamed the fort “San Mateo” [san mah-TAY-oh], left some of his soldiers behind as guards, and took the rest back to St. Augustine.
[feet trod through water]
A little more than a week later, about half of the Frenchmen who had survived the shipwrecks off the coast of Cape Canaveral, were trying to make their way back to Ft. Caroline on foot.
But when they got to Matanzas inlet they were unable to cross it. And native people in that region saw that these Frenchmen were stranded there and ran up to St. Augustine to advise the Spaniards and Menendez went down with 50 men.
Narrator: Menéndez told the French that their fort had been destroyed, and the men surrendered. Ribault was not among them.
Menéndez said “I shall deal with you as a good captain should.” That’s the only promise he made to them.
[sound of waves]
Narrator: Menéndez had his men bring the French across the Matanzas River by boat…ten at a time…they were then bound and marched to a point where Menéndez had drawn a line in the sand.
Menéndez had situated his men behind the sand dunes with daggers and spears and when each group of ten was brought over, Menéndez’s men set upon them and killed them. And soon it was 20, 30, 40, 50, 60--the bodies piled up.
Narrator: Menéndez spared a few of the French—mostly craftsmen, whose skills could be put to use building the new settlement.
Some of the men who were on board were Catholic, they swore to it, and Menéndez saved their lives.
Dr. J. Michael Francis, Historian
[reading and translating]
He says that the total number of Lutherans killed were 111 men and that there were 14 or 15 that were taken captive.
Narrator: Father Lopez’ account ends at this point.
[clank of an old elevator going up]
But another document continues the story even further-
Don Alvaro Armada Barcáiztegui, Conde de Güemes
We’ve kept these documents, and here they are.
Narrator: Don Alvaro (Ahl-vah-row) Armada is the Count of Güemes [(G)WAY-mays], and a descendant of Pedro Menéndez. His family archive houses over a million pages of handwritten documents.
One of them is a full account of the expedition written by Gonzalo Solis de Merás (Gahn-ZA-lo so-LEEZ de mar-AHZ) who was Menéndez’ brother-in-law.
Don Alvaro Armada Barcáiztegui, Conde de Güemes
This is one of the, maybe one of the most important documents in the United States history no?
Narrator: It describes the fateful day two weeks after the slaughter of the first group of French shipwreck survivors, when Jean Ribault and about 200 of his remaining soldiers met face-to-face with Pedro Menéndez. They met at the sand dunes about 14 miles south of St. Augustine. It was October 11th 1565.
Dr. J. Michael Francis, Historian
[reading and translating]
Ribault tries to negotiate safe passage back uh to France and then offers a, uh, a ransom.
Don Alvaro Armada Barcáiztegui, Conde de Güemes
An amount of money no?…an amount of money.
Yeah, a lot.
Don Alvaro Armada Barcáiztegui, Conde de Güemes:
--and Menendez said, ‘no.’
No.
Narrator: Jean Ribault then recited a Psalm.
He begins to say a prayer and after he finishes,
[reading Spanish then translating]
"…dijo que de tierra eran y que en tierra se habían de volver…"
So he's saying to them that we are all of this earth and to this earth we shall return.
Don Alvaro Armada Barcáiztegui, Conde de Güemes
He's saying goodbye.
Dr. J. Michael Francis, Historian
So that within, in 20 years, all of this will be a tale, a story, a legend.
Don Alvaro Armada Barcáiztegui, Conde de Güemes
If you read it, you go- it's a film. You could make a film out of it, no? It's amazing, it's amazing.
Dr. J. Michael Francis, Historian
And then he looks at Menéndez and he says
[reading Spanish then translating]
"...que lo hiciese de ellos, mandando al adelantado..."
So he’s telling the Adelantado Menéndez, “Do with us as you will”.
[music]
Menéndez is quite open about what happens. Menéndez simply says “I could not risk keeping Ribault and the principal officers alive”
ex
It was a very calculated choice. He did not have the food that would be required to feed them. He did not have arms sufficient to guard them. These hordes of Frenchmen could overwhelm his forces at almost any time. So, he made a calculated decision. Either kill these people or be killed by them.
So as many as 350 men were massacred, and that's how we got, get the name Matanzas Inlet, Matanzas River, that's “massacre” or “slaughter” uh in Spanish
Narrator: Jean Ribault’s last words- that someday this would all be legend- proved to be ironic. For centuries the true story of America’s beginnings went untold- American history textbooks do not even give it a mention.
Pedro Menéndez and the people that went with him, they are really the fathers of the- of the United States, the true fathers of the United States. They arrived before- before Mayflower, Jamestown and all that- here are the documents, here are the documents.
[gull sounds, water splashing]
Narrator: The search for clues to our past continues today. A team of maritime archaeologists is off the coast of Cape Canaveral National Seashore. They are looking for those fateful shipwrecks that not only cost Jean Ribault and his men the conquest of the New World, but ultimately, their lives.
[oxygen tank bubbling]
So we have for example a letter from Pedro Menéndez to the King of Spain, reporting that the French ships have wrecked. And he gives a very rough estimate of how many leagues away from St. Augustine they are. So that kinda puts us in the general area.
Narrator: They have honed in on an area near shore, where small artifacts believed to have belonged to Ribault’s men were found.
So shipwreck survivors uh who made it ashore, had some kind of campsite there. There’s a lot of artifacts, there are coins, dating 1550s and there’s actually one coin that is dated 1565 -- that’s the magic number.
Narrator: Ribault’s ships were carrying large quantities of iron: cannons and ammunition. The team uses a high-powered metal-detector that penetrates deep water.
Oh there we go. So now… Oh there we go! Look at that! There’s definitely something there.
Narrator: But disappointingly, the dive on this day turns up nothing.
At night, all the coastline south of us is just dark. And it really feels just like it must have felt 450 years ago. You can imagine, the—I mean there were bodies washing ashore, there was flotsam and debris from the shipwrecks all ashore, there was probably a horrible stench.
[thunder crashes]
All of the hopes of these people who are really the first to come over to seek the American dream. And it all came down to this storm, this fateful storm that just dashed their hopes to pieces.
Narrator: More than a year later…a breakthrough, just south of the area the team had been searching.
[“Treasure hunters have apparently found the nearly 500 year-old remains of La Trinité…”]
News programs reported that a private treasure hunting company had unearthed three bronze cannons believed to belong to Ribault’s fleet.
There really is no doubt, uh, to any of the archeologists who have really looked at what has been found, that this is the Trinite or certainly one of Ribault’s ships. So it’s a very exciting find. So this is the, this is the canon in question. And here’s the H with the crown above it for King Henry the second. The biggest smoking gun that has been found, was a stone pillar.
Narrator: It’s a stone column like the one depicted in this 16th century etching. The columns were used to mark territory when the French arrived in the New World.
We know a pillar very much like this one was established where Fort Caroline is, so present day Jacksonville. And we know, that Ribault loaded six more of these stone pillars onto his fleet.
Narrator: France has laid claim to the shipwreck and is in talks with archaeologists- including Chuck Meide’s team- to assist with the excavation.
Ironically, these ships have been sitting at the bottom of the ocean buried under rocket ship debris…just a few miles from the place where modern day explorers are launched into space.
They |
third in the West) could vault into first place in the conference with a win. Vancouver is unbeaten in four matches at 3-0-1. United could start a team record run with a positive result against Vancouver; it’s coming off a victory and a draw.
Quotable: “We know that we can beat any team in this league, I’m pretty sure. It’s all about attitude. … When you play every three days, it’s all about taking it easy and rest and try to get your body in shape.” — United center back Francisco Calvo on playing Vancouver on Wednesday and Montreal on Saturday.
Numbers: The Loons have taken the fewest shots in the league with 259 while Vancouver is third from the bottom with 303.
Injuries: D David Edgar (PCL/MCL) and M Matias Laba (ACL) are out for Vancouver. M Bernardo Anor (leg), D Thomas de Villardi (Achilles), D Jermaine Taylor (concussion) and M Sam Cronin (concussion) are out for United.
MEgan RyanA three minute commercial film is a novel idea for American television. And a welcomed idea as well.
For one, the singular three and half minute ad cuts down on the four to six, successive, frantic thirty second ads believed to be responsible for much of the country’s undiagnosed attention deficit disorder in adults and children.
Instead of many unrelated commercials in a row, audiences get one with the new Cartier ad. The Cartier ad has a name: “L’Odyssee de Cartier.” Cartier’s Odyssey is 165 years old. In other words, Cartier’s been around since 1847. The three minute video speaks to a rich history of entrepreneurialism and adventure.
There’s a leopard, (other releases describe the large cat as a panther, but leopards are members of the Panther genus, so it’s all one in the same. There are snakes, a big, gold dragon and reptiles. The leopard stalks and sulks through lovely, albeit arid scenery.
This stalking and shapely animal replaces the typical sex symbol in a jewelry or parfum advertisement. Typically, a shapely woman in a tight dress slinks through long hallways. But in the Cartier ad, the panther has all the sex appeal. Bejeweled lizards and snakes enchant the set. Alongside the large, gold and rather patriarchal and threatening dragon.
Hopefully the Cartier ad is the start of something new. It would be so much better for American television, its younger viewers and consumer parents, if one product had one long and interesting commercial that returned viewers back to their show immediately after its three and half minute commercial run.
A new wave of three and half minute commercials for one product would drastically reduce the number of consumer advertisements that Americans are exposed to in such short periods of time.
For another, the ad embodies what television really should be: pure, driven and inspired creativity. It’s immediately clear the Cartier Odyssey ad is produced somewhere outside of the U.S. And it’s clear because U.S. luxury ads tend to drown viewers in excess.
(Nevermind how much the ad must have cost Cartier.)
Kay Jeweler and Lexus ads, for example, aren’t simple advertisements about jewels or cars. Those ads sell love in addition to diamonds and transportation. Adoring, hot and steamy love among middle aged Americans and baby boomers. A group, coincidentally, more likely to be unhappily married, if not angrily divorcing or divorced. In the United States, commercials that typically appeal to wealthy consumer audiences dictate what wealthy people look like and the suburban homes they live.
The Cartier ad suggests that fancy jewels are worn on fancy occasions. And when those jewels are not being worn, they’re safe with reptiles. Reptiles typically represent jealousy and envy, not to mention these animals typically elicit human fear. Reptiles are also animals that stay out of sight until they really want something. In other words, reptiles are not showy (like lions).
The dry land, sand dunes and background are also incredibly creative. The arid region is wetted with jewels, green, red, and of course diamonds. All of it, incredibly creative. There's far more to be said on Cartier's play with time and the company's legacy. For example, the watch and the paper airplane are direct reference to the Cartier watches.
So much so that a Celebrity Apprentice or Good Wife recap pales in comparison to the many layers present and worthy of discussion in the new Cartier Odyssey commercial.The retired 74-year-old teacher, identified as Axel G., appeared before the Alzey district court this week to appeal the fine for what daily Bild on Friday described as years of terrorising the local pool, where “ass bombs” are forbidden.
He was accused of scaring guests at the Wartberg Freibad with his splash-happy antics, hitting a woman over the head, sticking his tongue out, spitting in the water, and even dunking a 12-year-old girl underwater in 2006, causing her “mortal fear,” according to Bild.
The suntanned pensioner denied all of the explosive charges, but the pool security camera evidence worked against him, revealing footage of his “ass bombs.”
“The way you behave is really nothing to brag about,” Judge Rolf-Rainer Nebe said.
The court proceedings gave Axel G. a change of heart, though. He has withdrawn the appeal and decided to pay the fine, which reportedly included penalties for assaulting the girl, making false accusations and outstanding tax offences.The Arena sits like a big plug in the Westside. Once relocated
big opportunities open up here
Rendering of a new developed Arena site. The bus hub would be below, out of sight but not out of mind (ArchPlan Inc.)
A bus transit center could sit below new parcels
that respect the old street grid (ArchPlan and
Matthew Fitzsimmons)
Transit Density on the Westside
A bus hub could sit under the full site (ArchPlan Inc.)
Bus hub under the new Denver train station area (Photo ArchPlan)
The Denver Union Station bus hub is part airport, part subway and part train station
(Photo: ArchPlan)
With all the talk about the bus system to be ramped up so it can be a consolation prize for the loss of the Red Line rail line, it is time to recycle an old idea of mine, a downtown bus hub where the current Arena sits. This idea was once presented in the now defunct Urbanite and last modified when MDOT Secretary Flannigan investigated a downtown bus tunnel under Governor Ehrlich and when a tunnel wasn't necessary a "boondoggle" yet.Before getting disgusted by the prospect of a whole city block full of Diesel spewing buses, read on: The hub is envisioned underneath a new fine-grained mixed use center that would rise where the Arena stood as a monolith blocking the old street patterns. Unplugging the Westside and opening the old Liberty and Redwood Street alignments was actually the main argument, but the bus hub is a good one as well.Whatever high frequency, high speed and high capacity bus lines the Hogan transportation folks may come up with, they all need "land-side improvements" to truly live up to thos promising attributes, MTA operations improvements alone can't do it.One of those "land-side" improvements is sufficient real estate for hubs where various transit modes or lines inter connect, and that is pretty much most of the Westside. Lots of crowded curbside stops,lots of connections around-the-corner, plenty of congestion and not enough curb space to even fit all the buses pulling up. On the north side of the Arena, on Baltimore Street, 18 bus lines are listed to serve this one stop alone! Whatever plagues the Westside, it is not lack of transit service but certainly a lack of quality regarding "facilities" if one can even use this word for the scattered bus stops everywhere.The idea of a spanking new Baltimore Arena have been floated by wealthy folks who wanted to realize them in part or in full. Proposals came namely from the late Whiting Turner CEO Willard Hackerman and after that from David Cordish who wants to build an new Arena on Piers Five and Six. Without endorsing that particular location, it seems like a given that eventually a new Arena would rise someplace. I really endorse this not being the old location because, of the street blocking deadening plug effect such a mega structure has there, as I already noted and above photo demonstrates.Imagine, then, a new mixed use urban center that would let Redwood Street go through and Liberty follow its historic diagonal course all the way to Fayette Street and imagine further a larger basement under the full block currently occupied by the Arena and its garage. If you have ever been in Denver, you may be familiar with downtown underground bus hubs, Denver has two of those. Out of sight but not out of mind, these are the places where to find your bus connection. Instead of waiting at a curb stop in the rain blocking the path of pedestrians and aggravating the retail merchants around the stop, a facility that is half train station, half subway and has air conditioned waiting rooms with an array of electronic real time displays offers all the amenities that current bus riders lack in Baltimore.When I first proposed the bus hub at the Arena site, I thought it would connect to three rail lines, the Metro, the Central Light Rail and the Red Line and it could knit those three rail stops together since they are a good block, a fact that always has been the subject of much criticism but that wasn't easy to alleviate. But by having a large piece of MTA controlled real estate devoted to transit like the bus hub connecting the rail lines the transfer would become seamless. Alas, the idea works with two rail lines as well!So, when we get ready to engage on the question what the next round of transit improvements in Baltimore should look like, don't forget to considerthe downtown Westside transit hub under what is now the Arena!Klaus Philipsen, FAIAA new chapter in New York Giants football will begin on Thursday when the team reports to training camp under first-year head coach Ben McAdoo. For some however, Tom Coughlin’s awkward departure still leaves a bad taste in their mouth.
Adam Schein of NFL Network is one of those people.
When previewing bubble teams that may or may not find their way into the NFL playoffs this season, Schein specifically noted the “foolish” nature in which the Giants forced out Coughlin. And with that in mind, Schein predicts an 8-8 third place finish for Big Blue in the NFC East.
The case for: The Giants spent a lot of cash in free agency; Olivier Vernon, Janoris Jenkins and Damon Harrison constitute gigantic upgrades on defense. Odell Beckham Jr. is a uniquely gifted receiver. Eli Manning is still Eli Manning. The case against: The Giants foolishly forced out Hall of Fame coach Tom Coughlin. Can elevated former offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo be a lead dog? Remains to be seen. I don’t think Big Blue’s defense is good enough, even with the offseason additions. Offensively, the Giants still have major questions in the backfield, along the O-line and on the WR depth chart. My way-too-early feeling: The Giants have that 8-8, third-place feel.
As it relates to Coughlin, the uneasiness since his departure seems to have subsided. And while he was clearly annoyed with the split initially, the two-time Super Bowl winning head coach has accepted an invite to be honored in the team’s Ring of Honor this coming season.
“It was a great privilege to be the 16th head coach of the New York Giants, and it’s a privilege and a tremendous honor to be a part of those great names in Giant folklore that are in the Ring of Honor,” Coughlin told Giants.com. “It’s something Judy, my family and I very much appreciate. The New York Giants, to me, is the greatest franchise in the history of the NFL. We recognize the long history of the Giants and the greatest city in the world, the tremendous coaches and players that have represented the Giants over the years. It’s a great honor to be included in the same breath with some of these prestigious former players and coaches.”
Now, about that 8-8 prediction…
What do you say, Giants fans? Can Ben McAdoo return Big Blue to their winning ways or was parting with Coughlin a foolish decision that will cost them in 2016?Image copyright Getty Images
If the so-called Commander-in Chief Forum in New York City was a dress rehearsal for the presidential debates that begin later this month, both candidates have their work cut out for them.
The 30 minutes allotted to each candidate made the proceedings feel like the political equivalent of speed-dating - and like speed-dating gone wrong, there was plenty of time for the participants to bury themselves with their words.
Mrs Clinton once again tripped up when discussing her use of a private email server as secretary of state. Mr Trump found new and interesting ways to show his tenuous command of policy details and shower questionable praise on a US rival.
Here are those and other moments each candidate may come to regret in the days ahead.
Hillary Clinton
The email server. She may have wanted to talk about why she is qualified to be US commander in chief, but she spent nearly a third of her time on the defensive about her emails.
She talked about classification "headers" and explained that there was "no evidence" her server had been hacked. She even said it may have been safer than those of the state department's, given that the government's (non-classified) system had indeed been breached.
When it came to handling classified information, she was unapologetic. "I did exactly what I should have done and I take it very seriously," she said. "Always have, always will."
For those keeping track at home, Mrs Clinton has gone from asserting that she never relayed classified information to that she never sent "marked" classified documents to that she never sent material with classified headers.
That's the rhetorical equivalent of rear-guard action that ends with your army pushed into the sea.
Iraq regrets. After the email muddle, NBC moderator Matt Lauer asked the Iraq War veterans in the audience how they felt about Mrs Clinton's expressing regret for supporting the war in which they served.
Mrs Clinton's response was to reiterate that she now thinks the war was a mistake, to talk about all the good things she's done for the military - the "totality of her record", as she put it - and to attack Mr Trump for lying about his past support for the war.
What Mrs Clinton didn't do was try to convince the military personnel in the audience that while she regrets the decision to send them into harm's way, she appreciates their sacrifice. It's the kind of empathetic flourish that made her husband, Bill Clinton, the master of the town hall debate.
Given that one of the the three presidential debates will have this same format, she'll need to raise her game - and fast.
Libyan casualties. Mrs Clinton stood by her decision, as secretary of state, to recommend military intervention in the Libyan civil war.
"I put together a coalition that included Nato, included the Arab League and we were able to save lives," she said. What she said next, however, could come back to haunt her.
"We did not lose a single American in that action."
Mrs Clinton was referring to the airstrikes the US launched against Libyan forces, but her political opponents - and the Trump campaign - likely will point to that line and cite the killing of US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the US consulate in Benghazi as evidence of her indifference to their deaths.
In fact, that's already started.
Image copyright Reuters
Donald Trump
Praising Putin. Mr Trump has taken fire for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking Russian operatives to hack his opponent's email, hiring a campaign manager who worked for Russian-backed Ukrainian leaders and possibly having undisclosed ties to Russian financial interests. It would seem to be a questionable move, then, for the Republican nominee to double-down on praise for the Russian president during this high-profile forum. He sure did, however.
Mr Trump cited Mr Putin's 82% approval ratings, said he was a leader with "strong control" over his country and compared him favourably to President Barack Obama. He added that when Mr Putin called him brilliant, "I'll take the compliment, OK?"
"If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him," Mr Trump continued.
That may be an excellent way to get along with colleagues and classmates, but Americans may not view it as the best foundation for US-Russian relations.
Trashing generals. When Mr Trump was asked if he stood by his claim that he knew more about defeating the so-called Islamic State than US generals," he said that under Mr Obama the generals had been "reduced to rubble".
A few minutes later came the killer follow-up. Why, in Mr Trump's national security speech earlier in the day, had he said as president he would give US generals 30 days to come up with a plan to defeat the so-called Islamic State.
Didn't Mr Trump say he was smarter than the generals? And didn't he say he already had a great plan?
Mr Trump's response boiled down to: 1) Yes, he did have a plan. 2) He also wanted to get advice from generals. 3) Maybe he would find "different generals", as the ones who support Mrs Clinton "have been losing for us for a long period of time". 4) Once he settled on a plan, or some combination of plans, he certainly wasn't going to tell Matt Lauer about it.
Like Mrs Clinton with her email answer, the longer Mr Trump talked the more he seemed to tie himself in knots.
Military rape. Mr Trump's worst moments in the forum - and in many of his Republican primary debates as well - came when he was pressed on his past remarks. After being asked about the high rate of sexual assaults in the military, Lauer brought up one of Mr Trump's more cringe-worthy tweets, from back in 2013.
"26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military - only 238 convictions," he had written. "What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?"
Mr Trump insisted that his tweet was correct. He added that taking women out of the military wasn't feasible, but "something has to happen". He then talked vaguely about increasing prosecutions.
Current opinion polls show Mr Trump is facing record low support from female voters, and blaming sexual assaults on the decision to allow women in the military isn't going to help. This was the chance for Mr Trump to walk back his comments and offer some nuance. It was a glaring missed opportunity.View Photos Chris Doane Automotive
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Here in Michigan, the first throes of spring are poking their way through the depressing gray cloak that covers the state during the winter. It got up to nearly 50 degrees the other day, which practically had locals jumping about in their swimsuits, but it prompted something altogether better, too: Ford apparently thinks the weather’s good enough for its high-performance Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R prototypes to begin frolicking about on summer tires. What does this mean for you? Well, unless you work for Ford, these likely are the first non-blue-and-white GT350s you’ve seen.
Like so many spring flowers, our spy photographer managed to capture a veritable rainbow coalition of multi-colored Shelby GT350s and GT350Rs out testing in the Detroit area. There’s a yellow-and-black GT350, a silver GT350R with black wheels and white stripes, as well as a dark-gray GT350R with black wheels.
Ford has yet to officially release the GT350’s full color palette, but a leaked order guide for the car indicates that the yellow pictured here will be an optional hue, while the normal color spread will include Competition Orange, Avalanche Gray, Shadow Black, Deep Impact Blue, Race Red, and Oxford White. A host of stripe packages will be available, too. We’ll know for sure what those rides look like soon—both the GT350 and the GT350R should be out by year’s end.Sir Jacob Charles Vouza, KBE, GM (c. 1892 – 15 March 1984) was a native police officer of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, who served heroically with the United States Marine Corps in the Guadalcanal campaign during World War II.
Early life [ edit ]
Vouza was born in Tasimboko, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, and educated at the South Seas Evangelical Mission School there. In 1916 he joined the Solomon Islands Protectorate Armed Constabulary. He retired in 1941, after 25 years of service, at the rank of Sergeant Major.
World War II service [ edit ]
In mid-1942, Japanese forces invaded Guadalcanal. Vouza returned to active duty with the British forces and volunteered to work with the Coastwatchers. A Scotsman, Major Martin Clemens, a former British Solomon Islands Protectorate District Officer, was the officer in charge of Sgt. Major Vouza's brigade of native scouts.[1] Vouza's ability as a scout had already been established when the US 1st Marine Division landed on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. That same day, Vouza rescued an aviator from USS Wasp who was shot down in Japanese-held territory. He guided the pilot to American lines, where he met the Marines for the first time.
Vouza then volunteered to scout behind enemy lines. On 20 August, while scouting for suspected Japanese outposts, Vouza was captured by men of the Ichiki Detachment, a battalion-strength force of the Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment. Having found a small American flag in Vouza's loincloth, the Japanese tied him to a tree and tortured him for information about Allied forces.[2] Vouza was questioned for hours, but refused to talk. He was then bayoneted in both of his arms, throat, shoulder, face, and stomach, and left to die.
After his captors departed, he freed himself by chewing through the ropes with his teeth, and made his way through the miles of jungle to American lines.[2] Before accepting medical attention from Lt. Col. Stanley Radzyminski MD, he gasped a warning to Martin Clemens[3]:209–210 and Lieutenant Colonel Edwin A. Pollock, whose 2nd Battalion 1st Marines held the defences at the Ilu River mouth. Vouza told him that an estimated 250 to 500 Japanese soldiers were coming to attack his position in any minute. This warning gave the Marines the brief but precious time of about 10 minutes to prepare their defences along the Ilu river. The subsequent Battle of the Tenaru was a clear victory for the Marines.
After spending 12 days in the hospital and receiving 16 pints of blood, Vouza returned to duty as the chief scout for the Marines. He accompanied Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson and the 2nd Raider Battalion on their 30-day raid behind enemy lines.
Vouza on Guadalcanal in August 1942, soon after the Allied landings.
Sir Jacob Vouza memorial at Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Awards [ edit ]
Sergeant Major Vouza was highly decorated for his World War II service. The Silver Star was presented to him personally by Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, for refusing to give information under Japanese torture. He also was awarded the Legion of Merit for outstanding service with the 2nd Raider Battalion during November and December 1942, and was made an honorary Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.[4] From the British government, he received the George Medal[5] for gallant conduct and exceptional devotion to duty and the Police Long Service Medal and, in 1957, was appointed an MBE for public services in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.[6] In 1979, he was elevated to the KBE for outstanding services to his country and local community.[7]
After the war [ edit ]
After the war, Vouza continued to serve his fellow islanders. He was appointed district headman in 1949, and was president of the Guadalcanal Council from 1952 to 1958. He was a member of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Advisory Council from 1950 to 1960.
He made many friends during his association with the Marine Corps, and Marines frequently visited him on Guadalcanal. In 1968, Vouza visited the United States as the honoured guest of the 1st Marine Division Association. He wore his Marine Corps tunic until his death on 15 March 1984, and was buried in it.
A monument in his honour stands in front of the police headquarters building in Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands.[8]
Photos of plaques on the Honiara Monument Plaque on the Sir Jacob Vouza memorial at Rove, Honiara Solomon Islands – Battle of Guadalcanal
Second plaque on the Sir Jacob Vouza memorial at Rove, Honiara Solomon Islands – Battle of Guadalcanal
Plaque on the Sir Jacob Vouza memorial at Rove, Honiara Solomon Islands – 1989
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
CitationsI was going to do a lot of other stuff today. I had great plans, long meaningful lists, spellbinding, heartfelt stories. Perhaps a retrospective piece hot-linking popular posts here, assembling a beautiful collage of whimsy, hope, dreams and tears.You see, this is my 300th published post. I was gonna drop some whopping numbers on you involving average word count per post, say a thousand, and how that would be about three good sized novels worth of words. I was also going to self-servingly mention the novel I wrote, and, well, basically, I was going to brag, "humble-brag" I think they call it these days.I would have, too, except today is a windy day.I am sitting in the dining room, my candle lit, my swollen head ready to impress you. I put my fingers on the keypad, look out into the yard to collect my deep thoughts and, well, this blows into view:I stop typing, hang my head, sigh, and remember. I bought it in a whim, I doubt the boys were even two. They were with me at a grocery store, up there in front - in the double wide - and I wheeled them past, not even noticing the giant bin of "made in China" balls. The boys heard the siren sound that is a ball to boys and I got two, this green one and a red one, which met an early death at the blade of a lawn tractor.But this guy... I would say this was the first ball they ever kicked outside. I know it was the ball I used to explain soccer and kick-ball. I know it was an integral part of the first game the ever invented on their own which involved two plastic hockey sticks, this ball, a fence and, oddly enough, a hickory nut... or was it a feather?This ball has been imagined into everything from a cannon ball - basically any weapon ammo, honestly - to a damsel in distress high in the pine boughs in which it was stuck, the tree they eventually climbed, enticed by this little ball. I think I may have put it in the shed or the garage the first couple of years, but, for the last several it has been the only toy I have let just stay out. One spring I found it safely wedged in the opening of a tunnel under the shed, where Woody, the gopher/woodchuck dude is alleged to live. The boys imagined he used it as a door to keep out the wind and snow.Imagine a back yard full of boys chasing, kicking, throwing this ball gallantly taking them all on. I remember four boys once throwing sticks like spears at it and the falling down laughter that followed as it blew across the yard seemingly trying to escape their unheeded assault. I've seen it fly over the fence and taunt a boy too little to climb a fence to, well, climb a fence. I talked him through it with tears in my eyes as the metaphorical fences fell and the future seemed bigger, because of one brave little ball.After the assault of memories that flashed in the instant I saw the ball, I knew. I knew what I had to do. I wander out into the yard now populated with three and five and seven and two year-old boys, dancing, running, singing, kicking, growing and learning, and I look down on it and take the a picture of it from above. The color is off, there is no banana for scale, it seems lifeless, inert, and I know it is not. I kneel down in the muddy yard and I snap the picture with the playset and the rope-swing and the fence and the maple tree in the background. The ball is covered in a patina of dirt, slightly deflated, but somehow noble, decent, stalwart, proud.I pick it up and it seems to sigh. Instantly I get it. This ball, over the years, through snow and rain and drought and mud and wind has done one thing, a sacred thing, an act of profound love - it has been. I realize, choking back the familiar sob of deep understanding, thatis precisely what I have tried to do for them. I have tried to be available, weather the storms, be ready, be strong, be brave... be there.So, there I am, standing in my yard of dreams, tears washing clean a dirty green ball and I do the most natural thing, the one thing the ball wants, the only gift of thanks I can give it... I kick it. It soars up and the wind embraces it and it sails much higher and much farther than it should have, over the fence, into another yard.I go get it...Thanks for being with me here, on this journey, I appreciate it. Be available for others today, everyday. Be a green ball, be the hope that is in the eyes of children and the truth that is at the soul of every hard-working toy ever made.Harford County school officials insist that their decision Monday to rescind a ban on field trips to Baltimore’s cultural institutions had nothing to do with the public attention to the issue since the prohibition was first reported in the Aegis last week, nor with the outcry from public officials, including County Executive Barry Glassman’s voiced hope that the system would revisit the issue. Instead, they say, it was the result of routine re-evaluation of the likelihood of riots in the city. Yeah, right. Just like the decision a week before to allow Harford students to participate in sports games and tournaments in the city had everything to do with a well-grounded determination that such events have better security than, say, the Baltimore Museum of Art and not the fact that parents went nuts when they found out the previously unpublicized policy might keep their kids from qualifying for the playoffs.
Harford County, like many others in the region, canceled student trips to Baltimore in the wake of the riots in April. Likely few would quibble with that. Harford, like other jurisdictions, resumed those activities once it was clear that tensions had calmed in the city. It wasn’t unreasonable, either, for Harford and other counties to again suspend trips during the trial of the first of six police officers.
But what Harford parents and school board members need to start asking questions about is why the system didn’t resume the trips after the trial came and went with no civic disturbances whatsoever. In a statement, Harford Superintendent Barbara Canavan said that district officials had conferred with law enforcement officials weekly and had been acting on their advice. Now, she said, those law enforcement sources had provided new information, which changed district officials’ minds.
Really? Just what, other than public disclosure and scrutiny of the policy, had occurred since the previous Monday? At present, the next two officers’ trials are on hold pending appeals that could take months to resolve, and appeals involving the remaining cases are underway and likely to result in further delays. None of that is new information.
We understand that the district’s first priority is and should be keeping students safe, but there’s a point at which caution becomes hysteria, and Harford officials crossed it. It would have been nearly as reasonable for Baltimore City schools to cancel field trips to Harford County because of runaway blimps, black bear sightings, rapidly increasing heroin overdoses, and so on. The fact that Harford was alone in enacting this prohibition says enough by itself. Harford County parents need to ask whether the school board was really representing the best interests of their children’s education or reflecting a parochial, city-phobic mindset that risks distorting students’ views of the world.
It’s not just that these students were being denied enrichment opportunities that are unparalleled in this region — to name a few, the BMA, Walters Art Museum, American Visionary Art Museum, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, Fort McHenry, the Maryland Science Center, the National Aquarium, the Maryland Zoo, the Museum of Industry, the Great Blacks in Wax Museum, the Lyric Opera House and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. It’s that they are being taught that the city is something to be feared and shunned as opposed to being the cultural and economic heart of the region.
Unfortunately, that’s not an attitude limited to the Harford school system. Six weeks after the riots, the regional Opportunity Collaborative issued a report suggesting shared strategies to address segregated housing, poorly connected transportation and other issues that have contributed to Baltimore’s problems over the decades, and the response from suburban leaders was near total silence. Mr. Glassman’s spokeswoman dismissed the effort at the time, saying he was focused on local issues rather than regional ones.
The one exception to the rule was Baltimore County, where executive Kevin Kamenetz saw the report as a call to action. On a symbolic level, he has been urging county residents to take advantage of the city’s cultural institutions, shops and restaurants — and more substantively, he has been working to settle long standing issues related to a federal fair housing lawsuit. Appropriately enough, the county schools have employed a perfectly rational standard when it comes to Baltimore field trips. Like other districts, they suspended such excursions for a time immediately after the riots, and again during the trial of the first of the police officers charged in connection with Freddie Gray’s death. But when that trial came and went with no disturbance on the streets, they gave principals the green light to schedule trips into the city at their discretion as usual.
Mr. Glassman, fortunately, seems to have come along in his thinking about regionalism since last June. He is now the chairman of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, and Monday he cited the need for all parts of the region to support one another in saying he hoped the school system would change its position. “The children benefit from... seeing different environments,” he said.
Thankfully, the school system came to the right conclusion in the end. But parents and school board members shouldn’t let this drop because it reflects on the judgment and transparency of the system. The cultural enrichment Harford students can get in Baltimore is an essential part of education, and Harford’s students were being deprived of it for no good reason whatsoever.U.S. combat troops are gone from Iraq, but for some of the Marines who lived through it, there’s one more fight to win: making sure one of the fallen, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, is awarded the Medal of Honor.
Eight years after Peralta smothered a live grenade with his body in a firefight at a house in Fallujah, and four years after the Defense Department rejected a petition to award him the military’s top honor, the decision is once again back before the defense secretary, and Peralta’s backers said they expect a new decision by month’s end.
“It’s been a long process, but I’m confident that the secretary will make the right call and award Sgt. Peralta the Medal of Honor. It’s what he deserves,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who as a Marine officer completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and who has been an evangelist for Peralta’s case.
Peralta’s combat comrades from that Nov. 15, 2004, firefight, when he took the point as they tried to clear a house of insurgents, say there is no question he deserves the Medal of Honor, given what happened.
As they entered one room, they encountered insurgents lying in wait who opened fire. In the firefight, Peralta was shot in the head and fell, even as one of the insurgents tossed a grenade. Seven witnesses say Peralta, lying on the ground, scooped the grenade underneath himself, absorbing the blast and saving the lives of the men with him.
“Peralta took his arm out and swept it underneath his body,” Robert Reynolds, who was a lance corporal in the platoon that day with Peralta, told The Washington Times. “If he didn’t sweep it underneath his body, I would be dead because I was five feet from him.”
It turns out that testimonial is critical, because it matters what was happening five feet from Peralta.
The Pentagon’s initial review of the incident said that based on autopsy photos, X-rays and the condition of his body armor, the grenade detonated near Peralta’s left side at about knee level, rather than underneath him — which is where it should have been had he swept it with his arm.
Further, the review said the gunshot wound to Peralta’s head, from friendly fire, may have killed him instantly, and probably left him blind, which would have meant he couldn’t have scooped the grenade toward himself.
“There is no way to reconcile differences in forensic evidence and conflicting testimony of Marines involved,” the report said, but it concluded that the forensic evidence created enough “margin of doubt” that the medal could not be issued.
Based on that report, then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates denied the Marine Corps’ petition for the Medal of Honor, and instead awarded Peralta the Navy Cross.
Steve Sebby, who was a combat photographer following Peralta’s unit that day, said the Navy Cross doesn’t make sense here.
“If he didn’t do any of that stuff, like the forensic evidence says, then why would he rate that medal? It’s either the Medal of Honor or nothing. That’s what stands out in this case,” Mr. Sebby said. “In wars past, the amount of statements that were made by the Marines — that would have flown, that would have gotten the Medal of Honor back in World War II, World War I. You’ve got a bunch of honest Marines recognizing heroism, that would have been enough.”
Indeed, the citation for the Navy Cross affirms that Peralta “reached out and pulled the grenade to his body, absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding |
es at Old Trafford last season.
But with the Scot being sacked after guiding United to seventh place, their lowest-ever Premier League finish, Louis van Gaal has arguably landed the manager's job at the perfect time, with Moyes's failure making it almost impossible for the Dutchman to do any worse.
Van Gaal has inherited a rebuilding job at United, but the early signs from the club's pre-season tour of the United States point to a much-improved atmosphere and sense of belief and the former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach appears already to have made the team competitive again.
The intensity of the Premier League will quickly test United's progress under Van Gaal and tell the manager whether his new 4-3-1-2 formation will work in England.
But players who appeared to have no future at United, such as Ashley Young, Darren Fletcher and Tom Cleverley, have impressed in pre-season and displayed new-found confidence under Van Gaal to raise hopes of a title challenge.
United have yet to replace the experience of the departed Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand, though, while the playing retirement of Ryan Giggs has also left the squad appearing light on maturity and proven quality.
It will take more than the summer signings of Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera to lift United back to the top, but after a nightmare year under Moyes, progress, at least, appears to be being made at Old Trafford.
Manager Louis van Gaal.
Best starting XI De Gea, Evans, Jones, Smalling, Valencia, Young, Fletcher, Herrera, Mata, Van Persie, Rooney.
Prediction Will find it difficult to fight for the title, but do not expect United to miss out on the Champions League again.
Transfers
In Luke Shaw (Southampton, £30m rising to £31m), Ander Herrera (Athletic Bilbao, £28.8m), Vanja Milinkovic (FK Vojvodina, Undisclosed).
Out Alexander Buttner (Dynamo Moscow, £4.4m rising to £5.6m), Patrice Evra (Juventus, £1.2m rising to £1.5m), Bebe (Benfica, £2.25m), Jack Barmby (Leicester City), Feredrico Macheda (Cardiff City), Nemanja Vidic (Inter Milan), Louis Rowley (Leicester City), Rio Ferdinand (Queens Park Rangers), Vanja Milinkovic (FK Vojvodina, Loan).
Released Sam Byrne, Ryan Giggs, Jack Rudge.
Tickets
• Cheapest: £31 (East/West Stand Lower)
• Most Expensive: £53 (Sir Alex Ferguson Stand Tier 1/South Stand upper Centre
Same prices for all Premier League and FA cup tickets. Cheapest seats found in the Lower East and West Stands.
Ticket Office Number 0161 868 8000
Full list of Manchester United's Premier League 2014/15 fixtures - click here
Arsenal Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Aston Villa Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Burnley Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Chelsea Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Crystal Palace Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Everton Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Hull City Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Leicester City Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Liverpool Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Manchester City Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Newcastle United Premier League season 2014/15 guide
QPR Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Stoke City Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Sunderland Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Swansea City Premier League season 2014/15 guide
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League season 2014/15 guide
West Brom Premier League season 2014/15 guide
West Ham Premier League season 2014/15 guideMy kingdom for some symbols
I spend a large portion of my time at work trying to make things faster and less crashy. Usually the problems I investigate are in our own code so I have full information – source code and symbols. However sometimes the problems are at least partially in some other company’s code, and the task gets trickier.
This article was originally posted on #AltDevBlogADay.
Note that 64-bit binaries are also needed in order to do stack walking, so symbol servers that only provide PE files actually do have some value. That’s because 64-bit stack walking uses metadata in the PE file, instead of a linked-list of stack frames (as is used for stack walking in 32-bit processes). Therefore it is good news that AMD and NVIDIA both now support symbol servers for downloading their PE files (binaries), even though symbols are not hosted on these symbol servers. Note also that http: for symbol servers is a really bad idea.
Mandatory disclaimer: this post represents my opinion, not that of my employer.
A call stack we can believe in
For example, last week I investigated a Visual Studio hang. This intermittent hang had been bothering me for months and I finally decided to record an xperf trace of the hang and investigate. The details will be the subject of another post, but one vital clue was this call stack from the xperf CPU scheduling summary table:
The call stack is entirely in Microsoft code. It starts in Visual Studio and ends up in Windows, and this call stack shows that Visual Studio hung for 2.585 seconds while trying to CreateFileW so that it can GotoEntry in the CResultList. Even though I know nothing about the Visual Studio architecture that was enough information to let me understand the problem, and I then changed our project files in order to completely avoid this hang in the future. Shazam!
The reason I was able to diagnose this problem is because Microsoft publishes symbols for most of its code on a public symbol server. Symbols are published for Windows, Visual Studio, and much more, and this often lets me fix performance problems and crashes even when they are entirely separate from our code. Yay Microsoft!
A call stack that knows how to keep its secrets
Another example, not quite so happy, is demonstrated by this call stack. This is sampling profiler data from a thread that is in our game:
Huh. This thread sure is using a lot of CPU time. In our process. I wonder what it’s doing? Except for the two out 1,036 samples that hit in Windows functions I can only tell that it is NVIDIA code that is executing – there are no indications as to what it is doing.
I don’t mean to pick on NVIDIA here. Well, to be more accurate, I don’t mean to just pick on NVIDIA. This is a problem with all three major graphics vendors – NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. None of them share symbols with the public and this leaves game developers with a significant problem. When a crash occurs deep in graphics driver code (a not uncommon occurrence) we are helpless. When a frame glitch occurs deep in graphics driver code (also quite common) we are helpless. And when game startup includes excessive memory allocations or CPU time deep in graphics driver code… we are helpless.
You can’t handle the truth
I’ve been told by some graphics vendors that having symbols would not be valuable to game developers, and might even be confusing. Game developers couldn’t possibly understand their cryptic function names, and might misinterpret them.
Poppycock.
I’ve solved dozens of performance problems in other people’s code, with just symbols to guide me. Having symbols has never been confusing, and has almost always saved me time.
If I had symbols for the graphics drivers then I could solve some problems on my own. I could recognize patterns in the crashes and performance problems that I see. I could give more precise suggestions and bug reports to the graphics vendors. I could more easily figure out what is happening in my code that is causing problems in their code.
As it is I can do almost nothing. Significant CPU time and memory is being consumed in my game’s process and I don’t have symbols to help understand why.
Call to action
If you’re a game developer, ask the graphics vendors that you work with for symbols. They’ll say no, but it’s still important to ask, in order to remind them of the importance of this issue. After they say no be sure to send them all of the crash dumps and xperf traces where they are a factor and insist that they help you, since they won’t let us help ourselves. And, don’t forget to share your stories and needs for symbols in the comments.
If you’re a graphics vendor – please release symbols. I’m confident that if you do it will let us make better games on your hardware, while saving time for your support team, and for game developers. I know that deciding to share symbols is hard, because symbols reveal a lot. I get that. But not sharing symbols with anyone is counterproductive.
Final disclaimer
I own stock in Microsoft, Intel, and AMD, but not NVIDIA. I hope it has not affected my impartiality. You decide.This post has been translated into Russian by HTR. Thank you!
A while back I wrote that Robert Martin was ruining software by being too good at programming. That was supposed to be a joke. Since then he’s done his damndest to actually ruin software by telling people they’re doing it wrong. His most recent response where he yells at software correctness was the breaking point for me, so I’m going to go ahead and say what many of us have been thinking:
Uncle Bob gives terrible advice. Following it will make your code worse.
He begins Tools are not the Answer by listing some of the “new” tools that are not “the answer”: Light Table, Model Driven Engineering, and TLA+. Now, I’m pretty biased here, what with writing a TLA+ manual and all. But I agree with what (I thought) was the core critique: there is no silver bullet. TLA+ has shown some astounded successes at Amazon and Microsoft, but it only verifies specs, not code. While it’s incredible for designing systems, you should combine it with other correctness techniques, like type systems and tests. A pretty good argument.
But it turns out that argument was only in my head, because he follows it with this:
The solution to the software apocalypse is not more tools. The solution is better programming discipline.
Just what is “discipline”, anyway? Uncle Bob says that means not “doing a half-assed job.” Uncle Bob is saying the solution for people writing bad code… is to not write bad code. Our programs would be perfect if it weren’t for the programmers!
One of the core assumptions of modern systems engineering is that there’s a constant flow of defects: that people make mistakes. You can’t rely on people to not fuck up on their own: after all, the US still has 30,000 auto deaths a year. Rather, the best way to reduce the volume and severity of mistakes is to adjust the system itself. Either make them harder to do, make them easier to catch, or make them cause less damage when they do happen. Don’t just blame the drivers, give them safe roads! Give them seatbelts!
One way of doing this is to add a bureaucratic process, such as code review. If your code doesn’t conform to requirements (it lacks tests, you named your variables x and x2, etc), the code will be rejected. That, on a systems level, reduces bugs. When we adopt mechanical tools, like tests and IDEs, all we are doing is automating those processes. We use the way we create code, and the kind of code we create, to check our work. This is the vast field of software correctness, and spans everything from type systems to language design.
Uncle Bob is okay with software correctness: after all, he uses the phrase “unit testing” like a smurf uses “smurf”. But what about every other correctness technique?
In other words, any correctness technique that isn’t unit tests can be dismissed. But unit tests don’t give you much confidence in your code. That’s because humans make mistakes, and we can’t always guarantee that the mistakes we make are the nicely unit testable ones. For example, here’s a ceiling function I wrote. Quick, what numbers would you test it with?
function ceiling ( num ) { if ( num == ( num | 0 )) { return num ; } return Math. round ( num + 0.5 ); }
Did you try -1e-100? You’d have seen that ceiling(-1e-100) == 1 when it should be 0. That’s because of how floating point works: 0.5 - 1e-100 == 0.5. I’d be shocked if many people remembered to check that, if they even knew that floating point has quirks at all. But a property-based test catches it easily. Okay, function two:
function clamp ( min, x, max ) { return Math. max (Math. min ( max, x ), min ); }
The function is perfectly fine. The bug isn’t in the function at all! It’s that, in our 50 kLoC codebase, there is a single path that eventually ends with calling clamp with a null value. Are you going to test every possible path? Is that really superior to using a type system? Okay, last one:
function append_to_body ( type, text ) { var d = document. createElement ( type ); d. innerHTML = text ; document. body. appendChild ( d ); }
The function works fine, except you’ve now opened up an XSS vector. That’s why we have static analysis. These aren’t just toy examples. These are topics with plenty of research, plenty of development, and plenty of history. We’ve learned what they’re good for and what their limitations are. We use these tool because they work. Exactly the same reason we have unit tests and TDD.
But unit tests are not enough. Type systems are not enough. Contracts are not enough, formal specs are not enough, code review isn’t enough, nothing is enough. We have to use everything we have to even hope of writing correct code, because there’s only one way a program is right and infinite ways a program can be wrong, and we can’t assume that any tool we use will prevent more than a narrow slice of all those wrong ways.
That’s what makes Bob’s advice so toxic. By being so dismissive of everything but unit tests, he’s actively discouraging us from using our whole range of techniques. He demands we run blind and blames us for tripping.
Uncle Bob can say whatever he likes. We don’t have to listen to him. He’s welcome to keep shouting that tools won’t help, better languages won’t help, better process won’t help, the only thing that’ll help is lots and lots of unit tests. Meanwhile, we’ll continue to struggle with our bugs, curse our model checkers, and make software engineering just a little bit better. We don’t believe in silver bullets.Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "The Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Administration Perspective" on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Corker asked a top Senate Republican on Sunday to explain how a provision that will provide a tax break to people with large commercial real estate holdings ended up in the final version of the tax reform package that Congress is expected to approve this week.
“Because this issue has raised concerns, I would ask that that you provide an explanation of the evolution of this provision and how it made it into the final conference report,” Corker wrote in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
“I think that because of many sensitivities, clarity on this issue is very important and hope that you will respond in an expeditious manner,” said Corker, a Tennessee Republican.
Corker's request followed a published report that said he would benefit financially from the provision.
More: Trump, Republicans feel confident as they prepare for vote on tax bill
More: Sen. John McCain returns to Arizona, will miss vote on tax bill
Corker’s office said he is not a member of the tax-writing committee and had no involvement in crafting the legislation. He requested no specific tax provisions throughout the months-long debate and had no knowledge of the provision in question, his office said.
According to a report by the International Business Times, Republican leaders added a last-minute provision to the bill that would reduce taxes on income from real-estate LLCs. Corker, who owns a large amount of commercial real estate, made up to $7 million last year in such income, according to the paper.
Democrats complained that the provision would produce a windfall for people like President Trump and some Republicans in Congress.
Corker told the paper he was not aware that the provision had been included in the final bill, which he said he had not read. He said, however, that he had received a two-page summary on the bill but had not seen the actual text.
Regardless, #CorkerKickback was trending Sunday on Twitter.
Hey @SenBobCorker - maybe instead of writing a letter to Hatch asking questions, write a letter to yourself asking yourself why you abandoned your principles? #CorkerKickback — Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) December 18, 2017
How is “I had no idea what this bill even says” a better defense than “I’m a money grubbing bribe taker”? #CorkerKickback — MeganInSoCal (@MeganNsocal) December 18, 2017
Well, I’m no fancy Senator from Tennessee or Texas, but in real America flyover country, this is called a bribe. #CorkerKickback @JohnCornyn — Jazzy Minx (@JazzyMinx) December 18, 2017
Corker, the only Senate Republican to vote against the original version of the tax bill, reversed course on Friday and announced that he would vote for the final package pieced together by negotiators for the House and Senate.
Corker said that while the bill is less than perfect, he considered it a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to make U.S. businesses more productive and internationally competitive.
The final vote is expected this week, possibly Tuesday.
In his letter to Hatch, Corker said he went through the bill in detail on Sunday “since this issue has never been discussed with us by committee or Senate leadership.”
Corker said it’s his understanding from talking to Republican leadership staff that a version of the provision was always in the House bill and that it remained in the final bill after the House and Senate versions were reconciled.
Appearing Sunday on ABC's This Week, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, defended the GOP’s decision to include the provision in the bill.
“Picking out one piece in a 1,000-page bill and saying, well, this is going to benefit somebody, I just think that takes the whole bill out of context,” said Cornyn, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican.
Cornyn dodged when asked if Republicans added the real-estate provision to Corker’s vote.
“Well, the particular provision you're talking about, honestly, is just one piece of a 1,000-page bill which is going to grow the American economy,” he said. “And what we are seeing is that American corporations and businesses are not competitive in the global economy because we have the highest tax rate in the industrialized world.
“All we did is adopt ideas that people like Barack Obama and other Democrats have proposed when it comes to the business tax rates and should try to get our businesses more competitive, to increase take-home pay and to grow the number of jobs available for working class families.”
Read Sen. Corker's full letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah:Two iconic British tastes, Stilton cheese and real ale, have been fused together for a new beer, The Blue Brew, just in time for the festive season.
Costing £2.10 a bottle, the cheesy beverage is available from Belvoir Brewery, which is behind drinks such as Oatmeal Stout and Star Bitter.
Stilton-infused beer The Blue Brew has a ‘unique’ taste
The Stilton is infused into the beer during the fermenting process, creating a unique smooth taste and a light creamy texture.
It also contains beer wort, which, according to the brewer, allows the flavour of the Stilton to really shine through.
Nigel White, secretary of the Stilton Cheesemakers Association, said: ‘People often think of Stilton as a cheese just for Christmas and forget how versatile it is. It has often been used as an ingredient for a wide range of dishes in cooking and now its by-product, whey, has been used to create a delicious beer, which is the perfect accompaniment to any festive fayre!’
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‘We know that the cheese is incredibly versatile and transforms the simplest of everyday snacks; we now also know it can add real character to beer!’ he continued.
Earlier this year, Austrian brewers invented a beer laced with cheese which was said to enhance sexual performance.
Walder Senn contained less alcohol than regular beer and included whey from cheese, which boasts a number of nutrients.With the NASL & USL fully wrapped up for all Canadian teams, it’s time to begin looking at next year. The Ottawa Fury, with their movement to USL, found themselves with a blank roster that needs to be filled. Contracts do not automatically roll-over as a result of the transfer between leagues, so it is important for the Fury to keep who they can and begin hunting down good players from League1 Ontario (L1O), Premiere Ligue de Soccer du Quebec (PLSQ), and U-Sports (formerly CIS) that’ll be ready to make a USL-debut. Although we aren’t sure of the exact requirements yet, it’s a fair bet that the CSA will require a relatively high Canadian player count.
The Fury began resigning some of their players shortly after their season ended. Carl Haworth, recently announced as part of the Canadian Men’s National Team for their match against South Korea, was their first resigning. It’s a fair bet he will take on the role of Captain for the upcoming USL-season. Bruna is also signed on, giving the Fury 2 forwards at this point in time. Considering how little we were able to watch Bruna play this past season, it’s like the Fury have just signed a new player to the team. We look forward to seeing what he’ll be able to do on the field.
Similarly, they’ve resigned 2 midfielders: Rozeboom & Dixon. The first player, we aren’t too surprised about. Rozeboom has done well with the Fury, but isn’t quite where he wants to be just yet. Additionally, he probably perceives the MLS/USL connection to be a route forward after a year of proving his worth. Dixon on the other hand, that was a shock. I had him pegged at trying to make a go at MLS or moving to Europe over the offseason. The Fury are going to do very well having this Canadian MNT player on their roster in the USL.
Also among midfielders, de Guzman has expressed interest in staying with the Fury according to twitter, but perhaps not as a player. This is also in line with our predictions, especially with Martin Nash’s departure as assistant coach. At one point we had heard rumours of Williams resigning, but with no announcement as of yet, we’ll have to file that back under rumour for now. Early rumours also put Eustaquio & Olivera as moving on, but we’ve yet to see anything official on this yet. It’s too bad because Eustaquio would be a great starter for Fury in USL. We’ll keep our ears & eyes open to see how things develop in the midfield.
Some mixed news with defense. Both Venter & Edward have resigned. They’ll make a good defensive duo from which to build. Alves has decided that playing for the Fury in the USL is not the right fit for him. We’re not surprised that he declined to sign on, but he is quite a loss for Ottawa. We expect to hear a couple more players resigning in this area (Malekos and maybe Porter), but anticipate that the Fury will need to fill out their D & M with a cast of fresh faces.
So far, MacRae has signed back on as keeper. We haven’t really seen enough of the academy product to really say how good he is, but if the Fury plan to be a top-team in the USL, they’ll need someone a step up. De Bellis would be the Fury’s starter if they can get him signed for 2017, and the lad deserves it. When he’s had the chance to play, he’s shown himself a good keeper. Sure, he’s no Peiser, but there’s basically no chance of him returning. If the Fury are unable to grab De Bellis, they’re going to be searching pretty desperately for a keeper for next season.
With 7 of their current players already resigned, Fury fans are starting to get an idea of what we can expect to see in 2017. A few core players will be great to build the team around, but there are going to be a lot of holes that need to be filled. Hopefully Dalglish will be attending the D3-Interprovincial Cup match this weekend in Pickering to scout players from the top L1O & PLSQ teams. Both Vaughan Azzurri and CS Mont-Royal Outremont have developed some great players that may be ready to move over to the USL.
Update Nov 9th: As of earlier this morning, Obasi (D) & Williams (M) are now confirmed for 2017. Definitely some strong players signed on for the USL season. Can’t wait to see who else they resign.
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Shawn Gray Shawn Gray has had a varied background, reflecting a life dedicated to learning and exploration. Having spent time living in 7 distinct cities of various sizes and character, Shawn adapts to his location and always aims to make the best of any situation. While in Ottawa, Shawn fell in love with Ottawa Fury FC, which led to him writing soccer-related articles for Northern Starting Eleven. A brief relocation to Victoria, British Columbia, gave him the opportunity to cheer on Victoria Highlanders FC. He stepped in to acquire NSXI and was able to recruit additional authors from across the country to write about the soccer teams they love. Recently, Shawn returned to Greater Sudbury, Ontario with his wife and toddler. Employed as an Administrative Assistant, he continues to own & edit articles on Northern Starting XI while cheering on his favourite teams from afar.
Like this: Like Loading...Four names have already emerged as possible replacements for Byron Scott in Los Angeles after the Lakers reportedly fired him Sunday.
Golden State Warriors assistant Luke Walton, former Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, San Antonio Spurs lead assistant Ettore Messina, and UConn boss Kevin Ollie could be next in line for the Lakers, The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
Van Gundy is the only name of the bunch with an extensive track record of coaching in the NBA. The popular 54-year-old broadcaster led the New York Knicks and the Rockets to a 430-318 record between 1995-2007.
Walton, a pupil of former Lakers coach Phil Jackson, doesn't technically have any head coaching experience on his resume, but he did lead the Warriors to a 39-4 record as part of their record-setting 73-win season.
Messina made his bones overseas and became one of the most highly sought-after international candidates before eventually latching on with the Spurs. Groomed by Gregg Popovich himself, Messina's an appealing candidate - especially considering he holds ties to the Lakers dating back to 2011, when he served as a full-time consultant under Mike Brown.
Finally, Ollie rose to prominence as the leader of the Huskies. He took them to a NCAA tournament championship in 2013-14 and has been linked to several NBA vacancies.(Credit: Sistah Vegan Project 2016)
In 2005, when I first proposed to embark on my Black feminist vegan journey to learn how being racialized as Black women affected Black women vegans, I got a significant number of white vegans furious with the idea; an idea that eventually became the In 2005, when I first proposed to embark on my Black feminist vegan journey to learn how being racialized as Black women affected Black women vegans, I got a significant number of white vegans furious with the idea; an idea that eventually became the Sistah Vegan anthology, published in 2010.
In 2007, I completed my Masters Thesis at Harvard University that earned the Dean’s award for interrogating how covert whiteness operated amongst ‘well intended’ and ‘but I’m not racist’ white vegans on an internet site.
A few days ago on Facebook, it was posted that veganism. They made a lot of assumptions and it was clear none of them had picked up Kimberle Crenshaw’s publications on intersectionality (nor picked up any other POC scholar engaged in holistic and intersectional approaches to racial justice, social justice, environmental justice, etc over the last 30+ years)… but these men were confident that they knew that ‘intersectionality’ has no place in veganism and that it was erasing engagement with speciesism. A few days ago on Facebook, it was posted that VegFest UK would be having their first ever conference on “intersectionality” within veganism. Shared on someone’s page, there were 5 comments– all negative and all written by white men (at least that is how I read them) who were obviously furious with the idea of ‘intersectionality’ being applied to veganism…and thought it implied that speciesism would not be part of the conference. Essentially, their responses implied that talking about how racism and sexism operate within veganism having nothing to do withveganism. They made a lot of assumptions and it was clear none of them had picked up Kimberle Crenshaw’s publications on intersectionality (nor picked up any other POC scholar engaged in holistic and intersectional approaches to racial justice, social justice, environmental justice, etc over the last 30+ years)… but these men were confident that they knew that ‘intersectionality’ has no place in veganism and that it was erasing engagement with speciesism.
It made me think about Trump and his, “Make America Great [and White] Again” rhetoric. These comments from these white vegan men made me think they were essentially saying, “Make Veganism [White &] Great Again.” This framework is cut from the same cloth, though I’m quite certain these men would never want to associate themselves with such fabric…
….that cloth is from the fabric of a white supremacist racial caste system. Really, it is no surprise that the same foundational thoughts I witness from Trump and his supporters can easily be found in the mainstream white vegan movement amongst well intended, mostly white, people who become upset and furious that “their” veganism is being “tainted” by folk like me/us (i.e. those non-white people crossing into your philosophical borders that you supposedly own as intellectual property and have always had the power to define). ….that cloth is from the fabric of a white supremacist racial caste system. Really, it is no surprise that the same foundational thoughts I witness from Trump and his supporters can easily be found in the mainstream white vegan movement amongst well intended, mostly white, people who become upset and furious that “their” veganism is being “tainted” by folk like me/us (i.e. those non-white people crossing intoyourphilosophical borders that you supposedlyown as intellectual propertyand have always had the power to define). Aph Ko spoke about similar ‘border crossing’ within vegansim at the Whidbey Institute’s Intersectional Social Justice Conference in March of 2016.
I responded to the comments. I explained what intersectionality is and referred them to (Of course they haven’t read this canon, but I’m asking them to respond and engage because if you’re going to white mansplain ‘intersectionality’ to a Black woman with a PhD in it and a Black woman who is a vegan, you’d think you would have done some of the foundational readings to have a valid argument on why you disagree. For example, I would never jump into a conversation about a topic or discipline that I have NO FOUNDATIONAL knowledge in– just assumptions– and then confidently DEFINE what it is and should be.) I responded to the comments. I explained what intersectionality is and referred them to Kimberle Crenshaw (the woman who coined the term, though many people of color were engaged in the concept, long before). I then asked those who commented, what they thought about this literature and the canon developed from this. I asked them if they could tell me more of what they have learned from critical race feminism and critical animal studies which should enable them to tell me how they concluded what they have concluded about how ‘damaging’ intersectionality is, when applied to veganism …(Of course they haven’t read this canon, but I’m asking them to respond and engage because if you’re going to white mansplain ‘intersectionality’ to a Black woman with a PhD in it and a Black woman who is a vegan, you’d think you would have done some of the foundational readings to have a valid argument on why you disagree. For example, I would never jump into a conversation about a topic or discipline that I have NO FOUNDATIONAL knowledge in– just assumptions– and then confidently DEFINE what it is and should be.)
Just a reminder: You can have a vegan conference that successfully focuses on anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-classism, etc., without damaging veganism. Intersectionality (within the context of Crenshaw and similar scholars) is an enhancement to non-violence, compassion, and justice.
I personally have been written by countless numbers of non-white people over my last 10 years, who have told me that the reason they went vegan was because of how my fusion of anti-racism, critical race feminism, critical whiteness studies, and critical animal studies was more relevant and aligned more with their racialized embodied experiences; it helped to get them ‘woke’ about the importance of ahimsa veganism. That is what my intersectional scholarship and activism has done and continues to do: frame veganism in an intersectional way (using critical race feminism and critical animal studies– but not limited to) that is inclusive and inviting to a majority of non-white people who are trying to survive through and fight against systemic racism.
(Photo Credit: Pax Ahimsa Gethen 2016)
About Dr. A. Breeze Harper
Dr. Harper has been invited to deliver many keynote addresses and lectures at universities and conferences throughout North America. In 2015, her lecture circuit focused on the analysis of food and whiteness in her book Scars and on “Gs Up Hoes Down:” Black Masculinity, Veganism, and Ethical Consumption (The Remix) which explored how key Black vegan men us hip-hop methods to create “race-conscious” and decolonizing approaches to vegan philosophies.Dr. Harper’s most recently published book, Dr. Harper has been invited to deliver many keynote addresses and lectures at universities and conferences throughout North America. In 2015, her lecture circuit focused on the analysis of food and whiteness in her bookScarsand on“Gs Up Hoes Down:” Black Masculinity, Veganism, and Ethical Consumption (The Remix)which explored how key Black vegan men us hip-hop methods to create “race-conscious” and decolonizing approaches to vegan philosophies.Dr. Harper’s most recently published book, Scars: A Black Lesbian Experience in Rural White New England (Sense Publishers 2014) interrogates how systems of oppression and power impact the life of the only Black teenager living in an all white and working class rural New England town.
BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR. THE SISTAH VEGAN PROJECT ALREADY HAS SEVERAL THOUSAND FOLLOWERS. JUST IMAGINE WHAT COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED IF HALF OR MORE FOLLOWERS PLEDGED $5-$15 PER MONTH.Paul Weyrich, 'Conservative' Demigod Receives '21 Gun Salute,' Helps Raise $330k for Anti-Democracy Efforts...
Brad Friedman Byon 9/11/2008, 4:45pm PT
Several weeks ago at the UK's Guardian, I wrote about rightwing democracy-hater Paul Weyrich and his 1980 speech to 15,000 preachers in Dallas (with Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell also on the bill), in which he called for massive vote suppression. The comments, from one of the "Conservative" Movement's "founding fathers" and a Godfather of the Republicans' now-peaking, long-waged voter suppression scheme, are worth getting out there again and again --- particularly right now. The video of Weyrich's 1980 comments (:40 seconds) is at right and the text is below...
"Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome - good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
As mentioned previously, Weyrich continues as a regular consultant to the top-tier GOP power-brokers to this day, and last night the man who so eloquently elaborated the Republican Rosetta Stone of voter disenfranchisement was honored "for Life, Work and Service" at a D.C. shindig that raised "over $330,000...for the Free Congress Foundation."
"The highlight of the evening included an historic 21 gun salute video," a press release issued this afternoon (posted in full below) crows. That salute "included 30 of the country's top leaders such as author and columnist, George Will; national talk show host and author Hugh Hewitt, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R - KY), Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich; Ken Blackwell, 2008 Vice-Chairman of the Republican Convention Platform Committee and Former Ohio Secretary of State; Marion Edwyn Harrison, Esq., Free Congress Foundation; Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum; Jerry Falwell, Jr., Liberty University; Rep. Edwin Meese, III,. Heritage Foundation and Former U.S. Attorney General; Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family; Don Wildmon |
vice president, but the abuses are not serious enough to warrant impeachment under the Constitution. 3. Vice President Cheney has abused his powers as vice president which rise to the level of impeachable offenses under the Constitution, but he should not be impeached. 4. Vice President Cheney has abused his powers as vice president which rise to the level of impeachable offenses under the Constitution and he should be impeached and removed from office. 11/12/07 #1 #2 #3 #4 All voters 30% 18% 9% 43% Democrats (39%) 6% 25% 6% 63% Republicans (35%) 61% 12% 6% 21% Independents (26%) 26% 16% 18% 39% Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of registered voters nationwide November 9-12, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. July 5, 2007 Question: Do you approve or disapprove of President George W. Bush commuting the 30-month prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby while leaving intact Mr. Libby's conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case? 7/5/07 Approve Disapprove Undecided All Adults 31% 64% 5% Voters 26% 69% 5% Democrats (38%) 13% 76% 11% Republicans (29%) 50% 47% 3% Independents (33%) 19% 80% 1% Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters. Question: Do you favor or oppose a complete presidential pardon for Mr. Libby? 7/5/07 Favor Oppose Undecided All Adults 11% 84% 5% Voters 9% 84% 7% Democrats (38%) 7% 82% 11% Republicans (29%) 23% 70% 7% Independents (33%) 2% 97% 1% Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters. Question: Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush? 7/5/07 Favor Oppose Undecided All Adults 45% 46% 9% Voters 46% 44% 10% Democrats (38%) 69% 22% 9% Republicans (29%) 13% 86% 1% Independents (33%) 50% 30% 20% 3/15/06 42% 49% 9% Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters. Question: Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney? 7/5/07 Favor Oppose Undecided All Adults 54% 40% 6% Voters 50% 44% 6% Democrats (38%) 76% 24% - Republicans (29%) 17% 83% - Independents (33%) 51% 29% 20% Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters.One hundred years ago, two railway stations closed, but just recently construction works has uncovered the remains of one of them.
Southwark Park station was on the Greenwich to London Bridge line, and situated, not unsurprisingly, near Southwark Park. It opened in October 1902, but little used thanks to rising competition from tram services it closed on the 15th March 1915, as did its more famous neighbour up the road, at Spa Road.
One hundred years ago today in fact.
Southwark Park’s ticket hall has long since been gutted and used as a storage facility, but the platforms had seemingly vanished forever.
That is until Network Rail recently uncovered them as they relaid the tracks as part of the London Bridge/Thameslink upgrade programme. They knew the platforms had existed, but were unsure what, if anything remained underneath the ballast that filled the site.
It was a mild surprise then to find the foundations still intact.
Photo courtesy Bermondsey Dive Under & Structure Strengthening Programme.
This has since been covered over with the fresh new tracks in their new alignment for the upgrade works.
Photo courtesy Bermondsey Dive Under & Structure Strengthening Programme.
The ticket hall, built into the railway arches underneath the line doesn’t have much left to suggest its former occupation, but I was given a chance to take a look around, with Network Rail’s Project Manager, Greg Thornett and assistant holding large torches to illuminate what was left.
As interesting as the visit was, it was still work, and the main reason was for the staff to take a look at some of the old roof light wells. These are now covered with a light steel plate, but sit right where the new tracks plan to run, so will have to be reinforced before that work can continue.
The light well, what’s left of it, can be seen in the below photo as the rectangle of brown metal. There are three of these in the old ticket hall, and a few more conventional round light wells in some of the other arches.
The station, apart from being no longer there, does have one lingering claim to fame. The first signal box in the world was built here.
What was known as the Corbett’s Lane signal-box, was built here as the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) joined up with the existing Greenwich railway, necessitating the first major railway junction in the world.
Initially, a policeman stood watch to control the trains, but this was replace with the Corbett’s lane lighthouse, which is the precursor of the modern signal box.
—
Thanks to Network Rail for the site visit.Previous Next
I watched as Jamie used a pen to sketch out a rough image.
“Head was narrower. Taller than wide,” I commented.
“Most heads are.”
“That looks round. Also, he didn’t look sinister, but he didn’t look interested either. It was cold.”
“Like Helen sometimes looks?”
I considered. “No.”
“You, then. On a bad day, after an appointment?”
“I don’t know what I look like after an appointment. They don’t usually let me have access to reflective surfaces, and I’m not usually gawking at myself, either.”
Jamie leaned back in his chair, and his head bumped my chest, where I was leaning over the back of the chair.
He remained where he was, looking up at me. “You had a look in your eyes like all the joy had gone out of the world.”
“Depressed?”
“No,” Jamie said. “Um…”
He turned a page in his notebook.
On the fresh page, he began to sketch. He was using a fountain pen that flowed fairly freely, but his hand moved with some speed and dexterity. It was interesting to see, because Jamie wasn’t a strong artist. He made my eyes too small, the position slightly wrong, paused, then went back, expanding, making the top of the eye into my eyebrows, and drawing my eyes at a larger size. It was a rough sketch, and it was a sketch that showed my face in heavy shadow, the lines noticeable, thick.
At first I took it for a caricature, exaggerating my features, but Jamie wasn’t good enough to do that. The hair was drawn in messy, framing it all, and the lines marked my cheeks as being more gaunt, with thin cross-hatching for the shadows in the recesses, I realized that it wasn’t a recent picture, that my eyes were larger in proportion to the rest because it was a picture of me, years younger.
Near the beginning.
Drawing from memory, rather than talent.
I leaned forward, and it was as though I were looking into a mirror cast in paper. My eyes were narrow, my lips thin and slightly parted, and all the features of my face and ears were fine to the point of being sharp.
Jamie was already putting down notes below and to the side of the image. I glanced at the first.
Drawn for a discussion with Sly, during the Case of the Bad Seeds.
“Case of the bad seeds,” I commented idly.
“Placeholder,” he said. He was already going on to write more. Normally I wouldn’t have been able to resist reading over his shoulder, but I found I couldn’t keep my eyes off the image for long. The eyes were just scratches of black ink, almost hidden in the shadows that had been etched around them, but they took up much of the focus.
“This was… that time I had to do two appointments, back to back?” I asked. Only time my cheeks would have been that hollow.
Jamie didn’t respond, but his pen moved, indicating a line he’d just jotted down. He tapped his fountain pen against paper, leaving three blotchy dots in the margin.
From memory: Sly in the Tower, after he ran away. Before he recovered from one month’s appointment, he had to do the next.
Reading the line, I suddenly felt excruciatingly uncomfortable, and the hour-old bruises from my encounter with Ed weren’t why. Feeling so restless I couldn’t bear it, I turned away from Jamie, his chair, and his book, and I paced across our little dorm room. Two beds each with a chest at the foot, one desk, and one bedside table between the beds with drawers for us to share. Mothmont was fancy, but not so fancy that we each got a palace. Real estate mattered, if nothing else.
“We didn’t think we’d get you back,” Jamie murmured. “We suspected you were lost.”
“That’s not it,” I said, forcing my voice to sound different from how I felt. I worried I didn’t sell it very well. “No. It’s not like Helen is, and it’s not like that, okay? That’s not the look they had.”
“Okay,” Jamie said, sounding very normal, placid, and very calm.
Though I didn’t like it, I was finding the conversation helped me to clarify my interpretation. “They weren’t lost. There was emotion there. They were human, but they weren’t nice humans.”
“You’re not a nice human sometimes,” Jamie remarked.
I shot him a look.
“Only saying, Sly, only saying.”
“I looked at them, and I knew they were the sorts who’d stick their parents with something sharp and then light up the family home. Or try to drop a piece of masonry on someone they didn’t like.”
“You’d-”
I narrowed my eyes, making the look darker and more intense.
He seemed to give up, pulling his hands away from the page, slumping back. “Yeah, Sy. Got it. But if you can’t tell me how they looked all murderous, I’m not sure I can draw it. I’m not sure I can draw them in the first place.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “Don’t fret about it.”
“Think you’d recognize them if you saw them?”
“If I saw them? No. They were standing in shadow. If I talked to them, maybe.”
“There are one thousand, two hundred students at Mothmont, give or take, ranging from year one to year twelve. It’s going to take you an awful long time to talk to them all.”
“Yeah,” I said. I was still on the far side of the room. Three sets of my uniform had been provided, alongside a little cloak and hood for the rain and an umbrella, all stacked neatly on the chest at the end of the bed. My bedside drawer had a new comb, bottle of toothwash, washcloth, and a new set of books.
Nothing that was mine. I didn’t like it. The office back at the hedge with the grille on the windows and the bookcase blocking the door had felt less like a cell than this.
There, I’d been free to be me. Here, I was being made to conform, just like some of the fruit I’d seen grown at the Academy, placed inside molds that would shape their growth. Fruit shaped like certain animals, or like human faces.
Were our murder-children in that same situation?
I frowned. “I’m thinking…”
“Yeah?” Jamie twisted in his seat, elbow over the back of the chair.
“Why here?” I asked.
“Resources are available, on multiple fronts. You’ve got access to children, you’ve got access to tools and starter labs. Maybe things go missing, maybe it gets put back at the end of the day?”
“Maybe,” I said. “One way or another, something is going on with their heads. Either they’re being made to do something they normally wouldn’t, or they’re not them, and something more nefarious is going on.”
“Nefarious?”
“There are parasites that induce suicidal behavior in the host as part of the life cycle.”
“Sure. Transoplasma Felidae. Feverish behavior and a compulsion to drown oneself. Weaponized version was Transoplasma Necis, but that saw reams of people biting off their own tongues to choke on the tongue or aspirating the blood. Well known enough.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Maybe the students we’re talking about have a parasite in their heads, something that’s making them act funny. Maybe we’re dealing with the parasites and not the children themselves.”
Jamie seemed to consider a moment. “Raises questions.”
“You ask, I try to justify.”
“Why do they care about us?”
“They’re complex. Pre-set instructions.”
Jamie shook his head. “I don’t buy that someone capable of that would be here and not at the Academy, making a fortune.”
“Then they’re paranoid. Like they’re rabid, they’re wary of everything.”
“Why us?”
I started to come up with an explanation, then dismissed it. Felt weak, like too much of a reach. “What if it made them suggestible? Broke down the walls in their heads, left them open to receiving instruction? Get access to the children, slip them something that leaves them open to being influenced.”
“We’d see it in their behavior,” Jamie said.
“What? That they’d be willing to take orders? Follow the rest of the sheep? We’re in a school, Jamie,” I said.
“Point.”
“A highbrow school. Look, I’m not sold on the parasite idea. But we’ve got an awful lot of children here, ones that might be more vulnerable to whatever, or of an age where some symptoms might be easier to hide. Maybe the fact that we’re all fitting into some cookie cutter archetype is an advantage for our puppeteer in the background. If their little experiments feel disoriented? Have lost memories? If their behavior is a little outside the norm? All our ‘bad seed’ has to do is imitate their peers.”
Jamie was nodding, already thinking the idea through, rounding it out, “If they act too far out of line, then the faculty steps in, gets them to shape up. If that fails…”
“What happens when someone futzes up and doesn’t look like they’re going to straighten out?”
“Detention,” Jamie said. “Or a talk with the headmistress. You don’t think she’s the one doing it?”
I rolled my head to one side, then the other. “I talked to the woman. I didn’t get that sense out of her.”
“Why?”
I gave Jamie an annoyed look.
“It’s good to think about why,” Jamie said, his voice quiet but not meek. “You have a good sense of things, but it’s important to identify the details that are feeding into that sense. You see little details, and your brain picks them up and puts them into storage, while your conscious mind doesn’t register them. Prey animals use that low-level awareness a lot, figuring out that a predator could be nearby, and we still have traces of that prey thinking.”
“I don’t see myself as a prey animal,” I said, smiling.
“The idea is sound, Sy. We all use that sense to some extent, but you’re a little better than most. You can train it, but training it starts with being aware. Think about your surroundings, pay attention to the details, and-”
A knock sounded at the door.
“You two decent in there?” Gordon asked, voice muffled by the intervening door.
“Am I ever decent?” I asked.
The door opened. But it wasn’t just Gordon, which surprised me. He was accompanied by a boy, narrow in build, with thick eyebrows and wiry black hair cut a finger’s width from his head. It didn’t look like one of the boys that would be in Gordon’s cadre.
“We ran into each other at the door,” Gordon said.
“I know him,” Jamie said. “Book trade?”
“Yeah,” the boy said. He held out two dime novels. “Read them?”
Jamie glanced at the novels, “Yes. But it’s fine. I’ll trade.”
He opened a drawer in the desk, pulling out five more dime novels. “Doll Man and the song of the moon?”
“Read it.”
“Doll man and the revenge of the swarm queen?”
“That’s out?” The boy stuck out his hand. Jamie dutifully handed over the book, no more than a hundred pages.
“I liked this one,” Jamie said, “But you might want to wait until there’s more material.”
“What’s that?” the boy asked.
“Huh?” Jamie asked.
I turned, and I started to cross the room, before I saw Gordon moving in the same direction. He was faster, and he was closer. I deferred to him.
Before Jamie was able to process just what had grabbed the boy’s attention, Gordon touched the cover of Jamie’s notebook and flipped it over. It slapped closed and slid a bit across the desk.
Jamie put a hand out to stop it.
“That’s Jamie’s journal,” Gordon said. “You don’t read someone’s journal, pal.”
“Oh,” the boy said. He turned a little pink. “Didn’t know, sorry Jamie.”
“It’s okay,” Jamie said.
“That picture was something. Scary, if I can say so,” the boy said, turning to look at me. “That was you?”
“You don’t comment on someone’s journal if you happen to get a look at it, either,” Gordon said, his voice firm.
The boy’s face turned even pinker.
“Mickey,” Jamie said, offering a bit of relief where I would have pressed the advantage. “Take a look.”
Jamie held the other three little novels so they fanned out. A lady in white and a rat crawling out of the darkness, a man with a bird mask, and a handsome young man with a dog accompanying him through a forest.
“What’s that last one?” Mickey asked.
Jamie pulled it away before Mickey could grab it. “When we stopped by the Academy last weekend, you see anyone go off in a very small group?”
“Very small?”
“More than three, less than ten.”
“Uh. Some special students got instruction with professors, or got to sit in on classes. Top of certain classes, or something. But they were alone.”
“Yeah,” Jamie said.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Okay, thanks anyway,” Jamie said. He put the books down, then handed over the one Mickey had expressed interest in. “Barber John and the dark forest monster.”
“Keen.”
Gordon stepped out of the way while the boy headed back to the hallway. He closed the door behind him, and stood with his back to it. “Asking questions like that can draw attention.”
“I’m very careful about who I ask,” Jamie said.
“Okay,” Gordon said. He seemed to take that at face value. He didn’t mention Jamie’s lapse about the book.
Gordon and I wouldn’t go after Jamie for that any more than any of the others would come after me for my behavior after an appointment. We had our strengths, and we had our individual weak points. If everything was working as it should, we covered the weak points and highlighted the strengths.
That meant accepting that sometimes Jamie had enough stuff in his head that he was a little slower to get things rolling when surprised.
If I’d been on the ball, I would have reminded Jamie, but my head hurt.
“It’s time for dinner,” Gordon said. “Thought I’d check in.”
“Still alive,” I said. “No surprise murders.”
Gordon’s expression didn’t twitch. “What do you think?”
“We were thinking maybe the structure of the school is being used to shape or correct behavior where it might go off rails,” Jamie said. I cleared my throat, and Jamie amended his statement to say, “Sy thought so. It makes some sense.”
“Something to watch out for?” Gordon asked.
“Quirks in behavior, students pushing the limit and getting pushed back in line by the group,” I said. “And it might be worth seeing who is in charge of correcting the students when they get too problematic.”
Gordon nodded. “Our mad doctor or doctors act the role of the murderer, the children are the murder weapon, and that weapon needs to be kept controlled and concealed. The school is a setting for it. That still leaves questions. Who, how, why.”
“Who is the murderer, how are they doing this with the students, and why are they doing it? What’s the motive?” Jamie asked.
“How, also, are they giving orders?” Gordon asked. “The students here got orders to kill us. When? What form did it take?”
“Food for thought,” I said. I perked up. “Speaking of food…”
“That was contrived,” Gordon said.
“Brain feels sluggish, and I haven’t had an actual meal in…” I counted on my fingers, then paused, stuck. “When did we eat, before the snake charmer?”
Gordon blinked. “At that point, I think the question is academic. Have you had water?”
“I had some water, yeah,” I said.
He frowned. “If you hadn’t, I’d wonder how you were still standing. Let’s slap a feedbag on that face of yours, Sy. And you wonder why you’re short.”
I grabbed the comb from the bedside table and hucked it at his head. He caught it, which didn’t surprise me.
We collected ourselves, getting our things. Jamie picked up his notebook, tucking it under one arm. The pen was capped and slipped into a breast pocket. Gordon was all set up, and all I needed was a bit of protection from any rain.
The school was arranged into a square, with the yard in the middle. The front entrance sat at the southern wall with the front office, infirmary and other administrative rooms. The west and east sides of the square had classrooms. The more interesting area was the northern end, furthest from the entrance. Here, we had the dorms, boys at the west corner, girls at the east. The two sides of the dorms were separated by the teacher’s quarters and washrooms on the upper floors, and a spacious dining room on the lower floor. I supposed the idea was that it made mingling harder.
The dorms were ordered by year, with the older students on the upper floors, and being right in the upper-middle of the range of ages, we were left to make our way down on our way to the dining room.
My eyes searched the crowd, looking for a familiar face or feature. I’d told Jamie I wasn’t sure if I could place them, but that didn’t stop me from trying. Kids milled around us.
“Ed was asking about you, before your little tussle under the tree,” Gordon commented. Keeping the conversation to stuff we could talk about freely.
“Tussle?”
“I’m trying to phrase it so I don’t hurt your feelings, Sy,” Gordon said, sounding as condescending as he was able. “Because if I was honest, I’d have to say you didn’t just embarrass yourself. You embarrassed all of us.”
I jabbed him. He took it without flinching.
“I’m guessing that, following your usual pattern, you’re going to get in trouble, ostensibly to see how the justice system of Mothmont operates?” Gordon asked.
The question could be taken two ways. Anyone hearing would think I was a troublemaker, which wasn’t wrong, but he was asking if I’d see which faces or individuals might be tied to the correction of errant students. Or errant ‘bad seeds’, as the case went.
The maneuver had other uses. If our opposition here was less graceful, they might well get themselves into trouble, just to follow me or keep an eye on me. Simply paying attention to see who acted and reacted after I got myself into trouble could reveal a great deal.
But my answer to Gordon was a, “Not just yet.”
“No?”
“Still waiting to see what happens after my brawl with Ed.”
Jamie, trailing a bit behind us, snickered audibly.
Gordon openly scoffed. “Brawl. You got beat, Sy. I was talking to some of the others, and Ed actually got worried when someone suggested that you might be a real scrapper, growing up in the orphanage. I nearly split something, trying not to laugh.”
“Ha ha,” I said, without humor.
We reached the end of the dining room, and the girls were filtering in through the door on the far side. It was nice, very spacious, all long tables of dark wood, benches, with the two sides separated by a buffet style table.
The kitchen was visible, a recessed area, with the chefs busy at work over various stoves. Students aged twelve to sixteen were wearing aprons, carrying food out. Racks of bread, bowls of salad and empty glasses were placed on the table, while larger pots of food were placed on the buffet table, beside stacks of plates. Stew, soups, and portions of meat.
From the smell in the kitchen, they were already working on dessert.
I took it all in, studying it. The system.
Gordon leaned close, murmuring, “Put yourself into their shoes. How many ways can you see, to poison someone?”
“Pre-assigned seats?” I asked.
“No, but they’ll call us together by homeroom for a roll call soon,” Jamie said.
“Make sure all the students are present and accounted for,” Gordon elaborated.
Dust the glasses with something, poison the silverware, deliver the poison while serving water, refresh the bread bowl or salad, drop something in the food while we go from the buffet to our seats, or simply take advantage of the bumps and shoves that come with being in a crowd of hungry students to stick us with a needle.
“Seven off the top of my head.”
“Lillian and I counted out twelve ways they could’ve gotten me, looking back in retrospect,” Gordon murmured. “Jamie and Helen added one each once they got back from the Academy.”
“Kind of takes the joy out of eating for the first time in a week,” I murmured.
“You shouldn’t eat too much on an empty stomach anyway,” Jamie said.
I made a face, but I didn’t take my eyes off the crowd. I saw Helen and Lillian on the other side. Helen had a bevvy of girls around her, and she was playing it up. Lillian stood off to one side, talking to a teacher.
Oddly in her element, in a very not-the-way-she-acts-at-home way.
“Incidentally,” I said, still looking over the crowd for a glimpse of the boys I’d seen through the window. I didn’t see any telltale signs, and I certainly didn’t see them together as a group. “What do we do if I happen to spot a possible culprit?”
“Signal me and Helen. We’ll go after him.”
I nodded. “Easier if you’re together.”
“We’ll sit together as a group.”
“Okay,” I said.
Sure enough, we were called to specific tables by our homeroom teachers. They read our names off of lists, and then gave the official go-ahead to get food.
I held back out of the way while everyone stampeded for the buffet table, or ran over to reunite with friends. Nobody returned to the seats they’d been in for the nightly attendance, and the teachers didn’t enforce anything. There were striations by year and groupings of cliques, but no divisions beyond that.
Helen approached with a group of her friends, while Gordon went to go talk to his clique. The teenagers had all gathered around the buffet table and were screening out the kids, claiming first pick, but Gordon’s group looked set to take up the first gap that formed.
I appreciated that he going out of his way to stay in our line of sight, allowing us to watch his back.
“Sy, was it?” one of Helen’s older friends asked. An attractive brunette with her hair in a short bob. She’d hiked up her skirt just a fraction beneath her uniform top, so the bottom of the skirt was higher, revealing more of her very nice looking legs.
I realized I’d been caught looking, and met her eyes without a trace of shame or guilt, “You can call me whatever you want, so long as you give me your name first, and maybe the number of your dorm room.”
She smiled, amid some ‘oohs’ from other girls in the group, then gave me a pat on the head. “That was a good try, and it might have worked, but you’re a little too young for me, and I like the idea of a man who can stand up for me.”
“You saw my duel with Ed,” I spoke my realization aloud.
“I did,” she said. “I’d offer some comforting words, but the less that’s said, the better.”
“I could say I let him win,” I said.
“Did you?” another girl chimed in, interest piqued. Blonde, like Helen, but more pixieish in many respects. Helen could have been an actress or a model, but this girl made me imagine a ballerina, in build and how she was more expressive in general movement.
“No. But I could say I did,” I said.
“Whatever convinced you to pick a fight with Ed Willard?” the brunette asked.
“Some people are born to be the hero of a story,” I said. “I was born to be the villain. I see the charming, good looking, obnoxiously noble type of guy and I feel compelled to start a battle I’m doomed to lose.”
“Does that include monologues while you’re winning and standing over the bloody hero?” another girl asked, a smile on her face, suggesting she was well versed in that sort of thing. Not many girls read the books and dime novels meant for boys.
“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “You saw my poor showing earlier. I haven’t gotten that far.”
I heard a few chuckles and smiles, and belatedly realized that I’d effectively and accidentally drawn the attention of Helen’s entire clique. Heads at other tables and the buffet line were turning, looking at me as some of the more attractive girls in our grade were grouped around me.
“Okay, wait, I have to poke a hole in your story,” a girl closer to Helen’s and my age declared. She was a brunette too, but wore her hair longer, with white ribbons that complemented her school uniform. “You say you don’t get along with good guys, but you get along with Helen’s friend Gordon, don’t you? If anyone’s noble, it’s him.”
“Oh, Gordon’s a villain at heart,” I said. “I don’t know if he knows it yet, but there’s a scoundrel in there just screaming for an excuse.”
“How would you know that?” she asked.
“Because when I was showing these guys around, I saw them with all sorts of people, sometimes in the rougher parts of town. I’ve seen Gordon here, all nice and ordinary, and I’ve seen him go toe to toe with people you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley, and they walked away respecting him.”
A half dozen pairs of eyes turned Gordon’s way. He caught sight of a crowd of girls giving him serious looks and looked about as bewildered as if I’d drawn a gun on him.
Miss Ribbons wasn’t looking though. She was focused on me, her right eyebrow raised. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
Pixie-blonde chimed in, turning from Gordon to Ribbons, and then to me. She put her hands on her hips. “Are you being a good friend and trying to get us interested in your fellow over there?”
“Maybe,” I said, smiling.
“It’s good if you’ve given up on making yourself look good, because that ship sailed hours ago,” Miss Ribbons commented.
“That’s cruel,” another girl said. “I quite like Sy, here, and it’s noble of this little villain to play up his friend.”
With the words ‘I quite like Sy’, she put her arms around me, giving me a hug. I very nearly ducked out of her grip, but a quick glance at each of her hands suggested that they were empty, with no weapon or needle in evidence. Given the difference in stature, the girl being three years my senior, it pulled the side of my head right into her bosom.
A nearby teacher loudly cleared his throat, and my new friend pulled her arms away, raising her hands as if she were being held up.
“Believe it or not,” Helen said, still smiling, acting very much the young coquette, “Sy isn’t lying. For once. What he said about Gordon was true.”
That line spawned more conversation, but my focus was on Gordon. He navigated his way through eager young students, holding four plates in two hands. He looked a little wary of joining the group, with so many eyes on him.
“What’s going on?” he asked, once he was close enough to ask.
“Just talking,” Helen said.
“Healthy lad,” the girl who’d hugged me said, indicating Gordon’s plates.
“For my friends,” Gordon said.
Lingering paranoia made me study her expression for any hint of danger. Had she powdered her shirtfront with a poison that could be inhaled?
Gordon handed us our individual plates, one for me, Helen, Lillian and Jamie, then asked, “Is anyone in dire need of a meal? I was going to go back to serve myself, but I can get more plates.”
The short-haired brunette raised her hand, smiling way too much at Gordon.
“That’s one,” he said.
“I’m getting waved over,” Miss Ribbons said. “I need to take over for a friend and start serving. She’s been in the kitchen all day.”
“Good girl. Talk to you later,” Helen said.
“Enjoy your meals,” Miss Ribbons said, before dashing off.
I watched her retreat, zig-zagging through the crowd on the way to the kitchen, hair and skirt bouncing before she reunited with the friend she’d mentioned.
She glanced back, looking at me.
“I do think Mary likes Sy,” Pixie-blonde said.
“Does Sy like Mary?” another girl asked.
“I’m going to sit,” Helen said. “Come sit with us, Sy. I don’t think these girls are going to let you go, like this. They’ve got their claws in you, and I don’t think they’ll let you go.”
“Claws?” a girl asked, archly.
Helen, doing her part to keep us together in a very natural seeming way.
It took time before everyone had a plate and food. My focus was on the crowd, keeping only enough attention on the conversation to keep up with it. Where were the dynamics? What were the possible approaches for attack?
I was exceedingly aware of the state of my food. On such an empty stomach, I couldn’t afford to get poisoned. We already knew our enemies were aware of us, so I didn’t mind being a little guarded. One girl commented on it, even, and I explained it away as a casualty of being from the orphanage. That, in itself, spawned more discussion.
Jamie and Lillian seemed content to be in the background. Jamie was taking it all in. If something happened, he’d be able to tell us who was where.
Had I been familiar with the dynamic and the situation, I might have been more on point, aware of when it all started to go wrong. It tied into what Jamie had said about the prey instinct. Taking in the subconscious details, things that one’s mind and attention weren’t picking up on.
Changes in volume, shifts in tone. The behavior of people at the fringes and in the background.
Little boys who were hunched over their plates.
It only clicked when I saw that dessert was being served, and that the cooks and serving girls were looking a little nonplussed. I paid attention to what they were sensing with their own prey’s instinct.
That dessert was being placed on the table, and very few students seemed inclined to go get it.
Looking around, I saw expressions of pain. People squirming. Not a lot, but as I watched, I saw it was getting worse.
I dropped my knife and fork.
“Don’t eat,” I said.
Helen, Gordon, Lillian, and Jamie dropped their utensils.
They didn’t settle for poisoning us.
They poisoned everyone.
Why?
“Oh,” Erma, the pixie-haired blonde said. “I thought I felt full, but now-”
She raised a hand to her mouth.
“Just nausea?” Lillian asked. She got a nod. “Feverish? Does it hurt?”
Whatever she was feeling, I didn’t experience it. My friends didn’t either.
Maybe a handful of people had escaped it, whatever it was.
My mind was going a mile a minute as I took it in, tried to figure out the approach.
What was the goal, the plan?
They’d hit everyone, but missed us. Was it an accident, luck on our part, Gordon being safe?
“The teachers are affected too,” Gordon said.
“It doesn’t seem to be serious,” Lillian said. “It’ll get |
including the local 350.org group. The 350 organization seeks to build a global grassroots climate movement to hold leaders accountable for “the realities of science and the principles of justice,” according to its website.
Bob Peterson, an organizer who participated in the march, said the president has the power to take action that would force the company to go elsewhere or abandon the pipeline. Peterson, who recently spent five days at Standing Rock, said he was impressed with the Standing Rock protesters’ commitment to nonviolence and expected local protesters to follow suit.
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Temperament
Whether you are looking to buy a showjumper to compete at the highest level or you are starting out in BS Club or British Novice classes, our experts agree that a good temperament is vital. A horse with a trainable brain and the right attitude towards his work will make life easier and more enjoyable for his rider at every level.
“First and foremost, look for something that enjoys its jumping — that’s half the battle,” says Helen Tredwell.
Georgie Crumley agrees: “A genuine, willing temperament is extremely important. That’s one thing every special horse has in common. They are willing to try their hardest and give you everything they’ve got when it matters.”
While having a horse that wants to work with you is important, William Funnell highlights the importance of suiting the horse to the rider.
“Having a horse with a tricky temperament is not a problem for an experienced rider,” he says. “Talented horses are often tricky as youngsters, but come right in professional hands. You have to have the right mix between ability and temperament.”
So when browsing showjumpers for sale, it’s important that you assess your abilities and circumstances honestly. A horse that is jumping at top level with a professional rider will not necessarily suit an amateur rider with a small set-up at home.
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Our riders agreed that while they would happily take on a talented and possibly quirky young horse for themselves, they wouldn’t advise that route for an amateur or young rider looking to step up the grades.
Helen said: “I am happy to go for something with potential, as long as it shows that it is careful and has a willingness to go. I don’t mind if they are tricky to ride and I’m happy to play around with them.”
But for a young rider or amateur, Helen would look for something with more experience that is perhaps stepping down a level to give that rider a good feel over bigger fences.
“An amateur’s horse has to have proven it can jump well at the level the rider wants to compete at,” she says.
Laura Renwick agrees that an amateur’s showjumper must be more than capable of doing what it’s being asked and be willing to help the rider out.
“The horse must know its job and make the rider’s life easy,” she says.
Conformation
Some of the world’s best showjumpers have less than perfect conformation, and riders will often overlook some conformational weaknesses, if the horse is sound and has the desire to do the job.
“It wouldn’t worry me if the conformation wasn’t perfect,” says Helen, “although it can be a problem when you are selling the horse on.”
The key here is to avoid anything that might compromise the horse’s ability to remain sound long-term. When looking at showjumpers conformational weaknesses should be discussed with your vet to avoid problems in the future.
There are no hard and fast rules as to where to buy a showjumper, but the classified pages of Horse & Hound magazine and the online horses for sale on Horseandhound.co.uk are great places to start.
Continued below…
“I’m a believer that horses find you if they’re good enough,” says Helen. “You never know where you’re going to find your next horse. You have to be open-minded and just put your feelers out.”
Georgie bucks the trend of looking on the continent for top showjumpers, believing that England is the best place to buy horses.
“You generally know the people who you are dealing with and you can easily find a record of what a horse has done,” she says. “We have bought some exceptional horses from England including Wonderboy III, Blue Angel, Webalia G and champion American hunter Cruise.”
For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every ThursdayOn a recent trip to Turkey, President of Ireland, Mary McAleese expressed gratitude to the Turkish people for the humanitarian aid provided by the Islamic Khilafah to Ireland during the Great Famine, 160 years ago.
Turkish newspaper “Ikinci Vatan” reports that McAleese on her official visit to Turkey made the statement during her meeting with Turkish president Abdullah Gul and expressed the words of gratitude from the people of Ireland for humanitarian aid provided by Ottoman Caliphate.
During the period of 1840-1850, Ireland suffered the great famine, directly caused by the colonial policy of Great Britain who had occupied the territory.
In 1845, the onset of the Great Irish Famine resulted in over a million deaths. Ottoman Sultan Khaleefah Abdul-Majid I declared his intention to send 10,000 sterling to Irish farmers but Queen Victoria requested that the Sultan send only 1,000 sterling, because she had sent only 2,000 sterling herself.
The Sultan sent the 1,000 sterling but also secretly sent 5 ships full of food. The English courts tried to block the ships, but the food arrived in Drogheda harbor and was left there by Ottoman Sailors. Due to this the Irish people, especially those in Drogheda, are friendly to the Turks. note football crest below.
In 1845, the 10,000 pounds dedicated to the Irish from the Sultan would be worth approximately 800,000 pounds today, that is $1,683,280 US Dollars. On the other hand, the Queen gave the equivalent of 160,000 pounds today or 336,656 US Dollars, The Osmanli Traveller blog has copied to text a write up by a Christian Priest who wrote about the Sultan of the time in his travelogue.
His account mentions this incident briefly. What is interesting is that without knowing of the secret sending of the ships, the priest was already impressed with the character of the Sultan in his response to the Queen, as he stated;
“One or two anecdotes will put his character in its true light. During the year of famine in Ireland, the Sultan heard of the distress existing in that unhappy country; he immediately conveyed to the British ambassador his desire to aid in its relief, and tendered for that purpose a large sum of money. It was intimated to him that it was thought right to limit the sum subscribed by the Queen, and a larger amount could not therefore be received from his highness. He at once acquiesced in the propriety of his resolution, and with many expressions of benevolent sympathy, sent the greatest admissible subscription. It is well known that his own personal feeling dictated the noble reply of the divan to the threatening demands of Austria and Russia for the extradition of the Polish and Hungarian refugees. “I am not ignorant,” was his reply, “of the power of those empires, nor of the ulterior measures to which their intimations point; but I am compelled by my religion to observe the laws of hospitality; and I believe that the sense and good feeling of Europe will not allow my government to be drawn into a ruinous war, because I resolve strictly and solemnly to adhere to them.” This is the true spirit of Christianity, and there is more it in the Mohammedan Sultan of Turkey, than in any or all of the Christian princes of Eastern Europe.” The Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Medjid Khan: A Brief Memoir of His Life and Reign, with Notices of The Country, its Navy, & present Prospects by the Rev. Henry Christmas, M.A., 1853
It should be noted that this generosity and compassion occurred during the time of the supposed “downfall” of the Ottoman empire according to the Western Orientalists point of view, and Sultan Abdul Majid in himself is not counted as one of the greatest of Ottoman Sultans.
Furthermore the help was offered solely on the ground of charity to the Irishmen, considering that there was no request for help made from the British Empire who at that time ruled the whole of Ireland.
During that period of time more than a million people died out of hunger and millions became refugees. Most of these people were forced to escape to the US and also to other countries, where Irishmen initially occupied the bottom layers of society.
It was interesting to note that the Irish did not forget the hand of friendship that Turkey had extended to them. In the aftermath of the end of the first world war, when the Islamic Caliphate was being dismantled, Yahya Kemal Beyatli (d. 1958), a famous Turkish poet and a former ambassador, had an interesting memory from the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, in which he participated as a reporter.
He recounts that while all the plenipotentiaries of the allied powers (The British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania, and the Serb- Croat-Slovene State) voted in unison in opposition to Turkey, the representative from Ireland was an exception; in each vote, he raised his hand in favour of Turkey’s interests.
Beyatli noticed this unusual person, and could not help asking him the reason, the Irish representative responded with;
“I am obliged to do it. Not only I, but are all Irish men and women, When we suffered from famine and disease, your Ottoman ancestors shipped loads of food and monetary donations. We have never forgotten the friendly hand extended to us in our difficult times. Your nation deserves to be supported on every occasion.”
I studied the Great Famine and the Michael Collins inspired uprisings in Ireland as part of my GCSE history, but of course this fact was never mentioned.
A simple examination of the events surrounding this engagement will open anyone’s eyes to the high station of the character of the Khaleefah’s combined with their skilful ability to traverse political waters to achieve moral, Islamic ends.
How many more facts remain buried in the annals of history of the positive steps that have been taken by Muslims to contributing towards a fairer and just society and civilisation?
AdvertisementsThere’s no question that BP has lied extensively over the past few months about the growing Gulf oil disaster. The company has bullied journalists, fudged numbers, and even deployed fake journalists to the Gulf to write about how everything is fine. Now BP may be literally trying to cover up oiled beaches by dumping sand on top of them.
The video below, filmed by Judson Parker of Save Our Shores Florida, purportedly shows oil sandwiched between two layers of different types of sand. According to Parker, local deputies confirmed that BP dumped sand onto the Grand Isle, Louisiana beach and attempted to smooth it over. But Wayne Keller, the Executive Director of the Grand Isle Port Commission, doesn’t know anything about it. “I’m not aware of that being done anywhere on Grand Isle,” he tells FastCompany.com. I know we’re
trucking in sand to build berms to keep oil out of the estuary, but that’s it.”
A quick tip to BP: we see what you’re doing. And if this just another attempt to make the oil disaster seem trivial, it won’t work.
Read more
about the Gulf Oil SpillBack in 2009, then-Eater head (he's now a Chron staffer) Paolo Lucchesi said that his biggest dining surprise of the year was "That there is still only one In-N-Out—sans drive-thru—in this entire city but there are 20 La Boulanges." Cut to the present day, where Starbucks owns La Boulange...and SF still only has a single In-N-Out, that one in Fisherman's Wharf.
In the intervening years, the Bible-verse-emblazoned company has added a Redwood City location, and area outlets have fed French Laundry celebrants, been a marketing tool for at least one start-up, fueled Tim Lincecum, and been hit with lawsuits alleging racism and a refusal to call 911. Oh, and who can forget the great Berkeley In-N-Out prank of 2014?
It seems like the one thing they haven't done is scout for any additional San Francisco locations. Speaking to Eater on Thursday, In-N-Out VP for planning and development Carl Van Fleet says that "while we are always looking for new opportunities and potential locations, we are not currently working on a specific site in San Francisco."
What about downtown Oakland, or poor, punked Berkeley? While Van Fleet didn't rule them out, it certainly didn't sound like anything's in the works, as he said only that "our real estate team is active throughout the Bay Area, as we do hope to add restaurants there in the future."
Eater speculates that factors holding local expansion of the chain back are those of expensive real estate, a high minimum wage, or that most SF options wouldn't allow for a drive-through, all solid possibilities.
Another reason might be the years of hassle the company has had in getting a location in Alameda opened: since 2013, hundreds of residents including the city's District Attorney have rallied against a proposed Alameda Landing location of the fast food joint, saying that it's a "magnet for crime." Though In-N-Out eventually prevailed and the spot is set to open this year, perhaps the company has decided to focus its efforts on towns where they can be certain that their animal style will be welcomed with open arms.
See all of SFist's In-And-Out coverage hereIF ONE body represents the international scientific consensus on global warming, it is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations panel that just released the first portion of its fifth authoritative report on the science. Backers point out that more than 800 authors and 50 editors from dozens of countries have produced a comprehensive and carefully worded analysis of the greatest environmental threat facing the planet. Critics pore over every sentence looking for errors. They even found a few among the thousands of pages in the IPCC’s last report.
But the bottom line remains this: The likelihood that human-induced global warming will have severe effects on humanity is far too high to ignore.
The report’s headline finding is that “it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.” The experts reckon that natural forces and variability might have pushed things one direction or another but not to the degree that human activity has. There is all sorts of evidence. It’s not just that the planet has warmed over the course of many decades, during which people have released massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Among many other things, there is what scientists have called a “human fingerprint” — a pattern of warming in the troposphere and cooling in the stratosphere that is very likely characteristic of human influence.
Climate models have improved at matching the observed temperature record since the IPCC’s last report. The scientists admit that they still aren’t adept at modeling short time scales, such as 10 or 15 years, during which various factors can make average temperatures spike and dip. But climate change is a long-term effect, and the decades-long trend is what matters.
The authors did not shrink from addressing one of the primary threads that critics have been pulling in their effort to unravel the scientific consensus — the recent flattening of global temperature rise. “Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface than any preceding decade since 1850,” the IPCC notes. Nevertheless, a detectable slowing of the warming trend between 1998 and 2012 might well have to do with recent volcanic eruptions, which add heat-reflective materials to the atmosphere, a decade-long solar cycle and simple decade-to-decade variability. The scientists also admit that some models might still overestimate the effects of certain human activities on the climate system.
There is a lot more work to do. Scientists still harbor considerable uncertainty about what will happen to low-level clouds in a warming world and about the effect of aerosols, many of which reduce warming but some of which promote it. Considerations like these lead to a wide estimated range for how sensitive the climate is to additional greenhouse gases.
The experts should keep working to refine their picture of the climate system, with the caution and skepticism that good science demands. Meanwhile, America’s leaders should not take the fruit of that skepticism — some continuing uncertainty — as license to continue stalling. Ignoring the real possibility of large increases in global temperature is not wise leadership. It’s wishful thinking.Police are investigating after two people in Brantford have reportedly been shot with a BB gun.
Investigators say that on July 7 at around 6 p.m., a 24-year-old woman was driving on Colborne Street near Brock Street with her window down.
That's when an "unknown object" struck her in the side of the face, a police news release reads. She stopped the car, and realized she was bleeding.
The woman then found a silver pellet inside her car, but she didn't need medical attention. Police officers searched the area, but came up empty.
Then on July 11 at around 11:30 p.m., a 31-year-old man and his friends were hanging out in a wooded area south of Mary Street. While they were talking, the man heard a pop, and then felt a sharp pain in his left ear, police say.
The group searched the area, but didn't find anyone. The man went to hospital and received treatment, police say.
Anyone with information about either incident is asked to contact Det. Const. Jason Sinning at 519-756-0113 ext. 2265, or Crime Stoppers.Beyoncé is reportedly set to join Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Friday in Ohio, as the final days in race for the Presidency begin.
According to a source for CBS News, the singer will be joining her husband Jay-Z at Cleveland State University for a get-out-the-vote concert, although the Clinton campaign has not provided a comment on the report. Ohio is a key battleground state in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, where a recent poll put Clinton’s opponent Donald Trump ahead by two points.
With a line up of performers including Katy Perry and John Legend, CBS News reported that Friday’s concert is an attempt to win over the area’s young and African-American voters, as well as encourage Ohio residents to vote early ahead of Tuesday’s election day. Trump will also be appearing in the swing state at 4pm, as he speaks at an event in Wilmington.
[CBS News]
Write to Suyin Haynes at suyin.haynes@time.com.Regardless of what the Assad regime says, the revolution in Syria is far from finished. That isn't necessarily a positive outcome.
Mere weeks ago, Hizbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah told a Lebanese newspaper that the war in Syria was over. “The phase of bringing down the regime is over,” he opined. Iranian politicians echoed this line. Bashar Al Assad himself, always confident of victory even as cities under his control fell, rehashed that line and his regime portrayed the rebel retreat from Homs as the end of the revolution.
It must therefore be of some surprise in Tehran, in the Dahiyeh of Beirut and in the presidential palace of Damascus that the rebels are still fighting, still winning (albeit small) victories and are still committed to ending the rule of Mr Al Assad.
The latest in this psychological and military campaign came this weekend in Deraa in the south, the birthplace of the revolution, where regime forces dropped leaflets telling rebels they had a “last chance” to surrender or they would be wiped out. The rebels replied with a mortar strike that killed regime supporters.
Every death on every side is mourned. But the fact is that the war in Syria is far from over. That, in one way, is positive. The Assad regime has long lost legitimacy. Its campaign of murder, torture and rape across the past three years means that Syria can never return to the old status quo of living under a stifling regime. The rebels, at the beginning, sought only to rid themselves of that oppression, first by peaceful protests and later, when they faced the wrath of the Assad military, by force of arms. That the rebellion continues, even in the face of overwhelming air superiority and the shocking indifference of the international community, is positive.
And yet it is impossible to glorify war. The civil war now raging has brought devastation to most of Syria. Some of the regime supporters killed in the mortar strike in Deraa were civilians. That they should die merely so that the brutal regime continues is profoundly sad.
The Assad regime bears the majority of the blame for turning a beautiful country into a war zone. But there is much blame to go around. The Washington Post asked the question squarely: “Why did we allow Syria to become a hell on Earth?” That is true. Inaction by the United States has allowed Mr Al Assad to gain the upper hand. It is only because of the tenacity of the rebels that there is still a revolution to speak of.
Syria is already a hell on Earth. The only question now is how long must it remain so before the international community involves itself in a meaningful way?If you didn’t get enough bleak, dystopian scenarios out of this season, here are some similar science fiction novels to tide you over until the next season.
The third season of Black Mirror has everything that fans have come to expect: hackers with questionable moral lessons, out-of-control sci-fi technology, and plenty of twists. As the name implies, Black Mirror presents dark reflections of our own world—mostly by conjuring nightmare visions of how our present technology may control us in the not-too-distant future.
The biggest downside of Black Mirror? The entire series only thirteen episodes long, so if you’re a fan, chances are you’ve already binge-watched the new episodes and now don’t know what to do with yourself. There’s nothing else quite like Black Mirror on TV, but luckily there is a wealth of fantastic books that can sate your hunger for genre-bending satires and near-future dystopias.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
A long-time master of the satirical speculative fiction—her preferred term—Atwood has several books that could fit this list. My favorite is Oryx and Crake, book one of her dystopian MaddAddam trilogy. Set it a post-apocalyptic world overrun by genetically manipulated animal hybrids like pigoons (pig creatures that can grow human organs) and rakunks (skunk-raccoon hybrids without the smell). Much of the novel is in flashbacks to the pre-apocalyptic time when Jimmy and his genetic genius friend Crake work in corporate research compounds like OrganInc and HelthWyzer to create genetically manipulated food and medicine for the public. Published in 2003, the novel tackles a plethora of issues from global warming to wealth inequality that have only grown more relevant in the last 13 years.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro’s 2005 novel is such a perfect companion to Black Mirror that it could be easily adapted by the series in the future. Never Let Me Go is a heartbreaking, character-driven story with science fiction trappings. It follow a group of students in a boarding school that the reader slowly begin to realize is creepily off. The big sci-fi twist is one that I won’t spoil here, but suffice to say that you’ll remember it long after you finish.
Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
The first episode of season three, “Nosedive,” imagines a dystopian near-future that’s only a shade different than today: everyone is obsessed with their social media profiles, constantly monitoring their star rating and never wanting to offend anyone. If that episode spoke to you, try Moxyland, the debut novel of acclaimed South African author Lauren Beukes. Like “Nosedive,” Moxyland takes place in a near future where people are slaves to their cellphones and social media presence. Beukes’s novel focuses on the corporations who benefit from and rule this future. If you rebel against this technological dystopia, the Big-Brother-by-way-of-Snapchat government will impose the ultimate punishment: “disconnection” from the internet.
Version Control by Dexter Palmer
One of 2016’s best science fiction novels, Version Control is set in a college town just a couple of years the future when self-driving cars are finally on the road and humans are (even more) obsessed with social media metrics to the point we each become a “little marionette made out of data.” In this almost mundane setting, Palmer tackles one of the trickiest of sci-fi tropes: time travel. A novel of ideas, Version Control should be on the reading list of every fan of smart sci-fi.
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Black Mirror episodes often feel like nightmare visions of how our world might change, but The Lathe of Heaven tells the story of a man who can literally change the world with his dreams. When an egotistical scientist named William Haber discovers George Orr’s ability, he forces Orr to allow Haber to manipulate his reality-shaping dreams with his machine. Like the best Black Mirror episodes, Le Guin’s concerns are more philosophical than technological, and she explores how quickly human attempts at utopia can turn dystopian. For example, when Haber forces Orr to dream a world without racism the result is a dull world where everyone is a monochromatic grey. Le Guin has described the novel as her attempt to imitate Philip K. Dick, and The Lathe of Heaven is every bit the fantastic paranoid nightmare of Dick’s classic science fiction novels.
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Speaking of Dick, no list of mind-bending science fiction books would be complete without him. Inspired partly by Dick’s own experiences with drug subcultures, A Scanner Darkly follows an undercover police officer, Bob Arctor, who has infiltrated a group of druggies who use a dangerous new drug called “Substance D.” The novel includes thought-provoking sci-fi concepts, like the “scramble suits” that project dozens of different photographs of people to preserve the wearer’s anonymity, as well as a conspiratorial twist at the end.
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Murakami isn’t normally a name associated with science fiction—his work tends to take place in either realistic or magical realist worlds—but this novel is an exception. Hardboiled mashes up noir, fantasy, and science fiction to tell two intertwining tales. The first follows a “Calcutec” human data encryptor working for the System government against criminal “Semiotec” data thieves. The second is a surreal fantasy adventure involving libraries where unicorn skulls are used to read dreams. The two tales meet up in a satisfying twist, and will leave you thinking about the meaning of perception and identity.
Infomocracy by Malka Older
Black Mirror’s third season focuses on how data is controlled and especially what happens when that data is manipulated by the wrong hands, whether social-climbers (“Nosedive”) or trolling hackers (“Shut Up and Dance”). Older’s debut novel looks at a different controlling hand: the government. This SF thriller takes place in a future where a search engine company called Information has reshaped the world as series of microdemocracies. As a look at how information shapes government policy and elections, it’s the perfect book to read in an election year that feels even more surreal than even the scariest Black Mirror episode.
A Collapse of Horses by Brian Evenson
If your favorite Black Mirror episodes are the horror ones like “Playtest” or “White Bear,” then you should run out and read Brian Evenson as soon as possible. A master of literary horror, Evenson’s books mix literary sentences with science fiction and fantasy tropes and tie them together with a thread of uncanny dread. You put any of Evenson’s collections on this list, but his most recent, A Collapse of Horses, is as good a place to start as any and includes a great sci-fi horror mini-novella called “The Dust.”
The Wilds by Julia Elliott
In the story collection The Wilds, Julia Elliott mixes science fiction visions with a Southern gothic style—think Black Mirror by way of Flannery O’Connor. Elliott enters her dark worlds from surprising angles. “LIMBs,” for example, takes place in a depressing nursing home where residents move around with Leg Intuitive Motion Bionics limbs. Other stories look attempts to make robots experience love by downloading sonnets and novels into their brains and a horrifying spa resort where the vain rich try to prevent aging through “controlled” diseases. While the premises of these stories are captivating, the real star of Elliot’s work is her lyrical and loopy Southern gothic prose.
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Ted Chiang has built an entire career and won almost every major science fiction award around just a handful of stories; that’s how good his short fiction is. If tightly-written, thought-provoking science fiction is what you seek, you can’t do better than Chiang’s only book (so far), Stories of Your Life and Others. The stories in this collection often have “what if?” premises—what if there was an actual Tower of Babel? what if we learned mathematics didn’t work? what if experimental drugs made someone impossibly intelligent?—but in every story Chiang is rigorously rooted in the science of these alternate worlds and never loses sight of the characters. Ted Chiang has long been one of science fiction’s best-kept secrets, but that’s likely to change this year with the Hollywood adaptation of the collection’s titular story, Arrival, coming to theaters this fall.
In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders
As the most celebrated writer of literary sci-fi satires, Saunders is an obvious pick. Saunders work is rarely as horrifying as the series, and is often far more hilarious (Black Mirror’s few humorous forays, like “The Waldo Moment,” are typically the weakest episodes). Still, Saunders writes brilliant and surprising short stories that frequently imagine how technology, corporations, and politics will continue to corrupt us. In Persuasion Nation isn’t his best collection (that would be Pastoralia), but it is the collection most interested in technology. “I CAN SPEAK!TM” is about robotic masks that parents strap over their babies’ heads to pretend they can speak. “My Flamboyant Grandson” imagines a world where everyone wears tracking devices that allow corporations to summon customized ads everywhere they walk. “Jon” follows a group of orphans who are raised as corporate testers, and if they remove their implants they can only speak in word salads of advertising copy. Like the best Black Mirror episodes, Saunders manages to find the humanity in even his most far-out conceits.I was just given the details on the Avon upcoming kickstarter.
John Avon’s five Unhinged lands being available as playmats, and, since he lives in England, he will have serious Super Early Bird specials because shipping is no joke internationally. For £25.00 (about $33), you will get an Unhinged playmat shipped from him to you. As playmats for special occasions have risen to $40 pretty regularly, it’s a good deal, and a stellar one once you realize you aren’t paying for shipping.
If you don’t hit F5 fast enough, there will still be Early Bird playmats for about a pound more, or $34.30, again, shipping included.
Once those run out, the playmat jumps another dollar, to $35.60. If you want a playmat *after* that, or miss the Kickstarter entirely, they’ll go up to £30 plus shipping, which is over $40. Add the shipping, which puts it over $50. The incentive to be early if you want *your* island is a deal.
The Kickstarter launches on Thursday, September 21, 2017.
We will be tweeting it out too. Stay tuned!
-Vorthos MikeWith an hour and a half transfer to the stage start this morning, I spent some of that time perusing social media on the team bus and was a bit shocked to see Tour de France winner Chris Froome tweet that he'd been knocked down by a car while training this morning.
With an hour and a half transfer to the stage start this morning, I spent some of that time perusing social media on the team bus and was a bit shocked to see Tour de France winner Chris Froome tweet that he'd been knocked down by a car while training this morning.
These stories are getting all too familiar lately and although I'm in a different country and maybe haven't got the full story yet, the irate driver apparently followed Froome up onto the footpath to ram him and he was lucky to escape serious injury.
In my mind, if somebody tries to hit a cyclist with a car then it really is attempted murder.
You're using a vehicle to deliberately try and harm somebody and a guy on a bike up against somebody sitting in a metal shell is never going to come out of it well.
While this seems to be a clear-cut case of road rage, sharing the road goes both ways. Over the years I've seen plenty of cyclists who are a danger to themselves when they're out. Maybe I shouldn't be saying this but some cyclists need to start respecting motorists more.
I know there are more good guys out there than bad but I see a lot of stupid stuff when I'm on the bike.
A couple of my pet hates are guys running red lights and jumping through roundabouts, intersections or across roads to turn right.
None of |
ball 2014 CWS - GM 2, Postgame Team Press Conference Coach O'Connor, Brandon Waddell, Kenny Towns and Brandon Downes address the media following the Game 2 victory. Wed, Jun 25, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - GM 1, Postgame Team Press Conference Coach O'Connor, Nathan Kirby, Brandon Downes and Branden Cogswell address the media following the Game 1 loss in the CWS Finals. Tue, Jun 24, 2014
Baseball Quick Highlight - CWS Finals Game 2 See the final out of Brandon Waddell's complete game. Full highlights to follow. Vanderbilt Wed, Jun 25, 2014
Baseball Quick Highlight Game 2 CWS Daniel Pinero provides the walk-off with a sac fly in the bottom of the 15th! TCU Wed, Jun 18, 2014
Baseball Highlights - CWS Game 2 Virginia Downs TCU 3-2 in One of Longest Games in CWS History. TCU Wed, Jun 18, 2014
Baseball Quick Highlight Game 3 CWS Robbie Coman provides the crucial go-ahead hit and Nick Howard slams the door as Virginia moves on to the CWS Finals. Full highlights to follow. Ole Miss Sat, Jun 21, 2014
Baseball Highlights - CWS Game 3 Cavaliers defeat Ole Miss 4-1 to advance to finals for first time in program history. Ole Miss Sat, Jun 21, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - The Fan's Road to Omaha Virginia Baseball fans share their stories about coming to Omaha to support the team. Tue, Jun 24, 2014
Baseball Highlights - CWS Finals Game 1 Virginia Falls to Vanderbilt in First Game of CWS Finals, 9-8. Vanderbilt Tue, Jun 24, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - CWS Finals Presser Derek Fisher, Mike Papi & Brandon Waddell reflect on the Game 1 loss and what it means moving forward to Game 2. Tue, Jun 24, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Playoff Berries Derek Fisher explains the origin of the berry dots in the team's playoff run to the CWS Finals. Sun, Jun 22, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Finals Press Conference View the entire Finals Press Conference. Vanderbilt Sun, Jun 22, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - O'Connor Presser Coach O'Connor talks about the team's success thus far and the upcoming championship series. Sat, Jun 21, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Postgame Team Press Conference Coach O'Connor, Josh Sborz, Artie Lewicki & Robbie Coman address the media following their victory over Mississippi. Sat, Jun 21, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Sborz Presser Josh Sborz talks to the media about tomorrow's start against the winner of Ole Miss & TCU. Thu, Jun 19, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - O'Connor Presser Coach O'Connor addresses the media about last night's marathon victory and looks ahead to the team's next game on Friday. Wed, Jun 18, 2014
Baseball Quick Highlight Game 1 CWS Mike Papi delivers a dramatic walk-off in the bottom of the 9th. Full highlights to follow. Ole Miss Mon, Jun 16, 2014
Baseball Highlights - CWS Game 1 Virginia Walks Off with 2-1 CWS Win over Ole Miss. Ole Miss Mon, Jun 16, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Postgame Comments Thomas Woodruff, Nate Irving & Artie Lewicki comment on the walk-off win against TCU Wed, Jun 18, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Brandon Waddell Presser Brandon Waddell talks to the media about starting Tuesday night against TCU in the winners bracket of the College World Series. Mon, Jun 16, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - O'Connor Presser Coach Brian O'Connor meets with media about tomorrow's winners bracket matchup against TCU. Mon, Jun 16, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Player Comments Branden Cogswell and Kenny Towns answer questions after the team's walk-off victory over Mississippi. Mon, Jun 16, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Team Practice Highlights from yesterday's team practice including a rare hitting session for pitchers. Sun, Jun 15, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Concord Club Team Dinner Coach O'Connor addresses players, staff, family, friends and members of the team's host organization, the Concord Club. Sun, Jun 15, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Welcome to Omaha Check out some of the sights and sounds from the opening day of the College World Series. Fri, Jun 13, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Opening Ceremonies The Virginia baseball team participates in the 2014 College World Series Opening Ceremonies. Sat, Jun 14, 2014
Baseball 2014 CWS - Opening Press Conference Coach Brian O'Connor and Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco discuss the College World Series and the upcoming game. Ole Miss Fri, Jun 13, 2014
Super Regional Sights and Sounds Take a look at the sights and sounds from Super Regional preparation and execution at Davenport Field. Wed, Jun 11, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Super Regional Player Postgame Josh Sborz, Brandon Downes and Kenny Towns answer questions after the game 3 victory. Maryland Tue, Jun 10, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Super Regional Championship Postgame Coach Brian O'Connor's opening statement and Q&A with reporters about the game. Maryland Tue, Jun 10, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland NCAA game 3 Virginia advances to the College World Series with an 11-2 win over Maryland. Maryland Tue, Jun 10, 2014
Baseball Celebrates Super Regional Victory Virginia players share the win with Coach O'Connor Mon, Jun 9, 2014
Baseball - Post Game Celebration The team celebrates the final out in the victory over Maryland. Stay tuned to VSTV for full highlights and post game comments. Mon, Jun 9, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland NCAA player post game Mike Papi, Kenny Towns and Artie Lewicki respond to reporter's questions. Maryland Sun, Jun 8, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland NCAA post game Coach O'Connor's opening statement followed by Q&A after game 2. Maryland Sun, Jun 8, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland NCAA game 2 Cavaliers Down Maryland 7-3 to Even Charlottesville Super Regional. Maryland Sun, Jun 8, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland NCAA Game 1 Cavaliers drop game one of the NCAA Super Regional to Maryland, 5-4. Maryland Sat, Jun 7, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland NCAA player post Mike Papi and Nathan Kirby take questions. Maryland Sat, Jun 7, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland NCAA post game Coach O'Connor's opening statement and Q&A with reporters. Maryland Sat, Jun 7, 2014
Baseball Feature - Super Regional Press Conference Coach O'Connor, Mike Papi and Derek Fisher field reporter's questions. Maryland Sat, Jun 7, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Regional Championship Virginia Beats Arkansas 9-2 to Advance to NCAA Super Regional. Arkansas Mon, Jun 2, 2014
Baseball Feature - Super Regional Press Conference Nathan Kirby Q&A with reporters. Maryland Fri, Jun 6, 2014
Baseball Feature - Nate Irving Third-year catcher Nate Irving has embraced his UVa experience on and off the field. Fri, Jun 6, 2014
Baseball Feature - Super Regional Reaction Brian O'Connor answers questions about the upcoming Super Regionals. Tue, Jun 3, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Regional Championship Players Postgame Waddell, La Prise and Irving Q&A with reporters. Arkansas Mon, Jun 2, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Regional Championship Postgame Coach Brian O'Connor's opening statement and Q&A. Arkansas Mon, Jun 2, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Arkansas NCAA Virginia Shuts Out Arkansas, 3-0 in NCAA Regional. Arkansas Sun, Jun 1, 2014
Baseball Feature - Regional Reaction Head Coach Brian O'Connor reacts to the NCAA Regional Announcement. Regional Mon, May 26, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Bucknell NCAA Virginia opens NCAA Regional play with a 10-1 win over Bucknell. Bucknell Fri, May 30, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Bucknell NCAA player post Papi, Lewicki and Irving answer reporter's questions. Bucknell Fri, May 30, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Bucknell NCAA post game Coach O'Connor's opening statement followed by Q & A. Bucknell Fri, May 30, 2014
Baseball Feature - Regional Press Conference Coach O'Connor, Branden Cogswell and Artie Lewicki take questions from the media during today's press conference. Thu, May 29, 2014
A DECADE OF VIRGINIA BASEBALL Celebrate the Decade of Excellence of Virginia Baseball Wed, May 21, 2014
Baseball Highlights - UNC ACC Tournament Virginia Defeats North Carolina in ACC Tournament, 3-2. North Carolina Sat, May 24, 2014
Baseball Highlights - UNC Post Game Press Conference O'Connor, Howard and Mayberry comment after the game. North Carolina Sat, May 24, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland ACC Tournament Virginia Rally Falls Short in 7-6 ACC Tournament Loss to Maryland. Maryland Thu, May 22, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Maryland Post Game Press Conference Hear Coach O'Connor and the players post game comments. Maryland Thu, May 22, 2014
UVA RALLY VIDEO Get behind the team with a little Rally Video Wed, May 21, 2014
UVA BASEBALL CLOSER VIDEO Take a look at the history of Virgina Closers Wed, May 21, 2014
Baseball Feature - ACC Postseason Coach O'Connor answers media questions about the season and the ACC Tournament. Mon, May 19, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Wake Forest games 1 & 2 Wake Forest rallies for 10-inning win in Game 1 but Cavaliers bounce back for split. Wake Forest Sat, May 17, 2014
Baseball Highlights - VCU No. 1 Virginia Rolls to 12-3 Win Over VCU. VCU Tue, May 13, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech game 3 No. 1 Cavaliers Finish Sweep of Georgia Tech with 3-1 Win. Georgia Tech Sun, May 11, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech game 2 No. 1 Virginia Outlasts Georgia Tech, 4-3 in 11 Innings. Georgia Tech Sat, May 10, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech game 1 No. 1 Cavaliers Rally for 4-3 Win over Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech Fri, May 9, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Quick Highlight Check out Mike Papi's game-winning hit in the bottom of the 7th.
Full highlights to follow. Georgia Tech Fri, May 9, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Liberty No. 1 Virginia Claims 8-2 Win Over No. 22 Liberty. Liberty Wed, May 7, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Play of the Day 6 Nick Howard strikes out all 4 batters he faces to lock down the save and clinch the FSU series. FSU Tue, May 6, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Play of the Day 5 Shortstop Daniel Pinero makes an incredible throw from shallow center to prevent a run from scoring against Florida State. FSU Mon, May 5, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Play of the Day 4 The 'Hoos turn a big double play and Nick Howard closes the deal against North Carolina. North Carolina Sat, May 3, 2014
Baseball Highlights - FSU game 3 No. 1 Virginia Takes Series with 4-3 Win at No. 4 Florida State.
additional footage courtesy:
Seminole Productions FSU Sun, Apr 27, 2014
Baseball Highlights - FSU game 2 No. 4 Florida State Evens Series with No. 1 Virginia, 7-0. FSU Sat, Apr 26, 2014
Baseball Highlights - FSU game 1 post game Coach O'Connor reacts to the game 1 victory. FSU Sat, Apr 26, 2014
Baseball Highlights - FSU game 1 post game Derek Fisher comments after game 1. FSU Sat, Apr 26, 2014
Baseball Highlights - FSU game 1 No. 1 Virginia outlasts No. 4 Florida State in thrilling fashion, 5-3 in 10 innings. FSU Sat, Apr 26, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Richmond No. 1 Virginia Bashes Richmond, 13-0. Richmond Wed, Apr 23, 2014
Baseball Highlights - VCU No. 1 Virginia Holds Off VCU, 5-4 in 10 Innings. VCU Wed, Apr 23, 2014
Baseball Highlights - UNC game 3 No. 1 Virginia Falls in Series Finale to North Carolina, 4-2. North Carolina Sun, Apr 20, 2014
Baseball Highlights - UNC game 2 No. 1 Virginia Clinches Series with 3-1 Win over North Carolina. North Carolina Sat, Apr 19, 2014
Baseball Highlights - UNC game 1 No. 1 Virginia Wins Opener Against North Carolina, 3-2. North Carolina Fri, Apr 18, 2014
Baseball Highlights - William & Mary #1 Baseball tramples the Tribe, 11-2 in midweek action. William & Mary Wed, Apr 16, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Clemson game 3 Waddell Brandon Waddell's post-game comments.
Clemson Sun, Apr 13, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Clemson game 3 The 'Hoos ride great pitching to a 1-0 shutout of Clemson and a series win. Clemson Sun, Apr 13, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Clemson #2 Virginia slides past Clemson, 3-2 in game 1 of the series. Clemson Fri, Apr 11, 2014
CUE: Baseball - Nathan Kirby No-Hitter The Chasing Uncompromised Excellence feature on Nathan Kirby and his 18 strikeout, no-hit performance against Pitt. Fri, Apr 11, 2014
Baseball Highlights - James Madison No. 2 Virginia Defeats James Madison, 9-3. JMU Wed, Apr 9, 2014
18 Strikeouts by Nathan Kirby A look at the 18 K's by Nathan Kirby Mon, Apr 7, 2014
Nathan Kirby Last Pitch No-Hitter The last pitch and Channing Poole call of Nathan Kirby's No-Hitter and 18 strikeout performance against Pittsburgh. Sat, Apr 5, 2014
CUE: Baseball - Joe McCarthy The Chasing Uncompromised Excellence feature on Joe McCarthy and the series sweep over Virginia Tech. Fri, Apr 4, 2014
Baseball Highlights - George Washington Virginia Baseball blanks the Colonials behind four hits from Branden Cogswell. George Washington Wed, Apr 2, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Old Dominion #2 Virginia sails past the Monarchs, 7-1. Old Dominion Tue, Apr 1, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Virginia Tech Post Coach O'Connor comments on the game and the weekend series. Virginia Tech Sun, Mar 30, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Virginia Tech game 3 Virginia rallies to sweep Virginia Tech, 7-4. Virginia Tech Sun, Mar 30, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Virginia Tech game 2 The Cavaliers clinch the weekend series with the Hokies 9-2, behind McCarthy's bat. Virginia Tech Sat, Mar 29, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Virginia Tech game 1 No. 2 Virginia Takes Game 1 Against Virginia Tech, 2-1. Virginia Tech Fri, Mar 28, 2014
Baseball - Quick Highlight Virginia Tech Nate Irving brings in the game-winning run with a single in the 7th. Virginia Tech Fri, Mar 28, 2014
CUE: Baseball - Miami The Chasing Uncompromised Excellence feature on Josh Sborz and the series win at Miami. Fri, Mar 28, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Longwood No. 2 Virginia defeats Longwood 8-1 to claim its 20th win of the season. Longwood Wed, Mar 26, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Miami game 3 No. 2 Baseball Takes Series at Miami With 5-3 Win. Miami Tue, Mar 25, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Miami game 2 No. 3 Baseball Rallies for 8-3 Win at No. 25 Miami in 11 Innings. Miami Mon, Mar 24, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Miami game 1 No. 3 Baseball Drops Series Opener at No. 25 Miami, 7-1. Miami Sun, Mar 23, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Princeton No. 3 UVa Collects 15 Hits in Midweek Win Over Princeton. Princeton Thu, Mar 20, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Towson post Coach O'Connor's post game press conference. Towson Wed, Mar 19, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Towson No. 3 Virginia Picks Up 5-3 Win Over Towson. Towson Wed, Mar 19, 2014
Baseball Highlights - BC game 3 No. 3 Virginia Walks-Off to Sweep Boston College. Boston College Sat, Mar 15, 2014
Baseball Highlights - BC game 1 No. 3 Virginia Takes Series Opener Over Boston College, 8-1. Boston College Fri, Mar 14, 2014
Baseball Highlights - JMU No. 3 Baseball Rolls to 13-2 Win Over James Madison. JMU Tue, Mar 11, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Monmouth Doubleheader UVA sweeps a soggy doubleheader from Monmouth to move to 9-2 on the season. Monmouth Sun, Mar 2, 2014
CUE: Baseball - Derek Fisher The Chasing Uncompromised Excellence feature on junior Derek Fisher and the opening of the Virginia baseball season. Fri, Feb 28, 2014
Baseball Highlights - East Carolina game 3 No. 1 Baseball Finishes Sweep of East Carolina With 6-2 Win. ECU Sun, Feb 23, 2014
Baseball Highlights - East Carolina game 3 post Coach O'Connor comments on the series and today's game. ECU Sun, Feb 23, 2014
Baseball Highlights - East Carolina game 2 Top ranked Virginia blanks ECU 4-0 to wrap up series win. ECU Sat, Feb 22, 2014
Baseball Highlights - East Carolina game 1 No. 1 Virginia Baseball Grinds Out 3-2 Win Over East Carolina. ECU Fri, Feb 21, 2014
Baseball Feature - Step Up to the Plate Brian O'Connor at Step Up to the Plate. Mon, Feb 17, 2014
Baseball Feature - Step Up to the Plate Sean Doolittle at Step Up to the Plate. Mon, Feb 17, 2014
Baseball Feature - Step Up to the Plate John Farrell at Step Up to the Plate. Mon, Feb 17, 2014
Baseball Highlights - UNCW Post Brian O'Connor's post game comments. UNCW Sun, Feb 16, 2014
Baseball Highlights - UNCW No. 1 Cavaliers Earn 7-2 Win at UNC Wilmington. UNCW Sun, Feb 16, 2014
Baseball Highlights - VMI Post Coach O'Connor's post game comments. VMI Sat, Feb 15, 2014
Baseball Highlights - VMI No. 1 'Hoos Blow Out VMI, 12-0. VMI Sat, Feb 15, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Kentucky Post Coach O'Connor reacts to season opening loss. Kentucky Fri, Feb 14, 2014
Baseball Highlights - Kentucky No. 1 Baseball Drops Season Opener to Kentucky, 8-3. Kentucky Fri, Feb 14, 2014
Baseball: Media Day - Players Comments from Derek Fisher, Brandon Waddell, and Connor Jones on Baseball Media Day. Mon, Feb 10, 2014
Baseball: Media Day - Brian O'Connor Head Coach Brian O'Connor addresses the media prior to the start of the 2014 season. Mon, Feb 10, 2014
Baseball Feature - Preseason #1 Head Coach Brian O'Connor comments on the 'Hoos preseason #1 ranking. Mon, Jan 27, 2014
Baseball Feature - 2014 Television Spot Reserve your seats now. Wed, Jan 8, 2014
Baseball Feature - Season Promo Baseball season is not far away. The Home Opener is February 18. Make your plans now. Wed, Dec 4, 2013
CUE: Baseball - Fall Ball The Chasing Uncompromised Excellence story on Fall Baseball and the Orange and Blue World Series. Thu, Oct 24, 2013
Baseball Highlights - MSU Game One NCAA Mississippi State Drops Virginia in Super Regional Opener, 11-6. MSU Sat, Jun 8, 2013
Baseball Highlights - MSU Game Two NCAA Bulldogs Hold Off UVa to Clinch Charlottesville Super Regional. MSU Mon, Jun 10, 2013
Baseball Feature - Super Regional Press Conference See the press conference in its entirety. MSU Fri, Jun 7, 2013
Baseball Feature - Super Regional Reaction Kyle Crockett talks about Super Regionals. Tue, Jun 4, 2013
Baseball Feature - Super Regional Reaction Scott Silverstein talks about Super Regionals. Tue, Jun 4, 2013
Baseball Feature - Super Regional Reaction Jared King talks about Super Regionals. Tue, Jun 4, 2013
Baseball Feature - Super Regional Reaction Coach Brian O'Connor press interview this afternoon. Tue, Jun 4, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Regional Championship NCAA Cavaliers Advance to NCAA Super Regionals, Secure 50th Win. Elon Mon, Jun 3, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Elon NCAA Virginia Blanks Elon, 2-0, to Stay Unbeaten at NCAA Regional. Elon Sat, Jun 1, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Army NCAA Waddell Leads Virginia to 2-1 Win Over Army in NCAA Regional Opener. Army Sat, Jun 1, 2013
Baseball Feature - Regional Pitching Matchups Coach O'Connor and Coach Sottolano of Army talk about tomorrow's starting pitchers. Regional Thu, May 30, 2013
Baseball Feature - Regional Press Conference All four coaches speak about participating in the upcoming Regional. Regional Thu, May 30, 2013
Baseball Feature - Regional Reaction Coach Brian O'Connor reacts to the regional, national seeding and the post-season. Mon, May 27, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Florida State ACC Tournament Towns Walkoff Blast Lifts No. 5 Virginia Baseball Past Florida State, 7-4. FSU Sat, May 25, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech ACC Tournament No. 5 Virginia Baseball Thumps Georgia Tech, 8-2. Georgia Tech Thu, May 23, 2013
Baseball Highlights - North Carolina Game 3 No. 7 Baseball Takes Series at No. 2 UNC With 8-7 Win in 11 Innings. UNC Sat, May 18, 2013
Baseball Highlights - North Carolina Game 2 No. 2 North Carolina Rallies Late to Top No. 7 Baseball, 8-5. UNC Sat, May 18, 2013
Baseball Highlights - North Carolina Game 1 No. 7 Baseball Wins Opener at No. 2 North Carolina, 10-4. UNC Fri, May 17, 2013
Quick Highlights - North Carolina Game 1 Full story tomorrow morning. UNC Fri, May 17, 2013
Baseball Highlights - VCU #7 Virginia powers over VCU, 17-3. VCU Tue, May 14, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Duke Game 3 Virginia downs Duke, 14-6 to sweep the series. Duke Sun, May 12, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Duke Game 2 Behind a season-high 22 hits, Virginia defeats Duke, 17-8. Duke Sat, May 11, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Duke Game 1 No. 7 Baseball Scores Three in Ninth to Top Duke, 6-5. Duke Fri, May 10, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Duke game 1 - 9th Inning rally Full highlights to follow. Duke Fri, May 10, 2013
Baseball vs. Duke - Promo Virginia against Duke, Friday through Sunday May 10 - 12. Duke Wed, May 8, 2013
Baseball Highlights - VCU No. 7 Virginia Baseball Defeats VCU, 11-3. VCU Wed, May 1, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Virginia Tech Game 2 The 'Hoos fall to Virginia Tech, 5-3. Virginia Tech Sun, Apr 28, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Virginia Tech Game 1 No. 5 Baseball Routs Virginia Tech, 15-6. Virginia Tech Fri, Apr 26, 2013
Baseball Highlights - JMU Offensive explosion pushes #5 Virginia past in-state rival James Madison. JMU Thu, Apr 25, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Richmond Fifth-ranked UVA rolls on downing Richmond, 6-2. Richmond Tue, Apr 23, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Florida State Game 3 Virginia completes the sweep of #5 Florida State with a 5-2 victory on Sunday. FSU Sun, Apr 21, 2013
Baseball Highlights - FSU postgame Game 3 Hear the press conference after game 3 win.
FSU Sun, Apr 21, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Florida State Doubleheader No. 7 Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader Against No. 5 Florida State. FSU Sun, Apr 21, 2013
Baseball Highlights - FSU postgame Hear Coach O'Connor's post-game press conference following the doubleheader. FSU Sat, Apr 20, 2013
Baseball Preview - Florida State Coach O'Connor comments on tickets for the upcoming FSU series. FSU Thu, Apr 18, 2013
Baseball Highlights - ODU Virginia rallies from 7-2 down to win in dramatic fashion in the 10th inning. Old Dominion Wed, Apr 17, 2013
Baseball Highlights - ODU postgame Coach O'Connor's post-game comments. Old Dominion Wed, Apr 17, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Papi's Grand Slam & King's Walk-off. See Mike Papi's grand slam that tied the game followed by Jared King's walk-off hit in the 10th inning. Old Dominion Wed, Apr 17, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech Game 2 No. 4 Virginia downs No. 17 Georgia Tech, 7-2, to even series. Georgia Tech Sat, Apr 13, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech Game 1 No. 4 Baseball Drops Series Opener to No. 17 Georgia Tech, 2-1. Georgia Tech Sat, Apr 13, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Radford The 'Hoos nearly pull off a miraculous comeback falling to Radford, 9-8. Radford Wed, Apr 10, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Radford postgame Brian O'Connor comments on the game and comeback. Radford Wed, Apr 10, 2013
Baseball Audio Highlight - Papi Grand Slam Channing Poole calls Mike Papi's game-winning home run and two of Kyle Crockett's three 9th inning strikeouts on the Virginia Sports Radio Network as UVa downs Wake Forest, 7-6. at Wake Forest, Game 1 Sat, Apr 6, 2013
Baseball Highlight - Papi Grand Slam Mike Papi's ninth-inning grand slam propels Virginia to a 7-6 win at Wake Forest in game one of the series. at Wake Forest, Game 1 Sun, Apr 7, 2013
Baseball Highlights - VMI Virginia outscores VMI, 8-6. VMI Wed, Apr 3, 2013
Baseball Highlights-at Liberty Behind a dominating pitching performance, Virginia blanks Liberty 2-0. at Liberty Tue, Apr 2, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Miami Game 3 Virginia drops only their 3rd game of the season to Miami, 4-3. Miami Sun, Mar 31, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Miami postgame 3 Coach O'Connor's post game press conference. Miami Sun, Mar 31, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Miami Game 2 Scott Silverstein turns in a stellar performance as Virginia tops Miami, 8-1. Miami Sat, Mar 30, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Miami postgame 2 Coach O'Connor comments on game 2 of the series. Miami Sat, Mar 30, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Miami Game 1 Austin Young delivers great relief and Mike Papi's bat stays hot in the 'Hoos victory over Miami, 15-4. Miami Fri, Mar 29, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Miami postgame Coach O'Connor's postgame press conference. Miami Fri, Mar 29, 2013
Baseball Preview - Miami Brian O'Connor previews the upcoming weekend series. Miami Fri, Mar 29, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Towson #5 Virginia rolls over Towson, 7-1. Towson Wed, Mar 27, 2013
Baseball Highlights - NC State Doubleheader Postgame Coach comments on the doubleheader sweep. NC State Sun, Mar 24, 2013
Baseball Highlights - NC State Game 3 Virginia completes the sweep, 6-3. NC State Sun, Mar 24, 2013
Baseball Highlights - NC State Doubleheader The 'Hoos keep rolling sweeping a doubleheader from NC State. NC State Sat, Mar 23, 2013
Baseball Preview - NC State O'Connor previews the upcoming series with nationally ranked NC State. NC State Fri, Mar 22, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Yale Game 2 The 'Hoos record another shutout blanking Yale, 10-0. Yale Wed, Mar 20, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Yale Game 1 11th ranked Virginia cruises to a 14-3 victory. Yale Tue, Mar 19, 2013
Baseball - Clemson Highlights from the Cavaliers thrilling comeback win at Clemson. Clemson Sat, Mar 16, 2013
Baseball - Liberty Brian O'Connor comments on the game. Liberty Wed, Mar 13, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Liberty Virginia knocks off Liberty 7-2 to conclude homestand. Liberty Wed, Mar 13, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Maryland Post series comments from Brian O'Connor. Maryland Sun, Mar 10, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Maryland Doubleheader The 'Hoos sweep a doubleheader to take the series with Maryland and remain unbeaten. Maryland Sat, Mar 9, 2013
Baseball Preview - Maryland Coach O'Connor comments on the season and previews the Maryland series. Maryland Thu, Mar 7, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Bucknell Game 2 No. 19 Baseball Knocks Off Bucknell, 9-1. Bucknell Sun, Mar 3, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Bucknell/Harvard Doubleheader Virginia moves to 11-0 sweeping today's doubleheader. Bucknell Harvard Sat, Mar 2, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Bucknell/Harvard Doubleheader Coach O'Connor's post game comments on the doubleheader. Bucknell Harvard Sat, Mar 2, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Harvard Game 1 Brandon Waddell continues to impress as the 'Hoos stay undefeated, 3-0. Harvard Fri, Mar 1, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Harvard Game 1 Post game comments. Harvard Fri, Mar 1, 2013
Baseball Highlights - George Washington Virginia baseball remains unbeaten on the season blanking GW, 11-0. George Washington Wed, Feb 27, 2013
Baseball Highlights - George Washington Post game comments from coach O'Connor. George Washington Wed, Feb 27, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Toledo Game 3 UVA completes the sweep of Toledo downing the Rockets, 6-3. Toledo Sun, Feb 24, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Toledo Game 3 O'Connor's post-game comments on the sweep. Toledo Sun, Feb 24, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Toledo Game 2 Virginia scores again late to outlast Toledo, 5-0. Toledo Sat, Feb 23, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Toledo Game 2 Coach O'Connor's post-game comments. Sat, Feb 23, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Toledo Game 1 'Hoos pummel Toledo 15-0 behind Brandon Waddell's 15 strikeouts. Toledo Fri, Feb 22, 2013
Baseball Highlights - Toledo Game 1 Coach O'Connor's post-game comments. Fri, Feb 22, 2013
Baseball Highlights - William & Mary The Wahoos wallop William & Mary 11-2 behind a strong outing from Nick Howard. William & Mary Tue, Feb 19, 2013
Baseball Highlights Trey Oest shines in his debut as Virginia downs Saint Peter's, 9-1. Saint Peter's Mon, Feb 18, 2013
Baseball Highlights - East Carolina Game 2 No. 25 Cavaliers Rally for 13-9 Win at East Carolina. ECU Sat, Feb 16, 2013
Baseball Highlights - East Carolina Game 1 Towns, No. 25 Cavaliers Open In Grand Fashion with 14-4 Win at ECU. ECU Fri, Feb 15, 2013
Baseball Feature - Kurkjian and Lopez Q & A Javier Lopez responds to questions from ESPN's Tim Kurkjian Wed, Feb 13, 2013
Baseball Feature - Tim Kurkjian Tim Kurkjian's speech from the 2013 Step Up to the Plate. Mon, Feb 11, 2013
Baseball Feature - Javier Lopez Javier Lopez's speech from the 2013 Step Up to the Plate. Mon, Feb 11, 2013
Baseball - Iron Cavalier Challenge The team wraps up training with the Iron Cavalier obstacle course. Wed, Dec 5, 2012
Baseball Feature - 2013 Ticket Spot 2013 Baseball tickets on sale. Tue, Nov 27, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Army UVa Takes First Game of NCAA Regional With 9-1 Victory Over Army. Army Sat, Jun 2, 2012
Baseball Feature - Regional Press Conference O'Connor's welcoming remarks plus Coach Sottolano and O'Connor talk about their starting pitchers for game 1. Thu, May 31, 2012
Baseball Feature - O'Connor on hosting a regional. Coach O'Connor talks about the advantage of hosting a regional. Thu, May 31, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Florida State No. 17 Virginia Baseball Blanks No. 1 Florida State, 7-0. FSU Sat, May 26, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Clemson ACC Tournament No. 17 Cavaliers Rally to Top Clemson, 3-2, in ACC Opener. Clemson Thu, May 24, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Maryland No. 19 Cavaliers Down Maryland in 7-6 Thriller. Maryland Fri, May 18, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech No. 21 Cavaliers Down Georgia Tech, 4-2, to Clinch Series. Georgia Tech Sat, May 12, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech No. 21 Virginia Falls in 10 Innings to Georgia Tech, 5-4. Georgia Tech Sun, May 13, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Georgia Tech No. 21 Cavaliers Power Past Georgia Tech, 6-5. Georgia Tech Fri, May 11, 2012
Baseball Highlights - High Point No. 21 Virginia Baseball Blows Past High Point, 12-3. High Point Thu, May 10, 2012
Baseball Feature - O'Connor on upcoming games. Head Coach Brian O'Connor talks about what fans have to look forward to as the regular season winds down. Tue, May 8, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Miami No. 22 Virginia Baseball Finishes Series Sweep at No. 21 Miami. Miami Tue, May 1, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Miami No. 25 Virginia Clinches Series at No. 15 Miami with 7-4 Win. Miami Mon, Apr 30, 2012
Baseball Highlights - Miami No. |
, he only played 25% of his team’s snaps. We don’t have much to work with. However, in 2012, we saw Hawkins put his ability to the test displaying his lateral agility with impressive yardage after the catch. 350 of his 533 receiving yards in 2012 came after the catch. Hawkins will be used as a gadget player in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, in what might potentially be similar to how the Redskins used Aldrick Robinson in 2013. I expect him to be used in a bigger role, however, because of the size of the contract he was signed to.
Julian Edelman (NE)
Contract Details
Four-year contract worth $17 million. Edelman received a $5 million signing bonus. He can earn up to $500,000 in game day active roster bonuses in 2014 and $750,000 per year in the final three years of his contract.
Contract Analysis
While the true fully guaranteed amount here is $6 million—with technically nothing guaranteed beyond this coming season—the contract’s structure is player-friendly. Edelman will absolutely earn $3 million in 2015, meaning the true guaranteed amount here is $9 million. There’s a good chance he plays out this deal’s entirety.
PFF Analysis
Previously viewed as simply an average slot receiver, Edelman showed a change of gear and ability to make things happen before and after the catch in 2013. He became Tom Brady’s go-to target and ended the season with some pretty impressive stats. In 2013, Edelman had the fourth-best catch rate in the slot (74.0), as he caught 54 of the 73 passes thrown to him while in the slot. The two players who caught more passes in the slot, ran a combined 176 more routes in the slot. He finished the season with 105 catches on 151 targets, and his 1,056 receiving yards ranked him No. 21 in the league. The Patriots got him back on a very cheap contract after the open market determined that some of his production should be attributed to the system he played in. This of course, has no effect on the Patriots, and he has the ability to build on his impressive 2013 season.
Brandon LaFell (NE)
Contract Details
Three-year contract worth $9 million. He received a $3 million fully guaranteed signing bonus. He can earn up to $2 million in incentives, and also has active game day bonuses tied in for all three years of the deal. His base salaries are $800,000 (2014), $1.8 million (2015) and $2.4 million (2016).
Contract Analysis
A low-risk deal for New England, the contract’s structure says LaFell will be a Patriot for at least two seasons. The fact that the incentives (specifics not known at this time) are of the ULTBE variety means his future cap hits will increase if LaFell produces on the field.
PFF Analysis
LaFell checks in as a signing that looks surprising on paper to me, but I will defer to the master himself, Bill Belichick. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, LaFell has the prototypical size that you would want from an outside receiver. However, the production simply has not been there up until this point in his career, and that is not for a lack of opportunity. In 2013, he played 917 snaps and was targeted 83 times, but only secured 49 of those passes. His opportunities will now be harder to come by, as he is set to join a crowded Patriots wide receiver core.
Walter Thurmond (NYG)
Contract Details
One-year contract worth $3 million. The deal contains a $1 million signing bonus, while $1 million of his $1.975 million base is fully guaranteed. Thurmond can earn up to $500,000 in game day incentives.
Contract Analysis
A surprisingly low amount for a talented corner, Thurmond clearly didn’t have many suitors. At just 26 years old, Thurmond is betting on himself—he’s hoping a successful 2014 along with an increasing salary cap will increase his demand next offseason.
PFF Analysis
If Thurmond can continue to lock down opposing slot receivers, as he has consistently over the past two seasons, this could prove to be one of the better value signings in this year’s free agency. Thurmond has not given up a touchdown in coverage since 2011. In today’s NFL, a slot cornerback has morphed into more than just a situational player, as more teams use undersize tight ends in “12 personnel” or “11 personnel” featuring three wide receivers. Despite playing half the snaps of a starting outside cornerback, Thurmond finished with a (+4.8) grade in 2013, which was good for 31st-best at his position.
Evan Dietrich-Smith (TB)
Contract Details
Four-year contract worth $9 million. His $3.5 million in guaranteed money is made up of his 2014 base salary ($2.5 million) and a $1 million 2014 roster bonus. His 2015 ($3.75 million), 2016 ($2.5 million) and 2017 ($3.5 million) base salaries are not guaranteed.
Contract Analysis
The lack of any pro-rated bonus here makes this a very team-friendly deal. Dietrich-Smith has no job security. The Bucs will have to choose whether or not to pay him his $3.75 million 2015 salary by the 3rd day of the 2015 league year.
PFF Analysis
After originally expecting a hot market, Dietrich-Smith soon realized that the center market was not going to be what he might expect. In the end, he is not quite the mauling run-blocking center that has the chance to command a high annual salary (like Alex Mack), but instead a leader at the position and a strong pass blocker. He finished as the eighth-best center overall in 2013, but he was only the 14th-best among centers at run blocking. He will be a strong piece to add to a line that features several new pieces and he will likely earn his salary simply by helping expedite the process of this group coming together.
Mike Neal (GB)
Contract Details
Two-year contract worth $8 million. Neal received a $2.5 million signing bonus. His 2015 base salary ($1.5 million) and roster bonus are not guaranteed.
Contract Analysis
Neal will make around $4 million this coming season. His $4,250,000 2015 cap number against the $1,250,000 the Packers will absorb in dead money (half of his prorated signing bonus) by cutting after the coming season means he must have an effective year in order to remain a Packer n 2015.
PFF Analysis
The Packers took a leap of faith by re-signing Neal, who they originally had drafted. Although Neal finished as one of the worst 3-4 outside linebackers overall, he made improvements as a pass rusher. Neal finished with 46 total pressures, which was good for the 17th-most among 3-4 outside linebackers. Anyone who has watched Dom Capers’ defense over the last several seasons understands that generating pressure has been the most outstanding issue. Re-signing Neal allowed them to add a young and fairly cheap player who has proven successful as a pass rusher, with room to get even better.
Brandon Pettigrew (DET)
Contract Details
Four-year contract worth $16 million. Pettrigrew received a $4 million signing bonus and a fully guaranteed base salary in 2014, making the total real guarantee on his contract $5.2 million. His 2015 base salary is guaranteed for injury only and will become fully guaranteed if on the roster on the 3rd day of the 2015 League Year.
Contract Analysis
The structure of this deal means he’ll be a Lion for at least two more years. His $2.2 million 2014 cap hit jumps to $3.8 million in 2015. Although this wasn’t a huge investment, a $3.8 million cap number is not inconsequential. With such a tight cap situation in Detroit, the Lions would have been better off parting ways with the expendable former first rounder.
PFF Analysis
Re-signing Pettigrew was more of a sign of the market at tight end than anything else. Although he has the size and draft status to justify his new contract, his production the field doesn’t really come close. In the passing game, he offers very little after the catch and in the red zone, and he has struggled with drops and creating separation. Pettigrew went 41/416/2 last season, and his 10.1 average per catch was among the leagues worst at tight end. Some people still feel that he is a strong blocker, but that opinion is not based on fact–he has graded out negatively in run blocking over the last two seasons. At 29, it is difficult to see Pettigrew growing into a much better player than what we see right now.
Steve Smith (BAL)
Contract Details
Three-year contract worth $11.5 million. Smith received a $3.5 million signing. His base salaries are $1 million (2014), $3 million (2015) and $3 million (2016). The deal also reportedly includes a $1 million, 60-percent playtime one-time incentive clause.
Contract Analysis
A low-risk signing by Ozzie Newsome, Smith is guaranteed nothing after 2014. It’s a deal that makes sense for both sides, as the veteran Smith will get the opportunity to play for a title.
PFF Analysis
Smith might be going on 35, but he still has plenty to offer his next team. Including the postseason, he put together an impressive +8.3 overall grade in 2013. That was good enough to put him 26th-best at his position out of 75 qualifiers who played at least 50% of their team’s snaps. Smith remains an excellent blocker and finished last season with a +2.1 grade in blocking. What will help Smith’s fantasy owners is his reliability — he dropped just five passes all season. Smith is also good after the catch, as he forced 15 missed tackles in 2013 — good for fourth-most among all wide receivers. The move looks like a very solid value for the Ravens.
Tedd Ginn Jr. (ARI)
Contract Details
Three-year contract worth $9.75 million. The deal includes a $2.25 million signing bonus. If Ginn is on the roster on the 3rd day of the 2015 League Year, $2 million of his base salary will become fully guaranteed.
Contract Analysis
No money is guaranteed beyond 2014. Ginn is really nothing more than a third receiver who also provides return-game value. The fact that the WR-needy Panthers didn’t attempt to resign him is telling. However, the Cardinals don’t just get Ted Ginn—they get the entire Ginn family.
PFF Analysis
Ginn is a great fit for Bruce Arians’ vertically-attacking offensive scheme. Ginn has reinvented himself as a wide receiver, after originally fizzling out as an early first-round pick with the Dolphins. Last season, He finished with 36 receptions on 68 targets for 556 yards and career-high five touchdowns. He made plenty of big plays in the passing game, including his 4/104 line in the one playoff game against the 49ers. He will serve as the “knife” to take out the top of the defense in Arians’ offense, opening up things underneath for Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd. He also offers the Cardinals a dynamic advantage in the return game if needed.
James Jones (OAK)
Contract Details
Three-year contract worth $10 million. His base salaries are $1,650,000 (2014), $2,950,000 (2015) and $2,950,000 (2016).
Contract Analysis
Oakland gave Jones a $2 million roster bonus as opposed to a signing bonus. Jones makes a guaranteed $3.65 million ($3.8 million if he attends offseason workouts), but has no job security after that. Oakland absorbs nothing in dead money by releasing Jones after 2014.
PFF Analysis
Although now 30, Jones is coming off of his two best seasons statistically and overall. He has improved the one aspect of his game that plagued him the most in the past–dropped passes. After dropping six passes in 2011 in just 514 snaps, the next season his snap count doubled and his drop count was cut in half with three. He followed that up in 2013 with just two total drops. Jones might not be quite as fast as he was earlier in his career, but he is a better overall wide receiver. He should serve as a solid outside threat for the Raiders
Cortland Finnegan (MIA)
Contract Details
Three-year contract worth $11 million. Finnegan received a $2 million signing bonus. His base salaries are $3,500,000 (2014) and $5,450,000 (2015).
Contract Analysis
This deal can essentially be looked at as a one-year, $4.5 pact, with the Dolphins holding a second year $5.45 million team option with a $1 million buyout. $5.5 million guaranteed dollars is a nice pull for a 30-year-old coming off back-to-back poor seasons.
PFF Analysis
After a successful start to the offseason, the Dolphins reverted back to their old ways by handing Finnegan a two-year deal worth considerably more than his value in comparison to the product he puts on the field. Finnegan was one of the best cornerbacks in the league..in 2011. Over the last two seasons, his play has fallen off a cliff due to nagging injuries, age, and what some have cited as a “lost step” in his game. Losing a step will hurt you at defensive back more than any other position, and Finnegan’s play has gotten progressively worse. In 2012, he finished as the 83rd-best cornerback overall–a grade that would have been much worse had he not earned a (+2.5) penalty. In 2013, with just 367 total snaps, he managed to grade out as the second-worst cornerback out of 110 qualifiers. Once known as a strong run defender, he has graded out negatively against both the pass and run over the last two seasons. The Dolphins’ best bet might be moving him to safety.
Darren Sproles (PHI)
Contract Details
Two-year contract extension with the Philadelphia Eagles (after trade from New Orleans). Sproles received $5.5 million in guarantees including a $3 million signing bonus. The two extension years will total $7 million in new money.
Contract Analysis
It makes sense that Philly extended Sproles after giving up draft compensation to acquire him. Sproles’ deal was previously due to expire at the end of 2014, and the extension ensures that he’ll be around for 2015 as well. The Eagles will have to eat $1 million in dead money (1/3 of the $3 million signing bonus) if they choose to cut Sproles after the 2015 season.
PFF Analysis
Sproles will be an interesting weapon that Chip Kelly now has at his disposal. No one should be shocked when they see both Sproles and McCoy on the field at the same time. Last season, Sproles spent just under 40% of his snaps split out wide in the slot. Sproles has always offered the most to his team in the passing game, and that won’t change at all now that he’s with the Eagles. In 2013, he racked up 71 receptions and 50 of those came when he was lined up in the slot. Sproles’ value will likely come down to his role within the offense.
LaMarr Woodley (OAK)
Contract Details
Two-year contract worth $10.35 million. $4.35 million of the contract is fully guaranteed, including his 2014 base salary and a $1.85 million roster bonus. In both seasons Woodley can earn up to $500,000 in gameday roster bonuses. A $1 million roster bonus is due on the 5th day of the 2015 League Year.
Contract Analysis
This is basically a one-year deal with a team option for a second year. If Woodley plays well in 2014, the Raiders will keep him around for 2015 with his $5,350,000 cap hit. While the $5 million in 2015 would be a lot to pay for the aging linebacker, Oakland can certainly afford it.
PFF Analysis
Although stopping the run has never been his strong suit, Woodley continue to impress as a pass rusher in 2013. He finished as the eighth-best 3-4 outside linebacker in pass rush, and he racked up 37 total pressures in just 582 snaps. In pass rush productivity, a stat that is used to determine total pressures relative to how many times a player rushes the passer, Woodley was the fourth-best at his position. Of course, Woodley has managed to miss 14 games over the last three seasons. His age and injury history combine to make him another risky signing for the Raiders.
Justin Tuck (OAK)
Contract Details
Two-year contract worth $10 million. $4.35 million of the contract is fully guaranteed, including his 2014 base salary and a $1.35 million roster bonus. In both seasons Tuck can earn up to $500,000 in game day roster bonuses. A $1 million roster bonus is due on the 2nd day of the 2015 League Year.
Contract Analysis
See LaMarr Woodley above. These contracts are almost identical.
PFF Analysis
The Raiders made Justin Tuck an offer he couldn’t refuse–they paid him handsomely for this production in 2013. in the process of doing so, they put aside any potential concerns for past injuries and poor play. In 2013, Tuck finished as the seventh-best 4-3 defensive end overall–a number heavily weighted by his grade against the run. As far as rushing the passer goes, Tuck finished barely finished with a positive grade (+0.8). Six of his 12 sacks came in the two games against Redskins’ turnstile right tackle, Tyler Polumbus. In the previous two seasons, Tuck finished just average (2012) and just below average (2011) while battling through injuries. The Giants simply chose not to overpay for past production.
Josh McCown (TB)
Contract Details
Two-year contract worth $10 million. The $4.25 million of guaranteed money is all due in 2014.
Contract Analysis
McCown can reportedly earn more in incentives. A stop-gate quarterback at age 34 (he turns 35 in July), Lovie Smith obviously was no fan of Mike Glennon. If McCown plays even moderately well, this deal will be worth it.
PFF Analysis
It’s fair to wonder how much of McCown’s success should be attributed to the system he played for and the coach, Marc Trestman, who called the plays. As a journeyman veteran, McCown failed to stick as a starter with many teams. He was beat out for starting jobs by several quarterbacks in the past who are no longer in the NFL and have not been for quite some time. Still, he showed a quick release and accuracy in 2013–his 72% completion rate ranked fourth-best in the league. His next task will be to prove that he’s not just a system quarterback, and that he doesn’t mean Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey to be productive–these are both easier said than done.
Antoine Bethea (SF)
Contract Details
Four-year contract worth $21 million. Bethea received $6.25 million in fully guaranteed salary. The guarantee included a $5 million signing bonus. In each year of the contract he can earn a total of $400,000 in per game roster bonuses and $100,000 workout bonuses. His 2015 salary is guaranteed for injury and will become fully guaranteed if on the roster on April 1, 2015. Base salaries of the contract are $1,250,000(2014), $3,000,000(2015), $4,500,000(2016), and $5,250,000(2017).
Contract Analysis
While Bethea technically has nothing fully guaranteed beyond 2014, his $5 million signing bonus was prorated over the four years of this contract. This means that he’ll almost certainly be on the roster in 2015 and earn his $3 million base salary. Turning 30 in July, I doubt Bethea plays out this contract’s entirety.
PFF Analysis
The 49ers replaced Donte Whitner with Antoine Bethea, but if the money was equal, it’s hard to believe this would ever happen. Of course, it wasn’t, and instead they opted to save a few million and go with the older veteran. Bethea has two things going for him–he’s a great tackler and he’s very durable. He has finished 12th-best or better in tackling among safeties over the last three seasons and he has never played less than 97.5 percent of his team’s snaps in the last four seasons. Still, Bethea struggles mightily in pass coverage, an area where Donte Whitner greatly improved during 2013 (see Whitner analysis below). Last season, opposing quarterbacks had a 101.3 QB rating when targeting him. He has become a major liability in pass coverage. This seems like a lot of money to give to a safety who has decline over the last few seasons.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (NYG)
Contract Details
Five-year contract worth $35 million. The contract contains $11.98 million in fully guaranteed salary including a $10 million signing bonus. If he is on the roster on the 5th day of the 2015 League Year he will receive a $1 million roster bonus. Base salaries of the contract are $730,000(2014), $4,230,000(2015), $5,980,000(2016), $6,480,000(2017), and $6,380,000(2018).
Contract Analysis
The true guarantee here is really $16 million (the amount Rodgers-Cromartie will make through 2015). Since the Giants would lose net cap space by cutting DRC after the coming season, this deal will be a minimum of two years. Big Blue would save only $2 million against the cap by cutting ties with the cornerback after 2016, so DRC will likely earn his 2016 base as well. Any way you spin it, the Giants made a big investment here.
PFF Analysis
DRC, and yes I will be using that nickname from here on out, finally came into his own in 2013. There was never a question regarding talent when it came to DRC–at a freakish 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds, he ran a 4.29 forty-yard-dash at the NFL Combine. Maturity was a major issue for him before arriving in Denver, but some of the blame for his past woes, at least with the Eagles, can be attributed to a poor defensive scheme and him being played out of position in the slot. Last season he was used to shadow opposing number one receivers, and he responded by finishing as PFF’s fifth-best cornerback overall. Digging a little deeper, opposing quarterbacks had just a 67.8 QB rating when targeting him, and he gave up just four touchdowns all season. There is certainly risk behind the guaranteed money the Giants gave him, but he is one of three cornerbacks on the market with shutdown potential who will shadow instead of sticking to one side.
Emmanuel Sanders (DEN)
Contract Details
Three-year contract worth $15 million. Sanders received $6 million in full guarantees which are made up of a $3 million signing bonus, $2 million 2014 base salary, and $1 million roster bonus. Base salaries of the contract are $2,000,000(2014), $4,000,000(2015), and $5,000,000(2016).
Contract Analysis
Sanders is guaranteed $0 post-2014. However, it’s important to note that Wes Welker, entering the second year of the two-year deal he signed last offseason, likely won’t be back in 2015. If Sanders–who can play all three receiver positions–has a productive 2014 (and there’s no reason to believe he won’t with Peyton Manning at the helm), he will remain a Bronco for at least 2015. Denver would save $5 million by cutting ties with Sanders after 2015, so the he’ll also have to have a solid 2015 to be on Denver’s roster in 2016.
PFF Analysis
Sanders steps into a pretty nice situation replacing Eric Decker in Denver. A lean and lanky wide receiver who operates best in space and while running underneath routes, he also possesses 4.40 40-yard-dash straight-line speed. He posted career highs in catches (67), yards (740) and touchdowns (6) in 2013. As far as grades go, Sanders has been pretty average overall and in drop rate. As far as the fit goes, Sanders steps into a role where Decker saw 27 more targets than Sanders in 2013. At the same time, when you consider Decker’s contract breakdown, it seems odd that the Broncos didn’t just pay slightly more and re-sign Decker–the much better blocker, route runner and vertical route runner up until this point in their careers.
Julius Peppers (GB)
Contract Details
Three-year contract worth $30 million. Peppers received a $7.5 million signing bonus—the only guaranteed money in the deal. His base salaries are $1 million (2014), $8.5 million (2015) and $7 million (2016). He also has $500,000 roster bonuses in 2015 and 2016 tied to games played.
Contract Analysis
Perennial contenders with Aaron Rodgers at the helm, I like what Thompson did here. The aging Peppers has no 2015 job-security, and his 2015 $12 million cap hit means Green Bay will part ways with the defensive end after one season unless he’s productive. I see this playing out as a one-year deal.
PFF Analysis
Peppers’ 2013 season was classified as a disappointment by the mainstream, and the numbers don’t tell a story any different. He finished with a negative pass rush grade for the first time since 2007 and a negative grade against the run for the first time since 2009. Peppers will be making a switch to a 3-4 defense, and it’s not exactly known where he will line up just yet. Either way, for this investment to pay off, Peppers will need to prove that 2013 was just a fluke and not the beginning of the end for one of the better defensive ends of the past 10 years.
Wesley Woodyard (TEN)
Contract Details
Four-year contract worth $15.75 million. Woodyard received a $3 million signing bonus and his 2014 base salary is fully guaranteed. If he is on the roster on the 5th day of the 2017 League Year he will receive a $500,000 roster bonus. Base salaries are $1,750,000(2014), $2,750,000(2015), $3,500,000(2016), and $4,250,000(2017).
Contract Analysis
For an undrafted guy who wasn’t even a starter in the second half of last season, $4.75 million guaranteed dollars is a nice payday. His 2015 dead money hit of $2,250,000 against his 3,500,000 2015 cap number means Tennessee would save just $1.25 million against the cap if they parted ways with the linebacker after this coming season. So unless Woodyard has a wretched 2014, he’ll likely earn his $2.75 million 2015 base.
PFF Analysis
Woodyard signed a modest contract considering what some of the other linebackers have received, and he will fill a major void in new defensive coordinator Ray Horton’s defense. An injury cost him his starting job last season, but from 2011-2013 combined he has been a productive, but not spectacular player. For the most part, he has graded out right around the league average at his position. This seems like a fair value considering the market at linebacker.
Ben Tate (CLE)
Contract Details
Two-year contract worth $6.2 million. Tate received a $1.5 million signing bonus, and a fully guaranteed 2014 base salary of $1 million. His 2015 base salary is $2 million.
Contract Analysis
Very surprising deal here, and it certainly speaks volumes in regards to the dry free agent running back market. One of the best backs available, Tate received no guaranteed money beyond 2014. If he plays poorly, he could be let go. If he plays well, he’s locked up cheaply for 2015. He would have been much better off signing a one-year deal here.
PFF Analysis
Tate is at his best in a zone-blocking scheme where he can plant his foot and go north-south in a hurry. Shanahan is bringing over his zone-blocking scheme and he is looking for a back who can “get downhill and always get good yards per carry.” Tate carries a 5-foot-11, 217 pound frame with the ability to shed tackles. Despite playing less than half the snaps of some of the top backs, he broke 41 tackles which was tied for seventh-most in the league. The Browns may have found themselves a steal if he can finally manage to stay healthy.
B.J. Raji (GB)
Contract Details
One-year contract worth $4 million. The deal includes a $500,000 guaranteed roster bonus. His $3.1 million base salary, $100,000 workout bonus and $300,000 bonus for games active are not guaranteed.
Contract Analysis
If somebody told me even a year ago that Raji would remain healthy in 2013 and only fetch $500,000 of guaranteed money on the open market, I never would have believed it. His stock has simply plummeted. He’d be wise to attend offseason workouts and come to camp in tip-top shape.
PFF Analysis
Raji followed an impressive 2012 with the complete opposite campaign in 2013. Last year, he was pitiful–grading out negatively against the run and at rushing the passer while playing defensive end in the Packers’ 3-4 defense. He finished as the 43rd-best 3-4 defensive end out of 45 qualifiers. Raji’s 2012 was much better and he graded out as a top 10 3-4 defensive end. So which Raji will we see in 2014? The Packers could experiment with moving Raji back to nose tackle now that Julius Peppers has arrived, but in the end, his offseason dedication will probably tell the story on his success. He should be motivated considering he’s in another contract year.
Eric Decker (NYJ)
Contract Details
Five-year contract worth $36.25 million. Decker received $15 million fully guaranteed. The guarantee is made up of Decker’s 2014 and 2015 base salaries and a $7.5 million signing bonus. Base salaries of the contract are $2,500,000(2014), $5,000,000(2015), $6,500,000(2016), $7,250,000(2017), and $7,500,000(2018).
Contract Analysis
The dead money associated with this contract decreases from $11 million in 2015 to $4.5 million in 2016, meaning Gang Green will be able to part ways with Decker after two seasons if the signing doesn’t work out. Considering I predicted that Decker would receive a deal in the range of Mike Wallace a few months back, I certainly think the Jets got good value here.
PFF Analysis
Although not considered a “physical specimen”, Decker is listed at 6’3-214. While his numbers were surely inflated by both the Peyton Manning factor (as anyone’s would have been) and his surrounding talent at wide receiver, there’s no question that he can play. Decker was the best receiver in the NFL in 2013 in terms of “catching bombs”– he caught 15 of 25 possible attempts on passes that traveled 20 yards or more. While his production will undoubtedly decrease in New York, the Jets still should get a much-needed playmaker for their depleted WR corps.
Hakeem Nicks (IND)
Contract Details
One-year contract worth $3.5 million. Nicks could reportedly earn up to $2 million more in incentives.
Contract Analysis
Not much to analyze here. Nicks’ value took an absolute freefall with his disappointing 2013 campaign. He’ll be a free agent again next offseason.
PFF Analysis
I whole-heartedly agree with ESPN’s Dan Graziano’s assessment that Nicks’ “chief motivation (last year) was to stay healthy so that he could cash in as a free agent.” In a forgettable seaosn, Nicks finished as the 41st-best wide receiver out of 43 qualifiers. He secured just seven out 20 passes thrown to him 20+ yards downfield, and his trademark ability to win at the catch point on 50-50 and back-shoulder fades was nowhere to be seen. Unlike Decker above, Nicks has elite physical ability (just look at his 10.5 inch hands). However, he can’t seem to stay healthy (he hasn’t played 16 games in any of his 5 seasons). If Nicks can stay on the field in 2014, he should have a big year with Andrew Luck tossing him the rock inside Lucas Oil dome.
Michael Johnson (TB)
Contract Details
Five-year contract worth $43.75 million. Johnson received $9 million of fully guaranteed salary in 2014 and $7 million of guaranteed salary in 2015. He can increase his fully guaranteed 2015 compensation by $2 million and his fully guaranteed 2016 compensation by $5 million by being on the roster on the 3rd day of each respective year. Base salaries of the contract are $5,000,000(2014), $5,000,000(2015), $7,750,000(2016), $8,250,000(2017), and $8,250,000(2018).
Contract Analysis
Just the same as Tampa Bay’s other free agent signings, this deal is front-loaded. The lack of a prorated bonus means the Bucs will pay Michael Johnson $18 million for his first two years of service. From 2016-2018, they can then decide on an annual basis (by the third day of each league year) if Johnson is worth his $8 million-plus annual cap hit.
PFF Analysis
The Buccaneers proved what we already knew when they signed Johnson on the first day of free agency–NFL teams aren’t caught up with sack numbers. Although Johnson only tallied 3.5 sacks in 2013, he racked up 61 total pressures (hits, hurries, and sacks combined). Johnson’s 6-foot-7 frame allowed him to lead the league in batted passes with seven total. Johnson’s strength comes in the run game where he finished as the second-best 4-3 defensive end and racked up 33 stops (solo tackles made which constitute an offensive failure).
Chris Clemons (JAX)
Contract Details
Five-year contract worth $43.75 million. The deal reportedly contains $4.475 million in guaranteed money, as well as roster bonuses of $1.5 million in 2015, $1 million in 2016 and $1 million in 2017.
Contract Analysis
With nothing guaranteed beyond 2014, this was a low-risk signing by Jacksonville. Like Michael Johnson’s deal with Tampa above, the Jags can decide on an annual basis (also at the beginning of each league year), if Clemons is worth his cap hit (which is $4.5 million per year from 2015-2017).
PFF Analysis
Gus Bradley and the Jaguars continue with the trend of adding defensive players with experience in his scheme. Clemons missed most of the season due to injury, but in just 585 total snaps he strung together 41 total pressures. On the other hand, Clemons was more of a liability in the run game than ever before. Only three 4-3 defensive ends finished with a worse run defense grade. Still, stopping the run has never been a strong suit for Clemons, but he can still rush the passer with the best of them. This is a quality pickup for a team that lacked any semblance of a pass rush in 2013.
Rashad Jennings (NYG)
Contract Details
Four-year contract worth $10 million. Jennings received a $2.25 million signing bonus. Base salaries are $730,000(2014), $2,230,000(2015), $2,230,000(2016), and $2,480,000(2017). His 2014 salary is fully guaranteed.
Contract Analysis
Less than the three year, ~$10 million deals given to Toby Gerhart and Donald Brown, Jennings gets $3 million in fully guaranteed money. His $1.3 million 2014 cap hit more than doubles to a still-affordable $2.8 million in 2015. Largely unproven, there’s not much risk here for the Giants.
PFF Analysis
Jennings had a career-year with the Raiders in 2013, despite not officially taking over for incumbent starter Darren McFadden until around the mid-point of the season. Jennings was impressive all across the board, and he averaged 4.5 yards per carry and 2.8 yards after contact per carry. Jennings was also an impressive pass blocker, finishing as the 13th-best back in pass blocking efficiency. The last stat might be the most important, considering new Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo cited pass protection as the foundation for any running back to earn playing time.
Corey Graham (BUF)
Contract Details
Four-year contract worth $16,300,000. The deal contains a $4 million signing bonus, as well as a fully guaranteed $1.5 million 2015 base and a $500,000 2014 roster bonus for a total of $6 million in fully guaranteed money.
Contract Analysis
The contract’s prorated signing bonus carries a $3 million 2015 dead money hit against a $4.3 million 2015 cap hit, meaning Graham will be |
the sales.
More interestingly, the result of the regression also gives a positive coefficient of 1.14 for the radio variable. This coefficient can be interpreted as a positive effect of 1.14 additional sales for each radio GRP used. Note that this also implies that the effect of radio is linear, i.e. 1 GRP results in 1.14 additional sales and 5 GRPs results in 5 times 1.14 (=5.7) additional sales.
The S-response curve
In reality, it is not often the case that radio has a linear effect on sales. KPI drivers such as television and radio, but also display and search ads tend to have diminishing returns. Wikipedia provides the following example about diminishing returns:
“A common sort of example is adding more workers to a job, such as assembling a car on a factory floor. At some point, adding more workers causes problems such as workers getting in each other's way or frequently finding themselves waiting for access to a part. Producing one more unit of output per unit of time will eventually cost increasingly more, due to inputs being used less and less effectively.”
In a similar manner, research has shown that initial advertising budget has little impact on sales. One possible reason for this is that a low advertising budget might result in your marketing not being noticable between all of the competitors marketing campaigns. Only after a certain budget spend threshold results are noticeable in the form of improved KPIs. Hence, the result is that the effect of marketing spend on KPI drivers such as radio typically follows an S-shaped curve. The figure below provides an example of an S-curve for radio spend.
Introducing dummy variables
The notion of the S-shaped curve conflicts with our earlier calculated linear effect of radio on sales. Therefore, it is very likely that we get a much more accurate model when we can account for the effect of the S-curve. One possible approach is to just try all possible transformations of our radio dataset to an S-curve. However, as the S-curve is defined by three parameter values, this implies trying a lot of different transformations. Therefore, we use a smarter approach to find the S-curve. That is, instead of adding a continuous variable that denotes the number of radio GRPs on a given day, we add binary dummies where each dummy represents an interval of GRPs. Given our example dataset where the maximum number of GRPs is 10, we add four binary dummies representing the GRP intervals [0.1-2.4], [2.5-4.9], [5-7.4] and [7.5-10]. Now, the dummy value of an interval is 1 if the number of GRPs of that day is in that interval, otherwise the value is zero. Below is a short snippet of the radio dataset we then obtain:
Date time Radio GRP Radio dummy
0.1 - 2.4 Radio dummy
2.5 - 4.9 Radio dummy
5.0 - 7.4 Radio dummy
7.5 - 10 2015-06-01 4 0 1 0 0 2015-06-02 0 0 0 0 0 2015-06-03 1 1 0 0 0 2015-06-04 2 1 0 0 0 2015-06-05 3 0 1 0 0
Using the new radio dummy variables we again run a standard OLS regression. The results of this regression are shown below:
OLS Regression Results ============================================================================== Dep. Variable: sales R-squared: 0.985 Model: OLS Adj. R-squared: 0.978 Method: Least Squares F-statistic: 134.6 Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2015 Prob (F-statistic): 4.28e-16 Time: 15:42:39 Log-Likelihood: -21.183 No. Observations: 31 AIC: 64.37 Df Residuals: 20 BIC: 80.14 Df Model: 10 Covariance Type: nonrobust ======================================================================================== coef std err t P>|t| [95.0% Conf. Int.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- const 8.1073 0.298 27.175 0.000 7.485 8.730 radio_dummy_0.1_2.5 0.2485 0.334 0.745 0.465 -0.448 0.945 radio_dummy_2.5_5 1.9554 0.407 4.806 0.000 1.107 2.804 radio_dummy_5_7.5 8.7667 0.415 21.146 0.000 7.902 9.632 radio_dummy_7.5_10 9.3869 0.494 19.001 0.000 8.356 10.417 seasonality_monday -2.9030 0.405 -7.171 0.000 -3.747 -2.059 seasonality_tuesday -0.5771 0.401 -1.439 0.165 -1.413 0.259 seasonality_thursday -4.6460 0.430 -10.793 0.000 -5.544 -3.748 seasonality_friday -4.3809 0.441 -9.929 0.000 -5.301 -3.461 seasonality_saturday -5.2752 0.419 -12.602 0.000 -6.148 -4.402 seasonality_sunday -5.9470 0.422 -14.096 0.000 -6.827 -5.067 ============================================================================== Omnibus: 1.184 Durbin-Watson: 1.621 Prob(Omnibus): 0.553 Jarque-Bera (JB): 0.590 Skew: 0.334 Prob(JB): 0.744 Kurtosis: 3.107 Cond. No. 8.27 ==============================================================================
The interpretation of the coefficients of the new radio dummy variables is slightly different than in our first regression. The coefficient of each dummy represents the additional sales when the number of GRPs is in the corresponding interval. For example, consider a given day on which 6 radio GRPs are used. This implies that the value of the dummy for the interval [5 – 7.4] is one (and all other dummies are zero) and that this results in an additional 8.5 sales.
GRP interval Additional sales 0.1 - 2.4 0.3 2.5 - 4.9 2.5 5 - 7.4 8.5 7.5 - 10 10.1
Finding the S-curve using the dummy variables
When plotting the additional sales against the GRP intervals we obtain the points in Figure 4. The shape of the S-curve can already be seen in these points. It then is a simple task to find the S-curve that best fits these points. Note that in our example the S-curve we predicted fits the true S-curve (which we used for creating our fictional dataset) quite good because it is nearly the same logistic function. The small difference in curves can be explained due to the fact that we added noise to our fictional dataset to simulate reality.
Final results
So, since we found our best S-curve transformation, we run the first OLS regression again but this time with our radio data transformed to fit the new S-curve. The resulted predictions of the model are plotted in Figure 5. Note that this regression now fits our dataset much better than the first regression we run. Therefore, we are able to obtain much better predictions of the effect of radio on sales! :-)
OLS Regression Results ============================================================================== Dep. Variable: sales R-squared: 0.987 Model: OLS Adj. R-squared: 0.984 Method: Least Squares F-statistic: 258.4 Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2015 Prob (F-statistic): 2.56e-20 Time: 16:38:53 Log-Likelihood: -18.808 No. Observations: 31 AIC: 53.62 Df Residuals: 23 BIC: 65.09 Df Model: 7 Covariance Type: nonrobust ======================================================================================== coef std err t P>|t| [95.0% Conf. Int.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- const 8.1540 0.230 35.381 0.000 7.677 8.631 radio_grp 0.9904 0.031 31.828 0.000 0.926 1.055 seasonality_monday -2.9477 0.326 -9.040 0.000 -3.622 -2.273 seasonality_tuesday -0.7462 0.347 -2.153 0.042 -1.463 -0.029 seasonality_thursday -4.8023 0.357 -13.463 0.000 -5.540 -4.064 seasonality_friday -4.0407 0.353 -11.454 0.000 -4.771 -3.311 seasonality_saturday -5.3139 0.353 -15.034 0.000 -6.045 -4.583 seasonality_sunday -6.0026 0.346 -17.364 0.000 -6.718 -5.287 ============================================================================== Omnibus: 0.371 Durbin-Watson: 1.502 Prob(Omnibus): 0.831 Jarque-Bera (JB): 0.525 Skew: -0.047 Prob(JB): 0.769 Kurtosis: 2.370 Cond. No. 27.0 ==============================================================================
Optimize marketing spend
A particular useful property of the S-curve is that it has several useful characteristics for optimization. For one, it is easier to find the point where your return on investment is maximized. The inflection point of the S-curve helps to find this optimal spend value. At the inflection point the derivative value of the S-curve is maximized. This implies that at this point the S-curve changes from increasing returns (i.e. increasing spend by 1% leads to an >1% increase in sales) into diminishing returns (i.e. increasing spend by 1% leads to an <1% increase in sales).
The inflection point is therefore used as the minimum spend value because all spends below this value imply underspending as you can easily increase your ROI if you increase the spend up to the inflection point. In our example, the inflection point lies at 5 GRPs. Using less than 5 GRPs implies underspending because you can get more sales per euro spend if you use 5 GRPs. In a similar manner we can also find the overspending value. Recall that above the inflection point the S-curve shows diminishing returns. This implies that for every additional euro you spend more, fewer absolute additional sales are generated. In our example, using more than 7 or 8 GRPs is obvious overspending as the additional sales hardly increase when using more GRPs.
Finally, when we have response curves for each of the individual KPI drivers (such as TV, radio, display, paid search, etc.) it is possible to find the optimal spend for each individual driver using an easy-to-solve optimization problem. The result is an optimal marketing mix that maximizes the chosen KPIs.
Final remarks
This post provided a simple illustration of how we use S-curves to optimize the marketing spends of our clients. In practice however, the datasets are not as simple as in this illustration. For example, in reality various media channels show lagged effects (ad-stocks) or only show diminishing returns. We use advanced modelling and time series techniques such as ARIMA and VAR models to create Marketing Mix Models (MMM) that capture these effects and help our clients understand how their marketing spend can be optimized. We will elaborate more on the advanced techniques in future Geek posts!Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a Republican, is likely to survive a recall election on June 5, according to recent nonpartisan polls of the state.
Mr. Walker leads his Democratic opponent, Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee, by an average of six percentage points in those polls and has not trailed in any poll since February.
Some polls issued by Democratic-affiliated groups have shown a somewhat tighter race, with Mr. Barrett trailing by about three percentage points instead. Partisan-affiliated polls have a long track record of somewhat exaggerating their candidate’s standing, however, and it may be telling that even these polls do not show Mr. Barrett ahead.
In a typical November election, a 6-point lead with two weeks to go would translate into a high probability of winning — roughly on the order of 90 percent, based on the historical accuracy of polls of governors’ races.
The dynamics of a recall election may be slightly more uncertain. But with high turnout expected, which tends to make polling more reliable, Mr. Barrett would most likely need a last-minute change in momentum to have much of a chance of prevailing.
Mr. Walker’s approval rating was poor at this time last year, after he stripped collective bargaining rights from most of the state’s public workers. In May 2011, his job approval rating averaged 42 percent across different polls, versus an average disapproval rating of 55 percent.
In an average of polls conducted so far this May, however, Mr. Walker’s approval rating averages 50 percent, with 46 percent disapproving.
If Mr. Walker’s approval-disapproval ratings were even, he might be a favorite to win the recall election because some voters who are on the fence might nevertheless object to the idea of removing a governor from office in midterm. Since his approval rating now appears to exceed his disapproval rating by a couple of points, that should give him a clearer advantage.
But why has Mr. Walker’s approval rating improved?
The most obvious reason might be that Wisconsin’s economic climate has improved. The statistics on that are mixed, however.
On the bright side for Mr. Walker, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is 6.7 percent, lower than the national average of 8.1 percent, and it has improved since Mr. Walker took office in January 2011, when it was 7.7 percent.
The 1-point decline in state unemployment parallels a 1-point decline in the national unemployment rate, to 8.1 percent from 9.1 percent, over the same time frame.
Some of the improvement in Wisconsin, however, is due to sluggish growth in its labor force, which has allowed its unemployment rate to shrink despite relatively slow job creation. Wisconsin’s labor force was listed at 3.07 million workers in April, the same as in January 2011. (The growth in the United States’ labor force has also been slow, although it has been positive, increasing to 154.37 million from 153.25 million over the same period.)
An alternate measure of the job market is to look at the number of jobs or employed persons, rather than the unemployment rate. According to the Labor Department’s household survey, the number of employed people in Wisconsin has increased to 2.86 million from 2.83 million when Mr. Walker took office, an improvement of about 1 percent.
On the other hand, the Labor Department’s establishment survey, which measures the number of payroll jobs and is sometimes considered more reliable by economists, shows a slight decline in the number of jobs in Wisconsin. That survey lists 2.73 million payroll jobs in Wisconsin in April, versus 2.74 in January 2011, a decline of about 0.5 percent.
By contrast, the number of payroll jobs in the United States as a whole grew to 132.99 million from 130.46 million over the same period, an increase of 1.9 percent.
Broader measures of economic activity in Wisconsin, like the leading index and the coincident index, also slow more sluggish growth in Wisconsin than in the nation as a whole, and forecast somewhat less growth going forward.
However, the mixed data gives Mr. Walker an argument to make, and he has had a lot more money to make it. Mr. Walker has had a substantial edge in fund-raising, having raised about $25 million since becoming governor, about 60 percent of it from groups and individuals outside the state.
Although labor unions from inside and outside Wisconsin have also devoted substantial money toward the recall effort, Mr. Barrett’s campaign itself has relatively little money, in part because he faced a contentious primary in which cash and support was split between several candidates. As of May 7, Mr. Barrett had raised only about $1.1 million.
A recent poll from Marquette University found that more Wisconsin residents believe the state has lost jobs than added them over the past year. But there is some optimism about Wisconsin’s economic future; 45 percent of residents expect the state’s sconomy to get better over the next year, against 12 percent who expect it to get worse. Those numbers were closer to even in surveys a year ago.
Meanwhile, the collective bargaining issue that inspired the recall effort seems to have faded from memory and does not appear to be much of a burden for Mr. Walker. According to the Marquette poll, 50 percent of Wisconsin residents prefer the law as it is now under Mr. Walker, while 43 percent would prefer the old one.
Mr. Barrett has de-emphasized the collective bargaining issue, instead running a more traditional gubernatorial campaign.
Generally, however, it is difficult to oust an incumbent governor from office. They win about 80 percent of the time when they decide to run for another term and it usually requires some sort of special circumstance to beat them.
Mr. Barrett does not appear as though he’ll have quite enough of a case.
Instead, Wisconsin seems to have reverted to the mean in which elections there are normally close. But Mr. Walker’s fund-raising advantage and his status as the incumbent, coupled with swing voters’ being uncomfortable with the idea of a recall, will likely be enough to push him over the top.
Such a result will undoubtedly be disheartening to Democrats, although they should remember that an embattled incumbent of their own, President Obama, will be running for re-election in a similarly divided electorate with similarly mixed economic data.9 Summaries and links to Recent actions by the ACLU of North Dakota – supporting the Save our Water Protesters and covering some of the many legal issues surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline – 3 possible action items:
1) ACLU Urges Justice Department To Investigate Militarized Response at Standing Rock Protest
ACLU and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights call for an end to law enforcement response to peaceful protesters with weapons of war. They sent a letter on 11-4-2016 to the Justice Department calling for an investigation of possible constitutional rights violations in the police response to peaceful protesters demonstrating against the Dakota Access pipeline. Pending that investigation, the letter also calls for local law enforcement to immediately suspend the use of any federally resourced military weapons and equipment. The letter was signed by Leadership Conference President & CEO Wade Henderson and Vice President Nancy Zirkin, and ACLU Washington Director Karin Johanson. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION
2) Crossing the Fossil Fuel Industry Could Now Get You Locked Up – For Decades
In the United States, people have the right to protest, and the press has the right to write about it. But over the past month, multiple journalists, documentary filmmakers, and activists have been arrested in three different states for engaging in and reporting on protests against fossil fuel infrastructure projects. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION
3) ACLU of North Dakota Files Open Record Requests Regarding Policing Practices at the Site of DAPL Protests
The use of highway roadblocks and checkpoints, and militarized equipment by law enforcement in response to DAPL protests and the numerous reports of unwarranted stops by police sent to our office from individuals prompted the records requests. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION CRIMINAL JUSTICE
4) The Surveillance State Descends on the Dakota Access Pipeline Spirit Camp
Our country has a long way to go in our relations with indigenous nations. We can start now in North Dakota by demilitarizing, ending the surveillance of the camp and water protectors, and starting to listen to the prayers of those who are protecting the water for us all. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION CRIMINAL JUSTICE
5) ACLU of North Dakota’s Statement of Solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Help the ACLU of North Dakota stand with Standing Rock. Sign their petition and tell Governor Dalrymple to demilitarize North Dakota’s response to peaceful protesters and protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION
6) North Dakota’s Governor Declared a State of Emergency to Deal With Peaceful Oil Pipeline Protesters. We Call It a State of Emergency for Civil Rights.
Several thousand indigenous people from across the county have journeyed to a little-known pasture on the prairie just miles from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation to protect the land the tribes consider sacred and culturally significant as well as the water necessary for life. In response to the pipeline protests, North Dakota’s government suppressed free speech and militarized its policing by declaring a state of emergency and calling out the National Guard. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION
7) ACLU of North Dakota Statement on Excessive Use of Force Against Pipeline Protesters
Eyewitness accounts and video footage of nonviolent pipeline protesters engaged in civil disobedience near Cannonball, North Dakota on Saturday, September 3, 2016, highlight the use of excessive force by Dakota Access, LLC (DAPL) private security personnel on protesters. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION
8) ACLU of North Dakota to Governor Dalrymple and Morton Co. Sheriff: Protect First Amendment Rights
The American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota sent a letter to Governor Dalrymple and the Morton County Sheriff on August 25, 2016 urging them to protect the First Amendment rights of protesters at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION
9) ACLU of North Dakota Statement on First Amendment Violations at Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
The curbing of peaceful protests at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction is in violation of our core principles of free speech. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND RELIGION
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LinkedInFor the American musician, see Hobart Smith
Hobart Muir Smith, born Frederick William Stouffer (September 26, 1912 – March 4, 2013),[1] was an American herpetologist. He is credited with describing more than 100 new species of American reptiles[2] and amphibians. In addition, he has been honored by having at least six species named after him, including the southwestern blackhead snake (Tantilla hobartsmithi ), Smith's earth snake (Uropeltis grandis ), Smith's arboreal alligator lizard (Abronia smithi ), Hobart's anadia (Anadia hobarti ), Hobart Smith's anole (Anolis hobartsmithi ), and Smith's rose-bellied lizard (Sceloporus smithi ).[3] At 100 years of age, Smith continued to be an active and productive herpetologist.[4] Having published more than 1,600 manuscripts, he surpassed all contemporaries and remains the most published herpetologist of all time.[5][6]
Early life and education [ edit ]
Smith was born in Stanwood, Iowa on September 26, 1912. Smith attained his bachelor of science in 1932 from Kansas State University, under Howard K. Gloyd, and attained his masters (in 1933) and doctorate (in 1936) at the University of Kansas under Dr. Edward Harrison Taylor, where his thesis was a revision of the lizard genus Sceloporus. He also participated in several specimen collecting trips to Mexico.
Career [ edit ]
In 1936 Smith was awarded a National Research Council Fellowship at the University of Michigan, where he worked with several other researchers to write and publish The Mexican and Central American Lizards of the Genus Sceloporus. In 1937 he worked for both the Chicago Academy of Sciences and the Field Museum of Natural History. He was given a fellowship by the Smithsonian Institution to collect specimens in Mexico, and collected over 20,000. From 1941 until 1945 he was a zoology professor at the University of Rochester, in New York. In 1945 he returned to the University of Kansas as an associate professor and wrote the Handbook of Lizards, Lizards of the US and of Canada. In 1946 he moved to Texas and became an associate professor of wildlife management at Texas A&M University and wrote Checklist and key to snakes of Mexico and Checklist and key to amphibians of Mexico with Taylor. From 1947 until 1968 he was a professor of zoology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He retired in 1968 and moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he became a professor of biology at the University of Colorado. In 1972 he became chairman of, what is now, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. In 1983 he retired, becoming a professor emeritus and continued his personal research with over 1,600 publications, including 29 books.
Personal life [ edit ]
Born Frederick William Stouffer in 1912, he was adopted in 1916 by Charles and Frances Smith, farmers. In 1938 he married Rozella Pearl Beverly Blood (who became Rozella Pearl Beverly Blood Smith, 1911–1987), who helped him publish his extensive collection of herpetological notes. In 1942 he named a species of lizard in honor of her, Diploglossus rozellae.[7]
Selected bibliography [ edit ]
Checklist and key to snakes of Mexico (1945)
(1945) Handbook of Lizards, Lizards of the US and of Canada (1946, [8] 1995 pbk.)
(1946, 1995 pbk.) Checklist and key to amphibians of Mexico (1948)
(1948) Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas (1950) [9]
(1950) Checklist and Key to Reptiles of Mexico Exclusive of Snakes (1950)
(1950) Reptiles and Amphibians: A Guide to Familiar American Species with Herbert S. Zim (1953, 1956)
with Herbert S. Zim (1953, 1956) Reptiles and Amphibians - A Guide to Familiar American Species (1958)
(1958) Poisonous Amphibians and Reptiles (1959)
(1959) Evolution of Chordate Structure (1961)
(1961) Snakes as Pets (1965)
(1965) Analysis of the Literature on the Mexican Axolotl (1971)
(1971) Analysis of the Literature Exclusive of the Mexican Axolotl (1973)
(1973) Source Analysis and Index for Mexican Reptiles (1976)
(1976) Source Analysis and Index for Mexican Amphibians (1976)
(1976) Guide to Mexican Amphisbaenians and Crocodilians (1977)
(1977) Guide to Mexican Turtles (1980)
(1980) Reptiles of North America - A Guide to Field Identification with Edmund D. Brodie, Jr. (1982)1.) Brush twice a day.
2.) Dress right for the weather.
3.) Visit the dentist regularly.
4.) Get plenty of rest.
5.) Make sure your hair is dry before going outside.
6.) Eat right.
7.) Get outside in the sun every once in a while.
8.) Always wear a seatbelt.
9.) Control your drinking of alcoholic beverages.
10.) Smile! It will make you feel better.
11.) Don't over indulge yourself.
12.) Bathe regularly.
13.) Read to exercise the brain.
14.) Surround yourself with friends.
15.) Stay away from too much caffeine.
16.) Use the bathroom regularly.
17.) Get plenty of exercise.
18.) Have your eyes checked regularly.
19.) Eat plenty of vegetables.
20.) Believe that people will like you for who you are.
21.) Forgive and forget.
22.) Take plenty of vacations.
23.) Celebrate all special occasions.
24.) Pick up a hobby.
25.) Love your neighbor as yourself.
Do all these things and you will be a happier, healthier person.An infant is in critical condition days after his mother said she gave birth in a Marion County motel bathtub while on a 24-hour drug binge.
Chrystal Hassell, 37, told investigators she, her boyfriend and her 11-month-old child checked into a motel room at the Vacation Host Inn on Friday night in Ocala. She said that even though she was seven months pregnant, she started going into labor after smoking crack cocaine for an entire day.
Vincent Terry, Hassell's boyfriend, left with the 11-month-old boy to run an errand, so Hassell delivered the baby alone in the bathtub. According to a Marion County Sheriff's Office report, Hassell even cut the umbilical cord with her teeth.
"At one point, according to her telling investigators, the baby stopped breathing," said Judge Cochran, public information officer for the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Hassell's first call wasn't to 911, though. It was to her boyfriend, who she told to hurry up and get back to the motel. But, as Terry sped to return, he was pulled over by Marion County deputies. He was wanted for attempted murder in Colorado.
Hassell told investigators she gave the baby breaths for nearly an hour to keep him alive and finally, after learning her boyfriend wasn't coming, called 911.
Hassell: "I was only 30, like 32 weeks."
911: "Okay, did anyone assist with the delivery?"
Hassell: "No... I was here by myself."
The newborn was airlifted from Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, where he is listed in critical condition.
Hassell has now joined Terry at the Marion County Jail. She has been charged with child neglect.
"She should have called 911 earlier -- she should have reached out to medical professionals, she didn't do that, and that's why she's in jail," Cochran said.
That's something Hassell now admits, according to the arrest affidavit.
The Department of Children and Families said this kind of incident shouldn't happen. The 11-month-old boy has been placed in foster care.
Hassell is being held on $5,000 bond. Terry is awaiting extradition to Colorado.Transportation is likely to surpass the electricity sector in 2016 as the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, according to a new analysis of government data.
In 2008, the global financial crisis caused widespread declines in energy use. In the U.S., that coincided with the early stages of a large-scale shift away from coal toward cleaner-burning natural gas as a way to generate electricity. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector have continued to decline from their 2007 peak, even as the economy has resumed growing.
The trend line for the transportation sector is less encouraging. Transportation emissions have begun rising as the economy rebounds. John DeCicco at the University of Michigan Energy Institute, who wrote the study, attributes the rebound we’ve seen during the past four years to straightforward causes: economic recovery and more affordable fuel prices. Vehicle sales numbers have been rising for several years, in particular for trucks and SUVs, and people are traveling more miles.
The trends have significant implications for the country’s energy policy. President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan will help ensure that emissions from generating electricity continue to fall in the coming years, and there are plenty of alternatives to coal-fired power plants. As for transportation, gasoline and diesel figure to keep dominating the market for decades because electric cars, the alternative, have been slow to take off. Federal laws designed to increase fuel efficiency and reduce tailpipe emissions will only serve to offset increasing travel demand, DeCicco says.
That means that one of our best hopes for fighting climate change over the next few years will be the return of high-priced gas.A look at a few Social Security myths and misunderstandings. (Photo: Thinkstock)
Social Security remains a confusing topic, and misconceptions could multiply as the presidential campaign swings into high gear. Though the leading candidates haven't yet turned this into a prominent campaign issue, it's bound to gain more visibility. Here's a look at a few myths and misunderstandings, and a couple accurate claims, you might hear on the election trail or elsewhere:
• Social Security is heading toward bankruptcy.
False, though the answer somewhat depends on how you define bankruptcy. Social Security will have money to pay retirement benefits for decades to come, even if needed reforms are not made. It's just that the program won't have the means to meet all its scheduled obligations. Social Security's trustees estimate the program, in the absence of reforms, will be able to pay only about 75 cents on the dollar by 2034.
Reforms still can be made to strengthen Social Security, and the sooner they're made, the better. "The program is getting close to the point of no return," said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
• Everyone has Social Security assets held in a personal investment account.
False. Social Security isn't an investment fund but, rather, a pay-as-you-go system that transfers money from workers to retirees. "The taxes paid by today's workers and their employers don't go into dedicated individual accounts," noted Pew Research in a report. "Nor do Social Security checks represent a return on invested capital." Yet nearly one-third of Americans believe they have dedicated Social Security accounts, according to a 2014 Pew survey.
• Social Security will be around for today's young adults.
True. Despite skepticism felt by many young adults that they'll ever see any money from Social Security, and despite the well-known funding problems that could result in benefit cuts, the program will keep going unless Congress dismantles it, which isn't likely. "Saying Social Security won't exist isn't true and won't help the debate," said Goldwein.
• Social Security would have remained solvent if Congress hadn't raided the trust fund.
False. The trust fund refers to a surplus of $2.8 trillion that has been building for the past three decades, from payroll-tax revenue exceeding benefit payments over that period. The surplus is stored in special Treasury bonds, but so what? It's largely an "accounting fiction," not money stashed away for future generations, wrote Paul Solman, co-author of Get What's Yours, a book explaining Social Security benefits. These surpluses will start to shrink in coming years.
The money has been used to fund other government programs, so in a sense it could be argued that Congress and various administrations raided the trust fund, said Goldwein. However, the full $2.8 trillion still is owed by the government to Social Security and most projections assume it will be repaid through some combination of reduced government spending, tax increases or federal borrowings.
• Taking a big IRA withdrawal can make your Social Security benefits taxable.
True. So can other sources of taxable income.
If Social Security is your only source of income, your benefits probably won't be taxable. But if you have other income, some of your benefits might be taxable. For example, many people who diligently saved using a traditional IRA could get hurt by mandatory withdrawals, which start after investors reach age 70½.
• If you're working while receiving Social Security, you will lose benefits.
Mostly false. Some benefits will be reduced, assuming you're still below full retirement age (between 66 or 67 for most people now employed).
How much gets deducted depends on your age and how much you earn. For 2016, if you remain below FRA throughout the year, the Social Security Administration will deduct $1 in benefits for each $2 earned above $15,720. If you reach FRA during 2016, it will deduct $1 for every $3 earned above $41,880.
However, these benefits aren't lost but delayed. After reaching full retirement age, your benefits will increase to account for amounts withheld earlier. And once you reach full retirement age, you get to keep all your benefits, even if you're still working.
Reach Wiles at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8616.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1TesT6QThank you so much to /u/s2kd for sending such a thoughtful present! The box he sent for my cats has been the highlight of their year! The cat toys in the box were great but they haven't stopped playing with that box.
He also gave me an awesome figurine of my favorite lady, Daenerys Stormborn, which is currently sitting on my desk inspiring me to be more kick-ass. Easily, the best part of the present was finding out that my oldest cat, Lola, is Jewish! We had no idea until s2kd informed us in his card. So.... Mazel Tov!
Edit: So s2kd is officially AWESOME! He sent me another present because he thinks I'm a good person (guess he didn't find my throwaway accounts...). This one had the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel (which btw is amazing and definitely worth a watch), a book about snowboard (it's my #1 passion), chocolate!, and a Seahawks towel (which will come in handy when we're in the Superbowl again this year!!). I was so blown away with his generosity, I'm going to have to figure out a nice way to show my gratitude.
I think the real reason he sent me another present was so that both cats would have a box to lounge in... Things were getting a bit hostile with them having to share all the time.
Thanks so much s2kd!!! You're the best!“Nothing stays dead in this world…” -Joshua Foley, Elixir
Once upon a time during the age of the newsstand, the “Annual” comic was a periodic installment of importance in the comics industry. Often times it was either a jumping on point, a culmination, or an overview of the continuety carried in that title over the previous year meant to hook in readers and give them a brief but full synopsis that would allow them to latch onto the title without being lost in |
On August 14, 2016, national record in hand, he finally had the answer:
"What drives Danny Thompson? Insanity, I don't know," he said with a big laugh. "It's just being passionate about finishing the job. What drives me is getting that record, bringing that record to the Thompson family, finishing a legacy for my dad, and a legacy for Danny Thompson."
The end of a long journey -- and the beginning of another challenge.
He'll be back at Bonneville, salt permitting, for next month's Cook's Shootout, where world records are set. He knows Challenger 2 has the potential to go even faster, maybe 450 or even 470 mph.
"It will be a shootout between Speed Demon and us," he says. "I can't quit. We call it salt fever. You just want to come back to Bonneville. You want to go faster."
This time he'll be racing for his own legacy.In wake of damning post-9/11 ‘collusion’ report, association says psychologists should not be a part of interrogations at Guantánamo Bay or elsewhere
US torture doctors could face charges after report alleges post-9/11 'collusion' Read more
A representative of the US’s largest professional association of psychologists, which is in the throes of crisis after an independent review found it to be complicit in torture, has said psychologists should no longer participate in US detentions and interrogations.
Nadine Kaslow, a former president of the beleaguered American Psychological Association, told the Guardian that psychologists should no longer aid the military at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere – in effect reversing more than a decade of institutional insistence that such participation was responsible and ethical.
“I personally think the council needs to adopt a policy to prohibit psychologists from being involved in interrogation, people being held in military custody at Gitmo and other sites,” said Kaslow.
The APA made Kaslow available to the Guardian to discuss a damning independent report into what it called the APA’s “collusion” with the US Department of Defense and its aid to the CIA for torture. Psychologists still operate at Guantánamo, as part of the detention facility’s behavioral-health unit.
That 542-page report, by former federal prosecutor David Hoffman, found that numerous senior officials within the APA aided torture by changing internal rules – and collaborated with defense personnel in doing so – to permit psychologists’ assistance. The APA further spent more than a decade denying it had opened the door to abuses; aggressively misrepresenting its collusion to the media and the public; and stifling internal dissent.
Hoffman found that APA officials were motivated to collaborate with the Defense Department by “the very substantial benefits that DoD had conferred and continued to confer on psychology as a profession”. Collaboration was “enhanced by personal relationships between APA staff and DoD personnel”, including a marriage between an APA executive and “one of the military’s lead psychologists who supported interrogations at Guantánamo Bay”.
Among the leading officials implicated was the APA’s ethics chief, Stephen Behnke. After the APA received the Hoffman report, Behnke departed his post on 8 July. Kaslow would not say if Behnke was fired or resigned. She indicated that “multiple personnel actions” were likely in the near future.
The APA said that it would also undertake institutional reforms, including changes to its ethics and complaint-review policies, and Kaslow said the APA would need to be “open and transparent” with the media.
On 6 August, the 130,000-member APA will meet in Toronto for its annual conference. The Hoffman report is expected to be the central topic of discussion.
Beyond Toronto, Kaslow said the APA would deliver the Hoffman report to the Senate armed services and intelligence committees and the inspectors general of the Pentagon and the CIA. But she stopped short of committing to referring it to the FBI for potential criminal inquiry, saying Hoffman drew a line short of that in internal discussions.
“The issue with the FBI is something we’re continuing to discuss,” she said.
Stephen Soldz, a longtime critic of the APA’s involvement with torture, urged the APA to make such a referral in a meeting the APA held with its dissidents on 2 July in Washington.
“We must refer this report and its findings to the FBI and we must cooperate fully in any ensuing investigation,” Soldz urged, according to a presentation acquired by the Guardian.
Kaslow said the APA would begin embracing the anti-torture critics the organization had spent years marginalizing – particularly Jean Maria Arrigo, one of its leading internal reformers, whom the report says was repeatedly rebuffed in an “intentional effort to curb dissent”.
“I’m going to personally thank her when I see her,” Kaslow said. “I’m going to personally apologize to her for the fact that other people mistreated her.”
Kaslow indicated that the APA recognized it had much work to do to restore public confidence.
“Certainly, this is a hit to our integrity, the organization’s integrity and, unfortunately, psychologists’ integrity, too,” she said.Dele Alli, right, has scored four goals for club and country this season
Dele Alli is like "a wild horse" that cannot be tamed, according to his Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The England midfielder's temperament was questioned last season after he was given a three-match ban for punching West Brom's Claudio Yacob.
But Alli, 20, has impressed this term and has just one booking from 14 games.
"He is a big talent but he was a bit wild," said Pochettino. "Now he is more domesticated. You can't lose that side - it might make him a special player."
Alli also made headlines for another incident last season when he was lucky to escape punishment when he kicked Fiorentina defender Nenad Tomovic in a Europa League fixture.
"It is like when you have a wild horse and you need to put it in a box and domesticate it, no?" added Tottenham's Argentine manager.
"It is all a process with the younger lads to be more mature, with more experience, now more focused on playing football.
"He is special, a great guy. We have a very good relationship. He is a very emotional person and we all love him."
Pochettino has faith in 'pressured' Janssen
Vincent Janssen scored 27 goals in the Dutch Eredivisie last season
Pochettino wants Vincent Janssen to stop putting himself under pressure, and insists the summer signing will score goals.
Since joining Spurs from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar for £17m, the 22-year-old has scored once in 12 appearances.
"It is true we and he would be happier if he was scoring, but it's a normal process," said Pochettino.
"He wants to show he has the quality to score and maybe he puts a lot of pressure on himself."
Janssen scored 27 goals in the Dutch Eredivisie last season and won the Johan Cruyff Trophy, awarded to the division's young player of the year.
Pochettino added: "In the end, we need to calm him, say: 'Yes, good, don't worry, work hard, keep going and you will ensure you will score'."
Janssen has featured in all six games England striker Harry Kane has missed since injuring an ankle on 18 September, playing over an hour in five of them.
His only goal since moving to London came in the first game of that spell, a penalty in a 5-0 EFL Cup win over Gillingham.
"He is not frustrated, he is disappointed," added Pochettino, whose side are third in the Premier League.
"He's come from Holland and always those players from outside need time. He only needs time."
Tottenham will go top of the Premier League if they win at Bournemouth on Saturday, as leaders Manchester City and second-placed Arsenal play later in the weekend.
Pochettino will again be without Kane but believes the chance to take top spot means "it is impossible to have better motivation".Speaking of Apple’s weird and scary overreactions—yes, good idea, have the police storm the Gizmodo editor’s house in the lost iPhone prototype caper—here’s my story:Apple has rejected an app version of this column—which, on a relatively frequent basis goes out of its way to analyze the odd behavior of Steve Jobs.My last effort at putting Steve on the couch was on Friday, in a column that dealt with Jobs’ recently announced intention to police apps for violations of Apple’s new (and undisclosed) rules against porn. I suggested that Jobs was overreaching—and, maybe too, a little messianic and off his nut. (I did not know then that his cop mentality would soon enough involve actual police action.)The stated reason for the rejection of my free app is that Apple requires "sufficient amounts of content to appeal to a broad audience." Putting aside the fact that this pretty much makes specialty content ineligible for iPhone or iPad apps, it’s also a pretty fudgy standard. For instance, I get a bigger readership for my online columns than I do for my Vanity Fair columns—so Vanity Fair shouldn’t make the cut?Where we are is that Apple is now creating a distribution system for books and periodicals—in a sense, no different from a newsstand or bookstore—which it proposes to regulate as it sees fit, without explanation, recourse, or standards.Apple demands a high degree of technological conformity to its “Human Interface Guidelines.” And it has many other arbitrary eccentricities that might get your app dinged, including if your app somehow gives the iPhone a look that Apple (or Steve) doesn’t want it to have. And you’ll have to conform to icon standards and rules about button look and feel. All these rules are relatively clear (well, relatively). But then there is the unstated rule, as articulated in a post about iPhone app rejection by Brian Stormont of Stomy Productions, with more than 45 apps to its credit: “Don’t make any jokes about political figures, past or present, in either your app or the description in iTunes.”By likely inference: Don’t diss Steve Jobs, either.Stormont takes a pained but still relatively sanguine view of this, a programmer's view perhaps: “It’s Apple’s store. They can do whatever they want in the end and don’t have to be fair.”Programmers are dealing with functionality, which has no special status in American culture and law. Writers, on the other hand, aren’t used to having books and articles thrown off the store shelf because we’ve annoyed the store owner…or, either, of having our doors broken down.Obviously, the convergence of technology and content, which is willy-nilly being encouraged by Mr. Jobs, into applications that he will control and market, if he so chooses, changes the nature of Steve’s role.What we have now, suddenly, is one of the most mercurial and paranoid and unusual men in American business—willing to swear out a warrant if you cross him—telling you what you can and cannot read.In other words, the device you may be holding in your hand (my column, perhaps unbeknownst to Apple, is available on the Newser iPhone app) is not necessarily a benign one; the company that makes it not necessarily your friend.My app, by the way, is available for the Android.More of Newser founder Michael Wolff's articles and commentary can be found at VanityFair.com, where he writes a regular column. He can be emailed at michael@newser.com. You can also follow him on Twitter: @MichaelWolffNYCIn this study, we sampled 21 couples, including one female and one male homosexual couple, according to the scheme depicted in FigureA, resulting in 84 tongue and 84 salivary microbiota samples. Three couples were sampled in duplicate, and three probiotic yoghurt drink samples were included, which were subjected to bacterial composition analysis by a single bar-coded amplicon sequencing run. The total amount of reads from the run was 432,089, and the total number of bases was 134,916,296 bp, corresponding to an average read length of 312 bp after quality processing. A total number of 3,000 OTUs, based on 97% sequence percent similarity, were identified in the tongue and saliva samples (Additional file). Only 25 of these OTUs were observed in more than 50% of all 284 oral microbiota samples. On average, 96 ± 28 OTUs were observed per oral sample. After taxonomic classification, we depicted the 15 most abundant genera present in the oral microbiota and the yoghurt drink in FigureB. The first three columns indicate the genera identified in the probiotic drink, including Streptococcus as most abundant, and Lactobacillus as less abundant genus. In addition, we identified the genus Bifidobacterium (Additional file). This is in agreement with the expected presence of yoghurt-producing species Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and the probiotic additives Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Lactobobacillus acidophilus LA5, and Bifidobacterium lactis BB12. The top 10 genera of the oral microbiota in our study include Streptococcus, Rothia, Neisseria, Gemella, Granulicatella, Haemophilus, Actinomyces, Veillonella, Porphyromonas, and Fusobacterium, all known to be among the predominant genera of the normal microbiota in the oral cavity [].
The shared microbiota on the tongue could be more evident as a long-term effect of couples living together, effectuated through sharing dietary and personal care habits. This finding is in agreement with a recent study, showing that household members, in particular couples, shared more of their microbiota than individuals from different households [ 6 ]. In addition, we investigated the effect of intimate kissing on the microbiota similarity. On average, the salivary and tongue microbiota did not change in members of the same couple after an intimate kiss, as the p values of the Wilcoxon rank-sum test for these hypotheses were 0.45 and 0.30 for salivary and tongue microbiota, respectively, both considered not significant (p values >0.1).
A comparison of microbiota between couple members and unrelated individuals shows that the tongue microbiota is much more similar for couple members, an average MH index value of 0.37 versus 0.55 for unrelated individuals (p value of the Wilcoxon rank-sum test =1.4 × 10 −7 ), while this does not apply to the salivary microbiota, where we calculated MH index values of 0.71 versus 0.72 for unrelated individuals (p value >0.1; the difference is not significant). Comparable results were obtained when other indices for similarities in community structure were used, including the Bray-Curtis index, the Yue and Clayton theta, Species Profile, and Spearman similarity coefficients (Additional file 2 ).
We investigated the average level of similarity of the tongue and salivary microbiota between multiple samples of a single individual, between couple members, and among the unrelated individuals. Therefore, we calculated similarity indices before and after the kiss of all 21 couples and analyzed their average values (Figure). We used the Morisita-Horn (MH index), a commonly applied dissimilarity measure for pairwise comparisons of microbiota within certain groups of populations (see e.g., []). The index is expressed in a scale from zero (completely similar) to one (completely dissimilar). Based on the MH indices, the highest degrees of pairwise similarity are observed for the surface of the tongue for replicate samples of the same individuals, showing a value of 0.15. This is more similar than the average index of 0.31 for replicate samples of the salivary microbiota. This is in agreement with the highly dynamic nature of salivary microbiota in the oral cavity versus the relatively stable surface-associated microbial community of the tongue’s surface. Apparently, the overall composition of the salivary microbiota changes rapidly over time in a single individual, as replicate samples were collected within a time window of 1 min.
Similarity of the oral microbiota correlates to self-reported kiss history
We included the self-reported history of intimate kissing behavior in our study and examined correlations between this behavior and all the similarity indices of the oral microbiota. We asked all 21 couples to report their last year’s average intimate kiss frequency and the period of time passed after their latest intimate kiss. We calculated all the average kiss frequencies and average periods past after the latest kiss. Strikingly, 74% of the men reported higher intimate kiss frequencies than the women of the same couple, resulting in a male average of 10 and a female average of five intimate kisses per day (Additional file 3). This probably results from male over reporting, as previously noted in an analysis of self-reports on sexual behavior, including number of partners and frequency of intercourse, in particular among unmarried couples [8]. One report of an average of 50 intimate kisses per day over the last year (Additional file 3) was according to the opinion of the authors unrealistically high, not in agreement with the reported time to latest kiss of 18 h and showed a large discrepancy with the self-reported kiss frequency of his partner of eight intimate kisses per day. Therefore, we excluded the kiss frequency of this couple from the correlation analysis with the kiss frequencies and MH indices in this study.
3 3 3 The dissimilarity indices were plotted as a function of the average self-reported kiss frequencies by males and females of the same couple (FigureA). We fitted the data with a linear regression model (R-squared =0.82). The data clearly shows that the salivary microbiota becomes more similar when couples intimately kiss at relatively high frequencies. The linear fit of the data indicates that frequencies of at least 9 kisses per day are required in order to obtain an MH index <0.5. The tongue microbiota does not show a significant correlation with intimate kissing frequency (Additional file), in agreement with a transient salivary microbiota and a more permanent tongue microbiota. After a single intimate kiss, we did not observe a significant effect on the similarity of the salivary and the tongue microbiota. This is confirmed in plots of similarity indices of all couples (Additional file); we only observed a more similar salivary microbiota in a limited number of couples. In agreement with the data that indicate that a relatively large number of kisses is required to substantially equilibrate the salivary microbiota (at least nine per day), the effect of a single intimate kiss is limited.
We investigated the effect of the time passed after the latest kiss on the similarity index (Figure 3B). Data were fit with an exponential rise function (R-squared =0.24) and indicated that MH index >0.5, if a sample is taken longer than 1 h and 45 min after the latest kiss. Although the coefficient of determination is rather low, the data are consistent with a model that holds that nine intimate kisses per day, and a period of time of less than 1 h and 45 min is required to maintain a substantially equilibrated salivary microbiota (MH index >0.5). There was no correlation between the time passed after the latest kiss and the tongue microbiota and no clear additional effect on this correlation after a single kiss (Additional file 3).
It should be noted that constitutive microbial colonization of saliva is still a matter of debate, as the high flow rate and relatively low content of nutrients do not easily allow bacterial proliferation. The bacteria in the saliva may be mostly shed by or dislodged from the oral surfaces, particularly from the tongue [5]. On average, the unstimulated flow rate of saliva is 0.3 ml min−1, while the stimulated flow rate, which contributes as much as 80% to 90% of the average daily salivary production is at maximum of 7 ml min−1[9]. The average saliva volume in the mouth is only 0.74 ml [10]. These numbers indicate that almost constant bacterial exchange is required to maintain a shared salivary microbiota. However, we found in our study that ‘only’ nine kisses per day or a time period of less than 1 h and 45 min after the latest kiss are required for a significantly shared salivary microbiota. In order to interpret our data, we assume that the collective bacteria detected in the saliva after a kiss do attach and transiently colonize the oral surfaces, in particular the tongue, of the kissing partner. This phenomenon has also been described in a number of studies with probiotic lactobacilli, which reported transient colonization of the surface of the tongue up to a period of 2 weeks after oral intake (see e.g., [11] and reference herein). Possibly, an adapted group of the shared bacterial species colonizes the tongue more permanently, explaining the similarity in the tongue surface microbiota among partners found in this study. The effect of multiple kisses appears more obvious on the variable and more distinct salivary microbiota than the more constant and more similar tongue microbiota. According to this notion, both transient and permanent colonizers play an essential role in shaping the oral microbiota after intimate kissing. As the similarity of tongue microbiota of partners does not depend on the kissing frequency, mouth-to-mouth contact may be essential for the transfer of bacteria, but other covarying factors among partners could contribute to the overall similarity of the oral microbiota, including diet, oral hygiene practices, and dental care. Future studies will aim at the construction of a quantitative model explaining the dynamics of the oral microbiota after kissing and characterization of specific properties of the transient and permanent collective bacteria involved. Visual inspection of the shared microbiota in the saliva and on the tongue (Additional file 4) did not lead to the identification of specific transient and permanent shared genera but indicated that the abundant genera are predominantly shared among partners. The identification of factors that determine the transient or permanent status of bacterial colonizers in the mouth could contribute to the development of novel strategies for the prevention or cure of oral infectious diseases. However, these factors remain to be elucidated and may result from a combination of genetic factors of the host and adaptive mechanisms of the commensal bacteria acquired throughout our lives.No one has forgotten it. It was a quiet day, Sept.22, 1938, and work on the dam was going at a rapid pace. The dam had been completed just two weeks before, but there was murmuring among some of the men that something was wrong with the dam. The daily inspection of the embankment hinted at a problem. Survey crews were deployed to assess earth movement and to inspect the core pool. (The core pool was the pool on top of the dam, into which dredge material was pumped. As the water slowly drained out of the core pool, sediment settled below, thereby forming the dam.) Although the pool hadn't moved, the upstream pipeline shell ran lower than it should have. The day before the slide, the railroad tracks showed no signs of movement, so the work continued in the area. By evening, the situation had changed. At least two men suspected a problem was in the offing the night before the slide. Lewis F. Kao recalls putting in his 4 p.m. to midnight shift on the south (upstream) side of the dam. "That night the dam had started to shift. There was a 6-foot bow in the railroad track," he remembers. The next shift discontinued dredging in that area. James W. "Monty" Montfort also recalls the night before the slide. "I was foreman of a crew laying quarry stone on the four to twelve shift," wrote Montfort. "We were completing a tier of stone at the extreme east abutment and were to move the dragline... the dike section at the west end of the dam. "Water was coming up through the gravel and we could hear gurgling sounds beneath us. At 7 p.m., we began working off the mats; and as the weight of the machine was transferred onto the gravel, it began to sink and water rushed up around the tracks. "We moved in a bulldozer and a loadmaster and began building up with small mats. At about 11 p.m., we had managed to reach solid ground. The graveyard shift relieved us and moved out with the dragline. Our crew was muddy, wet, exhausted and glad to go home. The next afternoon, the slide occurred and the east upstream section of the dam was gone. On that tragic day at 1:15 p.m., even as District Engineer Maj. Clark Kittrell inspected the problem area from his passenger seat in a sedan, something strange and terrifying occurred. Suddenly, the earth started shaking, dredge pipes and railroad tracks started shifting and sinking and a massive section of the dam swung out into the upstream as if a great earthen gate hinged on the east abutment. Machinery and men alike were swallowed up in the moving, muddy hell and 5 million cubic yards of earth slid out into the Missouri River, forming its own island. Eight men lost their lives, and six are still buried somewhere in the dam. Some who lost friends in the slide consider the dam a large gravestone for those men whose bodies were never recovered. Word spread through the area quickly that the "dam was going to give," and people packed belongings quickly and headed for higher ground. The slide.No one has forgotten it. It was a quiet day, Sept.22, 1938, and work on the dam was going at a rapid pace. The dam had been completed just two weeks before, but there was murmuring among some of the men that something was wrong with the dam. The daily inspection of the embankment hinted at a problem. Survey crews were deployed to assess earth movement and to inspect the core pool. (The core pool was the pool on top of the dam, into which dredge material was pumped. As the water slowly drained out of the core pool, sediment settled below, thereby forming the dam.) Although the pool hadn't moved, the upstream pipeline shell ran lower than it should have. The day before the slide, the railroad tracks showed no signs of movement, so the work continued in the area. By evening, the situation had changed. At least two men suspected a problem was in the offing the night before the slide. Lewis F. Kao recalls putting in his 4 p.m. to midnight shift on the south (upstream) side of the dam. "That night the dam had started to shift. There was a 6-foot bow in the railroad track," he remembers. The next shift discontinued dredging in that area. James W. "Monty" Montfort also recalls the night before the slide. "I was foreman of a crew laying quarry stone on the four to twelve shift," wrote Montfort. "We were completing a tier of stone at the extreme east abutment and were to move the dragline... the dike section at the west end of the dam. "Water was coming up through the gravel and we could hear gurgling sounds beneath us. At 7 p.m., we began working off the mats; and as the weight of the machine was transferred onto the gravel, it began to sink and water rushed up around the tracks. "We moved in a bulldozer and a loadmaster and began building up with small mats. At about 11 p.m., we had managed to reach solid ground. The graveyard shift relieved us and moved out with the dragline. Our crew was muddy, wet, exhausted and glad to go home. The next afternoon, the slide occurred and the east upstream section of the dam was gone. On that tragic day at 1:15 p.m., even as District Engineer Maj. Clark Kittrell inspected the problem area from his passenger seat in a sedan, something strange and terrifying occurred. Suddenly, the earth started shaking, dredge pipes and railroad tracks started shifting and sinking and a massive section of the dam swung out into the upstream as if a great earthen gate hinged on the east abutment. Machinery and men alike were swallowed up in the moving, muddy hell and 5 million cubic yards of earth slid out into the Missouri River, forming its own island. Eight men lost their lives, and six are still buried somewhere in the dam. Some who lost friends in the slide consider the dam a large gravestone for those men whose bodies were never recovered. Word spread through the area quickly that the "dam was going to give," and people packed belongings quickly and headed for higher ground. The Slide of 1938 is the single most memorable event to occur during construction of the dam, according to dam workers employed on that fateful day in 1938. What caused the dam to slide? To this day, many say the core pool was too deep. Others say the dam was being filled too fast and there was not enough time for the water to drain out. Some blamed the bentonite seams beneath the dam. Soon after the rescue efforts were halted, engineers conducted a battery of complex tests to determine the cause of the slide. Samples were taken from as deep as 300 feet. A board of blue chip consultants was formed to study the problem, and it was their decision that work should continue on the dam. The board, which consisted of Joel D. Dustin (chairman), Arthur Casagrande, Irving W. Crosby, William Gerig, Glennon Gilboy, W. H. McAlpine, C. W. Sturtevant, Thaddeus Merriman and Warren Mead, met for a total of 20 days over a five-month period, studying 26 sets of technical data. On March 3,1939, the board returned its report, which said the slide's occurrence was "due to the fact that the shearing resistance of the weathered shale and bentonite seams in the foundation was insufficient to withstand the shearing forces to which the foundation was subjected. The board's seven-man majority recommended completing the dam, and work began once more. The base of the dam was widened, thereby flattening the slope, and the embankment was raised with rolled earth. A berm was added and sheet pile joined the old and new cores. A reinforced concrete wall was placed in front of the intake structures, and a protective two-mile dike was built. Piezometers and relief wells were installed in the dam. The slide delayed completion of the dam for a little more than a year, but on Oct.11, 1940, the last load of material was dumped on the dam, topping it out at 250.5 feet.
updated: 2005-02-11
Related photos NEW 07/20/06 NEW 03/09/05Mexico’s Supreme Court on Wednesday said laws prohibiting same-sex marriage are “discriminatory.”
Michael Lavers at the Washington Blade reports:
A strongly-worded statement the court posted to its website said the majority of the judges who considered a case that challenged portions of the state of Sinaloa’s family code defining marriage between a man and a woman found them to be unconstitutional.
“The contested provisions are clearly discriminatory because the relationships in which homosexual couples engage can fit perfectly into the actual fundamentals of marriage and living together and raising a family,” reads the statement. “For all of those relevant effects, homosexual couples can find themselves in an equivalent situation to heterosexual couples, in such a way that their exclusion from both institutions is totally unjustified.”
The ruling is in response to a petition for legal recourse — known as an “amparo” in the Mexican legal system — that a gay couple filed against the Sinaloan family code in April 2013.Fernando Llorente is no longer a first team regular at Juventus (Picture: Getty Images)
Tottenham are reportedly set to offer Juventus striker Fernando Llorente lucrative wages to seal an £11million deal.
The 30-year-old’s future in Italy remains doubtful following the signings of Pablo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic, and Spurs have expressed their desire to pair the former Athletico Bilbao forward with the in-form Harry Kane.
And Italian outlet Tuttosport claim that Spurs have prepared a bid in the region of £11m for Llorente, and significantly, are also willing to offer him lucrative wages to entice him to White Hart Lane.
Llorente, who has scored 23 goals in 65 games for Juventus, has also attracted the attention of Real Madrid, although he is believed to favour a move to London.
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When Red Sox analytics guru Brian Bannister started his role as an assistant to pitching coach Carl Willis just about a month ago, Boston ranked 11th out of 15 American League teams with its 4.48 team ERA.
Today, the Red Sox rank…well, 10th, with a 4.33 ERA.
Suppose Bannister isn’t a miracle worker after all then.
Presumed ace David Price hasn’t won since the All-Star break, with a 4.10 ERA over that span. The lefty gave up four earned runs over seven innings before Red Sox newcomer Fernando Abad coughed up a three-run home run to Robinson Cano in the Mariners’ 5-4 comeback win in Seattle Tuesday night. Knuckleballer Steven Wright has watched his magic carpet ride come to an abrupt halt, with a 5.40 ERA since the break. All-Star Drew Pomeranz hasn’t looked like one since, possessing the worst ERA among the starters — 7.53.
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Baseball America ranked the top 50 prospects traded before Monday’s Major League Baseball non-waiver trading deadline. Anderson Espinoza, who went to San Diego in the deal for Pomeranz, was slotted No. 1. Sweet.
But this pitching purgatory may not be as it seems. Over the past 30 days, the Red Sox pitching staff has produced a 3.81 ERA, seventh-best in the AL. That’s less than a half-run off the pace of the best team over that same period, the Toronto Blue Jays at 3.35. According to FanGraphs, the 3.7 WAR is the second-best over the last 30 days to the Houston Astros (4.4), as is Boston’s 3.55 FIP.
The 4.07 ERA turned in by Red Sox starters is also seventh-best in the AL along with the best WAR (3.8), while the Boston bullpen has a 3.19 ERA, fifth-best in the league.
Praise Brian Bannister?
Maybe it’s too soon to make specific note of Bannister’s presence with the team, but some individual cases already suggest his positive impact. At the very least, he makes you wonder just what Willis and manager John Farrell have done with their supposed pitching expertise.
Take Edurado Rodrioguez, who, second to Rick Porcello, has become the team’s most dependable starter over the last month. After starting the season 1-3 with an 8.59 ERA, the lefty has rebounded from his late-June demotion to Triple-A. Over 24 innings, he has a 2.63 ERA with 21 strikeouts and eight walks. He’s holding opponents to a.247 batting average, significantly down from the.315 over his first six starts. Maybe that’s a product of his knee being fully-healed. Maybe it’s his effort in not tipping his pitches. Or maybe Bannister’s observations helped fix whatever was mechanically thwarting Rodriguez.
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We already know that’s the case with Clay Buchholz, of all people. Buchholz got the win in Sunday’s dramatic win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with three innings of scoreless work, proving some semblance of work during this lost season. After the game, Buchholz admitted that he had done some work with his release point after talking with Bannister, who noticed on film that his delivery had changed since a healthy Buchholz was mowing down the opposition in 2013.
“It had just become second nature at some point trying to prevent myself from hurting whenever I was throwing,” Buchholz said. “My release point has dropped a lot since 2013, and 2013 was when I was at my best.”
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David Price had Dustin Pedroia. Clay Buchholz has Brian Bannister.
“Early, he was trying to manufacture sink, and sometimes that turns into horizontal run and it’s not as valuable. So for him, it’s just trying to get some true tilt,” Bannister said. “His secondary pitches suffered a little bit because of that. He’s now getting that true depth and getting the swing-and-miss on his secondary. That’s the Clay we’re used to seeing when he’s pitching well.”
It’s also a Clay that seemed long gone.
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski hired Bannister as the team’s director of pitching analysis and development last year, and his role as the foundation of analyzing the club’s pitchers expanded last month to pre-game uniformed personnel. Under his tutelage and study of analytics, veteran Rich Hill, who brought a career 4.72 ERA to Boston last season, focused more on his curveball, and turned in a 1.55 ERA over four starts for the Red Sox last September. He was one of the most-sought after pitchers at the trading deadline this year after going 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA for the Oakland Athletics, who dealt him and Josh Reddick to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a trio of respected prospects.
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It’s too early to claim he did the same with Buchholz, but with Wright struggling in the rotation, should we be surprised to see him re-claim his starting spot down the stretch?
And if he does, then why is Carl Willis still here?
“We thought it would be the best way to make it work in cohesion with Carl,” Dombrowski said upon the announcement that Bannister would be hands-on with the coaching staff. “It’s not that we’re unhappy. But we’re looking for any way to make ourselves better.”
Maybe they did, but it should only underline the unhappiness they should have with Willis and Farrell.
Now, what can he do for Pomeranz?
Red Sox in the Hall of FameThis piece was inspired by the end of Mass Effect 3, specifically the Destroy (red) ending, which is kind of obvious since it's the only one that allows Shepard to live.So, just saying this right now that I know all about the controversy related to the ending of Mass Effect 3. If you're here to tell me all about it, just leave. I know it well, I fought in those trenches, I've heard all the artists creative rights versus original promises stuff, and I've already moved on. I think the original endings were way under-detailed, rushed, and the Extended Cut really did satisfy me as a player. Now you know how I feel, and |
a supranational economy and currency to work, we must also have supranational governance. In other words, the system failed because it needs to be stabilized by global government.The Fabian socialists will argue that it was the barbaric and outdated institution of national sovereignty that caused the full-spectrum crisis. They will completely gloss over the negative effects of an interdependent economic system and the fact that a lack of redundancy leaves cultures simpering and impotent. We're all one big human village after all, so we should accept the idea that we all succeed or fail together. Free markets and individual innovation apparently have nothing to do with a thriving economic structure. What we really need is a hive mind amalgamation that turns us all into easily replaceable parts in a massive rumbling lawnmower that chews up our heritage, history and principles for the sake of some arbitrary greater good and the promise of alchemical floating cities in the sky where no one has to work anymore.There is almost no nation or institution they will not sacrifice if that sacrifice can be exploited to further their goal of total global political and economic dominance. They don't just want a completely centralized system;. They want the masses to think it was all our idea. This is the most pervasive and effective form of slavery, when the slaves are manipulated into demanding their own enslavement. When the slaves are fooled into believing their enslavement is something to be proud of — a badge of honor in service of the collective, if you will.The fall of the U.S. will be no different in this regard. We do not necessarily have a supranational structure like the EU. So our narrative for collapse will be slightly different, and the engineered lesson we are meant to learn will be carefully crafted.You see, Americans are meant to play the role of the spoiled imperialists who are finally getting what we deserve, an economic punch in our tender parts. We are the new Rome, bread and circuses and all. And when the U.S. comes crashing down like Europe, the Fabians will be there yet again to admonish the greed inherent in national sovereignty and the destructive aspirations of power that must be squelched by a more evenhanded global political system.Americans are the villains, the rest of the world plays the role of innocent victim, and globalist centers like the IMF and the BIS are meant to play the heroes, coming to the rescue of humanity when all appears lost.Our debt generation by far outmatches that of the whole of EU nations combined, a fact I outlined in Part 3 of my series One Last Look At The Real Economy Before It Implodes. Unlike Greece, though, the U.S. has the direct option to print fiat at will in order to prolong punishment for our massive debt spending. However, as we have seen with recent market reactions to the very notion of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in September, such an event will trigger extensive outflows from stock markets and herald the end of the "new normal." Again, why would the banksters do this? Why not keep interest rates at a constant near zero? It is not as if there is any public pressure to raise rates; in fact, it's quite the opposite. Why is the Fed ignoring the hundreds of signals showing that the U.S. is in a recession and pushing ahead with discussion of interest rate hikes despite what one might logically conclude would be in the Fed's best interest?The Fed knows that the only things propping up American markets are free money and blind faith by the public that banks and government will act to stop any pain or economic suffering, should such a potential for crisis arise. When the free money is gone and that faith disappears, then we will have an epic catastrophe on our hands. The globalists within the Fed know this, and they want this - at least, they want a controlled version of this.This reset is the next stage in the plan for total global economic centralization.This is not about contagion. There is no such thing. It is an excuse, a scapegoat designed to distract from the real problem.When people are weak and frightened, they become malleable. Social changes you would have never thought possible today become very possible tomorrow in the midst of a crisis. I believe we are now seeing the onset of the next great crisis, and the fundamentals of economy support my view. When the entire European system hangs by the thread of Greek debt and the entire U.S. system hangs by the thread of near zero interest rates and blind market faith,. There is no going back from such a condition. There is only the path forward, and the path forward is not pleasant or comfortable and it cannot be ignored.We cannot forget that crisis is in itself a distraction as well. Whatever pain we do feel tomorrow, or the next day, or the next decade, remember who it was that caused it all: the international banks and their globalist political counterparts. No matter what happens, never be willing to accept a centralized system. No matter how reasonable or rational it might sound amid the terror of fiscal uncertainty, never give the beast what it wants. Refuse to conform to the dialectic. This is the only chance we have left to get back to true prosperity. Once we cross the line into the realm of worldwide institutionalized interdependency, we will never know prosperity or freedom again.In the Accelerationist Manifesto currently circulating, we find the following passage:
We believe it must also include recovering the dreams which transfixed many from the middle of the Nineteenth Century until the dawn of the neoliberal era, of the quest of Homo Sapiens towards expansion beyond the limitations of the earth and our immediate bodily forms. These visions are today viewed as relics of a more innocent moment. Yet they both diagnose the staggering lack of imagination in our own time, and offer the promise of a future that is affectively invigorating, as well as intellectually energising. After all, it is only a post-capitalist society, made possible by an accelerationist politics, which will ever be capable of delivering on the promissory note of the mid-Twentieth Century’s space programmes, to shift beyond a world of minimal technical upgrades towards all-encompassing change. Towards a time of collective self-mastery, and the properly alien future that entails and enables. Towards a completion of the Enlightenment project of self-criticism and self– mastery, rather than its elimination.
One of the things that disturbs me about the rhetoric of “posthumanism” or “inhumanism” as a political strategy (rather than something like Laruelle’s non-standard humanism, which I am inclined to prefer) is a certain stunning lack of consciousness about the forms in which such a kind of post- or in-human politics (and subjectivity) is already here. If we look around us, “post-corporeal,” even “post-affective” forms of subjectivity, grounded on the “completion” of the Enlightenment project of “self-criticism” and “self-mastery,” are far from missing. These forms may be parodies or perverse dark precursors of what accelerationists are really looking for, but in that case there is much more conceptual work to do. (For those with the patience to read this long post to the bitter end, you’ll see that what follows is not meant as a cavalier dismissal of accelerationist impulses but an invitation to just that conceptual work).
Last weekend the New York Times Sunday Review had an article that was particularly telling on this front. The author, Jennifer M. Silva, spent two years (2008-2010) interviewing young people (19-28 year olds, women and men), about their economic and relationship prospects. Besides the facts widely reported on, that prospects for young people world wide (not just in the USA) are increasingly grim, perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the report, for me, was the absolutely psychotic level of “self-criticism” and “self-mastery” aspired to by these young people. They nearly universally blamed themselves for what was happening. One young man described staring himself in the mirror, examining each of his failures, each of his shortcomings, every day. It’s not capitalism, it’s not class warfare, it’s not empire and biopwer that are the problems, it’s just me. I’m the cause of all this suffering and misery.
One of the major problems of the political left, at least in the USA, has always been how to combat the American individualist spirit and motivate modes of collective consciousness. Silva ends her article with a timid plea for something like mutual recognition, for the recognition that we are in this together, that we are all suffering. But she does put an interesting, developmental-psychological twist on the argument, pointing out that perhaps the new threshold for “adulthood” at this conjuncture is precisely that point beyond which one can finally afford to trust others and form meaningful long-term relationships. For she found, in her research, that almost every young person she interviewed said that they simply could not afford the risk involved in intertwining their lives with another person—obviously this affects marriage rates and childbirths, but more broadly and probably much more importantly this self-enforced isolationism is precisely what the neoliberal order needs in order to obscure the injustice of the maintenance of unpayable debts.
This is, of course, the zenith of neoliberal hypocrisy and the essence of its killing machine agenda of biopolitical holocaust. As David Graeber has shown, an unpayable debt is simply the perversion of a promise. Graeber points out that although a loan, in legal terms, is a contract whose risk is mutual—since not only the borrower but even more so the lender stands to gain from the introduction of credit—the liability in contemporary neoliberal capital is borne almost entirely by the party who needs the credit, and depends upon it so much that it is almost makes an oxymoron of calling a loan a “free contractual agreement.” (Graeber notes that historically, the law was much more often on the side of the borrower rather than the lender, since during the time that the loan is unpaid, one is effectively enslaved to the one to whom one “freely contracted” oneself). But “going into debt” simply means “being the subject of an investment.” Why should the financial powers that choose to make such investments not bear most of the responsibility for the contingencies that will inevitably arise, forcing the need for the renegotiation of social agreements in the face of changing circumstances (so-called “economic downturns”)? How and by what insane logic do individual borrowers, particularly students, become saddled not only with legal but with moral and even religious responsibility for the situation of the entire economy?
Since Max Weber we have recognized that capitalism is stapled together, link by cruel link, with the iron (and ironies) of a maniacal Calvinist vision of “the world” not as a place of contingency, change, and development, but a static, eternally predetermined field of winners and losers (the saved and the damned) within which one must nevertheless, paradoxically, “prove” oneself as belonging to the saved (even though such effort is pointless, given that all is predetermined by divine election). One can almost hear this form of fetishistic disavowal (first identified by Marx and replayed by Žižek) sounding off within our hopelessly isolated individual heads: I know it’s not really my fault, I know it’s this rigged, unjust, hopelessly compromised class structure of exclusion and exploitation that is ruining my life systematically, but nevertheless I believe that it’s all my fault—I could have gotten slightly better grades, I could have played one more sport, I could have done one more internship, hell, I could be just a little bit more good looking... yeah, that’s definitely my fault, too.
The most pernicious aspect of this ideology of individual responsibility is of course that it prevents the formation of class consciousness, of shared recognition of suffering and plight that might galvanize resistance, rebellion, and revolt against the powers that be, and ground the energy necessary for the epic struggle to create new institutions (faced by every generation, and not just the current one). But to return to the issue of maturity, the author has an interesting way of putting the problem that stands the whole idea of human maturity and “humanity” in an unusual light, a light that illuminates some of my own misgivings about the accelerationist vogue.
We might think that nothing could be more “mature,” “adult,” “responsible,” “reliable,” “dependable,” “trustworthy,” “dignified,” even “heroic” about the cavalier attitude of American 20-somethings who blame only themselves for their lack of opportunities, meaningful long-term relationships, and hopes for the future. But the assumption of individual responsibility for one’s fate, one’s destiny, the fulfillment or denial of one’s hopes and dreams is not maturity. It is a black hole of despair created by the evisceration and evacuation of social life as that life is increasingly undermined by debt, and by the moral isolation the logic of debt perpetuates.
Which brings me to my doubts that the progressive politics we need is grounded in our ability to complete the project of escape from the human body and from planet earth through a completely realized, “Promethean” form of self-mastery and self-critique. It seems to me that this has always already been the project of capital itself, and already of empire, and of course above all of neoliberal biopolitical strategy. I realize that the accelerationist claim is that neoliberalism only pretends but does not actually complete the necessary modern project of emancipation through technological self-mastery. But I am haunted by the fact that we can hear all too easily the mantra of self-mastery and self-critique in the inner voice of the young men and women blaming themselves, as they search for mastery through the technique of self-hatred, instead of investigating the various ways in which what was promised them by society, by those who have invested in them—by parents, by institutions at all levels, by capitalism itself—has been systematically denied them.
I see the ideology of individualism run amok in its most extreme form, each and every semester I continue to work in the increasingly corrupt and compromised institutions of higher education. In my own continuing desperate scramble for a decent living (yes, it’s my fault, too, I’ve only published one book with a major university press, have only one currently in the works, am only translating one major French philosopher, have only 16 peer-reviewed essays in academic journals, have only developed just under 25 different courses in 7 years at 5 different institutions in three different states while endlessly interviewing for hopelessly competitive tenure-track positions while co-parenting a 5 year old—mea culpa, I am so inadequate I can hardly stand myself) I have seen both ends of the post-human student spectrum, the zombies and the vampires. The individualism of my ultra-elite liberal arts college students in Main Line Philadelphia is vampiric—well-dressed, mannered, slow, subtle consumption of all energy sources on the way to the eternal life of class privilege, even in the name of social-welfare oriented NGO leadership. That of my lower- and working-class community-college transfer students at a mid-level state school in South Jersey is the individualism of the zombie: desperate, malnourished, harried, unstable, under-resourced, unprepared, precarious, disposable. If what I have to teach my students can be compared to flesh and blood, then while the zombies devour my brain only to immediately forget (i.e. digest, because they are so hungry, so malnourished to begin with), the vampires simply keep a tiny cut open from which each day they extract another drop, sniff at it, occasionally taste, then systematically disregard most of what I have to offer. After all, they don’t really need me, since as soon as they graduate into their debt-free heaven of entitled do-goodsterism, the zombies will provide all the blood the vampires will ever need to survive.
My students, it seems to me, are inhuman, all-too-inhuman. Beyond the obvious rhetorical dangers of Prometheanism (and beyond the fact that there really is nothing new here—the details of the accelerationist program seem to dovetail quite nicely with a familiar Habermasian ideal of communicative rationality with a sadistic-scientistic twist), my own problem with an accelerationist politics, at least as stated in the manifesto, have more to do with a substantive disagreement about the real stakes and promise of a fully unleashed or “weaponized” scientific outlook as the ground of a desirable future, particularly where that outlook or “rationality” is grounded on the premise and promise of “abductive experimentation” within given fields or structures amenable to probabilistic reasoning (i.e. prediction in keeping with the law of large numbers, whereby prediction becomes increasingly accurate if samples are large enough).
Instead we propose that the problems besetting our planet and our species oblige us to refurbish mastery in a newly complex guise; whilst we cannot predict the precise result of our actions, we can determine probabilistically likely ranges of outcomes. What must be coupled to such complex systems analysis is a new form of action: improvisatory and capable of executing a design through a practice which works with the contingencies it discovers only in the course of its acting, in a politics of geosocial artistry and cunning rationality. A form of abductive experimentation that seeks the best means to act in a complex world.
But at this point in the manifesto, I can hear sampling from Reza Nagarestani’s work, whose “inhumanist rationalism” I personally find fascinating and more complex than the manifesto makes it out to be. Some recent Nagarestani:
“In fact, once we unbind the scope of the rationalism project and terminalize the transcendental asymptocity of knowledge, we realize that the ambition of rationalism is to sever the purported alliance between reason and human and to accelerate the dislocating and renegotiating power of the modern system of knowledge by which the human is humiliated at each and every turn” (Reza Nagarestani, http://blog.urbanomic.com/cyclon/)
Nagarestani objects to a “computationalist” model of modern reason, one that would fetishize the cyborgian program in the way that Nick Land’s work does. And yet, even though Nagarestani seems to want to leave open a space for contingency within continuity, the price paid for rationality is still humanity. Why this tradeoff? What is it that we apparently need, so desperately, to humiliate in order to progress? And who or what is left after this humiliation, or rather, who or what is humiliated (and yet also somehow strangely exalted, or at least transmuted) in this process?
Lately I have been deeply impressed by the work of Henri Atlan, who is thinking about the possibility of the reproduction of human life by human beings, and the implications of potential control over that most significant of contingencies, at least for human beings—the contingency of births.
In practice, these contingencies of existence [all sources of humiliation for knowledge] can be handled in two ways: one, deeper, in which random events are transformed into singularities that bear various meanings, which appear in original an unique constructions that are always being started afresh; the other, superficial and deceptive, in which random events are hemmed in by the law of large numbers in the homogeneity of statistical averages. This makes it possible to control and master randomness by replacing it with a statistical calculation, but only on condition of wiping away all differences and eliminating every individuality. Here chance is not eliminated, but congealed into a homogeneous random whole in which causal relations are collective and all individuals are interchangeable, like molecules in statistical thermodynamics; any uniqueness is excluded, along with any spontaneity and any novelty. Opposed to this death by dilution in the ineffable multiplicity of chaos is death by the rigidity of imposed order, directed by the predetermined collective name and exclusive meaning. (The Sparks of Randomness: Vol. 1, Spermatic Knowledge, 56)
It is not entirely clear to me that the “humiliation” Nagarestani invites us to court should be neatly opposed to spontaneity, uniqueness, and novelty; he seems to be trying to develop a quite complex theory of how such irreducibly local traits are asymptotically coordinated in some general, universal space. I am not entirely sure, that is, that Nagarestani’s position is all that far from Atlan’s, in the end. And unlike Brassier and Brandom, Nagarestani also seems to realize that maturity and “Enlightenment” are not to be found in systems of total control and the sadistic- violent imposition of epistemic norms, upon fields of probability (i.e. “compression”). The future we want is not one of increasing control over chance, change, and contingency. What is needed, rather, is an entirely different relationship to contingency, and to chance, as such, one that is neither marked by fear and self-deception (neoliberalism) nor fascinated by dreams of total control, dominance, and escape from the peculiarities of flesh, blood, and earth (facile accelerationism). Atlan sets the stakes of this problem in a very clear way:
The desacralization of chance was completed in the seventeenth century, with the advent of rational mechanics and the principle of sufficient reason, which for all practical purposes reduced Aristotle’s four causes to one: the efficient cause. No event can take place unless it has an efficient cause, and knowledge of the cause suffices to explain it. This idea has been diversified since then; the cause maybe replaced by a set of causes or, especially, by a causal law whose generality and abstraction are greater than the effect it produces and explains. Nevertheless, the mechanical explanation no longer invokes the final causes in nature that formerly gave meaning to events. Since the eighteenth century, such final causes have found asylum—temporarily, and only for the idealist heirs of Leibniz and Kant—in the attributes of the human soul and in the suprasensible universe of moral law and freedom. Today, randomness is no longer merely the lack of a purpose that would provide meaning. This is because in our world, determined by physical laws in which final causes no longer have a place, every natural event that is not produced by human art and planning lacks an end and purpose. The only conceivable end is the formal one of maximum or minimum, in mathematical physics; but this is just another way of expressing mechanical causality. Modern randomness refers to what is produced without a cause that is known, or even knowable, and whose isolated incidence accordingly cannot be predicted. The only possible prediction of such events—and even it is not always available—is statistical forecast, which no longer relates to the occurrence of single events but only to the set of events we construct by adopting a perspective that makes them indistinguishable from one another.
Underlying this method is the law of large numbers. Much ink has been spilled in the attempts to give this empirical law a theoretical basis, from Pascal and Leibniz through the statistical interpretations of quantum physics. According to this law, if a random phenomenon—for example, casting lots, where the outcome cannot be predicted because we do not have adequate knowledge of all the causes that produce it—is repeated many times, we can predict the results as an average value for all these repetitions. The more times we cast lots, the more precise the predicted average; or, to put it a different way, the closer to certainty is our knowledge of the result for all of these many events taken together.
In other words, thanks to the law of large numbers, our lack of knowledge of the causes of a phenomenon or an individual event is replaced by knowledge of the mean of a set of phenomena that are supposed to be identical. Statistics and the computation of probabilities constitute a powerful method for taming and controlling chance, but their fundamental hypothesis is that all events or all individuals that make up a set of random phenomena can be taken as mutually indistinguishable. This is why the most spectacular applications of this law are in statistical thermodynamics, where we can postulate almost infinite collections of identical molecules. But similar results can be obtained for human mass behavior, such as visitors to a public place, public transport, traffic, opinion polls, and so on. This is possible, of course, only if we take a large number of individuals into account. The causes of individual actions are multiple and unknown to the observer-statistician; but, as with molecules, the mean behavior of the whole is known with great precision. In the human case, each individual knows—or thinks she knows—the causes of her actions and even thinks she decides freely, perhaps after deliberation. Nevertheless, the behavior of the group is determined, inasmuch as it obeys a statistical law that describes and makes it possible to predict it.
Some have seen this as a possible solution to the theological problem of human freedom in a world that is subject to the determinism of an omnipotent and omniscient God. Unfortunately, rather than offering a solution it actually does away with the problem, because it requires we treat human beings as if they were molecules in a thermodynamic system. Alternatively, it is merely one way—and probably the simplest—of denying the reality of free will, leaving only our subjective illusion of it as individuals. (291)
Atlan himself does not believe in the ultimate reality of human free will (he is a rigorous Spinozist on this point), but he does believe that the ultimate “meaning” of human life is irrevocably endangered by any fantasy of control over contingency. With certain Talmudists, he believes that randomness is an inherent, irreducible part of infinite substance (i.e. God, or Nature), and thus that adequate knowledge is always “of” (or “from,” Laruelle might say) chance and contingency rather than any process by which chance is “compressed” or controlled by the banishment of uncertainty from knowledge. The dream of the accelerationists, like the futurists before them and, unfortunately, like the scientologists among us still, is a dream of having life entirely on our own terms, of having a future that is entirely a human construction, amenable to entirely human intentions with entirely foreseeable outcomes (even if these are rendered probabilistically).
As Atlan realizes, this would mean, at the limit, the ability to construct or reconstruct ourselves (the project that Atlan believes, as a geneticist, we are very close to achieving). But, drawing on the Talmudic and kabbalistic meditations on the possibility of the Golem—the artificial creation of a human or humanoid by a human being—Atlan warns that there is a condition for the successful creation of humanity by human beings, or successful co-creation with God (or, if you enjoy the atheistic-mystical terms of Nagarestani, the total humiliation of humanity by cosmic reality). The condition of this success, or achievement of absolute knowledge, is that it cannot pretend to eliminate chance. If the world human beings manage to create, including the human beings we may be able to create by wholly artificial means, eliminates novelty, spontaneity, and uniqueness—that is to say, eliminates chance, contingency, and unforseeability—we will have in the last instance destroyed rather than created, since we will have once again removed ourselves from the cosmic drama (i.e., the infinite substance) rather than conjoined ourselves to deeper participation with it.
Paradoxically, it seems to me that to the extent that accelerationism is post-corporeal and post-terrestrial, it is nevertheless hyper-humanist, in precisely the Enlightenment sense of the human as a rational subject whose desire and will can be atomically considered, understood, evaluated, predicted, and controlled, like a molecule in a thermodynamic system (even if that subjectivity is now seen as “distributed” or “aggregated” over a network function). The more that humans seem to have control over their lives, the more life becomes inhuman, transforming each of us into automata—into the very ontological impress (impresarios?) of the random molecules that ground the probabilistic epistemological framework.
Atlan notes that automata is one of Aristotle’s words for chance. Despite the fact that the meaning of “automated” or “robotic” is precisely of something pre-programmed and mechanical rather than subject to random fluctuations or chance impulse, what binds the modern robot to the ancient, Aristotelian automaton is that what is at stake is action without meaning, action, that is, without a “final cause.” All action, from a modern epistemic point of view, is the action of automata whose “purposes” can only be determined as “aggregates” or “means,” and never as individually caused or motivated. This view has direct and disastrous political consequences, because it epistemically validates the treatment of individual human beings as components of aggregates, aggregates whose tendencies, statistically mediated, are alone real, and whose values can be thus measured and judged without regard for individual human potential, individual suffering, individually unforeseeable novelty and spontaneity.
So as far as I can see, there is no real “future” in this psedo-futurism of inhumanism, which seems a thinly-veiled and understandably outraged protest against the radical precariousness of the present. (It seems to me, however, that Nagarestani’s work hovers between a usage of “inhumanist” rhetoric and radically humanist substance, in the spirit if not the letter of C.S. Peirce’s universalism). The desire to escape the body and the earth is the desire to escape the precarious contingency of life. But when it comes to funding, it is not the science-fictional agencies of future auto-alienating gnosis that require capital. What requires our time, attention, and devotion (that is to say, what requires capital, or the real essence of post-capital) is precariousness itself, the clear and present presence of chance, change, and contingency that ineluctably marks corporeal and terrestrial life.
Let me conclude with this, then. The desire for total control is a desire for death. In some ways the scions of financial capital are in this way (they know not what they do) one degree wiser than the accelerationists, for at least they remember (at least in secret) that they are lying when they claim to be able to predict market behavior and forecast market futures. For as the Austrian school of economics never tires of reminding us, unless there were radical uncertainty (not just imperfect information) in markets, there would be no market, since there would be then no arbitrage—that is, no asymmetry between the positions of different market actors, and thus no differences in prices and ultimately no economic “movement.” Perfectly predictable markets are not desirable, simply because they are not markets. So it is true that the financial “oracles” are failing to succeed at the accelerationist program of systemic control over human life, all the while pretending to have rendered that life more or less predictable for the purposes of investment (helped by the unwitting social sciences, as Foucault never tired of showing us, since they with their statistical aggregations have helped to created the collective abstractions of normalcy that we are now expected to conform to as individuals). While the accelerationist dreams of a future in which no one is satisfied because everyone is equally subject to the finally unburdened caprice (or cleverness, cunning metis) of a finally disembodied mind—one free to have become fully identical to and thus disappear into chance itself—the economist at least knows that “a throw of the dice cannot abolish chance”: all is not sheer possibility, there must be at least one actuality—that of the observer (if not the poet), the position of Absolute Wealth, even if that position reduces, post-apocalyptically, to One/Zero. (Robert Jackson gave an inspiring paper last summer in Liverpool on computationalism that seemed to confirm my intuition that computationalism cannot be sheerly inferential (if-then), and must always presume some concrete actual starting point, which introduces irreducible contingency and undecidability into even the most arid, abstract, “inhuman” mode of “reasoning,” that of computation. See here for Jackson’s own response to Nagarestani’s position).
But the Absolute Zero of accelerationist subjectivity only has appeal in contrast with the hypocritical relation to chance of the Falsified Unity of the Economist-In-One. What is needed is not the merely apparent mastery of chance by total identification with it dreamt of by the accelerationist in his adolescent paranoia cum cyborgian fantasy. What is needed is the much more difficult relationship to chance that has been the perennial human struggle, perhaps the defining struggle of a non-standard humanism, in the last instance, since chance itself “in itself” if we could say, is the the unforeseeable, the unpredicted, and indeed the longed for, that we must commune with, short of exhaustion and the ever-seductive abyss of death. In the book I’m working on now, I am experimenting with using the generic framework of divination, with its histories, legends, lore, material assemblages and logical paradoxes, for comprehending how human beings have and continue to form the habit and practice of welcoming and evoking chance as the beginning of non-standard wisdom, avoiding the Scylla of disavowed control (pseudo-scientific economics) and the Carybdis of self-immolating despair (pseudo-religious accelerationism) as not only knowledge but in the last instance survival.Story highlights Boehner says talk of impeachment coming from Dems and White House
He says House GOP has no plans to impeach Obama over executive actions
Sarah Palin and other conservatives are pushing for such a step
Boehner, however, is suing the President over Obamacare
House Speaker John Boehner flatly denied Tuesday that congressional Republicans are moving to impeach President Barack Obama, blasting talk about it as "a scam started by Democrats at the White House."
"We have no plans to impeach the President. We have no future plans," Boehner told reporters after a weekly meeting with GOP members.
Boehner said "this whole talk about impeachment" comes from "the President's own staff" and from congressional Democrats.
"Why? Because they're trying to rally their people to give money and to show up in this year's elections," he said.
JUST WATCHED Boehner vs. Obama: Lawsuit politics Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Boehner vs. Obama: Lawsuit politics 03:12
JUST WATCHED Boehner's suit a tight fit Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Boehner's suit a tight fit 02:50
Boehner has emphasized several times publicly that he disagrees with former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and other conservatives pushing impeachment over their claims Obama's grossly exceeded his executive authority.
A recent CNN-ORC opinion poll shows that almost two thirds of Americans do not believe Obama deserves to be impeached. In that same poll, however, a partisan split shows that 57% of Republicans support such a step, while 86% of Democrats and 63% of Independents don't.
Boehner's decision to sue Obama was designed to address outrage from tea party activists and others within the GOP base over a string of Obama executive orders they say circumvented Congress.
The lawsuit covers his decision last year to defer a health law requirement that businesses provide insurance coverage to their employees.
But the suit also opened the door to more discussion about impeaching the second-straight Democratic president by a Republican-led House.
The issue was magnified when incoming House GOP whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana refused to take the issue off the table during an interview over the weekend.
Dan Pfeiffer, a longtime aide and senior Obama adviser said last week that impeachment talk should not be considered a long shot.
"I would not discount that possibility," Pfeiffer said.
Pfeiffer said that the lawsuit was evidence Republicans would consider impeachment down the road.
Congressional Democrats have seized on the issue and show no sign of letting up.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid raised the subject on the Senate floor on Tuesday at about the same time Boehner was ruling it out.
"Look in the papers today, the American people are totally opposed to this," Reid said. "We shouldn't be off on those tracks of impeachment and suing the President. We should be legislating."
In the month since Boehner announced his lawsuit, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has raised nearly $7.6 million ahead of the November midterms.
But the campaign arm has pulled in $1 million alone since Scalise's comments on impeachment over the weekend.
With the resolution to formally authorize the lawsuit expected on the House floor on Wednesday, House Democrats are likely to continue to argue, regardless of Boehner's comments, that that move is simply the first step toward impeachment.The Communist Party of Ukraine has been expelled from the parliament, RIA Novosti reports.Oleg Lyashko, a candidate for president, called it a historical event and expressed hope that the party will be banned in the country.Vladimir Aryev of the Fatherland Party fraction in the parliament confirmed booting of the Communist Party for its separatist attitude.The Communist Party condemned law enforcers for the counter-terrorism operation in the east and accused them of mass murders. The Party of Regions backed the communists’ accusations, ITAR-TASS reports.
The Communist Party of Ukraine has been expelled from the parliament, RIA Novosti reports.
Oleg Lyashko, a candidate for president, called it a historical event and expressed hope that the party will be banned in the country.
Vladimir Aryev of the Fatherland Party fraction in the parliament confirmed booting of the Communist Party for its separatist attitude.
The Communist Party condemned law enforcers for the counter-terrorism operation in the east and accused them of mass murders. The Party of Regions backed the communists’ accusations, ITAR-TASS reports.T-Mobile CEO John Legere has a long and storied history of calling out his company's rivals online, regularly blasting Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T on Twitter for their service, deals, and phone plans. While most of his complaints are met with stony silence from the other carriers, it seems not all of them are willing to take his constant needling lying down. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure finally snapped at Legere tonight, reacting to the T-Mobile boss' criticism of Sprint's new ad campaign with a four-tweet salvo in which he said he was tired of T-Mobile |
of human life is a vile business, while especially from up above, the pretensions of human morality are miniaturised. In Dahl-world, political institutions are shoved well to the background, while the notion of an orderly society is never seriously entertained: at best we have a little community anti-authoritarianism, as in Danny, the Champion of the World.
Take Dahl's most famous work, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: its boy protagonist's family is immiserated, his carers are incapable of looking even after themselves – so salvation comes through luck, and the arbitrary beneficence of a deranged feudal-capitalist with a happily mancipated workforce. Of course, the spur that initially drives Charlie on is a lust for sweet things that, were it transferred to an adult plane, could only result in a work entitled something like "Charlie and the Huge Seraglio full of Compliant Nymphomaniacs". The NAACP slated the black pygmy Oompa-Loompas in the original text – and so Dahl changed them to a fictional light-skinned subspecies – but he couldn't get rid of the brown sugar. My equation of sweets with sex is not facetious; in Dahl-world, oral gratification is pretty much the only thing that matters.
The misogyny that haunts Dahl's adult writing is also short-circuited in his sexless children's fiction, for here his heroes and heroines can be either orphans (James of giant-peach lusting, for instance), or else, as in The Magic Finger, an unnamed, and thus family-free, eight-year-old girl. The eponymous heroine of Matilda has parents who are neglectful to the point of being abusive. Sophie in The BFG is extracted from her natal home in order to experience good and bad surrogacy – from giants (ie Dahlesquely huge men). The infanticidal witches of The Witches stand proxy for all mothers – who kill that which they claim to love; true, the boy's Norwegian grandmother is a good enough parent, but then she's safely de-sexed by age and illness. Only Danny, the Champion of the World presents an idealised parent – and that, also, has to be a man.
Danny is the most naturalistic of the Dahl children's books, and its evocation of rural English life in the 1950s gives us more substantial clues to its author's political perspective than any of the other, more cartoonish works. True, there are the satirical personifications of consumerism (Veruca Salt) and mass media (Mike Teavee) in Charlie, while even in a squib such as The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me we get little vignettes of a ruptured organic society – but it's only in Danny that the whole Red Tory cloth of his convictions is unfurled. With its portrayal of happy poaching folk, existing in impoverished but mutually supporting symbiosis with a rough-shooting aristocracy, Dahl registers his wholesale revulsion from the modern world.
That Danny's father, William, is a pretty much perfect single parent, raising a boy to be self-sufficient as well as loving, is as much a function of the support network that surrounds their Romany caravan – the doctor, the policeman et al – as his own particular qualities. In Danny there's no such thing as family – only a small and male society. Reading Danny one thinks of the milieu of the Men of the Trees, and other proto-fascist eco-movements of the British interwar period.
Danny is also noteworthy for another of those strange ambivalences that permeate Dahl's work: while The Magic Finger is an out-and-out assault on blood sports, this book seems to embrace the killing of game, so long as it's perpetrated in a sustainable fashion. I said I wouldn't wax Freudian in my view of Dahl, but I can't help myself: I think it safe to see blood sports in his children's books as a synecdoche for all human violence. Dahl seems to suggest that there are good ways of killing things – the just war, the poached pheasant – and emphatically bad ways: the holocaust of pheasants that the grotesquely plutocratic brewer, Mr Hazell, is intent on unleashing.
This brings us fairly logically to Fantastic Mr Fox, the latest film adaptation of Dahl. It's a distinguished addition to a filmic canon that includes superb versions of The Witches and Matilda – although there are also notable clunkers such as Danny, the Champion of the World with an effete Jeremy Irons as the ideal parent. Filmed using stop-motion techniques, Fantastic Mr Fox looks beautiful: a vivid appliqué of pose-able figures threaded into sets that any kidult would love to play with. It's a relief to experience a children's film that has a genuine quiddity after all that remorselessly perfect computer-generated imagery. As for the players, I wonder whether George Clooney (Mr Fox) and Meryl Streep (Mrs Fox) have ever generated more sexual chemistry than they do with these husky, sassy voiceovers.
I took my eight-year-old to the screening. He's the youngest of our cubs, and the last one available with whom to burrow about in Dahl-world. His remark on the adaptation was telling: "I like it when they do the whole story properly, but then they put in anything else they feel like." Luckily, the "anything else they feel like" is in this case cleverly scripted by Noah Baumbach (of The Squid and the Whale) and director Wes Anderson. I had no problem with all the animal characters being snappy late 1950s American types, not unlike the advertising men and their wives in Mad Men; nor did I mind the introduction of a yoga-practising, karate-kicking fox nephew, with whom Fox Jr has a troubled rivalry. Nor, indeed, did I suspect any sinister subversion of the special relationship in Anderson choosing a fine trio of British character actors for the loathsome farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean (the last giving Michael Gambon an opportunity to smoke heavily on screen, albeit in puppet form). After all, while it's a great bedtime book, Fantastic Mr Fox would be slim pickings for a feature had a flickknife-toting rat (voiced by Willem Dafoe) not been interpolated.
All that's fine, and it's refreshing also that Anderson doesn't play up the convenient truth of environmental damage by humans, but rather subverts it by making this the cause – as it indeed is – of an advantageous vulpine incursion into the built environment. However, the recasting of the Foxes' marriage as one of near-equality, with Fox himself not so much a wild animal as a grandiose chicken-snatching addict, and Mrs Fox scratching against her own co-dependency, was certainly not true to the spirit of the book. For Dahl, Mr Fox was the fantastic one – he didn't need any lousy vixen to show him the way to dig.
I can't claim to have read every Dahl children's book, but those I have read, I've read aloud. It might be an idea for all literary critics to read the books they analyse aloud – it certainly helps to fix them in the mind, while providing a readymade seminar with your audience. The Dahl books I haven't got on with – Esio Trot and The Minpins spring to mind – were ones my kids didn't like either. The reason I never finished The BFG was that I kept falling asleep while reading it; the eponymous hero of the book is meant to give children dreams – or nightmares – but to me he simply gifted oblivion.
But if my view seems to be of a jaundiced introjection of adult attitudes into children's entertainment, please don't imagine for a second that I find this remotely objectionable. I don't adore Dahl's children's fiction in spite of its submerged misogyny, lust, revanchism and wilful neglect of identity politics – I love it precisely because of these attributes. Dahl understood intuitively the truth best exemplified by a famous scene in The Simpsons, when Bart overhears Marge saying to Homer "Kids can be so cruel" and, taking it as an injunction, cries out: "We can? Thanks Mom!" There then comes the sound of his rapid footsteps along the hall, followed by Lisa's pained cry: "Owwww! Bart, cut it out!" Dahl's books resound down through the generations with the demented call "We can!" and its pained response "Owwww!" And long may they do so.
• This article was amended on 23 October 2009. The original said that Charlie Bucket was an orphan. This has been corrected.
Fantastic Mr Fox is released on 23 October.Reporters and producers at a television station in Baltimore recently found out the hard way that they shouldn't blindly accept Facebook friend requests. Last month, they found that their profiles had been cloned by an attacker who quickly used their network of friends to spread malicious links and ask for money.
Attacks on media organizations' social media accounts have been at an all-time high this past year, including "hacktivist" and state-sponsored attacks on media outlets from the Syrian Electronic Army. But the attack on the staff of WBAL-TV was directed toward staff members' personal accounts. And this initiative was a more workaday one, less targeted at the station itself than the friends, co-workers, and viewers who were connected to the cloned accounts.
Because some of WBAL's staff members mixed their personal and professional social networking together, the attack gave the scammer access to a huge audience's Facebook news feeds. After the attack was discovered, it took weeks for Facebook to shut down the fake accounts.
Target rich environment
Social media has become the new inbox for many people. Many go to the site find out what their closest personal and work contacts are up to and to communicate in a way that used to be reserved for e-mail. So spammers, scammers, and hackers have followed their targets to Facebook and Twitter almost since the services were created.
Facebook in particular has been a magnet because of the amount of personal information the network makes available through "friend" and "like" connections. While the company has made efforts to shut down malware spread through Facebook "apps" and links—even teaming with antivirus providers to stop the most common threats—Facebook remains a goldmine for attackers looking for personal information to mount social engineering attacks.
In WBAL's case, the attack apparently began when a friend request was sent to the personal Facebook account of WBAL's executive sports producer, Chris Dachille. The request appeared to be from someone Dachille knew, so he accepted it. The attacker then scraped images and other information from his account and used it to create a profile under his name. The clone account sent friend requests to Dachille's existing friends, and many in turn accepted.
Dachille was unaware of the doppelgänger until his friends started to tell him that someone was posing as him, sending requests to them for money and posting spam-like links to their news feed.
The attack quickly spread through the newsroom to Dachille's colleagues. WBAL reporter Kerry Cavanaugh had her account duplicated, as did several other staff members. The attacker blocked the victims from seeing the other accounts set up in their names, so the staff wasn't aware of what was happening until others notified them.
Justify your existence
Discovering the problem turned out to be just the beginning. Dachille contacted Facebook through its "report abuse" link and customer support. Around the same time, Cavanaugh reached out to me to understand what the risks associated with the attack were, and I tried to contact Facebook about the matter.
But no action was taken until WBAL contacted the Maryland Attorney General's office. That, in part, was because of the difficulty of distinguishing a fraudulent account from a real one. Many legitimate accounts share a name with another user, and the level of detail in their accounts made these clones seem genuine. Cavanaugh told me that the duplicate account had even filled in a birthday that was close to the date of her own—information she hadn't provided in her original profile.
A company spokesperson responded to WBAL's inquiries with a written statement on Facebook's policies—essentially pointing the finger at the users themselves. "Facebook is constantly developing new tools to help users tighten their security settings and educating users about best safety practices," the statement read. The spokesperson went on to provide a list of best practices to protect personal information that included tips to "vet every friend request" and "beware of suspicious e-mails with misspellings, typos, multiple fonts, or oddly placed accents."
Fortunately, no one at WBAL clicked on the links in the news feed posts from the fraudulent accounts—mostly because they were so poorly written. They were composed in broken English and it was obvious (to staff at least) that they hadn’t come from the people the accounts purported to be. Sadly, the same wasn't always true for people outside the organization, including viewers who possibly followed those accounts inadvertently.
The weakest link
Facebook offers a verified identity service for "pages"—the accounts created for businesses and public figures to maintain a separate identity in Facebook from their personal presence. Twitter only offers its blue check mark to a select few users (such as celebrities, public figures, and brands—recently including Ars Technica staff members). So there's not much normal people can do to assert their digital identities on these social networks within the networks themselves. The best defense seems to be connecting with others personally to verify "Yes, that's me."
The problem is that nearly everyone on Facebook or Twitter is connected to someone whose awareness of things like click-jacks, phishing, and identity fraud is limited at best. And most people assume this is something that won't ever happen to them. I've fended off a number of Facebook scams myself that were launched at me because my 71-year old father clicked on a link someone posted to his news feed. And he's received spam messages purportedly from me—but from different e-mail addresses—as well as from accounts claiming to be other Facebook friends. Most of these contain phishing links aimed at digging deeper into his personal information or perhaps installing malware.
Using personal social media for work, however, magnifies the impact of a bad click. The links sent to staff members by their coworkers' doppelgängers were not available for analysis. Facebook took them down before I was able to look at them. But based on their description, they could have done a lot more damage to the station than confusing relatives—they appeared to be to malicious websites that could have infected the station's network with malware.It's been over 26 years since footballer Justin Fashanu came out publicly. A coming out that ended in suicide. The beautiful game has a very dark side and since then, gays in the game are few and far between; in fact you can count on one hand the amount of players that have come out since Justin, all after retiring from English football. But football referee Ryan Atkin is about to is about to embark upon the journey that Sky Sports reporter Mark McAdam knows all too well. So we thought who better to talk to the star about his momentous decision to come out than McAdam himself. As a referee, Atkin is the closest man to the action, he's the boss, the man in charge, the man the players love one minute and hate the next. And on this occasion he also happens to be gay. He's been an official within football since 1999 and despite being gay since the age of 21 - has never spoke publicly about his sexuality, until now.He does so with the full support of The Premier League, The FA, The EFL and The Referee's Union. Just a small indication of how far the game has come; this perhaps another step to show just how much football is moving forward. The magnitude of this decision shouldn't be underestimated, Atkins himself even admits that on occasions he thought about giving the game up he loves; "I wasn't enjoying the game, I wasn't performing at my best and I was struggling to accept myself. Looking back now I'm glad I didn't quit, it's thanks to my friends and family for sticking by me. I may have be officiating, but I wasn't myself.""Accepting being gay was difficult, especially within football. I got to the point where I wanted to be happy and focus on what felt right for myself. I believe when you're in a happy place you will excel in every other aspect of your life. "Because of the recent work by Stonewall, The Premier League, The FA, Sky Sports, Adidas and the Rainbow Laces campaign I think it's time football becomes a more inclusive environment for everyone. As a referee, and being a neutral party I can now be honest about who I am and hopefully people will accept me for who I am which in turn will help the sport move forward. This sport touches every corner of the globe and can be so powerful.""I don't feel like a pioneer but I do feel by coming out it will allow others to be who they want to be, especially younger people coming into the sport. Maybe it will help other officials or even players to come out. I'm optimistic for the future." "A lot of clubs have LGBT supporter groups and policies, which shows how much football is changing."Everyone has been fantastic, I've had so much support from all of the governing bodies, they've been fully supportive. Hopefully I can help make things easier for others and can help to put things in place that helps to make others aware of LGBT issues in sport."RYAN: "I don't envisage any change, however time will tell. As a referee you like to be in control of situations, but this is one I don't have any control of. I'm heading into the unknown. People's reactions to me will depend on their life experience and what contact they've had with LGBT+ people in their life. In sport there are still very few LGBT+ out there but people like Nigel Owens (The Rugby Referee) and Gareth Thomas (Rugby player) have made people more aware that sport is inclusive and regardless of sexuality you can be passionate about sport, either playing or watching."RYAN: "I feel much better in myself and I feel I can have open conversations with people about my sexuality. I don't have to think about my responses or worry about what people might think any more. For me coming out has been a positive move so far."RYAN: "Some say being a referee is fun, others would disagree. But for me being openly gay doesn't change anything at all. You get respect for how good you are, not your sexuality. I love football and I'm passionate about making a difference, on and off the pitch."RYAN: "I think speculation is what keeps players from coming out as gay. I think the pressure from the media is what stops players from making it public. The weight on their shoulders would be huge. I don't know if a player will want to go from being the good footballer to the good gay footballer. I don't think anyone would want that title. "Football is changing though, the support from the governing bodies is making a difference. One day this won't be a story."Harvey Weinstein has been fired from the company he co-founded. Matt Lauer is gone from NBC. Mario Batali has stepped away from his restaurants.
What was striking about putting together a list of people who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct in recent months was not necessarily the prevalence of the problem — unfortunately, women and gender-nonconforming people have long been aware of the sheer ubiquity of sexual harassment and violence. What was surprising — what felt new about this time in American history — was that of 105 people Vox included on the list, more than 50 have faced legal or professional consequences, from job suspensions to jail time. It’s too soon to tell what the long-term impact of #MeToo will be, but in a number of individual cases, it has produced swift action.
And yet perhaps the most powerful man on the list — President Donald Trump — so far has avoided any consequences at all.
Trump has been accused of sexual harassment, assault, or other misconduct by more than a dozen women, and has been caught on tape bragging that “when you’re a star,” women let you “grab ’em by the pussy.” Despite all this, he remains the country’s chief executive and commander-in-chief, and his press secretary has brushed aside the allegations against him by saying, “the people of this country, at a decisive election, supported President Trump.”
There are many reasons Trump hasn’t faced the same consequences as Weinstein and others, starting with the fact that Republicans in Congress — and voters — chose to support him despite women’s reports that he had harassed or assaulted them. Members of Congress criticized him, and a few even withdrew their endorsements, but House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ultimately stayed behind him, just as they do today.
It’s possible that this support could ebb. Trump’s lawyers are fighting a defamation lawsuit by Summer Zervos, who says Trump kissed and touched her without her consent in 2007 — her lawyers have subpoenaed all Trump campaign documents relating to “any woman alleging that Donald J. Trump touched her inappropriately.” If that suit makes it to the discovery phase, the American people could learn a lot more about the allegations against Trump.
Meanwhile, several women who say Trump harassed or assaulted them are calling for a congressional investigation into his behavior. They have been joined in their call by a group of Democrats in the House. “The #MeToo movement has arrived and sexual abuse will not be tolerated, whether it’s by a Hollywood producer, the chef of a restaurant, a member of Congress or the president of the United States,” said Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) earlier this month. “No man or woman is above the law.”
For now, though, the reckoning that began when Bill O’Reilly was forced out at Fox News and accelerated enormously when the revelations about Weinstein broke has left many behind. It has yet to offer much visibility to women of color in low-wage jobs — many of whom, as Vox’s P.R. Lockhart notes, face multiple barriers to reporting harassment. And it has yet to require any accountability of the man who once bragged about his ability to grab women’s genitals, and who today holds power over many aspects of women’s lives.
The coming year will almost surely bring more reports of harassment and assault, more names for the list. Whether it brings real consequences for one of the most boldface names remains to be seen....And a few of my own recent media appearances to discuss the ongoing crash and burn of rightwing hit-squad 'journalism'...
Brad Friedman Byon 2/4/2010, 5:46pm PT
[See bottom of article for explanation of asterisk in headline]
If you're not on Twitter (you can follow The BRAD BLOG antics here), you probably didn't get to enjoy last night's extraordinary Twitter Tantrum by wingnut propagandist Andrew Breitbart (follow him here) in the wake of terrific coverage by Max Blumenthal yesterday at Salon pulling together the indisputable dots of Breitbart employee/accused felon/fellow wingnut operative James O'Keefe's years-long racist obsessions.
O'Keefe, of course, is the guy who was recently arrested with three other GOP operatives (one, the son of the acting U.S. Attorney) in Louisiana for attempting to commit felonies in Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu's office, and who did not dress up as a pimp in his secretly taped, heavily-edited and over-dubbed ACORN hit videos, despite continuing false claims to the contrary by Breitbart (and the mainstream media that felt for it --- but more on that part soon.)
A few lowlights from Breitbart's hilarious rant last night were reposted at Sadly No under "Breitbart Twitter Meltdown Enters Fifth Frantic Hour." Yes, Andy actually went on that long, longer in fact, desperate sad tweet after desperate sad tweet, essentially shouting out any racist-like comment he could find by any Democrat as a way to say, I guess, that some Democrats have made racist comments, so he's happy to employ someone whose a real racist. Or something. Who knows?
The entire meltdown was colorfully characterized by @KevinKross: "lonely man, hotel room, curtains drawn, on floor, stained underwear, empty bottles, frantically twittering away on his phone."
But it's Andy's employment and support of O'Keefe which he needs to answer for at this point, as today Blumenthal followed up his article from yesterday with more on O'Keefe's disturbing pattern of racism and race-baiting. At the end he asks Breitbart directly: "Why are you paying and defending a racist?"
Good question. I'm sure he'll answer that one, right after he answers these. Which is to say, um, never. While he has time to attack me incoherently on Twitter, he apparently doesn't have time to answer to those questions which I emailed him directly many days ago...
Amusingly, as Breitbart and his acolytes (at least the ones who haven't opened their eyes yet to the continuing Breitbart/O'Keefe scam) have been desperately pounding out their Breitbart-suggested/paid "outrage," demanding that O'Keefe is "innocent until proven guilty" --- a standard never applied to their ACORN scams or anybody else they don't care for, naturally.
The latest laffer came with a straight face, much self-righteous indignation, and apparently no sense of irony at all from Breitbart's BigJournalism.com paid (ed note: see correction note below) staffer Larry O'Connor (who Twitters as Stage_Right). He concludes his piece today, challenging whatever pieces he can find to quibble with in Blumenthal's reportage, with: "I am questioning this use of McCarthyite tactics using guilt by association, intimidation and outright lies."
Wondering where Larry's condemnation is of Glenn Beck and Andy et al for their brilliant years-long use of such tactics against any Democrat, Barack Obama, everyone in his administration, and those who were (pathetically) fired from his administration, such as Van Jones who was forced to leave after the entire crew "used McCarthyite tactics, guilt by association, intimidation and outright lies" to assault him in their journalistic blatantly partisan, rightwing, lie-filled, hit-scheme against him.
I'm now scheduled to appear on Larry's Internet radio show next Tuesday night @ 9:15pm PT, so perhaps he'll be able to share links to his past articles of outrage condemning the alleged tactics he now suddenly decries, when they were so effectively used by Breitbart and fellow members of the lockstep rightwing rat pack media.
And yes, while it all seems rather childish, it actually all matters. Breitbart's very powerful operation is at the very heart of the Republican attempt to game elections any way they possibly can. These are the GOP dirty tricksters who are still gunning for ACORN for little more than having the temerity to register millions of low and middle-income voters who tend to vote Democratic, to legally participate in their own democracy. So, naturally, they must be destroyed.
That's what Breitbart's after, for a start --- though it's questionable how many in his goon squad actually understand that, or have just been conned into believing they are fighting the great fight for freedom, or democracy, or the Constitution, or against big government, or whatever it is they've been fooled into going on about, even as they've spent years doing precisely the opposite whether it's registered in their little tea-bagging brains or not...
* * *
Speaking of media, I've been appearing on quite a few shows of late to discuss all of this. A few of the appearances I was able to capture or procure are posted below for you and posterity:
* * *
CORRECTION 2/5/10, 12:46pm PT: Larry "Stage_Right" O'Connor tells me via email that, unlike O'Keefe, he is not currently paid for the contributions he makes as a contributor to the various Breitbart websites. Taking him at his word, I've corrected the article above to reflect that and regret the original error.
* CLARIFICATION 2/16/10, 11:29pm PT: After Larry O'Connor read this article two weeks ago, as noted in the correction above, he waited until tonight, while I was a guest on his radio show, to criticize me at length for a headline that he feels was unfair to O'Keefe and not supported by the information in the article. The headline was originally "The Disturbing Racism of James O'Keefe & the Hilarious Twitter Tantrum of Andrew Breitbart", which he believes is unfair. Though I believe the article fully explains the use of the word "Racism" in that original headline to describe O'Keefe's documented history of racial obsessions, as noted in the article itself, O'Connor believes that the headline characterization is unfair.
As clearly he read it to mean something different from what was explained in the actual article, I'm happy to modify it to "The Disturbing Racial Obsessions of James O'Keefe..." so others will not read a similar mischaracterization into it --- particularly if they don't bother to read the actual article, or misunderstand what I was hoping to get across to readers. Apologies for any confusion and, as ever, our comments section --- and email address --- is always open to share any such concerns at the time they come up.
P.S. I hope O'Connor will show the same courtesy to Blumenthal, about whom O'Connor wrote in criticism of his Salon article: "This is what he offers as proof and justification for smearing a man. For calling a man a racist and a white supremacist." To my knowledge, Blumenthal did not call O'Keefe either "a racist" or "a white supremacist". And while O'Connor, on his show tonight, indicated that's not what he meant, but rather something more like 'Blumenthal might as well have called him a racist, white supremacist, etc.', obviously, his words can be misread as easily as mine. I he'll make the appropriate change, and offer a transparent correction/clarification in his article, as I have here to mine.
CORRECTION 2/21/10: Thanks to O'Connor for pointing out that Blumenthal asked Breitbart, as I quoted in the original article above: "Why are you paying and defending a racist?" I stand corrected on my P.S. above where I wrote "To my knowledge, Blumenthal did not call O'Keefe either 'a racist'". Since O'Connor waited two weeks to mention any of it, I had forgotten Blumenthal's words quoted in his three week old piece. In the meantime, O'Connor has still failed to correct his assertion that Blumenthal called O'Keefe a "white supremacist" as he did erroneously here, and as I pointed out almost a week ago.
Apparently these guys are interested in corrections for everyone else except themselves and other wingnut media when they report erroneously --- or, of course, when non-wingnut media report erroneously, but the error works to benefit their political agenda. That is, of course, all this is about for these guys. Journalism and truth and stuff has absolutely nothing to do with it, as you've likely figured out by now.
* * *
The BRAD BLOG covers your electoral system fiercely and independently, like no other media outlet in the nation. Please support our work with a donation to help us keep going (Snail mail, more options here). If you like, we'll send you some great, award-winning election integrity documentary films in return! Details right here...Google has just announced in its blog that it has enhanced some of its online services to become more accessible to members of the blind community. Google Docs, Google Sites, and Google Calendar now have improved support for screen readers (JAWS, ChromeVox and VoiceOver (Calendar only)). Users can now use screen readers to help them read, browse, edit and create documents and events. In addition to improving support for screen readers, Google has also implemented additional shortcut keys to help blind people use their services more efficiently.
It’s not every day we hear about such enhancements being made to help out the visually impaired, so kudos to Google for making the effort. Find out more about the improvements made to Google Docs, Sites and Calendar.
Filed in. Read more about Calendar, Docs, Google, Google Calendar and Google Docs.Tickets for Southampton’s UEFA Europa League away game against Hapoel Be’er Sheva will go on priority sale from 9am on Tuesday 6th September.
We have received an allocation of approximately 800 tickets for Saints’ first away game of the group stages, which takes place on Thursday 29th September (kick-off 6pm BST).
Tickets for the game, which are priced at £23, with no concessions available, will go on sale in the following order:
1. Tuesday 6th September (9am) – 2016/17 Season Ticket holders who attended the FC Midtjylland vs Southampton fixture on 27th August 2015 (Supporters in this group will receive a ticket if they apply on this day)
Please note, those supporters who did not collect their ticket for the game in Denmark have had the credit removed from their account.
2. Wednesday 7th September (9am) – 2016/17 Season Ticket holders who attended at least 15 away games during the 2015/16 season
3. Thursday 8th September (9am) - 2016/17 Season Ticket holders who attended at least 13 away games during the 2015/16 season
4. Friday 9th September (9am) - 2016/17 Season Ticket holders who attended at least 12 away games during the 2015/16 season
All sales dates are subject to remaining availability. In the event that tickets remain after Friday 9th September, a further announcement regarding sales will be made.
Tickets will go off sale at 8.30am each day, with sales resuming under the new criteria from 9am.
Please also note, tickets will not be issued at the point of purchase and will instead need to be collected in Be’er Sheva on the day of the game by the qualifying Season Ticket holder, on production of photographic ID. Full details on locations for collection will be confirmed nearer the fixture. Failure to collect your ticket will result in the credit from the game being removed from your account.
Information regarding tickets for Wheelchair users will be announced as soon as it is received by the club.
How to buy:
• Online – tickets.saintsfc.co.uk
• In person – St Mary’s Ticket Office
• By telephone – 02381 780 780
OFFICIAL TRAVEL PACKAGE
The club has put together an official travel package for Southampton’s trip to Hapoel Be’er Sheva. The package is priced at £1,075, which includes your match ticket, an overnight stay in a 4* hotel, plus all coach transfers in Israel (Airport to Be’er Sheva, Town to Stadium, Stadium to Hotel, Hotel to Airport).
The outbound flight will depart at 7am on Thursday 29th September from Bournemouth Airport, before arriving back at Bournemouth on Friday 30th September at 2pm.
Please note, the club can only run this travel package if there is sufficient interest from supporters. Fans must express their interest by contacting the Ticket Office by telephone on 0845 688 9288 or by emailing tickets@saintsfc.co.uk before 3pm on Friday 2nd September. Sadly, if fewer than 100 supporters show an interest, the package won’t be operationally viable and will not go ahead.
Fees may apply, all tickets purchased are subject to the Ticket Terms and Conditions and Ticketing Policy.From the Department of You... Just... Can't... Make... This... Up comes word that a California call center — one of three established in the state to help promote the Affordable Care Act and answer questions about the new law — is largely staffed by part-time workers who receive no benefits. That means, the people touting Obamacare will receive no health coverage under the scheme.
From Contra Costa Times:
CONCORD -- Earlier this year, Contra Costa County won the right to run a health care call center, where workers will answer questions to help implement the president's Affordable Care Act. Area politicians called the 200-plus jobs it would bring to the region an economic coup. Now, with two months to go before the Concord operation opens to serve the public, information has surfaced that about half the jobs are part-time, with no health benefits -- a stinging disappointment to workers and local politicians who believed the positions would be full-time. The Contra Costa County supervisor whose district includes the call center called the whole hiring process -- which attracted about 7,000 applicants -- a "comedy of errors."
What makes this situation even more comical, though not necessarily for the people working at the call center, is that many of the center's staff "left other full-time jobs for the call center positions," only to be invited to very special chats once they were committed.
Orientation and training started in July, but stopped on the afternoon of July 18, when employees were told they would have private meetings about their positions, the employee said. "It reminded me of that George Clooney movie where he goes around the country firing people ('Up in the Air')," the employee said. "The woman said, 'I know you were led to believe you would be full time, but things have changed.... You are actually 'part-time intermittent.'"
Perhaps "part-time intermittent" is a euphemism for "a victim of bureaucratic irony."
Follow this story and more at Reason 24/7.
Spice up your blog or Website with Reason 24/7 news and Reason articles. You can get the widgets here. If you have a story that would be of interest to Reason's readers please let us know by emailing the 24/7 crew at 24_7@reason.com, or tweet us stories at @reason247.Frederic J. Frommer is a reporter for the Associated Press in Washington and the author of four books on baseball. This article is adapted from his 2013 book, You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 to the 2012 National League East Champions. Follow him @ffrommer.
After an uneven start, the Washington Nationals are finally starting to play like World Series contenders at the All-Star break. If they can pull it off, the Nats would be Washington’s first major league champions in 90 years. But back in 1924—unlike today—few expected that the Washington Senators could ever best the mightiest teams in baseball, the Yankees and Giants. And back then almost the entire country was pulling for the representatives of the nation’s capital—strange as that might sound today—to win it all.
“In America’s mind-set, |
playing for the London Knights.
It was soon after that when his career took an abrupt turn; during a playoff practice, Ciccarelli hit a rut in the ice, crashed into the boards and broke his right femur.
The injury limited his playing time and production over the next two seasons, and cast his pro hockey prospects into doubt.
“It went from expectations from going to the World Hockey League at the time or signing a contract and making my dream come true to everything being disastrous,” Ciccarelli said. “It was tough for a good two years after that.”
After going unpicked in the NHL draft, Ciccarelli signed as a free agent with the Minnesota North Stars. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound forward overlooked out of junior hockey went on to have a 19-year NHL career — including four seasons with the Detroit Red Wings — that saw him amass 608 regular season goals and 1,200 points.
Ciccarelli, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last month, reflected on his time in hockey while he visited Saginaw for the team’s Wednesday game against the Erie Otters.
“I feel I got a second chance,” Ciccarelli said. “To get the second chance, let alone play 19 years, have success. I was never one of the lucky guys to win a cup, but it was still a great career. To get the call earlier this year with the Hall of Fame, it was the icing on the cake for me.”
Ciccarelli’s appearance was part of the team’s season-long Hall of Fame series that has already welcomed Red Wing greats Jimmy Devellano, Ted Lindsay and Igor Larionov to The Dow.
On the ice, Saginaw topped Erie, 4-2, to start the second half of the season, backed by a 41-save performance from Mavric Parks and a goal and an assist apiece from Jordan Szwarz and John McFarland. The Spirit will continue its week with a Saturday afternoon trip to Guelph and a Sunday game at Mississauga. The Majors lead the OHL with 57 points through Wednesday’s play, five more than Saginaw’s Western Conference-leading 52.
Before Wednesday’s game, Ciccarelli paid a visit to the Spirit locker room to speak to the players. Ciccarelli, along with his brothers, owns the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, and said he likes to draw on his time as an OHL player and owner to remind players how close they are to the NHL.
“We put these kids in a great environment to succeed,” Ciccarelli said. “When they get to this level, they’re close to making the NHL, and we obviously try to mimic what the NHL does a lot, from having these kids on the ice every day, in the training room, and hopefully their dreams can come true, too.”
Noteworthy
• The Spirit announced this week that George Daniel has been hired as assistant coach, to replace Adam Mattson, who resigned following the first half of the season. Daniel is a former midget major coach with the Compuware youth hockey program in Detroit.The United States is in danger of losing its ability to monitor key climate variables from satellites, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
The country's Earth-observing satellite program has been underfunded for a decade, and the impact of the lack of funds is finally hitting home. The GAO report found that capabilities originally slated for two new Earth-monitoring programs, NPOESS and GOES-R, run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Defense have been cut and adequate plans to replace them do not exist.
Meanwhile, up until six months ago, NASA had 15 functional Earth-sensing satellites. Two of them went down in the past year, and of the remaining 13, 12 are past their design lifetimes. Only seven may be functional by 2016, said Waleed Abdalati, a longtime NASA satellite scientist now teaching at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Taken together, American scientists will soon find themselves without the ability to monitor changes to key Earth systems at a time when such measurements could help determine the paths of the world's energy and transportation systems.
"Can you imagine if we've passed the apex of our Earth-observing capability right at a time when we realize that, 'Hey, we need to understand what's going on'?" said Abdalati. "We're talking about less than half the capability in the coming five years than we've had in the previous five years."
While President Obama's 2011 budget has gone partway to restoring money for Earth observations, a decade of neglect has left the nation's agencies – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and the US Geological Survey – without the resources they need to do the job.
Despite this, the agencies put together a consortium to come up with a coordinated strategy for Earth observations, the United States Group on Earth Observations. The group readied a report on the state of the nation's Earth-observation capabilities, but it's been stuck in review for the past year.
The GAO's very first recommendation is that this report be released to the public.
"We've been told that it proposes continuing observations in 15 to 20 areas. We've been told that it doesn't involve costs and schedules," said GAO auditor David Powner, lead author of the GAO report. "We think that what's really important is that we need to get these initial findings and reports. Everyone is telling us that there are good things to build off of in there."
The National Academy of Sciences also created a survey of satellite capability, which highlighted 15 important missions. The group of scientists called for increasing NASA's $1.4 billion Earth-science budget by $500 million. Without that cash infusion, American Earth-observation capabilities will decline.
"The extraordinary U.S. foundation of global observations is at great risk," the report concludes. "Between 2006 and the end of the decade, the number of operating missions will decrease dramatically, and the number of operating sensors and instruments on NASA spacecraft, most of which are well past their nominal lifetimes, will decrease by some 40 percent."
Obama's current budget plans have the NASA Earth-science budget reaching $1.65 billion by 2014, but the damage to the base of the country's capabilities during the Bush years continue to hurt current operations.
"It's no secret that Earth science did suffer at NASA and perhaps at NOAA under the Bush administration," Abdalati said. "Now, there are certainly efforts to reclaim that capability."
But American scientists are now playing from behind trying to replace or patch up the infrastructure that lets us understand what's going on with our planet. There are structural problems, too. Climate observation missions have very particular requirements, said climate scientist Inez Fung of the University of California at Berkeley.
"If you want to do climate change, you need a uniform set of data so that you can compare changes through time," Fung said. "It's a really tough problem."
That means researchers need continuity in the data they receive from satellites, which requires long-term planning and long-term planning requires consistent funding.
"Long-term planning for the federal government is really difficult," Powner said. "There are some good folks within NOAA, NASA and DOD who are very concerned about the long-term outlook. But it's tough to compete, especially when there is a downturn and smaller budgets. It's always that near-term focus."
And so the United States may lose its ability to understand what's happening on and to the planet.
"The agencies will not be able to provide key environmental data that are important for sustaining climate and space weather measurements," the GAO report concludes.
For Abdalati, the ability to observe Earth from space is fundamental to U.S. interests.
"If we just step back as a society and ask, 'How important is it that we understand how and why our Earth is changing?' Regardless of where you fall on man-made influences to climate change, we can all agree that there is a need to figure out what's going on and what's coming."
Images: 1) True-color image of Earth centered over North America captured by the MODISTerra satellite. The image is a composite of eight days of global coverage to remove cloud cover and sun-glint effects, gathered during the last week in March 2000./NASA. 2) Data collected by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite of cloud properties over the western Pacific Ocean off Russia's Kamchatka peninsula on August 10, 2001. Panel (a) True color composite of one MODIS granule showing marine stratocumulus clouds with ship tracks as well as upper-level ice clouds. Panels (b) and (d) Cloud optical thickness and effective radius derived from all cloudy pixels, where a separate color bar is used to denote clouds processed as ice and water clouds. Panel (c) Cloud-top pressure for all clouds in the image./ NASA.
See Also:
WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Tumblr, and forthcoming book on the history of green technology; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.**SC Paderborn 14-15 Home Kit
SC Paderborn 14-15 Away Kit
SC Paderborn 14-15 Third Kit
SC Paderborn 07 today released the new Paderborn 2014-15 Away Kit ahead of 14-15 Bundesliga season, while the SC Paderborn 14-15 Home Kit was released some weeks ago. It's the first time in the club history that Paderborn will play in the German first division against teams like Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund.The Paderborn 2014-2015 Jerseys are made by Saller, a small German sports brand and feature kfzteile24, a car parts supplier, as main sponsor. This is the new Paderborn 2014-15 Home Shirt, made by Saller.The Paderborn 14-15 Home Jersey is mainly black with satured blue details. The new Paderborn 14-15 Shirt has a blue collar and blue sleeve cuffs as well as blue band across the chest and little blue hoops on the front.The shorts of the new Paderborn 2014-2015 Home Shirt are black with a blue trim while the Paderborn 2014-2015 Home Kit socks are black with two blue lines at the back.This is the new Paderborn 2014-2015 Away Jersey, made by Saller.The SC Paderborn 14-15 Away Kit is based on the SallerTurin Teamwear Kit with the colors claret / yellow. The mainly wine red Paderborn 14-15 Away Jersey features lighter horizontal hoops, while the applications, the kit collar and the sleeve cuffs are yellow.The shorts and the socks of the new Paderborn 14-15 Away Kit are yellow / red.This is the new white Paderborn 2014-2015 Jersey, made by Saller.The white / black Paderborn 14-15 Third Kit is carried over from last season.The House is set today to begin consideration of an ill-conceived bill inappropriately entitled “Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015.” This bill would repeal the estate tax, a tax which only affects estates worth more than $5.4 million—the wealthiest 0.2 percent of estates in the county. Although only very few—and by definition the wealthiest—American estates are affected by the estate tax, these estates are large enough that its repeal will reduce tax revenues by $269 billion over the next 10 years. It is rather disconcerting that the Republican-led Congress wants to increase federal debt by $269 billion to give the wealthiest a tax break but can’t find $168 billion to fund the Highway Trust Fund to repair our crumbling roads and bridges.
Repealing the estate tax also has other serious adverse effects. First, the tax provides an incentive to the wealthiest Americans to leave part of their estate to charity since charitable contributions are tax deductible. Repealing the tax could dramatically reduce charitable giving as wealthy individuals decide to leave their vast estates to heirs rather than charities.
Second and more important, repeal of the estate tax goes against the founding ideals of our country as best summed up by the economist Richard T. Ely when he wrote on the estate tax in 1888:Donald Trump speaks at a rally on May 25 in Anaheim, Calif. | Getty Trump on 'Pocahontas' tweet: No regrets whatsoever
Donald Trump has no regrets about calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” he said Friday.
"None whatsoever," Trump told NBC News when asked if he had any regrets about his comments.
Story Continued Below
"Pocahontas is at it again!" he tweeted Friday morning. "Goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive U.S. Senators, has a nasty mouth."
His latest "Pocahontas" attack comes after Warren delivered a blistering speech Thursday night, in which she called the presumptive Republican presidential nominee a "loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud."
The Massachusetts Democrat responded to Trump via Twitter.
"No, seriously -- Delete your account," she said, echoing a viral line from Hillary Clinton, whom she endorsed Thursday evening.
In the past month, Trump has repeatedly referred to Warren as "Pocahontas," invoking the controversy surrounding Warren's assertion of Native American ancestry.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who blasted Trump's "un-American" remarks about the Indiana-born judge of Mexican descent presiding over class-action lawsuits against Trump University, said he didn't believe the Warren attack was racist.
"I thought it was funny," he told reporters on Friday, according to The Hill. "I think what he said about the judge was racist. When you're talking about a politician, you've got to be able to take a joke."
But the line isn't settling so well with certain advocacy groups.
Kitcki Carroll, executive director at United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund, told POLITICO that the organization expects all presidential candidates to engage in “respectful and diplomatic relationship with Tribal Nations.”
“Too often, we exist as a mere footnote in history. This often leads to issues of romanticizing, characterization, stereotyping, disrespect, and dishonor, for which there is no place and is unacceptable in the 21st century,” Carroll said. “We call upon the candidates to set the tone for an accurate, productive, and respectful national dialogue surrounding our Nations, our history, and our future.”Chiptune music attempts to make new sounds using old hardware, mashing Game Boys with Garage Band to create tracks that feel ripped out of the 8-bit era. Typically, though, you still listen to these songs using modern gadgets: but that's not the case with 8-bit Music Power. The upcoming album isn't available as a digital download or even on CD or vinyl. Instead, it comes on a cartridge made for the Nintendo Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES.
The 11-song album launches on January 31st in Japan for $30, and features a range of composers behind some classic, beloved games, including Ape Escape on the original PlayStation and NES shoot ‘em up Star Soldier. And since it plays on a device that plugs into your television, 8-bit Music Power also features some cool, pixelated visualizers to go along with the music.
Unfortunately, if you own an NES you won't be able to listen to the album without an adapter — the NES and Famicom used different cartridges — but Columbus Circle, the company behind the album, says that an NES release isn't out of the question, given the demand. "This was just a project among old Nintendo fans around us," a company rep told The Wall Street Journal. "We were surprised at the overwhelming reaction we've received."
Read next: Street Fighter II is finally getting the remastered soundtrack that it deserves
Verge Video: LSTN makes vintage looking headphones for a causeHenry D. Sokolski, the executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center and former Pentagon official and consultant to the Office of Net Assessment, has written a thoughtful and sobering study on the potential for nuclear proliferation and competition in the Asia-Pacific region. Published in January 2016 by the U.S. Army War College Press, Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future, presents a bleak but not altogether hopeless view of current trends in the development of strategic, intermediate and battlefield nuclear weapons, the spread of ballistic missile technology, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons-grade material throughout the region.
This vision is not shared by most of the world’s policymakers and academic theorists who instead see the world becoming a safer place as the United States and Russia continue to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, nuclear deterrence becomes virtually “automatic,” and non-nuclear powers obtain “peaceful” nuclear facilities and materials. Sokolski argues that the more sanguine views of the nuclear future in the Asia-Pacific fail to “fully explore the regional insecurities that arise with threatened nuclear weapons breakouts or ramp-ups,” ignore the “significant overlaps between civilian and military nuclear activities or the risk that ‘peaceful’ nuclear facilities or materials might be diverted to make bombs,” and downplay the potential strategic instability that may result from U.S.-Russian nuclear disarmament in the face of nuclear weapons build-ups by China, India, Pakistan, and possibly other regional states, and the proliferation of nuclear facilities and materials.
If current trends continue, Sokolski explains, “[t]he strategic military competitions of the next... decades will be unlike any the world has yet seen.” At the height of the Cold War, the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Soviet Union dwarfed those of the world’s other nuclear powers. Today, while the U.S. and Russia freeze or continue to reduce their nuclear arsenals, China, India, and Pakistan are increasing and modernizing their strategic nuclear forces; which means that “the next arms race will be run by a much larger number of contestants with highly destructive strategic capabilities far more closely matched and capable of being quickly enlarged than in any other previous period in history.”
According to Sokolski, Russia currently fields 3600 strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, the U.S. has 2130, China has somewhere between 190 and 900, while India, Pakistan, England, France and Israel each field between 100 and 400. “[T]he difference in the numbers of nuclear deployments between the top and bottom nuclear powers...,” he writes, “has fallen at least two full orders of magnitude and is projected to decline even further.” Moreover, because of the spread of weapons-grade material and nuclear facilities, at least six other countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan and Algeria – are considered “possible near-or mid-term nuclear weapons-ready states.” This means, writes Sokolski, that “the stool of nuclear deterrence will have many more legs that could give way in many more surprising ways than were possible a half-century ago.”
Other developments in this area provide additional reasons for concern. Russia and Pakistan have doctrinally indicated that they will use nuclear weapons first against opponents’ conventional forces. China is reconsidering its declared “no first use” policy. Russia, China, and North Korea have constructed or expanded underground nuclear complexes to both hide and protect nuclear forces. Twenty-four nations have acquired ballistic missile systems capable of delivering nuclear warheads.
Although much has been written about China’s rise as a global power and potential peer competitor to the United States, less attention has been paid to China’s growing nuclear arsenal and capabilities. Sokolski notes China’s efforts to modernize its nuclear-capable missiles; its production of sufficient weapons-grade plutonium and uranium to make as many as 1200 nuclear weapons; its development and deployment of ballistic missile submarines; its construction and deployment of the DF-41 ICBM; its deployment of multiple independently targetable warheads (MIRVs) on the DF-5 missiles; and its increased uranium enrichment capacity, which will enable China to build more than five hundred nuclear weapons per year by the year 2020. These trends threaten to undermine the effectiveness of the U.S. extended nuclear umbrella to Japan and South Korea, and cast doubts on America’s ability to protect Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia, and other allies in the region. That, in turn, could lead Japan and South Korea, and perhaps other vulnerable countries, to seek their own nuclear deterrent. “These trends,” Sokolski writes, “invite disorder. How much depends on how well the United States, Russia, China, and other key states deal with them.”
Sokolski recommends three broad approaches to reverse these trends:
1. Reassess and clarify China’s nuclear capabilities and shift nonproliferation and arms control efforts to the Asia-Pacific region.
2. Nuclear supplier states must adopt tougher nonproliferation standards and insist on better international safeguards related to the transfer of “peaceful” nuclear technology.
3. Be more proactive in anticipating and preventing nuclear proliferation developments.
Above all, those countries that seek to improve nuclear stability must avoid the pitfalls of diplomacy by inattention and repeated downplaying of nuclear risks that undermined lengthy but unsuccessful nonproliferation efforts with North Korea and Iran. Adding nuclear instability to a region already beset by geopolitical rivalries and flashpoints is a recipe for catastrophe.
Francis P. Sempa is the author of Geopolitics: From the Cold War to the 21st Century (Transaction Books) and America’s Global Role: Essays and Reviews on National Security, Geopolitics and War (University Press of America). He is also a contributor to Population Decline and the Remaking of Great Power Politics (Potomac Books). He has written on historical and foreign policy topics for Joint Force Quarterly, American Diplomacy, the University Bookman, The Claremont Review of Books, The Diplomat, Strategic Review, the Washington Times and other publications. He is an attorney, an adjunct professor of political science at Wilkes University, and a contributing editor to American Diplomacy.BEIJING (Reuters) - Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei announced plans on Monday to release a heavy-metal album that he said would “express his opinion” just as he does with his art.
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei talks on his mobile phone as he walks near the entrance to his studio in Beijing June 20, 2012. REUTERS/David Gray
The burly and bearded Ai said 81 days in secretive detention in 2011, which sparked an international outcry, triggered his foray into music.
“When I was arrested, they (his guards) would often ask me to sing songs, but because I wasn’t familiar with music, I was embarrassed,” Ai, 55, said in a telephone interview. “It helped me pass the time very easily.
“All I could sing was Chinese People’s Liberation Army songs,” Ai said. “After that I thought: when I’m out, I’d like to do something related to music.”
A court in September upheld a $2.4 million fine against Ai for tax evasion, paving the way for jail if he does not pay. Ai maintains the charges were trumped up in retaliation for his criticism of the government.
The world-renowned artist has repeatedly criticized the government for flouting the rule of law and the rights of citizens.
Ai’s debut album - “Divina Commedia”, after the poem by Italian poet Dante - is a reference to the “Ai God” nickname in Chinese that his supporters call him by. “God” in Chinese is “Shen”, while “Divina Commedia” in Chinese is “Shen qu”.
Two songs are about blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng, whose escape from house arrest last April and subsequent refuge in the U.S. Embassy embarrassed China and led to a diplomatic tussle.
One song on the album is called “Hotel Americana”, a dig at the U.S. Embassy for sheltering Chen. Another is “Climbing over the Wall” - a reference to Chen’s scaling of the walls in his village to escape, and Chinese Internet users circumventing the “Great Firewall of China”, a colloquial term for China’s blocking of websites.
Ai said he was not worried about government persecution for his album, which will be out in about three weeks. But he is gloomy about the prospects of it being sold in China, saying he will distribute the album online “because music is also subject to review” in China.
Ai said his time in the recording studio did not mean that he was moving away from art.
“I think it’s all the same,” he said. “My art is about expressing opinion and communication.”
Ai said he was working on a second album, with pop and rock influences, that he hoped people would sing along with.
“You know, I’m a person that’s furthest away from music, I never sing,” Ai said. “But you’ll be surprised. You’ll like it.”The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously today against the Obama administration in a major case testing the reach of federal power.
At issue in Bond v. United States was the conviction of Carol Anne Bond, a Pennsylvania woman sentenced to six years in federal prison under the Chemical Weapons Implementation Act after she smeared two toxic substances on the door knob and car door of a woman who had been carrying on an affair with Bond’s husband. According to Bond, the federal government exceeded its enumerated powers by making a federal crime out of her purely local offense. Today, the Supreme Court ruled in Bond's favor.
The Obama administration's "boundless" interpretation of the chemical weapons law, declared the opinion of Chief Justice John Roberts, "would transform the statute from one whose core concerns are acts of war, assassination, and terrorism into a massive federal anti-poisoning regime that reaches the simplest of assaults."
Joined by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, Roberts found that the federal law simply had no application to "an amateur attempt by a jilted wife to injure her husband's lover, which ended up causing only a minor thumb burn readily treated by rinsing with water." The power to prosecute such acts rests entirely in the hands of the states, the Court concluded. "There is no reason to think the sovereign nations that ratified the [Chemical Weapons] Convention were interested in anything like Bond's common law assault."
Writing separately, Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito concurred in the view that Bond's conviction should be overturned, but argued that Roberts' narrow ruling did not go far enough. In contrast to Roberts, these three justices argued that the chemical weapons law did cover Bond's conduct, and therefore the law should be struck down on constitutional grounds. "As sweeping and unsettling as the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1998 may be, it is clear beyond doubt that it covers what Bond did," wrote Justice Scalia. "So we are forced to decide—there is no way around it—whether the Act's application to what Bond did was constitutional. I would hold that it was not."
The opinion in Bond. v. United States is available here.NEW DELHI: India's cricket officials on Sunday announced a new sponsor for the scandal-hit Indian Premier League (IPL) after Pepsi pulled out of the glitzy Twenty20 tournament.
Chinese mobile company Vivo is set to take over as sponsor of the eight-team franchised competition, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said after a meeting.
“The IPL title sponsorship right has been assigned to M/S Vivo mobiles. Vivo is to give the bank guarantee in next ten days,” a BCCI statement said, without giving details.
The board confirmed last week that it was in discussions with Pepsi to find a solution to some “concerns” raised by the global drinks maker, without detailing the problems.
Pepsi secured the sponsorship rights for five years from 2013 for $62 million. The company has not given reasons for withdrawing from the deal.
But the IPL has been hit by scandals, including allegations of corruption and match-fixing, which critics say has sullied the sport's reputation in India.
A Supreme Court-appointed panel in July suspended two teams from the IPL for two years over illegal betting, throwing the competition into turmoil.
The BCCI, which oversees the hugely popular tournament, also announced on Sunday that it was seeking bids for two new teams to replace those suspended for two years.
ICC chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan agreed to step down as BCCI chief after being found guilty of a conflict of interest.
He was at the helm of Indian Cements which owns the Chennai Super Kings, one of the teams suspended.Since November 8th, President-Elect Donald Trump has been hard at work preparing his Administration, meeting with leaders, and beginning the work of Making America Great Again. His first success comes on the heels of an announcement that Carrier A.C. has reached an agreement with the President- and Vice President-Elect to keep more than one thousand American jobs in Indiana. On Thursday, the President-Elect will launch his thank-you tour with a rally in Cincinnati, continuing to join with the American people as he prepares to take on the role of both leader and public servant.
Meanwhile, the President-Elect has been making difficult choices about the individuals who will lead our nation in the years to come. His nominees for his cabinet and administration so far include:
In the coming weeks, the President-Elect is expected to announce further Administration picks as he continues to prepare for a successful term in office, leading our country and making America first again.
White House
CabinetI’ve seen some negative comments in regards to Diana Gabaldon’s best selling series Outlander.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I’d like to enlighten those who may have formed such an opinion without giving the books a chance. Now before you read on let me state that if you just really do not like stories that contain sex and violence then Outlander isn’t for you.
But if you’re one of those people who haven’t read Outlander because you think it’s a typical cheesy romance, I must say you are quite wrong. Yes Outlander is about two people who fall in love but it doesn’t focus on such frivolous things you might read in romances. I have enjoyed many cheesy romance novels for what they are – an entertaining quick read about a woman falling in love with a man she thought she hated – but Outlander is not one of them.
And here are five reasons why:
Strong female characters
Outlander is filled with some really great female characters. The series is told through the point of view of Claire Randall, a former WWII combat nurse. In the beginning, Claire doesn’t seem like much of a character, just a woman walking around the Highlands collecting flowers. But her story doesn’t begin until she falls through time and becomes stranded in the past. Claire is one of my favorite female characters of fiction. She’s got a whole lot of gumption and a calmness that is rare to find in a woman.
Historical fiction
Diana Gabaldon spends a good deal of time researching for her novels; that’s why it takes so damn long for her to write one! When Gabaldon began writing Outlander she knew nothing of Scottish history yet her books are filled with such rich detail of the culture and lifestyle of that period. The first two books take place during the time of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Claire, being from the future, knows the tragic outcome of the rebellion and fights with all she has to change history.
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Read a detailed synopsis here.
Sex
Yes there is a lot of sex throughout the series – really good sex I might add – but it’s not the main part of the story. The series focuses around Claire and Jamie, two people from different times and different worlds. It’s not only their love story but the story of their lives, their struggles, their happiness.
Real emotion
Gabaldon is perhaps one of the most honest authors I’ve ever read. What she writes is so vivid and real you can’t help but feel for her characters. This series will fill you with a mix of emotions you never thought a book could evoke. At one point you’ll be laughing at some silly remark of Jamie’s then swooning over his too perfect romance then unable to breathe because of what *spoiler* did to *spoiler* and then cry because you just can’t hold it in anymore. Then you’ll want to throw your book out the window because you can’t believe what just happened but continue to read anyway because you need to know that everything will be all right.
TV adaptation
When you hear that your favorite book is going to be adapted into a film or television show, it’s not always the best news. But Starz has really done an excellent job in putting together a fantastic cast and crew. It took them much longer than expected to find their Claire because they wouldn’t settle for just any actress. The images they have been releasing on Instagram of location shots in Scotland are breathtaking, not to mention the ones with Sam Heughan (Jamie). This is sure to be another Starz hit that will hopefully run for a long while considering book 8 of the series is coming out this June.
Check out the teaser trailer:It turns out that now-suspended John Jay College professor Michael Isaacson’s tweet about teaching “future dead cops” was no isolated incident.
Which ought to make it easier for officials to decide what to do with him.
The school put Isaacson — an adjunct economics professor, antifa leader and self-professed anarchist — on administrative (that is, paid) leave after his two-week-old tweet declaring it “a privilege to teach future dead cops” was reported.
John Jay’s student body is made up largely of those planning law enforcement careers, including police work.
But while school president Karol Mason condemned the “abhorrent” tweet (though never mentioning Isaacson’s name), she stressed that she was suspending him only to protect students and faculty who had “received threats.”
And since then, searches of Isaacson’s Twitter feed have uncovered more bile dating back nearly two years. Like this, from Dec. 5, 2015: “The solution to American gun violence is more dead cops.”
Or this, just a week before the tweet that got him suspended: “What’s even the point of a cop that isn’t dead?”
He also tweeted his hope that a student would defend black revolutionary Assata Shakur, a k a Joanne Chesimard, by “saying she didn’t kill a cop so I can say she probably did and it’s good.”
As an online petition demanding his permanent removal notes, Isaacson “has continually favored the notion that ‘dead cops’ would make the country a better place.”
Frankly, he has nothing constructive to teach anyone — certainly not at John Jay. The First Amendment gives him the right to spew his venomous drivel, but it doesn’t protect him from any consequences.
Time to cut this dirtbag loose now.I've used the Nexus One intensively for a few days at CES; what follows are my impressions from that experience. We also have a full review of the phone in the works, complete with benchmarks and comparisons with the Motorola DROID.
There was a considerable amount of "what's the big deal" in the collective online response to Google's Nexus One phone announcement, but you wouldn't know that from the show floor at CES. Everyone's talking about it, everyone wants to see it, and when I pull mine out and give a brief demo, I get a small taste of what it must be like to be a real celebrity.
In fact, the Nexus One is easily the most talked-about gadget from a vendor who has no presence at CES, and the mystery and rarity of the device are probably a large part of what have kept people talking.
But does the reality live up to the hype, especially after a few days of heavy use? The preliminary answer from this former iPhone and (probably former) Pre user is a qualified "sorta." Here are my thoughts on the Nexus One review unit that Google provided, in no particular order.
The hardware
I'm a sucker for the first-gen iPhone. I still have mine, and I like the way it feels: it's solid, dense, sturdy, and thin. It just feels less "cheap" than the iPhone 3G. This affection for the original iPhone form factor positively disposed me toward the Nexus One, because the new Google phone feels almost the same. The rounded corners, the metal, the glass touchscreen—it's as if HTC deliberately set out to resurrect the feel of the first iPhone.
As for the display, the 3.7 inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED screen is probably the device's biggest selling point. I'm not someone who reads much on the phone, mainly because the blogs I read in my spare time tend to have lots of photos, charts, graphs, and other non-text objects embedded in them. Neither the iPhone nor the Pre really have enough pixels to do this kind of reading justice, but the Nexus One gets considerably closer.
The OLED technology makes the screen a pleasure to use. My eyes feel more relaxed when I'm reading on the Nexus One, and it's a significant upgrade from even the best LCD screens in a way that's hard to quantify. In fact, I would actually rather read on the Nexus One than on my Macbook Air's LED LCD; I could even see myself reading long-form content on the phone, and I hope that Amazon brings a Kindle app to it, soon.
Google and HTC included a small bit of haptic feedback in the device, and it really works well. Whenever you tap certain core interface buttons, the device vibrates slightly, letting you know that you've tapped something important.
My only criticism of the hardware is that the little glowing pearl at the bottom of the screen seems pointless, but this could be because I'm not in the habit of using it. In most apps, it just acts as a scroll wheel, but by habit I use my finger to scroll. The pearl also glows different colors for different types of notifications, but I haven't bothered to learn what the color code is and I don't expect that I will.
The battery life on the Nexus One is excellent, so far. I've subjected it to a few days of hard use, Tweeting, IMing, e-mailing, doing RSS, surfing, and making a few brief voice calls, and the battery lasts all day. I haven't done any real benchmarking, but subjectively the battery life seems considerably superior to that of the Palm Pre.
On a final note, I've gotten very good results from T-Mobile both here in Vegas and in San Francisco. The only place I've had connection problems was the Las Vegas Airport; everywhere else, including on the CES show floor, calls have been clear and webpages have loaded quickly.
Meanwhile, gaming editor Ben Kuchera's iPhone has been practically unusable. Dropped calls and a slow 3G connections have given him fits, to the point where he forced me (at Nerf gunpoint) to include this comment on wireless service despite the fact that I planned to stick to hardware and software.
A word about Android
The Android 2.1 software is at once my favorite and least favorite part of the Nexus One experience. On the one hand, I'm thrilled to once again |
is because these things illumine my intellect irresistibly. The final ground of this objective evidence possessed by certain propositions is the adequatio intellectus nostri cum re [the agreement of our intllect with the thing known]. The certitude it brings involves an aptitudinem ad extorquendam certum assensum [an aptitue for extorting a ceretain assent from our intellect] on the part of the truth envisaged, and on the side of the subject a quietem in cognitione [ a quiet rest in knowledge], when once the object is mentally received, that leaves no possibility of doubt behind; and in the whole transaction nothing operates but the entitas ipsa [entity itself] of the object and the entitas ipsa of the mind. We slouchy modern thinkers dislike to talk in Latin,--indeed, we dislike to talk in set terms at all; but at bottom our own state of mind is very much like this whenever we uncritically abandon ourselves: You believe in objective evidence, and I do. Of some things we feel that we are certain: we know, and we know that we do know. There is something that gives a click inside of us, a bell that strikes twelve, when the hands of our mental clock have swept the dial and meet over the meridian hour. The greatest empiricists among us are only empiricists on reflection: when left to their instincts, they dogmatize like infallible popes. When the Cliffords tell us how sinful it is to be Christians on such 'insufficient evidence,' insufficiency is really the last thing they have in mind. For them the evidence is absolutely sufficient, only it makes the other way. They believe so completely in an anti-christian order of the universe that there is no living option: Christianity is a dead hypothesis from the start.
VI
BUT now, since we are all such absolutists by instinct, what in our quality of students of philosophy ought we to do about the fact? Shall we espouse and indorse it? Or shall we treat it as a weakness of our nature from which we must free ourselves, if we can?
I sincerely believe that the latter course is the only one we can follow as reflective men. Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found? I am, therefore, myself a complete empiricist so far as my theory of human knowledge goes. I live, to be sure, by the practical faith that we must go on experiencing and thinking over our experience, for only thus can our opinions grow more true; but to hold any one of them--I absolutely do not care which--as if it never could be reinterpretable or corrigible, I believe to be a tremendously mistaken attitude, and I think that the whole history of philosophy will bear me out. There is but one indefectibly certain truth, and that is the truth tbat pyrrhonistic scepticism itself leaves standing,--the truth that the present phenomenon of consciousness exists. That, however, is the bare starting-point of knowledge, the mere admission of a stuff to be philosophized about. The various philosophies are but so many attempts at expressing what this stuff really is. And if we repair to our libraries what disagreement do we discover! Where is a certainly true answer found? Apart from abstract propositions of comparison (such as two and two are the same as four), propositions which tell us nothing by themselves about concrete reality, we find no proposition ever regarded by any one as evidently certain that has not either been called a falsehood, or at least had its truth sincerely questioned by some one else. The transcending of the axioms of geometry, not in play but in earnest, by certain of our contemporaries (as Zöllner and Charles H. Hinton), and the rejection of the whole Aristotelian logic by the Hegelians, are striking instances in point.
No concrete test of what is really true has ever been agreed upon. Some make the criterion external to the moment of perception, putting it either in revelation, the consensus gentium (the agrrement of all nations], the instincts of the heart, or the systematized experience of the race. Others make the perceptive moment its own test,--Descartes, for instance, with his clear and distinct ideas guaranteed by the veracity of God; Reid with his 'common-sense;' and Kant with his forms of synthetic judgment a priori. The inconceivability of the opposite; the capacity to be verified by sense; the possession of complete organic unity or self-relation, realized when a thing is its own other,--are standards which, in turn, have been used. The much lauded objective evidence is never triumphantly there; it is a mere aspiration or Grenzbegriff [limit or ideal notion] marking the infinitely remote ideal of our thinking life. To claim that certain truths now possess it, is simply to say that when you think them true and they are true, then their evidence is objective, otherwise it is not. But practically one's conviction that the evidence one goes by is of the real objective brand, is only one more subjective opinion added to the lot. For what a contradictory array of opinions have objective evidence and absolute certitude been claimed! The world is rational through and through,--its existence is an ultimate brute fact; there is a personal God,--a personal God is inconceivable; there is an extra-mental physical world immediately known,--the mind can only know its own ideas; a moral imperative exists,--obligation is only the resultant of desires; a permanent spiritual principle is in every one,--there are only shifting states of mind;--there is an endless chain of causes,--there is an absolute first cause; --an eternal necessity,--a freedom; --a purpose,--no purpose;--a primal One,--a primal Many; a universal continuity, --an essential discontinutity in things, an infinity,--no infinity. There is this,-there is that; there is indeed nothing which some one has not thought absolutely true, while his neighbor deemed it absolutely false; and not an absolutist among them seems ever to have considered that the trouble may all the time be essential, and that the intellect, even with truth directly in its grasp, may have no infallible signal for knowing whether it be truth or no. When, indeed, one remembers that the most striking practical application to life of the doctrine of obiective certitude has been the conscientious labors of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, one feels less tempted than ever to lend the doctrine a respectful ear.
But please observe, now, that when as empiricists we give up the doctrine of objective certitude, we do not thereby give up the quest or hope of truth itself. We still pin our faith on its existence, and still believe that we gain an ever better position towards it by systematically continuing to roll up experiences and think. Our great difference from the scholastic lies in the way we face. The strength of his system lies in the principles, the origin, the terminus a quo [the beginning point] of his thought; for us the strength is in the outcome, the upshot, the terminus ad quem [the end result]. Not where it comes from but what it leads to is to decide. It matters not to an empiricist from what quarter an hypothesis may come to him: he may have acquired it by fair means or by foul; passion may have whispered or accident suggested it; but if the total drift of thinking continues to confirm it, that is what he means by its being true. [Here James has defended his pragmatist view of truth, well summarized in his first chapter of Pragmatism and excerpted in the text The Contnuing Quest as the readoing "What Pragmatism Means."]
VII
ONE more point, small but important, and our preliminaries are done. There are two ways of looking at our duty in the matter of opinion,--ways entirely different, and yet ways about whose difference the theory of knowledge seems hitherto to have shown very little concern. We must know the truth; and we must avoid error,--these are our first and great commandments as would-be knowers; but they are not two ways of stating an identical commandment, they are two separable laws. Although it may indeed happen that when we believe the truth A, we escape as an incidental consequence from believing the falsehood B, it hardly ever happens that by merely disbelieving B we necessarily believe A. We may in escaping B fall into believing other falsehoods, C or D, just as bad as B; or we may escape B by not believing anything at all, not even A.
Believe truth! Shun error!-these, we see, are two materially different laws; and by choosing between them we may end by coloring differently our whole intellectual life. We may regard the chase for truth as paramount, and the avoidance of error as secondary; or we may, on the other hand, treat the avoidance of error as more imperative, and let truth take its chance. Clifford, in the instructive passage which I have quoted, exhorts us to the latter course. Believe nothing, he tells us, keep your mind in suspense forever, rather than by closing it on insufficient evidence incur the awful risk of believing lies. You, on the other hand, may think that the risk of being in error is a very small matter when compared with the blessings of real knowledge, and be ready to be duped many times in your investigation rather than postpone indefinitely the chance of guessing true. I myself find it impossible to go with Clifford. We must remember that these feelings of our duty about either truth or error are in any case only expressions of our passional life. Biologically considered, our minds are as ready to grind out falsehood as veracity, and he who says, " Better go without belief forever than believe a lie!" merely shows his own preponderant private horror of becoming a dupe. He may be critical of many of his desires and fears, but this fear he slavishly obeys. He cannot imagine any one questioning its binding force. For my own part, I have also a horror of being duped; but I can believe tbat worse things tban being doped may happen to a man in this world: so Clifford's exhortation has to my ears a thoroughly fantastic sonnd. It is like a general informing his soldiers that it is better to keep out of battle forever than to risk a single wound. Not so are victories either over enemies or over nature gained. Our errors are surely not such awfully solemn things. In a world where we are so certain to incur them in spite of all our caution, a certain lightness of heart seems healthier than this excessive nervousness on their behalf. At any rate, it seems the fittest thing for the empiricist philosopher.
VIII
AND now, after all this introduction, let us go straight at our question. I have said, and now repeat it, that not only as a matter of fact do we find our passional nature influencing us in our opinions, but that there are some options between opinions in which this influence must be regarded both as an inevitable and as a lawful determinant of our choice.
I fear here tbat some of you my hearers will begin to scent danger, ancl lend an inhospitable ear. Two first steps of passion you have indeed had to admit as necessary,--we must think so as to avoid dupery, and we must think so as to gain truth; but the surest path to those ideal consummations, you will probably consider, is from now onwards to take no further passional step.
Well, of course, I agree as far as the facts will allow. Wherever the option between losing truth and gaining it is not momentous, we can throw the chance of guining truth away, and at any rate save ourselves from any chance of believing falsehood, by not making up our minds at all till objective evidence has come. In scientific questions, this is almost always the case; and even in human affairs in general, the need of acting is seldom so urgent that a false belief to act on is better than no belief at all. Law courts, indeed, have to decide on the best evidence attainable for the moment, because a judge's duty is to make law as well as to ascertain it, and (as a learned judge once said to me) few cases are worth spending much time over: the great thing is to have them decided on any acceptable principle, and got out of the way. But in our dealings with objective nature we obviously are recorders, not makers, of the truth; and decisions for the mere sake of deciding promptly and getting on to the next business would be wholly out of place. Throughout the breadth of physical nature facts are what they are quite independently of us, and seldom is there any such hurry about them that the risks of being duped by believing a premature theory need be faced. The questions here are always trivial options, the hypotheses are hardly living (at any rate not living for us spectators), the choice between believing truth or falsebood is seldom forced. The attitude of sceptical balance is therefore the absolutely wise one if we would escape mistakes. What difference, indeed, does it make to most of us whether we have or have not a theory of the Röntgen rays [x-rays], whether we believe or not in mind-stuff, or have a conviction about the causality of conscious states? It makes no difference. Such options are not forced on us. On every account it is better not to make them, but still keep weighing reasons pro et contra with an indifferent hand.
I speak, of course, here of the purely judging mind. For purposes of discovery such indifference is to be less highly recommended, and science would be far less advanced than she is if the passionate desires of individuals to get their own faiths confirmed had been kept out of the game. See for example the sagacity which Spencer and Weismann now display. On the other hand, if you want an absolute duffer in an investigation, you must, after all, take the man who has no interest whatever in its results: he is the warranted incapable, the positive fool. The most useful investigator, because the most sensitive observer, is always he whose eager interest in one side of the question is balanced by an equally keen nervousness lest he become deceived. [* Compare Wilfrid Ward's Essay, " The Wish to Believe," in his Witnesses to the Unseen, Macmillan & Co., 1893.] Science has organized this nervousness into a regular technique, her so-called method of verification; and she has fallen so deeply in love with the method that one may even say she has ceased to care for truth by itself at all. It is only truth as technically verified that interests her. The truth of truths might come in merely affirmative form, and she would decline to touch it. Such truth as that, she might repeat with Clifford, would be stolen in defiance of her duty to mankind. Human passions, however, are stronger than technical rules. " Le coeur a ses raisons," as Pascal says, " que la raison ne connait pas [The heart has its reasons which the mind does not understand]" and however indifferent to all but the bare rules of the game the umpire, the abstract intellect, may be, the concrete players who furnish him the materials to judge of are usually, each one of them, in love with some pet'live hypothesis'of his own. Let us agree, however, that wherever there is no forced option, the dispassionately judicial intellect with no pet hypothesis, saving us, as it does, from dupery at any rate, ought to be our ideal.
The question next arises: Are there not somewhere forced options in our speculative questions, and can we (as men who may be interested at least as much in positively gaining truth as in merely escaping dupery) always wait with impunity till the coercive evidence shall have arrived? It seems a priori improbable that the truth should be so nicely adjusted to our needs and powers as that. In the great boarding-house of nature, the cakes and the butter and the syrup seldom come out so even and leave the plates so clean. Indeed, we should view them with scientific suspicion if they did.
IX
Moral questions immediately present themselves as questions whose solution cannot wait for sensible proof. A moral question is a question not of what sensibly exists, but of what is good, or would be good if it did exist. Science can tell us what exists; but to compare the worths, both of what exists and of what does not exist, we must consult not science, but what Pascal calls our heart. Science herself consults her heart when she lays it down that the infinite ascertainment of fact and correction of false belief are the supreme goods for man. Challenge the statement, and science can only repeat it oracularly, or else prove it by showing that such ascertainment and correction bring man all sorts of other goods which man's heart in turn declares. The question of having moral beliefs at all or not having them is decided by our will. Are our moral preferences true or false, or are they only odd biological phenomena, making things good or bad for us, but in themselves indifferent? How can your pure intellect decide? If your heart does not want a world of moral reality, your head will assuredly never make you believe in one. Mephistophelian scepticism, indeed, will satisfy the head's play-instincts much better than any rigorous idealism can. Some men (even at the student age) are so naturally cool-hearted that the moralistic hypothesis never has for them any pungent life, and in their supercilious presence the hot young moralist always feels strangely ill at ease. The appearance of knowingness is on their side, of naivete and gullibility on his. Yet, in the inarticulate heart of him, he clings to it that he is not a dupe, and that there is a realm in which (as Emerson says) all their wit and intellectual superiority is no better tban the cunning of a fox. Moral scepticism can no more be refuted or proved by logic than intellectual scepticism can. When we stick to it that there is truth (be it of either kind), we do so with our whole nature, and resolve to stand or fall by the results. The sceptic with his whole nature adopts the doubting attitude; but which of us is the wiser, Omniscience only knows.
Turn now from these wide questions of good to a certain class of questions of fact, questions concerning personal relations, states of mind between one man and another. Do you like me or not?--for example. Whether you do or not depends, in countless instances, on whether I meet you half-way, am willing to assume that you must like me, and show you trust and expectation. The previous faith on my part in your liking's existence is in such cases what makes your liking come. But if I stand aloof, and refuse to budge an inch until I have objective evidence, until you shall have done something apt, as the absolutists say, ad extorquendum assensum meum, ten to one your liking never comcs. How many women's hearts are vanquished by the mere sanguine insistence of some man that they must love him! He will not consent to the hypothesis tbat they cannot. The desire for a certain kind of truth here brings about that special truth's existence; and so it is in innumerable cases of other sorts. Who gains promotions, boons, appointments, but the man in whose life they are seen to play the part of live hypotheses, who discounts them, sacrifices other things for their sake before they have come, and takes risks for them in advance? His faith acts on the powers above him as a claim, and creates its own verification.
A social organism of any sort whatever, large or small, is what it is because each member proceeds to his own duty with a trust that the other members will simultaneously do theirs. Wherever a desired result is achieved by the co-operation of many independent persons, its existence as a fact is a pure consequence of the precursive faith in one another of those immediately concerned. A government, an army, a commercial system, a ship, a college, an athletic team, all exist on this condition, without which not only is nothing achieved, but nothing is even attempted. A whole train of passengers (individually brave enough) will be looted by a few highwaymen, simply because the latter can count on one another, while each passenger fears that if he makes a movement of resistance, he will be shot before any one else backs him up. If we believed that the whole car-full would rise at once with us, we should each severally rise, and train-robbing would never even be attempted. There are, then, cases where a fact cannot come at all unless a preliminary faith exists in its coming. And where faith in a fact can help create the fact, that would be an insane logic which should say tbat faith running ahead of scientific evidence is the 'lowest kind of immorality'into which a thinking being can fall. Yet such is the logic by which our scientific absolutists pretend to regulate our lives!
X
In truths dependent on our personal action, then, faith based on desire is certainly a lawful and possibly an indispensable thing.
But now, it will be said, these are all childish human cases, and have nothing to do with great cosmic matters, like the question of religious faith. Let us then pass on to that. Religions differ so much in their accidents that in discussing the religious question we must make it very generic and broad. What then do we now mean by the religious hypothesis? Science says things are; morality says some things are better than other things; and religion says essentially two things.
First, she says that the best things are the more eternal things, the overlapping things, the things in the universe that throw the last stone, so to speak, and say the final word. " Perfection is eternal,"- this phrase of Charles Secretan seems a good way of putting this first affirmation of religion, an affirmation which obviously cannot yet be verified scientifically at all.
The second affirmation of religion is tbat we are better off even now if we believe her first affirmation to be true.
Now, let us consider what the logical elements of this situation are in case the religious hypothesis in both its branches be really trne. (Of course, we must admit that possibility at the outset. If we are to discuss the question at all, it must involve a living option. If for any of you religion be a hypothesis tbat cannot, by any living possibility be true, then you need go no farther. I speak to the'saving remnant' alone.) So proceeding, we see, first that religion offers itself as a momentous option. We are supposed to gain, even now, by our belief, and to lose by our nonbelief, a certain vital good. Secondly, religion is a forced option, so far as that good goes. We cannot escape the issue by remaining sceptical and waiting for more light, because, although we do avoid error in that way if religion be untrue, we lose the good, if it be true, just as certainly as if we positively chose to disbelieve. It is as if a man should hesitate indefinitely to ask a certain woman to marry him because he was not perfectly sure that she would prove an angel after he brought her home. Would he not cut himself off from that particular angel-possibility as decisively as if he went and married some one else? Scepticism, then, is not avoidance of option; it is option of a certain particular kind of risk. Better risk loss of truth than chance of error,-that is your faith-vetoer's exact position. He is actively playing his stake as much as the believer is; he is backing the field against the religious hypothesis, just as the believer is backing the religious hypothesis against the field. To preach scepticism to us as a duty until'sufficient evidence' for religion be found, is tantamount therefore to telling us, when in presence of the religious hypothesis, that to yield to our fear of its being error is wiser and better than to yield to our hope that it may be true. It is not intellect against all passions, then; it is only intellect with one passion laying down its law. And by what, forsooth, is the supreme wisdom of this passion warranted? Dupery for dupery, what proof is there that dupery through hope is so much worse than dupery through fear? I, for one, can see no proof; and I simply refuse obedience to the scientist's command to imitate his kind of option, in a case where my own stake is important enough to give me the right to choose my own form of risk. If religion be true and the evidence for it be still insufficient, I do not wish, by putting your extinguisher upon my nature (which feels to me as if it had after all some business in this matter), to forfeit my sole chance in life of getting upon the winning side,--that chance depending, of course, on my willingness to run the risk of acting as if my passional need of taking the world religiously might be prophetic and right.
All this is on the supposition that it really may be prophetic and right, and tbat, even to us who are discussing the matter, religion is a live hypothesis which may be true. Now, to most of us religion comes in a still further way that makes a veto on our active faith even more illogical. The more perfect and more eternal aspect of the universe is represented in our religions as having personal form. The universe is no longer a mere It to us, but a Thou, if we are religious; and any relation tbat may be possible from person to person might be possible here. For instance, although in one sense we are passive portions of the universe, in another we show a curious autonomy, as if we were small active centres on our own account. We feel, too, as if the appeal of religion to us were made to our own active good-will, as if evidence might be forever withheld from us unless we met the hypothesis half-way. To take a trivial illustration: just as a man who in a company of gentlemen made no advances, asked a warrant for every concession, and believed no one's word without proof, would cut himself off by such churlishness from all the social rewards that a more trusting spirit would earn,--so here, one who should shut himself up in snarling logicality and try to make the gods extort his recognition willy-nilly, or not get it at all, might cut himself off forever from his only opportunity of making the gods' acquaintance. This feeling, forced on us we know not whence, that by obstinately believing that there are gods (although not to do so would be so easy both for our logic and our life) we are doing the universe the deepest service we can, seems part of the living essence of the religious hypothesis. If the hypothesis were true in all its parts, including this one, then pure intellectualism, with its veto on our making willing advances, would be an absurdity; and some participation of our sympathetic nature would be logically required. I, therefore, for one, cannot see my way to accepting the agnostic rules for truth-seeking, or wilfully agree to keep my willing nature out of the game. I cannot do so for this plain reason, that a rule of thinking which would absolutely prevent me from acknowledging certain kinds of truth if those kinds of truth were really there, would be an irrational rule. That for me is the long and short of the formal logic of the situation, no matter what the kinds of truth might materially be.
I confess I do not see how this logic can be escaped. But sad experience makes me fear that some of you may still shrink from radically saying with me, in abstracto, that we have the right to believe at our own risk any hypothesis that is live enough to tempt our will. I suspect, however, that if this is so, it is because you have got away from the abstract logical point of view altogether, and are thinking (perhaps without realizing it) of some particular religious hypothesis which for you is dead. The freedom to'believe what we will'you apply to the case of some patent superstition; and the faith you think of is the faith defined by the schoolboy when he said, " Faith is when you believe something that you know ain't true." I can only repeat that this is misapprehension. In concreto, the freedom to believe can only cover living options which the intellect of the individual cannot by itself resolve; and living options never seem absurdities to him who has them to consider. When I look at the religious question as it really puts itself to concrete men, and when I think of all the possibilities which both practically and theoretically it involves, then this command that we shall put a stopper on our heart, instincts, and courage, and wait-acting of course meanwhile more or less as if religion were not true [ Since belief is measured by action, he who forbids us to believe religion to be true, necessarily also forbids us to act as we should if we did believe it to be true. The whole defence of religious faith hinges upon action. If the action required or inspired by the religious hypothesis is in no way different from that dictated by the naturalistic hypothesis, then religious faith is a pure superfluity, better pruned away, and controversy about its legitimacy is a piece of idle trifling, unworthy of serious minds. I myself believe, of course, that the religious hypothesis gives to the world an expression which specifically determines our reactions, and makes them in a large part unlike what they might be on a purely naturalistic scheme of belief.] till doomsday, or till such time as our intellect and senses working together may have raked in evidence enough, --this command, I say, seems to me the queerest idol ever manufactured in the philosophic cave. Were we scholastic absolutists, there might be more excuse. If we had an infallible intellect with its objective certitudes, we might feel ourselves disloyal to such a perfect organ of knowledge in not trusting to it exclusively, in not waiting for its releasing word. But if we are empiricists [pragmatists], if we believe that no bell in us tolls to let us know for certain when truth is in our grasp, then it seems a piece of idle fantasticality to preach so solemnly our duty of waiting for the bell. Indeed we may wait if we will, --I hope you do not think that I am denying that, --but if we do so, we do so at our peril as much as if we believed. In either case we act, taking our life in our hands. No one of us ought to issue vetoes to the other, nor should we bandy words of abuse. We ought, on the contrary, delicately and profoundly to respect one another's mental freedom: then only shall we bring about the intellectual republic; then only shall we have that spirit of inner tolerance without which all our outer tolerance is soulless, and which is empiricism's glory; then only shall we live and let live, in speculative as well as in practical things.
I began by a reference to Fitz James Stephen; let me end by a quotation from him. " What do you think of yourself? What do you think of the world?... These are questions with which all must deal as it seems good to them. They are riddles of the Sphinx, and in some way or other we must deal with them.... In all important transactions of life we have to take a leap in the dark.... If wc decide to leave the riddles unanswered, that is a choice; if we waver in our answer, that, too, is a choice: but whatever choice we make, we make it at our peril. If a man chooses to turn his back altogether on God and the future, no one can prevent him; no one can show beyond reasonable doubt that he is mistaken. If a man thinks otherwise and acts as he thinks, I do not see that any one can prove that he is mistaken. Each must act as he thinks best; and if he is wrong, so much the worse for him. We stand on a mountain pass in the midst of whirling snow and blinding mist through which we get glimpses now and then of paths which may be deceptive. If we stand still we shall be frozen to death. If we take the wrong road we shall be dashed to pieces. We do not certainly know whether there is any right one. What must we do?'Be strong and of a good courage.' Act for the best, hope for the best, and take what comes.... If death ends all, we cannot meet death better." [Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, p. 353, second edition. London, 1874.]
Transcribed into HTML by William O'Meara, copyright, 1997.
To send e-mail to Dr. O'MearaReaders routinely ask me whether it’s still possible to clean install Windows 10 with an unused Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 product key. Over two years after Microsoft first enabled this functionality, the answer is a resounding yes.
And I can think of a number of reasons why one might need to do so.
As noted, Microsoft first introduced this capability over two years ago, and in doing so it erased what had been one of the early install/activation issues with the then-new Windows 10.
Almost a year later, I reported that this capability—which was supposed to be temporary, by the way–still worked. Since then, I’ve tested this scenario on a very regular basis, probably roughly once a month. And as people have asked me about it, on Twitter or via email, I’ve told them that it still works.
But it’s been a while since I’ve written on this topic formally. So here goes.
It still works.
What this means is that you can download the Windows 10 Setup media—which is always the latest version, so you’ll get Windows 10 version 1709, or the Fall Creators Update, at the time of this writing—and perform a clean install of the OS on any PC. And then you can activate that install of Windows 10 using an unused retail Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 product key. And it will just work.
You may think that most people will never need to do this. If your PC was already running Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or any version of Windows 10, a clean install of Windows 10 today will probably activate automatically anyway.
And that’s fair. A better way to look at this is that most people simply won’t be able to do this anyway. I mean, who has a bunch of unused retail Windows product keys hanging around anyways?
Some might. And if you have or have had an MSDN or TechNet subscription, all those old product keys will work too.
So let’s think about the scenarios where this might be useful.
It’s rare, but you might have a newly-built or purchased PC that did not come with any version of Windows.
You might want to clean install Windows 10 in a virtual machine (VM).
You might want to clean install Windows 10 on a Mac, either in Boot Camp or virtually.
You might want to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 10 Pro. Assuming you have the right kind of Windows 7, 8, 8.1 product key, this will work too. (See below.)
The unusual nature of most of these scenarios is what I think explains why this functionality is still working even though it was supposed to be temporary. It doesn’t hurt anyone. And if you really do need to do this, it’s nice to have.
That said, there are some important caveats.
That old Windows product key can only activate against an equivalent Windows 10 product edition. For example, a product key for Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium can be used to activate Windows 10. And Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate product keys can activate Windows 10 Pro. It has to be a retail key, not a key that came with a computer. And it has to be unused, though there is some anecdotal evidence that even used keys will work in some cases. (And you could always call Microsoft support, explain the situation, and try for a phone activation.)
And here’s a fun future use for this feature. If you purchase a Windows 10 S-based and do not upgrade to Windows 10 Pro before the free upgrade offer ends next year, you can use a valid Windows 7, 8, 8.1 to do so. Yes. I’ve tried that too.
Anyway, you can activate Windows 10 at any time by navigating to Settings > Update & security > Activation. If it’s not activated, or if you simply want to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 10 Pro, you can do so from there.A rocket exploded during a test flight at the SpaceX Rocket Development and Test Facility in McGregor, Texas. An anomaly crept during the flight, triggering the rocket to self-detonate. No injuries are reported, and rumours are rampant.
While an unintentionally explosive test flight is a shocking thing to our risk-adverse society, it’s actually an indicator of a healthy testing program. If we never push against the edges of what works and what we understand, we never learn something new. While details are scarce about what happened (and will be until SpaceX has time for a proper investigation), whatever it was it’s a good thing to learn about in a controlled situation instead of accidentally during a commercial load with payloads (or, worse yet, people) at risk.
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Explosion and smoking debris over the SpaceX test facility in McGregor, Texas. Image credit: Amanda Spence
While SpaceX’s manufacturing arm is elsewhere, every new engine goes through testing at McGregor, along with all prototypes being developed for future missions. SpaceX can be fairly quiet about the details of what they’re testing, both to keep proprietary secrets and to avoid running afoul of federal law prohibiting assisting foreign weapon development. So far, we know the specific craft being tested was a new prototype under development to replace the Grasshopper, a three-engine version of the Falcon 9 Reusable.
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The McGregor facility was upgraded in 2012 when SpaceX bought surrounding farmland and constructed a concrete pad to run tests for the Grasshopper reusable rocket program.
A Grasshopper behaving normally during a test flight on 7 October 2013. Image credit: SpaceX
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By October 2012, at least one engine test was happening every day, with the pace expected to keep increasing. In the spring of 2013, the facility also became the testing grounds for the loud, powerful Merlin 1D engines, the first-stage engine for the Falcon 9 rocket. Even the beloved Dragon, the reusable spacecraft, makes its way through the facility frequently. After each mission to the space station, the capsule is sent to McGregor to reclaim any excess fuel, clean it up, and do any |
phrase is often used to describe informal and temporary arrangements in political affairs. For example, if two sides reach a modus vivendi regarding disputed territories, despite political, historical or cultural incompatibilities, an accommodation of their respective differences is established for the sake of contingency.
In diplomacy, a modus vivendi is an instrument for establishing an international accord of a temporary or provisional nature, intended to be replaced by a more substantial and thorough agreement, such as a treaty.[2] Armistices and instruments of surrender are intended to achieve a modus vivendi.
Examples [ edit ]
In Season 1, Episode 25, of Star Trek: The Original Series, entitled "The Devil in the Dark", Captain James T. Kirk used the term to describe a possible relationship between miners on a Federation planet and a rock tunneling indigenous species called 'The Horta'. He said, "Seems to me we could make an agreement, reach a modus vivendi. They tunnel, you collect and process, and your processing operation would be a thousand times more profitable."[3]
The term often refers to Anglo-French relations from the 1815 end of the Napoleonic Wars to the 1904 Entente Cordiale.[citation needed]
See also [ edit ]The senior senator from Delaware will become the 51st sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Washington Blade has learned. In response to a Washington Blade inquiry, the office of Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) confirmed on Monday that he’ll sign on as a co-sponsor to the bill. Ian Sams, a Carper spokesperson, said Carper is “signing on as a co-sponsor of ENDA.” “Sen. Carper believes it is important for federal law to explicitly prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation – in the same way that current law addresses race, sex or religion – in order to ensure that all Americans are protected equally under the law,” Sams added.
This is good news, at least on a symbolic level:Having a majority of the U.S. Senate on record supporting ENDA is good, but what ultimately matters is whether it becomes law. As we all know, it takes 60 votes to get anything done in the hopelessly dysfunctional Senate—having 51 co-sponsors isn't enough, by itself, for passage. Still, it's unusual for a bill to have this many co-sponors. Of the four bills signed into law this year that originated in the Senate, only the Violence Against Women Act had more co-sponors—61.
As with most things, Congress is lagging behind the public, which strongly supports the principle of non-discrimination embodied in ENDA. Just today, Public Policy Polling released a poll showing 71 percent of North Carolinians believe that employers should not be allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, including 58 percent of Republicans. Now, with Majority Leader Harry Reid and a majority of senators on board, ENDA has momentum. And while it's possible that Republicans will decide to filibuster it if and when it comes up for a vote, it's becoming increasingly clear that if they do, they will pay a political price.The federal government may or may not be open for business one week from tomorrow. That is potentially a problem for Metro and many other transit agencies that are receiving or are set to secure funding for transportation projects and other programs.
Here’s the latest update from Metro’s government relations staff:
Congressional Gridlock on Continuing Resolution Leads Federal Agencies to Update Plans for Shutdown
With less than two weeks before a potential shutdown of the federal government, the U.S. House of Representatives moved today to pass a continuing resolution that would defund the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Earlier this week, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy making clear that the President’s advisors would recommend that President Obama veto the House measure that was adopted today.
The U.S. Senate, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), has vowed to adopt a continuing resolution without provisions that defund the ACA. The considerable gap between the House and Senate is leading some observers to conclude that a shutdown of the federal government is likely if a continuing resolution is not adopted by September 30, 2013.
In preparation for a potential shutdown of the federal government, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued a memorandum directing all federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation, to update their plans in the event that Congress is unable to adopt a continuing resolution by September 30, 2013.
According to the OMB, the Antideficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from incurring obligations that are in advance of, or that exceed, an appropriation. How this provision will be executed by the U.S. Department of Transportation is, at present, unclear.
We are working with our federal partners at the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, among others, to fully understand how they will be operating under a possible shutdown of the federal government and specifically, how their actions will impact ongoing projects and programs at our agency. We will keep the Board informed on this matter as Congress continues to debate a resolution next week.Valve’s first SteamVR headset the HTC Vive is coming to UK’s biggest gaming event EGX 2015 at Birmingham’s NEC September 24-27. This’ll be the first time the hardware has been shown publicly in the UK and will available to try throughout EGX’s 4 day run.
EGX is the UK’s biggest gaming expo, and it’s growing. With visitor numbers expected to exceed 75,000 over the event’s 4 day run this year, the show formerly known as Eurogamer Expo runs from 24th to 27th September and takes place at The NEC, Birmingham.
Gaming expos the world over have seen a growth in the presence of virtual reality over the last few years and, as consumer hardware launches for all three major VR players loom large, EGX 2015 will be no exception.
Get EGX 2015 Tickets
HTC’s Vive is the first headset to be built for Valve’s SteamVR platform. It was launched at this year’s Mobile World Congress and, along with Valve’s SteamVR controllers, went on to dominate the Game Developer Conference shortly afterwards. Road to VR‘s Ben Lang described the system as capable of creating a “…stage of constant presence” after his time with the system at GDC, and he’s not a man who’s easily impressed.
Along with the HTC Vive’s UK public debut, Valve’s Chet Faliszek will be giving a talk at 3pm on the 24th that looks forward to “The year ahead in VR”, a follow-up to his EGX Rezzed talk earlier in the year. The HTC Vive is scheduled go on sale before the end of the year and first to market with Oculus’ Rift and Sony’s Morpheus set to ship in Q1 and Q2 2016 respectively.
So, if you’re interested in being one of the first in the UK to catch a glimpse at the future of gaming, grab yourself some tickets over at the EGX website.A few days ago a German longitudinal study was published that explored the connection between gaming and sexist attitudes. The results broadly show that playing videogames doesn't make people sexist.
The study was based around cultivation theory, which posits that long-term exposure to media content can affect our perception of the world around us.
So playing lots of videogames should affect people in some way. This study explored whether videogames modified sexist attitudes amongst its participants.
In order to ensure a degree of reliability in these findings, there are also two elements that should be highlighted. The first is the fact this was a longitudinal study and the second is who funded the research.
Longitudinal studies are undertaken over a period of time, with snapshots of data taken within that. In this instance large samples of participants from the age of 14 and up were included in three waves of testing over a few years, starting back in 2011. That’s a lot of data and, more importantly, it also predates any current controversy regarding the belief that playing games somehow makes people sexist.
As for who funded the research if it were a games publisher then that would call the study into question, as they would clearly have a vested interest in the results. In fact it was independently funded by the European Research Council.
Those two important points aside, as the study was conducted in Germany it’s unclear how applicable these findings would be to other countries. The study also took a very broad view of videogames and didn’t specifically target games with sexualized content.
That said the fact the study took such a general view helps to appraise the medium of gaming as a whole. Especially as there are those that have been saying that gaming itself is somehow ethically and morally bankrupt as a medium, the results from this study (in Germany at least) don’t back that up.
Considering the history of gaming, these results aren't overly surprising. With classic games like Metroid featuring strong female protagonists such as Samus Aran (shown above), the argument that gaming as a whole is inherently sexist clearly doesn't acknowledge the full scope of what gaming offers.
While it would be good to see how a similar study would fare in the US and maybe even with increased genre specificity, the fact that German gamers weren’t adversely affected in terms of their attitudes from a wide variety of games is noteworthy and interesting.
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Read my Forbes blog here.Image copyright Christopher Basu Image caption The researchers hope to understand how the animals evolved to be so "bizarrely long-necked"
Scientists have worked out the anatomical secret to giraffes' long and spindly - but strong - legs.
Researchers from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) of London found that a supportive ligament is protected by a groove in the animals' lower leg bones.
This groove is much deeper in giraffes than in other animals, and the researchers say this helps the spindly-legged giants support their bodyweight.
The work was outlined at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting.
"Giraffes are heavy animals (about 1,000kg), but have unusually skinny limb bones for an animal of this size," explained Mr Christopher Basu, the PhD student who led the research.
"This means their leg bones are under high levels of mechanical stress.
"I'm interested in how giraffe have evolved from their modestly-proportioned ancestors to these bizarrely long-necked, long-legged animals that we see today," he told BBC News.
This evolution has resulted in an animal with very long legs but relatively little muscle.
"It turns out," explained Prof John Hutchinson from the RVC, "that the suspensory ligament plays an important role".
The team took its measurements from the legs of giraffes that had died in captivity, using a hydraulic press to apply forces to the legs to simulate bodyweight.
This showed that the legs remained upright and stable with no additional support, even when the scientists applied loads slightly greater than a giraffe's body weight.
Image caption Giraffes can support their bodyweight while not engaging too much muscle
Their specialised anatomy, Mr Basu explained, "adds great stiffness to giraffe limbs".
This means that giraffes can support their huge weight without actively engaging as much muscle, which reduces fatigue.
"We're learning new things about giraffe anatomy," Mr Basu told BBC News.
"This is hugely beneficial to today's living giraffes; what we learn here can help to advance medical care for giraffes in zoos."
The findings, the team say, will ultimately help link the anatomy of modern giraffes with their extinct prehistoric ancestors.
"And robotics often draws inspiration from animal movement," said Mr Basu.
"So studies of this long-legged long-necked animal could inspire such oddly proportioned robotic - or even prosthetic - designs."Marc Lépine walked into Montreal’s École Polytechnique 23 years ago Friday afternoon, carrying a garbage bag with a gun inside. He was hunting women.
Advocate Wendy Cukier of Ryerson University says she'll keep fighting to preserve what is left of gun control.
He shot the first one, Maryse Laganière, in the hall. He then proceeded to classroom 303, where he demanded the female students be separated from the men. “I want the women. You’re all a bunch of feminists,” he said. He lined the girls up against the wall and shot them. “I hate feminists.”
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By the time he was done, Lépine had murdered 14 women. He then turned his gun on himself. That gun, a Sturm Ruger Mini-14, was a semi-automatic hunting rifle. Lépine bought it at a sports store in downtown Montreal two weeks before. He told the store clerk he was going after “just small game.” It was easy for Lépine to buy that gun. He needed only to show he had no record of violent crime or mental health problems and hand over $10. That got him a firearms acquisition certificate. The gun and ammunition cost him $765. If he’d had more money, he could have bought a bouquet of guns and no one would have known. “When I found out they were selling military weapons to civilians, I was completely shocked,” says Wendy Cukier. “There were six million rifles and shotguns in Canada and no one knew who had them. It was completely irrational. You have no control if you have no information.” Cukier is the vice-president of research and innovation at Ryerson University’s school of management. She is also the president of the country’s gun control lobby. She launched the Coalition for Gun Control in the weeks following the Montreal Massacre.
Because of Cukier and her coalition, it’s slightly harder to get a rifle or shotgun in Canada 23 years later. You need to take a training course, for one. You need to renew your licence every five years and produce it to buy ammunition. When you apply for a licence, your spouse is alerted.
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Because of Cukier, every legal long gun in Canada was registered. That meant that unlike in Lépine’s era, police knew who owned 7.1 million rifles and shotguns. Until last month. That’s when Public Safety Minster Vic Toews’ spokesperson announced gleefully that those records, except the ones from Quebec, had been destroyed. The government, she said, was proud. What’s worse, this year the Conservative government cut any screening that happened at the gun sales counter. Sales clerks no longer have to verify a gun licence before selling a rifle or shotgun. And the government has forbidden them from recording the names of purchasers, a law that had been in place for 35 years. So, the police trail on any rifle or shotgun will now go cold at the hunting shop. Gun owners will no longer be hounded by bureaucracy. They can freely hunt their small game. The gun lobby has always argued that the registry would not have saved those 14 young women. It wouldn’t have prevented Lépine from carrying out his deranged plan. They are right. Police didn’t need to trace that gun back to Lépine. They found it near his body. But the registry saved the lives of many, many other women. By Cukier’s count, statistically, it has saved more than 600 lives every year in Canada. “That’s a fairly significant drop,” Cukier told me from her office at Ryerson. “If you achieved a reduction of 50 per cent of people killed in any other circumstance — cancer, car crashes — people would proclaim it a huge success and ask what else we could do.” Take the Sudbury woman breaking up with her husband in January. Newspaper accounts say he roared away from police, distraught, with a shotgun in his car. When police found him at home, their search turned up three guns. But the registry revealed he had another. Police removed a 12-gauge shotgun two days later. Perhaps he wouldn’t have used any of those guns. But maybe, just maybe, he would have. Then, there’s Heather Imming, the Ottawa woman whose former husband Bill beat her with a tire iron to within an inch of her life. The reason he didn’t kill her, she says, is police had seized his two guns — an AK-47 and another long gun. “I firmly believe that if they hadn’t taken the guns, I would not be here,” she told the Star two years ago. Then there is Arlene May. She was a single mom in Craigleith, Ont., shot in the chest twice by her estranged lover Randy Iles in 1996. He was on bail for a laundry list of heinous charges against her. One of his conditions was not to have any firearms. But the Oshawa gun dealer didn’t verify his permit, so no flags went off, and that was that. May became small game. As Cukier says, more regulation means more safety. I hate bureaucracy as much as any other person, except when it could save my life. Every Dec. 6 since Lépine walked into the Polytechnique is a sorrowful day. But this year’s unstitching of its legacy makes it doubly tragic. “I just hope we don’t have to witness another tragedy for Canadians to know what is at stake,” Cukier says. Cukier will go to a memorial today, as she does every year. She says she will keep on fighting against the Conservative plan to dismantle what’s left of gun control in this country. We should all help her. Catherine Porter usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: cporter@thestar.caThe deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft is upon us. It looks like we’ll have a record 92 (at minimum) declarations this year, easily topping last year’s record of 73. This draft should be among the most talent-laden in recent history.
Why the sudden exodus? Blame the new rookie wage scale, which rewards less money to first round draft picks and delays the big payout until a player’s second contract. That means the more time spent in the league, the better. A lot of these players want to get moving on proving themselves, even if they are a late round pick at the start.
Here’s the unofficial list of early entries as of the Jan. 15 deadline. The NFL will have an official list on Jan. 19:
Davante Adams, WR, Fresno State
Jace Amaro, TE, Texas Tech
George Atkinson III, RB, Notre Dame
Dion Bailey, S, USC
Odell Beckham, Jr., WR, LSU
Kapri Bibbs, RB, Colorado State
Brendan Bigelow, RB, California
Russell Bodine, C, North Carolina
Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida
Chris Boyd, WR, Vanderbilt
Carl Bradford, DE/OLB, Arizona State
Bashaud Breeland, DB, Clemson
Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
Martavis Bryant, WR, Clemson
Ka’Deem Carey, RB, Arizona
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, DB, Alabama
Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina
Brandon Coleman, WR, Rutgers
Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State
Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State
Isaiah Crowell, RB, Alabama State
Jonathan Dowling, S, Western Kentucky
Kony Ealy, DE, Missouri
Dominique Easley, DT, Florida
Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina
Bruce Ellington, WR, South Carolina
Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M
Ego Ferguson, DT, LSU
Mike Flacco, TE, New Haven
Cameron Fleming, OT, Stanford
Khairi Fortt, LB, California
Austin Franklin, WR, New Mexico State
Devonta Freeman, RB, Florida State
Xavier Grimble, TE, USC
Vic Hampton, CB, South Carolina
Jeremy Hill, RB, LSU
Adrian Hubbard, LB, Alabama
Kameron Jackson, CB, California
Anthony Johnson, DT, LSU
Storm Johnson, RB, UCF
Henry Josey, RB, Missouri
Cyrus Kouandjio, OT, Alabama
Jarvis Landry, WR, LSU
Cody Latimer, WR, Indiana
Demarcus Lawrence, DE, Boise State
Marqise Lee, WR, USC
A.C. Leonard, TE, Tennessee State
Colt Lyerla, TE, Oregon
Aaron Lynch, DE, USF
Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
Marcus Martin, C, USC
Tre Mason, RB, Auburn
Terrance Mitchell, CB, Oregon
Viliami Moala, DT, California
Donte Moncrief, WR, Ole Miss
Adam Muema, RB, San Diego State
Jake Murphy, TE, Utah
Troy Niklas, TE, Notre Dame
Louis Nix III, DT, Notre Dame
Jeoffrey Pagan, DL, Alabama
Ronald Powell, LB, Florida
Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville
Loucheiz Purifoy, CB, Florida
Kelcy Quarles, DL, South Carolina
Darrin Reaves, RB, UAB
Ed Reynolds, FS, Stanford
Antonio Richardson, OT, Tennessee
Paul Richardson, WR, Colorado
Marcus Roberson, CB, Florida
Allen Robinson, WR, Penn State
Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn
Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State
Richard Rodgers, TE California
Bishop Sankey, RB, Washington
Lache Seastrunk, RB, Baylor
Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE, Washington
Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State
Yawin Smallwood, LB, UConn
Brett Smith, QB, Wyoming
Jerome Smith, RB, Syracuse
Willie Snead, WR, Ball State
Josh Stewart, WR, Oklahoma State
Xavier Su’a-Filo, OL, UCLA
De’Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon
Stephon Tuitt, DE, Notre Dame
Trai Turner, OG, LSU
George Uko, DL, USC
Pierre Warren, FS, Jacksonville State
Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
Terrance West, RB, Towson
James Wilder Jr., RB, Florida State
David Yankey, OL, StanfordI would like the record to show that not only do I take intelligent criticism to heart, but I even try to find value in the... less than brilliant stuff that is so prevalent here on the Internet. And I think I can help everybody do the same. So here we go: My helpful guide for getting value out of even the most worthless pieces of Internet criticism.
Criticism is important. It's important for the critic, in order to exercise their rational thinking. It's important for the consumer, in order to ensure the quality of the product they're getting. It's important for the creator, in order to help them grow and continue improving. I appreciate good criticism, why is why it hurts when people say that I don't take it very well. To those people, I say: WHAT?! I'LL WRAP MY DICK AROUND YOUR NECK LIKE A LASSO AND THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS UNTIL YOUR HEAD POPS OFF.
5 "TL;DR"
TL;DR (or occasionally TL;DW) is a strange criticism. It's as though the critic wants everybody to know that their disdain for the work has nothing to do with the work itself. Clearly, the fault here is with the critic themselves, for having the approximate attention span of a coked-out fourth grader. I, uh... I had a rough fourth grade.
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"Sorry," the TL;DR guy seems to say, "I didn't like this, but only because I genocided my brain cells by huffing keyboard cleaner in a dumpster behind Office Depot."
The temptation here is to chalk up TL;DR as meaningless, but I think there's something to be gained from it. Nothing is actually too long for people to read or watch -- it's only too long for the reward that the piece offers. George R.R. Martin is one of the most widely read authors in the world, and his sole goal as a writer is to create tomes you could also use to bludgeon a charging rhino to death, should the need arise. The Lord Of The Rings film trilogy is one of the most profitable in history, and half its runtime was tracking shots of grass. Even idiots can spend a very large amount of time on something. So TL;DR doesn't mean that it was too long in general; only that it felt too long at the time.
That probably means the piece in question needed to set the hook earlier. TV shows and movies have known this forever, which is likely why we see TL;DR much more than TL;DW. It's the reason we have the cold open. The first five minutes of a horror flick are always what-might-as-well-be-a-disembodied-pair-of-tits wandering around an abandoned amusement park before getting devoured by spider-clowns. A bunch of action, some boobies, some blood -- then, once the audience's interest is set, they jump back to the protagonist making toast or whatever. Same for TV; it's the reason the first minute and a half of every CSI shows us how the semen got inside the ocular cavity in the first place, then switches to the investigators who will eventually find that semen. A piece needs to hook the audience early, then keep that hook set, and nobody will say TL;DR or TL:DW -- even if you write like Neal Stephenson or make films like Ken Burns. Or hey, maybe there just aren't enough meaningless pictures shoehorned in there to trick the reader into thinking they're browsing through a Dr. Seuss book.Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler wants to take immediate steps to reduce cell phone theft, and he’s doing so by calling on OEMs and carriers to help. In a statement released Thursday, the FCC’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) released a list of opt-out recommendations that the wireless industry should adopt, including security features like remote-locking, remote-data-wiping and the ability to call 911 from the phone’s lock screen at no cost to the consumer. If cell phone makers do choose to adopt the FCC’s recommendations, users would need to disable the features on their own devices if they don’t want to use them.
The FCC’s goal is to set a national framework throughout the entire wireless industry when it comes to theft-prevention features, so users will more clearly understand what actions to take if they ever find themselves in situations like this. Wheeler comments:
If implemented, these features will result in more consumers using these powerful features which, in turn, will mark a key milestone in combatting smart phone theft.
He’s not wrong, either. If a number of device manufacturers and service providers can work together to adopt on-device theft prevention features, it can make a big difference. The problem is, there likely needs to be a substantial number of participants to really make a difference, which might be difficult to accomplish. As of now, this is just a recommendation, so we’ll have to see if anybody chooses to adopt the advice in the future.Official: Allies Discussing Ways To Arm Libyan Rebels
Enlarge this image toggle caption Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. and coalition leaders are discussing ways to arm the Libyan rebels, a senior military official told NPR.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said despite withering coalition airstrikes over the past week, Moammar Gadhafi's forces still have the advantage and continue to threaten civilians inside some cities.
Developments In Libya Enlarge this image toggle caption Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images U.S. and coalition leaders are discussing ways to arm the Libyan rebels, a senior military official told NPR.
French military officials say Libyan airspace is "under control" as Western airstrikes hit the North African country for a sixth day, hammering targets around the besieged city of Ajdabiya.
NATO was expected to announce a plan to assume command of the mission to protect civilians from attacks by Moammar Gadhafi's ground troops. On Thursday, NATO agreed to take control of enforcing the no-fly zone
Qatar became the first Arab member of the coalition to fly a mission enforcing the no-fly zone.
The United Arab Emirates said it will commit six F-16s to the no-fly operation, becoming the second Arab country after Qatar to join the anti-Gadhafi coalition.
Aid groups say the Gadhafi regime is blocking access to the wounded and suffering in violation of the laws of armed conflict.
The rebels have requested rocket-propelled grenades, which the official said could be used to counter Libyan armor.
When asked Friday about arming the rebels, White House spokesman Jay Carney was noncommittal.
"We are working with the opposition, consulting with the opposition, looking at ways we can assist them," he said, "and that work continues every day,"
Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, said Friday there were reports Gadhafi is arming "volunteers."
"I'm not sure whether they truly are volunteers or not," he told reporters. "And I don't know how many of these recruits he's going to get, but I find it interesting that he may now feel it necessary to seek civilian reinforcements.
Coalition Strikes
Meanwhile, Qatar on Friday became the first Arab country to fly missions in support of the U.N. no-fly zone over Libya, as coalition warplanes struck at Gadhafi's forces around the besieged city of Ajdabiya in the east.
A Qatari fighter jet flew its first sortie alongside a French warplane, as another Persian Gulf nation, the United Arab Emirates, pledged 12 jet fighters to coalition forces.
The French and British strikes on an artillery battery and armored vehicles were intended to give a measure of relief to Ajdabiya, where residents have fled more than a week of shelling and fighting between rebels and government troops.
French military officials said a warplane destroyed an artillery battery Friday, while Britain said its Tornado GR4 aircraft launched a number of guided missiles at Libyan armored vehicles.
The U.S. is expected to soon deploy a tank-killing plane, the A-10 Warthog, to strike at Gadhafi's ground forces.
Planning For NATO Command
NATO's military staff is drawing up detailed plans to assume full control of the no-fly zone over Libya in coming days.
Heard On NPR Conflict In Libya NATO To Enforce No-Fly Zone Over Libya NATO TO Enforce No-Fly Zone Over Libya Listen · 4:18 4:18
NATO envoys decided late Thursday to maintain the no-fly patrols as authorized by a U.N. Security Council resolution last week. They also instructed the military staff to draw up plans for replacing the coalition air force in carrying out airstrikes against Gadhafi's forces.
An official who asked not to be identified because of NATO rules said the alliance was hoping to launch both operations simultaneously within the next couple of days. NATO's top decision-making body still has to approve the airstrike plans. It meets on Sunday.
The no-fly zone has been in effect for nearly a week, and the U.S. has been eager to turn over command. NPR's Tom Bowman said there are currently two missions: One is to prevent the Libyan air force from attacking civilians; the other is to protect civilians from regime ground troops and safeguard the rebel-held city of Benghazi.
NATO has taken over command of the first mission, but it's still not clear when the alliance will take over the second mission. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said NATO is finalizing plans for that larger role, and American officials expect that to happen by the weekend.
"We are taking the next step. We have agreed along with our NATO allies to transition command and control for the no-fly zone over Libya to NATO," Clinton said. "All 28 allies have also now authorized military authorities to develop an operations plan for NATO to take on the broader civilian protection mission."
On Friday, Canada's Defense Minister Peter MacKay said that Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard had been designated to lead "yet-to-be-fully defined NATO operations."
The Pentagon indicated U.S. warplanes will keep flying strike missions over Libya.
"Nearly all, some 75 percent, of the combat air patrol missions in support of the no-fly zone are now being executed by our coalition partners," Gortney told reporters at the Pentagon. He said other countries were handling fewer than 10 percent of such missions.
At a NATO meeting in Brussels, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was in "absolute coordination" with the U.S. position that Gadhafi must go.
He warned that pro-Gadhafi forces and aides to the Libyan leader risked being prosecuted for war crimes if they remained by his side as civilian casualties mounted.
"Don't obey his orders; walk away from your tanks; leave the command and control that you are doing. Give up on his regime because it should be over for him and his henchmen," Cameron said.
Foreign Participation
The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates said Friday the Gulf federation will deploy 12 planes to help enforce the mission to protect civilians in Libya.
The UAE is the second Arab country after Qatar to send planes to aid the military operation against Gadhafi's regime.
Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan says the UAE committed six F-16s and six Mirage aircraft to "participate in the patrols" over Libya. His comments were published by the state-run WAM news agency on Friday.
No other members of the 22-member Arab League have publicly committed to taking an active role. The Arab League urged the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.
International military support for the rebels is not open-ended: France set a time frame on the international action at days or weeks, not months.
The possibility of a looming deadline raises pressure on rebel forces, as does a U.N. arms embargo that keeps both Gadhafi and his outgunned opposition from getting more weapons. The rebels were so strapped Thursday that they handed out sneakers and not guns at one of their checkpoints.
"We are facing cannons, T-72 and T-92 tanks, so what do we need? We need anti-tank weapons, things like that," Col. Ahmed Omar Bani, a military spokesman, told reporters in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital. "We are preparing our army now. Before there was no army, from now there is an idea to prepare a new army with new armaments and new morals."
"We've talked with our friends around the world and told them we need help," Bani said. "Not troops or advisers — airstrikes are enough....Our only foreign expert is Google Earth."
Opposition fighters said they've already appealed to some countries for weapons, NPR's Eric Westervelt reported from near Ajdabiya.
"They won't say what countries and they won't say when they'll arrive," he said. "But they are cautiously optimistic that in coming days some of this equipment may arrive."
The Gadhafi regime appeared equally hard-pressed, asking international forces to spare its broadcast and communications infrastructure.
"Communications, whether by phones or other uses, are civilian and for the good of the Libyan nation to help us provide information, knowledge and coordinate everyday life. If these civilian targets are hit, it will make life harder for millions of civilians around Libya," Moussa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, told reporters in Tripoli.
Amount Of Casualties Unknown
Libyan state television has broadcast images of blackened and mangled bodies that it said were victims of airstrikes in Tripoli. Rebels have accused Gadhafi's forces of taking bodies from the morgue and pretending they were civilian casualties.
A U.S. intelligence report on Monday, the day after coalition missiles attacked Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital, said that a senior Gadhafi aide was told to take bodies from a morgue and display them at the scene of the bomb damage for visiting journalists. A senior U.S. defense official revealed the contents of the intelligence report on condition of anonymity because it was classified secret.
U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham said late Thursday that he couldn't be sure that no civilians have died as the result of coalition operations.
"What I can be sure of is that we have been very, very precise and discriminate in our targeting," he told reporters at a briefing at Sigonella air base in Sicily.
Of the regime's accusations, Ham said, "They don't talk about the thousands of Libyan citizens which they have killed, which we know it is very true."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague went further, declaring emphatically that "there are no confirmed civilian casualties so far from coalition airstrikes." He said civilian casualties are being caused solely by the Gadhafi regime.
Civilians Forced To Flee
In Ajdabiya, rebels were holding the city center but faced relentless shelling from government troops positioned on the outskirts. The city has been under siege for more than a week.
"Any attempts by Gadhafi forces to push farther north from Ajdabiya to [Benghazi] have been repelled by Western airstrikes and rebels on the ground," NPR's Westervelt said. "But fighting continues in and around Ajdabiya, and rebels have been unable to push Gadhafi forces out."
In a report released Friday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said hostilities continued in "several locations" around the country, including Ajdabiya, Misurata and Zintin.
It said the fighting had caused "over 350,000 people to leave the country, an unconfirmed number of civilian casualties and rendered the affected areas virtually unreachable to aid workers."
The International Committee of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups said the Libyan government has repeatedly denied requests for urgent access to deliver aid to the wounded and suffering in Misurata, Zawiya and Ajdabiya.
Simon Brooks, head of the ICRC's Libya mission, said the regime is blocking access in violation of the laws of armed conflict.
"We are told that there aren't these needs," he said. "We don't find that credible. And it's inconsistent with the facts. That access needs to happen, and it needs to happen today.
There were about 1,000 refugees living in the desert outside the largely deserted Ajdabiya, but Benghazi remained fairly secure, Westervelt said.
One woman who fled Ajdabiya with her family said that "soldiers cut electricity, the water, the lights." Houda Ali Abdullah told NPR that her family was one of the last to leave their neighborhood in the besieged city and was now trying to hitch a ride to Benghazi.
"We heard the artillery coming in. I don't know what it was, a rocket or a big bomb... but I had to take my children and leave," she said.
Ali Abdullah also said one of her brothers was missing; another of her brothers was distraught over their missing sibling.
"Gadh |
," explained Wang Zhang, associate professor at State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.
Small spaces between the ordered nano-antireflective structures "can be thought of as a light-transfer path that let incident light rays into the interior surface of the biomorphic TiO2 -- allowing the incident light rays to completely enter the structure," Zhang continued. "The multiple reflective and scattering effects of the antireflective structures prevented the incident light from returning to the outside atmosphere."
Significantly, the team's work relies on "a simple and low-cost sol-gel (wet chemical) method to fabricate biomorphic TiO2 with precise subwavelength antireflective surfaces," Zhang pointed out. "The TiO2 was a purely anatase phase (a mineral form of TiO2), which has unique antireflective surfaces. This led to an optimally graded refractive index and, ultimately, to angle-dependent antireflective properties within the visible light range."
In terms of applications, the team's biomorphic TiO2 antireflective structures "show great potential for photovoltaic devices such as solar cells," Zhang said. "We expect our work to inspire and motivate engineers to develop antireflective surfaces with unique structures for various practical applications."
Even after high calcination at 500 C, the antireflective structures retain their morphology and high-performance antireflection properties. These qualities should enable the coatings to withstand harsh environments and make them suitable for long-term applications.
In the future, the team plans "to reduce the optical losses in solar cells by using materials with a higher refractive index such as tantalum pentoxide or any other semiconductor materials," Zhang said.
###
The article, "Angle-dependent antireflection property of TiO2 inspired by cicada wings," is authored by Imran Zada, Wang Zhang, Yao Li, Peng Sun, Nianjin Cai, Jiajun Gu, Qinglei Liu, Huilan Su and Di Zhang. The article will appear in the journal Applied Physics Letters on October 11, 2016 (DOI: 10.1063/1.4962903). After that date, it can be accessed at http://scitation. aip. org/ content/ aip/ journal/ apl/ 109/ 13/ 10. 1063/ 1. 4962903.
ABOUT THE JOURNALOne CEO left after years of controversy over his alleged sanctioning of sexual harassment and reports of outrageous mismanagement. Another stepped down after just two weeks when a controversial stance on a hot-button issue came to light. One resigned in the wake of a high-profile data breach. Two more departed following pressure by a longtime corporate raider. Two left their posts as their businesses struggled amid shifts in the marketplace. In one instance, a highly-regarded woman announced she was leaving, moving the gender equation at the top of corporate America. In another headline-making move, one of the world’s richest people relinquished the No. 1 job at a company he founded 37 years ago.
Our list of the biggest CEO departures of 2014 offers a window onto some of the most important shifts inside the country’s top companies. We had so many headline-makers to choose from this year, we expanded the list to a dozen CEOs from our usual 10.
No one CEO shift stands out as the most momentous this year. But at Forbes, where we track the world’s billionaires, we took special note of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s September decision to finally relinquish the top job. Ellison, 70, a University of Chicago drop-out, founded the enterprise software maker in 1977 with two partners and a reported investment of $2,000, including $1,200 of his own money. It’s now a company with a $187 billion market cap. Forbes pegs Ellison’s net worth at $52.7 billion, making him the world’s fifth-richest person. He was also the globe’s top-earning CEO in 2013, with $77 million in stock-based compensation. The Oracle CEO job will be shared by co-president Mark Hurd, 57, and Safra Catz, 53, co-president and chief financial officer. Ellison will stay very involved with the company as chairman, continuing to oversee technology development and making final calls on corporate decisions.
As for controversies, Dov Charney, 45, of T-shirt maker American Apparel is unrivaled. After founding the company in 1991 at age 20, the Montreal native built annual sales to $634 million, but the company is in the red, with some $300 million in losses since 2010. Over the years he has been accused of sexually harassing employees, allowing nude photos of a former staffer to be posted online, and misusing company funds for personal enrichment. He had a crazily centralized management style, holding a weekly meeting where store managers around the world, from Seoul to Santa Barbara, were required to call in. If they didn’t measure up, he attacked. According to one lawsuit covered by Bloomberg, Charney literally rubbed dirt in the face of a Malibu store manager and berated him with expletives, at one point yelling, “Get your f---ing s--- together, fag. Where is your f---ing creativity? Get some f---ing girls in bikinis to stand on PCH [Pacific Coast Highway] and have them wave a f---ing American flag.” The board finally ousted Charney in June but he has not gone quietly, hiring Patricia Glaser, a lawyer who has represented celebrity clients like Paula Dean, to fight his ouster. The company has named turnaround specialist Scott Brubaker as interim CEO. Charney is still acting as a consultant to the company.
The other controversy-driven CEO ouster this year was benign by comparison. Brendan Eich, 53, CEO of browser-maker Mozilla, had given $1,000 back in 2008 to support Proposition 8, a measure that would have banned gay marriage in California (courts have since struck it down). Shortly after he took the top job at Mozilla in April, company employees put the news of his donation out on social media and the dating site OkCupid recommended that its users boycott Mozilla’s software. Mozilla asked Eich for his resignation just two weeks after he became CEO.
One CEO was pressured to quit after news that rocked the world of e-commerce: Gregg Steinhafel, 60, left the top job at Target in May, five months after hackers attacked the discount retailer’s online commerce site at the peak of the 2013 holiday shopping season, stealing information for as many as 70 million shoppers. The company had other problems, losing $941 million when it tried to open 200 stores in Canada in a matter of months last year. Though Target usually promotes from within, it brought in an outsider, Brian Cornell, to try to set things right.
Another big box retailer, home improvement chain The Home Depot, announced its widely admired CEO would step down just one month prior to a data breach that was even worse than Target’s, affecting as many as 60 million people. In August the chain had announced it would replace Frank Blake, 65, with the company’s U.S. retail president Craig Menear, 56, who stepped up to the top job in November. Home Depot has said it faces at least 44 civil suits stemming from the data breach. Blake won praise for the way he handled the crisis, taking responsibility and issuing a personal apology to customers.
While Target and Home Depot struggle with the challenge of data breaches, two other businesses fired their top executives as they wrestled with market changes that have battered their bottom lines. At Gap Inc., Glenn Murphy, 52, announced in October that he would step down from the clothing chain next year. Murphy has had a strong run over the last seven years, closing some stores, sprucing up others, cutting costs and expanding online offerings while growing Gap’s overseas penetration to 50 countries from 10. It also bought high-end chain Intermix and sportswear outfit Athleta. During his tenure the share price more than doubled. But lately as store traffic has fallen and more shoppers have gone online, Gap’s growth has slowed, with its flagship chain performing poorly. Murphy said he didn’t want to commit to another three-year plan. Art Peck, 59, head of Gap’s digital division, will take over as CEO. Murphy hasn’t said what he plans to do next.
Cellular carrier Sprint is also facing a declining customer base resulting from its slow adoption of the fast technology called 4G LTE, embraced by rivals AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. CEO Dan Hesse, 61, resigned in August as Sprint customers were jumping ship. The carrier has been saved from going under by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank, which bought a majority stake last year for $21.6 billion. Wireless service provider Brightstar founder Marcelo Claure, 44, has already replaced Hesse. Brightstar is also owned by SoftBank. Hesse has announced no new job plans since his departure.
At two big companies, consumer products maker Clorox and Hertz, billionaire activist shareholder Carl Icahn’s actions spurred CEO changes. Icahn had been pressuring Clorox to put itself up for sale, in the face of slowing revenue growth. In July he bid $10.2 billion to take over the company. Clorox fended off the offer but in September CEO Don Knauss, 63, announced he would move into a newly created executive chairman role. Benno Dorer, 50, who was in charge of its laundry, home care and international businesses, is taking the helm.
At Hertz, CEO Mark Frissora, 59, left the rental car company in September following Icahn’s calls for his resignation. Frissora became CEO in 2006 before Hertz’s IPO and he oversaw the acquisition of the Dollar Thrifty rental car chain. But that deal didn’t yield new profits for Hertz. Icahn, who has an 8.5% stake in the company, pushed for Frissora’s ouster last summer. Bloomberg has reported that Frissora could walk away with a $14 million exit package. No successor has been named.
There were three CEO departures this year that were a big deal, like Ellison’s, but were not a sign of corporate disarray. Two of them involved highly placed women. At Fidelity Investments, No. 21 on Forbes’ list of America’s largest private companies, with $13.63 billion in annual revenues, 84-year-old billionaire CEO Edward C. Johnson III is finally stepping aside after 37 years at the helm, handing the reins to daughter Abigail Johnson, 52, also a billionaire. The move ends years of speculation about succession plans and puts a woman in the top job at America’s second-largest mutual fund company. Abigail had been serving as president of FMR, Fidelity’s parent. The Johnson family controls 49% of the company. Abigail’s share is larger than her father’s; Forbes reports her net worth at $13.5 billion and her father’s at $7.5 billion.
While Abigail Johnson moves up, Patricia Woertz, 61, is stepping down from the helm of agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland. Woertz was one of just 26 women who headed America’s 500 top companies in terms of revenue. ADM is toward the top of that list, at No. 26, with $90 billion in annual sales. Under Woertz’s eight years in the top job, ADM expanded around the world. She’ll be succeeded Jan. 1 by ADM’s Argentine-born president, Juan Luciano, 53. Woertz’s departure doesn’t change the number of female CEOs among the top 500 companies, since Safra Catz will share the helm at Oracle.
Finally, another CEO departure at an iconic American company: Alan Mullaly, 69, stepped aside at Ford in a long-planned move that wound up happening six months ahead of time, effective July 1 of this year. Mullaly had been with the automaker since 2006 and was credited with turning it around following the financial crisis, selling or terminating brands like Jaguar, Land Rover and Mercury. Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields, 53, a 25-year Ford employee, took over the top job, as planned. In July, Mullaly joined Google’s board, two months after the search engine company revealed a prototype for its driverless car.
All of the ex-CEOs walk away from their jobs with significant financial payouts. Mullaly will also enjoy generous compensation at Google, where Bloomberg reports he is set to receive an initial grant of $1 million in stock, an annual equity award of $350,000 and a $75,000 cash retainer, plus expense reimbursements. Even American Apparel’s Dov Charney is reportedly getting a multimillion dollar exit package.This article is from the archive of our partner.
Chief U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth has ordered the U.S. government to unseal the 297-page transcript of former President Richard Nixon's secret grand jury testimony about Watergate, reports the Associated Press.
The testimony was "taken near Nixon’s California home in 1975" shortly after he left office, writes Washington Post federal courts reporter Del Quentin Wilber.
The government can still appeal the ruling, so we won't get to see the transcripts quite yet, but the grand jury testimony has long been one of the Holy Grails of amateur Watergate buffs, along with the 4,000 hours of Watergate-related recordings still sitting in the National Archives waiting to be released.
In his ruling, Dilberth sided with the scholars and historians who brought the suit. The key quote in the ruling, as highlighted by Wilber: “The special circumstances presented here--namely, undisputed historical interest in the requested records--far outweigh the need to maintain the secrecy of the records," writes Dilberth. "The Court is confident that disclosure will greatly benefit the public and its understanding of Watergate without compromising the tradition and objectives of grand jury secrecy.”
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.European Commission Vice-President Catherine Ashton speaks during the annual Munich Security Conference February 2, 2014. REUTERS/Lukas Barth
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is “seriously concerned” about China’s treatment of human rights campaigners after a spate of trials and detentions, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
In response to a Chinese crackdown on prominent rights activists, Ashton called on Beijing to implement pledges it made to the U.N. Human Rights Council and release those imprisoned or detained for peaceful protest.
The statement issued late on Saturday is an increasingly rare instance of EU criticism of China. The relationship between Beijing and Brussels has grown warmer as trade between the partners has doubled over the past decade.
China was granted a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council in November after it said it was committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Chinese people, though protestors at the time expressed doubts over its sincerity.
China convicted two anti-graft campaigners last week for their role in a protest calling on officials to reveal their assets.
Days earlier it sentenced Xu Zhiyong to four years in jail after he campaigned for the rights of children from rural areas to be educated in cities, as well as for officials to disclose assets.
Ashton said that Xu had been “peacefully advocating social justice and a society based on the rule of law”.
She said that the European Union is concerned about the health of some prominent human rights defenders and their families, who are under house arrest or imprisoned and are not receiving independent medical treatment.When I began doing this section I re-came across the "shamed by your english" advert and remembered that somewhere I had read a great parody of that somewhere, although I could not exactly remember where. It took a couple of days until I remembered the "1963" series and dug it out of its boxed-up home.
Having read a few Cracked magazines, a paperback sized compilation print of a similar title from the US called "Sick" and probably my body weight in American and Australian Mad magazines, I couldn't really be sure at first where this was.
Going through the series, I found that I had more and more of the source ads for the parody and most of these I had already scanned for the homage to the originals. Thus, the 1963 section was born.
My favourite line; "Plus, you how learn to emphasize big important words in eratic like manner, much like me!!!California’s spectacular state parks system — which ranges from statuesque redwoods to vast deserts and sweeping beaches — has hit some rough patches over the past five years with threatened parks closures, budget problems and even a famous drive-through giant sequoia tree falling down this winter in heavy storms.
But parks lovers are trying to inject some new visibility and money into the venerable system of 280 parks with a proposed commemorative license plate.
For the state Department of Motor Vehicles to begin producing the plate, which features an image of a redwood forest, it needs 7,500 pre-paid orders by May 18.
As of Sunday afternoon, it had only 647, and environmental groups are ramping up efforts to sell as many as they can in the next two months.
“Our fingers are crossed,” said Sam Hodder, president of the Save the Redwoods League.
“It is a steep hill to climb,” he said, “but I believe the people of California love their state parks. If they are made aware of this opportunity to put their love on their license plates, I think they’ll welcome it.”
The league, a non-profit group based in San Francisco, has preserved 200,000 acres of redwood forests since 1918, many of which were ancient trees more than 1,000 years old that would have been cut down. The group has added them to state parks such as Big Basin, Butano, Portola Redwoods, Humboldt Redwoods, Jedediah Smith and Prairie Creek.
The state parks plates cost $50 for first issue and $40 each year after, and for personalized plates, $98 for first issue and $78 each year after. To order, go to https://parksplate.parks.ca.gov.
Money raised if the plates qualify will fund specific state parks projects that the public can enjoy and appreciate, said Lisa Mangat, California’s state parks director.
“It will be used for new interpretive programs, new trails, and really defined purposes, and not just lumped into a big bucket of funding,” she said. “We want to track it and measure it and show the public what these parks plates have been able to support.”
California has 12 specialty license plates, ranging from a Yosemite plate that has raised $19.6 million for projects in Yosemite National Park to a recently approved Snoopy plate that raises money for California museums, to a whale-tail plate that has generated $26.5 million for coastal programs and a veterans plate that has raised $12.7 million for military veterans programs.
Together, they have raised a combined $217 million over the years, with the KIDS plate, featuring a small hand, having raised the most, $61.9 million, for child abuse prevention and children’s health issues.
The redwoods plate was designed by Wyn Ericson, an artist and middle school teacher in Napa County. Ericson’s work won first prize in a contest in November 2015 to select the best plate, chosen by a panel that featured representatives from state parks, Save the Redwoods League, Sempervirens Fund and the California Natural Resources Agency.
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The plate was authorized under a law that passed in 2012, and pushed by former state Assemblyman Jared Huffman of Marin County, who now is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
State law requires 7,500 plates to be ordered within a year for any specialized license plate to be printed. Backers of plates can get a one-year extension if needed, but the parks plate, which so far has not enjoyed the same level of attention as other plates, is in its extension period now.
If 7,500 plates are not pre-ordered by May 18, the money of people who ordered will be refunded.
California’s state park system began in 1864 when President Abraham Lincoln set aside part of Yosemite, including Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley, as a park under state protection (it later became a national park). The system began in earnest in 1902, when state lawmakers purchased redwoods in the Big Basin area after Andrew P. Hill, a San Jose photographer, launched a campaign to keep them from being cut down.
Today, California has arguably the finest state park system in the United States, with 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites and 4,500 miles of trails. More than 67 million visitors a year visit places as varied as Hearst Castle, Anza Borrego Desert, Sutter’s Mill, Mount Diablo, Mount Tamalpais and the elephant seals of Año Nuevo on the San Mateo County coast.
But the system has struggled with funding shortfalls, a maintenance backlog estimated at $1.3 billion, and storms this winter, which have closed four parks in Big Sur and toppled the famous Pioneer Cabin Tree, a giant sequoia that generations of motorists drove through, at Calaveras Big Trees State Park in the Sierra foothills. State parks leaders are looking for a reboot in the years ahead to generate new excitement and support.
“The California state parks system only exists because members of the public came together and said these are special places that should be set aside and preserved for their children and their children’s children,” said Mangat. “We really think about that. Making the connections with the public is really key. Because without their support, we won’t exist in the future.”The historic track's contract to hold F1 runs out at the end of this year, and agreement has not yet been reached on putting together a package that both Italian authorities and Ecclestone are happy with.
The most recent hurdle to get over has been in sorting out the management structure at the track to ensure that the venue keeps delivering what F1 wants.
And although speculation in recent days has suggested that Monza's hopes may be over and that Imola could enter the frame as host of the Italian GP, Ecclestone is not so sure.
Speaking about Monza's future in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Ecclestone said: "I think it will continue to hold a grand prix.
"It's a discussion amongst men and we are still talking. In the end we will reach a conclusion, I am certain."This self-criticism—or self-flagellation—is nothing new. It’s the return of a phenomenon that is referred to by African-American historians as the "politics of respectability." “During times of unrest, black writers going back to the early 20th century have argued that the reason blacks are facing discrimination or police brutality is because they have not been acting properly in public—particularly young, poor people,” says Michael Dawson, a political scientist and director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago. “In the last 20 years, it's been a criticism of baggy pants, rap music, hair styles. Back in my generation, it was Afros. I remember my grandparents telling me, ‘you should cut your hair.’”
Respectability, in essence, is about policing the behavior in your community to make sure people are behaving “properly,” so as to not attract unwelcome attention from whites—“with ‘properly’ being a normatively white middle class presentation,” says Dawson. In feminist discourse, a similar phenomenon among women is described as internalizing the patriarchal gaze. That is, women see themselves as the men in charge want to see them—feminine, sexy, pliant—and then behave and dress accordingly. Respectability is the same thing, but with blacks internalizing the white gaze.
The idea has found one expression or another for well over a century. During the Jim Crow period, according to Dawson, black children were taught by their elders that one had to act a certain way to avoid harassment and lynchings at the hands of whites. “Du Bois wrote about double consciousness, about looking at yourself through the eyes of the other who treats you with contempt,” says Carla Shedd, a sociologist at Columbia. Elijah Muhammad, The Nation of Islam leader and mentor to Malcolm X, wrote that he bought a house in predominantly white Hyde Park “for the purpose of proving that I can live in their neighborhood as cleanly and noiselessly as they do.” He proscribed the eating of collard greens and black-eyed peas as unhealthy and unholy foods, but really, says Jelani Cobb, who teaches African-American history at the University of Connecticut, “it reflected a deep embarrassment about eating ‘black’ foods. It’s crazy, but it’s also deeply reflective of the black shame that was common across the entire black political spectrum.” Thus, in the Nation of Islam, there was an emphasis on wearing suits and forswearing nicknames. In black culture at large, there was a premium placed on lighter skin and “good” (straight) hair.
Today, the argument is that acting “properly” helps one avoid not lynchings, but police harassment and job discrimination—thus Dellena’s admonition to "have all your business together" in case police do pull you over. One man I spoke to in Ferguson, Ronnie Houston, Jr., told me that he dictates where his 19-year-old son goes, and with whom; the son's plan to drive to the movies with four black friends was nixed because Houston felt it was inviting trouble. This also explains why some older and more affluent blacks disdain the baggy clothing and music of younger, poorer blacks: They’re afraid it makes whites think all young black men are trouble. “They already view us as criminals,” said one caller to the "Russ Parr Morning Show," broadcast on a hip-hop station in the Baltimore-Washington area—“why are you gonna go and confirm their suspicions?”
Most frequently, preaching respectability reflects a class and generational fear, by black people who feel they have escaped the fate of poor and disenfranchised blacks, and have entered respectable society. “Everything white people don’t like about black people, black people really don’t like about black people,” Chris Rock said in his infamous comedy routine, “Black People vs. Niggas.” “Every time black people want to have a good time, ignorant-ass niggas fuck it up.” By putting distance between themselves and less affluent blacks, or those wearing baggy pants, there’s a hope that they won’t be treated like them. “The distance that older generation may feel is because they are no longer the enemy, the other, so they internalize that same fear, those same suspicions as whites,” says Shedd.Apple has released its schedule for WWDC 2012. The developer conference, which runs from June 11 - 15 in San Francisco, is historically when Apple unveils its latest iOS and OS X software updates.
The keynote for the event will take place on June 11, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. PT. While the company hasn't officially released who will be present at the keynote, we're presuming that Apple CEO Tim Cook will lead the event.
In the past, the company has also used the keynote event to unveil new hardware products.
The bulk of WWDC — which sold out in under two hours this year — is a closed conference for developers. Registered Apple developers who cannot attend WWDC (or were unable to get tickets), can access videos from the WWDC sessions once they are posted online.
WWDC attendees can also download a free WWDC 2012 iOS app [iTunes link] to keep track of sessions, news and the general schedule.
Are you going to WWDC this year? What do you hope Apple announces? Let us know.Nthnews
American newspaper “New York Times”, in its editorial on Thursday, confirmed that Saudi Arabia is waging a starvation war against Yemeni people, who will suffer from largest famine in the world since decades, and will lead to millions of victims.
The newspaper reported from the official in United Nations Mark Lokoc, Said that if Saudi Arabia does not immediately allow to entry of food and medicine from all Yemeni ports and allow to resumption of air navigation, Yemen will suffer from greatest famine in the world.
The New York Times reported that Saudi Arabia has tightened its blockade since November 5, after Yemeni army bombed King Khalid Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic rocket, where Saudi Arabia imposed a great blockade on Yemeni ports and left only some ports that controlled by Saudi allies, and it is not enough to provide needs of nearly 7 million Yemenis threatened with starvation.
Saudi-American alliance for nearly three years, launches a continuous aggression on Yemeni people, which led to deaths of 10 thousand people, due to Saudi random shelling, the war has also caused spread of cholera epidemic and injured nearly 900 thousand Yemenis, while 17 million Yemenis depend entirely on humanitarian aid to survive.This may be the wildest thing we've read all week, and it's only Wednesday.
To sum it up: Hillary Clinton's failed campaign team reportedly blames former President Barack Obama for their stunning loss last November, arguing that his White House didn't do enough to combat the negative press resulting from her email scandal and from the allegedly Russian-led hacks.
"We have heard from numerous, anguished people in Clinton-land blaming Obama – more than Putin, FBI Director James Comey or, um, Hillary herself – for the defeat," Axios' Mike Allen reported Tuesday.
The reported explained:
Clintonites feel that if Obama had come out early and forcefully with evidence of Russian interference in the campaign, and perhaps quicker sanctions, she might be president today. His caution, they argue, allowed the public to have a foggy sense of clear, calculated, consistent Russian meddling in the campaign.
We can't stress enough how upset some Democrats are. It's testing relationships between Clinton and Obama loyalists. It's making efforts to form a new Trump opposition coalition harder.
If true, this is about par for the course. Since her stunning loss on Nov. 8, Clinton and her team have pointed the finger at everyone and everything except for themselves.
One Clinton backer told Axios, "The White House was like everyone else: They thought she'd win anyway.... If he had done more, it might have lessened a lot of aggrieved feelings, although I don't think it would have altered the outcome. The Russia thing was like a spy novel, and anything he had said or done would have helped get people to believe it was real."
Obama, for his part, has maintained since the election that he kept a careful distance from the hacking news and claims of rigged elections so as not to taint the integrity of the election with grandstanding.
The ongoing suggestion from Team Clinton that leaked emails, which came from Democratic National Committee staffers and her campaign chairman, John Podesta, cost her the election is an interesting one, to say the least.
A fun exercise would be to ask ardent Clintonites to name the exact email(s) that made her lose Ohio by 10 points. It'd also be fun to ask them which of the following led to Clinton's loss in Wisconsin: Leaked DNC communications or the fact she didn't once campaign in the Badger State during the general election.You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content. Play Replay with sound Play with
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Please see the above video for a little word on the legitimacy of this project! And please continue supporting us!
We definitely don't have time to play public relations and be making videos and answering questions all day... we have a game to finish you guys.
A lot of people have expressed interest in seeing the alpha build, as well. No problem. We'll upload our alpha for you to try out as soon as we can see the alpha builds for Doom 4, Halo 6, Starcraft III, and Skyrim 3.
C'mon people. There's a reason why major studios don't give players the inside scoop during development. Alpha builds are ugly, and they turn players off more often than not. Our alpha build looks particularly terrible, and it will continue to look that way until we've finished swapping out all the placeholder artwork with the final stuff.
No matter how technically proficient the game is in it's current state, The Intarnot will take one look at it, say "it looks like crap," and write it off forever. Sorry, not happening.
Speaking of swapping out the placeholder artwork, we've run into a bit of a snag, as the resolution of the final art isn't matching up with the placeholders in a lot of cases. This shouldn't take us more than a day or two to figure out, but it's not going to get done if I have to hold a press conference every time some stupid forum decides to troll us for being bronies.
Sorry if this comes off as rude--not my intent at all--it’s just that I get made fun of enough in real life, and I’d much prefer to spend my time thinking about the game to be quite honest!
For those of you sending in messages of support: you rule. And we are not gonna let you down.The Games will proceed. The production company behind The Hunger Games movie franchise has reportedly found a solution for the remaining scenes left incomplete by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. According to Page Six, Lionsgate plans to digitally-recreate Hoffman — who played head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee in the series — for one major scene in Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.
PHOTOS: Philip Seymour Hoffman's greatest film roles
The studio will use CGI technology to edit the film rather than rewriting the script, or hiring a new actor to take Hoffman's place, Page Six reported Thursday, Feb. 6. The beloved actor was set to reprise his role as Heavensbee in Parts 1 and 2 of Mockingjay. While Hoffman had already completed most of his scenes for Part 1, he still had seven days left to shoot on Part 2.
PHOTOS: Stars gone too soon
"These days the technology of using someone's likeness is a whole lot easier to do," veteran special effects supervisor Rob Legato speculated Monday, Feb. 3 to The Hollywood Reporter. "I won't say you could generate a Philip Seymour Hoffman with all the acting ability, but you could certainly replicate him for a shot or two."
PHOTOS: Stars we lost in 2013
Elizabeth Banks, who plays Effie Trinket in the series, discussed the loss of her Hunger Games costar on Wednesday's Today show: "I really am in shock," she said. "He is an absolutely amazing actor, respected by everyone and part of our family at The Hunger Games."
PHOTOS: Meet the Hunger Games cast
The Oscar-winning actor first appeared in 2013's Catching Fire. Hoffman, who was found dead at 46 in his NYC apartment on Sunday, Feb. 2 from an apparent heroin overdose, will be honored in a private funeral service. He leaves behind his estranged girlfriend Mimi O'Donnell and three children, Cooper, 10, Tallulah, 7, and Willa, 5.
Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox!
Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now!As part of continued a NATO build-up and US efforts to counter an alleged Russian threat, US military hardware, including M1A2 Abrams battle tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles have arrived in the northern Estonian town of Tapa, shortly after similar deployments were made to other Eastern European nations including Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Germany.
"The movement of equipment and troops into and around Europe marks the beginning of a continuous rotation of armored brigade combat teams from the United States as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve," the US Defense Department said in a statement, commenting on the move. It added that "Atlantic Resolve is a demonstration of continued US commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine."
In July 2016, NATO members agreed to the “biggest reinforcement since the Cold War,” posting four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
More than 50 units of US military equipment, including four battle tanks and 15 infantry fighting vehicles, were delivered to Tapa, the Estonian Defense Forces said in a statement. Personnel of the Charlie Company of 68th Armored Regiment's 1st Battalion from the US Army 4th Infantry Division arrived in the town two days earlier, on January 30. Company commander Captain Edward Bachar said the US troops would take part in the Estonian Independence Day parade. Earlier, Bachar also said that his company would begin its expert marksmanship training this week.
The new unit would replace a paratrooper company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade's 503rd Infantry Regiment, which was deployed to Estonia in September. The paratrooper company would then go back to its permanent base in Italy.
The Estonian deployment marks a new phase of the Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began in April 2014, following the flaring of tensions between Russia and the West. Atlantic Resolve is perceived by Washington as a demonstration of continued US commitment to the collective security of Europe in the view of alleged Russian “assertiveness.”
As reported previously, last month some 2,800 pieces of US military hardware, including US Abrams tanks, Paladin artillery, Bradley fighting vehicles and 4,000 troops arrived in Europe as part of the operation. These forces subsequently moved to Poland to participate in military drills in late January, and then were deployed across seven countries, including the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Romania and Germany. A headquarters unit is stationed in Germany.
In addition to American troops going to Poland, NATO members Germany, Canada and Britain are also contributing to the significant NATO forces buildup in Eastern Europe and are sending battalions of up to 1,000 troops each to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Apart from the military buildup on Russian borders, the US and NATO strategy also includes conducting continuous, enhanced multinational training and security cooperation activities with US and NATO partners in eastern Europe. Since the Operation began, these military exercises have been conducted in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. In mid-January, Estonia and Lithuania also signed agreements with the US regulating the status and deployment framework of American soldiers and hardware on the territory of the two Baltics states, which were dubbed “first of its kind |
aballeros was convicted on federal charges of felony use of fraudulent documents in 2013. He will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States.”
Merlim, who did not vote for Donald Trump, expects her husband to be in Guatemala by Thursday. She has already filed a petition to begin the waiver process, with hopes of eventually bringing him back to the United States. She said if that doesn’t work out, she could move to Guatemala, or they could apply for asylum together in Canada.
As Merlim searches for a new attorney to take her husband’s immigration case, she says her husband’s story should serve as a warning to other immigrants in the country.
“When our new President said he was just going to take out the violent criminals and bad hombres, they weren’t talking about my husband,” she said.Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper (C), is seen during a press freedom march in central Istanbul, Turkey, October 3, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
ANKARA (Reuters) - Two prominent Turkish journalists will be charged with assisting terrorists and face life sentences without parole if convicted, their lawyers said, after they published video footage purporting to show the state intelligence agency helping to send weapons to Syria.
An Istanbul court accepted an indictment on Friday seeking life imprisonment for Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the secular Cumhuriyet newspaper, and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul, who were arrested in November, lawyers for the two men said.
The case has drawn international condemnation and revived concern about press freedom under President Tayyip Erdogan.
The two are charged with intentionally aiding an armed terrorist organization and publishing material in violation of state security. Cumhuriyet, one of Turkey’s main opposition newspapers, published photos, videos and a report in May that it said showed intelligence officials transporting arms to Syria in trucks — allegedly to opposition fighters — in 2014.
Erdogan, who has cast the newspaper’s coverage as part of an attempt to undermine Turkey’s global standing, has said he will not forgive such reporting.
He has acknowledged that the trucks, which were stopped by gendarmerie and police officers en route to the Syrian border, belonged to the MIT intelligence agency and said they were carrying aid to Turkmens in Syria. Turkmen fighters are battling both President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Islamic State.
The first hearing will be held on March 25, lawyers said.Julian Assange is seeking political asylum in Ecuador after arriving at the country's embassy in Kensington this afternoon.
The Wikileaks founder is embroiled in a judicial battle over a European Arrest Warrant which could see him extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault.
The official Wikileaks Twitter feed confirmed the move at 7.40pm:
ALERT: Julian Assange has requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in Londonjustice4assange.com/donate.html — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 19, 2012
In a statement, the Embassy of Ecuador said:
This afternoon Mr Julian Assange arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy seeking political asylum from the Ecuadorian government. As a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, with an obligation to review all applications for asylum, we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in Quito. While the department assesses Mr Assange’s application, Mr Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorian Government. The decision to consider Mr Assange’s application for protective asylum should in no way be interpreted as the Government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden.
Under his existing bail conditions, he was required to obey a curfew. By not being in Kent by 10pm, he has breached them - with potential consequences for those who funded his bail.
Total bail bond on Julian Assange is £200,000 in cash. The high-profile supporters who posted it may now never see it again. — James Ball (@jamesrbuk) June 19, 2012
Jemima Khan, the NS's associate editor and a long-time supporter of Wikileaks who contributed to the bail fund, has confirmed that she was not made aware of Assange's decision in advance:
@iankatz1000 Yes. I had expected him to face the allegations. I am as surprised as anyone by this. — Jemima Khan (@Jemima_Khan) June 19, 2012
In a statement, the Swedish prosecutor involved in the case, Marianne Ny, said that she could not comment on the information. "An application for asylum is a matter between British and Ecuadorian authorities and, therefore, does not concern the investigation in Sweden."
Questions are already being raised about Assange's choice of Ecuador as a possible destination. Max Fisher writes at the Atlantic:
... whatever the rationale, would this really be the safest destination for a self-styled journalist and revolutionary? The Ecuadorian government at times imposes severe -- and worsening -- restrictions on journalists as well as critics of President Rafael Correa. International NGOs describe Ecuador as a country that is increasingly hostile to both journalists and transparency advocates, neither of which would seem to bode well for Assange. Reporters Without Borders has chronicled one shut-down after another.
One of the recurring worries raised by Wikileaks and Assange has been the possibility that he would be extradited to the US, where he could face charges in relation to the leak of the embassy cables.
The New Statesman's legal correspondent, David Allen Green, adds:The tension at the first event of NBA All-Star Saturday hadn't been this high in years, not for the skills competition. The stakes were rising with each round, the basketballs being flung with less and less regard for shooting form. The most energetic spectators may have been two players who already were eliminated: DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, former Kentucky bigs who wanted nothing more than fellow Wildcat product Karl-Anthony Towns to come away with the victory over the last of the heavily favored little guys.
Then the shot went in. Towns, a rookie center, had defeated All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas. A 7-footer had won the skills contest. Davis, Cousins, and Towns celebrated this fact for the entire basketball world to see. Even the one coach who gives them an unbreakable connection.
MORE: 10 greatest Kentucky basketball players ever
"Was that unbelievable? How about how they pushed (Draymond) Green (the fourth big man in the competition) out of the way, was that the best? Are you kidding me?" Kentucky's John Calipari told Sporting News. "It brought tears to my eyes."
Towns used the contest to show a national audience how good he is and how good he can be. He can dribble, pass and shoot from inside and deep — and he has speed that almost no one his size can match. That's why it is a foregone conclusion he will win the 2015-16 NBA Rookie of the Year Award sometime soon, and why he has put himself squarely in the conversation for most talented big man in the NBA.
His two closest competitors also came through Big Blue Nation: Cousins and Davis. Separated by five years in age, Cousins (25), Davis (23) and Towns (20) easily could form the core of a Western Conference big man rivalry for years to come — though their teams making the playoffs would be a help, as they all fell short this season. Sporting News spoke to all three centers, along with Calipari, about their bond, their talent and their futures.
MORE: Towns discusses his new coach and award wait
All of it was on display in Toronto on that Saturday night. The celebration was mostly for the big men, as they were new to the previously guard-exclusive skills challenge field. But Towns felt the UK connection, as well.
"You could tell right away the commodity we have, just from being from the same school," Towns said. "I said before, being a Kentucky Wildcat is bigger than basketball. That’s a fraternity you can never take yourself out of."
Towns is the third big man to come out of Kentucky in the past six years and show a guard-like skill set in the pros. Towns, Davis, and Cousins can shoot from deep, handle and pass like guards, and defend the rim and the perimeter.
'All of us want to be the best'
Their skill sets resemble each other's but still manage to be just different enough to make each of them special. Towns is the tallest, Cousins the strongest and Davis the longest. Cousins is the post scorer with shooting range, while Davis can create off the dribble around the perimeter and Towns functions best in pick-and-rolls.
"Everybody has their own skill set and their own traits as a basketball player. We all bring something different to the table," Davis said. "I think all of us want to be the best big man in the league."
There have been players of their kind before; big, tall athletic guys who can run the floor like guards and play both ways. Towns plays with one of the legends in Kevin Garnett. Cousins plays for the team that housed another, Chris Webber.
MORE: How players really feel about small-ball and their transition
But having three players come out of the same school, within a just a few years of each other, and show so much promise immediately — that's the rarity that Calipari pulled off, largely because of the modern one-and-done system. There are past examples, sure. John Thompson Jr.'s Georgetown produced Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning between 1985 and 1992. John Wooden's UCLA loosed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Swen Nater (a college backup) and Bill Walton on the pro basketball ranks from 1969 to 1974.
Those were dominant programs built around their centers, though. Thompson and Wooden developed and crafted those stars over years. Cousins (in 2010), Davis (2012) and Towns (2015) spent one season apiece under Calipari before entering the NBA, and each took off almost immediately. Towns will almost assuredly beat out Kristaps Porzingis for Rookie of the Year this season, while Davis finished second to Damian Lillard in 2013 and Cousins third to Blake Griffin and (Kentucky teammate) John Wall in 2011.
MORE: Cousins mad about All-Star voting's disrespect of centers
The instant NBA success and the single-year Lexington, Ky., experience could dull the connection. But that's not the case, by any means.
"When people say, ‘Well, they’re only there a year or two with Cal and they have no relationship with the university or coaches,’ are you crazy?" Calipari said. "If you asked any agent, they’ll tell you that there are no players more loyal or more connected to their school, and their coaching staff, than Kentucky’s guys. Ask the agents, they’ll tell you. And that’s why I laugh. There’s a brotherhood here."
Though the success stories are well-publicized, Kentucky bigs' success rate in the NBA is not perfect. Dakari Johnson (who left Kentucky in 2015 as a sophomore) and Daniel Orton (who left in 2010 as a freshman) have yet to make any sort of name for themselves in the NBA. Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein, meanwhile, have had promising starts to their careers as ace defenders but don't project to have the same kind of impact as the star trio.
Skal Labissiere is next. Even amid a disappointing freshman year last season, Labissiere's NBA potential has long been clear. He had help, too. Towns reached out to his successor regularly, he told Sporting News. That's the value of the brotherhood.
'At the top of most people's lists'
That brotherhood is putting up rarified success, too. In an increasingly small-ball-dominated NBA, Cousins, Davis and Towns were the only players in the NBA this season to average 18 points, 10 rebounds, and one blocked shot per game. They even combined to shoot 33.3 percent from the 3-point line on 405 attempts. That's the offensive versatility that has many analysts ranking them at the top of their position.
Davis and Cousins are often talked about as top 15 NBA players, and Towns is well on his way. Still, of all the topics the three of them discuss together, they say this particular subject is not one of them.
"I didn’t even really think about it that way," Cousins said. "I mean, we’re fortunate enough to be young, talented players.... I mean, at the big position, we’re probably — I think we’d be at the top of most people’s lists."
MORE: Davis could use $25 million because of salary cap quirk
Davis, who finished fifth in MVP voting a year ago, has every right to feel as though he's one of the top players in the league, but like Cousins, he says he doesn't put much thought into that.
"I’m not going to say we are right now, because some people think we are and some people think we aren’t," he said. "Our goal, at least to me, is that no matter how long we play or who we play, we want to dominate on the floor and be hard workers and play hard and leave it out on the floor."
Towns is new to the NBA, but has already made more noise in one season than some do in entire careers. But despite his youth, his humble attitude toward the game is reflected off his predecessors. But his level of self-awareness is also there.
"For us three, what we brought to the NBA is something different, something the NBA hasn’t seen," Towns said. "Versatile big men who can play defense and also play offense, shoot from the outside, to change the game and allow us to play the game the way that we want it to. And I think that’s what people respect about us."
MORE: The 23 most hated players in NBA history
The three of them have shown that you don't need to be a wing to dominate in the NBA, and that athleticism and high-level production can come in a variety of ways.
Their bond may come from attending the same college, but it's more than that. They're a group of big guys trying to keep an art form of basketball alive that isn't what it once was. Their styles as big men are modern, but their takes on success are not. There's a mutual admiration for what each guy is doing, and as time goes on, that friendship and respect should build into a high-intensity on-court rivalry.
The three of them knew each other well before All-Star weekend, but their bond was encapsulated in the celebration that came from one of their own winning a competition built for guards. Whether Towns had made that shot or not won't matter in the context of his career, but it did go in. He's still well on his way to superstardom, where he'll join his counterparts.
And the three of them were there to celebrate together. Their excitement said it all.Set a few more places at the Bluth dinner table, because when Arrested Development returns for its much-anticipated fourth season on Netflix this May, there will be two new, but familiar faces added to the mix, Netflix confirms to Us Weekly.
Comedy veterans Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen are among the bold-faced names that will join series as guest stars, the online streaming site tells Us, though they cannot confirm what parts the pair will play in the show.
PHOTOS: See Jason Bateman as a cartoon character
At a recent TCA press conference on Jan. 9, show creator Mitch Hurwitz expressed his excitement about keeping several surprises for the season under wraps, even from their most dedicated fans.
"You know? Now that people started watching it, they get ahead of us, and so then I've started really — we've all started really guarding the material just to make it fun for the audience," Hurwitz said.
"We hold back information about the plot because we want to reward the fans for sticking with us, and that's so much fun. That's the funnest part of it."
PHOTOS: The cast of Arrested Development reunites!
The upcoming season will have each episode dedicated to one character, starting with Jason Bateman's Michael Bluth, Hurwitz announced at The New Yorker Festival back in 2011.
"It's an unusual style of show," he told reporters at the time. "It's all just going to build this peril in their life until they all come together, really, in the first scene of the movie."
Hurwitz credited Bateman for helping to keep the project alive — the show first premiered in 2003, but shuttered after three seasons in 2006.
PHOTOS: Best new TV shows
"Jason has been the soul of this entire thing creatively, I'm very grateful that," he said. "[The entire cast is] all game; we've hated being coy. Studios have been great so far. I'm very excited."
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Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now!Foreign Secretary William Hague denied today that the rising cost of Britain's military operations in Libya would affect operations in Afghanistan.
His Labour counterpart Douglas Alexander raised concerns that armed forces personnel and equipment could be diverted from Afghanistan to support Nato in its efforts to protect civilians from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's brutal regime.
Taxpayers are expected to face a total bill of around 260 million if the Libyan mission lasts six months, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The projected total consists of 120 million mounting the multinational United Nations-endorsed operation and 140 million-worth of missiles and other munitions.
Updating the Commons on the mission, Mr Hague said: "Nato strikes have prevented Benghazi from falling, reduced pressure on Misrata, and enabled the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of thousands of wounded people.
"Over 13,000 sorties have been carried out since March 31, including nearly 5,000 strike sorties. In June alone 131 military facilities and 343 tanks and vehicles have been hit.
"We can and we will sustain these operations for as long as necessary, until the regime ceases its attacks on its own people and complies with the UN Resolutions."
Mr Alexander said the 260 million figure stood in stark contrast to the "tens of millions" figure suggested by Chancellor George Osborne in March.
"Given these escalating costs, can you restate the Government's guarantee today that no personnel, equipment or resources will be diverted from the Afghanistan campaign to support the Libyan campaign?" he asked.
"And are you also able to tell the House what efforts the Government is making to help actually spread the cost amongst international partners so that the financial cost does not fall exclusively on those most involved in the military side of the campaign to increase pressure on the Gaddafi regime?"
Mr Hague replied: "Those costs and our military activities do not impinge on our work in Afghanistan as I saw for myself last week.
"Clearly, greater costs do fall on those nations that undertake the military activity. We might all wish that Nato had different financing arrangements but that is how it does work.
"Nevertheless there are many other nations that contribute to the cost in other ways, including of humanitarian support and will be able to contribute to the future stabilisation."
He added: "The important thing to bear in mind is that if we had not acted in Libya and if we had allowed the humanitarian catastrophe to happen, that would have resulted in Gaddafi overrunning by force the whole of the rest of Libya, destabilising the neighbouring countries of Egypt and Tunisia in the process.
"The costs would have been incalculable to European countries in uncontrolled migration, in new breeding grounds for terrorism and extremism.
"And so the cost of the campaign in Libya has to be set against those considerations."This special-edition package pays homage to Ralph Lauren’s celebrated Polo Stadium Collection from 1992, which drew inspiration from the uniforms worn by American Olympians in the ’20s and ’30s. For 2017, Polo Ralph Lauren reintroduce the most iconic pieces from Stadium, made to the exact specifications of the original models, alongside new interpretations of the collection’s sportswear-inspired, all-American look.
The original Polo Stadium Collection launched in 1992, a year marked by Summer and Winter Olympic games which sparked an uptick in American pride and interest in sports. In tandem with this avid market-demand for US-inspired sportswear Ralph Lauren released the now iconic red, white, and blue Stadium Collection to widespread acclaim and national revelry.
This capsule was the first time Polo designs incorporated the famous “P-wing” emblem and “Stadium 1992” racing bib motif on sportswear – both would become essential pieces of any Polo fanatic’s personal wardrobe. Twenty-five years after its debut, the Stadium sensibility remains a pillar of the Polo Ralph Lauren aesthetic.
The 12-piece capsule collection is available online at EndClothing.com.
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GoogleTEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The result of Honduras’ presidential election remained in limbo on Tuesday, with a gregarious TV host’s surprise lead narrowing sharply, prompting him to call on supporters to take to the streets of the capital to defend the vote.
President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who won U.S. praise for helping tackle the flow of migrants and deporting drug cartel leaders, was favored to win before Sunday’s vote in the poor Central American nation with one of the world’s highest murder rates.
But a delayed, partial count on Monday morning pointed toward an unexpected victory for TV entertainer Salvador Nasralla, 64. Inexplicably, election authorities then stopped giving results for more than 24 hours.
When, under mounting criticism from international election monitors over a lack of transparency, the electoral tribunal began updating its website again, the tendency rapidly began to change.
In a television interview on Tuesday evening, an angry Nasralla said the election was being stolen from him and asked his supporters to flock to the capital, Tegucigalpa, to protest.
“We’ve already won the election,” he said. “I’m not going to tolerate this, and as there are no reliable institutions in Honduras to defend us, tomorrow the Honduran people need to defend the vote on the streets.”
The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) in Honduras urged people to remain calm and wait for official results, which it said should be delivered as quickly and transparently as possible.
“The credibility of the electoral authorities and the legitimacy of the future president depend on this,” it said in a statement.
On Tuesday evening, Nasralla’s original five-point lead had thinned to under 2 percentage points, with nearly 71 percent of ballots counted, according to the election tribunal.
Nasralla said in a later television interview that the election tribunal was only counting ballots from regions where Hernandez had won, skewing the results and giving the false sense that the president was heading for victory. He asked the tribunal to include ballots from regions where he was stronger.
A self-described centrist, Nasralla headed a center-left coalition called the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship, and claimed victory on Monday - as did Hernandez.
Election official Marcos Ramiro Lobo told Reuters on Monday afternoon that Nasralla was leading by a margin of five points, with about 70 percent of ballots counted.
Lobo said Nasralla appeared certain to win, signaling that experts at the electoral body regarded his lead as irreversible.
DIFFICULT NEGOTIATIONS
On Tuesday, Hernandez reiterated that he had won, and refused to concede, telling supporters they should wait for final results.
After Hernandez spoke, thousands of his blue-clad supporters gathered outside the presidential residence to celebrate his supposed victory.
Salvador Nasralla, presidential candidate for the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship, is seen as he arrives for a meeting with members of foreign media, at a hotel in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, November 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera
“We won the election with Juan Orlando Hernandez, and we won’t let them remove him from power,” said 35-year-old housewife Maria Aguirre, who hailed from a rough neighborhood on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa.
The election tribunal’s delay was due to difficult negotiations between Hernandez’s National Party and Nasralla’s alliance, according to two European diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Behind closed doors, the parties were discussing immunity from prosecution for current officials and how to carve up positions in government, the diplomats said.
In an interview on Tuesday, Nasralla denied he was in talks with the National Party. He vowed to review whether to keep a base stationed with U.S. troops if he wins the election, but also promised to deepen security co-operation.
Hernandez’s National Party appears set to retain control of Congress in the election, giving it the second-most important perch in the country.
The European Union’s chief observer for the election, Marisa Matias, urged election officials to maintain an open channel of communication as they finalized the results.
The electoral body had been so certain Hernandez would win that it showed unprecedented transparency during the contest, one of the diplomats said. That left the body with little room to maneuver when Nasralla came from nowhere to take a strong lead.
With a booming voice and finely coiffed hair, Nasralla is one of the country’s best known faces as the host of game shows that feature scantily clad women by his side.
He is backed by former President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in 2009 after he proposed a referendum on his re-election. The possible return to a position of influence for one-time leftist Zelaya risks fuelling concern in Washington.
Slideshow (6 Images)
The United States has longstanding military ties to Honduras and few ideological allies among the current crop of Central American presidents.
Hernandez, 49, was credited with lowering the murder rate and boosting the economy, but he was also hurt by accusations of ties to illicit, drug-related financing that he denies.
His bid for a second term, which was made possible by a 2015 Supreme Court decision on term limits, divided opinion in the coffee-exporting nation of 9 million people.Edvard Munch - Panic Attacks?
The world's most famous panic attack occurred in Olso during January 1892. Munch recorded the episode in his diary:
"One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord--the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature."
This experience affected the artist so deeply he returned to the moment again and again, eventually making two paintings, two pastels, and a lithograph based on his experience, as well as penning a poem derived from the diary entry. While it isn't known if Munch had any more panic attacks, mental illness did run in his family; at the time of his episode, his bipolar sister was in an asylum.
Michelangelo - Autism?
You might have wondered in the past just how someone could paint something as huge as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. According to a paper published in the Journal of Medical Biography in 2004, Michelangelo's single-minded routine may have been due to the disorder. According to descriptions by his contemporaries, the painter was "preoccupied with his own reality." Most of the male members of his family are recorded to have exhibited similar symptoms. Michelangelo also seems to have had difficulty forming relationships with people; he had few friends and didn't even attend his brother's funeral. All of this, combined with his obvious genius in math and art, led the researchers to believe that today Michelangelo would be considered high functioning on the autism spectrum.
Charles Dickens - Depression?
By his early 30s, Dickens was the most famous author in the world. He was wealthy and seemed to have it all. But after an unbelievably difficult childhood, which saw the author working in a boot factory and living on his own when his father was thrown in prison, Dickens would start falling into depressions with the start of each new novel. The first one to cause him problems was one of his lesser-known works, The Chimes, in 1844. After that, Dickens' friends wrote that he became down every time he set to work on a new project, but that his mood would gradually lift until he was in a kind of mania by the time he finished. His depression worsened with age, and he eventually separated from his wife - the mother of his ten children - to live with an 18-year-old actress. After he was involved in a train crash four years before his death, in which he was uninjured but was forced to assist dying passengers before help came, his depression seems to have finally staunched his creativity, and his previously prolific output virtually ceased.
Charles Darwin - Agoraphobia?
Scholars still debate just exactly what problems Darwin suffered from, but whatever they were, they were serious. Despite his famed five year voyage on the Beagle (and the publication it led to) making his career, Darwin was virtually incapacitated the entire time. While he concentrated on his physical symptoms as the cause of all his suffering, the constant trembling, nausea, hysterical crying, and visual hallucinations (among other things) seem to have been mostly caused by a severe case of agoraphobia that kept him virtually bedridden from the time he turned thirty. Darwin's fear of people meant he would even avoid conversations with his own children, writing, "I am forced to live... very quietly and am able to see scarcely anybody and cannot even talk long with my nearest relations." In at least one letter he mentions feeling like committing suicide due to the publication of On the Origin of Species, the controversy over which caused him much distress. He may have also suffered from OCD and/or hypochondria, as he kept meticulous records of every new or recurring symptom.The Senate voted Thursday to end debate on fast-track trade legislation, handing a significant victory to President Obama and moving the bill a step closer to passage.
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Senators voted 62-38 on the bill, which will allow the president to send a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade deal to Congress for an up-or-down vote, and prevent the deal from being amended by Congress.
Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.) and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) were among the final Democratic yes votes.
They appeared to vote after Cantwell secured an agreement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellHouse to push back at Trump on border Democrats block abortion bill in Senate Overnight Energy: Climate protesters storm McConnell’s office | Center-right group says Green New Deal could cost trillion | Dire warnings from new climate studies MORE (R-Ky.) to allow a vote in June on renewing the Export-Import Bank's charter.
The bank, which has come under criticism from conservative Republicans, helps finance U.S. investments meant to increase trade, and has been supported in the past by Boeing.
The very final vote was cast by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a former U.S. trade representative for the Bush administration who is in a tough reelection cycle. He voted yes.
Thirteen Democrats in total voted to end debate on a measure that badly divided Obama from his party. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) were among his fiercest opponents.
Senate Republicans say votes on amendments and final passage of fast-track are unlikely before Friday. They are hoping to wrap up the trade package Friday afternoon.
“I don’t think so, not without a miracle,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said, downplaying the prospect of passing it Thursday.
But Sen. Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell BrownWorse than nothing's been done since the massive Equifax hack Dems face internal battle over budget On The Money: Dems set Tuesday vote on Trump's emergency declaration | Most Republicans expected to back Trump | Senate plots to avoid fall shutdown drama | Powell heading before Congress MORE (D-Ohio), who is leading the Democratic opposition, said a vote on final passage before Saturday strikes him as too hasty.
“I don’t think it’s that quick,” he said.
Hatch agreed the trade debate could stretch into Saturday.
If the measure is approved by the Senate, it will set up an even tougher fight for Obama in the House, where opposition to the bill is stronger from Democrats and many Republicans reflexively do not want to give him additional power.
The vote comes as GOP Senate leaders scramble to finish up work ahead of the weeklong Memorial Day recess.
In addition to the trade legislation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wants to wrap up surveillance and highway bills before senators leave town. The fight over the NSA could force a rare weekend session.
Senators were unable to reach a deal on amendments prior to the vote.
The push for additional amendments was complicated Wednesday by presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who took over the Senate floor for more than 10 hours to lambast the government's surveillance programs.
But, because the Senate was debating the trade legislation, the Kentucky Republican was actually blocking his Senate colleagues from coming forward and offering, debating, and, potentially, voting on amendments.
Democrats, however, placed the blame for the lack of amendment votes squarely on McConnell.
“After one full day of debate, the majority leader shut down debate,” Brown, a fierce fast-track critic, said ahead of the vote. “That's an open process?”
The Ohio Democrat suggested that senators should stay through the weeklong Memorial Day recess to have more amendment votes on the trade legislation.
“It doesn’t really matter about the time,” he said.
The other Democrats who voted to end debate were Sens. Tom Carper (Del.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Chris Coons (Del.), Mark Warner (Va.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.
Five Republicans voted against ending debate: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Paul.
Sessions, who has been critical about not getting a vote on his amendment, said just before the vote that he would oppose cloture, saying that the fast-track legislation meant Congress would "suspend several of its most basic powers for the next six years and to delegate those powers to the executive."
Alexander Bolton contributed to this story.
This story was updated at 3:25 p.m.SYDNEY. — The Reserve Bank of Australia says the best way to prepare for a future world ruled by automation and artificial intelligence is to teach your kids how to solve problems and give them a solid grounding in “core” maths and science skills that will support their ability to adapt.Warning that the biggest threats will come in jobs that can be copied by technology, the central bank suggests the most safe sectors are in “non-routine cognitive” jobs, such as child care or architecture.
By contrast, there appears to be trouble ahead for what have been dubbed “routine cognitive” jobs, which have experienced a steady decline since the early 2000s.
One explanation, according to the Reserve Bank’s head of economic analysis, Alex Heath — who presented the findings in a speech in Brisbane — is that the IT revolution is exposing a new set of jobs to the possibility of automation.
Technology has also made it possible for some routine cognitive jobs to be done in other parts of the world where labour costs are lower, she said, citing offshore call centres and back-office functions as examples.
In contrast, non-routine jobs have become steadily more important, largely because they require problem-solving, human interactions and creativity.
“The Australian workforce may have a comparative advantage in many occupations in the non-routine category because of our relatively high education levels,” she said.
Among jobs considered non-routine and cognitive, the fastest growing by far have been in the health care and social assistance sector, followed by professional, scientific and technical services, and education and training.
The Reserve Bank’s research shows that wages have remained relatively stable in the health sector for most of the past 15 years, a sign that the surge in demand for workers has been largely met by supply of suitably skilled labour.
By contrast, in education and training, construction and mining, there has been a trend increase in relative wages over that time, suggesting the supply of workers has fallen short of demand, something that has been clearly evident in the mining boom.
Dr Heath says learning how to solve problems will increase the ability of workers to keep their skills up to date and adapt to likely technological changes.
“Encouraging this sort of investment in human capital is also important at the macroeconomic level to make sure we sustain our high living standards.”
“Just as the natural environment generally adapts to gradual changes, the workforce also appears to be able to respond to relatively slow-moving and predictable changes in demand for skills, such as those associated with the aging of the population,” she said.
“However, both the natural environment and the workforce have more difficulty adapting to rapid change.”
Finally, Dr Heath warned that technological change would have a “profound” impact on how work is organised, forcing employers to allow more flexibility and encourage “team-based styles of work”. — AFR.Kronwall's back - but is that good news? September 27, 2017, 1:42 PM ET [41 Comments] Bob Duff
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At a certain point in time, Niklas Kronwall stood for everything that was good about the Detroit Red Wings. Being Kronwalled - the victim of one of Kronwall’s punishing bodychecks - was a staple of Red Wing hockey, and it was basically a symbol of what the powerful Wings did to the rest of the NHL.
They Kronwalled every team that stood in their way.
Today, as he stands on creaky knees awaiting his first action of the NHL preseason, Kronwall, 36, is a symbol of how it’s all gone wrong for this franchise.
He is physically infirm, uncertain of his playing status from one day to the next. Yet he remains part of the team, partially because of how thin Detroit is on the blue line, but mostly because he is one of many Wings connected to appallingly long contracts and the Wings are a franchise that is loyal to a fault to their veteran players.
In 20011, Kronwall signed a seven-year, $33.25-million pact with the club. They locked him up for his best years, and left themselves locked in for his worst years.
It’s a scenario that figures to play out with a number of players over the next several years, from captain Henrik Zetterberg, to forwards Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm and Luke Glendening, as well as defenseman Jonathan Ericsson.
Kronwall intends to play Thursday against Chicago and at least one of the last |
National Right to Work Committee, one former NRTWC staffer told me, “he is the golden child.”
After Paul was sworn into the Senate in 2011, one of the first pieces of legislation he cosponsored was the National Right-to-Work Act, the committee’s holy grail. The bill—also championed by Ron Paul—would make every state in the union a so-called right-to-work state and eviscerate organized labor as we know it. (Twenty-five states currently have such laws, banning unions from collecting dues from nonmembers to pay for representing those workers and bargaining on their behalf.) Since 2013, Paul has twice more introduced the legislation. (The bill never has gotten out of committee.)
Kent Sorenson, for his part, isn’t holding anything back. “He’s cooperating and answering their questions about all the information that he knows.”
He has frequently lent his name to NRTWC fundraising emails and petitions drumming up support for the bill and the group. Days after Paul took office, an NRTWC email blast went out under his name spelling out his intentions: “They snickered when I said I came to the US Senate to change Congress,” it reads. “But their laughter stopped when I sponsored the National Right to Work Act to free US workers from forced unionization and break Big Labor’s multi-billion dollar political machine forever.”
Paul has credited John Tate, a former NRTWC vice president, with playing a “crucial role” in assembling his 2010 Senate campaign, including introducing Paul to Stafford, now his closest adviser. NRTWC donated $7,500 to that campaign and deployed field staffers and other personnel to Kentucky to support Paul during his primary fight against establishment-backed Trey Grayson. In an email sent the day after Paul’s primary upset, an NRTWC staffer congratulated the committee’s field organizers: “What a week of History, and you get to say you were a part of it. Nice job!”
Just as the libertarian-leaning Pauls have worn the Republican label with unease, the 60-year-old NRTWC hasn’t always played well with the conservative movement or the GOP. (The mantra inside NRTWC, says an ex-staffer from the 1990s, was: “We’re Right-to-Work. We hate everybody.”) The group’s origins on the far right (its longest-serving president, Reed Larson, was affiliated with the John Birch Society) and fixation solely on defeating labor unions created a cultlike atmosphere in which even allies on the right were viewed with suspicion. “There has been a culture from the beginning of isolation and hyper-self-reliance,” says a former NRTWC senior staffer. “It’s the hermit kingdom of the conservative movement.”
Still, throughout the ’80s and ’90s, the committee gained respect for its brutally efficient political operation. It was one of the first outside groups to create an in-house phone bank to influence elections around the country, an operation that proved so successful that NRTWC spun it off into a stand-alone firm named Liberty Phone Center, Inc. Mike Rothfeld, a heavily caffeinated, hard-charging mentor to a generation of Virginia political consultants, cut his teeth running NRTWC’s direct-mail shop; he went on to form his own fundraising firm, Saber Communications, the Paul World’s go-to consultancy. (A born-again Southerner whose office features a mural of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart, Rothfeld is no libertarian: He once referred to Ron Paul’s most die-hard supporters as “cwazy wabbits.”)
Over the years, NRTWC has served as a training ground for operatives drawn to the group’s zealous focus and its bare-knuckled style. Former staffers say NRTWC instilled a cutthroat, survival-of-the-fittest mentality in its employees. One former staffer from the 1990s recalls that the group hired nine people for only five or six positions, pitting the new hires against each other to see who came out on top. The group was also notorious for its low pay—until the early 2000s, midlevel staffers got less than $20,000 a year and worked overtime to eke out a living.
To earn extra cash, NRTWC staffers also moonlighted for political candidates who supported the right-to-work cause—a practice supported by the top brass—often spending lunch breaks and evenings helping candidates with their mail programs or fundraising pitches.
The near-religious devotion to the cause, the hard-ass attitude, and the freelancing all melded to create a win-at-all-costs approach that sometimes saw NRTWC, a tax-exempt nonprofit, disregard campaign laws banning outside groups from coordinating with candidates and officeholders. “They treated the rules as guidelines,” the ex-staffer from the ’90s says.
The circuitous path to the Kent Sorenson debacle leads, of all places, through a dilapidated meth house on the outskirts of Denver. That’s where boxes of files and bank records belonging to Western Tradition Partnership, an energy-company-funded Montana nonprofit created to fight environmentalists, were discovered and handed over to Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices. As the commissioner later concluded, these files indicated that Western Tradition Partnership and its leader, an operative named Christian LeFer, had possibly broken the law by directly coordinating with candidates for Montana’s Legislature.
“They are in such a bubble in this Rand Paul universe, and I think the bubble’s going to pop real quick in the heat of the primaries.”
LeFer was a key cog in the right-to-work movement. Internal NRTWC emails depict him as the committee’s man on the ground in Montana, where, in addition to Western Tradition Partnership, he ran Montana Citizens for Right to Work. NRTWC funded LeFer’s group to the tune of $217,600 in 2010 and $56,500 in 2011, tax records show. After the meth house documents came to light, LeFer and his wife, Allison, sued to reclaim them, but a state judge dismissed their suit in October 2013, and the documents remained in the hands of a federal grand jury investigating Western Tradition Partnership.
Two thousand miles away, at his home in rural Virginia, a former NRTWC staffer and Ron Paul aide named Dennis Fusaro watched the drama unfolding in Montana with growing alarm. Fusaro knew all too well who LeFer was—in 2009 and 2010, Fusaro worked for NRTWC in Iowa and had been included on many email chains with LeFer. He feared the Montana investigation could spark a probe of NRTWC activities. Fusaro says he tried to bring his complaints to NRTWC leadership, but was rebuffed. (NRTWC did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)
So, in what Fusaro says was an effort to save his own skin, he went public, eventually releasing to conservative bloggers a trove of emails, memos, and other records showing potentially illegal coordination between the NRTWC and a host of GOP candidates. But the biggest bombshell he dropped had to do with Kent Sorenson, whom Fusaro knew well from his days as an NRTWC operative in Iowa. Fusaro had been included on Paul campaign correspondence about securing Sorenson’s endorsement. Attached to one of those emails was the three-page memo outlining Sorenson’s demands for joining Ron Paul’s presidential campaign; its publication in August 2013 fueled the criminal investigation that eventually brought Sorenson down.
Fusaro’s documents also laid bare how NRTWC may have overstepped the rules banning outside groups from coordinating with political candidates. (We’ll spare you the legalese, but coordination is a campaign finance no-no because it provides a way to circumvent contribution limits to political campaigns.) Fusaro’s documents show NRTWC was involved in creating and sending out mailers on behalf of dozens of Republican candidates for the Iowa Legislature in 2010. Mailers ostensibly authored by candidates or their spouses were written on NRTWC computers and later approved by the candidates. In some cases, candidates instructed NRTWC on the mix of Republican and independent voters that should receive their mailers. Helping oversee this NRTWC mail program were two Paul World fixtures: Doug Stafford and Dimitri Kesari. (Stafford, emails obtained by Mother Jones show, also worked on Rand Paul’s 2010 Senate campaign while he was an NRTWC employee. Stafford declined to comment.)
Not only did Fusaro’s documents show evidence of coordination, but on their 2010 tax forms NRTWC and a Midwestern affiliate told the IRS they didn’t plan to get involved in any political work that year. Marcus Owens, a tax lawyer who from 1990 to 2000 ran the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups, says that filing false tax reports “could not only be a civil problem but a criminal one.”
While it is unclear whether Fusaro’s documents have prompted IRS scrutiny of NRTWC, they caused a world of hurt for Kent Sorenson. Nearly three years after his dramatic switch to the Ron Paul campaign, Sorenson pleaded guilty to covering up payments from both the Paul and Bachmann campaigns—her campaign was secretly paying him as well—and to obstructing an investigation into the payments. Sorenson never ultimately cashed Kesari’s jewelry store check, but he admitted to receiving payments totaling $73,000, which an Iowa Senate ethics investigation all but concluded came from the Paul campaign.
Had the Sorenson saga ended there, Rand Paul and his presidential team could probably breathe easy. But on February 19, a Justice Department lawyer requested a delay in sentencing Sorenson because the feds were “making progress” on a “larger investigation” into the scandal. This prompted conservative radio host Steve Deace to tweet: “Asteroid coming. Impact could produce potentially large blast radius.” The DOJ did not say who else was in its crosshairs, but emails and internal documents show that Benton and Kesari both played roles in the deal. Sorenson, for his part, isn’t holding anything back. “He’s cooperating and answering their questions about all the information that he knows,” says F. Montgomery Brown, Sorenson’s attorney.
In the meantime, Paul World has lawyered up. Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign has shelled out $364,000 in legal fees since August. Reached on his cellphone, Kesari said he wouldn’t comment and hung up; Benton and his lawyer did not respond to repeated interview requests. At least publicly, Rand Paul has said little to suggest he’s worried about the legal headaches that may ensnare Paul World fixtures. In December—before the Justice Department’s latest announcement but after emails showed Jesse Benton’s involvement in the Sorenson deal, prompting Benton’s resignation as Sen. Mitch McConnell’s 2014 campaign manager—Paul defended Benton to the Hill newspaper as an “honest” political operative who would be “welcome” on his 2016 team. “He’ll help us,” Paul said.
But as Rand Paul launches his presidential campaign, questions linger about how long his cadre of advisers and operatives will last under the merciless glare of the national stage. “They are in such a bubble in this Rand Paul universe, and I think the bubble’s going to pop real quick in the heat of the primaries,” says the conservative strategist familiar with the Pauls and their allies. “They are not ready for prime time.”Although a budget smartphone, LG K7i’s highlight feature has to be the ‘Mosquito away’ technology which according to the company is safe and harmless for humans.
LG K7i smartphone has been announced for the Indian market. LG claims the phone has an innovative ‘Mosquito away’ technology. Targeted at the mass budget segment, LG K7i is priced at Rs 7,990. The announcement was made during the ongoing India Mobile Congress in Delhi by the South-Korean company.
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Although a budget smartphone, LG K7i’s highlight feature has to be the ‘Mosquito away’ technology which according to the company is safe and harmless for humans. As LG explains the phone uses an ultra-sonic technology, which once activated will keep the mosquitoes at bay. LG also point out that its proprietary technology is silent and odorless in nature.
LG K7i sports a 5-inch display, though the resolution has not been specified by the company. It is powered by an unknown quad-core processor coupled with 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory and microSD card support. The device is backed by a 2500mAh battery is removable.
On the camera front, LG K7i features an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front shooter. The K7i runs Android Marshmallow out of the box. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, FM Radio, microSD 2.0, Dual SIM, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.The phone will be available in a brown colour option.
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This is not the first time LG has come with a product with this so-called mosquito away technology. Last year, LG launched its TV series in India with the same preparatory technology, which acts as mosquito repellent.ROME (Reuters) - Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International on Friday urged Italy to create an independent authority to fight graft, which costs taxpayers 60 billion euros ($78 billion) a year.
Prime Minister of Italy Mario Monti addresses the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 26, 2012. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine
The recommendation goes further than an anti-corruption bill the technocrat government of Prime Minister Mario Monti wants to pass before a national election, likely to be held in April.
A report published earlier this year by Transparency International said 87 percent of Italians regarded corruption as one of the country’s most serious problems and blamed political parties.
Italian parties’ “contribution to the fight against corruption and the promotion of transparency is almost zero,” the watchdog said in Friday’s report.
Next week the Senate is expected to vote on an anti-corruption bill that would toughen the criminal code and exclude anyone convicted of crimes against the public administration from becoming a lawmaker.
The limited scope of the draft law fails to do much of what Transparency International recommended on Friday, including creating an authority, fostering a more independent media and simplifying regulations in the public administration.
Late on Thursday, the government approved emergency legislation to fight graft and cut spending by local governments, in particular by the regions, where spending has risen 75 percent in the last decade.
Monti introduced tax increases and pension cuts when he came to office in November to stave off a Greek-style debt crisis. The measures have hurt consumer spending and deepened Italy’s year-long recession.
“After the unspeakable episodes that have happened, Italians are indignant that heavy sacrifices are asked of them while the world of politics seems exempt,” Monti said in presenting the measures.
On Wednesday, the chief and four employees of a tax collection agency in northern Italy were arrested for allegedly pocketing 100 million euros ($130 million) of the money they had gathered.
In another scandal, a regional official allegedly spent more than a million euros in public funds on cars, a holiday and a lavish toga party in Rome.
A poll published by SWG on Friday illustrated Italians’ disillusionment with its political class, suggesting that 46 percent of people were either undecided about who to vote for or did not plan to cast a ballot in the next election.Had he lived during the Inquisition, Thomas Jefferson would have been burned at the stake. His ideas about Jesus and Christianity were far from orthodox. A product of the Enlightenment, Jefferson believed that everything, including religion, should be examined in the light of reason.
When Jefferson examined the Gospels he came away with a strongly divided opinion. "I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence," he wrote in an 1820 letter to William Short, "and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being."
As early as 1804, when he was still president, Jefferson began separating "the diamond from the dunghill," as he later put it, to assemble his own version of the Bible. He continued the project in earnest during his later years at Monticello, poring over various editions in Greek, Latin, French and King James English. He clipped the passages he thought were genuine teachings of Jesus and pasted them, in the four languages side by side, onto pages.
In 1820 -- six years before his death at the age of 83 -- Jefferson produced a leather-bound, 84-page volume titled The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, Extracted Textually From the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French & English. Jefferson eliminated everything in the Bible concerning miracles. He ended the Gospel story with the execution and burial of Jesus, omitting the resurrection. The retained passages, Jefferson explained in an 1813 letter to John Adams, contain "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."
You can examine and read Jefferson's complete 1820 Bible online by visiting the Smithsonian Institution's interactive Web display.
Reproductions of Jefferson's Bible can be purchased online.
The images above come courtesy of The Smithsonian.Homo over the last two million years (vertical axis). The rapid "H. sapiens is indicated at the top of the diagram, with Overview of speciation and hybridization within the genusover the last two million years (vertical axis). The rapid " Out of Africa " expansion ofis indicated at the top of the diagram, with admixture indicated with Neanderthals, Denisovans, and unspecified archaic African hominins.
Human taxonomy is the classification of the human species (systematic name Homo sapiens, Latin: "knowing man") within zoological taxonomy. The systematic genus, Homo, is designed to include both anatomically modern humans and extinct varieties of archaic humans. Current humans have been designated as subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens, differentiated from the direct ancestor, Homo sapiens idaltu.
Since the introduction of systematic names in the 18th century, knowledge of human evolution has increased drastically, and a number of intermediate taxa have been proposed in the 20th to early 21st century. The most widely accepted taxonomy groups takes the genus Homo as originating between two and three million years ago, divided into at least two species, archaic Homo erectus and modern Homo sapiens, with about a dozen further suggestions for species without universal recognition.
The genus Homo is placed in the tribe Hominini alongside Pan (chimpanzees). The two genera are estimated to have diverged over an extended time of hybridization spanning roughly 10 to 6 million years ago, with possible admixture as late as 4 million years ago. A subtribe of uncertain validity, grouping archaic "pre-human" or "para-human" species younger than the Homo-Pan split is Australopithecina (proposed in 1939).
A proposal by Wood and Richmond (2000) would introduce Hominina as a subtribe alongside Australopithecina, with Homo the only known genus within Hominina. Alternatively, following Cela-Conde and Ayala (2003), the "pre-human" or "proto-human" genera of Australopithecus, Ardipithecus, Praeanthropus, and possibly Sahelanthropus may be placed on equal footing alongside the genus Homo. An even more radical view rejects the division of Pan and Homo as separate genera, which based on the Principle of Priority would imply the re-classification of chimpanzees as Homo paniscus (or similar).[1]
Prior to the current scientific classification of humans, philosophers and scientists have made various attempts to classify humans. They offered definitions of the human being and schemes for classifying types of humans. Biologists once classified races as subspecies, but today anthropologists reject the concept of race and view humanity as an interrelated genetic continuum. Taxonomy of the hominins continues to evolve.[2][3]
History [ edit ]
Human taxonomy on one hand involves the placement of humans within the Taxonomy of the hominids (great apes), and on the other the division of archaic and modern humans into species and, if applicable, subspecies. Modern zoological taxonomy was developed by Carl Linnaeus during the 1730s to 1750s. He named the human species as Homo sapiens in 1758, as the only member species of the genus Homo, divided into several subspecies corresponding to the great races. The Latin noun homō (genitive hominis) means "human being". The systematic name Hominidae for the family of the great apes was introduced by John Edward Gray (1825).[4] Gray also supplied Hominini as the name of the tribe including both chimpanzees (genus Pan) and humans (genus Homo).
The discovery of the first extinct archaic human species from the fossil record dates to the mid 19th century, Homo neanderthalensis, classified in 1864. Since then, a number of other archaic species have been named, but there is no universal consensus as to their exact number. After the discovery of H. neanderthalensis, which even if "archaic" is recognizable as clearly human, late 19th to early 20th century anthropology for a time was occupied with finding the supposedly "missing link" between Homo and Pan. The "Piltdown Man" hoax of 1912 was the (fraudulent) presentation of such a transitional species. Since the mid-20th century, knowledge of the development of Hominini has become much more detailed, and taxonomical terminology has been altered a number of times to reflect this.
The introduction of Australopithecus as a third genus, alongside Homo and Pan, in the Hominini tribe is due to Raymond Dart (1925). Australopithecina as a subtribe containing Australopithecus as well as Paranthropus (Broom 1938) is a proposal by Gregory & Hellman (1939). More recently proposed additions to the Australopithecina subtribe include Ardipithecus (1995) and Kenyanthropus (2001). The position of Sahelanthropus (2002) relative to Australopithecina within Hominini is unclear. Cela-Conde and Ayala (2003) propose the recognition of Australopithecus, Ardipithecus, Praeanthropus, and Sahelanthropus (the latter incertae sedis) as separate genera.[5]
Other proposed genera, now mostly considered part of Homo, include: Pithecanthropus (Dubois, 1894), Protanthropus (Haeckel, 1895), Sinanthropus (Black, 1927), Cyphanthropus (Pycraft, 1928) Africanthropus (Dreyer, 1935),[6] Telanthropus (Broom & Anderson 1949), Atlanthropus (Arambourg, 1954), Tchadanthropus (Coppens, 1965).
The genus Homo has been taken to originate some two million years ago since the discovery of stone tools in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, in the 1960s. Homo habilis (Leakey et al., 1964) would be the first "human" species (member of genus Homo) by definition, its type specimen being the OH 7 fossils. However, the discovery of more fossils of this type has opened up the debate on the delineation of H. habilis from Australopithecus. Especially, the LD 350-1 jawbone fossil discovered in 2013, dated to 2.8 Mya, has been argued as being transitional between the two.[7] It is also disputed whether H. habilis was the first hominin to use stone tools, as Australopithecus garhi, dated to c. 2.5 Mya, has been found along with stone tool implements.[8] Fossil KNM-ER 1470 (discovered in 1972, designated Pithecanthropus rudolfensis by Alekseyev 1978) is now seen as either a third early species of Homo (alongside H. habilis and H. erectus) at about 2 million years ago, or alternatively as transitional between Australopithecus and Homo.[9]
Wood and Richmond (2000) proposed that Gray's tribe Hominini ("hominins") be designated as comprising all species after the chimpanzee-human last common ancestor by definition, to the inclusion of Australopithecines and other possible pre-human or para-human species (such as Ardipithecus and Sahelanthropus) not known in Gray's time.[10] In this suggestion, the new subtribe of Hominina was to be designated as including the genus Homo exclusively, so that Hominini would have two subtribes, Australopithecina and Hominina, with the only known genus in Hominina being Homo. Orrorin (2001) has been proposed as a possible ancestor of Hominina but not Australopithecina.[11]
Designations alternative to Hominina have been proposed: Australopithecinae (Gregory & Hellman 1939) and Preanthropinae (Cela-Conde & Altaba 2002);[12]
Species [ edit ]
At least a dozen species of Homo other than Homo sapiens have been proposed, with varying degrees of consensus. Homo erectus is widely recognized as the species directly ancestral to Homo sapiens. Most other proposed species are proposed as alternatively belonging to either Homo erectus or Homo sapiens as a subspecies. This concerns Homo ergaster in particular.[13] One proposal divides Homo erectus into an African and an Asian variety; the African is Homo ergaster, and the Asian is Homo erectus sensu stricto. (Inclusion of Homo ergaster with Asian Homo erectus is Homo erectus sensu lato.)[14] There appears to be a recent trend, with the availability of ever more difficult-to-classify fossils such as the Dmanisi skulls (2013) or Homo naledi fossils (2015) to subsume all archaic varieties under Homo erectus.[15]
Subspecies [ edit ]
Homo sapiens subspecies [ edit ]
H. sapiens and H. s. sapiens.[31] 1737 painting of Carl von Linné wearing a traditional Sami costume, sometimes named as the lectotype of bothand
The recognition or non-recognition of subspecies of Homo sapiens has a complicated history. The rank of subspecies in zoology is introduced for convenience, and not by objective criteria, based on pragmatic consideration of factors such as geographic isolation and sexual selection. The informal taxonomic rank of race is variously considered equivalent or subordinate to the rank of subspecies, and the division of anatomically modern humans (H. sapiens) into subspecies is closely tied to the recognition of major racial groupings based on human genetic variation.
A subspecies cannot be recognized independently: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or at least two (including any that are extinct). Therefore, the designation of an extant subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens only makes sense if at least one other subspecies is recognized. H. s. sapiens is attributed to "Linnaeus (1758)" by the taxonomic Principle of Coordination.[32] William Stearn (1959) in a "passing remark"[33] argued that Linnaeus "must stand as the type of his Homo sapiens". Since Linnaeus describes H. s. europaeus as having blue/green (caerulus) eyes but himself had brown eyes, he cannot have included himself in H. s. europaeus, Linnaeus would therefore have to be classified as H. sapiens sapiens, as not matching any of the descriptions of his five subspecies, and so would stand as the lectotype both for H. sapiens, and for H. s. sapiens within his own subspecies nomenclature.[34]
During the 19th to mid-20th century, it was common practice to classify the major divisions of extant H. sapiens as subspecies, following Linnaeus (1758), who had recognized H. s. americanus, H. s. europaeus, H. s. asiaticus and H. s. afer as grouping the native populations of the Americas, West Eurasia, East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, respectively, besides H. s. ferus (for the "wild" form which he identified with feral children) and two further "wild" forms for reported specimens now considered part of cryptozoology, H. s. monstrosus and H. s. troglodytes.[35]
There were variations and additions to the categories of Linnaeus, such as H. s. tasmanianus for the native population of Australia.[36] Bory de St. Vincent in his Essai sur l'Homme (1825) extended Linné's "racial" categories to as many as fifteen: Leiotrichi ("smooth-haired"): japeticus (with subraces), arabicus, indicus, scythicus, sinicus, hyperboreus, neptunianus, australasicus, columbicus, americanus, patagonicus; Oulotrichi ("crisp-haired"): aethiopicus, cafer, hottentotus, melaninus.[37] Similarly, Georges Vacher de Lapouge (1899) also had categories based on race, such as priscus, spelaeus (etc.).
Homo sapiens neanderthalensis was proposed by King (1864) as an alternative to Homo neanderthalensis.[38] There have been "taxonomic wars" over whether Neanderthals were a separate species since their discovery in the 1860s. Pääbo (2014) frames this as a debate that is unresolvable in principle, "since there is no definition of species perfectly describing the case."[39] Louis Lartet (1869) proposed Homo sapiens fossilis based on the Cro-Magnon fossils.
There are a number of proposals of extinct varieties of Homo sapiens made in the 20th century. Many of the original proposals were not using explicit trinomial nomenclature, even though they are still cited as valid synonyms of H. sapiens by Wilson & Reeder (2005).[40] These include: Homo grimaldii (Lapouge, 1906), Homo aurignacensis hauseri (Klaatsch & Hauser, 1910), Notanthropus eurafricanus (Sergi, 1911), Homo fossilis infrasp. proto-aethiopicus (Giuffrida-Ruggeri, 1915), Telanthropus capensis (Broom, 1917),[41] Homo wadjakensis (Dubois, 1921), Homo sapiens cro-magnonensis, Homo sapiens grimaldiensis (Gregory, 1921), Homo drennani (Kleinschmidt, 1931),[42] Homo galilensis (Joleaud, 1931) = Paleanthropus palestinus (McCown & Keith, 1932).[43] Rightmire (1983) proposed Homo sapiens rhodesiensis.[44]
By the 1980s, the practice of dividing extant populations of Homo sapiens into subspecies declined. An early authority explicitly avoiding the division of H. sapiens into subspecies was Grzimeks Tierleben, published 1967–1972.[45] A late example of an academic authority proposing that the human racial groups should be considered taxonomical subspecies is John Baker (1974).[46] The trinomial nomenclature Homo sapiens sapiens became popular for "modern humans" in the context of Neanderthals being considered a subspecies of H. sapiens in the second half of the 20th century. Derived from the convention, widespread in the 1980s, of considering two subspecies, H. s. neanderthalensis and H. s. sapiens, the explicit claim that "H. s. sapiens is the only extant human subspecies" appears in the early 1990s.[47] This is only true if the nomenclature derived from Linnaeus is rejected. Based on Linnaeus (1758), there are at least six subspecies, with H. s. sapiens catching those specimens not included in any other.
Since the 2000s, the extinct Homo sapiens idaltu (White et al., 2003) has gained wide recognition as a subspecies of Homo sapiens, but even in this case there is a dissenting view arguing that "the skulls may not be distinctive enough to warrant a new subspecies name".[48] H. s. neanderthalensis and H. s. rhodesiensis continue to be considered separate species by some authorities, but the genetic evidence of archaic human admixture with modern humans discovered in the 2010s has re-opened the details of taxonomy of archaic humans.[49]
Homo erectus subspecies [ edit ]
Homo erectus since its introduction in 1892 has been divided into numerous subspecies, many of them formerly considered individual species of Homo. None of these subspecies have universal consensus among paleontologists.
See also [ edit ]BOSTON — Plenty of people gave up on Jackie Bradley Jr. as a hitter before the end of the 2015 season, but the Red Sox didn’t. And neither did Jackie Bradley Jr.
The Red Sox center fielder once again showed his importance at the plate in Boston’s 8-0 win over the New York Yankees on Saturday, going 3-for-3 and plating three runs with a double and two triples. And for Bradley, it’s all about sticking to the basics.
“I think my approach is to try to — it sounds simple — but just to put the barrel on the ball,” Bradley said. “I don’t want to try to force things because sometimes when I try to force things, I manipulate my swing, and I just want to put the fat part of the bat on the ball.”
Bradley began the 2015 season in Triple-A Pawtucket. He came up in May and was demoted again in July, finishing that month with an abysmal.125 average and.417 OPS. But he fended off his detractors by hitting.354 in the month of August, and now he’s doing the same. He started Saturday’s game with a.244 average and.692 OPS and vaulted those numbers to.272 and.807 by the game’s end.
And he did it by believing in himself and his abilities.
“Just being determined, knowing what I have to do, and just trying to take care of business,” Bradley said. “It’s a tough game. It’ll eat you up if you let it. Just staying confident in myself, believing in myself, knowing that I have what it takes to play here, and not straying away from that.”
Bradley wasn’t alone, though. The Red Sox have trusted him all along, too.
“He’s always got that carrying tool that he can be a game-changer in center field, so you’re going to ride it out,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “At times guys need some patience, they need support, they need encouragement. Jackie has lived through some challenges in his time here in Boston, but he continues to grow and understand himself, and it was a matter of time.”
Here are some more notes from Saturday’s win.
— Starter Rick Porcello deserves plenty of credit for the win, too. With his seven scoreless innings, the right-hander became the first Red Sox pitcher to earn the win in his first five starts since Josh Beckett did it in 2007. And his success actually is a continuation since returning from the disabled list last August.
“I think the mindset’s the same (as August),” Porcello said. “Keep the ball down, sinker first and foremost, and then everything kind of plays off the bat. I think that’s been the consistent approach since I came back from the DL last year, and just try to go out there and execute that plan.”
— Porcello also helped his own cause with a heads-up play in the fifth inning he made while backing up third base. Your browser does not support iframes.
“I don’t know if I had to dive,” Porcello said with a laugh. “I kind of played it out a little too much.”
— David Ortiz hit his fifth home run of the season, a monster solo shot to the center field bleachers. It’s the second time this season he’s homered in back-to-back games, too.
— The Red Sox shut out the Yankees for the first time since June 2, 2013. It was the first time they did it at Fenway Park since May 14, 2011.
— Mookie Betts loves to hit for extra bases against the Yankees. The Red Sox right fielder hit a two-RBI double Saturday, giving him 14 extra-base hits in his last 14 games against New York.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
Thumbnail photo via Apr 19, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (25) hits a single during the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY SportsFRANKFURT (Reuters) - German fashion brand Hugo Boss will end its motorsport tie-up with Formula One from next year to move into Formula E, Chief Executive Mark Langer told German weekly Focus.
Hugo Boss has been partnered with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team since 2015, when it ended a decades-long association with McLaren.
“Of course Formula One is the top class of motor racing, but Formula E is more innovative and sustainable,” the magazine quoted Langer as saying.
“The engines, the races in major cities, that’s something a younger audience likes, which offers new opportunities.”
Langer said the cost of sponsorship did not play a role in the decision to switch.
“After many years in Formula One, really since (German racing driver) Jochen Mass in the Seventies, we have been thinking what is the next thing?” Langer told Focus.Bloom (center, with Hill, left, and Salonga) in front of one of the series’ central sets, a boba tea stand. 2 “All showrunners should direct an episode,” says Brosh McKenna. “You see an episode in |
ki) Yukhari-Garabakh Aghdam (Ağdam)
Fuzuli (Füzuli)
Jabrayil (Cəbrayıl)
Khojaly (Xocalı)
Khojavend (Xocavənd)
Shusha (Şuşa)
Tartar (Tərtər)
Khankendi (Xankəndi)
(Xankəndi) Shusha (Şuşa) Azerbaijan is divided into 10 economic regions.
Note: The cities under the direct authority of the republic in italics.
Largest cities
Military
The history of the modern Azerbaijan army dates back to Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, when the National Army of the newly formed Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was created on 26 June 1918.[150][151] When Azerbaijan gained independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan were created according to the Law on the Armed Forces of 9 October 1991.[152] The original date of the establishment of the short-lived National Army is celebrated as Army Day (26 June) in today's Azerbaijan.[153] As of 2002, Azerbaijan had 95,000 active personnel in its armed forces. There are also 17,000 paramilitary troops.[154] The armed forces have three branches: the Land Forces, the Air Forces and the Navy. Additionally the armed forces embrace several military sub-groups that can be involved in state defense when needed. These are the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Border Service, which includes the Coast Guard as well.[94] The Azerbaijan National Guard is a further paramilitary force. It operates as a semi-independent entity of the Special State Protection Service, an agency subordinate to the President.[155]
Azerbaijan adheres to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and has signed all major international arms and weapons treaties. Azerbaijan closely cooperates with NATO in programs such as Partnership for Peace and Individual Partnership Action Plan. Azerbaijan has deployed 151 of its Peacekeeping Forces in Iraq and another 184 in Afghanistan.[156]
The defense budget of Azerbaijan for 2011 was set at US$3.1 billion.[157] In addition to that, $1.36 billion was planned to be used for the needs of the defense industry, which bring up the total military budget to 4.6 billion.[157][158] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on 26 June 2011 that the defence spending reached $3.3 billion that year.[159]
Azerbaijani Special Forces during military parade
Azerbaijan's defense budget for 2013 is $3.7 billion.[160][161]
Azerbaijani defense industry manufactures small arms, artillery systems, tanks, armors and noctovision devices, aviation bombs, pilotless vehicles, various military vehicles and military planes and helicopters.[162][163][164][165]
Economy
After gaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan became a member of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Asian Development Bank.[166] The banking system of Azerbaijan consists of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, commercial banks and non-banking credit organizations. The National (now Central) Bank was created in 1992 based on the Azerbaijan State Savings Bank, an affiliate of the former State Savings Bank of the USSR. The Central Bank serves as Azerbaijan's central bank, empowered to issue the national currency, the Azerbaijani manat, and to supervise all commercial banks. Two major commercial banks are UniBank and the state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan, run by Dr. Jahangir Hajiyev.
Pushed up by spending and demand growth, the 2007 Q1 inflation rate reached 16.6%.[167] Nominal incomes and monthly wages climbed 29% and 25% respectively against this figure, but price increases in non-oil industry encouraged inflation.[167] Azerbaijan shows some signs of the so-called "Dutch disease" because of its fast-growing energy sector, which causes inflation and makes non-energy exports more expensive.
In the early 2000s the chronically high inflation was brought under control. This led to the launch of a new currency, the new Azerbaijani manat, on 1 January 2006, to cement the economic reforms and erase the vestiges of an unstable economy.[168][169]
In 2008, Azerbaijan was cited as one of the top 10 reformers by the World Bank's Doing Business Report.[170]
Azerbaijan led the world as the top reformer in 2007/08, with improvements on seven out of 10 indicators of regulatory reform. Azerbaijan started operating a one-stop shop in January 2008 that halved the time, cost and number of procedures to start a business. Business registrations increased by 40% in the first six months. Azerbaijan also eliminated the minimum loan cutoff of $1,100, more than doubling the number of borrowers covered by the credit registry. Also, taxpayers can now file forms and pay their taxes online. Azerbaijan's extensive reforms moved it far up the ranks, from 97 to 33 in the overall ease of doing business.
Azerbaijan is also ranked 57th in the Global Competitiveness Report for 2010–2011, above other CIS countries.[171] By 2012 the GDP of Azerbaijan had increased 20-fold from to its 1995 level.[172]
According to World Bank's Doing Business report 2019, Azerbaijan improved its position in the Ease of doing business rank from 57 to 25.[173][174][175][176] As a result of implementing a record number of reforms mainly involving institutional changes among the 10 top improvers, to do business in Azerbaijan became easier, such as time and cost to get construction permit reduced significantly (time by 80 days and cost by 12.563 AZN), process of connecting electricity grid rationalized, as well as getting credit simplified.[173]
Energy
pumping unit for the mechanical extraction of oil on the outskirts of Baku
Two-thirds of Azerbaijan is rich in oil and natural gas.[177] The history of the oil industry of Azerbaijan dates back to the ancient period. Arabian historian and traveler Ahmed Al-Belaruri discussed the economy of the Absheron peninsula in anntiquity, mentioning its oil in particular.[178] There are lots of pipelines in Azerbaijan.
The region of the Lesser Caucasus accounts for most of the country's gold, silver, iron, copper, titanium, chromium, manganese, cobalt, molybdenum, complex ore and antimony.[177] In September 1994, a 30-year contract was signed between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and 13 oil companies, among them Amoco, BP, ExxonMobil, Lukoil and Equinor.[166] As Western oil companies are able to tap deepwater oilfields untouched by the Soviet exploitation, Azerbaijan is considered one of the most important spots in the world for oil exploration and development.[179] Meanwhile, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was established as an extra-budgetary fund to ensure macroeconomic stability, transparency in the management of oil revenue, and safeguarding of resources for future generations.
Azeriqaz, a sub-company of SOCAR, intends to ensure full gasification of the country by 2021.[180] Azerbaijan is one of the sponsors of the East–West and North–South energy transport corridors. Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway line will connect the Caspian region with Turkey, is expected to be completed in July 2017. The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will deliver natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas to Turkey and Europe.
Azerbaijan extended the agreement on development of ACG until 2050 according to the amended PSA signed on 14 September 2017 by SOCAR and co-venturers (BP, Chevron, INPEX, Equinor, ExxonMobil, TP, ITOCHU and ONGC Videsh).[181]
Agriculture
Azerbaijan has the largest agricultural basin in the region. About 54.9 percent of Azerbaijan is agricultural land.[110] At the beginning of 2007 there were 4,755,100 hectares of utilized agricultural area.[182] In the same year the total wood resources counted 136 million m³.[182] Azerbaijan's agricultural scientific research institutes are focused on meadows and pastures, horticulture and subtropical crops, green vegetables, viticulture and wine-making, cotton growing and medicinal plants.[183] In some areas it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes, sugar beets, cotton[184] and tobacco. Livestock, dairy products, and wine and spirits are also important farm products. The Caspian fishing industry concentrates on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga. In 2002 the Azerbaijani merchant marine had 54 ships.[185]
Some products previously imported from abroad have begun to be produced locally. Among them are Coca-Cola by Coca-Cola Bottlers LTD., beer by Baki-Kastel, parquet by Nehir and oil pipes by EUPEC Pipe Coating Azerbaijan.[186]
Tourism
Tourism is an important part of the economy of Azerbaijan. The country was a well-known tourist spot in the 1980s. However, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Nagorno-Karabakh War during the 1990s, damaged the tourist industry and the image of Azerbaijan as a tourist destination.[187]
It was not until the 2000s that the tourism industry began to recover, and the country has since experienced a high rate of growth in the number of tourist visits and overnight stays.[188] In the recent years, Azerbaijan has also become a popular destination for religious, spa, and health care tourism.[189] During winter, the Shahdag Mountain Resort offers skiing with state of the art facilities.
The government of Azerbaijan has set the development of Azerbaijan as an elite tourist destination as a top priority. It is a national strategy to make tourism a major, if not the single largest, contributor to the Azerbaijani economy.[190] These activities are regulated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan. There are 63 countries which have visa-free score.[191] E-visa[192] – for a visit of foreigners of visa-required countries to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
According to Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015 of the World Economic Forum, Azerbaijan holds 84th place.[193]
According to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council, Azerbaijan was among the top ten countries showing the strongest growth in visitor exports between 2010 and 2016,[194] In addition, Azerbaijan placed first (46.1%) among countries with the fastest-developing travel and tourism economies, with strong indicators for inbound international visitor spending last year.[195]
Transportation
The convenient location of Azerbaijan on the crossroad of major international traffic arteries, such as the Silk Road and the south–north corridor, highlights the strategic importance of transportation sector for the country's economy.[196] The transport sector in the country includes roads, railways, aviation, and maritime transport.
Azerbaijan is also an important economic hub in the transportation of raw materials. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) became operational in May 2006 and extends more than 1,774 kilometers through the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The BTC is designed to transport up to 50 million tons of crude oil annually and carries oil from the Caspian Sea oilfields to global markets.[197] The South Caucasus Pipeline, also stretching through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, became operational at the end of 2006 and offers additional gas supplies to the European market from the Shah Deniz gas field. Shah Deniz is expected to produce up to 296 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.[198] Azerbaijan also plays a major role in the EU-sponsored Silk Road Project.
In 2002, the Azerbaijani government established the Ministry of Transport with a broad range of policy and regulatory functions. In the same year, the country became a member of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.[199] Priorities are upgrading the transport network and improving transportation services in order to better facilitate the development of other sectors of the economy.
The 2012 construction of Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway was meant to improve transportation between Asia and Europe by connecting the railways of China and Kazakhstan in the east to the European railway system in the west via Turkey. In 2010 Broad-gauge railways and electrified railways stretched for 2,918 km (1,813 mi) and 1,278 km (794 mi) respectively. By 2010, there were 35 airports and one heliport.[94]
Science and technology
In the 21st century, a new oil and gas boom helped to improve the situation in Azerbaijan's science and technology sectors, and the government launched a campaign aimed at modernization and innovation. The government estimates that profits from the information technology and communication industry will grow and become comparable to those from oil production.[200]
Azerbaijan has a large and steadily growing Internet sector, mostly uninfluenced by the global financial crisis; rapid growth is forecast for at least five more years.[201]
The country has also been making progress in developing its telecoms sector. The Ministry of Communications & Information Technologies (MCIT), as well as being an operator through its role in Aztelekom, is both a policy-maker and regulator. Public pay phones are available for local calls and require the purchase of a token from the telephone exchange or some shops and kiosks. Tokens allow a call of indefinite duration. As of 2009, there were 1,397,000 main telephone lines[202] and 1,485,000 internet users.[203] There are four GSM providers: Azercell, Bakcell, Azerfon (Nar Mobile), Nakhtel mobile network operators and one CDMA.
In the 21st century a number of prominent Azerbaijani geodynamics and geotectonics scientists, inspired by the fundamental works of Elchin Khalilov and others, designed hundreds of earthquake prediction stations and earthquake-resistant buildings that now constitute the bulk of The Republican Center of Seismic Service.[204][205][206]
The Azerbaijan National Aerospace Agency launched its first satellite AzerSat 1 into orbit on 7 February 2013 from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana at orbital positions 46° East.[207][208][209] The satellite covers Europe and a significant part of Asia and Africa and serves the transmission of TV and radio broadcasting as well as the Internet.[210] The launching of a satellite into orbit is Azerbaijan's first step in realizing its goal of becoming a nation with its own space industry, capable of successfully implementing more projects in the future.[211][212]
Demographics
Population pyramid
As of 2016, 53.1% of Azerbaijan's total population of 9,705,600 was urban, with the remaining 46.9% being rural. 50.2% of the total population was female. The sex ratio in the same year was 0.99 males per female.[213]
The 2011 population growth-rate was 0.85%, compared to 1.09% worldwide.[94] A significant factor restricting population growth is a high level of migration. In 2011 Azerbaijan saw a migration of −1.14/1,000 people.[94]
The Azerbaijani diaspora is found in 42 countries[214] and in turn there are many centers for ethnic minorities inside Azerbaijan, including the German cultural society "Karelhaus", Slavic cultural center, Azerbaijani-Israeli community, Kurdish cultural center, International Talysh Association, Lezgin national center "Samur", Azerbaijani-Tatar community, Crimean Tatars society, etc.[215]
Ethnic groups
Ethnic composition (2009)[1] Azerbaijani 91.60% Lezgian 2.02% Armenian 1.35% Russian 1.34% Talysh 1.26% Other nations 2.43%
The ethnic composition of the population according to the 2009 population census: 91.60% Azerbaijanis, 2.02% Lezgians, 1.35% Armenians (almost all Armenians live in the break-away region of Nagorno-Karabakh), 1.34% Russians, 1.26% Talysh, 0.56% Avars, 0.43% Turks, 0.29% Tatars, 0.28% Tats, 0.24% Ukrainians, 0.14% Tsakhurs, 0.11% Georgians, 0.10% Jews, 0.07% Kurds, other 0.21%.
Iranian Azerbaijanis are by far the largest minority in Iran. The number of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran furthermore far outnumber those in neighboring Azerbaijan. The CIA World Factbook estimates Iranian Azerbaijanis as constituting at least 16% of Iran's population.[216]
Urbanization
In total, Azerbaijan has 78 cities, 63 city districts, and one special legal status city. These are followed by 261 urban-type settlements and 4248 villages.[213]
Languages
The official language is Azerbaijani, which is a Turkic language. Azerbaijani is spoken by approximately 92% of the population as a mother tongue.[217] Russian and Armenian (only in Nagorno-Karabakh) are also spoken, and each are the mother tongue of around 1.5% of the population respectively.[217] Russian and English play significant roles as second or third languages of education and communication.[citation needed] There are a dozen other minority languages spoken natively in the country.[218] Avar, Budukh,[219] Georgian, Juhuri,[219] Khinalug,[219] Kryts,[219] Lezgian, Rutul,[219] Talysh, Tat,[219] Tsakhur,[219] and Udi[219] are all spoken by small minorities. Some of these language communities are very small and their numbers are decreasing.[220] Armenian is almost exclusively spoken in the break-away Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Religion
Religions in Azerbaijan[221] Islam 97.4% Christianity 1.1% None 1.0% Others 0.5%
[222] The Bibi-Heybat Mosque before its destruction by the Bolsheviks in 1936. The mosque was built over the tomb of a descendant of Muhammad
Around 97% of the population are Muslims.[223] 85% of the Muslims are Shia Muslims and 15% Sunni Muslims,[224] and the Republic of Azerbaijan has the second highest Shia population percentage in the world.[225] Other faiths are practised by the country's various ethnic groups. Under article 48 of its Constitution, Azerbaijan is a secular state and ensures religious freedom. In a 2006–2008 Gallup poll, only 21% of respondents from Azerbaijan stated that religion is an important part of their daily lives. This makes Azerbaijan the least religious Muslim-majority country in the world.[226]
Of the nation's religious minorities, the estimated 280,000 Christians (3.1%)[227] are mostly Russian and Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic (almost all Armenians live in the break-away region of Nagorno-Karabakh).[94] In 2003, there were 250 Roman Catholics.[228] Other Christian denominations as of 2002 include Lutherans, Baptists and Molokans.[229] There is also a small Protestant community.[230][231] Azerbaijan also has an ancient Jewish population with a 2,000-year history; Jewish organizations estimate that 12,000 Jews remain in Azerbaijan.[232][233][234][235] Azerbaijan also is home to members of the Bahá'í, Hare Krishna and Jehovah's Witnesses communities, as well as adherents of the other religious communities.[229] Some religious communities have been unofficially restricted from religious freedom. A U.S. State Department report on the matter mentions detention of members of certain Muslim and Christian groups, and many groups have difficulty registering with the SCWRA.[236]
Education
A relatively high percentage of Azerbaijanis have obtained some form of higher education, most notably in scientific and technical subjects.[237] In the Soviet era, literacy and average education levels rose dramatically from their very low starting point, despite two changes in the standard alphabet, from Perso-Arabic script to Latin in the 1920s and from Roman to Cyrillic in the 1930s. According to Soviet data, 100 percent of males and females (ages nine to forty-nine) were literate in 1970.[237] According to the United Nations Development Program Report 2009, the literacy rate in Azerbaijan is 99.5 percent.[238]
Since independence, one of the first laws that Azerbaijan's Parliament passed to disassociate itself from the Soviet Union was to adopt a modified-Latin alphabet to replace Cyrillic.[239] Other than that the Azerbaijani system has undergone little structural change. Initial alterations have included the reestablishment of religious education (banned during the Soviet period) and curriculum changes that have reemphasized the use of the Azerbaijani language and have eliminated ideological content. In addition to elementary schools, the education institutions include thousands of preschools, general secondary schools, and vocational schools, including specialized secondary schools and technical schools. Education through the eighth grade is compulsory.
Culture
The culture of Azerbaijan has developed as a result of many influences. Today, national traditions are well preserved in the country despite Western influences, including globalized consumer culture. Some of the main elements of the Azerbaijani culture are: music, literature, folk dances and art, cuisine, architecture, cinematography and Novruz Bayram. The latter is derived from the traditional celebration of the New Year in the ancient Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism. Novruz is a family holiday.[240]
The profile of Azerbaijan's population consists, as stated above, of Azerbaijanis, as well as other nationalities or ethnic groups, compactly living in various areas of the country. Azerbaijani national and traditional dresses are the Chokha and Papakhi. There are radio broadcasts in Russian, Georgian, Kurdish, Lezgian and Talysh languages, which are financed from the state budget.[215] Some local radio stations in Balakan and Khachmaz organize broadcasts in Avar and Tat.[215] In Baku several newspapers are published in Russian, Kurdish (Dengi Kurd), Lezgian (Samur) and Talysh languages.[215] Jewish society "Sokhnut" publishes the newspaper Aziz.[215]
Music and folk dances
Music of Azerbaijan builds on folk traditions that reach back nearly a thousand years.[241] For centuries Azerbaijani music has evolved under the badge of monody, producing rhythmically diverse melodies.[242] Azerbaijani music has a branchy mode system, where chromatization of major and minor scales is of great importance.[242] Among national musical instruments there are 14 string instruments, eight percussion instruments and six wind instruments.[243] According to The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "in terms of ethnicity, culture and religion the Azerbaijani are musically much closer to Iran than Turkey."[244]
Mugham, meykhana and ashiq art are among the many musical traditions of Azerbaijan. Mugham is usually a suite with poetry and instrumental interludes. When performing mugham, the singers have to transform their emotions into singing and music. In contrast to the mugham traditions of Central Asian countries, Azerbaijani mugham is more free-form and less rigid; it is often compared to the improvised field of jazz.[245] UNESCO proclaimed the Azerbaijani mugham tradition a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7 November 2003. Meykhana is a kind of traditional Azerbaijani distinctive folk unaccompanied song, usually performed by several people improvising on a particular subject.
Ashiq combines poetry, storytelling, dance and vocal and instrumental music into a traditional performance art that stands as a symbol of Azerbaijani culture. It is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard who sings and plays the saz. This tradition has its origin in the Shamanistic beliefs of ancient Turkic peoples.[246] Ashiqs' songs are semi-improvised around common bases. Azerbaijan's ashiq art was included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO on 30 September 2009.[247]
Since the mid-1960s, Western-influenced Azerbaijani pop music, in its various forms, that has been growing in popularity in Azerbaijan, while genres such as rock and hip hop are widely produced and enjoyed. Azerbaijani pop and Azerbaijani folk music arose with the international popularity of performers like Alim Qasimov, Rashid Behbudov, Vagif Mustafazadeh, Muslim Magomayev, Shovkat Alakbarova and Rubaba Muradova.[248] Azerbaijan is an enthusiastic participant in the Eurovision Song Contest. Azerbaijan made its debut appearance at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The country's entry gained third place in 2009 and fifth the following year.[249] Ell and Nikki won the first place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Running Scared", entitling Azerbaijan to host the contest in 2012, in Baku.[250][251] They have qualified for every Grand Final up until the 2018 edition of the contest, entering with X My Heart by singer Aisel
There are dozens of Azerbaijani folk dances. They are performed at formal celebrations and the dancers wear national clothes like the Chokha, which is well-preserved within the national dances. Most dances have a very fast rhythm. The national dance shows the characteristics of the Azerbaijani nation.
Literature
Painting of Khurshidbanu Natavan, one of the most distinguished Azerbaijani poets. She was also the daughter of the last ruler of the Karabakh Khanate
Among the medieval authors born within the territorial limits of modern Azerbaijani Republic was Persian poet and philosopher Nizami, called Ganjavi after his place of birth, Ganja, who was the author of the Khamseh ("The Quintuplet"), composed of five romantic poems, including "The Treasure of Mysteries," "Khosrow and Shīrīn," and "Leyli and Mejnūn."[252]
The earliest known figure in Azerbaijani literature was Izzeddin Hasanoglu, who composed a divan consisting of Persian and Turkic ghazals.[253][254] In Persian ghazals he used his pen-name, while his Turkic ghazals were composed under his own name of Hasanoghlu.[253]
Classical literature in Azerbaijani was formed in the 14th century based on the various Early Middle Ages dialects of Tabriz and Shirvan. Among the poets of this period were Gazi Burhanaddin, Haqiqi (pen-name of Jahan-shah Qara Qoyunlu), and Habibi.[255] The end of the 14th century was also the period of starting literary activity of Imadaddin Nesimi,[256] one of the greatest Turkic[257][258][259] Hurufi mystical poets of the late 14th and early 15th centuries[260] and one of the most prominent early divan masters in Turkic literary history,[260] who also composed poetry in Persian[258][261] and Arabic.[260] The divan and ghazal styles were further developed by poets Qasim al-Anvar, Fuzuli and Khatai (pen-name of Safavid Shah Ismail I).
The Book of Dede Korkut consists of two manuscripts copied in the 16th century,[262] was not written earlier than the 15th century.[263][264] It is a collection of 12 stories reflecting the oral tradition of Oghuz nomads.[264] The 16th-century poet, Muhammed Fuzuli produced his timeless philosophical and lyrical Qazals in Arabic, Persian, and Azerbaijani. Benefiting immensely from the fine literary traditions of his environment, and building upon the legacy of his predecessors, Fizuli was destined to become the leading literary figure of his society. His major works include The Divan of Ghazals and The Qasidas. In the same century, Azerbaijani literature further flourished with the development of Ashik (Azerbaijani: Aşıq) poetic genre of bards. During the same period, under the pen-name of Khatāī (Arabic: خطائی for sinner) Shah Ismail I wrote about 1400 verses in Azerbaijani,[265] which were later published as his Divan. A unique literary style known as qoshma (Azerbaijani: qoşma for improvization) was introduced in this period, and developed by Shah Ismail and later by his son and successor, Shah Tahmasp I.
In the span of the 17th and 18th centuries, Fizuli's unique genres as well Ashik poetry were taken up by prominent poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz, Shah Abbas Sani, Agha Mesih Shirvani, Nishat, Molla Vali Vidadi, Molla Panah Vagif, Amani, Zafar and others. Along with Turks, Turkmens and Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis also celebrate the Epic of Koroglu (from Azerbaijani: kor oğlu for blind man's son), a legendary folk hero.[266] Several documented versions of Koroglu epic remain at the Institute for Manuscripts of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.[254]
Modern literature in Azerbaijan is based on the Shirvani dialect mainly, while in Iran it is based on the Tabrizi one. The first newspaper in Azerbaijani, Akinchi was published in 1875. In the mid-19th century, it was taught in the schools of Baku, Ganja, Shaki, Tbilisi, and Yerevan. Since 1845, it has also been taught in the University of Saint Petersburg in Russia.
Folk art
Traditional Azerbaijani clothing and musical instruments
Azerbaijanis have a rich and distinctive culture, a major part of which is decorative and applied art. This form of art is represented by a wide range of handicrafts, such as chasing, jeweler, engraving in metal, carving in wood, stone and bone, carpet-making, lasing, pattern weaving and printing, knitting and embroidery. Each of these types of decorative art, evidence of the endowments of the Azerbaijan nation, is very much in favor here. Many interesting facts pertaining to the development of arts and crafts in Azerbaijan were reported by numerous merchants, travelers and diplomats who had visited these places at different times.
The Azerbaijani carpet is a traditional handmade textile of various sizes, with dense texture and a pile or pile-less surface, whose patterns are characteristic of Azerbaijan's many carpet-making regions. In November 2010 the Azerbaijani carpet was proclaimed a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage by UNESCO.[267][268]
Azerbaijan has been since the ancient times known as a center of a large variety of crafts. The archeological dig on the territory of Azerbaijan testifies to the well developed agriculture, stock raising, metal working, pottery, ceramics, and carpet-weaving that date as far back as to the 2nd millennium BC. Archeological sites in Dashbulaq, Hasansu, Zayamchai, and Tovuzchai uncovered from the BTC pipeline have revealed early Iron Age artifacts.[269]
Azerbaijani carpets can be categorized under several large groups and a multitude of subgroups. Scientific research of the Azerbaijani carpet is connected with the name of Latif Kerimov, a prominent scientist and artist. It was his classification that related the four large groups of carpets with the four geographical zones of Azerbaijan, Guba-Shirvan, Ganja-Kazakh, Karabakh and Tabriz.[270]
Cuisine
The traditional cuisine is famous for an abundance of vegetables and greens used seasonally in the dishes. Fresh herbs, including mint, cilantro (coriander), dill, basil, parsley, tarragon, leeks, chives, thyme, marjoram, green onion, and watercress, are very popular and often accompany main dishes on the table. Climatic diversity and fertility of the land are reflected in the national dishes, which are based on fish from the Caspian Sea, local meat (mainly mutton and beef), and an abundance of seasonal vegetables and greens. Saffron-rice plov is the flagship food in Azerbaijan and black tea is the national beverage.[271] Azerbaijanis often use traditional armudu (pear-shaped) glass as they have very strong tea culture.[272][273] Popular traditional dishes include bozbash (lamb soup that exists in several regional varieties with the addition of different vegetables), qutab (fried turnover with a filling of greens or minced meat) and dushbara (sort of dumplings of dough filled with ground meat and flavor).
Architecture
Azerbaijani architecture typically combines elements of East and West.[274] Azerbaijiani architecture has heavy influences from Persian architecture. Many ancient architectural treasures such as the Maiden Tower and Palace of the Shirvanshahs in the Walled City of Baku survive in modern Azerbaijan. Entries submitted on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list include the Ateshgah of Baku, Momine Khatun Mausoleum, Hirkan National Park, Binegadi National Park, Lökbatan Mud Volcano, Baku Stage Mountain, Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions, Shusha National Reserve, Ordubad National Reserve and the Palace of Shaki Khans.[275][276]
Among other architectural treasures are Quadrangular Castle in Mardakan, Parigala in Yukhary Chardaglar, a number of bridges spanning the Aras River, and several mausoleums. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, little monumental architecture was created, but distinctive residences were built in Baku and elsewhere. Among the most recent architectural monuments, the Baku subways are noted for their lavish decor.[277]
The task for modern Azerbaijani architecture is diverse application of modern aesthetics, the search for an architect's own artistic style and inclusion of the existing historico-cultural environment. Major projects such as Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, Flame Towers, Baku Crystal Hall, Baku White City and SOCAR Tower have transformed the country's skyline and promotes its contemporary identity.[278][279]
Visual art
Azerbaijani art includes one of the oldest art objects in the world, which were discovered as Gamigaya Petroglyphs in the territory of Ordubad Rayon are dated back to the 1st to 4th centuries BC. About 1500 dislodged and carved rock paintings with images of deer, goats, bulls, dogs, snakes, birds, fantastic beings and also people, carriages and various symbols had been found out on basalt rocks.[280] Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl was convinced that people from the area went to Scandinavia in about 100 AD, took their boat building skills with them, and transmuted them into the Viking boats in Northern Europe.[281][282]
Over the centuries, Azerbaijani art has gone through many stylistic changes. Azerbaijani painting is traditionally characterized by a warmth of colour and light, as exemplified in the works of Azim Azimzade and Bahruz Kangarli, and a preoccupation with religious figures and cultural motifs.[283] Azerbaijani painting enjoyed preeminence in Caucasus for hundreds of years, from the Romanesque and Ottoman periods, and through the Soviet and Baroque periods, the latter two of which saw fruition in Azerbaijan. Other notable artists who fall within these periods include Sattar Bahlulzade, Togrul Narimanbekov, Tahir Salahov, Alakbar Rezaguliyev, Mirza Gadim Iravani, Mikayil Abdullayev and Boyukagha Mirzazade.[284]
Cinema
The film industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in cinematography.[285] Therefore, it's not surprising that this apparatus soon showed up in Baku – at the start of the 20th century, this bay town on the Caspian was producing more than 50 percent of the world's supply of oil. Just like today, the oil industry attracted foreigners eager to invest and to work.[286] In 1919, during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, a documentary The Celebration of the Anniversary of Azerbaijani Independence was filmed on the first anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence from Russia, 27 May, and premiered in June 1919 at several theatres in Baku.[287] After the Soviet power was established in 1920, Nariman Narimanov, Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Azerbaijan, signed a decree nationalizing Azerbaijan's cinema. This also influenced the creation of Azerbaijani animation.[287]
In 1991, after Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union, the first Baku International Film Festival East-West was held in Baku. In December 2000, the former President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, signed a decree proclaiming 2 August to be the professional holiday of filmmakers of Azerbaijan. Today Azerbaijani filmmakers are again dealing with issues similar to those faced by cinematographers prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1920. Once again, both choice of content and sponsorship of films are largely left up to the initiative of the filmmaker.[285]
Media and media freedom
There are three state-owned television channels: AzTV, Idman TV and Medeniyyet TV. One public channel and 6 private channels: İctimai Television, ANS TV, Space TV, Lider TV, Azad Azerbaijan TV, Xazar TV and Region TV.
Human rights in Azerbaijan
The Constitution of Azerbaijan claims to guarantee freedom of speech, but this is denied in practice. After several years of decline in press and media freedom, in 2014, the media environment in Azerbaijan deteriorated rapidly under a governmental campaign to silence any opposition and criticism, even while the country led the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (May–November 2014). Spurious legal charges and impunity in violence against journalists have remained the norm.[288] All foreign broadcasts are banned in the country.[289]
According to the 2013 Freedom House Freedom of the Press report, Azerbaijan's press freedom status is "not free," and Azerbaijan ranks 177th out of 196 countries.[290]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America are |
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elected by 624 votes.
The loser in that 1974 race was 34-year-old Harry Reid, whose putative killer instinct had killed the messenger (i.e. himself), theoretically ending his political career. But four decades later, buoyed by a series of fortunate events and a determination bordering on indomitability, Reid appears to be poised to embark on a bid for a sixth term.
Or is he?
Questions about the 74-year-old’s health, his recent move to be closer to his children and grandchildren and uncertainty about the Democratic majority in the Senate lead some knowledgeable insiders to speculate that Reid will retire rather than face a challenge in 2016.
“I don’t think he will run again,” said one insider with decades of experience in Nevada and D.C. politics. “He’s not well. His wife isn’t well. He has grandchildren. And he may not be in the majority after November.”
That, however, is a minority view, albeit an understandable one based on observing Reid. Those close to the majority leader say his health actually is quite robust, that he is intent on mounting another campaign and that he relishes any challenge, even from popular Gov. Brian Sandoval. As for the reports that the Koch brothers are plotting to bring him down, his staff has a ready answer: Bring it on.
Although some Reidites are willing to concede he has slowed down, with the signature shuffle now even more pronounced and his notoriously poor balance palpable. But they say his mind remains sharp as ever, even though several sources told me they have recently witnessed him lose his place in conversations or meander into tangents before regaining his focus.
And then there are the gaffes. So many, so much more frequent, it seems. Just last week, Reid was forced to apologize for what for him was a minor slip, more a case of him trying to be too cute by saying he had trouble “keeping my Wongs straight” at an Asian Chamber of Commerce event. This was not on par with describing the first African-American president as “light-skinned….with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one,” which one Nevada Democrat recently called “as bad as it gets.”
But it was cringe-worthy enough, and another sign that whatever filter Reid once had is gone, perhaps because of older age, perhaps because he has decided not to run or simply because he is … Harry Reid.
The majority leader’s staff allows no room for equivocation.
“Senator Reid is running for reelection regardless of who his opponent is,” said Reid’s spokeswoman Kristen Orthman. “We fully anticipate the Koch brothers will spend millions of dollars trying to buy the race in Nevada. We also fully anticipate they will be unsuccessful as they have been in previous cycles when Nevadans rejected their anti-middle class, anti-Social Security agenda.”
But what else can she say?
In this case, though, the spin may be the truth. After talking to some keen, longtime observers of Nevada politics, I remain unshaken in my belief that Reid intends to run, absent any serious health concerns for himself or his wife. But with his intense war against the Koch brothers, whom he seems to mention every time he gets on the Senate floor, and his approval numbers as bad or worse than they were before he ran last time, Reid has raised questions about what his endgame is – or if this is the end.
Reid declined to be interviewed for this piece. Some of those who agreed to talk about Reid’s health, gaffes and/or machinations understandably did not want to be identified. But they are all reliable insiders who are tuned into Nevada and D.C. politics, and some are far from Reid sycophants.
***
When he spoke last week in Vegas to the Asian Chamber, Reid, a voracious reader, told the crowd about a book he had just finished. “I would recommend it to everyone,” Reid said. “It’s called Dowager Empress Cixi. Read that. It’s a best seller. It’s a great book. Everyone should read that. … This remarkable woman did so much for China.”
Reid has mentioned the book (he got the title slightly wrong) to others, too, but not simply because he loves history. “In some four decades of absolute power, her political killings, whether just or unjust … were no more than a few dozen, many in response to plots to kill her,” Jung Chang writes of the empress.
A leader who is ruthless in pursuit of and holding onto power, who is willing to dispose of political enemies and who revels in changing history. For four decades!
The parallels are clear. That explains why Harry Reid loves the book, and to many of those who know him, helps explain why he will never willingly give up power.
“Harry Reid will do virtually anything that is not contrary to the law to achieve his objective,” said one Democratic insider who knows Reid well. “He is strategic in his thinking and very focused.”Nine years ago Tuesday, Crosby was named captain of the Penguins. Not that he was aware of the anniversary.
CRANBERRY, Pa. -- It was an optional practice for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday following their 3-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday.
"It doesn't seem like it's been that long, to be honest. It's gone by really quick," Crosby said at the end of his 15-minute post-practice interview session.
Then, with a grin:
"There's probably been spans during that time that felt a little longer than you'd want. But at the end of the day I don't think I'd sit here and complain about anything."
Video: Hear what Crosby had to say after today's practice
You will hear nothing but praise from the Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup in 2009 with Crosby as their captain and have watched, with the rest of us, as a teenager's peach-fuzzed playoff cheeks today have become moderately covered by the scruff of a 28-year-old.
Crosby played 165 regular-season and Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Penguins before he was named captain May 31, 2007 by then-Penguins general manager Ray Shero.
Crosby did not accept the captaincy when Shero first offered it to him in January 2007. And that was about a year after the idea was mentioned to him by coach Michel Therrien after captain/co-owner Mario Lemieux retired.
"I thought I needed some time to grow a little bit more," Crosby said the day Lemieux presented him with a jersey with the captain's C stitched on it. "I couldn't be in a better situation than what the team has with a mix of young guys and older guys.
Rosen: Penguins' Crosby has 'twinkle in his eye'
"We talked about it probably midway through last year. I just thought it wasn't the right time. We were playing great. You don't want to disrupt that and I felt I wasn't ready to accept that responsibility quite yet."
Shero said then, "Part of what makes Sidney not your average 19-year-old kid is that he gave it some thought for two or three weeks and came back to us and said he didn't feel the time was right. He didn't really turn it down. He deferred it, basically."
At 19 years and 297 days old, Crosby at the time became the youngest NHL captain, 27 days younger than Vincent Lecavalier when he was named captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning in March 2000. Crosby was the eighth player to be an NHL captain by age 21, along with Ryan Walter (Washington Capitals, 1979-80), Dale Hawerchuk (Winnipeg Jets, 1984-85), Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings, 1986-87), Kirk Muller (New Jersey Devils, 1987-88), Trevor Linden (Vancouver Canucks, 1990-91), Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers, 1994-95) and Lecavalier.
There was no doubt in Shero's mind then that Crosby was perfectly prepared for the additional pressure.
Video: NHL Tonight on Crosby's leadership and resiliency
"Sidney has done so much for this franchise in his first two seasons, made so much history, that you have to keep reminding yourself that he is only 19 years old," he said. "But Sid's contributions extend far beyond statistics and his incredible achievements on the ice. It's obvious to all of us -- coaches, players, management, staff -- that he has grown into the acknowledged leader of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is only appropriate that he wears the C as team captain."
Therrien said, "We don't want him to change. We want him to be Sidney Crosby and lead. He's still learning."
If Crosby had arrived in the NHL with tantalizing promise as arguably the most anticipated player of his generation, his second season truly was a revelation. He became the youngest winner of the Art Ross Trophy with his League-leading 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists), finishing six points ahead of San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton, who he's facing now in the Stanley Cup Final.
Add to that the Hart Memorial Trophy, given to the player voted most valuable to his team, and the Lester B. Pearson Award (since 2010 known as the Ted Lindsay Award), given to the most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players' Association.
Crosby was a star in the eyes not just of his team and his fans. At age 18, before his first game at Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens, referee and fellow Nova Scotia native Don Koharski held up the opening faceoff until a photographer in the penalty box could snap him posing with the phenom.
"We need a photo of the two Nova Scotia legends together," Koharski told Crosby. To which the Penguins center replied playfully, not missing a beat: "Where's the other one?"
Eleven seasons into his remarkable career, Crosby continues to dazzle, his toolbox packed with items that allow him to construct a game as he wishes.
But he is more an artist than a hard hat. On Tuesday, having taken part in a breezy Penguins practice that he easily could have skipped, he sat under his dressing-room nameplate and used both a broad roller and a fine-tipped brush to analyze one game in a Stanley Cup Final that only might have cleared its throat.
As the media crowd thinned, Crosby considered nine years of Penguins captaincy and seemed almost a little lost for words.
"It's tough [to summarize it]," he said. "It's great to be able to love what you do and play in the NHL and have opportunities like this. [But] it's hard to believe it's been that long."Himalayan nation calls on heads of state to come to capital for summit on way countries measure progress
The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, aghast at what it calls the world's "suicidal path", has called on heads of state and leading economists to come to the capital Thimphu for a global summit to reform the international financial system and the way countries measure progress.
"We need to rethink our entire growth-based economy so that we can thrive more effectively on our own resources in harmony with nature. We do not need to accept as inevitable a world of impending climate chaos and financial collapse," prime minister Jigmi Thinley will tell the UN in New York on Monday.
Bhutan – sandwiched between China and India with a population about the size of Birmingham – has avoided social and economic chaos, he says, because it is not hooked to the materialist bandwagon and because it measures progress by the level of happiness among its citizens and not by gross domestic production.
It proposes that purely economic measures of growth which count resource depletion and pollution as gains lead to ecological destruction and over-consumption.
"Economic growth is mistakenly seen as synonymous with wellbeing. The faster we cut down forests and haul in fish stocks to extinction, the more GDP grows. Even crime, war, sickness, and natural disasters make GDP grow, simply because these ills cause money to be spent", Thinley will say in Bhutan's submission to the UN ahead of the Rio +20 earth summit in June.
"The [global] economic system is in rapid meltdown. It is based on the premise of limitless growth on a finite planet. It has produced ever-widening inequalities with 20% of the world now consuming 86% of its goods, while the poorest 20% consume 1% or less and emit 2% of the worlds greenhouse gases.".
Bhutan's leaders argue that institutions like the World Bank and IMF, set up in 1944 to govern commercial and financial relations between the world's major states, are now perilously outdated and must be reformed to avoid catastrophe.
In their place, they say, must come new systems of fair trade, rewards for good behaviour, prompt responses by countries to resource depletion and new ways to measure social, economic and ecological progress.
"The world is in need of an international consensus for the creation of a new economic paradigm with well-being indicators, new national accounting systems that count natural and social capital, and incentives for sustainable production", Bhutan says.
The clarion call for a new system of financial governance is supported by the UN and 68 countries so far. Last year the UN adopted Bhutan's call for a "holistic approach" to development, aimed at promoting wellbeing and happiness.
Its adoption of a new type of economy has encouraged it to take a global lead. Four years ago it launched a gross national happiness index to guide all public policy. Its constitution now ensures that at least 60% of the country remains under forest cover in perpetuity and its aim is to be 100% organic in its agricultural production.
Life expectancy has doubled in two generations, 99% of primary age children are in school, and the country has vowed to always be a carbon sink. However, it remains one of the "poorest" nations on earth, with 25% of its people living on less than $1.25 a day, and 70% without electricity. Until 1974, no tourists were allowed into the Buddhist nation.
"[Our] measures of progress and GNH index clearly show that producing and consuming more stuff does not make people happier. On the contrary when they overwork and go into debt to buy ever more goods and pay the bills, they get more stressed. Working, producing and consuming less is not only good for nature but gives us more time to enjoy each others", says Thinley.
"Instead of progress [the world] has perilously accelerated ecosystem decline. Humanity is now using up natural resources at a 35% faster rate than nature can regenerate. This ecological destruction is not separate from global economic realities that are dividing rich from poor", Bhutan will say in its submission.
The New York meeting will lay the groundwork for countries to adopt new "sustainable development" goals at the Rio +20 meeting, the follow-up to the historic 1992 "Earth summit" which saw the introduction of global treaties to address climate change and biodiversity loss.(I just did a whole other post on the general forum)
http://www.swtor.com/community/showt...925#post577925
Basically you load up quest tracker and uncheck your taris quests from that forward command posts asap before you crash. If you get them all.. then the next time you log back in you will be okay.
It's some issue with the quest tracker not being able to figure out where the objectives are.. if you turn quest tracking off.. it seems okay again. I figured out how to fix it yourself if you are impatient and want to do it now.(I just did a whole other post on the general forum)Basically you load up quest tracker and uncheck your taris quests from that forward command posts asap before you crash. If you get them all.. then the next time you log back in you will be okay.It's some issue with the quest tracker not being able to figure out where the objectives are.. if you turn quest tracking off.. it seems okay again. My smuggler hassling twi'lek strippers in the cantina: LinkServing as Home Secretary for six years and now as Prime Minister for nine months, Theresa May has long presided over key national policies such as policing, counter-terror strategy, and immigration.
Now many will be looking to her record following Monday’s tragic attack in which 22 were killed in a suicide bombing, and as Britain fast approaches the snap general election.
Although far from comprehensive, here are some key moments from the era of Theresa May in government:
June 2010 – “Cuts Will Be Big”
Theresa May tells the Police Federation that, under the Cameron-Clegg coalition, “cuts will be big, they will be tough to achieve, and cuts will fall on the police as they will on other important public services”.
LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images
November 2010 – “From the Hundreds of Thousands to the Tens of Thousands”
May claims “migration has enriched our culture and strengthened our economy” but admits that it reached unsustainable levels under the previous Labour Government.
“We will reduce net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands. It will not be easy. It will take hard work and a great deal of political courage. But the British people want us to do it and it is the right thing to do. So we will do it.”
Immigration does, in fact, hit a record high of 252,000.
January 2011 – Record Number of Illegal Immigrants Allowed to Stay
Reports reveal that a record number of illegal immigrants are being granted leave to remain in Britain, including “killers, rapists and multiple offenders”.
August 2011 – Riots
There is widespread burning, looting, and destruction after the shooting of a gang member in London, with mass lawlessness in the capital spreading rapidly to other towns and cities in the country. Police, who come under the responsibility of the Home Office, are criticised by many for their slow and distanced response to the attacks.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
November 2011 – Border Checks Not Carried Out
May refuses to resign after it is revealed that “thousands” of people have entered the country without being checked.
March 2012 – Police Numbers Fall Sharply
Police numbers in England and Wales are down from a peak of 143,734 in March 2010 to just 134,101, with forces losing 5,000 constables in a single year.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
July 2012 – Border Agency to Lose 22 Per Cent of its Personnel
May defends the Government’s decision to award a contract to provide security at the London Olympics, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, to G4S – even after being forced to draft in thousands of soldiers at the last minute when the private firm admits it will not be able to fulfil the contract.
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the PCS Union complains the UK Border Agency is set to lose 5,200 members of staff by 2015 – 22 per cent of its manpower.
December 2012 – More Immigration Promises
May tells the public they “can expect immigration to continue to fall”.
May 2013 – Soldier Killed by Islamists “Known to Security Services”
Fusilier Lee Rigby is run over and nearly beheaded by first- and second-generation Nigerian migrants previously known to security services.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
October 2013 – Billboard Fiasco
May admits controversial van-mounted billboard campaign urging illegal migrants to “go home or face arrests” was a mistake after an evaluation reveals it resulted in just 11 people leaving the country.
December 2013 – EU Immigration Increases Rapidly
Net immigration from the European Union rises to 201,000 – up 43,000 on the previous year.
August 2014 – Net Immigration Rises 38 Per Cent
Net migration increases by more than 38 per cent to 243,000. (The final tally for the years ends up being an astonishing 313,000.)
Separate figures record that 25 per cent of births in England and Wales are now to mothers born abroad.
December 2014 – Border Force Morale at Rock-Bottom
Freedom of Information requests reveal the number of people who successfully evaded border security before being detected inside the country increased by around a third between 2012 and 2013.
Border Force officials tell ITV News the agency is “papering over the cracks” after a survey of 500 staff reveals 98 per cent believe they lack sufficient manpower to check vehicles for illegal substances and stowaways.
“Staff morale is the lowest I have ever known,” says one agent.
December 2015 – Net Immigration Well Over 300,000
Net immigration rises to 333,000 – a far cry from the “tens of thousands” still promised.
July 2016 – Migrant Crime Wave
Freedom of Information requests reveal that 897 migrants from Syria were arrested in 2015 for crimes including “rape and child abuse”.
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
August 2016 – One Million Illegal Immigrants
Former UK Border Agency chief Rob Whiteman estimates that up to one million migrants are in Britain illegally, and predicts that most will not be deported.
“[I]t’s a perfect storm,” he tells a Parliamentary Select Committee. “We’ve got cuts to the coastguard, we’ve got cuts to the Border Force, and you know from [Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration] David Bolt’s report last year that they’re poorly trained and poorly deployed.”
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
September 2016 – Police Numbers Collapsing
Police numbers in England and Wales have fallen by 18,991, or 13 per cent, since September 2010.
December 2016 – Gross Immigration Never Higher
Figures reveal that net immigration remained at a near-record 335,000 in the year to June 2016, which was Theresa May’s final year as Home Secretary. Gross immigration hit an all-time high of 650,000.
April 2017 – Ten Thousand Islamists
A number of people are run over and a police constable stabbed to death by Khalid Masood, an Islamist who was previously known to the authorities, outside the Palace of Westminster.
Anthony Glees, director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, estimates there are between 6,000 and 10,000 radical Islamists in the country.
Ian Gavan/Getty Images
May 2017 – ECHR Pledge Dropped, Manchester Attack
May drops pledge to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and end the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisdiction over the United Kingdom.
She had complained the ECHR “makes us less secure” and “adds nothing to our prosperity” in April 2016.
On May 22nd, some 22 people, including a number of children, are murdered in a terror attack in Manchester.
A developing security picture around killer Salman Abedi, born to Libyan asylum seekers, suggests he had been in Syria, Libya, and Germany shortly before the attack.Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Monday, Nov 23, 2009
One of the most striking revelations to immediately emerge from the “climategate” scandal has been references to efforts by scientists espousing the human-caused warming theory to exclude contrary viewpoints from important scientific publications.
Among the thousands of emails and documents hacked or leaked from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University last week are several references to an agenda to shut down scientific debate on global warming by stifling counter-evidence from other scientists.
Dating back to 1996, the emails show that both U.S. and U.K. based scientists referred to any research offering alternate viewpoints as “disinformation”,“misinformation” or “crap” that needs to be kept out of the public domain.
The emails include deliberations amongst the scientists regarding efforts to make sure that reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change include their own research and exclude that of dissenting scientists.
In one of the emails, Phil Jones, the director of the East Anglia climate center, suggested to climate scientist Michael Mann of Penn State University We “will keep them out somehow — even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!”
This is a startling quote, given that Jones and Mann as climate scientists have the authority to review papers and determine whether they are eligible to be published by scientific journals.
Mann even discussed how to destroy a journal that had published papers with contrary views, telling his colleagues that he believed it had been “hijacked by a few skeptics on the editorial board” who had “staged a coup”.
“Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite papers in, this journal.” Mann wrote.
In another of the emails, Tom Wigley, climate scientist at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), says that the journal in question, Climate Research, “encourages the publication of crap science ‘in order to stimulate debate'”.
[efoods]Wigley noted that the publisher of the journal should be told that it is being “perceived” as a vehicle of “misinformation”, adding that the word “perceived” should be emphasized because “whether it is true or not is not what the publishers care about– it is how the journal is seen by the community that counts.”
Wigley also wrote that a group of 50+ scientists could be gotten together to put their names to a letter to add weight to the claim and hopefully help to remove the editorial board of the journal.
Other emails show that some of the scientists declined to make their data available to independent scientists whose views they disagreed with, clear evidence that they were simply unwilling to engage in scientific debate – a core ethic of the scientific community.
Renowned climate scientist Dr Tim Ball sums up the stunning gravitas of the leaks with regards to the process of peer-reviewing and the publication of papers on climate change in journals.
“What you’ve got here is confirmation of the small group of scientists who, by the way, Professor Wegman who was asked to arbitrate in the debate about the hockey stick, he identified 42 people who were publishing together and also peer-reviewing each other’s literature.” Dr Ball explains.
“So there’s a classic example of the kind of thing that bothered me. About twenty years ago, I started saying ‘Well why are they pushing the peer review?’… And now of course we realise it’s because they had control of their own process. That’s clearly exposed in these emails.”
“On a global scale it’s frightening because this group of people not only control the Hadley Centre, which controls the data on global temperature through the Hadley Climate Research Unit but they also control the IPCC and they’ve manipulated that. And of course the IPCC has become the basis in all governments for the Kyoto protocol, the Copenhagen accord and so on….”
We have long covered the fact that the so called “scientific consensus” on global warming is wholly manufactured and that there are thousands of scientists who have differing viewpoints to the human-induced warming theorists.
Indeed, over two years ago we reported the fact that a survey of over 500 peer reviewed scientific research papers on climate change, written between 2004 and 2007, concluded that less than half endorsed the “consensus view,” that human activity is contributing to considerable global climate change.
We now have clear evidence that a concerted effort has been made by the IPCC connected climate scientists to block dissenting opinion on climate change, regardless of it’s scientific merit.
“This is horrible,” said Pat Michaels, a climate scientist at the Cato Institute in Washington who is directly threatened with physical violence in the emails. “This is what everyone feared. Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult for anyone who does not view global warming as an end-of-the-world issue to publish papers. This isn’t questionable practice, this is unethical.”
John Christy, a scientist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville attacked in the emails for asking that an IPCC report include dissenting viewpoints, said, “It’s disconcerting to realize that legislative actions this nation is preparing to take, and which will cost trillions of dollars, are based upon a view of climate that has not been completely scientifically tested.”The second was Team Obama’s realization that it had enemies, even inside the administration, and they didn’t look much like Hillary Clinton. “There were never big bad damaging leaks from the State Department,” says another former White House aide. “Obviously her interests were front and center. But they were also motivated by making sure the president succeeded. I don’t know that that was the case at the Pentagon.”
The logic of Clinton’s rapprochement with the Obama crew also explained her rehabilitation across the rest of the party. Clinton’s willingness to join the Cabinet boosted her favorability rating more than 10 points among Democrats between late 2008 and early 2009. And with the party largely united on everything from tax cuts to entitlements to climate change to health care, there was no ideological rift to come between her and any particular faction. “Democrats are less polarized even than we were in 2006–2008, when our involvement in Iraq was front and center,” Clinton’s former presidential campaign strategist, Geoff Garin, told me.
Above all, as the Republican Party became more crazed and abusive, even previously skeptical Democrats saw Clinton differently, a pattern that has recurred throughout her career. “There’s a respect for her as an accomplished senior player who stood up to right-wing attacks,” says Ilya Sheyman, head of the liberal group MoveOn.org Political Action.
Unfortunately for Clinton, the years leading up to 2008 were one of the rare moments when she didn’t benefit from this dynamic. A Republican controlled the White House, making the Clintons less likely to arouse the right’s conspiratorial mania. Worse, because that Republican had been uniquely divisive, many Democrats had reservations about politicians associated with the same shiv-wielding tactics. “They worried that as a standard-bearer she might be polarizing,” says Larry Grisolano, who oversaw the Obama campaign’s polling in 2008.
But in the last few years, with Democrats in power and Clinton emerging as Obama’s chosen successor, the assaults from Republicans—on her age, her health, her central role in a variety of imagined conspiracies—have escalated, prompting a return to ’90s-era solidarity. “The things that have been thrown at her have never been thrown at any other candidate or spouse,” says Bonnie Adkins, another former Obama precinct captain, who took pride in taking down the high-handed Clinton campaign in 2008. “I’m more concerned with her personal mental heath. Not that she has mental health issues. Just how she deals with it. It’s more empathy than concern.” Adkins says she feels a particular connection with Clinton as a woman: “If you haven’t had a baby yet, you haven’t done anything.”
The upshot of all these developments is a preposterous level of support. Since she joined the administration, Clinton’s favorability rating among Democrats has never dropped below 88 percent, according to Gallup. (By comparison, Joe Biden’s favorability numbers have generally hovered in the low-to-mid 70s.) Her hold on the Democratic nomination looks unshakable.
Of course, Clinton’s hold on the 2008 nomination also looked unshakable, just before she fumbled it. Faced with the right combination of opponent and issue, even the strongest candidate can suddenly become vulnerable. This time around, the identity of the challenger is hard to predict, but there’s at least one issue that could cause Clinton real angst: economic inequality.
On the surface, inequality would appear to be yet another question on which Democrats agree. A 2012 Pew poll showed that 92 percent of them believe “the rich just get richer and the poor get poorer,” up from 84 in 2009. Obama has spoken out on the subject several times, including a high-profile speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, where Teddy Roosevelt delivered a similar warning in 1910. Clinton recently signed onto the consensus herself, delivering a major speech on inequality at the New America Foundation in May.
But it turns out inequality isn’t one but two issues that are often jumbled together: The first is the plight of the poor, working poor, and middle class, who are weighed down by stagnant wages and high unemployment. The second and potentially more explosive is the gap between the ultra-rich and everyone else, which has expanded to Gilded Age levels over the past few decades. Gallup has documented a huge spike in the percentage of Democrats who are dissatisfied with the “size and influence of major corporations.” Pew found that, as of late 2011, 91 percent of Democrats believed there was “too much power in the hands of a few rich people and large corporations.”
Clinton has the credibility to address the first set of problems, whose solutions include better education and job-training, a higher minimum wage, stronger labor unions, and a more generous safety net—some of which voters associate with her husband’s administration.
On the second question, however, Clinton’s résumé is less compelling. Many of her and her husband’s closest economic advisers hail from Wall Street. After hiking the top income tax rate in 1993, they cut the capital gains tax in the late ’90s and deregulated the financial sector. Hillary Clinton has spent decades raising enormous sums from executives at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, which she joined after leaving the State Department, survives on the largesse of the 1 percent.
On her own time, Clinton has enjoyed several six-figure paydays speaking to corporate executives, including two at Goldman Sachs that netted her an estimated $400,000. And, of course, she has repeatedly struggled to justify all the buckraking, telling Diane Sawyer that she and her husband were “dead broke” when they left the White House. “There’s a lot of vulnerability in the Clinton record going back to Glass-Steagall [the landmark banking regulation her husband mothballed],” says a longtime Democratic presidential operative. “It’s obviously reinforced by this silliness about being broke.” During her recent speech at New America, she only passingly mentioned this second type of inequality. (A Clinton spokesman says she “consciously left the discussion for another day.”)
Yet even this liability seems unlikely to threaten Clinton’s standing in the party. Democrats have become so positively disposed to her that, unlike 2008, when they seized on an issue (Iraq) and worked back to her character (cynical), they now begin with her character (moral, honest, straightforward) and work back to the issues.
In 2004, Graham Gillette, an Iowan who once worked for the elder George Bush, supported John Edwards after hearing his “Two Americas” refrain on inequality. He signed up as a precinct captain for Obama four years later because he was “enthralled with his magnetism and message” and had the lifelong Republican’s skepticism of Hillary Clinton. But in 2016, he is all in for Clinton, and inequality is a big reason why. “She has the credibility to address these things today that she didn’t eight years ago,” he told me. “She is, of anybody out there, Democrat or Republican... uniquely positioned to talk about this topic. I do think it’s the most important topic of the campaign.” It’s not that Democrats like Gillette support Clinton despite her positions on some key issues. It’s that, precisely because they are so favorably disposed toward her, they assume she must be with them on the issues they care most about.
Progressives have given up denying Clinton the nomination to focus on the more urgent task of boxing her in as president.
Granted, under most circumstances, there is a reliable method for outing a front-runner who may be somewhat at odds with the party, even if voters are well-disposed to her. It’s called a primary. The more scrutiny the front-runner receives, the more voters learn about her actual views, and the less they fill in the blanks with glowing assumptions. But what’s so unusual about Clinton’s standing is that, unlike 2008, it’s almost certain to hold up even against a perfectly positioned challenger—say, Elizabeth Warren, the most beloved economic populist in the country.
To see this, just consider the liberal Democrats who are already aware of Clinton’s ties to the 1 percent and of Warren’s efforts to rein in this group’s political power—a reasonable proxy for how ordinary voters might react as they learn more about each candidate. While just about all of the liberals I spoke with admire Warren, and still want to see the Washington establishment upended, Obama has soured most of them on the idea that a politician can pull it off. “I will tell you, as much of a dreamer as I had been, I’m now somewhat jaded about Obama,” Jay Brown told me. “Clinton has impressed me with her tenacity and capacity for compromise.”
Or consider the case of Mark Schmitt. Back in 2007, Schmitt wrote an influential essay in The American Prospect arguing that Obama’s “theory of change” was superior to Clinton’s, which mostly accepted the status quo and aimed for marginal improvements. Schmitt currently runs the New America Foundation’s project on political reform—basically, the wonk-world’s vigilante against the influence of the 1 percent. If anyone should be inclined to support Warren and be skeptical of Clinton, it would be him. Yet he too is what Brown would call an ardent Clinton-backer. “In some ways, the Clinton mode of grind something out, don’t promise transformative change you can’t possibly deliver—that strategy looks a lot sounder six years later,” he says.
One former Obama administration official quipped to me that it’s as if the Democratic Party has finally reached middle age. It’s not that liberals don’t perceive some ideological distance between themselves and Hillary Clinton, at least as they become more informed. Nor is it that they recognize this gap and simply don’t care about it. It’s that, after the somewhat disillusioning experience of the Obama years, many actually consider this gap an advantage for Clinton. Even Grisolano, Obama’s polling honcho from 2008, concedes, “It may be that coming out of this period, where Congress has been so obstinate, so difficult to move... that people are looking for someone whose central skill is how to work the power structure.”
So let’s say Democrats’ faith in Clinton is rewarded and she wins the presidency. Here is how the 2016 transition is likely to play out. Having talked about inequality during the primaries, and maybe even the general election, she will feel pressure to appoint economists who know something about the issue. She will pluck a few advisers from the reserve army of liberals at think tanks like the Center for American Progress (home to many former Clinton White House aides over the years), the Economic Policy Institute, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
But as the transition goes on, liberals will notice a disconcerting shift. They will watch most of the senior posts in her Treasury Department go to alumni of Wall Street. They will see her fill out the top echelons of financial regulators—the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—with banking-industry lawyers. They will |
ky from the aid group who issued a sharp retort. The Druze in Khadr had for years hosted Hezbollah, and networks operated by Hezbollah launched attacks on the IDF in the Golan. “Those who use weapons and take an active part in the fighting by choosing sides should take responsibility for their actions,” she said.
Lusky also warned against pressure by the Israeli Druze on the government to save the residents of Khadr. She said efforts should focus on humanitarian aid, “not sitting and doing nothing in the face of the suffering of the Syrian people and the atrocities Assad is committing.”
On Tuesday, five Druze religion students climbed a hill where an Israeli tank stood on the northern part of the border. From the hill the battles outside Khadr couldn’t be seen at all (to see them, you have to go farther north). But that didn’t stop the students from plaguing an Israeli officer with far-fetched conspiracy theories.
Israel, they explained to him, is constantly helping wounded Nusra Front members. (“We saw them with their old people in the hospital in Nahariya.”) Then it sends the Sunni rebels to fight the regime and assail their Druze brothers in the Syrian Golan.
And what about Assad? “He’s okay, he’s great. He does what needs to be done.”
On the hill near the border, the laws of Syria, in fact the laws of the entire region, were thus presented in sharp relief by Israeli citizens of all people. One of them said he had served in the IDF. As long as the killer is from my side, all the means he chooses are legitimate.North Korea is a communist state and the communist ideology was anti-national from the moment of its inception. The famous communist slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” asserted just that – that people should be united by their class, in a Marxist definition of the word – rather than by nationality or ethnicity. In other words, British worker Smith was supposed to understand that his natural ally is not British capitalist Brown, but rather German worker Schmidt and Japanese worker Sasaki, and that Brown is an enemy of all three, along with German capitalist Meyer and a Japanese capitalist Sugimoto.
However, in reality workers of the world did not unite. Smith would still rather talk to Brown, Schmidt to Meyer and Sasaki to Sugimoto. A worker has topics to discuss with his employer (such as payment and conditions of work), plus they speak the same language and have the same cultural background, while foreign brothers-in-class were more like an abstract entity. Also, how many “workers” even now, and especially then, were able to speak a foreign language?
After the creation of Soviet Russia, and then the USSR, the first “workers’ and farmers’ state in human history” started to pursue rather a dubious policy. On one hand, the USSR and its allies declared that they protected the interests of the “oppressed classes” across the world, without regard to nationality or ethnicity. On the other hand, the struggle of the colonies’ nationalists to achieve independence from the metropolis was promoted as a “national liberation struggle” – definitely a good thing. Thus worker Chang from colonial Korea was supposed to ally not with the worker Sasaki from the Japanese mainland but rather with petty bourgeois Pak, since Pak was also Korean.
This ultimately caused pro-Soviet post-colonial countries to became rather nationalistic. North Korea would be one of the most vivid examples of this.
RACISM IN THE WORKERS’ LAND
As the readers know, Kim Il Sung was an activist in a “national liberation movement.” He spent his youth in Manchuria, where after Japan established a puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932 joined the partisan movement. In other words, he collected food from farmers sympathetic to his cause, robbed those who were not, and tried to acquire weaponry and kill as many Japanese and enemy Chinese soldiers as possible. All for the grand cause: the downfall of the Empire of Japan.
(Kim Il Sung) did not exactly like mixed marriages
Kim was, of course, a Korean nationalist. Thus, he did not exactly like mixed marriages and, after North Korea became politically independent from the USSR, the DPRK took every effort to break marriages between North Korean men and Soviet women, after which former wives of North Koreans were forced to go back to the USSR.
Another example: In the late 1950s there were many East German workers in Hamhung who came to help their socialist brothers rebuild the country after the Korean War. Some fell in love with local girls and German-Korean families appeared in Hamhung. Pyongyang did not approve and, in the early 1960s, told all German workers to divorce their wives and go back to the GDR. Many had children, and the DPRK decided that those children who looked Korean would stay, and those who looked German would go home to comrade Walter Ulbricht’s loving embrace.
During the Cold War there was little talk about the greatness of the Korean nation, but in 1989 Kim Jong Il published an article entitled “Theory of the primacy of our nation,” hailing the greatness of the Korean people. Why are they the greatest nation on Earth? The answer is clear: They have Kim Il Sung, the greatest of geniuses, the radiant sun of humankind, as their leader.
In 2006 the Rodong Sinmun published an article entitled “Multinational, multiracial society – a threat to the nation.” Here is a quote from it:
“A ‘theory of multinational, multiracial society’ on which the pro-American flunkeyist traitorous forces in South Korea speak, rejects the unitary character of the nation. It aims to bring foreign nations to South Korea, to pollute it, to Americanize it. It cannot be tolerated.”
Moreover, on May 2, 2014 the KCNA published the message quoting a North Korea worker, who called Barack Obama “a monkey”:
“When I see Obama, it makes me puke. Big gray blinkers on his blackish muzzle, big nostrils, slightly opened plumpish mug, covered with unkempt fluff – really looks like a monkey’s muzzle from African jungle. When he gets on or off the plane, or is giving a speech, he constantly twitches his long corncob-like limbs and then he really looks like a monkey, which tosses its red ass, jumps from a tree to tree, peels fruits, or burrows the soil looking for forage.”
FRIENDSHIP AMONG NATIONS
Given all of the above, many people may surmise that North Korea is a racist state, and all communist rhetoric it uses is merely a coverage for its true nature. However, in some other circumstances the North Koreans behaved completely differently.
In 1979 the DPRK provided refuge for Monica Macias, the daughter of the former dictator of Equatorial Guinea Francisco Nguema. Before Nguema was overthrown by his nephew Teodoro (who later became as ruthless a leader as his uncle was), Francisco managed to send his family to North Korea, where Kim Il Sung accepted them and tried to make their lives easy: Monica was given a place in one of the most prestigious schools in the country: Mangyongdae Revolutionary College. However, the DPRK tried not to spread information about the presence of high-ranking Africans in the country and avoid their having contact with foreigners.
Another example: In the 1950s many Japanese-Koreans were repatriating from Japan. Some men were married to Japanese women. Here the DPRK government did quite the opposite of how it treated the Soviets: All the women were given citizenship in North Korea and were forbidden to return. Much later, under Kim Jong Un, there was another fascinating case: The supreme leader personally thanked a Japanese woman who applied for the DPRK citizenship.
The similar policy was conducted toward the Chinese diaspora: Mixed marriages were never forbidden and their applications for North Korean citizenship were most welcome and were always approved.
But perhaps the most fascinating episode was Kim Jong Un meeting American basketball player Dennis Rodman, who visited the DPRK several times. A photo of him talking to Kim appeared on the first page of Rodong Sinmun several times. In a racist state that would have been impossible: Imagine Hitler talking to a rabbi on German television in the late 1930s.
According to (Kim Jong Il), the greatness of the Korean people lies solely in their leader
Finally, if we analyze the North Korea official texts on the question of the nation, we’ll see one important thing: They never asserted that Koreans are biologically superior. In fact, such a statement was always directly condemned by Kim Jong Il. According to him, the greatness of the Korean people lies solely in their leader. Koreans are great because they are led by Kim Il Sung, not for any other reason.
NO LOGIC HERE
Intellectuals often try to create a logical worldview. This is especially so when it comes to academia: In recent decades the humanities, especially in the English-speaking word, have tried to mimic natural science, and thus articles on history or sociology are supposed to have a “theoretical explanation” of the facts presented in them. However, many people who did not receive a proper education do not think like that and their picture of the world is full of contradictions and logical holes. Kim Il Sung was one of them: He was by no means an intellectual, he was a guerrilla fighter from Manchurian forests. Trying to explain his pattern of thinking and ruling the country with a simple theory – “the DPRK is a racist state,” “the DPRK is a traditional monarchy,” “the DPRK is a carbon copy of the USSR” – would be a distortion of the facts, especially since often after a researcher comes to a conclusion, he/she starts to dismiss facts contradicting that conclusion as irrelevant.
Of course Kim was a Korean nationalist: He would not have joined the partisan movement otherwise. Had one asked him what thought of the Japanese people he would have answered something like: “I don’t like them, of course. They conquered our country, they oppress our people.” But at the same time, when he saw a Japanese person ready to accept DPRK citizenship and work for the good of North Korea, he would like such a man. Really – he speaks like us, loves our country, loves me: Surely, he must be a good person.
You have seen, perhaps, some white racists, who like to speak about how they hate “n—-ers,” but have a Black friend who “is an okay guy”? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. There is no logic, no attempt to create a pseudo-scientific worldview, no rationalization – everything is driven purely by emotions and personal experience.
But let’s end on a positive note. The good news is that the average North Korean tends to ignore all the racial and nationalists element in the propaganda. The DPRK media talk about race and nations once every few years, usually creating a response in the international media, but they talk about the leader every single day. From an outsider’s point of view, Obama being called a monkey is a significant event, since it was reported by the BBC, CNN and many other of the world’s top media outlets. From a North Korean’s point of view, this was one more propaganda scream he can forget about the next day.
Thus, when North Koreans come to the South, they tend to be much less nationalistic than the average South Korean. When it comes to refugees, talk by some Seoul intellectuals about the Koreans being constantly oppressed by foreign powers fall on deaf ears. An average citizen of the DPRK is a simple, rather mercantilist and non-malevolent person. They don’t care about nation, blood and race – they simply want to feed their families.
Main image: Cammy Smithwick, NK NewsHow much damage can a Tweet do? According to property management company Horizon Realty, $50,000 worth.
That's the size of the lawsuit waged against one of its former tenants on Monday, in response to a Tweet about one of their Chicago apartments. Amanda Bonnen was staying an apartment at 4242 N. Sheridan, one of over 1,500 apartments owned by the company. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Bonnen's Tweet on May 12 read, in part:
"Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay."
The Tweet, posted under the now defunct user name @abonnen, was the impetus for the libel lawsuit filed at Cook County Circuit Court, seeking $50,000 in damages. And although the Tweet and username are now deleted, accessing the account via Google's cache shows it has around 20 followers. While the numbers could have dropped since deletion, it doesn't appear the message would have travelled far. @abonnen wasn't a particularly heavy Twitter user, either - she posted somewhere between 1 and 5 tweets per day and often didn't post for 2 or 3 days.
Horizon's Jeffrey Michael is quoted in the Sun-Times as saying "The statements are obviously false, and it's our intention to prove that", adding that Horizon has a good reputation to protect. Bonnen wasn't contacted before the suit was filed or asked to remove the Tweet, he said: "We're a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization".39.6K Shares Share
We live in a society in which monogamous pairing is the norm.
We’re taught to desire and seek one other person – namely, our “soulmate,” the one person who will make us whole and happy. And supposedly, when we find that person, we will no longer have desires for others.
This kind of thinking is what Dean Spade calls the “romance myth” – the heterosexual monogamous romance that all women should naturally desire.
Because we are socialized in a culture that teaches us that monogamy is right and natural, monogamy is often not a conscious choice for people, but is more of a default for how to be in relationships.
But just as folks have been challenging structural and cultural heternormativity, more people are coming to question monogamy as natural, and exploring opening their relationships to polyamory.
Often described as “consensual and responsible non-monogamy,” polyamory can characterize anyone who engages in intimate relationships with multiple people in a way that is consensual and communicative of all relationships. (That is, cheating on a partner doesn’t count as polyamory!)
These definitions are broad, and polyamorous relationships come in all different shapes and sizes.
Some people have a primary partner while still engaging in other relationships (sexual, romantic, or otherwise), while others may engage in multiple relationships with each one being equal. Some are in three- or four- person relationships.
The ways of organizing relationships are endless – and so are the myths surrounding it.
Myths
Myth #1: With the right partner, you only need one person.
This myth can also sound a lot like “Polyamorous relationships aren’t real relationships.”
We’re taught by movies, music, our parents, friends, and marriage laws what kind of relationship we’re supposed to be in, and what a real relationship looks like – a two-person (usually heterosexual), monogamous one.
And the idea is that when you find that one perfect person, they will fulfill all of your needs, and therefore, you won’t desire anyone else.
This is what real love looks like, they say. If your desires do not fit into this ideal, then there is something wrong with you.
But is there really anything wrong with not finding yourself completely fulfilled by one partner? Can we ever truly have all of our emotional and physical needs met by one person? Is it really fair to expect this of someone?
Putting these unreasonably high expectations on one person can often lead to the end of a relationship – when we’re left feeling something is missing, we might bolt to find the person who can satisfy all of our expectations and desires, only to find the same situation set up time and again.
And while many people find that creating an entire network of support that includes family and friends is enough to alleviate this pressure, many others have found relief from this expectation in polyamory – not just from having to find everything in one person, but also relief from having to be everything for their partner.
You can’t be everything for one person, and that’s okay. You’re not supposed to be.
I’ve found, as have many others, that when the pressure to be everything is lifted, there is more space for me just to be me.
Myth #2: Polyamory means you love your partner(s) less.
Many polyamorous people find themselves continually combating the cultural myth that having sexual and/or romantic feelings for more than one person means you don’t love your partner.
This just isn’t the case, and this assumption has cost a lot of people a lot of happiness.
Certainly you’ve been here before: You’re attracted to someone else, and your partner can see that. They’re hurt by this, thinking that you don’t love them.
But it so often has nothing at all to do with your partner or your feelings for them.
Being in love with someone doesn’t mean you’re unable to love – or at least be attracted to – other people.
Our monogamous culture lives on the assumption that when it comes to romantic love, there is a love scarcity – that there isn’t enough love to go around.
And yet, notice how we don’t apply this to family or friends – because it just isn’t true.
If anything, there is a love abundance, and it can even multiply. Sometimes, the more people around you to love, and who love you, the more love you have for others in your life.
Myth #3: Polyamory is for people who “just want to sleep around” and avoid attachment and intimacy.
Poly people are greedy and selfish, I’ve heard people say. They want to have endless amounts of sex while avoiding real intimacy.
While this may be true of some people (polyamorous and monogamous), polyamorous people tend to engage in very intimate and attached relationships.
Polyamory requires a lot of trust.
Trust that your partner(s) will communicate and share with you what’s going on with their other relationships. Trust that your partner will be considerate and respectful of your feelings and your needs.
Polyamory also relies on setting up clear boundaries.
Calling your relationship polyamorous doesn’t mean you have to be okay with everything your partner wants to do. You set the boundaries – what you’re okay with, and what you’re not.
Negotiating how you want your relationship to look and what your needs are is an incredibly important part of being poly, and can serve to strengthen your ongoing bond with a partner.
Slut-shaming is an unfortunately unsurprising part of the cultural attitudes against polyamory.
The idea that you should only be (and want to be) sexually active with one person has led to a lot of shame and sadness around our desires.
Being polyamorous often means being sexually active with multiple people, but when it does, it ideally happens in a way that values communication as well as consent around emotional and sexual desires while also respecting limits.
Myth #4: Polyamory is for people who don’t get jealous.
People in polyamorous relationships do experience jealousy, sometimes quite often – but instead of avoiding feelings of jealousy, polyamorous folks (just like all people in healthy relationships!) are pushed to confront jealousy head on.
It’s important to recognize that it’s okay to feel jealousy! There’s nothing shameful about it. It’s just a feeling.
What is important is what you do with that feeling, and how you come to understand and deal with it. There are strategies to survive and even work to unlearn jealousy. These can often be applied to other areas in our lives. In this way, confronting our feelings of jealousy can serve to make us stronger people, strengthening our foundation, our internal security, and our relationships, too. Myth #5: Polyamory is for enlightened people. While there are a lot of prejudices against polyamorous people, there can also be a romanticization of it, seeing polyamory as the truly evolved way to live. The truth is, polyamorous people are not perfect. People hurt each other in polyamory just like they do in monogamy. Polyamorous relationships can fall apart just the same. Polyamory comes with its own set of challenges, requiring a process of unlearning and challenging our cultural conditioning around love and relationships. Facts Fact #1: You are already complete. Too often, the cultural understanding around monogamy rests on the assumption that you are not enough, that you need another person, your “other half,” to complete you. But you don’t have to look for someone with whom you can hole up, turning into that all-encompassing two-person unit, closed off and turned inward. You are already complete. Coming into polyamory requires seeing yourself as already whole, facing outward and open. Fact #2: Valuing all of your relationships. How often have you found yourself losing touch with your friends when you start dating someone? Or maybe you’ve noticed it in friends – they start dating someone, and pretty soon you don’t see them anymore, or when you do, they always bring their partner. We’re taught to prioritize our romantic relationships over all other relationships. And there tends to be a strict distinction between the two. Sometimes monogamy can close people off because of how the parameters of all other relationships are defined – the relationships that aren’t romantic are denoted to “less-than.” In polyamory, the distinction of a new relationship can be blurred and less defined, allowing more space to nurture new friendships. Another way that polyamory opens us up to valuing all of our relationships is changing how we view time. In monogamy, because sex is only shared with one person, we tend to use sex as currency. Sex is how we show value, how we differentiate one relationship from the rest. But in polyamory, because you may be engaging in sexual relationships with multiple people, you distinguish relationships and show value through the use of time instead. The more time you spend with someone, the more value you exhibit and place on that relationship. Time is a factor in platonic relationships as well, and because polyamorous people may have a different sense of how to allocate time, they often come to recognize that they need to share value and affection with friends and lovers alike. Fact #3: Other people are not your competitors. When we see love as scarce, we are taught to see others outside of our relationship as potential competitors. Often, these are people of our same gender. Women, especially, are conditioned by our culture to see other women as their competitors. But we don’t have to see others in this way. In polyamory, there is ideally a freedom from this way of thinking that can also be very liberating. It can be hard to do, especially at first, but when you work to humanize the people your partner is interested in, seeing them as allies rather than rivals, you are liberated from having to be territorial and can come to see everyone around you in a different light. Seeing those of the same gender as potential enemies is also politically harmful. Competition amongst women, fueled by our patriarchal cultural conditioning, is incredibly detrimental to our fight for gender equality. When we work to liberate ourselves and those around us from seeing other women as competitors, we work to strengthen the feminist movement. Fact #4: You have the right to choose. No one should ever feel pushed into polyamory by a partner or by those around them – that choice should always be completely yours. Unfortunately, we don’t usually have models in our lives for building trusting and open polyamorous relationships, so it can take time and work to figure out what you want your relationship to look like. More people are coming together to support other polyamorous folks, so look in your area for polyamory meet-up groups. Or start your own! Check out online polyamory resources too, like Practical Polyamory, Polyamory Online, and Polyamory.org. And look for Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy’s incredible book, The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, & Other Adventures — Ultimately, the questions to ask yourself are these: What do you truly want from a relationship? What do you value in connecting with others? What kind of relationship will allow you to thrive? What you need and want can change for you with time, context, and experiences. What’s important is that you feel open to new experiences, that you’re able grow with others and within yourself, and that you feel empowered to explore. 39.6K Shares Share Laura Kacere is a Contributing Writer for Everyday Feminism and is an feminist activist, social justice organizer, clinic escort, and yogi living in Washington, D.C. Laura coordinates the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force, teaches yoga with the intent of making it accessible to all, and does outreach for the DC-based sex worker support organization, HIPS. When she isn’t on her mat or at the clinic, she’s usually thinking about zombies, playing violin, eating Lebanese food, and wishing she had a cat. Follow her on Twitter @Feminist_Oryx. Read her articles here. Found this article helpful?
Help us keep publishing more like it by Help us keep publishing more like it by becoming a member!What happens when one courageous attorney and a few citizens try to take down Monsanto? The MSM doesn’t cover it, for starters.
Efforts to publicize a class action lawsuit against Monsanto for false advertising it’s best-selling herbicide Roundup filed in Los Angeles County Court on April 20, 2015 have been rejected by almost every mainstream media outlet.
It’s no different than Fox, NBC, CNN, or ABC refusing to cover the DARK ACT which would give Monsanto legal immunity and disallow states to demand GMO labeling.
You would think that coverage of something the whole world wants to see – the first step toward the successful downfall of Monsanto –would be a hot news item; a newsworthy tidbit that every paper, radio station, and blog would want to spread across their pages with double bold headlines. But wait... just six corporations own ALL of the media in America, so there isn’t much luck there.
That’s why you have to go to sites like Russia Insider or Al Jazeera to find real news outside of certain alternative news channels in the US, and even those are white-washed from Facebook pages, and given secondary ratings on Google pages.
Matthew Phillips, the attorney suing Monsanto in California for false advertising on Roundup bottles, has asked the LA Times, New York Times, Huffington Post, CNN, and Reuters, one of the world’s largest news agencies to report on the lawsuit (Case No: BC 578 942), and most enforced a total media blackout.
When I spoke with Phillips over the phone, he said that he has tried posting the suit in Wikipedia’s Monsanto litigation section, but it keeps ‘disappearing.’ He says that he has also noticed posts on Facebook about this lawsuit get removed.
Phillips points out that as long as Monsanto can keep this lawsuit off of most of America’s radar, then his client base would be relegated to just the citizens of California.
If other attorneys were to follow his template-style lawsuit, which he wrote in English, devoid of extraneous legal-speak to encourage others to also take action against Monsanto, then suddenly the plaintiff count could be closer to several million. That is if you were to tally up all the citizens in the US who have purchased a bottle of Roundup from their local DIY store (Lowe’s, Home Depot or Ace Hardware, for example) in the last four years, not suspecting it could demolish their gut health.
Another possibility, according to Phillips, is that Monsanto could try to bump the case up to federal court in order to try to side-step a likely adverse judgment. But in this case the class action suit would also be open to residents other than those of just California. This is surely an idea that Monsanto doesn’t want seeded in the American psyche.
Phillips is extremely confident he has the goods on Monsanto in this case, and barring a sold out judge:
“This is a slam-dunk lawsuit that exposes Monsanto for LYING about Roundup. Contrary to the label, Roundup does indeed target and kill enzymes found in humans — in our gut bacteria — and this explains America’s chronic indigestion!”
His enthusiasm is palpable, as many well-known scientists and professors emeritus have offered to be key witnesses in this suit when it goes to trial. The attorney says he refuses to ‘settle’ the case and hopes that 49 additional attorneys in 49 states use his case as an example. He joked:
“When we allege that Roundup’s targeted enzyme is found in humans, it’s like alleging that the Golden Gate Bridge is found in California.”
The facts of the case really are that obvious.
Phillips also states that ‘false advertising’ and ‘misleading’ are synonyms in California law, so the fact that Monsanto has stated that there are enzymes in its product that don’t target humans – well that’s beyond just misleading. This obvious misjudgment by Monsanto is a well-known secret among many anti-GM scientists. This enzyme is definitely found in humans.
Here is how ‘misleading’ Monsanto’s statement that, “Round Up targets an enzyme only found in plants and not in humans or animals,” truly is:
EPSP synthase, also known as (3-phosphoshikimate 1-carboxyvinyltransferase) is found in the microbiota that reside in our intestinal tracts, and therefore the enzyme is “found in humans and animals.” It is partly responsible for immunity activation and even helps our gut and our brains communicate with one another.
EPSP synthase is among other beneficial microbes that produce neurometabolites that are either neurotransmitters or modulators of neurotransmission.
“These could act directly on nerve terminals in the gut or via ‘transducer’ cells such as enterochromaffin cells present throughout the intestinal tract and are accessible to microbes and in contact with afferent and efferent nerve terminals. Some of these cells may also signal and therefore modulate immune cell activity.”
Furthermore, although this will not be addressed in Phillip’s lawsuit:
“There is increasing evidence that exposure to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, may be an underlying cause of autism spectrum disorders (see [19]). Glyphosate, the active ingredient, acts through inhibition of the 5-enolpyruvylshikimic acid-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS synthase) enzyme in the shikimate pathway that catalyses the production of aromatic amino acids. This pathway does not exist in animals, but it does exist in bacteria, including those that live in the gut and are now known to be as much a part of our body as our own cells. A widely accepted dogma is that glyphosate is safe due to the lack of the EPSPS enzyme in our body. This however does not hold water now that the importance of our microbiota to our physiology is clear.”
Though Monsanto is only being sued for false advertising in this case, it is an important precedent to set in order to eventually take down one of the biotech giants that is poisoning the planet. It should send a clear message to Dow, Bayer, Cargill, and Syngenta as well.
Please show the MSM that we will not be silenced, and pass this information along however you can. If you live in California, consider being a part of the suit yourself. If you are an attorney, Phillips is happy to discuss his suit with you in hopes that you will add your state to the growing list of those standing up to Big Ag and the biotech bullies.
Phillip’s has been invited to speak at the upcoming Los Angeles March against Monsanto. You can read more about his case, here.
The attorney’s final advice?
“Glyphosate kills – it’s made that way.”
* The plaintiff also has a go fund me site for this lawsuit.
Christina Sarich is a humanitarian and freelance writer helping you to Wake up Your Sleepy Little Head, and See the Big Picture. Her blog is Yoga for the New World. Her latest book is Pharma Sutra: Healing the Body And Mind Through the Art of Yoga.Roger Crisp and Daniel Star
Roger Crisp (left) and Daniel Star (right) on normative reasons.
Reasons for action occupy an increasingly central place in recent moral philosophy. Why? Crisp and Star address that question, and provide a handy taxonomy of different kinds of reasons, before they turn to two interrelated issues. First, they discuss the prospects for an analysis of reasons. Star offers an analysis in terms of evidence: a reason to φ is evidence that one ought to φ. Then (at 42:55) they discuss the buck-passing account of goodness — the view that reasons are provided by features of an object that make the object good, but not by its goodness itself — and Crisp explains why he finds fault with that account.
Related works
by Crisp:
“Goodness and Reasons: A Response to Stratton-Lake” (2009)
“Goodness and Reasons: Accentuating the Negative” (2008)
Reasons and the Good (2006)
“Value, Reasons and the Structure of Justification: How to Avoid Passing the Buck” (2005)
by Star:
with Stephen Kearns, “Weighing Reasons” (draft)
“Two Levels of Moral Thinking” (2010)
“Moral Skepticism for Foxes” (2010)
with Stephen Kearns, “Reasons: Explanations or Evidence?” (2008)
[display_podcast]After selling out of tickets to its Worldwide Developers Conference in less than two minutes, Apple is reportedly calling a select number of developers with a chance to purchase.
Apple is now calling some folks who didnt get a WWDC ticket earlier. Not sure how many, but stay by your phone if you had tried and failed. Daniel Jalkut (@danielpunkass) April 25, 2013
As noted by MacRumors, Apple has been reaching out to registered members of its developer program with offers to purchase WWDC 2013 tickets after a record sellout saw all passes sell out in less than two minutes A tweet from Red Sweater Software's Daniel Jalkut was first to confirm Apple's move:Other developers have tweeted or posted on their personal blogs that Apple is contacting these people directly with ticket offers. It is unknown how many developers are part of the second chance campaign.For those who didn't get a chance to purchase ticket and failed to receive a call from Apple, the company will be making video recordings of all WWDC 2013 session available online to registered developers.WWDC 2013 will take place between June 10 through 14 at Moscone West in San Francisco, Calif. In an unprecedented move, Apple plans to reveal both iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 at the conference, with beta builds of the pre-release software set to be provided to developers at that time.LAS VEGAS – Even after arriving to the venue hours early and walking though the UFC 170 fight-night arena as part of a visualization process, Aljamain Sterling admits he was overcome by a strange feeling.
Despite that feeling, Sterling (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) overcame a rough second round to earn a unanimous-decision victory over fellow bantamweight Cody Gibson (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a FOX Sports 1-televised preliminary-card bout at Saturday’s UFC 170 event in Las Vegas.
Sterling said his breathing never seemed right and that it plagued him throughout the night, including the second round, which Gibson won.
“It literally felt like I had paste in my mouth,” Sterling said. “That’s what it felt like it. You can imagine what it feels like going three hard rounds like that with a guy like that. It’s not very comfortable.”
Listen to him discuss the bizarre feeling, as well as his ability to rally for a win and what he learned in his famous training camp, in the above video.
And for complete coverage of UFC 170, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.While Apple has expanded its band lineup for spring 2017 with several new styles and colors, it has also limited the band options that come with new Apple Watch purchases. Apple Watch Series 2 is now only available with Sport Band and Milanese Loop when purchased new, essentially increasing the cost of the premium leather and metal link bracelets at least for new buyers.
Apple has previously offered Apple Watch with several different options without buying separate bands including Classic Buckle, Leather Loop, Modern Buckle, Woven Nylon, and Link Bracelet.
Now Apple only offers Apple Watch with leather bands in the Hermès collection which also include Sport bands; Apple’s leather bands are all sold separately. Classic Buckle gains a new style while Modern Buckle and Leather Loop are still available.
All Woven Nylon bands including the new styles and the pricier Link Bracelets in both colors are currently sold separately as well.
Hermès collection aside, all Apple Watches purchased now will come with Sport Band or Milanese Loop. Whether this is based on what sells the most (or creating more add-on purchases) or only bundling swim-ready bands for the swim-proof Series 2 for the spring season, it certainly simplifies the Apple Watch lineup.
You may still be able to find inventory in some retailers with other bands bundled for now (and save the cost of an add-on band), but Apple’s stock of these models has been slim for a while now.Millions of city dwellers in China will be breathing unhealthy air for at least another 20 years despite recent moves to tighten controls on the most harmful form of pollution, one of the country's leading experts has warned.
The cautionary note comes at the start of a year when Beijing, Shanghai and several other Chinese metropolises will begin publicly releasing data on tiny particulates known as PM2.5, which account for more than half of the country's air-borne contaminants and have the most damaging impact on human health.
The promise of more transparency has been welcomed as an important step towards a clear-up of the foul smogs that plague urban China, but environment officials stress that more time is needed to turn grey skies to blue.
"It took the US and Europe 50 years to deal with their problem. Even if we cut that in half, it will still take 20 to 30 years," said Wu Dui, a haze expert at the Guangdong Meteorological Agency.
His comments, which were carried by the Beijing Times, come as the government tries to massage down public expectations ahead of the release of politically sensitive PM2.5 data, which will show just how far China is from global health standards.
The government says about 70% of the air in Chinese cities meets existing national standards, which include measurements of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and bigger PM10 particulate matter.
But deputy environment minister Zhang Lijun has warned that 70% will fall below acceptable levels if PM2.5 is added to the index.
Health campaigners insist the inclusion of PM2.5 is crucial because smaller particulates can enter the bloodstream and do far |
commercialization, and reification.” The images were cheap, mass-produced on crappy early Xerox machines. This, he adds, “informed punk’s urgency, as it seemed like the image was on the point of disappearing.”
Another consistent thread through the collection is a sneering, unrepentant humor. Punk was “black, black, black” Savage reminds us, scary and mean. But it was also about not taking anything in life too seriously. This duality is one of the common threads that jump out. Whatever their dark connotations, the images were — more than anything else, maybe — funny.
That humor comes through in another recurring theme, which is the use of repurposed material. Forever fontified by the Sex Pistols, the ransom-note magazine clipping is everywhere. Entire zines were rebuilt from ripped up mainstream images. The artists behind them were ripping off shreds of the monolith and making them into something more interesting. Or to use Gibson’s other metaphor, grabbing a hunk of cold, congealed fat and lighting a fire under it again.
The photo collages by Savage, Sterling and Vaucher from the time are some of the best examples of this approach included in the book. Sterling replaced the heads or body parts of people with consumer objects, giving them a funny but eerie, zombie-like appearance. She would take images from women’s magazines and men’s pornography and mash them together, rebuilding gender roles in her own vision.
These recurring visual elements are a function of what the editors seem to agree is the true legacy of punk art, even if it’s not, strictly speaking, an aesthetic: the explosion of self-starter culture.
In describing her process, Sterling recalls, “Punk was the cutting out of the question, ‘Can I do this?’…the distance between having an idea and executing it was minimal.” It’s that speed and availability that made the aesthetic feel so different. It was about the present and the future, not the past. Sterling describes the moment of tension in her collage work, after making a scalpel cut, but before the “sticky permanence of the adhesive.”
That’s a fitting description of where punk lives.
So what happened once that glue dried? Did all the books on the meaning of punk force it to congeal? It has certainly had many deaths over the years, as each wave of revival played itself out.
Gibson suggests that maybe punk isn’t a cohesive aesthetic, but a code you recognize, or a “rolling ball of code.” It reaches people with something simple like a T-shirt seen on television, but grabs them as an irresistible emotional impulse, affecting and attracting everyone a little differently. That code is still around and strong, even if though those who operate under it now might look at the original punks and find them trite.
Kugelberg suggests that this evolving punk impulse is why it has managed to become commercial over the years but still continue on and retain a semblance of purity at the same time. The youth pick up the code and run with it, taking for granted where it came from.
As a result, new generations are able to have powerful and authentic punk experiences, he concludes, even if they are doing so based on inauthentic subject matter.
So the mini-movements keep fragmenting and exploding, faster and faster. The online anti-organization Anonymous comes to mind, evolving into something new every time someone starts to pin it down. It’s hard to imagine that the countless new versions of punk could ever be captured in a bound narrative history ever again. Then again, you could argue it’s not really contained in this one either.
Photograph courtesy of Rizzoli USAA 15-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gangraped while her 16-year-old sister was sexually harassed in Baroda Mor village in Sonepat’s Gohana tehsil by their distant cousin and two other men on Tuesday. Police said the victims were students of Class 9 and 10.
Gohana is infamous for castebased violence. The state is witnessing regular protests over increasing atrocities against Dalits. In July, a Dalit girl was gangraped in Rohtak, triggering protests.
Baroda police station incharge inspector Rajpal said three persons have been booked but refused to share the details. “We have registered a case and are waiting for the medical report,” he said.
Sonepat superintendent of police HS Doon and Rohtak range inspector general of polcie Sanjay Kumar remained unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.
Talking to Hindustan Times, victims’ father accused the SHO of delaying the registration of FIR. “I’ve been at the police station since morning, but the FIR was registered late at night,” he said.
The FIR copy accessed by HT revealed that the three accused Ajay, Balram and Pradeep have been booked under sections 376 (rape), 354A (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and other relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences and SC/ST Act. Victims’ father said Ajay is their distant relative while Balram and Pradeep were from his village.
First Published: Aug 10, 2016 02:00 ISTLiving in a border region that sometimes feels like Wayne County South, where shoulder-shrugging indifference toward Canada is just part of the culture, it’s uplifting to discover that many citizens remain fierce defenders of a country they see as under siege.
My column last Saturday about the Omar Kahdr settlement and the ongoing war on history in Canada, ignited an outpouring of reaction, nearly all of it supportive, from people who believe Canada is being betrayed by our social justice warrior prime minister.
I haven’t seen people, including a police intelligence officer, a former Liberal cabinet minister and a current senator, as well as lots of regular folks, this worked up since a long-ago column calling for a ban on pit bulls that had frothing canine supporters demanding my skull on a doggie dish.
The message, loud and clear, is that Canadians see the $10.5 million Kahdr sellout, with its craven apology, as Exhibit A in a crusade by the country’s first post-national prime minister to obliterate its past, illustrious or otherwise, and engineer a shining model of social correctness for a grateful world to follow.
The world still loves Justin Trudeau. My relatives in Australia, big fans of the guy, say people there think he’s gorgeous and pretty much the coolest dude on the planet.
But the Kahdr hand-out may be the wake-up call Canadians needed.
I admired his dad, especially for his rhetorical skills, but started worrying about this Trudeau when he picked his first cabinet based mainly on gender equity. That move, however well-meaning, put people with meagre resumes at the table while pushing individuals with stellar managerial backgrounds, including former Toronto police chief Bill Blair and former lieutenant general Andrew Leslie, into thankless secondary roles.
Then came Trudeau’s 2016 decision to pull Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets from the battle against ISIS in Iraq. Pique? Embarrassment because he had previously mocked, in a vulgar schoolboy way, aircraft in which Canadians were risking their lives? That move remains a puzzle.
People are seething over many issues. They’re not happy that the Trudeau regime is meddling with our national anthem in its eternal quest for correctness. They’re not happy that it planned to turn Canada Day 2018 into National Pot Legalization Day, which would make July 1 an annual smoke-filled mockery of the country’s anniversary. That date is now, thankfully, being reconsidered.
People are furious that the recent passage of Bill C-6 slashes the citizenship qualification period to a mere three years. In countries where citizenship is taken seriously, like the U.S. and Switzerland, it can take from five years to 12. Pretty soon we’ll be handing out citizenship at airport welcome kiosks.
Even more infuriating is that legislation’s confirmation that a terrorist whose multiple passports include one from Canada can never be deported because, as Trudeau puts it: “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.” Never mind that many progressive European countries have provisions to deport offenders with more than one citizenship.
One perceptive reader was furious that the media gave the Trudeau government a pass on its flippant announcement that the former U.S. embassy, on the most strategic site in our capital, which was intended to be a national portrait gallery honouring Canadians of all backgrounds, will instead be handed over to our First Nations where it will no doubt become a permanent reminder of our collective guilt in arriving here late.
Omar Kahdr’s taxpayer lottery win will, in the view of one former senior police officer, undermine Canada’s already crippled intelligence sharing efforts and bring more former terrorists out of the woodwork.
“The lawyers get rich and the bad guys win,” he scoffed. “I imagine the queue into civil courts by ISIS types will be long as they look forward to a payday after their rights were trampled in a faraway war zone.”
These are strange times here in kumbaya land.
g_henderson61@yahoo.caHere are our tidbits for November 13, 2017: Barry Myers doesn’t mention satellites in his statement for the Senate Commerce Committee; Scott Kelly reveals Russian spacewalk mishap. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
No Mention of Satellites in NOAA Administrator-Nominee Myers’ Written Statement
President Trump has nominated AccuWeather CEO Barry Myers to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of NOAA. His nomination must be approved by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee before going to the full Senate for a vote.
In written answers to questions posed by the committee prior to his confirmation hearing (and posted on its website), Myers does not mention NOAA’s satellite programs at all although they consume a significant fraction of the agency’s budget.
Asked to list the top three challenges facing NOAA, he replied:
Addressing Fisheries Trade Imbalance
American Weather Model Superiority
Carrying out the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act (P.L. 115-25). He noted elsewhere in the document that he met with Senators and Congressman and testified in support of the passage of that law.
His nomination has met with resistance because he is lawyer and businessman, not a scientist, and reportedly sought to limit information that the National Weather Service (NWS) posted on the Internet, presumably because it competes with his company’s offerings. The NWS is part of NOAA.
Asked what his qualifications are for the job, Myers wrote (in part): “I come with a deep immersion in science, although I am not a scientist. I am one of the few, and possibly the only, non-scientist to be made a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). And I have been honored by the AMS separately for ‘outstanding, highly principled leadership of the American weather industry over five decades and fostering strong cooperation between private sector and government weather services.’ (emphasis added).”
Scott Kelly Reveals Russian Spacewalk Mishap
In his book “Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery,” former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly tells the story of a Russian spacewalk that could have ended very badly. The incident does not appear to have been publicly disclosed previously.
Kelly spent 340 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) from 2015-2016 on a so-called “year-in-space” mission. It was his second long duration stint aboard ISS, having spent about four months there in 2010-2011 as commander of Expedition 25.
He writes that during Expedition 25, two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Skripochka and Fyodor Yurchikhin, conducted a spacewalk and returned looking “shaken, Oleg especially.” He did not learn what had happened until his year-in-space mission.
According to Kelly (p.276): “Oleg had become untethered from the station and started to float away. The only thing that saved him was hitting an antenna, sending him tumbling back toward the station close enough to grab onto a handrail, saving his life.”
He goes on to muse about what the other ISS crew members would have done if Skripochka had, indeed, floated away.
U.S. spacesuits have SAFER backpacks — small propulsive jets that theoretically could be used to move an astronaut back to safety in a similar situation. Kelly says, however, that “we would not want to rely on them or, truth be told, try them out at all.”
Recently Published on SpacePolicyOnline.comTony Perkins speaks to Fox News -- screencapture
Another religious right leader invoked Holocaust imagery to complain about a recent civil rights ruling in Colorado.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, spoke Thursday with the attorney of a baker who lost his court battle to refuse service to LGBT customers who ordered cakes to celebrate their legal same-sex marriages.
The state’s Civil Rights Commission last week upheld an administrative judge’s finding that Christian bakery owner Jack Phillips had violated Colorado’s anti-discrimination statutes.
Attorney Nicolle Martin, of the Alliance Defending Freedom, told Perkins the ruling was part of an ongoing “witch hunt” against Christians, reported Right Wing Watch.
Perkins reached for a more recent historical analogy to compare the state’s actions to Nazi Germany.
“I’m beginning to think, are re-education camps next?” Perkins wondered aloud. “When are they going to start rolling out the boxcars to start hauling off Christians?”
Anti-LGBT activist Bryan Fischer compared the ruling to the Holocaust and slavery earlier this week in a blog post.
“Meet our new overlords, the new owners of the American plantation, the gay mafia,” Fischer said. “All hail Big Gay, our new slave masters.”
Listen to the audio clip posted online by Right Wing Watch:This year’s NBA Finals features the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs and the Warriors are similar in a lot of ways: they both rely heavily on 3-point shots, have rookie coaches, are built around a MVP caliber player, and haven’t won a championship in many years (or in Cleveland’s case, ever.) But, both teams also share another, albeit, geekier similarity: they both are based in cities with deep links to comics.
Instead of running through the different basketball reasons why the Cavs or the Warriors will win the Larry O’Brien trophy, let’s try to determine whether Cleveland or Golden State would win based on their comics connections.
The Case for Cleveland Comics Industry History
The origin story of comic’s greatest hero starts in Cleveland, OH. Superman, the first modern superhero, was created in Cleveland, OH by schoolmates Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Original drafts of the first Superman stories were set in Cleveland. After they sold Superman to DC, Siegel and Shuster changed mentions of Cleveland in their stories to the fictional city of Metropolis, but Action Comics #2 still states that Clark Kent was an employee of a Cleveland newspaper.
But Siegel and Shuster weren’t the only great comics creators to reside in Cleveland. The city was also the birthplace to modern superhero writers Brian Bendis, Brian Azzarello, and Marc Andreyko. Underground comix legends Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb also lived in Cleveland for a time and modern comix artist Derf Backderf is still a resident of the area. Bill Watterson, creator of the groundbreaking and beloved comics strip Calvin and Hobbes, also hangs his hat in the Cleveland area. Comic Book Crossovers
As for Cleveland’s role in fictional comic stories….well, the city hasn’t housed many comics, superheroes or otherwise. Howard the Duck lived in Cleveland during his first comic series, but he’s about the only superhero character to step foot in the city. Torso, an early crime comic written and drawn by Brian Bendis, is also set in Cleveland and recounts the city’s grizzly string of Torso Murders. Hollywood Appeal Cleveland’s has hosted the production of several popular superhero movies, including the Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Cleveland was also a secondary filming site for Spider-Man 3, but that might hurt the city’s case instead of help it.
The Case for San Francisco Comics Industry History Golden State plays in Oakland, CA, part of the San Francisco Bay metropolitan area.San Francisco has its own deep ties to the comic industry. Comics’ underground movement began in San Francisco in the late 1960s when Robert Crumb moved to San Francisco and published the influential Zap Comix anthology while living there. Another famed comic creator from San Francisco is Raina Telgemeier, whose graphic novels regularly top the New York Times Bestsellers’ list.Since Linux isn't spyware and do not contain any backdoor like other popular operating system, that's another reason we all love to use this operating system. It is bit difficult for surveillance people to install an application on your Linux without special permissions or spyware doesn't work obviously on Linux like does on other OS's but if you install something from untrusted source or you physically give access to somebody to your system then there might be chances that you can be victim of surveillance and the whole scenario could be nightmare for you. There are couple of things you can do to prevent it like do OS re-install or blacklist ports and non-removable devices like webcam and microphone, by the way you should physically cover your laptop and phone camera with sticker. So without further we go, lets start doing it.
How to Blacklist/disable Webcam?
Disable/blacklist
Enable/white-list
How to Blacklist/disable Mic/Microphone?
To disbale your mic, you have to go alone with following steps since it's not possible to write for each driver.You can disable your microphone as well but you need to know which drivers your sound card is using, run the following command to find out:Now recognize your sound card and loaded module and replace it in the following command (just like I did in the previous screenshot:Disable/blacklist your microphone using this command:To enable/whitelist your microphone run this command (make sure you replace your device in the command):Details
Amazing-looking vintage handmade wall clock made from used vinyl records.
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Still have a question? Ask us!Police Drop Case Against Kid Who Made Clock, While Mayor Worries About The Impact... On The Police
from the because-that's-who-really-go-hurt-here dept
On Wednesday, Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd said that the arresting officers quickly determined there was no immediate threat the device would detonate, which is why they did not evacuate the high school. The officers weren’t sure if Ahmed had intended to cause alarm, so they took him into custody, Boyd said.
“Our follow-up investigation was to determine whether there was intent created by what the student brought to school, or whether it was just a naive set of circumstances, with him not recognizing the suspicious nature of the situation,” Boyd said at a news conference.
Asked if a white student would have been treated differently, he said, “Our reaction would have been the same either way.”
I do not fault the school or the police for looking into what they saw as a potential threat. They have procedures to run when a possible threat or criminal act is discovered. They follow these procedures in the sole interest of protecting our children and school personnel. To the best of my knowledge, they followed protocol for investigating whether this was an attempt to bring a Hoax Bomb to a school campus. Following this investigation, Irving PD has stated no charges will be filed against the student. I hope this incident does not serve as a deterrent against our police and school personnel from maintaining the safety and security of our schools.
As a parent, I agree that if this happened to my child I would be very upset. It is my sincere desire that Irving ISD students are encouraged to use their creativity, develop innovations and explore their interests in a manner that fosters higher learning. Hopefully, we can all learn from this week’s events and the student, who has obvious gifts, will not feel at all discouraged from pursuing his talent in electronics and engineering.
This morning we wrote about the ridiculous situation down in Irving Texas where school officials and the local police totally freaked out and overreacted to a 14 year old student, Ahmed Mohamed, who built a clock in his spare time and showed it to two of his teachers. The story has exploded nationwide, with even President Obama weighing in and inviting Ahmed to the White House. Famed astronaut Chris Hadfield has invited Ahmed to appear on his Generator show. He's been invited to visit Facebook, Google, MIT and probably lots of other places as well.Seeing all this, it's not surprising that police have closed the case, but are still standing by the whole thing.Irving's mayor, Beth Van Duyne, who made national news earlier this year for some ridiculous anti-Islamic slurs, has finally weighed in on the issue on Facebook, posting a comment that focused entirely on bogus claims about safety and (originally) concluding it by calling on people not to use this against the police:After a bunch of people noted that she said absolutely nothing about Ahmed, or his creativity or education, she went back in and edited the statement to actually mention him (you can click on the "edited" line up top to see the original) whichinclude the following:Yes, and to actually do that, you would think it would require actually addressing how and why this happened in the first place. Which would mean actually mentioning him in your original statement, rather than later, after everyone's called you out for not mentioning it.
Filed Under: ahmed mohamed, beth van duyne, clock, irving, larry boyd, texas"The curtain rod was bent," recalls Carol, 48.
"Nicole was very energetic. Happy-go-lucky. Adventurous. She was a character."
On her first day of kindergarten, she was fearless. "Could she even shed a tear?" Carol says, remembering her own emotional moment watching her daughter head eagerly into St. Eugene School.
A natural athlete, Nicole played T-ball. Jim Roberts coached all the Patenaude girls. (Rebekah's CP didn't stop her.)
"Nicole was always smiling," Roberts recalls. "Full of energy. Talkative. She was the fastest runner I've ever seen at that age. She had a competitive air about her. She wanted to do well."
She was easy to coach, says Roberts. No trouble at all.
By the time she hit Cathedral High School, Nicole had friends and good grades. She did wrestling, volleyball, baseball and cross-country running.
"Her escape was cycling," Carol says. "If she was in a bad mood or needed to get out."
Nicole was a Girl Guide leader. Her Guiding name was "Cupcake," a nod to her sweet tooth.
• • •
The Patenaudes are a boisterous, loving, family.
They finish each other's sentences, make jokes and use pet names. One minute they bicker, the next they are hugging.
The girls call Carol "Wonder Woman." She provided every opportunity and addressed every need.
Like all the girls, Nicole saw a family therapist. Carol was concerned about the impact of the divorce on the girls' mental health, so for years they went to a counsellor.
Carol and the girls had this thing called a "Nicole Sandwich." It involved piling onto Rebekah's lap in her wheelchair, stacking themselves youngest to oldest. The sandwich was invented after her diagnosis of mental illness to surround her with love and support.
• • •
On her 16th birthday, March 6, 2013, Nicole left on a school trip to Europe.
Carol saved to ensure each daughter could go on such an adventure. Jeannette had done it, and now Emily and Nicole were going during March break, although they were on separate trips.
Nicole's class was touring France and Germany for 10 days and she was excited, although nervous about travelling without her family for the first time.
A few days in, Carol missed a call from Nicole. She tried ringing Nicole later that night, but had been given the wrong phone number.
"I guess she waited up for me to call all night," says Carol.
Things weren't going well on the trip. Teachers told Carol that Nicole was acting up. She wasn't participating in activities, didn't want to go on the bus, wasn't eating. She pushed a teacher.
The behaviour was completely out of character for Nicole. Carol got up every night to phone Europe and console her daughter who, she hoped, was just experiencing acute homesickness.
"I knew she wasn't herself."
Nicole complained her legs weren't working. Given Rebekah's CP, Carol asked the teachers to take Nicole to a hospital to be sure she was OK. They told her it wasn't necessary and she ought not to worry.
Meanwhile, according to Carol, the teachers took two other students to the hospital because of stomach aches.
• • •
Carol, Rebekah, Jeannette and her boyfriend Tyler Raynham (now her husband), met Nicole when she returned to Cathedral after the trip.
"She comes off the bus, her head is down, she won't even look at us," says Carol.
In the car, Nicole curled into a fetal position, shaking and silent. She was offered homemade cookies but didn't respond.
"Nicole, talk to me, honey," said Carol. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Nicole whispered.
"Do you want to go to the hospital?"
"Yes."
At McMaster Children's Hospital she was examined and sent home. Jet lag, maybe?
Nicole curled on her bed, cocooned in a blanket, shaking. She neither ate nor spoke.
Carol decided to take Nicole back to hospital, but couldn't rouse her. She called 911.
The scene that unfolded still upsets Rebekah.
Her thin, five-foot-five sister kicked and punched paramedics and battered police.
Nicole was handcuffed and loaded into the ambulance.
"She was screaming 'I don't want to go,'" remembers Rebekah.
Emily came back from Europe eager to exchange travel stories with Nicole. Instead, she learned her sister was having a breakdown.
"I didn't know how to process it," she says. "I expected we'd talk about the Eiffel Tower."
• • •
Nicole was admitted to the children's mental health ward at Mac. She stayed six weeks, the first of many hospitalizations.
While there, Nicole hid in the closet and under the bed. She kicked, bit and punched staff. She pulled taps from the bathroom walls. She cut herself with anything she could find. Once, she used a deodorant lid.
She was put in restraints. Nicole said the straps around her arms, legs and chest made her feel safe.
Sometimes, amid the chaos, the old Nicole surfaced.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Then she was gone.
• • •
Doctors warned they were going to send Nicole home, and Carol begged them not to.
Nicole didn't want to go home. She said so repeatedly.
Carol didn't know if she could handle her daughter. Her violent outbursts were hard for trained staff to manage. How would she do it?
What about the daycare kids? It wouldn't be safe to have Nicole around them. The daycare was the family's only source of income.
Most of all, the family knew Nicole wasn't well.
"Professionals think they know what's best, but they don't listen to the families," says Jeannette. "Yet it's the family who knows them and must care for them."
One day Carol heard a car outside the house. Nicole got out of a cab. The hospital had sent her home.
• • •
Carol describes Nicole's mental illness as "a concoction."
It is Borderline Personality Disorder combined with Impulse Control Disorder and a dash of anxiety and depression. Maybe.
Many of Carol's questions remain unanswered. That school trip, was it a trigger? Did the family miss signs of mental illness before that?
"Until then, I only noticed normal, teenaged problems," she says.
• • •
Nicole wasn't home long before she was readmitted to hospital.
And released.
And readmitted.
Lots of medications were tried.
The family runs through some of the more memorable episodes in Nicole's saga.
There was the time Carol took Nicole out of Mac for some fresh air and Nicole climbed a tree on campus and wouldn't come down. Firefighters were called.
Or when she grabbed her social worker in a headlock at the hospital and threatened to smash her head in with a fire extinguisher. Security guards tackled her, police were called and she was charged.
Like many desperate families, Carol hoped the criminal justice system might help Nicole get treatment. She was locked up at Syl Apps, a youth detention facility in Oakville.
"Syl Apps is absolutely amazing," says Carol, with genuine appreciation for what it did for Nicole. "She was thriving at Syl Apps."
Nicole attended school there and learned to cope with her illness.
Every week the family made the trek by bus (they don't have a car) to visit Nicole. They gave her a blanket that says "I Love You" on it with a big heart. It was meant to "hug" her even when they couldn't.
"She loved it there," says Rebekah. "She was happiest there."
Kinark, the agency that operates Syl Apps, declined to comment for this story.
On Nicole's 18th birthday, she was discharged from Syl Apps.
She was an adult by law, says Jeannette, but she did not have the mentality of an adult.
• • •
Nicole moved into Charlton Hall, a home for troubled girls. But she assaulted a staff member, so she didn't stay long.
Next came a series of group homes, interspersed with hospital stays, which were now at the West 5th Campus of St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton, the city's adult mental health unit.
"All the group homes have really tried to help Nicole," says Carol. "They tried and they were compassionate, not only with Nicole but with our family."
The hospital, however, cut the family out of the loop. Now that Nicole was an adult, her mom was no longer her legal guardian. Carol was not told when her daughter was admitted to hospital.
• • •
"Mommy, I want to be normal again," Nicole said.
Her goal was to have an apartment and a boyfriend.
She got a job delivering flyers, but after a few weeks she was back in hospital and lost her route.
Contact with her family became sporadic. They often didn't know what was going on in her life, though they let it be known they loved her and missed her.
"She didn't want us to be disappointed in her," said Carol. "But I told her, 'I love you and I'm heartbroken because you're in pain.'"
Nicole got a tattoo on her right forearm. A blue and purple butterfly with the words, 'Stay Strong.'
In an undated poem she wrote, Nicole likens herself to a butterfly:
Because everybody has their struggles,
Everybody has their troubles.
I am winning because every day, every moment is a new beginning.
I am soaring over whatever is in my way.
I am like a butterfly flying away.
Though Nicole may not have thought of it, her tattoo also evokes the philosophy of The Butterfly Effect. It's the idea that one small event — or maybe one person — can change things in a way that cannot be predicted.
• • •
In August 2015, Nicole was referred to lawyer Courtney Hamara at Sullivan Festeryga LLP.
She had a youth record and now adult charges relating to an assault on staff while at West 5th.
She entered into a peace bond, but, when in crisis, wound up assaulting another worker and being charged with a new assault as well as breaching her bond.
"She was always very remorseful," says Hamara. "She did worry about what the consequences would be."
Hamara says Nicole could have benefited from a designated Mental Heath Court, had there been one in Hamilton. An MHC is about treating low-violence offenders. "I really liked Nicole," says Hamara. "She was very sweet."
• • •
From January to November 2016, Nicole lived at Elm Villa, the residential care facility where she would meet her boyfriend, Justin Hind.
Tanya Hannigan runs the home and has fond memories of Nicole.
"I just always enjoyed talking to her. She was fascinating. Wise … She had ambition."
Hannigan hoped Nicole would have a career helping others one day. But there would be mountains to climb.
"Nicole had major struggles … She was a soul crying out for help. The combination of her different illnesses added up. She was struggling with a darkness inside her."
• • •
Thanksgiving was the last time the whole family was together.
Dec. 11, Nicole phoned her brother-in-law, Tyler, to say she loved her family but wouldn't be joining them for Christmas. She was sparing them the burden of her company.
Around the same time, Nicole was admitted to the West 5th Campus. She remained a patient there for the rest of her life.
The Scrabble game the Patenaudes bought Nicole for Christmas is still at her mother's house, unopened.
• • •
Every year, on each daughter's birthday, Carol has their photo taken at a portrait studio.
There are gaps in Nicole's. No photo at 16, because she was away and then in hospital. Also in hospital at 18.
On her 20th birthday, March 6 of this year, Nicole called her mom and sisters from the hospital to say she was sorry and she loves them.
• • •
Dr. Peter Cook is chief psychiatrist at St. Joe's. Peter Bieling is head of mental health and addiction services.
They oversee the staff who cared for Nicole during her final five months in hospital. With Carol's permission, they agreed to speak about Nicole's care and her suicide.
Nicole's mental illness was "complicated and profound," says Bieling. She grew up inside institutions. The goal for her care team was to get her well enough to live in the community.
"It appeared to be going well," says Bieling. The team helped her secure an apartment on May 1 and was working up to discharging her. No date had been set yet.
"So many agencies were wrapping around her and getting her ready," says Bieling.
• • •
Nicole tried many times to kill herself.
She used her bra to hang herself from the closet and from a bedpost. She bought a knife and stabbed herself in the neck. She overdosed on allergy medicine.
Her family wasn't informed by the hospital about her adult suicide attempts.
"She wakes up in the hospital after overdosing with nobody there for her," Carol says angrily. "You're going to let a mentally ill young lady, who almost died, wake up by herself with no support?"
That legal issue is one of the thorniest that Cook and Bieling must navigate: the rights of patients vs. the rights of their families. In the end, adult patients win.
"We were obligated to protect the privacy of Nicole," says Cook. "She was an adult."
While involving the family is a part of treatment wherever possible, if a patient does not want their family involved, the hospital must respect that wish, says Cook.
Confidentiality between patient and doctor is "sacrosanct," says Bieling. Nicole did not want to share her medical information with her family.
From her poems, journals and conversations with her family, it appears Nicole's decision to shut them out wasn't because she didn't love them. Indeed, it seems to have been because she loved them so much. She considered herself a burden.
"I know that I'm hard to love," she posted on Facebook.
On May 11, Nicole was on a pass from St. Joe's. She dropped by Elm Villa, her former lodging home, for a half-hour visit with Hannigan.
Nicole had marks on her arms and neck, and Hannigan was concerned. She knew Nicole had a history of self-harming — cutting, head banging and strangulation. That pain was a way of diverting the pain from inside her head.
Hannigan recalls Nicole's final words: "I'm young. I can do anything."
A selfie on Nicole's phone, taken May 12, is a close-up of her neck. Long red marks are visible across her throat.
• • •
Nicole met Justin Hind when they both lived at Elm Villa.
"She seemed very nice," Hind, 23, remembers. "I was afraid to talk to her."
But Nicole made it easy. She was outgoing and fun and they had much in common, including their struggles with mental illness.
"She made me get out of the house and do stuff. We'd go for hikes."
Nicole was Hind's first girlfriend.
"I told her every day that I loved her," he says. "I texted her every morning so she knew she had someone who cared about her."
When Nicole was in hospital, Justin visited twice a week. He saw she cut her wrists and neck. Sometimes she talked about suicide.
"I told her never to do it. And to call me if she was thinking about it."
• • •
Tuesday, May 16, is the last day of Nicole's life.
At 9 a.m. she sends a text to Hind: "Love you lots. Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. Had a bad week. Hopefully I'll be better soon."
Hind texts and calls her throughout the day, but never hears back.
Nicole gets a "therapeutic pass" from West 5th.
Different levels of passes allow increased freedoms.
Level 1 means the patient must remain on the secure in-patient unit. Level 4 grants visits to the community.
Nicole had Level 4 passes before with success, according to Cook and Bieling.
Nicole starts her day out by going to her bank and paying her phone bill. At 9:29 she checks out a book at the library.
At 10:30 she meets with a member of her care team at Fortinos on Main Street West.
"How are you feeling? What is your mood like?" are likely questions, says Cook. Nicole would be asked about her plans for the |
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© The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.Sign Up for GamenGuide's Newsletter and never miss out on our most popular stories.
Updates for the all new episodes of the Adult Swim Series "Rick and Morty" seems as dim that fans until now aren't enlightened for its return on the small screens.
(Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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Updates for the all new episodes of the Adult Swim Series "Rick and Morty" seems as dim that fans until now aren't enlightened for its return on the small screens. Also, claims of the storyline centering on Morty's parents and their marriage in trouble is rising as well.
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Moreover, according to the series Creator Dan Harmon, they are targeting to premier by the end of this year. While Beth and Jerry's marriage are going to be the focus of the season as though they were getting divorce. Despite the rumors that Dan Harmon is struggling with the production of "Rick and Morty" Season 3, that speculation was debunked.
According to Mobile & Apps, we only have three months left to wait for "Rick and Morty" Season 3, fans will be expecting a clearer and confirmed schedule of airing by the end of the year. Harmon said viewers can expect more development regarding Beth's character on this season.
Beth and Jerry's marriage are on the big possibility of undertaking a divorce due to Jerry's status of being irresponsible to the family, as per GamenGuide. Also, with that being said, the upcoming scenes of "Rick and Morty" Season 3 would include emotional hurdles and personal challenges as well.
Rumors says Jerry was offered a job in the Galactic Government which could also be the reason to resolve the issues for their marriage. But, due to Rick's imprisonment in the Government, Jerry might lose the job in "Rick and Morty" Season 3.After weathering a barrage of criticism from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Kerry turned the tables and demanded to know whether or not he believed that air strikes would make Assad more or less likely to use chemical weapons again.
“It’s unknown,” Paul replied.
Jabbing his finger, Kerry disagreed, saying it was guaranteed that Assad would use chemical weapons again if the U.S. doesn’t act.
Kerry, a Vietnam veteran, reminded Paul that “you’ve got three of us here who have gone to war” and that they know what it involves.
“The president is not asking you to go to war,” he said, urging Paul to go to a classified briefing “and learn that.”
Concluding his comments, Kerry turned to Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for back-up, asking if he wanted to “weigh in on this.”
“No, not really,” came the reply, prompting laughter from the panel.UPDATED: IT’S HOT – and it’s getting hotter – and today Donegal County Council said it was being forced to restrict water supplies.
As temperatures hit 32C in Falcarragh this afternoon, the council appealed to people not to waste water and announced restrictions in the Stranorlar Electoral Area
“Due to the current dry spell and in order to ensure reservoir replenishment and continuity of water supply for peak periods, Donegal County Council is putting in place water restrictions during off peak periods starting tonight the 9h July 2013 until further notice,” said a council spokeswoman.
“It is proposed that the areas supplied from the following reservoirs/ distribution mains will be switched off during the off peak period 10.00pm to 07.00am to facilitate replenishment of storage reservoirs for normal day time/ peak supply:
· Tievebrack Reservoir – above Castlefin/ Castlederg Road/Bellalt/Meenlogher.
· Gleneely Reservoir – above Crossroads and Knock/ Kinlitter, Lismullaghduff,Sallywood area
I also wish to advise that there will also be water restrictions from 10pm this evening to 7am tomorrow morning in areas supplied from Ballynacor Reservoir (i.e. Edenamoghil/Monellan/ Ballinman areas).
She added: “Donegal County Council would like to thank the public for their co-operation and for their continuing efforts to conserve water.”A strange, lonely and troubling death...
Dead at 33: Stephen Gately
The news of Stephen Gately's death was deeply shocking. It was not just that another young star had died pointlessly.
Through the recent travails and sad ends of Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger and many others, fans know to expect the unexpected of their heroes - particularly if those idols live a life that is shadowed by dark appetites or fractured by private vice.
There are dozens of household names out there with secret and not-so-secret troubles, or damaging habits both past and present.
Robbie, Amy, Kate, Whitney, Britney; we all know who they are. And we are not being ghoulish to anticipate, or to be mentally braced for, their bad end: a long night, a mysterious stranger, an odd set of circumstances that herald a sudden death.
In the morning, a body has already turned cold before the first concerned hand reaches out to touch an icy celebrity shoulder. It is not exactly a new storyline, is it?
In fact, it is rather depressingly familiar. But somehow we never expected it of him. Never him. Not Stephen Gately.
In the cheerful environs of Boyzone, Gately was always charming, cute, polite and funny.
A founder member of Ireland's first boy band, he was the group's co-lead singer, even though he could barely carry a tune in a Louis Vuitton trunk.
He was the Posh Spice of Boyzone, a popular but largely decorous addition.
Gately came out as gay in 1999 after discovering that someone was planning to sell a story revealing his sexuality to a newspaper.
Although he was effectively smoked out of the closet, he has been hailed as a champion of gay rights, albeit a reluctant one.
At the time, Gately worried that the revelations might end his ultra-mainstream career as a pin-up, but he received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans. In fact, it only made them love him more.
In 2006, Gately entered into a civil union with internet businessman Andrew Cowles, who had been introduced to him by mutual friends Elton John and David Furnish.
Last week, the couple were enjoying a holiday together in their apartment in Mallorca before their world was capsized.
Boyzone: Gately and his bandmates had a hugely successful career and had recently reformed
All the official reports point to a natural death, with no suspicious circumstances. The Gately family are - perhaps understandably - keen to register their boy's demise on the national consciousness as nothing more than a tragic accident.
Even before the post-mortem and toxicology reports were released by the Spanish authorities, the Gatelys' lawyer reiterated that they believed his sudden death was due to natural causes.
But, hang on a minute. Something is terribly wrong with the way this incident has been shaped and spun into nothing more than an unfortunate mishap on a holiday weekend, like a broken teacup in the rented cottage.
Consider the way it has been largely reported, as if Gately had gently keeled over at the age of 90 in the grounds of the Bide-a-Wee rest home while hoeing the sweet pea patch.
The sugar coating on this fatality is so saccharine-thick that it obscures whatever bitter truth lies beneath. Healthy and fit 33-year-old men do not just climb into their pyjamas and go to sleep on the sofa, never to wake up again.
Whatever the cause of death is, it is not, by any yardstick, a natural one. Let us be absolutely clear about this. All that has been established so far is that Stephen Gately was not murdered.
And I think if we are going to be honest, we would have to admit that the circumstances surrounding his death are more than a little sleazy.
After a night of clubbing, Cowles and Gately took a young Bulgarian man back to their apartment. It is not disrespectful to assume that a game of canasta with 25-year-old Georgi Dochev was not what was on the cards.
Cowles and Dochev went to the bedroom together while Stephen remained alone in the living room.
Gately's civil partner, Andrew Cowles, left, and Bulgarian student Georgi Dochev, right, were at the apartment on the night of the singer's death
What happened before they parted is known only to the two men still alive. What happened afterwards is anyone's guess.
A post-mortem revealed Stephen died from acute pulmonary oedema, a build-up of fluid on his lungs.
Gately's family have always maintained that drugs were not involved in the singer's death, but it has just been revealed that he at least smoked cannabis on the night he died.
Nevertheless, his mother is still insisting that her son died from a previously undetected heart condition that has plagued the family.
Another real sadness about Gately's death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.
Gay activists are always calling for tolerance and understanding about same-sex relationships, arguing that they are just the same as heterosexual marriages. Not everyone, they say, is like George Michael.
Of course, in many cases this may be true. Yet the recent death of Kevin McGee, the former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and now the dubious events of Gately's last night raise troubling questions about what happened.
It is important that the truth comes out about the exact circumstances of his strange and lonely death.
As a gay rights champion, I am sure he would want to set an example to any impressionable young men who may want to emulate what they might see as his glamorous routine.
For once again, under the carapace of glittering, hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see.
Badly dressed: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
Tara's sheer audacity
The dress code for Tatler magazine's 300th birthday celebrations was Very Tatler.
Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson chose to interpret this by wearing sheer lilac voile up top and boy-shorts down below, complete with matching curtains.
Good grief!
As blouses go, hers seems to have got up and gone.
It is certainly much more yoo-hoo! than peek-a-boo, wouldn't you agree?
Surely the only creature allowed to flash that much nipple in public is a nursing chihuahua?
Tara, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you are too old for that look.
In fact, everyone is too old for that look, unless you happen to be Timmy the Tranny, the hat-check personage down at the My-Oh-My supper club in Brighton.
I'm in the mood for spanx pants
Heave-ho, me hearties! If we all pull together, we might just manage to get the Nolan Sisters into their matching girdles by curtain-up tonight.
Age has not withered the singing sisters, who have just reformed and embarked on a nationwide tour.
This week, Coleen, 44, Linda, 50, Maureen, 45, and Bernie, 48, were pictured squeezed into unfortunate, high-waisted matador pants and bulging sparkly tops at one of the first shows in Manchester.
Age has not withered them: The new-look Nolan sisters
A change of outfit featured black jackets with a white panel down the front which gave the illusion of the girls being nipped in at the waist. Or, in some cases, of actually having a waist.
While their comeback tour is a giant triumph of spirit over depleted oestrogen, all is not fun on the Nolan front.
Elder sisters Anne, 58, and Denise, 57, are fuming at being left out of the new line-up, but be fair, girls, please! There is only so much glittery fabric a nation's textile industry can supply at one time.
Still, it is fabulous to have them back and hear their music again. The Nolans' big hit, I'm In The Mood (For Dancing), has been reissued as I'm In The Mood (For A Nice Big Lunch), closely followed by And A Nap Afterwards.
The I'm In The Mood Again tour has been billed as the 'ultimate girls' night out' and features a combination of the Nolans' hits and doomed girly anthems such as It's Raining Men and Holding Out For A Hero.
Oh, my giddy Spanx power panties! Where can I get a ticket?
Raise a glass to glorious autumn
In praise of autumn: The season we Brits do best
Thank goodness the cool, crisp days of autumn are here at last. Don't complain about the temperature drop, for at heart we are an autumn nation.
We are not summer people. No way. We don't know quite what to do with ourselves in the still, dead heat of a long hot summer.
Not that we ever get a real scorcher, of course. Yet if we did, we would just carry on cremating barbecue sausages, leaving dogs and babies to sweat in locked cars and moaning about the heat while dressing very, very badly and burning our pale, northern European skins in the noon sun.
Come October, however, and we know exactly what to do. Now the shortening days have an invigorating chill, but the afternoons are still lit up by a lemon sun.
This is the season for freshly cracked-open books, rough-skinned English apples and woodsmoke; for piles of russet leaves and the smack of your big soled boots on a city pavement.
'Tis the time for a shot of whisky in a sparkling glass, the blip of venison stew on a low flame and cold, fresh air pouring through the bedroom window at midnight. It is also time to celebrate the non arrival of the swine flu pandemic, which was supposed to gather strength and take hold in September.
No, our barbecue summer never did materialise. But neither did swine flu. I reckon we are quits.
Pumpkin scones? Ugh!
I've just returned from a girls' weekend in Scotland. In years gone by, we would have been up to the Plimsoll Line in chilled white wine by 3pm and have terrorised every eligible bachelor within a ten-mile radius of our rented cottage.
Now it's all bobble hats, hearty walks and as many teashop stops and scone-eating opportunities as possible.
However, I am shocked at new developments in the scone world. For decades in the sconeland of my youth, there were only the Big Four: the plain, the sultana, the treacle and the cheese (the drop and the girdle are just different ways of cooking a basic scone).
Yet now there are myriad arriviste scones such as pumpkin, chocolate chip, blueberry, apple and even saffron. Ugh! Appalling.
That kind of desecration should be restricted to that mongrel upstart, the muffin.
Incidentally, a Scottish muffin is very different from an English muffin, while the one Americans call an English Muffin is what the Scots call a crumpet.
Elsewhere, Americans call a scone a biscuit, while our biscuits are their cookies.
Perhaps this baked goods confusion is what Lady Gaga is referring to in her her song Poker Face, when she sings about 'bluffin' with my muffin'. Just a Highland thought.
Excessive maternity leave hampers women in the workplace
Why has it taken so long for Labour's equal rights laws to blow up in their face?
It is clear to anyone with three brain cells that excessive amounts of maternity leave and gigantic sex discrimination payouts - of the kind shepherded through by Sir Harriet Harman - have not strengthened the position of women in the workplace.
If anything, they have hampered the prospects of many, particularly in a credit-crunched marketplace.
If you are a young, ambitious woman of child-bearing years, any employer is going to think once, twice, three times about you, lady.
Particularly small businesses, who are hammered out of all existence by discriminatory legislation and given no help to thrive.
This government, desperate to appease working mothers at any cost, has alienated employers, not encouraged them.
It goes on and on, but what is clear is that that great citadel of gender gelding, the Government Equalities Office, is doing more harm than good.
So netball and football are to be replaced as school sports by pastimes such as skateboarding and cheerleading. Pathetic. When are children going to learn that school sports are something to be endured, not enjoyed?In yet another political gift to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), British Prime Minister David Cameron has come out in favour of Albania becoming a member of the EU. The move will eventually allow free movement of people from that impoverished, poorly-educated, crime-ridden country into Britain – despite assurances by Cameron as recently as last December that he would block the admission of any more countries until the EU agreed new stringent conditions on the movement of people.
The enormous migration into Britain from the impoverished countries of Eastern Europe is one of the issues which led to the Conservative Party’s defeat in last month’s elections to the European Parliament, when Nigel Farage’s anti-EU “people’s army” beat the Labour Party into second place and Cameron’s Tories into third.
UKIP, hoping to win seats in the House of Commons in next year’s general election, will be delighted Cameron is now seen to be willing to allow the people of yet another poor country have EU-guaranteed access to British jobs, housing, education, health service and welfare.
Top Tories are furious at Cameron’s U-turn.
David Davis, who was a candidate for leader of the Conservative party in 2005, told the Sunday Times: “I would argue you shouldn’t allow any other countries in until we’ve got free movement put onto a qualification rather than a time basis. In other words, until they have got their income and other things up to a certain level.”
Albania is not only poor, but infamous for corruption, people trafficking and organised crime.
In 2012 Albania, which has a Muslim-majority population of 3m, was recommended by the European Commission for status as a candidate for membership of the EU. The commission’s policy is eventually to have every country in Europe under the control of Brussels, a policy which has antagonised Russia.
A decision will be taken at the European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday, when the heads of state and government will decide whether to put Albania on the final path to membership.
No country can join the EU with agreement of every existing member state and the agreement of the European Parliament.
As recently as last December, Cameron said he would block Albania from joining unless there were stringent conditions on the movement of people. He said the application of Albania was a “real opportunity” to insist on a different approach.
Conservative MPs are angry the prime minister is now ready to abandon Britain’s veto and agree to Albania proceeding towards membership without any changes having been made to the free movement of people guaranteed under treaty law.
This U-turn will feed fears among eurosceptic Tories that Cameron’s promise to negotiate the return of substantial powers from the EU to Britain is equally unreliable.
Already Cameron’s opposition to Jean-Claude Juncker, euro-zealot former prime minister of Luxembourg, as next president of the European Commission, is beginning to look synthetic.
Brussels cynics are now reckoning that Cameron and German Chancellor Merkel, who does not want Juncker in the top post either, but has been boxed in by her party, are playing out a pantomime in which Juncker will be dropped after rigged-up “intense negotiations” so that Cameron can proclaim a “victory.”
Meanwhile, whoever becomes president of the commission will be just as much a euro-zealot as Juncker, only more discrete in his determination for the EU to hold on to all its powers and return none to member states, much less to the irritating and uncooperative “Anglo-Saxons.”EVs & PVs — Driving on Sunshine!
November 13th, 2015 by Kyle Field
When we first put solar panels on the roof of our 2-story home here in sunny Southern California, I understood the concept but had some questions about how it all actually worked. It was quite the learning process, and since then, I have continued to add panels to the roof to offset our base usage while also adding more load to our system with the addition of 2 EVs in the last 12 months. With all this, we are now living the dream and effectively “driving on sunshine.” As there were so many learnings with both systems, this article will help frame both pieces of the puzzle in order to help others understand some of the nuances and how they work together.
The first step towards getting solar panels up on your roof is sizing the system. This is one of the first steps a solar installer will typically do for your site, but you can also go through it yourself to understand the details or for a DIY installation. Many factors dictate system size but the two big ones are the usage you want to offset with new solar generation and the solar potential of the installation location.
Calculating your estimated usage is very straightforward, as your utility has a vested interest in tracking usage accurately so it can bill you for it. 🙂 Look up the last 12 months of bills and capture the monthly usage in kWhs for each month. The resulting total is your starting point for annual usage. Next, take into account any big project that could impact your usage in the next few years — adding an EV (I’ll review estimating EV usage below), removing a hot tub, installing LED lighting, etc., and either add or subtract those from the annual usage total. Finally, determine what % of that usage you would like to offset. Most installers will use 90% of the production, as any excess is typically not a good investment for the homeowner. My personal goal is to continually generate at least 105% of my total usage.
To understand the solar potential of your location, use an online solar production potential calculator like PVWatts. You enter the key details of your system — some which take more work than others, like installation address, system size (from your work in the previous step), tilt, module type, etc., and the system spits out a nice annual chart of estimated production by month, including the value of the energy produced.
One of the first question folks normally ask about residential solar is “but, what about the batteries?” In most residential installations, the PV solar system will be connected to the grid, meaning that any excess energy produced will be sent to the grid. In a net metering arrangement, the utility will track how much the PV generation sends to the grid and keep a tally sheet, “netting out” usage vs generation at the end of the year. Why annually? This allows systems that generate more in the summer and less in the winter to level out over the year instead of the utility paying the customer in the summer and vice versa in the winter. This could be a whole separate article but I’ll leave it at that for now. 🙂
Now that we have our system sized up, let’s go get some bids from installers! I’m not going to go into full detail on how systems are priced out, but there are primarily 3 options:
Buy this system outright with cash. The system is yours and all generation is “free” after the initial purchase.
. The system is yours and all generation is “free” after the initial purchase. Sign up for a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The installer will front the money for the system and you agree to buy power from them for a predefined term of 20, 25, or 30 years. Terms such as annual % price increases, duration, upfront cost, and savings vary. Do yourself a favor and read the fine print… that’s a long period of time to be locked into bad terms. 🙂
. The installer will front the money for the system and you agree to buy power from them for a predefined term of 20, 25, or 30 years. Terms such as annual % price increases, duration, upfront cost, and savings vary. Do yourself a favor and read the fine print… that’s a long period of time to be locked into bad terms. 🙂 Financing. Finance the system through the installer. These contracts are getting sticky so definitely another one to watch out for. It may be better to finance through an unrelated bank to pay for the system vs finance through an installer. A great article on Solar Love
Before you lock in and sign papers, dig into the return on investment that the solar salespeople (yes, they are trying to sell you the system, even if it’s a zero-down deal) pitch to you. A few tips — look for price increases in the retail electricity they are comparing to. For instance, in my area, Tier 1 rates were $0.12/kWh when I signed up and they projected 5% increases every year. To validate that, I went in and flattened the price of electricity for a “worst case scenario” payback. Since 2011, however, we did offset the small amount of Tier 2 power we had been paying for ($0.19/kWh) and our Tier 1 pricing has gone up quite a bit and is now $0.15/kWh which is inline with the solar company’s projections.
I have also built an Excel sheet (as I’m prone to doing) to track our solar production, home usage, efficiency savings (improvements in total usage vs base), payback, etc. There’s a notable blip in Jul ’13 when we went from 5 to 12 panels, with each calendar year change as we “net out” and either add or subtract the annual bill or credit into the equation and add in any pricing changes in the “SCE $/kWh” column. I dropped a copy into my Dropbox public folder if anyone wants to find all my errors/reapply/make it your own (link).
What a whirlwind of data. Now that your head is spinning with numbers, take a break, grab some coffee, and come back in 5.
We’ve determined what your usage is for the year, adjusted for all the great efficiency improvements you’re going to make with your tax returns (right?), sized the system based on your specific location, and worked through the financial side of the system. What now? Let’s throw an EV into the mix! Put some miles on those solar panels! But seriously, how do you figure out how much power you’ll need to get back and forth to work? Come with me, friend…
When buying an EV, you enter a new world of numbers and metrics. Nobody will tell you the most important factor in calculating your energy usage, but it’s simple — miles per kwh. Basically, how far |
’s likely more to consider.
One of the most interesting discussions I’ve heard on the topic is the idea ofsharecropping (HT to Julie Neidlinger for the term). Sharecropping is publishing some place you don’t control.
It’s a question of owned media (a blog on your own server) versus earned media.
I like the way that Ann Friedman puts it in this answer about where she publishes her uncompensated work.
I try to only publish uncompensated work on platforms that I own myself. I’ll post something to my own blog, for example, rather than have it run for free on the Huffington Post or Medium, because I want people to at least see my name at the top of the site, and perhaps look at more of my work—which is an advantage I don’t enjoy if I write for free on someone else’s site.
Should you join Medium if you have a separate, owned channel to share your writing? I can definitely see the case for either way, and as you’ll read below, there may even be some good go-between options that cover both sides.
The Medium Guide for Marketers
The amount of traffic you can expect on a new post
What kind of traffic can you expect to get from Medium?
Actual numbers on this are a bit hard to come by. A few folks have been kind to share their stats, and I’ve bundled up all the stats from our various team member posts here at Buffer to help give you an idea of the volume that’s out there at Medium.
A few of the posts we’ve written have taken off more so than others. There’s a pretty good representation of a variety of success here in the list. Take a look.
How well does content do on Medium? Or, does it do well enough to publish your stuff there?
The answer will likely depend on what you’re able to get on your personal blog.
Mike Essex tested the results for his writing on Medium and found that publishing there was well worth his time.
Within 6 hours my post on Medium had surpassed the average number of views a post on my site would get in its entire lifetime. Within 24 hours those numbers quadrupled.
How to write a Medium headline
Another unique part of Medium is the way that headlines are built. The SEO headline is less common on Medium than on other blogs around the Internet. Since content is found inside the network, it’s more about writing a headline that resonates with the reader.
For this reason, the Top 100 list of Medium posts will have a wide assortment of different types of headlines.
How to
Full sentences
Super short
Super long
I pulled a list of the character counts for the Top 100 stories from January and found that the average length is 42 characters. For reference, this headline from the Top 100 is 41 characters:
I Almost Let My Failed Startup Destroy Me
And of course, one of our best headline tips for headlines anywhere (blogs or tweets, etc.) is that your first three words and your last three words will be noticed the most. Make those six words count.
The average length of the most-read stories
Likewise, I also looked at the reading lengths of the Top 100 Medium stories from January. Since reading time carries such an emphasis on the network, it might seem that there’d be a good recommendation on exactly how long to write a Medium post.
The average length of a Top 100 post: 7.25 minutes
There was a huge amount of variety on this list as well (the median was 6 minutes). In the Top 10, there were posts as short as 3 minutes and as long as 28.
Also, some of the best advice on length, timing, etc. with Medium posts comesfrom the Medium data team. There is a direct correlation to how long people spend on their posts and how well the posts perform. Quality trumps all.
5 Growth Hacks for Medium
1. Repost your content on Medium
One of the most obvious growth hacks—and one that we’ve tried ourselves at Buffer—is to repost your content on Medium. You expose it to a new audience and give it a chance to gain traction anew.
The team at Unbounce tried this on a recent post and received 144 additional views, a great number for little effort.
Other places that aim for this include The Physics ArXiv Blog, Edible Manhattan and Fader.
2. Link back to your website or blog
Medium gives you huge amounts of creative liberties with the way you create your posts. One interesting method that I’ve seen used a lot is to leverage the end of your post as a place to link back and share a call-to-action or a referral to your blog.
KISSmetrics shared a neat example from Raymmar Tirado who links to his website at the end of each article, and he sometimes includes links to his site in the middle of his posts.
Tirado says:
[One thing I appreciate about Medium] is the ability to link to content outside of Medium inside of my articles. This allows me to drive little pockets of highly engaged traffic to places on my website that correlate with the information inside of the article.
You can also think about adding a CTA to follow on social media or join an emailing list or try out a new product/download.
3. Create a publication for your brand
We’ve built a Buffer publication where we house the articles written by the team at Buffer.
You can do the same for your brand, creating a publication of content from your team, content on a particular topic, or any other theme you can imagine.
The Physics ArXiv Blog made Medium its permanent home. The List is another site that does this.
4. Explore visual content
Medium is for writers. Writers can be visual artists.
Some of the popular content on Medium amounts to little more than a cartoon or series of images. This visual content is striking in its place beside written content. It looks great beside articles of 5 to 7 minutes, while it stands at 2.
Check out comics from Gemma Correll or the I Love Charts publication for some inspiration.
5. Track visits back to your website with UTM parameters
Another great tip from Chloe Mason Gray at KISSmetrics is to see which posts on Medium are bringing the most traffic back to your website by tracking with UTM parameters.
Go to Google’s UTM tool to place tracking links on the URLs that link back to your site.
This can be helpful in iterating on the text in your calls-to-action as well as finding the spots within your post (in the intro, in callouts, etc.) that are best used for links back to your page.
Summary
Medium is a really unique part of the social tools landscape—a mix of collaborative software like Blogger and social reading experiences like Twitter and others.
For those just starting out with blogging, Medium is a simple and easy place to get going.
For brands looking to expand their reach to a built-in audience, there are some really neat ways to do so with Medium.
For others curious about what Medium offers, feel free to grab your name and reserve your spot and build a bit of a presence by reposting content or engaging with your audience that’s on there.
What has been your experience on Medium so far? Any tips to share? Feel free to share in the comments.
Read Next: 18 incredibly useful tools for getting to know your audience better
Image sources: IconFinder, Blurgrounds, Unsplash
Read next: Move over TripAdvisor? Amazon just launched a new Destinations getaway portal in the USPhil Robertson speaking to the Western Conservative Summit (Photo: Screen capture)
Duck Dynasty dad Phil Robertson had some of his trademark Christian wisdom at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver, Colorado this weekend to help enlighten people how he knows Jesus is really the son of God.
“If your calendar is dated of all the human beings who have ever walked on the Earth, and your calendar is dedicated and predicated to just one of ’em, evidently something rather large went down,” Robertson explained.
That’s good to know, especially for worshipers of Roman gods like Janus and Mars, who are also immortalized in our calendars, dude.
As his speech continued, Robertson went down the rabbit hole of opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. He explained that 160,000 murders occurred. The reason for this, Robertson says, is because of the gay and transgender Americans.
“When you allow men to determine what’s right and what’s wrong, you get decisions like the five judges saying, ‘I may not know we have 7,000 years of history of men marrying women. A male and a female. For that reason, they’ll leave their father and mother and cleave to one and other and become one flesh. I know it’s been that way for 7,000 years, but we know best for what’s everybody.'” Robertson said criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage last year.
Robertson also blames transgender people for the downfall of western civilization. “Now there’s grown men barging in on you ladies while you’re putting your Maybelline on,” he continued. “Here’s a newsflash, you see this,” he said, tugging on his beard. “This be male,” he said, clearly not having met a post-menopausal woman. He then pledged never to come into a lady’s restroom.
Check out the videos via Mediaite:
Duck Dynasty Dude Hilariously Proves Beyond a… by DailyPolitics
Phil Robetson war by DailyPolitics
Phil robertson who's behind it by DailyPoliticsWe’ve already given most of our privacy away to smartphones and Facebook. They know where we are, who our friends are, what we like to buy and much more about our personality than we’d like to admit. But according to a new study, they may also have access to your bank account.
The authors say that if you combine data from embedded sensors in wearable technologies, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, with a PIN cracking algorithm you have an 80% chance of identifying a PIN code from the first try and an over 90% chance of cracking it in 3 tries.
Yan Wang, assistant professor of computer science at the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science at Binghamton University is working on smartphone security and privacy. He said that wearable devices in particular pose a significant risk and can be exploited with relative ease.
He and his colleagues conducted 5,000 key-entry tests on three key-based security systems, including an ATM, with 20 adults wearing a variety of technologies over 11 months. Basically, regardless of the hand position and regardless of how much you try to conceal your hand movement, the accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers inside the wearable technologies can still figure out what PIN you are typing in. In other words, your smartwatch is detecting your hand movement and figuring out your PIN.
According to the team, this is the first study to test this – at least the first scientific study. The required technology is still quite sophisticated, but with the right tools available, it’s worryingly easy to crack PIN codes.
There are two attacking scenarios that are achievable: internal and sniffing attacks. In an internal attack, attackers access embedded sensors in wrist-worn wearable devices through malware. The malware waits until the victim accesses a key-based security system and sends sensor data back. Then the attacker can aggregate the sensor data to determine the victim’s PIN. An attacker can also place a wireless sniffer close to a key-based security system to eavesdrop sensor data from wearable devices sent via Bluetooth to the victim’s associated smartphones.
The findings are just an early step in understanding the vulnerabilities and at the moment, there is no evident solution to fix these risks. The authors do suggest that developers “inject a certain type of noise to data so it cannot be used to derive fine-grained hand movements, while still being effective for fitness tracking purposes such as activity recognition or step counts.”Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
July 29, 2017, 8:56 PM GMT / Updated July 29, 2017, 10:13 PM GMT By Phil McCausland
After a series of GOP failures to pass any health care legislation this week, President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare was not dead — "unless the Republican Senators are total quitters."
Earlier in the day Trump used Twitter to declare that Republicans "look like fools" a day after they failed to pass a "skinny" health care plan, which he followed with threats to insurance companies and lawmakers.
"If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon,” he said in a Saturday morning tweetstorm.
The Trump administration already cancelled $5 million in HealthCare.gov ads that advertised the upcoming enrollment season, and the president is now threatening to withhold federal payments that help reduce insurance premiums — particularly for low-income people — and keep companies in the market.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed that Trump was putting his thumb on the scale and toying with the lives of millions.
"If the President refuses to make the cost sharing reduction payments, every expert agrees that premiums will go up and health care will be more expensive for millions of Americans," Schumer said in a statement. "The president ought to stop playing politics with people's lives and health care, start leading and finally begin acting Presidential.”
Related: What's Going to Happen to Obamacare?
Trump also used Twitter on Saturday to blast the Senate rules that require 60 votes to overcome a legislative filibuster after Senate Republicans failed to pass a “skinny” version of its health care plan.
Senate rules state that three-fifths of the Senate must agree to end the debate over a piece of legislation and move to a vote, which is known as invoking cloture. A group of 61 senators from both parties sent a letter to Senate leaders in April that stated their opposition to eliminating the legislative filibuster.
Republicans had avoided a filibuster in the first place by attempting to pass health care through budget reconciliation, which limits their actions to only impacting costs or taxes. Budget reconciliation only requires 51 votes and doesn’t provide an opportunity for a filibuster — but the tactic also greatly hampered the GOP’s ability to change the law.
The president declared on Saturday that the Senate must get rid of the rule because "It is killing the R Party, allows 8 Dems to control country."
He added in a later tweet that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must "go to 51 Votes NOW and WIN. IT’S TIME!"
McConnell has previously dismissed such demands from the president, who said in a May 2 tweet that the country needed to “either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%” or the country would need to undergo “a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!”
Trump said on Twitter Saturday that Democrats were "laughing at R's" and would dismantle the filibuster if they "ever got the chance."
Later Saturday, Trump also took aim at China over what he said was that country’s inaction on North Korea. North Korea on Friday conducted its second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. It has conducted five nuclear tests since 2006.
"I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk," Trump said in two tweets Saturday evening.
"We will no longer allow this to continue," Trump said in the tweets. "China could easily solve this problem!"
Trump's criticism of China came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a statement called Russia and China "the principal economic enablers of North Korea's nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development program" after the ICBM test.
Tillerson said in Friday’s statement that Russia and China "bear unique and special responsibility for this growing threat to regional and global stability."MSU nets more than $600,000 in grants to help animal agriculture
Michigan State University researchers have received more than $600,000 in funding from the Michigan Alliance for Animal Agriculture.
The M-AAA is a partnership between Michigan’s animal agriculture industries, the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, MSU AgBioResearch and MSU Extension. It focuses on advancing the state’s animal agriculture economy by supporting applied research and outreach efforts that address key issues identified by the industry.
The Michigan food and agriculture system contributes roughly $100 billion annually to the state’s economy and provides nearly 1 million jobs. About 37 percent of the agricultural products sold are attributed to the animal agriculture sector, so it is a critical component of Michigan’s economy.
The seventeen MSU-affiliated projects total $630,780 and address issues related to workforce education, nutrient management, health and welfare, sustainability and profitability across beef, dairy, horse, poultry, sheep and or swine industries.
“These projects continue to exemplify the strong history of successful partnerships between the Michigan animal agriculture commodity groups and MSU to help grow the animal agriculture economy, enhance employment opportunities, and build economic vitality and sustainability for the entire state,” said George Smith, MSU AgBioResearch acting associate director. “Michigan’s relatively stable climate, the availability of water and locally produced feedstuffs, and the progressive nature of its animal agriculture producers are foundational to the strength of this partnership and our collective goals.”
For more information on M-AAA, visit the MSU AgBioResearch Competitive Grants System."For high performance devices, we are fundamentally against an SD card slot."
Barra backed up his statement by pointing out that his team didn't want to sacrifice battery capacity, ergonomics, appearance and, in the case of the new Mi 4i, the second Micro SIM slot for the sake of letting users add a storage card. More importantly, microSD cards "are incredibly prone to failure and malfunctioning of various different sorts," and the fact that there are a lot of fake cards out there -- and we've seen it ourselves -- doesn't help, either.
Xiaomi's Hugo Barra shows off the Mi 4i's small logic board.
"You think you're buying like a Kingston or a SanDisk but you're actually not, and they're extremely poor quality, they're slow, they sometimes just stop working, and it gives people huge number of issues, apps crashing all the time, users losing data, a lot of basically complaints and customer frustration. It's gonna be a while before you finally accept that maybe the reason why it's not performing is because you put in an SD card, right? You're gonna blame the phone, you're gonna blame the manufacturer, you're gonna shout and scream and try to get it fixed, so many different ways until you say, 'Actually, let me just take the SD card out and see what happens.'"
"It is a trend: SD cards will disappear."
Barra probably would have given the same reasoning if he was still the VP of Google's Android division. Despite many techies' desire to have storage expansion option, all Google Nexus devices bar the Nexus One lack microSD expansion, and Matias Duarte, VP of design, once explained that this is because "in reality it's just confusing for users." Google engineer Dan Morrill also voiced a similar concern on Reddit a while back.
"It is a trend: SD cards will disappear," Barra added. "You should basically not expect SD card slots in any of our flagships."
A disassembled Mi 4i displayed at the Hong Kong launch event.
On a similar note, Xiaomi's flagship line has also long abandoned the removable battery. Barra said his company's sales data indicate a low demand for spare batteries and external battery chargers these days. Of course, there's no doubt that this has to do with Xiaomi offering very cheap USB power banks (the 16,000 mAh version costs just around $18 in China), and these inadvertently help users transition from the days of removable batteries to fixed batteries. That said, Xiaomi's Redmi phones still offer removable batteries along with a microSD slot -- the latter a necessity as these dirt cheap devices come with relatively little internal storage space, which is typically just 8GB.
"Our thinking is if you're gonna have a removable back for the purposes of having an SD slot, you might as well make the battery removable," the exec explained. "It doesn't really increase the cost of the battery that much."
Xiaomi's Brazil launch is happening in just a matter of weeks.
After yesterday's Hong Kong event, Barra had already rushed back to Beijing for the Mi Note Pro launch earlier today, and then he'll be off to Taiwan for another regional Mi 4i launch tomorrow. But what's really keeping this exec busy is the preparation for Xiaomi's entry into his home country, Brazil, which is a notoriously tough market for foreign electronics brands to crack due to local policies -- you must either manufacture locally or pay heavy import taxes. Barra said that's not an issue as Xiaomi already has local manufacturing partners (namely Foxconn), and he hinted that the launch is happening in just a matter of weeks. If all goes well, this will be Xiaomi's ninth market globally, and also the first outside of Asia.In a way, it felt like the Yankees were lifeless. Few fans expressed surprise when the team was ultimately shut out, given the way the offense had gone of late. The season is over, but it’s over by a narrower margin than it might seem. The Astros scored their first two runs with two swings, and the third scored on what could be best described as an accident. Neither team on Tuesday was dominant, and you can only wonder how it might’ve gone had the Yankees gotten another break or two. That’s the sort of thinking that gets people talking about the strike zone.
It was a story during the game, and it remained a story after the fact. Here’s a post by Dave on the matter. Perception was that Astros pitchers worked with a more favorable zone than Yankees pitchers did, and while a few pitches here and there didn’t make all of the difference, they certainly could’ve made some difference. Based on the evidence, it does indeed look like the Astros benefited more. A quick glance at the Brooks Baseball zone charts shows me the Astros benefiting by six or seven strikes, comparatively speaking. That’s a big enough margin to notice, and it deserves an explanation. Those of you in favor of an automated strike zone might well want to just skip the rest of this.
There’s no single enduring image, but if I had to pick one, it would be either Brian McCann in the umpire’s face, or the following screenshot of a replay of a called strike from Tony Sipp:
That’s a fastball crossing the inside of the line of the opposite batter’s box. Very clearly off the plate, by a big enough margin to matter, but still this went the pitcher’s way. The ESPN broadcast called attention to it, although they stopped short of any criticism. If I recall, the pitch was described as “unhittable.” That’s one way to put it.
Maybe the best way to lay this out is by just watching various pitches. Below, there are nine replays — five thrown by the Astros, and four thrown by the Yankees. These don’t capture all of the close calls, but I figure it’s sufficiently representative, and I didn’t want to risk.gif overload. It’s not like the Astros got every single close call. And it’s not like every single close call went against the Yankees. But here are five Astros called strikes, and four Yankees called balls. All were somewhere around the borders.
Here’s Dallas Keuchel:
Keuchel again:
Keuchel again:
Keuchel *again*:
And that pitch from Tony Sipp:
Now, Masahiro Tanaka:
Another Tanaka:
Dellin Betances:
Another Betances:
I guess we can start with command. Look at the five Astros pitches. All of them wound up more or less where they were supposed to go. Jason Castro barely had to move, because the pitchers did a good job here of painting the edges. Command is a huge part of earning a favorable zone — command means a pitch location is predictable, based on the catcher’s position, and a pitch thrown to the wrong edge of the zone will come as more of a surprise. It’ll cause the catcher to have to react with his body, and that distracts the umpire. Now, the two Tanaka pitches were also commanded well enough. They were supposed to be near the low-away corner. But that first Betances breaking ball missed, and the fastball was more up and in than low and away. Though the Betances pitches were technically close, they weren’t close to where they were supposed to go. That makes a strike call less likely.
There’s another factor. Look at the counts, in order:
1-and-0
2-and-1
2-and-0
2-and-0
1-and-0
1-and-1
1-and-1
0-and-0
0-and-1
The five Astros pitches were thrown with the batter ahead. Three of the Yankees pitches were thrown with the count even, and one was thrown with the pitcher ahead. Dave briefly touched on this, but one of the more interesting discoveries of the PITCHf/x era is that the strike zone changes within at-bats. This is nothing new to any of the teams. As the count gets more hitter-friendly, the zone gets more pitcher-friendly. As the count gets more pitcher-friendly, the zone gets more hitter-friendly. Presumably it’s nothing intentional on the part of the umpires, but it’s a trend that’s been proven, and it’s held up over time. So at least a small part of this is that the Astros were throwing their borderline pitches with the hitters ahead. That slightly expanded the zone’s boundaries.
And then there’s the last bit. It actually came up on the broadcast, discussed by both Chris Archer and Buster Olney. It has to do with the pitch-framing by Jason Castro and Brian McCann. Archer and Olney both used the word “presentation,” instead of framing, but regardless, it’s the same idea. Castro just looked like the better receiver. If you watch the images above, you can see how quietly Castro was receiving the pitches. Some of that, absolutely, was command. But it wasn’t all command. Consider the following two examples of vaguely similar pitches, called in different ways:
Castro got the strike. McCann didn’t. Both pitches were close to where they were supposed to be. McCann’s, definitely, was a tiny bit more outside. Maybe that’s the whole story. But you can see some differences in technique. Castro caught the ball near his center. McCann caught it toward his right side. Castro kept his body tight, and caught the ball with his elbow bent; McCann’s arm was straighter, with his other arm off to the side. One way to imagine this: Castro let the ball come to him, while McCann went more out to get it. The strike-zone box is helpful here. Most of Castro’s head and upper body are inside the box. Half of McCann’s head is outside the box. McCann’s body language suggested a pitch out of the zone. Castro’s suggested a pitch more right on. Castro did this better.
Which isn’t anything new. McCann is by no means a bad receiver. He has a track record of having been a real good receiver. But this year, by the numbers at StatCorner, Castro was the superior catcher by a good margin. By the numbers at Baseball Prospectus, Castro, again, was the superior catcher by a good margin. Some of that is the catcher and some of that is the pitchers, but Castro demonstrated superior technique Tuesday night, so it’s not a surprise Castro earned the better zone.
The Yankees should’ve gone in expecting a difference in zones. And maybe they did. This year, Keuchel finished third in lowest rate of pitches in the zone called balls. Tanaka finished 64th. Meanwhile, Keuchel finished fourth in highest rate of pitches out of the zone called strikes. Tanaka finished 45th. With good command and a good catcher, Keuchel’s been able to manipulate the edges, and sure enough that’s what just happened. Tanaka’s command isn’t bad, and Brian McCann as a catcher isn’t bad, but the Astros came in with a certain advantage, and they possessed said certain advantage. This isn’t to say that it’s necessarily fair. That’s a whole different conversation. But the Astros did what they had to do to pitch to a slightly bigger zone in a one-game playoff. That didn’t, on its own, decide the result, but then nothing did, on its own. The Astros, I’m sure, were happy to take the help.A video that a school in Massachusetts has fought in court for years to keep under wraps was played in public for the first time this week, revealing the torture of a disabled boy through the use of repeated electric shocks.
The Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) in Caton, Massachusetts has for years been pushing back against allegations of flippant use of electric shocks and other abuses against its special-needs students, and it had managed to keep video central to a case brought by one former student’s mother under wraps.
Now, the public knows why.
Footage played in court this week and captured by a local Fox News affiliate shows former student Andre McCollins, then a disabled 18-year-old, strapped to a table and screaming savagely in pain as faculty applied 31 individual jolts of electricity over the course of seven hours. He was ultimately hospitalized.
JRC lawyers insist the shocks were applied as part of a treatment routine meant to pacify mentally and emotionally troubled students, and that McCollins was just one of many who have undergone the so-called therapy. They also claimed he was “aggressive,” and therefore needed the treatment.
Security camera footage revealed, however, that the boy’s prolonged torture was brought on when he refused to remove his jacket in class.
His mother Cheryl told a jury this week that she never agreed to the procedure and that she had “no idea that they tortured children in the school.” She added that he appeared to be “catatonic” during a family visit three days after the incident.
The video, filmed in 2002, was sealed by another judge eight years ago amid a lawsuit filed by McCollins’ mother, but a higher court ordered it be displayed to the public earlier this week. JRC attorneys tried to convince the judge to bar news cameras from the courtroom for the screening, but she refused.
The trial is still ongoing.
The footage below is disturbing and may be considered not safe for work.
This video is from My Fox Boston, published Wednesday, April 11, 2012.
Graphic video of teen being restrained, shocked played in court: MyFoxBOSTON.comUltralight tents don’t have to lighten your wallet. Save a bundle of cash by making one from Tyvek. The breathable, water-resistant material, a favorite of home contractors, weighs less than two ounces and costs about $2 per square yard. Here’s how to fashion a featherweight bivouac from the stuff.
MATERIALS & TOOLS
Two 6-foot by 9-foot sheets of Tyvek HomeWrap, hammer, ½-inch grommet kit, 8 lengths of 12-foot-long parachute cord (or thin rope)
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Lay one Tyvek sheet on the ground, and fold over three inches of each edge.
2) Hammer a grommet into each corner and the center of each folded edge.
3) Tie a parachute cord to each grommet.
4) Push a tall stick into the center grommet of one short side. Stake or tie the other end.
5) Fasten the ends of the parachute cords to trees, rocks, or stakes to pull the Tyvek taut.
6) Use the other sheet as a ground cloth, roll out a sleeping bag, and catch some z’s.
**Approximate time: **1 hour
**Cost: **About $25
**Difficulty: **1/5
**WARNING: **Bad weather could send this temporary shelter sailing. Build and use at your own risk.
_This article originally appeard in the April 2014 __issue of _Popular Science.Wow. My redditgifter really went all out with this one. I don't even know where to begin. Hold on, sorry. I'm a bit too excited. Okay, we're good.
So holy crap. Twain and cats are two very awesome things, and my love for the both is something my gifter was very clever in pulling from one of my blogs—I hadn't thought of how awesome the combination would be. Also, I'm a pretty big fan of Kona Coffee, so I can't wait to start brewing this.
Additionally, Mark Twain was a really interesting person, and I'm interested in reading what Kaplan has to say about him in his round-about way of "critiquing" his work—another fantastic decision by my gifter.
Lastly (and sadly), the Belgian waffle cookie things look as delicious as the tin is picturesque, but they're not vegan, so I've passed them on to my roommate (who was excited himself). I'm also glad that my loose leaf tea now has a new home.
So yeah. Thank you so much, anonymous giftee. You're awesome.At a time in the video game industry when many large publishers demand yearly sequels for a AAA game, L.A. Noire represents a big gamble on the part of Team Bondi and Rockstar. Not only will it be one of two AAA adventure games in the era of the console shooter, it also brings an untested, potentially revolutionary technology. Take a look at the game's facial capture process.
Seeing videos of L.A. Noire for the first time, I was floored to watch one of my favorite characters from Mad Men in a game. I remember being blown away when I first heard voice acting in a game, and now it's become so commonplace that I don't even think about it. Much in the same way, I'm blown away by the facial animations I'm seeing in L.A. Noire. In the future, will this kind of realism become so boilerplate that no one will bat an eye? I think so. But does L.A. Noire have the goods that will make highly detailed facial capture processes catch on right now?
There are, of course, doubters. However, when David Cage says "Their technique is incredibly expensive…" he brings up a great point.
I remember watching this video about the Microsoft Surface a couple years back. The video showcased a functioning prototype of what Microsoft thought would be the next revolution in computing. They were half right: While multitouch screens are everywhere, the Surface still hasn't seen the light of day. As far as I know it has been put on hold. Why is that? Perhaps because the Surface was estimated to retail for multiple thousands of dollars – not a practical cost for the average person. By contrast, an iPhone is a few hundred. Apple proved that in order to get users to adopt new technology, it doesn't need every feature under the sun, it just has to be cool and affordable.
Gaming companies, like the average person, also have budgets. That's why L.A. Noire's facial capture process may end up like the Microsoft Surface. It's expensive, and because of that it probably won't be a practical solution for a majority of companies. It also may not fit with a particular game's aesthetic or design goals. Who really cares about how realistic Marcus Fenix's face is when he cuts something in half with a chainsaw? How many of you play Katamari for the engrossing story? I'm not saying highly detailed facial capture tech will be stillborn, I'm just saying we're seeing the nascent stages of it. Like any technology, it'll go through a process of evolution. To be sure, Rockstar and Team Bondi's game will leave a mark on their industry, just as pieces of Microsoft's Surface were the seeds that planted the iPhone, pieces of L.A. Noire's facial-cap will be taken in by other development houses. My point is, the technology will get less expensive and more mature. You'll see similar-but-different facial capture tricks deployed in games over the next decade – and perhaps that's how L.A. Noire will be remembered: The game that bet heavily on new technology and spun the cogs of an industry.
There's no denying that Rockstar and Team Bondi are showing serious moxie for sinking so many resources into a project that relies so heavily on untested technology. Ambitious games like L.A. Noire have both made and broken companies in the past, and at times changed the industry. Final Fantasy VII experimented with CG animation, capturing the attention (and dollars) of millions of people. On the other hand, Spore promised to change games forever, but maybe only changed Will Wright's desire to live (I have no source for that). How can Rockstar and Team Bondi know that gamers won't be completely turned off by their innovation – actors' faces in their game?
The short answer is: they can't. L.A. Noire could be a complete flop. It could be just another example of failed innovation, like the Virtua Boy, or the Sixaxis controller. I've already heard people saying the faces in this game look like bags of goo. But without companies who are willing to take these kinds of risks, we wouldn't have the DS, online services like Xbox LIVE, or voice acting (play the original Resident Evil and explain to me why anyone thought voice acting was a good idea). Innovation and failure go hand-in-hand. Both are good for industry. Both have lead to some of the best and worst gaming experiences I've had.
With that said, I think Rockstar and Team Bondi could have a hit on their hands. Gamers curious about the new tech will be paying attention to this game, and the people behind this game know that. They've been marketing their facial capture tech hard – the video I linked earlier is the best example. The two company's strategy will probably pay off, as gamers are pretty quick to adopt new technology, and L.A. Noire's new tech is going to draw in a lot of curious on-lookers. This could result in sales or a tremendous backlash against the game. However, too many publishers are scared of any risk. Most large companies play it pretty safe, churning out yearly sequels, or games nestled safely in popular genres. To push out any expensive innovation in today's video game industry seems like heresy. That's why L.A. Noire deserves your respect, if not your money.
Let's be honest here, in this console generation, looking at this game, backlash seems more likely. Someone thinks an adventure game will become a platinum hit in the age of Call of Duty? Does anyone else remember the dozens upon dozens of examples of games that over-promised on features that didn't live up to the hype, or straight-up didn't exist? Why should anyone believe me when I say that L.A. Noire will be a hit? Because no one is over-promising with this game. Anyone who has been paying attention has seen that what L |
work and who wants the job, but Ed Woodward has ignored José Mourinho, which is hardly helping the executive vice-chairman’s popularity. Woodward may yet call, however, and if he does, expect the Manchester football scene to be rather lively next season as this pair of alpha males are not overly keen on each other.
Verdict City have a considerable edge.
Squads
Manchester City
The powderpuff title challenge is the latest illustration of how age and attrition is catching up with the majority of the squad. Vincent Kompany, 29, Yaya Touré, 32, David Silva, 30, and even the 27-year-old Sergio Agüero have to manage various maladies and are seemingly unable to avoid injury. Kompany suffered his 14th calf injury in Tuesday’s goalless draw with Dynamo Kyiv and Guardiola has to think hard about whether the Belgian can be the emblem of his brave new City world.
Less acknowledged is the state of the strata of players below this elite band. Fernandinho, 30, Bacary Sagna, 33, Pablo Zabaleta, 31, Aleksandar Kolarov, 30, Gaël Clichy, 30, Martín Demichelis, 35, and Jesús Navas, 30, are all in the footballer’s decade of decline.
Joe Hart, 27, and Kevin De Bruyne, 24, are the club’s only two high-end players who are young and do not have ongoing injury concerns. Raheem Sterling, 21, is pushing to be considered in the bracket but is yet to fully convince. Fabian Delph, 24, Wilfried Bony, 27, and Fernando, 28, are squad players and Kelechi Iheanacho, 19, is enjoying a breakthrough season, but there is no question that the make-up of the playing personnel is Guardiola’s prime challenge.
Manchester United
Van Gaal has invested £250m-plus but the squad remains lopsided. He states the emergence of young players will affect the summer transfer strategy. In February’s final week debuts were given to Donald Love, Joe Riley, Marcus Rashford, Tim Fosu-Mensah and James Weir, following Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Guillermo Varela earlier in the season. It is too soon to make definitive judgments but Borthwick-Jackson, Rashford, Fosu-Mensah and Varela appear early favourites to establish themselves as squad members, at least. To have four home-reared players emerge is a bonus but gaping holes remain.
Anthony Martial is enjoying a fine first campaign but as Wayne Rooney fades the Frenchman requires the support of a top-level striker. Morgan Schneiderlin has been given no real chance to establish himself by Van Gaal – he was again ignored against Liverpool. Another central midfielder is required. Bastian Schweinsteiger was thrown on at Anfield though his fitness is suspect, while Michael Carrick is entering the winter of his career.
Finally, the ever-excellent David de Gea may depart for Real Madrid in the close season. If so, this will cause a headache for whoever is in charge.
Verdict Both clubs require major surgery.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The emergence of Marcus Rashford, left, has been a huge bonus for Manchester United but their squad still has gaps. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters
Hierarchy
Manchester City
There is a desire at the City Football Academy to ensure that Guardiola’s arrival does not make the club too Spanish. The 45-year-old will join Txiki Begiristain, the sporting director, and the chief executive, Ferran Soriano, meaning the three most powerful men on the ground will be from Spain. The hope is that what has traditionally made City the club it is will not be diluted.
Away from the question of core identity, the club’s working structure has Begiristain as a layer of football expertise between Guardiola and the chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, which is designed to guard against the boom-and-bust nature of elite-level management. How Guardiola, who is considered a one-off football Einstein, fits into a committee model remains to be seen.
Manchester United
The Alex Ferguson-David Gill-Bobby Charlton axis that held power during a generation of success has been eased aside by Woodward, who is far more important than Van Gaal or any future manager. The Glazers are now reaping the riches they purchased the club for and Woodward is the lone executive responsible for this. His task of making the football side of his role slick remains a work in progress. The reluctance to sack Van Gaal has been a counterintuitive move. Whatever the motive, to ignore Mourinho is a powerplay and a clear illustration the owners fully trust Woodward.
Verdict Jury out on both clubs.
Finances
Manchester City
Manchester City have the richer owner in Sheikh Mansour, whose fortune is more than £20bn, and with Financial Fair Play regulations relaxed there is more scope to invest. There is also the £265m received from a Chinese consortium that bought 13% of the City Football Group, a move sanctioned by the hierarchy to open up a front in a strategically key country. When the deal was announced al-Mubarak said it will “leverage the incredible potential that exists in China”.
The foray into China follows the acquisitions of New York City FC, a start-up Major League Soccer franchise, Melbourne City FC of Australia’s A-League and of a minority share in Yokohama F Marinos of the Japanese J-League. City own the most expensive domestic player in Raheem Sterling (£49m) and the second most expensive ever in Kevin De Bruyne (£55m). They boast considerable finance.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Manchester City fans appreciate what owner Sheikh Mansour and his billions have done for the club.
Photograph: Matt West/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock
Manchester United
In the Glazer family the club do not have a benefactor with a personal fortune in the same league as Sheikh Mansour or one minded to invest it. The Americans operate an ownership model that is almost the opposite of City’s. This features a heavy leveraged debt – gradually being reduced – but draws an ever-bulging war-chest as United become a footballing Walmart, its dizzying number of sponsors including manufacturers of crisps, beer, paint, tyres, food, footwear, watchmakers, banks, sports clothing and mobile communications.
United has a worldwide reach the envy of every club. Woodward continues to grow the business. United view City’s approach of having satellite clubs as a quasi-franchise model that weakens their rivals’ brand. United’s ploy is to engage myriad regional partners who pay a base fee – of, say, around £1m – to use the famous name to help promote their product. This is proving a cash-cow and when blue-chip sponsors are factored in – the record £750m, 10-year Adidas kit-deal is the headline agreement – United will remain ahead of competitors even when the £5.14bn broadcast contract starts next season (apart from City who are the only domestic outfit who can go toe-to-toe financially with United).
Verdict A draw
Youth academy
Manchester City
The £200m CFA and the decisions of former United luminaries Robin van Persie, Darren Fletcher and Phil Neville to send their sons to their alma mater’s great rival show Manchester’s blue zone now attracts top local talent. While this trio are all younger juniors, further up the age scale Tosin Adarabioyo, 18, Angelino, 19, Cameron Humphreys-Grant, 17, Bersant Celina, 19, Brandon Barker, 19, Aleix García Serrano, 18, Manu García, 18, and David Faupala, 19, have made senior appearances this term.
But can they or any hopeful in the ranks become an established first-team force? The last was Micah Richards, 11 years ago.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manchester City have spent heavily to develop their youth academy but they still have no established first-team academy graduates. Photograph: David Thompson/LANDOV/Press Association Images
Manchester United
There are concerns that the club of Duncan Edwards, George Best and Ryan Giggs is being left behind as, unlike City, it boasts no bespoke stadium for juniors, as well as a staff of largely part-time scouts. The culture of promoting bright young things into the first XI is ingrained, though. The statistic that a home-reared footballer has been in every matchday squad since 1937 is evidence of this.
Nicky Butt is now in charge of the academy and Giggs, who may one day take the senior job, is another former Class of 92 member who understands what can happen when opportunity bangs for any youngster.
Verdict United trailingJennifer Lopez played a gig in front of 160,000 people at the Mawazine International Music Festival in Morocco on Friday and her performance caused quite a stir. Unfortunately for Lopez, it was most definitely not the kind of stir that she would have been hoping for. As reported by the Inquisitr, 45-year-old Jennifer’s sexy performance has lead to widespread criticism and the possibility of Lopez ending up in court.
According to BBC News, the row about Lopez’s performance has now spread to the Moroccan government. Prominent members of the North African countries ruling Justice and Development Party have said that Lopez’s performance was a “breach of public decency.” Now it seems that Morocco’s Minister of Communication, Mustapha Khalfi, is facing calls for his resignation for allowing Lopez’s performance to be aired live on television. Mr Khalfi has criticized Lopez saying that “what was broadcast is unacceptable and goes against broadcasting law.”
According to the Independent, Lopez, who is famed for her booty, is being sued by an education group in Morocco over the performance, which they describe as “tarnishing women’s honor and disturbing public order.”
Jennifer’s performance saw her onstage in a succession of skimpy and revealing outfits and showed her shaking her booty in the way that only Lopez does. It seems that the whole thing was just too sexy and provocative for a Moroccan and mostly Muslim TV audience. Lopez has performed in Morocco before but has never been shown on live television.
The BBC News report claims that fans were delighted by Lopez’s live TV show, but the local media and members of government were less impressed. A number of MPs have requested that the “education, culture and communications committee of parliament hold a meeting” to discuss why Jennifer’s “suggestive poses” and skimpy costumes were allowed to be broadcast on live television.
Morocco is a conservative, mainly Muslim nation, where performances such as the one put on by Lopez is likely to be seen as a public display of sexuality and to be shocking to many people. USA Today claim the Lopez’s performance has lead to a national outcry. TMZ report that both Lopez and the concerts promoters are being sued over Jennifer’s performance, and they claim that if she were found guilty, Lopez could be jailed for up to two years.
Lopez is due to start a cabaret residency in Las Vegas in January 2016.
What do Inquisitr readers think about Jennifer Lopez’s performance in Morocco? Should Lopez have toned it down for a conservative nation or are the protests over the top?
[Photo by Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images]The row comes as the party's internal power struggle continues to rage.
An article in the Observer yesterday saw Wolverhampton South West's Rob Marris accused of erasing the files following his resignation as shadow finance secretary.
This left those at the top of the party 'livid' according to an anonymous source quoted in the piece.
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An internal email said: "Unfortunately, it looks like someone from Rob Marris' office has deleted the vast majority of the finance bill records and notes on each clause from the shared drive."
This led another Labour source to mention deselection, suggesting it 'fitted in with a campaign of sabotage'.
However, Mr Marris has come out fighting, issuing a statement on his website last night that refuted the article's suggestions.
His statement read: "Contrary to the implication given by a front page article in the Observer on July 3, I have not removed Labour Party material from a shared computer drive.
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"The material removed did not belong to the Labour Party. It was created by my own office to help me as a Shadow Treasury Minister.
"I paid for this material using my Parliamentary staff allowance to help fulfil my role as a Shadow Minister.
"The Labour Party did not pay a penny for it, and it had not been stored on a Labour Party drive. After I resigned, no-one from the Shadow Treasury team contacted me to ask to borrow my material. Instead an anonymous 'Labour source' has launched a vicious attack on me."
Contrary to the implication given by a front page article in the Observer on 3 July, I have not removed Labour Party material from a shared computer drive.
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The material removed did not belong to the Labour Party. It was created by my own office to help me as a Shadow Treasury Minister. I paid for this material using my Parliamentary staff allowance to help fulfil my role as a Shadow Minister. The Labour Party did not pay a penny for it, and it had not been stored on a Labour Party drive.
After I resigned from it, no-one from the Shadow Treasury team contacted me to ask to borrow my material. Instead an anonymous "Labour source" has launched a vicious attack on me, and threatens me with deselection. Not a great way to ask for the material.
It is regrettable that the Observer published an anonymous person's attack on me without the newspaper having the courtesy to contact me to check the facts. I am dismayed that someone who hides their own identity seems to be trying to damage my reputation for their own political ends. I am sure that the Shadow Chancellor and his office will be keen to decry this sad attempt to smear me.
The Labour Party gets hundreds of thousands of pounds of "Short money" each year. This is taxpayers' money to help the Official Opposition fulfil its role in our democracy, holding the government to account. None of that money was offered to me for research in the Shadow Treasury team. So the interesting question is this: what has happened to all the Short money?
Rob Marris MPclick to enlarge File: Paul Heintz
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Thinking about running against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2018?
If so, consider this. According to his latest campaign finance report, submitted to the Federal Election Commission last weekend, his senatorial campaign fund has an astounding $5.86 million in cash on hand.
It would be virtually impossible to spend that much money in Vermont, even if Sanders were to face a real challenge. Last time around, Sanders managed to spend $2.6 million in defeating Republican John MacGovern by a massive 45 percentage points. He couldn't possibly do much better, even if he spent twice as much this time.
So what's he doing with all that money? A lot of it goes to fueling the machine: fundraising, strategy and consulting. But a goodly chunk has been spent on his large, enthusiastic campaign-style rallies across the country.
That's kind of an odd thing for a Vermont campaign. It's completely legal, mind you, but holding a rally in West Virginia or Florida or Arizona has little or nothing to do with attracting votes in Vermont.
Meanwhile, Sanders' presidential campaign fund is virtually dormant. It still weighs in at $5 million, but there was little raised or spent from the fund during the reporting period for the third quarter.
A recent Newsweek headline blared that Sanders' presidential fund was $300,000 in debt. That's technically true but misleading. Sanders has a few unpaid obligations, mostly security costs for campaign events, but weep not for Bernie. He's sitting on a pile.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) also turned in their third-quarter reports. And while they're not anywhere close to Sanders' league, they are certainly no slouches.
Welch, facing reelection next year, is sitting on more than $2 million. Leahy, who doesn't face another campaign until 2022, is coasting along with a mere million. And, unlike Sanders, the two Democrats have raised a lot of their money from political action committees and Washington, D.C., lobbyists and lawyers. Welch took in $81,000 in the third quarter; all but $5,000 came from PACs.
Leahy barely raised any money this time around — only about $14,000 — but when he needs to refill the tank, he benefits greatly from the largesse of special interests that can crank out four-figure checks at will, as previous filings attest.
Leahy and Welch have a ready excuse for this aggressive fundraising: the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision. In a world of virtually unlimited campaign cash, they say, they have no choice but to raise as much money as they possibly can.
But see, here's the thing. Both Leahy and Welch were doing this long before Citizens United.
In the 2007-8 campaign cycle, Welch raised nearly $1 million and entered 2009 with $630,000 in cash on hand. In the six-year cycle that ended in 2010 (including five pre-Citizens United years), Leahy raised almost $5 million and began a new six-year term with more than $2 million in his campaign fund.
They didn't need that money to fight the unleashed financial power of conservative mega-donors; they used it to discourage challengers. If you were a Republican on the rise, would you challenge Welch in 2018 knowing he had $2 million to spend? Of course not.
Sanders doesn't play the D.C. money game, but he is executing a perfectly legal if faintly iffy maneuver with his two campaign funds.
When Team Sanders sends out a fundraising blast, donors are directed to his senatorial fund, not the presidential one. And it's the senatorial campaign that's paying for all his out-of-state political travel.
Spending for the three months included $142,000 for event planning and expenses, $18,000 for hotels and rental cars, and $25,000 for airfare.
Oh, wait: Add another $38,000 to the airfare column. The Sanders campaign paid that much to Apollo Jets, a private charter service. All together, you get a healthy $223,000 for three months of travel and events outside Vermont.
And what, pray tell, does any of that have to do with running for reelection in Vermont?
Meanwhile, there's one expense you won't find in any of the Three Amigos' campaign reports. None of them donated to the Vermont Democratic Party, which has been suffering from acute financial embarrassment. In mid-September, the Dems were four days late with a staff payroll. And they entered the last week of the month needing at least $13,000 to meet the next payroll.
So did they make it? "Partially," says the Dems' compliance officer, Selene Hofer-Shall. "We are catching up. There are significant pledges on the table."
Also, she says, the party is enjoying brisk ticket sales for a November 9 fundraiser featuring Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a pillar of Sanders' presidential campaign and one of the party's most dynamic speakers.
Still, the Dems are digging out of a deep hole, and the 2018 campaign season is right around the corner. That may be one reason why the party is still searching for a gubernatorial candidate to supplement the current offerings, environmental activist James Ehlers and 13-year-old Ethan Sonnenborn.
Media Note
Congratulations to my predecessor and Seven Days colleague Paul Heintz, who came home from the conference of the New England Newspaper & Press Association and the New England Society of News Editors with two of the biggest prizes last week. He was named the AP Sevellon Brown New England Journalist of the Year. And Heintz and Seven Days jointly won the Morley L. Piper First Amendment Award.
"In the past year, no one has distinguished himself more than political editor Paul Heintz," read the Brown Award citation. "Heintz has proven he's not just a dogged reporter and eloquent writer; he's a leader in the field." Beyond his reportage, he was also honored for his leadership in the successful campaign to pass a media shield law in Vermont.
The newspaper shared the Piper Award for standing behind its staffers when they were subpoenaed in the sexual assault prosecution of former state senator Norm McAllister.
Seven Days also won an award for "Death by Drugs: Opiates Claimed a Record Number of Vermonters in 2016," a story by Mark Davis about opiate overdose deaths in Vermont, told through the stories of 14 victims. "This was powerful work — an unforgettable read," said the award citation.
One other Vermont newspaper took home a prize. The Brattleboro Reformer was honored for a series called "Andy's Journey: The Struggles Through ALS," which chronicled one man's experience with the ailment also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Amy Radder, Maddi Shaw and Kristopher Radder wrote the series.
In this space, we often bear bad tidings of an industry in decline. There's still plenty of good journalism being done in Vermont — not just at Seven Days and the Brattleboro Reformer, but in newsrooms all over the state.When Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE sat down at the 2017 Code Conference to discuss her loss, not one person was surprised that she failed to accept any responsibility. According to her, the only misjudgment she made was using her personal email server, which there were no rules against, nor did anyone tell her not to… both of which are false.
Yet, this wasn’t the truly bizarre part of this interview, nor was it even when she blamed the loss on “guys over in Macedonia.” Instead, her most odd claims were that she was somehow the “victim” of being in the lead, and that the Democratic Party was incapable of the task at hand.
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If you survived the round-the-clock news coverage of the 2016 election, this new theory will not sound familiar at all. In fact, Hillary’s surrogates and campaign staff spent nearly all of the election cycle telling us precisely the opposite.
For Clinton’s latest claims to be true, we would have to erase from memory the fact that Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaWith low birth rate, America needs future migrants 4 ways Hillary looms over the 2020 race Obama goes viral after sporting black bomber jacket with '44' on sleeve at basketball game MORE set the new global standard of political data and field operations in both 2008 and 2012.
Many of those same individuals were at the Democratic National Committee (DNC), on the Clinton campaign, or in consulting roles in 2016. Her veteran field operations team did not suffer collective amnesia on how volunteers should ring doorbells, and the data folks did not “Ctrl+Alt+Delete” their own memories at her Brooklyn headquarters.
The truth is that Hillary was simply an awful candidate who lacked any sort of popular message, no matter how many canvassers or targeted email blasts she had. Her campaign and its media supporters reminded us daily how their significant lead and epic ground game were ensuring that it was all but in-the-bag for Clinton.
By October, campaign manager Robby Mook smugly claimed that they were “dramatically expanding” operations into states once thought to be GOP strongholds, and were shifting resources away from their own race to down ballot contests.
In a DNC fundraising email, James Carville’s pitch to donors was, “Here’s the deal: Just because Trump’s dunzo doesn’t mean your job is over! Oh heck no — Democrats have a chance to win the whole enchilada!”
David Plouffe, the famed architect of Obama’s victories and an adviser to the Clinton campaign, analyzed the September poll numbers and boldly told Politico, “She is sitting at 269 electoral votes guaranteed right now. I would argue she is sitting at 347 but for argument’s sake we can suspend reality for a moment.”
Despite Clinton’s odd claim in last week’s interview, she and her campaign actually viewed their polling lead as a strength, not a handicap. This played out nightly on primetime cable news panels in Groundhog Day-like repetition: A new poll would be released, followed by Democratic surrogates and left-leaning journalists explaining how it guaranteed a Trump loss.
As far as Clinton’s claim that the DNC wasn’t up to par, every bit of evidence and public statements from 2016 proves otherwise. On Labor Day, Hillary Clinton and the DNC had 291 campaign offices in battleground states, while Trump and the RNC had just 88. By October, Clinton had a staff nearly five times larger than that of Trump, with most of the 5,138 people working directly through the DNC and state Democratic parties.
At the end of the race, Clinton and the Democrats raised nearly double that of the Republicans. The $1.2 billion they spent is about 25 percent more than the cost of operating an aircraft carrier battle group for a year.
How much more could the Democrats do for her? Never mind the allegations that they tilted the scales in the primary in her favor. In the Code Conference interview, Clinton trashed the DNC data and field operations and praised that of the GOP. This is a 180-degree departure from what had been dogmatic talking points for Clinton surrogates last year.
As Robby Mook put it, “Across the country, through our efforts to build that ground game, register people to vote and turn them out... we’ve established a lead in some states that Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE can’t overcome.”
And as far as technology goes, even Wired magazine exclaimed, “Clinton’s tech team is already shaping up to be the largest in campaign history, and possibly the smartest,” attracting “Silicon Valley stars” from Facebook, Google and Twitter. Not to mention, it included some of the very same people as Obama’s innovative tech shop from 2008 and 2012.
By the time early voting came into play, Democratic insiders were already opening the Champagne, confident that Clinton’s and the DNC’s ground game was unstoppable. One Wisconsin Dem proudly claimed, “It's not even close. Both Clinton and [former Sen. Russ] Feingold have 30-point leads in early voting.” Another, in North Carolina boasted, “Democrats have a plan and are executing it. Republicans have no plan and frankly, no clue.”
Did Clinton forget about all of this work done on her behalf?
As the ballots came in on Election Day, even the right-leaning New York Post ran this headline: “Early exit poll shows Clinton beat Trump in ground game.” In the post election analysis, the opinion was nearly unanimous that Clinton’s ground game was bigger, better funded, and had more fine-tuned data than the Trump campaign. Moreover, it had nothing to do with her loss.
The Huffington Post, FiveThirtyEight, NPR, the Washington Times, all came to similar conclusions. The New York Times called it “the most sophisticated ground game modern politics had seen.”
The fact of the matter is this: up until Hillary Clinton’s outlandish claim that the DNC and her own popularity in the polls were responsible for her loss, no one who has ever studied, written about, or engaged in politics has ever made that claim about the election of 2016.
However, the nearly unanimous belief among pundits is that which Clinton refuses to believe: that she, herself, bears the most blame.
Joseph Borelli is a New York City council member, professor, former state legislator, Republican commentator, and Lindsay Fellow at the Institute for State and Local Governance at City University of New York. He has been published in the New York Daily News and appears on CNN, BBC, and Fox News. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeBorelliNYC.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute for State and Local Governance at City University of New York.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.A Pardon My Hindi tote bag. Photo: Supplied
The yoga class felt strange, as if I had somehow gone there in a misguided attempt to connect with what I thought was a part of my identity. Instead, as the class went on, I felt like an imposter. When the 45 minutes were up, I eagerly tried to scuttle away when I heard the instructor say 'nam-aasss-tay'.
The word was familiar to me. I'm a Hindi speaking Hindu girl from Mumbai. Namaste is my way of greeting Hindi speaking elders in my hometown Melbourne or a way of saying hello to most people back in India. But hearing namaste chanted by the white yoga instructor to a predominantly white class was unsettling. Really? If the yoga class itself wasn't white-centric enough, she really had to place the appropriative cherry on top.
First disclaimer. I'm not a yogi. I don't practice yoga to feel #blessed or to find my inner chakra. This is primarily because, as a brown girl raised Hindu, to me practising yoga is much more than regularly attending $20 classes wearing trendy activewear.
Yoga in Hindu traditions is more than physical exercise. It is a multifaceted philosophy, medicine system and way of life. The asanas, or 'poses', that people perform when they go to their local class are one part of several other practices – including mediation, abstention and liberation – that are considered as a philosophical school in Hinduism.
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That isn't to say somehow that yoga belongs only to Hindus or to all Hindus. There are many caste and class-based critiques of yoga in India and Indian diasporas which say that yoga has often been used as a tool by communities with existing power to project a certain image of what it means to be Indian or Hindu at the expense of minority and oppressed voices.
These arguments aside - it is undeniable that yoga has Hindu roots.
The practice of yoga in western countries for white audiences began in the 1960s when Indian yoga gurus sold yoga as a way to fill a perceived gap in their audience's spirituality.
Chiraag Bhaktha, a.k.a Pardon My Hindi, documented a history of yoga products and advertisements from the 1960s to '80s in his installation '#whitepeopledoingyoga ', which exemplified the 'white-fication' of yoga through images of Executive Yoga, Unisex Yoga and even Christian Yoga.
Yoga, a spiritual practice with Hindu roots, has since been distorted into something more palatable for white audiences – a way to exercise and connect with one's spirituality. Whether marketed as an exercise class or a way to connect with your spiritual self, the commodification of yoga in a way that is entirely dismissive or ignorant of its roots or connections to an existing religion is appropriation at its worst. Bhaktha puts it simply in his artist statement:
"The act of selectively choosing what works in popular Western contexts, while ignoring aspects of yoga's core philosophy and historic practice is telling. It shows an ironic attachment of one's ego to a desire for ownership over an ancient practice of material denouncement that emerged from an altogether different, South Asian tradition."
Though, to this Hindu girl who migrated to Australia in the 1990s, the appropriation of yoga by western audiences goes further. It exists alongside a wider ignorance about Hinduism and South Asian culture which, when you've spent a fair amount of your formative years being othered, can hit home hard.
In many western countries, Hinduism is treated as a mystic and ancient tradition and India as magical - ignoring the fact that Hinduism is a living, breathing contemporary religion practised by millions of people in their everyday lives around the world, including a huge Indian diaspora in Australia.
The history of colonisation in India means that the practice of yoga in countries with colonial ties, like Australia, can never truly be a friendly exchange. In fact, during their colonial rule, the British banned certain practices of yoga which they perceived as threatening and 'less acceptable' Hindu practices. As a policy of conciliation towards some aspects of Indian culture was pursued by the British in the later years of their rule, the Brits promoted a re-appropriated more physical'modern' yoga which is more akin to the postural yoga taught in many classes in Australia today.
Given most classes are taught by white women, and most ads you see for yoga classes or yoga wear feature white women, white women have become the embodiment of yoga in Australia. As a Hindu woman, this places me as the "other" in a culture that is mine.
As South Asian American Perspectives on Yoga in America (SAAPYA) put it brilliantly in their short film 'We are not Exotic, We are Exhausted', such portrayals of yoga can be ostracising and excluding to South Asians who are trying to navigate a dual Western and South Asian identity, especially in the context of people regularly confusing Hindu and Hindi, white people wearing bindis to bush doofs and t-shirts with images of Ganesh and Shiva on them. It also furthers the economic exploitation of the colonised by the colonisers - landing the profits from a practice that has been appropriated from the colonised in the pockets of the colonisers.
Sure, there are yoga teachers in western societies who have studied Hindu teachings in their certified yoga teacher courses. Critically analysing your yoga practice isn't undermining the years these yogis might have spent dedicated to learning this form of exercise, art, lifestyle – whatever it may mean to them. It's about questioning whether your practice of yoga is claiming space away from people of colour to whom yoga is more than a part of their daily routine – it's a part of their cultural and religious identity.
It's about considering whether you can practice yoga without spiritually harvesting a culture and religion that is not yours when you have no deeper understanding, or desire to understand, the historical and social roots of the culture yoga comes from.Someone told me on IRC that it’s currently hard to follow what’s going on in the packaging front. The truth is that it’s almost impossible if you don’t read all mails posted in Distutils-SIG.
So here’s a quick wrap-up that can save you some time if you are not reading Distutils-SIG.
PEP 345 – Metadata 1.2
We are almost done with the update of PEP 345. This PEP is describing the Metadata fields for a distribution, that get added in the file named PKG-INFO. This file is inserted in all your distribution and also published at PyPI. It’s the ID card of your project.
We are adding these fields in the metadata:
Maintainer : the maintainer’s name
Maintainer-email : the maintainer’s email
Requires-Python : What Python versions are compatible with this distribution
Requires-External : A list of external dependencies, like “libpng”, “libxslt”
Requires-Dist : A list of Python dependencies, from the names founded at PyPI. like “zope.interface”
Provides-Dist : A list of additional distribution names this distribution provides (as a complement to the one provided in “Name”)
Obsoletes-Dist : A list of Python dependencies that are incompatible with the current distribution
Another important change is environment markers. An environment marker is a marker that can be added at the end of a field after a semi-colon (‘;’), to add a condition about the execution environment.
Examples:
Requires-Dist: pywin32, bar > 1.0; sys.platform == 'win32' Obsoletes-Dist: pywin31; sys.platform == 'win32' Requires-Dist: foo; os.machine == 'i386' Requires-Dist: bar; python_version == '2.4' or python_version == '2.5' Requires-External: libxslt; 'linux' in sys.platform
This will allow developers to define different conditions depending on the target platform. Moreover, this will allow tools like Pip to get a list of all dependencies for a given project and a given platform just by querying PyPI, and with no downloads or build required!
Last, for all the fields that manipulates versions, PEP 345 will use the version scheme described in PEP 386.
PEP 386 – Version scheme
We’ve designed in PEP 386 a version scheme that works with most Python software we know about. This version scheme comes with a new version comparison algorithm that will be provided by Distutils.
The scheme is in pseudo-regexpr (read the PEP for more details):
N.N[.N]+[abc]N[.N]+[.postN+][.devN+]
Don’t be afraid! It looks complex but it’s not. The apparent complexity is due to the fact that we need to be able to work with development versions and post-release versions.
There are good chances that your project already works with this version scheme. If you want to give it a shot, there’s a prototype you can play with in an external repo here: http://bitbucket.org/tarek/distutilsversion/
PEP 376 – Installation standard
PEP 376 is quite completed now. We have our “standard” for site-packages, we know how to query installed projects, and how to remove them.
The discussions are now focusing on the “data” problem. Which is : how to describe in Distutils, in a more elegant way, the data files you are using, such as images, man files etc.
This is required to provide to developers more control on how their data files are installed on the target system, and to the packagers more tools to re-package a Python distribution.
Wolodja Wentland has been doing a lot of work in this area and leads this “data” effort. You can follow the discussion on this work in the Python wiki, starting at: http://wiki.python.org/moin/Distutils/DiscussionOverview.
PEP 382 -Namespaces packages
Distribute comes with a namespace package system, that allows you to have packages under the same namespace, spread into several distributions.
That’s what Plone and Zope use to be able to release all those plone.* and zope.* distributions.
Martin von Loewis proposed to implement it in Python, and this is described in PEP 382.
We are now waiting for Martin to implement it, and are ready to drop in Distribute 0.7.x the namespace feature in favor of supporting the PEP 382 one.
Distutils redesign |
no longer be available.
Collect them now today! Head to the Cantina!Patrick Vieira and Tata Martino’s teams meet this weekend and they both provide a look at the future of football in the US
When New York City FC host Atlanta United on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, it will mark the first ever meeting between the clubs and an opportunity to show just how much MLS has developed. Two teams, filled with depth, diversity and ambition, are the perfect advertisement for Major League Soccer and if there was ever a fixture that can speak for the face of America, this is it.
Here’s why.
NYC FC have made significant strides since their beginnings in 2015, and in their third season they are a legitimate contender for MLS Cup. Meanwhile there has been strong home support for Atlanta United – last week’s home they broke the MLS attendance record for the first three matches of a season. A combined total of 147,230 fans have attended Bobby Dodd Stadium so far, showing soccer is alive and well in Georgia’s state capital.
On the field, the football from both teams hasn’t been too shabby either. On one side you have Tata Martino’s pressing game and a determined squad built to entertain: Atlanta have already scored 18 goals in eight matches, only Portland Timbers have a better offensive record (20). And then there’s the aesthetically pleasing NYC FC, where possession governs the land and Vieira’s triangular passing and play-from-the-back mentality are the rules to follow, for better or worse.
The real beauty of this fixture, however, and what it can do for the league – both domestically and internationally – is that this is more than just a clash of football philosophies. Essentially, this game also speaks to the American Latino fútbol fan and the manner in which these clubs represent their communities.
MLS is the most diverse sports league in North America, with players from more than 60 countries in the league. In addition, there are more than 110 Hispanic/Latino players who call MLS their home and for NYC FC and Atlanta United, the Latin influence is overwhelming, on and off the field.
In the front office, Claudio Reyna and Carlos Bocanegra (once USMNT team-mates) have been instrumental towards the identity of their clubs and how they speak for their cities. It was Bocanegra himself who made big strides in order to secure Martino’s appointment and the overall makeup of the team, while Reyna – who left his post as US Soccer’s youth technical director to join NYC FC – has been working hard with his youth coaches in order to strengthen the club’s academy program. So far, the work has been paying off – last month NYC FC U16’s won the Generation Adidas Cup in the Premier Division.
Both first-team squads also have a clear Latin American and Hispanic identity. NYC FC, with the 2017 additions of Alexander Callens, Rodney Wallace, Shannon Gómez, Miguel Camargo, Yangel Herrera and Maxi Moralez, have a host of players with a Latin/Hispanic background. Atlanta, meanwhile, have nine, including Greg Garza, Miguel Almirón and the wonderfully gifted Josef Martinez (who won’t play this weekend due to injury.) Not forgetting el jefe, Martino.
To the non-Latino fan, this may seem like a trivial statistic. But for Latinos who live in Atlanta and New York, there is pride that their club reflects their culture. On Sunday, for example, the stadium will hear me loud and clear when the Peruvian Callens’ name is called out.
US soccer is transitioning and as the country becomes more diverse, it’s imperative that the nation’s domestic league stands up for the different faces that inhabit it. This game is a perfect opportunity to cheerlead the beautiful game and how far we have come.FILE - This Aug. 23, 2013 file photo shows wind turbines silhouetted by the setting sun near Beaumont, Kansas. The head of the Fish and Wildlife Service tells a House panel he is unable to comply with a request for thousands of documents related to enforcement of environmental laws at wind farms where eagles and other birds have been killed. Agency director Dan Ashe said he and his staff have made "super-human efforts' to supply the documents, but said the amount of documents being sought and the timeframe were "completely unreasonable.'' House Republicans say the administration has engaged in a "deliberate, 10-month-long slow roll" to supply documents. An Associated Press investigation last year revealed that the Obama administration was failing to enforce the law for wind power, even as it pursued bird deaths caused by oil companies. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) The Associated Press
By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is refusing to turn over documents related to enforcement of environmental laws at wind farms where dozens of eagles and other protected birds have been killed, House Republicans charged Wednesday.
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said the Fish and Wildlife Service has engaged in a "deliberate slow rolling of documents and answers" for nearly a year. Hastings is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which has been seeking to compel the wildlife agency turn over internal documents related to its enforcement of laws protecting eagles and other birds.
An Associated Press investigation last year revealed that the administration was not prosecuting wind energy companies for killing eagles and other protected birds.
Only one wind energy company has been prosecuted for killing eagles and other birds in violation of federal law. Duke Energy pleaded guilty in November to killing eagles and other birds at two Wyoming wind farms and will pay $1 million.
The government estimates that at least 85 eagles are killed each year by wind turbines.
The wildlife agency "dragged its feet for six months" before providing a two-page memo written the year before, Hastings said, and many of the documents that have been turned over so far are incomplete or have largely been blacked out.
"This is not compliance. This is deliberate slow rolling of documents and answers, and we've had enough," Hastings said.
Committee members asked the agency's director, Dan Ashe, at a hearing Wednesday about a new agency rule allowing energy companies to kill or injure eagles without fear of prosecution for up to 30 years.
The rule, announced in December, provides legal protection for the lifespan of wind farms and other projects if energy companies obtain permits and make efforts to avoid killing protected birds. The permits would be reviewed every five years, and companies would have to submit reports of how many eagles they killed. Until now, such reporting has been voluntary, and the Interior Department has refused to release the information.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., called the 30-year permits "licenses to kill" and suggested that the Obama administration favored wind power over traditional energy sources such as oil. Ashe disputed that, saying the agency treats the wind industry the same way it deals with all energy producers.
An agency spokeswoman said after the hearing that the 30-year permit applies to any type of energy production that results in the death of a bald or golden eagle.
Ashe called the 30-year permit a technical change, noting that the permits will still be reviewed every five years. The prior rule called for permit renewal after five years.
Ashe, the sole witness at Wednesday's hearing, said he and his staff have made "super-human efforts" to fulfill the committee's requests for information but that the volume of documents sought and timeframe for producing them were "completely unreasonable."
He said a subpoena issued by the committee on March 11 required him to provide thousands of pages of documents within two weeks — a request he said was "physically impossible" to meet. A total of 125 agency employees — including 50 law enforcement agents — spent more than 2,600 work-hours trying to comply with the committee's request, he said, calling it a counterproductive and wasteful use of their time.
Ashe said committee members would do better to "pick up the phone" and call him. Asked by Lamborn why it took six months to provide the committee a two-page memo, Ashe said that was because the request for the memo was "wrapped in a massive, unreasonable request" for thousands of other documents.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the panel's senior Democrat, accused the panel's Republicans of wasting time and money searching for "yet another conspiracy that doesn't exist."
___
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At some point.
"For sure, there’s an opportunity to play," he said. "We’ve got seven 'D' here. And the way playoff hockey works, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to have use all seven at different points."
The fourth overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, the 19-year-old defenseman finished with two goals and 18 points in his rookie season. He was displaced towards the end of the season by Peter Harrold.
* * *
The Devils start their playoff series Friday, the last day for any Game 1 of the round. It will be almost a full week wait after they last played Saturday.
So to prepare and deal with the wait, they went through a strenuous practice today and have been biding their time all week.
"I think we’ve pushed for game speed out there," DeBoer said. "That’s what we’re looking for. The guys responded well. It’s been a long week of waiting around. I don’t know if there’s an exact formula for making sure you’re ready to go at top speed tomorrow night when the puck drops but I think we’ve managed it the best we could and I think we’re ready."
It will be a playoff debut for DeBoer. He did not reach the postseason in three years in Florida. But don't expect him to do anything different. He says he will rely on his experience in pressure-packed games at other levels. He said the biggest thing he's learned is to avoid over-coaching and overthinking it.
"We’ve laid the foundation all year to get to this point," he said. "We just have to rely on it and keep going back to it. That’s the key.”
* * *
Kris Versteeg has had a good deal of success against the Devils this year. He has five goals and assist in four games this season.
That has not gone unnoticed.
"We’ve had meetings on Florida’s team play and we’ve looked at individual players’ tendencies and he’s definitely one of the guys we’ve talked about," DeBoer said.
* * *
Mike Vorkunov: mvorkunov@starledger.com; twitter.com/Mike_VorkunovFormer Baker consultant Will Keyser’s firm, Keyser Public Strategies, was hired by Keolis Commuter Services to help orchestrate communication strategy with the administration on a controversial proposal.
On one side was the commuter rail company with one of the largest contracts in state history, seeking still more money to run the system. On the other, Governor Charlie Baker’s administration, charged with holding this company accountable.
But a review of e-mails obtained by the Globe shows that a consulting firm working for Keolis Commuter Services helped orchestrate the communication strategy with the administration on a controversial proposal to grant the company an additional $66 million in July.
State officials may have had reason to listen: The firm was Keyser Public Strategies, founded by Will Keyser, the architect of Baker’s 2014 campaign.
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“Really important that everyone be aligned on messaging, along with game plan for media briefing next week,” wrote Eileen O’Connor, a partner in the firm and Keyser’s wife, in a June 30 e-mail to Baker’s communications director, his press secretary, and communications directors for the MBTA and Department of Transportation. “Can we try to pull together a 30 min in-person meeting early next week to discuss?... You are welcome to just e-mail me and I’ll quarterback.”
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The Baker administration is supposed to ensure taxpayers get the quality train service they were promised with Keolis’s $2.68 billion contract. But the scores of e-mails released in response to a Globe public records request suggest a close relationship between the administration and the lobbying and media firm operated by O’Connor and Keyser.
Baker’s senior adviser, Tim Buckley, described O’Connor’s correspondence as routine communication between the administration and a state vendor. And there is no evidence that O’Connor or Keyser used their influence to win the additional $66 million for maintenance, schedule changes, and additional locomotives and coaches.
E-mails also show O’Connor and Keyser have worked closely with state officials to help lead Baker’s fight to increase the state’s number of charter schools. O’Connor and Keyser are registered lobbyists paid to advocate on behalf of pro-charter school organizations.
“Our firm provides media and communications advice to our clients, and we are proud to have Keolis and Great Schools Massachusetts as clients,” O’Connor said in a statement.
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A Keolis spokeswoman said in an e-mail: “We hired Keyser because of their significant knowledge and experience of Massachusetts media.”
The Baker administration said in a statement that Keyser Public Strategies’ “interactions with the administration regarding Keolis are strictly limited to communications strategy and media planning, not contract negotiations, management, or policy decisions.”
But there is no way to gauge the full extent of the firm’s influence on state government on behalf of its clients. The Baker administration, like its predecessors, has maintained it is not subject to the state’s open records law and will not acknowledge whether it has withheld additional e-mails involving Keyser Public Strategies. The governor’s office said it voluntarily releases some records on a case-by-case basis, including this batch involving Keolis.
The Globe requested the e-mails when working on a story published in July about influence on Beacon Hill and the tradition of political consultants helping candidates win elections and then representing corporate clients with interests before the new officeholder. The Baker administration said in July that Keyser and the governor confer weekly, most often by telephone.
Baker’s staff did not provide any e-mails until last month, after publication of the earlier story. The records show Keyser secured meetings with high-ranking state transportation officials on behalf of his client Lyft, the ride-hailing firm. O’Connor spearheaded what the e-mails described as a “biweekly transportation comms meeting” with top officials from the governor’s office, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the state Department of Transportation, and others.
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“Please make every effort to attend in person,” O’Connor wrote in an April 20 e-mail that did not reveal the pressing issue that officials discussed. “We should make this the primary agenda item, as the meeting will not go a full hour. Any questions, give a call.”
O’Connor may have been working for Keolis, but in e-mails she mapped out issues for state agencies to discuss at the biweekly meetings, identified “action items,” and on Nov. 4, 2015, suggested tweaking a quote from Frank DePaola, who was the T general manager at the time, in a draft press release.
O’Connor attended a meeting in November and wrote to a state Department of Transportation spokesman: “Don’t think it’s weird that I’m here. We have a bunch of clients whose work touches transportation stuff. Deloitte, Keolis, Lyft, Fix Our T coalition.”
In a February e-mail, O’Connor wrote to a member of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board that she wanted to be helpful but would probably work “more behind scenes because of Keolis relationship.”
In a statement, Baker’s communications director, Elizabeth Guyton, said, “Staffers from the administration regularly confer with vendors who provide services to the state, like Keolis, to effectively communicate with the people of Massachusetts and ensure pertinent information is conveyed about services that people rely on, like the commuter rail.”
Last week, Baker defended the MBTA and said it “made the right decision” when it waived $839,000 in penalties assessed against Keolis during the epic winter of 2015. Baker pointed to a provision of Keolis’s contract that allowed the MBTA to forgive fines for “acts of God.”
When Baker’s office replied to the Globe’s public records request, the administration provided 236 pages of e-mails that came with a letter from deputy chief legal counsel Cathy Judd-Stein. The letter warned that “certain responsive documents have been withheld or redacted” because the “Office of the Governor is not... subject to disclosure under the public records law.” Judd-Stein and Buckley would not answer follow-up questions about how many, if any, e-mails had been withheld.
“On that question,” Buckley said, “I am going to refer you to the communications that you already exchanged with our legal office.”
Baker has described himself as “a big believer in transparency,” but, like previous administrations, his staff cited a 1997 Supreme Judicial Court decision regarding judicial nominating questionnaires as precedent that public records law does not apply to the governor’s office.
In contrast, most documents are public records at Boston City Hall, including the e-mails and personal schedules of the mayor and his top staff. That information is not public at the State House, where the governor’s office can operate in secret because it asserts it is not subject to the law.
E-mails that were released by the Baker administration showed that O’Connor’s and Keyser’s influence went beyond transportation. O’Connor spearheaded weekly charter school conference calls to plot strategy for legislation and a Nov. 8 ballot initiative with a group that included the state secretary of education, Jim Peyser; the governor’s legislative affairs director, Ryan Coleman; and other state officials and lobbyists, e-mails show.
The material included a tally of how senators planned to vote on a bill to expand the number of charters. In an e-mail, O’Connor outlined plans to state officials for a pro-charter school rally on Boston Common at which Baker’s lieutenant governor, Karyn Polito, spoke.
In another e-mail, O’Connor divided up lobbying tasks for their pro-charter coalition, which includes other lobbyists and state officials. O’Connor’s battle plan included assignments for the governor’s office: Lobby Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and “schedule a meeting for core group of ‘yes’ legislators in Senate to come together and encourage them to continue with their support and advocacy.”
Guyton, Baker’s communications director, said in a statement, “The administration often communicates with outside experts to help advance legislation, including... charter school legislation to give children in underperforming districts access to high quality public schools.
“In this case,” Guyton said, “staff communicated with public charter school advocates to help get the bill passed.”
Andrew Ryan can be reached at andrew.ryan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeandrewryan. Mark Arsenault can be reached at mark.arsenault@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @bostonglobemark.Story highlights Reigners Bible Church collapses during a ceremony honoring the pastor
Governor calls for the arrest of the contractor handling the building project
Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) Officials have opened an investigation into how a church in the Nigerian city of Uyo collapsed during services Saturday, killing at least 23 people.
Officials initially said as many as 50 worshipers could have been killed, but on Monday revised the death toll.
Rescue workers have recovered bodies and injured people from the rubble, said Aniekeme Finbarr, a media liaison for Gov. Udom Emmanuel of the state of Akwa Ibom.
"It happened all at once. The faithful had been singing and dancing. It sounded like rain and the roof caved in and it all happened very quickly," Finbarr said.
The governor himself was at the church when it collapsed and narrowly escaped injury.
Read MoreRain or shine affect my mood? Not much. topics: created: 19 Mar 2013; modified: 13 Dec 2018; status: in progress; confidence: likely; importance: 8
Touji: Oh, yes. the view of the world that one can have is quite small.
Hikari: Yes, you measure things only by your own small measure.
Asuka: One sees things with the truth, given by others.
Misato: Happy on a sunny day.
Rei: Gloomy on a rainy day.
Asuka: If you’re taught that, you always think so.
Ritsuko: But, you can enjoy rainy days.
The scientific literature has found that lighting & temperature & the seasons matter to one’s mood, focus, sleep and other things (but not, apparently, one’s life satisfaction or psychiatric disorders, which may be related to complex features of light (Vyssoki et al 2014)). Certainly, these things having large effects makes a lot of sense - who doesn’t feel gloomy on a rainy day or happier on a sunny day?
But things everyone knows often turn out to be wrong; and in my case, it seems like my morning use of vitamin D and evening melatonin supplementation may be screening off the environmental effects. So one rainy and then sunny day in March 2013, I wondered if I could find an influence of rain or darkness on my own mood or productivity.
As it happens, since 16 February 2012, I have been daily writing down my impression of whether my mood & productivity (MP) that day was average, below-average, or above; this gave me 399 ratings to work with. I didn’t record any weather data, but the nice thing about weather data is that - unlike quotidian but potentially important data like the proverbial what you had for breakfast, which is lost if not immediately recorded - the weather is concrete, objective, easily quantifiable, economically important, and of universal interest. Hence, we would expect weather data to be available online so I can find it, and see what aspects of the weather influence my self-rating (if any).Spoiler
Undo
Beggining- She is near a tree with flowers blooming on it, similar to Touka standing near a branch with flowers on it.
2:56 she reaches her destination, there is a man sitting on a chair and they embrace.
3:55 the man becomes transparent and disappears into nothingness within her embrace.
4:40 she also disappears but in a different fashion, she disintegrates to dust.
5:14 sperm cells swim into a flower, the flower closes as if to turn to fruit.
5:30 it transforms into a human fetus.
Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler
Copy and pasted from Chapter 125 discussion thread. ;oTouka has been associated with Ishida's poem: Her womb Smelled like it was Burnt.Based on this poem and events happening in the manga, I theorize that Touka will miscarry a child, and that a traumatizing event will take place. Not only do I think she will miscarry, I think the child he miscarries will be deformed and grotesqueFirst I would like to point out thatthese shapes closely resemble the shape of a womb... also its in the title.Also I feel that the first parts of the poem are significant in that it speaks of children who died before they were born.I didn't know what a Broad Bean was, so I looked it up.This is a. As you can see it has features that can be compared to a fetus and a womb.The bean itself looks similar in shape to a early fetus and embryo. The pod itself symbolic as a womb.Another thing to note is the "nucleic acid sequence".Here's a summary of what that is to clear it up." suggests genetic disorders. As does the "Fingers scattered around makes me think of a grotesque deformity.There's a reason why Ishida placed Touka as the visual subject of this poem, he wants us to think of her as we read it. The genetic issues might be coming from her side, which could be why Yomo (her uncle) and Ayato (her brother) are also placed in the picture.... while the "" might be a recessive trait in them it is dominant in her, which is why she's lit up. Of course at this point I'm reaching into that particular part of the poem.Other things I would like to touch on is the Bjork song mentioned as well as the colored Touka page and the reverse 16 Tarot card and where it falls into the poem.I believe that the Bjork song Mentioned at the end of the poem was, which falls on the next part of the poem I would like to focus on.The first part of this fits PERFECTLY for the reversed 16 Tarot number. Specifically to the part that is highlighted.The tarot card mentions a window in which you have the chance to avoid disaster. (The tower is also phallic btw. Which Ishida may or may not have taken the opportunity as a form of symbolism in of itself in regards to the sexual nature of this situation.)....Undo?This is where the Bjork Song comes into play, I watched many music videos until I am absolutely certain I have found the one.This video is very interesting not only for the symbolic aspects, and withering love, but also it ends with a flower which becomes a fetus.Points of interest of this video.Screen shots here:The flower is significant in more ways than one. These flowers are most likely Olive Flowers.They were historically worn by virgins and brides, but they are also known as a symbol of peace.The other side to this blooming a flower of her own.As in, growing a plant and having it bloom.We've seen this before as an example of children growing to fruition earlier in TG:re.Chapter 71: Hope and Suffering. Link Yomo wants to see his sister's flowers (Ayato and Touka) "bloom and drop seeds".Its not hard to figure out the message in that.I'm not sure if this inherently means that Touka is going to miscarry and the baby will die, It could also be that the Baby requires so many nutrients that it kills her instead, because of genetic reasons.I do think she will get pregnant, the symbolism is like... THERE. Its super there in my face.The sexual nature, the blooming, the seeds, the womb. All point to pregnancy.It will definitely lead to a tragic event though. Kaneki is going to wish he can turn back time, and I'm not sure if their relationship will hold up all the way. Who knows? This is complex.This is also just my theory.Feel free to be skeptical, add, comment, etc.New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Ladakh on Sunday, Pakistan once again violated ceasefire this morning, targetting 15 border outposts along the Ibternational Border in Arnia and RS Pura sectors of Jammu.
Pakistani troops, after violating ceasefire on Saturday once the guns had fallen silent on Thursday, resorted to firing and mortar shelling on Sunday morning.
PM Modi visiting Ladakh region's Leh and Kargil districts today where is going to inaugurate power projects and address troops in Leh.
Two BSF jawans were among four injured when Pakistan on Saturday morning targetted 10 border posts and civilian areas along the International Border in Jammu district by firing with small arms, automatic weapons and mortar shells.
BSF troops guarding the borderline along IB took positions and retaliated to the Pakistani firing which resulted in intermittent exchanges of fire, he said.
Two BSF jawans suffered minor injuries in the firing exchanges, the officer said, adding the exchanges continued till 0600 hours this morning.
The injured jawans have been identified as Head Constable Sumit and Constable Vaishnov Dutt.
(With PTI inputs)A greyhound rescue program helps to give racing greyhounds a loving home once the dog is retired from racing. Best known for their speed around the dog track in pursuit of the electronic rabbit, this breed is very lovable and reliable. For the right person or family and lifestyle greyhounds as pets can be a perfect choice, but not everyone is suited to own one of these dogs. A greyhound rescue will take in any unwanted dogs of this breed, and then work hard to find them permanent homes with loving families. Usually this type of organization is non profit and is registered as a charitable organization. Many times any adoption fee you pay may be tax deductible.
The number of greyhound racing tracks around the country is high, and once these dogs are past their prime then they are usually considered without value by the owner. Rescue groups and programs make every effort to save these dogs from a future of cruelty or euthanasia. Before you can adopt a dog from a greyhound rescue program you must submit an application and go through an interview. Many programs stipulate that if you no longer wish to keep the dog you must return it to the rescue group. As one of the hunting dog breeds in Europe through history, the greyhound is a noble breed that can be a good pet.
There are a number of different greyhound rescue programs situated all around the USA, and the world. The specific organization that you will need to contact will depend on where you live. Before any of the dogs are adopted out by the program the dog must pass a complete physical and have a temperament suitable for a home and family. Dog obedience training is provided before adoption, and the dog will be up to date on the vaccinations. You will also be given some information about the breed, and the specific dog that you will be adopting.Juan Manuel Montes, 23, may be the first person who qualifies for a program to shield young immigrants to be deported by President Donald Trump. The Associated Press
A federal judge impugned last year by President Donald Trump because of his Mexican heritage has been selected to hear a case involving the recent deportation of a young man protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Judge Gonzalo Curiel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California will oversee a lawsuit filed on behalf of 23-year-old Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez and decide whether federal officials must turn over information about the deportation to his lawyers.
Curiel, who was born in Indiana, previously oversaw lawsuits brought by former students of Trump University who argued the program was a sham. At the time, Trump accused the judge of being biased against him because of his “Mexican heritage” and the fact that Trump, as a presidential candidate, had called for building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Trump also brought up Curiel's belonging to a Latino lawyers' association in saying that Curiel had “an absolute conflict.”
Notable Republicans criticized Trump after his remarks, with House Speaker Paul Ryan calling the claim of bias because of Curiel's Mexican heritage "sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment."
Curiel recently approved a $25 million settlement to put three lawsuits involving Trump University to rest.
Montes Bojorquez claims he was deported "on or about" Feb. 18 despite his active DACA status, which provides protection to immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.
The Department of Homeland Security has disputed that claim. In a statement released Wednesday, the agency said Montes Bojorquez had violated his status by voluntarily crossing the border and then was arrested Feb. 19 after re-entering the U.S. illegally.
USA Today, citing a Boston College Law School professor and former California attorney, reports Curiel's selection to oversee the case was coincidental and based on a rotating schedule of assignments.Hello dear friends! Today we present you a new drawing lesson in which we will show you how to draw Feels Bad Man aka Sad Frog aka Pepe Frog.
This meme has appeared on the Internet recently, but immediately became beloved by the public. The look of this frog is very memorable, it just overwhelmed with sorrow. Note that Sad Frog drawn in violation of many of the rules of drawing such as perspective and symmetry. So, let’s try to draw Sad Frog!
Step 1
At first draw a large shape, very similar to the mushroom cap. Under the head draw the shapes of shoulders.
Step 2
Using ovals draw the outlines of eyes. Note, that the eyes have a slightly different shape. Using curved lines draw the shapes of eyebrows above the eyes. Draw the shape of the extended mouth and move to the next step.
Step 3
At this step we should try to convey the sorrow and suffering that expresses the face of Sad Frog. First, using curved lines draw the eyelids. Using semicircles draw the pupils. Note that pupils should look slightly down. Should get such a sad look as in our example. Using curved lines draw the mouth. Using short line draw the wrinkle near the corner of the mouth.
Step 4
So we got to the last step of the tutorial about how to draw Pepe Frog. Erase all the guidelines. Darken and smoothen the lines of the drawing. Paint out the eyes leaving three white glare in each eye.
It was drawing lesson about how to draw Feels Bad Man aka Sad Frog. We hope this tutorial was interesting and informative for you. If you want to try to draw something more complex, visit our tutorials about how to draw a Samurai or how to draw Venom. Stay tuned, friends!A priest named in a damning report on child abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese has been jailed for three years for sexually abusing an altar boy.
Fr Thomas Naughton, 78, abused the boy between 1982 and 1984 in the parish of Valleymount in County Wicklow.
The judge said the abuse as "shocking and horrific". He said Naughton abused his position of trust and said the abuse was "premeditated".
The last 12 months of his sentence were suspended.
Naughton's abuse featured heavily in last month's report which found there was a cover-up by the Catholic hierarchy in the Dublin Archdiocese between 1975 and 2004.
Bishop of Limerick Dr Donal Murray has come under pressure to resign for his "inexcusable" failure to investigate an allegation of abuse against Naughton.
The report found he did not deal properly with the suspicions and concerns that were expressed to him about Naughton while he was an auxiliary bishop of Dublin.
When, a short time later, factual evidence of Naughton's abusing emerged in another parish, it found Bishop Murray's failure to reinvestigate the earlier suspicions was "inexcusable".
In May 1998, Naughton admitted six counts of indecent assault on three boys. He was jailed for three years, reduced on appeal to two and a half years.Meteorologists in the United States use Twitter to push weather warnings to the public, but that doesn't happen in Canada — official bilingualism has proved a barrier to weather warning tweets.
Canadian meteorologists are not authorized to tweet because all government communication has to follow Canada’s language laws, according to Environment Canada's executive director of national programs Ken Macdonald.
“We have to issue our warnings simultaneously in both languages,” Macdonald told the iTeam's Geoff Leo.
Macdonald said Environment Canada is working on software that would make this possible, but it's not ready yet.
We can’t expect every forecaster to be sitting at the desk tweeting in both languages. — Environment Canada's Ken Macdonald
“It has to be done in an automated way because we can’t expect every forecaster to be sitting at the desk tweeting in both languages.”
Macdonald said the software could be perfected and in use across Canada within a year or even sooner.
An Environment Canada meteorologist in Saskatchewan, Terry Lang, said the computer program is currently being tested in some parts of the country.
Environment Canada sends out informational messages on its English and French Twitter accounts, but it doesn't tweet out weather warnings. (CBC)
Lang said the agency doesn’t tweet weather warnings, but it does rely on others to use the technology.
“People tweet the warnings for us,” Lang said. “There’s a number of ways people can receive the warnings.”
She noted that Environment Canada does have active Twitter accounts in both languages, though they are focused more on informational tweets.
They offer tweets such as “#didyouknow that #CanadaGeese can live 20 years or more?” and “Summer is the perfect time to explore Canada’s natural riches.”
Former Environment Canada meteorologist Jay Anderson considers the delay in adopting Twitter for emergency alerts "silly."
Twitter has been around since 2006, and Anderson said it’s odd that it has taken so long to adopt a technology that could help with public safety.
“Basically what they’re saying is, ‘We’re not going to warn anybody because we can’t warn everybody,’” said Anderson.
Regina storm chaser Greg Johnson said freeing meteorologists to tweet warnings would be a simple and affordable way to alert Canadians of danger.
“It’s a leadership issue, it’s an issue of policy,” Johnson said.
In 2013, the general issue of automating tweets from government agencies was examined in a scholarly paper presented at the Workshop on Language in Social Media held in June, in Atlanta, Georgia. The Canadian authors noted that although automating tweets in two languages poses challenges, there are numerous solutions.With the capture of Col. Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence chief and brother in law, it has ended the hunt for one of the most feared and obdurate men of one of the world's most repressive regimes.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, wants him for his role in attempting to violently crush the Benghazi popular protests in February this year.
But Senussi's association with the worst excesses of the Libyan regime stretch back to the early |
projects and rail congestion grants. Union Pacific also contributed to the project, IDOT officials said.
Improvements include:
Replacing all track along the 284-mile corridor, which involved new drainage, concrete ties and new rails, for a smoother ride.
Building four new stations at Dwight, Pontiac, Lincoln and Alton, with upgrades to the stations in Normal and Springfield. A separate project to build a new transit facility in Joliet is also underway.
Replacing and upgrading of 19 miles of double tracking and 32 miles of siding track. These improvements cut delays by allowing trains to pass each other — a “siding” acts like a shoulder on a highway.
Improvements to 190 crossings, plus another 27 to be completed next year.
Blankenhorn said while speed is important, what is key to more people using the line is reliability; the upgrades are improving on-time performance. “If I save 15 minutes, that’s great, but if I know I’m going to be on time, that’s what makes people ride,” Blankenhorn said.
Delays on the route have been notorious, with trains arriving late about half the time in the three years prior to the start of construction in 2010. The on-time record rose to 79 percent as of October 2017. Guaranteed on-time performance once work is done is expected to be 85 percent.
Ridership is also rising — from 359,020 on the Lincoln Service from Chicago to St. Louis in 2007 to 589,282 this year, IDOT said. The line also includes Texas Eagle service.
Why is construction taking more than seven years? John Oimoen, chief of IDOT’s rail division, explained that for each of the rail crossings, IDOT needed to work with both private railroads and local communities.
“We had a lot of stakeholder meetings … there was a lot of engineering,” Oimoen said. Environmental reviews also took time, and IDOT needed to hold more than 300 public information meetings up and down the corridor.
The new crossings have four-armed crossing gates, to prevent people from driving around gates onto the tracks.
There is also new fencing along tracks to prevent trespassing — which is the leading cause of rail-related deaths in the United States, with more than 400 fatalities annually, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Illinois ranks second in the nation for trespassing deaths, said the Illinois Commerce Commission.
“This corridor will be one of the most safe corridors in the country,” Oimoen said.The Ardour project is pleased to announce the release of Ardour 4.0. This release brings many technical improvements, as well as new features and over a thousand bug fixes.
The biggest changes in this release:
Better cross platform support. Ardour now runs on GNU/Linux, OS X and for the first time, Windows.
JACK is no longer required, making it easier than ever for new users to get Ardour up and running (though JACK is still usable with Ardour).
The user interface has seen a thorough overhaul, leading to a more modern and polished experience.
Read more below for a more detailed summary of the changes...
Additions and Changes
Important Whole-Program Improvements the operating system's upper limit on the number of open files is now correctly used, avoiding issues with saving large sessions
vastly reduced memory consumption. For an empty session Ardour now uses 80% less memory. User Interface The graphics technology used for the editing area of Ardour, and increasingly for many other parts of the user interface, has been completely reimplemented from scratch, using powerful, modern and cross-platform systems such as Cairo.
the entire theming process has been redesigned to make it easier to alter the color palette used by the program. Any existing customized themes for Ardour 3 are no longer usable, so you will see the new defaults when running Ardour 4
Most icons have been replaced with vector graphics and font-scaling has been overhauled
Error window popup has been replaced with indicator button Audio and MIDI I/O Ardour 4 has completely abstracted all audio and MIDI I/O, and is no longer reliant on JACK for this function
Ardour now comes with multiple "backends" that provide audio and MIDI I/O. These backends allow Ardour to use: JACK (available on all platforms if JACK is installed) ALSA (for use on Linux only) ASIO (for use on Windows only) CoreAudio (for use on OS X only)
For developers and testers, there is also a "Dummy" backend which can be used to generate test signals and does not require an actual audio interface.
Backends can be changed within a running instance of Ardour (e.g. from JACK to ALSA back to JACK) MIDI MIDI latency measurement
Many, many improvements to MIDI editing and data handling
Handle plugins with MIDI output
Allow mixed data flow (MIDI+Audio) through an entire track or bus
MIDI bounce is now functional
New modeless editing model, with specific mouse tools/modes for drawing note and controller data as well as editing existing material.
Transform dialog allows time-based transformation of note properies (like time, length, and velocity), such as velocity crescendos or chromatic scale runs
New note velocity when adding with the mouse is based on surrounding notes
Better handling of issues when importing various SMF (Standard MIDI Format) files
Sub-bar level grid lines reflect grid unit choice
14 bit MIDI controller values correctly handled Editing New option to control which region(s) are selected after a split operation
Axis limited dragging (Using the shift key during a region limits motion to initial direction (up/down or left/right) only
Automation line editing notably improved
Maximum zoom limited to 3 days @ 48kHz a 1600 pixel wide screen
Ripple mode: this new editing mode can dramatically speed up your edits. In Ripple mode, audio regions after a move or delete operation will move to accommodate the edit.
Cut (split) mouse tool (supplements the faster but more obscure use of the "s" (split) keybinding for users too stuck in the ways of legacy DAWs).
Zoom mode removed (Select ranges/objects, then zoom)
Drop zone: regions, selections and file drag-and-dropped to this area below all other tracks will create new tracks
Track + region selection now mutually exclusive
Remove all group active button (To operate on all tracks, use select-all-tracks (ctrl-t))
Region name highlights removed (available as user-controlled option)
Mute automation
Vertical scrolling moves in units of whole tracks
New "sequence regions" operation removes blank space between regions <dt id="vst">VST Plugin Support</dt> <dd> <ul> <li>VST plugins (native Windows VST plugins on Windows, Linux VST plugins on Linux) are no longer automatically scanned at first application startup (this avoids plugins causing crashes when using Ardour for the first time on systems with misbehaving plugins already installed)</li> <li>An external scanning tool is used to identify and test VST plugins at user request from within Ardour</li> <li>Plugins which fail testing are placed on a blacklist so that they will not be loaded by Ardour unless manually overridden by the user</li> </ul> </dd> <dt>OS X Platform Support</dt> <dd> <p>Unlike Ardour 3.x, Ardour 4.x is being officially released for OS X. Expect to see continued improvements to our OS X support in upcoming releases. </p> <p> <ul> <li>Splash and dialog windows don't interrupt work flow</li> <li>MIDNAM files now included</li> <li>Screen positioning of AudioUnit GUIs is more rational and consistent</li> <li>Many more AudioUnit instrument ("soft synth") plugins can now be loaded successfully</li> <li>Prefer stereo variants of AudioUnit instrument plugins if one is available</li> <li>Fix AudioUnit Carbon GUI focus issues</li> <li>AudioUnit plugins are no longer automatically scanned at first application startup (this avoids plugins causing crashes when using Ardour for the first time on systems with misbehaving plugins already installed)</li> <li>Plugins which fail testing are placed on a blacklist so that they will not be loaded by Ardour unless manually overridden by the user</li> </ul> </p> </dd> <dt>Transport and Control</dt> <dd> <ul> <li>Loop can now be a mode instead of an operation; if Loop Mode is engaged, then pressing Play (or space) will initiate the loop</li> <li>Tap tempo</li> <li>Q and W jump between markers</li> <li>Update clocks and video frames at the session video frame rate</li> <li>Big clock window now scales smoothly and correctly on all platforms</li> </ul> </dd> <dt>Mackie Control</dt> <dd> <ul> <li>QCon controller support</li> <li>Original Mackie Control device support</li> <li>Enable correct transmission of UTF-8 text to Mackie Control devices</li> </ul> </dd> <dt>Miscellaneous</dt> <dd> <ul> <li>Soundcloud Export</li> <li>Fix recording of files where the sample count exceeds the 32 bit limit</li> <li>Key bindings moved into Preferences</li> <li>Theme editor moved into Preferences</li> <li>Key binding rationalization</li> <li>Build system now works correctly with python3 </li> <li>Improved support for LV2 controls and presets</li> <li>Remove several libraries previously maintained as part of the Ardour source tree</li> </ul> </dd> <dt>New MIDI binding maps</dt> <dd> <ul> <li>Akai MPK61</li> </ul> </dd> <dt>New MIDNAM Support</dt> <dd> <ul> <li>E-Mu XL-1</li> </ul> </dd>
DevelopersKing George VI died on the night of February 6, 1952. The funeral took place on a dreary winter day — an even grimmer occasion than the average royal funeral. Photographer Ron Case (of Keystone Press Agency), who was with a group of other press photographers outside St George’s Chapel, Windsor, had only RAF aerial reconnaissance camera. With that old wartime equipment he took the photo of Princess Elizabeth (the new Queen); Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) (l. to r.) making their way slowly into the chapel where the king’s body lay in state.
The picture, which came to be known as the ‘Three Queens in mourning’, is a truly haunting image. All three grieving queens, representing three changing generations, were clearly seen through their veils. Although other photos of three queens altogether exist, they were nearly all official portraits, and Case’s informal photo revealed the rarely seen aspect of the modern royalty: trained from birth to repress their emotions, they were still capable of humane emotions. The next day, the photo also made the front pages of every single national paper, and subsequently become one of the most widely distributed British photographs of the 20th century.
Ron Case, however, didn’t make a single pence from his photo–the rights belonged to Ron’s employer, the Pinkerton Press Agency.Donald Trump. AP Photo/Matt Rourke President Donald Trump is still using an unsecured Android phone to send his tweets, according to The New York Times.
One security analyst laid out the worst-case hacking scenario that Trump's unsecured likely Samsung Galaxy S3 could cause.
"There are security risks here, but they are not the obvious ones," Bruce Schneier wrote on his website on Thursday.
Schneier is a widely respected cryptography expert. He's a fellow at Harvard Law School, and he's written several books on information security.
He says the "bigger risk" stemming from Trump's unsecured Android phone isn't that the data on it could be stolen, but that a hacker could compromise the device and turn it into a presidential spying machine.
"That Android has a microphone, which means that it can be turned into a room bug without anyone's knowledge," he wrote. "That's my real fear."
Schneier also says a forged email could "easily move the stock market," and that by using a consumer device, Trump is "at risk from everybody, ranging from lone hackers to the better-funded intelligence agencies of the world."
While the possibility of a foreign adversary compromising a smartphone and controlling its microphone may sound like science fiction, it's one that has been taken seriously by people like the whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has said smartphones can be taken over.
Snowden has even asked visitors to stick their smartphones in the refrigerator to block eavesdropping. It's hard to imagine Trump freezing his old Android device, but given Schneier's warning, perhaps his staff should consider it.(Please note this blog is the opinion of Jonathan Lane, editor of Fan Film Factor, and not that of Axanar Productions)
Don’t want to read a long blog? Then just click here.
By now, you’ve likely heard that CBS and Paramount have finally, after decades of silence, released a series of guidelines for Star Trek fan films to follow and not get sued. Unfortunately, the guidelines were written by a group of over-caffeinated lawyers and licensing employees with little to no understanding of the concept of Star Trek fandom. In short, these rules would essentially obliterate nearly all past and current Star Trek fan films and series.
From their announcement on StarTrek.com, CBS seems almost proud of themselves, feeling that they’ve done fandom some kind of favor. And even though nearly 200 (as I write this) comments have been posted with about 90% highly negative reactions, I doubt that CBS or Paramount will see the devastating reality of what they’ve done…
…unless we make them see it.
Nearly 50 years ago, Star Trek fans made their voices heard with a great letter-writing campaign. Today, letters and petitions and threats of boycotts are easily ignored. Boycotts are often seen as limited threats, and ultimately, many who start off committed eventually give in and watch the TV show or movie after all. Studios typically don’t take the threats of a boycott particularly seriously.
But there’s an interesting wrinkle to Star Trek on the business side at the moment that makes it potentially vulnerable. CBS’s new digital streaming service, All Access, is relying on the new Star Trek TV series to jumpstart monthly subscriptions from millions of Trekkies around the world. CBS has a LOT riding on this, as they turned away a very attractive offer from Netflix to develop the new Trek series themselves for their own streaming platform. Right now, the only thing All Access offers is reruns of CBS-produced television programs. The new Star Trek series represents their first exclusive original content and is a huge opportunity to expand their subscriber base.
And that’s just the opening we need to get their attention!
If we can somehow impact CBS’s plans to expand their subscriber base, we have the potential to do what Trekkies did back in 1968 when they threatened NBC’s advertisers and convinced the network not to cancel Star Trek.
As I said, a simple boycott threat would likely just be shrugged off. CBS, in their arrogance, probably doesn’t believe fans will pass on the new series. Sure, some will. But most will be too curious and sign up for just a quick look-see. Whether or not that’s true doesn’t matter; CBS believes it’s true. So a simple boycott was a non-starter…
But then I had an idea!
What if fans got together in groups (we’ll call them “collectives”) and chose a “designated subscriber” to pay the monthly $6 fee for CBS All Access? Let’s assume six fans get together and pool their money. Instead of costing each of them $6/month, the shared resources decrease that monthly cost to just $1 each. And even better, they all get to gather together for the fun experience of watching as a group. Can you say “viewing party”?
At the same time, CBS loses five subscribers! Instead of taking in $36 a month from all six of them, they only get $6, losing out on 85% of their potential revenue! Even buddying up with just one other friend to pool resources cuts off half of the revenue that CBS would have made.
The beauty of this idea is that it’s more believable to CBS. Fans will still watch the new series, as CBS expects them to…no boycott is necessary. But the possibility of losing 50-85% of their potential revenue if small groups of fans designate a single subscriber? That’s real dollars, folks.
Of course, with only 10 or 20 people threatening this, it won’t matter much to CBS. But if it’s more like 10,000 or 100,000…then we’re talking the potential loss of millions of dollars a year! So the trick is coming up with a way to attract and get the message out to thousands of people.
The answer: Facebook. It’s an amazing tool for gathering interested groups and disseminating information. And it wouldn’t be limited to only Axanar supporters or even Axanar haters. It would be a gathering place for fans of ALL fan series like Star Trek Continues, New Voyages, Renegades, Farragut, Intrepid, Potemkin, Dark Armada, and many others. At this point, there’s no sense in blaming Alec Peters or even defending him…that’s so last week! The true enemy has finally presented itself, and it’s the studios.
The goal is now to convince CBS and Paramount to revise their guidelines to allow fan series to continue as they have for the past 50 years, just with fair (not obnoxious) guidelines to both protect their intellectual property while still letting fans produce and embrace decent fan films (that aren’t limited to just 15 minutes and don’t have to use store-bought uniforms).
So now I had the plan, but I needed a really catchy name to rally around. “Save Our Shows”? “I Stand with Fan Films”? Nothing was grabbing me until I thought about the name CBS All Access…and how we wanted to rally to decrease their revenue stream. How about we turn ALL Access into SMALL Access? The logo pretty much created itself… I created the Facebook group last evening and quickly gained a few hundred members…a promising start! But we still need ten times that to even be noticed and ten times that to be considered a true force to be reckoned with.
To attract more members to the group, I’m going to start contacting other bloggers, podcasters, and even the news media. I’m also planning to have the group begin discussing the current guidelines one by one to figure out which aren’t so bad (we don’t want to seem unreasonable to CBS) and which have to be revised…and how.
But I can’t do it alone…I need your help, too! If you haven’t joined yet—and you’re willing to take the pledge to be part of a viewing “collective”—please join the PROJECT SMALL ACCESS Facebook group. And please-please-PLEASE tell your friends about it, too! This could be our only chance to make our voices heard and (hopefully) save fan films from being a tragic footnote in Star Trek history.
SaveGetty Images
Aaron Rodgers is back, but that doesn’t mean the Packers need only to show up for the final three games.
The Packers star quarterback repeated the same theme Mike McCarthy did earlier in the day when the coach stressed to his team about not having “a bunch of false confidence.”
“Hopefully, it gives a lift to some of the guys, but I’m not coming back to save this team,” Rodgers said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “I’m coming back to play quarterback the way I know how to play it. Hopefully, we all raise the level of our play collectively and find a way to win these three games.”
Rodgers’ broken right collarbone kept him out almost two months. The team’s medical staff cleared him to return to game action this week, and Rodgers wouldn’t address whether he lobbied team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie for clearance.
“I wouldn’t be standing here ready to play if I wasn’t confident I could go out there and play the way that I’ve always played,” Rodgers said. “There’s just no point in doing that. It’s a risky game; it’s a dangerous game. There’s risks every time you step on the field.
“With the concussions that have happened in this game, that, to me, is something to be more worried about than altering your play to take a shot and landing on your shoulder again. That’s something that we deal with and that’s why we love this game. I think [Steelers safety] Mike Mitchell had a lot of good points when he was talking about the nature of this game. It’s a physical game, and you have to go out and play as much as you can without fear. That’s why I’m here, that’s why we’re cleared, and that’s why I’m playing.”Sudanese refugee Faysal Ahmed died on Christmas Eve at the age of 27. Responsibility for his death lies at the feet of the Australian government, which had detained him in a concentration camp on Manus Island for more than three years, and the jailers in that camp who ignored his repeated requests for medical attention.
Refugee rights activists gathered on Melbourne’s Princes Bridge on 3 January to hold a candlelight vigil, which spontaneously turned into a remarkable blockade. It took what had been a moment of grief and despair, and transformed it into an uplifting act of defiance and solidarity. This was an important step for the campaign.
At the end of the formal proceedings, following an aching minute of silence and prayer, a group of protesters stepped out into the traffic. A number of us quickly joined them, and for a moment everything was paused in confusion. Two young women, both People of Colour and on their first protest, became exasperated as our first attempt to occupy the road appeared to be fizzling out: “Is that it? Why are we leaving?” But I saw them again minutes later, linking arms and beaming at each other as the blockade finally took a firm hold. Dozens of us were there now, and with a clear purpose.
We held our ground for more than an hour, sustained by ceaseless chanting and donations of food and water from passers-by, some of whom even joined in. Standing right by my shoulder for the duration was a middle-aged Sudanese man carrying a tiny baby in one hand, his other hand raised in a clenched fist. He and I chanted together, laughed at the slow-witted cops, and linked arms despite the obvious lack of any impending police violence.
At one point, a passing trio of young skaters joined our ranks, handing out packets of chips and placing their skateboards in front of an aggressive and freshly polished white jeep, whose wealthy owner could only shoot exasperated glares at the police who’d allowed Princes Bridge to get so outrageously egalitarian.
At its height, there were well over 100 of us blockading the road, and in the blazing sun one of the city’s central thoroughfares stood frozen. Among the blockaders were whole families from the Sudanese community, elderly people from Grandmothers Against Detention, and a number of young people utterly fed-up with the never-ending horror being inflicted on refugees.
When we finally marched off, it was in high spirits and with a sense of achievement. This matters a great deal. It indicates that people outside the far left are prepared to take more dramatic action. The campaign needs to engage with this sentiment and organise those people. The days of passively bearing moral witness to the crimes and brutality of the Australian immigration department must give way to a focus on civil disobedience and disruption.
Such action can electrify and invigorate the campaign, drawing in new people and creating new activists – and it is the sort of solidarity that people resisting inside the camps need.
In response to Faysal’s obvious medical crisis and the neglect from staff, more than 60 detainees signed a petition demanding authorities provide him with proper care. Their petition was ignored, and when he finally died three days later, they rioted. Their resistance should be a lesson to all of us, inside and outside the camps.
It’s the sort of defiance we need if we’re to have any hope of battling the government’s unconscionable detention regime and the forward march of Pauline Hanson, Donald Trump, and the rest of the confident and ascendant hard right.Wehrlein was involved a big accident during the Race of Champions last month, when he lost control of his car and made contact into the car driven by Felipe Massa.
Wehrlein's car flipped over Massa's left-front wheel and ended up hitting the barriers.
The German driver appeared to be unscathed and later reported to be okay.
German media reported on Monday, however, that Wehrlein had suffered a neck injury in the accident, claiming he could be forced to miss some of the testing that kicks off on February 27.
On Monday, Sauber labelled the reports as "pure speculation", but did reveal Wehrlein was still undergoing medical tests.
"Current rumours about Pascal Wehrlein in the media: The medical examinations are still ongoing," said Sauber.
"Therefore, the reports are pure speculations. We will provide information in due time."
Wehrlein will race with Sauber this year alongside Marcus Ericsson after having made his grand prix debut with Manor last year.New Bio Scrambles to Protect Obama's Literary Rep
"I've written two books," candidate Barack Obama told a crowd of teachers in Virginia in July of 2008. The crowd applauded. "I actually wrote them myself." In his massive new biography about Obama's pre-presidential years, Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, Pulitzer Prize winner David Garrow chose to cut this literary baby in half. Yes, Obama had help with his 1995 masterpiece, Dreams from My Father – a lot of help – but it sure as hell did not come from local editorial guru Bill Ayers. In the book, Garrow does not even raise the Ayers question. It is seemingly beneath his dignity. The help allegedly came from a law school buddy named Rob Fisher.
As to Obama's presumed genius, Garrow never quite endorses it, but he does not challenge it, either. He makes no comment, for instance, on the literary quality of Obama's first published essay, "Breaking the War Mentality," written during Obama's senior year at Columbia. He should have. The essay is clunky, pedestrian, and wonkish, a C- paper in freshman comp – maybe less, given that there are five sentences in which the noun and verb do not agree. As a curiosity, both Garrow and earlier biographer David Maraniss quote the same one of those five sentences, and each fixes it to make the grammatical problem either go away or look less obvious. "In retrospect," Garrow quotes Obama as saying, "I can't imagine anything harder than writing a book." For a writer, writing a book is no big deal, but Obama was not a writer. He lacked both the talent and the discipline. He missed his first contracted deadline by a mile, and even then, the half-book he turned in to the publisher was, according to Garrow's source, "bloated in some parts and dull in others." The publisher terminated the contract. Wanting to get away to write, Obama left his new bride behind and headed off to Bali. He expected to take two months, but Garrow's source tells him Obama was done within "five or six weeks." As the source confirms, Obama wrote longhand on yellow notepads. Back in Chicago in late winter 1993, Obama "faced a trio of responsibilities." These included his law job, his new teaching gig at the University of Chicago, and the book, not to mention house shopping with Michelle. Later that year, the ever busy Obamas would move, and Barack joined two new boards. Still, "by late spring" 1993, he had done enough to attract a new publisher. With the help of Fisher, who lived in Maryland, Obama had "radically restructured" the book to make it more personal. In December 1993, Obama asked Fisher, "who had been doing so much yeoman's work on Barack's book manuscript," to interview for a job at his law firm. Fisher took the interview, but he chose to stay in Maryland. "In late spring 1994," according to Garrow, Obama took six weeks off from his law firm job to finish the book. He needed to add the third section, the one on Africa. Garrow claims that Obama worked largely from letters he sent in 1988 while in Kenya and retrieved from his girlfriend at the time, Sheila Jager. Fellow Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss told a different story in his 2012 bio. Maraniss paraphrased Crown editor Henry Ferris as saying that "Obama traveled to Kenya a second time for further research before turning in the last part of the book." Maraniss interviewed Obama on this subject, and Obama confirmed he went to Kenya once more for "fact-checking" and to do "more background on things like Kenyan history." There is no record of this mystery trip, which would have taken place in spring 1994. A third possibility, one neither Garrow nor Maraniss raised, is that Obama lied to Ferris about making a return trip to Kenya, possibly to show how serious he was about finishing the book and getting his facts straight. Instead of going to Africa, Obama may have contented himself with going to the local library and pillaging the memoirs of longtime Kenya resident Kuki Gallmann. This is the theory proposed by tireless researcher Shawn Glasco. He was intrigued by the many words and phrases in Dreams that also appeared in Gallmann's book, African Nights, which was published in 1994. On the fashion front, both books have young women "wrapped" in their kangas and "dressed" in "rags." The women in both books wear shukas, head shawls, head scarves, and goatskins and balance baskets on heads graced with "laughing smiles." On the animal front, men in both books spearfish in "ink-black" waters and hunt by torchlight. Elephants are seen "fanning" themselves, birds "trill," insects "buzz," weaver birds "nest," and monkeys "mesmerize." The books share a veritable Noah's ark of additional fauna: crickets, crocodiles, starlings, dragonflies, cattle, lions, sand crabs, vultures, hyenas, "herds of gazelle," and leopards that can hold small animals "in their jaws." On the flora front, the shared references are just as compelling: roadside palms, yellow grass, red bougainvillaea, pink bougainvillaea, fig trees, shady mango trees, thornbrush, banana leaves, Baobab trees, liana vines, tomatoes. The landscape, occasionally "barren," is rich in "undulating hills" whose "grazing lands" are dotted with the occasional "watering hole." The "mud and dung" houses feature "thatched roofs," "verandas," and "vegetable gardens." People seem to be carrying "straw mats" everywhere. The stars "glint," and people "waltz" underneath them. Eyes "glimmer" in the light of "campfires." Children sing in "high-pitched" rhythms, and girls endure "barbaric" circumcisions. Obama, like Gallmann, travels to the Great Rift Valley and stands at its edge. Both visit the small trading town of Narok. Given the timeline, the library seems a better bet than Kenya. According to Garrow, Obama flew to New York to hand the completed book off to Ferris no later than early June 1994. In other words, he completed the last third of the 450-page book some time between "late spring" 1994 and...well, late spring 1994. Whenever Obama finished the book, Fisher allegedly played a major role. "I was deeply involved with helping him sort of shape it," the "normally self-effacing" Fisher admits. He also admits to having "had a big influence" on the final product. Remember: the book was written before e-mail. Fisher is one of Garrow's two big finds, the other being Sheila Jager. Seven years older than Obama and an established academic economist before starting law school, Fisher and Obama became good friends at Harvard. There, they co-authored a manuscript that, perhaps prophetically, was never finished. One completed chapter dealt with the always sexy topic of plant closings. "The quest is to develop guidelines," they wrote, "on how politically progressive movements can use the market mechanism to promote social goals." They were particularly keen on "worker ownership and control." The second, more controversial chapter, was titled "Race and Rights Rhetoric." Here, the authors describe America as "an admittedly racist culture" without acknowledging who has done the admitting. Garrow quotes the unfinished manuscript extensively. Its style is wonkish and ungainly throughout. Sentences like the following suggest that one author wrote as awkwardly as the other: "While Yuppies can afford the expensive frivolities provided by The Sharper Image, others receive insufficient nutrition to allow their minds to develop properly." Oona King in her London Times review described Dreams as "a beautifully written personal memoir." Noted British author Jonathan Raban claimed, "Every sentence has its own graceful cadence." Obama's gracefulness was limited to Dreams. What Garrow shows us of Fisher is equally flat and prosaic. It seems highly unlikely that Obama's economist muse lent the book its consciously Homeric structure. In December 2008, I published a piece in American Thinker in which I argued that in Dreams, Obama "assumes the role of both Telemachus and Odysseus, the son seeking the father, and the father seeking home." Three weeks later in the New York Times, the paper's Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic, Michiko Kakutani, described Dreams almost exactly as I had: "a quest in which [Obama] cast himself as both a Telemachus in search of his father and an Odysseus in search of a home." I seriously doubt if Ms. Kakutani purloined my thesis, especially given her conclusion that Dreams was "the most evocative, lyrical and candid autobiography written by a future president." She apparently inferred the Homeric structure in reading the text, as did I. Early in his 2001 memoir, Fugitive Days, Bill Ayers tips his Homeric hand. "Memory sails out upon a murky sea – wine-dark, opaque, unfathomable," he writes with a knowing wink. "Wine-dark" is quintessential Homer. Bestselling author Thomas Cahill named his book on ancient Greece Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea. It did not surprise me to learn that Cahill had attended my New York City high school, but then again, so had Weather Underground alum Brian Flanagan, who had taken the same Greek courses I did a year ahead of me. Ayers and pals may have been lunatics – Flanagan seems the sanest of the bunch – but they were literate ones. Dreams and Fugitive Days, like the Odyssey, begin in media res, a literary technique in which the narrative starts in mid-story and not from the literal beginning. Odysseus's son, Telemachus, is 20 when the Odyssey begins. Obama has just turned 21. Each saga begins with the young protagonist receiving an unexpected call that inspires him to seek out his missing father – Telemachus's from Athena, Obama's courtesy of Ma Bell. The opening scene of Dreams unfolds in 1982, Obama's senior year at Columbia, in and around a small New York City apartment with "slanting floors." As the scene unfolds, Obama is making breakfast "with coffee on the stove and two eggs in the skillet." In Fugitive Days, Ayers lives in apartments with "sloping floors" and talks about cooking almost as lovingly as he does bombing. He too uses the Southern regionalism "skillet." At the climax of Dreams' opening sequence, Obama receives the critical phone call. It comes from his Aunt Jane in Nairobi. "Listen, Barry, your father is dead," she tells him. Obama has a hard time understanding. "Can you hear me?" she repeats. "I say, your father is dead." The line is cut, and the conversation ends abruptly. Apparently, Ayers so liked the dramatic structure of Dreams' opening sequence that he repeated it in Fugitive Days, which also opens in media res with a dramatic phone call. The call comes from future wife Bernardine Dohrn. Ayers learns that Diana Oughton was killed in a Greenwich Village bomb blast. "Diana is dead," says Dohrn. Ayers has a hard time understanding. "Diana is dead," she "repeats slowly." Ayers drops the line, and the conversation ends abruptly. The Obama one meets in Dreams, a book Garrow describes as "historical fiction," is filled with a rage that the people Garrow interviewed never saw in the real Obama. It seems highly unlikely that Obama's economist muse lent the book its voice on black rage. Ayers, however, was the co-creator of the "Days of Rage." Like Obama, he began his career as a self-described "community organizer." In Chicago, Ayers also found a strategic ally in Jeremiah Wright, a man he called a "distinguished theologian and major intellectual," meaning that Wright too spelled "Amerikkka" with three Ks. In short, Ayers, unlike Fisher, was fully capable of crawling inside Obama's head and relating in superior prose what Obama calls, only half-ironically, a "rage at the white world [that] needed no object." In Fugitive Days, "rage" rules. Ayers tells of how his "rage got started" and how it evolved into an "uncontrollable rage – fierce frenzy of fire and lava." In fact, both Ayers and Obama speak of "rage" the way that Eskimos do of snow – in so many varieties, so often, that they feel the need to qualify it, as Obama does when he speaks of "impressive rage," "suppressed rage," or "coil of rage." I know. These are just coincidences, as are the following coincidental word choices by Obama and former merchant seaman Ayers: fog, mist, ships, sinking ships, seas, sails, boats, oceans, calms, captains, charts, first mates, floods, shores, storms, streams, wind, waves, waters, anchors, barges, horizons, harbor, bays, ports, panoramas, moorings, tides, currents, voyages, narrower courses, uncertain courses, and things howling, wob |
man who reinvented the mythology and turned the property into something fans truly care about for the first time in years. J.M. DeMatteis
DeMatteis has an impressive resume--he's written or co-written Captain America, Spider-Man, the Justice League and a number of creator-owned books during the last thirty years. He's also got (via Justice League, Phantom Stranger and a number of other projects) the cosmic thing down. Most importantly, though? He's written Hal Jordan before--and he nailed it.
Few people give DeMatteis enough credit for the excellent job he did handling one of the most difficult and thankless jobs in comics--writing Hal Jordan in The Spectre, following the first major Johns-driven overhaul of the greatest Green Lantern. For those unfamiliar--Johns wrote a miniseries called Day of Judgment, in which The Spectre's host (Jim Corrigan) decided that rather than return to earth to rein in the destructive force of God's wrath, he would stay dead and enjoy time with his departed loved ones. Left with not a lot of great options, the heroes of the DC Universe allowed the spirit of Hal Jordan to return to the land of the living with them to take control of the entity. Hal, you see, had gone insane, killed a bunch of people, destroyed the universe, fixed it, gone insane some more, fought Green Lantern, and then sacrificed himself to save the world. That heroic sacrifice bit got him the gig, although a number of characters (notably Batman) weren't crazy about it and a number of readers (notably almost everyone) thought the whole thing was a little crazy and hackneyed. Hal's time as The Spectre was pretty widely maligned, with most fans just refusing to read it and waiting out the clock until he took over as Green Lantern again. That would take nearly five years, until Johns wrote Green Lantern: Rebirth. During those five years, Hal served as The Spectre, and for two and a half of those, DeMatteis wrote an ongoing, monthly series featuring the character. Hal struggled with his humanity and the demands of The Spectre's role, as well as interacting regularly with his friends and supporting cast, living and dead.
It's not uncommon for fans to complain that both Hal Jordan and Barry Allen are pretty one-dimensional characters, and for all Geoff Johns did to distance readers from that notion, at the end of the day they are still far more interesting and compelling when they're punching something than when they're talking. DeMatteis reversed that dynamic, forcing Hal to deal with the moral and psychological consequences of doing a job that demands blood when in his heart, he's a hero who wants justice. Robert Venditti After doing an absolutely smashing job working on X-O Manowar, the big, ambitious cosmic hero at Valiant Comics that can be seen as their Green Lantern, so to speak, Venditti came over to DC for a plum job writing Constantine, the New 52 version of Vertigo's long-running Hellblazer title. While controversial, the series is bound (at least in the short term) to be a best-seller and the attention it will get from fans and the press will make it an immediate cult favorite if it's as good as everyone hopes.Salon columnist Thomas Frank does not like political science, and he particularly dislikes my column arguing that political science is improving political journalism. In riposte, he's written an article demonstrating the need for political journalists to ground their ideas in political science.
It's best to begin with where Frank and I agree. "The powerful in Powertown love to take refuge in bewildering professional jargon," he writes, and indeed they do. "They routinely ignore or suppress challenging ideas, just as academics often ignore ideas that come from outside their professional in-group," he says, and he's absolutely correct. "Worst of all, Washingtonians seem to know nothing about the lives of people who aren't part of the professional-managerial class," he continues, and I fully agree (as do political scientists).
Washington is a cesspool of faux-experts who do bad research — or no research
The question, then, is whether political science (and other academic disciplines) helps curb these tendencies, or whether it makes Powertown more jargony, close-minded, and out-of-touch.
Frank thinks the latter. "The characteristic failing of D.C. isn't that it ignores these herds of experts, it's that it attends to them with a gaping credulity that they do not deserve," he writes. Later, he blames the return of the same foreign-policy class that brought us the Iraq War on "the way Washington worships expertise." He even throws in a reference to David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest for good measure.
As it happens, Frank and I have some common ground here, too: Washington is a cesspool of faux-experts who do bad research (or no research) but retain their standing by dint of affiliations, connections, or charisma. Washington is also a place where people seek authorities willing to confirm what they already believe — a trait it shares with, well, every other place. But I see political science research — which is different, by the way, from individual political scientists, and different from Frank's amorphous idea of "expertise" — as a way of cutting through the bullshit.
The real problem with political science
Take Frank as an example. He's a gifted writer and a smart guy. But his biggest problem with political science seems to be that it stubbornly refuses to confirm his opinions. The example he gives in his article of bad political science is Nate Cohn (who is not a political scientist, for the record) arguing that the Democrats' disadvantage in the House comes less from gerrymandering than urban clustering. This is a debatable point (see Dave Weigel for a contrary take), but Frank actually doesn't debate it. He simply dislikes the implications Cohn draws from it:
[T]hese House Republicans are really, truly awful. Isn't there a way for Democrats to beat them regardless of the geographic hurdles? According to Cohn, not really. Either Democrats have to appeal to lost voters (like "the conservative Democrats of the South and Appalachia") by moving rightward, or they will have to "wait for demographic and generational change" to win the seats for them. And maybe that makes sense, given the assumptions of the lame school of political science that D.C. types always gravitate to - the kind in which there are but two poles in political life and politicians of the left party can only win if they move rightward. It is this kind of strikingly unoriginal thinking, which I am sure is shared by the blue team's high command, that explains why the Democratic Party looks to be headed for another disaster this fall. Allow me to drop a single, disturbing data point on this march of science. You might recall that Democrats controlled the House of Representatives from the early 1930s until 1994 with only two brief Republican interludes. What ended all that was not an ill-advised swerve to the left, but the opposite: A long succession of moves toward what is called the "center," culminating in the administration of New Democrat Bill Clinton, who (among other things) signed the Republicans' NAFTA treaty into law. Taking economic matters off the table was thought to be the path of wisdom among expert-worshipping Washingtonians, but it had the unforeseen consequence of making culture that much more important for a large part of the population. Democrats were eventually swamped by all the crazy grievance campaigns of the right, which has splashed back and forth in the mud of the culture wars ever since.
So Frank is angry at political science because someone who isn't a political scientist has offered a political opinion he disagrees with.
Like much of what passes for political analysis in Washington, this is a convincing rant if you already agree with Thomas Frank. Frank, after all, is an "expert": he's a guy who writes bestselling books and has a column at Salon. He's charismatic, and his piece is well-written, and it includes a few lines that look like evidence if you back up ten paces and squint.
this is a convincing rant if you already agree with Thomas Frank
But none of it holds up. For one thing, political science doesn't say what Frank seems to think it says. Political scientists don't simply argue that politicians have to move leftward or rightward to capture some mythical center. Indeed, one of the interesting findings from John Sides and Lynn Vavreck's poli-sci take on the 2012 election is that voters thought themselves closer ideologically to Mitt Romney — but they voted for Barack Obama anyway.
That's consistent with what the best research in political science right now, which holds that most voters don't pay close attention to candidates' policy positions, so politicians actually have to tune their platforms to appeal to the intense policy demanders who dominate primaries. Oh, and those "moderate voters" aren't moderates at all; their political opinions are often more extreme, but more scattered, than the hardcore partisans.
As for Frank's "data point," this is exactly where political science research is useful. It is interesting that Democrats controlled the House of Representatives almost without interruption from 1935 to 1994. It's particularly interesting because, though Frank doesn't mention this, Republicans controlled the White House from 1953 to 1961. And then from 1969 to 1976. And then from 1981 to 1992. So it's clear that Democratic control of the House doesn't simply show a monolithically liberal electorate betrayed by Bill Clinton. But what does it show?
What political science research is good for
Political scientists have answered this question. The Democratic House majority that dominated through much of the 20th Century wasn't the Democratic Party as we think of it at all.
Instead, it combined liberal and moderate Democrats with a conservative southern bloc that was, for reasons of congressional seniority and tribal history, Democratic, but which voted to the right of many Republicans. The peculiar rules of Congress made it worthwhile for Southern Democrats to stick with a party they disagreed with in order to protect Jim Crow.
But once the Democratic Party broke with its southern bloc on race, the Southern Democrats died out. You can watch those conservative Democrats disappear on this visualization produced by the DW-NOMINATE measure, which political scientists use to measure party polarization in Congress. Notice how, in the period Frank mentions, you have lots of Ds further to the right than the Rs. Republicans retake the House as that anomaly ends.
Watching congressional Democrats who were more conservative than Republicans become Republicans is not a story that tracks very well with Frank's story of a populist electorate being turned off by Clinton's triangulations. Indeed, Clinton was much more liberal than many of the congressional Democrats who lost their seats in 1994. But Frank wants to see the Democratic Party move leftward, and so this isn't an analysis of the period that he finds very helpful.
The reason I rely on political science research is because politics, in my experience, is thick with the "allow me to drop a single, disturbing data point" approach to analysis. Skilled writers can make anything sound convincing in 24 column inches — particularly when they're writing to an audience that wants to be convinced. Political science has its problems, but the discipline is more than capable of weeding out this kind of nonsense. It forces a much higher evidentiary standard than, say, op-ed pages, where "factlike recollections," in Jonathan Chait's wonderful phrase, are often enough.
Political science research is a helpful check on the things I want to believe.
The biggest problem any of us face trying to learn about American politics is the natural tendency to believe arguments we like and dismiss the ones we don't. Poli-sci research is, for me, a helpful check on the things I want to believe. I used to love to write about the speech the president should give next, but presidential speeches don't much matter. It's fun to pretend that Washington is ruled by good-faith debates over policy, but the evidence suggests people mostly end up supporting whatever they wanted to support in the first place. It's popular to demand the president lead, but the reality is presidential leadership is often counterproductive. It's exciting to cover elections as if anything can happen, but the truth is that they're pretty predictable. I don't like any of this — but that's why I need to ground my political commentary in something beyond my own opinions. Political science research isn't perfect or infallible, but it's a start.
So yes, Frank is right: politics is full of experts who don't deserve the trust they're given and retain prominence even after their theories are shredded. The problem is he's one of them.Covered with a fake beard and touches of makeup, former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey, became Jimmy Peters, a homeless Newark man.
Accompanied by a social worker to get him into an emergency one-night stay, Codey -- now serving as a state senator -- showed up to the Goodwill Mission just before 9 p.m. Monday to survey the conditions of the homeless shelter where he would spend the night, MSNBC reports.
He slept on the mattress on the floor, a luxury many homeless weren't afforded that night.
"To find a place to take you if you're homeless was impossible essentially," Codey told the news source, "unless you're on some government entitlement program."
Codey found the most trouble came from telling the shelters he had just been released from a psychiatric ward of a local hospital. In those instances he was almost immediately denied -- as is the case for real mentally ill homeless men.
Robert Davidson, executive director of the Essex County Mental Health Association cited a study from the Corporation of Supportive Housing which showed that nearly 90 percent of the New Jersey's homeless population suffer from a mental illness, NJ.com reports.
"The system does everything it can to divert that person from getting service," Davidson told MSNBC. "It's absurd."
The Goodwill Mission is working on making updates to their services, and are adding beds and emergency shelter options in the next few months, MSNBC reports.Childline has been receiving an average of eight calls a day from children and adolescents about gender dysphoria and transgender issues, more than double the number received the year before.
Record numbers of children sought counselling about gender identity from the NSPCC’s helpline during 2015-16, with 2,796 calls being made compared with 1,299 calls in the previous 12 months.
Childline received calls from children as young as 11 who said their biological sex did not match their gender identity. The calls ranged from anxiety about telling parents, experience of transphobic bullying and mental distress caused by long delays in receiving medical treatment.
UK nurses lacking skills to treat transgender patients, says research Read more
Because Childline is a confidential service they do not keep records on the number of individual children and teenagers who contact the service and say it is probable that some have called multiple times throughout the year.
It said children aged 12 to 15 were the most likely to call the helpline about gender identity issues and that 260 of the calls on this subject were from 11-year-olds.
The doubling of calls to Childline mirrors increases in referrals of young people to gender identity clinics across the UK. The Guardian reported in July that referrals to the Tavistock clinic, which is only centre for children and adolescents in England, doubled from 697 in 2014-15 to 1,398 in 2015-16. There was also a twofold increase in referrals of children and adolescents to the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow, from 90 in 2014 to 178 in 2015.
Childline first began “tagging” calls related to gender identity in 2012 when trans issues began coming up regularly in the service’s counselling rooms. It has been monitoring how many calls they get on the subject since.
“I don’t think we can be clear in why there is a big increase in the number of calls. I think we’re slowly trying to talk more openly about trans issues,” said Emily Cherry, head of children and young people participation at the NSPCC.
She added that Childline counsellors were often the first adults young people talk to about being trans and that teenagers often called to seek advice about how to do so to parents and carers.
“We’re hearing about a huge amount of anxiety about talking to trusted adults about transitioning, one thing we give them is confidence and help with finding the words to talk to parents,” said Cherry.
Transgender stories: 'People think we wake up and decide to be trans' Read more
Felix, 19, a university student from Plymouth, was born female and began questioning his gender identity at 17. He did not call Childline during that period, but understands why trans children are reaching out to the service.
“For a lot of people it’s easier to come out to people you don’t know, whether that’s on the phone or on the internet. It’s testing the water,” he said. “I think a lot of young people will come out on Childline because they know they’ll get support. If the first person a young person comes out to is their parent and they react badly, that’s so hard, it’s a sense of betrayal really.”
One child who had called Childline in 2015-16, a 16-year-old trans boy, said he recently came out to his parents, but their response had been transphobic and “really horrible”. He told a counsellor: “They won’t accept who I am and it makes me feel awful. Because I’m feeling so down, I have started to cut myself.”
Cherry added that bullying – both online and in schools – and the significant impact on mental health of long delays in receiving medical treatment, were also reported by young trans people as reasons for their calls.
Among those who called was a 13-year-old who identifies as a boy; he said he was regularly bullied via social media about being transgender.
“They constantly send me hateful messages and tell me to kill myself,” he said. “I think it’s someone at school as they seem to know things about me. I have tried blocking them but they make new accounts so I just can’t escape it.”
Another child, a 15-year-old who identifies as a girl, told a Childline counsellor: “I came out as trans last year and wish I’d never said anything. People shout at me every day and call me stupid and ugly. I can’t cope anymore and I wish I could escape from everything.”
Peter Wanless, the chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “We cannot call ourselves a modern society if we stigmatise children just because they feel different. It is vital that children have support otherwise, as they tell us all too often, they suffer. When a child is made to feel ashamed about who they are, it can trigger serious mental health issues and crippling shame.”
Any child or young person who wants to talk about trans issues can call Childline on 0800 1111. Any adult who needs some advice or wants to talk can call the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000.Kingdom Hearts II Book Explores How Friendships Are Key To The Series
By Joel Couture. June 30, 2017. 5:00pm
Kingdom Hearts II from Boss Fight Books is a new book that delves into the story of the game of the same name, looking at the connection between Sora and Riku, as well as the seemingly-ridiculous connection between Final Fantasy and Disney, and how they form a powerful portrayal of human relationships.
The book, from writer Alexa Ray Corriea, (GameSpot, Polygon, G4), looks to explore how the game portrays friendships, in all their complexity, alongside its mashup of lores and worlds. Through the bond between Sora and Riku, their rivalry, and their own dark journeys, the book examines how the ups and downs of human companionship, giving a more accurate, touching portrayal of friendship than most games manage to do.
The book is available now, both digitally and in paperback format, from Boss Fight Books.The Toronto Raptors have a lot of fans across Canada, but in Toronto, there is only one official Superfan.
Nav Bhatia, also know as The Superfan, takes fandemonium to a new level. He has been to every single home game since the Raptors inception in 1995. In recent years, he sits courtside right underneath the basket and thanks to his loud, boisterous personality has become well known to players, referees and other fans.
Nav says he uses basketball as an escape from work, “for 32 years in this country I have worked 7 days a week.” Today, Nav is the owner of two car dealerships and spends over of $250,000 a year on Raptors tickets.
But he did not start at the top. When Nav immigrated to Canada from India with his wife in 1984 to escape violent riots targeting Sikhs, he arrived with very little. They moved into a basement apartment in Milton, Ont. and he tried to find a job. After sending out his resume to hundreds of potential employers, a Hyundai dealership in Rexdale, Ont. finally gave him a chance in sales.
According to Nav, he encountered some discrimination from customers and fellow staff members at first but he would not let people’s lack of understanding get the best of him. Instead, he used it as motivation to sell cars. While working at the dealership in Rexdale, he was able to sell 127 cars in 3 months. A record that still stands today.
His passion for selling cars and treating everybody with respect is what Nav claims is his secret to success. “Work hard, treat people right and things will happen,” Nav says. And with his success, he is able to be afford the costs associated with being the Superfan.
He does not miss a home game, no matter what. His entire life is planned around the Raptors schedule. His wife and daughter understand his passion and are very forgiving. His daughter Tia told W5 “as long as he’s happy that’s all that matters to us. He’s worked so hard and he deserves to be happy.”
His family is grateful for all he has provided and what he is doing for the Sikh community. Nav’s fame as the Superfan has allowed him to use his public image to improve the way Canadians view the Sikh community. “Sikhs are – we look different, we are different I guess, but our passions are the same,” Nav says. So, he uses the game of basketball to drive home his message of inclusion.
Every year, Nav buys thousands of tickets and donates them to underprivileged children from his community along with other visible minorities to promote togetherness. He also picks one game every season in April to promote Sikh culture by celebrating the Punjabi festival of Baisaki. At that game, Nav showcases Indian song and dance, while recognizing the birth of the Sikh faith over 300 years ago.
With Nav’s success, he is able to pursue two passions veraciously. He is truly the biggest Raptors fan around and he is able to use his fame to promote his culture in Canada.
Nav’s dedication to the team looks like it may be hitting a high point as the Raptors just set a new team record of most wins in a season and they have also clinched a playoff spot in a very tough Atlantic Division.Compare two unnamed players and their 2015 stats for a moment:
Player A (31 years old): 4.96 ERA, 4.23 FIP, 214 IP, 6.86 K/9, 2.06 BB/9, 1.22 HR/9
Player B (28 years old): 4.95 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 116 1/3 IP, 7.74 K/9, 2.48 BB/9, 1.01 HR/9
Player A has a career 4.09 ERA and 3.84 FIP; Player B has a 3.51 ERA and 3.44 FIP. Player A signed a five-year, $90 million deal this winter; Player B signed a one-year, $3 million deal.
Player A is Jeff Samardzija, who signed with the San Francisco Giants. Player B is Mat Latos, who signed with the White Sox on Tuesday.
[SHOP: Gear up, White Sox fans!]
Latos, of course, has injury concerns, dealing with knee and elbow issues that limited him to just 37 starts in the last two seasons (Samardzija combined for 55 starts in 2014 and 2015). As those injuries have come and gone, Latos’ average fastball velocity has dropped from a tick under 93 miles per hour during his peak with San Diego and Cincinnati to about 91 miles per hour in 2014 and 2015.
The point in the Latos-Samardzija comparison is this: The price of starting pitching, especially this offseason, is exorbitant. Three million dollars is pocket change in the MLB free agent market. That’s the starting point when looking at how the White Sox deal with Latos could be, potentially, a massive bargain.
Latos hit his peak from 2010-2013, posting a 3.27 ERA (and 3.29 FIP) over 799 innings. He was one of eight pitchers to strike out at least 180 batters in each of those four seasons, joining Justin Verlander, James Shields, Tim Lincecum, Cliff Lee, Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez and Cole Hamels in that designation. He totaled 16 WAR (via FanGraphs) in that span, 14th among starting pitchers.
The White Sox, of course, would be elated to get that kind of production of out Latos — combining it with Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Carlos Rodon could mean Robin Ventura, Don Cooper & Co. have baseball’s best rotation at their disposal. But Latos probably will have to re-gain the velocity he’s lost on his fastball to reach that level of success — often times, once velocity is lost, it won’t come back, but given Latos’ age it’s not implausible that’ll return.
[MORE: Man behind the glasses: How Carson Fulmer will force White Sox hand]
Latos, though, has had success with decreased velocity. Sporting a fastball that averaged a career-low 90.7 miles per hour in 2014, the right-hander posted a 3.25 ERA over 102 1/3 innings. While his 4.95 ERA in 2015 was ugly, he did go through stretches where he looked like his old self — from June 18 until he was dealt from the Miami Marlins to the Los Angeles Dodgers, he had a 3.26 ERA over six starts.
It has to be noted, though, that Latos’ hard contact rate rose in each of the last five seasons, peaking at 33 percent in 2015 (14th among starters with at least 110 innings pitched). And his tenure with the Dodgers was particularly rough — he posted a 6.66 ERA in 24 1/3 innings with them.
But only seven starting pitchers have, to date, signed major league one-year deals for $3 million or fewer: Latos, Bud Norris ($2.5 million, Atlanta), Ryan Vogelsong ($2 million, Pittsburgh), Brandon Beachy ($1.5 million, Los Angels Dodgers), Jacob Turner ($1.5 million, White Sox), Gavin Floyd ($1 million, Toronto), and Edwin Jackson ($507,000, Miami). The White Sox entered the low-risk, high-reward market on Latos and shored up the back of their rotation without breaking the bank, and could be rewarded for it come this summer.Ashes
It is that time again, Ashes players! Earlier this week we saw some of the Allies that are a part of Echo’s deck; check them out here! Today we will be looking at some of the Allies that are included in Jericho’s deck, the Path of Assassins.
Battle Mage
might seem like a lot to pay for a 2/3/1 statline, but the Battle Mage makes up for the high up front-cost with her ability, Magic Potential 1. This ability can reasonably mitigate the play cost of 3, effectively making her only a 2 dice investment! Perhaps you can even get your Battle Mage to stick around for multiple battles, turning each engagement into some solid dice profit! Being a 3 dice cost unit has its other benefits as well, as the Lucky Rabbit has a chance to return a die as well! First up is the Battle Mage. Following the trend of Jericho’s deck, this Ally only costs basic magic. 3might seem like a lot to pay for a 2/3/1 statline, but the Battle Mage makes up for the high up front-cost with her ability, Magic Potential 1. This ability can reasonably mitigate the play cost of 3, effectively making her only a 2 dice investment! Perhaps you can even get your Battle Mage to stick around for multiple battles, turning each engagement into some solid dice profit! Being a 3 dice cost unit has its other benefits as well, as the Lucky Rabbit has a chance to return a die as well!
Although the Battle Mage does only return basic dice to your active pool, Jericho has plenty of ways to put those dice to good use. For example, let’s take a look at Jericho’s next ally…
Elephant Rider
, a monstrous stateliness of 6/6/3, or some mighty offensive and defensive abilities. When the Elephant Rider attacks, you know it is going to cause some serious havoc. The threat of 6 attack demands opponents to have a blocker ready when the Elephant comes charging, but even then, a Phoenixborn isn’t safe from the impact of Overkill 2! The Unbreakable 2 ability also makes it difficult for your opponent to respond to the immediate threat of an Elephant Rider. Protection from cards like Sword of Virtue, Fear, and Steady Gaze can give you the confidence to send your Rider into battle without the worry of efficient counters from your opponent. Although, you may want to be aware of Ceremonial magic users, as Regress is fair game against this dynamic duo… Even still, the Elephant Rider has enough attack to overcome Regress’ -5 attack debuff, allowing you to still threaten Overkill 2 damage against small units! Say hello to the biggest unit in Ashes; the Elephant Rider! Elephant Rider pushes everything to the max, whether it be the hefty cost of 7, a monstrous stateliness of 6/6/3, or some mighty offensive and defensive abilities. When the Elephant Rider attacks, you know it is going to cause some serious havoc. The threat of 6 attack demands opponents to have a blocker ready when the Elephant comes charging, but even then, a Phoenixborn isn’t safe from the impact of Overkill 2! The Unbreakable 2 ability also makes it difficult for your opponent to respond to the immediate threat of an Elephant Rider. Protection from cards like Sword of Virtue, Fear, and Steady Gaze can give you the confidence to send your Rider into battle without the worry of efficient counters from your opponent. Although, you may want to be aware of Ceremonial magic users, as Regress is fair game against this dynamic duo… Even still, the Elephant Rider has enough attack to overcome Regress’ -5 attack debuff, allowing you to still threaten Overkill 2 damage against small units!
There are still more Allies that Jericho has in her reserves for us to see, but I’d like to conclude today’s preview with another ready spell that supports the Allies we’ve seen today.
Magic Purity
Magic Purity rewards players who play huge basic cost cards like the Battle Mage, Elephant Rider, and last week’s Turtle Guard. The raw dice efficiency that this ready spell provides is undeniable, and the right deck can easily gain 1 die per round for each copy of Magic Purity they get on their spellboard. Its up-front cost of only a main action paired with its actionless activation cost makes for a very easy to use economy card in a deck that is willing to support high basic costs. There are plenty of uses for Magic Purity outside of Jericho’s base deck as well. Getting discounts on Seaside Ravens, Rin’s Fury, Phoenix Barrage, and even Iron Rhino make this a very appealing ready spell for plenty of Phoenixborn!
That’s all for this week! If you haven't already, be sure to check out Jericho's previous preview articles here. Remember, both the Path of Assassins and the Masters of Gravity expansion decks will be available November 9th! I’ll see you all next week as we wrap up the previews for these exciting new decks!
Take care!
- Nick Conley
CommentsThe indigenously-developed surface-to-surface missile, Agni-5, is capable of striking a target more than 5,000 km. (File photo)
Agni 5 nuclear capable ballistic missile was successfully test-launched today off Odisha coast! The missile, an ICBM (Inter-continental ballistic missile) is set to give a big and formidable boost to India’s strike capabilities. With a range of over 5,000 km, the indigenously-developed Agni 5 has the lethal power to strike China. The Agni-V missile is India’s most advanced and potent weapon and deterrent against enemies. Today’s trial is the fourth developmental trial and the second canisterised-based one of the long range missile.
The first test of this missile was conducted on April 19, 2012, the second test was carried out on September 15, 2013 and the third on January 31, 2015 from the same base. The surface-to-surface Agni 5 missile is about 17-metre long, 2-metre wide and has launch weight of around 50 tonnes. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead of more than one tonne.
Watch: File video of Agni 5 canister-based launch
The first two test launches happened in an “open configuration”. The second canister-based trial assumes great significance since it would give the defence forces the ability to transport the missile on a truck and fire from wherever required. With Agni 5’s induction in the coming years, India will become the sixth country in the world to have a missile with over 5,000 km range. The other countries are China, Russia, the US, France and US.
Unlike other missiles of Agni series, the latest one ‘Agni-5’ is the most advanced having some new technologies incorporated with it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine. India has at present in its armoury of Agni series, Agni-1 with 700 km range, Agni-2 with 2,000 km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with with 2,500 km to more than 3500 km range. After some few more trials, Agni-5 will be inducted into the services, sources said.
Watch: Old video of how the Agni 5 missile works
Lot of new technologies developed indigenously were successfully tested in the first Agni-5 trial. The redundant navigation systems, very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and the most modern and accurate Micro Navigation System (MINS) had ensured the Missile reach the target point within few metres of accuracy.
The high-speed on board computer and fault tolerant software along with robust and reliable bus guided the missile flawlessly, an official said.
(With inputs from Agencies)A boatload of Cuban migrants scaled a 136-year-old lighthouse off the Florida Keys. The U.S. Coast Guard convinced them to come down.
Maria Elena Lopez played the video over and over, filled with relief -- and questions. She spotted her son's dark blue T-shirt. She watched him brush his hand across his face.
Is he OK? When was the last time he ate? When would she have a chance to see him again?
"Finally," she thought to herself, "I will have him here with me."
That was more than five weeks ago. And the mother and son are still hundreds of miles apart.
She's at home in Jacksonville, Florida. Her son, Alexander Vergara Lopez, and the other 23 Cubans who climbed the American Shoal Lighthouse last month are now aboard a Coast Guard cutter, waiting for a federal judge to decide their fate.
An answer is expected any day now in a fierce legal battle that centers on a key question: Does the lighthouse count as "dry land"?
Making their case
The judge's ruling will determine whether the migrants can stay in the United States or whether authorities must send them back to Cuba.
The lighthouse the migrants climbed is about 6.5 miles south of Sugarloaf Key, some 15 miles east of Key West in the Florida island chain.
In a federal lawsuit, attorneys representing the migrants point to the decades-old "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which gives Cubans who've set foot on American soil the chance to stay in the United States.
"These refugees landed and disembarked on a U.S. federal building that was on U.S. federal property. And that constituted a landing with feet that were literally -- and legally -- dry feet," lawyer Kendall Coffey said.
But lawyers for the federal government have a different take.
The lighthouse is U.S. property, they argue, but not U.S. territory. And climbing up an offshore lighthouse, they say, isn't the same as landing in America.
"Passengers traveling to the United States do not request to be dropped off at lighthouses located 6.5 nautical miles from shore," Assistant U.S. Attorney Dexter Lee argued in court documents.
The migrants, he said, jumped into the water and swam to the lighthouse as the Coast Guard interrupted "their attempt at illegal entry into the United States."
The migrants "are not applicants for admission to the United States, since they have not come ashore, or reached dry land," Lee said.
It may sound simple on the surface. But the case is so complicated that U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles said in court that he'd need weeks to make his decision.
A ruling in the case is expected this week, according to Movimiento Democracia, the Miami-based group that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the detained Cubans.
Democracy Movement: It appears that the Lighthouse Cuban Rafters case will be decided by the Judge on Tuesday before noon. — MovimientoDemocracia (@MovDemocracia) June 25, 2016
Legal limbo
Usually migrants intercepted at sea are swiftly sent back to their home countries, the Coast Guard says. But this group remains in custody while their case plays out in court.
In most instances migrants interdicted at sea will be returned to their country of origin.... — USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) May 21, |
were on file from a 2007 misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving.
Martinez spent the night in jail, was arraigned the next day and posted a $100,000 bond. San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Raymond Haight cleared Martinez after comparing his identifying information with the identifiers on the warrant, Martinez said in the complaint.
Martinez’s attorney, Donald Cook, has filed multiple lawsuits against Los Angeles County seeking to fix flaws in the state’s warrants system. The attorney has repeatedly urged law enforcement officials to use the unique identifying numbers on warrants.
“This is not the result of aberrational behavior,” Cook said in an interview with Courthouse News in 2016. “This is the result of a systematic failure by law enforcement to simply exonerate the innocent, the people that they really know, should know, are innocent. They have an attitude of they don’t really care if in fact it’s not the right person.”
San Bernardino County sheriff’s department records going back five years showed that up to 450 people were jailed on the wrong warrants and that officials knew about the problem but did nothing to fix it, Martinez said.
Cook wrote in an email on Thursday that the case had settled for $150,000 with no formally acknowledged changes to the warrant system.
The class action complaint was for false arrest, wrongful incarceration and false imprisonment.
San Bernardino County spokesman David Wert said that he could not comment on cases related to the sheriff’s department.
The City of Colton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The New York Post wants you to know that someone who was once arrested for drug possession in 2013 got a new job in 2015.
That doesn't seem newsworthy on its face (at least, it shouldn't). But because the job in question is a top communications job on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, the Post appears to think it's important.
Zac Petkanas was hired by the Clinton campaign a few days ago to run its "rapid response" communications team. In 2013 (according to the Post), while working for the Nevada Democratic Party, he was admitted to a New Orleans hospital — and when the nurse discovered Petkanas had methamphetamine in his pocket, he was arrested in the hospital for drug possession. Petkanas agreed to do a pretrial diversion program, and the charges were dropped; he also, voluntarily, went into rehab.
The Post doesn't offer any explanation for why Petkanas's 2013 arrest for methamphetamine possession would make it harder for him to do his job in 2015. And it doesn't explain why his hire should be embarrassing to the Clinton campaign. The campaign doesn't appear to have tried to hide Petkanas's arrest from the public. To the contrary, a spokesperson told the Post that the incident "was a bad choice" but that Petkanas "has made a full recovery in the years since. We are very glad to have him on our team." And while there's a legitimate argument to be made that a political staffer's personal behavior matters when that behavior is at odds with the policies he's pushing, what happened to Petkanas is consistent with the public health approach that Clinton and other Democrats and criminal justice reformers are beginning to take to drug policy. The Post doesn't even bother to make a case that Petkanas or the Clinton campaign is being hypocritical.
What's left is the insinuation that ever having been arrested for drugs is a Bad Thing, and that campaigns (or, by extension, anyone else) shouldn't hire people who have done this Bad Thing. Ironically — but worrisomely — this comes right after both New York City and the federal government have made moves to reduce discrimination in employment against people with criminal records. Articles like the Post's make it clear that a stigma still exists against people with criminal involvement in their pasts.
Hiring someone with a criminal record isn't a bad thing
About one in four American adults has a criminal record. (The number could be higher.) That's a large portion of the potential labor pool for any job — and, of course, an even bigger portion of the pool for low-wage jobs in particular.
It's extremely common for employers to discriminate against job applicants with criminal records, especially if those job applicants aren't white. But being unable to get a job after a run-in with the law makes it extremely hard for someone to stay away from criminal activity in the future.
That dilemma is behind the recent push to "ban the box," prohibiting employers from asking about criminal histories on job applications. On Monday, President Obama announced he was directing the federal government to delay asking applicants about criminal histories until later in the hiring process whenever possible. And at the end of October, a "ban the box" law that prohibited any employer (public or private) from asking about past convictions on applications or during interviews went into effect in New York City — where both Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign headquarters and the New York Post are located.
The idea behind ban-the-box laws is that if an applicant has the chance to impress a potential employer as an individual, the employer won't stereotype him as a "criminal" even after finding out about his record. But if the stigma against hiring someone who's committed a crime is too strong, the impression the applicant's already made won't matter — the employer will disqualify him at whatever point in the hiring process the criminal record happens to come up. Ban the box is a good example of a general principle: Laws can't eradicate social stigma; at best, they can work around it. Eradicating stigma completely is measured in changes to the way people interact with one another when they're not being told what to do.
When the media treats a past drug arrest as a big, bad deal, that's a pretty powerful reinforcement of stigma against people with past arrests. It confirms the fears and suspicions that employers — and customers, and everyone else — might have: You are right to be worried about these people; society agrees they're untrustworthy and should be avoided.
It's easy to defend discrimination against someone when not discriminating would get you in trouble
This sort of thinking is especially dangerous when it gives people an out to defend discrimination on the basis of what other people will think or do: It's not what I think, it's what the family/community/customers/society thinks. Employers don't want to bring trouble on themselves simply by hiring one person over another; why would they? On a case-by-case basis, it's a commonsense decision; collectively, it's how stigma works.
For a presidential campaign, getting in the paper for making a risky hire is a kind of press that the campaign doesn't want at all, and typically does its best to avoid. This is why high-profile hires are so thoroughly vetted. The Clinton campaign could have decided that hiring Petkanas wasn't worth the risk of this getting out; plenty of campaigns have made decisions like that plenty of times. Instead, they decided Petkanas was worth the risk of publicity — and the Post, helpfully, immediately reminded them why campaigns so frequently discriminate.
Most employers don't get the same level of public scrutiny that presidential campaigns do; I'm not saying that a hardware store owner needs to worry about his name turning up in the New York Post. But all employers have to worry about the public in some regard. And that's why many employers use background checks to begin with.
Background checks are rarely a test of the applicant's moral character: In a 2012 Society for Human Resource Management survey, only 17 percent of employers who used background checks said that "assessing the overall trustworthiness of the job candidate" was a primary reason. Instead, they're worried that hiring someone with a criminal record will create trouble with them for other people. Fifty-two percent of employers who conducted background checks said their primary concern was to reduce their legal liability: If an employee did something wrong to a customer or simply made the customer uncomfortable, the employer didn't want to get sued for "negligently" hiring someone she could have known was a threat.
How often that actually happens, and how justified employers' fears might be, isn't particularly relevant. It's something that employers feel exists, and it's much easier for them to protect the public from ex-offenders than for them to get the public to stop seeing ex-offenders as constant threats. It's a powerful argument for an employer not to try to be a hero, and to acquiesce to a social norm even if she believes it's wrong.Introduction
A situation has been described below. Has it ever happened to you?
I wanted to learn Python for Data Science, so I googled ‘I want to learn Python for data science’. Google, effortlessly, provided you the link of all resources to learn Python. Then, you get bemused by the innumerable links available to learn Python. Eventually, you end up contemplating, ‘From where should I begin now?’
Yes? Don’t worry. Because you will never again face such situations.
There are plethora of resources available to learn programming and data science in Python. It is difficult to find a structured approach to master this language. To solve these problems, we launched learning path for data science in Python.
Today, we take this once step forward and provide you with an infographic for the same. Feel free to circulate this to your friends or take a print out and keep it on your pin-board!
Download the PDF Version of this infographic and save it in your computer by clicking here –> Data Science in Python.pdf
To view the comprehensive version of this learning path, click here: Python learning path resources
Additional Information:
Once you complete the Beginner Level, read this baby steps guides below and proceed to the next level:
1. Baby Steps to Learn Python for Data Analysis
2. Baby Steps in Python – Libraries and Data Structures
Once you reach step 4, follow the baby steps guide shared below:
1. Baby Steps in Python – Exploratory Analysis in Python(Using Pandas)
2. Baby Steps in Python – How to do data munging in Python (Using Pandas)
After this, proceed as per the Infographic.
Incase, you feel any difficulty in learning python, feel free to ask us here.
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You can also read this article on Analytics Vidhya's Android APPScary Stories to Tell In the Dark scared the crap out of every ’90s third grader. The creepy book, first published in 1981, was a darker alternative to Goosebumps thanks to the haunting illustrations by artist Stephen Gammell and macabre tales by author Alvin Schwartz.
As Reddit ClintTorus user describes:
Guillermo del Toro, director of Pan’s Labyrinth, confirmed that he’ll be producing a movie based on the series for CBS films.
I start development on a film based on a favorite book of youth: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! https://t.co/yu31FkCz4K—
Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) January 14, 2016
But as one Reddit user puts it:
Even Guillermo del Toro recognizes that Gammell’s artwork is “scary as fuck.”
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Schwatrz & Gammell. Allegedly a Y.A. book retelling of campfire tales. Gammell's art is scary as fuck. — Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) November 28, 2015
In 2011, publisher Harper Collins, decided that the Gammell’s artwork was indeed too “scary as fuck” for children and replaced all the images with family-friendly illustrations by artist Brett Helquist. While Helquist is an amazing artist in his own right, the images just seem less… frightening.
Remember “The Red Spot?” The story describes an unfortunate girl whose unsightly boil exploded with spiders.
1990s version:
2011 version:
And then there was “Oh, Susanna.” Spoiler: Susanna’s roommate’s head was cut off by a crazy killer.
Here’s the original artwork (and accompanying narration in case you didn’t want to sleep tonight).
The 2011 version:
And, of course, who could forget HAROLD, the scarecrow.
Before:
After:These objects are generally discovered during the course of renovations to the building. Many are found by tradesmen. Typical locations are inside the chimney structure or in other sealed voids within the building.
This 1860s house had a concealed cat
What to do if you find Ritual Objects
Notify your local heritage authority (but be aware that many people - even those who should know - have never heard of this bizarre practice). Contact Ian Evans at the World of Old Houses to report the find and for further information and suggestions.
Photograph the object, in situ if possible, with a tape measure to indicate its size. Record details of the find, including the date, address and circumstances of the discovery, plus the precise location within the building.
Shoes
Shoes are the most common objects discovered. These are typically well-worn and in most cases only a single shoe will be found. The chimney breast, roof cavity or subfloor area are typical locations for concealed shoes.
Shoes found in 19th century buildings
Cats
Dried cats may be found in various locations within a building. In the UK they may be found in roof thatching. In Australia they have been discovered in voids near the foundations of the building or in roof cavities. Cats were believed to have an association with witches and it may have been thought that they would serve to decoy evil spirits away from the people of a house. It may also have been thought that they would destroy spiritual vermin in the other world.
Cat found in a sealed void in an 1860s house
Witch Bottles
Witch bottles are stoneware or glass bottles or jugs, filled with urine, heart shapes cut from felt, bent pins and nail clippings. These were buried beneath the hearth or near entrances to buildings. In the UK Bellarmine jugs were used to make witch bottles.
Witch bottles from Hampshire, UK. Image by Hampshire Museums Service
Other Finds
A variety of domestic artifacts may be found concealed within the structure of old houses. These may include clothing, clay pipes, dolls, utensils, books, toys and other common household objects.
Apotropaic Marks The word apotropaic comes from the Latin for a verse or hymn intended to avert the wrath of angry gods. Typical marks invoke the protection of the Virgin Mary by using the letters 'VV" (which stands for Virgin of Virgins), spectacle marks to deflect the evil eye and runic symbols which were considered to have magical powers. A 17th-century dairy door from Suffolk, UK. Ritual marks have been highlighted with chalk for clarity Candlesmoke Marks These are found on ceilings, often in bedrooms or hallways near bedrooms. They consist of magical symbols written on the ceiling with the smoke from a candle. Candle-smoke marks on a ceiling, Suffolk, UK
Links
For further information about concealed ritual objects contact Brian Hoggard's site, Apotropaios, the Concealed Garments Project at the University of Southampton, or Ruben De Somer's Cat-a-Log.A Realization
We’ve misunderstood search for a long time.
We thought search was about asking questions and getting answers. But it’s not. Not really. It’s never been about that.
I’m going to back that up, as long as you stick with me.
For the last five years, we’ve based most of our digital marketing strategy around search — as we’ve understood it. Which is to say that almost every decision we’ve tended to make has been connected in some way to the assumption that the best experience we can offer is the most seamless path from search to answer. This touches everything, from information architecture to user experience to markup to even the underlying logic of the database itself. Our white whale — the magic search box — lurks beneath the surface of every facet of what we do. And yet, it eludes us. It will continue to do so until we can match the resources of the companies who establish our expectations for what search is and how it works. Rather than wait for that to happen — unlikely as it is — I suggest we consider alternatives.
But regardless of whether it is or is not within reach, the magic search box is, ultimately, a distraction. The longer we chase after it, the harder we strive for it, the farther afield we will be from our actual objective: creating platforms that positively affect the bottom line and can be proven to have done so.
It’s too easy to lose sight of that objective. You see, we’ve been so focused on inbound marketing — which is entirely dependent upon search — that the real advances in design and marketing have been in our blind spot. Why? Because they’re essentially outbound, not inbound.
Last week, I found myself sitting in a crowded conference room hashing out some details with a client who is in the midst of an extremely large and complex e-commerce project. It had already been a long day and we still had plenty more to cover. I was tired. It was a little hot in there. I was adding to the hot air by making a long, wonky, convoluted point about how we should handle search when, all of the sudden, something clicked for me. The foggy mix of user experience, search, and lead development suddenly cleared up, bringing an essential connection between them into view in a way that I’d never considered before. I stopped — mid-sentence — reset, and shared this idea with the client. Whether they sensed this epiphany or thought I was recounting standard operating procedure, I don’t know. But in response, a wave of nodding heads circled the table.
I want to share that connection with you. In fact, I fast-tracked this article to make sure this idea made its way to you as quickly as possible because I want you to put it to use as soon as you can.
But first, we need to review a story we thought we already knew.
What “Search” is For
Search, as we know it, was a necessary innovation. We needed a faster, more precise way to figure out what was actually on the web. Humans — slow, dumb, easily distracted, fickle and sloppy — were no good at it. We’d proven that by building Yahoo 1.0. Manually building lists (good lord, can you imagine?) clearly had no chance of keeping up with the exponential growth of the web. Math and robots, as it turned out, were our only hope.
A couple of guys in a garage figured that one out. Ok, a couple of brilliant computer scientists in a garage. Given the mind-boggling complexity of the web itself — its vastness and intricacy — Google was a clever choice for the name of the search tool they built. They turned a math noun, a googol — one, followed by a hundred zeros — into a verb. Brilliant.
But the initial leap forward wasn’t really a better way of searching for things. It was in gathering things to be searched; figuring out just what, exactly, was out there and organizing it all. Sure, then you need to do some math to match the query with the right thing, and that’s no small task, but that wasn’t the out-of-left-field idea. Sergey Brin and Larry Page must have understood something unique about perspective: Good search might look like a better magnifying glass, but it’s actually a better census.
This is an important point. It means that search has always been about the right way of asking for information.
It didn’t take long to figure out how to make what otherwise might have been a public service into a business. Not a search business, though. An advertising business. It shouldn’t be news to you that Google makes its money by selling the information you drop into its little box to advertisers. Adwords, a program that accounts for about 70% of Google’s advertising revenue, promises its customers a good match between the words and phrases they believe are representative of what they offer and the search queries made by you and me. The more we search, the more ads Google can display. This is a much better business model than trying to charge you and me to search for things, right?
Google’s stated mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Notice that the word “search” isn’t used. It’s really not about search; it’s about Google turning the world’s information — information you and I tell them — into a value proposition to advertisers. You see, it quickly became clear that the world’s information made for something far beyond a better census. Every search query carries subtext that discloses much more than simple demographics. This is what Google sells. They’re saying, “We can match you with people better than anyone else because people tell us everything you want to know: who they are, what they want, what they’re hoping for, what they’re afraid of.” Google isn’t nearly as interested in helping you and me find what we’re looking for as they are in helping someone else find us. To do this, they give us a good magnifying glass; they give their customers the keys to our diary.
Our written diary. The value of that information was made abundantly clear by their $23 Billion IPO (their market capitalization has since exploded to just shy of $300 Billion), but surely there was even more value in obtaining the information we aren’t writing down. That’s where Google Voice came in. The idea was simple: hook up your phone number to your Google account, and Google will turn your voicemails into emails (it does other things too). But it was never really about giving you a better answering machine. It was about Google learning how to build a better machine to interpret the human voice. Why? So that they could give you a new way to search. Why? So that you will keep telling them things. Why? So that they can keep selling access to you to advertisers.
For Google, search is R&D. Plain and simple. It always has been.
Which means that search isn’t really about answering questions. Search is about profiling.
Why Profiling is More Important than Search
These days, I rarely search Amazon.
It’s not that there’s anything particularly wrong with their search. It’s incredible, really. Magical almost! And every now and then, I will search for something very specific — usually to price-check it and add it to a wish list. But if it’s so good, why don’t I use it more?
Because I don’t need to.
The more I shop on Amazon, the more Amazon learns about me. In fact, shopping on Amazon is an incredibly intimate experience — something made possible (in part) by it feeling entirely the opposite. It’s inconceivably big, after all. So big that I feel I couldn’t possibly be noticed by anyone. At least not anyone human. Most people are well aware today that a website as enormous and complex as Amazon is a machine — a manifestation of complex algorithms and massive data centers — operating on automated protocols. When I shop on Amazon, it’s as if I’m wandering around a deserted megastore that somehow still works. There isn’t anyone there but me. No one greets me, no one follows me as I browse the aisles, no one watches me hem and haw over the right pair of shoes, no one rings me up and says, “see you next time.” Funny how this changes my behavior. When a clerk at The Gap asks me for my email address, I’m indignant. But I’ll tell Amazon just about anything. Name; email; address; credit card number; bank account number; the names and addresses of friends and family members for whom I buy and send gifts; what I read, watch, listen to; what I wear; what I eat; what personal care products I use; even where I am right now. I know this because I just logged in to my account to verify that yes, Amazon indeed knows all these things. Amazon computes: “Oh, he’s at work now. He’s likely to buy a book or a keyboard or a power strip.” The anonymity I feel is a seductive illusion that makes me all the more likely to disclose even the most private of information.
Every purchase carries a subtext. And, of course, every combination of purchase is also suggestive. Perhaps even of something so private, few customers would ever intentionally disclose it. When the store sees everything and remembers everything it sees, purchasing is profile-building.
Amazon doesn’t stop there. They leverage a multitude of other user actions besides purchasing to extend and refine their customer profiles. Because of what I tell them — directly and indirectly — they know what things I buy, what things I want to buy, and even what things I might buy someday if I know about them. Then they show them to me. They don’t wait for me to search for them. On Amazon, you don’t even have to buy to be profiled; simply using is profile-building.
Below is what Amazon.com shows me, personally. I’ve zoomed out quite a bit and used a red overlay to demonstrate just how many things are displayed on the page specifically for me based upon algorithms that weigh the information contained by my profile against Amazon’s inventory. There is a lot of red. That’s because they know a lot about me.
“More Items to Consider”
“Get Yourself a Little Something”
“Inspired by Your Browsing History”
“Related to Items You’ve Viewed
“New For You”
“Additional Items to Explore”
Each of these messages accompanies a list of things Amazon thinks I might want. Each item within these lists is accompanied by a small link that reads, “Why recommended?” which, when clicked, shows me the exact relationship between something I’ve done on the site and their recommendation. They’re not trying to hide how all this works. They want me to participate!
These recommendations fit my profile, which is informed by a combination of the following points of interaction:
Purchases : Amazon can cross-reference what I buy with what you buy and then show me other things that people like us buy. Also, if I view an item that I purchased previously, I get a helpful “Instant Order Update” message across the top of the page. When I use it to buy that thing again, Amazon takes note of the pattern.
: Amazon can cross-reference what I buy with what you buy and then show me other things that people like us buy. Also, if I view an item that I purchased previously, I get a helpful “Instant Order Update” message across the top of the page. When I use it to buy that thing again, Amazon takes note of the pattern. Wish Lists : Amazon lets me build as many different lists as I want. I can name them, organize them, annotate them, and share them. Some list templates are designed for very specific purposes. A detailed enough gift list can tell Amazon about the preferences of important people in my life. Lists for wedding and baby planning tell Amazon how my family is growing or changing. The metadata within my lists can be just as influential as the products I add to them.
: Amazon lets me build as many different lists as I want. I can name them, organize them, annotate them, and share them. Some list templates are designed for very specific purposes. A detailed enough gift list can tell Amazon about the preferences of important people in my life. Lists for wedding and baby planning tell Amazon how my family is growing or changing. The metadata within my lists can be just as influential as the products I add to them. Browsing History : Amazon keeps track of everything I look at, regardless of whether I add it to a wish list, or put it in my cart. Fortunately, I can edit this, just in case I happen to view The Davinci Code — I was buying it for a friend. FOR A FRIEND!!! — and don’t want Amazon to recommend anything like that to me EVER EVER EVER.
: Amazon keeps track of everything I look at, regardless of whether I add it to a wish list, or put it in my cart. Fortunately, I can edit this, just in case I happen to view The Davinci Code — — and don’t want Amazon to recommend anything like that to me EVER EVER EVER. Prime: Since I decided to pay for a Prime membership — which gets me free two-day shipping, among other perks — I have simply bought more from Amazon. That’s the whole point. I’ve got to shop enough to make the membership worth its price (which, honestly, is not that much shopping). What this does is encourage purchase patterns. When the shipping is free, many things that I might otherwise buy locally become cheaper to buy on Amazon. In particular, a wide variety of household goods. The more I buy that sort of thing, the more Amazon learns about me and my life. (Naturally, I have mixed feelings about all of this. And yet, I am more and more ensconced in Amazon. Look away, I’m hideous!)
This is profiling. It works regardless of my awareness of it, but it works best when I participate. The more I contribute to my profile, the more accurate it is. The more accurate my profile, the better Amazon will be at showing me things. The better Amazon is at showing me things, the more I am likely to buy those things. And the less likely I am to need to search for them.
Within e-commerce settings, search and user experience should have an inverse relationship. The newer the user, the less familiar she will be with the structure, contents, and logic of the platform. Search alleviates that disorientation by making it simple to quickly find the thing you need. But as a user becomes acclimated to the platform — after she has created an account, or made many purchases, or contributed to the sort of profile I described above — search declines in importance. Significantly. It becomes a part of a spectrum of use, not the most important function the site has to offer.
It’s more important that your website be proactive in its personalization than that it has even the most magic of search boxes. The less you expect your customer to search, the longer they will remain your customer.
Don’t make me search. Profile me instead.
This is the connection that became clear to me in the midst of that client meeting. We’d been fussing over an inordinately complex search tool when we should have been thinking about better profiling all along. This is a common mistake, particularly in e-commerce. Far too much time is spent designing bloated systems to get customers to product and far too little on systems that bring product to customers.
How to Get Users to Self-Profile
Now that we understand how profiling can work we need to consider practical ways to introduce it to our users. Amazon, of course, provides a great example. But there are other ways we can increase user input and then use that information to offer a more personalized experience to them. Here are a few to consider:
Purchases : Your site should keep track of what individual users buy. This requires that your site offer users the ability to create accounts that track this activity, not just make purchases. Once you are tracking purchase history, you can get incrementally better at recommending additional products in whatever ways make sense (e.g. buying profile similarities, demographics, inherent product relationships, etc.) as well as proactively encourage repeat purchases.
: Your site should keep track of what individual users buy. This requires that your site offer users the ability to create accounts that track this activity, not just make purchases. Once you are tracking purchase history, you can get incrementally better at recommending additional products in whatever ways make sense (e.g. buying profile similarities, demographics, inherent product relationships, etc.) as well as proactively encourage repeat purchases. Account Preferences : Your site should ask users to specify their preferences in whatever ways they can map to inventory. What kinds of products are they interested in? Offer them categories so that you can at least reach out to them with new products that they’ll find interesting.
: Your site should ask users to specify their preferences in whatever ways they can map to inventory. What kinds of products are they interested in? Offer them categories so that you can at least reach out to them with new products that they’ll find interesting. Wish Lists : The best way to find out what a user wants is to let them tell you without any additional commitment. That’s what wish lists are all about. Sure, they’re handy for users who want to plan and organize their purchases, but more importantly, they’re market research for you. Your site should let users create and manage lists, annotate them, save them, and share them. You should take that information and create automated programs that alert users when items on their list are updated, or on sale, or even just to remind them that they’re available.
: The best way to find out what a user wants is to let them tell you without any additional commitment. That’s what wish lists are all about. Sure, they’re handy for users who want to plan and organize their purchases, but more importantly, they’re market research for you. Your site should let users create and manage lists, annotate them, save them, and share them. You should take that information and create automated programs that alert users when items on their list are updated, or on sale, or even just to remind them that they’re available. Ratings and Reviews: Don’t underestimate the value of simple, one-click inputs like ratings. Whether its starring items, liking items, or just clicking a cute little heart icon, your website should give users as many low-commitment opportunities for product feedback as possible. Reviews are great, but far more users will be willing to take a fraction of a second to click something they like than even write a brief review for something they love. You can do all kinds of things with this information — everything from finding patterns and promoting products that fit a liking profile to simply reminding a user that a product they liked is on sale.
None of this is creepy. It’s all stuff that customers want to do. They know that this activity translates directly into a better experience for them.
All of their input feeds a profiling platform that will provide you with an abundance of data that you should turn into output. Some of that output will be site-specific — areas designed for personalized promotions, like all those red spots on my Amazon page — but the rest should be off site. Remember what I said at the beginning of this piece? The new stuff — the really advanced stuff — is outbound, not inbound.
Inbound marketing is all about bringing customers to you. Attracting them with content that answers their questions. Informing them. Engaging them. Inbound marketing is a great fishing pole, but we’ve grown up now and we need more than that. We’ve got to scale up our operation. We need to turn our fishing trip into a farming enterprise. We need to reach out, and nurture our audience. We need to start bringing product to them.
Profile data should catalyze offsite, outbound activity like:
Automated Email Programs : These should be programs designed for specific audience groups that have clear entrance and exit points. For example, you might design an automated program that reminds users of 2-3 products they have in their wish list, and offers incentives to purchase them within a certain time frame. If a user acts on this, they exit that program. If a user ignores it, they might receive an additional reminder before the program ends. This sort of logic could be adapted in many ways. Depending upon the sort of products you offer, it could be as specific as routinely reminding customers when products they have purchased are in need of replacement (e.g. industrial machine parts with measurable life-spans), when warrantees, service plans, or subscriptions are nearing expiration, when new accessories to purchased products are available, or simply when sales are occurring. If you can imagine it, it can probably be done.
: These should be programs designed for specific audience groups that have clear entrance and exit points. For example, you might design an automated program that reminds users of 2-3 products they have in their wish list, and offers incentives to purchase them within a certain time frame. If a user acts on this, they exit that program. If a user ignores it, they might receive an additional reminder before the program ends. This sort of logic could be adapted in many ways. Depending upon the sort of products you offer, it could be as specific as routinely reminding customers when products they have purchased are in need of replacement (e.g. industrial machine parts with measurable life-spans), when warrantees, service plans, or subscriptions are nearing expiration, when new accessories to purchased products are available, or simply when sales are occurring. If you can imagine it, it can probably be done. Retargeting: Retargeting will allow you to create offsite advertising campaigns that are specifically targeted to user profiles and behavior. For example, you could use retargeting to show advertising for products that customers have rated or added to wish lists while they are on social networks, like Facebook, or throughout the web. Like automated programs, the specificity of these programs is completely reliant upon the data you are able to glean from user profiles.
These outbound techniques consistently nurture customer interest and proactively bring product to them. They do it in a way that empowers the user. They should always be in control of what they tell you, and have the ability to scale back or opt out of your communications.
This isn’t about search. It’s about being known.
On the web, competition is ruthless. Every opportunity you have to remain top of mind with your audience is one you should fiercely pursue. Your potential customers are looking at your competitor’s website. Your existing customers are looking at your competitor’s website! I assure you of that. So who is going to win their business? Whoever knows the customer best. Don’t make them search. They won’t do it if they don’t have to. They’ll stick with whomever figures that out first. Let that be you. Let them tell you who they are.There is ample evidence that spikes in oil prices leads to recession, at least in the US, which is an oil-importing nation. James Hamilton has shown that 10 out of the last 11 US recessions were associated with oil price spikes. How does this happen? An analogy can perhaps help explain the situation. analogy also sheds light on a number of related economic mysteries:
How can oil have a far greater impact on the world economy than its share of the world GDP would suggest? After all, BP’s World Energy Outlook to 2030 shows the world cost of oil is only a little over 4% of world GDP. How can high oil prices continue to act as a “drag” on the economy, long after the initial spike is past? Why isn’t a service economy insulated from the problems of high oil prices? After all, its energy use is relatively low.
The Oil Analogy
An oil product, such as jet fuel, is in some ways analogous to a specialized employee, with skills different from what human employees have. Let’s think of an airline. It has human employees–pilots, copilots, flight attendants, baggage workers, mechanics, and airport check-in personnel. None of these human employees can actually |
werp in Belgium, or in India.
"The biggest and most beautiful diamonds are auctioned off, usually for much more than the minimum price," explains Oleg Popov, deputy director of production.
Next door, in the exhibition hall, some of the best stones are spread out on a green-clothed table, including about a dozen walnut-sized diamonds, each weighing 60 carats.
Touching them is not allowed.
Going underground
Image caption This diamond is worth half a million dollars
Today, the diamonds no longer come from that giant hole in the ground. Alrosa had to move production underground, as declining yields and safety concerns have forced it to shut down the open pit.
That was 10 years ago, and it marked the beginning of a new era.
Valeriy Latynin, who runs a mine on the outskirts of Mirny, says the future lies underground.
"We can dig as deep as we want as long as there is a diamond pipe," says Mr Latynin.
With open pits, the problem is "that as you dig deeper you have to support the walls and it gets more difficult to get the ore out", he adds.
But underground mining is much more expensive. In the past decade, Alrosa's debt increased considerably as a result of its investment in new pits and areas of activity.
The opening of a new underground mine in 2009 coincided with the financial crisis and a steep drop in demand for diamonds. The Russian state, Alrosa's main shareholder, had to come to the rescue.
RUSSIA BUSINESS REPORT Russia Business Report is a television programme on BBC World News. Every month we take a look at the latest trends in Russian business and its economy. Watch the next programme on Saturday, 30 April at 0330 GMT and 1830 GMT and on Sunday, 1 May at 1130 GMT and 1830 GMT. Russia Business Report
At his work place 960m (3,150ft) below the surface, Valery Kosar drives a giant machine that burrows deep into the rock to extract the ore.
The ore that he scoops up from the ground is dark and not very sparkly. There is not a diamond in sight.
Mr Kosar has been working underground for eight years, but he also has a life outside the mine.
"At home there's one family, and the miners are my other family," Mr Kosar says.
"We have known each other for years. If someone comes here to work he tends to stay for a long time."
Some 70% of the working population in Mirny work for Alrosa, in the mines, in the factories or in the administration. Or they work for Alrosa Air, or for the company-owned hotel.
Alrosa has built hospitals and cultural centres, it finances cheap housing, health care and pensions for its workers, and it pays for a return flight to another place in Russia every two years.
Everyone in the company, from the chief executive to the local press officer, insists the company has a social responsibility for the people here.
And in case Alrosa should forget, the regional government of Yakutia, also a major shareholder, will not be shy about reminding the company of its duties. Half of Yakutia's regional budget comes from the diamond firm's taxes.
Stock market plans
It is not clear how much impact a plan by the company to sell shares on the stock market for the first time will have here.
Image caption Alrosa is now using machines like this one underground, instead of digging big pits
Alrosa is hoping to raise enough money from its share sale, which is expected in autumn 2012, to pay off its debts, develop deposits near Archangel and move more production underground.
Private investors are likely to push for cost cutting and higher payouts to shareholders, potentially endangering the way of life here.
Yet questions about it draws nothing but blank looks from a group of young mothers chatting in front of the local supermarket.
Whatever the changes facing the company, both in terms of technology and corporate structure, the giant hole in Mirny will remain the symbol of Russia's diamond industry.Google is doubling down on hardware.
The U.S. search giant said Thursday it will pay $1.1 billion to get its hands on smartphone expertise from struggling Taiwanese manufacturer HTC.
Under the deal, Google (GOOGL) will bring on board about 2,000 HTC engineers and technical staff. It will also license some of the Taiwanese firm's intellectual property in a separate agreement, the companies said in a statement.
Google said the move shows its commitment to venturing further into the market for smartphones and other devices.
Related: Google unveils its Pixel smartphone and VR headset
"It's still early days for Google's hardware business," Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president of hardware wrote in a blog post. "We're focused on building our core capabilities, while creating a portfolio of products."
Those products so far include the company's Pixel smartphones, which are designed to compete with the iPhone; Google Home, a voice-controlled speaker that allows users to look things up on its extensive search database and perform other tasks; and Google Daydream View, a headset intended for the casual virtual reality user.
The hardware department has also suffered some embarrassing flops. Many, for instance, still remember Google Glass, which failed to take off with mainstream consumers. (The company has since come out with the Glass Enterprise Edition, another version of the device designed for workers.)
Thursday's announcement was framed as the culmination of Google and HTC's decade-long partnership, including their work on the first smartphone to use the Android operating system.
Related: How Android beat the iPhone to world domination
HTC is also manufacturing Pixel devices. And many of the HTC employees joining Google under the new deal are already working on Pixel phones.
HTC, which has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years, said the Google agreement won't hurt its own smartphone business, suggesting it will allow it to streamline its range of products.
The Taiwanese company also said it will continue to pursue other technologies, including VIVE, its well-known VR unit, and artificial intelligence.Looking for news you can trust?
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Elizabeth Warren says “America’s middle class is in deep trouble.” Although general economic indicators are on the rise, the Massachusetts senator argued in a speech Wednesday morning, pay has stagnated for all but the richest Americans—and trickle-down voodoo economics and loose Wall Street regulation are to blame. And although Warren has given every indication that she’s happy to remain in the Senate and pass on liberals’ hopes that she’ll run for president in 2016, her speech—at an AFL-CIO conference on wages—had the tone of a presidential campaign barnstormer.
Warren kicked off her address by noting that the current economic recovery, while real, hasn’t helped most Americans. The stock market’s up, but half the country doesn’t own any stocks. Inflation is low, but that doesn’t matter for millennials burdened by overwhelming student debt. Corporate profits have risen, but that hardly matters to people who work at Walmart and are paid so little that they still need food stamps, Warren said.
This divergence between the rich and the rest has been long in the making, Warren said. Since the 1980s, she noted, wages have actually fallen for everyone outside the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans. “All of the new money earned in this economy over the past generation—all that growth in the GDP—went to the top,” Warren said.
The spirit of trickle-down politics is to blame, according to Warren. It’s just “magical accounting scams that pretend to cut taxes and raise revenue.” In the 1980s, President Reagan and his economic swami Arthur Laffer pushed the concept that slashing taxes on the rich will actually benefit the poor; the top 1 percent would have more money to spend and would end up revving the entire economy. “Trickle-down was popular with big corporations and their lobbyists,” Warren said, “but it never really made much sense.” This theory has generally been debunked by economists but is still loved by Republicans. The new House majority has already changed the way Congress does math in order to align with trickle-down theories, and Republican governors have tanked state budgets by lowering taxes on the rich—all while promising those tax cuts will help state economies.
Add in Wall Street deregulation, and you’ve built a powder keg to keep the middle class down. “Pretty much the whole Republican Party—and, if we’re going to be honest, too many Democrats—talked about the evils of ‘big government’ and called for deregulation,” Warren said. “It sounded good, but it was really about tying the hands of regulators and turning loose big banks and giant international corporations to do whatever they wanted to do.”
But when it came to laying out an actual vision for how to boost the wages of middle-class workers, Warren remained vague, relying on typical broad strokes of Democratic policy, pushing for more investment in infrastructure and education, higher taxes on the rich, increased opportunities for workers to unionize, and trade policies to favor American manufacturing. Warren didn’t spell out how she’d achieve these goals. The closest she got to a specific policy recommendation was when she called for breaking up Wall Street banks.
Warren closed on a somber note, recalling how, after her father suffered a heart attack, her family got by on her mother’s minimum-wage job at Sears. “I grew up in an America that invested in kids like me,” Warren said, “an America that built opportunities for kids to compete in a changing world, an America where a janitor’s kid could become a United States senator. I believe in that America.” The hushed crowd jumped to its feet in applause. Sure, Warren’s story fit the theme of why wages need to be higher. But it was exactly the sort of personal-as-political tale that wouldn’t sound out of place on the presidential campaign trail.We’ve heard much about the new AKG earphones Samsung would place in the box with the upcoming Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, and the images have now surfaced, and we provided an exclusive a few months ago highlighting new cases as well as a 2,600mAh backpack for the next-generation flagships from Samsung, but it seems as though the Korean giant is not yet done with battery accessories.
A new 5100mAh power bank has surfaced online in both grey and blue colors with USB Type-C charging and 15W Fast Charging capabilities. The model number, EB-PG950, reminds us that the model number for the upcoming Galaxy S8 is SM-G950, seeing that Samsung’s cultural tetraphobia prevents the Korean giant from using the number “4” in its model number listing. This new accessory confirms USB Type-C charging for the Galaxy S8 (though leaks have already confirmed this long ago).
As for the battery capacity of the Galaxy S8, whispers inside the industry have pointed to, at most, a 3,250mAh battery, though the 3,500mAh Galaxy S8+ battery that leaked last week may indicate that the S8’s battery size will remain at the Galaxy S7’s 3,000mAh capacity.
Samsung’s 5,100mAh power bank will catch on with users who can never get enough power, but third-party manufacturers will try their hand at getting some customer appeal with power banks and battery cases of their own. If you want to get a power bank that works best with your Galaxy S8 handset, though, Samsung’s official accessory is as good as it gets.How to spy on Amazon competitors organic keywords
Using the right keywords to optimize your Amazon product listing might have a significant influence on your business results. The best and easiest way to find profitable keywords is actually to copy them from your competitors who already did all the hard work.
What are organic search keywords?
If you type “yoga strap” in the Amazon search box, product results that will appear are optimized and are ranking for that keyword (“yoga strap”) – obviously ignoring listings with “Sponsored” mark.
This kind of keyword is called organic keyword.
The insight about competitor’s organic keywords is a gold mine for your Amazon business.
There are two ways you can profit by using competitor’s search keywords:
Use them as your main keywords to optimize your listing and get an organic ranking for them. Use them in Amazon PPC paid ads.
How to extract organic search keywords from an Amazon product
Register your free account on Egrow – online software made for Amazon sellers which helps in finding profitable products and perform market analysis.
With the free Egrow package you can extract organic search keywords from your Amazon competitors.
How does it work:
Egrow has a huge database of organic keywords. Every day it performs searches on Amazon.com and records all product positions for the first 2 pages of product results for all the keywords in the database.
That is how Egrow collects data about organic keyword rankings on a daily basis (up to 90 days back).
Grow your Amazon business Discover what profitable products you can start selling today with Egrow software. Sign Up Free
How to spy on competitor’s keywords with Egrow
Option 1 – If you know the exact listing that you want to spy on – copy its ASIN and visit the Product Tracker on Egrow.
Add the product to the tracker and if the product is already in Egrow’s database you will get immediate access to all the product details. Considering the case that the product is not in Egrow’s database yet, you will need to wait up to 24 hours (but usually just a few minutes) while Egrow is collecting data for the product. Afterwards, visit the product details page via the Product Tracker and scroll the page down to the bottom until you see the section “KEYWORD RANKINGS”.
Option 2 (recommended) – Search for your main keywords using Egrow’s Live Amazon Scanner.
After the results are loaded, analyze the first 10 products by going to their details page. Then scroll to the bottom of the page to the “KEYWORD RANKINGS” section where you will see more related organic keywords for the product. By spying at all of the top 10 products you will collect more keywords than just from one listing.
In the “KEYWORD RANKINGS” section at the bottom of any product details page on Egrow, you will find something like this:
On the top of the section is a graph that shows historical changes for the selected keyword over time. With the free package, the user can see 7 days of historical changes, with the Standard package – 30 days and with Plus package – 90 days. Free package is limited to show 5 organic keywords, while both paid packages will show all keywords that are in Egrow’s system.
Click on any keyword below the graph to see its changes in the graph.
Number 101 in position means that the keyword is out of first two pages at Amazon.
Use the button “Copy” to get a simple copy format with all keywords for that product – ready to paste it into your Amazon PPC campaign.
You can further analyze keywords by searching for it on Google Trends or visiting related products for each keyword inside the Live Amazon Scanner.
To summarize: Egrow allows you to spy on competitor’s Amazon search keywords within just a few steps. Simply visit the product details page and look for the “KEYWORD RANKINGS” section at the bottom of the page.
Thanks for reading and drop a comment in a section below if you have any questions.The first thing to hit Iain Couzin when he walked into the Oxford lab where he kept his locusts was the smell, like a stale barn full of old hay. The second, third, and fourth things to hit him were locusts. The insects frequently escaped their cages and careened into the faces of scientists and lab techs. The room was hot and humid, and the constant commotion of 20,000 bugs produced a miasma of aerosolized insect exoskeleton. Many of the staff had to wear respirators to avoid developing severe allergies. "It wasn't the easiest place to do science," Couzin says.
More from WIRED 21.04Platinum Age of TVNetflix Isn't Just Rebooting Arrested Development—It's Revolutionizing TVBuckle Your Brainpan: The Primer Director Is Back With a New FilmIn the mid-2000s that lab was, however, one of the only places on earth to do the kind of science Couzin wanted. He didn't care about locusts, per se—Couzin studies collective behavior. That's swarms, flocks, schools, colonies... anywhere the actions of individuals turn into the behaviors of a group. Biologists had already teased apart the anatomy of locusts in detail, describing their transition from wingless green loners at birth to flying black-and-yellow adults. But you could dissect one after another and still never figure out why they blacken the sky in mile-wide plagues. Few people had looked at how locusts swarm since the 1960s—it was, frankly, too hard. So no one knew how a small, chaotic group of stupid insects turned into a cloud of millions, united in one purpose.
Couzin would put groups of up to 120 juveniles into a sombrero-shaped arena he called the locust accelerator, letting them walk in circles around the rim for eight hours a day while an overhead camera filmed their movements and software mapped their positions and orientations. He eventually saw what he was looking for: At a certain density, the bugs would shift to cohesive, aligned clusters. And at a second critical point, the clusters would become a single marching army. Haphazard milling became rank-and-file—a prelude to their transformation into black-and-yellow adults.
That's what happens in nature, but no one had ever induced these shifts in the lab—at least not in animals. In 1995 a Hungarian physicist named Tamás Vicsek and his colleagues devised a model to explain group behavior with a simple—almost rudimentary—condition: Every individual moving at a constant velocity matches its direction to that of its neighbors within a certain radius. As this hypothetical collective becomes bigger, it flips from a disordered throng to an organized swarm, just like Couzin's locusts. It's a phase transition, like water turning to ice. The individuals have no plan. They obey no instructions. But with the right if-then rules, order emerges.
Couzin wanted to know what if-then rules produced similar behaviors in living things. "We thought that maybe by being close to each other, they could transfer information," Couzin says. But they weren't communicating in a recognizable way. Some other dynamic had to be at work.
Rules that produce majestic cohesion out of local jostling turn up everywhere.
The answer turned out to be quite grisly. Every morning, Couzin would count the number of locusts he placed in the accelerator. In the evening, his colleague Jerome Buhl would count them as he took them out. But Buhl was finding fewer individuals than Couzin said he had started with. "I thought I was going mad," Couzin says. "My credibility was at stake if I couldn't even count the right number of locusts."
When he replayed the video footage and zoomed in, he saw that the locusts were biting each other if they got too close. Some unlucky individuals were completely devoured. That was the key. Cannibalism, not cooperation, was aligning the swarm. Couzin figured out an elegant proof for the theory: "You can cut the nerve in their abdomen that lets them feel bites from behind, and you completely remove their capacity to swarm," he says.
Couzin's findings are an example of a phenomenon that has captured the imagination of researchers around the world. For more than a century people have tried to understand how individuals become unified groups. The hints were tantalizing—animals spontaneously generate the same formations that physicists observe in statistical models. There had to be underlying commonalities. The secrets of the swarm hinted at a whole new way of looking at the world.
But those secrets were hidden for decades. Science, in general, is a lot better at breaking complex things into tiny parts than it is at figuring out how tiny parts turn into complex things. When it came to figuring out collectives, nobody had the methods or the math.
Now, thanks to new observation technologies, powerful software, and statistical methods, the mechanics of collectives are being revealed. Indeed, enough physicists, biologists, and engineers have gotten involved that the science itself seems to be hitting a density-dependent shift. Without obvious leaders or an overarching plan, this collective of the collective-obsessed is finding that the rules that produce majestic cohesion out of local jostling turn up in everything from neurons to human beings. Behavior that seems impossibly complex can have disarmingly simple foundations. And the rules may explain everything from how cancer spreads to how the brain works and how armadas of robot-driven cars might someday navigate highways. The way individuals work together may actually be more important than the way they work alone.
Blue jack mackerel merge into a bait ball, a torus that confuses predators. Christopher Swann/Science Photo Library
Aristotle first posited that the whole could be more than the sum of its parts. Ever since, philosophers, physicists, chemists, and biologists have periodically rediscovered the idea. But it was only in the computer age—with the ability to iterate simple rule sets millions of times over—that this hazy concept came into sharp focus.
How Swarms Emerge
Individuals in groups from neurons and cancer cells to birds and fish organize themselves into collectives, and those collectives move in predictable ways. But the ways those swarms, schools, flocks, and herds flip from chaos to order differ. Here’s a look at some of the behaviorial triggers. —Katie M. Palmer
Golden Shiners
Behavior: Seek darkness Presumably for protection, shiners search out dark waters. But they can't actually perceive changes in light levels that might guide their way. Instead, they follow one simple directive: When light disappears, slow down. As a result, the fish in a school pile up in dark pools and stay put.
Ants
Behavior: Work in rhythm When ants of a certain species get crowded enough to bump into each other, coordinated waves of activity pulse through every 20 minutes.
Humans
Behavior: Be a follower Absent normal communication, humans can be as impressionable as a flock of sheep. If one member of a walking group is instructed to move toward a target, though other members may not know the target—or even that there is a target—the whole group will eventually be shepherded in its direction.
Locusts
Behavior: Cannibalism When enough locusts squeeze together, bites from behind send individuals fleeing to safety. Eventually they organize into conga-line-like clusters to avoid being eaten. They also emit pheromones to attract even more locusts, resulting in a swarm.
Starlings
Behavior: Do what the neighbors do These birds coordinate their speed and direction with just a half dozen of their closest murmuration-mates, regardless of how packed the flock gets. Those interactions are enough to steer the entire group in the same direction.
Honeybees
Behavior: Head-butting When honeybees return from searching for a new nest, they waggle in a dance that identifies the location. But if multiple sites exist, a bee can advocate for its choice by ramming its head into other waggling bees. A bee that gets butted enough times stops dancing, ultimately leaving the hive with one option.
For most of the 20th century, biologists and physicists pursued the concept along parallel but separate tracks. Biologists knew that living things exhibited collective behavior—it was hard to miss—but how they pulled it off was an open question. The problem was, before anyone could figure out how swarms formed, someone had to figure out how to do the observations. In a herd, all the wildebeests/bacteria/starlings/whatevers look pretty much alike. Plus, they're moving fast through three-dimensional spaces. "It was just incredibly difficult to get the right data," says Nigel Franks, a University of Bristol biologist and Couzin's thesis adviser. "You were trying to look at all the parts and the complete parcel at the same time."
Physicists, on the other hand, had a different problem. Typically biologists were working with collectives ranging in number from a few to a few thousand; physicists count groups of a few gazillion. The kinds of collectives that undergo phase transitions, like liquids, contain individual units counted in double-digit powers of 10. From a statistical perspective, physics and math basically pretend those collectives are infinitely large. So again, you can't observe the individuals directly in any meaningful way. But you can model them.
A great leap forward came in 1970, when a mathematician named John Conway invented what he called the Game of Life. Conway imagined an Othello board, with game pieces flipping between black and white. The state of the markers—called cells—changed depending on the status of neighboring cells. A black cell with one or no black neighbors "died" of loneliness, turning white. Two black neighbors: no change. Three, and the cell "resurrected," flipping from white to black. Four, and it died of overcrowding—back to white. The board turned into a constantly shifting mosaic.
Conway could play out these rules with an actual board, but when he and other programmers simulated the game digitally, Life got very complicated. At high speed, with larger game boards, they were able to coax an astonishing array of patterns to evolve across their screens. Depending on the starting conditions, they got trains of cells that trailed puffs of smoke, or guns that shot out small gliders. At a time when most software needed complex rules to produce even simple behaviors, the Game of Life did the opposite. Conway had built a model of emergence—the ability of his little black and white critters to self-organize into something new.
Sixteen years later, a computer animator named Craig Reynolds set out to find a way to automate the animated movements of large groups—a more efficient algorithm would save processing time and money. Reynolds' software, Boids, created virtual agents that mimicked a flock of birds. It included behaviors like obstacle avoidance and the physics of flight, but at the heart of Boids were three simple rules: Move toward the average position of your neighbors, keep some distance from them, and align with their average heading (alignment is a measure of how close an individual's direction of movement is to that of other individuals). That's it.
Boids and its ilk revolutionized Hollywood in the early '90s. It animated the penguins and bats of Batman Returns. Its descendants include software like Massive, the program that choreographed the titanic battles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. That would all be miraculous enough, but the flocks created by Boids also suggested that real-world animal swarms might arise the same way—not from top-down orders, mental templates of orderly flocks, or telepathic communication (as some biologists had seriously proposed). Complexity, as Aristotle suggested, could come from the bottom up.
The field was starting to take off. Vicsek, the Hungarian physicist, simulated his flock in 1995, and in the late 1990s a German physicist named Dirk Helbing programmed sims in which digital people spontaneously formed lanes on a crowded street and crushed themselves into fatal jams when fleeing from a threat like a fire—just as real humans do. Helbing did it with simple "social forces." All he had to do was tell his virtual humans to walk at a preferred speed toward a destination, keep their distance from walls and one another, and align with the direction of their neighbors. Presto: instant mob.
By the early 2000s, the research in biology and physics was starting to intersect. Cameras and computer-vision technologies could show the action of individuals in animal swarms, and simulations were producing more and more lifelike results. Researchers were starting to be able to ask the key questions: Were living collectives following rules as simple as those in the Game of Life or Vicsek's models? And if they were... how?
Taking Shape
Changing simple parameters has profound effects on a swarm. By controlling only attraction, repulsion, and alignment (how similar a critter's direction is to that of its neighbors), researcher Iain Couzin induced three different behaviors in a virtual collective, all akin to ones in nature.—Katie M. Palmer
Disorder Alignment with only the closest neighbors produces... nothing but a disordered swarm.
Torus Raise the alignment and the chaotic swarm swirls into a doughnut shape called a torus.
Flock Maximize alignment across the flock and the torus shifts; everyone travels in the same direction.
Before studying collectives, Couzin collected them. Growing up in Scotland, he wanted pets, but his brothers' various allergies allowed only the most unorthodox ones. "I had snails at the back of my bed, aphids in my cupboard, and stick insects in my school locker," he says. And anything that formed swarms fascinated him. "I remember seeing these fluidlike fish schools on TV, watching them again and again, and being mesmerized. I thought fish were boring, but these patterns—" Couzin pauses, and you can almost see the whorls of schooling fish looping behind his eyes; then he's back. "I've always been interested in patterns," he says simply.
When Couzin became a graduate student in Franks' lab in 1996, he finally got his chance to work on them. Franks was trying to figure out how ant colonies organize themselves, and Couzin joined in. He would dab each bug with paint and watch them on video, replaying the recording over and over to follow different individuals. "It was very laborious," he says. Worse, Couzin doubted it worked. He didn't believe the naked eye could follow the multitude of parallel interactions in a colony. So he turned to artificial ones. He learned to program a computer to track the ants—and eventually to simulate entire animal groups. He was learning to study not the ants but the swarm.
For a biologist, the field was a lonely one. "I thought there must be whole labs focused on this," Couzin says. "I was astonished to find that there weren't." What he found instead was Boids. In 2002 Couzin cracked open the software and focused on its essential trinity of attraction, repulsion, and alignment. Then he messed with it. With attraction and repulsion turned up and alignment turned off, his virtual swarm stayed loose and disordered. When Couzin upped the alignment, the swarm coalesced into a whirling doughnut, like a school of mackerel. When he increased the range over which alignment occurred even more, the doughnut disintegrated and all the elements pointed themselves in one direction and started moving together, like a flock of migrating birds. In other words, all these different shapes come from the same algorithms. "I began to view the simulations as an extension of my brain," Couzin says. "By allowing the computer to help me think, I could develop my intuition of how these systems worked."
By 2003, Couzin had a grant to work with locusts at Oxford. Labs around the world were quietly putting other swarms through their paces. Bacterial colonies, slime molds, fish, birds... a broader literature was starting to emerge. Work from Couzin's group, though, was among the first to show physicists and biologists how their disciplines could fuse together. Studying animal behavior "used to involve taking a notepad and writing, 'The big gorilla hit the little gorilla,' " Vicsek says. "Now there's a new era where you can collect data at millions of bits per second and then go to your computer and analyze it."
Swarms of locusts. Mitsuhiko Imamori/Minden
Today Couzin, 39, heads a lab at Princeton University. He has a broad face and cropped hair, and the gaze coming from behind his black-rimmed glasses is intense. The 19-person team he leads is ostensibly part of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology but includes physicists and mathematicians. They share an office with eight high-end workstations—all named Hyron, the Cretan word for beehive, and powered by videogame graphics cards.
Locusts are verboten in US research because of fears they'll escape and destroy crops. So when Couzin came to Princeton in 2007, he knew he needed a new animal. He had done some work with fish, so he headed to a nearby lake with nets, waders, and a willing team. After hours of slapstick failure, and very few fish, he approached some fishermen on a nearby bridge. "I thought they'd know where the shoals would be, but then I went over and saw tiny minnow-sized fish in their buckets, schooling like crazy." They were golden shiners—unremarkable 2- to 3-inch-long creatures that are "dumber than I could possibly have imagined," Couzin says. They are also extremely cheap. To get started he bought 1,000 of them for 70 bucks.
When Couzin enters the room where the shiners are kept, they press up against the front of their tanks in their expectation of food, losing any semblance of a collective. But as soon as he nets them out and drops them into a wide nearby pool, they school together, racing around like cars on a track. His team has injected colored liquid and a jelling agent into their tiny backs; the two materials congeal into a piece of gaudy plastic, making them highly visible from above. As they navigate courses in the pool, lights illuminate the plastic and cameras film their movements. Couzin is using these stupid fish to move beyond just looking at how collectives form and begin to study what they can accomplish. What abilities do they gain?
For example, when Couzin flashes light over the shiners, they move, as one, to shadier patches, presumably because darkness equals relative safety for a fish whose main defensive weapon is "run away." Behavior like this is typically explained with the "many wrongs principle," first proposed in 1964. Each shiner, the theory goes, makes an imperfect estimate about where to go, and the school, by interacting and staying together, averages these many slightly wrong estimations to get the best direction. You might recognize this concept by the term journalist James Surowiecki popularized: "the wisdom of crowds."
But in the case of shiners, Couzin's observations in the lab have shown that the theory is wrong. The school could not be pooling imperfect estimates, because the individuals don't make estimates of where things are darker at all. Instead they obey a simple rule: Swim slower in shade. When a disorganized group of shiners hits a dark patch, fish on the edge decelerate and the entire group swivels into darkness. Once out of the light, all of them slow down and cluster together, like cars jamming on a highway. "That's purely an emergent property," Couzin says. "The sensing ability really happens only at the level of the collective." In other words, none of the shiners are purposefully swimming toward anything. The crowd has no wisdom to cobble together.
Flocks of Sheep Dariusz Paciorek/Getty
Other students of collectives have found similar feats of swarm intelligence, including some that happen in actual swarms. Every spring, honeybees leave their old colonies to build new nests. Scouts return to the hive to convey the locations of prime real estate by waggling their bottoms and dancing in figure eights. The intricate steps of the dances encode distance and direction, but more important, these dances excite other scouts.
Thomas Seeley, a behavioral biologist at Cornell, used colored paint to mark bees that visited different sites and found that those advocating one location ram their heads against colony-mates that waggle for another. If a dancer gets rammed often enough, it stops dancing. The head-butt is the bee version of a downvote. Once one party builds past a certain threshold of support, the entire colony flies off as one.
House-hunting bees turn out to be a literal hive mind, composed of bodies. This is no cheap metaphor. In the 1980s cognitive scientists began to posit that human cognition itself is an emergent process. In your brain, this thinking goes, different sets of neurons fire in favor of different options, exciting some neighbors into firing like the waggling bees, and inhibiting others into silence, like the head-butting ones. The competition builds until a decision emerges. The brain as a whole says, "Go right" or "Eat that cookie."
If a falcon attacks, all the starlings dodge almost instantly—even those on the far side of the flock that haven't seen the threat.
The same dynamics can be seen in starlings: On clear winter evenings, murmurations of the tiny blackish birds gather in Rome's sunset skies, wheeling about like rustling cloth. If a falcon attacks, all the starlings dodge almost instantaneously, even those on the far side of the flock that haven't seen the threat. How can this be? Italian physicist Andrea Cavagna discovered their secret by filming thousands of starlings from a chilly museum rooftop with three cameras and using a computer to reconstruct the birds' movements in three dimensions. In most systems where information gets transferred from individual to individual, the quality of that information degrades, gets corrupted—like in a game of telephone. But Cavagna found that the starlings' movements are united in a "scale-free" way. If one turns, they all turn. If one speeds up, they all speed up. The rules are simple—do what your half-dozen closest neighbors do without hitting them, essentially. But because the quality of the information the birds perceive about one another decays far more slowly than expected, the perceptions of any individual starling extend to the edges of the murmuration and the entire flock moves.
All these similarities seem to point to a grand unified theory of the swarm—a fundamental ultra-calculus that unites the various strands of group behavior. In one paper, Vicsek and a colleague wondered whether there might be "some simple underlying laws of nature (such as, e.g., the principles of thermodynamics) that produce the whole variety of the observed phenomena."
Couzin has considered the same thing. "Why are we seeing this again and again?" he says. "There's got to be something deeper and more fundamental." Biologists are used to convergent evolution, like the streamlining of dolphins and sharks or echolocation in bats and whales—animals from separate lineages have similar adaptations. But convergent evolution of algorithms? Either all these collectives came up with different behaviors that produce the same outcomes—head-butting bees, neighbor-watching starlings, light-dodging golden shiners—or some basic rules underlie everything and the behaviors are the bridge from the rules to the collective.
Stephen Wolfram would probably say it's the underlying rules. The British mathematician and inventor of the indispensable software Mathematica published a backbreaking 1,200-page book in 2002, A New Kind of Science, positing that emergent properties embodied by collectives came from simple programs that drove the complexity of snowflakes, shells, the brain, even the universe itself. Wol |
be at least one allied Player on the point. Second, there must be less Voth than players on the point.
The enemies at this point appear at frequent intervals, with the strongest enemies beaming in when the timer is at 1/3, 2/3 and almost complete.
Omega Generator Point [ edit | edit source ]
Shown as the Greek Letter Omega on your mini-map.
By interacting with a console on one side of the long rail, device starts moving towards its alcove on the other end of the point, and Voth start beaming in to stop it. There is a box like structure under the rail right after the first console which will speed up the device's movement if activated.
At two specific points, the lights on the rail will go from cyan to red and the device will stop. Activating the console under it will start its motion again.
At any point during the process, a Voth may show a progress bar over their head that reads Transporting to Console. If the bar fills, it will transport to the console and begin reprogramming the device. If he succeeds, the device will start moving backwards. Killing the Voth soldier before the device is reprogrammed will halt the progress.
Transporter Point [ edit | edit source ]
Shown as a double-sided thick arrow on your mini-map.
. The Transporter is not a true point as it doesn't contribute to overall capture progress.
There are three transporters, one per region of the Battlezone. They are linked to the corresponding transporter platforms in the Command Center and to each other.
Once the Transporter Point is captured, the transporter will be unlocked and the players will be able to use it to travel to the Command Center or other unlocked Transporter Points.
The transporters are guarded by a mix of Voth Specialists, Medics and turrets. Once all Voth guarding the point are defeated, players will be able to interact with a console next to the transporter. Once activated, the transporter will be unlocked and point taken.
Once enough zones are captured, and held, the end phase will be triggered:
Omega Silo Point [ edit | edit source ]
When the zone transitions to its end phase, the empty area in each of the three sections turns yellow. Each of these areas will spawn a massive Bio-Engineered Viriosaurus Rex.
Each zone contains an Omega silo with consoles at its base. Several rounds of Voth Medics will spawn at the bottom of the stairs, walk to the top, and begin extracting Omega molecules. Each zone has a progress bar that tracks the Omega Molecule levels.
To take command of the Omega Silo Point, players must kill the V-Rex without losing all of the Omega molecules in the silo.
For each captured point, players will receive 10 + 60.
After capturing a point, Battle Zone Command Credits will spawn all around the area. They can be picked up by the players and used to summon Alliance reinforcements which will protect the captured area from ongoing Voth attacks.. In exchange for summoning the reinforcements, players will receive.
For each defeated V-Rex, players will receive 25 + 660.
Completing the battlezone will give out a zone-wide reward based on how many final objectives were completed.
Completing one of the final objectives will reward at least: 1 Cybernetic Implant 5 Dyson Marks 60 Dilithium Ore
Completing two of the final objectives will reward at least: 2 Cybernetic Implants 10 Dyson Marks 120 Dilithium Ore
Completing three of the final objectives will reward at least: 3 Cybernetic Implants 15 Dyson Marks 240 Dilithium Ore
A bonus will be added to the final objective reward based upon the number of points player captured. The point capture credit is stored until the player completes the Battlezone, and then it is reset.
Following accolades can be obtained in the Voth Battlezone:Share
Security is really hard to get right. There are so many different factors to consider, countless different ways to break an application.
This is just as true with Express applications as it is with any other web framework. There's no instant way to make sure an application won't be taken down by a Denial of Service (DoS) attack because of how it handles one type of user input, or how it routes a specific request request.
We've made this list of 9 tips that will help harden Express applications against a suite of different kinds of security vulnerabilities.
This guide is definitely not meant to address every single possible security flaw within an Express application. It does, however, provide a basic checklist to ensure that an Express application addresses some of the biggest security threats.
1. Enable TLS/SSL
If an application has any dynamic parts (HTTP methods like POST, PUT, and DELETE ) which includes anything from logging into a banking site to sending a tweet, that mutate the information from the client, using HTTPS is a vital implementation for ensuring that information isn’t modified in transit.
Here is an example of a route that performs data mutation on the server:
const express = require('express'); const db = require('our-db-of-choice'); const app = express(); app.put('/profile/update', function(req, res, next){ if(!req.session ||!req.session.userId) { return res.status(403).send({ok: false}); } const userData = sanitize(req.body); db.update(req.session.userId, userData, function(err){ if(err) return res.status(500).send({ok: false}); else return res.status(200).send({ok: true}); }) });
Cost use to be an easy excuse to not invest in a SSL certificate. Thankfully, that's no longer a valid point with the new, completely free SSL certificate resources. Namely, Let’s Encrypt has driven the idea of "free, automated, and open" certificates with great success.
That said, we highly recommend that your Node.js application isn’t directly exposed to the internet and SSL termination is handled prior to Node.js. The lack of direct access to the Node.js application will add another layer of security. Using NGINX to do this is one option that we highly recommend. It can terminate SSL more efficiently than a Node.js application can.
When configuring SSL termination above Node.js, will need to make sure the proxy being used is added as trusted:
// Where 1.0.0.0 is the IP address of your Proxy app.set(‘trust proxy’, ‘1.0.0.0’);
Additionally, make sure the proxy in use sets the X-Forwarded-Proto: https HTTP header.
Learn about trust proxy values in the Express Docs section for trust proxy, and see the official guide on how to put an Express app behind a proxy.
Testing HTTPS Certificate Transmission
Once HTTPS is set up, certificate transmission can be easily validated with nmap, sslyze, or OpenSSL. How?
Using Qualys SSL Labs
Visit the Qualys SSL Labs web service. Enter your domain and you're off!
Using nmap
Visit the nmap site to learn more about nmap.
How to run nmap to validate SSL transmission:
nmap --script ss-cert,ssl-enum-ciphers -p 443 example.com
Using sslyze
Visit the sslyze repo to learn more about sslyze.
How to run sslyze to validate SSL transmission:
sslyze.py --regular example.com:4444
Using OpenSSL
Visit the OpenSSL site to learn more about OpenSSL.
How to use OpenSSL to validate SSL transmission:
echo ‘q’ | openssl s_client -host example.com -port 443
2. Check for Known Security Vulnerabilities
There are a few tools in the Node ecosystem that allow easy checking for vulnerabilities in Node and Express application dependencies. These tools are highly valuable in ensuring that no vulnerabilities are currently in the packages an application relies on, and none are added into that application when its packages are updated.
Snyk: Website - GitHub
Node Security Project: Website - GitHub
Retire.js: Website - GitHub
3. Encode All Untrusted Data Sent to an Application
Encoding any data - be it URLs and Express routes, HTML body and attributes user submitted data, CSS attributes - is an extremely important part of hardening the security of an application. Many assume that their templating library does this well enough by default - but assumptions can lead to disastrous results.
By just implementing a few packages to sanitize data within an Express application, developers can feel more secure in knowing that an application has been hardened against many of the more obscure and strange vectors of attack that templating libraries might not be protecting against.
HTML Encoding
Note: When using the escaped value within a tag, it is only suitable as the value of an attribute, where the value is quoted with either a double quote character (") or a single quote character (').
CSS Encoding
Front-end: CSS.escape Web API or the CSS.escape polyfill
Web API the CSS.escape polyfill Back-end: CSS.escape package (same as the polyfill above)
JavaScript Encoding
Front-end: js-string-escape - This is a back-end Node module, but can also be used on the front-end.
Back-end: js-string-escape
URL and URI Encoding
To read a bit more about the high value of encoding user input, take a look at the XSS Prevention Cheat Sheet by OWASP.
4. Prevent Parameter Pollution to Stop Possible Uncaught Exceptions
While there is no defined standard for handling multiple parameters with the same name the defacto standard across frameworks is to treat the values as an array.
This can be tricky since Express behavior for a single name is to return it as a String, when multiple are pass the type is changed to an Array. If this isn't accounted for in query handling, an application will emit an uncaughtException event that can bring the whole thing down, making this problem a potential DoS vector if not appropriately addressed.
Not preparing Express applications for this simple vulnerability can expose the server to a Denial of Service attack.
Here’s an example of the vulnerable request:
1: Send a request with two values for the same key.
curl http://example.com:8080/endpoint?name=Itchy&name=Scratchy
2: The Express server expects the name key to be a String, and uses.toUpperCase() on it.
app.get('/endpoint', function(req, res){ if(req.query.name){ res.status(200).send('Hi'+ req.query.name.toUpperCase()) } else { res.status(200).send('Hi'); } });
The code example assumes that req.query.name is a String type. But, since there are two arguments with the same name Express returns the results as an Array : ['Itchy', 'Scratchy']. This will throw an Error that will crash an Express application.
To ensure that an application won’t fail this way, the OWASP article Testing for HTTP Parameter pollution_ is an awesome guide on how to actually test an application thoroughly against this type of attack.
5. Add Helmet to Set Sane Defaults
The Helmet package is a collection of 11 security modules that prevent a variety of attacks against an Express applications - it’s an easy, drop-in package that hardens Express by adding just two lines to an application. With some additional basic configuration, you can have all 11 modules primed and protecting your application from possible vulnerabilities and security mishaps.
The a basic example of an Express application using Helmet:
const express = require('express'); const helmet = require('helmet'); const app = express(); app.use(helmet());
It includes a whopping 11 packages that all work to block malicious parties from breaking or using an application to hurt its users.
Here's the full list of packages Helmet enables and makes configurable with just two added lines:
helmet-csp - Enables the Content-Security-Policy HTTP header. This defines the trusted origins (sources) of content - such as scripts, images, and other types of content - that is allowed to load in a webpage. dns-prefetch-control - DNS Prefetching is generally good for speeding up load times, especially on mobile devices. Disabling Prefetching can limit potential data leakage about the types of external services an application uses. In addition, disabling can reduce traffic and costs associated with DNS query lookups. frameguard - Enables the X-Frame-Options HTTP header. This blocks clickjacking attempts by disabling the option for the webpage to be rendered on another site. hide-powered-by - Removes the X-Powered-By HTTP header. This blocks one route of easy identification of an application being run with Express as a web server - which can lead to specific targeting of Express and Node issues. hpkp - Enables Public Key Pinning headers, which can prevent MITM (man in the middle) attacks that use forged certificates. hsts - Enables the Strict-Transport-Security header, which forces subsequent connections to the server to use HTTPS once a client has initially connected with HTTPs, instead of using unsecured HTTP. ienoopen - Enables the X-Download-Options HTTP header, with the configuration of noopen, to prevent Internet Explorer users from executing downloads within an application's context. nocache Enables four HTTP headers - Cache-Control, Pragma, Expires, and Surrogate-Control - with defaults that block the client caching old versions of site resources. dont-sniff-mimetype - Enables the X-Content-Type-Options HTTP header to stop clients from sniffing the MIME-type of a response outside of the content-type that is declared. referrer-policy - Allows for control over the Referrer HTTP header from your application, allowing no referrer information, referrer information for the same origin, or full referrer information. x-xss-protection - Enables the X-XSS-Protection HTTP header that prevents some XSS attacks in a set of more recent browsers.
If a more advanced configuration - such as setting specific allowances on the different security packages - is desirable, visit the official Helmet site to learn more about how to accomplish that effectively.
Note: This section was updated December 22, 2016 with the help of Evan Hahn. Major props to all the work he's put into Helmet!
6. Tighten Session Cookies
Express has default cookie settings that aren’t highly secure. They can be manually tightened to enhance security - for both an application and its user.
secret - A secret string for the cookie to be salted with.
- A secret string for the cookie to be salted with. key : The name of the cookie - if left default ( connect.sid ), it can be detected and give away that an application is using Express as a web server.
: The name of the cookie - if left default ( ), it can be detected and give away that an application is using Express as a web server. httpOnly - Flags cookies to be accessible by the issuing web server, which assists in preventing session hijacking.
- Flags cookies to be accessible by the issuing web server, which assists in preventing session hijacking. secure - Ensure that it is set to true - which requires TLS/SSL - to allow the cookie to only be used with HTTPS requests, and not insecure HTTP requests.
- Ensure that it is set to - which requires TLS/SSL - to allow the cookie to be used with HTTPS requests, and not insecure HTTP requests. domain - Indicates the specific domain that the cookie can be accessed from.
- Indicates the specific domain that the cookie can be accessed from. path - indicates the path that the cookie is accepted on within an application's domain.
- indicates the path that the cookie is accepted on within an application's domain. expires - The expiration date of the cookie being set. Defaults to a session cookie. When setting a cookie, the application is storing data on the server. If a timely expiration is not set up on the cookie, the Express application could start consuming resources that would otherwise be free.
A basic example setup of how to use express-session to securely set cookies:
const express = require('express'); const session = require('express-session'); const app = express(); app.use(session({ secret:'mySecretCookieSalt', key:'myCookieSessionId', cookie: { httpOnly: true, secure: true, domain: 'example.com', path: '/foo/bar', // Cookie will expire in 1 hour from when it's generated expires: new Date( Date.now() + 60 * 60 * 1000 ) } }));
7. Block Cross-Site Request Forgeries
An attacker can attempt to put data into an application via their own site through a common phishing technique that uses Cross-site request forgeries. An attacker making a phishing attempt can create a request via a form or other input that creates a request against an application, through the forms, data, or other input an application has exposed.
This can be mitigated with a CSRF token implementation - essentially, every time the user makes a request a new CSRF token is generated and added to the user’s cookie. To effectively prevent against CSRF attacks, that token should be added as a value to inputs in an application’s templates and will be checked against the token that the CSRF library, such as csurf generated when the user sends information.
Setting up Express to use csurf :
const express = require(‘express’); const csrf = require('csurf'); const app = express(); app.use(csrf()); app.use(function(req, res, next){ // Expose variable to templates via locals res.locals.csrftoken = req.csrfToken(); next(); });
Setting a value of the csrf token in an application's templates:
<input type="hidden" name="<i>csrf" value={{csrftoken}} />
Note: {{csrftoken}} is Handlebars syntax - this will differ slightly in other templating languages.
8. Don't Use Evil Regular Expressions
Many of commonly occurring vulnerabilities in Node.js packages and applications are often the result of poorly formed Regular Expressions. How can bad, or _evil, regex patterns be identified?
Evil Regexes
A regex is called "evil" when it can take exponential time when applied to certain non-matching inputs.
Evil Regex patterns contains:
Grouping with repetition
Inside the repeated group:
Repetition
Alternation with overlapping
Examples of Evil Patterns:
(a+)+
([a-zA-Z]+)*
(a|aa)+
(a|a?)+
(.*a){x} | for x > 10
All the above are susceptible to the input aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! (The minimum input length might change slightly, when using faster or slower machines).
This repetition can be a massive hinderance to an application’s performance - a regex that would be expected to execute in milliseconds could be exploited to take seconds - even minutes - to complete. This will completely stop an application from running, as it blocks the Node.js event loop from running any other code. Effectively, these kinds of regex freeze the server.
RXRR - Regular expression denial of service (REDoS) static analysis.
SDL RegEx Fuzzer - a tool to assist in testing regex for possible DoS vulnerabilities.
For more information, the Regular expression Denial of Service - ReDoS article by OWASP is a good starting point.
9. Add Rate Limiting
When all else fails, ensuring that an Express application has a sane solution for rate limiting - like that set by express-limiter - which effectively blocks an IP address from making an outrageous number of requests - will assist in blocking an overzealous user or out-of-control bot that could accidentally crash an application.
Setting up express-limiter with redis requests in an Express application:
const express = require('express'); const redisClient = require('redis').createClient(); const app = express(); const limiter = require('express-limiter')(app, redisClient); // Limit requests to 100 per hour per ip address. limiter({ lookup: ['connection.remoteAddress'], total: 100, expire: 1000 * 60 * 60 })
One last thing…
If you're interested in learning more about Node.js and similar topics like Express, application security, npm, Electron, JavaScript, Kubernetes, Docker, and tons more, you should follow @NodeSource on Twitter. We're always around, and would love to hear from you!Man robbed, punched on Muni train after telling teens to be quiet
A man was punched and robbed after he told a group of six teenage boys on a Muni train to be quiet, police said. A man was punched and robbed after he told a group of six teenage boys on a Muni train to be quiet, police said. Photo: Erik Verduzco, The Chronicle Photo: Erik Verduzco, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Man robbed, punched on Muni train after telling teens to be quiet 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
A 44-year-old San Francisco man was punched and robbed when he told a group of teenagers to quiet down on a Muni train, officials said Thursday.
The man was riding the J-Church train about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday when he told a group of “loud and disruptive” teenagers to be quiet, prompting one of them to push him to the ground and five others to join in and pummel him, police said.
Someone stole the man’s backpack, along with the computer tablet and money inside.
The altercation happened in the area of Church and 18th streets.
“It was the way of saying it that upset the suspects,” said Officer Wilson Ng, a police spokesman, who said he couldn’t disclose what the victim said. “It’s not the nicest thing to say.”
The victim walked away with a bruised lip but refused medical treatment, officials said.
A woman got caught in the melee and lost her cell phone. She wasn’t sure whether it was taken by the teenagers, Ng said.
Anyone with information about the incident can leave a tip at (415) 575-4444.
Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerovStandard Capo 3 5 Strum
F Nice to meet you Where you've been? I can show you Dm incredible things Magic, madness, heaven, sins Saw you there Bb and I thought oh my god Look at that face, you look like my next mistake C Love's a game, wanna play F New money, suit and tie I can read you like Dm a magazine Ain't it funny rumors fly And I know you've heard Bb about me So hey, let's be friends I'm dying to see how this one ends C Grab your passport and my hand I could make the bad guys good for a weekend F So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Dm You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Gm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. Bb Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. F Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Dm It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Gm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. Bb F But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name. F Cherry lips Crystal skies I could show you Dm incredible things Slowly kisses, pretty lies You're the king baby Bb I'm your queen Find out what you want Be that girl for a month C But the worst is yet to come Oh no F Screaming, crying, perfect storms I could make all Dm the tables turn Rose garden filled with thorns Keep you second guessing like Bb oh my god Who is she? I get drunk on jealousy C But you'll come back each time you leave C Cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream F So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Dm You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Gm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. Bb Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. F Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Dm It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Gm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. Bb F But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name. F Boys only want love if it's torture. Dm Don't say I didn't say I didn't warn you. F Boys only want love if it's torture. Dm Don't say I didn't say I didn't warn you. F So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Dm You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Gm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. Bb Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. F Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Dm It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Gm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. Bb F But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name.
D Nice to meet you Where you've been? I can show you Bm incredible things Magic, madness, heaven, sins Saw you there G and I thought oh my god Look at that face, you look like my next mistake A Love's a game, wanna play D New money, suit and tie I can read you like Bm a magazine Ain't it funny rumors fly And I know you've heard G about me So hey, let's be friends I'm dying to see how this one ends A Grab your passport and my hand I could make the bad guys good for a weekend D So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Bm You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Em Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. G Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. D Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Bm It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Em Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. G D But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name. D Cherry lips Crystal skies I could show you Bm incredible things Slowly kisses, pretty lies You're the king baby G I'm your queen Find out what you want Be that girl for a month A But the worst is yet to come Oh no D Screaming, crying, perfect storms I could make all Bm the tables turn Rose garden filled with thorns Keep you second guessing like G oh my god Who is she? I get drunk on jealousy A But you'll come back each time you leave A Cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream D So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Bm You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Em Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. G Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. D Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Bm It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Em Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. G D But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name. D Boys only want love if it's torture. Bm Don't say I didn't say I didn't warn you. D Boys only want love if it's torture. Bm Don't say I didn't say I didn't warn you. D So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Bm You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Em Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. G Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. D Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Bm It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Em Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. G D But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name.
C Nice to meet you Where you've been? I can show you Am incredible things Magic, madness, heaven, sins Saw you there F and I thought oh my god Look at that face, you look like my next mistake G Love's a game, wanna play C New money, suit and tie I can read you like Am a magazine Ain't it funny rumors fly And I know you've heard F about me So hey, let's be friends I'm dying to see how this one ends G Grab your passport and my hand I could make the bad guys good for a weekend C So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Am You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Dm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. F Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. C Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Am It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Dm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. F C But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name. C Cherry lips Crystal skies I could show you Am incredible things Slowly kisses, pretty lies You're the king baby F I'm your queen Find out what you want Be that girl for a month G But the worst is yet to come Oh no C Screaming, crying, perfect storms I could make all Am the tables turn Rose garden filled with thorns Keep you second guessing like F oh my god Who is she? I get drunk on jealousy G But you'll come back each time you leave G Cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream C So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Am You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Dm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. F Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. C Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Am It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Dm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. F C But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name. C Boys only want love if it's torture. Am Don't say I didn't say I didn't warn you. C Boys only want love if it's torture. Am Don't say I didn't say I didn't warn you. C So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. Am You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Dm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. F Cause you know I love the players And you love the game. C Cause we're young and we're reckless We'll take this way too far. Am It'll leave you breathless Or with a nasty scar. Dm Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane. F C But I got a blank space baby And I'll write your name.The Discovery Channel took viewers behind-the-scenes hoping to reveal "Secrets of Secret Societies." According to John Salza, a former high-ranking Freemason who appeared on the show, members of that order have included Supreme Court justices and many presidents.
He talked candidly about his experiences with the organization, including the rather bizarre initiation ritual he was subjected to. He was told to strip naked, including his crucifix -- Salza is a devout Catholic -- and wedding ring. He was then pierced with a sharp point.
This, according to Salza, was a sort of warning. "You say, ‘I hereby solemnly and sincerely promise and swear,’ effectively to give your entire life to Freemasonry," Salza explained. "To give preferential treatment to brother Masons."
Salza went on to say that the ritual specifically states that "Freemasonry’s goal and aim is to rule the world." He left the organization because he felt their edicts conflicted with his Catholic faith.Hindu Symbols
Hinduism is a conglomeration of religious, philosophical, and cultural ideas and practices that originated in India.
Om or Aum:
The Om is one of the most important religious symbols to Hindus. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters. The syllable Om is composed of the three sounds a-u-m (in Sanskrit, the vowels a and u coalesce to become o), which represent several important triads: the three worlds of earth, atmosphere, and heaven; the three major Hindu gods. Is a Hindu sacred sound that is considered the greatest of all mantras.The aum symbol is often found at the head of letters, pendants, enshrined in every Hindu temple and family shrines.
Swastika:
The Swastika symbol which look like the Nazi emblem, holds a great religious significance for the Hindus. Swastika is a pictorial character in the shape of a cross with branches bent at right angles and facing in a clockwise direction. The word SWASTIKA stems from the Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language and means 'being happy'. In India the word is related to things of good fortune because it means being happy. The cause of all life and all manifestations of life is movement.Border Patrol agents assigned to the Ajo Station in southwestern Arizona arrested a previously deported MS-13 gang member. The man had multiple convictions; including violent felonies.
The Tucson Sector agents captured Misael Ramirez-Benitez, a Salvadoran national, shortly after he illegally crossed the border from Mexico Sunday night. He crossed near the town of Lukeville, Arizona, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas from U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Rob Daniels.
Agents took Ramirez to the Ajo Station for processing. A records check revealed multiple convictions in the Salvadoran’s criminal history. Agents also determined Ramirez to be a member of the hyper-violent transnational criminal gang, MS-13.
Ramirez’s prior crimes in multiple states include convictions for robbery and assault with a weapon, officials stated.
Agents arrested the previously deported criminal alien and he now faces a new felony charge of illegal re-entry as an aggravated felon. If convicted, Ramirez could face up to 20 years in a federal prison for illegally re-entering the U.S. after being deported as a felon.
Federal and state law enforcement officials are focusing on a nationwide roundup of MS-13 gang members, many of whom are illegal aliens with violent criminal records. Breitbart Texas has provided extensive coverage of the crimes carried out by MS-13 and the effort to bring them to justice.
In June, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents rounded up 39 MS-13 gang members in New York. “Transnational gangs like MS-13 bring nothing but violence and conflict to our communities and their presence will not be tolerated. Their vicious criminal activities present an ongoing challenge for law enforcement everywhere,” Special Agent in Charge of HSI New York Angel M. Melendez said in a written statement at the time.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge for New York William F. Sweeney, Jr., called MS-13 the “most violent and well-organized” gang in America, during his testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence in June.
“Their motivation is rooted in a desire to kill for the sake of killing,” Sweeney testified. “The attacks on their victims are gruesome, typically up close and personal. They often involve mutilation and dismemberment and are sometimes recorded.”
The rise of MS-13 gang violence dramatically impacted crime in the nation’s fourth-largest city, Houston. In April, Governor Greg Abbott announced the creation of a Texas Anti-Gang Task Force to target these criminal alien gang members. Houston is one of the five cities that the FBI has identified to have a large MS-13 presence. Darby and Ortiz reported that the State of Texas considers the gang to be a Tier 1-level threat – the “most significant” threat level.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.“Everybody’s got a price.”
– “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase
Here’s Part II of my interview with a group of Fiverr VO actors. I originally was going to edit these responses down, but asking a group of Fiverr talent about Fiverr’s main criticism proved (predictably) to be very interesting. I bolded a few interesting bits here & there, but these are their answers in full. In Part III, I’ll wrap the whole piece up, sharing my thoughts on the whole thing.
What do you say to those who think that Fiverr devalues the voiceover industry?
Rever B. Domina: times are changing… and you have to change with them as well. Don’t make excuses and stop being lazy. It’s not just the voiceover industry… it’s everything that’s changing. I also say, “get off your high horse, voice over people”… like radio people are the lowest form of life on the entertainment industry food chain. Just be glad you aren’t digging ditches or shoveling manure for a living…. I’ve done both.” 🙂
“Lerobindesvoix”: Fiverr doesn’t devalue the voice over industry. Technology and accessibility do. I’ve had clients ask me to record something on an iPhone really quickly and that’s good enough for them. We have a studio worth thousands of dollars but some people don’t really care. They just need a fast, cheap, relatively professional voice over. They can get that anywhere really. A lot of people have purchased mics and do voice overs for their own company without having to hire someone else do it for them. It’s hard to make a lot of money in this field because the market is flooded. When I started voice overs on Fiverr there were about 200 other voice over artists in my specific field: American English Voice Overs/Spanish. Now there are over 500 and every day there are more joining the fray. It’s basic economics really. Tons of people offering the same service, equals cheaper pricing for the same amount of work. It’s happening on every platform and is worse on other sites. At least on Fiverr there are very few professionally trained voice over artists. The vast majority of voice over artists on Fiverr are amateurs that work on Fiverr part time to help pay for school, etc. Most professionals are on sites that you need to pay to be on and are exclusive to voice over artists. Others are on freelancing sites and compete with thousands of other artists for the same gig. Fiverr doesn’t devalue the voice over industry all by itself.
Mark Christiansen: I have taken some slack for it, but in response to that, I have |
ObjectTypeEAN13Code]]; AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer *previewLayer = [[AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer alloc] initWithSession:self.captureSession]; previewLayer.frame = self.view.layer.bounds; [self.view.layer addSublayer:previewLayer]; [self.captureSession startRunning]; } #pragma mark AVCaptureMetadataOutputObjectsDelegate - (void)captureOutput:(AVCaptureOutput *)captureOutput didOutputMetadataObjects:(NSArray *)metadataObjects fromConnection:(AVCaptureConnection *)connection { for(AVMetadataObject *metadataObject in metadataObjects) { AVMetadataMachineReadableCodeObject *readableObject = (AVMetadataMachineReadableCodeObject *)metadataObject; if([metadataObject.type isEqualToString:AVMetadataObjectTypeQRCode]) { NSLog(@"QR Code = %@", readableObject.stringValue); } else if ([metadataObject.type isEqualToString:AVMetadataObjectTypeEAN13Code]) { NSLog(@"EAN 13 = %@", readableObject.stringValue); } } } @end 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 @ import AVFoundation ; @interface CEViewController ( ) <AVCaptureMetadataOutputObjectsDelegate> @property ( strong ) AVCaptureSession *captureSession ; @end @implementation CEViewController - ( void ) viewDidLoad { [ super viewDidLoad ] ; self. captureSession = [ [ AVCaptureSession alloc ] init ] ; AVCaptureDevice *videoCaptureDevice = [ AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType :AVMediaTypeVideo ] ; NSError *error = nil ; AVCaptureDeviceInput *videoInput = [ AVCaptureDeviceInput deviceInputWithDevice :videoCaptureDevice error : & error ] ; if ( videoInput ) [ self. captureSession addInput :videoInput ] ; else NSLog ( @"Error: %@", error ) ; AVCaptureMetadataOutput *metadataOutput = [ [ AVCaptureMetadataOutput alloc ] init ] ; [ self. captureSession addOutput :metadataOutput ] ; [ metadataOutput setMetadataObjectsDelegate :self queue :dispatch_get_main_queue ( ) ] ; [ metadataOutput setMetadataObjectTypes : @ [ AVMetadataObjectTypeQRCode, AVMetadataObjectTypeEAN13Code ] ] ; AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer *previewLayer = [ [ AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer alloc ] initWithSession :self. captureSession ] ; previewLayer. frame = self. view. layer. bounds ; [ self. view. layer addSublayer :previewLayer ] ; [ self. captureSession startRunning ] ; } #pragma mark AVCaptureMetadataOutputObjectsDelegate - ( void ) captureOutput : ( AVCaptureOutput * ) captureOutput didOutputMetadataObjects : ( NSArray * ) metadataObjects fromConnection : ( AVCaptureConnection * ) connection { for ( AVMetadataObject *metadataObject in metadataObjects ) { AVMetadataMachineReadableCodeObject *readableObject = ( AVMetadataMachineReadableCodeObject * ) metadataObject ; if ( [ metadataObject. type isEqualToString :AVMetadataObjectTypeQRCode ] ) { NSLog ( @"QR Code = %@", readableObject. stringValue ) ; } else if ( [ metadataObject. type isEqualToString :AVMetadataObjectTypeEAN13Code ] ) { NSLog ( @"EAN 13 = %@", readableObject. stringValue ) ; } } } @end
Pitfalls
The issue I had with NSHipster’s sample code is the delegate method was not called at all. I quickly understood this was because the AVCaptureMetadataOutput must be configured to tell which metadata to recognise.
But, and this was not obvious to me, -[AVCaptureMetadataOuput setMetadataObjectTypes:] must be called after -[AVCaptureSession addOutput:]. Otherwise, the following message shows in the console:
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** -[AVCaptureMetadataOutput setMetadataObjectTypes:] - unsupported type found. Use -availableMetadataObjectTypes.'
I did try to look at the output of -availableMetadataObjectTypes, and it returns an empty array.
Therefore, -addOuput: must be called before setMetadataObjectTypes. In retrospect, it makes sense: the output object must know it is linked to a video session to know which metadata it may provide.Israeli forces have fired 2,161 missiles since launching what they are calling Operation Protective Edge, better known as Operation #Gaza Genocide.
Israel is launching attacks on Gaza at a rate of one every three minutes, human rights campaigners have claimed.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network said on Saturday that Israel has fired 2,061 missiles since strikes began on July 7. Of these 1,402 were aerial attacks, 330 from artillery ground forces and 329 from naval vessels.
"The attacks are aimed at women and children as well as areas where civilians live," the network said in a statement. The group called on Israel to halt the offensive against civilians.
The Israeli military said it has hit 1,160 targets in Gaza since it launched Operation Protective Edge, while Palestinian militants had fired 689 rockets into Israel.
A statement from the Israeli Defense Force said Hamas fired more than 689 rockets in four days – approximately one rocket every 10 minutes.
The military operation aims to stop rocket launches from Gaza, claims Israel, but many observers suggest the attacks are punitive and designed to reduce the Hamas' military capability. Since the offensive began, 121 Palestinians have been killed as of Sat. So far, no Israelis have died as a result of rocket attacks. Get the latest number of people killed in Gaza hereRelease Retrospective: 2017
News
The Release Retrospective is a look back at all the year’s releases, as summed up monthly in the Release Roundups.
2017 was a pretty amazing year! We managed to release a lot of projects important to us and to the fans, including Pugmire and Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition. We also launched our Onyx Dice dice rolling app, which has been on a lot of our wishlists for years.
What was your favorite release of the year? Let us know in the comments below!
Game Media
Cards & Posters
Fiction
Merch
Pugmire Art: Thank You, Darcy Cat! (shirt)
Pugmire Art: Thank You, Darcy Cat! (shirt) Vampire: The Masquerade: Retro Blond Bond (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Retro Business Casual (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Retro Leg Up (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Retro Pouty (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Panders (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Assamite antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Brujah antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Serpents of the Light (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Gangrel antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Lasombra antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Malkavian antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Nosferatu antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Ravnos antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Toreador antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Tremere antitribu (shirts)
Vampire: The Masquerade: Ventrue antitribu (shirts)
Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Auspice: Ragabash (shirts)
Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Auspice: Theurge (shirts)
Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Auspice: Philodox (shirts)
Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Auspice: Galliard (shirts)
Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Auspice: Ahroun (shirts)
Dark Ages: Mage: Fellowship: Ahl-i-Batin (shirts)
Dark Ages: Mage: Fellowship: Messianic Voices (shirts)
Dark Ages: Mage: Fellowship: Old Faith (shirts)
Dark Ages: Mage: Fellowship: Order of Hermes (shirts)
Dark Ages: Mage: Fellowship: Spirit-Talkers (shirts)
Dark Ages: Mage: Fellowship: Valdaermen (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Correspondence (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Entropy (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Forces (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Life (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Matter (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Mind (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Prime (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Spirit (shirts)
Mage: The Ascension: Sphere: Time (shirts)
Exalted Cover Art: Arms of the Chosen (shirt, tablet case)
Exalted Art: Frost Thorn Knuckle (shirt)
Exalted Art: Irenio’s Bell (shirt, phone skin)
Exalted Art: Mela’s Coil (shirt)
Exalted Art: Stormcaller (shirt)
Exalted Art: Sunflash (shirt)
Exalted Art: Warstrider (shirt)
Exalted Art: Warstrider 2 (shirt)
Skinchangers / Demon: The Descent: Beneath the Skin (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Daeva] Anvari (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Daeva] Toreador (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Gangrel] Bohagande (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Gangrel] Bruja (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Mekhet] Alucinor (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Mekhet] Khaibit (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Mekhet] Morbus (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Nosferatu] Burakumin (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Nosferatu] Gethsemani (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Ventrue] Architects of the Monolith (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem: [Ventrue] Malkovians (shirts)
Vampire: The Requiem / Changeling: The Lost: Requiem for Regina (shirts)
Werewolf: The Forsaken / Mage: The Awakening: The Sundered World (shirts)
Werewolf: The Forsaken / Geist: The Sin-Eaters: The Wolf and the Raven (shirts)
Werewolf: The Forsaken: Bowery Dogs (shirts)
Mage: The Awakening: To the Strongest (shirts)
Promethean: The Created: A Handful of Dust (shirts)
Changeling: The Lost: Lily, Sabre, and Thorn (shirts)
Changeling: The Lost / Geist: The Sin-Eaters: Three Kingdoms of Darkness (shirts)
Changeling: The Lost: A Grimm Dark Era (shirts)
Hunter: The Vigil: Compact: The Reckoning (shirts)
Hunter: The Vigil: Compact: Yuri’s Group (shirts)
Hunter: The Vigil: Conspiracy: The Merrick Institute (shirts)
Hunter: The Vigil: Fallen Blossoms (shirts)
Hunter: The Vigil: Doubting Souls (shirts)
Geist: The Sin-Eaters: God’s Own Country (shirts)
Mummy: The Curse: Ruins of Empire (shirts)
Demon: The Descent: After the Fall (shirts)
Demon: The Descent: Into the Cold (shirts)
Back in Print
KickstartersMexico’s Congress have given final approval to a far-reaching energy reform bill that will open up the oil and gas sector to private investment for the first time in 75 years.
The historic opening, a central piece of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s agenda, will end the monopoly of state-owned oil company Pemex.
That could spell good news for major oil companies waiting to jump in. Mexico offers some of the same promising geology that is seen just north of the border, in Texas. The Eagle Ford shale in Texas is one of most productive in the U.S., and similar deposits of oil and gas are thought to extend south into Mexico. According to a rough estimate published by the Energy Information Administration, Mexico could hold 545 trillion cubic feet of natural gas trapped in shale, and much of that is concentrated in the Burgos basin in the northern part of the country.
Offshore in the Gulf of Mexico will also be a prime target for oil majors. Companies like Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and Statoil are already operating in the Gulf close to Mexican waters. Known as the Perdido Fold Belt, some of Mexico’s best offshore oil reserves are located along the U.S.-Mexican maritime boundary. The region could hold up to 10 to 30 billion barrels of oil.
And oil companies are increasingly turning to offshore hydraulic fracturing, according to Bloomberg, which help them extract harder to reach reserves in the Gulf.
Both onshore and offshore oil fields are located near existing operations just across the border in U.S. territory – making it a small leap for many companies to expand southwards.
For Mexico’s part, it is anxious to attract international development because Pemex cannot access offshore oil and onshore shale resources with their current level of expertise. Nor can they marshal enough capital. But big multinational oil companies can help them on both fronts.
International investment could also prevent a further slide in Mexico’s oil production, which recently hit its lowest level in over 24 years.
And a new frontier in Mexico comes at a perfect moment, with major oil companies juggling a mess of violence around the world. From Iraq to Libya, Nigeria to Russia, the largest international oil companies are running into above-the-ground problems that are affecting operations. Most recently, Chevron and ExxonMobil announced on August 7 that they were evacuating personnel operating in Kurdistan, as the Sunni jihadist group Islamic State moved within striking distance of the regional capital of Erbil.
That has some oil companies casting an eye back towards North America, hoping to avoid the risk that comes with operating in troubled territory.
But Mexico isn’t risk-free, itself. Drug violence still plagues parts of the country, including in areas that hold shale oil and gas. For example, Tamaulipas in eastern Mexico at times resembles a “war zone.” Some oil workers have to be escorted to and from work sites by the Mexican military. Lingering pockets of violence could keep international companies – still smarting from drilling campaigns affected by violence elsewhere – from jumping in too quickly.
The political situation is also uncertain, although to a lesser degree. President Pena Nieto has racked up a lot of wins in his first two years, pushing major reforms through Congress on everything from banking, to education, telecommunications, and energy. Ending Pemex’s 75 year monopoly over energy is a notable feat.
But precisely because it is a radical departure from the past has made it highly controversial. The Mexican public is frustrated, and many are skeptical of the benefits of handing over control of Mexico’s natural resources to foreign companies. Should President Pena Nieto’s PRI party lose control in 2018, an incoming administration could roll back some of the reforms that are now being put into place. That presents another element of risk to international companies pondering billion dollar investments.
Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine any of the interested parties will stay away. With many of their other projects literally located in war-ravaged regions, Mexico looks easy by comparison. Companies like ExxonMobil, BP, and Chevron will probably move in as quickly as they can.
By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.comMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The couple say the legal battle probably isn't over
A gay couple who were turned away from a bed and breakfast were discriminated against, it has been ruled.
Michael Black and John Morgan were refused a double room at Swiss Bed and Breakfast in Berkshire by its owner.
The pair from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, were awarded £1,800 each at Reading County Court for "injury to feelings".
Cambridgeshire Police said it was looking into complaints following comments made on Twitter by BNP leader Nick Griffin about the couple.
'Rights of all'
The MEP is alleged to have asked for the couple's address and called for a demonstration to be held outside their home.
One of the complained about tweets read: "We'll hold demo for rights of all home owners, gays included, to rent or not rent rooms to whomsoever they wish."
Mr Griffin's Twitter account was subsequently suspended.
A police spokesman said: "We have received a number of calls in relations to the tweets and are looking into the complaints we have received.
"Officers will also visit the men mentioned in the tweets as part of our inquiries."
Mr Black, 64, and Mr Morgan, 59, booked a double room at the Swiss Bed and Breakfast in Berkshire via email.
When they arrived in March 2010, owner Susanne Wilkinson would not let them stay in a room with a double bed.
Recorder Claire Moulder said that by refusing the couple access to a double room, Mrs Wilkinson had "treated them less favourably than she would treat unmarried heterosexual couples in the same circumstances".
It comes as a similar case in Cornwall awaits a Supreme Court hearing.
'Like a triumph'
Peter and Hazelmary Bull, the Christian owners of a guesthouse in Marazion who also turned away a gay couple have won permission to appeal against their ruling.
In the latest case, the judge accepted Mrs Wilkinson was genuine about her Christian beliefs and had also stopped unmarried heterosexual couples from sharing a double bed.
Reacting to the ruling, Mrs Wilkinson said: "Naturally, my husband and I are disappointed to have lost the case and to have been ordered to pay £3,600 in damages for injury to feelings.
"We believe a person should be free to act upon their sincere beliefs about marriage under their own roof without living in fear of the law. Equality laws have gone too far when they start to intrude into a family home."
The Christian Institute had backed Mrs Wilkinson's case.
Mrs Wilkinson was granted permission to appeal against the ruling and said she would give it "serious consideration".
Mr Black said the ruling felt "like a triumph".
He said: "It's taken two and a half years to get this far so to get the judgement and be vindicated in it is a great feeling."
'Simply unacceptable'
He said the only drawback was that Mrs Wilkinson had leave to appeal and, because the case involving the Cornwall guesthouse was due to go to the Supreme Court in late 2013 or early 2014, their own case was unlikely to be heard until after that.
When asked about Mrs Wilkinson's religious beliefs, Mr Black said he was not trying to fight anyone's beliefs. He said: "Running a B&B is not a religion.
"If you are running a B&B you have to abide by the law so either change your job or carry on running a B&B and let gay couples stay."
When asked if the couple were willing to take the case as far as the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Morgan said: "If it is still quite common for this sort of discrimination to take place then I think it needs to be taken all the way to be stopped."
James Welch, from civil rights group Liberty which took up the men's case, said: "It is simply unacceptable for people running a business to refuse to provide a service because of someone's sexual orientation."Mahasen Saber spent more than three years in the Egyptian court system trying to divorce her husband. In the lonely and often confusing process, she met many women in similar circumstances who relied on each other for moral support. But their battles didn’t end in court – what followed were stares and whispers.
Four months ago, Ms. Saber started “Divorce Radio,” an Internet-based station that seeks to reverse popular conceptions of divorced women and create a supportive community. Her initiative is part of a broader push in Egypt’s conservative Muslim society to challenge social stigma attached to divorced women.
“Here in Egyptian society, the woman is looked upon at as if she is the one who made a big mistake getting a divorce from her husband. She’s always at fault,” says
Saber, whose station is an extension of her popular blog, which has made her something of an icon in Egyptian media. “I want Arab society to respect women who are divorced.”
Variety of programs, including one by a man
The station runs a variety of programming, including “You Understand Us Wrong,” about the value of divorced women in society, and “Your Son: How You Raise Him,” in which a doctor discusses rearing children of divorced parents. There is also a show led by a divorced man about his experiences.
But not all programs focus on life after divorce; “Before You Say ‘I Want a Divorce’” discourages divorce as a solution to marital problems. “I want to say to [listeners], not every problem with your husband should lead to divorce…. There are problems we can deal with and there are problems we cannot deal with,” says Saber.
In Islam, divorce, although permitted, is frowned upon. But divorce statistics in Egypt are the highest in the Arab world: 40 percent of marriages end in divorce.
“The divorce issue is now in every house in our society, every family has a divorced woman – a daughter, a mother, a sister,” says Saber.
Flower vendor: Breaking up families is a 'big problem'
A relatively new law that has made it easier for women to divorce has contributed to surging divorce rates. Under the law, passed in 2000, women can ask for a divorce without explicitly stating the reason. This option, known as khula, offers women previously unavailable privacy, but in exchange, they give up any legal rights to property and their dowry.
Men aren’t happy about it.
“It’s an issue of masculinity,” says Mehab Abolkonfan, chairwoman of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights. “In Eastern society, men should be [in demand], not rejected... [In khula, a woman] doesn’t have to say ‘he beats me’ or does any bad things, but instead says, ‘I reject this man and I will forgo any kind of financial commitment to leave this man.”
Yasser Shehad, a married flower vendor in downtown Cairo, is saddened by the law’s impact on Egyptian society.
“This [law] increases the rates of divorce and allows women to do whatever they want,” says Mr. Shehad. “Marriage is love and happiness and a family unit. Breaking up the families – that’s a big problem. What else is bigger than breaking up the family?”Eating beef from an animal infected with mad cow disease can lead to an untreatable condition that attacks the brain and is universally fatal, but symptoms can take decades to emerge. Thankfully, a new blood-screening technology can spot the condition, known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, with 100 percent accuracy, perhaps years before it attacks.
Misfolded proteins called prions cause both mad cow and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Once they invade the brain, they begin recruiting normal proteins and forcing them to adopt the same abnormal shape. The prions and the blighted proteins clump together forming increasingly large aggregate deposits that wreak havoc on the brain and invariably lead to death. The disease, however, has a long incubation period. “In the case of humans, the estimation goes from several years to a few decades,” says Claudio Soto, a neurologist at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston. “So it could be that you're exposed one day and then, 40 years after, you develop the disease.”
In the interim, the prions hang out in non-brain tissues such as the appendix and tonsils, and because they do not cause symptoms, the infected person becomes a silent carrier. Perhaps the worst outbreak of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease occurred in the United Kingdom during the 1980s and 1990s, when large swaths of the population were exposed to beef contaminated with mad cow disease. Since then, there have been 277 cases in the U.K. and an epidemiological study published in 2013 estimates that another 1 in 2,000 people there, about 30,000 in total, are silent carriers. While it is not clear how many of these people will go on to develop the disease, blood donations from silent carriers could jeopardize the country’s blood supply, according to Soto. The new screening test stands to alleviate the uncertainty, however.
Soto led the team behind one of two studies published today in Science Translational Medicine that assessed a diagnostic test for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which can detect very low levels of prion proteins in the blood.
Soto’s team and a team led by Daisy Bougard of the French Blood Establishment in Montpellier, France ran the test on blood samples from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease patients in the U.K. and France. The two teams used slightly different methods, but the basic idea was the same: the test essentially mimics the progression of the disease in an accelerated, artificial environment. First the prion proteins are separated from the blood and combined with normal proteins, which take on an abnormal shape, forming aggregate clumps. Then, the aggregates are pulled apart and recombined with more normal proteins. The process is repeated over and over again, in effect replicating the prion proteins until very small quantities are amplified enough to be easily detected. If there are no prions present in the blood, nothing happens.
Between the two studies, the test was able to identify a total of 32 cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with 100% percent accuracy, and there were no false positives among the 391 controls, which included regular blood donors, patients with a different form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and patients with other neurological diseases. In addition, Bougard’s group was able to diagnose variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the blood of two patients 1.3 and 2.6 years before they developed clinical symptoms. The results not only confirm that the test can accurately diagnose the disease, but also suggest that it may be able make the diagnosis before patients develop symptoms, which could be particularly important in places like the U.K. with a large number of silent carriers. The test
will “improve the safety of our blood supply [by eliminating] any blood samples that may be potentially contaminated with prions,” says Soto, “which will in turn diminish the possibility of people getting infected, and eventually developing this fatal disease.”
Soto founded a startup called Amprion to develop the technology. The company is currently working on optimizing the test and obtaining approval in the United States and Europe to use it for blood screening. Soto expects it to be commercially available within one to two years.
Paul Brown, formerly a senior investigator in the Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies at the National Institutes of Health, who was not involved in the studies praised the accuracy of the test, saying that the two papers “reflect the immense progress that testing has undergone during the past decade.” However, he pointed out that variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is no longer a major global problem, with only two cases in 2016, and said the test would have been more useful during the peak of the epidemic.
Christina Orrú, a neurologist at the National Institutes of Health, who was not involved in the studies, thinks the test is still needed to screen and monitor prion contamination in the blood supply. “We currently don’t really understand the implications of silent carriers and if they could harbor another wave of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, particularly in the U.K.,” she says.
Sylvain Lehmann, a neurologist at France’s National Center for Scientific Research, who was not involved in the studies was also impressed by the sensitivity and specificity of the test, saying that the findings confirm that silent carriers can transmit the disease. Because the current versions of the test are complicated, labor-intensive and time consuming, they are not necessarily suitable for screening large volumes of blood, he says, but they could be useful for confirming a diagnosis, especially in silent carriers, or detecting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in at-risk patients who received a contaminated blood transfusion.
The test may also have other applications. Soto and Bougard point out that while variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is rare, more common neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are caused by a similar process of misfolded proteins aggregating in the brain and causing damage. Both are hopeful that the new test can be adapted to screen for these diseases at an early stage, before symptoms occur.
“This is a big problem with all these brain diseases, that when the disease manifests clinically, it's always very late, and at the time that the brain is largely destroyed,” says Soto. “We are trying to develop a blood test to detect Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease before the clinical symptoms of the disease appear so we have better possibilities for therapies to work.”J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, first published in 1937, celebrated its 75th birthday (if you will), in September of 2012—a clear testament to its immense staying power. The Hobbit might seem antiquated or simplistic to a modern reader picking it up for the first time, but it hasn’t lost any of its magic. It remains the definitive fantasy novel.
The classic story
Even people who don’t read fantasy recognize the story of The Hobbit: Bilbo Baggins, a simple hobbit living in the Shire, is coerced by the wizard Gandalf into joining a group of thirteen dwarfs as they journey to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their home and their treasure from the dragon Smaug. We don’t see many stories like this in fantasy these days. The Hobbit is a simple, straightforward adventure; a peaceful character stepping out of his comfort zone and leaving his home to go on a grand, dangerous quest. This formula was so effective that it was copied time and time again in the subsequent decades of fantasy literature to the point that it became a cliché. I believe this is one reason why so much of today’s fantasy is filled with intricate political machinations and gritty, realistic warfare: we exhausted The Hobbit’s formula, and had to turn to something new to keep things fresh. Even still, The Hobbit has retained its charm; whereas so many stories became stale because they were derived from The Hobbit, The Hobbit’s originating nature imbues it with an untouchable magic.
The roots of an entire genre
While fantasy certainly existed before The Hobbit, the books that qualified as such were few and far between. Ask fans of the genre to name a pre-Hobbit fantasy book, and very few would be able to do so. I think it’s absolutely fair to say that all of modern fantasy exists as a result of The Hobbit. Tolkien only wrote The Lord of the Rings because of the success of The Hobbit—people loved it, and the publishers wanted more. Tolkien obliged, and his works have gone on to influence much of today’s top-tier fantasy. Terry Brooks has stated numerous times that his hit fantasy novel The Sword of Shannara, first published in 1977 and the start of a series that now numbers over twenty books (and is still growing), was a direct response to Tolkien’s work, an influence that is quite clear upon reading his novels. Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series contains obvious Tolkien influences, and George R.R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire, has spoken of Tolkien’s immense impact on his work. These authors are only the tip of the iceberg—Tolkien has become the staple of fantasy literature, and it all comes back to The Hobbit. That’s where it all began, and its influence cannot be understated.
It has a dragon!
Let’s be honest, is it even possible to have a great fantasy novel without a dragon? Well, okay, it is—but dragons always make things better! Even after the better part of a century, Smaug remains one of the most iconic dragons in all of literature. Inspired by the dragon from “Beowulf,” he displays all the classic tropes: he hoards treasure in the heart of a mountain, and his wrath is incurred when an item from his trove is stolen. Modern fantasy authors will often create some sort of new twist to make their dragons interesting, and classic dragons like Smaug have become all but extinct. However, I’ve always thought there’s something unbelievably epic about old-school dragons, which Smaug embodies perfectly—a vicious, fire-breathing monster who’s covered in impenetrable scales and tries to burn down a town on a whim. Seriously, that’s just awesome.
A book for everyone
There are a number of reasons why The Hobbit is an excellent fantasy novel, but what makes it the fantasy novel? It’s for everyone. While Tolkien’s follow-up, The Lord of the Rings, is a darker story intended more for adults, The Hobbit is traditionally considered a children’s book. Although it’s certainly very accessible for children (I read it five or six times before I was eight years old), it can be enjoyed by anyone of any age. I most recently read it a year ago, and while it didn’t engage me quite as much as it did when I was younger, I still enjoyed it immensely. I’ve seen plenty of non-fantasy readers pick it up and love it. While much of modern fantasy has become incredibly dark and violent with stories that are meant to be appreciated only by older readers, The Hobbit remains a relic of another age of fantasy—an age where anyone could pick up a book and enjoy it from beginning to end.
The definitive fantasy novel
The Hobbit isn’t an intricate story filled with political scheming or gritty warfare, it’s a straight-up adventure story—it’s clean, classic fantasy. Its formula of taking a peaceful character and sending him on a dangerous quest has been copied time and time again in fantasy literature, but The Hobbit remains the originator and definitive work written in such a style. Is it old-fashioned? Absolutely. Does is seem simplistic when put side-by-side with more modern works? Sure. Regardless, The Hobbit hasn’t lost any of its magic or its all-ages appeal. There is no doubt in my mind that it will continue to be read and enjoyed by millions of people for years to come, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is the definitive fantasy novel. The Hobbit is a story for the ages.
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This article is part of our search for “The Great Fantasy Novel.” For more information on this project or to nominate your own favorite fantasy novel, please take a look at the introduction article. Do you agree or disagree with this nomination? Let us know in the comments below!Hanover, Virginia – Omar Abdelaal just turned 16 – now, he’s looking at 20-to-life. Omar is accused of attacking another teen with an axe, sloughing off the left side of the kids face. The victim, just 15, had to have his face sewn back together with about 120 stitches. The entire attack was captured on video surveillance at a frequent teen hangout called Tractor Supply, Co. According to police, two groups of teens were arguing in the parking lot when Omar and his friends walked away and entered the supply store – the victim and his friends weren’t far behind. At some point, Omar broke away from the entire group, grabbed an axe from a display, removed the protective cover, and attacked the other teen. On the surveillance video, the victim could be seen facing Omar with his hands at his sides when he was hit.
In his statement to police, Omar stated that he hadn’t felt threatened and wasn’t provoked by the victim. Guess he was just feelin’ froggy then? Damn. A friend of Omar, Hunter Kusterer, tells a different story. He claims Omar acted in self-defense. Hunter said that he, Omar, and another friend were hanging out at a fast-food joint when a truck packed with the victim and five other teens pulled up. “Then they turned their truck around and one of them came out to us, the one who later got hit with an axe, well, he got in my face and started a fight with me or something and he said that I had said something to him and I said I don’t know what you’re talking about…. and they were yelling “go to tractor supply. They have razors for sale so you can go cut yourself””, said Hunter. After the truck drove off, the trio headed over to Tractor Supply, Co. “When we were in the parking lot, the guys were sitting there in their trucks and they yelled the same stuff at us.” Hunter went on to state that the other boys followed them into the store, taunting them. “And they kinda cornered us in there and said stuff to us and they pulled knives and took them off the shelf and they were saying “you can cut yourself with this, it works very well.” And that’s about the time Omar lost his cool and started choppin’.
Omar Abdelaal, 16, is charged with aggravated malicious wounding. Prosecutors plan to try him as an adult.
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Syrian Warplanes Continue to Bomb Terrorists' Defense Lines in Hama
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian air force launch an intensive air campaign and struck the terrorist groups in Northern Hama on Friday.
Syrian army aircraft targeted three main sites of the terrorist groups in Ma'ardes, Taybat al-Imam and Zour al-Tibeh, destroying four tanks, three machinegun-equipped and several armored vehicles of the militants.
Several members of the terrorist groups were also killed in the air assault with many more reported wounded.
Earlier reports said that the Syrian military forces struck the terrorist groups' concentration centers and gatherings along a key road from Hama to the neighboring province of Homs, inflicting a heavy death toll on the militants.
Syrian Army soldiers attacked terrorists' positions in the Western side of al-Salamiyah near the road to Homs province, destroying the militants' vehicle and killing a large number of them.
The Syrian army's engineering units also defused a large number of bombs and explosive traps planted by the terrorists in Wadi al-Adhib region near the road connecting Sheikh Hillal to |
this record-high and potentially precedent-setting sharing request,” Eric E. Hampl, director of Treasury’s executive office of asset forfeiture, wrote to Virginia Deputy Attorney General John Childrey.
Cuccinelli was zeroing in on the IRS at a time when the agency is in turmoil over revelations that it targeted tea party organizations and other conservative groups, subjecting them to greater scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.
A tea party hero who was the first attorney general in the nation to file a lawsuit over President Obama’s health-care reform law and who successfully sued the Environmental Protection Agency over storm-water regulations, Cuccinelli said his politics might be behind the delay.
“Needless to say, I’ve been on the other side of some issues from this administration,” he said.
Cuccinelli said he had no proof that he had been targeted, but he said that was a logical conclusion.
“There’s incompetence or there’s malevolence,” he said. “The level of incompetence here is so astoundingly high that it does become hard to believe that even a federal agency like the IRS is capable of that level of incompetence.”
Abbott forfeited the money in October after an investigation found that the pharmaceutical giant had promoted the drug, approved for epileptic seizures, migraines and mania, for the “off-label” purpose of sedating elderly nursing home patients. Virginia’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which is part of the attorney general’s office, did 80 percent of the investigative work on the case, putting in more than 38,000 hours, Cuccinelli said.
Cuccinelli said at the news conference that his office had not directly contacted the IRS about the money. “We don’t have that option,” he said when asked why not.
When a reporter asked why he didn’t write a letter to the director of the IRS, Cuccinelli said, “Well, we know that the congressional reps have been talking to their office, and we thought that would be a more effective form of communication.”But let’s think about that same notion in terms of a number of the church’s sacraments. Let’s think about the intelligibility of, for example, baptism: Does anyone ever fully understand the implications of baptism? Of course not. But we do it anyway. What about marriage? People make promises about what they are going to be doing fifty years from now. Talk about unintelligible. It’s absurd! And what about the Eucharist? Do we ever fully understand what we are doing when we partake of the flesh and blood of Christ? Two thousand years worth of theological texts on the subject seems to suggest that we don’t, but we partake of it anyway. And in the partaking of the Eucharist we do come to understand its implications in a manner that would otherwise not be possible if we just said, “Well, I’m not going to do it until I have totally wrestled with all of its implications.” I think that’s certainly how it works for Christian nonviolence as well. You don’t ever fully understand it, but one way to come to grips with it is to start practicing it. It’s the same thing with Christianity as a whole. You don’t first fully understand Christianity and then become a Christian. You become a Christian and then realize that it’s far more convoluted than you could have ever imagined. It gives you a whole new set of problems you never knew were possible. Thanks, Jesus!
So, my advice would be to read from our rich tradition of sources on Christian nonviolence, and there are plenty. You will quickly realize that if a two thousand-year-old tradition of nonviolence is faddish, then we are certainly a trendy bunch. So, yeah, utilize the vast resources of the early church. The first three hundred years of Christianity is full of material. Those kids had not yet been sucker-punched by words such as "responsibility" and "realism." You can also check out the 16th century writings of the Anabaptists, or read all the John Howard Yoder your little aspiring peacemaking hearts can handle. You could also join a Christian Peacemaker Team. I imagine that would be helpful. It may enable you to read scripture in, perhaps, a more faithful manner. I think that’s one major problem with trying to make sense of Jesus in the North American church. We are all way too rich, too well protected, and much too secure to probably understand that guy. I guess the best thing you can do to cover that hermeneutical gap is to try to find a church that has an overriding concern for "the least of these." Granted, it may not have a gymnasium or a coffee cocktail hour, but it may have Jesus.
From Kerry: I often think of Bonhoeffer when I think of pacifism... he talked about sometimes having to choose between one bad thing (Hitler) and another bad thing (killing Hitler). As a practicing pacifist, how do you respond to gigantic evil (Hitler, genocide, etc.)? This is always where I hit a wall: I can totally accept that there's no such thing as a "Christian war"; I favor conscientious objection. But how do we just stand by when terrible violence unfolds?
I have come to the painful realization that I’m probably not good for anything more than recommending books... and I’m okay with that bit of self-deprecating knowledge. With that being said, you should check out Robert Brimlow’s book What About Hitler? James McClendon’s Ethics, Stanley Hauerwas' Performing the Faith, and, from what I hear, Mark Nation’s forthcoming book on Bonhoeffer. You may find their responses far more interesting than mine (I certainly do).
First of all, if Jesus’s death and resurrection did not save us from having to choose between “one bad thing” and “another bad thing” then I’m afraid it didn’t do much at all. If after the cross and resurrection the only option I now have is to do a "little less evil," then Christianity is fraudulent. Get out while you can. To answer your question, “How do we just stand by when terrible violence unfolds?”—the simple answer is, you don’t. By no means do we just stand by. Why would a pacifist want to do that?
Get in the middle of things. Raise holy hell, but don’t fall prey to, say, John Milbank’s concern that pacifism entails voyeurism. You call it out. You speak truth to the orders that perpetuate violence (and the notion that the only appropriate response to violence is violence). You quote the prophets who proclaim the coming of the messiah. Remind the world that the prophets also make clear that injustice will not be ignored. Proclaim the subversive message of Jesus. Put a creative spoke in the wheel. Get arrested, put your body in the middle of things, hold your “gentile leaders who lord their power over others” accountable, but don’t just stand by.
More importantly, whatever you do, don’t assume that there are only two options: voyeurism or physical violence. I fear that the powers-that-be make sure we can only envision a world in which those are the only two options we have, and to that notion, I say we have been duped. Or, as Malcolm X put it: “You've been had. You've been took. You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok. This is what they do." Yeah. This is what they do.
From Christy: I identified as a pacifist for 15 years, but no longer do - although I do (mostly) strive for non-violence in my own life. Here's a question that I always found difficult to answer for myself: Do you ever worry, as a well-educated American, that you're just out-sourcing the violence? I don't own a gun, but the cops do. Even when I was a pacifist, I lived in a very high-crime neighborhood, and called the cops on numerous occasions so that officers with guns could go after the criminals with guns and lock them up in our tremendously violent prison system where guards with guns would keep them there. I've worked with a lot of kids in neighborhoods where violence was a daily reality - being tough and making people think you might hurt them, even if you actually didn't, was, for many of them, a vital survival technique. I took a self-defense class a couple of years ago - and having been on the receiving end of physical violence on a number of occasions, I found it incredibly healing and empowering. At the same time, I've seen the incredibly devastating effects of violence, so it's not like I think violence solves anything. Do you wrestle with these sorts of questions as a pacifist and have you been able to resolve them to your satisfaction? How much violence have you been exposed to in your life? How do you think that has affected your thinking on this?
Hi Christy, I love how you phrased that—"out-sourcing the violence."
Yes, I do worry about such out-sourcing. I’m not sure how to entirely eradicate my complicity with a violent world. I fancy myself something of an anarchist, but I know at the end of the day I’m a capitalist. It’s the default mode. I have very little chance to be anything other than a unsatiated consumer whose very economic structure is predicated on the seven deadly sins.
So, no... I have not been able to resolve this to my satisfaction. I can’t imagine I will ever be purely satisfied, though I do hope I am eventually capable of living in such a way that I become far less reliant upon the systematic tools of violence that make our current way of life possible. I’ve found that gardening helps. In terms of my own personal experience, I have, for the most part, been fairly sheltered from violence. Although, we recently had to repair the hood of our car because someone put a bullet through it. They must have really hated my last book.
From Elizabeth: What is the biggest challenge of being a pacifist in your daily life? I think I would find myself stumbling over the little frustrations that raise my ire. Do you extend your pacifism to not grumbling at the driver who just cut you off in traffic or smacking your computer when it's on the blink? I believe firmly that peace must begin inside each person, and between an individual and God before humanity can begin to live peacefully on a larger scale. Are there any spiritual disciplines you practice to maintain that necessary inner peace?
This is the one question I dreaded most. To paraphrase Stanley Hauerwas, the reason I claim to be a pacifist (which I often try to avoid) is because I know I am so violent. I need a body of people who will hold me accountable to that which I claim to be true.
To use your own reference, I’m a terribly aggressive driver. I lived in Chicago for several years and then moved to south central Kentucky where it must have been a moral obligation to maintain a speed of 5-10mph below the speed limit. I now understand why those kids lost the Civil War—they move too slow. It drove me crazy. So, what did I do? I moved to the Virginia Beach area that has to have some of the worst traffic on the planet. I’m doomed. I don’t know what it would mean to say that peace must begin from within a person.
Christianity claims that we are a fallen lot and are wicked from birth (difficult to be optimistic with that sort of language). Biology seems to suggest that, for all of our empathetic features we still operate with a fairly instinctual pulse toward survival and self-serving fulfillment (or to at least live long enough to reproduce), so it’s difficult for me to envision peace coming from within; but, I can submit myself to the communal disciplining of a peacemaking body of people who may, through rigorous training, shape me into the kind of person who can live peacefully amidst the insanity of never-ending traffic. So far, it hasn’t worked.
From Thomas: While I can concede that a pacifist position is a strong one, there is one story that I can't seem to reconcile. That is the story of Jesus in the temple with the moneychangers. I have heard some interesting arguments that attempt to bring that story in line (for instance - that there is no indication that Jesus's whip actually "hit" a person - which more sounds like an argument from omission). It would seem that Jesus intervened when necessary. For the woman that was to be stoned. For the children that wanted to speak to him. For the common people against the ruling religious party. In many cases, he used his words, but in the temple incident, he used physical action... or dare I say: violence. How do you reconcile that story into a Christian pacifist view as opposed to a Christian as interventionist (a changer), and how sometimes that intervention involves physical contact in defense of another?
It’s a well-known fact that, as a carpenter’s son, Jesus never could get over his animosity toward wood. He hated tables. Resented them. His version of teenage rebellion was donning a whip and turning them over whenever he could. Apparently, he never outgrew it.
You know, this is one of those really interesting questions if only because I hear it so often. To be honest, I have never understood the conceptual leap that leads some people to envision Jesus’ actions toward the moneychangers as translating so easily into killing people, but, apparently it does. I therefore concede that I am clearly missing something, so let’s give it a shot (bad pun... sorry).
First of all, as King once said, let’s not deprive ourselves of a little righteous anger. Now that guy was an interventionist! Last year I offered extra credit to any students willing to overturn the tables in their churches where the selling of so-called goods was occurring. Can you imagine that sort of movement? Talk about the need for a good trend, let’s do this! We have completely rendered Christianity ridiculous with our banal and mawkish commodifying of this subversive homeless guy who angered every single religious and political zealot that crossed his path. And now we are those same religious-politicos. But we’re worse, because we sell it! We wear gold diamond encrusted crosses, we place fish ornaments on our $20-$50,000 cars, we sport some of the most embarrassing Christian t-shirts that any self-respecting capuchin would be ashamed to wear and where are all of our table turners? Where are they? This is a significant issue. I want to see some table-turning. How do we make this happen? Because Christian participation in this marketing nonsense is the real threat to Christianity, not the so-called “New Atheists.” I don’t blame the Hitchens, Dawkins, and Harrises of the world for making fun of us. Somebody needs to do it. As a whole, we’re quite laughable. I find it difficult to take any of this seriously (including myself).
Ah, back to your question: I guess the issue would revolve around whether or not such an action (the overturning of tables while pulling an Indiana Jones) would be considered violent. And, apparently, if it were determined to be violent then that would mean I could kill my enemies and still consider myself a follower of Christ. As you can see, there’s a radical disconnect in that last line.
From Agmccoy1: What do you think about the scripture in Ecclesiastes when the writer says there is a time for peace and a time for war?
I think Ecclesiastes is one of those books that’s best left alone if you’re feeling remotely melancholic. It’s been known to drive people into the ethereal arms of Jack Daniels (as well as toward the brilliance of The Gaslight Anthem, so it can’t be all bad).
I’d also say that Christians in North America have certainly embodied the war part.
I’m just wondering when we get to the "time for peace" part. It should be now, right? I mean, we are convinced that the Messiah has come, correct? This is the age of the resurrected Lord--war need no longer be practiced by those who believe Jesus is the Messiah. If there is a time for anything then it's time for turning our weapons into plowshares. So the question, it seems, in all of this is whether or not we really think Jesus is the Messiah. If so, well, time to ante up.
My apologies for not being able to address the many stellar questions I see listed throughout the original post. I’ll do my best to address comments as they come. Let me just say that Yoder’s The Politics of Jesus and The Christian Witness to the State are two classics that proponents and opponents of Christian nonviolence should check out.
Also, I’m more than pleased to report that most of the questions you posed are actually addressed by various people in our upcoming book A Faith Not Worth Fighting For. As a matter of fact, I think the only one we didn’t cover was from the oh-so enigmatic person known as "DLS." Here is what he/she askes: “If the Zombie Apocalypse were upon us, would a Christian pacifist still be prevented from using violence on the undead, or does the fact that they're undead and feasting on human flesh release us to use our axe, chainsaw, or other instrument of blunt force to decapitate the horde?”
Well, DLS, given that I already have a 'Lobo' handy, I certainly hope so.
***
Check out the rest of our interview series—which includes “Ask an atheist,” “Ask a Muslim,” “Ask an evolutionary creationist,” “Ask a humanitarian,” “Ask a gay Christian,” “Ask a Mormon,” and more—here.
Next week look for “Ask a Pentecostal.”Putting a price on carbon emissions remains a divisive topic. Voters in Washington state may show the way in a referendum Nov. 8. (Photo11: Thinkstock)
Putting a price on carbon emissions remains a divisive topic in the USA, even as polls indicate considerable public support for actions to address climate change.
Voters in Washington state may show the way Nov. 8 when they decide on a referendum that would assess a carbon tax on coal, oil and natural gas, a move aimed at lowering emissions that contribute to climate change without digging deeply into people’s wallets.
Backed by a campaign called Carbon Washington, the initiative is designed to be revenue-neutral, gradually increasing the carbon tax while reducing sales and other state taxes. A similar levy was established by neighboring British Columbia in 2008.
Initiative 732 is stirring up controversy in the Pacific Northwest state, and polls show that its outcome on Election Day is uncertain. If enacted, it would be the first state carbon tax in the USA.
Among those pointing to the referendum as a possible prototype for the USA as a whole is Clay Sell, a former top energy official under President George W. Bush.
Sell told a Washington, D.C., audience the other day that it’s time to end the political debate over the cause of climate change and address the phenomenon with a business-friendly policy.
“The great challenge for the next administration using the bully pulpit will be to end this fiction, act upon the science and design a carbon pricing scheme that will provide the certainty and efficiency that energy investors desire,” Sell told a forum held by the U.S. Energy Association.
“I hope both (political) parties will take that up, as it will allow the benefits of all clean energy technologies to be properly valued in the marketplace,” he said.
To be clear, Sell has a vested interest in clean energy as the president of Hunt Energy Horizons, the renewable energy subsidiary of Hunt Consolidated, a Dallas-based energy, real estate and investment corporation controlled by billionaire Ray L. Hunt, whose family’s fortune began with oil.
Nonetheless, Sell, who was the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from 2005 to 2008 and an energy adviser to Bush before that, said interest in a carbon price is growing among business executives, even if it hasn’t reached all corners of the oil and gas industry.
“If I were to take you to the wildcatters’ dinner at the Petroleum Club, you would not find me in the broad majority,” he said when I asked him how his views go over in Dallas. “But people need certainty.”
Sell criticized the “patchwork of overlapping subsidies, mandates and tax benefits” that federal, state and local governments established over the years to promote clean energy and reduce emissions.
Among the mistakes, he maintained, is the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which would cut carbon emissions from power plants but not other sectors, such as transportation. He called it “completely inadequate” to manage the “global impacts” of carbon emissions.
That plan, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after Congress failed to pass climate legislation, is challenged in court by 24 states.
Sell was just as critical of those in the Republican Party and elsewhere who resist a consensus among scientists that human behavior is the leading cause of climate change. Among them is the GOP nominee for president, Donald Trump.
“I think we need to work more to restore and defend the primacy of science in all policy discussions and decisions,” Sell said. “Now, for those Democrats in the room, you may be saying, ‘Of course, that’s what we’ve been saying for years on climate change. When are you Republicans going to come around?’
“And I will tell you, I think the Republicans should come around on the primacy of science on that issue,” he said. “But you know what? People need to come around on the primacy of science as it relates to hydraulic fracturing (for oil and gas drilling), on the primacy of science on what it tells us about Yucca Mountain (in Nevada) and its suitability as a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel, and for other projects and initiatives where we allow politics to trump science.”
In the meantime, look to the Pacific Northwest, Sell suggested.
“I think there are some lessons that could be learned from the initiative in Washington state about a revenue-neutral carbon tax,” he said.
Bill Loveless — @bill_loveless on Twitter — is a veteran energy journalist and podcast host in Washington. He is the former anchor of the TV program Platts Energy Week.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2efLyDJSen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Feb. 12, 2015. (Photo11: Molly Riley, AP)
WASHINGTON — Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., tried to steer clear Wednesday of a growing controversy over what role, if any, the chairman of the Missouri Republican Party had in an alleged smear campaign against the state's Republican auditor.
Questions about Missouri GOP Chairman John Hancock's future have increased, as Republicans cope with the fallout from allegations that the longtime Republican consultant engaged in a "whisper campaign" against Republican state Auditor Tom Schweich, who committed suicide last week.
Blunt would not say Wednesday whether Hancock should resign or keep his post as party leader.
"The state chairman is selected by the state committee, not selected by anybody else," Blunt said.
"I've been trying to focus on Tom Schweich and his family," Blunt added. "I frankly haven't thought about what should come next."
Schweich, 54, fatally shot himself last Thursday in what police say was an apparent suicide at his home in Clayton. He was in a bitter primary fight for the Republican gubernatorial nomination against Catherine Hanaway, a former Missouri House speaker and U.S. attorney.
Missouri state Auditor Tom Schweich (Photo11: AP)
Right before his death, Schweich called reporters for the Associated Press and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, inviting them to his home for an interview that afternoon and saying he was going to go public with allegations that Hancock had been telling people Schweich was Jewish.
Schweich believed it was part of an anti-Semitic smear campaign against him by Hancock. Schweich was Christian, although he had some Jewish ancestry and had said his grandfather had long encouraged him to stand up to anti-Semitism.
Hancock has denied making anti-Semitic remarks, though he has said he mistakenly believed Schweich was Jewish and may have mentioned that in an offhand way to some people.
On Tuesday, former senator John Danforth, R-Mo., delivered a searing eulogy at Schweich's funeral, excoriating the tone of today's political campaigns and seeming to lash out at Hancock, although not by name.
"Words do hurt. Words can kill," Danforth said. "That has been proven right here in our home state. … The death of Tom Schweich is the natural consequence of what politics has become."
Schweich's former spokesman, Spence Jackson, said after the service that Hancock "should resign immediately" as Republican Party chairman.
At least one other well-known Republican echoed that call. David Steelman, the one-time GOP state House leader, tweeted this message Tuesday: "Danforth eulogy was beautiful powerful and disturbing. MoGOP needs to find its soul. To do requires new leadership."
In an interview, Steelman said he was deeply disturbed by the tactics and tone of the gubernatorial race.
"The Republican establishment had no room for someone as independent as Tom Schweich," said Steelman, the husband of former GOP State Treasurer Sarah Steelman. "Tom Schweich could not be bought, and the Republican establishment is interested in control."
Steelman also said its "absurd" to believe that Hancock didn't know Schweich was not Jewish. "He's an opposition researcher," Steelman noted of Hancock's work as a GOP consultant.
Hancock did not return a voicemail message on Wednesday.
Many in the GOP will be looking to Blunt, the state's top elected Republican, to be a guiding voice in helping the party move forward after Schweich's death. Steelman said Blunt's influence over Hancock's hold on the party chairmanship is paramount.
"Sen. Blunt is the most senior Republican in the state of Missouri. If he wants John Hancock to resign, John Hancock will resign," he said. "If John Hancock doesn't resign, I will assume that's because the senator does not want him to."
For now, Blunt is not saying one way or the other.
"I think I've answered the question," the senator said Wednesday when pressed on Hancock's tenure.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1ALe1QAThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers have an important decision to make by May 3. Will the Buccaneers pick up Doug Martin’s fifth-year option? According to Pewter Report‘s Scott Reynolds, the answer is no. In fact, Reynolds reports that Charles Sims will assume the featured back role next season and the Bucs will utilize the draft to select a bigger back to assume the goal-line and short-yardage plays. Reynolds adds that there is a possibility that Martin could be dealt on draft day.
Ever since his breakout rookie season, Martin just hasn’t been the same running back. Injuries and a poor offensive line could be seen as a catalyst for his decline, but Bobby Rainey found occasional success last year, suggesting that the Muscle Hamster’s poor numbers may have more to do with him than anything else. Ever since Lovie Smith took over as head coach, the writing has been on the wall in regards to Martin’s future with the team. The team used a third-round pick on Sims, who Bucs running back coach Tim Spencer has said reminds him of Lovie’s former Chicago Bears back, Matt Forte.
If the Buccaneers are able to pull off a trade solely involving Martin, it’s hard to believe they will be able to get anything more than a late-round pick.
If this does end up being the end of the road for Martin with the Buccaneers, it will be an unfortunate and very short end to what appeared to be a very bright future.Bob Filner's therapy plan only increases calls for his resignation
The city's recall laws "are contradictory, not in conformance with state law, and likely unconstitutional," said Kersey, who has called for Filner to resign.
Also on Friday afternoon, Councilman Mark Kersey, a Republican, asked Council President Todd Gloria to put an item on a meeting agenda to allow the council to iron out legal difficulties with the city's recall procedures.
Just minutes after Filner's surprise announcement Friday, Councilwoman Sherri Lightner said Filner should resign because he "can no longer effectively lead our city." A Democrat, Lightner had been among three council members who held out while six others called for Filner to resign.
SAN DIEGO -- Mayor Bob Filner's announcement that he plans to undergo behavioral therapy to learn how to stop treating women disrespectfully has increased demands for his resignation or recall among San Diego City Council members.
Filner has so far resisted the pressure for him to step down amid allegations of sexual harssment of staff members, constituents and others. There is no impeachment process in the City Charter.
A citizens group has announced plans for a recall movement against Filner, a difficult process requiring large-scale signature-gathering to qualify the issue for a public vote. The last recall of a San Diego official was in 1991.
City law needs to be changed, Kersey said, so that "voters may have confidence in the legal viability of future [recall] elections."
Reaction among city council members to Filner's plan to undergo two weeks of therapy at a residential facility was uniformly negative.
Filner "continues to put his needs in front of the needs of his victims and the citizens of San Diego," said Councilwoman Lorie Zapf.
The toughest comment came from Councilman Scott Sherman: "San Diegans should accept nothing less than Bob Filner's resignation and/or arrest."
At a packed news conference at City Hall, Filner said he would undergo the therapy starting Aug. 5 and return to work full time Aug. 19. "I must become a better person," the 70-year-old Democrat said.
Filner apologized for engaging in behavior toward women "over many years" that he called disrespectful and intimidating. But he stopped short of admitting that he has sexually harassed women.
In a strong voice, Filner, reading from a statement, said his conduct has undermined his long political career spent "fighting for equality and justice for all people." He took no questions.
Filner said the two-week stay at the undisclosed site would be only the first step toward changing his behavior.
Elected in November, Filner is the city’s first Democratic mayor in 20 years, elected on promises to improve neighborhood services and break up the “old boy’s network” that he says has run City Hall for decades.
Seven women have publicly accused Filner of sexual misconduct. One, a former top aide, has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages for alleged sexual harassment, including being put repeatedly in the "Filner headlock" and being told on one occasion to come to work without panties.What happens after the election if there is a hung parliament? Which parties might agree to work together and who may hold the balance of power? Who could build a majority of 326 votes in the house? Play our game to find out.
Reading on the BBC News app? Click here to play our hung parliament game.
*Each result is randomly generated and not a prediction of the election - read more.
What is a coalition?
A coalition is when two or more political parties agree to form a government that includes ministers from each party.
In general a coalition is formed because no single party has enough MPs to guarantee that their bills will be voted through by Parliament.
The coalition governing the UK for the last five years was the result of the Conservative Party gaining the largest number of MPs at the 2010 general election - but finding itself short of the 326 required for a majority in the House of Commons.
A coalition of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats was the only two-party combination able to command a majority.
Does there have to be a coalition?
A coalition is not the only option in a hung parliament. A government only has to show that it can "command the confidence of the House of Commons". This means being able to gather enough votes to defeat any vote of no confidence called by the opposition.
One party could decide to form a minority government, filling all the ministerial roles with its own MPs but relying on votes from outside the party to pass any bills.
How these votes are secured is up to the political parties. There are no rules on how they must draw up any agreement.
The outcome of discussions could be a formal pact, where the parties agree to vote together on all bills, or it could be that the government has to persuade other parties to vote with them on a case-by-case basis.
What is "confidence and supply"?
In the run-up to the election, several party leaders have ruled out joining a coalition and talked instead of having a looser agreement. This is sometimes known as a "confidence and supply" arrangement.
"Confidence" refers to the smaller party promising to support the government in any vote of no confidence called by other parties, while "supply" means that the party will help the government to pass its budget.
In practice, this means a minority government doesn't have to constantly worry whether it is about to be voted out of office. In return it will need to co-operate with other parties in drafting every bill that it wants to put before Parliament.
Who gets first chance to form a government?
A prime minister remains in office until he or she informs the Queen they are resigning, and is only "expected" to resign once it becomes clear that they cannot command a majority in the house.
So, for example, David Cameron is entitled to stay in power if he believes he can build a working majority. He then has just under two weeks to form a government before the the start of the new Parliament.
Should this happen, the opposition could then test the strength of his majority with a vote of no confidence.
Before and during the new Parliament, other parties may decide to join discussions with the present government, or the party with the most MPs, or the party with which they have the most policies in common.
Talks on forming a government may start between opposition parties even though the prime minister remains in power, which was the situation facing Gordon Brown in 2010.
How long do they have?
There are 12 days between polling day and the first meeting of Parliament, the exact date of which is set by Royal proclamation.
The date for the start of the next Parliament has already been announced as 18 May 2015.
In 2010, it took 13 days to complete the full coalition agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
Subscribe to the BBC Election 2015 newsletter to get a round-up of the day's campaign news sent to your inbox every weekday afternoon.ST. LOUIS -- Not only was Tuesday a special night for the St. Louis Blues, who unveiled their fourth coach in the last six years in Ken Hitchcock's debut behind the bench, but it was also an emotional night for those who had connections with Pavol Demitra and Igor Korolev.
The team honored the former Blues players prior to the game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Demitra and Korolev were among the 45 victims of the tragic plane crash in Russia that was carrying the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv KHL hockey team to its season-opening game. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff, with one member of the flight crew being the only survivor.
Several Blues alumni and former teammates, including Brett Hull, Curtis Joseph, Geoff Courtnall, Keith Tkachuk, Reed Low, Tony Twist, Kelly Chase, Jamie Rivers, Scott Young, Jeff Brown, Jim Campbell, Peter Stastny, and current Blues defenseman Barret Jackman, as well as Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, assistant coach Mike Kitchen, Hawks forward Jamal Mayers and Demitra's best friend and Hawks forward Marian Hossa, were on hand for the pregame ceremony. Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak was also a close friend of Demitra's.
Korolev's family, including wife Vera and daughters Kristina and Anastasia (both born in St. Louis) were in attendance. Demitra's wife Maja and children Lucas (who was born in St. Louis) and daughter Zara could not attend.
Each was presented with No. 38 Blues jerseys as well as portraits of both players.
"I come here with a very heavy heart," Hull said. "... (Korolev) had a great work ethic and a smile that can light up a room."
Added Tkachuk, one of Demitra's close friends, "Some guys I'll never forget.... Pavol Demitra was one of those guys. He played with a purpose and he played with joy."
"Great guy. I loved Pav. I loved coaching him," said Quenneville, who coached Demitra with the Blues from 1997-2004. "He was one of those guys that we had a good rapport, a good relationship.
"I knew all the signs of how we communicated without having to say anything. He'd sit on the bench and look back when he wanted to get back out there, 'Get me out there,' and I'd put him out there. You know why he wanted to be out, because he wanted to make a difference in the game. I like guys that love to score, and he was a competitive guy and a great guy."
Mayers was Demitra's teammate in St. Louis from 1997-2004 and remembers a player who was talented and competitive, but that was just as good a person off the ice as he was on it.
"As good of a player as everybody knows he was, what got lost somehow is how competitive he was," Mayers said. "He really wanted to win. He always treated everybody the same and was a great teammate and friend.
"Obviously it's such a tragic loss. They all have families. It's hard to put into words. It's pretty devastating."
Hossa was as close to Demitra and his wife Maja and their kids as anyone and was deeply hurt when he learned of the tragic news. But he also is appreciative of the Blues for putting together a nice tribute.
"It's definitely nice what they're doing here for two former players and a great friend of mine (Demitra)," said Hossa, who wears Demitra's No. 38 on his skates. "It's great to be a part of something like that and definitely it will bring some memories back. It's going to be an emotional start. Pavol's always going to be with us.
"I know (Maja). She's my neighbor (at home in Slovakia). We're a close group of guys in my hometown, and we told her we are here for her and her family."
Korolev's family was on hand for the ceremony, but Demitra's was not able to attend. The Blues' players will wear a special No. 38 patch on their jerseys tonight and there will be a game-worn jersey auction. Also, a Demitra-Korolev Fund has been established and will offer children a chance to play hockey in St. Louis and in Europe by paying their registration fees and/or purchasing hockey |
even arrest her if she told them they were not married. Another woman, Nabila, 33, with a three-year-old daughter, lived with a man in Annaba, for one year, in 2012. They married by fatiha, a traditional form of marriage that is not registered with the authorities. She said he beat her regularly. When she was pregnant, he did not want the baby and he kicked her on her belly to provoke a miscarriage. He locked her inside the apartment for several days and gave her no food. Nabila said she never went to the police to complain. “I’m not married to him. I have no rights. If I go to the police, they could even put me in prison.”
Nabila gave birth to her daughter in 2013 and was living in a shelter when Human Rights Watch interviewed her in April 2016. Prevention Law no. 15-19 makes no mention of measures for prevention of domestic violence. The UN Committee on Discrimination against Women, which oversees the implementation of the CEDAW, to which Algeria is a state party, states that “[t]raditional attitudes by which women are regarded as subordinate to men or as having stereotyped roles perpetuate widespread practices involving violence or coercion, such as family violence and abuse.” The CEDAW Committee says: “Effective measures should be taken to overcome these attitudes and practices,” including education and public information programs to help eliminate prejudices which hinder women’s equality. the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, also known as the Maputo Protocol, which Algeria has signed in 2003 but not yet ratified, also calls on states to “actively promote peace education through curricula and social communication in order to eradicate elements in traditional and cultural beliefs, practices and stereotypes which legitimize and exacerbate the persistence and tolerance of violence against women.” In its Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women, UN Women recommends that legislation on violence against women address prevention. This should include measures such as awareness-raising on women’s human rights, educational curricula to modify discriminatory patterns of behavior and gender stereotypes, and sensitizing the media regarding violence against women. UN Women has also issued a Handbook on National Action Plans on Violence against Women, which explains additional prevention measures. The UNODC has published guidance on prevention as well. Algeria has not set out prevention measures on violence against women in its legislation. Orders for Protection Law no. 15-19 falls short by failing to introduce protective measures for survivors seeking protection from domestic abuse. Such protective measures are not found elsewhere in Algerian legislation. The purpose of such measures, in countries where they are available, is to protect the victim from further violence. In many countries, domestic violence survivors can access emergency or longer-term “orders for protection.” UN Women describes protection orders as “among the most effective legal remedies available to complainants/survivors of violence against women.” Such orders provide women with a measure of protection “while allowing them time to determine how to stay safe over the long term without immediately having to file for divorce or seek criminal sanctions.” This is crucial for Algerian women, several of whom told Human Rights Watch that they had approached the authorities for protection from domestic violence but either did not pursue prosecution or dropped complaints due to pressure from their families. Lawyers told Human Rights Watch that in most cases involving allegations of domestic violence, women ended up dropping their criminal complaints (see chapter II on social barriers). Protection orders go by a variety of names, such as restraining orders or protection orders, and can be issued by a variety of authorities. The UN Women’s Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women recommends that they be available to survivors of domestic violence in both civil and criminal proceedings. Violations of protection orders are typically considered criminal offenses. Short-term emergency orders respond to situations of immediate danger, often by requiring that the suspected abuser maintain a distance from the victim. This is often an appropriate alternative to placing the burden on victims to seek shelter and safety elsewhere. Laws designate the authorities empowered to issue and enforce such orders. As temporary emergency orders, they can be issued on the basis of a victim’s testimony. Longer-term protection orders are typically issued by courts after notifying the respondent of an opportunity for a full hearing and review of evidence. In many countries, these orders expire after several months. UN Women recommends that they be valid for one year. Both emergency and longer-term orders specify restrictions that can be placed on the respondent. For example, they may prohibit a respondent from: perpetrating or threatening further violence; contacting or going near the survivor and her dependents; accessing the family home; and possessing or purchasing a firearm. Such measures should also ensure appropriate respect for due process.
Prosecution Absence of Guidance for Law Enforcement Algerian law does not set out any concrete duties or guidance governing what the police or prosecutors should do in responding to domestic violence. Police and prosecutors, as well as investigating judges, are central to responding to domestic violence. They are often the front line for receiving complaints, investigating cases, and referring survivors for services. Algeria is not the only country where police and prosecutors are often reluctant to address what they may consider “private family matters.” Far too often, they send women back to dangerous partners, and have failed to take action against abusers. Recognizing this tendency, UN Women recommends that domestic violence laws establish concrete duties for police, prosecutors, and other officials who play a role in law enforcement or investigations in cases of violence against women. The UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women calls for police duties to include: conducting a risk assessment; interviewing the parties and witnesses; recording the complaint; advising the survivor of her rights; filing an official report; arranging for transport for medical treatment; and providing other protection (see above regarding orders for protection). Finally, UN Women recommends that governments adopt “pro-arrest” and “pro-prosecution” policies when there is probable cause to believe that a domestic violence crime has occurred. The UNODC explains that “pro-arrest” policies “highly encourage officers to make an arrest in cases of domestic violence while at the same time leaving them with some discretion. These policies should require a written report from the police on the reasons when they do not follow the policy.” Absence of Evidentiary Rules and Guidance for Forensic Doctors Law no.15-19 does not specify evidentiary rules that courts should apply, except in the case of “psychological violence,” where the law provides that any form of evidence can be used to prove such violence. (See chapter V on evidentiary requirements for domestic violence.) The UN Handbook for legislation also states that legislation should state that “medical and forensic evidence are not required in order to convict a perpetrator” and should allow the possibility of prosecuting and convicting an offender “based solely on the testimony of the complainant/survivor.” The authorities should develop guidelines on evidence that should be admissible in court for domestic violence cases in line with UNODC recommendations. This may include medical/forensic evidence, victim statements, photographic evidence, expert witnesses, physical evidence such as torn clothing and damaged property, and cell phone records, emergency call recordings, and other communications. Algerian law also lacks guidance on criteria or elements to be used by forensic doctors to determine the period of incapacitation. Algeria’s penal code and its new amendments should be reformed to make the extent of incapacitation one, but not the definitive, factor in determining the sentence. The UNODC guidance on sentencing recommends that laws should specify other factors that judges can take into account, including history of abuse, risk of recidivism, rehabilitation needs, and aggravating factors. Pardoning Offenders Law no.15-19, while setting out penalties for some forms of domestic violence, also offers the possibility for the offender to escape punishment or benefit from a reduced sentence if the victim pardons the perpetrator. In cases of psychological and economic violence and of physical violence that do not lead to permanent disabilities, a victim’s pardon of the offender terminates the prosecution.[117] Where the violence results in a permanent disability, a victim’s pardon can halve the sentence from 20 to 10 years imprisonment. In cases of theft between spouses, the criminal prosecution cannot take place without a complaint by the victim, and the withdrawal of the complaint terminates the prosecution. By including possibilities to pardon into such criminal provisions, the law encourages victims to pardon their offenders, and their abusers to know that such escape is possible. This indeed appears to have been the aim of the drafters. The preceding comments in the June 2014 draft of the law by the Ministry of Justice provided that: “To preserve the continuity of married life, the amendments provide for the possibility of pardon to terminate criminal prosecution in matters related to crimes, while also allowing for mitigating circumstances in matters related to felonies if the victim offers pardon.” Women already face existing social presser to drop complaints against their abusers, and while they can now press new charges under this law, they will face social pressure from their abusers and their families to pardon them throughout the legal process and even following conviction. The law provides for no use of “protection orders” which could prohibit perpetrators from contacting the victim and other relevant measures, leaving survivors at risk of further threats of violence or other harm if they don’t pardon their offenders. By prioritizing the “continuity of married life” through the inclusion of such pardons, the law puts women’s safety and even their lives at risk. If most women are pressured into pardoning their offenders, this may leave the law largely ineffective. The UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women recommends that domestic violence laws make clear that the responsibility for deciding whether to prosecute violence against women lies with prosecution authorities, not with survivors. It recommends that the law set minimum standards for what prosecutors must communicate to survivors at all stages of the legal process, including their rights and details of relevant legal proceedings, as well requiring prosecutors to explain why they dropped their cases. Other Discriminatory Laws for Women CEDAW requires states to take “all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women.” It also requires states to modify social and cultural patterns of behavior that are sources of many women’s rights abuses. The UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, in its General Recommendation 19, stated that “traditional attitudes by which women are regarded as subordinate to men or as having stereotyped roles perpetuate widespread practices involving violence or coercion, such as family violence and abuse… Such prejudices and practices may justify gender-based violence as a form of protection or control of women.” During the examination of Algeria’s record in 2012, the CEDAW Committee stated that “[w]hile welcoming a number of legislative amendments aimed at eliminating discrimination against women [...], the Committee expressed its concern that many provisions remain in laws such as the Family Code and the Criminal Code contrary to the State party’s obligations under the Convention and other relevant international human rights instruments.” In 2005, the Committee reminded the Algerian government that reservations to articles 2 and 16 of the CEDAW were contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention and urged it to withdraw its reservations within a finite time frame. In 2005, Algeria introduced significant amendments to the Family Code but did not eliminate all of its discriminatory provisions. The positive measures included the introduction of mutual consent by both spouses as a requirement of marriage, and the ability to contract a marriage on the basis of mutually agreed clauses. The code removed the provision that said, “the duty of the wife is to obey her husband.” An adult woman however still requires a wali (guardian) to conclude her marriage contract, a requirement not imposed on men, though the amended code redefined wali to include any male of her choice. In addition, the law also still allows for polygamy, though it introduced the wife’s approval as a prerequisite for her husband taking on a new wife. The amended code also broadens the grounds on which a woman may sue for divorce. But the code still gives only men the right to divorce without providing an acceptable motive. For a woman to divorce without her husband’s consent and without providing an acceptable motive, she needs to repay her dowry, or an equivalent amount of money, to her husband in return for the divorce. The amended code establishes a default position of preferring the mother when assigning responsibility for primary care of the child custody. It also allowed for the possibility that courts could award women guardianship of her children, giving her decision-making power over their children’s education. Significantly, the amended code provided that when the court has determined that children should live with their mother after divorce, the father is required to provide a decent dwelling to the mother and the children or, alternatively, to provide adequate financial support. Moreover, the code also provided that if the court orders that the children should live with their mother, she can remain in the marital home until the execution of any judicial decision on housing arrangements. The family code disfavors divorce-seeking women who have no children from the marriage, in that they lose any right to the marital home, in contrast to men who seek divorce in the same circumstances. This is not only discriminatory on its face, it may also deter women survivors of sexual or other violence committed by their spouse from demanding a divorce that could result in their being made homeless. Moreover, the family code does not recognize marital property. The absence of legal provisions that value a woman’s non-monetary contributions to the marriage at the time of termination – including household and family care, lost economic opportunity and her contribution to her husband’s career – contributes to discrimination against women. Several women told Human Rights Watch how they had to quit paid jobs either at their husband’s insistence or to care for children, leaving them economically dependent on their abusers. Some discriminatory provisions against women and girls in Algerian legislation also increase the risks of domestic violence. For instance, article 326 of the penal code provides that any person who “abducts or corrupts” a child under 18 years without using violence, threats, or deception or attempts to do so can be punished with imprisonment of between one to five years. However, the perpetrator can escape prosecution or conviction if he marries the child, unless the marriage is annulled. In effect, this can allow cases in which perpetrators who rape children escape prosecution by marrying their victims and use the forced marriage of girls to such men as a means of protecting honor. Article 279 of the penal code provides that a spouse who comes upon their spouse in the act of adultery and kills, injures, harms their spouse or his/her partner can benefit from a mitigating excuse. This defense, while gender-neutral, disproportionately affects women who are more often the victims of violence, and as such can end up legitimizing gender-based violence. Algeria’s inheritance law provides that a daughter is entitled to the equivalent of half her brother’s share of inheritance. When a woman has no brother, the share that would have gone to a brother is divided among other male relatives. Such inequality in inheritance further weakens women’s ability to leave their abusive husbands. Several women told Human Rights Watch that they remained in violent relationships in part because of their reliance on their husbands or their families for food and shelter. Algerian law permits abortion only if the life or health of the pregnant woman is threatened and when it is practiced by a medical doctor or surgeon who has given his or her medical opinion to the administrative authorities. It does not permit abortion on grounds of rape or incest. A woman seeking or carrying out an abortion outside of the authorized cases faces up to two years in prison. Abortion is also permitted under Article 72 of the 1985 law on the promotion and protection of health if the pregnant woman’s life is in danger or in order to protect her physical and mental health. Such a prohibition means that women who become pregnant as a result of marital rape can be forced into having unwanted pregnancies.
Recommendations To the Algerian Parliament Amend Law no. 15-19 on domestic violence to: Remove explicit references that provide for termination of prosecution, cancellation, or reduction of any court-imposed punishment if the victim pardons the offender. Make clear that the articles criminalizing forms of domestic violence applies to spouses, intimate partners, ex-spouses, and former intimate partners- regardless of whether the perpetrator and victim are cohabiting or have ever cohabited-as well as members of the family, extended family, and in-laws. Ensure that “coercive control” is a key aspect of acts criminalized in the provisions relating to psychological and economic violence.
Adopt additional comprehensive legislation on violence against women that: Defines domestic violence to include physical, sexual violence, psychological, and economic violence. Ensure that the scope of individuals includes: individuals who are or have been in an intimate relationship, such as marital, non-marital, same sex, and non-cohabiting relationships; individuals with family relationships to one another; and members of the same household. Establishes protection orders which can prohibit an alleged perpetrator of domestic violence from: perpetrating or threatening further violence; contacting or going near the survivor and her dependents; accessing the family home; and possessing or purchasing a firearm. Distinguishes between emergency (short-term) protection orders and longer-term orders; set a time-limit for both, with a maximum of a year for long-term orders, and set out relevant authorities to issue such orders. Stipulates appropriate levels of due process for both types of orders, taking into account the nature of emergency orders and the limited amount of evidence that is likely to be available. Sets out concrete duties for the police, including carrying out risk assessments; interviewing the parties and witnesses; recording the complaint; advising the complainant of her rights; filing an official report; arranging for transport for medical treatment; and providing other protection. Sets out prevention measures of domestic violence, including assigning responsibilities to government agencies to carry out prevention measures, including awareness-raising activities, development of educational curricula, and sensitizing the media regarding domestic violence. Defines the government's role in providing support and services to domestic violence survivors, including in terms of shelter, health services, psychosocial care, legal advice, and hotlines. Establishes a trust fund or other financial assistance for domestic violence survivors, which should not be dependent on the criminal judicial process or the finding of guilt.
Adopt legislative guidelines on evidentiary rules for domestic violence cases: Include the types of evidence that are admissible in court proceedings, such as medical/forensic evidence, victim statements, photographic evidence, expert witnesses, physical evidence such as torn clothing and damaged property, and cell phone records, emergency call recordings, and other communications. It should also state that a complainant's testimony may be sufficient evidence for a conviction. While severity of injury, as determined by doctors, should be one factor courts can consider in determining sentences for those convicted of crimes, other factors should be considered, such as history of abuse, risk of recidivism, rehabilitation needs, and aggravating factors.
Amend the penal code to define rape as a form of sexual assault that is a physical invasion of a sexual nature without consent or under coercive circumstances. A physical invasion would include penetration, however slight, of any part of the body of the victim - or of the rapist by the victim - with a sexual organ or of the anal or genital opening of the victim with any object or any other part of the body. Provide that sexual violence against an intimate partner (marital rape) is a crime.
In the state budget, ensure adequate allocation of resources to facilitate development and implementation of national gender and domestic violence policies and to support services for survivors of domestic violence.
Amend discriminatory provisions against women and girls in the family code and the penal code.
Ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. To the Algerian Government Establish a national database on violence against women which includes information on domestic violence showing the number of complaints received, investigations undertaken, prosecutions mounted, convictions obtained, and sentences imposed on perpetrators.
Gather statistical data at regular intervals on the causes, consequences, and frequency of all forms of violence against women. · Statistical data should be disaggregated by sex, age, ethnicity, and other relevant characteristics. To the Ministries of Interior and Justice Support the development of specialized domestic violence units and specialized prosecution offices in all regions.
Ensure that the police response to domestic violence respects a survivor-centered approach that empowers the survivor, refrains from victim-blaming or stigmatization, and prioritizes the survivor's safety, health, and wellbeing over family unity.
Establish a police response protocol to domestic violence whereby police should be directed to: Accept and register domestic violence complaints; and Inform domestic violence survivors of their rights with regards to protection, prosecution, and redress.
Require that female police or prosecutors are made available where a victim prefers to communicate with them.
Direct relevant ministries to adopt "pro-arrest" and "pro-prosecution" policies in cases of domestic violence when there is probable cause to believe a crime has occurred.
Enable individuals to open a procedure complaint against individual officers who violate their rights to increase accountability of officers who fail to uphold the law.
Require the police and public prosecutors, as well as investigative judges, to coordinate on domestic violence cases and directly communicate between offices. Authorities should not leave it up to domestic violence survivors to deliver instructions between offices.
Design and implement a mandatory core curriculum on domestic violence response in a gender-sensitive manner at the police training institute, as well as in police retraining andJohn Harris has been one of my personal favorite artists since I began working at Tor Books 20 years ago. Of course I love the scale of his work—everything feels weighty and important—but it’s his ability to portray a future that seems simultaneously possible and dream-like that resonates with me the most. His paintings are never labored or overly rendered. Instead they invite the viewer to participate in them, to contemplate that future, and its repercussions, in their own mind. It’s almost as if the viewer is left with a memory of the event.
Harris’ work has graced the covers of countless science fiction books science the early 80s, for authors such as John Scalzi, Orson Scott Card, Ben Bova, Ann Leckie, and many others. It is a testament to his work that book covers produced today are every bit as fresh and relevant as they have been throughout the past three decades.
Titan Books is now publishing The Art of John Harris: Beyond the Horizon, a 160 page hardcover collection that focuses on his wide variety of futuristic paintings, sketches, acrylics and watercolors.
In the introduction John Scalzi says,
In my career as an author, I’ve found John Harris’ work incredibly inspiring. And no, I don’t mean that simply as a compliment. I mean it in the sense that a significant part of my written work started with me staring at a picture of his artwork and having ideas come from there. The best example of this my novel The Ghost Brigades, part of my Old Man’s War series. Tor, my publisher, decided to have John do the art for trade paperback of Old Man War and at the same time commissioned the cover to The Ghost Brigades, which I was then writing—because sometimes in publishing you get a cover even before you have a manuscript. My editor showed both to me with a flourish. Both were quintessential John Harris space art: vibrantly colored, impressionist yet technical, implying a whole universe outside the borders of the cover.
The Art of John Harris: Beyond the Horizon will be available May 30th. We are honored to present the following preview.
I’m particularly proud that the cover to John Scalzi’s The Human Division is being used for the cover of the regular edition. For collectors, a slipcase edition will sport this lovely painting created for a private commission.Last Monday, because I've been feeling out of the loop, I resolved to catch the new Avengers movie. I call it "the Avengers movie" – in fact, the word "Assemble" was added to the UK release so it wouldn't be confused with the 1960s TV series of the same name. Thus the film I saw was called Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D, which sounds like a badly translated Japanese videogame from the mid-90s. Or something you might oil and push up your arse while wearing a confused look on your face, a bit like civilisation has failed.
No visit to a contemporarymultiplex is complete without a bit of shit being rubbed in your eye right from the start, which happened in my case when the automatic ticket-printing machine spewed a rectangle of air at me instead of a ticket. Pathetically, I looked around for human assistance, only to find a big queue at the box office, where a solitary staff member was gradually processing incoming fleshbags with the joyous gusto of a woman forced to slowly count dust motes in a jail cell forever.
A nearby sign claimed I could purchase tickets from the popcorn counter instead, so I rode the escalator to the brighty-coloured ripoff desk, where another lone staff member had been sentenced to life imprisonment. He called a manager, who spent five minutes trying to retrieve my ticket from an uncaring and uncooperative operating systembefore giving up and commanding the usher to wave me through before the computer found out and had me destroyed.
"Where do I get the 3D glasses?", I asked the usher, who looked at me as though I'd asked whether the film would have colours and shapes in it, before explaining that I'd have to go to a different counter and buy a pair separately for 80p.
When I arrived there, a customer was trying to buy pick-n-mix with a credit card, thus hopelessly crippling the cinema's IT system. I asked the cashier if I could simply put cash in his hand for the glasses, but no. Apologetically, he explained that everything had to go through the computer. So I stood there and waited. Cameron's Britain.
Finally, I entered the auditorium just in time to enjoy an anti-piracy commercial depicting an abandoned cinema wreathed in cobwebs, accompanied by a doomy John Hurt voiceover saying what a shame it would be if all the cinemas closed. Yeah, imagine that. I'd have to approximate the experience by punching myself in the kidneys and eating a £50 note each time I put on a DVD.
Then Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D began. Some scientists were worried about a glowing blue cube they kept underground, so Samuel L Jackson had turned up to make things easier by shouting at them. Then the cube went bonkers and spat out a bad guy called Loki, who looks like a cross between Withnail and the sort of grinning pervert who'd have sex with a fistful of Mattesson's liver pate in the window of an apartment overlooking a hospice bus stop. Then some vehicles raced around and everything blew up.
Then Samuel L Jackson gathered some superheroes together on a sort of impossible flying aircraft carrier, and they spent some time mocking each other's costumes in a post-modern fashion before Loki's henchmen arrived and everything blew up again. Then they all went to New York and some aliens in hovering chariots flew through a hole in the sky and everything blew up for the third and final time. And then, because the Avengers had won, the film decided to end.
Despite being almost completely incoherent, it's enjoyable bibble, and as good as superhero films are ever likely to get, which is excellent news because it means they can stop making them now. Seriously, they needn't bother releasing Batman Bum Attack or whatever the next one's called, because it won't be as good as Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D. Finally we can move on, as a species.
Still, entertained though I was, I did find myself occasionally checking emails: a first for me in a cinema, and surprising when you consider the amount of spectacle on display. It's like watching buildings and cars and girders and fighter jets endlessly smashing around inside a gigantic washing machine for two hours, interspersed with wisecracks. That's what mesmerises humans, just as surely as cats are fascinated by bits of string being pulled across the carpet. Up to a point, anyway. Once you've seen 10,000 cars exploding, you've seen them all. I rapidly succumbed to spectacle fatigue.
Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D cost $220m to make and is 143 minutes long, so whenever I glanced at my phone for one second, I missed $25,641 worth of entertainment. As an aside, I bet you could find someone prepared to shoot a stranger dead on camera for $25,641. What if you paid that person $220m to shoot 8,580 strangers dead on camera – that's one per second – and then while you were watching the footage afterwards, in your lair, your phone beeped and you glanced at it for five seconds and didn't notice all five members of One Direction taking a bullet? You'd miss out on a real cultural talking point.
Finally – and this is an odd accusation to level at a superhero film – it didn't feel very real. I reckon only about 8% of what was on screen was actually there. The rest was imagined by computers. And please, leery tragi-men, don't dribble on about "Scarlett Johansson's arse in 3D" being "worth the price of admission". The film was shot in 2D and converted to 3D using software, which means you're actually drooling over a 2D image of Scarlett Johansson's arse wrapped around a wireframe model of an arse that isn't there. You're sitting in front of HAL 9000, jerking off like a monkey. Somewhere, the machines are laughing at you.Story highlights Trump to meet with GOP senators on Capitol Hill
Sen. Thom Tillis brings popcorn amid Trump-Corker feud
Washington (CNN) Sen. Thom Tillis went to a lunch with Republican lawmakers carrying a bag of popcorn, ready for President Donald Trump's visit to Capitol Hill after he feuded with Sen. Bob Corker Tuesday morning.
A reporter asked the North Carolina Republican if the popcorn was for the fight between the two, which escalated after Trump accused Corker on Twitter of fighting his plans for tax reform. The Tennessee Republican later took to Twitter to call Trump an "utterly untruthful president" and slammed him in an explosive interview with CNN's Manu Raju
Tillis affirmed that the popcorn was in preparation for the lunch that will include both Trump and Corker, and tweeted a picture of himself at a popcorn machine with the caption, "Ready for lunch with POTUS and @SenateGOP."
Ready for lunch with POTUS and @SenateGOP.🍿 pic.twitter.com/gtrZqgDD9e — Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) October 24, 2017
At the lunch, Trump will try to persuade Republican senators to back his plan for tax reform.A number of major Australian technology companies were yesterday forced to evacuate Brisbane staff from their premises as rising flood waters threatened the city’s central business district.
Around 2,000 Telstra staff left the company’s Brisbane facilities, with the location of its headquarters in the city particuarly being an issue. “Because of the proximity of our George St building in Brisbane to the Brisbane River we have advised staff to go home,” spokesperson Craig Middleton said yesterday. “We’ve also ensured that any business critical functions have been transferred to other Telstra locations.”
Telstra spokesperson Elouise Campion told AAP the situation had been “scary” — staff could see the river beginning to burst its banks and onto a garden area. Optus, too, evacuated its staff, although the telco wasn’t sure of the exact number who went home, and Microsoft also told its employees to start working from home.
“Thinking of our Brisbane office — just been evacuated,” Microsoft Australia’s new general manager Pip Marlow wrote on Twitter yesterday. And then good news: “All our team in Brisbane safe and sound. So good to know,” the executive added.
Melbourne IT also evacuated its office, although it is still operating “a limited skeleton staff”, according to spokesperson Tony Smith — those who felt confident they could make it in. However Smith said most employees were either working from home today, or simply at home making sure that their loved ones and property was safe.
Delimiter understands Data#3 staff had also gone home, with the company’s stock warehouse at Darra also being evacuated, although there was yesterday no risk of flooding at either location.
The timing of the floods — right in the middle of many people’s holidays — has also been problematic, with some employees being cut off from returning to their homes due to flooded roads. And the human factor appeared to be congesting traffic in the Brisbane CBD yesterday. “Traffic is mental in Brisbane at the moment — lots of people trying to escape the CBD at the moment,” said one Brisbane office worker.
Red Hat, too, which operates its Asia-Pacific support centre in Brisbane, as well as a significant development operation, was current operating at “a reduced capacity”, according to spokesperson Joanne El-Chah, but the company had pledged its customers and partners would continue to receive 24×7 support as part of its normal business continuity process.
The National E-Health Transition Authority warned its staff not to attempt to travel into the NEHTA office in West End unless they were sure it was safe to do so. “We will be sending regular updates to staff via SMS, email and this website,” wrote the organisation on its site. “All staff flights out of Brisbane have been suspended until further notice.”
And one last critical location was also evacuated last night.
Brisbane bar The Mana Bar — which has achieved fame throughout Australia’s technology community for hosting video games alongside more alcoholic forms of entertainment — posted yesterday on Twitter that it would be closed last night.
The bar itself is fine, according to its Tweets, but other residents around its Fortitude Valley location might not be so fortunate. “I’m sure you’ve all made Zombie Apocalypse plans, but it’s time to adjust them for a more Brisbane Bioshock,” the bar wrote, in a reference to the popular game set under the sea.
Image credit: SourceLeisure centre shuts over asbestos BelfastTelegraph.co.uk A leisure centre transferring to Belfast's new super-council as part of local government reforms is to close indefinitely over safety concerns about asbestos. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/leisure-centre-shuts-over-asbestos-31109500.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article30991141.ece/6d1a7/AUTOCROP/h342/Robinson.jpg
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A leisure centre transferring to Belfast's new super-council as part of local government reforms is to close indefinitely over safety concerns about asbestos.
The Robinson Centre, off the Castlereagh Road in the east of the city, sits within the part of the old Castlereagh Borough Council area which is being absorbed into the reconfigured Belfast council.
It is being transferred over to the enlarged Belfast council at midnight but both Castlereagh Borough Council and Belfast City Council (BCC) have been involved in a dispute over the hand-over.
The issue ended up in the High Court today, with Belfast council challenging a decision by Environment minister Mark H Durkan that the transfer of the property, and its past liabilities, should be completed on schedule.
The matter will now be subject to full judicial review at a later date. Belfast City Council said it did not succeed in obtaining an interim order to stop the transfer of the building tomorrow.
However, the council said an interim judicial direction was made to the effect that the liabilities will sit with the new Lisburn Castlereagh Council for the time being.
The building was temporarily closed by Castlereagh council earlier this year when previously undocumented asbestos was discovered in parts of the structure during a pre-transfer survey by BCC.
It has since reopened on a partial basis, with the swimming pool remaining closed.
But the doors will not open tomorrow when the trust that runs Belfast council leisure services takes over.
A meeting with the 35 plus employees has been scheduled in the morning to discuss the situation. They will be paid by Belfast council and deployments in other centres will be considered.
A spokesman for Belfast City Council said: "The Robinson Centre will not open tomorrow and will be closed indefinitely as BCC will be carrying out a more detailed survey as soon as possible so that it could take an informed decision about the future of the centre.
"We appreciate that one of the most sensitive issues is the outcome for the staff who work in the Robinson Centre. They have been advised by BCC by letter this afternoon that the centre will not open in the morning and a meeting has been arranged which will be attended by BCC management and recognised trade union officials."
He added: "Belfast City Council is committed to providing good value leisure services in all parts of the city, including those areas joining Belfast. The Council has already agreed to invest £105 million in its leisure facilities at no additional cost to the ratepayer and on Wednesday night it is set to agree how this investment will be made. This is likely to include significant investment in the east of the city, including the future replacement Robinson centre. This would ultimately be a significant enhancement to the facilities in that part of the city.
"In the meantime, we are working to ensure that those who currently use the Robinson Centre can continue to have access to leisure services during the indefinite closure that the Robinson Centre may face. "
A spokesman for Mr Durkan said: "It would not be appropriate to comment further as this is subject to a judicial process."A new Reuters poll of likely GOP voters shows that for the first time, there is a new leader among the GOP candidates: Ted Cruz.
On April 5, Cruz polled at 39%, followed by Donald Trump at 37%, and John Kasich at 23%. Cruz passed Trump on April 4, with 37%, followed by Trump at 35%, and Kasich at 28%.
Only two days before, on April 2, Trump led by a wide margin, with 41%, followed by Cruz at 33% and Kasich with 25%. But on April 3, the lead narrowed significantly, as Trump received 36% of the vote, followed by Cruz at 35% and Kasich at 27%.
The sense that Cruz is rising was borne out over the weekend, as he did well in North Dakota and a Pennsylvania straw poll. Cruz looks as if he will win a huge number of Arizona delegates if the GOP convention has a second ballot. He recently figured out how to win more delegates from Louisiana than Trump.
According to Nate Silver, the onrushing of the Cruz campaign is quite real; he stated on Tuesday:
When our expert panel convened to game out the rest of the states a few weeks ago, we had Trump winning the majority of delegates in Wisconsin. And I’d guess that was pretty in line with the conventional wisdom at the time. Trump won Michigan fairly easily, which is a relatively similar state to Wisconsin. He won Illinois. He lost Iowa, but it was a caucus — Wisconsin holds a primary, and those have tended to favor Trump.
Silver added, “Wisconsin is one of the first examples we’ll have gotten of what happens to the vote now that Rubio’s dropped out. In Arizona, we didn’t get a clean test because so much of the vote was cast early with Rubio still running. And Utah — now there’s a place where you can excuse Trump’s performance based on demographics because they’re so homogeneously Mormon. So Wisconsin is the |
to what’s happening outside of the campaign in order to stay connected and generate new ideas for things we could build.
A campaign is a series of amazing moments that make up this very deep and relevant experience. Some of these moments you can control and some happen more fluidly. I find that my time is best spent thinking about how technology can be used to make these moments even more impactful.The next time you have your blood pressure checked, ask your health care to check it in both arms, rather than just in one. Why? A big difference between the two readings can give you an early warning about increased risk of cardiovascular disease, a new study suggests.
Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital and colleagues measured blood pressure—in both arms—in nearly 3,400 men and women age 40 or older with no signs of heart disease. The average arm-to-arm difference was about 5 points in systolic blood pressure (the first number in a blood pressure reading). About 10% of the study participants had differences of 10 or more points. Over the next 13 years or so, people with arm-to-arm differences of 10 points or more were 38% more likely to have had a heart attack, stroke, or a related problem than those with arm-to arm differences less than 10 points. The findings, which appear in the March 2014 American Journal of Medicine, uphold earlier work on arm-to-arm differences in blood pressure.
Small differences in blood pressure readings between the right and left arm are normal. But large ones suggest the presence of artery-clogging plaque in the vessel that supplies blood to the arm with higher blood pressure. Such plaque is a signal of peripheral artery disease (cholesterol-clogged arteries anywhere in the body other than the heart). When peripheral artery disease is present, there’s a good chance the arteries in the heart and brain are also clogged, boosting the odds of having a heart attack or stroke.
While most cardiologists routinely measure blood pressure in both arms as part of an initial evaluation, most primary care doctors don’t. “Our study suggests that a baseline blood pressure measurement in both arms by primary care clinicians may provide additional information about cardiovascular risk prediction,” says study co-author Dr. Christopher O’Donnell, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Here’s another reason to check blood pressure in both arms: if the pressure in one arm is higher, that arm should be the one upon which to base any treatments and to check your blood pressure in the future. (The current guidelines for managing high blood pressure are discussed here).
This study didn’t look at whether more aggressive treatment in people with high arm-to-arm blood pressure differences would help protect them from heart attack or stroke. Still, it’s worth finding out if you face a high risk of heart disease. That might inspire you to redouble your efforts to improve your cardiovascular health. To that end, the top six steps are:
Don’t smoke. Tobacco smoke is as bad for the heart and arteries as it is for the lungs. If you smoke, quitting is the biggest gift of health you can give yourself. Secondhand smoke is also harmful, so avoid it whenever possible.
Tobacco smoke is as bad for the heart and arteries as it is for the lungs. If you smoke, quitting is the biggest gift of health you can give yourself. Secondhand smoke is also harmful, so avoid it whenever possible. Be active. Exercise and physical activity are about the closest things we have to magic bullets against heart disease and other chronic conditions. Any amount of activity is better than none; at least 30 minutes a day is best.
Exercise and physical activity are about the closest things we have to magic bullets against heart disease and other chronic conditions. Any amount of activity is better than none; at least 30 minutes a day is best. Aim for a healthy weight. Carrying extra pounds, especially around the belly, strains the heart and tips you toward diabetes. If you are overweight, losing just 5% to 10% of your starting weight can make a big difference in your blood pressure and blood sugar.
Carrying extra pounds, especially around the belly, strains the heart and tips you toward diabetes. If you are overweight, losing just 5% to 10% of your starting weight can make a big difference in your blood pressure and blood sugar. Enliven your diet. Add fruits and vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fat, good protein (from beans, nuts, fish, and poultry), and herbs and spices. Subtract processed foods, salt, rapidly digested carbohydrates (from white bread, white rice, potatoes, and the like), red meat, and soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages.
Add fruits and vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fat, good protein (from beans, nuts, fish, and poultry), and herbs and spices. Subtract processed foods, salt, rapidly digested carbohydrates (from white bread, white rice, potatoes, and the like), red meat, and soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages. Drink alcohol in moderation (if at all). If you drink alcohol, limit your intake — one to two drinks a day for men, no more than one a day for women.
If you drink alcohol, limit your intake — one to two drinks a day for men, no more than one a day for women. Ease stress. Finding ways to ease stress, such as exercise, meditation, mindfulness, and other techniques, can take a load off the heart and arteries.An Indian villager looks at an iris scanner for a pilot project of the Unique Identification Authority of India, or UIDAI, in the village of Chellur, northwest of Bangalore, on April 22, 2010. Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images
Move over, mobile phones. There’s a new technological fix for poverty: biometric identification. Speaking at the World Bank on April 24, Nandan Nilekani, director of India’s universal identification scheme, promised that the project will be “transformational.” It “uses the most sophisticated technology … to solve the most basic of development challenges.” The massive ambition, known as Aadhaar, aims to capture fingerprints, photographs, and iris scans of 1.2 billion residents, with the assumption that a national identification program will be a key ingredient to “empower poor and underprivileged residents.” The World Bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, effusively summed up the promise as “just stunning.”
Although few can match Nilekani’s grand scale, Aadhaar is but one example of the development sector’s growing fascination with technologies for registering, identifying, and monitoring citizens. Systems that would be controversial—if not outright rejected—in the West because of the threat they pose to civil liberties are being implemented in many developing countries, often with the support of Western donors. The twin goals of development and security are being used to justify a bewildering array of initiatives, including British-funded biometric voting technology in Sierra Leone, U.N. surveillance drones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and biometric border controls in Ghana supported by the World Bank.
This vigorous adoption of technologies for collecting, processing, tracking, profiling, and managing personal data—in short, surveillance technologies—risks centralizing an increasing amount of power in the hands of government authorities, often in places where democratic safeguards and civil society watchdogs are limited. While these initiatives may be justified in certain cases, rarely are they subject to a rigorous assessment of their effects on civil liberties or political dissent. On the contrary, they often seek to exploit the lack of scrutiny: Nilekani recommended in another recent speech that biometric proponents work “quickly and quietly” before opposition can form. The sensitivity of the information gathered in aid programs is not lost on intelligence agencies: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mark Mazzetti recently revealed that the Pentagon funded a food aid program in Somalia for the express purpose of gathering details on the local population. Even legitimate aid programs now maintain massive databases of personal information, from household names and locations to biometric information.
Humanitarian organizations, development funders, and governments have a responsibility to critically assess these new forms of surveillance, consult widely, and implement safeguards such as data protection, judicial oversight, and the highest levels of security. In much of the world, these sorts of precautions are sorely lacking: For example, despite the success of information technology in Africa, only 10 countries on the continent have some form of data protection law on the books (and even those rarely have the capacity or will to enforce them).
Kenya is a good example of how these programs can go wrong. In the country’s recent election, a costly biometric voting scheme flopped, adding widespread uncertainty to an already fragile situation. The problems were manifold, from biometric scanners that couldn’t recognize thumbprints to batteries that failed and servers that crashed. As journalist Michela Wrong put it, “almost none of it worked.” With limited resources, why support expensive and often ineffective technologies like biometric voting when traditional systems often suffice? While biometrics could help clean up electoral rolls, they may very well serve to obfuscate the electoral process, as information is passed through proprietary applications and technologies, closed to public scrutiny and audit.
But the worries in Kenya extend beyond technological failure. Like many low-income countries, Kenya has historically lacked a robust program of birth registration, making public health work notoriously difficult. It also stymies the provision of education services and cash transfers to vulnerable populations. To rectify this, the Kenyan state has sought to enroll all adults in a biometric national identification scheme that aims to interoperate with various other databases, including the tax authority, financial institutions, and social security programs. According to the director of this Integrated Population Registration System, George Anyango, the government now has “the 360 degree view of any citizen above the age of 18 years.” The Orwellian language is particularly worrisome given Kenya’s lack of data protection requirements and history of political factionalism, including the ethnic violence in the aftermath of the 2007 election that resulted in the death of more than 1,000 Kenyans.
The Aadhaar project in India—a country with a history of ethnic unrest and social segregation, widespread political and bureaucratic corruption, and with no effective legislative protection of privacy—should raise similar, magnified fears. Furthermore, it’s doubtful the program could help bring about the social equality it promises. Proponents of these state registration schemes argue that a lack of ID is a key reason why the poor remain marginalized, but they risk misdiagnosing the symptom for the cause. The poor are marginalized not simply because they lack an ID, but rather because of a complex history of discriminatory political, economic, and social structures. In some cases a biometric identity scheme may alter those, but only if coupled with broader, more difficult reforms.
One of Aadhaar’s biggest promises is the opportunity to open bank accounts (which require identification). Yet, poor, marginalized Indians, even with an ID, find formal banks to be unfriendly and difficult to join. For example, the anthropologist Ursula Rao found that the homeless in India—even after registering for Aadhaar—were blocked from banking, most frequently for lack of proper addresses, but more fundamentally because, as she notes, biometric identification “cannot establish trust, teach the logic of banking, or provide incentives for investing in the formal economy.” Bank managers remain suspicious and exclusionary, even if an identity project is inclusive. Without broader reforms—including rules for who may or may not access identity details—novel identification infrastructures will become tools of age-old discrimination.
Another, more practical drawback is that biometric technology is particularly ill-suited for individuals who have spent years in manual labor, working in tough conditions where their fingerprints wear down or they may even lose full fingers or limbs. Even with small authentication error rates—say, the 1.7 percent that recent estimates from Aadhaar suggest—the number of failures in a population the size of India’s can be enormous. Aadhaar has already enrolled 240 million people, with plans to reach all residents. You do the math.
The growth of these systems is due in part to the lack of public education and consultation, as well as the paucity of technical expertise to advise on the risks and pitfalls of surveillance technologies. But certainly the international donors and humanitarian organizations that support these initiatives have a responsibility to critically assess and build in safeguards for these technologies. Given the enormity of the challenge facing these organizations, it is perhaps easy not to prioritize issues like privacy and security of personal data, but the same arguments were once made against gender considerations and environmental protections in development. Aid programs that involve databases of personal information—especially of those most vulnerable and marginalized—must adopt stringent policies and practices relating to the collection, use, and sharing of that data. Best practices should include privacy impact assessments and consider the scope for “privacy by design” methodologies.
As the rhetoric around Aadhaar makes clear, the promise of a quick technical solution to intractable social problems is alive and well. However, it is time to recognize that human development involves the protection of civil liberties and individual freedoms, and not blindly rush into the creation of surveillance states in the name of development and poverty alleviation. Donors and aid organizations need to remember that the other 5 billion deserve privacy, too.The Roseville City Council has voted to adopt a resolution for a long term deal with Clear Channel Outdoor that is expected to add millions to the city coffers over the next 20 years. The agreement includes an additional 5 year option to extend the deal to 25 years.
The billboard deal includes replacing the static and highly visible Golfland-Sunsplash billboard that sits along Interstate 80 with a modernized digital version that would be updated every 8 seconds and tied into important emergency services such as Amber Alert.
In an effort to ink the deal and to allay concerns expressed by the Roseville Auto Mall, Clear Channel agreed in the deal that it will exclude advertisements that include Car Dealerships outside of Roseville. The driver of that decision is likely motivated by the fact that (30% of sales tax revenue in Placer County*) is derived from the automotive industry and the Roseville AutoMall plays a significant role in Roseville’s economy.
According to city documents, Clear Channel was the only entity that provided a proposal to the city despite that fact that the RFP was sent to 4 entities including the Roseville Auto Mall.
The contract calls for the City of Roseville to be provided an annual fee or 20% of gross revenue from advertising sales, whichever is greater. The deal is expected to add a minimum of $4.4 million to the general fund over the term of the contract.
* Data Source: State of California Board of Equalization, Taxable Sales in California Report
*Staff ReportST. PETERSBURG
Finishing the iconic Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk last year was so important to breast cancer survivor Geri Bertolino, she wouldn't let even a serious knee injury stop her. The 57-year-old Sarasota woman hobbled across the finish line on crutches, joining the 1,300 walkers who completed the 60-mile trek to raise breast cancer funds and awareness.
Tuesday, she learned that the 3-Day, a fixture on the charity scene, is pulling out of Tampa Bay and six other U.S. cities in 2014, a victim of dwindling participation and funds.
"It's unfortunate it's ending due to financial reasons, not because we have no more breast cancer,'' said Bertolino.
The 2013 Tampa Bay 3-Day, scheduled for Oct. 25-27, and other Komen events such as the popular Race for the Cure will continue, officials said.
The Komen organization has been under fire since last year over plans to cut funding for breast cancer education and screening by Planned Parenthood. That effort was viewed by many as a statement against legal abortions, which Planned Parenthood also provides.
The resulting furor forced Komen to reverse its decision, and several senior executives resigned. But within months, Komen for the Cure races around the country reported that participation was down more than 25 percent. Critics questioned how Komen was using the money it raised, asking how much of it was going toward research.
The Planned Parenthood controversy was "just one of many factors" in the 3-Day reduction, Susan G. Komen spokeswoman Andrea Rader said in a statement Tuesday.
Like other charities, Komen has seen giving shrink due to the recession and has sought more cost-effective fundraisers. "It was time to re-evaluate the series to ensure we continue to return as much money as possible to the cause," the statement continued, explaining the exit from Tampa Bay, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Arizona.
The 3-Day, launched 10 years ago, will continue in what the group described as its strongest markets: Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle, Minneapolis-Saint Paul and Michigan.
Dwindling participation over the past four years, the statement continued, meant Komen could not "financially sustain" the event in all 14 locations.
Overall, participation in the series has declined 37 percent in the last four years, according to a spokeswoman.
Through the years, breast cancer survivors, their supporters and people who have lost loved ones to cancer have tackled the walk. Participants usually camp out in tents at night. Last year's bay-area route went from Clearwater's Sand Key Park to St. Petersburg's South Straub Park; this year's course has not been announced.
Jennifer Smith of Tampa walked for her mother-in-law, who died from breast and ovarian cancer.
"I wanted to do something to honor her," Smith said.
In 2002, she walked for the first time in South Florida, completing the walk with 30 blisters, three torn toe nails and a broken bone in her foot. Then came walks in Tampa Bay in 2006 and 2008.
She called the cancellation of the Tampa Bay walk a "shame."
"It is a wonderful event," she said. "Not just for raising the money, but for the awareness and the community involvement it brings."
Kathy Foley, 67, of Valrico is a breast cancer survivor who walked the 3-Day in 2007. She met walkers from several states, including Texas and New York.
"I remember the camaraderie," she said. "I was so, so surprised. … We met people from everywhere."
She had planned to walk again for her 70th birthday. Upon hearing the 3-Day would not return to Tampa Bay next year, "I was very disappointed," she said.
Bertolino said she asked her husband to bring her crutches during last year's walk after she tore her meniscus. Crossing the finish line after enduring cancer surgery and treatment, she knew, would make an important point to her teenage daughter. "I wanted to show her I was okay, " Bertolino said.
She said she was most impressed by the participants who were walking solely to raise awareness. "That to me was even more admirable than someone like myself, who had cancer come into my life," she said.
Bertolino wondered how much the Planned Parenthood controversy played into Komen's decision. "That would be unfortunate because one thing has nothing to do with the other," she said. "Unfortunately, politics can get involved in things."
The 3-Day walk, some former participants said, has its flaws.
Monica Showalter, 40, walked in 2011 in memory of her aunt, who died March that year of breast and brain cancer.
"I would do it again," Showalter said, but "raising the money was a little ridiculous."
About half of her team dropped from the walk because they didn't meet the fundraising requirements.
The registration fee is $90 and participants must also raise a minimum of $2,300.
Komen is not the only charity that has scaled back fundraising events. In 2012, organizers of the Taste of Pinellas, a benefit for All Children's Hospital, announced that the event would be suspended after 26 years.
Several other nonprofits, including Infinity, which helps abused and neglected people; Personal Enrichment Mental Health Services Florida; and the Menorah Manor nursing home have launched "fantasy" fundraisers in recent years, asking patrons to make donations without the expense of producing gala events.
Colleen Caldwell of Brooksville said the Florida weather put a damper on her walk in 2008. Walkers at one point were forced to sleep in a parking garage due to a storm.
"It was so much discomfort," she said. She and her group stayed at a hotel.
"I think that if people are truly committed to the cause, they'll find a way to do it," Caldwell said. "At the end of the day, it's not really about the location, it's about the fundraising."
Kellie Dupree, the Sarasota-based spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood's southwest and central Florida affiliate, had not heard about the cancellation of the 3-Day event in Tampa until a reporter called. She said she figured the fallout from last year's dispute was old news by now.
"I know that Planned Parenthood and Komen have really mended fences," she said, adding the two organizations had teamed up on a number of initiatives.
She acknowledged some antiabortion advocates might shun Komen because of its ties to Planned Parenthood.
"It's always a possibility but I would hope it's not," said Dupree. "I'd hope women's health would not be politicized."
Times staff writer Mary Jane Park contributed to this report. Laura C. Morel can be reached at [email protected] or (813)226-3386.Investigators believe Gordon Stewart, 74, died as a result of dehydration, after becoming unable to find his way out of the mass of carrier bags, boxes, old furniture and other junk.
Police had to call in a specialist diving team because the smell from the house, Broughton, Buckinghamshire, was so overpowering.
Neighbours had become concerned that they had not seen Mr Stewart for several days and raised the alarm.
According to witnesses, the officers were faced with mounds of foul-smelling garbage which he had used to construct tunnels around his home.
The smell was so over-powering police had to call in a specialist team - equipped with breathing apparatus - to search the two-storey house. They discovered a confusing system of tunnels networking around the interior of the building, with Mr Stewart lying dead inside.
Locals say Mr Stewart, who wore a pony-tail, was often spotted riding his bike around the streets.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "He was slightly eccentric, but very clever. He was just a collector. He came home with a load of cardboard boxes and lived in his own world." A second described his death as a "tragedy".
Neighbours said Mr Stewart's home had been accumulating rubbish for at least 10 years.
A car dating back to the 1950s stands in the garage believed to have been left untouched for years as garbage built up around it.
A spokesman from Thames Valley Police, said: "Police were called on Friday at 12.26pm by a member of public who was concerned for welfare of a resident on Narbeth Drive. Police forced entry where they found a man's body. "There are no suspicious circumstances."
Police also confirmed that officers had to call on the help of the Thames Valley Police Specialist Search and Recovery team to find the body. The team specialises in diving rescue operations, but is equally well equipped and trained in recovering bodies during land searches.
With the use of protective equipment, breathing apparatus, gas detectors, analysers and remote cameras, SSRT officers can enter and search confined and contaminated spaces, where the atmosphere may be noxious or poisonous, with out putting their own safety at risk.
It is believed Mr Stewart lived alone and has no next of kin. A post mortem examination is due to be carried out at a later date."The free-to-play Path of Exile [official site], Adam’s favourite action-RPG, will launch its ‘The Fall of Oriath’ expansion tonight. This is a big’un, adding Act Five to finish the story and whacking in five more acts based on the regular five to replace the higher difficulty levels. That’s a whole lot of monstermashing. The update is due to go live at 9pm so why am I telling you now? 1) Because I hope to have finished work before then. 2) Pre-loading has begun. 3) Because the huge v3.0.0 patch notes are now live so clickheads can spend the next six hours poring over them.Act Five, The Fall of Oriath, will send players back to the land they were exiled from in the first place. “Caught amidst the slaves revolting against their Templar oppressors, you are all that stands between the innocent lives trapped in Oriath and the divine wrath of High Templar Avarius,” Grinding Gear Games explain.
After that, players will be sent into Part Two. Replacing the ‘Cruel’ and ‘Merciless’ difficulty levels, Part Two revisits the five acts to see how they’ve changed since you first swept through. They’ll visit some new parts of the lands, while some familiar areas will be changed by what you did.
Another big feature of the expansion is the ‘Pantheon’ system, which lets players beat up gods to earn godlike powers. Nice. And obviously Fall of Oriath also adds new enemies, items, skills, and all that other action-RPG stuff.
If you want to get in and start crushing Act Five as soon as possible, you can download most of it in advance. That’s for the standalone client, mind, not the version on Steam.Overview (4)
Born July 3, 1943 in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, USA Birth Name Kurtwood Larson Smith Nicknames Woody
Kurt
Wood Height 6' 1" (1.85 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Kurtwood Smith was born on July 3, 1943 in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, USA as Kurtwood Larson Smith. He is an actor, known for RoboCop (1987), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and Deep Impact (1998). He has been married to Joan Pirkle since November 5, 1988. He was previously married to Cecilia Souza.
Spouse (2)
Trade Mark (4)
Deep authoritative voice
Bald head and bold blue eyes
Often plays leaders and authority figures
Often plays menacing, sinister villains
Trivia (22)
Grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California.
"Kurtwood" is his real first name. According to an interview with him on Caroline Rhea's syndicated television show (April 8, 2003), his mother was a huge fan of a country singer named Kurt (or Curt) in the early 1940s. However, she thought "Kurt Smith" was too short a name, so she added "wood"--"she just tacked it on to the end", said Smith. He noted that he is likely the only Kurtwood.
His son, Shannon Smith, who goes by the stage name Dr. Sauce, hosted a radio show at Stanford University in the mid-to-late 1990s and played guitar in a band called The Vulcaneers.
Presented Barbara Bain with the California Lottery's "Hero in Education" Award on "The Big Spin" show on December 18, 2004.
Currently doing voice-over work for the Chicago White Sox in a series of radio commercials.
Won the role of Red Foreman on That '70s Show (1998) when the original choice, Chuck Norris, was unavailable because of his commitment to filming Walker, Texas Ranger (1993). The show is set near Milwaukee, WI, and he was the only cast member who actually was from Wisconsin (which is a Native American term for "land of red stone").
Attended and graduated from Canoga Park High School in Canoga Park, California (1961).
Has played the father of Eric Forman on That '70s Show (1998) and played the father of a patient treated by Dr. Eric Foreman on House M.D. (2004).
Attended and graduated from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California.
Received his Bachelor's degree in Theatre from San Jose State College in San Jose, California (1965).
Received his Master's degree in Fine Arts from Stanford University in Stanford, California (1969).
His mother named him "Kurtwood" because she felt there already too many people named Kurt.
Despite being known for playing villains and generally unlikable characters, he is known to co-stars and crew members as an extremely nice and friendly man who is nothing like the characters he plays.
Originally auditioned for the role of Dick Jones in RoboCop (1987), and when he found out he had been cast, he thought that was the role he had gotten. He later found out that he would be playing Clarence Boddicker.
In the 20th-anniversary DVD release of RoboCop (1987), he claimed that the scene where he was taken into the precinct was the first scene he had done, and proposed the spitting of blood and swearing to give the scene more punch.
His second wife, Joan Pirkle, appeared opposite him in RoboCop (1987) as the secretary he flirts with at the precinct before his meeting with Ronny Cox's character, Dick Jones.
Parents are George Smith and Mabel Annette Lund.
Currently resides in Glendale, California.
Personal Quotes (1)
I love playing villains. When you're a bad guy, you get to do many real nasty things. It's a lot of fun.The real issue here is self-defense and the defense of others and not guns
In an age of sound bites and agenda driven news reports, the architects of a new cultural order have slipped one more phrase into the lexicon of the cultural struggle. I maintain that we adopt at our own peril. The phrase is Gun Rights. Guns have no rights. People do. The real Right at issue is the Right to Self Defense. That includes the right to keep and bear arms. Rights are goods of human persons. Human Rights come not from a civil government but from God.
CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen committed an evil act of domestic terror, slaughtering 49 innocent people and injuring fifty more in a bar in Orlando Florida which caters to homosexual, lesbian and transgender people. He made a 911 call twenty minutes into the attack pledging allegiance to ISIS.
A surviving witness heard him shout "stop killing ISIS". ISIS claimed him as one of their own, boasting over the radio, "God allowed Omar Mateen, one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America, to carry out an attack entering a crusader gathering in a night club...in Orlando in Florida, killing and wounding more than 100 of them."
That evil act was decried by all decent people. The outpouring of sympathy and solidarity for the victims was moving and brought people together for a short time of national reflection. However, as is often the case in the aftermath of such horrid acts of violence, it also raised a growing cry for what is popularly referred to as "gun control".
The Catechism and Conscience
Part III of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is entitled Life in Christ. There we find the paragraphs which expound upon the Fifth Commandment, You Shall Not Kill. The entire section can be read here. Catholics who seek to enter into the debate of the real issues surrounding "gun control" should begin here.
In a Western culture which has lost its moral compass, we should approach all of the issues which we are facing as Catholic Christians first, last and all in between. However, as in other areas of serious cultural concern, some Catholics tend to simply consider the various political arguments, choose the position they most agree with, and then jump in to the debate.
Others claim to ground their position based upon a notion of conscience which does not comport with Catholic Christian teaching. Article 6 of Chapter One of the Catholic Catechism presents a through summary of what is properly meant by conscience in Christian teaching.
We are called to form our conscience in accordance with the truth. The truth is revealed in the Natural Law, expounded upon and completed in the Sacred Scripture and the Christian Tradition and taught by the Magisterium (teaching office) of the Catholic Church.
Consciences can be uninformed, poorly formed, deformed, or it can become darkened and lead us to a confused state where we wander in our own land of Nod, East of Eden, following in the footsteps of Cain. (See, Gen. 4:16)
We live in a precarious time in the United States of America. Many citizens are concerned about efforts to infringe upon the rights delineated in the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution. As a constitutional lawyer who spent much of my career defending the fundamental Rights to Life and Religious Freedom, I share their concern.
However, one of those Rights is found in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which reads "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." How is this Amendment to be properly understood in this discussion of "gun control" and "gun rights"?
My purpose in writing this article is NOT to enter into the charged debate referred to in shorthand as "gun control". Good people can and do have differing opinions on the legitimate concerns which this debate can bring up. That is reflected in the differing exercises of prudential judgement which the Orlando massacre has elicited among good and faithful Catholics and other Christians.
My purpose is to attempt to clarify the language of the broader debate and then to set the issue in a context for my readers, most of whom are Catholic Christians or Christians of another community. That requires a precision of language which is too often not present in our dialogue and discussion concerning guns and the right to self-defense.
Only Human Persons Have Human Rights
In an age of sound bites and agenda driven news reports, the architects of a new cultural order have slipped one more phrase into the lexicon of the cultural struggle. I maintain that we adopt at our own peril. The phrase is "Gun Rights". Guns have no rights. People do. The real Right at issue is the Right to Self Defense. That includes the right to keep and bear arms.
Rights are goods of human persons. Human Rights come not from a civil government but from God. Civil Rights are those rights recognized by the Civil Government and properly protected. Again, Human Rights do not come from the government. They come from God. Let me give two recent examples.
Abortion Rights?
Over the course of our human and civil rights struggle to protect our youngest neighbors in the womb from being intentionally killed through procured abortion, we have experienced the lethal power of misusing words. The Right to Life is confirmed by the Natural Law and medical science. The child in the womb is our first neighbor. It is always and everywhere wrong to kill our innocent neighbors.The child in the womb has a Right to Life, even if the current civil and criminal law of the United States fails to recognize that Right.
The phrase "Abortion Rights" was manufactured by cultural revolutionaries who oppose the true Right, the fundamental Human Right to Life. They inserted it into the lexicon of the cultural struggle intentionally. A complicit propaganda Media quickly adopted the shorthand language of these architects of the culture of death and use. Procured Abortions are always deadly acts. Abortions have no rights. Only human persons do. The first of which, the Right to Life, is always violated in every procured abortion because a child is always killed.
Sadly, even some Catholic and other Christian media sources adopted the language of the cultural revolutionaries who fail to recognize the Right to Life of the children in the womb. They have begun using the horrible phrase "Abortion Rights". In so doing, I am afraid they are propounding the evil by adding to the intentional confusion that phrase unleashes.
Marriage Rights?
The same sort of verbal sleight of hand is now being used by those who oppose authentic marriage and want to destroy it by redefining the word. Members of a fringe element of people who self-identify as homosexual or lesbian or transgender or intersexed or.. (the acronym only grows), are now promoting what I have referred to in the past as a homosexual equivalency movement. Some of the proponents of this movement now walk under a propaganda banner, using the phrase "marriage equality" to hide their real intention, to redefine the very word marriage in order to actually destroy marriage and undermine the family and society founded upon it.
They want to build a new society where homosexual and lesbian sexual practices are considered somehow morally equivalent to the sexual expression of faithful monogamous marital love between a man and a woman. This revolutionary agenda is now rampant in every form of the media. It invades nearly every television series, popular film and is being forced upon us all by a propaganda press which has bought into the new cultural revolution behind it.
The supporters of this new cultural revolution further demand that homosexual and lesbian relationships, which are incapable of achieving the ends of marriage, be given the same legal status as a marriage. And, they want the police power of the State to be used to enforce this new order.
In June of 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued an egregious opinion in a case called Obergefell v Hodges. Five lawyers manufactured out of whole cloth a new faux "right" for two men or two women to do what they are always incapable of doing, marry. They claimed to have found such a "right" in the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution, apparently next to the "right" to take the life of children in the womb through procured abortion.
In the wake of that horrid act of judicial alchemy by those five, unelected, black robed lawyers, activists at the fringes of the homosexual equivalency community have hard been at work, enforcing this edict across the Nation and using it to suppress free speech, free association and the free exercise of religion. Now, they want to use the police power of the State to accomplish their cultural revolution by insisting that homosexual persons have a "right to marry" and anyone who questions their position concerning the nature of marriage is an "extremist".
There is a tsunami of activism which is literally hell-bent on compelling faithful Christians to deny their deeply held religious, moral and natural law based conviction that marriage is solely possible between one and one woman - because only a man and a woman can achieve the unitive and procreative ends of marriage. In fact, punitive measures are not being taken against faithful Christians, across the confessional spectrum.
Marriage is not simply a religious construct. The Natural Law reveals - and the cross cultural history of civilization affirms - that marriage is between a man and a woman, open to children and intended for life. In fact, such marriages form the foundation of the first cell of civil society and the first church, the family. Undermining marriage will never serve the real common good.
A segment of a now increasingly complicit media, including some within the Catholic and other Christian media, have advanced the goals of these activists by intentionally using phrases such as "gay marriage |
University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, University of the Fraser Valley, University of Lethbridge and University of Victoria.
“We’ve been talking about it unofficially, but like everything there’s always the funding part of it,” said Pandas rugby head coach Matt Parrish, whose regular 15-player squad won bronze of their own at Canada West championships this season, despite undergoing the biggest turnover in his 18 years with the program after losing 14 players from the previous year. “Once we got the call, everybody was really ready to go.
“And then this (dome) was the good timing because it allowed us to do something in Alberta as well as on the coast.”
The U of A’s participation in the pilot project would have been severely limited were it not for their ability to practise indoors on a regular field.
“Last year, we did a tournament in Lethbridge, we were pushing our luck a little bit in the middle of March,” Parrish said. “But up here, you wouldn’t dare schedule anything where people are flying in.”
Once the pilot is finished, Parrish said he wouldn’t be surprised to see a rugby sevens league run alongside the already established 15-player game, with other U Sports conferences looking to get on board.
“I don’t think we quite know exactly which way this is going,” he said. “We’re just going to run with it.
“It gives us some legitimacy of being a separate sport, it’s not just 15s girls playing some sevens.”
The only immediate drawback is that for as much space as the dome covers, it doesn’t include the grandstands, making it primarily a practice facility with a focus on training and development as opposed to spectating. But the ends will begin to justify the means once the U of A’s football, soccer and rugby squads spend more and more off-season time training on the same turf they compete on during their U Sports season.
“I feel like the players they’re going to be way farther ahead, we’re going to make such a big jump,” Parrish said. “I was always having to practise in the Butterdome or in the Main Gym, or if I wanted to do some contact I even booked the wrestling room so we could actually throw ourselves around in there.
“But now to actually have that surface where it’s brand new field turf, and we actually played 15s on there for the first time this year, so the girls are comfortable in there.”
And that goes for U of A athletes present and future, considering the recruiting implications the new dome will bring.
“I think all of our field sport coaches are going to be the same, it’s just something else that you can show them,” said Parrish, who has already texted pictures from inside the dome to potential recruits. “Especially if they’re from Alberta, they’ve never seen anything like this.
“Recruiting’s going to be big.”
GModdejonge@postmedia.com
twitter.com/SunModdejongeTo some, Florida resident Roy Antigua may have been a decorated member of the U.S. military, a CIA agent or a member of NASA.
However, authorities in Florida say the only thing they know for sure is Antigua is a phony, and they are asking the public for help in identifying his possible cons and lies. They are trying to unravel the mystery surrounding Antigua after discovering an enormous stash of fake IDs and uniforms in his home.
"We need to know, from start to finish," New Port Richey police Chief James Steffens said at a news conference Monday according to The Tampa Bay Times, "who is Roy Antigua?"
New Port Richey Police Officer Edward Campbell tells MyFoxTampaBay.com he had a feeling something was amiss when Antigua gave him a U.S. Coast Guard identification during a routine traffic stop last week.
"It had a gold chip that was missing," Campbell told the station. "The back of the ID resembled a hotel card."
It was only the tip of the iceberg. Antigua, 52, had uniforms from NASA, U.S. Customs, the Navy, the CIA, the Secret Service and Homeland Security, The Tampa Bay Times reports. He also had dozens of military medals, a flight helmet and flight instructor badge and a Boy Scout troop leader uniform.
"It's actually scary. You see these Boy Scout uniforms, who knows if he's been around young children and what his intentions were," an official tells MyFoxTampaBay.com.
He had also had a bag full with doctor's equipment and a physician's assistant's badge, and chillingly, a photo of himself in scrubs holding a newborn.
Now authorities are saying the best case scenario is that Antigua is someone who has stockpiled his collection for play or dress-up.
"Is he really a threat or is he someone who is living a very involved fantasy life?" Steffens said according to The Tampa Bay Times.
Steffens tells the paper he can vouch that Antigua impersonated a Coast Guard officer at least once. He recognized Antigua from a Memorial Day event at a cemetery, where he says Antigua introduced himself as a Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander and was wearing a uniform. He then sat next to the police chief in a special section for officials.
"Everybody around there thought that he was the real deal," Steffens told the paper.
The only ID that ended up being real was an identification card saying Antigua was a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Miami, a volunteer unit, but Antigua was kicked out in 2011 after being arrested on a grand theft charge. Antigua is a licensed respiratory care practitioner, according to the Department of Health, but detectives aren't sure if or where he was employed.
Antigua was arrested for driving without a license and a parole violation after the traffic stop, but was further investigated once officers noticed the fake ID. He is now being held without bail.
Steffens asks anyone who might have dealt with Antigua to call his agency at (727) 841-4550. He says authorities are investigating his possible ties to federal law enforcement agencies, the military, hospitals and other groups.
"You don't have this collection just to keep it in your house and look in the mirror," Steffens told The Tampa Bay Times.
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Click for more from MyFoxTampaBay.com.The Canadian Press
SOCHI, Russia -- Canada captured a historic fourth Olympic gold medal in women's hockey Thursday with a 3-2 overtime win over the United States in a thrilling championship final.
The only other women's team to win more consecutive Olympic gold is the U.S. in women's basketball with five in a row from 1996 to 2012.
Marie-Philip Poulin scored the winner on a power play at 8:10 of overtime for her second of the game. She had tied it up with 55 seconds remaining in regulation.
Poulin was a heroine of Canada's gold in Vancouver four years ago. She scored twice in a 2-0 win over the Americans.
Trailing 1-0 after two periods and down two goals deep into the third, Canada scored twice in the final 3:26 of the regulation and suddenly the gold that had been slipping away was within reach again.
Canada's Brianne Jenner halved the deficit at 16:34 of the third with a shot that deflected off of U.S. defender Kacey Bellamy's knee and over goalie Jesse Vetter.
With Shannon Szabados pulled from Canada's net for an extra attacker, forward Kelli Stack's attempted empty-netter that would have sealed the gold for the Americans hit the post.
In overtime, Canadian defender Catherine Ward was serving a cross-checking minor and American forward Jocelyne Lamoureux a slashing minor when Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser took off on a breakaway.
She was hauled down by Hilary Knight and Poulin scored on the ensuing four-on-three.
U.S. captain Meghan Duggan scored in the second period and Alex Carpenter added a power-play goal in the third in front of an announced 10,639 at the Bolshoy Ice Dome.
Duggan beat Szabados with a wrist shot over the Canadian goalie's glove shoulder at 11:57 of the second. Carpenter deflected a cross-ice pass from Hilary Knight past Szabados's left pad at 2:01 of the third.
Szabados made 27 saves for the win, while Vetter stopped 28 shots in the loss. Canada edged the Americans 3-2 in the final preliminary-round game for both countries.
With four straight gold medals in women's hockey Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford and Caroline Ouellette joined Soviet biathlete Alexander Tikhonov and German speedskater Claudia Pechstein as gold medallists in four consecutive Winter Games.
The Swiss defeated Sweden 4-3 earlier for Switzerland's first Olympic medal in women's hockey.Place a ball into the middle of each muffin hole, being careful not to push it right to the bottom. Top them off with the rest of the mix and place into the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes in the tray and then carefully push out and enjoy!
Remove the middle from the freezer - if it has firmed up to a malleable (truffle like) mix, spoon out and roll into 6 rough balls.
Whilst the middle sets, add all of the cake ingredients to a big bowl and mix well. Spoon the mix into the muffin holes so that each is roughly half full.
Add all of the fondant middle ingredients to a pan over a low heat and stir until the mix is smooth and glossy. Pour into a shallow dish and place into the freezer to firm up.
Our new favourite thing is this gluten free peanut butter fondant recipe. This is a nutritional twist on the Great British Bake Off’s peanut butter fondant, and, I don’t know about you all, but we were drooling! It is the most indulgent and delicious, melt in the middle pudding that barely lasted five minutes in our office. So, this is the perfect chocolatey treat for any occasion. However, be warned, you wont want to share it with anyone!
If you love this recipe why not try some of our other fondants?
Our favourites are this salted caramel fondant and the best fudgy chocolate fondant – yum! However, if you are looking for something a bit different, why not try this delicious raw peanut butter and raspberry fondant?Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Libya is scarred by warring factions
Islamic State is being beaten back in Iraq, President Assad is getting the upper hand in Syria, Egypt is under military control again, and Libya is in a state of complete chaos.
So was there ever really an Arab Spring? Or was it just a series of uprisings, sometimes linked and sometimes not?
Compared with that other great international political upheaval, the relatively quick and mostly bloodless collapse of Marxism-Leninism in central and Eastern Europe in 1989, the events in the Middle East have been slow and inconclusive.
And they have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands.
Even back in January 2011, the term Arab Spring, invented by an American academic, seemed pretty unsuitable.
It sounded like a PR phrase, encouraging people in the West to expect that this would be an essentially peaceable series of uprisings by people against longstanding corrupt elites.
"That whole Arab Spring business has been a mess, right from the start Senior American diplomat
And it suggested that the old systems would simply collapse in the face of the popular will.
In fact, it did look as though things might go that way at first.
Only days after the street vendor Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi burned himself to death, goaded beyond endurance by petty tyranny in the town of Sidi Bouzid, the Tunisian government started to collapse.
Within a month of Bouazizi's death, President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali escaped to Saudi Arabia after 23 years of autocratic power.
Soon the regimes in Algeria, Jordan and Oman had announced reforms or even changes of government.
Ali Abdullah Saleh was chased out of power in Yemen.
Egyptian turmoil
Demonstrations in Tahrir Square in Cairo encouraged the feeling that something akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall might happen in Egypt.
President Mubarak was overthrown quickly.
Yet after that the hope for an Arab version of 1989 faded.
The Muslim Brotherhood was elected to fill the power vacuum, disrupting the delicate balance between Islamic faith and the principles of a secular state.
The police and army, which had supported Mubarak and protected secularism, remained as strong as ever.
Eventually they staged a coup against the Muslim Brotherhood, and brought Egypt back to heel. The bitter divide remains.
Unlike Europe in 1989, there was no single outmoded political orthodoxy to be overthrown.
True, people from Tunisia to Yemen were united in a desire for greater freedom.
But the upheavals brought two conflicting principles into play: the belief that secularism had to be defended on the one hand, and the desire for a more fundamental implementation of Islam on the other.
The result has been great bitterness and violence, and in Syria and Iraq it has brought about the rise of Islamic State, (IS), the most aggressive and violent political and religious movement of modern times.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Arab Spring began in Tunisia
At first, its extraordinary brutality seemed to work, as IS murdered its opponents in cold blood and rejoiced in it.
Quickly, though, it became clear that there was no point in surrendering to IS.
Since then, its enemies have fought with far greater determination.
So a new spirit of resistance on the ground, and American, British and other attack planes in the air have started to turn the tide.
Who has benefited?
Similarly, the Arab Spring, if it ever existed, has long ago come to a halt in every Arab country.
Who are the winners and losers?
Libya has been ruined by the continuing chaos which followed the revolution against Gadaffi.
Egypt is back in a condition of stasis, its economy horribly damaged by the events of the past few years.
In Syria, Bashir Assad has managed to survive against the revolutionaries.
Western countries, though they won't say so, have decided they would rather have him than IS.
Iraq too has managed to weather the IS storm, and democracy even seems to be surviving there after all the horrors Iraq has endured since being invaded by the US and Britain in 2003.
The political system in Jordan has been under threat, but it is still surviving.
Lebanon has held together. Algeria and Tunisia have settled down. Turkey, watching from the sidelines, has often been worried, but has survived unscarred.
And what about the outside world?
President Obama, who warned Bashir Assad not to use chemical weapons against the insurgents then did nothing when he did, has never managed to shake off the appearance of weakness and indecision.
Britain, whose Parliament voted not to bomb Syria in August 2013, is generally regarded as having shrunk in status.
A vote a year later to bomb Islamic State has not really changed that perception.
"That whole Arab Spring business has been a mess, right from the start," said a senior American diplomat recently.
It's hard to disagree with him.Wisconsin man develops adorable tiny house on WHEELS for $79,000 – and has now sold one to the president of Aruba
ESCAPE Cottage appears to be a hand-built cottage-like retreat
It's also an RV that can hit the open road for a quick change of scenery
ESCAPE is the culmination of 22 years of work
Scroll down for video
A cabin in the woods is many people's idea of the ultimate in seclusion, privacy and relaxation.
However, appearances can be deceiving, in the nicest possible way.
This quaint cabin situated deep in woods in Wisconsin, called ESCAPE, is actually an RV because it's on wheels.
It means that should you get tired of this particular view, it's easy to pick up sticks and hit the road again looking for that idyllic spot.
Place in the woods: The Escape Cabin is a tiny house on wheels. It can be set up in hours, and with a full-sized tub, fridge, and king bed. The first one has been constructed in Wisconsin.
Deep in the woods in Wisconsin, this little house looks like a classic weekend cabin
In some ways, it is: It was built by hand by local craftsmen with a design inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright
But it also has wheels, so it¿s completely portable, and the owner is in the process of building custom copies for tiny house fans around the world
The project started when visitors to a small lakeside resort called Canoe Bay started asking for their own versions of the resort¿s carefully constructed cabins
'I spent quite a few years figuring out how to put Canoe Bay in a box, so to speak, so we could give it to people,' says Dan George, the owner. 'And we ended up with what we think is great design: Efficient, environmentally sensitive, and done in a way that reflects a real building.'
Because it¿s mobile and a certain size--just 14 feet wide and 400 square feet--the Escape Cabin is technically considered an RV and not a house
The design is inspired by the latest tiny house movement where people are living with a smaller financial, environmental, and physical footprint.
The cabin is around 400 square feet, larger than most 1 bedroom apartments. The bathroom has a full tub, and the kitchen has a full-sized fridge and stove.
Kelly Davis from SALA Architects, who has many years of experience designing modern cabins and cottages, was the chief architect on the project.
The cabin was originally designed with the intent of being a high end cottage.
Dan George: The owner wanted to try and capture the elements of his favorite lakeside retreat, Canoe Bay, and make a delightful cabin out of it
That makes it easier to get a loan to buy it, and helps save on taxes and permitting fees. And, of course, it means if you ever need to move, your house can come along
It can be set up in less than a day. 'You go from nothing to a house in literally hours,' says George
'You may never have built a house, but it is a very long, painful, expensive process. We live in the 20th century--we should be beyond some of that'
Inside, the bedroom can fit a king-size mattress, the bathroom has a full tub, and the kitchen has a full-sized fridge and stove
'We didn¿t want to make it the rat maze that many modular models are,' says George. 'You jam as much as you can in a little space and hope that you can fit a human being in there, too. What we try to do is make small spaces big.'
Designed by architect Kelly Davis at SALA, the home can hook up to solar power, uses LED lights and low-energy appliances, and is heated by a high-efficiency fireplace
Inspiration was drawn from the famous Frank Lloyd Wright.
The project started when visitors to a small lakeside resort called Canoe Bay started asking for their own versions of the resort’s carefully constructed cabins.
'I spent quite a few years figuring out how to put Canoe Bay in a box, so to speak, so we could give it to people,' says Dan George, the owner. 'And we ended up with what we think is great design: Efficient, environmentally sensitive, and done in a way that reflects a real building.'
It can be set up in less than a day. 'You go from nothing to a house in literally hours,' says George. 'You may never have built a house, but it is a very long, painful, expensive process.
We live in the 20th century--we should be beyond some of that.
That’s what we’re shooting for. Make it ubiquitous, easy, completely portable, affordable, and beautiful.'
It's built by hand in Wisconsin from sustainably grown wood
;We care about every detail,; George says. 'If you know about Wrightian architecture, it¿s not form follows function, but form and function are one--if you miss by a half inch somewhere, you can screw up the whole building'
The tiny ESCAPE cabin was designed with the sensibilities of Frank Lloyd Wright in mind The project started when visitors to a small lakeside resort called Canoe Bay started asking for their own versions of the resorts carefully constructed cabins
Inside, the customizable cabin has vaulted ceilings that give it an open and airy feeling
Although ESCAPE is truly a mobile home, the cedar-lined structure feels more like a rustic cabin escape
The hand-made cabin can be delivered to any site and quickly set up, just by plugging in the utilities
Also, the entire building was constructed entirely from recyclable or sustainable materials.
Although there is no full bathroom or kitchen, functionally, one has everything he/she needs to sustain themselves in the ESCAPE cabin.
According to Escape's website, you can get the ESCAPE cabin delivered to you, and the cabin is designed to travel anywhere on the road. The current cost is around $79,000.
The owner is in the process of building custom copies for tiny house fans around the world and the company has been inundated with orders; they'll soon be sending cabins to the edge of the Arctic Circle, a volcano in Hawaii, and the Swiss Alps. Even the prime minister of Aruba has ordered one.
The cabin is around 400 square feet, larger than most 1 bedroom apartments
Everything was constructed entirely of recyclable or sustainable materials. The unit consumes very little power tooMEN'S rights groups will fight any planned rollback of the shared parenting laws, saying reports released yesterday prove an overwhelming majority of Australians support the right of children to know both their parents after divorce.
A 1000-page review of the Howard government's so-called shared parenting law, conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, found a reduction in the number of cases going to the Family Court since shared parenting was introduced in 2006.
It also found an increase in the number of parents willing to settle custody arrangements outside the court system, and it found children and parents were happy with shared care.
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Shared care doesn't mean a 50-50 time split, but it does mean the child spends "substantial time" with each parent.
The review, which took two years and involved 28,000 people, including 15,000 parents, found conflict between parents led to "worse outcomes" for children who lived in shared-care arrangements. But for most people it worked well.
Shared care advocate Michael Green QC said the report was "terrific".
"It shows 80 per cent of parents are co-operating, sorting things out for themselves." He said the report made it clear "no change to the law is necessary".
The AIFS report was one of three into family law released yesterday, and it made no recommendations, with the authors saying they were not asked to provide any.
Another report, by retired Family Court judge Richard Chisholm, recommends several changes to the law, saying judges needed to be able to decide each case on its merits.
Executive director of the Shared Parenting Council, Edward Dabrowski, said his organisation would resist any law change that would wind back the concept of shared parenting.Lorne Michaels says he hasn't had to bid goodbye to anyone in the current "Saturday Night Live" cast except for Kristen Wiig — "so far."
But in an interview with TheWrap on Monday, he was noncommital about who's staying and going. The show often waits until late summer to make such decisions.
Also read: 'SNL': Watch Kristen Wiig Graduate (Video)
Wiig left the show with a tearful sketch Saturday in which she hugged her castmates goodbye. Although many have speculated that Andy Samberg and Jason Sudeikis would also leave after this season, neither received a similar goodbye.
TheWrap spoke to Michaels at the Peabody Awards on Monday, where he was honored for executive producing the IFC comedy "Portlandia," which was created by and stars Carrie Brownstein and "SNL" vet Fred Armisen.
We noted the lack of an "SNL" sendoff for anyone but Wiig.
"Not so far, yeah," Michaels said.
Did the lack of a goodbye mean Sudeikis and Samberg are staying?
"You never know," Michaels said. "I think everyone gets through the season and just the level of fatigue by the end is just overwhelming, and it's a very emotional time. I've had a rule since the second season, which is to not make any decisions in June. We'll see in July."
Some have speculated that a line in Samberg's "Lazy Sunday 2" digital short on Saturday suggested that he, too, was on the way out. "Lazy Sunday" was his breakthrough sketch on the show in 2005. Saturday's sequel ended with the lines, "On these New York streets I honed my fake rap penmanship/That’s how it began, and that’s how I’m-a finish it."
One cast member with no immediate plans to exit "SNL" is Armisen. He said he hopes to continue with both "SNL and "Portlandia," as he has done for the first two seasons of the IFC show.
"I hope things keep going," he said. "I don't take anything for granted."
Armisen, who has been on "SNL" for a decade, said he isn't worried about burning out.
"I want to burn out," he joked. "I want it to kill me."
Armisen, who called Wiig's goodbye episode "emotional," said he wasn't fazed by one of his biggest moments of the night. In one skit, he played a karaoke singer who does a dead-on Mick Jagger impression. He did it as the real Jagger, the show's host, watched.
"You know what's crazy about 'SNL'? It's like hyper-reality," Armisen said. "There's so much happening. And you're thinking of camera angles — you can't even think of anything. You just go, 'Gotta do Mick Jagger' now. And then later you go, 'Oh my God, he was right there.' But it was a thrill."
"Meeting Mick Jagger — he's an exceptional human being," Armisen added. "He's a person of the ages. An intellectual, just British, brilliant guy. Who's head-to-toe DNA: rock star."(Note: If you want the best updates on undrafted free agents, make your way to the NE Patriots Draft webpage. My friend Mike Loyko has compiled all of the signings thus far for every single team in the league. Give him a follow for all his hard work!)
As we've discussed, the Patriots went into the draft with a short list of needs and managed to find players that met every qualification. They're currently flushing out the rest of the roster with undrafted free agents- but let's look at how the roster stands:
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Quarterback
Locks: Tom Brady, Ryan Mallett - The Patriots didn't do anything to address their clear need at quarterback. Look for them to continue to run with these two quarterbacks on the roster for the full season.
Practice Squad Potential: Mike Kafka - Kafka will likely not stick on the roster, but the Patriots like to have an additional body on the practice squad to throw during the season.
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Running Back
Locks: Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Leon Washington - Ridley and Vereen should make the roster as the feature one-two punch of the running game, with Ridley carrying the load and Vereen being featured in the no huddle and on obvious passing downs. Washington looks to be an immediate contributor in the kick return game, where the Patriots have finished in the bottom eight of the league in each of the past three seasons.
Battles: Brandon Bolden, LaGarrette Blount - The late draft acquisition of Blount shouldn't be read too much into (the Patriots wanted to get rid of Demps, the Buccaneers wanted to get rid of Blount, Blount has had a 1000 yard season, why not spend a 7th?), but this is definitely a battle for this off-season. Bolden played well when given the chance, but his time dwindled after he was suspended. Can Blount find his rookie season success and take Bolden's spot on the roster? Keep in mind that none of Blount's contract is guaranteed, so there's little commitment to him making the squad.
Practice Squad Potential: Quentin Hines - Hines provides 4.4 speed and n absurd 11'6 broad jump explosion, but he's more of a physical prospect than a polished one. He could be a Malcolm Williams of sorts on offense and spend a year on the practice squad and perhaps add value down the road.
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Full Back
Locks: Michael Hoomanawanui - Hooman is the only lock as he provides additional depth at tight end. He's a solid blocker and has good enough hands to warrant a roster spot. He helps on special teams and provides the versatility needed for such a limited role on the team.
Cuts: James Develin, Tony Fiammetta, Ben Bartholomew - None of these players really have a chance of making the roster, but they should provide solid competition during the off-season. Develin shows the most likely promise of coming back to the practice squad, but it's likely that none of these players have a future in New England.
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Wide Receiver
Locks: Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson, Julian Edelman, Josh Boyce, Donald Jones, Matthew Slater - I wouldn't be surprised if the Patriots wide receivers are already set in stone. They have too much invested in Amendola and Jones to have them not make the team. Jones has a unique skill set when compared to all the other receivers. Rookies Dobson and Boyce were drafted with the intention of keeping them, meaning their cuts are highly improbably. Edelman and Slater add too much special teams value, with the former adding WR3 value and the latter being a captain and respected player.
Cuts: Michael Jenkins, Kamar Aiken, Kenbrell Tompkins - Look for Jenkins to add some veteran value during the off-season, but don't expect him to stick around. Aiken and Tompkins will both have a chance to impress, but it's not likely they'll be kept after camp due to the numbers game.
Practice Squad Potential: Jeremy Ebert, T.J. Moe - Moe is an athletic freak who could impress during camp (and it might be likely he'll be taken from waivers if the Patriots try to stash him on the practice squad), while Ebert is a returning player. Both will likely be fighting for the same practice squad spot and it'll be a matter of which player makes it back to the team.
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Tight End
Locks: Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez - No explanation really needed, both of these players are signed for the long term and are the cornerstones of the offense.
Battles: Jake Ballard, Daniel Fells - While many may have Ballard penciled in on the roster, keep in mind that he hasn't played football in over a year. Fells did not impress last season and is definitely cut material, but look for these two to fight for the same roster spot.
Cuts: Brad Herman - Herman was injured during last season's camp and was given another offer to try and make the team. It seems very unlikely.
Practice Squad Potential: Brandon Ford, Zach Sudfeld - Like Ebert and Moe, look for these two UDFAs to fight for the same practice squad position. Both Ford and Sudfeld were breakout tight ends with physical limitations (Ford isn't as big, Sudfeld isn't as strong). Look for Sudfeld to be given the nod if they make the practice squad due to his size, but both Ford and Sudfeld are players to watch this off-season.
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Offensive Line
Locks: Nate Solder, Logan Mankins, Ryan Wendell, Dan Connolly, Sebastian Vollmer, Marcus Cannon - All of these players should make the roster, allowing the Patriots potentially field the same starting five as last season. Look for Cannon and Connolly to duke it out for the right guard position, but the loser will take over as top offensive back-up.
Battles: Will Svitek, Markus Zusevics, Nick McDonald - Two of these three will make the roster, but it's a matter of who. McDonald has the inside edge, having been the top back-up center last season and should likely make the team. However, Svitek and Zusevics could be fighting for the same spot, with Svitek becoming expendable now that Vollmer has been signed long term. Do the Patriots like Zusevics long term potential more than Svitek's proven ability?
Cuts: Elvis Fisher - Undersized and injured, Fisher has an uphill battle and lacks the same upside needed to stick around.
Practice Squad Potential: Josh Kline, Matt Stankiewitch, Chris McDonald - The Patriots love to groom linemen on the practice squad, so don't be shocked if the Patriots keep two (although I think they'll only keep one). Kline and McDonald have plenty of physical upside that the Patriots love to groom. Kline is a former high school state champion wrestler, while McDonald is a better athlete, a 29 game starter, and shows the same versatility that the Patriots like to have in interior linemen.
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Offensive Summary
Roster Locks: 20 (Brady, Mallett, Ridley, Vereen, Washington, Hoomanawanui, Gronkowski, Hernandez, Amendola, Dobson, Edelman, Boyce, Jones, Slater, Solder, Mankins, Wendell, Connolly, Vollmer, Cannon)
Players from Battles: 4 (Bolden/Blount, Ballard/Fells, Svitek/Zusevics/McDonald)
Practice Squad Potential: Kafka, Hines, Ebert, Moe, Ford, Sudfeld, Kline, Stankiewitch, McDonald
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Defensive Tackle
Locks: Vince Wilfork, Kyle Love, Brandon Deaderick - Wilfork won't have any competition and while Love and Deaderick are far from great players, they're solid and have proven enough to be back for another season.
Battles: Tommy Kelly, Armond Armstead, Marcus Forston - Kelly, Armstead, and Forston are fighting for two spots and it will likely come down to need. Kelly and Armstead are more pass rushers, which the Patriots desperately need on the interior, and likely have the inside edge. Forston will have to prove that he deserves a spot, even if his skill set might seem redundant next to Kyle Love's.
Cuts: Tracy Robertson - Roberston is a camp body who will push Forston, but it's likely that he doesn't have much of a chance.
Practice Squad Potential: Cory Grissom - Grissom won't have flashy stats, but he's the interior space eater that the Patriots love to have. If Forston doesn't make it on the team or the practice squad, look for Grissom to put up a fight for that roster spot.
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Defensive End
Locks: Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Jamie Collins - Jones and Collins are the future of the position and Ninkovich is the present. These three players can be written on the roster in permanent markers.
Battles: Marcus Benard, Justin Francis, Jermaine Cunningham, Jake Bequette, Michael Buchanan, Jason Vega - The role of 4th (and 5th) defensive end will be a slugfest. Benard has proven ability and is this year's "post-injury reclamation project", in the same vein as Mark Anderson and Trevor Scott. Francis and Cunningham add value as they can kick inside to defensive tackle in the NASCAR packages that the Patriots like to use on passing downs. Vega is an athletic freak who played in the CFL for two seasons and should be given a fair chance. Bequette is last year's 3rd round pick who essentially red shirted while being a healthy inactive all of last season. Buchanan is one of this year's seventh round picks and, like Vega, has plenty of athletic upside to consider. Look for two or three of these players to make the roster.
Practice Squad Potential: Buchanan - If he doesn't outright make the team, look for the Patriots to hold onto him as long as possible before trying to stash him on the practice squad.
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Linebackers
Locks: Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, Dont'a Hightower - The three starting linebackers should return for another season of, hopefully, improved play and success.
Battles: Dane Fletcher, Steve Beauharnais, Niko Koutouvides - These three will likely fight for the right to be the top back-up, while also being the field generals on special teams. All three add value and will be fighting for the same two roster spots. Fletcher is returning from injury, the 32 year old Koutouvides is back on a one year deal, while Beauharnais is the other seventh round pick from this year's draft.
Cuts: Mike Rivera, Jeff Tarpinian - Rivera was the practice squad player who was called up late in the season and played some special teams, while Tarpinian is the oft-injured outside linebacker. Both are potential candidates for the practice squad, but it's just as likely the team just walks away.
Practice Squad Potential: Beauharnais - Like Buchanan, if Beauharnais doesn't make the roster on his own, look for him to be a top priority on the practice squad.
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Cornerbacks
Locks: Aqib Talib, Alfonzo Dennard, Kyle Arrington, Logan Ryan - The Patriots starting trio of Talib, Dennard, and Arrington should be back for a full season, while draft pick Ryan should be likely groomed as Talib's long term replacement.
Battles: Ras-I Dowling, Marquice Cole - Dowling is on his last straw (think of Terrence Wheatley) and will have to beat out special teams stud and slot corner back-up Cole for the final cornerback spot.
Cuts: Malcolm Williams - Williams has been kicked between the roster as a specials teams player and the practice squad. He likely won't be back due to other talent on the roster.
Practice Squad Potential: Stephon Morris, Brandon Jones - The Patriots are sure to have the inside trade on both Morris (Penn State) and Jones (Rutgers) and both should likely be targets for the practice squad. Morris is on the small side (5'8), but he's extremely athletic and could be a pure special teams player. Jones has more size to be an impact corner and he is tough (played his whole junior year on a fractured tibia). Look for one of these players to end up on the practice squad.
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Safeties
Locks: Devin McCourty, Adrian Wilson, Tavon Wilson, Duron Harmon - McCourty will hold down the free safety position, while the Wilson |
around on pornography sets I no longer find astonishing enough to set down in print. The soul is weary. The pen is weary. I am a little abashed, a little ashamed, for having described so much in the preceding paragraphs, to have made myself your Vic Lagina, your Robby D., your personal pornographer.
At this point, in answer to the query I posed at the start of our voyage, I can sincerely say that I would rather drink a mugful of live ticks than switch places with James Deen.
You're shittin' me! you say. Why? Well, not only because being impelled to couple every day with a stranger before a room of onlookers seems like an experiment dreamed up by Martian scientists. And not only because the Groundhog Day-ish sameness would, I think, accumulate to a monotony akin to a career in oyster shucking. Ultimately, for this reporter, I would be frightened that if I weren't able to recall the names of sexual partners beyond the previous two weeks, ideals like intimacy and love would begin to seem gooey and absurd, and a terrible unexamined loneliness would become the natural condition of my life. I do not voice this sentiment to Deen. It would offend him. It would come across as prudishly un-"sex-positive" and critical of Deen and the industry he holds dear.
But he would be missing the point. What I am saying is that we may well owe a debt of gratitude to James Deen. That just as Superman makes plain why the rest of us should not jump off buildings, the extraordinary Deen and his Kryptonian psychosexual constitution illustrate why the ordinary man should not try to peg everything with opposable thumbs. All day, every day, James Deen is fucking the planet senseless so that the rest of us don't have to try to. Indeed, when the confines of monogamy begin to feel drab and claustrophobic, Deen and his adventures are just a track pad away. By the time your wife gets back from the store, you, feeling a little shabby, a little guilty, will be so glad to see her that you will never want to look upon another naked woman for at least ninety minutes or so. (Incidentally, you have the permission of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which lately disclosed that in our age of rampant web-based autoeroticism, divorce has in fact declined over the past fifteen years.)
But for now, I will speak no more of meaningless balling. From here on out, I will speak only of feelings and human connectedness.
Okay, then. So. How is James Deen feeling? How is his human connectedness? I am happy to report that James Deen is feeling good, because even now, in a candid moment when the cameras are not rolling and no one is professionally obliged to have sex with him, he is lying on a black leather sectional, actively connected to Lizz Tayler in the spoon position, and he is also connected to Miss Erica, whose cooter he is jabbing with a nimble big toe. Today so much feeling, so much connectedness, abounds on the set that even after Deen's orgasm has been videoed for perpetuity, he loiters on the sofa with Miss Erica, who is grasping Deen's ficelle between the arches of her feet and laughing in a musical way.
"You like me, don't you?" Deen asks her.
She nods and chirps.
"Good day," says Deen. "_Really _good day."
···
And then, after a long, arduous, and ordinary sort of week, it is time for James Deen to shower up, climb into his Ford F-150 Raptor, and head west through the desert to the horizon of his homing. He has a shoot in Los Angeles tomorrow morning, yet the drive is a mere four hours and will put him back in time to spend an evening away from pornography. Rolling through Barstow, he places a call to some old pals in Pasadena, civilians, friends from his life before. Are they up for a visit this evening? Yes, they are, but there is an issue. Even among his trusted cronies, Deen's screen persona dogs him. A friend's sister is part of the hangout crew tonight, and the friend is rightly concerned that Deen will take the sister to bed.
"Look, I'm not gonna try to fuck your sister," Deen says assuringly. There is some dubious squawking from the other party. "I promise, I'm not gonna try to fuck your sister." It is not enough. "Look, I'm not gonna try to fuck your sister!"Exasperation gets the better of him. At last James Deen must speak the truth:Character
The Man in the Yellow Hat Gender: Male Nicknames/aliases: Ted Shackleford Portrayer: Jeff Bennett First appearance: Curious George Flies a Kite Latest appearance: Monkey Senses List of characters
Ted Shackleford (who's most often called simply The Man in the Yellow Hat) is a main character in the Curious George Trilogy Set and PBS Kids TV series (2006-2015). In 2006, it was revealed that the Man's full name is Ted Shackleford. The name "Ted" was only used for him in the Curious George film (2006) and Curious George 2 Follow that Monkey (2009). He's the dueteragonist of Curious George books/series, the main protagonist of the first film, the tritagonist of the second film, a minor character of the third film, Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle.
He's George's owner, but sees himself as more of a "Monkey Father." It's unknown where he lives, but certain clues from three movies and TV series (2006-2015) indicate that he lives in either Manhattan, New York City or Chicago, Illinois. Most signs point to New York. His "girlfriend" (as seen in Curious George the movie 2006) got hit by a semi bus and died shorty after Ted kept Curious George. (Kept George April 2006, she died July 2006). After that, Ted fell into spiraling depression and put George into the New York Zoo. On March 3, 2007 Ted signed a legal apodtion paper, and has been living with George in and out of the city (at the country) until present day.
His current hobbies include bowling, studying nature, hiking, jogging, camping, bike riding, playing the tuba, sand castle building, going to the beach, gardening, reading, marathon running, board games, frog impressions, golf, bird watching, and "worm racing."
Ted's original voice was potrayed by Will Ferrell (in 2006 film), then replaced by Jeff Bennett.
Role in series
The Caretaker of George, mainly a father figure.LED work lights for optimum illumination of the work area and sturdy metal belt clips for quick storage when both hands are required
Features 2 lightweight and compact 4Ah lithium-ion batteries with Samsung cells
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The Triton T20TP01 Twin Pack comprises the T20CH Combo Hammer Drill and T20ID Impact Driver. Both are equipped with the latest Mabuchi RS-735 motors and all metal gearing to deliver greater efficiency of power transmission and superior durability. Lightweight and compact, both machines have an ergonomic grip that delivers greater comfort, reduces fatigue during repetitive work and makes both tools ideal when working in confined spaces. The T20CH 20-Volt Combo Hammer Drill is ideal for all drilling and screwdriving applications, including masonry work. Featuring a 13 mm/1/2 in. single-sleeve keyless Sanou chuck, this drill delivers 60Nm of torque and 19+2 stage torque adjustment for a variety of different materials and screw sizes. Equipped with a 6.35 mm/1/4 in. hex bit holder for quick bit changes, the T20ID Impact Driver provides extra power and force with 160Nm of sustained torque, making it perfect for fastening, tightening and driving applications.Donald Trump gave his first hint last night that he might try to get out of the Fall presidential debates. I have thought for months that he’d likely try to get out of them. I think he will be at a steep strategic and tactical disadvantage in any debate with Hillary Clinton – a point I’ll expand on later. But from thinking he’d try to get out of the debates, I wasn’t clear how he’d do it without facing crushingly bad publicity and exposure as a coward. The latter is something that cuts apart everything his campaign is based on. A few weeks ago, I figured out what that strategy will be.
As usual, Hillary & the Dems are trying to rig the debates so 2 are up against major NFL games. Same as last time w/ Bernie. Unacceptable! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2016
The requirement is simple: get out of the debates, make them not happen without seeming to be the one who’s running away or tanking them. Here’s how. I suspect Trump will start claiming that that the process is “rigged” because Gary Johnson and Jill Stein aren’t included. For better or worse (I think better), the debate commission rules are crystal clear: You need to hit 15% support in a certain number of major polls to be included. It’s highly unlikely Johnson will meet that threshold; it’s almost impossible that Stein will. Inclusion over exclusion has an inherent logic to it even if it’s obviously self-serving and not appropriate in this case. So I think Trump will find this a comfortable position from which to attack the debates themselves.
Trump does better in multi-person debates than one-on-ones. They’re much less debates in any real sense. They’re more like parallel taunt contests. The multi-person format also makes it easier to avoid policy detail. What’s more, Stein would certainly work with Trump in tag-teaming Hillary Clinton, putting her under fire from both the left and right. Johnson’s role is more uncertain. He less of an attack dog by temperament. And who he’d have more interest in attacking is less clear than it might seem. I’m sure Clinton would weather such a debate. But it’s clearly a less attractive option for her that a one on one with Trump.
What’s more, agreeing to such a debate in contravention of the debate commission rules and at Trump’s demand would show her giving into to Trump’s bullying, which would be extremely damaging quite apart from whether two person or four person debates are better in the abstract.
The other thing to remember is that for all their flaws, presidential debates are fairly substantive. They have high caliber moderators like Jim Lehrer. Candidates are pressed on real questions. It’s nothing like primary debates with a dozen or more participants. Trump’s major liability is that a substantial majority of the public either believes or is inclined to believe that he is temperamentally unfit to be president. His natural path will be to try to bully or overwhelm Clinton. It’s the essence of his political mode and message. But Clinton does not rattle easily. He’ll have a very hard time throwing her off balance. Precisely the things he’ll try to do are the kinds of things likely to reinforce the perception that he simply lacks the temperament to be president.
Trump has many reasons to want to avoid the debates, especially three one-on-one engagements. But by every measure, neither Clinton nor the debate commission seem likely to give in to his demands. He’ll have the active support of Stein and Johnson (which makes sense), make a stir of fighting for a ‘non-rigged’ process and then simply refuse to participate. For anyone really paying attention, it will be obvious what happened. But for his supporters, it will be enough of a hook to pretend he didn’t chicken out.
There’s another thread to this story, which cuts slightly against this picture but is broadly part of the same one. Trump didn’t so much debate in the Republican primaries as use them with some skill to enact a series of dominance rituals at the expense of his opponents. Indeed, this is the key to understanding virtually everything Trump does. Whatever is actually happening he tries to refashion it into a dominance ritual or at least will not engage before performing one. You saw that in those numerous examples where he said he would participate in a debate but only after the other party wrote a major check to charity. It’s primal. He needs to dominate before he will engage.
Characterologically, Trump needs tension and drama. Fresh out of the conventions, he now needs to create a drama out of the debates. Like a bad seed kid, he can’t help picking fights. He needs tension both to satisfy inner needs and to deal with other people. But even if he eventually agrees to participate in one or more of the debates, he will try mightily to force some change or break some dishes in order to assert dominance over the process. He’ll insist someone needs to be included, some part of the format has to change, some location isn’t sufficient. The substance will always be secondary to the need to impose his will. His initial volley making the non-sensical claim that Hillary Clinton scheduled the debates during football games is just the beginning.
I don’t bet. But if I were to, I’d still assume the debates will happen. But I think there’s a decent chance they won’t. Remember, it’s Trump. The stupidest possible scenario that can be reconciled with the available facts is most likely to be right.(The Washington Post)
President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.
The information the president relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, officials said.
The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and officials said Trump’s decision to do so endangers cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State. After Trump’s meeting, senior White House officials took steps to contain the damage, placing calls to the CIA and the National Security Agency.
“This is code-word information,” said a U.S. official familiar with the matter, using terminology that refers to one of the highest classification levels used by American spy agencies. Trump “revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.”
(Bastien Inzaurralde,Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)
[Lawmakers express shock and concern about Trump disclosure of classified information]
The revelation comes as the president faces rising legal and political pressure on multiple Russia-related fronts. Last week, he fired FBI Director James B. Comey in the midst of a bureau investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Trump’s subsequent admission that his decision was driven by “this Russia thing” was seen by critics as attempted obstruction of justice.
One day after dismissing Comey, Trump welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak — a key figure in earlier Russia controversies — into the Oval Office. It was during that meeting, officials said, that Trump went off script and began describing details of an Islamic State terrorist threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft.
For almost anyone in government, discussing such matters with an adversary would be illegal. As president, Trump has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that his disclosures broke the law.
White House officials involved in the meeting said Trump discussed only shared concerns about terrorism.
“The president and the foreign minister reviewed common threats from terrorist organizations to include threats to aviation,” said H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser, who participated in the meeting. “At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed, and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly.”
McMaster reiterated his statement in a subsequent appearance at the White House on Monday and described the Washington Post story as “false,” but did not take any questions.
(Reuters)
In their statements, White House officials emphasized that Trump had not discussed specific intelligence sources and methods, rather than addressing whether he had disclosed information drawn from sensitive sources.
The CIA declined to comment, and the NSA did not respond to requests for comment.
But officials expressed concern about Trump’s handling of sensitive information as well as his grasp of the potential consequences. Exposure of an intelligence stream that has provided critical insight into the Islamic State, they said, could hinder the United States’ and its allies’ ability to detect future threats.
[On Russia, Trump and his top national security aides seem to be at odds]
“It is all kind of shocking,” said a former senior U.S. official who is close to current administration officials. “Trump seems to be very reckless and doesn’t grasp the gravity of the things he’s dealing with, especially when it comes to intelligence and national security. And it’s all clouded because of this problem he has with Russia.”
In his meeting with Lavrov, Trump seemed to be boasting about his inside knowledge of the looming threat. “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” the president said, according to an official with knowledge of the exchange.
Trump went on to discuss aspects of the threat that the United States learned only through the espionage capabilities of a key partner. He did not reveal the specific intelligence-gathering method, but he described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances. Most alarmingly, officials said, Trump revealed the city in the Islamic State’s territory where the U.S. intelligence partner detected the threat.
(The Washington Post)
The Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that revealing them would jeopardize important intelligence capabilities.
“Everyone knows this stream is very sensitive, and the idea of sharing it at this level of granularity with the Russians is troubling,” said a former senior U.S. counterterrorism official who also worked closely with members of the Trump national security team. He and others spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the subject.
The identification of the location was seen as particularly problematic, officials said, because Russia could use that detail to help identify the U.S. ally or intelligence capability involved. Officials said the capability could be useful for other purposes, possibly providing intelligence on Russia’s presence in Syria. Moscow would be keenly interested in identifying that source and perhaps disrupting it.
[Political chaos in Washington is a return on investment in Moscow]
Russia and the United States both regard the Islamic State as an enemy and share limited information about terrorist threats. But the two nations have competing agendas in Syria, where Moscow has deployed military assets and personnel to support President Bashar al-Assad.
“Russia could identify our sources or techniques,” the senior U.S. official said.
A former intelligence official who handled high-level intelligence on Russia said that given the clues Trump provided, “I don’t think that it would be that hard [for Russian spy services] to figure this out.”
At a more fundamental level, the information wasn’t the United States’ to provide to others. Under the rules of espionage, governments — and even individual agencies — are given significant control over whether and how the information they gather is disseminated, even after it has been shared. Violating that practice undercuts trust considered essential to sharing secrets.
The officials declined to identify the ally but said it has previously voiced frustration with Washington’s inability to safeguard sensitive information related to Iraq and Syria.
“If that partner learned we’d given this to Russia without their knowledge or asking first, that is a blow to that relationship,” the U.S. official said.
Trump also described measures the United States has taken or is contemplating to counter the threat, including military operations in Iraq and Syria, as well as other steps to tighten security, officials said.
The officials would not discuss details of those measures, but the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed that it is considering banning laptops and other large electronic devices from carry-on bags on flights between Europe and the United States. The United States and Britain imposed a similar ban in March affecting travelers passing through airports in 10 Muslim-majority countries.
Trump cast the countermeasures in wistful terms. “Can you believe the world we live in today?” he said, according to one official. “Isn’t it crazy?”
Lavrov and Kislyak were also accompanied by aides.
A Russian photographer took photos of part of the session that were released by the Russian state-owned Tass news agency. No U.S. news organization was allowed to attend any part of the meeting.
Senior White House officials appeared to recognize quickly that Trump had overstepped and moved to contain the potential fallout. Thomas P. Bossert, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, placed calls to the directors of the CIA and the NSA, the services most directly involved in the intelligence-sharing arrangement with the partner.
One of Bossert’s subordinates also called for the problematic portion of Trump’s discussion to be stricken from internal memos and for the full transcript to be limited to a small circle of recipients, efforts to prevent sensitive details from being disseminated further or leaked.
White House officials defended Trump. “This story is false,” said Dina Powell, deputy national security adviser for strategy. “The president only discussed the common threats that both countries faced.”
But officials could not explain why staff members nevertheless felt it necessary to alert the CIA and the NSA.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he would rather comment on the revelations in the Post story after “I know a little bit more about it,” but added: “Obviously, they are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening. And the shame of it is, there’s a really good national security team in place.”
Corker also said, “The chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline is creating an environment that I think makes — it creates a worrisome environment.”
Trump has repeatedly gone off-script in his dealings with high-ranking foreign officials, most notably in his contentious introductory conversation with the Australian prime minister earlier this year. He has also faced criticism for seemingly lax attention to security at his Florida retreat, Mar-a-Lago, where he appeared to field preliminary reports of a North Korea missile launch in full view of casual diners.
U.S. officials said that the National Security Council continues to prepare multi-page briefings for Trump to guide him through conversations with foreign leaders, but that he has insisted that the guidance be distilled to a single page of bullet points — and often ignores those.
“He seems to get in the room or on the phone and just goes with it, and that has big downsides,” the second former official said. “Does he understand what’s classified and what’s not? That’s what worries me.”
Lavrov’s reaction to the Trump disclosures was muted, officials said, calling for the United States to work more closely with Moscow on fighting terrorism.
Kislyak has figured prominently in damaging stories about the Trump administration’s ties to Russia. Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was forced to resign just 24 days into the job over his contacts with Kislyak and his misleading statements about them. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to recuse himself from matters related to the FBI’s Russia investigation after it was revealed that he had met and spoke with Kislyak, despite denying any contact with Russian officials during his confirmation hearing.
“I’m sure Kislyak was able to fire off a good cable back to the Kremlin with all the details” he gleaned from Trump, said the former U.S. official who handled intelligence on Russia.
The White House readout of the meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak made no mention of the discussion of a terrorist threat.
“Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria,” the summary said. The president also “raised Ukraine” and “emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia.”
Julie Tate and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.
Read more:
Trump’s new Russia expert wrote a psychological profile of Vladimir Putin – and it should scare Trump
On the campaign trail, Trump was very worried about revealing America’s secrets
Presence of Russian photographer in Oval Office raises alarmsAsh Ketchum, known as Satoshi (サトシ) in Japan, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise owned by Nintendo. He is the main protagonist of the Pokémon anime and certain manga series as well as on various merchandise related to the franchise. In Japanese, the character is voiced by Rica Matsumoto. In the English dub, he was voiced by Veronica Taylor from 1998 to 2006. Since the ninth season of the anime series, he is voiced by Sarah Natochenny for the remainder of the anime.
His English name is derived from the Japanese name (as the letters 'ash' are included in 'Satoshi') and his English motto, "Gotta Catch 'Em All". Ash's dream is to become a Pokémon Master. He is loosely based on Red, the player character from the Generation I games Pokémon Red, Green, Blue and Yellow as well as the Generation III games Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen versions. The character's first official appearance in a game was in Pokémon Puzzle League.
As the protagonist of the Pokémon anime, Ash has appeared in all episodes of the anime, all the films and several of the television specials.
Due to the huge popularity, success, and longevity of the Pokémon anime series around the world since its debut, Ash has gone on to become one of the most well-known and recognizable animated characters of all-time (due to his status as the protagonist of the Pokémon anime), though is often overshadowed in representation by the almost universally identifiable franchise mascot, Pikachu. He is now widely considered a figurehead character of the wave of anime in the late 90s; which is credited by most anime fans as having popularized anime in the west, alongside the likes of Goku of Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon of the show with the same name. He is also considered a major pop icon character for Japanese pop culture in the United States. Despite this, he has been largely criticized for being stuck in a 'floating timeline', as well as for his inability to win any major Pokémon leagues as of yet.
Ash's outfits through the anime,[3] especially his various hats, are also considered to be just as iconic as him,[4] and also have good reception,[5][6] in particular, his first costume from the Original Series.
Concept and creation
Named after creator Satoshi Tajiri,[7] Satoshi, whose name can be taken to mean "wisdom" or "reason", was designed by Ken Sugimori and Atsuko Nishida,[8] and intended to represent how Tajiri was as a child, obsessed with catching bugs. During localization of both for North American audiences, the character's name was changed in the anime to "Ash Ketchum", the first name taken from one of the possible default names players could select for the player character in Pokémon Red and Blue, and the surname tying into the former tagline (and as of Pokémon XY revived) for the series, "Gotta catch 'em all!".[9]
Tajiri noted in an interview that between Japanese and American reactions to the series, Japanese consumers focused on the character Pikachu, while Americans purchased more items featuring Ash and Pikachu, his Pokémon, together. He stated that he felt the character represented the concept of the franchise, the human aspect, and was a necessity.[10] The character was given a rival named Gary Oak (Shigeru Okido in the Japanese version, after Tajiri's idol/mentor, Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto), loosely based on Red's rival Blue. In an interview Tajiri noted the contrast between the characters' relationship in the games and anime; while in the games they were rivals, in the anime, Shigeru represented Satoshi's master. When asked if either Satoshi would equal or surpass Shigeru, Tajiri replied "No! Never!"[7] Ash's character design was initially overseen by Sayuri Ichishi, replaced by Toshiya Yamada during the Diamond and Pearl storyline arc. Ash received a redesign in the Best Wishes! series, which included larger brown irises. In the XY series, he received minor changes, such as a decrease in the size of the 'birthmarks' on his cheeks. Ash received a major design overhaul for the Sun and Moon anime series, which started airing in Japan on November 17, 2016.[11]
Voice acting
In Japan throughout the anime media, Rica Matsumoto has always provided the original Japanese voice of Ash. For the English dubbing, Veronica Taylor provided the voice of Ash in the first eight seasons of the English adaption of the Pokémon anime, which was dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment. At the time of her audition, Taylor stated that the character was temporarily named Casey, which was the name later given to a recurring character in Johto. After the script was translated from Japanese, the lines were adapted to fit the movements of the character's mouth (called lip flap). All the voices were recorded separately, so Taylor was the only one in the booth when she recorded her lines, which took approximately six to eight hours per episode. Taylor was often the first person to record, so she had to "imagine how the previous line will be said". "Luckily, I work with a great director who helps with the interpretation of the line, matching of the lip flap, and consistency of the voice". Taylor enjoyed playing Ash because of his "low, husky voice" and "energy and excitement".[12]
Taylor commented that Ash and the other characters "loosened up" after the first ten episodes of the anime; she believed the writers were more relaxed and no longer felt the pressure of making sure everything was done correctly. Taylor commented: "I enjoy playing Ash now much more than I did in the very beginning because I can have fun with him more, and we kind of know him and can work out how he really would react. We have the classic Ash responses and things like that."[12] Sarah Natochenny replaced Taylor in season nine when The Pokémon Company International (known at that time as Pokémon USA) took over the licensing, prompting a shift in recording studios.[13]
Appearances
Prior to the show
In episode 28 of the nineteenth season (Pokémon the Series: XYZ), 'Seeing the Forest for the Trees!,' It reveals the true story of why Ash Ketchum loved Pokémon, when Ash was a little boy, he went on a field trip. However, during the trip, it started to rain, and Ash got separated from his group. Ash was forced to take shelter under a hollow tree. However, he noticed a group of Pokémon who were also seeking shelter from the rain. So, he invited them inside the tree and the Pokémon kept him safe and warm.[14] This experience is what inspired Ash into becoming a Pokémon trainer.
In episode 7 of the seventeenth season (XY series), 'Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race!,' it is also revealed that at some point in his childhood, Ash had attended a Pokémon Summer Camp, where he had previously met childhood friend Serena.[15] At one point during the camp, Serena had hurt her knee from falling over after being startled by a Poliwag. Ash had used his handkerchief to wrap up her injury, which she had kept, and returns to Ash in this episode.
In the anime
The series starts with Ash's tenth birthday, which according to Pokémon trainer registration bylaws allowed him to become a full-fledged Pokémon trainer and obtain a starter Pokémon. As a ten-year-old hailing from Pallet Town in the Kanto region, Ash was offered a choice between three Pokémon as his starter: Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander. While he was planning to choose Squirtle, he received the electric type Pokémon Pikachu from Professor Oak instead, because he woke up late and all the other starter Pokémon had been taken by other trainers. After receiving Pikachu and a Pokédex, Ash left Pallet Town to start his journey. Since then Ash has traveled the world of Pokémon, competed in many challenges, and caught newer Pokémon. He has met many companions, such as Misty and Brock.
Throughout the series, Ash's primary enemies are a criminal organization called Team Rocket, specifically the two comical and bumbling members, Jessie and James, and their talking Meowth, who is essentially the third member of the group. Ever since being defeated by Ash's Pikachu in the second episode, "Pokémon Emergency!", the three of them have obsessively never stopped chasing after them to steal Ash's Pikachu, maintaining the delusion that Pikachu is abnormally powerful and presenting it to their criminal boss would make them very rich. As the enduring comical villains of the series, the Team Rocket trio occasionally show signs of goodness, such as care and friendship with their Pokémon and each other, and despite their constant antagonism, they occasionally put their differences aside and work together with Ash against a common threat, such as in Pokémon: The Movie 2000, where they aid Ash in retrieving the three treasures in order to save the world.
During his travels, Ash still had a lot to learn as a trainer. He caught his Pokémon by merely befriending them, knew absolutely nothing about battling, and many of his gym badges were earned rather controversially. In fact, the only legitimate victories were over Lt. Surge, Koga, and Blaine, while the others were earned on technical convenience or given to him out of gratitude. Ash also shows a deep love for Pokémon in the series, protecting wild Pokémon or his own from getting injured or trying to help them, despite getting significantly hurt himself. He honed his skill as a Pokémon trainer and was able to get all 8 badges, enabling him to compete in the Indigo League. Ash was able to go to the 5th round, and achieve the Top 16 — one round further than his competitive rival Gary, who finished in the Top 32. However, due to his inexperience in handling his more powerful Pokémon, Ash was eliminated from his first Pokémon League competition in a very unflattering manner, which greatly disappointed him but he got over it and vowed to not make the same mistake in a league again.
Ash traveled to the Orange Islands with Misty and Tracey Sketchit, a Pokémon watcher, obtained all 4 badges, and competed in the Orange League to battle Drake, the Orange League Champion. Ash was able to win his battle against Drake, giving him his first League Championship as a Pokémon trainer. This particular Pokémon League exists only in the anime series, and not adapted from the video game series.
He then traveled on to the Johto region with Brock and Misty, hoping to meet with Gary and finally defeat him in the Johto League. He won 8 badges and competed in the Johto Conference. Ash beat Gary again, in the 1st round of the conference, and was able to make it to the quarter-finals, and achieve Top 8. However he lost against his new rival Harrison in the 2nd round. Ash then moved on and traveled through the Hoenn region, along with Brock and two new characters: May, an aspiring Pokémon coordinator, and her younger brother Max, and together they ended up bringing down the rival teams Team Magma and Team Aqua. He was able to get all 8 badges, and then competed in the Hoenn Conference. Ash was able to defeat his 1st new rival Morrison, in the 2nd round, also entering in the quarter-finals, and achieving Top 8 again. However he lost in the 3rd round against his 2nd new rival Tyson.
Having gone through several leagues and gotten a lot stronger, Ash decided to challenge the Kanto "Battle Frontier" and its 7 Brains (leaders). Ash defeated all of the Brains and acquired all the 7 Battle Frontier symbols, becoming a "Strong Battle Frontier champion" and qualifying for becoming a Frontier Brain himself. However, Ash, wanting to learn more about Pokémon and get even stronger, decided to continue his journey, not as a Frontier Brain, but as a trainer. However, having acquired all 7 symbols, he left with the privilege of becoming a Frontier Brain if and when he wants in the future.
Ash, along with Brock, traveled to Sinnoh, befriended a new traveling companion, Dawn, and also found a brutal new rival in Paul; and through their journey they encountered and defeated Team Galactic. Ash won all 8 Sinnoh gym badges and competed in the Sinnoh conference at the Lily of the Valley Island. He eventually faced Paul in the quarter-finals of the Sinnoh League Festival and finally defeated him, marking the first time Ash has ever made it into the semi-finals in a Pokémon League. Afterwards, however, Ash was matched against Tobias, a trainer who famously swept all eight Sinnoh League gyms and all other opponents with only his legendary Pokémon Darkrai. Ash was eventually defeated by Tobias, but not without having defeated his Darkrai, as well as his Latios, which is also a legendary Pokémon, whom Ash also defeated in a draw with his final Pokémon, making Ash the only known trainer to have defeated two of Tobias' legendary Pokémon, something that not even Tobias' opponent in the finals could achieve. Ash concluded his participation in the Sinnoh League with an impressive new ranking. He bade farewell with Dawn in Twinleaf Town, and parted ways with Brock for the last time.
Once again, Ash continued his journey to the Unova region, with only his Pikachu. Here, he met and traveled with two new companions: a female trainer named Iris, and a Pokémon Connoisseur named Cilan, who, like Brock before him, is a gym leader. Throughout Unova, Ash met and competed against more rivals than before, including Trip, Bianca, Stephan, Cameron, and Virgil, most of whom he befriended. Unlike previous seasons, Ash notoriously displayed a drop in skill and competence, and instead regressed back to a beginner, showing little of his previous expertise and relearned many of the basics of catching Pokémon (though this may have been due to over-excitement of entering a new region with exclusive Pokémon, and slowly wore off as the seasons went on). However, Ash still managed to win all eight gym badges in Unova and then entered the Unova League, where he defeated his arrogant rival, Trip, in the first match, but was defeated by Cameron in the quarter-finals, one match below his previous Pokémon League ranking. Cameron was then defeated by Virgil, who went on to win the League with his team of Eevee evolutions.
Also unlike previous seasons, Ash battled against a much more malevolent Team Rocket, as well as the evil Team Plasma. After his latest attempt to compete in the Unova League, and |
The whole time you’ll be wondering if these minute differences are all that separate us from the pyschopathic killers that are out there waiting for us.
This one was by far my favorite of the set. It was the most realized, in my opinion, and you can definitely tell that Buttgereit really picked up things along the way that helped transform his work into something shocking and hollow with Nekromantik into something real and unsettling with Schramm.
Overall
Having never seen any of these films prior to review, and only going off of what I’ve heard on the internet, these films definitely shocked me, but they weren’t as horrific as I was expecting. Part of this, I’m willing to bet, is that the internet has desensitized me to a lot. Even so, these films push what I’d be comfortable watching more than once. It’s hard for me to recommend these to anyone unless they were looking for shock and dread.
But hey, if that is your cup of tea, these movies have those in spades.
Video Quality (3.5/5):
The picture quality ranges in this set, considering the films span a number of years. As you progress through the films you will definitely notice the improvement of quality as time goes on. While it starts sort of rough with Nekromantik (there is a noticeable amount of grain and dirt, I felt), Schramm ends the series on a high note and looks quite good (comparatively).
The aspect ratios that these were shot in will leave you with a lot of empty real estate on either side of the screen, but it’s hard to fault the films for the screen formats of the time. Honestly, the 4:3 aspect ratio sort of adds to the tone, sending you back to the VHS tape days on your small tube tv.
I had fun with the films, and even when the quality wasn’t the best, it seemed to dip in a way that was more charming and forgivable. I think this set looks great for what it is.
Audio Quality (3/5):
The audio quality is really hard to judge on this set. For the most part, these movies sounded about as good as you’d expect. There is a sort of hollowness that you get in a lot of older horror films, especially with the soundtrack (which is included in the set). There are plenty of synth tones to go around in these movies, which is charming in it’s own way. This set isn’t, however, anything special to write home about, in regards to the audio quality.
Also note, it appears that there are some instances of typos in some of the subtitles throughout the set. Nothing too aggregious, I don’t think, but worth noting if you don’t speak German.
What’s in the Packaging (4.5/5)
Cult Epics has gone above and beyond in this set. Not only do you get all four movies on four discs with their respective special features, you also get a 40 page booklet with interviews and exclusive photos, as well as soundtracks to all four films on two CDs. The only thing that stops this set from getting a perfect score is the fact that the slipcase on the outside is a tad on the flimsy side, and mine was sort of roughed up in transit. I would have liked to have seen a more sturdy cardstock used.
Other Versions:
None
(Click to enlarge)
Special Features (5/5)
Again in the theme of above and beyond, Cult Epics have packed a ton of extra content in with these movies. If you are at all wanting more after seeing these films, you will be more than satisfied.
Included in this collection are:
Two versions of Nekromantik
Exclusive Introductions to each film by Jorg Buttgereit
Q&A with Jorg Buttgereit
Audio Commentaries
Making Ofs
Featurettes
Still Photo Galleries
Documentary: Corpse Fucking Art
Short Films: Hot Love, A Moment of Silence at the Grave of Ed Gein, Horror Heaven, Bloody Excess in the Leaders Bunker, My Father
Music Video by Jorg Buttgereit: Half Girl – Lemmy I’m a Feminist
Exclusive new art design by Silver Ferox
Technical Specs
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: German Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo German Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround German DTS HD-MA 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: English
4 Blu-ray, 2 CD
Final Thoughts (4/5):
Shock and horror. If you can stomach some truly grotesque imagery, then this set might be up your alley. There are things here that are just plain uncomfortable to watch, which is part of the appeal. There is a cult charm to these films, and having them all in one nice package is the perfect way to grab these.
Note: This Blu-ray was sent to us for review. This has not affected our judgement or editorial process in any way. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this process.As Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers prepares for a season without his top receiver, the reigning NFL MVP is featured in a Sports Illustrated cover story by Greg Bishop.
Rodgers completed 18 of 23 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns in Sunday’s season opening win over the Chicago Bears. Without Pro Bowl receiver Jordy Nelson, who is out for the year with a torn ACL, Rodgers spread the ball around. He completed passes to five different receivers. Randall Cobb led the Packers with five receptions, and Davante Adams led the team with 59 receiving yards.
Rodgers was a first-team All-Pro in 2014, throwing for 38 touchdowns, 4,381 yards and just five interceptions. The Packers won the NFC North and reached the NFC championship game.
Bishop’s profile details how Rodgers transitioned from Brett Favre’s backup to MVP and Super Bowl Champion. Bishop examines how Rodgers, 31, manages to constantly improve his game.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota is also featured on a regional Sports Illustrated cover. Mariota completed 13 of 16 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns in his debut, recording a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the team's 42-14 victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Also in this issue are stories about Ohio State's Braxton Miller, the 2015 U.S. Open and Dwight Gooden's legendary 1985 season.A rendering has been released for the now-approved, two-tower mega-project just outside the Holland Tunnel in downtown Jersey City.
The project, which will bring 750 residential units, along with ‘240,000 square feet of nonresidential uses’ and 1,098 parking spaces to the site was approved, ‘with conditions’, by Jersey City’s Planning Board during their August 15th meeting.
The rendering shows the outbound lanes of the Holland Tunnel along 12th Street, with the 57 and 59-story glass-sheathed high-rises towering overhead.
This site is directly east of Home Depot and will replace the brick industrial building which is currently used by the Mecca and Sons Trucking Company. The building’s western wall is now home to New Jersey largest mural, painted by Distort, and facilitated by Green Villain and the Jersey City Mural Arts Program.
A post shared by #instaram (@arjunram) on Sep 10, 2017 at 9:15am PDT
Because of the properties proximity to the PATH and Light Rail trains, the developers engaged in conversations with the Port Authority in hopes of gaining access to nearby PATH and HBLR stations. However, as of now, no agreements have been reached.
The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association raises concerns regarding the project’s lack of green space and mass transit access options. The association is requesting the Planning Board conduct a traffic study to better understand how the project will impact traffic in the area.
No variances or deviations were requested or required for approval. Nor have any abatements been decided at this stage.On the heels of news that Amazon may have accounted for half of Black Friday online sales, the retailer today announced that the Black Friday holiday shopping weekend – which it defines as Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday – was its best-ever, in terms of Amazon devices sold. The company historically doesn’t release hard numbers related to its device sales. Instead, it claims that “millions” of Alexa devices were sold during this time frame.
One notable item it did share was that its Echo Dot and Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote were not only the best-selling Amazon devices during this sales holiday, but they were also the best-selling products from any manufacturer in any category on Amazon.
Of course, that’s not too surprising given that Amazon gave its devices a big push this year, offering deep discounts to encourage shoppers to buy.
For example, Amazon slashed the price on its Echo Dot on Cyber Monday to $29.99 – the lowest price ever for the small Alexa-powered speaker. It also took advantage of its newly acquired brick-and-mortar footprint to market the device at its Whole Food stores during this sales holiday, which made the Echo Dot the best-seller at those locations, the retailer noted.
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, meanwhile, was discounted $15 to bring it to $24.99 on Cyber Monday, vastly undercutting its closest rival, the Roku Streaming Stick with voice remote, which is $49.99. The retailer said customers purchased 2.7x more Fire TV Sticks than they did last year, which could also be an indication of the drive towards cord cutting and streaming, more so than the popularity of Amazon’s streaming stick in particular.
“Customers purchased millions of Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices this weekend, and Alexa devices were the top sellers across all of Amazon,” said Dave Limp, Senior Vice President, Amazon Devices & Services, in a statement. “We’re excited that tens of millions of customers around the world will be using Alexa to prepare for the holidays.”
That “tens of millions” is about as close as Amazon gets to talking about Alexa devices sales figures. It’s the same figure CEO Jeff Bezos dropped in Amazon’s Q3 2017 earnings release, seemingly a confirmation that Amazon has sold more than 20 million Alexa devices. That’s in line with earlier estimates of 16.1 million Echo devices sold through the end Q2.
Voicebot’s analysis of Bezos’ earlier statement estimates that Echo sales to date have totaled 19.5 – 21.5 million units, while non-Echo smart speakers with Alexa built-in were in the 1 million unit range through Q3 2017.
Note that Amazon didn’t announce “record” sales for this 2017 holiday shopping weekend, only record numbers of Amazon devices sold. That could mean that shoppers were spreading their dollars around among other online retailers. [Update, 11/29/17: A day after publication, Amazon did announce a record Cyber Monday.]
This year, shoppers spent a record $5.03 billion in Black Friday online sales in the U.S., and a record-breaking $6.59 billion in Cyber Monday online sales. Those numbers extend far beyond Amazon.
But don’t worry about Amazon – it made up its own sales holiday called Prime Day, which was the biggest sales day in company history in 2017 and the year prior.Virtual keyboard Fleksy has made its iOS integration open and free to all today, after debuting the SDK with private partners back in December. Fleksy is completely free for developers to use, and integrates seamlessly with the native iOS keyboard as a selectable option in any iOS software. Plus, developers can add it to their apps without using a single line of code.
That’s a key part of what they offer potential developer partners: Fleksy COO and founder Ioannis Verdelis explained that making a third-party keyboard appealing to devs meant ensuring that it can be integrated with a minimum of effort, and without requiring that developers change anything else about their app in the slightest. That isn’t to say that the keyboard isn’t customizable if a developer wants to make tweaks for the sake of design, but they aren’t forced to alter anything to get up and running.
“There’s literally no code required,” he Verdelis explained in an interview. “You drag our framework into your Xcode project, and we handle the rest automagically. We are very proud of this, and this is essential for adoption.”
For users, all that’s required is that they have the app installed on their phone one time, and then a Fleksy button pops up next to the “Cut, Copy, Paste” buttons that come up when you tap in any text field, so long as the app you’re using has integrated Fleksy using the SDK. Settings, dictionaries and other options including color choices are shared across apps, meaning it feels like the Fleksy keyboard is an OS-level feature, despite the fact that it still has to be built into each app individually because of Apple’s restrictions on third-party keyboards. Fleksy has also worked to improve overall keyboard performance with this release in terms of accuracy and adding new languages.
Verdelis says that where in December the initial beta was just designed to show that this could be done, today’s launch is where the startup begins to go after scale. There are 11 partners debuting Fleksy integration today in the App Store, including You Doodle, Cotton Notes, SnapStatus and more, but Verdelis says there are plenty more in the approval pipeline and we should see new Fleksy-supported titles start to roll out daily.
Fleksy is making this free for users and developers, but will monetize instead through paid themes, some of that revenue making its way back to devs.
“We offer themes, some of which are paid, to our users,” Verdelis explained. “These are synced between apps – so if you like the Blue Fleksy, you can buy this and Fleksy magically changes to the Blue theme in all the apps you have with Fleksy. Developers, in fact, will be able to share this revenue through the Apple affiliate program. We will introduce more premium features at a later date, but the keyboard at its core will always be free for users and developers.”
Getting buy-in for a system-level feature on iOS, where third-party devs aren’t able to replace the defaults, is a tough proposition. But Fleksy has done a good job of stacking the odds in their favor as much as is possible, given those constraints.This week, a six-month pilot program starts for having food trucks in and around downtown Raleigh. This means that the trucks can operate outside of just events. There are four areas for the trucks to set up at including:
South State Street near the NC DMV along New Bern Avenue
Polk Street near the state government
South Bloodworth near the Pink Building
Harrington Street near HQ Raleigh
The hours for the trucks to be here are between 10am and 3pm. On First Fridays, they are allowed out there until 8pm.
The food truck debate really does put our public spaces, more specifically the public on-street parking spaces, into view. Parking, and the threat of reducing it, gets emotions running. In my opinion, these designated food truck areas provide a greater public good then a few more parking spaces. They support a diverse of uses, especially a use that provides to pedestrians in an urban area rather than vehicles in an urban area.
Skepticism over food trucks isn’t new in Raleigh. The City of Raleigh Museum has a good blog post about the debate over ice cream trucks in Raleigh during the 1960s.
Before the modern food truck, the ice cream truck fought for the ability to sell in Raleigh. The main points of contention were child safety and littering. City officials and parents argued that ice cream trucks were a hazard to the community and posed a threat to children. Like food trucks, ice cream trucks divided the community.
*Not Jumping for Joy: Raleigh’s Contentious Relationship with Ice Cream Trucks
Are food trucks really an issue or is Raleigh just being Raleigh?
Hopefully, the pilot program goes off well and more food truck areas can be added to the list.
Similar Posts:Mitt Romney is viewed favorably by 48 percent of voters in a new CNN-ORC poll, a huge jump for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
Only 42 percent of voters in the poll have a negative view of Romney, who held only a 34 percent favorability rating in CNN's poll in February. Romney still trails President Obama in favorability. Obama is at 56 percent positive and 42 negative in the CNN-ORC poll.
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Still, the figures are encouraging for Romney, particularly after a report Friday found the economy added only 69,000 jobs in May. The dismal figures helped Romney double down on his arguments that Obama is ill-equipped to handle the economy.
Obama leads Romney 49 to 46 overall, according to the CNN-ORC poll.
In an ABC News-Washington Post poll released last week, Romney was still slightly underwater in favorability. But that poll also showed Romney making gains in favorability — it was the first time he topped 40 percent favorability in this campaign cycle in the ABC poll.
The CBS-ORC poll of 1,009 American adults was conducted between May 29 and May 31 and has a 3.5 percent margin of error.
More from The Hill:
♦ Conservatives rip Romney transition pick for health law support
♦ Labor, Tea Party pour resources into Wisconsin ahead of recall
♦ Decision to include war funds in automatic cuts riles GOP
♦ Bill highlights tensions Romney would face from House GOP
♦ Ten game changers that could decide the presidency
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♦ Dem ad features Republican calling Giffords ‘a hero of nothing'
♦ Pelosi: Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails County GOP in Minnesota shares image comparing Sanders to Hitler Holder: 'Time to make the Electoral College a vestige of the past' MORE is ‘our shot’ in 2016I guess I’m going to write about plus/minus again and why Jeremy Roenick is a bad analyst. Please skip this article if any of the following is true for you:
You already know plus/minus isn’t good for player evaluation.
You already know Jeremy Roenick is a bad analyst.
You don’t like me, my writing, or numbers in general.
You’ve got other stuff going on today.
Any of those is a valid reason not to read this, but if you’re still with me, let’s dance.
Here’s what ol’ J.R. wrote in the foreword to his new book, excerpted on whatever thepostgame.com is and which your boy J.P. (not to be confused with J.R. unless you want to mess with him) alerted us to:
How bad do you have to be defensively when you score 51 goals and still end up at minus-35? The answer is that a player has to be horses— defensively. I’m paid by NBC to be an NHL analyst. Ovechkin had a ridiculously poor season and unfortunately I had to take him to the woodshed because of that. I called him out, and I think Ovi understood. But I saw a different Ovechkin in 2015. I saw a player who is fully committed to implementing Trotz’s system. I witnessed Ovi transform himself from a goal scorer to a superstar who is trying to be both a scorer and leader.
Because that is bad writing, I’ll restate his thesis for you: Alex Ovechkin’s minus-35 in 2013-14 was evidence that he was a bad defensive player, but after that he became a better player.
I’m not going to argue that Alex Ovechkin was good defensively in 2013-14. He may have been bad. The problem in Roenick’s (masturbatorily self-aggrandizing) excerpt is that his supposed evidence, Alex Ovechkin’s 2013-14 plus/minus stat, does not support his conclusion, that Alex Ovechkin was “horseshit defensively.” Couple Roenick’s tortured comprehension of hockey statistics with his hot-take tone and you get a singularity of Bad Hockey Writing.
A quick plus/minus explainer. It’s your basic goal differential. Goals scored by the player’s team while he’s on the ice minus goal’s scored by the opponent team. It doesn’t include the player’s team’s power-play goals, but it does include both teams’ shorthanded goals for whatever reason.
Alex Ovechkin’s 2013-14 plus-minus was minus-35, almost the league’s worst (thanks, Steve Ott!). Here’s how it breaks down.
5v5 Caps goals: 34
5v5 opponent goals: -61
4v4 Caps goals: 4
4v4 opponent goals: -4
Shorthanded goals against: -9
34 - 61 - 4 + 4 - 9 = minus-36
Okay, that’s one off, and I’m not sure why (empty netters? UPDATE: yes), but I don’t have a lot of time right now, so let’s just keep going anyway.
Let’s zoom in on those 5v5 goals and perform two thought experiments:
What if the goaltending was good?
The Caps allowed 61 goals during 5v5 while Ovechkin was on the ice. Goalies behind Ovechkin saved 90.5 percent that season, the lowest of Ovi’s career. We know that (most) players don’t (reliably or appreciably) drive their goalies’ save percentage, so here’s what would have happened if those goalies saved an average 92.0 percent:
642 opponent shots *.92 save percentage = 51 opponent goals
That’s a change of 10 goals just based on crummy goaltending. (Note to self: send thank you note to Mitch Korn, an apology to Dave Prior, and a lump of coal to Adam Oates.)
What if Ovi’s linemates shot un-terribly?
Of the Capitals’ 34 goals during 5v5 while he was on the ice that season, Ovechkin personally scored 21 of them. His teammates’ shooting percentage was 3.8 percent, which is lower than John Erskine’s career shooting percentage (3.9), so just imagine that Ovi was skating with 4 John Erskines all season. Here’s what would have happened if his teammates shot a more respectable, but still unremarkable, 8.0 percent:
343 teammate shots *.08 shooting percentage = 27 teammate goals
That’s an increase of 14 goals just based on bad shooting luck. It’s possible and even plausible that something was happening to depress Ovi’s linemates’ shooting that season, but to attribute that to Ovechkin’s individual play rather than random variance or systemic issues would be a bold assertion that would need justification. And if you wanted to attribute bad linemate shooting percentages to being “horseshit defensively,” that would simply make you an idiot.
The Capitals were very bad in 2013-14. When Alex Ovechkin was on the ice during 5v5, they were outshot 642 to 567. But if shooting and saving percentages weren’t so wacky (as those percentages are prone to be inside a 78-game sample), we might expect a different outcome.
642 opponent shots *.08 shooting percentage = 51 opponent goals
567 Capitals goals *.08 shooting percentage = 45 Capitals goals
51 opponent goals - 45 Capitals goals = minus-6
A minus-6 would still be bad for a top-line player on a supposedly good team, but it’s not remotely enough evidence to say Ovechkin was “horseshit defensively” while still retaining an ounce of credibility.
I’ve said this for a while: Plus/minus is a funhouse mirror. Even-strength goal differentials are driven primarily by volatile shooting saving percentages, and that number gets warped further by including shorthanded goals, which the Capitals were truly terrible at preventing that season.
Further, plus/minus is a combination of offensive and defensive numbers, so it’s never accurately indicative of a player’s performance on one particular side of the puck. And the more we know about hockey, the more we learn that the line between offense and defense is blurry, which is part of why the sport is so fun.
I’m gonna wrap this up in bullets, because I’m so over this.
Using plus/minus to characterize Ovechkin’s play is unwise because it provides outcomes distorted by things players don’t control.
Using plus/minus to characterize Ovechkin’s defensive play is very unwise because it describes offensive and defensive outcomes.
Using plus/minus to call Ovechkin’s play “horseshit defensively” is some Trumpesque reality-distortion field stuff without a shred of credibility to justify that tone.
Alex Ovechkin might have been defensively bad in 2013-14, but that case is not supported by Jeremy Roenick’s analysis, if you can even call it that.
He played 1363 games in the NHL and he brags about being an analyst for NBC, but Jeremy Roenick’s bluster does not comport with his astonishing ignorance about the game he is paid to discuss.
This post was updated to clarify what a “power-play goal against” means. It’s like half of people read that as “opponent shorthanded goal” and the other half read it as “opponent power-play goal.”
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PinterestCulturally, we are not that much different from the US. Sure, we have fewer guns and we get a little less teary when the national anthem plays, but we’re pretty much the same country except for all the snakes and spiders.
Occasionally, though, you find out there are some things you take for granted – like, say, dual flush toilets. Having a piss button and a poop button? That’s an Aussie thing, you will not find those on a Yank toilet. Switches on power points? Nope, they just have to pray that their young children don’t put forks in them.
Not too overwhelmed by these? Then get ready to shit your pants: most of them don’t have kettles. The electric kettle, possibly an even more commonplace feature in the Australian home than the fridge, is a rare curiosity reserved for the minority group of tea drinkers in the United bloody States of bloody America.
As you might imagine, some people were perturbed:
nothin fucked me up as much as learning Americans don’t own kettles. no wonder trump won — Lucy Valentine (@LucyXIV) March 8, 2017
I just heard americans microwave water. If you’re american you legally have to disclose every weird fucken thing you do to me, right now, — hairless pooper (@lonelydandruff) March 8, 2017
america: our president will kill everyone
me: no surprises
america: we boil water in the microwave
me: fuck me rigid with the kings corpse — thomas violence (@thomas_violence) March 8, 2017
You might be asking, as others were, how the fuck do they live?
@ImogenDunlevie @LucyXIV what!?! So they boil water on the stove? In a saucepan or do they have “Polly Put The Kettle On” kettles? — Jo (@eskimojo) March 8, 2017
The answer is: they don’t, they just survive. Just kidding, the truth is much worse: they microwave water. Or, at least, some of them do.
The very boring explanation for this bizarre fact is that because they are on 120 volts (as opposed to our 240 volts) it takes way longer to boil water off house power. Couple this with the fact that most of the population drinks coffee over tea (those barbarians) and the heating process necessary for coffee is often combined in the machine that makes it, and it means standalone electric kettle didn’t ever really take off (although you can still buy them).
So what do you do if you need hot water? You use a stovetop kettle (weird but fine I guess), boil it in a pot on the stove (ghastly), or (vastly more ghastly) you… Christ, it’s hard to even type… you put it in the microwave. I’m not making this shit up:
@Shuttlecock
Mostly they use the microwave — Tiger the Werewolf (@HyperTigerXT) March 8, 2017
Others have differing theories about how they do it:
Obviously America is a rich and varied place so in some places the kettle is relatively common but, still, fucked up. Unbelievable.Beyond Redemption is a classic Western adventure tale. Three cowboys, bound by beautiful friendship, return home to their ranch after a hard day’s work only to find—
Wait! I’m kidding. Heh.
Beyond Redemption is, in fact, a classic case of DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER. Surreal and bloody, this first instalment in Michael R. Fletcher’s Manifest Delusions series is an uncomfortable and captivating exploration of imperfect characters in a broken world.
If someone decided to make a crossover between Inception and Robin Hood set in the Broken Empire, it might look a little bit like Beyond Redemption. Granted, Fletcher’s heroes aren’t exactly the Merry Men.
We work together. We’re a team. A shite team, but we get things done. We aren’t friends and we sure as shite aren’t lovers. Never forget: I’d kill either of you if there was money in it for me.
In fact, they might be the least merry protagonists I’ve ever encountered. A fair few of them could easily blend in with Steven Erikson’s grittier creations, while others wouldn’t look out of place amongst Jorg Ancrath’s Road Brothers. And in true ‘grimdark’ fashion, these morally murky men and women are not the exception but the norm.
Now, the prospect of villainous psychopaths roaming in heavily-armed bands is worrisome enough in any context. But in Fletcher’s world, it’s downright terrifying.
Why?
The more people who believed something, the truer it became.
That’s right: in the aptly-titled Manifest Delusions universe, belief defines reality. The more unstable the mind, the more powerful the belief. I’ve adored this concept ever since I first read Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather: a brilliant tale in which an assassin attempts to murder Discworld’s version of Father Christmas by manipulating children so that they no longer believe in him.
Of course, Beyond Redemption executes this idea with less levity and a lot more dark abandon. Where Pratchett has ‘spare’ belief (leftover from the dwindling Hogfather) that spontaneously spawns quirky-yet-harmless anthropomorphic personifications (like the Oh-God of Hangovers, the Verruca Gnome, the Hair-Loss Fairy and the Eater of Socks), Fletcher instead gives us murderous embodiments of our own paranoias: reflections that become Doppels (identical copies); Doppels that then plot to steal our identity; and of course one man’s master plan to engineer the birth of an all-powerful god through the indoctrination of an entire city.
Nothing is as it seems in the world of Manifest Delusions. ‘Reality’ itself is a misnomer; neither trust nor truth exists, because everyone is out only for themselves.
“All communication is manipulation,” said Konig. “All interaction, social or otherwise, is a means of getting what you want. It’s the basis of society.”
Such oh-so-logical philosophising by characters like Konig is enough to boggle the mind and leave even the sanest reader questioning things they’ve always taken for granted – including the very definition of ‘sane’. In fact, Beyond Redemption might be the first genre novel I’ve encountered that is brave enough to explore different perceptions and consequences of mental illness and psychological disorders in a fantastical context. It’s a difficult subject, to be sure, but anyone who’s concerned about serious issues being reduced to convenient plot vehicles may rest assured that Fletcher has clearly approached the material with gravity (and research).
Far from diminishing the seriousness and severity of such issues, Fletcher brings them to the forefront and makes them literal, tackling them head-on in a refreshingly direct approach. Much like visual depictions of widely-suffered conditions (such as depression, anxiety, anorexia, OCD and agoraphobia) the author gives us obsessions and fears made flesh to better illustrate the nuances of each ‘delusion’. Furthermore, he refuses to use language to obscure or euphemise any of his characters’ conditions, which is why it’s not too difficult for the reader to infer what (for example) a Doppel, a Dysmorphic, a Kleptic or a Therianthrope might be.
Beyond Redemption shows us a reality where none of this is hidden, and delusions are common knowledge. To some extent, Beyond Redemption normalises these disorders; and it does so without erasing their individual complexity – or undermining the suffering they cause. Admittedly, this portrayal appears to be entirely negative at first. We meet a sociopath, a pyromaniac and a murderous kleptomaniac in quick succession, all of whom are incapable of empathy and prone to sadistic, violent impulses.
But by subtly unravelling their personalities (or should that be personas?) and revealing the psychological reasons behind their mania, the author hints that many – if not all – of are themselves victims.
She’d always assumed she could blame her parents, but what if she’d been born broken?
Though initially it seems the characters are defined by their disorders, the story focuses more on how the characters choose to define themselves. Their disorders have a part in shaping their personality, of course. But it’s the characters’ decisions – and whether they embrace, resist, pursue or exploit their own unique brand delusion – that ultimately define them. A subtle distinction, but an important one.
She’d burn everything someday. Every ounce of hurt their fear caused her would be repaid in full. She’d burn the world.
Even those with the most exaggerated abilities are much more than their delusions. In the reader’s mind Gehirn is not merely, as the other characters call her, ‘the Hassebrand’; she is Gehirn. Stehlen is not ‘the Kleptic’, and even Erbrechen is not ‘the Slaver.’ (The ‘fat slug’, on the other hand…)
At first glance, Beyond Redemption features rock-hard characters in a rock-hard world.
Failure may be a harsh teacher, but you tend not to forget its lessons.
But the more time we spend in their heads, the more we come to recognise and appreciate the author’s laudable knack for making even the vilest, most repulsive characters sympathetic. He accomplishes this by cunningly combining tragedy and comedy.
You never met your mother? That’s not all bad. Mine sent me away to live with my father. He sent me back after I sold his horse to buy a lute.
In fact, there’s a continuous undercurrent of black humour that’s as surprising as it is entertaining. This manifests in the well-written dialogue and harsh character banter, but also in the novel’s careful structure. For me, some of the most humorous and effective moments arose from juxtaposed scenes in which one characters’ thoughts or predictions are immediately followed by another’s contradictory (or supporting) actions – a juxtaposition further enhanced by witty epigraphs that are alternately hilarious and disturbing.
I heard a knock, and when I answered the door, there I was. Luckily I think much faster on my feet than I do and soon had myself tied in the fruit cellar.
These increasingly delusional epigraphs – most of which are attributed to fictional ‘Gefahrgeist’ (sociopaths) – foreshadow some of the characters’ fates, and hint at the dangers for those who wield the power of delusion. A delusionists’ powers become stronger in inverse proportion to his or her sanity. But cross too far into insanity and he/she loses themselves entirely.
Like all compelling magic systems, delusion (ironically) has limitations. Paradoxically, the more powerful the manifestation, the more real (and thus restricted by reality’s laws) it becomes. And so, in a fluid world where anything is possible, Fletcher instead gives us nightmares and gritty realism; a realm of manifest delusions where nothing is clean and even the sacred is profane. Even the most powerful (and badass) beings are subject to certain physical rules.
She tried to scream at Gehirn but only a dry croak escaped. She’d forgotten to fill her lungs. It annoyed her. She tried to draw breath and failed. Fire had burned ragged holes in her papery lungs. This would make communication difficult in the future.
Here, the Cotardist assassin Anomie (who will feature in Grimdark Magazine’s Evil is a Matter of Perspective anthology) is hampered by physical limitations, despite herself being a living (kind of), breathing (sort of), walking defiance of the laws of physics.
Now, you’d think far-fetched would be an adjective that could automatically be applied to Beyond Redemption. But Fletcher’s world is far from whimsical, and the small details and down-to-earth descriptions ground the reader utterly in this dangerous, dirty reality.
Storm clouds spiraled in toward some central point like filthy water draining from a sink.
Favouring grimy realism over purple prose, Fletcher writes with a brutal straightforwardness that fits the story perfectly. His characters are vivid and well-developed, often surprising us – for good or for bad – by behaving in ways that are at once unexpected and painfully believable. Their voices, too, are distinctive. Whether it’s Wichtig’s hyperbole, Gehirn’s self-loathing or Morgen’s gullibility, there’s little chance of forgetting whose PoV we’re currently inhabiting. Without exception, they’re all fascinating, compelling characters.
In fact, the entirety of Beyond Redemption is both fascinating and compelling. Michael R. Fletcher’s delusions are dark, bloody and shocking. If you haven’t met them already, I’d highly recommend you make their acquaintance. Just don’t get too close to the mirror.
Reviewer’s Note: The author used German and Basque words for his characters and place names, apparently mangling both languages in the process. I don’t speak either one, so apart from a bit of head scratching at the very beginning I didn’t have a problem keeping track. I can see how it might be confusing, though, so here’s a link to the author’s Manifest Delusions Wiki for anyone who’s struggling.Ashton was punched by Tuilagi's brother Manu at the end of last season
Northampton wing Chris Ashton has been handed a four |
” to describe how most of those drivers would be racing on Saturday just to earn enough money to pay the jet fuel bills for the week.
This practice came under harsh criticism by nearly everyone but those on the competition side, like team owners, who saw having a Cup driver in their seat as a magnet for a big-name sponsor. Fans hated the fact that a handful of these Cup drivers usually (make that always) would win the race, and there was little opportunity for a young driver to advance.
Those same young drivers, while not winning races because of the Cup driver’s domination of the series, would tell the critics that racing against the Cup drivers was like going to school, and it made them better drivers. This was balderdash and was likely being said so that the following weekend, the young driver wasn’t put into the wall by a Cup driver, who was there to make some easy cash.
NASCAR acknowledged that there were two views to the issue, and they came down on the side of having Cup drivers adding value for the fans who came on Saturday because they couldn't afford to buy a ticket for Sunday’s race.
It was a pretty lame reason, but in the end, NASCAR changed the rules in 2011 after the champions from the previous five years were all Sprint Cup regulars. The rules were changed so that a driver could only run for one championship at a time.
This prevented many Cup drivers from moonlighting in the NNS, while at the same time, it opened the door for a new career for those Cup drivers that were described in the first paragraph of this column.
Which bring us to the current NNS driver lineup, which features three former Cup drivers who have made a very successful transition from Sunday racing to Saturday racing.
Regan Smith, Elliott Sadler and Sam Hornish Jr. all had the kind of forgettable Cup careers that account for a total of four wins between them in a combined 30 years in the series.
Since moving into the NNS in the past five years, the same trio has had a total of six wins, with Smith responsible for half. Smith told Cary Estes with SI.com when he first went to JR Motorsports in 2013:
You want to be in Sprint Cup, but you also want to be competitive. Right now, I can go out with these guys and know I can win races week in and week out and contend for a championship if we do the right things and we're smart.... I've never lost faith in my ability. I've never once wavered on that, never once thought that I didn't belong at the Cup level. I always felt good about what my prospects were. Certainly my first option was to stay in Cup. But when that didn't happen, I was hoping it would play out this way.
Smith is second in NNS points, four behind leader Chase Elliott, the young, second-generation driver whose father is former Cup champion Bill Elliott.
Smith heads to Iowa this weekend after a disappointing run in the NNS race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend where he finished 10th. The good news was that he finished two spots ahead of points leader Elliott.
Chris Trotman/Getty Images
Sadler first drove in the NNS for the now defunct Kevin Harvick Inc. in 2011. At that time, he said the move had rejuvenated his career. KHI folded the following year, and Sadler went to drive with Richard Childress Racing in 2012.
The following year, Sadler took his sponsor, One Main Financial, and moved to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he is today. He’s had the same team and crew chief for two years in a row, and it shows. He sits third in points, just 11 behind leader Elliott. Sadler told David Caraviello with NASCAR.com in 2012:
I had the option to stay in Cup at a lower-tier team. And racing is out of sight, out of mind. It's probably the worst sport we have as far as out of sight, out of mind. So, is it race on Sunday, but race with maybe a lower-tier team? Or race on Saturday and try to win championships, try to win races, and try to get back to Cup that way?
Hornish isn’t a contender for the NNS title this season, but he should be.
He moved from Team Penske to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2014, where he splits the driving chores on the No. 54 Toyota with Kyle Busch, mainly on weekends when the Cup and Nationwide Series are racing in different venues. He finished second in NNS points in 2013 behind champion Austin Dillon and lost his ride when Penske was unable to secure funding for him for a full-time NNS season.
So far, Hornish has had only five starts, but he’s made the best of each one of them. He started on the pole at Talladega and finished fifth. At the first Iowa race in May, he started on the front row and won. He has another top-five finish at Michigan, and his last race was at Chicagoland where his engine failed, and he finished 36th.
His move to Gibbs has given Hornish Jr. the freedom he’d not had earlier in his career. It’s given him time to spend time with family and just doing what he wants. Hornish Jr. told PopularSpeed.com:
I don’t know if I have a lot more free time, but I go around doing a lot of different things. It’s been a really good experience. It is just everything that I needed to do from a father-husband point-of-view. Obviously, I have to remember that at some point, you have to go out there and make money to buy the kids what they want and do what they want to do. I just try to remain as positive and happy as I can. The only thing that I need at this time, which revolves around me, is to race more.
Hornish Jr. gets to race this weekend in the No. 54 in the return visit to Iowa Speedway for the NNS teams on Saturday night. He and crew chief Adam Stevens expect to repeat their win from May, when Hornish led 167 of 250 laps.
Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
“I'm really happy about being the defending winner at Iowa and feel like there's a good possibility we'll be even better this go around,” said Hornish Jr. in his team’s pre-race media release.
While the payout for the winner of an NNS race is admittedly a bit smaller than in the Sprint Cup Series—the winner usually earns about half of what the 43rd-place finisher earns in a Cup race—life is arguably good for this trio of former Cup drivers who have found a new place to race that allows for them to be at home on Sunday with their family.
Happiness in life is measured in many different ways—just ask one of these three drivers.Harvard has forced dozens of students to leave in its largest cheating scandal in memory, the university made clear in summing up the affair on Friday, but it would not address assertions that the blame rested partly with a professor and his teaching assistants.
Harvard would not say how many students had been disciplined for cheating on a take-home final exam given last May in a government class, but the university’s statements indicated that the number forced out was around 70. The class had 279 students, and Harvard administrators said last summer that “nearly half” were suspected of cheating and would have their cases reviewed by the Administrative Board. On Friday, a Harvard dean, Michael D. Smith, wrote in a letter to faculty members and students that, of those cases, “somewhat more than half” had resulted in a student’s being required to withdraw.
Dr. Smith, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, wrote, “Of the remaining cases, roughly half the students received disciplinary probation, while the balance ended in no disciplinary action.” He wrote that the last of the cases was concluded in December; no explanation was offered for the delay in making a statement. The forced withdrawals were retroactive to the start of the school year, he wrote, and those students’ tuition payments would be refunded.
The Administrative Board’s Web site says that forced withdrawals usually last two to four semesters, after which a student may return.Hollywood is in a tizzy over the early tracking which just came online this morning for Walt Disney Studios‘ John Carter opening March 9th. “Not good. 2 unaided, 53 aware, 27 definitely interested, 3 first choice,” a senior exec at a rival studio emails me. Another writes me, “It just came out. Women of all ages have flat out rejected the film. The tracking for John Carter is shocking for a film that cost over $250 million. This could be the biggest writeoff of all time.” I’m hearing figures in the neighborhood of $100 million. And the studio isn’t even trying to spin reports of the 3D pic’s bloated budget any more.
Now, to be fair, this very soft tracking has been expected. The studios’ private reports have shown for some time very soft awareness and very little wannasee. So what’s Disney’s explanation? “It’s the last leftover from the previous regime of Dick Cook,” an executive who works for successor Rich Ross reminds me. “We’re not running away from the movie. Our job is to sell it.” Then again, Cook also left Ross Alice In Wonderland to sell, too, along with other hits and a few misses.
Disney is nervous, really nervous, but trying to hold out some hope. “We know that we have a long way to go. It’s still four weeks out, and the bulk of the media hasn’t hit yet. Our Super Bowl ad did what we intended it to do: have a pop of awareness. On Sunday we launch a full campaign with 90+% of all of our media ready to go.” Problem is, John Carter (formerly titled John Carter Of Mars) only has a two-week window before Lionsgate’s hotly anticipated The Hunger Games opens March 23rd.
Disney is still planning a gigantic worldwide day-and-date push for John Carter with all the frills no matter how dismal its prospects look. “After all the movie has Andrew Stanton of Finding Nemo and Wall-E,” an insider explains to me.Yevgeny Dzhugashvili (Photo: ITAR-TASS/Alamy)
A worshipful grandson
I was reading a transcript of Vladimir Putin’s year-end press conference. (What were you doing?) And I learned that Stalin’s grandson Yevgeny Dzhugashvili had died.
A reporter said this to Putin: “Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, Stalin’s grandson, who was fighting for Stalin’s rehabilitation, died yesterday. In an interview, film director Kirill Serebrennikov said that he fears Stalin’s rehabilitation. What is your view on this issue? Is it possible for Josef Stalin’s descendants to somehow get him rehabilitated?”
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Putin ignored the question. But I reflected a little on the late Dzhugashvili.
He was the son of Stalin’s first son, and first child, Yakov — Yakov Dzhugashvili. “Dzhugashvili” was of course Stalin’s original name. He would not allow his first-born to take his adopted name — that is, his own adopted name: “Stalin.” He would not share the glory with this humble, awkward Georgian boy.
The next two children — born in Moscow, to a different mother — would get “Stalin.” (I am talking of Vasily and the famous Svetlana.)
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I have said “next two children.” I should really say “next two official children.” There were unofficial ones. Anyway, back to the recently deceased Yevgeny.
Who was his mother? I don’t know. I was never able to nail this down. (This was when I was researching my book Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators. I discuss some grandchildren in that book too.) Yakov had two wives, and Yevgeny was not the son of either of them.
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A Stalin biographer, Miklós Kun, says that Yevgeny’s mother was an accountant named Olga Golisheva.
Just now, you may be interested to know, I have perused ten or so obits of Yevgeny. Not a single one mentions a mother, or even says that Yevgeny’s maternity is unknown or uncertain. The issue is simply skirted. (Often, that’s what you do when you don’t know.)
Yakov had a daughter Gulia, by his second wife, Yulia. Gulia would never accept Yevgeny as her brother, or half-brother. Get a load of what Yevgeny told the press: “She [Gulia] suggested we do a DNA analysis. I accepted her offer on the condition that she pay for it. Then she disappeared.”
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There should be no doubt, by the way, that Yevgeny was Stalin’s grandson. It was written on his face.
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Stalin treated Yevgeny’s father abominably, of course, as he treated most family members, and most people. But Yevgeny — like most of Stalin’s descendants, or survivors — worshipped Stalin’s memory.
He became a Red Army colonel, Yevgeny did. In 2006, the journalist Steven Knipp visited him at his apartment in Tbilisi. He found “several huge photos of Stalin staring down from the walls.”
Yevgeny had a hand in politics. He helped form a coalition, the Stalinist Bloc. And he was litigious — he should have been an American, for all his litigiousness. He sued individuals and institutions for defaming Stalin. In other words, he sued them for telling the truth about Stalin’s crimes.
He even sued the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, for acknowledging that Stalin ordered the Katyn massacre (the wholesale execution of Polish officers).
In these suits, Yevgeny was represented by a lawyer named Leonid Zhura. I will give you a taste of Counselor Zhura, through his comments to the press.
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Stalin presided over “a heroic epoch. It was the first time in human history that a society was founded on fair principles.” Stalin was “a kind, generous, and magnanimous man, a genius. Under Stalin, people were confident of the future. If he killed millions of people, why do so many people still love him?”
Frankly, that’s a damn good question. This goes back a bit — almost a decade — but consider 2008. Stalin finished third in a Greatest Russian contest — which is not bad for a Georgian who spoke Russian with a heavy accent.
There was a nationwide poll, in which more than 5 million people participated. In the early stages of the poll, Stalin was in first place. But he wound up losing out by about 5,000 votes — to Alexander Nevsky, the medieval warrior-prince. In second place was Pytor Stolypin, the reformist prime minister who was assassinated in 1911. Pushkin came in fourth behind Stalin.
Critics said that the results were rigged. Rigged, I tell you! They were rigged to keep Stalin out of first place. I’m inclined to believe this.
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And I bet Yevgeny Dzhugashvili believed it 100 percent.A British historian has reportedly forgone an Israeli academic prize worth £225,000 ($329,000) after "many discussions" with people involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Professor Catherine Hall, a cultural historian and colonialism specialist at University College London, told the British Committees for the University of Palestine (BRICUP), an organisation of UK academics, that she had decided to reject the Dan David Foundation prize based on “an independent political choice”.
“I have withdrawn from the prize,” she was quoted as saying in a short statement on BRICUP’s website. “This was an independent political choice, undertaken after many discussions with those who are deeply involved with the politics of Israel-Palestine, but with differing views as to how best to act.”
The prize, named after a late businessman and philanthropist and launched in 2002, is given annually for scientific, technological, cultural and social achievements.
Named as one of the nine winners of the award in February, Hall would have been presented with the prize on Sunday night during a ceremony at Tel Aviv University.
Her share of the prize money will reportedly go towards scholarships at the university.
BRICUP said on its website that it had hoped Hall’s statement would be “more supportive" of BRICUP and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, but said it was “delighted that such a high-profile breach of the academic boycott will not be taking place”.
Hall's research focuses on "rethinking the relation between Britain and its empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries," according to UCL.
In 2013, Hall and a team at UCL released a searchable database which she said was a way of "putting slavery back into the centre of British history".The UK Foreign Office is apparently so concerned with protecting its brand that it asked Twitter to suspend an RT account which reports what London diplomats had to say about Russia back in 1917 as part of a historical reenactment.
The account in question was created as part of RT’s 1917LIVE project, which gives people the chance to experience the atmosphere of the Russian Empire as it was undergoing dramatic changes and eventual collapse a century ago.
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"The account was labeled as the official Twitter account of the embassy of the United Kingdom in the Russian Empire, which obviously doesn't even exist anymore. We tried to get in touch with the present-day UK embassy in Moscow, and received no reply. We are truly sad it has come to this," said RT’s Deputy Head of Social Media Gleb Burashov.
Dozens of interconnected accounts named after historical figures like then-Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky or Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin tweet comments on the events of one hundred years ago.
The @BritishEmb1917 account prompted reaction from Britain’s current Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as it reported the account to Twitter as an imposter.
“We alerted Twitter to an unofficial account that was using HMG branding without consent,” an FCO spokesman said, The Guardian reports.
RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan reacted to the development by asking: “Whatever happened to my beloved English humor?”
HMG insists on closing @BritishEmb1917 on Br-Rus.relations in 1917 Revolution. 1,2m files held secret by @ForeignOffice to do with that? pic.twitter.com/OyQGz6Ktc0 — Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) September 3, 2017
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange also drew attention to the suspension on his Twitter feed. “UK government gets Twitter to suspend RT account showing what the FCO was saying in 1917 about Russian revolution,” he tweeted.
Some historical figures of 1917LIVE offered their opinions of what had transpired. ‘General Brusilov’ remarked that the suspension called into question the UK’s commitment to its Entente ally Russia, especially after London rejected asylum to members of the deposed Romanov family.
Aleksey Brusilov was a World War I commander in the Russian Army who was credited with one of the greatest feats in the war – the Brusilov offensive.
‘General Kornilov’ (another prominent Russian military commander and later a leader of the counter-Bolshevik ‘White Movement’) suggested that Twitter should instead suspend all Bolshevik propaganda and Vladimir Lenin himself.
‘Bolshevik Mikhailov’ praised Twitter for banning an “account of imperialist UK” while the ‘German Kaizer’ said the Second Reich’s victory over Russia on social media will be followed by a victory on the battlefield.
On a more serious note, head of RT Social Media Operations Ivor Crotty said the move by the FCO “to subvert the project, without ever contacting its creators” was “extremely disappointing.”
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“To take undisclosed action behind closed doors and seek the removal of an innocent Twitter account clearly recounting historic circumstances, are acts that are difficult to interpret as anything other than elitism and disdain for innovative attempts to build bridges, digital or otherwise,” Crotty said.
“We should all be disappointed by this – Russians, Brits and all with an interest in History.”
Twitter suspended the account on August 7, and just like UK officials, the microblogging service has not responded to RT's queries.
After the latest revelations, RT has reached out to the Foreign Office, and the Russian Foreign Ministry, but has not received any replies yet.
The historical project was launched in February and has followed those turbulent times in Russia’s history, including the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the failed attempts of the provisional government to stabilize the situation,with the impending Bolshevik uprising two months away.
1917LIVE has held online Q&A sessions with historical figures of the revolutionary year, livestreamed from fugitive Lenin’s hideout, and showed how children perceived the historic events as they happened.
The fictional Russian Telegraph newspaper, which serves as the Twitter hub of the project, has almost 50,000 followers, while the entire community of 1917LIVE accounts has reached over 100,000. The project has drawn global attention from historians, political scientists, media professionals, and history buffs.This article is about the 2009 novel by Lev Grossman. For other uses, see The Magicians (disambiguation)
The Magicians is a new adult fantasy novel by the American author Lev Grossman, published in 2009 by Viking Press. It tells the story of Quentin Coldwater, a young man who discovers and attends a secret college of magic in New York. The novel received critical acclaim, and was followed by The Magician King in 2011[1][2] and 2014's The Magician's Land. The novels have been adapted as a television series that currently airs on Syfy.
Plot [ edit ]
Quentin Coldwater is a high school student from Brooklyn who, along with best friends James and Julia, attends an advanced school. He loves a series of books called "Fillory and Further," which involve the children of the Chatwin family discovering a Narnia-esque land called Fillory. On the day of his Princeton interview, Quentin instead interviews at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, the only school for magic in North America, and is accepted as one of the twenty new students.
After beginning his studies at Brakebills, it soon becomes apparent to Quentin that magic is difficult and tedious to learn, as each spell must be varied in dozens of ways, depending on factors such as the phase of the moon and the closest body of water. The curriculum involves learning many old and lost languages, and innumerable hand positions. Despite this, Quentin and his classmates Penny and Alice are allowed to move up a year by compressing their first year of studies. Penny fails the special exam and stays behind, then later fistfights Quentin out of jealousy. One day during class, a bored Quentin tampers with a spell and an otherworldly horror referred to as "the Beast" enters Brakebills. It eats a student before the rest of the faculty are able to drive it away.
Third year students are assigned a Discipline. Although Quentin's Discipline does not manifest itself to the teachers, he and Alice are sorted into the Physical magic group. The Physical Kids also include Eliot, Josh, and Janet, who are a year above them. During the spring semester of their fourth year, they are all sent to Brakebills South in Antarctica where they practice in silence and isolation. There, Quentin and Alice begin a relationship. During a summer vacation in Massachusetts, Quentin is confronted by Julia about the school. The memory erasure did not work correctly and she has become deranged and obsessed with learning magic. Quentin tells her the school's location, hoping she will have her memory properly erased.
Upon graduation, Quentin and the other Physical Kids spend their days and nights in hedonistic pursuits. While still looking for a purpose, his erstwhile classmate Penny arrives with news about travel between worlds: Fillory is real.
The group finds magical wonders in Fillory and meet The Beast, who is revealed to be Martin Chatwin, the lost eldest child from the "Fillory and Further" books, who has sacrificed his humanity in order to stay in the magical world forever. After a brutal fight, Alice sacrifices herself to kill Martin, Penny loses both of his hands and chooses to remain in the Neitherlands, a realm between the worlds, and a gravely injured Quentin is left in the care of a group of centaurs while the others fear that he will never awaken from his coma.
Upon awakening many months later, Quentin becomes depressed and disillusioned, especially when Jane, the youngest Chatwin, reveals herself to have been pulling the strings throughout her siblings' and Quentin's stories. By using a magical time-traveling device, she finally succeeded in killing Martin by leading Quentin and his friends to the confrontation.
Back on Earth, Quentin takes a high-paying non-magical job where he spends his time playing video games. One day, Eliot and Janet show up with Julia, who has learned magic, to return as Kings and Queens to Fillory.
Major characters [ edit ]
Quentin Makepeace Coldwater – A high school student strongly attached to a series of children's books about a magical land called Fillory, Quentin discovers and attends a college of magic before discovering Fillory is real and traveling there.
Alice Quinn – A talented and natural magician whom Quentin meets while attending Brakebills. She is initially extremely reserved, but opens up when she is placed with Quentin in the Physical Magic group. She and Quentin eventually develop a relationship.
Eliot Waugh – A talented magician, and close friend of Quentin's. He is two years older than Quentin and Alice, and in the same year as Josh and Janet.
Josh Hoberman – The overweight jokester-slacker of the Physical Magic group, Josh offers much of the novel's comic relief.
Janet – Another student in the Physical Magic group. Janet is portrayed as both deeply insecure and surprisingly strong. She is called "Janet Way" by another student in the first book, but "Janet Pluchinsky" by Dean Fogg in the second.
Penny (William) – A student who enters Brakebills with Alice and Quentin. He proves the existence of Fillory and finds passage to it.
Julia Wicker – A brilliant and driven self-taught magician. After failing the entrance exam at Brakebills, she learns magic through the gritty underground scene.
Influences [ edit ]
Grossman has publicly discussed his literary influences and has referred to T.H. White as his "literary mentor", particularly to the influence that The Once and Future King has had on his work.[3] The novel and its sequels are also greatly indebted to C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia.[3][4] Other literary influences include Harry Potter,[4] A Wizard of Earthsea,[3] Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell,[4][3] Watchmen,[4] Larry Niven's Warlock stories,[4] and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories,[3] while the film Highlander helped influence the feel of the novel's world.[5] He had originally wanted to provide a direct connection to Lewis' novels and include The Wood between the Worlds, however his publishing house's lawyers objected. He consequently replaced its appearance with the similarly themed Neitherlands instead.[6][7] Grossman has stated that the plot itself began as a dream about a beast invading a magical classroom.[8]
Reception [ edit ]
The review by The A.V. Club gave the novel an "A", calling it "the best urban fantasy in years, a sad dream of what it means to want something badly and never fully reach it."[9] The New York Times review said the book "could crudely be labeled a Harry Potter for adults", injecting "mature themes" into fantasy literature.[10]
The Magicians won the 2010 Alex Award, given to ten adult books that are appealing to young adults, and its author won the 2011 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.[11]
TV adaptation [ edit ]
In 2011, Fox optioned but eventually declined to order a television adaptation of The Magicians. In July 2014, Syfy greenlit the production of a pilot episode,[12] and ordered a 12-episode first season which aired in January 2016.[13] The series was renewed for a second season consisting of 13 episodes, which aired in 2017. A third season is currently airing as of February 22,2019 [14]
The Syfy series is written by John McNamara and Sera Gamble, and produced by Michael London and Janice Williams.[12] The pilot episode was directed by Mike Cahill, and the cast includes Jason Ralph as Quentin,[15] Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice, Hale Appleman as Eliot, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson (renamed from Janet in the novel),[16] Arjun Gupta as Penny, Stella Maeve as Julia, and Rick Worthy as Henry Fogg.[13][17]
The series ages the characters up to graduate school students and compresses the Brakebills degree to three years. Most of the events detailed in the novel, the Antarctic trip for instance, appear to happen in Quentin's first year at Brakebills with years in the novel being roughly condensed into semesters in the TV show. Jane Chatwin is involved earlier and more heavily, and Quentin is more formally diagnosed with depression.[18]Independent TD Luke “Ming” Flanagan claimed he and two Garda whistleblowers were put under Garda surveillance today when they went to the offices of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
He told the Dáil they went to GSoc with serious allegations of Garda corruption in the national drugs squad, but he gave no details of the claims.
In his first contribution to the House on leaders’ questions, Mr Flanagan said a new whistleblower, who is a serving garda, was “terrified” to bring forward allegations publicly, and that former garda whistleblower John Wilson had brought them.
The TD said they went with the allegations to the GSoc offices and were in a cafe close by when they noticed an unmarked Garda car.
Mr Flanagan said Mr Wilson left the cafe and walked down the road and the car followed him. He said the whistleblower who was “terrified” to come forward was left “quivering” after today’s surveillance.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he knew nothing of the details of the allegations but offered to deal with them with “confidentiality” if Mr Flanagan wanted to give him the documentation he had.
The Independent TD, however, accused Mr Kenny of making a joke about the issue after the Taoiseach said the car might not have been following him at all.
Mr Flanagan claimed: “You’re a disgrace”.
But the Taoiseach rejected the claim. He said he would deal with the allegations if Mr Flanagan proffered them and he insisted whistleblowers were protected under legislation.Untitled a guest Jul 23rd, 2017 5,142 Never a guest5,142Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 3.13 KB babybay - Today at 12:31 AM Yo xQc - Today at 2:55 AM yooo babybay - Today at 3:14 AM What you doing monday 4-8 xQc - Today at 3:14 AM idk probs nothin dude babybay - Today at 3:19 AM You tryin to scrim xQc - Today at 3:21 AM u guys legit gonna lose remix? like he gone? babybay - Today at 3:23 AM We have no clue yet So while they try out for owl we're gonna scrim with other people xQc - Today at 3:23 AM hes not even talking to u guyss?? babybay - Today at 3:23 AM No it's not like that Just the blocks we have scheduled when they have their tryouts were gonna scrim with other people Just in case But it's looking good for them rn xQc - Today at 3:24 AM wtf babybay - Today at 3:24 AM What xQc - Today at 3:24 AM nrg never even asked me anything, that sucks babybay - Today at 3:24 AM Ya same Hahaha xQc - Today at 3:24 AM ill have an answer to u tmrw babybay - Today at 3:25 AM Just be free xQc - Today at 3:25 AM damn this shit is retarded babybay - Today at 3:25 AM We have a good deal that wants us As well Oooo wait One more question Like flex tank wise Who would you prefer Midnight space or danteh xQc - Today at 3:26 AM woah bischu gone too? wew, prob space babybay - Today at 3:26 AM You think so? I thought danteh was good at dva I was just wondering cause i know danteh is good at genji xQc - Today at 3:26 AM remix tryours going well? this shit got me curious im actually upset babybay - Today at 3:27 AM Yeah they are trying out as a duo The competition is in their favor atm xQc - Today at 3:27 AM woah thats legit cancer babybay - Today at 3:27 AM I mean it's nrg And said no To them LOL xQc - Today at 3:27 AM babybay - Today at 3:27 AM How do you deny that duo xQc - Today at 3:27 AM thats a good kek babybay - Today at 3:28 AM Ye xQc - Today at 3:28 AM i mean remix is hela good, i just thought id at least be given a chance to show the difference babybay - Today at 3:28 AM It's just funny tho The day he tried out Numlocked got released xQc - Today at 3:29 AM lul babybay - Today at 3:29 AM Nutty I want to be in owl so bad But xQc - Today at 3:29 AM same lel babybay - Today at 3:29 AM Taking this deal is a good alternative If we can't make it Like 3000+ and a mansion And the contract is in favor for the players if we get an owl offer Super low buyout Too xQc - Today at 3:30 AM is it an already existing brandM babybay - Today at 3:30 AM Also if they join and you join us xQc - Today at 3:30 AM cuz we got basicallt the same thing on our side babybay - Today at 3:30 AM The internet would fuckin break xQc - Today at 3:30 AM like the same deal babybay - Today at 3:30 AM Nah I'm telling You You don't have this xQc - Today at 3:31 AM naventic babybay - Today at 3:31 AM Like the salary is good af and we're getting a 6+ bedroom 6+ bath in cali Idk what that is xQc - Today at 3:31 AM damn thays gucci babybay - Today at 3:31 AM I'll show you the house We visited Already lol xQc - Today at 3:32 AM wtf lmao jesus babybay - Today at 3:32 AM Ya dude it's fucking nuts xQc - Today at 3:32 AM i gotta sleep ive been tired ill ttyl tmrw morning
RAW Paste Data
babybay - Today at 12:31 AM Yo xQc - Today at 2:55 AM yooo babybay - Today at 3:14 AM What you doing monday 4-8 xQc - Today at 3:14 AM idk probs nothin dude babybay - Today at 3:19 AM You tryin to scrim xQc - Today at 3:21 AM u guys legit gonna lose remix? like he gone? babybay - Today at 3:23 AM We have no clue yet So while they try out for owl we're gonna scrim with other people xQc - Today at 3:23 AM hes not even talking to u guyss?? babybay - Today at 3:23 AM No it's not like that Just the blocks we have scheduled when they have their tryouts were gonna scrim with other people Just in case But it's looking good for them rn xQc - Today at 3:24 AM wtf babybay - Today at 3:24 AM What xQc - Today at 3:24 AM nrg never even asked me anything, that sucks babybay - Today at 3:24 AM Ya same Hahaha xQc - Today at 3:24 AM ill have an answer to u tmrw babybay - Today at 3:25 AM Just be free xQc - Today at 3:25 AM damn this shit is retarded babybay - Today at 3:25 AM We have a good deal that wants us As well Oooo wait One more question Like flex tank wise Who would you prefer Midnight space or danteh xQc - Today at 3:26 AM woah bischu gone too? wew, prob space babybay - Today at 3:26 AM You think so? I thought danteh was good at dva I was just wondering cause i know danteh is good at genji xQc - Today at 3:26 AM remix tryours going well? this shit got me curious im actually upset babybay - Today at 3:27 AM Yeah they are trying out as a duo The competition is in their favor atm xQc - Today at 3:27 AM woah thats legit cancer babybay - Today at 3:27 AM I mean it's nrg And said no To them LOL xQc - Today at 3:27 AM babybay - Today at 3:27 AM How do you deny that duo xQc - Today at 3:27 AM thats a good kek babybay - Today at 3:28 AM Ye xQc - Today at 3:28 AM i mean remix is hela good, i just thought id at least be given a chance to show the difference babybay - Today at 3:28 AM It's just funny tho The day he tried out Numlocked got released xQc - Today at 3:29 AM lul babybay - |
Only exists as a one line description.[9] 19 "War Story" Richard Mueller Dureena is abducted by an unknown ship under circumstances that leave Matheson feeling as though he's responsible.[10] 20 "The Walls of Hell" Larry DiTillio In attempt to rescue Dureena, Matheson gets possessed by the apocalypse box and subsequently takes over the ship.[10] 21 TBA J. Michael Straczynski Dureena returns with a magical sword and without any memory of what happened to her.[11] 22 "The End of the Line" J. Michael Straczynski Gideon learns of the origins of the ship that destroyed the Cerberus, and of a conspiracy at the heart of the Earth Alliance. This was to have been the season finale, with a major cliffhanger leading into Season 2.
The completed scripts of "To The Ends of the Earth", "Value Judgements" and "End of the Line" were published online for a period during 2001 on bookface.com.[12][13][14][15]
Home releases [ edit ]
The complete series was released as a four disc set in 2004, almost five years after the series ended and a few months after the final season and movie set of Babylon 5 was released. Crusade was also included in Babylon 5: The Complete Universe, a set of all B5 shows and movies released in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2005. It was not included in Babylon 5: The Complete Television Series, which was a set released in the United States.
The episodes are in the original broadcast order. The set does not include the pilot movie, A Call to Arms, which was released earlier as part of the movie set. Unlike Babylon 5, Crusade was not presented in widescreen on DVD. Initially the set included a commentary with Straczynski, however he got it removed from subsequent pressings when he learned that parts of it had been replaced with an entirely different interview to cover up his harsh criticism of TNT.[16][17]
DVD Name Region 1 Region 2 Crusade: The Complete Series December 7, 2004 March 28, 2005 Babylon 5: The Complete Television Series August 17, 2004 N/A Babylon 5: The Complete Universe N/A October 24, 2005The Piggyback rider is a harness that you strap on to your back so that it's easier for you to give your fat child a piggy back. Your son is too lazy to walk, you've fed him too many cheeseburgers, why would he ever walk anywhere knowing that you have a harness attached to your back specifically meant to haul his chubby body around, it's basically like a wheelchair for your child.
The Piggyback rider comes with straps to strap your child into the rider, has a wide foot bar for stability, can fold up to the size of a rolled up towel, and weighs only 3 lbs.
The Piggyback Rider is meant for children aged 2.5 - 7 years old, and can support fatties of up to 60 lbs. Check out the harness in action via the video below.ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Remember the Obamaphone?
“Everybody in Cleveland have got Obamaphone, keep Obama as president, you know?” said Michelle Dowery, an Obama supporter at a 2012 Mitt Romney event, which went viral at the time. “He gave us a phone, he’s going to do more. … You sign up, you on food stamps, you on Social Security, you got no income, you got disability.”
Mr. Obama has indeed done more.
The Federal Communications Commission agreed Thursday to expand the Obamaphone, dubbed the LifeLine Program, to include high-speed Internet access. By doing so, the cost of the program will increase by 50 percent, without any efforts to reduce spending elsewhere, or clamp down on the program’s waste, fraud and abuse.
“Failing a major change in direction, the FCC is preparing to massively expand the size and scope of the Lifeline Program without the necessary inclusion of a hard budget or financial constraints,” conservative FCC Commissioner Michael O’Reilly wrote in his blog on the commission’s website.
“Such irresponsible action will balloon a program plagued by waste, fraud, and abuse and result in higher phone bills for every American — including those already struggling in the current economy. In sum, it’s a recipe for disaster, and I can’t and won’t be part of it,” he said.
The Lifeline program currently, is rife with waste, fraud and abuse.
“The typical Lifeline subsidy is $9.25 per month,” Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, explained in the National Review. “But those who live on lands designated as ‘tribal’ receive $34.25 per month, whether or not they are Native Americans. You might not think that this is a big deal, but here’s the rub. The FCC currently treats virtually all of Oklahoma as tribal land. So, for example, a non–Native American living in Tulsa is eligible for $300 more per year in phone subsidies than a low-income person in East Los Angeles or Appalachia.”
Politico reported the Republican commissioners were close to striking a deal with the democratic controlled FCC to cap the program’s spending at $2 billion and include reforms. However, at the last minute Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn backed out due to political pressuring. The new program passed 3-2 on partisan lines.
Ms. Dowery must be thrilled.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.The $60 million adaptation of Cassandra Clare's YA book stars Lily Collins as a teen who discovers she's part of a secret order of half-angel warriors.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, the latest supernatural film property based on a best-selling YA book series, debuted at No. 1 Wednesday with a tepid $3 million.
Starring Lily Collins as a girl who discovers she's part of a secret order of half-angel warriors, the supernatural pic is on course for a five-day debut in the $15 million range. It earned a B+ CinemaScore.
PHOTOS: Teenage Dreams: 17 of the Most Popular YA Properties Adapted for TV and Film
This weekend, City of Bones will have to battle Edgar Wright's dark comedy The World's End, headlined by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and horror pic You're Next, which both open on Friday.
City of Bones is a major gamble for Germany's Constantin Films, which financed and produced the $60 million movie. Sony's Screen Gems acquired U.S. rights to the title, the first in a planned franchise. If it does prove soft in the U.S., Constantin is hoping to make up the difference overseas.
FILM REVIEW: The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Directed by Harald Zwart, City of Bones is based on the first book in Cassandra Clare's popular YA book series. There are currently five books in the main series, with a sixth and final book due out in 2014. Clare has sold an estimated 24 million copies worldwide including spinoffs and prequels to the main series.
The story, about a teenage girl who discovers the supernatural world around her, bears obvious parallels to another popular YA film series -- The Twilight Saga. But other YA adaptation films that have been released in 2013 have stumbled at the box office. Beautiful Creatures opened in February in sixth place with $8.9 million at the domestic box office, behind Warm Bodies, which was in its third week of release. And then in March, an adaptation of Twilight author Stephenie Meyer's next book, The Host, became a disappointment when it landed in sixth place its opening weekend, grossing only $10.6 million -- less than one-third of the first-day gross of the first Twilight film in 2008 ($35.98 million).
Constantin is already gearing up to shoot the second film in the Mortal Instruments franchise, with a planned production start in mid-September.
E-mail: Rebecca.Ford@THR.com
Twitter: @BeccamfordChina’s trade with North Korea slumped in September as the U.S. and others call for Beijing to do more to rein in its nuclear neighbor.
Chinese imports dropped for the seventh straight month in September, as imports were 37.9 percent less compared the figure from the same period last year, and exports to the rogue regime decreased by 6.7 percent last month, General Administration of Customs spokesman Huang Songping revealed to reporters at a press conference in Beijing.
Successive rounds of United Nations sanctions, products of U.S.-led efforts to punish North Korea for its missile and nuclear weapons testing, have cut more than 90 percent of all North Korean exports, limited key imports, and restricted the country’s ability to generate money through overseas labor. While China has traditionally been resistant and uncooperative, often skirting sanctions using loopholes in U.N. resolutions, China has expressed a greater willingness to complicate things for Pyongyang.
As China has long served as the rogue regime’s primary trading partner, with the vast majority of all North Korean trade linked to China, the U.S. and others have repeatedly called on Beijing to increase pressure on North Korea. The Trump administration has even threatened to cut bilateral trade between the U.S. and China if the latter fails to fully implement sanctions. The president and his team have made it clear that the world can either do business with the U.S. or North Korea, but not both.
While Beijing resists America’s heavy-handed approach and denies that it is the part of the problem on the Korean Peninsula, China has put increased pressure on the regime.
China has banned all coal imports from North Korea, eliminating a key source of revenue for the regime. China’s central bank has ordered domestic financial institutions to stop doing business with North Korea, and Beijing has ordered all North Korean companies and joint ventures in China to shut down within the next few months. Furthermore, many North Korean laborers also face eviction as their visas expire with no chance of renewal.
The pressure campaign and the threat of war appears to have pushed China to begin to start putting real pressure on North Korea in order to change Pyongyang’s strategic calculus.
The only times China has put pressure on North Korea was when “the Chinese were absolutely convinced the U.S. was ready to go to war on the Peninsula,” Deputy Assistant Director of CIA for Korea Mission Center Yong Suk Lee said at a conference at George Washington University. He argued that it is important America make clear the seriousness of its convictions.
He suggested that President Donald Trump has been doing that through his tough rhetoric and the deployment of strategic military assets to the region. “That clarity of the strong purpose statement from the president, clarity of purpose demonstrated on the ground … I think that needs to continue, and that probably actually needs to increase to really demonstrate that strong will, if nothing else, to the Chinese,” Lee explained.
The strategy appears to be paying off, but given North Korea’s advanced capabilities, current Chinese actions may be too little too late.
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It was a wild Sunday afternoon and evening for the NFL's playoff picture. The Seattle Seahawks laid an egg in Tampa and now find themselves looking behind them in the standings rather than ahead. The top two seeds in the AFC had to come back in the final two minutes to keep their grip on their spots. The Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs beat each other up in a prime-time overtime divisional classic. And the AFC got a surprise party crasher in the No. 6 spot.
One game left in Week 12, and then five more weeks to go after that. So there's a lot that still needs to sort itself out. But we've reached the point in the season in which all of these results seem to matter to the postseason picture. So here's a look at that picture as it stands right now.
AFC
1. New England Patriots (9-2): Yes, Oakland was No. 1 and New England was No. 2 as of Sunday morning, and yes, they both won. But the Patriots' win was a conference win, which means they have a 7-1 conference record. Oakland's victory over NFC opponent Carolina kept its conference record at 6-1. For the time being, the Patriots have the tiebreaker edge and would be the No. 1 seed if the season ended right now. Of course, it does not.
2. Oakland Raiders (9-2): The Derek Carr finger injury scare had Raider Nation hyperventilating for a little while Sunday. But their MVP candidate came back and looked just fine, so Oakland remains ahead of the feisty AFC West pack. The win ensures that the Raiders will finish the season with a winning record for the first time since 2002. Odd scheduling upcoming: The Raiders have one game left against each of their division opponents, and all are on the road.
3. Baltimore Ravens (6-5): Sunday’s victory over Cincinnati was big, as the Ravens not only hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) but also own a 4-0 division record, which currently bests Pittsburgh’s 2-1 in the second tiebreaker, should that be necessary. The Ravens and Steelers meet in Pittsburgh on Christmas Day.
4. Houston Texans (6-5): This looks like another white-knuckle finish in an AFC South that the Texans should have put away long ago. The surprising Tennessee Titans are only a half-game back, at 6-6, and the Indianapolis Colts (5-6) aren’t out of this thing yet. Tiebreakers favor Houston, which has beaten both Tennessee and Indy head-to-head and is 3-0 in division games. Tennessee has lost twice to Indy and is just 1-3 in the division. The Titans probably would need to win this free and clear.
5. Kansas City Chiefs (8-3): Huge comeback win in overtime Sunday night in Denver. Not only do the Chiefs stay within one game of the division-leading Raiders, they improve their record in division games to 3-0 while dropping the Broncos' to 1-3. That's huge for potential tiebreaker purposes down the road in the league's most competitive division.
6. Miami Dolphins (7-4). Miami has won six games in a row, and if the season ended right now, the Dolphins would be in the playoffs. They have the same record as the Broncos (7-4), but they hold this spot for now thanks to the second tiebreaker -- conference record. The Dolphins are 5-3 against AFC opponents, while the Broncos are 4-3.
Surging: The Buffalo Bills (6-5) have won two games in a row and kind of won't go away. Theirs is a season of streaks -- lose two, win four, lose three, win two. They have a lot of teams to climb over if they want to end a 16-year streak of not making the playoffs. But if they can steal one in Oakland next week, we'll have to take them seriously.
Slipping: Now two-and-a-half games out of the first-place AFC North tie and with head-to-head losses against both of the teams in that tie, the Cincinnati Bengals (3-7-1) will need a string of miracles (not to mention five wins of their own) to extend their streak of five straight playoff appearances.
Worth noting: The last time a team other than the Colts or Texans won the AFC South was 2008, when the Jeff Fisher/Kerry Collins Titans went 13-3.
NFC
1. Dallas Cowboys (10-1): Rinse and repeat. The Cowboys’ 10th straight win, coupled with Seattle’s flop in Tampa Bay, gave Dallas a 2.5-game lead in the race among division leaders for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. At this point, if the Cowboys stumble, it’s more important to watch the Giants, who are only two games back in the division and handed Dallas its only loss of the season in Week 1.
2. Seattle Seahawks (7-3-1): A brutal clunker of a loss in Tampa Bay not only resurrected early-season questions about the Seahawks’ porous offensive line but also severely damaged their chances to run down the Cowboys for the No. 1 seed. At this point, Seattle needs to worry about the two NFC division leaders that sit a half-game behind it in the conference standings -- and worry more about protecting its first-round bye than securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
3. Detroit Lions (7-4): The standings don’t care that you trail in the fourth quarter in every game. They care how many games you win. Right now, the inexplicable Lions are one game up on the Minnesota Vikings (6-5) and 2-0 in head-to-head matchups.
4. Atlanta Falcons (7-4): It sounds crazy, but the Falcons’ victory Sunday over Arizona was a big one to help them stay in front of... Tampa Bay (6-5). Once the Falcons get through next week’s game against Kansas City, they don’t face another team that currently has a winning record.
5. New York Giants (8-3): Sunday’s victory over the winless Browns was the first game the Giants have won by more than a touchdown, and it’s still crazy that a team can be 8-3 with a minus-5 turnover differential for the season. But their defensive playmakers are making plays when it counts, and the Giants head into a tough final stretch with the second-best record in their conference and a two-game lead on a playoff spot.
6. Washington (6-4-1): Just barely ahead of the Vikings and Bucs in the hunt for that final wild-card spot, Washington has road games the next two weeks in Arizona and Philadelphia that could help tell this story.
Surging: Those Buccaneers have won three in a row -- the previous two against Kansas City and Seattle -- and five of their past seven. One game behind Atlanta in the NFC South, the Bucs have already split the season series with the Falcons, and their division record (2-1) is only a half-game worse than Atlanta’s (3-1). They’re also right on Washington’s tail. Yes, three of their final five games are road games, but the Bucs are 4-1 on the road. This isn’t as crazy as it sounds.
Slipping: The Arizona Cardinals (4-6-1) have won only one of their past five games and sit two games behind the second wild-card spot and three games behind division-leading Seattle. If this was your preseason pick to win the Super Bowl, this is a hard blurb to read -- or type, as the case might be.
Worth noting: The Green Bay Packers (5-6) desperately needed that victory Monday in Philadelphia to stay on the fringes of their division race and the wild-card race. Green Bay has made the playoffs each of the past seven seasons, which ties New England for the longest active streak in the NFL.A senior advocate for women in Afghanistan was shot dead by unknown gunmen Monday, officials said, the latest assassination of a women’s rights activist in the country.
Two assailants riding a motorbike gunned down Najia Seddiqi as she was heading to her office in eastern Laghman province, said Helai Nekzad, the chief of information at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Kabul.
Seddiqi was the head of women’s affairs for Laghman province. Her predecessor in that post was killed five months ago when explosives hidden in her car were detonated.
“We have launched an investigation to find out whether Najia Seddiqi’s killing was politically motivated,” Nekzad said.
President Hamid Karzai described the assassination as “terroristic,” a term he often uses to describe attacks by Taliban-led insurgents or al-Qaeda militants. No group or individual has made any claim of responsibility.
1 of 23 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Life and war in Afghanistan View Photos Photos of everyday life in Afghanistan as coalition forces attempt to transfer responsibilities to Afghan troops. Caption Photos of everyday life in Afghanistan as coalition forces attempt to transfer responsibilities to Afghan troops. Dec. 17, 2012 Afghan people attend funeral prayers for young girls who were killed in a bomb blast, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. At least 10 teenage girls were killed and a teenage boy was injured when a bomb detonated as they were gathering firewood in eastern Afghanistan, police said. SAHEL HASHMI/EPA Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
The Taliban has yet to comment on the shooting, which comes a week after a teenage girl, volunteering in an anti-polio drive, was fatally shot northeast of Kabul. Officials have said that they do not think the girl’s death was politically motivated.
The Taliban has targeted senior female officials in the past for working in the U.S.-backed Afghan government. But other attacks on women have been linked to family members of the victims, who resent their female relatives working in the government or promoting the cause of women in Afghanistan’s deeply traditional and male-dominated society.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Monday, the police chief for southwestern Nimruz province, Musal Rassouli, was killed in a car bombing. Two of his bodyguards were wounded in the explosion, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
Monday’s assassinations followed an attack Thursday in which a Taliban suicide bomber targeted Afghanistan’s top intelligence officer, Asadullah Khalid, at his private guest house in Kabul. Khalid was wounded and is being treated at a U.S. military hospital.
In a separate development, the Taliban said it will send two of its political delegates to a meeting in Paris on Monday, when Afghan and non-Afghan politicians and officials are expected to discuss Afghanistan’s future.
In a statement, the Taliban said its delegates would share their organization’s views on how the long U.S. military presence in Afghanistan can be ended. The statement denied media reports that Taliban officials would participate in peace talks at the meeting.BREAKING… UPDATE: Official Press Release Below… The Superman logo was just superimposed with the Batman logo on the screen at the close of the much anticipated Warner Bros–Legendary Pictures panel inside the San Diego Convention Center at Comic-Con. This momentous DC Entertainment development from Warner Bros was not on the schedule, according to Deadline contributor Ross Lincoln covering the event. Instead, Zack Snyder came out on stage and announced, “It’s official that we are going to make another Superman movie. I’ve pored through the DC universe for a way to tell this thing.” With that, Harry Lennix who plays General Swanwick in Man Of Steel began quoting from Frank Miller’s 1986 The Dark Knight Returns and Miller’s follow-up Batman: Year One graphic novel series where an older Batman tricks Superman with Kryptonite and beats up the Man of Steel — then the scene ends with Batman faking his own death, a fact Superman becomes aware of at the funeral and keeps the secret: “In all the years to come, in all the most private moments, I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you.” Snyder said the filmmakers won’t be using that source but it will help them in the story they’re telling. Set for release in 2015, this sequel is to be directed by Snyder and written by David S. Goyer featuring two of WB/DC’s most iconic superheroes and is certain to compete with Marvel. Christian Bale has said he does not wish to reprise his Bruce Wayne aka Batman role so the studio will be searching for a new Batman to pair with Henry Cavill. Snyder later said, “I’m so excited to begin working again with Henry Cavill in the world we created, and I can’t wait to expand the DC Universe in this next chapter. Let’s face it, it’s beyond mythological to have Superman and our new Batman facing off, since they are the greatest superheroes in the world.” Here is the Warner Bros press release announcing that the next DC superhero movie is in pre-production uniting Superman and Batman “in one explosive new film. Man Of Steel is still in theaters has grossed $625+M worldwide while Christopher Nolan’s rebooted Batman trilogy has amassed $4 billion globally:
BURBANK, CA, July 20, 2013 – On the heels of the worldwide success of “Man of Steel,” director Zack Snyderis bringing together the two greatest Super Heroes of all time—Batman and Superman—for the first time on the big screen. The announcement was made today by Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution,Warner Bros. Pictures.
The current hit, “Man of Steel,” has taken in more than $630 million at the worldwide box office to date, and climbing. Along with its star, Henry Cavill, the upcomingfilm brings back Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane. The new Batman has yet to be cast.
Snyder is co-writing the story with David S. Goyer, who will then pen the screenplay. Production is expected to begin in 2014, with an anticipated release date inSummer 2015.
Silverman stated, “Zack Snyder is an incredibly talented filmmaker, but beyond that, he’s a fan first and he utterly gets this genre. We could not think of anyone better suited to the task of bringing these iconic Super Heroes to the screen in his own way.” Kroll added, “We are thrilled to be back in business with Zack and his team on this next movie. The success of ‘Man of Steel’ is a wonderful testament to the love and support that both fans and new audiences, worldwide, have for these characters. We are very excited to see what Zack has in store for all of us.”
Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment, noted,“Superman and Batman together on the big screen is a dream come true for DC fans everywhere. All of us at DCEntertainment could not be more excited for Zack’s continuing vision for the DC Universe.”
Zack Snyder, who made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con today, breaking the news to audiences there, later said, “I’m so excited to begin working again with Henry Cavill in the world we created, and I can’t wait to expand the DC Universe in this next chapter. Let’s face it, it’s beyond mythological to have Superman and our new Batman facing off, since they are the greatest Super Heroes in the world.”
The new film brings back Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder as producers. This time, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas are serving as executive producers, along with Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan.
Thomas offered, “Whilst our ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy is complete, we have every confidence that Zack’s fresh interpretation will take the character in a new and exciting direction. His vision for Superman opened the door to a whole new universe and we can’t wait to see what Zack does with these characters.”
The film is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, and Batman characters created by Bob Kane, published by DC Entertainment.As the ongoing saga of Brexit negotiations continue, attention is turning to what the UK’s borders might look like as part of a new arrangement. With traveller numbers only likely to increase over the next few years what is clear is that the process is only going to become more complicated. In fact, Brexit could cause travel chaos.
In a matter of years, Brits might need visas to travel to the continent and there may even be a border between the Republic of Ireland and the UK. Immigration officials will have to deal with the administrative and logistical burden of implementing the new rules (whatever those may be) which could cause lengthy and frustrating queues at border control.
Will there be a separate “British-only” queue at Heathrow airport for returning citizens? Will EU passengers require more attention? We’ve become so used to travel between the UK and EU being convenient, painless and quick, but should EU nationals become subject to stricter checks upon entering the UK this could cause havoc at UK airports. To deal with these structural changes, the government must embrace cutting-edge technology like biometrics and ePassports, which could help to automate some immigration tasks. Otherwise, the system could find itself being overwhelmed.
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From passport to ePassport
What we consider to be the traditional paper passport may have been eliminated in the UK, as we move to ePassports with embedded chips, but the reality is a lot of countries still have passports that are literally still a piece of paper. There’s no requirement to have an ePassport to enter the UK, meaning individuals from other countries are able to enter the country without additional checks, and are able to edit documents fraudulently.
To ensure travel between the UK and the EU is both secure and convenient, it’s vital the government embraces the latest technological solutions available. While the UK is already making progress in this area, having equipped Heathrow with hundreds of eGates, there’s still a lot of work to be done, and we can take our passports even further, adding facial recognition and fingerprint data to all chips within ePassports. While in the future we may become fully paperless, paper documents are here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Adding further biometrics
Biometric technologies, like fingerprints and face recognition, may need to see greater adoption in any post-Brexit immigration system, since they are all far more secure methods of verification than standard physical documents. By adding potentially several different biometric credentials to an embedded chip within a passport, it becomes exponentially harder to forge. Add to this the fact that a picture in a passport can become worn with time and it’s not hard to see why it’s important to have a digitalised, high quality image.
From a security perspective, ePassports and biometrics bring lots of advantages to authorities, enabling them to better prevent identity fraud and detect potential criminals. ePassports are protected by multi-layered security software, which encrypts credentials and protects them from theft or tampering. Furthermore, biometric authentication can be linked up to large databases of blacklisted individuals posing a security threat, terrorists and criminals, immediately alerting a border official to be able to stop potentially dangerous people entering the country. Ordinary paper passports can be forged or edited, or can be used by the wrong owner. Implementing biometric technology eliminates all of these threats and would stop those carrying forged or edited documents making it across the border.
Digital visas
Some other countries are further ahead of the UK in deploying the latest technologies. In Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, visa documentation is already dematerialised. The UK needs to keep up to ensure the smooth functioning of its post-Brexit immigration system. Should we need visas to travel to the continent in the near future, it’s imperative we have a system in place which doesn’t become even more burdensome to travellers already weary of queues at border control.
Shape Created with Sketch. The top 10 most powerful passports Show all 10 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The top 10 most powerful passports 1/10 10. Hungary, Czech Republic, Iceland (Visa-free access to 167 countries) Henley & Partners' Visa Restrictions Index, released on 24 February 2016, ranked 199 countries according to the travel freedom each offers its citizens out of a possible 218 countries, using data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to the index, the IATA holds the largest database of travel information. Nationalities were awarded points based on the number of other countries their citizens could travel to without a visa, as of 1st of January 2/10 9. Malta Visa-free access to 168 countries 3/10 8. Australia Visa-free access to 169 countries 4/10 7. Greece, New Zealand Visa-free access to 171 countries 5/10 6. Canada, Ireland (Republic of), Korea (Republic of, South), Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland Visa-free access to 172 countries 6/10 5. Austria, Japan, Singapore Visa-free access to 173 countries 7/10 4.Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, United States Visa-free access to 174 countries 8/10 3. Finland, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom Visa-free access to 175 countries 9/10 2. Sweden Visa-free access to 176 countries 10/10 1. Germany Visa-free access to 177 countries 1/10 10. Hungary, Czech Republic, Iceland (Visa-free access to 167 countries) Henley & Partners' Visa Restrictions Index, released on 24 February 2016, ranked 199 countries according to the travel freedom each offers its citizens out of a possible 218 countries, using data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to the index, the IATA holds the largest database of travel information. Nationalities were awarded points based on the number of other countries their citizens could travel to without a visa, as of 1st of January 2/10 9. Malta Visa-free access to 168 countries 3/10 8. Australia Visa-free access to 169 countries 4/10 7. Greece, New Zealand Visa-free access to 171 countries 5/10 6. Canada, Ireland (Republic of), Korea (Republic of, South), Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland Visa-free access to 172 countries 6/10 5. Austria, Japan, Singapore Visa-free access to 173 countries 7/10 4.Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, United States Visa-free access to 174 countries 8/10 3. Finland, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom Visa-free access to 175 countries 9/10 2. Sweden Visa-free access to 176 countries 10/10 1. Germany Visa-free access to 177 countries
Of course, biometric and ePassport solutions need to be implemented in the right way. A new immigration system must strike a balance between boosting border security and respecting citizens’ privacy and rights. The government must ensure customer data is treated carefully and that any cloud systems are properly protected, given concerns around data leaks which are so regularly in the news.
Beyond physical passports
So, what could the future hold for border control? It may sound futuristic, but we’re coming closer to digitising the entire airport experience. Imagine entering the airport and having already submitted your travel documents in advance of arrival, a kiosk at check in scans your face. This makes it possible for a traveller to then simply walk through an airport (or any other border security check), from check in, to security, to boarding, without needing to show a document. No more needing to withdraw documents from bags or pockets or worry about losing a ticket, and no hassle at borders like the ones at the Eurostar platform or in Northern Ireland.
Post Brexit, no one in the UK or Europe wants the hassle of a traditional border crossing experience, with inconvenient passport controls. Brexit could have a negative impact if we don’t take the right steps to create a frictionless experience for travellers, but this has to be done in a way that doesn’t allow for security risks to pass through, nor can it compromise citizen privacy.
Nora Blomefield is Head of Marketing for Border Management, Gemalto
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Subscribe nowA man has died following an assault at a truck stop attached to a filling station in Fermoy on Tuesday night.
Gardaí in north Cork have arrested two men for questioning following the incident.
The deceased, a Polish man aged 40, suffered head injuries when he was struck with an iron bar during a dispute between himself and his Polish friend on one side, and two Polish truck drivers on the other.
The incident happened at the truck parking area attached to the rear of the Amber filling station on the Dublin Road in Fermoy at about 10.30pm.
The two men arrested are Polish truck drivers working for a Macroom haulage company. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision
It is understood that the deceased, a married father of two who was living in Fermoy, and his male Polish friend, also living in Fermoy, had been drinking in the town prior to going to the filling station.
They got into a row with two Polish truck drivers working for a Macroom haulage company who had pulled up to rest and the row escalated into a dispute in which an iron bar was produced.
The deceased suffered serious head injuries in the assault and although the emergency services arrived and treated the man, he failed to regain consciousness and died at the scene.
The second Polish man from Fermoy, who is in his late 30s, was taken to Cork University Hospital (CUH) suffering from non life-threatening injuries, mainly of a defensive nature, to his arms and legs.
Arrests
Gardaí spoke initially to the two truck drivers as witnesses but they were arrested at 4am on Wednesday for an offence of assault causing harm under Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
The men were then arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows gardaí detain suspects for up to 24 hours and were taken to Fermoy and Mallow garda stations for questioning.
It is understood that the deceased was a married father of two, living in Fermoy. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision
The man’s body, which had remained at the rear of the filling station overnight has been removed to CUH where a postmortem will take place later on Wednesday by assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster.
It is understood that gardaí recovered an iron bar at the scene and that it will be examined later by garda technical expert s for any forensic evidence that may assist in the investigation.
Gardaí believe the four Polish men did not know each other prior to the row. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision
Gardaí have also started examining CCTV footage from the Amber filling station and have spoken to a number of truck drivers who were parked at its rear of at the time of the incident.
Garda |
the euro. The EU27 remains exposed to external hazards – geopolitics, the oil price, a surge of refugees – but its major risks are no longer home-grown.
More than that, the EU’s ability to weather the pressures of the euro crisis, the 2015 migration crisis, and the Brexit vote has left it stronger. As political philosopher Ivan Krastev notes in his 2017 book After Europe: “It’s quite possible that European publics will become more confident about the EU not because it’s become better but simply because it has survived.” Resilience confers legitimacy. In the euro area, the unfinished banking union adds to the sense of cohesiveness. Supervision by the European Central Bank was a reason cited by Nordea, the largest bank in the Nordic countries, when it announced in September that it would move its headquarters from Stockholm (outside the euro area) to Helsinki.
The balance of political risk has shifted. Moving business from the UK to the EU27 no longer implies an increase in uncertainty. When Liam Fox, the UK’s international trade secretary, responded to Blankfein’s tweet by asserting that “money will go where money can be made, money can be moved, and money can be removed—that is a function of law and that is why London will remain pre-eminent,” it sounded debatable rather than self-evident. Given the likelihood that the UK will leave the single market, the default plan for most international financial firms will be to serve EU27 clients from an EU27 location. The implications vary among firms, but an estimated 15-25% of the City’s business is tied to EU27 clients in a way that makes it likely to cross the Channel (or the Irish Sea).
Any countervailing effects, where Brexit helps the City to win business, will be considerably smaller. The bonfire of EU financial regulations will be smouldering at best – it is not clear which rules the UK will want to repeal in this area. Liberalising bankers’ bonuses could make sense, but would not go down well with the British public. It is equally doubtful that London could substitute new financial business for lost European trades. In past decades, the City has successfully wooed clients from Asia, Russia, the Middle East, the Americas and elsewhere. How could Brexit win more of that already high market share? Not through lower prices, which are not a driver of clients’ choices. Not through enhanced British soft power or international connectivity either, which have already been impaired since the referendum, and could deteriorate much further.
Some UK firms may stay, out of patriotism – but many home-grown firms and nearly all foreign-held ones will not be sentimental. If moving jobs and client relationships to the EU27 is what business logic suggests, it will happen. The US firms at the core of the City’s activity are also the most ruthlessly business-driven. Their employees’ fondness for London will count for little if clients are best served from Frankfurt, Dublin or Amsterdam. Blankfein made no mystery of the order of Goldman Sachs’s priorities.
The City’s Brexit-inflicted damage over the next decade or so will amount to a significant slice, certainly more than a 10% drop in business. But how much worse could it get? That will depend on three interrelated factors: the UK’s openness to foreigners, the actual sequence and outcome of Brexit, and the competition from outside.
First is whether the UK will embrace the world or retreat from it – Global Britain or Little England? The City is critically dependent on foreign talent. It will be asphyxiated if the UK closes itself off. But there is also little doubt that a desire to reduce inward migration played a major role in the Brexit vote. As for trade and the economy, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, stated the obvious when he noted in a September speech at the International Monetary Fund that Brexit “will be, at least for a period of time, an example of de-globalisation not globalisation.”
Can the UK pivot from there to greater openness? Or is it condemned, as John le Carré put it, to become “England all alone, a citizen of nowhere”? Even in the very short term, can the freedom of movement inherent in the EU internal market be maintained during the post-Brexit transition period – if there is one – or would such a proposition trigger a major political crisis? At Mansion House on June 20, Philip Hammond, the UK Chancellor, bravely talked of Britain pushing “for a new phase of globalisation,” a Globalisation 2.0 that would be based on trade in services and not only goods. How Brexit could possibly catalyse this transformation is uncertain.
Second, the City’s future will depend on whether the UK crashes out of the EU without any agreement, leaves the single market in an orderly way, or doesn’t leave it at all. This in turn will be largely determined by Britain’s attitude to the outside world. A “no-deal” exit would be akin to a selective default, and immensely detrimental to the UK’s reputation as a safe place for doing business. Should that happen, the City will remain the hub for domestic finance in the UK, but most of its international activity will leave and not return.
If the exit from the single market happens smoothly and yields a relationship with the EU based on a new treaty – the stated aim of UK-EU negotiations – the framework for financial services is likely to be comparable to the current EU-US arrangements: a web of supervisory relationships, including mutual recognition of rules, but on a case-by-case basis. This implies the permanent loss of most of the City’s EU27-related business. Achieving a tighter, treaty-based relationship would entail improbably squaring a circle that trade negotiators have struggled with for decades. Financial regulation is largely driven by concerns about stability and systemic risk, which cannot be entrusted to a foreign jurisdiction, no matter how close and well-intentioned.
The most favourable Brexit scenarios for the City are those in which the UK never leaves the single market. These come in three varieties. The UK could remain in the EU, following a dramatic political shift. Time is now short for this, and it would probably be highly divisive. Even if there were a second referendum with a majority vote for “Remain,” Brexit would become the thwarted aspiration of a significant share of politicians and the public, which would bring yet more uncertainty. Alternatively, the UK could leave the EU and remain indefinitely outside it while still in the single market. A new government could decide, during a post-2019 transition period, with temporary single market membership, to make that status permanent, as it is with Iceland or Norway. Here too, uncertainty about a future change of status would persist, as it is unlikely that the UK would be satisfied with becoming a permanent subject of rules made in its absence in Brussels. Finally, the UK could leave the EU (though not the single market), and then re-enter it. In that case, the City may hope to recover some of the EU27-related business it would have lost in the intervening years. How much will depend on the political and economic conditions of the moment, which are evidently difficult to assess given that scenario’s current remoteness.
Third and finally, the City’s success could depend on its rivals. New York’s international activity may prosper from Trumpian deregulation, or shrink if there is another systemic crisis. Asia’s financial centres may cut their current dependency on the West, or fail to realise their full potential because of the region’s unresolved geopolitical and governance challenges. Closer to home, the EU27 may become a fierce competitor thanks to its ongoing supervisory integration and the critical mass of its internal market, or fall to its old demons of fragmentation and mercantilism.
To speak the language of financiers, Brexit has no net upside for the City, only net downsides. For the UK economy more broadly, things are more nuanced. Some re-balancing can be expected. As Charles Goodhart of the London School of Economics has noted, advanced manufacturing is unlikely to benefit, given its dependency on complex supply chains. Brexit, by erecting barriers, will negatively impact the UK’s position in those chains. But other services sectors could benefit from the spare capacity freed up by the City’s losses, in terms of available workforce and real estate, and from a devalued currency. If so, then London could grow ever-more dominant in the UK economy, even as it becomes less central to the European and global financial system. Given the political drivers of Brexit, and the geographical patterns of voting in the referendum, this would be somewhat ironic.This past weekend I spent a day in the Wrigley Field bleachers. The sun was beating down, the beer was flowing, and I was sitting next to my favorite person. Then a harsh realization hit me like a ton of bricks: I’ve peaked as a sports fan. No matter what happens in the future, whether I witness the Jayhawks cut the nets, the Blackhawks raise another cup, the Cubs win another World Series, or all of those things in the same year, it will never be as good as November 2nd, 2016.
As I sat in the bleachers that day a few beers deep, I watched the pump up video before the game started. There were highlights from the past century: big hits, big strikeouts, and big wins, all culminating in the last out of the 2016 World Series. Even though this was probably the 3076th time I’ve seen this moment, it still put a gigantic smile on my face. As I sat there with a shit eating grin on my face I wondered to myself, what could ever do this to me again? There is no drought to be ended, no championship I haven’t seen outside of a Super Bowl, but even that is nowhere near the magnitude of a 108 year absence from relevance.
(Photo Credit: Chicago Tribune)
No matter how hard I tried to ignore them, I always had to deal with jabs of, “how many years has it been since the Cubs won a World Series?” or “talk to me when the Cubs do anything.” These quips have haunted my life as long as I can remember and in an instant, they were all washed away. When Bryant threw the last out to Anthony Rizzo, it was more than just a championship, it was a new beginning. No longer would I have to deal with being the laughing stock of the MLB, now I have to deal with being the top dog. However, these things all come with a price. The Cubs have been off to a subpar start this year and I am constantly reminded of it. I cannot have a baseball discussion with anyone without them reminding me of how Kyle Schwarber is batting sub.200 or that the pitchers keep getting rocked early and the team has to play catch-up and usually falls short. If another person brings up their current record to me I am going to lose my shit. Overall, my finger is still comfortably far away from the panic button. There’s no need. I trust this team until they give me a reason not to.
Whether they win another World Series or fall short is a moot point though. Sure, I would obviously love another championship, but it will never come close to the sheer ecstasy of the first. When I dropped to my knees onto that beer soaked floor in a local Wrigleyville establishment, getting various alcoholic beverages poured on my head while simultaneously getting hugs from all my closest friends with tears in my eyes, I had no idea how this moment would affect me as a sports fan. I still consume sports everyday and root with my whole heart and I still feel absolutely crushed when a team falls short (I.E. Kansas losing to Oregon in the Elite 8). Therein lies the problem of the Cubs finally breaking the curse, the lows will be as low as they always have been, but the highs will never be the same.Despite the obstacles put in front of him, Rayo Vallecano manager Paco Jemez demonstrates year after year that if you are true to your ideas, you are likely to be recompensated for them eventually. This season, for the umpteenth time, the Canary Islander received a lot of critics at the start of the season because of his daring style of play. However, the statistics continue to back up a manager who has to start from zero at the start of each season.
Toni Juanmarti
Rayo Vallecano are on a seven game unbeaten run. It may not have anything to do with it, but the team has improved since it was eliminated from the Copa del Rey…
It’s not a coincidence. In football, those who believe in coincidences don’t have any idea. You have to keep in mind that we are a small team. It’s no harm to have two competitions, but we had injuries and it was a small problem trying to balance the two. Still, to progress in the Copa would have been a pleasure, but it’s true we may have suffered more in La Liga.
Each season your team seems to specialise in finishing strongly - what’s that down to?
Each year we have 15 or 16 new players. It’s as if we are starting from zero. We get going later than other clubs because we need a certain amount of time for the new players to adapt to the mechanics of the club. The club has to improve in this sense. It [would be more] normal to change four or five players and to maintain the majority of the squad, to have continuity…
Your team has conceded the most goals in La Liga, but no-one above ninth has scored more…
We play football. Our way of playing is to be happy and to try and score goals. That doesn’t have to mean that we receive more goals than others, but, yes, we are true to our idea and to to our fans.
Without doubt, your style of play is attractive for supporters.
Some people forget that, in the end, this [football] is a spectacle.
It’s tight at the bottom - would you sign now to have your future in play in the final game against Levante at home?
Our obligation is stay up. And my team is prepared for everything. We only got 15 points in the first half of the season - now we are OK. But the deficit of points means we need to go on another good run to save ourselves in advance [of the Levante game].
Barça play Sporting, Betis and Espanyol in the final weeks - would you prefer it that title race remains open?
Barça have the obligation to compete in all their games. If not, it would committing adultery on La Liga. But I don’t want to speculate.
Thursday’s game against Barça - is it an extra motivation to break their unbeaten run?
Hombre, all teams are going to try! They are the best team in the world and no-one’s able to get their hands on them. Hardly anyone counts on these three points, so to get them would be a plus.
This Barça is lethal on the counter. Is it best to wait for them further back?
I don’t know. But we are going to play like always. I don’t plan to change absolutely anything.
From distance, what do you make of Real Madrid’s delicate situation?
From outside it’s hard to know what’s going on. I don’t know the details, but it’s clear they’re not reaching their objectives.
Will it benefit them in the Champions League to be out of the title race?
I don’t think so. It’s a team that has to compete for everything and they’ve already left two trophies behind. I’m sure they’d want to be fighting for La Liga.
Messi said that the relationship between the players helps on the pitch. In exchange, Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t agree…
Each person needs certain things, we are all different. There are some who need bond, go to dinners… others, maybe not, but on the pitch everyone wants the same things.
So you don’t want to stick your neck out…
It’s that there’s no absolute truth, each person has their own way.
Finally, will this Barça side win until Messi gets tired?
Uy! I’m a really bad fortune-teller [laughs]. Messi still has years ahead of him. And after him, I don’t know if there will be another Messi. For the moment, Barça have to enjoy the one that they have, even though it’s clear everything comes to an end.Druckenmiller is a legendary investor, and protégé of George Soros, who compounded capital ~30% annualized since 1986 before announcing in 2010 that his Duquesne fund would return all outside investor capital, and morph into a family office.
Many of our Readers reside in the House of Value, but I believe that value investors can learn from those with more trading-oriented or macro philosophies – especially in terms of volatility considerations, trade structuring, and capital preservation.
The following portfolio management highlights were extracted from an interview with Stanley Druckenmmiller in Jack D. Schwager’s book The New Market Wizards. Be sure to check out Part 2 & Part 3.
Trackrecord, Capital Preservation, Compounding, Exposure
“Q: Your long-term performance has far surpassed the industry average. To what do you attribute your superior track record?
A: George Soros has a philosophy that I have also adopted: he way to build long-term returns is through preservation of capital and home runs. You can be far more aggressive when you’re making good profits. Many managers, once they’re up 30 or 40 percents, will book their year [i.e., trade very cautiously for the remainder of the year so as not to jeopardize the very good return that has already been realized]. The way to attain truly superior long-term returns is to grind it out until you’re up 30 or 40 percent, and then if you have the convictions, go for a 100 percent year. If you can put together a few near-100 percent years and avoid down years, then you can achieve really outstanding long-term returns.”
“Many managers will book their profits when they’re up a lot early in the year. It’s my philosophy, which has been reinforced by Mr. Soros, that when you earn the right to be aggressive, you should be aggressive. The years that you start off with a large gain are the times that you should go for it. Since I was well ahead for the year, I felt that I could afford to fight the market for a while. I knew the bull market had to end, I just didn’t know when. Also, because of the market’s severe overvaluation, I thought that when the bull market did end, it was going to be dramatic.”
We’ve discussed the importance of capital preservation, and its complementary relationship to long-term compounding. Here is Drunkenmiller’s well-articulated version of the same concept…plus a fascinating twist.
As dictated by the Rules of the Game, the scorecard in the investment management world is your trackrecord in the form of calendar year returns. The concept of earning the “right to be aggressive” in certain calendar years echoes in my mind like a siren song, so dangerous yet utterly irresistible.
Most traditional value investors would not dare dream of enacting such a brazen act. But, if you keep an open mind to ponder and digest, it makes a lot of sense.
UPDATE: One Reader (and friend who is very very bright) suggested that the genius behind the “right to be aggressive” derives from its utter contradiction of traditional value doctrine. Buffett and Munger would say wait for an opportunity and then be aggressive. Druckenmiller’s effectively saying that he doesn’t think you can ever truly know when it’s a great time….so you wait until you know something for a fact: that you are having a good year.
Expected Return, Opportunity Cost
“…an attractive yield should be the last reason for buying bonds. In 1981 the public sold bonds heavily giving up a 15 percent return for thirty years because they couldn’t resist 21 percent short-term yields. They weren’t thinking about the long term. Now, because money market rates are only 4.5 percent, the same poor public is back buying bonds, effectively lending money at 7.5 percent for thirty years…”
Sadly the situation has deteriorated further. Today, money markets yield ~0% and thirty year bonds pay ~3%.
It’s important to remember that portfolio expected return should not be determined solely based upon returns available today, but also opportunities around the corner, not yet visible. This is what makes opportunity cost so difficult to determine – it’s often a gut judgment call that involves predicting the availability of future expected returns.
Team Management
On working with George Soros:
“The first six months of the relationship were fairly rocky. While we had similar trading philosophies, our strategies never meshed. When I started out, he was going to be the coach – and he was an aggressive coach. In my opinion, Gorge Soros is the greatest investor that ever lived. But even being coached by the worlds greatest investor is a hindrance rather than help if he’s engaging you actively enough to break your trading rhythm. You just can’t have two cooks in the kitchen; it doesn’t work. Part of it was my fault because he would make recommendations and I would be intimidated. After all, how do you disagree with a man with a track record like his?
Events came to a head in August 1989 when Soros old out a bond position that I had put on. He had never done that before. To make matters worse, I really had a strong conviction on the trade. Needless to say, I was fairly upset. At that point, we had our first let-it-all-out discussion…Basically, Soros decided that he was going to stay out of m hair for six months.”We intermarried Jews are breeding like crazy.
The Israel-born actress Natalie (Hershlag) Portman, who is engaged to French dancer Benjamin Millepied, apparently just gave birth to a boy.
Since Portman has said in previous interviews that she planned to raise her children as Jews, I’m assuming this one belongs to the Tribe. Who knows? Maybe she’ll even decide to invite over that Monster Mohel featured recently in the disturbingly anti-Semitic “Foreskin Man” comic circulated by California’s anti-circumcision “intactivists.”
Then there is Anthony Weiner. Among other tidbits to emerge from the past week and a half’s round-the-clock Weinergate is that the congressman’s Muslim wife, Huma Abedin, is in the early stages of pregnancy. And presumably he is the father, unless in some dramatic twist of the whole aggrieved/betrayed wife scenario, he is not.
I’m not expecting this child to be raised Jewish: from what I’ve read, Abedin is more religious than Weiner (he has been known to fast during Ramadan as a way of showing support for her). Plus, after publicly humiliating her with his Twitter antics, and facing the prospect of imminent unemployment, he doesn’t have a whole lot of “we must raise the children in my religion” bargaining power.
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I’ve found the intermarriage buzz that’s emerged from Weinergate to be somewhat interesting: a number of people speculating that his decision to marry a Muslim was a sign of Jewish self-hatred or at least Jewish woman hatred. While I have no great sympathy for Weiner, I think that’s a bit of a stretch. Yes, he made an offensive (and, post-Monica Lewinsky, not even particularly resonant) joke in a Twitter direct message implying he does not generally consider Jewish women to be talented practitioners of a certain sexual act. But I think it’s a mistake to read a great deal of meaning into the content of idle (and stupid) flirtatious chatter.
And there’s one other intermarried Jewish parent in the news: Village Voice film editor Allison Benedikt, whose “Life After Zionist Summer Camp” essay on The Awl is getting a lot of attention.
I’m not impressed by the piece — which seems to document her journey from brainwashed American Jewish Zionist (her Wisconsin camp is never named but looks to be Camp Young Judaea Midwest) to brainwashed American Jewish anti-Zionist. It feels more like an unthinking emptying-out of her diary than an actual essay. Some of the images and details she uses are evocative, and there are certainly plenty of troubling things about Israel that she could have grappled with. But the problem is that the piece strings together a lot of details without fully explaining, connecting or analyzing — the author hints at, but doesn’t elucidate or even intelligently articulate, her reasons for turning against Israel, and some segments/critiques don’t even make much sense. (Why is it bad that Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint are friendly, telling her they are originally from Jersey?)
The funny thing is that while she describes her Young Judaea experience as mindlessly pro-Israel bordering on fascist, most Young Judaeans I’ve encountered over the years have actually emerged quite thoughtful about Israel, many choosing to support and work for progressive causes there.
This being a blog about intermarriage, I suppose it is worth noting that the catalyst for Benedikt’s transformation seems to be her anti-Israel and generally unpleasant-sounding non-Jewish boyfriend-turned-husband John, who picks fights with her parents and, while visiting Benedikt’s sister in Israel, berates her and her husband for the “morally bankrupt decision” to live there.
Indeed, the only positive things John will acknowledge about Israel is that the food is delicious and the women “hot.” (An interesting contrast to Anthony Weiner who is hawkishly pro-Israel yet doesn’t find Jewesses sexy.)
Benedikt says she and John now have two children who they are raising as Jews, but who will “never, ever” get sent to Zionist sleep-away camp.
Don’t worry, Young Judea. Maybe Natalie Portman’s son will come to your camp.
Do you like “In the Mix”? Like it on Facebook. Or follow Julie Wiener on Twitter.Lyndy Redding is the managing director, part-owner and founder of Absolute Taste, a catering company that is majority-owned by the McLaren Group, which also owns the McLaren Mercedes Formula One team. Redding, who is British, graduated from the Tante Marie School of Cookery in England, of which she is now a part owner with the chef Gordon Ramsey. At the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix, she worked as a caterer on a yacht for the Leyton House team, which hired her as a chef the following year. She later worked as a caterer to McLaren, and in 1997 founded Absolute Taste with Ron Dennis, the McLaren owner, to cater to the team and in other areas. Absolute Taste has grown into a company of 320 employees, serving McLaren at races and the staff at the team factory. It also caters major events, such as serving corporate guests at the London Olympics in August, and services companies and private jets. The Monaco Grand Prix is Formula One’s biggest guest and VIP event, and Absolute Taste will cater not only to the McLaren team, but to six yachts and the VIPs at all team lodges above the garages. Redding spoke to Brad Spurgeon of the International Herald Tribune.
Q. What does the Monaco Grand Prix represent for you?
A. This is my 24th Monaco in a row, except for one, when I had a baby. Of all the Grands Prix, it is the one that has probably changed the least, because the security around the other races has changed. But Monaco, because it is still so accessible in between the track sessions and when the roads are open, is not hugely dissimilar to the early days, apart from the new pits. There is an experience, a feeling that I think everyone must feel, at the end of the race, when all the fog horns get blown on all the boats, and it’s over — it’s just a mega feeling. And I still get a bit of goose pimples — “Oh my goodness!”
We have the normal operation here, we look after the team, but it is even bigger because all of our partners, all their board members come, we have all of the CEOs of pretty much all of our partners. So everybody is on edge, everyone is there wanting to have fun but pretty much everybody has a job to do. The Singapore and Abu Dhabi races are right up there, but Monaco still has that extra pizzazz.
Q. How long is the work day for the catering staff?
A. Monaco is really long. It depends what day it is, but the longest day at most races is probably Friday. It starts at 6 a.m., doing breakfasts — we’re open from around 7 and we close near 11 p.m. or later, with a sponsor dinner. But in Monaco we do the lodges, we do the McLaren apartment, we are doing six boats this year. The boat crews and the way the boats are designed they are used to looking after 12 or 24 passengers, but for the Monaco Grand Prix they will have a party for 60, a lunch for 40, and with their kitchens and staff they just cannot do it, as well as doing the breakfast and rooms and general crew catering. From the U.K., we bring about 18 people for the team and 80 people to come to do other work.
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Q. For the team, you have a kitchen in the motor home, or Brand Center, but for the rest— the lodges and the boats — what do you do?
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A. The whole scenario of our world in Monaco is so bizarre. We have a kitchen on the Rascasse corner, so as you are coming around, underneath the lodge — just before the Rascasse — is the marquis, and that is our kitchen. So when you’ve got the cars going around, I’ve got 30 people in that kitchen chopping away. No one phones in because it is just so noisy. And when we do the deliveries to the boats, the food goes out the back, the tenders come up, a couple of guys go out with the food and go on the tenders to deliver to the boats.
Q. How does your operation differ from a normal catering service or restaurant?
A. When I am recruiting for the staff it has to be a certain kind of person. It can’t be that sort of, “This is the way I do it and no one will tell me otherwise.” We never say “no” to people. No one pays for their food here. Money doesn’t talk. It is just pretty much whatever anyone wants when they want it.Critics and film fans alike are wont to bandy the term auteur around, applying it to artists who don’t really deserve the accolade. Personally, I think Takashi Miike is one director who warrants the title. His idiosyncratic career, having taken in all manner of offbeat movies in a range of genres, shows us that, despite generally working from the scripts of others and also being something of a Journeyman in so far as he will tackle commercial projects, teen movies, mainstream horror and money spinning Yakuza yarns, Miike always turns the script in front of him into a Miike movie.
In Miike movies, Yakuzas are prone to being paranoid about small dogs to the point of violence and women give birth to fully grown men (both Gozu). Taboos are shattered, violence is extreme, often perverse and memorably unpleasant. Beautiful ingenues can be psychotic killers armed with foot removing cheesewire (Audition) and Zombies do song and dance numbers (Happiness of the Katakuris). I sometimes think that, unfairly, Western audiences come to his films looking for the shock, whether that be of the new or the repulsive, and forget about his skills as a storyteller and purveyor of onscreen action.
Many reviewers are rightly hailing Miike’s latest 13 Assassins as his most accessible and commercial venture to date. It’s certainly true that it’s a film you can put on for friends who maybe don’t share the same prediliction for Asian weirdness that you do without any nagging worries that a lactating middle aged women will pop up and starting flooding the kitchen (Visitor Q). The film is also a brilliant example, into it’s second half, of how to create a sustained action sequence that never lets up. Aside from those who stubbonly abstain from subtitles, anyone who enjoys cinematic escapism and sword based excitement will be in their oils here.
The problem is, the other side of the coin is the accusation that some kind of sell out has taken place. This is a nonsense. Miike has always tackled commercial projects, including family friendly fantasy movies, it’s just that 13 Assassins smoothes out the eccentricities and focuses on creating an exciting adventure film. There is one trademark shot towards the beginning that gives the director away to anyone with even a passing interest in Japanese movies, it’s almost a knowing wink to fans and I won’t give it away but it’s there (It reminded me a little of Imprint for any Miike fans on the look out). Aside from that, this is Takashi Miike as filmmaker with a tale to tell and he serves the story. Some old school fans will miss the wilder aspects of his catalogue but it also means other people will hear of an extraordinary director with a vast filmography to explore.
But wait a minute… This is Takashi Miike we’re talking about. Doubtless the pendulum will swing the other way and a new cross-dressing Yakuza Vampire musicial with Spaghetti Western overtones will be next. I hope so, but I also hope Miike gets more bigger budgets and continues to also create on a broader canvas.
AUTEUR THEORY EXPLAINED @WIKIPEDIAKhedira: "Playing for Juve is an honour"
DFB.de: You were at Real for a number of years. Did that make leaving easier or harder?
Khedira: The situation is similar to the one that faced me when I moved to Madrid. I don’t have much time to see the city but I’m looking forward to having a bit more freedom soon. The lads have given me a few tips already. It wasn’t too difficult to adapt to be honest – I already knew some of the guys and I played with Álvaro Morata at Real. There are plenty of parallels – the clubs are family oriented. Everyone helps each other, which I think helps contribute to success.
DFB.de: What are your first thoughts on Turin? And has settling in been easy?
Khedira: Juve is a fantastic club. There’s a lot of tradition here but also a promising future. They are among the best sides in Europe for a reason. I’m confident that we’ll be able to challenge for big titles here.
Sami Khedira: They’re both big clubs – just looking at past players and previous successes tells you that. Haller, Platini, Zidane, Nedved, Del Piero, Baggio and Pirlo have all been here. It’s an honour to be here. There are obviously some differences but they aren’t that big to be honest. It probably helps that I worked with Carlo Ancelotti in Madrid so I know how Italian coaches operate.
DFB.de: Mr. Khedira, what are the similarities and differences between Real Madrid and Juventus?
After five years with Real Madrid, World Cup winner Sami Khedira moved to Italy this summer to join Juventus. Having made his competitive debut for the club in the Champions League this week, he could feature in Serie A for the first time this evening (18:00 CEST). DFB.de spoke to the 28-year-old about leaving Spain, his new life in Italy and the future.
After five years with Real Madrid, World Cup winner Sami Khedira moved to Italy this summer to join Juventus. Having made his competitive debut for the club in the Champions League this week, he could feature in Serie A for the first time this evening (18:00 CEST). DFB.de spoke to the 28-year-old about leaving Spain, his new life in Italy and the future.
DFB.de: Mr. Khedira, what are the similarities and differences between Real Madrid and Juventus?
Sami Khedira: They’re both big clubs – just looking at past players and previous successes tells you that. Haller, Platini, Zidane, Nedved, Del Piero, Baggio and Pirlo have all been here. It’s an honour to be here. There are obviously some differences but they aren’t that big to be honest. It probably helps that I worked with Carlo Ancelotti in Madrid so I know how Italian coaches operate.
DFB.de: Why did you choose to join Juve?
Khedira: Juve is a fantastic club. There’s a lot of tradition here but also a promising future. They are among the best sides in Europe for a reason. I’m confident that we’ll be able to challenge for big titles here.
DFB.de: What are your first thoughts on Turin? And has settling in been easy?
Khedira: The situation is similar to the one that faced me when I moved to Madrid. I don’t have much time to see the city but I’m looking forward to having a bit more freedom soon. The lads have given me a few tips already. It wasn’t too difficult to adapt to be honest – I already knew some of the guys and I played with Álvaro Morata at Real. There are plenty of parallels – the clubs are family oriented. Everyone helps each other, which I think helps contribute to success.
DFB.de: You were at Real for a number of years. Did that make leaving easier or harder?
Khedira: Moving on is never easy, but at least the decision was in my own hands. Whilst I was injured I gave my future a lot of thought and I decided that I wanted to try something new as it would be good for me as a player, but also as a person. I wanted a new challenge.
DFB.de: How will you remember your time in Madrid?
Khedira: Obviously the titles will stay with me but I think I’ll remember the people the most. It was great to get know new people at the club but also away from it. I was able to life a different sort of life there and I’m happy that I was able to experience it.
DFB.de: And how will they remember you?
Khedira: As a professional and fair player. I liked it when I was called a Madridista – it made it feel like I belonged there. I was there for five years and it was a great time. Real Madrid will always have a place in my heart.
DFB.de: In terms of the national team, have things got trick |
in December. The couple had two young children and an older daughter, Cate, a lawyer, who accompanied Mr. Edwards to court. Mr. Edwards was released without having to post bail, but was ordered to turn in his passport and to avoid talking with potential witnesses.
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The indictment contends that Mr. Edwards and his co-conspirators solicited $725,000 from Rachel Mellon, the 100-year-old heiress to the Mellon banking fortune, and $200,000 from Fred Baron, Mr. Edwards’s campaign finance chairman.
The money, the indictment said, was used to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter, a campaign videographer with whom he had a child, and to pay for her prenatal medical expenses, travel and accommodations.
The fact that Mr. Edwards tried to cover up his affair is not at issue. The Justice Department says that those contributions from two wealthy patrons were campaign donations and therefore subject to federal campaign finance laws that set limits on the amounts that can be donated and received, and require public reporting. Those two donations were well in excess of the limit of $2,300 that an individual can give.
The indictment says the money was actually used for campaign purposes: If the public knew that he was having an affair, his campaign would have been over. (It was over anyway in January 2008, before he confessed to the affair in August, after he lost too many primaries to Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. But it might have imploded even earlier if the affair had been known.)
“Mr. Edwards is alleged to have accepted more than $900,000 in an effort to conceal from the public facts that he believed would harm his candidacy,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer said in a statement. “As this indictment shows, we will not permit candidates for high office to abuse their special ability to access the coffers of their political supporters to circumvent our election laws.”
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The Edwards defense is that the money was used not for political reasons but for personal reasons: he wanted to conceal the affair from his wife.
The Edwards legal team, headed by Gregory B. Craig, who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment proceedings, says the government is trying an untested theory and applying a too-broad definition of campaign contributions.
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Their decision to fight the charges reflects their view that the government’s case will not hold up in court. It also reflects the feeling by Mr. Edwards that no matter how much he has disgraced himself — by lying to his wife and the country about the affair, which wrecked his marriage and ended his political career — he does not want to be seen as a felon or lose his law license.
The defense team has already retained Scott E. Thomas, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, as an expert witness. In a statement, Mr. Thomas said the government was basing its case on a “novel and misguided theory” that had no precedent. He said he would not consider the payments in question to be campaign contributions or expenditures within the meaning of the campaign finance laws.
But the Justice Department said that the contribution limit “applies to anything of value provided for the purpose of influencing a federal election,” including contributions, expenditures and “payments for personal expenses of a candidate unless those payments would have been made irrespective of his/her candidacy.”
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The indictment included the transcript of a note that Mrs. Mellon sent to Andrew Young, a former aide to Mr. Edwards, in May 2007 — about the time that Mr. Edwards and Mr. Young were looking for ways to raise money to conceal the affair.
Mrs. Mellon said she had been “sitting alone in a grim mood — furious that the press attacked Senator Edwards on the price of a haircut. But it inspired me — from now on, all haircuts, etc., that are necessary and important for his campaign — please send the bills to me.... It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions.”
The money from his patrons, which was delivered through checks made out to a third party — one was stashed in a box of chocolates — paid for Ms. Hunter to live in various hotels and in gated communities in North Carolina and California. She was often in the company of Mr. Young, who claimed paternity of the child to protect Mr. Edwards.
While some legal experts questioned the validity of the government’s case, saying it was applying an overly broad definition of campaign contributions, others say it is important that candidates take campaign finance law seriously.
“The alleged payments of ‘hush money’ raise the specter of political influence-peddling in the form of ‘gifts’ to candidates in high-stakes campaigns,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center. Not to pursue them, she said, would set a dangerous precedent.Some say that love’s a little boy. Some say it’s a bird. Some say it makes the world go round—so mused a long dead poet. In Delhi, he would have without doubt heard some say that love is Lodi Gardens.
On a weekday afternoon, the park’s long, circular jogging track is empty. So are the green benches. The expansive lawn seems abandoned. But love is everywhere—in mausoleums, under a bridge, on a rock. On the rampart of Sikander Lodi’s tomb too. The wall spans out in a series of recessed arches; each has a Juliet and her Romeo. There flashes a wooing arm, a soft kiss.
Every move of these lovers is public; it’s on the Internet too. A short documentary on YouTube, titled Sexuality in India: Why People Hide In Lodi Garden, shows a pair kissing near a tea vendor.
Early this month, a Hindu nationalist outfit in Uttar Pradesh threatened to forcibly marry couples caught celebrating the “foreign festival" of Valentine’s Day. The organization is reported to have said: “India is a country where all 365 days are days for love, why then must couples observe only 14 February as Valentine’s Day? We are not against love. But if a couple is in love, then they must get married..."
They may not have intended it, but the first half of the utterance does hold true for Lodi Gardens and, as a recent Love Maps project on Google Maps started by Mumbai-based photographer and curator Anusha Yadav reveals, other Indian cities, too. Yadav, inspired by a friend’s birthday gift, created a map for New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, and asked people to pin down the place in their city where they fell in love. Since mid-January, when the maps went live, several people across the country have entered their names, often more than once. The project, says Yadav, is an “attempt to strip away different narratives about the city, leaving only love, the most primal emotion".
In Lodi Gardens, it’s romance in all seasons, though summer is friendlier. In her essay Lodi Garden, published in the anthology City Improbable: Writings On Delhi, novelist Bulbul Sharma writes, “Winter afternoons which bring great crowds of people to Lodi Gardens cause great grief to the courting couples who long for the quiet, sultry days of summer when they can sit safely under the shade of the neem tree and whisper sweet nothings to each other, watched only by a sympathetic pair of cooing doves."
Sharma forgot about peeping Toms like me. Over the years, I have off and on interacted with the lovers in this central Delhi park. Most said they had chosen this place, far from their homes, in the hope that no acquaintance would see them together. At stake is their reputation, and that of their families.
Many of these couples are the children of first-generation migrants to the Capital. Their Delhi is the city that author Ranjana Sengupta sketched out in her 2008 book Delhi Metropolitan: The Making Of An Unlikely City. “Lodi Gardens are a rare bastion of liberality and tolerance, an oasis marked in the maps of Delhi’s lost lovers," Sengupta says. “It is a thin fig leaf perhaps but most of the VIPs who walk in the Gardens would not approve of the persecution, public shaming and exposure of the couples who congregate there. The police know this and hence they leave the lovers alone. The power walkers have power and influence and would stop any police brutality in its tracks, though the same individuals might be reactionary and intolerant otherwise in their lives. At least that is the perception."
Of course, lovers pervade every public park in the Capital that is not nestled within a residential locality. A stroll in the Buddha Jayanti Park near Dhaula Kuan revealed bolder expressions of intimacy than in Lodi Gardens.
In Lodi Gardens, you don’t have to be an anthropologist to spot the social disparity between the lovers and the regulars.
The latter include ministers, industrialists, bureaucrats, diplomats and columnists. They tread firmly on the soft earth; their outdoor gear would be eyed with admiration in the tony Khan Market nearby.
The lovers walk hesitantly. Their eyes dart around anxiously, like those of an unlicensed street-food vendor scanning for policemen. The girls are almost always in salwar-kameez suits. “Delhi’s young lovers who seek refuge in parks don’t have anywhere else to go, so they’re not young professionals with their own places," says Sengupta. “They’re on the margins of the middle classes or from towns in the suburbs, living with relatives or in crowded PGs, and can’t afford hotels or weekends away. They will not be clothed in frayed denim or GAP/Next/Zara/Benetton (original or knock-off). They lack the self-confident ethnicity of south Delhi/Noida/Gurgaon progeny. They’re neatly dressed—dressed for the office or the call centre or college, which is where their parents expect them to be. The parks are the only places they can go to be together and Lodi Gardens is the safest of all of them. If they are caught, they are not likely to say, “My father knows the police commissioner...’," she adds.
A teenaged couple sitting on the steps of Muhammad Shah Sayyid’s mausoleum in Lodi Gardens is overheard talking in Hindi.
Boy: You picked up a call from an unsaved number?
Girl: You are pagal (mad).
Boy: Tell me who it was.
Girl: You are making dahi out of my dimaag (you’re irritating me).
Close by, a woman in a black burqa and black leather overcoat is snapping at her boyfriend. He holds his ears, as if seeking pardon. She is not mollified.
The slope beside the Mughal-era Athpula stone bridge has as many couples as there are ducks in the pond below.
“Delhi doesn’t enable lovers," says Sengupta. “I can’t think of a city lower in the romance stakes, unless we’re looking at Jeddah or Tehran. The only space that remotely qualifies is Lodi Gardens, and that is more because of the oddities of the city’s various contradictory universes than any true sympathies for the needs of desperate lovers.
“It’s Lodi Gardens’ location at the very heart of Lutyens’ Delhi (and you could argue that it is the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi) that allows couples in search of privacy to conceal themselves undisturbed in bushes, undergrowth, and in the various passages and alcoves of the Lodi tombs. What the kings think about such acts taking place near the resting places of their now-powdery bones, I don’t know. But then what they think of the area surrounding their mausoleum becoming the favoured recreational space for the Capital’s elite is also unknown," says Sengupta.
Evening is setting in. The tombs and lawns in Delhi are gradually emptying of lovers. Lodi Gardens will soon be left alone in the dim glow of its lamp posts. The lovers in Mumbai, meanwhile, will wait for the moon to rise slightly higher.
Dhamini Ratnam contributed to this story.When we traveled to Ubisoft Montreal to see Assassin's Creed III for our cover story last February, the development team surprised us by saying the game was already in alpha stage. This means the game was feature-complete and fully playable a full nine months before release – not exactly a common occurrence in our industry, especially for an open-world game where the disparate feature sets often come together at the last minute. Given that one of the team's primary goals was quality, this aggressive schedule would seemingly provide them an unprecedented amount of time to debug. After playing the game for a handful of hours, it's clear Ubisoft Montreal's plan unraveled sometime between that visit and the launch of the game.
As Miller eloquently pointed out in his review of Assassin's Creed III, the game has a lot to offer. I've always enjoyed the historical settings, science fiction narrative, and satisfying hidden blade combat, and Assassin's Creed III builds on each of these pillars in meaningful ways. But even after downloading the major patch, the pervasive glitches and poor mission design have chipped away at these pillars to the point where they are starting to look unstable.
As The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption, and Assassin's Creed III prove, glitches are common in ambitious, sprawling games. Though they occasionally shatter the players' sense of immersion, strong story and gameplay can overcome these hiccups. Sloppy mission design, on the other hand, is much harder to survive, and Assassin's Creed III is littered with missions that could have benefited from more play testing.
On one mission early in the narrative, Samuel Adams said he was going to show me the underground passageways in Boston. I waited patiently for him to lead the way, but he never started moving. After restarting the mission and experiencing the same thing, I realized the game was telling me one thing and expecting me to do another. Despite Sam's claims to the contrary, I was supposed to find my own way to the marker on the map.
In another instance, I was riding on horseback with a famous revolutionary throughout the countryside to rally the patriots without alerting the redcoats. When I saw some British soldiers crossing a bridge, I veered into the wilderness to find a spot to ford the river. After wading into the water, the horse wouldn't go any further, presumably because the water was too deep. When I tried to turn around and get back to dry ground, the horse wouldn't budge. I eventually gave up and jumped off the horse. The steed worked his way to dry land on his own, but my revolutionary partner just stood there waist deep in water, showing no interest in joining us. Again, I restarted the mission. This time I successfully avoided the awkward fording, but when we were racing from settlement to settlement he would tell me to go one way while pointing in the opposite direction, instruct me to get off my horse then yell at me for doing so, and offer no helpful clues as to which house I was supposed to approach.
Help! I'm falling through the world!
These are just two of several examples that Game Informer editors have griped about the mornings after extended gameplay sessions. The questionable execution extends beyond mission design and into the basic gameplay and economic systems as well. From the confusing trade interface to a touchy interaction system that won't let me enter a building or start a mission if I'm too close or too far away from the objective point, rarely does an hour go by that doesn't have some sort of problem arise. Given more time, I feel like the talented team at Ubisoft Montreal would have fixed these issues.
When I experience pervasive issues like this, it makes me greatly appreciate publishers who embrace delays for the sake of releasing refined games. Take-Two continually maddens financial analysts when it postpones high profile games like Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, and BioShock, but the resulting games prove that giving the developers the time to get the games right pays off in the long run. Rather than rush Assassin's Creed III to retail for the holidays, Ubisoft should have recognized these problems and given the development team more time to work out the kinks. Most all of these issues would have been easily correctable with a bit more time, and it would have helped the team reach the quality goal it spoke of when we first met with them last February.
Putting out two games in a row that some perceive to be a drop in quality isn't a good way to keep fans coming back to an annualized franchise. Assassin's Creed has so much going for it, and Ubisoft needs to take better care in protecting the reputation of a franchise it has worked so hard to build. Though a delay may have hurt in the short term, the long-term benefits of releasing a series of high-quality games should be the overruling factor. The record pre-order numbers proved that people had high expectations for the game. Those fans would still be waiting eagerly a month or two later.Some senators are trying to push through a bill that would re-authorize the discriminatory housing policies implemented in Hawaii by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which provides special benefits for “Native Hawaiians.” Native Hawaiians are defined as “any descendant of not less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778.” According to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ website, this means “you must have a blood quantum of at least 50 percent Hawaiian.”
S.1352 has a seemingly innocuous provision, Section 503, which simply re-authorizes the Native Hawaiian Home-Ownership Act through 2018. You have to dig into the existing federal law to find out that, under 25 U.S.C. §4223(d), Hawaii is exempt from the nondiscrimination requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act when it is distributing federal housing funds made available by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to “Native Hawaiians” or “a Native Hawaiian family.”
This exemption means the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands can discriminate in favor of “Native Hawaiians” and a “Native Hawaiian family” and against others such as whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians. In other words, the federal government is authorizing Hawaii (and providing it with taxpayer funds) to engage in blatant discrimination by providing government benefits for some of its residents and denying federally funded benefits to others based solely on their ancestry and “blood quantum.”
The Equal Protection Clause of the post-Civil War 14th Amendment specifically was intended to stop laws that singled out Americans based on ancestry and blood quantum. Yet Hawaii, with the approval of the federal government, has engaged in such reprehensible conduct for years.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a highly critical report in 2005 saying that Hawaii was “in a league by itself” when it comes to officially sanctioned discriminatory conduct. As the Commission pointed out, Hawaii administers a huge public trust worth billions of dollars that provides “benefits exclusively for ethnic Hawaiians.” In discussing the proposed Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 (S.147), the commission recommended against “any other legislation that would discriminate on the basis of race or national origin and further subdivide the American people into discrete subgroups accorded varying degrees of privilege.”
S.1352 would re-authorize the Native Hawaiian Home-Ownership Act for another four years, specifically approving Hawaii’s official discrimination and exempting it from the requirements of the Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act. No federal funds of any kind should be distributed in a manner that directly authorizes discriminatory conduct against American citizens based on their ancestry, race, or “blood quantum,” an appalling legal concept that was used by slave-owning Southern states prior to the Civil War to determine the legal rights (or lack of rights) of its residents.
As we mark the 50th anniversary this year of the Civil Rights Act, nothing could be a greater betrayal of that law than to revoke its protections for many residents of Hawaii and exempt Hawaii’s state government from its mandate that all Americans be treated equally under the law.Tommy Dreamer has wrestled all over the world. Saturday night, he’s coming home to Philadelphia.
Tommy Dreamer makes sure to bring House of Hardcore to Philadelphia, where he became a star as a pro wrestler in ECW. PHOTO: TOMMY DREAMER
Tommy Dreamer has taken his baby all over the world.
Dreamer’s baby is his professional wrestling promotion, House of Hardcore, and it’s drawn big crowds everywhere.
He’s had sellouts in New York. He’s had packed houses in Cleveland, Texas, California and Canada. Earlier this summer, his troops went on a five-city tour of Australia, and every night the outfit drew an arena full of rabid fans.
They’ve been just about everywhere.
And on Saturday night, they’re coming home.
On Saturday night, Dreamer, whose birth name is Thomas Laughlin, will present House of Hardcore 33 at the 2300 Arena, formerly known as the ECW Arena at Swanson and Ritner streets.
“Thomas Laughlin was born in New York, but Tommy Dreamer was born in Philadelphia,” Dreamer said referring to his days as arguably the most beloved wrestler in the Philadelphia-based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling. “A lot of people think I’m from Philadelphia and I never say I’m not because Tommy Dreamer is.
“We don’t come to Philadelphia every month because every time we come there, I want it to be a special event. We go there as much as four times a year. That keeps it special.”
The last time Dreamer and his boys were in Philadelphia, it wasn’t just special. It was one of those events that had wrestling fans all over the world talking.
In April, Dreamer teamed with fellow former ECW wrestler Bubba Ray Dudley to meet the Hardy Boyz. This was particularly special because two weeks before the event, Matt and Jeff Hardy signed with World Wrestling Entertainment and won the promotion’s tag team championship at Wrestlemania.
Since then, the Hardys have wrestled on national television on Monday Night Raw, and their match in Philly gave fans a chance to give them a huge sendoff from House of Hardcore.
It also marked the end of a fun storyline between Dreamer and Matt Hardy, one that lasted nearly a year.
“Me and Matt Hardy were doing episodic television without television,” Dreamer said. “We knew the whole time that we wanted it to end with me and Bubba against Matt and Jeff. It had a lot of twists and turns, Matt started out as a (bad guy) persona and as things went on, it changed.
“I didn’t want House of Hardcore to be an ECW revival, but it had the same atmosphere. I want the fans to always have a memorable experience and that’s what happened.”
This time, the Hardys won’t be there. That means other wrestlers will get a chance to shine in their place.
Slated to appear on the show are Dreamer, Bubba (who goes by the name of Bully Ray), Sami Callihan and Jake Hager, who wrestled as Jack Swagger in WWE. Also on the card is Bobby Fish, who recently signed with WWE, and former NWA stars the Rock N’ Roll Express, who were put in the WWE Hall of Fame in April.
On the night before, Dreamer will bring HOH to Freehold, New Jersey, at iPlay America, 110 Schanck Road.
That will be headlined by former WWE star MVP vs. Hager vs. Dreamer, the Rock N’ Roll Express against former WWE stars the Spirit Squad and Bully Ray against Callihan.
“I want to have something for everyone, and if you’re going to see the Rock N’ Roll Express, you’re going to see them as the Rock N’ Roll Express,” Dreamer said. “We don’t put them in a position where they’re not the team that everyone remembers. We had Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat in Philly last time, and we didn’t put him in position where he wasn’t exactly what the fans remember.”
Watching stars of yesterday makes the fan in Dreamer happy.
Watching the stars of tomorrow makes him even happier.
Since starting House of Hardcore in 2002, Dreamer has watched 36 of his wrestlers go to WWE. For wrestlers, that’s the holy grail.
“You never want to lose them, but I’m not at the point where I have TV or I can offer these guys full-time work, and you love seeing people realize their dream,” said Dreamer, who has spent more than a decade in WWE. “At our last show, you had Tommy Dreamer, Bubba, Jeff and Matt Hardy and Christian watching the matches. The feedback these guys get, either right after they come to the back or two weeks later by a text, they’re learning. As a wrestler, that’s how you get better.”
Dreamer loves to see improvement in his wrestlers.
He also loves to see the fans having fun.
For the Philly show, Dreamer isn’t going to announce any matches before the event, but he does promise to give fans a fun night.
“The fans trust me and I wouldn’t betray that,” Dreamer said. “I would never lie to the fans. That’s the biggest thing I never want to do. I won’t do it. We did announce matches for the New Jersey show because it’s our first time in the market. But for the Arena show, I can tell you that the last time with me and Matt, it was the final chapter. This will be the first chapter in what’s next.”
On the morning of the show, the 2300 Arena will host “Icons of Wrestling,” which essentially is Comic Con for wrestling fans. Appearing at the convention will be Jerry “the King” Lawler, Jim Ross, King Kong Bundy and many others, including many stars from House of Hardcore.
The convention begins at 9 a.m. The House of Hardcore show begins at 8 p.m. ••
For tickets, visit Houseofhardore.net.Senrab F.C. is a Sunday League football team, based at Wanstead Flats[1] in the Forest Gate district of London, England.[2]
History [ edit ]
The club takes its name from Senrab Street in Stepney; the club's players trained at Marion Richardson School on Senrab Street (which is close to Barnes Street, and is 'Barnes' spelt backwards).[2]
The club was founded in 1961 by Jimmy Tindall (later a youth development officer for West Ham United), playing eight-a-side at first before progressing to 11-a-side within two years. The club had three 11-a-side teams to begin with, all playing in the Regent's Park League.[3] Tindall's recruitment policy was to pick up only the best young players, stipulating that to play for Senrab, a player must have previously played for his district or county.[3] In the early 1970s, so many Senrab players signed for Chelsea that former player Ray Lewington nicknamed Senrab "Chelsea Juniors".[3]
In 2014 Senrab have been shortlisted for the Daily Mirror Pride of Sport Awards in the Local Team of the Year Category.
Operation [ edit ]
Senrab operates 15 teams for age groups ranging from 5 to 17 years old.[2] The club has produced a great number of players who have gone on to have successful professional careers, including Sol Campbell,[4] Jermain Defoe, Ledley King and John Terry.[1][5][6]
A number of professional coaches have also started out at Senrab, most notably Dario Gradi,[1] who, until June 2007, was the longest-serving football manager in the Football League. In April 2011, former Senrab player John Terry donated an undisclosed sum to the club to keep it running.[7]
Former players [ edit ]
The following players and coaches have all gone on to play for or coach a professional football club after leaving Senrab FC.
Players [ edit ]
Coaches [ edit ]Get the biggest Manchester United FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Angel Di Maria insists he knows the importance of wearing Manchester United's iconic No.7 shirt because Cristiano Ronaldo has told him all about it.
The Argentinian winger, signed for £59.7m this week, will wear Ronaldo's old number at Old Trafford.
And the 26-year-old revealed he spoke to his former Real Madrid team-mate before making the switch to the Premier League.
Di Maria said: "I was aware of the importance of the No. 7 shirt. Cristiano Ronaldo had spoken to me at Real Madrid and told me how important it was.
"I wanted to wear this shirt and do as much for the club as Ronaldo and the others could do.
MORE:
"The club also wanted me to wear it so I want to live up to it."
Di Maria insists he was not put off joining United even though he won't play Champions League football this season.
And he insists he can help get the club back into Europe's top club competition.
He added: "I am very pleased to play for Manchester United, I like the Manchester United team and I wanted to come here even though they are not playing Champions League.
"I want to help the team win the Champions League or to get into the Champions League and I think I can help.
"I am very pleased the manager chose me to come to Manchester United."The online hacktivist Anonymous is planning to leak personal information of around 1000 members of the white supremacist Christian organization the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
Last year, anonymous gave a brutal response to Ku Klux Klan when they threatened the Ferguson protestors.
Many of KKK’s websites went offline; members were exposed (their identities were made public) and twitter accounts of many its members were hacked. Sensing the potential danger, many of the KKK’s members left the group and the group nearly dismantled.
The warfare didn’t end there; recently, an activist Conover Kennard (who owns the blog “FreakOutNation”) was defamed by one of the KKK’s members (Thomas Klan). Kennard was friends with one of the members of the Anonymous group, when he saw her friend humiliated, he planned for revenge and shut down several KKK and other racist sites. But, Thomas even after the attacks didn’t give up and continued humiliating her until his twitter account got suspended.
Now Kennard’s friend in Anonymous has announced that he will be exposing the identity of 1000 KKK’s members. Anonymous group recently hacked into one of the hate group’s account and from that they will be able to unmask 1000 members of KKK.
These identities will be revealed on a special occasion that is the anniversary of @OpKKK. The anniversary date is somewhere in November so KKK members could expect worse to come in November.
Here is a detailed press release from Anonymous:
In another press release, Anonymous warned if any attack of humiliation like the Kennard one is ever seen again it will lead to more attacks on the websites and anything promoted in relation to KKK’s group will also be taken down.
[q]KKK Should Expect Anonymous[/q]
“Anything you upload will be taken down, anything you use to promote the KKK will be shut down.” A statement from the group
The also had a special message for Klan:
“You messed with our family and now we will mess with yours…”
Here is a video on how Klan fallout after the #OpKKK:
[fullsquaread][/fullsquaread]As the ratification fight intensifies, we're watching closely as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) winds its way through national legislatures across the globe. So grab your popcorn, and let's take a look at where the TPP stands in each country yet to ratify.
United States
In addition to opposition from both major U.S. presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the TPP recently faced two significant setbacks as Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi came out against the deal and House Speaker Paul Ryan deemed it pointless to even bring it up during the Lame Duck session of Congress later this year.
However, President Obama is convinced he's "got the better argument," for this "political football" and is continuing to push hard for TPP ratification, as claims abound that a failure to do so could have costly consequences for the U.S. as a power in the Asian-Pacific region and in the eyes of its partners. He recently put Congress on notice that the TPP is coming, so it looks like we've a major fight ahead of us this fall.
Japan
The new minister of economy, trade and industry, Hiroshige Seko, has not been shy in openly admitting that he wants the TPP ratified as soon as possible and is crossing his fingers for the deal to go through in the U.S. before President Obama leaves office in January. Domestic firms are keen on this prospect, however, not everyone is on the same boat: the deal faces strong opposition in Japan's Tonoku region and from our Fair Deal partners at the Movement for the Internet Active Users.
Malaysia
It's the only country that has achieved parliamentary approval of the deal thus far, by a show of hands in the legislature only days after the signing of the TPP in February. If it's a race to ratification, Malaysia is in the lead — but this is one race nobody should want to win.
Vietnam
Not so fast! Before the TPP goes into force, Vietnam must change its labour protection laws upon request of the the Obama administration, which for Vietnam is a big commitment. Failure to do so may result in higher tariffs for Vietnam, which is a little ironic, considering one of the supposed selling points of the TPP is reducing tariffs between countries. How likely is Vietnam to change its provisions and the U.S. to enforce it? Experts are skeptical, judging by both countries' rather unimpressive track records.
Singapore
Singapore has (unsurprisingly) urged the U.S. to maintain its pro-TPP stance (because, well, without the U.S. there’s no TPP) and equally, the U.S. regards Singapore as a "rock solid partner" (touché!). Why so much woo for the deal from this nation? Singapore heavily relies on international trade to thrive economically, as exemplified by their successful bilateral deal with the U.S. which earned both nations a cool couple of billion. Also, Singapore is a strong supporter of the U.S. role in Asia's security and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has raised a red flag over damage to the U.S.-Japan relationship if the deal were to fail.
Brunei
Well, they signed in February and since then things have been rather quiet at this end of the table.
Australia
Malcolm Turnbull’s government is known to be a strong supporter of the TPP. However, the Government's Productivity Commission just released its Trade and Assistance review for 2014/2015 in which they raised serious concerns about the TPP’s provisions related to copyright and the (terrifying) Investors-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism. Additionally, Australia's opposition party, Labor, has put its foot down and come out firmly against ISDS clauses. So it looks like the government faces an uphill fight if it's to ram the TPP through.
New Zealand
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This is where the deal was signed on February 4, in the midst of mass protests in downtown Auckland. Unlike a vast majority of American media that has voiced its skepticism on Obama getting the deal through Congress before he leaves, political experts in New Zealand believe there is still plenty of chance for it to go through before then. Why? Because U.S. political analysts have hinted that it could be introduced to Senate and pass with a slim majority. Political experts in this nation are also skeptical on whether Clinton will turn the tables (once again) on the TPP were she to be elected. The speculation continues (sigh
Canada
The rising unpopularity of the deal in Canada may be paving the road to the TPP’s tomb north of the U.S. border. As promised, the government has tasked a cross-party parliamentary committee with hosting a series of nationwide public consultations (check out our reports from Vancouver and Toronto) where people have voiced their concerns and made it clear how disappointed they are in the lack of consultation prior to, or during, the TPP negotiations.
Additionally, the public input submissions for the Standing Committee on International Trade have been extended until the end of October this year. However, Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland has said "there is no rush to ratify the TPP" quoting the fact that no other country has ratified yet (she might have missed Malaysia!) and that we have until 2018 to do so. So we might as well just continue to slowly, but painfully rip off the band aid until then right?
If you're in Canada, make sure to voice your concerns using our Let's Talk TPP tool!
Mexico
The Mexican senate has begun reviewing the TPP, and expect to have an answer regarding ratification by the end of the year. However, once again, the U.S. presidential elections will have a major role on Mexico's next move -- for instance, Trump will not only reject the TPP but has also said he will annul NAFTA and even build a wall on the Mexican border. We remain doubtful that will encourage goodwill in Mexico.
Chile
As of August 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had yet to set a date for when it will submit the treaty for parliamentary discussion. Again, its ratification is all dependent on the outcome in the U.S. Some people, like ex-U.S. ambassador to Chile, Gabriel Guerra Mondragón, have deemed the deal dead in the land of the free. However, an advocacy group called "Chile mejor sin el TPP" (Chile better off without the TPP), which has been quite vocal in its opposition to the deal since the beginning, has recently flagged Clinton's and Trump's anti-TPP stances as mere political strategy. And our valiant allies at Derechos Digitales are continuing to push hard for Chile to reject this reckless deal.
Peru
Peru recently submitted the TPP to the Congress for approval on July 21 and its Prime Minister, Pedro Cateriano, has claimed that the deal is supposedly key to the development of the country. The newly elected president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, said he will sign the deal once it’s been approved by Congress, which could tentatively happen by the end of the year. So it looks like Peru is ready to dive in, head first.
A New Player?
The Philippines has shown interest in the joining the deal and recently held an informal conversation with (you guessed right!) the U.S. But similarly to Vietnam |
by sea. A small number of cars were also completed on the East Coast of the US by Ed Hugus in Pennsylvania, including the first production car; CSX2001.
The first 75 Cobra Mk1 models (including the prototype) were fitted with the 260 cu in (4.3 L).[9] The remaining 51 Mk1 models were fitted with a larger version of the Windsor Ford engine, the 289 cu in (4.7 L) V8.
In late 1962 Alan Turner, AC's chief engineer completed a major design change of the car's front end to accommodate rack and pinion steering while still using transverse leaf spring suspension. The new car entered production in early 1963 and was designated Mark II. The steering rack was borrowed from the MGB while the new steering column came from the VW Beetle. About 528 Mark II Cobras were produced in the summer of 1965 (the last US-bound Mark II was produced in November 1964).
European model [ edit ]
(COB/COX 6001–6062)
In 1963 to keep production focused on producing cars for Shelby American Inc., the Ruddspeed Ace was discontinued. To supply cars to the European market, AC began to market and sell the Cobra in Europe. Advertisements from the time state that the Cobra was designed to meet the requirements of Shelby American Inc.
390 Big Block Cobra [ edit ]
Shelby experimented with a larger Ford FE engine, of 390 cubic inches (6.4 L) in chassis number CSX2196. Unfortunately the car was not able to receive the development it needed, as resources were aimed at taking the crown from Ferrari in the GT class. Ken Miles drove and raced the FE-powered Mark II at Sebring and pronounced the car virtually undriveable, naming it "The Turd". It failed to finish with the engine expiring due to damper failure.
CSX2196 was revised for the show down at Nassau which allowed a more relaxed class division of racing. This allowed the GT cobras to run with prototype Ford GT, GM Grand Sport Corvettes and Lola Mk.6. It was for this event in 1964 that the Fliptop cobra was used. An aluminium 390 cubic inches (6.4 L) engine was used. However, the car failed to finish.
Cobra 427 [ edit ]
Shelby Cobra 427 classic blue with white stripes
A new chassis was required, developed, and designated Mark III. The new car was designed in cooperation with Ford in Detroit. A new chassis was built using 4 in (101.6 mm) main chassis tubes, up from 3 in (76.2 mm) and coil spring suspension all around. The new car also had wide fenders and a larger radiator opening. It was powered by the "side oiler" Ford 427 cu in (7.0 L) FE engine equipped with a single 4-barrel 780 CFM Holley carburetor rated at 425 bhp (431 PS; 317 kW) @ 6000 rpm and 480 lb⋅ft (651 N⋅m) @ 3700 rpm of torque,[10] which provided a top speed of 164 mph (264 km/h) in the standard model and 485 bhp (492 PS; 362 kW) with a top speed of 185 mph (298 km/h) in the competition model.
COMPETITION MODELS
(CSX/CSB 3001–3100)
Cobra Mark III production began on 1 January 1965; two prototypes had been sent to the United States in October 1964. Cars were sent to the US as unpainted rolling chassis, and they were finished in Shelby's workshop.
Unfortunately, The MK III missed homologation for the 1965 racing season and was not raced by the Shelby team. Only 56 of the 100 planned cars were produced. Of those, 31 unsold competition models were detuned and fitted with windscreens for street use. Called S/C for semi-competition, an original example can currently sell for 1.5 million USD, making it one of the most valuable Cobra variants.[11]
PRODUCTION MODELS
(CSX/CSB 3101–3360)
Some Cobra 427s were actually fitted with Ford's 428 cubic inches (7.01 L) engine, a long stroke, smaller bore, lower cost engine, intended for road use rather than racing. The AC Cobra was a financial failure that led Ford and Carroll Shelby to discontinue importing cars from England in 1967.
AC 289 Sports [ edit ]
(COB/COX 6101–6132)
AC Cars kept producing the coil-spring AC Roadster with narrow fenders and a small block Ford 289. It was built and sold in Europe until late 1969.
Packages [ edit ]
DRAGON SNAKE
Shelby offered a drag package, known as the Dragon Snake, which won several NHRA National events with Bruce Larson or Ed Hedrick at the wheel of CSX2093.[12]
Only Six 289 Dragon Snake Cobras were produced by the factory. 2019, 2357 as factory team cars. 2248, 2416, 2427, 2472 as private team cars.
One 427 Dragon Snake, 3198.
Cobras were also prepared by customers using the drag package. Examples include: 2075, 2093, 2109, 2353, and 3159 "King Cobra."
SLALOM SNAKE
Designed for auto-cross events, only two examples were produced. Both had white exterior paint (with red racing strings) and red leather interiors.
CSX2522 "Slalom Special"
CSX2537 "Slalom Snake"
Equipped almost identically to CSX2522, this second example had aluminum valve covers, a tuned air cleaner, a Smiths heater, seat belts, front and rear brake cooling ducts, a hood scoop, brake cooling scoops, side exhausts and a painted roll bar (2522’s roll bar was chromed). Suspension options included Koni shock absorbers, front and rear anti-sway bars, unpolished six-inch magnesium pin-drive wheels, and Goodyear Blue Streak Sports Car Special tires.
SUPER SNAKE
In 1966, CSX 3015 S/C was selected and converted into a special model called the Supersnake the "Cobra to End All Cobras." Originally part of a European promotional tour before its conversion. This conversion called for making the original racing model street legal with mufflers, a windshield and bumpers amongst other modifications. But some things were not modified, including the racing rear end, brakes and headers. The most notable modification is the addition of Twin Paxton Superchargers, TPS.
Shelby crafted a second model, CSX 3303, from a street version. CSX 3303 was given to comedian Bill Cosby, his close friend. When Cosby attempted to drive CSX3303, he found that it was very difficult to keep under control; he later recounted the experience on his 1968 stand-up comedy album 200 M.P.H.. Cosby gave the car back to Shelby, who then shipped it out to one of his company's dealers in San Francisco, S&C Ford on Van Ness Avenue. S&C Ford then sold it to customer Tony Maxey. Maxey, suffering the same issues as Cosby did with the car, had his throttle stick while leaving a traffic stop, lost control and drove it off a cliff, landing in the Pacific Ocean waters.[13]
Shelby used his CSX 3015 as a personal car over the years, sometimes entering it into local races like the Turismos Visitadores Cannonball-Run race in Nevada, where he was "waking [up] whole towns, blowing out windows, throwing belts and catching fire a couple of times, but finishing."[14] CSX3015 was auctioned on 22 January 2007, at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $5 million plus commission (£2.8 million), a record for a vehicle made in the U.S.[15][16]
Adaptations [ edit ]
(CF/CFX 01-80)
AC also produced the AC 428 Frua on a stretched Cobra 427 MK III coil spring chassis. The steel body was designed and built by Pietro Frua until 1973.
(EF/EFX 501–508)
The American Electric Car Company used an even further modified chassis for their vehicles.
GHIA SPYDER[17]
(CSX 5001–5002)
One 96-inch prototype chassis (CSX 3063) was shipped to GHIA in Italy in 1965 for a body styling exercise. This vehicle was first displayed during a European car show with a Cobra license tag. An article about the car was written up in the Winter 65/66 edition of "Style Quarterly" magazine. Shelby American internal production records show that the car was shipped to Shelby American for Evaluation and review. AC Cars Ltd internal production records show that Shelby American placed an order for two 96-inch chassis (CSX 5001–5002) in 1966. AC labeled these chassis as "GHIA CONVERTIBLE" in their factory ledger.
FORD XD COBRA[18]
(CSX 3001)
Shelby American internal production records show that the car was shipped to Shelby American for evaluation and review in early 1966. The vehicle was returned to Ford and now resides in the Detroit Historical Museum.
AutoKraft [ edit ]
By 1982, the AC name was licensed by Autokraft, a Cobra parts reseller and replica car manufacturing company owned by Brian A. Angliss. Autokraft also had acquired the company's tooling.
Autokraft manufactured an AC 289 continuation car called the Autokraft Mk IV, basically a Mk III with a 302 cubic inches (4.95 L) Ford V8 and Borg Warner T5 Transmission. The Mk IV also received an independent suspension.
In 1986, Autokraft (as a joint venture with Ford joining in 1987) purchased AC Cars, and produced the AC Mk IV Cobra, with a 250 hp (186 kW) at 4,200 rpm, 4,942 cc Ford V8, which provided a top speed of 215 km/h (134 mph) and 0–100 km/h in 5.2 seconds.
At the 1990 Geneva Salon the Lightweight version was presented: weight was down to 1,070 kg (2,360 lb) (compared to 1,190 kg or 2,620 lb) and power was up to 370 hp (276 kW) at 5,750 rpm thanks to alloy heads, a Holley four-barrel carburettor, and no catalytic converter.[19] While the Lightweight did not meet US federal regulations, the Mk IV did, and 480 cars of all versions were built until 1996.
AC Car Group [ edit ]
In 1996 the company was purchased by Pride Automotive. Two new 'Cobra' style cars were launched in 1997, the 'Superblower', an aluminium-bodied car with a supercharged 4,942cc Ford V8 providing 320 bhp and the cheaper 'Carbon Road Series' (CRS) with a carbonfibre body and a 225 bhp version of the Ford V8 engine. 22 Superblowers and 37 CRSs were built between 1997 and 2001.
In 1999, a limited edition run of 25 289 FIA Cobras were planned. Only 1 example was manufacturered, chassis number COB 1001.
A further variant, 'the 212 S/C' with a 3506 cc 350 hp twin-turbocharged Lotus V8 engine was introduced in 2000, but only two examples were built.
In 2001, the company relocated its factory to Frimley, Surrey. By August 2002, the company was in a financial low and briefly acquired by Private Corp, who closed operations in October 2003. Only two models were produced, a FIA 289 (COX 2610), and a 427 Cobra (COX 3361). The cars were intended to be sold in the US market, through a new company, AC Cars USA, in Florida. Both cars were numbered following where the original ledger entries left off during the 1960s.
AC Motor Holdings Ltd [ edit ]
On July 8, 2002, a new company was formed in Malta named AC Motor Holdings and was responsible for the branding of the company.
In late 2003, the Frimley factory was under the control of AC Motor Holdings.
On December 4, 2003, Shelby and AC announced a co-production of the CSX1000 and CSX 7500 series. Only 14 CSX1000, and 2 CSX 7500 cars were built by 2007.
Between 2004 and 2007, AC Motor Holdings produced the AC Mk V in their Malta factory. However, only 3 right-hand drive and 2 left-hand drive carbon-fibre AC Mk Vs powered by 340 bhp 5-litre Ford V8 engines were built before the Maltese operation closed.
Acedes Holdings Llc [ edit ]
On April 20, 2008, AC announced its Heritage Series, the UK operations were granted to Brooklands Motor Company, dba AC Heritage. The US operations were granted to AC AutoKraft, Llc, of Michigan.
Both companies are licensed to produce traditional aluminum-body models: Ruddspeed, 289, and 427 continuation Aces and Cobras.
In 2009, AC licensed Gullwing GmbH in Germany, dba AC-Automotive, to produce the AC MK VI, with an aluminium coated composite body and powered by a 6.2-litre 440 hp LS3 Chevrolet engine, or a 550 hp supercharged version.
In 2012, the AC Mrk II Classic was released. Available in either aluminum or fiberglass bodies.
In 2017, the AC Mrk1 260 Legacy edition was released in a limited production of nine cars. Also released was the AC 378 a newer composite body version of the Cobra.
Shelby Daytona Coupé [ edit ]
In an effort to improve top speed along the legendary Mulsanne Straight at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, a number of enclosed, coupe variations were constructed using the leafspring chassis and running gear of the AC/Shelby Cobra Mark II. The most famous and numerous of these were the official works Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupes. Six were constructed, each being subtly different from the rest.
AC Cars also produced a Le Mans coupé. The car was a one-off and was nearly destroyed after a high-speed tire blow-out at the 1964 Le Mans race. The car was qualified conservatively second in GT. The race started well with the AC, chassis number A98, maintaining its position in the top two in GT and even leading the class for a time. This was not to last as an act of sabotage (newspaper in the fuel tank) began to block the fuel filter. The car lost time until this was diagnosed and cleaned out.[citation needed] The car proceeded on at the predetermined conservative lap time and for the next stint remained trouble free. The car was able to match the Shelby Daytona's speed despite running a higher differential ratio (2.88 instead of 3.07) and a lower state of engine tune for reliability (355 hp instead of the Daytona's 385 hp).
The Willment race team became interested in Shelby's Cobra-based coupe and inquired on purchasing one. Shelby turned down the offer, but supplied the drawings to Willment. Dubbed the Willment Cobra Coupe, this car was fully built by the JWA racing team and numbered 2131 on the frame.
427 Super Coupes [ edit ]
A prototype (CSX 3027) was to become 427 Coupe, but since the focus was shifted towards the GT program, this project received little attention. The bodywork and chassis were soon scrapped.[20]
Two further chassis were ordered number CSX 3054 and CSX 3055. This project was also abandoned with just CSX 3054 receiving a body. CSX 3055 was sold to the Willment Race Team and was fitted with a Fiat body designed by Ghia.
1965 Willment/Ghia Coupe (CSX3055)
Counterfeit Cobras [ edit ]
In 1993 the Los Angeles Times exposed a Carroll Shelby scheme[21] to "Counterfeit" his own cars. With the price of an original 427 c.i. Cobra skyrocketing, Shelby had, by his own written declaration executed under penalty of perjury, caused the California Department of Motor Vehicles (the government agency responsible for titling vehicles and issuing operator permits) to utter forty-three "Duplicate Titles" for vehicles that did not officially exist in company records. A letter from AC Cars confirmed the fact that the chassis numbers Shelby had obtained titles for were never manufactured, at least by AC Cars. Only fifty-five 427 c.i. Cobras had been originally produced out of a block of serial numbers reserved for 100 vehicles. Shelby had taken advantage of a loophole in the California system that allowed one to obtain a duplicate title for a vehicle with only a written declaration, without the vehicle identification number appearing in the DMV's database or the declarant ever presenting an actual vehicle for inspection.[22] Shelby admitted that the chassis had been manufactured in 1991 and '92 by McCluskey Ltd, an engineering firm in Torrance, California, and were not original AC chassis,[22] however Shelby denied having misled anyone and said he was a victim of a campaign by Brian Angliss, a British competitor, who was building a Cobra replica and wished to enhance his sales by smearing Shelby's car.[22]
Continuation Cars [ edit ]
50th-anniversary Cobra Limited Edition CSX8000
Since the late 1980s onwards, various companies have built what are known in the hobby as "Continuation Cars".
Shelby authorized continuations of the original AC-built Cobra series. Produced in Las Vegas, Nevada, these cars retain the general style and appearance of their original 1960s ancestors, but are fitted with modern amenities. Initially the car everyone[who?] wanted in a Continuation was a 427 S/C model which was represented in the CSX4000 series. This was meant to continue where the last 427 S/C production left off, at approximately serial number CSX3660 in the 1960s.
The initial CSX4000 series cars were completed from the chassis built by McCluskey Ltd as well as other new parts and reconditioned Ford engines. Given the value of the vehicle many "extra" cars have appeared over the years, even some sharing the same chassis number. Gradually as the vintage parts supply ran low, newly constructed frames and body panels were obtained from a variety of suppliers. The production of chassis numbers CSX4001 to CSX4999 took roughly 20 years and many different business relationships to complete.
In 2009, CSX4999 was produced, concluding the 4000 series. Production has continued with the CSX6000 serial numbers, featuring "coil over" suspension.
The 289 FIA "leaf spring" race version of the car is reproduced as CSX7000, and the original "slab side" leaf spring street car is the CSX8000 series. The Daytona Coupe is reproduced as the CSX 9000 series.
To date most continuations are produced in fiberglass, with some ordering cars with aluminium or carbon-fibre bodywork.
In 2004, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford unveiled a concept for a modernized AC Cobra. The Ford Shelby Cobra Concept was a continuation of Ford's effort to bring back the retro sports cars that had been successful in the 1960s, including the Ford GT40 and the fifth generation Ford Mustang.
In 2014 Shelby American announced a limited edition production of 50 cars for the 50th anniversary of the original 427 Shelby Cobra.[2][23]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Zdravko and Zoran Mamic, Dinamo’s chief executive and manager, face tax evasion and bribery charges but are still controlling the club as they await trial
For the Mamic brothers, Zdravko and Zoran, the Dinamo Zagreb chief executive and manager respectively, the team’s Champions League campaign began in a jail cell.
The pair were bailed from Zagreb’s Remetinec prison only on the afternoon of Wednesday 15 July and they hurried to the Maksimir Stadion in time to see Dinamo take on Fola Esch from Luxembourg in the first-leg of the second qualifying round.
The brothers had spent 11 nights in the jail after their arrest on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion and bribery, which relate to their alleged siphoning of funds from big-money transfers to overseas clubs – the biggest of which was Luka Modric’s £16.6m move to Tottenham Hotspur in 2008.
The Mamics and Damir Vrbanovic, the Croatian football federation executive president who was previously one of Dinamo’s key employees, are alleged to have taken at least £11.1m, together with a further £1.1m in unpaid taxes, which it is claimed they got with the help of a corrupt taxman. Vrbanovic, who has reportedly denied the charges, and the tax inspector, who has not said anything, were also arrested and jailed.
Modric and others have been dragged into the scandal, according to reports in Croatia, with the midfielder, now of Real Madrid, having been called to give his testimony.
It is the incredible story that has Croatia in thrall, has cast a dark shadow over Dinamo – firing anger, loathing and boycotts among a section of their supporters – and provides the backdrop to their opening Champions League Group F tie against Arsenal at the Maksimir on Wednesday.
“It’s difficult to say which has been my favourite group stage qualification,” Zdravko Mamic told Vecernji List, one of Croatia’s major daily newspapers, on 27 August, after Dinamo’s play-off win over Skenderbeu Korce of Albania. “But maybe it is this one because it’s our latest and it was won in circumstances that were the hardest. They were almost impossible for us.
“We survived many imputations and attempts to destabilise the club. I don’t remember anyone, in any walk of life, achieving a similar success in such a bad environment.”
The Mamic brothers were arrested on 4 July, when they crossed into Croatia from Slovenia, where Dinamo had held their pre-season training camp. Police had searched offices at the club and the Croatia football federation, along with the brothers’ homes.
The authorities wanted to remand them in custody for a month and the brothers’ initial plea for bail was rejected. But they appealed and won. Zdravko had to pay £700,000 and Zoran £380,000 while Vrbanovic paid £83,000. The investigation is ongoing – no date has been set for their trial – and the brothers have, more or less, carried on as normal.
They made it to the Maksimir in time for the kick-off against Fola Esch, although Zoran sat in the directors’ box rather than on the bench, having designated control of the team to his assistants, Damir Krznar and Igor Cvitanovic. He did reportedly give the pre-match and half-time team-talks.
When the Mamic brothers arrived at the stadium it was the prompt for thousands of Dinamo’s Bad Blue Boys to leave. The supporters’ group have been locked in a long-running feud with the brothers as they feel that Zdravko in particular has taken the club from them and turned it into his family business.
Zdravko does not own Dinamo, which is set up as a citizens’ association, but he has total control. The Bad Blues Boys, who have been in exile, have disputed the way that he runs things and want the right to vote in leadership elections, but he has outmanoeuvred them.
The Mamics were in jail when Dinamo kicked off the league season at home to Hajduk Split on 12 July, and so the Bad Blue Boys made their return; the Maksimir rocked to a passionate beat during the 1-1 draw. The crowds have generally been low, although Arsenal’s visit ought to buck the trend. There was disgust among the Bad Blue Boys, however, when the Mamics turned up against Fola Esch – they had not known that they would be released.
At the stadium Zdravko, in characteristically outgoing fashion, said: “If Daddy had been at the stadium against Hajduk we would have beaten them by five goals.” Zdravko is known, in some quarters, as Daddy because, well, he is The Daddy.
Those who champion him see a shrewd entrepreneur; an iron-fisted negotiator with remarkable connections to the police, judiciary, media and politics, who has built Dinamo into perennial league champions. They have won the title in each of the past 10 seasons and are currently top of the table, with five wins and four draws from their opening nine fixtures. Zdravko is generally considered to be the most powerful man in Croatian football.
His enemies, though, speak of an aggressive and vulgar bully who is obsessed by personal financial gain. His exacting standards and hair-trigger temper have seen him sack a host of managers during his tenure, which began in 2003, before he turned to Zoran in August 2013, initially on an interim basis and, from October of that year, as the permanent manager.
Zoran, who had no previous coaching experience, enjoyed two spells as a player at Dinamo – at the beginning and end of a decent career which saw him capped by Croatia; he was in the World Cup squad that finished third at France 98, although he did not play a minute of the tournament.
He played for Dinamo against Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League play-off, however, which Arsenal won – the only previous meeting between the teams. After his retirement in 2007 he was appointed as Dinamo’s sporting director and he has been at the club ever since. He has combined the job of first-team manager with his director’s role.
The brothers are hell-bent on proving their innocence, with Zdravko having dismissed the charges as “absolutely pointless and constructed”, as well as claiming they were politically motivated.
The prosecution, though, will attempt to prove that they devised schemes to draw money out of the club through the sale of players such as Modric and Dejan Lovren, who moved to Lyon in 2009 and is now at Liverpool.
The Arsenal game seems like a high-profile distraction. The trial, whenever it happens, promises to be explosive.James Madison (1751-1836) was an American political theorist, Secretary of State in Jefferson’s administration, and the 4th U.S. President. Madison is considered the Father of the U.S. Constitution. He collaborated with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton to create the Federalist Papers which would support the Constitution. During the Constitution ratification process, Madison supported the idea of a strong national government, but later he changed his attitude and thought that State governments should be stronger. Madison was the author of many laws.
James Madison Quotes
The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse. — James Madison
Stability in government is essential to national character and to the advantages annexed to it, as well as to that repose and confidence in the minds of the people, which are among the chief blessings of civil society. — James Madison
I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents… — James Madison
An armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics — that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe… — James Madison
Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace. — James Madison
In framing a government, which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself. — James Madison
Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant. — James Madison
Congress shall never disarm any citizen unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion. — James Madison
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. — James Madison, In a speech at the Virginia Convention, 1788
It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood. — James Madison, The Federalist No. 62
I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. — James Madison
Whenever there is an interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done and not less readily by a powerful and interested Party, than by a prince. — James Madisonby
Andrew Murray’s position as both a senior UNITE official and major figure in Corbyn’s election campaign team makes him one of the most influential figures in Labour politics today. Much of Murray’s philosophy and analysis is based on an analysis of class politics, however, David Pavett finds this to have little, true, substance.
Shortly after the 2017 election, Andrew Murray wrote a piece for Labour List — Unite: How do we build on Labour’s election results? Not by misunderstanding our position with working class voters. In this article Murray sought to correct what he considers mistaken views on the electoral behaviour of working class voters. He repeatedly uses the terms “working class” and “middle class” vote but never tells us what they mean to him. Is a university-educated computer hardware trouble-shooter less a member of the working class than a car repair man/woman? There is no way of knowing from what Andrew Murray writes. All the same, it is probably safe to assume that when he says “working class” we should read “traditional working class”.
If that is right then it has to be recognised that the working class so defined has been in significant decline for decades as is reflected in the changing structure of the UK work force. It would therefore be demographically surprising if this did not show itself in a declining support for a party traditionally supported by a majority of this group. Trying to wave that away with references to the unanalysed total votes in various constituencies is very unconvincing. What were the demographic changes in those constituencies over the period considered? We are not told.
This all betrays either deep confusion or the selection of data to prove a pre-determined conclusion.
There may be more detailed analyses of the constituencies mentioned – I don’t know – but such analyses would be required before coming to the conclusions that Andrew Murray reaches. What we do have is various analysis of the national vote from organisations like YouGov which do not seem to support his conclusions.
For example Andrew Murray doesn’t consider the stunningly linear relationship between age and support for Labour/Conservative. The graphs are well known by now and show a cross-over from Labour to Conservative at the age of 47. Even more telling is the correlation between educational level and party support. The YouGov analysis showed the following:
Education Level Labour Conservative Low (GCSE or below) 33 55 Medium 39 45 High (degree or above) 49 32
My feeling is that the inability to take in the changing structure of the working population i.e. the fetishisation of the “traditional working class” tells us more about the fossilised basis of Andrew Murray’s analysis than it does about what is going on with the British electorate and what is the way forward for Labour.
Andrew Murray says of the constituencies he discusses “They all have one thing in common, however: Labour’s candidates secured the highest votes, and the highest share of the vote, since 2005, often since 2001 and in some cases since 1997. That is – more working-class voters turned out for Corbyn’s Labour than for Miliband’s, Brown’s or latter-day Blair’s”. But without analysis of the structure of the working population and its relationship to the vote in those constituencies he has no basis for this claim.
It is almost certainly right, without over-estimating the effect of education, to assume that a greater percentage of the working population (and those closely connected to it) need to be presented with rational and factual arguments and that traditional loyalties count for less then ever before. If that is right then we have to say that winning the next election is not a matter of ‘one more push’ but of (1) filling in the gaping holes in Labour’s policies, (2) moving beyond Labour’s ambiguities over Brexit, and (3) presenting clear arguments to the elderly as to why voting Labour is in their best interests. This process needs to involve the active membership of the Labour Party so that those most likely to do the campaigning work understand the policies advocated and is motivated to present them at every opportunity.
P.S. Andrew Murray refers to “actual irrefutable evidence of votes cast” but gives no indication of what this “irrefutable evidence” actually is. Given that his notion of the “working class” appears to be what is often referred to as the “traditional working class” I think that the evidence that we have so far is strongly against him. Thus the Ipsos-Mori analysis concluded
“The middle classes swung to Labour, while working classes swung to the Conservatives – each party achieving record scores.
Although the Conservatives maintained a six-point lead among ABC1s, Labour increased its vote share among this group by 12 points since 2015. Similarly, while Labour had a four-point lead among C2DEs, and increased its vote share among this group, this was eclipsed by the 12-point increase for the Conservatives. This is simultaneously Labour’s best score among ABC1s going back to 1979, and the Conservatives’ best score among C2DEs since then.”
Andrew Murray’s analysis may seem at first to be plausible but on a closer look I think that it turns out to have little substance.
David Pavett, July 2017
The above text is a lightly modified version of a response to Andrew Murray which I put on the LabourList website shortly after his article appeared.Things are getting a little bit ugly in San Francisco.
A Google bus that was transporting employees out of the city to the company's headquarters in Mountain View was halted by protestors today.
A Google employee posted this photo from inside his bus:
And a reporter posted this photo from outside the bus:
Joe Fitz says he's going to have video of the protests soon.
Some residents in San Francisco are upset with the wealth of Google employees, which is making housing prices unaffordable for many and altering the city in ways that people don't like. For more, see this: How Google's Buses Are Ruining San Francisco.
We fist saw this via Danny Sullivan's Twitter account.
Here are some more photos:
Here's the leaflet that's getting handed out:
And here's a Googler tweeting from inside the bus:Back in 1992, a young Mary J. Blige asked, “What’s the 411?,” with her debut album. Now, 24 years later, Blige is ready to get answers with her show The 411 on Apple Music. In the teaser trailer released on Twitter Monday evening, Blige, wearing her interviewing glasses, sits across from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for a one-on-one. From the video, it’s unclear what exactly Blige will be asking Clinton, or how Clinton will answer, but we do get to see Blige serenading the politician and holding her hand as HRC silently delivers her Between Two Ferns side-eye. Here’s hoping it’s just an act and Clinton sings her response right back and we finally get the musical interview America deserves. The 411 will debut on Apple Music on September 30.British politics is slipping into ‘culture wars’ which cut across social class and traditional party lines, according to a new study on the Brexit vote.
A report from the National Centre for Social Research found that the UK is beginning to emulate US politics, which has been gripped by culture wars since the early 1990s, according to sociologist James Davison Hunter, who coined the phrase.
The new report, ‘Understanding the Leave Vote,’ argues that the referendum campaign exposed the extent of the cultural divide in British society over issues such as immigration.
Leave voters cited the following issues as important in deciding how to vote in the EU referendum: the economy (21 percent), immigration (20 percent) and sovereignty/EU bureaucracy (17 percent).
The report found that 88 percent of those who thought immigration was the biggest issue voted Leave, and 90 percent of those chose sovereignty.
Report author Kirby Swales claims the ‘left behind’ voters were not the only people who backed the Leave campaign at the ballot box.
Affluent Euroskeptics with anti-immigration and anti-welfare views and older working class voters also played a role.
“The EU referendum was highly divisive, highlighting a wide range of social, geographical and other differences in Great Britain. This was less a traditional left-right battle, and more about identity and values. It is a strong sign that the so-called ‘culture wars’ of the US have arrived in Great Britain in earnest,” the report says.
"We've won the battle but not the war" say protesters gathered outside Houses of Parliament to demand a hard #Brexitpic.twitter.com/Hs5Jpey17M — RT UK (@RTUKnews) November 24, 2016
Media influence appears to have played an important role, with voters more likely to “follow the position” of the newspaper they read than the political party they identified with.
For example, 70 percent of Sun and Express readers voted Leave, while just 9 percent of Guardian readers chose Brexit.
In a sign of Britain’s fragmented political landscape, 53 percent of those on the right and 50 percent of those on the left voted Leave.
“This suggests that this debate might be increasingly decided by views on acceptable social behaviour and moral fairness, rather than redistribution and the role of the state,” said the report.
Among Remain voters, the economy was considered the most important factor. Some 21 percent cited economic reasons, while 20 percent mentioned immigration.Today, you should be |
’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort are also likely to appear for closed-door interviews with committee staffers, according to a source close to the committee. Manafort met with Senate investigators in July to discuss a 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer organized by Trump Jr., but his interview included a commitment to return to discuss other topics, the source said.
Story Continued Below
The House and Senate Intelligence committees are both investigating Russia’s election meddling, including the possibility of collusion with the Trump campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller is also investigating the issue, and FBI agents working under Mueller last month raided the Virginia home of Manafort, who formerly chaired the Trump campaign.
Over the August congressional recess, the Senate Intelligence panel has been receiving documents on a “daily basis” as part of its investigation, the source said. The panel is preparing to hold a number of closed-door interviews with high-profile members of the Trump campaign.
The panel could also hold public hearings this fall, the source said.
Cohen has been in the spotlight this week following new revelations about his outreach to Russian officials for help with a proposal for a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Cohen said in a statement to congressional investigators that the proposal never went anywhere and was abandoned in January 2016, as Trump was campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.
Cohen is a longtime lawyer for the Trump Orgaization and other Trump companies. In the past, he also has acted as a spokesman for Trump.You never like to hear news like this. Former Pittsburgh Steelers guard Chris Kemoeatu has had to deal with some serious medical problems since he left the league. Kemoeatu was forced to retire from the sport early due to an ongoing kidney problem. In 2011, his health got so bad, that he was forced into retirement, and needed a kidney transplant.
His brother and fellow NFL player Ma’ake voluntarily left the NFL in 2014 to be his brother’s donor. The transplant was a success, and both are doing well, but as with any donor or recepient they will be on medication for the rest of their lives.
The bad news in this story is that Kemoeatu is now claiming that the numerous anti-inflammatory injections he received over the course of his career made his condition significantly worse. According to his attorney Michael Green, he is going to “sue everybody in sight who had anything to do with injecting this kid young man, knowing he was in danger to begin with”, and that includes the Steelers.
News like this is awful, and just shows the dark side of the NFL and how far players and teams will go to win. These guys put their bodies through things normal folks would never consider, and a story like this really illustrates just how bad things can get. There’s no doubt that Kemoeatu was away this could be a problem, but the pressure to play had to be tremendous, even in light of potential health problems.The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has issued an update to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) to provide greater clarity on requirements.
As widely expected, one of the few changes in PCI DSS version 3.2 is the requirement of multifactor authentication for administrators accessing the cardholder data environment, even from within the company’s own network.
Previously, the standard called for the use of multifactor authentication only for remote access to the cardholder data environment from untrusted networks.
To prepare for this change, the PCI Council said organisations should review how they are currently managing authentication into their cardholder data environment, and review the current administrator roles and access to identify where changes to authentication may likely be affected by the new requirement.
PCI DSS version 3.2 also introduces a requirement for services providers to:
Detect and report on failures of critical security control systems;
Maintain a documented description of the cryptographic architecture;
Change control processes to include verification of PCI DSS requirements affected by a change;
Perform penetration testing on segmentation controls at least every six months, rather than annually;
Establish responsibilities for the protection of cardholder data and a PCI DSS compliance programme;
Perform reviews at least quarterly, to confirm personnel are following security policies and operational procedures.
All other changes in version 3.2 are clarifications or additional guidance.
Although the new version replaces version 3.1, which expires on 31 October 2016, the Security Standards Council, which administers the PCI DSS, said companies that accept, process or receive payments should adopt it as soon as possible to prevent, detect and respond to cyber attacks that could lead to breaches.Japan is famous for its variety of intriguing Kit Kat flavors, and the opening of a new Kit Kat Chocolatory store is the perfect opportunity to introduce a weird and wonderful new Kit Kat treat! Kit Kat Chocolatory is a Kit Kat specialty shop under the complete supervision of Takagi Yasumasa, the owner and chef of Le Patissier Takagi. Nestlé Japan are opening the first Kit Kat Chocolatory stand-alone store in Ginza on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 1:30 pm, and three varieties of the world's first Kit Kat sushi will be available as a limited edition gift to celebrate this momentous occasion!
Since it first opened in January 2014, the Kit Kat specialty store Kit Kat Chocolatory has proved incredibly popular, and a total of over 1.5 million customers have visited the store so far. Under the complete supervision of top patissier Takagi Yasumasa, the store continues to deliver innovative products through the use of carefully selected ingredients and the introduction of brand new manufacturing methods.
Kit Kat Chocolatory celebrates its fourth anniversary this year, and there are now nine stores across Japan. The Ginza store that opens on Thursday, Feb. 2 is the first Kit Kat Chocolatory stand-alone store. Ginza is Tokyo's top luxury shopping district, and it welcomes crowds of shoppers from both inside and outside Japan. The Ginza store will treat customers to a new and extravagant Chocolatory experience that can only be found in a boutique store like this. The store's first campaign runs from Thursday, Feb. 2 to Tuesday, Feb. 14, and the first 500 customers to spend over ¥3,000 (including tax) in the Ginza Chocolatory store will receive three bars of the world's first sushi Kit Kats. The gifts will be spread out throughout the campaign, so the first few customers to arrive each day during the campaign will receive a gift.
The "sushi rice" is actually puffed rice carefully molded into the shape of sushi rice by a chocolatier, and the three Kit Kat flavors are each selected to resemble a different sushi. But don't worry - although they might look like sushi, they don't really taste like sushi! Raspberry flavor Kit Kats are used to create the maguro (tuna) Kit Kat sushi, while the uni (sea urchin) sushi features Hokkaido melon and mascarpone cheese Kit Kats, and the tamago (egg) Kit Kat sushi is made using pumpkin pudding flavor Kit Kats. These unique and luxurious treats combine the classic crunchiness of Kit Kat with the texture of puffed rice coated with white chocolate couverture, rounded off with a hint of wasabi powder. They come packaged in bamboo skin just like the real thing, so why not have fun picking them up with your fingers and eating them like the real thing, too?! Nestlé Japan introduced "Kit Kat Sushi" as a joke on April Fools' Day last year, but the response was so huge that it's become part of the special Kit Kat break time experience offered by Kit Kat Chocolatory.NEW YORK: The New York Mets’ radio flagship, 710 WOR-AM/New York, announced today that, it will re-air the entire radio broadcast of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox, as a prelude to a Memorial Day weekend-long tribute at Citi Field to the 1986 Championship team.
The special presentation will air on Thursday, May 26, and begin at 6:00pm ET with a 60-minute preshow hosted by WOR’s “Sports Zone” host Pete McCarthy, with contributions from Mets broadcasters Howie Rose, Josh Lewin, and Wayne Randazzo. The show will feature interviews with members of the 1986 Mets “Dream Team” Mookie Wilson, Ray Knight, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling, as well as Gary Thorne, who along with Bob Murphy did the play-by-play for the 1986 radio broadcast.
Then at 7:00pm ET, WOR will unlock the vaults to let listeners relive the night when the Mets’ World Series fortunes turned around in dramatic fashion. After a special introduction from the current voice of the Mets, Howie Rose, listeners will be treated to every call from the late, great Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy and Gary Thorne…just as they were heard almost 30 years ago.
"We all know how the game turned out, and we've all heard Bob Murphy's epic call countless times; but to get the full flavor of one of the greatest moments in Mets history you really need to listen from start to finish,” said Howie Rose. “Allow yourself to escape to a moment in time when every pitch and every play would define the Mets season, providing proper context to a comeback that somehow seems even harder to believe today than it did thirty years ago,” Rose added.
Mets fans will also be able to hear all the special commemorative festivities from Citi Field on WOR over Memorial Day weekend, as the station will carry the entire 1986 30th Anniversary Ceremony on Saturday May 28th beginning at 6:05pm with an extended Mets Pregame Show.
Additionally, all fans in attendance at the May 27 game will receive a 1986 replica jersey, and the first 15,000 fans to arrive at the May 29 game will receive a 1986 championship replica ring. Tickets are available at mets.com/1986.
As the flagship radio station of the New York Mets, WOR is New York's oldest radio station and one of the country's top rated talk stations. Founded in 1922, it was one of the first radio stations in America to use directional antenna to increase the scope and range of its broadcast, and is one of the best radio broadcast signals in the U.S.(CNN) When Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin of Temecula, California, was killed in an ISIS rocket attack in Iraq on March 19, the Pentagon announced the attack happened at a location called "Fire Base Bell." Now just days later that location has quietly been renamed -- with no public announcement.
The fire base is now called the "Kara Soar Counter Fire Complex."
The change is to make clear the base is only conducting defensive missions, one defense official said.
A fire base is generally defined as a small military area where troops fire artillery in support of advancing troops. But defense officials have repeatedly told CNN the artillery guns at the base are firing both defensive shells against ISIS attacks and planning to fire in support of Iraqi forces conducting offensive operations.
The Pentagon had been questioned by reporters if the fire base was opening the door to ground combat operations. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff insisted that was not the case.
Read MoreIn February to March, I did some micro-experiments on myself to try to find the best sleep schedule for myself with a goal of maximizing my productivity for the rest of the day. I tried four experiments, each lasting about a week (except the last one, which I’m still following). I made sure I was consistent throughout each experiment and made rule I followed the rules and tracked my sleep with the Sleep Cycle app.
For each experiment, I explain what it was and what the rules were, what the average sleep quality % was, and a subjective rating of my day productivity (1–10, 10 being highest).
1. Sleep less
Intuitively, I tried to maximize the number of hours I was awake. I tried sleeping five hours a night from 1am to 6am. That did not go very well. I woke up groggy and was too tired to work during the day. Coffee is what kept me alive for the most apart.
Sleep quality: 52%
Day Productivity: 5
2. Sleep less with aid
Next, I tried five hours of sleep but with 5mg melatonin every other night. Melatonin is a chemical that your brain releases that makes you fall asleep. In theory, it would kick me into deep sleep within a few minutes. But my hope were not to fall asleep fast, but rather to sleep better. It was better, but still not good enough. I was still groggy in the morning on occasion and sometimes experienced mild headaches during the day — which, I tell you, is not fun.
Sleep quality: 56%
Day Productivity: 5
3. No screen rule
After that, I tried the “no screens one hour before bed” rule. It was a hard experiment, mostly because almost everything I do is on my laptop (or my phone). My sleep productivity increased almost instantly. I started falling asleep almost as soon as I turned the lights off. Sleep Cycle app shows a 20% jump in my sleep quality even though I slept an average six hours a night. My days are also pleasant and I get work done without any headaches.
Sleep quality: 68%
Day Productivity: 7
4. Sleep early
Lastly, I tried to shift my sleep significantly. Instead of going to bed between midnight and 1am, I now go to bed between 9:30pm and 10:30pm and wake up between 5am and 6am. Now, on average, I’m getting about eight hours of sleep and the sleep quality has improved. I do not feel groggy, and I find that my productivity has increased significantly in the morning now. Those three or four hours of early morning when no one is moving and there are no disturbances, is my most productive time of the day now. And it’s wonderful!
Sleep quality: 79%
Day Productivity: 9
I encourage you to try these too and find what your best sleep schedule is. Let me know what your results are.Luckily for the fragile US economy, both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain have pledged to stay out of the Federal Reserve's way and, for the most part, leave the economy to the economists.
In fact, the two politicians seem rather pleased with the Fed's performance as of late. They both:
praise and support Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke
back the Fed's moves to rescue Bear Stearns from bankruptcy and to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
say the Fed's approach to interest rates would change little with a new administration
will avoid meddling in interest-rate decisions
Still, whichever candidate is elected President will have a profound impact on the Fed's direction. The next President will appoint three of seven Fed governors immediately due to vacancies. Obama or McCain will also decide whether or not to nominate Bernanke for a second 4-year term, starting in 2010. Neither candidate, as of now, appears likely to fire the Fed chairman.
See Also:
Obama Presidency Good For Google (GOOG), McCain Good For AT&T (T) (GOOG, T)
Obama, McCain: Let the Search For the Next US Treasury Secretary BeginA Lizard Squad teenager won't spend any time in the slammer despite admitting to a Finnish court that he compromised 50,700 systems in a long career of computer crime. He also pleaded guilty to other cyber misdeeds.
Julius "zeekill" Kivimaki, 17, received a two-year suspended prison sentence, and will have his internet activity monitored by the cops, according to newspaper Kaleva (in Finnish).
Lizard Squad is best known for launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live services in the run-up to Christmas last year, before cynically launching a DDoS-for-hire service called LizardStresser days afterwards.
Kivimaki played a key part in these offences, not least by acting as a Lizard Squad spokesman in on-air interviews about the attack with Sky News.
The group's attack infrastructure was put together using thousands of hacked home internet routers.
Finnish cops cuffed Kivimaki in late 2014, and charged him with a variety of offences, including network security breaches, payment fraud, and harassment. ®Overview
The news broke in October that CCP had selected Aria Systems’ active monetization platform for Valkyrie, launching in 2016. The Aria platform boasts a powerful array of monetization features and, in keeping with CCP’s ethos, it is a system which is designed for the future and unlimited growth. Valkyrie’s launch will benefit from all of the features and services that Aria offers. This will be rolled out across the entire games portfolio. Cloud based billing is something new for CCP, much as VR is a new field for them too. Valkyrie has so far seen glowing previews across the industry, including here on CZ by Danikov. The Oculus launch price has seen some criticism from many media outlets and gamers, but CCP is set to profit well from the launch with Oculus. Valkyrie will also be available on the Playstation VR when released. With CCP gearing up with big plans for growth in 2016, what does this mean for CCP and the community?
What is Aria Systems’ Active Monetization?
Reading the press release is probably not something many of you will do, so I have taken the parts that I feel are most important:
“Aria Systems, which helps enterprises grow recurring revenue, today announced that CCP Games, a leading independent game developer, has chosen Aria’s monetization platform to gain business agility and accelerate product launch time for new game releases.
The Icelandic video game producer, best known for producing EVE Online and its pioneering virtual reality games, performed a comprehensive review of cloud-based billing solutions before choosing to adopt the Aria platform to monetize their entire portfolio of games. The first game to use Aria’s monetization platform will be EVE: Valkyrie, when it is launched in 2016.
‘We are in a highly competitive industry and Aria will help us forge close relationships with our players, ensuring accurate billing and enabling us the agility to launch new games more quickly,’ said Höskuldur Sigurðarson, Senior Producer at CCP Games.
‘We expect that the partnership with Aria will enable ongoing innovation as we add to our product portfolio,’ continued Sigurðarson. ‘As a technology company ourselves, we understand the importance of software that offers resilience and flexibility with growth.’”
CCP Games Selects Aria Systems’ Active Monetization Platform – 20th October 2015
Although this press release is directly relating to Valkyrie, it does mention that CCP will use Aria to monetize their entire portfolio. On review of the features of Aria Systems it looks like the perfect platform for Valkyrie when you consider the game will be a new product. The Aria monetization platform comes with powerful options of how to handle payments across all platforms, including cloud-based technology. This requires no coding, can be done fast and efficiently, and will enable CCP to continue as a developer.
“With Aria you can monetize anything and everything, from content to APIs, QR codes to creative services, publishing to social media apps, cars to fleet usage, and MRI machines to PaaS and IaaS offerings. Aria makes it easy to monetize any type of content, product, service, device, software, XaaS platform, IoT service, and more.
Aria will allow you to define your product or service, the monetization or pricing model, price points, relevant promotions, and payment methods. Decide which currencies, geographies, channels, partners, and sites customers can use to obtain your offerings. With Aria it’s easy to define, manage, and iterate these critical elements to meet your business goals and revenue objectives. Create separate offers by region, define pricing in one currency and settle in another. Offer promotions and discounts by account, geography, number, time, product and more.”
– Aria: “Unlimited Monetization”
What does this mean for CCP Games?
If Aria is as powerful as they boast, CCP will be able to integrate all their payment gateways into one. CCP’s target market could easily be anyone, anywhere, at any time of the day, using any number of different platforms and currencies. The ability to manage all of CCP’s payments under one system is clearly something CCP evaluated when they selected Aria Systems. We already understand monthly subscription fees, and have an active Aurum market in EVE Online for ship SKINs and vanity items. These markets are active in both ISK and AUR. When the Skillpoint Extractors (SPE) make it into the game, what would be the best pricing model to use? Currently, we have only a few options open to us, but with Aria, this changes drastically.
What kind of in-game purchases might a player make inside Valkyrie? Almost any feature can be monetized into microtransactions (£1-9 range) but given how much the Oculus pre-orders cost, could this be an entirely different, far more affluent customer that CCP is targeting?
Having played @EVEValkyrie, a lot, I agree! – This is why people will pay $1,500 for an Oculus Rift and the PC… https://t.co/PbC48MTIEo — Hilmar Veigar (@HilmarVeigar) January 7, 2016
These in-game transactions could be activating a ‘premium’ account, buying ship skins, buying new mission campaigns, or cash-only items. Who wouldn’t pay to have Morgan Freeman’s voice for their ship’s computer? Aria could manage all this for CCP and more. Anything CCP can make can be monetized. Could this have been related to the delay in the new EVE store?
Microtransactions are most likely to be the model of Valkyrie, and Aria has the power to do this for CCP, freeing up more time to create more asset rich environments. Höskuldur Sigurðarson is quoted in the press release that Aria is “enabling us the agility to launch new games more quickly”, which is not reassuring for our hopes that more developer time can be dedicated to CCP’s current games.
Managing payments from global customers on different platforms can now be done easier for CCP in a cloud environment. This can only improve what CCP can offer its players. Höskuldur Sigurðarson has said that Aria will help in “ensuring accurate billing” which could mean cross game, multi-platform themed events and promotions. They will most definitely be turning any success from Valkyrie into developing more games it seems.
In November CCP announced it had raised $30mil to bolster VR development efforts. Part of this deal included adding major shareholders to the company, and members to the board of directors. Then in December 2015 CCP announced Maria Sayans had joined the team as the recently created Chief Customer Officer. There are a few vacancies currently posted on the CCP jobsite, including two for Senior Producers. They are identical in description except for their locations; both are new roles with the intent of building a team to deliver a high quality game.
Expect more job opportunities posted this year.
What does it mean for the future?
We already have a legacy monthly subscription game EVE Online. We have the free-to-play Dust 514, and Valkyrie is coming very soon. It is very wise of CCP to choose this path of launching Valkyrie with Aria Systems. Valkyrie presents a platform to test out Aria, and we can only hope that CCP will continue to learn lessons along the way. There are not enough space monuments in EVE Online ready for the player outrage of microtransactions and not enough players on Dust 514. The game really does need to be ported from the PS3 to continue supporting its players. #PortDust514
If microtransactions work for Valkyrie, could they work in EVE Online? Would you pay £5 to activate your super character subscription for 48hrs to defend your capital then let it go – or extend to a full month? That could work, but paying for new modules and refitting your ship in space, creating a pay-to-win scenario, is probably never going to be accepted by EVE online players. Can you imagine someone paying to remove their weapons refitting timer immediately?
The long standing players in EVE Online are now adults, many with enough in-game income to not need to pay for a subscription any more. These players are probably active in the PLEX market and use that to subsidize their ISK instead of grinding for it. They most likely have a job. Maybe 1.5 kids. They probably only play for a few hours at a time instead of all day. How CCP makes money from these players is with vanity market items and Aurum sales. Soon it will be from the sale of Skillpoint Extractors, which have no indication of being cheap (or any price for that matter so far). It will at least involve some of your real life wallet in order to get these items and you will probably be able to buy them in bulk as well.
Players will have to accept, that features of Aria will be used in EVE Online, and not necessarily always for true microtransactions. Using Aria Systems, CCP could sell something like a new cosmetic item for your CQ, or the new SPE. It could do so much more than just that and tie in-game events together across each of their products under one cloud-billing system.
Microtransactions are tiny, and should only be of a trivial nature in the universe of EVE Online. The SKINs when bought with Aurum in EVE are not microtransactions. What would £3.00 really buy you in EVE Online? Practically nothing for a developed player. Would it be so bad to pay £3.00 and have that ship SKIN right now, instead of an unbalanced Aurum/ISK calculation?
Always providing value for customers is the target. It is not uncommon for games to include microtransactions as a revenue stream. Valkyrie is the right platform for CCP to add this to their portfolio of revenue streams, and it will eventually help improve EVE Online.
To some players in EVE Online, microtransactions are a genuine concern. The majority of players are more than happy with additional charged features as long as it is not pay-to-win, has no in-game advantage, and is purely cosmetic. As a long time player I have seen many changes over the years in PLEX and timecodes. I was here for monocle-gate. I have seen all iterations of the changing ship SKIN market, and the addition of the New Eden Store. What CCP can charge players for on top of our subscription now has grown into a successful ancillary revenue stream. CCP have always weathered the storm and reacted to their community. I do not think this will be any different. They will have to be careful with how they choose to approach their pricing in this new game, as positive reviews are clearly coming from many interested parties, and not just EVE players.
Conclusion
The future of New Eden as we know it is changing. CCP are making large steps in bold directions. Content in-game is picking up pace. In-game events and null sov changes, skillpoint trading, and Citadel plans are all in action to hugely change the landscape. CCP are developing for the future, and this new partnership with Aria powering some of their revenue stream can bring many benefits.
The innovative nature of CCP and the power of Aria can lead your imagination into some interesting places. CCP’s entire portfolio of games will eventually use Aria according to the press release, but this is not a dev blog. Aria will launch with Valkyrie in 2016, and no official statement has been made by CCP as of yet. The powerful features of Aria go far beyond just microtransactions, and CCP can benefit from many of these features when used across all of their products. Even your monthly sub might be handled by Aria.
Perhaps microtransactions will come eventually, but this is news about growth and the future for all of us, players and company. As of now, this does not affect EVE Online. CCP is firmly focused on all of its products, and work continues on EVE Online as well as other brand-new products. EVE Online will always be the flagship of CCP, and they realise that the community are ambassadors of the game. EVE is not dying and CCP continues to look ahead, this new investment in the Aria System platform is part of the future to come.Relatives and friends of murdered environmental campaigner Berta Caceres, who accuse authorities of not sufficiently investigating her death, demonstrate in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa in June 2017
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Tegucigalpa (AFP)
Honduran authorities on Monday arrested two policemen who allegedly tried to cover up the trail to those behind the 2016 murder of prominent environmental campaigner Berta Caceres, prosecutors said.
The officers, Juan Carlos Cruz and Miguel Arcangel Rosales, "are accused of the crime of tampering with evidence and presenting false evidence to divert the investigation," prosecutor's office spokesman Yuri Mora told AFP.
The two allegedly altered reports and recordings to cover for Caceres' killers. Murdered in her home in March 2016, Caceres was the head of an indigenous rights group trying to stop the construction of a hydro-electric dam on indigenous land.
The two policemen arrested on Monday had tried to make her killing look like a robbery or domestic dispute.
Eight people are in custody over the crime, including a manager at Desarrollos Energeticos, the company that was building the dam.
Their detention has been backed by "scientific proof" based on analysis of the gun believed to have been used to kill Caceres, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Caceres' family and the COPINH indigenous group she represented accuse Honduran authorities of not adequately investigating her murder, by avoiding a probe into the suspected wealthy masterminds of the crime.
© 2017 AFPAre humans really naturally attracted to red?
Olga Ekaterincheva/iStockphoto
Thankfully, it’s not 50 shades of gray—at least, not until well after menopause—but the human vulva does come in different shades of pink. This color has hundreds of officially-recognized variations, and I suppose a busy gynecologist or promiscuous lover might eventually stumble upon a smoky mauve specimen, or one that’s watermelon or even salsa. But according to a recent study by the anthropologists Sarah Johns, Lucy Hargrave, and Nicholas Newton-Fisher of the University of Kent, the traditional view of how this natural color gradient inspires lust in males of the species—namely, the redder the better—is deeply flawed.
Their research, published earlier this month in the journal PLoS ONE, tested a theory of preferred labial hue that’s known as the “sexually salient hypothesis.” According to many evolutionary biologists—and perhaps some makeup and costume designers, too—men find the color red especially stimulating, as it reminds them on some deep and species-wide level of the way that a woman’s genitals might become flushed at the moment of maximum sexual receptivity, perhaps just in advance of ovulation. Among many Old World primate species, the brightly-colored anogenital swellings of females serve as blinking marquees that signal peak fertility, and while such swellings may have deflated over evolutionary time in our own species—just imagine how difficult it would be to fit into a pair of tight-fitting jeans with your bottom erupting every so often like a baboon’s rump—scientists have proposed that the effects of seeing red still linger in the brain of modern man. As far back as 1966, the pioneering sexologists William Masters and Virginia Johnson noted the existence of “red-light” districts, red Valentine’s Day cards, red lingerie, red lipstick and rouge, and wondered if the appeal of the color red in the human sexual response might be a consequence of the concealed ovulation (and, more often than not, the concealed labia) of human females.
The male preference for the color red is, indeed, a robust and demonstrable effect: Across cultures, men find women more attractive when they are bedecked in red or appear against a red backdrop, sometimes without even being aware of their bias. But there’s (at least) one problem with this axiomatic account—namely, that no one had ever bothered to examine the male reaction to actual red genitalia. This was a peculiar oversight. Given that the sexually salient hypothesis rests on the assumption that red clothes and makeup are proxies for a real-life, engorged vulva, one might expect to see a preference for the supposedly receptive thing itself. Having identified this gap in our understanding, Johns and her colleagues decided to test this idea using heterosexual male college students. When presented with vulvae of different colors—nothing carnivalesque, mind you, just a few on the naturalistic spectrum of pinkish-reds—which one would they find most attractive?
The experiment may sound straightforward enough, but testing the sexually salient hypothesis under laboratory conditions proved more difficult than the researchers had anticipated. First, there was the issue of acquiring suitable images of vulvae for evaluation. A proper scientist can’t just trot out a line of willing ladies brandishing labia in a bouquet of genital pinks for visual inspection. Such research demands attention to the small detail of “experimental control,” which in this case meant a series of carefully selected, close-up photographs of representative pudenda. The use of such images allowed the investigators to rule out differences in vulva morphology, of which there is actually considerable (and understudied) variation. Yet the authors inform us that even these photos were hard to come by: “Explicit images of anatomically normal, un-retouched, non-pornographic, similarly oriented female genitals were surprisingly difficult to obtain.”
Eventually, they came across a website with the stated mission of “providing information about the female body … celebrating its beauty with pictures of the clitoris, vulva, labia and vagina”—a scientific treasure trove, to be sure. From its wide selection of user-submitted images, the researchers identified four special vulvae that met their criteria—essentially, these organs weren’t scabrous, pierced, tattooed, or in the process of being invaded by some plying appendage. The pubic region also had to be shaved, enabling a clear view and assessment of its precise genital pinkness.
Once these four key images had been chosen, and the investigators given email approval from the models for the use of their copyrighted “girls,” each one was digitally retouched to generate a set of ostensibly realistic vulval shades: pale pink, light pink, dark pink, and red. (You can scroll down to Figure 1 of the journal article to see how this color manipulation appeared. Perhaps I’m wrong, but to my untrained, homosexual eyes, the colors do indeed appear to capture a natural-looking variation—though the red does look a bit raw and painful.) That left the investigators with 16 pictures in all: four different vulvae, each rendered in four distinct shades of pinkish-red. Potential male subjects for the study were first “warned of the graphic nature of the vulva images before participating”—and yet, wouldn’t you know, every single one of these brave young men decided to proceed with the testing. They were also checked for relevant visual problems. It’s unclear how a scarlet vulva would appear to a man with red-green color blindness, for instance, but better safe than sorry.
The 40 men who passed screening were allowed to advance through the 16 photos at their own slow and steady pace, rating each vulva shown on a sliding scale from 0 (unattractive) to 100 (attractive). The results—I know you’ve been dying to hear them—came out against the sexually salient hypothesis. The men showed no particular fancy for darker shades of pink; in fact, they found all the standard pinks to be equally attractive—with an average score of about 40—while the red vulvae were less appealing to a statistically significant degree, scoring a mean attractiveness value of just 35.
What might explain this slight aversion to red genitals? It’s possible that the darkest shade simply looked more artificial than the other colors. There’s also a rather odd contradictory caveat written in the original article: The authors of the study claim to have used “colors within the normal range expected for human genitalia,” (and they mention having a certified nurse midwife and clinical specialist sign off on the colors for her professional opinion). But then they claim that they were never trying to capture the male response to a “natural variation in vulval morphology or color.” Instead, they were interested in whether the male bias for the color red applies in the general context of female genitalia. As a result of this peculiar hedge, it’s fair to wonder what might happen if one of the shades happened to fall near the very edge of the presumed “normal range.” It’s easy enough to imagine Mother Nature despoiling our body parts with a palette of yellow, green, and purple disease, so perhaps the men would have an aversion to exotic colors independent of everything else. After all, red, inflamed genitals might be symptomatic of sexual arousal, but they could also signify a vulvovaginal infection. That logic applies to men as well; I think I speak for most of my gay peers, and straight women, too, in saying that a surprisingly crimson scrotum isn’t a terribly inviting sight, either.
In any case, Johns and her co-authors propose that whatever special attraction men might have to women wearing red is caused by some other psychological mechanism than was previously thought. Since red has been found to be associated with perceptions of male dominance, they suggest that a woman with red accoutrements might function as a sort of “badge” to enhance a man’s social status among his peers. “Women may even use red (clothing, cosmetics),” write Johns and her colleagues, “to stimulate such competition as a means to select higher quality mates.” In other words, a man’s desire to be seen with a lady in red may be less about his being attracted to the mirrored state of her wanton genitalia than it is a reflection of his own social psychology.
Theirs was a modest, imperfect little study. Personally, I’ve come to distrust any measure of male arousal that does not involve phallometry, and it seems like the researchers ought to have asked their male subjects what it was about the reddest vulvae that turned them off. The men might not have been able to articulate their color preferences in clear terms, but a direct question would still have given us some useful insight into their thought processes. Factoring in such limitations, however, Johns and her colleagues have at least given us reason to believe that—after decades of our having swallowed it up as an evolutionary truth |
antu women. The remainder possessed Indian-specific subclades of the Eurasian haplogroups M and N, which points to recent admixture with autochthonous Indian groups.[1]
Autosomal DNA [ edit ]
Narang et al. (2011) examined the autosomal DNA of Siddis in India. According to the researchers, about 58% of the Siddis' ancestry is derived from Bantu peoples. The remainder is associated with local Indo-European-speaking North and Northwest Indian populations, due to recent admixture events.[11]
Similarly, Shah et al. (2011) observed that Siddis in Gujarat derive 66.90%-70.50% of their ancestry from Bantu forebears, while the Siddis in Karnataka possess 64.80%-74.40% such Southeast African ancestry. The remaining autosomal DNA components in the studied Siddi were mainly associated with local South Asian populations. According to the authors, gene flow between the Siddis' Bantu ancestors and local Indian populations was also largely unidirectional. They estimate this admixture episode's time of occurrence at within the past 200 years or eight generations.[1]
Social status and rehabilitation [ edit ]
Like Siddhi populations across the sub-continent, Siddhis in Karnataka also have remained isolated, and economically and socially neglected.[6] In 1984, at the instance of the Secretary of the Rural Welfare Trust, Dandeli and few others, an "All-Karnataka Siddi Development Association" was formed to bring Siddhis together and work for their integrated development. K. V. Subbanna, the Magsaysay awardee also made some efforts in this direction with his Ninasam.
On January 8, 2003, the Union government brought the Siddis under the list of Scheduled Tribes with a view to empowering them constitutionally. Further, policies to provide homes for homeless Siddis, water facilities, education, employment opportunities, roads, electricity, mobile hospitals 2 acres (8,100 m2) of land to each Siddi family and the right to collect forest products were also endorsed by parliament. It is hoped that proper implementation of these policies would go a long way in helping the Siddhi community enhance their social and economic status.
Internationally too, awareness of sub-Saharan African diaspora in the east has been limited.[12] In 2006, however, 'The African Diaspora in Asia'(TADIA), a UNESCO backed initiative[12] has also evinced interest in the rehabilitation of this tribe. Headed by Prof Angenot of Brazil, it has become the academic link between the Siddis of Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh and other research scholars. It aims at involving academic research, promoting cultural exchanges and raising funds for education and employment generation programmes for the Siddis.
Trivia [ edit ]
According to B. G. L. Swamy, a renowned Botanist, seeds of a huge tree, the Adansonia digitata Linn., which is a native of Africa, were probably brought by the Siddhis. [3]
, which is a native of Africa, were probably brought by the Siddhis. A popular Kannada film of the 70s, Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu, has a Siddi playing the role of Siddi Byra in the movie.
in the movie. It has been reported that Siddis from Karnataka believe that Barack Obama shares their genepool and that they wanted to gift a bottle of honey to him on his visit to India in 2010[13]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ](If you’re having trouble viewing the video on a mobile device, click here.)
UPDATE: George Takei on Monday apologized for joking on a recent appearance on the Howard Stern show about touching men during his “Star Trek” days 50 years ago. “Out of context, I agree that the joke was distasteful, and I’m very sorry he and I made fun out of a serious matter,” Takei wrote on Facebook.
He added that he plays a caricature of the “naughty gay grandpa” when appearing on Stern’s show, “caricature I now regret.” But he said he wanted to make clear that he never forced himself on someone during a date and that all his sexual encounters have been “by mutual consent.”
Original story follows:
“George Takei! No!”
That exclamation comes from “Claire from H.R,” the harried human resources representative played by Cecily Strong, in a comedy segment on “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update.
After giving co-host Colin Jost a brief seminar on sexual harassment, “Claire” signs off and cries out her disbelief that “Star Trek” icon Takei has become the latest famous man to face allegations of sexual misconduct.
That cry of disbelief echoed across social media over the weekend among fans of Takei and of his progressive politics. Takei has become a social media star for his advocacy of LGBTQ rights and for his opposition to President Donald Trump.
Takei has criticized Trump for the “Access Hollywood” tape in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitals and blasted the U.S. Senate candidacy of Roy Moore, who was accused in a Washington Post story of pursuing sexual relationships with teenagers — including a 14-year-old — when he was in his 30s.
The allegations against Takei came Friday evening in a story published by the Hollywood Reporter.
Former actor and model Scott Brunton alleged that Takei assaulted him in the “Star Trek” actor’s condo in 1981. Brunton, 23 at the time, believes that Takei slipped something into his drink that caused him to pass out. When he woke up, Takei was trying to reach into his pants.
Takei, traveling in Japan, issued a multi-tweet statement in which he said the events described in the 1980s “simply did not occur.”
Friends, I'm writing to respond to the accusations made by Scott R. Bruton. I want to assure you all that I am as shocked and bewildered at these claims as you must feel reading them. /1 — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 11, 2017
Brunton, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, gave an interview over the weekend to the Oregonian in which he says all he wants from Takei is an apology.
Judging by reactions on Twitter and other social media over the weekend, the Takei sexual misconduct allegations appeared to hit fans and others pretty hard. The allegations appeared to be more difficult to accept than allegations against other favorite entertainment icons, notably Louis C.K.
That could be in part because Takei doesn’t seem to have a reputation for being aggressive or sexually inappropriate, as was the case of some other high-profile men accused of sexual harassment and assault.
He also comes across as kind, humane and thoughtful. As far as the public knows, he hasn’t displayed the controlling, bullying or narcissistic qualities that have been characteristic of other accused men.
The confusion among his fans appeared to grow after Takei posted a tweet, and then deleted it, in which he blamed Russian bots for amplifying the assault allegations through social media, the Daily News reported.
Takei’s Russian bot theory was seized upon as an example of liberal hypocrisy by people whose profiles suggest they have pro-Trump, pro-conservative leanings.
George Takei blames "Russian bots" for "amplifying" sexual assault allegations. I didn't realize ex Star Trek actors posed such a YUGE threat to Russia. 😏 #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/WjJcTD9IaS — No One 🇺🇸 (@tweettruth2me) November 13, 2017
BAHAHAHAHAHA!!! No, U r a perverted scumbag. We have known all along #CreepyBastard
George Takei thinks Russian bots spread sexual assault accusation https://t.co/LqpdhPcikV — TX Conservatarian (@MTWTwoPoint0) November 13, 2017
Over the weekend, conservative Twitter users were also denouncing Takei for daring to allege that Trump was a sexual predator or for criticizing Moore for his anti-LGBTQ views.
Why should we believe you and not believe Moore??? You and the rest of the liberal wackos sure don’t waste a second to jump to conclusions and judge others!! You’re a hypocrite! — Proud Deplorable (@DoogieNM) November 13, 2017
Even some self-described liberals agreed that Takei shouldn’t be given the benefit of a doubt if that’s not granted to Moore, especially when the national conversation around sexual misconduct has shifted to believing victims.
People inclined to support Takei also were thrown off by a resurfaced interview with Takei on the Howard Stern show in October, in which he laughingly admitted he has groped men to “persuade” them to have sex, according to the online magazine LGBTQ Nation.
I really want to believe you but your Howard Stern interview was very disturbing. I can’t be hypocritical and hold you to a different standard because I’ve been a fan & agree with you politically. — Anna (@annanotherthng) November 13, 2017
Stern noted the irony in Harvey Weinstein facing repercussions for his alleged behavior, while Trump, our sitting president, has bragged about grabbing women’s genitals without consent.
It’s at that point that Stern asked Takei if he never hassled anybody for sex, or grabbed their genitals.
“Uhh…” Takei replied, after a long pause.
“Well, they were different times,” Stern continued. “[But] you never sexually harassed anyone. Have you?”
Takei again hesitated, before saying, “Well, it’s some people that are kind of, um, skittish, or maybe afraid, and you’re trying to persuade.”
“Do we need to call the police?” Stern asked.
“What is he saying, Howard?” asked Quivers. “But you didn’t do this grabbing at work?”
“Oh no, no, it wasn’t at work,” Takei assured. “It was … in my home, they came to my home.”
Stern pressed Takei on whether he was describing a situation in which a man was hesitating to have sex with him and then he gently touched him.
“More than a gentle,” Takei said, laughing. He added that the difference was that what he did “didn’t involve power over the other,” unlike with Trump and Weinstein.
Then again, Takei still has some pretty staunch supporters, people who believe his denial of sexual assault, who are calling out conservatives for being hypocrites, notably by jumping to condemn Takei over a more than 40-year-old incident when they continue to support Trump.U.S. Air Force stealth fighter jets and South Korean jets fly over the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, Aug. 31. Photo: Associated Press.
SEOUL—The U.S. sent four of its most advanced fighter jets and a pair of B-1B bombers over the Korean Peninsula, alongside Japanese and South Korean jets, as a show of force in direct response to North Korea firing a missile over Japan
The Air Force flyover Thursday, which included a bombing drill on a range in South Korea, came at the end of annual joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that have angered Pyongyang.
It is the first time the F-35B jets have been used in such a mission with the B-1B bombers over the peninsula, the U.S. Air Force Pacific Command said in a statement. It said the flyover—which also included two Japanese F-15 and four South Korean F-15K fighter jets—emphasized an “ironclad commitment” to the defense of allies and the U.S., and maintained a readiness to give leaders “viable and ready military options.”
The latest move threatens to raise the temperature again on the peninsula, after North Korea’s launch Tuesday of an intermediate-range ballistic missile that soared over the Japanese city of Hakodate and landed in the Pacific Ocean.
The U.S. said Thursday’s mission was in direct response to North Korea’s missile launch.
“North Korea’s actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly,” said Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, Commander of the Pacific Air Forces. “Our forward-deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at a moment’s notice if our nation calls.”
There was no reaction to the jets’ flyover from North Korea through its state media.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter that “ talking is not the answer ” in dealing with the threat from North Korea’s weapons, though Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, speaking later in the day, said that Washington is “never out of diplomatic options.”
Earlier this month, North Korea threatened to surround the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam with “ enveloping fire ” by launching four intermediate-range missiles into the waters around the island.
Related Video Emergency sirens blared in Japan on Tuesday as a North Korean missile flew over the northern island of Hokkaido before plunging into the Pacific ocean. Despite measures taken by the government, some residents say they feel unprepared for missile attacks. Photo: EPA.
The threat came after Pyongyang complained about previous American B-1B flyovers and warned the U.S. against conducting further such exercises.
Days later, Pyongyang said that leader Kim Jong Un had decided against firing missiles toward Guam for now, but that he would continue to watch the U.S.’s behavior during the joint military exercises. The U.S. and South Korea say the maneuvers are defensive in nature, but the North regards them as a precursor to invasion.
On Aug. 20, the day before the exercises began, Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s main party newspaper, warned that its military was “keeping a high alert” and would “take resolute steps the moment even a slight sign of the ‘preventive war’ is spotted.”
North Korea says the U.S. is considering a unilateral strike against it, while President Trump said earlier this month that military options were “locked and loaded.”
In Thursday’s flyover mission, the two B-1B bombers were from the Andersen base and the four F-35B jets were from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, according to the U.S. Pacific Command.
In a statement carried Wednesday by state-run Korean Central News Agency, Mr. Kim called Tuesday’s missile launch over Japan a “meaningful prelude to containing Guam.”
On the same day, after the launch, South Korea sent four of its fighter jets to simulate a bombing raid aimed at destroying “the enemy’s leadership.”
Meanwhile, Japan’s defense ministry on Thursday sought approval to bolster the country’s missile-defense capability. The budget request includes radar that can quickly locate North Korea’s submarine-launched missiles, and weapons to shoot down projectiles at high altitudes.The Scotiabank Giller Prize Presents its 2017 Longlist
October 18, 2017
The Scotiabank Giller Prize is pleased to announce its longlist for this year’s award. The 2016 prize winner, Madeleine Thien, announced the longlist titles during a ceremony at The Rooms in St. John’s, NL. The twelve titles were chosen from a field of 112 books submitted by 73 publisher imprints from across Canada.
The longlist was selected by an esteemed five-member jury panel: Canadian writers Anita Rau Badami (Jury Chair), André Alexis, Lynn Coady, along with British writer Richard Beard and American writer Nathan Englander.
Of the longlist, the jury wrote: “Twenty seventeen was an intriguing year for Canadian fiction. As with any year, there were trends, themes that ran through any number of books: the plight of the marginalized, the ongoing influence of history on the present, the way it feels to grow up in our country, the way the world looks to the psychologically damaged. But 2017 was also a year of outliers, of books that were eccentric, challenging or thrillingly strange, books that took us to amusing or disturbing places. In fact, you could say that the exceptional was one of 2017’s trends. It gave the impression of a world in transition: searching inward as much as outward, wary but engaged.”
This year’s shortlist will be announced at a press event to be held at the Scotiabank Centre in Toronto on Monday, October 2.
The Scotiabank Giller Prize is delighted to present a series of special readings featuring this year’s shortlisted authors, taking place in Calgary on October 12, Vancouver on October 16, Halifax on October 26, Ottawa on November 1, Toronto on November 6 and London, U.K. on November 9. Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists will take you inside the minds and creative lives of the writers on the 2017 shortlist. For venue and ticket information, please visit: www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/news-events/events-and-important-dates/
The 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize will air on Mon. Nov. 20, on CBC at 8 p.m. (12 AT/12:30 NT), CBC Radio One at 8 p.m. (9 AT/9:30 NT) and will be livestreamed at CBCBooks.ca.
Beginning in 2017, Audible.ca will be the exclusive audiobook sponsor of the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
About the Prize The Scotiabank Giller Prize, founded in 1994, highlights the very best in Canadian fiction year after year. The prize awards $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English, and $10,000 to each of the finalists. The award is named in honour of the late literary journalist Doris Giller by her husband, the late Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch, who passed away in August 2017.
About CBC/Radio-Canada CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. We are Canada’s trusted source of news, information and Canadian entertainment. Deeply rooted in communities all across the country, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also provide international news and information from a uniquely Canadian perspective. In 2017, CBC/Radio-Canada will be at the heart of the celebrations and conversations with special 2017-themed multiplatform programming and events across Canada. -30-
Media Inquiries Elana Rabinovitch, Scotiabank Giller Prize elana@scotiabankgillerprize.ca T – 416 275 5418 Erin M. Truax, Scotiabank
Erin.Truax@scotiabank.com
T: 416-578-9659 Teddy Wilson, Edelman
T: 416-849-3193
Teddy.Wilson@edelman.comEA is no stranger to issues with the NCAA, and this time FIFA 16 women's rosters are the culprit. The gaming studio announced today that following an NCAA notice, it would remove 13 players from the game that are currently on or "likely" to be on college rosters. "We believe this decision denies these 13 athletes the opportunity to represent their countries in the game, but we have removed them from FIFA 16 to ensure there is no risk to their eligibility," EA said in a blog post. While EA didn't compensate those players for appearing in the game, the NCAA says that including them would still jeopardize their ability to take the pitch for their respective schools. The group of players that won't make the game includes six players from Canada, six from Mexico and one from Spain (detailed info here). All 12 women's national teams are now playable with EA Access Play it First Trials.There’s no doubt that Kelowna’s real estate market is piping hot at the moment.
Nothing shows that more than a property in Rutland that recently went up for sale for $375k.
While the property was a decent size and in a desirable location, the house had holes in the walls, water damage and mold.
The beat up house received 131 showing requests and 17 offers in just two days, ultimately selling for $429k, more than $50k over asking price.
“Seventeen offers is not a common theme, but multiple offers, two or three offers, we’re seeing that quite a bit now,” explained realtor Colin Krieg.
Krieg added that it’s especially common now to see multiple offers on properties under $700k.
For buyers looking to find a deal on an affordable house in Kelowna, a bidding war can pretty much be expected.
“The inventory levels we’re at right now are half of what they should be,” explained Krieg. “Very little supply and lots of demand and it can create a frenzy.”
It’s a frenzy that can make trying to a buy a home into a very frustrating experience for buyers.
One of those potential buyers is KelownaNow content director, Sam Hill, who has been trying to purchase her first home for a number of months.
“Its definitely frustrating that every time I send my realtor a property I want to look at she says it already has an accepted offer, or multiple offers, and I don’t even get to see it.”
As for the fix, adding homes in an expanding area like Glenmore definitely helps, but the solution likely lies within densifying Kelowna’s downtown core.
“I think higher density is definitely a good answer and that’s sort of where everybody wants to go now,” said Krieg. “The under 35s, everybody wants to be able to hop on their cruiser bike, go downtown, grab a beer and not worry about driving.”
Wherever the additional housing comes, Krieg says Kelowna just needs more supply at this point as there’s too much demand to cope.
“Kelowna’s one of the fastest growing cities in Canada right now and that’s clearly showing.”HOUSTON -- While next summer could be the summer of Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard also can become a highly sought-after free agent.
Howard, the Houston Rockets' star center, can opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent much like Durant.
Editor's Picks Dwight Howard doesn't think he's old, just 29 Houston Rockets big man Dwight Howard says he wants to play 10 more years.
Howard, however, said Wednesday he's not thinking about the future and just focused on helping the Rockets win a title.
"There is no need to live in the future," Howard said. "I'm not a guy who lives in the future. The only moment that matters is right now and what we accomplish as a team. It starts with training camp, today is the second day, tomorrow is the third day and we just got to work on getting better every day. There is no need for me to focus on anything that's going to happen next summer. My job is to focus on how I can help this team be the best team in the NBA and win a championship."
The last time Howard was a free agent was after the 2012-13 season, when the Los Angeles Lakers were thought to be the front-runner to sign him. Howard, however, spurred them and other teams, choosing to sign a four-year, $87.5 million deal with the Rockets.
Dwight Howard could be among the big names slated for free agency next summer. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Lakers fans haven't forgiven Howard, and he hears it every time he plays at Staples Center.
"It's always a lesson," Howard said of that free agency summer. "I didn't want to talk about it then. It's a lot of stuff going on."
Howard, 29, enters his 12th season having played in a career-low 41 games last season due to an assortment of injuries. Coach Kevin McHale had said the team will monitor Howard's workload in training camp with the goal of using him sparingly in the preseason, which starts Tuesday.
"Y'all acting like I'm about to retire," Howard said. "I mean, I feel good. I'm 29 years old regardless of me being in the league for 12 years, I'm fairly young. I got about a good 10 years left in me. I'm going to give everything I got for these 10, 11 years I got left."
The Rockets haven't publicly stated if they want Howard to return, but it's assumed they still value a man who will make a base salary of $22.3 million this season.
Howard, while not talking about the future, is committed to this team.
"Our focus is just winning this championship, not focus on free agency," Howard said. "We're in pursuit of a championship. As the NBA says: 'The Quest.' That' s our focus, is to win a championship. Whatever happens is going to happen. I love this city. This city has been great to me. My focus is to bring a championship here. My mind can't be on nothing but helping this team win, and that's all I'm focusing on."Putting the bitter presidential race aside, both Hillary and Bill Clinton will attend Donald Trump's inauguration later this month, according to CNN.
The news comes on the heels of both President George W. Bush and his wife, former first lady Laura Bush, planning to be on hand.
President Bush's spokesman, Freddy Ford, confirmed the couple would be there.
'They are pleased to be able to witness the peaceful transfer of power – a hallmark of American democracy – and swearing-in of President Trump and Vice President Pence,' Ford said.
Scroll down for video
Shown at George W. Bush's inauguration in 2001, the former Republican president and his wife Laura Bush (left) plan to attend Donald Trump's inauguration. The Clintons (right) committed shortly thereafter
In 2009, George W. Bush and Laura Bush (right) were on hand to see President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama take over the reins of the country
Former President Jimmy Carter (left), seen in attendance at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009, was the first ex-president who said he'd be at Donald Trump's inauguration later this month
Beyond that, no information was released on the Bushes' participation, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Former Democratic President Jimmy Carter was the first member of the ex-presidents club who said he planned to attend the January 20 swearing-in.
The Bush family's relationship with Trump has been fraught since the billionaire bested former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of Bush 43 and son of Bush 41, in the GOP primary, forcing him to drop out even before his home state of Florida voted.
Trump expertly labeled the ex-governor 'low energy,' a term that plagued Bush's short-lived presidential campaign.
After that, none of the Bush family members endorsed Trump throughout his campaign.
Ex-President George H.W. Bush (left), Hillary Clinton (center), and former President Bill Clinton (right) all attended the 2009 inauguration for President-elect Barack Obama
Ex-President Jimmy Carter (center) and his wife Rosalyn Carter (right) attended the January 2001 inaugural for George W. Bush. They're seen being greeted by incoming Secretary of State Colin Powell (left)
Al Gore (center) was spotted giving a thumbs up at the inauguration of his political rival George W. Bush in 2001. He's flanked by Bill Clinton (left) and Sen. Chris Dodd (right)
While having lost the election to then-Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain (right) attended the Democrat's 2009 swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill
No Bush attended this summer's Republican National Convention in Cleveland as well.
Neither George W. Bush or Laura Bush voted for the Republican nominee, while reports suggested that George H.W. Bush voted for Hillary Clinton.
A spokesman for George H.W. Bush said he wouldn't be attending Trump's inauguration, citing the 92-year-old's age.
It's tradition for living ex-presidents to show up for a new president's inauguration, regardless of political party.
For example, Carter, a liberal Democrat, attended the inauguration of President George W. Bush in 2001, after a contentious campaign against Democrat Al Gore, in which Gore, the sitting vice president, won the popular vote and Bush, the governor of Texas, won the electoral college vote and with that, the White House.
Like Hillary Clinton will do later this month, Gore attended Bush's inauguration, after just being beat by the Republican, even meeting with the president-elect at the White House before the swearing-in.
Additionally, every living ex-president attended the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, who made history as the country's first African-American leader.Today at a special mobile event at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is launching a suite of upgrades to the company’s mobile applications. The company also announced a major milestone: more than 200 million people are using its mobile apps, which is more than triple the usage it saw this time last year.
The iPhone application, which Zuckerberg says is on the “vast majority of iPhones” is getting the recently-revamped Groups feature. The iPhone app is also getting an updated Places feature. First, the iPhone app is getting improved tagging — it will now be easier to tag your friends into a venue. Places is also making it easier to add photos alongisde a checkin.
The Android app is getting a big refresh. “The Android app has been behind”. The reason? When Facebook decided to start working on an Android app last year, it decided to work with an Android app shop to help them build their app. Then Google bought the company they were using, which knocked it behind — this is one reason the iPhone app has traditionally gotten new features months before Android does.
“We’re back on track, we think we have general parity between iPhone”. Today, Facebook is launching Places and Groups on AndroidEasy and delicious, this low carb chocolate hazelnut mug cake is sure to satisfy all your cravings!
Sometimes a girl just wants cake. Wait, let me rephrase that. Sometimes a girl just needs cake. Sweet, warm chocolatey cake, the ultimate in comfort foods. Bonus points if it’s actually quite healthy but doesn’t taste even remotely like it. Extra bonus points if it takes all of, say, 15 minutes to make. No, I didn’t say 15 minutes to cook, I said 15 minutes to make. As in, from start to finish. As in, from the moment you get out your ingredients to the moment you put that first bite in your mouth. That’s the kind of cake I want in my life. N0, wait, let me rephrase that. That’s the kind of cake I need in my life.
I’ve seen recipes for mug cake many, many times. I don’t know why on earth I never tried it before. But I was inspired when assigned to A Little Nosh for this months’ Secret Recipe Club. Her Chocolate Mug Cake for Two seemed like just the thing I wanted to make. But obviously not with flour and sugar. It didn’t take a whole lot of thinking to make it over into a low carb, gluten free version, however. Mug cake is pretty much ideal for this kind of overhaul. It doesn’t have to come out of the mug, so there are no worries about it holding together. It doesn’t really even need to look very pretty, because all you can see is the very top and you can always plop some whipped cream on it to jazz it up a bit. And it comes out of the microwave so warm and, if you undercook it a bit, nice and gooey.
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A Little Nosh is a wonderful blog and there are lots of healthy, creative recipes to browse. Amy is a working mom living in the DC suburbs with a tiny kitchen. I give her a big thumbs up for working in such a small space…I’ve been there and I know it’s not easy! So please be sure to head on over to her blog and check out her collection of recipes!
Print Chocolate Hazelnut Mug Cake – Low Carb and Gluten-Free Prep Time 13 mins Cook Time 2 mins Total Time 15 mins Sweet, warm chocolatey cake, the ultimate in comfort foods! Course: Dessert Cuisine: Dessert Servings : 2 cakes Ingredients 2/3 cup hazelnuts toasted (and skinned, if you want)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp granular Swerve sweetener
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp hazelnut oil or melted butter or coconut oil
1 large egg
1/4 tsp hazelnut or vanilla extract Instructions Grind hazelnuts in food processor until they resemble coarse meal. Transfer to a medium bowl. Whisk in cocoa powder, Swerve, baking powder and salt. Stir in cream, oil, egg, and hazelnut extract until batter is well-combined. Divide between 2 mugs and microwave each for about 1 minute. Remove and let cool a minute or two, then dig in! Recipe Notes Serves 2. Each serving has a total of 10.5g of carbs and 6 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 4.5 g. Nutrition Facts Chocolate Hazelnut Mug Cake – Low Carb and Gluten-Free Amount Per Serving (1 cake) Calories 42 % Daily Value* Total Carbohydrates 10.5g 4% Dietary Fiber 6g 24% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
‘); // ]]>On Thursday, a Pew Research Center poll disproved the Republican talking point that Americans would oppose a deficit reduction plan that links spending cuts to new revenues. Now, a new Pew poll is calling into question the very idea that Americans want to cut spending at all.
Although a bipartisan 70 percent of Americans say it is essential for Congress and the president to pass major legislation reducing the deficit, the new poll, released Friday, shows that Americans actually oppose cutting almost any specific program.
The survey asked 1,504 adults whether they would increase, decrease, or maintain the budgets for 19 government programs. On 18 of the 19, respondents opposed cutting the budgets.
Aid to the world’s needy is the only program for which a plurality of Americans support decreasing spending, and even in that case the total respondents who believe that the aid budget should be increased or kept the same outnumber those who believe it should be reduced. And in any case, cutting foreign aid — which amounts to around 1 percent of the federal budget — won’t go very far towards reducing the deficit.
Although more Republicans than Democrats support cutting spending on 16 of the 19 programs tested, bipartisan majorities oppose decreasing the budget on most of the GOP’s major targets. Republicans support increasing Social Security spending by a 35 to 17 percent margin, while Democrats support it 49 to 3 percent. Raising Medicare spending is favored by 24 percent of Republicans, while 21 percent would like to see it decreased; the margin is 52 to 7 percent among Democrats.
One major exception is health care, for which 44 percent of Republicans want to see the budget slashed, compared to 16 percent who want to see it increased—and 58 percent of Democrats want to increase the health care budget, while just 7 percent want to decrease it.
The survey sheds some light on House Republicans’ strategy on the sequester negotiations. Although GOP leaders have repeatedly slammed President Obama for “threatening [Americans’] jobs because we cannot make even the tiniest cuts” to government spending, as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor put it in a recent tweet, they have refused to explain how—specifically—they want to see the budget cut. Instead, they have demanded that the president take the initiative in proposing unpopular cuts.
“Mr. President, we agree that your sequester is bad policy. What spending are you willing to cut to replace it?” House Speaker John Boehner asked in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Wednesday.
Boehner’s calculus is clear: Although Americans agree with the theoretical idea of cutting the budget, as Paul Ryan learned the hard way, targeting specific programs is usually political malpractice.0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
Sen. Bernie Sanders knocked John McCain off of his usual Sunday morning warmongering turf by following a typical McCain appearance on CNN State Of The Union with a fact laced shredding of McCain’s pro-war propaganda.
Video:
Sen. Sanders was asked CNN’s Candy Crowley to respond to Sen. McCain’s call for an expanded war effort against ISI
The Vermont Independent replied,
It’s a problem for the international community, and you asked me a moment ago why aren’t other countries more deeply involved? I will tell you why. Because they believe that the American taxpayers are going to do it, and American soldiers are ultimately going to do it. And as long as that signal is out there, that’s what’s going to happen. I want the Saudi Arabian government to be actively involved. I want their troops to be on the ground. I don’t want them to believe that we’re going to do it for them. So yes, I think we have to play a very strong and supportive role with the UK, with France, with Canada, with other countries. It can not and should not be the United States alone.
….
It is very easy to criticize the president, but this is an enormously complicated issue. We are here today because of the disastrous blunder of the Bush/Cheney era that got us into the war in Iraq in the first place. Which then developed the can of worms that we are trying to deal with right now.
It was a rare first to see CNN or any other network have a guest on to rebut McCain’s constant Obama bashing and calls for military acceleration. Sanders kept the decorum of the Senate in place by not criticizing his fellow senator by name, but it was clear who he was talking about when he linked he calls for more military involvement with the decision to go to war in Iraq. Sen. McCain still supports the Iraq war, and would send American ground troops back there in a heartbeat if he could.
Sen. Sanders was correct. It is easy for McCain to sit on the sidelines and criticize the man who routed him in a presidential election. The American people do not want to send ground troops into the Middle East. Obama is dealing with a cowardly congress that refuses to take a stand. Within these constraints, he is trying to put a coalition together to defeat ISIS.
The issue is extremely complex both at home and abroad. CNN would normally have John McCain on to bash Obama, call for more war, and then call it a day. It was refreshing to see Sen. Sanders given the Sunday morning platform to express how a majority of Americans feel about this issue.
Bernie Sanders took over John McCain’s media turf, and the result was a healthy dose of reality getting injected into the Sunday morning Republican propaganda.
We the people could use more Bernie Sanders on Sundays, and 100% less John McCain.
If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address |
support personnel to remotely resolve end-user problems using Intel AMT. If an Auditor user is defined, the Auditor’s permission is not required to perform unprovisioning. A number of functions are blocked from execution to prevent an untrusted user from taking over control of the platform.
Manually Configuring an Intel AMT 9.0 Client
During power up, the Intel AMT platform first displays the BIOS startup screen, and then the BIOS Extensions are processed. Entry into the Intel AMT BIOS Extension is BIOS vendor dependent. Intel AMT reference platforms display a screen prompting you to press <Ctrl+P>. When you press <Ctrl+P>, control passes to the Intel Management Engine BIOS extension (Intel MEBx) Main Menu.
To manually set up an Intel AMT client, perform these steps:
Enter the Intel MEBx default password (“admin”). Change the default password to a new value (this step is required in order to proceed). The new value must be a “strong” password. It should contain at least one upper case letter, one lower case letter, one digit and one special character, and be at least eight characters. A management console application can change the Intel AMT password without modifying the Intel MEBx password. Select Intel(R) AMT Configuration. Select Manageability Feature Selection. Select ENABLED to enable Intel(R) AMT. Select SOL/IDE-R/KVM and enable all of these features. Enabling Legacy Redirection Mode ensures compatibility with management consoles created to work with the legacy SMB mode that did do not have a mechanism implemented to enable the listener. Note that if SOL/IDER/KVM features are not enabled in the Intel MEBx they will not be available to Management Consoles. Select User Consent Select desired options for KVM and Remote IT operations. Enabling User consent means that anytime the Intel AMT Client is to be accessed remotely the user will need to agree. Enter Network Setup to enter network preferences for the Intel ME. Enter Activate Network Access to enable Intel AMT. Exit to the Main Menu. Select MEBx Exit to continue booting your system.
The platform is now configured. You can set some additional parameters using the Web User Interface (Web UI) or a remote console application.
Note that configuring the Intel AMT Client via the Intel MEBx menus will result in the system being in Admin Control Mode.
Accessing Intel AMT via the Web UI Interface
An administrator with user rights can remotely connect to the Intel AMT device via the Web UI by entering the IP address and one of the following port numbers into the address bar of the web browser:
16992 – Use if TLS is NOT configured (use http)
16993 – Use if TLS is configured (use https)
For example: http://134.134.176.1:16992
The Intel AMT device can also be addressed using the device’s fully qualified domain name (FQDN). If using TLS, Intel recommends using the Intel AMT FQDN instead of the IP.
For example: https://amtsystem.domain.com:16993
The following web browsers have been validated and can be used remotely to connect to any configured Intel AMT system.
Microsoft Internet Explorer* 6.0 SP1 or later
Netscape* 7.2 or later for Windows* and Linux*
Mozilla* Firefox* 1.0 or newer for Windows and Linux
Mozilla 1.7 or later for Windows and Linux
Intel AMT Drivers and Services
In addition to having the BIOS and ME extensions set up correctly, there are also drivers and services to be installed and running in order to fully utilize Intel AMT once it has been properly configured. To verify that the Intel AMT drivers and services are loaded correctly, look for them in the host operating systems’ Device Manger and Services. Note that every Intel AMT system should have a CD that includes all of the required firmware and drivers. Be sure to check the OEM’s download site frequently for upgraded versions of the BIOS, firmware, and drivers.
Here is a list of drivers and services that should appear in the host operating system:
Intel® Ethernet Network Connection i217-LM #
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6205 AGN #
Intel Management Engine Interface
Serial-Over-LAN (SOL) Driver
Intel® AMT LMS Service
Intel® AMT Management and Security Status Service
# Network controller and wireless interface versions will vary depending on the generation of Intel vPro platform.
Note: The version level of the drivers must match the version level of the firmware and BIOS. If non-compatible versions are installed, Intel AMT will not work with the features that require those interfaces.
NIC: Intel Ethernet Connection
If you are wanting to check your system for Intel® AMT capability, the following network adapter needs to be present: Intel® Ethernet Network Connection i217-LM.
Intel® Management Engine Interface
Note that for Intel AMT 9.0, the platform will require a 9.x version of the MEFirmware and Driver.
Serial-Over-LAN (SOL) Driver
The system should also have the SOL drivers listed in the Device Manager.
Intel Active Management Technology LMS Service
The Local Manageability Service (LMS) runs locally in an Intel AMT device and enables local management applications to send requests and receive responses to and from the device. The LMS listens for and intercepts requests directed to the Intel AMT local host and routes them to the Intel ME via the Intel ME Interface driver.
Note that for Intel AMT 9.0, the User Notification Service is combined with the Local Management Service.
Intel AMT User Notification Service (Pre Intel AMT 9.0)
The User Notification Service (UNS) is a Windows service installed on the host platform with Intel AMT Release 2.5 or greater. The UNS registers with the Intel AMT device to receive a set of alerts. When UNS receives an alert, it logs the alert in the Windows “Application” event log. The Event Source will be “Intel(R) AMT.”
Intel Management and Security Status Tool
The Intel Management and Security Status (IMSS) tool can be accessed by the “blue key” icon in the Windows tray.
The General tab of the IMSS tool shows the status of Intel vPro services available on the platform and an event history. There are tabs for additional details of each.
Note that in the above screen shot, the system time was not set (AMT 9.0 did not exist in 2001). In order for Intel AMT to work correctly, it is important that the time be set. If there is a huge time difference between the system time and the AMT time, the firmware will “think” the system is under attack.
The Advanced tab of the IMSS tool shows more detailed information on the configuration of Intel AMT and its features. The following screen shot verifies that Intel AMT has been configured on this system.
Intel AMT Software Development Kit (SDK)
The Intel® AMT Software Development Kit (SDK) provides the low-level programming capabilities to enable developers to build manageability applications that take full advantage of Intel AMT.
The Intel AMT SDK provides sample code and a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that let developers easily and quickly incorporate Intel AMT support into their applications. The SDK also has a full set of documentation. The SDK supports C++ and C# on Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. Refer to the User Guide and the Readme files in each directory for important information on building the samples. Also see the video tutorials Introduction to Intel® AMT SDK and How to compile Intel® AMT SDK sample code.
The SDK is delivered as a set of directories that can be copied to a location of the developer's choice on the development system. Because of interdependencies between components, the directory structure should be copied in its entirety. There are three folders at the top level: one called DOCS (which contains SDK documentation), and one each for Linux and Windows (which contain all of the sample code.) For more information regarding how to get started and how to use the SDK, see the "Intel® AMT Implementation and Reference Guide.”
Below is a screen shot of the Intel AMT Implementation and Reference Guide. For more information on system requirements and how to build the sample code, read through the “Using the Intel® AMT SDK” section. The documentation is available on the Intel® Software Network here: Intel® AMT SDK (Latest Release)
Other Intel AMT SDK Resources
The Intel AMT SDK provides frameworks and samples that simplify WS-Management development and demonstrates how to take advantage of the advanced product features. For more information, see the following:
High Level API
Intel vPro Platform Solution Manager
KVM Application Developer’s Guide
Redirection Library
C++ CIM Framework API
C# CIM Framework API
WS-Management Clients Supporting C# and C++ Development
Intel ME WMI Provider
Management Presence Server Sample
Posture Validation (NAC)
System Health Validation (NAP)
User Consent Tool
There are a variety of development environments for which to write software that supports Intel AMT. Please see the figure below for more details.
Intel® vPro Enablement Tools
Available only in C++ (C# wrapper in SDK) COM object by MSFT Not just.NET
Appendix A:
The following table provides a snapshot of features supported by Intel AMT Releases 7, 8, and 9.
The two major changes with Intel AMT 9.0 are the addition of the Graceful Shutdown feature and the SOAP API has been deprecated in favor of the WS-Management API. In the AMT 9.0 release, SOAP support has been completely removed from the SDK.
Read about all the features in the Intel AMT SDK Implementation and Reference Guide (“Intel AMT Features” section.)
Intel® Active Management Technology 7.0 and 8.0 Intel® Active Management Technology 9.0 Hardware Inventory X X Persistent ID X X Remote Power On/Off X X SOL/IDER X X Event Management X X 3rd Party Data Storage X X Built-in Web Server X X Flash Protection X X Firmware Update X X HTTP Digest/ TLS X X Static and Dynamic IP X X System Defense X X Agent Presence X X Power Policies X X Mutual Authentication X X Kerberos X X TLS-PSK X X Privacy Icon X X Intel® ME Wake-on-LAN X X Remote Configuration X X Wireless Configuration X X Endpoint Access Control (EAC) 802.1 X X Power Packages X X Environment Detection X X Event Log Reader Realm X X System Defense Heuristics X X WS-MAN Interface X X Fast Call For Help (CIRA) X X Access Monitor X X Microsoft NAP* Support X X Virtualization Support for Agent Presence X X PC Alarm Clock X X KVM Remote Control X X Wireless Profile Synchronization X X Support for Internet Protocol Version 6 X X Host Based Provisioning X X Graceful Shutdown X
About the Author
Gael Hofemeier earned her BS in Math/Computer Science and an MBA from the University of New Mexico and has over 20 years of engineering experience. Gael started her career with Intel in 2000 and has been working with Intel® vPro™ technology since 2006.
Any software source code reprinted in this document is furnished under a software license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of that license.
Intel, the Intel logo, and vPro are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Copyright © 2013 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
[i] Intel® vPro™ Technology is sophisticated and requires setup and activation. Availability of features and results will depend upon the setup and configuration of your hardware, software and IT environment. To learn more visit: http://www.intel.com/technology/vpro.
i Requires activation and a system with a corporate network connection, an Intel® AMT-enabled chipset, network hardware and software. For notebooks, Intel AMT may be unavailable or limited over a host OS-based VPN, when connecting wirelessly, on battery power, sleeping, hibernating or powered off. Results dependent upon hardware, setup and configuration. For more information, visit Intel® Active Management Technology.TopDrawerSoccer Top-100 Freshmen
MILWAUKEE - Marquette University's Luka Prpa continues to reel in the awards after his sensational rookie campaign in 2016, being named the fourth-best freshman in college soccer according to TopDrawerSoccer's Top-100 Freshmen list.
It wasn't long ago that TDS selected Prpa to its Freshman Best XI list and now the Wind Lake, Wisconsin native has earned the distinction of being named the No. 4 freshman player on the publication's Top-100 Freshmen list. It's the highest-ever ranking for a Marquette player on the TDS postseason listing. Axel Sjoberg owned the previous high honor after being named the 10th-best freshman in the nation following his 2012 campaign.
Prpa was named the BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Year after finishing second in the league with 26 points on 10 goals and six assists. He was the first Marquette player to reach double-digits in goals since C. Nortey tallied 10 back in 2013 and matches the rookie record set by Allen Stoltman back in 1993.
The rookie midfielder was the highest-ranked freshman from the BIG EAST, which saw 12 recognized on the Top-100 list overall.
Full TDS Top-100 Freshmen list
BIG EAST Freshmen featured
4 - Luka Prpa - Marquette
29 - Daniel Griffin - Providence
31 - Lewis Suddick - Butler
34 - Joao Serrano - Providence
37 - Shane Bradley - Villanova
51 - Isaac Galliford - Butler
58 - Liam Wilson - Providence
63 - Dylan Nealis - Georgetown
69 - Derrick Otim - Xavier
83 - Max de Bruijne - DePaul
86 - Alistair Johnston - St. John's
87 - Jonathan Jimenez - Seton HallNational Internet Shutdown In Sudan
Internet Shutdown News From Sudan
Here in the Western world, we often take certain things for granted. For instance, can you imagine waking up one morning, pouring your first cup of coffee and heading over to the computer to check your email only to find that the Internet doesn't work at all? What's worse, later on you discover that everyone all over the United States is having the same problem. An entire country without the Internet?
That's precisely the problem Sudan was having yesterday with their Internet service. Renesys Corp., Internet monitoring and research firm, broke the news via their website, posting a link to information on Twitter, saying they hadn't seen a blackout of this magnitude since Egypt did the same in January 2011. BGPMon, also an Internet monitoring company, reported the same finding.
Why?
A recent decision by the Sudanese government to discontinue oil subsidies caused the public to launch violent protests and riots after fuel costs started to climb.
Numerous cars were set on fire; the ruling party's headquarters was set ablaze; and protesters threw rocks at authorities. Police turned to tear gas to try to bring an end to the situation, which Reuters says is the largest protest in over a year against the current government.
According to Arabic news outlet Al Arabiya, after discovering the riots in Sudan had killed at least seven people, the Sudanese government pulled the plug on the Internet. Not only that, schools located in the capital were closed effective immediately, and won't reopen until the end of the month.
Today
According to Renesys Corp.'s Twitter feed, Internet in Sudan was restored after almost an entire day of going without. Although Al Arabiya had reported the government was to blame, there has been no real confirmation of that. However, it's hard to believe technical problems could cause an entire country to lose access.
Renesys had gathered data on one of Sudan's ISPs, Sudatel, back in June that showed another blackout. Although it didn't affect the entire country like this blackout did, the government is suspected as the reason. At that time, there were protests going on in Sudan, so it seems this is the way the government responds (although it cannot be confirmed.)
Further Investigation
Renesys looked into the data they had gathered on this recent blackout, discovering that each ISP (there are three in all) went offline at different times instead of all at once. If there had been a technical problem, all three would have shut down at the exact same time.
And it does make sense: if there are government protests going on, the government would want to cut off any way for dissidents to communicate with each other, or post images from the chaos for the world to see.
What do you believe? Do you think this was a calculated move by the government to end riots, or do you think the riots themselves actually led to the blackout? Tell us what you think!
Like this: Like Loading...Gregg Foreman’s radio program The Pharmacy is a music / talk show playing heavy soul, raw funk, 60′s psych, girl groups, Krautrock. French yé-yé, Hammond organ rituals, post-punk transmissions and “ghost on the highway” testimonials and interviews with the most interesting artists and music makers of our times…
This week’s guest is Sonic Boom aka Peter Kember of Spacemen 3, Spectrum and Experimental Audio Research (E.A.R.) along with Simone Butler of Primal Scream helping with musical selections and musicology in general… (She has a new radio show called Naked Lunch @SohoRadioLondon)
Topics include:
How the band began and the importance of Suicide, The Velvet Underground and The Stooges...
Why the name Spacemen 3?
The role drugs played their part in the “Sound of Confusion.”
How Spacemen 3 consciously tried to alienate their early audiences.
How the music scene was more tribal and “argumentative” in Spacemen 3’s time.
Sonic’s opinion on people trying to tell him how to do things.
Mr. Pharmacy is a musician and DJ who has played for the likes of Pink Mountaintops, The Delta 72, The Black Ryder, The Meek and more. Since 2012 Gregg Foreman has been the musical director of Cat Power’s band. He started dj’ing 60s Soul and Mod 45’s in 1995 and has spun around the world. Gregg currently lives in Los Angeles, CA and divides his time between playing live music, producing records and dj’ing various clubs and parties from LA to Australia.
Set List
Intro
Penetration - The Stooges
Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton
Losing Touch with My Mind - Spacemen 3
INTRO 1/RX - EXPERIMENTAL ORGAN/RX
Sonic Boom conversation Pt 1
Bang Bang Bang Bang - John Lee Hooker
Afro - The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Try To Understand - The Seeds
We’re Pretty Quick - The Chob
The Hawg - Eddie Kirk
You Gotta Move - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
New Face In Hell - The Fall
INTRO 2/RX - Grits and Cornbread/ Soul Runners
Sonic Boom conversation Pt 2
Take Me To The Other Side - Spacemen 3
Goo Goo Muck - The Cramps
No More Hot Dogs - Hasil Adkins
Fears of Gun - The Birthday Party
Sonic Boom conversation Pt 3
I Love You - Spacemen 3
I Can’t Stand it - The Velvet Underground
Pharmacy Intros - BJM/CAN/Question Mark? & the Mysterians.
INTRO 3/RX - Do You Feel It/Question Mark? & the Mysterians
Sonic Boom conversation Pt 4
How You Satisfy Me - Spectrum
I Can’t Let Go - Evie Sands
INTRO 4/RX - Home Grown/Booker T and The MG’s
Rocket USA (Autobahn Father Rising Rx US Mix w SUN RA) Suicide/Rx/ etc...
Outro
You can download the entire show here.There are the days when you can’t do anything. Everyone has those but they are so much worse when you are in this situation, when you lose someone you love. Anyone you love, this isn’t solely for widows. THOSE days, they get so much harder.
When I got THOSE days, Riley was always the one to deal with them. Making me tea, patting my head, carrying me to bed when I cried myself to sleep on the lounge floor. He was a really good man but what did I do when he isn’t there to look after me?
I broke down. I hit a low patch, I didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, didn’t go out or even talk to people. All these people trying to help me, and I didn’t want a bar of it. I wanted Riley. I told myself everyone had turned their back on me, I started being paranoid that people were watching my every move. I hated the world and with time because of my choices I grew to hate myself.
I had turned into a big ball of darkness and bitterness, I couldn’t look in the mirror because I was disgusted at myself, how far I had fallen. The bags under my eyes, the messy hair, and the same clothes I had worn for 3 days straight. But one day I decided I had had enough, I was so tired of being tired, I was tired of yelling, I was tired of crying. I was just so tired.
It was nothing special but one day I had a shower, another day I managed to finish a slice of pizza (with some encouraging/swearing from Joel). It was a long and tedious process and the war continues to rage on, some days Joel still has to remind me ‘eat your fucking pizza’, some days I sit on the edge of my bed and stare at a little spot on my wall but it’s the little wins. Making dinner for yourself, putting the washing on, remember your keys when you go out.
You have to remind yourself to keep going, I know it’s super shit but it will get better. I want to make a life that Riley would have been proud to be a part of. I wake up every day with the thought that today it will be better, today I will do something that I couldn’t yesterday and some times that doesn’t work but that doesn’t mean you give up, this means you try harder. Some days you just won’t be able to, I know this. but spending a day in bed does not mean you aren’t doing well, this doesn’t lessen your existence. This just means you need a mental health day, this means you need some time to think through things but the next day, that will be your day. That’s the day you go back to work, that’s the day where you put on your mascara, that is the day you make yourself proud and you become your own superhero.
Things will only get better if you make them better, if you grab life by the balls and say “listen up you little shit, you fucked with the wrong lady and you pushed me too far this time, sunshine” you will do better. What if Bill Gates had given up? J K Rowling? Wayne Gelman (Person who invented garlic bread)?
We wouldn’t have so many wonderful things in this world if these people gave up! You are capable of so many beautiful and wondrous things, you were not made to have a life full of bitterness and despair. We can make it if we try. I always found putting on a upbeat song when I wake up helps me to get out of bed, I started leaving snacks in my bedside table so I could still eat even if I couldn’t get out of bed and I just keep telling myself that Riley was so proud of me.
You can do this, you may get knocked down, and you may cry. You may scream, you may spend 4 days in bed but you will do this and you will be so much stronger when you make it out the other side.
The fort Riley helped me make when I was having one of THOSE days.
AdvertisementsThe operator of the nuclear power plant destroyed by a tsunami in 2011 has come under heavy criticism after a major radioactive water leak became public knowledge, sparking widespread alarm.
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Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that the government would step in to bring the contamination under control at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power planet after it became public that a constant stream of radioactive water was leaking from the site.
The Japanese government revealed on Wednesday that 300 tonnes of contaminated water were flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the site each day, more than two years after a tsunami caused the nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi station to go into meltdown.
The announcement came after the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), acknowledged water leaks at the end of July following months of denial.
“Stabilising the Fukushima power plant is our challenge. Specifically, the contaminated water problem is one that the Japanese people have a high level of interest in and is an urgent issue to deal with,” Shinzo Abe said at a crisis cabinet meeting.
“Rather than relying on Tokyo Electric, the government will take measures,” Abe said, prompting questions on the nuclear operator’s capacity to deal with the situation.
Contaminated water
Cooling water has been used since the meltdown to keep the temperature of the reactors under 50°C. In addition, runoff rain water is believed to have become contaminated as it flows naturally through the coastal site.
Tepco is planning to build an underground barrier to stop those flows. However, Jérôme Joly, the deputy head of France’s Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), told FRANCE 24, “That would be a short-term measure, which would not solve the issue of water storage for a volume of 700 cubic metres per day.”
“Tepco has the ability to accomplish this mission,” Joly added. “The only criticism that can be levelled at the company and it is a serious one is that they waited too long to tackle the leaks and to inform the relevant authorities.”
Until last month, Tepco had said contaminated water remained trapped under its buildings. Yet the radioactivity measured on a fish caught near the power station in January was 2,500 higher than the legal limit.
Tepco losing credibility
Such discrepancies have undermined the company’s credibility in the eyes of many experts. Dale Klein, the former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told Tepco executives at a panel meeting earlier this month: “These actions indicate that you don't know what you are doing... you do not have a plan and that you are not doing all you can to protect the environment and the people.”
The effect of the contamination on the ecosystem remains unclear. “The effects on biodiversity are not the same as in the Chernobyl disaster, because the emissions are smaller but they will last longer”, said Joly of IRSN.
Fukushima is the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. It is estimated the site will take forty years to clean up.
Two years on, 160,000 people have not been able to return home because of radiation in the atmosphere, ground and water. More than 1,400 have lost their lives to poor evacuation conditions, deteriorating living conditions or suicide.
However, no deaths have yet been directly attributed to nuclear contamination.Tens of thousands of fans have helped choose the 2017 Dunlop Art Car which will debut at the opening round of the VLN next month with Walkenhorst Motorsport on one of their BMW M6 GT3s.
“Crystal Flake” was one of three designs presented by artist Jean Pierre Kraemer and came out the clear winner in an online vote, more than 44,000 of 77,000 votes opting for the winning design.
“The chosen design is very impactful and will be very noticeable in the field,” said Jean Pierre Kraemer. “The design is modelled on the past two years with a lot of shadow play and many individual polygonal figures that break up. Thus the viewer has the impression that the structure is not quite smooth and the design looks like a crystal.”
The 2017 design continues a recent tradition of Dunlop Art Cars, including JMW’s Ferraris and Aston Martins at Le Mans between 2009 – 2013, and fan votes on subsequent Nurburgring 24h racing cars.
The car will be unveiled prior to the first round of the VLN Endurance Championship on 25 March at the Nürburgring.
In addition to the Walkenhorst BMW M6 GT3, Jean Pierre Kraemer and Dunlop will also design a Dunlop-Art bike for the first time this year. This is the new Suzuki GSX-R 1000, which will be used in all races of the GSX-R Cup taking place within the IDM German Superbike Series.The leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church has sent a letter to the Vatican which may contain a protest against the Vatican’s plan to canonize Alojzije Stepinac. Stepinac, a Croatian Catholic cardinal, was convicted after World War II of collaborating with the fascist Independent State of Croatia.
Serbian Church sends letter to Vatican
SOURCE: POLITIKA, TANJUG
BELGRADE — A letter explaining the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) regarding the canonization of Alojzije Stepinac was recently handed to a Vatican official.
The daily Politika writes that the letter was given to Secretary of the Holy See for Relations with States Dominique Mamberti, who has been on a visit to Serbia.
The content of the message, however, remains unknown, but the newspaper noted that the SPC “undoubtedly does not view favorably announcements that Stepinac could become a saint.”
Mamberti will also take with him to the Vatican another letter dedicated to the same subject, sent by the Serbian president.
In an interview for Politika published in Sunday, SPC Patriarch Irinej said the announcements from the Vatican that Stepinac could be canonized by the end of the year came as “a great surprise” for the Serbian Orthodox dignitaries – “because in order for someone to be a saint, they must be a truly shining and holy personality and be accepted as such by other Christians.”
Read the full story here.
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Posted by the Orthodox Christian Network. You can find the Orthodox Christian Network on Google+.Book release: With Liberty and Justice for Some How the law is used to destroy equality and protect the powerful
(updated below - Update II - Update III)
I’m genuinely excited today to announce the release of my new book, With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful. As of this morning, it is available in bookstores as well as for shipping online.
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The book focuses on what I began realizing several years ago is the crucial theme tying together most of the topics I write about: America’s two-tiered justice system – specifically, the way political and financial elites are now vested with virtually absolute immunity from the rule of law even when they are caught committing egregious crimes, while ordinary Americans are subjected to the world’s largest and one of its harshest and most merciless penal states even for trivial offenses. As a result, law has been completely perverted from what it was intended to be – the guarantor of an equal playing field which would legitimize outcome inequalities – into its precise antithesis: a weapon used by the most powerful to protect their ill-gotten gains, strengthen their unearned prerogatives, and ensure ever-expanding opportunity inequality. This is how I described that development in the book:
The law itself wields tremendous power. The legal system’s reach is unparalleled: it can deprive a person of property, liberty, even life. It may compel people to transfer their material goods to others, block them from engaging in planned actions, destroy their reputations, consign them to cages, or even inject lethal chemicals into their veins. Unequal application of the law is thus not merely unjust in theory but devastating in practice. When the law is wielded only against the powerless, it ceases to be a safeguard against injustice and becomes the primary tool of oppression.
The past decade has witnessed the most severe crimes imaginable by political and financial elites: the construction of a worldwide torture regime, domestic spying perpetrated jointly by the government and the telecom industry without the warrants required by the criminal law, an aggressive war waged on another country that killed hundreds of thousands of people, massive financial fraud that came close to collapsing the world economy and which destroyed the economic security of tens of millions, and systematic foreclosure fraud that, by design, bombarded courts with fraudulent documents in order to seize homes without legal entitlement. These are not bad policies or mere immoral acts. They are plainly criminal, and yet – due to the precepts of elite immunity which were first explicitly embraced during Ford’s pardon of Nixon -- none of those crimes has produced legal punishments.
By very stark contrast, ordinary Americans are imprisoned more easily, for longer periods of time, and in greater numbers than any nation on earth. New legal classes of non-persons with no rights have been created over the last decade as well. Thus, over the same four decades that elite immunity has taken hold, the nation -- namely,the same elite class that has aggressively vested itself with the right to act with impunity -- has resorted to ever more merciless punishment schemes for ordinary Americans and others who are marginalized who, for multiple reasons, have very few defenses when the state targets them for punishment. While being rich and powerful has always been an advantage in the judicial system (and in all other aspects of American life), our political culture has now explicitly renounced the concept of equality of law, and it is thus now unabashedly clear that who you are is far more important than what you do.
This development isn’t just central to most of what I write. It is, I believe, driving the growing (and accurate) perception that our political institutions are wholly illegitimate. It is, as I wrote this morning at Tom Dispatch, this sense that outcome inequalities are now wholly illegitimate – as a result of this fundamental perversion of the rule of law – that is fueling the citizen anger inspirationally on display at the Occupy protests around the nation.
In the first three years after I began writing about politics, (2006-2008), I wrote one book per year, largely because significant time constraints were imposed on those books. This new book is substantially different than those for many reasons, the most important of which is that I had the luxury of really taking my time with this book. I’ve basically been writing it for the last two-and-a-half years, and was able to step back from day-to-day writing and reflect on broader themes and underlying causes that explain these developments and what really lies at their rotted roots. The greater amount of time, and a much more active editor, also meant that I was able (and at times compelled) to struggle with and then perfect literally each sentence. This was a much different, and much more gratifying, book-writing process, and I really believe that this is reflected in the book itself.
For me, there is only one reason to spend the enormous amount of time and energy required to write a book: because you really believe that the arguments you’re making should be heard but are not being heard, and the book, if it's successful, can forcibly inject these ideas into mainstream discourse. I think there's a growing perception, even if inchoate, that law does not serve as a legitimizing anchor to justify wealth, income and opportunity inequalities, and therefore nothing legitimizes those inequalities. They are illegitimate. The resulting anger – and rejection of the legitimacy of mainstream political institutions – is a positive force, a necessary antidote, and it’s my sincere hope that this book will accelerate that by crystallizing just how corrupted American law and justice have become.
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* * * * *
The book is available at Amazon, Powell's, Barnes & Noble and most bookstores. There will be short excerpts posted in various places today and I will post the links to those here. The current event schedule for my book tour is here. For the first television interview, I'll be on the Rachel Maddow Show tonight at roughly 9:15 p.m. to discuss the book, and will post other media appearances as they happen.
UPDATE: An excerpt from the book is now published in Salon, which examines how the Ford pardon of Nixon entrenched the modern template for corrupt elite immunity. A separate excerpt in The Huffington Post concerns the mentality leading to the extension of immunity to the nation's most financially powerful.
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UPDATE II: Truthout has posted an interview with me today that covers several of the book's key themes; it can be read here.
In addition to the Maddow show tonight (my segment will be at 9:30 p.m.), I'll be on for the full hour on Democracy Now tomorrow morning beginning at 8:00 a.m. (local listings and live stream here), and then on NPR's On Point, beginning at 11:00 a.m.
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UPDATE III: Here is the segment I did with Rachel Maddow this evening discussing the new book:Image copyright SNS and Ciaran Donnelly Image caption David Robertson (left) and David Goodwillie had claimed the sex was consensual
Two footballers have lost an appeal against a civil ruling which said they raped a woman and that she was entitled to £100,000 damages.
Ex-Scotland striker David Goodwillie and former Dundee United player David Robertson had brought a legal challenge against Lord Armstrong's finding in favour of Denise Clair.
The appeal was unanimously rejected by three appeal judges on Tuesday.
Ms Clair, 30, claimed she was raped at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian.
She had gone for a night out on 1 January 2011 in nearby Bathgate before the attack.
Both Goodwillie, 28, and Robertson, 31, had accepted that they had sexual intercourse with her but maintained that it was consensual.
A full police investigation was carried out into the incident but no criminal prosecution took place.
'Took advantage'
Ms Clair, who had drunk a half pint of lager, eight or nine Jack Daniels and coke and two Jaegerbombs, maintained in the subsequent civil action that she had been raped by both men.
The court heard that she went in a taxi to Armadale with the players in the early hours of the morning.
She later woke, naked, in a strange house and had no recollection of events from shortly after she arrived at a pub, the Glenmavis Tavern, the previous evening.
Following an evidential hearing, Lord Armstrong said in a judgement issued earlier this year: "I find that in the early hours of Sunday 2 January 2011 at the flat in Greig Crescent, Armadale, both defenders (the players) took advantage of the pursuer when she was vulnerable through an excessive intake of alcohol and, because her cognitive functioning and decision making processes were so impaired, was incapable of giving meaningful consent, and that they each raped her."
Lawyers acting for ex-Dundee United, Blackburn Rovers, |
all the ways Trump threatens Republican Party dogma. He failed, repeatedly, to defend Trump when Kaine prodded him to. It’s possible to interpret Pence’s approach, as some analysts have, as a kind of damage-mitigation strategy to preserve his viability to run for president in 2020. But we don’t even need to reach the question of Pence’s future ambitions to explain his performance. His evasions and deceptions are a big part of what’s propping up the rickety GOP union. Trump and Pence are either lying to voters about their platform reform or lying to officials in the Republican Party about it. If the truth were known, the union would fall apart.You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters
— Three coyotes tracked a man walking his dog in Schenck Forest in west Raleigh last week and later tracked police escorting the man from the area after he called 911 for help, police said.
Steven Keating, 24, was walking on Richland Creek Trail near the intersection of Edwards Mill Road and Wade Avenue at about 6:30 p.m. on July 1, and he told a 911 dispatcher that he spotted the coyotes when his boxer's behavior caused him to survey their surroundings. As he reversed his course and began moving away, the coyotes followed and flanked him, and he climbed up a 3-foot-tall elevated manhole with the dog for safety, he said.
"They started walking toward me, so I just yelled and got big," Keating told the dispatcher. "One started running at me, so I sprinted with my dog and came up here. Once I got up, it turned and ran into the woods and went further down and was just staring at me for a while."
Officers from the Raleigh Police Department, the North Carolina State University Police Department and Raleigh Animal Control were dispatched and had to follow the trails from both the north and the south to locate Keating and his dog. As the officers began to escort them out of the wooded area, the coyotes followed and flanked the party for an estimated 300 yards until the woods gave way to a clearing, police said.
Dogs are prohibited in Schenck Forest, but the rule is rarely enforced.
Lt. Sam Craft with the state Wildlife Resources Commission said encounters like Keating's are extremely rare, but it's possible the coyotes have a den nearby.
"They have their pups with them this time of the year, and so, they're trying to feed their pups and pretty much take care of them at this point," Craft said.
There's never been an unprovoked coyote attack on a human in North Carolina, even though the crafty canids are in each of the state's 100 counties – urban areas as well as rural. Coyotes generally want nothing to do with people, Craft said, but he advised anyone approached by a coyote not to turn your back on the animal and never, ever run from it.
"They're predators, and that's what their prey do is run from them," he said. "Stand your ground, make loud noises, anything that you can do to try to turn the animal away."
Keating couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.Looking for news you can trust?
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There was overwhelming bipartisan agreement on Tuesday night that Gabrielle Giffords’ arrival for President Obama’s State of the Union address was the most compelling moment of the evening. Watch the footage and there’s simply no arguing with that—the Arizona congresswoman looked terrific. Her incredible comeback from a near-fatal shooting one year ago seems all the more remarkable each time she appears in public. (Not that she doesn’t face challenges ahead; a video she released over the weekend, in which she announced that she’s stepping down from her congressional seat to focus on her further recovery, is equally moving.) Her story is as potent a mix of painful and inspirational as there is, and you’d hope that it could stand as something of an antidote to the poisonous politics of the era.
Which is why some news out of Missouri on Tuesday was particularly stomach-churning: Just hours before Giffords made her way into the nation’s Capitol, an unknown provocateur was stalking the halls of the Missouri Capitol, tagging the doors of lawmakers—most of them Democratic women—with images of rifle crosshairs. From the Columbia Daily Tribune:
Orange stickers with an image of rifle crosshairs were found Tuesday on the office doors of several Democratic state senators, prompting an investigation by Missouri Capitol Police, Senate Administrator Jim Howerton said. The stickers were on the doors of all four Democratic women in the Senate—Jolie Justus and Kiki Curls, both of Kansas City, and Maria Chapelle-Nadal and Robin Wright-Jones, both of St. Louis, Justus said. One similar sticker was found on the nameplate outside the door of state Rep. Scott Dieckhaus, R-Washington. “If anyone thinks this was a prank, it is not a prank,” Justus said after discussing the discovery of the stickers on the Senate floor. “You don’t joke about someone’s personal safety.” A sticker also was found on the door of Sen. Victor Callahan, D-Kansas City and the Democrats’ floor leader.
Columbia-based reporter Sherman Fabes posted photos of the stickers that showed up at the lawmakers’ offices:
These are the pictures of the cross hair stickers that were on Sen. Curls’ Door twitter.com/ShermanFabes/s… — Sherman Fabes (@ShermanFabes) January 25, 2012
Sen. Chapelle-Nadal herself weighed in on Twitter and didn’t mince words, emphasizing her disapproval with “#DisgracefulCowards.” (Her tweets are “protected” but one was posted by St. Louis Activist Hub.)
It’s an apt moment to recall that Giffords once criticized Sarah Palin for using a map that literally put political enemies in the crosshairs. “We need to realize that the rhetoric…for example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s ‘targeted’ list, but the thing is, the way she has it depicted, we’re in the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district,” Giffords said in an interview with MSNBC in spring 2010. “When people do that, they’ve gotta realize that there are consequences to that action.”
We all know what followed.
Palin and other conservatives strongly rejected the notion that their imagery and rhetoric had anything to do with the bloodbath in Arizona a year ago. And no one can know what was truly in the deranged mind of Jared Loughner. But common sense says that when enough targeted political vitriol mixes with enough guns, bad things will eventually happen.Now if you buy a Rob Ford bobblehead doll, you’re probably going to be donating to his re-election campaign.
Doug Ford revealed on Wednesday that the Fords are rolling out four new editions of the popular “Robbie Bobbies.” The sale of three of them — Hollywood/Tuxedo Rob, Jimmy Kimmel Rob and Football Tie Rob — will raise money for the mayor’s re-election bid. A fourth has been produced to help out a hospital.
Councillor Ford said the campaign has only ordered 500 versions of Football Tie Rob, so they will sell for $100 each at next week’s campaign launch at the Congress Centre. Tuxedo Rob (in the outfit the mayor wore to an Oscar party) and Jimmy Kimmel Rob (dressed like a magician, as Mr. Kimmel joked) will go for $30 each.
Capitalizing now on the infamy from his crack scandal, Rob Ford could well be the first Toronto candidate to bankroll a campaign with merchandise.
And it won’t just be bobbleheads: the Fords will be hawking sweatshirts, T-shirts, keychains, coffee mugs in the name of the campaign. “It’s to even the playing field,” said Councillor Ford, who claims the mayor won’t be backed by big money donors.
“We may do one with Jimmy and Rob together,” he said. Even a Rob Ford SUV may be in the cards.
“That’s coming guys,” said Mr. Ford, the mayor’s campaign manager.
He said the team has checked that the dolls can be used to raise money for the campaign, as long as the campaign discounts the cost to produce the bobblehead. Mr. Ford said anyone purchasing a $30 bobble head will not be eligible for a rebate from the city, but the $100 dolls are. Election rules state that only people in Ontario can donate to municipal campaigns, which limits who the mayor can sell his bobblehead to.
“Our biggest problem is all the people around the world that want them, but can’t get em,” said Councillor Ford. “We got to figure out the legalities of doing that.”Back in March we brought the film A Silent Voice (aka Koe no Katachi) to cinemas in the UK & Ireland and almost immediately we were getting questions about a home release. Since then those questions have continued to come in but today is the day tell you what to expect from our release due on 30th October 2017.
ABOUT A SILENT VOICE
Synopsis: “Shoya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shoko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shoya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shoko and Shoya do not speak to each other again… until an older, wiser Shoya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shoko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late…?”
Do have a watch of our theatrical trailer, used to promote the film when it was cinemas earlier this year –
ENGLISH DUB CAST
One of the things we’re most excited about with our release of A Silent Voice is the fact that we have dubbed the film into English produced by NYAV Post (Your Name, Napping Princess, A Letter To Momo) so that the many fans who couldn’t or weren’t able to experience the film at the time due it only being available in Japanese with subtitles will now be able to enjoy it again and again.
Today we can also reveal the complete English cast list –
A Silent Voice – English cast list Character Actor Shoya Ishida Robbie Daymond Shoya Ishida (in year 6 at school) Ryan Shanahan Shoko Nishimiya Lexi Cowden Naoka Ueno Kira Buckland Naoka Ueno (in year 6 at school) Gia Grace Miki Kawai Amber Lee Connors Miki Kawai (in year 6 at school) Annabelle Corigliano Miyoko Sahara Melissa Hope Mikoko Sahara (in year 6 at school) Catie Harvey Hirose (in year 6 at school) Brian Bekerle Kazuki Shimada Michael Sinterniklaas Kazuki Shimada (in year 6 at school) Spencer Rosen Yuzuru Nishimiya Kristen Sullivan Yaeko Nishimiya Lipica Shah Ito Nishimiya Janis Carol Miyoko Ishida Sara Cravens Nagatsuka Graham Halstead Satoshi Mashiba Max Mittelman Maria AnnaBelle Deaner Additional Voices Christine Marie Cabanos Marc Diraison Amanda Winn Lee Michael Schneider Michael Sinterniklaas Stephanie Sheh Michael Sorich
In terms of the team of people involved in the production of the English language audio, we’re happy to confirm the following were involved –
Director: Stephanie Sheh
Additional directing by: Amanda Winn Lee, Michael Sinterniklaas
Spotting: Clark Cheng
Casting director: Stephanie Sheh
Additional writing: Amanda Winn Lee, Clark Cheng
Consultant: Amanda Winn Lee
And following on from the English cast announcement we’re delighted to bring you an exclusive first glimpse at the English language version of A Silent Voice! Check out the clip below for an excerpt taken from early on in the film –
UPDATE, 3RD OCTOBER – Second English cast preview clip published
UPDATE, 10th October – Third English cast preview clip published
Over the coming weeks we’ll be giving you more previews of the English language version of A Silent Voice; and also worth mentioning that if your in Edinburgh on Tuesday 17th October, it will be the World Premiere screening of the dub at the Filmhouse cinema as part of the Scotland Loves Anime Film Festival. Ticket information HERE.
DETAILS ON THE UK Home Video RELEASE
In total there will be three versions available (plus a special bundle that will be exclusive to AllTheAnime.com; we’ll tell you about that in a moment). There will be –
Ltd Collector’s Edition Blu-ray+DVD set
Standard Blu-ray
Standard DVD
Contents of the Ltd Collector’s Edition Version –
This will come packed in a rigid case with a digipack to hold the Blu-ray and DVD discs. Also included is 76 page book that includes –
An introduction about A Silent Voice
Character profiles
Gallery
Storyboards
Plus we have articles included analysing A Silent Voice written by Andrew Osmond (author of 100 Japanese Animated Feature Films) and Jonathan Clements (author of Anime: A History)
AllTheAnime.com Exclusive ‘A Silent Voice’ Bundle –
We know a lot of you love the visuals around the film and that you would like to be able to have some of the theatrical style posters as seen in cinemas. There’s been a lot of work behind-the-scenes to see if this would be possible and we’re happy to say we are able to offer special bundle that will be exclusive to our AllTheAnime.com web shop (while stock lasts) where you will receive the Ltd Collector’s Edition set AND also get two A3 posters!
UPDATE – 7th Nov. 2017: Image above updated with final poster designs
The posters are not signed off (at time of writing) which is why they’re appearing as TBC in the image above, but to give you a hint as to what we’re hoping for here, one would (hopefully) be in similar style to our theatrical poster as seen in cinemas around the time of our theatrical release earlier this year, and the other (also hopefully) will be utilising certain imagery that’s featured in the Japanese home video release, that we were not able to include in our home video release.
The bundle is simply our Ltd Collector’s Edition version along with the two posters. The posters will be shipped separately in a poster tube in November 2017; the release date of the product itself is 30th October. The reason they will be shipped later is simply due to production time.
WHAT’S ON THE DISCS?
The contents on the discs themselves are all identical. So no matter which version you purchase you it will include the following –
The main feature “A Silent Voice” in both English and Japanese with English subtitles Audio: English 5.1, English Stereo, Japanese 5.1, Japanese Stereo Subtitles: Dialogue+Signs & Songs (this is the subtitle setting to accompany the Japanese audio), Song & Signs only, Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
On-disc extras are as follows Music Video: “Koi wo Shita no wa” by AKIO Music Video: “Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice)” by Speed of Youth Trailer and TV Spots UK TV Spot (NOTE: this is a shorter version of our theatrical trailer) Real-Life Locations Interview with Director Naoko Yamada Interview with Character Designer Futoshi Nishiya Interview with Art Director Mutsuo Shinohara Interview with Music Composer Kensuke Ushio
Pre-orders for all versions of A Silent Voice will commence at AllTheAnime.com during the week commencing 2nd October 2017.
AllTheAnime.com listings
But if you want to get in early you can pre-order your copy of the Ltd Collector’s Edition, standard Blu-ray and standard DVD versions from the following retailers –
Order at Amazon UK Order at Base.com Order at HMV Online Order at Anime-On-Line
Frequently Asked Questions about the UK HOME VIDEO Release of ‘A Silent Voice’
GENERAL RECURRING QUESTIONS –
–What’s the release date?
30th October 2017
–When is AllTheAnime.com going to start taking pre-orders for A Silent Voice?
During the week commencing 2nd October 2017 is when pre-orders for all versions of our release will open at our web shop. This will only be available to order while stock lasts.
–Is there any way to get hold of the posters that will come with the AllTheAnime.com exclusive version separately?
No. These are exclusive to our web shop bundle only and will not be available separately.
–How will the posters in the AllTheAnime.com Exclusive version be shipped?
These will be shipped separately to the product itself in a poster tube after the date of release, during November 2017.
QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE RELEASE ITSELF –
–What is the subtitle option “Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing”
This is a subtitle option that includes extra details, such as character names of dialogue for when someone is speaking off-screen or perhaps highlights a sound effect.
–Are the Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing based on the English or Japanese audio script?
They are based on the Japanese subtitle script.
–What region code are the discs?
All of our releases for are UK & Ireland, so they are coded to Region B on Blu-ray and Region 2 on DVD only.
If you’ve read this far, then you’re probably as hyped as we are for this release! As we said, AllTheAnime.com will be taking pre-orders during the week commencing 2nd October 2017.
Signing out~!
JeremyThe official website for the anime films based on the late author Project Itoh's writing announced on Friday that a new studio called "Geno Studio" will complete the Genocidal Organ film. The announcement noted that director and writer Shukou Murase as well as "other main staff members" will continue to work on the project at Geno Studio.
Fuji-TV producer Kōji Yamamoto (Eden of the East, anohana, Guilty Crown producer, Empire of Corpses screenwriter) established the new studio. The studio is a 100% subsidiary company of the anime production company Twin Engine, and Yamamoto will formally complete the company's registration process by mid-November. Yamamoto served as the producer for Fuji-TV's late night programming block Noitamina for many years before going independent and establishing Twin Engine in 2014.
The announcement stated that the staff hopes to complete the film by the end of 2016, but added that there is no specific time period to announce yet.
Noitamina also began streaming an announcement video on Friday to confirm that the work is still continuing. The video ends with the message "'Project' won't stop."
The studio Manglobe, which was originally animating the film, filed for bankruptcy in September and formally began its bankruptcy proceedings with the Tokyo District Court on November 4. 237 parties are claiming 544.5 million yen (about US$4.43 million) in debt from the studio.
The official website for the film then announced on October 1 that the film had been delayed, and it began offering refunds for pre-ordered tickets on October 23.
Genocidal Organ was originally slated to open in October, but the release order of the three Project Itoh films was shuffled in July so that The Empire of Corpses would open in October and Genocidal Organ would open in November. The Empire of Corpses opened on October 2 in Japan, and Harmony opened on Friday.
Update: Added more information about Geno Studio. Source: Anime! Anime!
Update 2: The staff noted that it plans to complete the film by the end of 2016. This article previously incorrectly stated that the staff plans to release the film by the end of 2016.Why do health-care workers in West Africa find this current Ebola outbreak, the worst ever, so difficult to control? The strain of the virus, the Zaire, is the same one behind most of the previous outbreaks.
This is not a case where the virus is any different, says Dr. Richard Olds, a tropical disease specialist.
But at least part of the explanation for the current dilemma may be found in how Africa has changed since the first known outbreaks of Ebola in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Sudan.
For one, this outbreak is taking place in parts of Africa that are "much more densely populated, much more urban in their nature and those populations are much more mobile," says Olds. Also, "these were populations that had never seen Ebola before."
Urbanization, travel and the personal connections that come with economic development appear to have helped the virus spread. At the same time, a more formidable health-care infrastructure that could go a long way to stopping Ebola before it reaches outbreak status has not kept pace, and without that, Olds says, Ebola is "a little like Russian roulette."
Also setting this outbreak apart is what's happened after the point at which past outbreaks would have ended.
In the past, "typically there's been a spike and then it drops off," to zero, microbiologist Tom Geisbert says. But for some reason that has health officials mystified, this particular outbreak didn't follow the pattern.
It looked like it was going to, mind you, at least until late May.
When the World Health Organization issued its situation report as of May 18, it projected that the Ebola "outbreak could be declared over on 22 May 2014."
That was in reference to Liberia, where there had been no new confirmed cases since April 9. The situation was also stable in Sierra Leone and improving in Guinea, where the outbreak began in March.
A UNICEF worker explains the symptoms of Ebola virus disease and best practices to help prevent its spread, in the city of Voinjama, Liberia. (Ahmed Jallanzo/UNICEF/Reuters)
But then the number of new cases again began to move higher, and in July spiked sharply upwards. By early July, WHO was already saying the outbreak was out of control.
And it was Liberia that has had the most new cases, according to the latest WHO update. In the seven days ended Aug. 6, there were 339 new cases (confirmed, probable or suspect), 163 of them in Liberia. There have now been at least 1,779 cases and 961 deaths from Ebola in West Africa.
On Thursday, Liberia declared a state of emergency to fight the virus. Fewer than 24 hours later, WHO declared the outbreak is a "public health emergency of international concern" at a press conference held in Geneva, Switzerland.
What's different
Geisbert, one of the top experts on Ebola, says he isn't certain why the number of cases spiked again.
"This outbreak has been very different compared to any Ebola outbreak in the past, and so we don't really have much historical perspective."
Tom Geisbert, a top expert on Ebola, says, 'This outbreak has been very different compared to any Ebola outbreak in the past.' (Univ. of Texas Medical Branch)
Geisbert, who researches Ebola at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, says that what sets this outbreak apart from previous ones, and makes it "incredibly hard to control" is that this time around, it has taken hold over a large geographical area and three countries.
That means "you've spread the resources and the expertise to combat it really thin," he explains.
Adding to the problem, a number of the doctors and other medical staff treating Ebola patients succumbed to the virus themselves, including Sierra Leone's top Ebola doctor, Sheik Umar Khan, who died last week.
In Nigeria, it’s suspected that at least eight health-care workers have been infected as a result of treating Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian official who flew from Liberia to Lagos, Nigeria's largest city. Sawyer died July 25 and one of those workers, a nurse, has also died.
Add to that the spread of the infection to urban areas, which didn't happen in past outbreaks, and the challenge of isolating the sick and tracking people who had contact with them grows exponentially.
Geisbert says Ebola in large, urban areas is a worst-case scenario because of how difficult it becomes to contain. For example, in Conakry, Guinea's capital, there have been at least 95 suspected cases of Ebola.
Needed: more personnel, resources, education
Nigeria health officials wait to screen passengers at the arrival hall of the international airport in Lagos. (Sunday Alamba/Associated Press)
In past outbreaks, national health departments and aid organizations, especially Doctors Without Borders, would go in, and the homes of infected individuals or sometimes an entire village would be placed under quarantine and Ebola would soon die out.
Ebola is spread by bodily fluids but only when the infected person displays symptoms, which include fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Over half the people who get the disease die.
"Generally the epidemic burned out after two or three transmissions through humans because appropriate public health and isolation techniques took place," says Olds. But with this outbreak, aid groups such as Doctors without Borders have said they are "stretched beyond capacity."
In response to WHO's emergency declaration, Doctors without Borders criticized the international response and stated, "all of the following need to be radically scaled up: medical care, training of health staff, infection control, contact tracing, epidemiological surveillance, alert and referral systems, community mobilisation and education.
“Lives are being lost because the response is too slow," they added.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is sending 50 additional disease control experts to West Africa. Thirty-one are there now.
Volunteers carry bodies in a centre run by Medecins Sans Frontieres for Ebola patients in Kailahun, Sierra Leone on July 18. (WHO/Tarik Jasarevic/Reuters)
One challenge the international assistance effort has to confront is the mistrust of the local population, including a belief that they are the ones spreading the virus.
Olds gives this scenario: "A loved one goes into some green tent, with people in space suits that don't look like Africans, and never comes out again; that is an environment that breeds a lot of suspicion and stories that are very counterproductive to the efforts of public health."
Noting that the initial response was not enough to stop the epidemic, Olds says that "the farther this spreads, the more time, energy and human lives are going to be lost. Don't wait for this to get any worse."
He says there needs to be more of an international and national effort if the outbreak is to be halted, and that includes anthropologists, sociologists and religious leaders and teachers that have credibility in the countries affected.
Fear and denial hampering efforts
The governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have already stepped up their efforts to contain the disease. Education campaigns are underway to counter traditional beliefs and customs.
But sometimes health-care workers still get attacked when they try to go into a community.
"Communities are in denial that this virus can kill people," Jean-Pierre Taschereau, a Canadian leading the Red Cross response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak, told CBC Radio's The Current.
"As more cases appear, there's an increasing fear and resistance to outside intervention, so it's hampering our efforts," he added.
Last week Reuters reported on a demonstration outside the hospital in Kemena, Sierra Leone, the country's main Ebola hospital, which was under police guard.
"Thousands had gathered outside the clinic the day before, threatening to burn it down and remove the patients," Reuters reported. "Residents said police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds."You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters
Message: * A friend wanted you to see this item from WRAL.com: http://wr.al/ucaJ
— FBI agents raided a home at the Autumn Pointe Apartments on Bremer Hall Court Wednesday afternoon and collected items as part of an ongoing federal investigation.
Investigators collected what appeared to be weapons, including rifles and swords, and other items and placed them in the back of a FBI van.
Neighbors said a woman lives in the third floor apartment with her two sons. A background search shows one known relative with the same address – Akbar Jordan, a 21-year-old who attended Millbrook High School. He was arrested in 2011 for disorderly conduct. Jordan’s mother, Yolanda Reid, is the other known relative in the apartment.
One neighbor, who lives in the same building as the apartment, said an official told her that “investigators had gotten some bad people out of the building.”
It was unknown Wednesday evening if anyone was taken into custody, or why federal agents were at the home.Any pro anglers are sponsored by rod, reel, and lure companies. Then there's Zach Miller and his band of fishing buddies, who are sponsored by Florida-based retail chain House of Ladders.
The store's huge ladder assortment enabled Team Rebel (teamrebelfishing.com) to find the perfect shark fishing platform to plant on the flats of the Indian River. Standing on a ladder and chumming in big sharks sounds crazy, but Miller and friends have found that the tactic results in more fish. And they're not alone.
**
A Leg (and Everything Else) Up**
Miller used to chase sharks from a kayak, chumming them out of the deep channels onto the knee-deep flats. But kayaks have their flaws. "You can't see far ahead of yourself in a kayak," Miller says. "I also just got tired of the sleigh rides when I hooked a big fish." Planting a ladder on the flats was an idea he had been toying with for a while, figuring the elevation would allow him to see approaching sharks from a greater distance. He'd fight the fish from the ladder and only have to stand in the water once the fish was tired out.
Soon Miller learned that not just any ladder would do. "An 8-foot fiberglass ladder is best," he says. "It won't rust, and it has good stability. We screw rod holders to the frame, add 1x4s to the legs for more surface area so the ladder doesn't sink into the sand too deeply, and opt for a steel top to sit on." So far the biggest shark they've caught is a 71⁄2-foot lemon. But according to Miller, it's the little sharks--not the monsters--that you have to worry about.Samsung seems to be pretty interested in the Android-powered camera market for some reason. Yesterday, the company announced the Galaxy S4 Zoom, a variant of the latest Galaxy S flagship with a 16MP sensor and 10x optical zoom. It looks like Samsung is looking to take it even further, however, and announce an Android-powered camera with interchangeable lenses.
Vietnamese technology website Tinhte has published a series of what appear to press shots of the Samsung Galaxy NX. According to the report, the device will feature a APS-C 20.3 MP sensor, as well as support for ISO up to 25,600, and video recording capabilities up to 1080p. It will have a 4.3-inch rear facing touchscreen and run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay on top. The Galaxy NK will also have a pop-up flash and accessory connecting pins. It will rely heavily on a touch user-interface, as the only buttons appear to be a power switch, camera button, shutter release and multifunction swivel wheel.
Samsung U28E590D 28-Inch 4K Monitor
The lenses, at least in the images, appear to range from 18-55 OIS to 18-200 OIS. When the device hits store shelves, it will most likely be released in a body-only fashion or in a kit that includes lenses.
It is expected that the device will be released on June 20th at Samsung’s event in London.Chadwick Moore, the writer who wrote what many consider a puff piece on Milo Yiannopoulos for Out, and who subsequently “came out” as a conservative after the backlash hurt his feelings, has found a new way to alienate himself.
Namely, questioning the motivations of the two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, who murdered Matthew Shepard nearly two decades ago.
Shepard’s death has been seen as one of the most notable examples of a hate crime. Former president Barack Obama signed The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law in 2009.
Some have questioned whether the motivation for the murder was really due to homophobia, most prominently by Stephen Jimenez, who wrote The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard and produced a controversial 20/20 segment in 2004 that questioned the details of the crime, suggesting it was little more than a drug theft gone wrong.
Many have called out Jimenez’s reporting as inaccurate, including police officials involved in the investigation. Others were more impressed, including Out editor Aaron Hicklin, who wrote in a piece for The Advocate that Jimenez “amassed enough anecdotal evidence to build a persuasive case that Shepard’s sexuality was, if not incidental, certainly less central than popular consensus has lead us to believe.”
McKinney’s lawyer tried to use the “gay panic” defense, arguing that Shepard made unwanted sexual advances toward him, but the judge rejected it.
Moore is on the side of skepticism of homophobia having been at play, tweeting out on Wednesday that the murder “wasn’t a hate crime.” He said that has been “debunked,” adding that the motives were drug related and the “gay lobby” had turned Shepard “into a Blonde Jesus.”
Matthew S. wasn't a gay hate crime. That's been debunked. It was meth. He use to f*ck those guys. Gay lobby turned him into a Blonde Jesus https://t.co/xgeqkCJHqh — Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) March 8, 2017
The tweet came in response to one from Twitter user kanun80, who argued that without politicians, and especially Democrats, stories like Shepard’s “would continue to be written.”
Moore went on to say that the “self-hating gay lobby” had to “sanitize” Shepard’s life.
@lawharris51 the true story of his life is more tragic and complex, and also too common. The self-hating gay lobby needed to sanitize him. — Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) March 8, 2017
Unicorn Booty reached out to Moore for comment. Moore told the publication the following:
The “gay panic” defense was awful and stupid. I would never want to hurt Judy Shepard or further her unimaginable pain, which I’m sure continues to this day. Judy has done incredible work for gay rights and gay visibility, and I have the utmost respect and empathy for her. As I also said on Twitter: “the true story of his life is more tragic and complex, and also too common.” I understand and appreciate the power and importance that story had in winning over hearts and minds in America for the gay rights cause, and therefore it is a complicated, sticky situation. In this case, did the means of deploying a sanitized narrative justify the ends? Perhaps. (Also look at the Lawrence case in Texas that ended anti-Sodomy laws. Great ends, but those guys weren’t exactly Disney princesses). It is still worth acknowledging, 20 years later, that many very real, very unpleasant aspects of gay life, that continue to this day, may have been present in the Shepard case. And to this day the mainstream gay lobby doesn’t like to acknowledge the elements they find unsavory in our very diverse community, where so many still struggle with drugs and prostitution. I find this ugly, classist, and detrimental to truth and understanding. For the record, I’ve been publicly speaking about this for years, it’s not a recent thing. Only now that the left hates me, this one random tweet, in response to another user, seems to get interest. I would trust an independent, gay journalist like Jimenez over Media Matters and Think Progress, both which attempted to slander and debunk him because he dared to ask questions. The book raises important questions about the reality of gay life, especially in rural America in the late 90s. Media Matters and Think Progress are irresponsible sources to quote–they make no bones about having highly politicized agendas. The Guardian and many publishers reviewed Jimenez’s book and found his research and arguments to be pretty sound.
Moore has also answered charges that he is doing all of this for attention, instead suggesting it is because he has been “red-pilled.” The term, taken from The Matrix, is commonly used by conspiracy theorists, men’s rights activists, the alt-right and people who use the word “sheeple” without a hint of irony.
They all say "seeking attention." As if. Lost everything. Once you've been red-pilled, you can't un-see that shit. You run away. Sick people https://t.co/Pp1mUXFMV3 — Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) March 9, 2017
This Story Filed UnderPregnant Queensland woman tests positive to Zika virus after travelling overseas
Updated
A pregnant Queensland woman has tested positive to Zika virus after recently returning from overseas, Queensland Health has confirmed.
The woman was diagnosed in south-east Queensland yesterday and authorities said the illness was not acquired locally.
It is the third case of Zika virus to be identified in Queensland this year.
No further information will be released on the pregnant woman.
However, Queensland Health said it was a separate case from that of a woman who returned to the Gold Coast from El Salvador in December, who had also tested positive to Zika last week.
Zika is a mosquito-borne illness that has surged through Latin America and has been linked to birth defects in children in the region.
However, a four-year survey in Brazil suggested Zika may not be the cause of microcephaly, which results in babies being born with abnormally small heads.
A statement from Queensland Health said the Federal Government recommended that until more was known about Zika virus, women who are pregnant or those actively seeking to get pregnant should consider postponing travel to any area where Zika virus transmission is present.
Pregnant women who have recently travelled to areas affected and suffered an illness they suspect to be Zika are advised to see a doctor.
The Federal Government has compiled a full list of the relevant countries.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Zika virus to be a public health emergency of international concern.
WHO says symptoms are usually mild and normally last two to seven days.
Symptoms are similar to dengue and chikungunya and include:
a mild fever
skin rash
aches and pains
headache
conjunctivitis
About one in five people infected with the virus become ill. Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week.
For the virus to spread in Australia, it would need the right species of mosquito to act as a vector.
Australian virologists say only one such mosquito is present in Australia — the Aedes aegypti mosquito — which is found only |
Protestants and Catholics favor the concept in about the same proportions (76 and 79 percent, respectively), while 91 percent of those claiming no religious affiliation support medical marijuana. Although those living in both rural and urban settings strongly back the initiative, rural residents (73 percent) are a bit less likely to favor it than those in the city (82 percent).
Buy Photo Charlotte’s Web is a brand of hemp oil that has gained national attention for its purported ability to dampen seizures in children with epilepsy. (Photo: Register file photo)
The new poll comes as Iowa legislators begin wrestling with whether to maintain or expand the state’s limited medical marijuana program. Under a state law set to expire this summer, patients with epilepsy may possess a marijuana oil that contains little of the chemical THC, which makes recreational pot smokers high. When the law was passed, supporters said it would help ill Iowans, including children, gain access to a drug many believe reduces seizures. But critics say the law is practically useless, because it doesn’t allow for distribution of the medication, and because it severely limits who is eligible.
Iowa Poll participant Bonnie Slinker of Grimes is one of many Iowans who favor allowing medical uses of marijuana, but not recreational uses.
Slinker, 74, said she has come to believe some marijuana products relieve symptoms of some ailments, including epilepsy.
“I think it really does work when nothing else seems to,” she said. She contends doctors, not lawmakers, should decide which patients could benefit.
Slinker, who is a retiree and a political independent, doesn’t want to see recreational use of marijuana legalized. She used to live in California, where she knew several regular users of marijuana.
“The ones who smoked it seemed to be lackadaisical in their thinking, and a lot of them lacked a work ethic,” she said. She added that society has enough problems with other drugs without legalizing recreational marijuana.
Poll participant Jessica Young, 40, of Waterloo would favor legalizing marijuana for all uses. Young, a Democrat who owns a bicycle shop, said she doesn’t use the drug, but she doesn’t want police resources being wasted in cracking down on it. Too often, marijuana laws are used to imprison racial minorities on long sentences, she added.
Young said the public has seen many stories of patients being helped by marijuana products. She thinks Iowa should expand its current program, which makes no provision for legal production or distribution of the oil.
“That’s really the same as not allowing its use,” she said.
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Ronald Mason, 54, of Knoxville opposes making marijuana legal for any purpose. Mason, a self-employed Democrat, believes the drug might legitimately help some people with medical problems. But he doubts it could be limited to them.
"It would be all right if they could show it was being used by the people who are supposed to be getting it and it’s not being sold,” he said.
However, Mason sees that public opinion is shifting toward allowing marijuana use, at least for medical purposes. He expects legalization efforts to continue gaining strength.
Selzer & Co. polled 802 Iowans Feb. 6-9. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Twenty-eight states, not including Iowa, have approved what national analysts consider “comprehensive” medical-marijuana programs. Eight states have decided to also legalize recreational uses. The federal government continues to consider almost any use of marijuana a crime. The Obama administration did not enforce federal marijuana laws against people complying with state decisions to legalize some uses of the drug. However, the new Trump administration has not yet said how it will handle the issue.
West Des Moines resident Sally Gaer, who is a proponent of medical marijuana, said she was heartened to learn that the Iowa Poll continues to show increasing support for the idea.
“It’s not a divisive issue at all,” she said.
Buy Photo West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer helps his daughter Margaret take her afternoon dose of Charlotte's Web hemp oil at their West Des Moines home on July 9. Steve Gaer helps his daughter Margaret, 25, take her afternoon dose of cannabis oil at their home on in 2015. (Photo: Register file photo)
Gaer has often visited the Iowa Capitol to lobby for increased legalization of medicine derived from marijuana plants. Her adult daughter, Margaret, is disabled by a form of epilepsy, for which she takes a cannabis oil.
Gaer said she hopes legislators will expand the state program this year. She discounted concerns that legalizing medical uses of marijuana products would make it easier for young people to obtain it to get high.
“For anybody to say it’s a slippery slope — I just don’t buy that, because anyone who wants to use it recreationally can easily get it illegally now,” she said.
CLOSE Sally Gaer helped successfully lobby for a limited medical-marijuana bill in 2014, and has started receiving shipments of Charlotte’s Web, a cannabis oil, for her daughter, Margaret who has severe epilepsy.
Iowa’s current medical marijuana law, passed in 2014, is set to expire this summer. Before the program started, its state administrator said up to 30,000 Iowans with epilepsy might qualify. However, just 132 patients have obtained the cards, state records show.
Iowa legislators have filed at least three bills this year dealing with medical marijuana. A leading Republican senator, Brad Zaun, said he plans to file his own version soon.
“We have to do something on this issue,” said the Urbandale senator, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Zaun said in an interview that his bill would expand Iowa’s limited medical marijuana program. He said his proposal would add about a dozen ailments to the list of conditions for which Iowans could use marijuana products. He declined to specify which conditions would be listed along with epilepsy as qualifying illnesses. He added that his bill also would allow a couple of tightly regulated production facilities in Iowa to make medical-marijuana products.
Zaun expressed confidence that legislators would have a serious debate about medical marijuana, though he sees no chance that they would consider legalizing recreational pot smoking.
About the poll
The Iowa Poll, conducted Feb. 6-9 for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 802 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cellphone numbers supplied by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age and sex to reflect the general population based on recent census data.
Questions based on the sample of 802 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the percentages shown here by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error.
Poll methodology is available here.
Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.
Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/2llvzqvOn summer nights, Seattleites like to get outside. Seattle's Department of Transportation is trying to encourage just that.
SDOT is currently undergoing a pilot project to allow for "fence free" dining.
With more people flocking outdoors, Scott Staples, owner of Feed Co. in the Central District, wanted more than burgers, bacon and beer. He wanted a piece of the sidewalk.
"It's the first thing I thought of and contacted SDOT," said Staples.
He put in the formal application, which was granted, to be one of 13 restaurants to sell beer or wine on the sidewalk without a partition. SDOT fully acknowledges it's a concept that has worked successfully in other cities across the country.
"The State Liquor Control board was asked to relook at their fencing requirement for a cafe. They saw we had a really good cafe program and was willing to change their rules for the fence-free option," said SDOT Public Space Manager Angela Steel. "It's an opportunity to show that we can do what other cities do."
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SDOT says it's also an extension of their "streatery" concept, which allows restaurants or cafes to build a separate dining area in a parking area. There have only been five applications to do that.
This does not involve any real construction and simply allows businesses to place a few tables and chairs outside adjacent to their restaurant. SDOT requires a pavement marker and six feet of space for pedestrians to pass through on the sidewalk. Stand alone bars can not be part of the program.
But SDOT hopes it's successful enough that it can gain full approval and expansion in 2018.
"I think in the last three of years, we've gone from a traditional way of dining to adopt what California and Oregon have done," said Staples. "This has been a natural, easy way to set people up and let people relax."
Fence Free Sidewalk Cafes
Heyday Burgers, 1372 31st Ave S
Marination, 2000 6th Ave
Ikiiki Sushi, 12 Boston St
Feed & Co Burgers, 1190 24th Ave
Amber, 2214 1st Ave
Preserve and Gather, 358 NW 85th St
Absinthe, 2400 1st Ave
Suika, 611 E Pine St
Pagliacci Pizza, 4901 Rainier Ave S
Black Bottle, 2600 1st Ave
Green Lake Alehouse, 7900 E Green Lake Drive N
Union Saloon, 3645 Wallingford Ave N
La Carta de Oaxaca, 5431 Ballard Ave NW
Big Mario's, 4350 Leary Way NW
Lost Lake, 1505 10th Ave (not installed yet)
Baja Bistro, 2414 Beacon Ave s
Streateries
Lost Lake, 1505 10th Ave
Jude’s Old Town, 9254 57th Ave S
Mamnoon, 1508 Melrose Ave
Montana Bar, 1506 E Olive Way
Some Random Bar, 2604 1st Ave
Ballard Republic Streatery, 5135 Ballard Ave NW (under review)
Bramling Cross, 5205 Ballard Ave NW (under review)
Julia’s, 300 Broadway (under review)
Prost, 7311 Greenwood Ave N (under review)
Copyright 2017 KINGCalled up about five in the morning, and my Lord up, and took leave, a little after six, very kindly of me and the whole company. Then I in, and my wife up and to visit my Lady Slaving in her bed, and there sat three hours, with Lady Jemimah with us, talking and laughing, and by and by my Lady Carteret comes, and she and I to talke, I glad to please her in discourse of Sir G. Carteret, that all will do well with him, and she is much pleased, he having had great annoyance and fears about his well doing, and I fear hath doubted that I have not been a friend to him, but cries out against my Lady Castlemaine, that makes the King neglect his business and seems much to fear that all will go to wracke, and I fear with great reason; exclaims against the Duke of Albemarle, and more the Duchesse for a filthy woman, as indeed she is.
Here staid till 9 o’clock almost, and then took coach with so much love and kindnesse from my Lady Carteret, Lady Jemimah, and Lady Slaving, that it joys my heart, and when I consider the manner of my going hither, with a coach and four horses and servants and a woman with us, and coming hither being so much made of, and used with that state, and then going to Windsor and being shewn all that we were there, and had wherewith to give every body something for their pains, and then going home, and all in fine weather and no fears nor cares upon me, I do thinke myself obliged to thinke myself happy, and do look upon myself at this time in the happiest occasion a man can be, and whereas we take pains in expectation of future comfort and ease, I have taught myself to reflect upon myself at present as happy, and enjoy myself in that consideration, and not only please myself with thoughts of future wealth and forget the pleasure we at present enjoy.
So took coach and to Windsor, to the Garter, and thither sent for Dr. Childe; who come to us, and carried us to St. George’s Chappell; and there placed us among the Knights’ stalls (and pretty the observation, that no man, but a woman may sit in a Knight’s place, where any brass-plates are set); and hither come cushions to us, and a young singing-boy to bring us a copy of the anthem to be sung. And here, for our sakes, had this anthem and the great service sung extraordinary, only to entertain us. It is a noble place indeed, and a good Quire of voices. Great bowing by all the people, the poor Knights particularly, to the Alter. After prayers, we to see the plate of the chappell, and the robes of Knights, and a man to shew us the banners of the several Knights in being, which hang up over the stalls. And so to other discourse very pretty, about the Order. Was shewn where the late [King] is buried, and King Henry the Eighth, and my Lady [Jane] Seymour. This being done, to the King’s house, and to observe the neatness and contrivance of the house and gates: it is the most romantique castle that is in the world. But, Lord! the prospect that is in the balcone in the Queene’s lodgings, and the terrace and walk, are strange things to consider, being the best in the world, sure.
Infinitely satisfied I and my wife with all this, she being in all points mightily pleased too, which added to my pleasure; and so giving a great deal of money to this and that man and woman, we to our taverne, and there dined, the Doctor with us; and so took coach and away to Eton, the Doctor with me.
Before we went to Chappell this morning, Kate Joyce, in a stage-coach going toward London, called to me. I went to her and saluted her, but could not get her to stay with us, having company.
At Eton I left my wife in the coach, and he and I to the College, and there find all mighty fine. The school good, and the custom pretty of boys cutting their names in the struts of the window when they go to Cambridge, by which many a one hath lived to see himself Provost and Fellow, that had his name in the window standing. To the Hall, and there find the boys’ verses, “De Peste;” it being their custom to make verses at Shrove-tide. I read several, and very good ones they were, and better, I think, than ever I made when I was a boy, and in rolls as long and longer than the whole Hall, by much. Here is a picture of Venice hung up given, and a monument made of Sir H. Wotton’s giving it to the College.
Thence to the porter’s, in the absence of the butler, and did drink of the College beer, which is very good; and went into the back fields to see the scholars play. And so to the chappell, and there saw, among other things, Sir H. Wotton’s stone with this Epitaph
Hic facet primus hujus sententiae Author:— Disputandi pruritus fit ecclesiae scabies.
But unfortunately the word “Author” was wrong writ, and now so basely altered that it disgraces the stone.
Thence took leave of the Doctor, and so took coach, and finely, but sleepy, away home, and got thither about eight at night, and after a little at my office, I to bed.
And an houre after, was waked with my wife’s quarrelling with Mercer, at which I was angry, and my wife and I fell out. But with much ado to sleep again, I beginning to practise more temper, and to give her her way.The Asian Le Mans Series will remain as a four-round season in 2016/2017, although seeing a return to China, following the release of next season’s schedule on Friday.
The growing championship, which sees a series-high 16 entries this weekend in Sepang, will kick off in Zhuhai next October, followed by a new standalone race at Fuji Speedway in December.
Return trips to Buriram (Thailand) and Sepang (Malaysia) will complete the four-round championship in January 2017.
“We thought it was very important to bring forward the announcement of our 2016-2017 calendar to help the teams to begin working on season two,” said Asian Le Mans Series Managing Director Cyrille Taesch Whalen.
“Our return to China, which was vital, is an additional step in establishing the series on the continent. Now that the Asian Le Mans Series is visiting China, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia its spread is becoming an increasingly attractive one.”
ACO President Pierre Fillon added: “The evolution of the Asian market and its activity reinforce both our progressive approach and our specific positioning. Our return to China balances and boosts our presence on the Asian continent.”
The ACO confirmed that discussions are continuing for the possible launch of an Asian prototype-only championship for next spring/summer, as previously revealed by Sportscar365.
2016/2017 Asian Le Mans Series Schedule:
Oct. 30 – Zhuhai, China
Dec. 4 – Fuji, Japan
Jan. 8 – Buriram, Thailand
Jan. 22 – Sepang, MalysiaHow to write about scientists who are women
The "Finkbeiner Test," created in 2013 by science writers Ann Finkbeiner and Christie Aschwanden, challenges science writers who are profiling scientists who happen to be women to write about them without mentioning their gender, childcare arrangements, husband's occupation, etc.
The test especially emphasizes not making women scientists out to be trailblazers because of their gender (rather than their science), their status as first to win some award (which says more about the award's problems than their virtues), their nurturing of lab assistants or shock at the competitiveness of their field.
“I’ve been doing this science writing business for a long time, and I have done many profiles of both men and women scientists, and honestly, none of those things are all that unusual,” she said. “They’re all normal human beings and the thing that makes them so interesting is the science. So, if you want to humanize them, talk about their motivations. Talk about how they got interested in their field. Talk about the part of their life that led them to become such an interesting scientist—because childcare is not interesting.” As for examples of outlets that are covering gender issues in the right way, there’s the site where Aschwanden proposed the Finkbeiner Test, Double X Science, whose goal is to “to bring evidence-based science stories and angles on science specifically of interest to the female-gendered audience.”
The Finkbeiner Test
[Christie Aschwanden, Double X Science]
‘The Finkbeiner Test’
[Curtis Brainard/Columbia Journalism Review]
(via Kottke)
(Image: Pierre and Marie Curie in the laboratory
,)It was last October when Sempra Generation first announced it had entered into a 20-year power-purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to sell 150 megawatts of solar power produced at its Mesquite Solar 1 project in Arizona. That contract was subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission, however, so construction has been on hold It’s been about a six month wait but now, according to Sempra, the contract has been approved and the company is ready to move forward with construction.
At this time, Sempra expects to begin construction on the fist phase of the Mesquite complex in June. During peak construction, the project is expected to generate about 300 jobs. Presently the facility is slated to be completed in 2013.
Mesquite 1 is being erected roughly 40 miles west of Phoenix near Arlington, Arizona and is just the first of several phases that will comprise an entire complex anticipated to produce up to 700 megawatts of power.
According to Sempra, this first phase is expected to produce about 150 watts and, once operational, would become the nation’s largest solar power plant. Sempra’s 48 megawatt Copper Mountain Solar facility located in Boulder City, Nevada is currently reported to be among the largest, but the Mesquite project will well overshadow it once complete.Image caption All sports apart from football sold out in the first rounds of sales.
More than a million extra tickets for the London Olympics will not go on sale until next Spring.
The tickets, including thousands for all the most popular events, were held back from sale earlier this year while seating plans were finalised.
London 2012 organisers had initially said those tickets could go on sale as early as December, but that is now unlikely to happen before April 2012.
The only tickets which will be put on sale in December are for football.
Around 1.5 million football tickets were left unsold at the end of the first two sale phases. Football was the only sport which did not sell out.
There is bound to be enormous demand for the remaining non-football tickets when they are finally sold.
There will be several thousand tickets available for both the opening and closing ceremonies, which were massively oversubscribed, as well as other sought-after events like the athletics finals.
A spokeswoman for the London 2012 organising committee, Locog said that the organisation's focus is currently on the sale of Paralympic tickets, which continues until 26 September.
London 2012 - Begin your journey here London 2012: Latest Olympic news, sport, features and programmes from the BBC
She added: "In December, we will put 1.5 million Olympic football tickets on sale on a live system. The remaining one million Olympic tickets, to all sports, will go on sale to the British public next year from the contingency seats, once venues are tested and licensed, and operational plans are completed."
It is still to be decided how the remaining tickets will be sold. It is likely that those who applied this year, and were unsuccessful, will be given priority.
The difficulty, though, with the tickets not being allocated until so close to the Games is that those who are lucky enough to be able to buy them could discover that transport and accommodation prices have risen in the meantime.ADVERTISEMENT
On Monday, Google announced the first Google eBooks-integrated e-reader: The iriver Story HD, which will let users directly access Google's 3 million free eBooks plus hundreds of thousands of pay titles, will go on sale this Sunday at Target stores and Target.com for $139.99, the same price as the Amazon Kindle. But is it really a threat to the Kindle's dominance in the e-reader market?
No, but it's a step: "Will this device give Amazon's Kindle a run for its money?" asks Todd Bishop at MSNBC. "Probably not, at least not on its own, but it's a notable step for Google's digital books initiative." This is the first device that will let people read Google eBooks directly, instead of having to download them to a computer and then transfer them to a device with a cord. But it certainly won't be the only one, Google has said more e-readers with Google eBooks integration are on the way.
"Revealed: First e-reader with native Google eBooks integration"
Google's probably too late: "After taking on Facebook with the introduction of Google+ last week, Google is giving Amazon a run for its money this week by launching its own e-reader" with competitive pricing and an "impressive" display, says Gloria Sin at ZDNet. And allowing users to access most titles from the cloud is an added convenience for those shuffling between multiple gadgets. Still, Google might be too late to the game to really compete with the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, which have well established relationships with publishers — and customers.
"Move over, Kindle. iriver Story HD is Google's e-reader, $139.99"
And this e-reader is so ugly: This unsightly device looks like a second-generation Kindle, as if someone "colored the plastic to make it look like it had been made in the 1980s and left it in the sun ever since" and then "painted the already horrible keys a brassy gold color," says Charlie Sorrel in Wired. While it beats the Kindle in terms of weight (it's lighter) and screen resolution (it's sharper), it doesn't have a touch-screen, which also makes it seem dated.
"Google and Iriver make world's ugliest e-reader"“Jerry Jones is offering $2,700, but that’s not good enough,” Rouleau said.
He had company in his anger.
“I’ve just lost eight grand,” said Bradley Geier, a Dallas lawyer, who said he spent $9,700 for two tickets that had a face value of $900 each. “Just because they decided to put seats where they shouldn’t.”
After waiting through long security checks, some fans arrived at their sections 30 minutes before kickoff, only to learn that they would not be allowed to sit in their assigned seats.
“The frustrating thing here is that they wait till the day of the game to say these auxiliary seats aren’t good?” said Dan McGinnity of Spokane, Wash., a Packers fan who paid $900 for his ticket. “Don’t they have any sort of plan ahead of time?”
It was something of a tragicomic coda to a week of logistical nightmares and missteps that vexed organizers and Jones, who paid for most of the $1.2 billion stadium and persuaded other owners to reward North Texas with a Super Bowl for the first time.
Snow, ice and subfreezing temperatures forced hundreds of flight cancellations, made travel in the sprawling metropolitan area nearly impossible at times, and muted much of the week’s festivities. Snow and ice slid off the roof of the stadium Friday, injuring at least six people on the plaza below.
And on Sunday, it appeared that Jones’s quest to set a Super Bowl attendance record — adding the temporary seats inside the stadium and charging $200 a person to sit immediately outside it with the game shown on giant screens — had led instead to a bit of Super Bowl ignominy.
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The Super Bowl attendance record of 103,985 was set in 1980 at the Rose Bowl in California. Sunday’s game fell short; the attendance was announced as 103,219.
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A spokesperson for the Arlington Public Safety Joint Information Center referred all questions to the N.F.L.
The N.F.L. spokesman Greg Aiello, asked how such a decision could be made so late without notice, said via e-mail, “It was an issue throughout the week that unfortunately did not get resolved.”
In a statement the N.F.L. added:
“The safety of fans attending the Super Bowl was paramount in making the decision and the N.F.L., Dallas Cowboys and City of Arlington officials are in agreement with the resolution. We regret the situation and inconvenience that it may have caused. We will conduct a full review of this matter.”
Pending that further review, the N.F.L. and Jones improvised on Sunday.
The league said that it could plug some of the ticket holders into seats around the stadium because it kept a reserve of open seats in case of problems or complaints. Some were taken to unused seats granted to N.F.L. officials, teams or journalists.
But several sections of temporary stands, one in each corner of the field at about midlevel of the stadium and two high above one end zone, were left empty. Three of the four corner sections were covered in large black sheets. The other looked ready to occupy, but far underneath the seats, metal beams were scattered, an assortment of parts apparently waiting to be put together.
Some of the 400 disenfranchised fans who chose to watch the game in one of the stadium’s private clubs were given free food and merchandise, and were allowed to walk around the stadium and watch from standing-room only places. And they got, for what it was worth, three times the face value of their original tickets.
It was not hard for them to contain their excitement.
Tickets for weeks had been in high demand because the game featured two teams with passionate fan bases. Outside the stadium hours before the game, people looking for tickets were left holding their money.
Gaylen Paulson, a Packers fan from Austin, Tex., was willing to pay $2,500 apiece for four tickets. A couple of hours before kickoff, he could not find takers. Several people scalping tickets said that the going rate was closer to $4,000 a ticket.
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“And most brokers are flush out,” Paulson said. “The Packers are a popular team.”
Most Super Bowls feel more like corporate affairs, with the stadium filled with people without strong feelings toward either team. But fans of the Steelers and the Packers filled the stadium with an unusual energy.
The most emotional, however, could be found holding tickets they could not use.
“I think we’re just in disbelief,” said Dean Kepraios of Chicago, who paid $3,500 for tickets valued at $900.
Ashante Green of Pittsburgh held tickets to Section 240A. Midway through the first quarter, she was given seats in Section 448.
“It’s ridiculous,” she said. “What am I supposed to do? Not go in?”This 1951 Nash Healey Le Mans Roadster is one of 104 produced that year, and is offered as a project given the engine hasn’t been run in several years and has subsequently seized. The car is said to have about 46k miles on clock, and may be one of the first 30 production models built, according to the Nash Healey Registry Office. We like these wide headlight early models, and they are unusual to find on offer. Find this one here on eBay in Highland Park, Illinois with reserve unmet at just over $25k.
The alloy body appears to have all the trim intact, which is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when restoring these roadsters. The silver color appears to be a repaint, and the dramatic red stripes running along the hipline distract from the beautiful lines a bit too much. We’d imagine a full restoration should be in order here, as well as some attention paid to the corrosion on the rear left quarter panel.
The interior is said to have been reupholstered several years ago, and there’s some evidence of split seams and slight fading that would need addressed. From what we can tell, the gauges all appear to be intact, and the carpeting is moderately clean. The dash will need to be recovered, and a bit of tidying is needed in the footwells and steering column areas.
The engine is missing the spark plugs and wires in the photo, as the seller applied penetrating oil in hopes that the engine might turn over. The car was driven only on weekends, and then periodically after that until about 9 years ago when it was parked. We’d factor in a full rebuild of the mechanicals, even if the penetrating oil works its magic.
These cars rarely come up for offer, and finding one without needs comes at a premium. The very first one was recently sold at the Worldwide Houston sale for $500k, but the Hagerty Valuation Guide below states that a #1 example is benchmarked at about $107k. We hope the next owner can grab this one within a reasonable range, and put it back on the road.The magnitude of Peter Sagan's achievement in becoming world champion for a third consecutive year hadn't completely sunk in before people started wondering about the possibility of a fourth. Related Articles Sagan: I don't know, maybe it's karma that I won
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On Sunday the Slovakian became one of only five riders to win the elite men's World Championships road race three times, and the first to win them consecutively.
"Let me enjoy this title, I don't want to think about next year," he said in the immediate aftermath of his victory.
However, he has since opened up a little more about the prospect of a fourth straight title in 2018, saying that "nothing is impossible", despite the amount of climbing on the route in Innsbruck, Austria.
While Richmond in 2015 and Bergen this year provided punchy courses that are perfectly suited to the 27-year-old, and Qatar last year threw up a more traditional bunch sprint, the Innsbruck course, unveiled last week, contains 4,670 metres of altitude gain.
Speaking to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sportat a mountainbike event this week, Sagan dismissed the notion that he could target Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia – races with similar loads of climbing – next season.
"I'm almost 80 kilograms. Don't believe those who say I'm 73-74kg – my weight varies between 78 and 79kg," he said. "How can I win those races?"
However, Sagan suggested that, with adjustments to his training and preparation, a fourth world title might not be out of the question.
"Nothing is impossible," Sagan said in the Gazzetta interview.
"On Sunday, the total altitude gain was 3,600 metres, so we are not far away. With the right preparation, I think I could be able to go for it, but let's see.
"If I find the same condition I had when I finished with [Vincenzo] Nibali at Tirreno-Adriatico..." he added, referring to his victory on stage 4 of the 2012 edition of the Italian stage race.
Sagan will find encouragement in the fact that Greg Van Avermaet, a rider with a similar skill-set, produced an upset last year by winning the Olympics road race in Rio on a course which had more than 4,500 metres of climbing. Van Avermaet also finished 11th at this year's Liege-Bastogne-Liege, where fourth place went to Michael Matthews, who ended Sagan's run of green jerseys at this year's Tour de France and finished behind him on the Worlds podium in 2015 and 2017.TORONTO, Aug. 29, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada’s leading private-sector union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada), announced today that the UFCW Canada National Council has made the decision to endorse Jagmeet Singh for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/293956b2-a53e-4b19-afa3-1e5182b5dcef
“Jagmeet Singh is the candidate who best represents the interests of UFCW Canada members from coast to coast. His continued dedication to social justice, and his drive to ensure the betterment of working Canadians are a part of the qualities that gave Jagmeet the advantage in the National Council’s deliberations,” says UFCW Canada National President Paul Meinema.
“The great qualities and strengths of all the other candidates made this decision very difficult, however, UFCW Canada leadership believes Jagmeet Singh is the leader who will help the NDP grow to new heights with a new generation,” adds the UFCW Canada leader.
“UFCW Canada is encouraging all member activists to be united and speak with one voice by supporting Jagmeet Singh as the next leader of the federal NDP.”
As Canada’s leading union for retail and food workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union represents over 250,000 workers across the country working in the food retail and processing, agriculture, health care, security, and hospitality industries, as well as other sectors of the economy. UFCW Canada is the country’s most innovative organization dedicated to building fairness in workplaces and communities. To find out more about UFCW Canada and its ground-breaking work, visit www.ufcw.ca/.
CONTACT INFORMATION UFCW Canada Mark Hennessy Special Assistant to the National President (416) 679-3411 mark.hennessy@ufcw.ca www.ufcw.caMy secret Santa definitely did a great job. I tried to be as detailed as possible in my likes and interests and got fabulous results in return. For starters I've always been a geek for Egyptian archaeology and with my new "How To Read Egyptian" book I'll be in the know even more!
I currently detail vehicles for a privately owned dealership and always wondered if I could just start my own business and get out of the loop. Well, my secret Santa got a book on how to start my own car detailing business. I will say that I've been in the auto industry for close to 9 years and after just skimming through the book there's tons of topics that never crossed my mind. Great buy!
I am big into micro brews and beer in general. Lately I've been on a Belgian kick. I've always thought about home brewing but wanted to be well educated before even starting to try to brew on my own. With "How To Brew" I know that my first batch will be done right.
Last, but not least, is my t-shirt. I used to be a |
very caricature that Stewart sought to dismantle? Stewart misses an opportunity here to show how Hegel also criticizes Kant's empty formalism by grounding it in "ethical life" (Sittlichkeit).[4] Abstract morality, for Hegel, must be rooted in the concrete sphere of ethical life, or "the concept of freedom which has become the existing [vorhandenen] world".[5] Existentialists such as Kierkegaard remain suspicious of Hegelian ethical life,[6] as Stewart himself noted in Chapter 7 (131), nevertheless Chapter 9 would greatly benefit if it were to discuss the ways in which both Hegelian idealism and existentialism seek to re-embody ethics in concrete life.
A number of previously discussed themes reappear in Chapter 9, but without incorporating the earlier discussions. Three repeated themes, in particular, which could strengthen the narrative arch, stand out as deserving attention. First, Stewart might connect the discussion of existential ethics as Lebensphilosophie with the conclusion of Chapter 5, which had argued that Kierkegaard's ethical Lebensphilosophie misapplies the concept of actuality in criticizing idealistic ethics. The introduction of Hegelian ethical life as a common denominator would provide an opportune moment for further reflection upon actuality in order to draw closer the ethical traditions that Chapters 5 and 9 set apart. Second, notwithstanding concerns addressed above, recurring ethical themes in existential literature (e.g., Camus' The Plague and Sartre's Nausea), which echo discussions of the shared metaphor of "illness" from Chapter 1, could be highlighted more prominently. Here in Chapter 9, the experience of living in a meaningless world and the sickness felt in the face of ungrounded freedom separates existential ethics from idealism, when according to his thesis Stewart should be bringing them closer together. Third, Kierkegaard's famous account of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac from Fear and Trembling is presented (172). Stewart had already told it in Chapters 6 and 7, and gave a partial retelling in Chapter 5 (89). One might expect that such repetition from various vantage points would highlight a deeper set of issues in Kierkegaard's thought, in particular with relation to idealism. But the retellings are not integrated and do little to reinforce one another. In addition, Chapter 9 does not set up more philosophically significant problems for existential ethics. This fourth installment, in particular, reads as an overly simplified textbook summary whose inattentiveness to problems addressed by its predecessors makes it flat and redundant.
The concluding chapters 10, "Merleau-Ponty's Criticisms of Sartre's Theory of Freedom," and 11, "Sartre and Merleau-Ponty on Consciousness and Bad Faith," contribute much to connecting these two thinkers. Chapter 11, for example, uses the Freudian unconscious -- which Sartre and Merleau-Ponty both reject, but for different reasons -- to uncover a leitmotiv of each theory of consciousness and self-deception: transparent choice and ambiguity, respectively. By centering on disputes within the existential community, they allow deeper questions to linger about how these issues (e.g., consciousness, freedom, etc.) link existentialism with its purportedly estranged idealist forerunner. There is much in the work of both thinkers that is indebted directly and indirectly to the idealist tradition. For example, regarding questions of consciousness, Sartre's early Transcendence of the Ego provides a clear link between existentialism proper and idealism by way of Husserlian phenomenology.[7] In analyzing the structures of consciousness, the Transcendence shows that Husserl's positing of a transcendental ego necessarily accompanying all acts of consciousness closes off our existential access "to the things themselves," thus making consciousness egological and idealistic: a hair's breadth separates existential phenomenology from idealism. Stewart only highlights Sartre's later and fully existential treatment of this issue in Being and Nothingness, in which he discusses the pre-reflective cogito, or the ego that can accompany any act of consciousness upon reflection, but need not necessarily accompany such acts prior to reflection. Notwithstanding the merits of this discussion, reference to the more strictly phenomenological work of Transcendence would highlight how Sartre does not naively break with the tradition of idealism, but phenomenologically struggles against idealism over the disputed territory of consciousness.
The text ends with Chapter 11 without offering a separate conclusion. One seeking a sustained inquiry into the oftentimes acrimonious, but always familial, branches of continental philosophy will find a continuously insightful, but patchy and somewhat opaque, discussion of this topic.
[1] G.W.F. Hegel, Elements of the Philosophy of Right, trans. H.B. Nisbet (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 20.
[2] G.W.F. Hegel, Spirit: Chapter Six of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, trans. The Hegel Translation Group (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2001), p. 79.
[3] For a more in-depth discussion of this point by Stewart, see also Jon Stewart, Kierkegaard's Relations to Hegel Reconsidered (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 383.
[4] For Hegel's critique of empty formalism, see Hegel, Philosophy of Right, p. 162. For the transition from "Morality" to "Ethical Life," see ibid., pp. 185-186.
[6] Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), pp. 55-67.
trans. Forrest Williams and Robert Kirkpatrick (New York: The Noonday Press, 1957)
pp. 38-40
Jean-Paul Sartre,Karim Wade, the flamboyant son of former Senegalese leader Abdoulaye Wade, was arrested in Dakar on Monday as part of an investigation into whether his considerable wealth was illegally acquired during his father's rule.
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Cherished by his father, the former president, Karim Wade remains unpopular among ordinary people in Senegal who see him as an aloof pretender who failed to master the national language and lived too long in Europe.
"Karim is one of the best financiers in Africa," Abdoulaye Wade would often say during his 12-year presidency, contriving to hand his son increasingly more important government jobs before making him a "super minister" responsible for several key portfolios in 2009.
But police took the high flyer into custody on Monday while investigating his fortune, hours after his legal team filed a lengthy dossier in response to an order from the nation's anti-corruption court to explain how Wade had come by assets allegedly worth over $1.4 billion (1.07 billion euros).
Before his father's election defeat to Macky Sall in March last year, Wade held the international cooperation, air transport, infrastructure and energy portfolios, earning the nickname "minister of heaven and earth".
The 44-year-old moved to London in the late 1990s to take up a job as a finance expert for a major Swiss bank after obtaining an MBA and a graduate degree in financial engineering from the Sorbonne in Paris.
During his time in the City he made contacts in major international companies and several African governments, which would serve him well later in his career.
At the time when his father won the election of 2000, Wade was travelling back and forth between London and Dakar, but he returned permanently two years later to become special adviser to the president.
He was handed responsibility for several large economic projects such as the construction of a new international airport in Dakar, the restructuring of the chemical industry and the creation of a special economic zone.
In June 2004, Wade was named president of the National Agency for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (ANOCI), whose mission was to organise the 11th Islamic Summit of 57 Muslim countries in Dakar in 2008.
Resounding failure in Dakar
Preparations for the conference would change the face of Dakar as new roads and luxury hotels sprang up across the city, but critics complained that the ANOCI, which handed lucrative contracts to Gulf countries, was not transparent enough.
The conference was nevertheless a success and, buoyed by Wade's new international standing, the president made little effort to hide his desire to see his son succeed him as head of state.
The younger Wade stood in the Dakar mayoral elections of 2009, hoping that a high-profile role in local government would be a springboard to higher office.
But his candidature was a spectacular failure and he was unable to win the popular vote even in his local polling station.
Wade's arrest in Dakar by police investigating his vast fortune is unlikely to garner him much support among the people of his homeland.
Undeniably good at business and respected in international finance circles, he remains in the eyes of the ordinary Senegalese a distant and sometimes arrogant figure who has not even made the effort to master his national language, Wolof.
Because of this, his habit of wearing traditional Senegalese outfits instead of western suits doesn't wash with his fellow countrymen.
Despite their physical resemblance, the 1.90-metre (six foot three inch) mixed-race Karim, who has a French mother, does not have the charisma or the ease of his father.
In his own country, Wade, who is accused of living too long abroad, is seen less as a Senegalese and more as a "toubab" -- the west African word for white Europeans.
Despite this unpopularity Abdoulaye Wade attempted in 2010 to pass a bill creating the role of vice-president, with the eventual goal that his son would succeed him.
He reversed the decision following criticism in Senegal and international pressure.
A father of three daughters, Karim Wade lost his wife, Karine, to cancer in 2009.
(AFP)Poemblot (as in inkblot) is a regular feature where a general reader (i.e. someone who does not have an educational or professional background in writing or literature) is shown a poem and asked to offer an immediate impression. The reader reads the poem no more than twice and is not given any instruction on how to read it or information about the author. One of the purposes of Poemblot is to explore the different perceptions and assumptions readers bring to a text. The readers' full names will not be shared to protect them from rampaging, ego-bruised poets on social media. Instead we'll offer some basic background information and a representational photo provided by each reader as a framework for who they are.
THE READER
R.E.D.
Age: 37
Occupation: Student
Favorite Book: Anna Karenina
Favorite Movie: Black Swan
Favorite TV Show: The Bachelor/ Bachelorette
Favorite Song: In the Wind by Lord Huron
THE POEM
SCRAWL
BY LYNN BEHRENDT
White columns. Orange leaves. Rhododendrons bobbing in the wind. Porch furniture left out too long. Own nothing. Remember everything. Bear witness. Prepare litmus. False blue of a neighbor’s pool.
Hiss of new furnace. Burnish the pain inside into something other than this swooping bird in you. Think it into landing.
Six foot ladder leaned against the peeling wall of a once white house in upstate New York.
Wednesday morning. I have somewhere to be, earning what could have been considered a living in 1963. Trees have it good: rooted in place and long-lived. I drive through every day not thinking. They have nowhere to be. Movement so slow we don’t see. Leaves flicker in the periphery, in the fluttered shade of a few old lindens.
whalebone, autoclave, headache
endocrine system canon
diligently ingrained
slandered and carved into
dislodged, governed, or decoded
sometimes I think trees
sink into memory
far easier then relatives
events, or smoke
graffiti scrawled across a track—
wait for me I am almost done
I will be up there in just a moment
R.E.D.’s Immediate Impressions
1. What strikes you most about this poem? Does reading it bring up any thoughts, emotions or sensations?
It makes me feel sadness and a vague sense of fear. I thought about someone who had regrets or felt as if life had passed them by. It made me feel like someone might feel who didn’t reach their fullest potential and feels hopeless that they ever will.
2. What do you like most about this poem?
I liked the description of the environment, how it was used to create a feeling. I also liked the last line.
3. What do you like least about this poem?
I got a little confused by the part where the rhythm changed. The part that begins with “whalebone, autoclave, headache”.
4. Before reading any poem, do you come to it with certain expectations? If so, does this particular poem meet those expectations? Does your expectations affect your opinion of this poem?
I guess I have the expectation that a poem is going to touch upon something universal or common to all people in some way. I think this poem does that.
5. Does this poem make you want to read more poems?
Yes, I would read more.April 9, 2014 at 6:00 AM
Newly released data bestow a peculiar distinction upon Washington: We’re the only state with cities ranked in the top five and the bottom five in the nation for obesity.
Last week, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index released its data for 2012 and 2013. The Index is based on surveys with American adults in 189 metro areas on a variety of health issues.
Among the findings: Bellingham is one of the nation’s thinnest communities, and Yakima among the most obese.
Just 18.7 percent of adults in the Bellingham area reported a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher, which is considered obese. That ranks Bellingham as having the fourth-lowest obesity rate among all metro areas in the study. Surely not a coincidence, the data also show that 60 percent of Bellingham residents get regular exercise — sixth highest in the nation.
But head over the mountains to Yakima, and a very different picture emerges.
The data show that 35.7 percent of adults are obese in Yakima. That ranks it as the fourth-most obese place in the U.S.
And sadly, there is more bad news for Yakima. The area also has the third-highest rate of uninsured individuals (30.4 percent) and the fourth-highest rate of individuals who suffer from daily stress (65.1 percent), according to the study.
Among all metro areas surveyed, the lowest obesity rate (12.4 percent) is in Boulder, Colo, while Huntington, W.Va., has the highest rate (39.5 percent).
As for Seattle, we’re a lot closer to Bellingham than we are to Yakima. At 22.8%, the obesity rate in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area ranks as the 10th-lowest among the 52 metro areas with populations of at least one million.
And Washington did come away from this study with one city holding a No. 1 spot. With 65.7 percent of adults regularly including fruits and vegetables in their diet, the gold medal for healthful eating goes to: Olympia.SHANNON Bennett is likely to be signed for another series of MasterChef Australia in 2016.
The move comes after figures show the Aussie restaurateur has given Ten’s cooking show a big ratings spike this year.
Bennett features in the Tuesday immunity challenge episodes, in which he mentors contestants as they cook off against professional chefs.
Those episodes are up 29 per cent compared to 2014, and have regularly topped 1.1 million viewers across the five capital cities.
That has Ten executives smiling. Ten won’t make any official announcement until their upfront presentations in November, but it would be a no-brainer to want Bennett back for a second helping.
“MasterChef is all about wanting our contestants to achieve great heights and Shannon has the experience, the knowledge, and the game (to do that),” Ten executive producer Rick Maier says.
“He’s a little cheeky too, which we love. His expanded role has been a terrific addition this year.”
Bennett is renowned for breaking the boundaries of cooking at his three-hatted Vue de Monde restaurant.
The 39-year-old, who is married to actor Madeleine West, has a longstanding friendship with judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris, and Gary Mehigan.
Bennett had made guest appearances on past series of MasterChef. This year is the first time he has been able to devote himself to a full season — and he is loving it.
“I’ve been part of the MasterChef family for a while now, but it has definitely been an honour to take it up a notch and be invited to mentor the contestants this season,” Bennett says.
“The immunity challenges are a perfect fit for me. A bit of friendly ribbing from Matt, George and Gary has only made me more determined to see the contestants do well.”
Preston will be hoping Bennett can find the time to be part of next year’s MasterChef Australia.
“We’ve been delighted that the contestants and the Australian public have come to love Shannon as much as we do,” he says.
On tonight’s episode of MasterChef Australia, the tables are turned and one of the contestants will cook against Bennett for an immunity pin. Renowned international restaurateur Marco Pierre White will oversee the challenge.
MasterChef Australia, Channel 10, Monday to Thursday, 7.30pmSchools are not taking advantage of the NCAA's multiyear scholarship policy, per a report. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images) Schools are not taking advantage of the NCAA's multiyear scholarship policy, per a report. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
By Zac Ellis
Few athletes are benefiting from multiyear scholarships, according to a report by the Chronicle for Higher Education. After the NCAA adopted a policy last year to allow schools to offer multiyear financial aid to student-athletes, the assumption was that many universities would take advantage. However, that hasn't been the case.
Only six schools in the six major conferences signed at least 24 multiyear scholarships across all sports over the past year: Florida (60), Ohio State (47), NC State (40), Michigan State (30), Arizona State (27) and Auburn (27). Programs tend to prefer single-year scholarships with the option to renew annually.
The multiyear policy was adopted to give student-athletes more rights and discourage the cutting of scholarships on the basis of athletic performance. Many programs still disagree with the idea of a guaranteed four-year scholarship, maintaining that the majority of single-year scholarships are renewed each year.
"Who gets a four-year, $120K deal guaranteed at age 17?" Christine A. Plonsky, women's athletic director at the University of Texas, wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle. "The last thing young people need right now is more entitlement."
But, according to the Chronicle, former players say the cuts still happen far too frequently -- and they add to the excess of player transfers that occur across college athletics. According to the report, the NCAA says about 40 percent of men's basketball players will not be members of their original school by the end of their sophomore years; that figure is similar in other sports.
Proponents says multiyear scholarships enhance the "student" in student-athlete. Jason Pappas, an assistant instructor of sport management at Florida State, told the Chronicle they're a step in the right direction.
"It sends a strong message that you're committed to develop that student as a whole person, not just as an athlete. You should support them all the way through until graduation, or until they have an opportunity to play professionally."
Schools' desire to tie scholarships to performance is reasonable; they want to have some form of insurance. But in an era when criticism of the NCAA's notion of amateurism has risen to an all-time high, single-year scholarships don't appear to be in a student-athlete's favor -- especially if the emphasis truly is on "student."At first blush, the news of an end to the 20-day-long border stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Ladakh region will be welcomed to the extent that it has averted the very real possibility of a skirmish in the high Himalayas. When troops of the two countries, with an enormous trust deficit to bridge, stand eyeball-to-eyeball in confrontation, as they have been since the 15 April incursion by Chinese troops into notionally Indian territory, the scope for things getting out of hand gets dramatically heightened. Neither India nor China would have been well-served by a border skirmish - or even just a protracted stand-off - which is perhaps why they cranked the levers of military diplomacy to de-escalate the tension.
The precise details of the terms of agreement under which both Chinese and Indian troops pulled back from the brink aren't known yet. Nor is it immediately clear what caused the Chinese to yield ground when for much of these past 20 days, they had remained unyielding in their claim that they had not ingressed into Indian territory, and therefore saw no compelling reason to retreat.
It's entirely possible that the signals that India sent in the past couple of days - suggesting that External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's upcoming visit to China might be deferred because the Chinese response to Indian objections on the incursion had been less than satisfactory - have yielded dividends. As analysts have consistently argued, and as Firstpost too has noted earlier, India was not without diplomatic options in facing up to the Chinese challenge. It didn't need India to ratchet up the military rhetoric, which is the false framework set up by some analysts who favoured a softly-softly approach to China.
Khurshid's visit was tied up with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India later this month, and the fact that the Indian diplomatic establishment even gave voice to the possibility of putting things on hold may have signalled to the Chinese that they had perhaps overreached this time. Even in this day and age, social interactions in the Chinese value system revolve around the concept of "gaining" or "losing" face, and the prospect, however remote it may have been, of having Premier Li's visit postponed would have been acutely embarrassing to both sides, but particularly for the Chinese.
It was important, therefore, for the Indian side to convey to the Chinese that the incursion into what India considers its territory was a matter too grave for both sides to carry on with business as usual on other fronts. The UPA government had failed abysmally to do this in the first two weeks of the stand-off. Its response then had been to play down the tension, and even trot out alibis for China's indefensible action. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for instance, dismissed it as a "localised" problem, despite the growing perception that the Chinese ingress appeared to have Beijing's backing.
Khurshid too made light of the incursion by likening it to the pimply eruptions on the otherwise "beautiful face" of Sino-Indian relations, which could be remedied by the application of cosmetic creams. In their main, formulations like these only signalled weakness, which as Firstpost has noted earlier, is a losing strategy to the extent that it emboldened the Chinese to dig their heels in.
Having said all of that, the few details that are known of the terms of disengagement of the troops on both sides in the Daulet Beg Oldi region in Ladakh give reason to believe that the Chinese may have successfully extracted concessions from the Indian side in a manner that compromises India's claims over the territory.
In the official narrative from the Indian side, both the armies had agreed to withdraw to their previous positions. But then, as even the Defence Ministry had acknowledged, Chinese troops had ingressed 19 km inside Indian territory, so the only thing that negotiated was their unconditional pullout. Why, for instance, did the Indian troops too have to pull back - if they were only on Indian territory.
Media reports suggest that some kind of a "quid pro quo" may have greased the tracks to a de-escalation. "There was some give-and-take," an unidentified source is quoted as saying. "There had to be some face-saver for the Chinese."
This begs the obvious question: what exactly did India "give" to secure the pullout of Chinese troops from what was notionally Indian territory? If, as the Defence Ministry claims, the Chinese troops were in Indian territory, why was there a need to "give" anything in the first place - when the only "wrong" that needed to be remedied was the Chinese provocation?
Since the Chinese side had demanded the demolition of some forward shelter posts put up by the Indian side close to the border, and the de-activation of the advanced landing facility in the region, it gives reason to wonder if these were among the "conditions" that India has yielded ground on.
If that is the case - and this remains to be validated - India may have yielded to Chinese rights to determine what happens even on what India considers its territory. This amounts to a significant change from the status quo as has prevailed since the 1962 war between the two sides. And particularly in recent years, China has ramped up its road-building and infrastructure development on its side of the fence, in a manner that dramatically alters its ability to mobilise its troops in the unlikely event of a conflict. For India to put its own "development' activities of a similar nature on hold as the price for securing the pullout of Chinese troops - from notionally Indian territory - amounts to'rewarding' China for its provocation.
To that extent, while the de-escalation of the tension between Indian and Chinese troops in the Ladakh region gives cause for relief, the government ought to come clean on the price it paid - if it did at all - to secure that relief. It should simultaneously give consideration to the prospect of averting similar Chinese adventurism along the border. If the past 20 days hold any lesson at all, it is that Chinese intentions aren't always benign, and far from yielding cravenly to every provocation, the Indian side ought to get real about protecting its territorial and other interests in what is admittedly India's most complex and challenging relationship.
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.Lisa Gustaveson is the Program Manager for Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry’s Faith & Family Homelessness Project.
This is what $29 gets you at the grocery store—what families on SNAP (i.e. food stamps) have to live on for a week. pic.twitter.com/OZMPA3nxij — Gwyneth Paltrow (@GwynethPaltrow) April 9, 2015
Last Thursday, Gwyneth Paltrow snapped a photo of $29 worth of groceries. It lit the Internet on fire.
Paltrow was trying to survive a week on the food budget of someone who qualifies for SNAP benefits, or food stamps. Not surprisingly, the multimillionaire actress got a lot of flak for her stunt. The Telegraph, echoing critiques heard ’round the world, chided “No Gwyneth, busy mothers can’t live on lettuce, limes and beans.”
I’m not quite so dismissive. Sure, this experiment doesn’t simulate poverty all that well. But as program manager at Seattle University’s Faith and Family Homelessness Project, I know that’s a tall order. It’s almost impossible for to understand what it’s like to be poor in America. Unless, of course, you are.
I work closely with people of faith who want to change the world. These are some of the sweetest, most well-meaning people I know; they work with low income people on a daily basis. Still, most have never had to choose between paying rent and buying food for their children. To them, it seems impossible that a family could have no place to go if they lost their home. Many wonder, “Why don’t just people pull themselves up by their bootstraps?” I understand this attitude. A problem like poverty is complex, there’s no one solution. But in order to be effective advocates for change, we need to empathize with the people we serve. We need to see the world through their eyes.
At Seattle University, we’ve tried to do this using the Missouri Association for Community Action’s Poverty Simulation tool kit. They’ve designed a workshop that includes a one-hour poverty simulation broken into four 15-minute “weeks.” During the simulation “families” go to work or school, pay their bills, pay for transportation and feed their families. Most start with a roof over their heads, a job, some money and resources. A few start out homeless, living in the shelter.
We always have a handful of people who show up just to prove it’s not all that hard, that they’ll be able to “win.” These are the folks who push back at the “rules” and want to find a way around the system. For example, they can’t understand why poor families don’t have access to online bill pay. We gently remind them that not everyone has an account at the bank; we send them over to the Quick Cash to learn about the way check cashing operations really work. The reality of paying a fee to cash your check is hard to take when you’ve had a bank account since you were in grade school.
I believe every person who goes through the simulation experiences some level of frustration, stress and anxiety. It’s not unusual to see a person hiding out in their designated home to catch their breath. We’ve even had participants chose to stay in “jail” to get out of finishing the simulation.
One of the most shocking revelations is around the impact of poverty on children. Adults are assigned the role of a child, and this gives them a chance to feel what it’s like to see your world crumbling around you – and you have no way to fix the problem. Those playing the role of parents are stopped in their tracks at the realization they left their children unattended as they rushed around trying to get help at the various service providers around the room. There simply wasn’t time to give the children your full attention because you were too worried about staying housed. This hits people particularly hard.
The service providers and other support roles are filled by local volunteers who are often people who have experienced – or are experiencing – poverty or homelessness. Each is given an opportunity to share their personal story at the conclusion of the simulation, offering a deeper look into the day-to-day lives of people struggling right here in our community. One of our favorite volunteers bravely shares her personal experience with domestic violence and poverty, which opens the door to a deeper understanding of the intersections of violence, power and money.
Yes, it’s impossible to fully simulate what it’s like to wake up with an empty stomach for the third day in a row. Its unlikely one can begin to feel the depth of a parent’s anguish when they come home to an eviction notice. But simulations like our Poverty Workshop or the SNAP Challenge can be the catalyst that pushes people to look deeper at the problem and do something about it.In the case against implementation of a Uniform Civil Code in India, it is often argued that since India is a secular, democratic republic and since its Constitution guarantees minorities the right to follow their own religion, culture and customs, implementing a common code of personal laws covering property, marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession would go against India's secular fabric.
This argument which opponents of UCC repeatedly fall back on, is specious. In fact, by conveniently conflating several issues, bodies like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) seek to actually undermine democracy's basic duty, i.e., protecting the rights of minorities, thereby going against the fundamental principle of any constitutional democracy.
If that sounds self-contradictory, it isn't.
But a word first on the context of the present argument. The Centre has reportedly asked the Law Commission, which has an advisory role on legal reform, to examine the implications of implementing a uniform civil code. Though the BJP has long argued for a national debate on this issue, despite being in power it has so far been unwilling to pick up the topic. This move, as reported by Economic Times on Friday, would therefore be the first time that a government has begun to investigate UCC's on-ground implications.
According to the article, the law ministry has written to the Law Commission to examine the matter in relation to uniform civil code and submit a report. The ministry has also sent related documents to the Commission, which is currently headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan. The panel will submit a report after discussions with experts and stakeholders.
The Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, M Venkaiah Naidu, had recently favoured a debate on "common civil code" and had said the government would move forward only after a broad consensus and nothing will be thrust upon anyone.
"What is best in every religion, in every society should be taken out. I am of the firm view, marriage, divorce, inheritance and right to property these things should be common. Other things, of course, what is the way of worship, what is the way of other practices should be left to individuals. There is nothing against any religion in common civil code," he said, adding that he favours the term "common" civil code over "uniform" since "Uniform conveys a different meaning".
The minister's statement goes at the heart of the debate over Uniform Civil Code. What bodies like AIMPLB have done is that they have approached the debate as a Hindu-Muslim binary and from there, launched a polemic against the move to have a common set of laws. And parties have latched on to this argument to turn UCC into a political debate with clearly drawn faultlines.
UCC, goes the dominant narrative, is a clever attempt to homogenize minorities — which is largely used to denote the entire Muslim community — and erode their identity. This patently dubious and morally repugnant argument needs to be called out.
In a recent move, resisting the Supreme Court's suo motu decision to test the legal validity of triple talaq, the AIMPLB has said that the country's top court has no jurisdiction to undertake the exercise as Muslim personal law is based on the Quran and not on a law enacted by Parliament.
"Muslim personal law is a cultural issue, it is inextricably interwoven with the religion of Islam. Thus, it is the issue of freedom of conscience guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 read with Article 29 of the Constitution," it said in an affidavit filed in court in March this year.
To argue that Article 25, which confers right to religion militates against a common civil code is a red herring. It is invalid and a spurious conflation. Right to worship or to practice religion should not be confused with individual rights relating to inheritance, marriage or divorce.
In fact, attempts to keep personal laws out of the ambit of judicial scrutiny all the while subjecting individual rights to its interpretation is doing grave injustice to real minorities within the religion-based divisions of communities.
What the debate over "secularism" often misses is that minority rights cannot be defended by separating it from human rights. The whole concept of minority itself is an artificial construct, because it is relative. In a group of 200, 25 maybe a minority but within this group, 20 is a majority. The 25 who claim minority status in a larger majority, cannot deny human rights to their own internal minorities (5) what they claim as minority rights.
The secularism debate, which reflexively seeks a ban on any debate over Uniform Civil Code, fails to take into account that in the name of protecting Muslims or other minorities' rights, communal rights have been prioritized over human rights of individual within minority groups.
The defining feature of a functioning democracy is its adherence to the theory and practice of the fundamental principles of equity, justice and inclusion for all. That "all" includes women, men, young, old, able-bodied and disabled alike, and regardless of race, class, religion or sexual orientation.
The most handy example of how vulnerable these groups, for example women, are, within the larger minority groups became clear during the recent raging debate over triple talaq.
Thousands of Muslim women have recently sought support to abolish the "heinous" practice of 'triple talaq', which they have termed an "un-Quranic" practice.
A Times of India report says "over 50,000 Muslim women and men have signed a petition seeking a ban on triple talaq. The petition, spearheaded by the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), has sought the National Commission for Women's intervention to end this "un-Quranic practice".
BMMA co-founder Zakia Soman said a national signature campaign was under way in different states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, MP, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Kerala and UP.
The report quotes a recent BMMA study which found that 92 per cent Muslim women supported an end to this practice where unilateral talaq is being frequently given over phone, text message and even email with women mostly at the receiving end.
Farah Faiz, Rashtrawadi Muslim Mahila Sangh (RMMS) president, recently gave a speech before a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice A M Khanwilkar on how the AIMPLB and Muslim bodies had started operating sharia'h courts to impose rigid practices on unsuspecting Muslims.
"Women's rights are equally protected by the Constitution. But these sharia'h courts and qazis do not allow women to enforce their rights. Defiance invites ostracisation. AIMPLB is attempting to give a religious tone to the debate on the validity of 'triple talaq' by terming it a practice ordained by Quran," she said.
The line taken by the AIMPLB isn't surprising. According to a report carried by Indian Express, the board feels the matter of triple talaq was "not an issue" among Muslims and that it had been brought up to implement a uniform civil code in the country.
"The so-called movement against this law has been started to introduce a uniform civil code in the country. It is more of a media hype… the issue is of no importance among Muslim women and there is no need to bring about any change in the laws.”
When positions are this hard and conflated, the natural reaction is shy away from even moving towards a common set of laws that upholds human rights, as has been the case. But then |
-old watchmaker. His self-indulgence had left him bedridden and almost unable to move: pale, emaciated, “more like a corpse than a human being.” The unfortunate young man had lost his memory almost completely, though he retained just enough strength to acknowledge the vile habit believed to have brought him to this pass. “A pale bloody discharge issued from his nose; he foamed at his mouth; was affected with diarrhea and voided his feces involuntarily; there was a constant discharge of seminal fluid.” Within a few more weeks, he was dead.
Drawing of a “habitual masturbator,” from the 1847 book The Silent Friend. Public Domain
Every medical authority hammered home the same message: every drop of semen was precious. This should not really have counted as an argument against the spermists—semen and sperm cells were not the same thing—but an epidemic of fear was no time for fine distinctions. The spermist doctrine that waste was part of God’s plan had little chance in an era that preached that waste was a physical and moral catastrophe.
It’s tempting to look at our intellectual forebears and smile patronizingly at them. How foolish of them to have chosen to live so long ago. But we should resist temptation. They had set out to explain where new life comes from and found themselves ensnared in a related but even harder question: what is life? A straightforward inquiry about sex and anatomy had transformed itself into a slippery philosophical riddle.
For us, it would be as if scientists trying to map the brain found themselves trying to explain, where does hope come from? Where do ideas come from? We still don’t know. We understand perfectly well that brain gives rise to mind; the problem is that we cannot sort out just what that means. The scientists struggling with the babies mystery understood perfectly well that certain bits of matter were alive and others weren’t; the problem was that they couldn’t sort out how that could be.
Today, every 10-year-old knows where babies come from. But for millennia, the deepest thinkers on earth could only guess. That’s progress, but we shouldn’t be too smug. Every generation makes the mistake of thinking that the escalator runs only as high as their floor. Not so. We can be sure that in centuries to come, our descendants will look back at us and quote our earnest beliefs and shake their heads in astonishment.
This piece was adapted from The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Sharks’ Teeth to Frogs’ Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come From by Edward Dolnick, available from Basic Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, a division of PBG Publishing, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc. 2017.Great civilisations have fallen because they failed to prevent the degradation of the soils on which they were founded. The modern world could suffer the same fate.
This is according to Professor Mary Scholes and Dr Bob Scholes who have published a paper in the journal, Science, which describes how the productivity of many lands has been dramatically reduced as a result of soil erosion, accumulation of salinity, and nutrient depletion.
"Cultivating soil continuously for too long destroys the bacteria which convert the organic matter into nutrients," says Mary Scholes, who is a Professor in the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences at Wits University.
Although improved technology -- including the unsustainably high use of fertilisers, irrigation, and ploughing -- provides a false sense of security, about 1% of global land area is degraded every year. In Africa, where much of the future growth in agriculture must take place, erosion has reduced yields by 8% and nutrient depletion is widespread.
"Soil fertility is both a biophysical property and a social property -- it is a social property because humankind depends heavily on it for food production," says Bob Scholes, who is a systems ecologist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Soil fertility was a mystery to the ancients. Traditional farmers speak of soils becoming tired, sick, or cold; the solution was typically to move on until they recovered. By the mid-20th century, soils and plants could be routinely tested to diagnose deficiencies, and a global agrochemical industry set out to fix them. Soil came to be viewed as little more than an inert supportive matrix, to be flooded with a soup of nutrients.
This narrow approach led to an unprecedented increase in food production, but also contributed to global warming and the pollution of aquifers, rivers, lakes, and coastal ecosystems. Activities associated with agriculture are currently responsible for just under one third of greenhouse gas emissions; more than half of these originate from the soil.
Replacing the fertility-sustaining processes in the soil with a dependence on external inputs has also made the soil ecosystem, and humans, vulnerable to interruptions in the supply of those inputs, for instance due to price shocks.
However, it is not possible to feed the current and future world population with a dogmatically "organic" approach to global agriculture. Given the large additional area it would require, such an approach would also not avert climate change, spare biodiversity, or purify the rivers.
To achieve lasting food and environmental security, we need an agricultural soil ecosystem that more closely approximates the close and efficient cycling in natural ecosystems, and that also benefits from the yield increases made possible by biotechnology and inorganic fertilisers.Keele astronomers find 'cousin' planets around twin stars
WASP-94 could turn into one of the most important discoveries from WASP-South.
Astronomers at Keele University have found two new Jupiter-sized extra-solar planets, each orbiting one star of a binary-star system.
Most known extra-solar planets orbit stars that are alone, like our Sun. Yet many stars are part of binary systems, twin stars formed from the same gas cloud. Now, for the first time, two stars of a binary system are both found to host a ``hot Jupiter'' exoplanet.
The discoveries, around the stars WASP-94A and WASP-94B, were made by a team of British, Swiss and Belgian astronomers.
The Keele-led WASP-South survey found tiny dips in the light of WASP-94A, suggesting that a Jupiter-like planet was transiting the star; Swiss astronomers then showed the existence of planets around both WASP-94A and then its twin WASP-94B. Marion Neveu-VanMalle (Geneva Observatory), who wrote the announcement paper, explains: "We observed the other star by accident, and then found a planet around that one also!".
Hot Jupiter planets are much closer to their stars than our own Jupiter, with a "year" lasting only a few days. They are rare, so it would be unlikely to find two Hot Jupiters in the same star system by chance. Perhaps WASP-94 has just the right conditions for producing Hot Jupiters? If so WASP-94 could be an important system for understanding why Hot Jupiters are so close to the star they orbit.
The existence of huge, Jupiter-size planets so near to their stars is a long-standing puzzle, since they cannot form near to the star where it is far too hot.
They must form much further out, where it is cool enough for ices to freeze out of the proto-planetary disk circling the young star, hence forming the core of a new planet. Something must then move the planet into a close orbit, and one likely mechanism is an interaction with another planet or star. Finding Hot-Jupiter planets in two stars of a binary pair might allow us to study the processes that move the planets inward.
Professor Coel Hellier, of Keele University, remarks: "WASP-94 could turn into one of the most important discoveries from WASP-South. The two stars are relatively bright, making it easy to study their planets, so WASP-94 could be used to discover the compositions of the atmospheres of exoplanets".
The WASP survey is the world's most successful search for hot-Jupiter planets that pass in front of (transit) their star. The WASP-South survey instrument scans the sky every clear night, searching hundreds of thousands of stars for transits. The Belgian team selects the best WASP candidates by obtaining high-quality data of transit lightcurves.
Geneva Observatory astronomers then show that the transiting body is a planet by measuring its mass, which they do by detecting the planet's gravitational tug on the host star.
The collaboration has now found over 100 hot-Jupiter planets, many of them around relatively bright stars that are easy to study, leading to strong interest in WASP planets from astronomers worldwide.
===========================
Notes:
(1) The discovery paper was led by Marion Neveu-VanMalle (Geneva Observatory) and is available at http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.7566
(2) The WASP consortium ("Wide Angle Search for Planets") includes astronomers at the Universities of Keele, Warwick, St. Andrews and Cambridge, and collaborates with the Geneva Observatory (Switzerland) and the University of Liège (Belgium). See http://wasp-planets.net/
(3) WASP planetary systems are named sequentially so WASP-94 is the 94th planetary system found. WASP-94A refers to the brighter star of the binary and WASP-94B to the fainter star. The twin stars are 180 parsecs away (600 light years) in the constellation of Microscopium. The stars were first observed by Sir John F.W. Herschel in 1834.
(4) WASP is funded by the UK's Science & Technology Facilities Council. The Euler Swiss telescope is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. TRAPPIST is funded by the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research.
Images:
The planets are too far away and too near their stars to obtain direct images of them. There are many artists' impressions of extra-solar planets including:
(i) A WASP planet projected against (transiting) its host star.
Image Credit: Mark Garlick.
Smaller version: https://waspplanets.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/wasp_transit_small.jpg
Larger version: https://waspplanets.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/wasp_transit_large.jpg
(ii) An illustration of a planet orbiting one star on a binary system. In WASP-94, the planet would transit the brighter star, causing a dip in the light that can be detected from Earth. Another planet orbits the second star at lower-left. It does not transit and is not directly visible, but it can be detected by its gravitational tug on the second star.
Image Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/Nick Risinger
Smaller version: https://waspplanets.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/eso1241as.jpg
Larger version: http://waspplanets.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/eso1241a.jpg
Contacts:
Prof. Coel Hellier
Keele University
c.hellier@keele.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1782 734243
Mob: +44 (0)7817 182867MELBOURNE, July 13:
A Malaysian has led a team of four surgeons to remove a disfiguring growth from the face of a seven-year-old Filipino boy at the Monash Children’s Hospital here.
Plastic surgeon Dr James Leong Chin Sek, who was born in Kota Baru, Kelantan, said Jhonny Lameon had a severe fronto-nasal encephalocele — a neural tube defect that results in membranous sacs expanding through openings in the skull.
The surgeons, all working pro bono, performed an eight-hour operation to remove the mass and reconstruct Jhonny’s entire face in March.
“I was sent an email with photos and the story of Jhonny who had this terrible defect and straight away we decided to help him.
“Our team at Monash Health mobilised all of our resources to bring Jhonny to Melbourne”, Dr Leong, 48, told Bernama, here.
The boy has since been recovering at the Monash Children’s Hospital and the Children First Foundation’s rehabilitation farm at Kilmore, 40km north of Melbourne.
Dr Leong, an alumni of the University of Melbourne, said the condition was quite rare, with about one in 10,000 babies born with the defect.
He said most of these defects should be attended to very early after they were picked up on ultrasound.
But in Jhonny’s case, he lived in a very poor environment and he was nearly seven.
Dr Leong said because there were no facilities near Jhonny’s home, and his family could not afford the medical intervention in the Philippines, the surgery had to be done in Australia.
Jhonny was assessed by a team from Interplast, a non-profit organisation supported by the Rotary Club and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons on a visit to the Philippines.
Interplast then got in touch with Dr Leong who was only too willing to help the poor boy.
Jhonny had already lost sight in one eye after the sac pushed into it and caused irreparable damage.
“His condition is cured now, which is going to be fantastic for him,” Dr Leong said. “It has been a privilege for all of us to be part of this life-changing surgery,” he added.
Dr Leong has given Jhonny, who was accompanied by his mother Chochi, the all-clear to return home to his father, a fisherman, and his 10 siblings in Mindanao.
“There is also a new addition to the family as while in Australia, Chochi gave birth to baby Jack in March. This was unexpected and a real surprise,” he said.
At a media gathering, Chochi Lameon said: “Dr Leong did really good work of making a nose for Jhonny. Thank you so much to Dr Leong. I’m very happy we are going back home now,” she said.
Dr Leong grew up in several parts of Malaysia, following his father Leong Teng Boon, a government land surveyor.Recently I finally dropped the bomb and upgraded my PC gaming system. I say upgraded, what I actually did was built a brand new system from the ground-up and replaced pretty much everything I had previously, including my mouse mat.
One of the things I really wanted to check out, was the hype behind Mechanical Keyboards. What’s the deal? Are they really all that’s cracked up to be? To be honest, I have no idea. But I thought I’d give one a whirl anyway, and thus Logitech sent over their Logitech G910 mechanical keyboard for us to try out and while it’s certainly built for gaming, it’s not really cracked up to much else.
Seeing as I’m the main man behind n3, it’s safe to say that I do my fair share of typing and gaming on a daily basis. Since having this new PC system, I’ve been hammering it to see how it performs, and along with that, trying out all aspects of the G910.
Prior to this I’ve been used to membrane keyboards, from the crappy low-profile keys of the keyboard which came with a PC from around 7 years ago, to a very entry-level gaming keyboard, the Cooler Master Devastator Keyboard and Mouse bundle. Both of which performed really well with every day tasks, but what about gaming? Honestly, I never really saw a problem with them. But switching to a mechanical keyboard was apparently the way to up my game, so to speak, so I couldn’t wait to give it a try.
First impressions of the Logitech G910 was that it had some weight to it. The box was heavy, and upon removing the keyboard, I found the keyboard itself had some real weight to it. It’s build was fantastic, and it felt like a truly meaty bit of kit. The cable itself is also chunky, but not too chunky that it’s rigid. It’s actually fairly malleable and allows you to shove the wire behind your desk with ease.
One thing I did almost instantly notice however is that the keyboard layout is tight. As in, the Logitech G910 is the same size as the Devastator keyboard, but manages to squeeze the keys in much tighter to allow for additional programmable keys and, presumably, less distance to move your fingers while gaming.
For typing however, it definitely takes some getting used to. The additional G-Keys down the side are fantastic in-game, but for every day use, they became more of a hassle than anything causing me to actually program the keys identical to their adjacent ones so I didn’t end up missing keys while typing. That’s not to say you can’t get used to the keys, it just takes a little time to do so.
The Logitec G910 is built for gaming, it’s as simple as that. It has programmable keys, custom lighting configurations, and gaming profiles to suit any avid gamer. Even the keys themselves are designed so that your fingers rest comfortably in the centre. One thing the keyboard really isn’t built for is every day use. The concave key design, while comfortable in first person shooters and the like, is also a pain while typing as you’ll often catch your fingers on the raised edges. As mentioned before, the key layout is much tigher, which is great for reaching far away keys, but not too great for those of us used to much larger keyboards while typing.
That’s not to say that I dislike the Logitech G910 because when it comes to gaming, it’s fantastic. It’s also really quiet too, despite being a mechanical keyboard, which is definitely a plus for me and those who work and live around me, but I know for some, a Mechanical Keyboard needs to have that telltale click. Compared to membrane keyboards however, the G910 is a silent assassin.
As for gaming, I really enjoy using the Logitech G910. Everything I mentioned above as a potential problem becomes a potential solution to many problems in video games, especially when it comes to custom configurations. Rainbow Six Siege was one of the games in which its keyboard layout is a cluster fuck, with the G910, those problems go away as you can program all 9 of the custom G-Keys to do whatever you want, something I’ve definitely made the most of.
One of the other great things about the G910 is the custom key lighting configurations. You can choose a number of profiles including a series of lightshows, showing off the keyboard’s 16.8 million colours, or you can set it to a single solid colour. You can also set it so that only a certain number of keys light up.
This was one of my favourite features of the keyboard as it allowed me to light up the only keys I used while gaming, allowing me to find the keys I needed at a glance, while hiding others I didn’t need. Though this is hardly a unique feature, it was definitely an enjoyable one.
As for the speed of the keys, I did find that the keyboard offered some improvement over gaming, but personally I think it’s my skill that’s lacking. The ROMER-G mechanical keys are lovely to use and require barely any force in order to register your key presses and I did also notice that I was moving slightly quicker than with my old membrane keyboard, but the difference, in comparison, is so slight, only someone who really wants that 2.0ms advantage will really notice. And as someone who’s more of a casual gamer than a hardcore gamer, barely felt worth it.
The Logitech G910 also comes with ARX Control Integration, a free mobile app which can be used along side the keyboard to further extend your gaming experience. There’s no need to tab out of games to adjust keyboard settings as it can all be done from the app which sits nicely in the pull-out dock at the top of the keyboard. It allows you to switch profiles on the fly, control your media when you’re out of the room, and even view your PC stats while playing games – perfect for those who like to push their systems to their limits.
Overall the Logitech G910 is a perfect addition to a gaming rig, especially if that’s what you’ll spend most of your time doing. If however you’re looking for something to make typing more comfortable or more precise, then I’d consider looking elsewhere. The overall design and feel of the keyboard is lovely, though its matte design does allow for dust to show up more easily. It is however a keyboard built with gaming in mind, and that’s about it.The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a landmark resolution for LGBT rights during its 27th session on Friday, the second-ever motion of its kind. The resolution, which was heavily promoted by the U.S., was sponsored by Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil and Chile. Countries from every geographic region in the world joined as supporters.
The action, which passed by a 25-14 vote margin after more than an hour of debate, condemns violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity across the globe.
“We are pleased to see that today the international community is visibly and publicly upholding the rights of LGBT individuals, and thereby we demonstrate ourselves as a global community respecting the rights of all,” said Ambassador Keith Harper, who represents the U.S. on the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Still, since the resolution comes with no enforcement capability — it simply calls for a report from the U.N. high commissioner on LGBT rights abuses — it will likely largely be seen as a symbolic gesture, albeit it one that the U.N. has largely failed to make in the past. This resolution is only the second time the U.N. has referred to LGBT rights as “human rights.”
Not all of the reaction to the resolution was positive: Pakistan’s representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council called it a “divisive and controversial initiative.”
“We feel there is an attempt to impose uniculturality” that “runs counter to religious and cultural practices of some countries,” said Saudi Arabia’s representative during debate. “In my opinion, this [resolution] is a human rights violation.”
South Africa, considering their recent history of harsh anti-LGBT legislation, surprisingly backed the resolution. But Buzzfeed reports that insiders on the Human Rights Council say the African nation helped “water down” the resolution before lending its support.
A total of 21 countries either opposed or abstained from the resolution. Also — ironically in light of the sponsors of the resolution — Latin America accounts for almost 80% of the world’s reported murders of transgender people, with more than half of these deaths occurring in Brazil.
“The Human Rights Council has taken a fundamental step forward by reaffirming one of the United Nations’ key principles — that everyone is equal in dignity and rights,” said Jessica Stern, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, after the vote. “This resolution puts the U.N. on a trajectory to address the discrimination and violence LGBT persons suffer daily across the world.”
“The council is confirming that LGBT people have universal human rights,” she added. “We know, of course, that the struggle is long, and that we will need the Council to focus on the violations we suffer for many years to come. But for now, we celebrate that the majority of States stood with us to declare, unequivocally, that human rights are for everyone, everywhere.”
While this resolution was passed on Friday, Russia’s Constitutional Court upheld their country’s anti-gay “propaganda” law. “This disappointing ruling legitimizes an unjust law created to target and oppress Russia’s LGBT community,” said Human Rights First’s Shawn Gaylord. “However the court makes it clear that the law’s application should be limited to cases involving minors.”On Thursday afternoon, during its work session, the Durham City Council unanimously voted to allow the city manager to work with the Durham Police Department to figure out how to have the department issue citations and warnings for low-level marijuana offenses instead of arresting individuals.
The directive came after Randy Chambers, the president of Self-Help Credit Union; David Hall, an attorney with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice; and resident Andrea Hudson of SpiritHouse came to the council to once again advocate for deprioritizing low-level marijuana enforcement.
Chambers told the council that, after looking at data on marijuana arrests from 2013 to 2015, "the numbers continuing to be troubling."
"Approximately seventy-nine percent of all misdemeanor marijuana enforcement violations are for African-American males between the ages of sixteen and thirty-four," Chambers said. "Equally disturbing is how those charges are treated. Only one quarter of the folks charged with this misdemeanor in 2015 were issued a citation. Meaning the other three quarters were taken in and arrested."
Chambers said Durham is at a crossroads: "We have an opportunity to show that we really can commit to strong community-police relations."
Why is it important to issue a citation or warning instead of arresting someone for misdemeanor marijuana offenses? For starters, these offenses deal with minuscule amounts of pot—between half an ounce and 1.5 ounces. (For less than a half ounce, the cops won’t take you in.) But by arresting someone for a minor possession charge you're setting them up for a lifetime of difficulties. Being arrested means you go to jail, which means you need to post bail to get out. If you have a $1,000 bond, you have to pay 15 percent of that. In some cases, the bail is higher, individuals can't pay it, and thus they're forced to stay in jail without having been convicted of anything. This, in turn, can provide an incentive to plead guilty.
"We can't change that it's a misdemeanor or how the crime is seen in court. But what we're talking about is the treatment of the person by officers in the field," said council member Don Moffitt.
There was some concern that enacting an ordinance on marijuana enforcement would put the council at risk of being sued, much like the the Fayetteville City Council was four years ago when it wanted to make changes to the way the police conducted consent searches. In that case, the police union filed a lawsuit, and a judge granted a restraining order that prevented the city from moving forward.
Because of that, council member Charlie Reece suggested that city manager Tom Bonfield and police chief C.J. Davis sit down together and figure out what the police department is amenable to. If the chief and manager can't determine a course of action, the city council will take it up again.
"The department has said, for a long time, certainly in the last couple of years, that low-level marijuana enforcement is a low priority," said council member Steve Schewel. "But I think the problem with that is the statistics [Chambers] is citing. Even though I believe for the people administering the department, it is a low priority, I don't think that's actually the effect that we see.
"I think about all of us, and the disproportionate effect this has had on young African-American males,” Schewel continued. “I look out in this crowd and I see a lot of white people. I smoked a lot of marijuana when I was young, and I bet a lot of you all did, too. But we did not face these [consequences]."To Our Readers:
This morning, senior management at The University Times became aware that a member of our editorial staff had plagiarised an article that had been published yesterday evening. Immediately following this discovery, we conducted a preliminary investigation into the matter to determine whether it was an isolated instance or part of a pattern of misconduct. This revealed that the editor in question has plagiarised multiple times over the course of the past twelve months by lifting sentences and paragraphs, sometimes verbatim or with minimal rewording, and sometimes significant chunks of articles and essays published elsewhere on the web.
As a reader of The University Times, you trust that what you read in the newspaper is honest. Plagiarism – taking someone else’s work, words or ideas and passing them off as one’s own – is the most egregious way of breaking that trust with you, the reader. And for that, we sincerely apologise to you. As a newspaper that holds people in the College community – such as those responsible for large budgets or those in administration positions – to a very high standard, we need to hold ourselves to an even greater standard.
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This incident is extraordinarily embarrassing for every member of the newspaper’s staff, and it has the potential to call into question the work of dozens of diligent, hard-working editors and writers.
There is also a level of trust between management and editors that manifests in the expectation that plagiarism will always be unacceptable. That trust, in this instance, has very clearly been broken. However, we, the senior management editors of the newspaper, as well as the section editor primarily responsible for his work, also bear a very real responsibility, and we take this responsibility very seriously. We should not have let this happen – and we should have protocols in place to makes sure things like this cannot consistently recur, even if it is just one person ultimately responsible.
As of this afternoon, we have removed the editor from his position. Over the course of the next few days, we will be carefully investigating this editor’s work and redirecting his articles to a note apologising for the systematic plagiarism. We intend to take this opportunity to renew our commitment to producing the highest quality journalism possible by opening up the discussion within our team about the reasons as to how an incident like this can occur – and reaffirming standards and best practice in our newsroom.
Samuel Riggs
Editor
Edmund Heaphy
Deputy EditorThis is the headline you were never going to read: "Labor to build East West link". And rightly so. If the Andrews government had capitulated, it would have been an insult to Victorian voters and the electoral process.
In recent months, we have been living in a parallel universe of political debate as conservative politicians and vested interests have argued the contentious road should still be built. It was as if the November 29 state election that tipped the Coalition out of office after only one term hadn't happened.
The Andrews government aims to deliver on election promises. Credit:Salona Chithiray
Let's revisit some recent history. Voters often complain that there is no real difference between the major parties, but at this election, it wasn't the case. In the lead up to the poll, Labor announced that if elected it would dump the project of the then Napthine government.
So here was a clear, sharp point of difference being presented to the electorate. Vote Coalition, and the road would go ahead. A Labor government would spell the end of East West, in favour of the metro rail project.N. IP ENFORCEMENT TRENDS
[U.S. First Intervention]
• We appreciate this opportunity to discuss enforcement of IP rights, and hopefully to dispel some misperceptions about IP enforcement in general and the ACTA in particular.
• Effective enforcement of intellectual property rights is critical to sustaining economic growth across all industries and globally.
• The proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods, as well as of services that distribute infringing material, undermines legitimate trade and sustainable development of the world economy, causes significant financial losses for right holders and for legitimate businesses, and, in some cases, provides a source of revenue for organized crime and otherwise poses risks to the public.
• The effective enforcement of intellectual property rights benefits from enhanced international cooperation and more effective international enforcement.
• Turning specifically to ACTA, the principles I just enumerated form part of the bedrock of that Agreement.
• To help promote a dialogue on these important principles, we wanted to address some of the questions that were raised at the October meeting of the TRIPS Council.
• At that meeting, the esteemed delegate from Zimbabwe asked which clear “lacunae” in the TRIPS agreement do the ACTA participants seek to address?
• Let me provide a few examples:
o The ACTA provides a forum for the Agreement’s participants to work cooperatively together to protect and enforce intellectual property. The ACTA cooperation provisions are more extensive than those in the TRIPS Agreement, but as with the rest of ACTA, they are fully consistent with the TRIPS Agreement.
o The ACTA provides that Parties to the Agreement must authorize their border enforcement authorities to act on their own initiative against trademark counterfeit and copyright pirated goods. This addresses a gap in existing standards that has sometimes meant customs officials are powerless to take action against fake and pirated goods. Application of this stronger standard will help protect consumers.
o The ACTA includes new commitments on the seizure and destruction of fake goods, on seizure of the equipment and materials used in their manufacture, and on seizure of the criminal proceeds from piracy and counterfeiting offenses. This ensures that police and prosecutors will be able to take away both ill-gotten gains and the tools of illicit trade.
• When the TRIPS Agreement was negotiated almost 20 years ago, the type of complex distribution webs that we see today did not exist. Much has changed since 1994.
• ACTA is intended to ensure that enforcement authorities have the legal tools to address the new sophisticated ways that illegal, and often deadly, products are distributed. The points I have just mentioned reflect an effort to provide appropriate tools. If governments do not modernize their approaches to adapt to evolving illegal activities, especially to keep up with the criminals, we are not doing our jobs.
• We also wanted to address interventions made in October suggesting that ACTA would target generic medicines.
• I want to be clear that ACTA does not target generics.
• For example, ACTA does not require border enforcement of patents.
• As to border enforcement of trademarks, this is an important element of protecting the public.
o For example, in the United States authorities recently uncovered a significant problem of fake cancer drugs in the U.S. supply chain. Among other things, fake drugs like these sometimes bear counterfeit trademarks. Empowering border authorities to act when they see such fake trademarks could have real health benefits.
• As Japan noted, at the same time, ACTA Article 13 provides similarly to the TRIPS Agreement that barriers to the legitimate trade should be avoided.
• And ACTA also protects against abuse: ACTA, like the TRIPS Agreement, stipulates that IP enforcement procedures “shall be applied in such a manner so as … to provide for safeguards against their abuse.”
• Finally, we wanted to address questions raised at the October meeting regarding transparency.
• ACTA is not secret: A draft was released in April 2010, while negotiations were still ongoing. We published a near-final text in October 2010, and then published the final text in December 2010, and then in May 2011 we published French and Spanish translations. The final English text has thus been public for more than a year.A 16-year-old boy has admitted possessing explosive chemicals and bomb-making books and diagrams.
The teenager pleaded guilty to two terror charges and another offence at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.
The boy was arrested at his home in Northamptonshire last year after he made comments on a US online chat room about a "school massacre".
He admitted possessing sulphur powder and potassium nitrate and a book on Semtex.
He also admitted possession of a quantity of prohibited images of children.
Mark Topping, prosecuting, said since his arrest the boy had been detained under the Mental Health Act in secure accommodation in the West Midlands area.
'Storm a school'
The court heard the Metropolitan Police had been passed an alert by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about the teenager's online comments.
He reportedly told someone in the chat room that "20 minutes from now I am going to storm a high school armed with a Magnum (handgun) and a Beretta (pistol)", the court heard.
The teenager then said he would "shoot until the police arrive and then shoot himself".
He had also posted several pictures of himself on a website posing with imitation firearms, one of which made reference to a high school.
The boy had kept a notebook written with "notes about plans to kill pupils at school", and a plan of where people sat at their desks, said Mr Topping.
Research he had carried out on his home computer uncovered an interest in serial killers and guns.
'Biggest mistake'
However, while the boy was deemed a risk by doctors, district judge Howard Riddle was told by the boy's father he had "never been physically aggressive" and was "quiet at school", according to consultant child psychologist Dr John Brian.
Dr Brian said the boy was also diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome which, if untreated,could lead to "anxiety" and a "fixation" with particular topics.
Dr Brian said the boy had told him "none of it would have happened" and had expressed regret at what he had done.
"He has told me he thinks it was the biggest mistake of his life, and that he regrets it," said Dr Brian.
"He also said his sense of humour 'cruises at the boundary'."
Sentencing, Mr Riddle handed the boy an initial six-month hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act.We may be only a little more than halfway through 2016, but I’m prepared to call it: “Suicide Squad” is the worst movie of the year.
Unpleasant, incoherent, astonishingly poorly made, the DC Comics spin-off, about a ragtag team of criminal meta-humans (“the worst of the worst,” Viola Davis’s character solemnly intones at one point) conscripted to save the world from World War III, provides yet one more nail in the franchise’s cinematic coffin, joining last spring’s “ Unpleasant, incoherent, astonishingly poorly made, the DC Comics spin-off, about a ragtag team of criminal meta-humans (“the worst of the worst,” Viola Davis’s character solemnly intones at one point) conscripted to save the world from World War III, provides yet one more nail in the franchise’s cinematic coffin, joining last spring’s “ Batman v. Superman ” in what has become a dreary roll call of cinematic Debbie Downers, tarted up by moody visuals and a dour tone to seem far edgier than they are.
Nowhere is “Suicide Squad” more tiresome than in the Joker, DC fans’ favorite villain who in previous incarnations was portrayed by some of the greatest actors of the 20th century, from Jack Nicholson to Heath Ledger. Here, the duties fall to the Oscar-winning Jared Leto, who dons silver tooth caps, grubby tattoos and the character’s signature painted-on grin to deliver a manic, derivative performance that takes a pinch from Nicholson and Ledger, and unseemly dollops from Jim Carrey at his most mannered and wearyingly self-referential.
Leto’s on-screen histrionics aren’t helped by his off-screen behavior, chronicled in stories during the film’s production that recounted him sending items such as bullets and a live rat to his co-stars – attempts at getting into his amoral character that went more than a step too far. If the results in “Suicide Squad” are any indication, there wasn’t any method to Leto’s madness, just badness in his Method.
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co De Mayweather -- and the second date being Sept. 14," Ellerbe said.
"Mayweather Promotions is looking forward to these two gigantic Floyd Mayweather events in 2013, and we are in ongoing discussions with our promotional partner, Richard Schaefer (chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions) in finalizing the opponent and other aspects of the upcoming promotion."
Ellerbe said both fights would take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Mayweather has fought his past six fights. Mayweather also lives in Las Vegas.
Ellerbe's announcement came on the same day of the final news conference promoting Manny Pacquiao's fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night at the MGM Grand.
A Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown, of course, is the fight fans have been calling for the past few years, but it has gone unmade. Both sides have been handed blame at different points in multiple failed negotiations.
Ellerbe said Mayweather told him and fellow adviser Al Haymon in a recent telephone conversation to begin planning the May fight.
"He told me and Al this is what he is doing," Ellerbe said.
Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs), who turns 36 in February, last fought May 5, scoring a unanimous decision against Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto to win a junior middleweight world title to go with the welterweight crown he also holds.
A few weeks after the fight, Mayweather reported to jail to serve a three-month sentence at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas on a domestic abuse conviction. He served about two months of the sentence before he was released for good behavior.
Prior to facing Cotto, Mayweather had said he wanted to fight a second time in 2012, but nothing ever came of it after he was released from jail. Now, Mayweather is ready to fight, Ellerbe said.
"He's been in the gym. Floyd is always keeping his body in shape doing something because he's a great athlete and that's what great athletes do," Ellerbe said.politics Marg Princess Warriors Storm City Hall
Marg look-alikes gathered at City Hall yesterday to teach Rob Ford a few things about manners, and eat a cookie or two.
Cameron was one of a number of women dressed as Marg Delahunty, Princess Warrior—the character sometimes portrayed by comedian Mary Walsh on CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes. The costumed women assembled at noon on Monday to protest Mayor Rob Ford’s “bad manners” (i.e. his decision to call 911 on a CBC crew that tried to interview him at his home last Monday, led by Walsh, who was in character as Delahunty).
Grabbing a chocolate vegan cookie from a fellow Marg who introduced herself as Java Mama, Cameron expressed her disappointment with the Ford administration. “I wish he would go about [cuts to city services] with some compassion and common sense and really cut the gravy, if that’s what he intended to do.”
Organizer Gayle Hurmuses expressed surprise at the interest in her initiative (246 people said they’d attend on Facebook, though in reality approximately 15 Margs showed up). She took no pains to hide her feelings about Ford. “Mayor Ford is what my father would have described as an insufferable prat,” said Hurmuses, dressed in a Marg apron of her own creation. “He has made us an embarrassment internationally. Keith Olbermann just declared him the worst person in the world last week. And it’s not the kind of attention that I’ve grown accustomed to Toronto being known for.”
“I’m concerned with public apathy,” she continued. “That people will feel helpless and that they’ll step back and watch their city change drastically and there won’t be any way to reclaim it.”
After milling about outside City Hall, the Margs and their entourage moved to the City Hall lobby to pose for photos with Farley Mowat and Leonard Cohen look-alikes (in reference to Ford’s supposed ignorance of major Canadian cultural figures).
What remains to be seen is whether the hoopla surrounding the Marg/Ford run-in obscures or draws attention to the Ford administration’s desire to implement major cuts to City services. Attention to this type of behaviour (Ford has been guilty of worse reactions) could, for the mayor, be a welcome distraction.
Photos by Bronwyn Kienapple/Torontoist.OAKVILLE-Tim Hortons is preparing to serve up a new restaurant format as part of its expansion plans over the next three years. The new restaurant concept will be piloted in at least 10 existing locations.
Albert Venczel enjoys a cup at Tim Hortons at the corner of College and Yonge Sts. Feb. 8, 2010. ( LUCAS OLENIUK / TORONTO STAR )
The redesign is intended to more sharply define Tim Hortons image with what the company calls “enhanced finishes, fixtures and seating areas.” The iconic Ontario-based company known for its coffee, doughnuts and light meals says it expects 900 new stores of various formats by 2013. They would include 600 stores in Canada where Tim Hortons already has more than 3,000 locations under its banner.
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Up to 60 locations in Canada will be converted to include the Cold Stone Creamery concept in partnership with an American ice cream chain. The restaurant operator says it plans to spend $180 million to $200 million this year to support its growth initiatives. The plans were outlined ahead of a Friday investors conference hosted by the Oakville-headquartered company, which currently has 563 locations in the United States. The company is aiming for same-store sales growth of three per cent to five per cent in Canada and two per cent to four per cent in the United States. It’s also aiming to earn between $1.95 and $2.05 per share.
Beyond 2010, Tims has set the goal of 12 per cent to 15 per cent compound annual average growth in earnings per share from 2011 to 2013. “Our strategies will continue to transform Tim Hortons, not only adding significant scale but also introducing important additional growth layers to our business platform to extend our position as a leader in the North American restaurant industry,” said Don Schroeder, president and CEO.
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“We are a growth company with significant long-term opportunities in Canada, and we are also excited by the prospects of continued profitable growth in the U.S., and potentially internationally in the longer term.” Much of the growth in Canada this year will be focused on Quebec, western Canada and major urban locations. In the United States, it will be focused on major regional markets such as New York, Ohio and Michigan. The company says it plans to spread out from these bases, with about 30 per cent of its development activities between 2010 and 2013 in markets adjacent to its existing territories.
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While other factors play a role, internet subscription rates break down largely by age, income, and education level. A full 80 percent of people between 18 and 29 have broadband in their homes, a number that drops to 43 percent for those 65 and older. The class divide is just as sharp: 54 percent of people in households that make less than $30,000 a year subscribe, but that number jumped to 70 percent households making between $30,000 and $50,000 and 88 percent of those making $70,000 or over. Only 37 percent of people without a diploma are connected, but 89 percent of college graduates are.
Older, less educated, and poorer Americans are much less likely to be online
Dial-up internet use is now too small to make much of a difference, but factoring in smartphone use adds another layer to the results. If you consider smartphone access to count as home broadband, the number of unconnected Americans drops significantly: about 10 percent of respondents said they had a smartphone but no internet connection at home. Smartphones also go a long way towards erasing a marked racial divide. White Americans are noticeably more likely than black or Hispanic ones to have home broadband, but when you add smartphones to the mix, those numbers even out. Some non-subscribers also likely use the internet on public computers, though surveys about "using" the internet rather than having a home connection come up with similar numbers.
So why are 20 percent of Americans opting out? In 2010, about half of non-users said they just weren't interested, while 10 percent said it was too expensive and 9 percent said it was too frustrating. Their attitudes aren't mirrored by the majority of Americans, most of whom said that not being online was an impediment to finding jobs, using government services, and learning new things. But many non-users aren't likely to get online any time soon. While internet adoption keeps rising, it's plateaued in recent years, with a sizable gap still offline.US National Intelligence Director James Clapper stated Friday that US Intelligence Community would work to ensure that the recently released National Security Strategy’s goals were implemented.
© AP Photo / Matthias Schrader German Intelligence Shares Billions of Phone Metadata Pieces with NSA
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Intelligence Community will work to ensure that the recently released National Security Strategy’s goals are implemented, US National Intelligence Director James Clapper said in a statement on Friday.
“The National Security Strategy, written by our country’s elected leaders, serves as the foundational document for the National Intelligence Strategy… We will continue to work to ensure policymakers are receiving the best intelligence to anticipate future threats, and meet the goals of the National Security Strategy,” Clapper stated.
Clapper added that the Intelligence Community “must be consistent with, and responsive to, our national security priorities” laid out in the newly announced US National Security Strategy.
© AP Photo / Patrick Semansky Obama Sets Limitations on NSA Spying After Snowden Leaks
2015 National Security Strategy was unveiled on Friday morning. It stated that Washington can use military force, unilaterally if necessary, when US citizens are threatened and when the security of US allies is endangered, and ensured that the United States will train and equip local partners in order to strengthen their efforts to fight against terrorism.
The strategy also stressed that the United States will continue to impose significant costs on Russia through sanctions and other means, at the same time supporting Georgian, Moldovan, and Ukrainian efforts to improve their collaboration with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The previous National Security Strategy, issued in 2010, advocated for building more effective partnerships with Russia, as well as India and China, in nuclear non-proliferation and in combating climate change, among other priorities.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Washington on May 3. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
Opinion writer
When both Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and President Trump said eons ago (okay, earlier this month) that they would not cut taxes for the rich, we were, let’s say, skeptical. Every single tax plan we have seen from Trump — be it the campaign-season plan or more recent outlines — and House Republicans has included large, disproportionate tax cuts for the rich. Now Mnuchin hints they didn’t mean to promise no tax cuts for the rich when they said there would be no tax cuts for the rich.
TAPPER: Let’s turn to the president’s tax agenda. The president expected to roll out a tax plan on Wednesday. “Axios” is reporting that the plan would cut the tax rate paid by wealth Americans from almost 40 percent to about 35 percent as well as making dramatic reductions on taxes to big businesses and small businesses. When you were selected as treasury secretary, you made a very specific promise and it was quickly dubbed the “Mnuchin rule.” Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MNUCHIN: Any reductions we have in upper income taxes will be offset by less deductions, so that there will be no tax — absolute tax cut for the upper class. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Can you reaffirm that pledge, that there will be — quote — “No absolute tax cut for the upper class”? Is the Mnuchin rule still in effect? MNUCHIN: I did say that. I just want to clarify. It was never a promise. It was never a pledge.
Oh, well that clears that up. Of course, it was Trump himself who said, “The rich will not be gaining at all with this plan.” Now, Mnuchin calls that an “objective.” He hints that, in fact, with a reduced rate of 35 percent, the rich will come out ahead. Mnuchin said that “as it relates to the high end, you know, there’s lots of changes. We’re getting rid of lots of deductions. We’re trying to get rid of state and locally deductions to get the federal government out of subsidizing it.” He adds, “And yes, I can tell you the current plan for many, many people, it will not reduce taxes on the high end.” But some will get big cuts, and the president did not tell the truth when he said that the rich won’t gain “at all.”
Tax reform doesn’t have to work this way. The plan could leave the top bracket exactly where it is at 39.6 percent. By Trump’s own bragging, we know the economy is not in recession and is creating jobs. There simply is no economic justification — other than hackneyed supply-side dogma that doesn’t translate to the 21st century — as to why people at this level should get wealthier and wealthier. Moreover, the reported plan that “pass-through” businesses will pay 25 percent would be a bonanza for the rich, who can easily incorporate. Again, it’s entirely unnecessary to give, say, a lawyer with a limited liability partnership and $2 million in income, a tax break on the grounds that a local business that employs people, pays a business tax and puts capital at risk should get a tax break. You can keep the lawyer at 39.6 percent and cut the business tax to a uniform rate (e.g., 25 percent).
Republicans remain entirely oblivious to the popular rancor they have stirred up. Do they imagine no one will notice that Trump and his ilk will wind up with big tax breaks, which exacerbate income inequality and drive up the debt? The mentality that brought us multiple health-care plans that cut Medicaid spending and cut taxes for the very, very rich persists.
That’s the same mentality that infuses the overweening sense of entitlement in Trump’s Cabinet. (Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price chalked up more than $300,000 in charter plane costs. Mnuchin requested a government plane for his honeymoon and separately spent $25,000 on a trip from Manhattan to the capital; Mnuchin is now under investigation.) The rich get richer and get more toys because, in their rarefied world, they deserve it. Absent is a sense of public service and responsibility to those less well off (practically everyone). Convinced that their excess somehow is good for the country, they resort to peddling tax cuts that in fact have a poor track record of creating long-term growth and a perfect record of creating debt. Rather than devote revenue to infrastructure (rebuilding mainland cities and Puerto Rico, to begin with), worker training, research and national defense, this crowd wants to allow the Mnuchins and Trumps to stuff more cash in their pockets, sending the bill to future generations to pay for the widening debt, and explaining we cannot “afford” the infrastructure, worker training, research and defense we need. This is not conservatism; it’s greed.It's the West
There is no doubt that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become a major international force in economic and diplomatic terms. While many analysts have taken to evaluating whether or not this is a good development, others balk at such a question, arguing that it has clear racist undertones and willfully ignores the brutal history of Western terror.
Andre Vltchek is certainly one such vocal critic of negative Western perceptions of China and its remarkable growth. A novelist, filmmaker, and tireless investigative journalist, Andre moves about the world, experiencing its worst slums and hearing first-hand accounts of life in the forgotten corners. He also meets with influential leaders, academics, and analysts and his work was recently the subject of a two-day seminar at Tsinghua University. He uses his keen analysis to understand how humanity has come to this tragic point, where billions of humans are stripped of their dignity, culture, and history. His critically acclaimed political revolutionary novel Point of No Return is based on his experiences as a war correspondent and his time moving through, and living in, Latin America. He has also written extensively on the South Pacific, Indonesia, and many other regions and nations. He has most recently finished a documentary called Rwanda Gambit about the history of Rwanda and the brutal war and plunder in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is publishing a lengthy debate with Noam Chomsky about the state of the world later this year.
When I heard that Andre was coming to Latin America to visit Cuba and Venezuela, I understood this would be a rare opportunity to discuss the issue of China’s international presence with someone who is unapologetically hailing China as a great hope for the world. I corresponded with Andre while he was en route from Nairobi, Kenya to Havana, Cuba.
Adam Chimienti: China’s growth, post-1978, is arguably the greatest economic achievement in history, lifting hundreds of millions from poverty and providing them access to some of the most modern infrastructure systems and cutting-edge technology, doing so in a largely peaceful manner as its supporters are quick to point out. However, many remained in poverty, while pollution and inequality have become major problems. As the state is intricately involved in this remarkable transformation, what do you hope to see from the Chinese government on a domestic level over the next decade?
Andre Vltchek: As you pointed out, it is not just economic growth that matters. Lifting hundreds of millions from poverty is what makes China a truly successful socialist country. And it is true about the economic growth; it is only comparable to the growth in the Soviet Union between the world wars.
The more successful China is, the more vicious and vitriolic Western propaganda against it becomes. Its main goal is very clear: to put into the minds of the people around the world that if China is successful, then it is because it is not truly socialist anymore. And if it is socialist, then it fails on many fronts. A successful socialist nation is the worst scenario for the manufacturers of global Western hegemony. Western propagandists prefer to highlight inequality and pollution in China to discredit it.
Only three decades ago, China was very poor; poor and largely egalitarian. Then it embarked on breakneck growth and the entire nation has benefited greatly: East and West, cities and rural areas. Some areas benefited more than others, and faster, but everybody benefited to some substantial extent. China moved to a mixed-economy, allowing some individuals to become rich through trade and other activities. This does not mean, of course, that it ceased to be socialist. Its development is centrally planned. All key industries are in state hands, as well as education and defense.
Regarding pollution, it is another farce. Even the former vice-President of the United States, Al Gore clearly admitted in his book An Inconvenient Truth that China pollutes to a smaller extent than the Western nations and that it has much tougher laws. But Western propaganda calculates in absolute numbers, not on a per-capita basis. The per-capita metric is the only honest way to calculate, and by this standard, any EU country, not to mention the United States, pollutes more than China!
It is also very useful to compare the environmental efforts of China with other countries with a similar development level, like Indonesia or the Philippines. While the turbo-capitalist darling of the West, Jakarta [Indonesia], is choking with no public transportation and almost no green areas, major Chinese cities including Beijing are building dozens of ecological and super modern subway lines, parks, and free exercise places for their citizens. China has the most efficient, fastest and longest net of high-speed rail networks in the world; the most ecological mode of inter-urban transportation. It bans all inefficient modes of transportation like scooters, builds bicycle lanes and enormous sidewalks for people to walk and leave their cars at home.
If you go to the countryside, even the most remote villages have solar panels and all basic infrastructure otherwise seen only in much richer nations.
But Western propaganda is not interested in facts. It rests mainly on one pillar: ignorance. Those who visit China periodically (unless they are paid not to see and not to comment) see how the reality of the PRC differs from Western mass media propaganda.
AC: Many Western scholars dismiss Chinese rhetoric about balance, harmony and mutual benefits and regard China’s growth as rife with corruption, and expansionist aims. Furthermore, Joseph S. Nye recently commented that China’s soft power is not effective (at least not outside of Africa and Latin America) because it relies on state control and propaganda, rather than unleashing the power of its civil society. How do you think the most influential Chinese leaders regard these judgments?
AV: Many Western scholars are trained and paid to dismiss the truth about China, as they were paid to twist the truth about the Soviet Union. Eduardo Galeano once described these people to me: “One doesn’t know who pays them, and they won’t tell”.
Remember that ‘civil society’, in China, Ukraine, Russia, Southeast Asia and many other places including Venezuela and Cuba, is just a cover for the pro-Western interest groups, often directly paid to destroy rebellious countries and bring them into the orbit of the Western regime. NGOs are often synonymous with destructive and fully Western-funded organizations, designed to divide and break the country. And not only NGOs of course. Just do some basic research on people like Dalai Lama or Ai Weiwei—who pays them, whom are they serving? But you don’t have to go too far, just look at the many NGOs and ‘civil societies’ in Venezuela or Bolivia.
Corruption actually culminated with Western colonialism and imperialism. Entire nations and its elites were forced to collaborate with the colonialists. As one Professor in Cuzco, Peru, once told me: “Before the Spaniards arrived and robbed us of everything, we had no idea what theft, murder and corruption really was.” Corruption is something that the West supports and even implants. Just read John Perkins, how he and his buddies were trained by the US State Department to get countries like Ecuador and Indonesia into horrible unserviceable debt, using ‘money, sex and alcohol’, to corrupting those governments.
In the past, China was forced open, plundered, raped and humiliated by Western powers. Corruption was implanted. It is now fighting to finish with those foreign habits. Let’s be really serious and read history. (The Chinese actually call the period from 1839 to 1949 the Century of Humiliation, referring to the vicious treatment China suffered under Japanese and Western colonial powers.) Do we really want to let some Berlin-based organization to tell us what corruption is and how prominent it is in different countries? If you let them, they will tell you that Communist Vietnam is more corrupt than fascist Indonesia—thoroughly uninformed idiocy! It is about time that the world uses its own concepts, criteria, outside of those dictated by the West. It’s time to decolonize our mind!
To prove how malicious and selective Western propaganda is, we only read about corruption in China, but hardly ever about the truly awful corruption in the countries the West considers its allies, such as the Philippines, India, Indonesia, etc.
And what about the moral corruption in the West itself? What about neo-colonialism, its plunder all over the world, performed by the US and European nations? As I argue in my recent book/conversation with Noam Chomsky, the West murdered some 55 to 65 million people since the end of the WWII, since Hiroshima. Murdered directly, while hundreds of millions were slaughtered indirectly. All of that terror was accompanied by overthrowing a great number of progressive governments, covertly ruining independent economies, and paying the most outrageous gangsters to kill decent people. Is that not the highest grade of corruption? I want to talk about it. I want the world to talk about whether those countries responsible for such horrors should even be allowed to be members of the international community, unless they repent and fully reform, swearing transparency! This is what we should be discussing now, not some corruption in China!
The propaganda is almost laughable. Western propaganda is much more effective and advanced; it is based on centuries of brutal control of the world; it is part of colonialism. After living on every continent, I believe that the West is the least informed geographic and cultural area. It is full of self-congratulation and pomposity, but thoroughly ignorant of the planet it has been ruining and looting for centuries. In its dogmatism and self-righteousness, it is a bit like the Taliban, its former ally.
Chinese people know much more about Western culture, different economic systems, and ways of life than those who rely on Western mass media know about China. Aside from the negative insulting lies about China, people in Europe and even in Latin America (as they still rely on Western sources for information) know close to nothing about China. Just run a small and concrete test: how many people do you know with a university degree in Berlin, Rome, Caracas or Quito who could name at least one great Chinese music composer, Chinese opera actor, or contemporary poet. And remember, you are talking about arguably the greatest culture on earth! All they know is Ai Weiwei, that darling of Western propaganda, as well as various Western-sponsored religious lunatics. It is so sad!
AC: Can you compare this perception held by Western elites to a lack of any genuine introspection by US leaders and elite on their own country’s role in the world, a la the global battlefield doctrine, a complete failure to lead on environmental issues and clean economies, an increasingly corporate-controlled government via official interpretations of corporations as people, banks that take enormous risks and act with impunity guaranteed by the US and other Western countries, etc.?
AV: Of course, this is so obvious. But first of all, it is not only about the United States, which is nothing more than a vulgar version of the awful European colonial culture that murdered hundreds of millions of people.
The West is choking the rest of the world economically, ideologically, and culturally. The more nihilism it injects, the more hands it ties, the more people it manages to brainwash, the more it is trying to destroy and humiliate and discredit those great and proud countries that are resisting its fascism, including Cuba, Venezuela and China.
It is a true mafia-like approach; it’s banditry. You come, you rape, murder, plunder one entire village, an entire town… and then you start preaching about human rights and pollution.
AC: Xi Jinping has, in his first 100 days, made diplomacy a central focus of his leadership. His first trip was to Russia and he has been traveling a lot since. He has also expressed his high regard for the BRICS partnership, promoting cooperation on bigger projects. Is Chinese promotion of a multipolar world a genuine goal in your opinion?
AV: Yes, it is very genuine and very important. China is very interested in forging alliances within Latin America, with Russia and lately even with India.
This is, of course, fully discredited in the West.
Take India, for instance. Actually, the first country visited by Premier Li Keqiang in his new position this year was India. It could be taken as an extended hand to the second most populous nation on earth. While many leading intellectual figures in India embraced this gesture, some of the pro-Western mass media immediately began bombarding the public with titles like “Can We Trust China?” It was clearly in sync with the BBC and other Western propaganda crusaders, who are periodically running outrageously racist programs with titles like “Should China Be Respected?”
Actually, on May 18, 2013, the Economic & Political Weekly in India published a brilliant and revealing commentary by Atul Bhardwaj, “The China-India Relationship”, which summarizes this issue we are discussing:
India has got itself trapped into an anti-Chinese matrix set in place by the United States. This has led to a situation where the military is increasing its say in foreign and domestic policy and pushing aggressive postures on to the civilian government. Unless India abandons its aspirations to attain great power status and, instead, pursues a foreign policy that builds on Asian cooperation and strengths, it will continue to become cannon fodder for Western strategic aims.
But the only angle permitted by the corporate (mass) media all over the world is ‘Whether China should be trusted?’, as, of course, it is strictly forbidden to ask whether any sane being with awareness could really trust the West and its allies. (Should the UK be respected, after ravishing half of the globe as an empire and continuously terrorizing the world under the command of its dear leader across the Atlantic?)
A multi polar world is essential for the survival of humankind and China knows this; it understands. Those who do not understand this are those who are part of the West, as well as those that the West has managed to indoctrinate.
The alliance between China and Russia is essential as it defends the weak and defenseless at the United Nations and elsewhere. The alliance between China and Latin America is absolutely vital for any positive change in the world. These are two of the greatest parts of the world that are resisting Western hegemony, two parts of the world that are proudly choosing their own path. In the past, both were ravished and looted; both were destroyed for the centuries. Both have a wonderful and peaceful essence today. They have to know more about each other and they have to collaborate more to defend each other’s interests. Our survival now depends on this very cooperation.
My friend and colleague from China, Andy Hu (editor-in-chief of the progressive April Media and former deputy editor of China Daily‘s cover story unit) also wanted to comment on this point:
I know of no figure in Beijing’s leadership who even vaguely believes in the concept of expansionism. In terms of diplomacy, China has been fighting to safeguard what it calls “development opportunities” since the wake of 1989. In effect, all its diplomatic efforts have reflected and are reflecting this agenda. In much the same way as domestic stability is important to further progress, regional stability for China is essential for mutual development among nations in the Far East. For a country of 1.4 billion people that borders four nuclear states (Russia, India, Pakistan, the DPRK), a failed state (Afghanistan), a breakaway state (Mongolia) and a socialist neighbor it both fought with and against (Vietnam), partnership and cooperation are not just strategies, but also a practical necessity. In other words, it would be unthinkable for China to not foster good relations with other countries and support a multipolar world.
AC: The US “pivot” to Asia is often hyped as a sort of overarching new direction for the Obama administration’s foreign policy. It comes amidst a power struggle over sea lines and disputed island territories, and features, for example, an enhanced relationship between the Philippines and the US military. Does Beijing believe the conciliatory words offered by the Obama administration and Secretary of State John Kerry when he used the term “special relationship” expressed willingness to accommodate China’s great-power rise?
AV: The terror the West has been spreading throughout the world for centuries is unimaginable.
The malevolence with which the United States has been treating Asian people is only comparable to the spite it has showed for Latin Americans.
The Obama administration is as arrogant and brutal as any of the previous administrations. It is bringing Asia to the brink to enormous conflict, and some say to WWIII. It provokes and isolates China, treating it with disrespect, racism, and malice. Washington openly provokes conflicts over the Spratly Islands, as I illustrated in my reports from Manila. Leading academics there explained to me that the conflict is unnatural and implanted from abroad.
There is only one goal for the West in general, and for the United States in particular, in Asia. It is the same goal they have had for the past few long centuries: to control the region, to exploit it, to make it subservient.
China is hated mainly because it is the only truly socialist Asian power. Sometimes I feel that it is hated even by many Western ‘leftists’, because they failed in their countries, and they can’t accept that the largest Asian nation is actually capable of building its own socialist model, much more successful than they could ever dream about. Don’t believe that there is no mighty dose of racism in all this. A foreign, Western intellectual living in Venezuela, who is fully supporting El Processo, [the Venezuelan Bolivarian socialist model] once told me: “I hate China.” I asked: ‘Why? Have you ever been there?’ The answer was: “No, and I never want to go there! I just hate it.” This person is now quite influential, and so I will keep his name concealed to avoid any embarrassment.
The old British ‘divide and rule’ approach is fully implemented, as ancient rivalries like those between India and China, Vietnam and China, and Japan and China and North Korea, are exploited and nourished. New and ridiculous rivalries like those between the Philippines and China are manufactured.
Latin Americans know very well how brutal colonialism and neo-colonialism are. But even the most painful memories of 20th century Yankee imperialism can never compete with the horror that the Asian continent had to endure and the acts of pure terror coming from the West.
Those millions burned alive by the carpet-bombing of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Those civilians killed in the tunnels of North Korea. The 2-3 million Indonesians (including those belonging to the Chinese minority) killed with full support of the West in 1965, only because the country wanted to follow its own path, not dissimilar to that of Chile before 1973. And that genocide, that mass murder, was actually a prelude for what was later implemented in Chile and elsewhere. Indonesia continues to be one tremendous laboratory; an experiment on human beings, who are fully-stripped of culture, public places, in fact, anything ‘public’.
In Asia, the West was supporting the most horrific dictatorships, from the Khmer Rouge to the fascist dictatorships in South Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, etc.
Does Beijing believe conciliatory words? As the United States and UK are mingling in China’s internal affairs, financing and training Chinese ‘opposition’, brainwashing and indoctrinating Chinese people through the most venomous propaganda, as they are attempting to break the socialist path of China and as they are pushing the entire region toward war?
AC: Two very significant developments in the 21st century are: 1) the rise and integration of Latin American countries, with several countries in the region experiencing significant growth and doing so under left-leaning, socially conscientious governments; and 2) an increasingly confident and economically dynamic China asserting itself in the international community of nations. China’s role in Latin America and Africa is difficult to grasp in its scope and academics and journalists often misinterpret these regions and China itself as monolithic entities. They are clearly not. How do you interpret the speed and breadth of China’s influence in these regions as a whole?
AV: This is clearly the worst nightmare scenario for the Western regime. And the best that can happen to both parts of the world that you mentioned.
China is a very old culture, and very peaceful in its essence.
While Africa was being plundered for centuries by European colonizers, while despots like Belgian’s King Leopold were massacring tens of millions of Africans, while the British were building the first concentration camps on earth there, and both the French and British were enslaving millions, turning human beings into commodities, reserving their rights, in Africa and in the Middle East “to bomb niggers” in the words of David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of England (1916-1922). Meanwhile, the Germans and others were committing genocide.
In the past, the much more advanced power—China—came to Africa with ships full of gifts and scientists. They landed on several occasions on the coast of what is now Kenya; they exchanged gifts, and documented life on the coast, then they sailed home. They came to visit and to learn! This approach is unimaginable for greedy and despotic Western powers.
AC: More specifically, China is regarded as a dangerous threat, not only to whatever remains of US hegemony, but also to former colonies that have been plagued by the resource curse. Is this view consistent with your understanding?
AV: I don’t agree. Threat to Western hegemony, yes, definitely. Not to just US hegemony, as Europeans, Australians and others are often even more brutal than North Americans, especially in Africa.
But to ‘former colonies’, definitely not!
At this moment, there are two horrific genocides taking place, over natural resources. One is in the DR Congo over coltan, diamonds, uranium and gold. Rwanda and Uganda are plundering Congo on behalf of Western companies and governments. Between 6 and 10 million people have already died. It is the |
backyard bullshit is more effective than Tony Sparano. There may also be a metaphor here.
Follow @dylantmurphyThere's no doubt about, Carey Price had a jaw dropping year. He won the Ted Lindsay Award, the William M. Jennings Trophy, the Vezina Trophy, and the Hart Memorial Trophy.
When I started going through footage of Price's ridiculous season, my intent was to create a quick video to display how amazing some of his saves were. The concept of quickly going through Price's best saves turned out to be impractical, as it took a full day to parse through all the highlights.
I had to cut several clips, however the final product should do a good job conveying the shear quantity of impressive saves. Be warned, it's not the typical music you hear paired with a highlight video, seeing as how I attempted to match Price's personality with the flow of the song. It's my second attempt at a video montage, so please leave constructive criticism in the comments below.
Without further ado, I present to you Price's 2014-15 highlight video, displaying some of his most awe-inspiring stops throughout the season.
For the best quality view the video full screen, or via youtube where it's available in 1080p.
(It should be noted that the windmill save versus Detroit is actually from the previous season. My apologies)
Follow @MarcPDumontSlowing climate change will most likely require a vast expansion of carbon-free nuclear power. But since existing plants often can’t compete with cheap natural gas, and advanced nuclear plant concepts are still decades away, some are looking for ways to boost the power output from existing reactors.
These prototype nuclear reactor fuel rods transfer heat far faster than conventional fuel rods do, allowing for higher power output at nuclear power plants.
Lightbridge, a nuclear engineering company based in Tysons Corner, Virginia, is planning the first tests in a full-scale reactor of new fuel rods that have been engineered to boost power output by 10 to 17 percent. Crucially, the tests will determine whether the technology can work safely.
“We’re trying to do what is practical and what customers are asking us to address,” says Seth Grae, CEO of Lightbridge. “The biggest problem is how to address the economics of nuclear power in a world of abundant natural gas, and with safety and security costs rising in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and Fukushima.”
Nuclear fuel hasn’t changed much since the infancy of nuclear power in the 1950s. Uranium is formed into ceramic pellets of uranium oxide; the pellets are nested in a thin-walled metal tube; and thousands of these tubes are inserted into the water-filled reactor core, where chain reactions throw off huge amounts of heat, generating steam to spin turbines.
The Lightbridge fuel is instead made of zirconium/uranium alloy, with a cross configuration and spiral shape, which makes it look like a piece of Twizzlers candy. The metal composition means heat transfers far faster, and the shape increases the contact area between fuel and water by more than 35 percent. To cope with the increased intensity, water must move through the reactor core more quickly, but existing water pumps can handle this because the fuel provides less resistance to the flow.
“We’ve never seen this combination of things come together,” says Sean McDeavitt, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at Texas A&M University, who has no financial ties to the company. For any new nuclear design, “it takes a marathon endurance process to run through the testing and regulatory process,” McDeavitt adds.
Inserted in a conventional reactor, the new fuel could boost power 10 percent. Replacing equipment including turbines with larger-size ones would increase that to 17 percent, Lightbridge says.
Versions of metal fuel have been tested over the years, and some are now used in nuclear submarines, but the Lightbridge fuel has been optimized for commercial plants. For example, while metal fuel can swell in response to irradiation, Lightbridge’s minimizes this effect and maintains its shape over the lifetime of the fuel.
The company has already completed some initial irradiation testing and computer modeling to verify that it works. And it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Babcock and Wilcox, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based company, to begin the process of fabricating the fuel.
Against the backdrop of Fukushima, however, the industry is deeply wary, says Mujid Kazimi, a nuclear engineer at MIT. South Korea, for example, was examining differently shaped fuels as well as metallic fuel, he says, “but before it moved on either, Fukushima happened and shifted the fuel development effort into avoiding or mitigating accidents, rather than increasing the power density. So did the United States, which today is spending about $50 million a year developing options for accident-tolerant fuel”—referring to fuel that can better withstand the high temperatures that occur when coolant is lost for longer periods.
What’s already certain is that something new is needed to make nuclear power compete. And if Lightbridge’s fuel works, it would be like adding 10 new plants in the United States—or 40 more in the world—without even having to build one.- Advertisement -
The beginning of a most wonderful opportunity for me to solidify my opinions and teach with intention was brought about by my adorable son's lovely and politically incorrect vocalized observation.
We were at a McDonalds. My four tiny boys and I had just arrived. While waiting for our food, my then four year old noticed two colorfully dressed and extremely dark skinned men sitting at a nearby table. They were enjoying a conversation in a language we could not understand while sipping their cokes and munching their French fries. My son openly stared and smiled. As our family headed toward the playroom with drinks in hand, he peered up at me and spoke with wonder. "Look at those guys mommy. They are so black!" They were, and so I comfortably agreed.
Moments later I was confronted by an attractive yet unhappy black woman. "I heard what you said to your son", she informed me. After a moments confusion, I understood her concern. She went on. "They are clearly visiting our Country and should not be exposed to those ignorant comments."
I wondered if she had even noticed my colorful brood. My two oldest are dark brown (their dad is Arabic), the four year old painfully white like me (his dad is a little Italian) and my youngest is a beautiful coffee and cream color (his dad, my husband, is quite black). In attempting to gift this woman with my explanation, I was given an opportunity to voice an opinion I had not yet clearly formed.
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Those two men were very black. My four year old had not lied. Neither had he judged them based on their skin color or fascinating and beautiful outfits. Rather, he had been interested and impassioned to voice his excitement. If I had asked him to be quiet or worse, not observe and engage in the world around him, I would have been in danger of frightening and confusing his natural curiosity; his thrill in enjoying the world. Also, I would have been suggesting that maybe there is something wrong with their dark skin.
The men visiting our country are not my responsibility. The diners at the restaurant and their opinions on how my kids should behave are not my responsibility. Teaching my children to engage in the world is.
If I could find that woman today, I would thank her with all my heart. By being willing to voice her concern she challenged me to discover my own. And as is so often the case, through parenting, I came to understand what is-- to me-- an important and universal truth.
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Understanding and accepting our responsibilities, not fearing a truth for the difficulties it may bring or what others may perceive it to mean, and being willing to speak out when you feel others may benefit from what you have to say (as that woman did on that day) are what it takes to be an active parent.
It is also a successful recipe to being an active and effective citizen. For my boys and the world they will inherit, I insist on being both.My Windows 7 Launch Party kit is finally here! As you may recall, I was selected to host one of these Windows 7 Launch Parties. I’m so lucky.
Oh, man, look at all this stuff. Streamers, balloons, party bags, playing cards, a puzzle, and a poster!!! Microsoft sure knows how to throw a party. Add some jello shots and a beer bong, and this party should be crazy. Oh, and the fact that I now have a full, legal copy of Windows 7 Ultimate 32- and 64-bit makes me smile too.
Now all I should probably do is watch those instructional videos again for some “helpful tips.” Then print off some low-res posters and fun quizzes. Finally, I should probably find some friends that actually wanna party with Windows 7.
These packs have been shipping out to pre-selected hosts all week. Hosts should receive an email with the UPS tracking info before hand. According to a note on HouseParty.com – who is actually organizing all these shindigs – packages are still being shipped so don’t worry if you haven’t gotten yours yet. You should get it by the October 15th. Or you could always buy one on eBay.by
What can I say that I have not said before? I guess I can start by saying see you later to all of those who have passed in the last year. We Natives don’t like to mention their names. We believe that if we speak their names it disrupts their journey. They may loose their way and their spirits wander forever. If too many call out to them, they will try to come back. But their spirits know we are thinking about them, so all I will say is safe journey and I hope to see you soon.
On February 6th, I will have been imprisoned for 40 years! I’m 71 years old and still in a maximum security penitentiary. At my age, I’m not sure I have much time left.
I have earned about 4-5 years good time that no one seems to want to recognize. It doesn’t count, I guess? And when I was indicted the average time served on a life sentence before being given parole was 7 years. So that means I’ve served nearly 6 life sentences and I should have been released on parole a very long time ago. Then there’s mandatory release after serving 30 years. I’m 10 years past that. The government isn’t supposed to change the laws to keep you in prison — EXCEPT if you’re Leonard Peltier, it seems.
Now, I’m told I’ll be kept at USP Coleman I until 2017 when they’ll decide if I can go to a medium security facility — or NOT. But, check this out, I have been classified as a medium security prisoner now for at least 15 years, and BOP regulations say elders shall be kept in a less dangerous facility/environment. But NOT if you’re Leonard Peltier, I guess.
As you’ll remember, the history of my bid for clemency is long. My first app was with Jimmy Carter. He denied it. Ronald Reagan promised President Mikhail Gorbachev that he would release me if the Soviet Union released a prisoner, but Reagan reneged. George H.W. Bush did nothing. The next app was with Bill Clinton. He left office without taking action even though the Pardon Attorney did an 11-month investigation (it usually takes 9 months) and we were told she had recommended clemency. George W. Bush denied that petition in 2009. And in all of the applications for clemency, the FBI has interfered with an executive order. That’s illegal as hell!
Today, I’m facing another dilemma — an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). It’s the size of an AAA battery. The doctor told me if it bursts, I can bleed to death. It’s also close to my spine and I could end up paralyzed. The good news is that it’s treatable and the operation has a 96-98 percent success rate. BUT I’m in a max security prison. We don’t get sent for treatment until it is terminal.
As President Obama completes the final year of his term, I hope that he will continue to fight to fulfill his promises, and further the progress his Administration has made towards working in partnership with First Peoples. It gives me hope that this President has worked hard to affirm the trust relationship with the Tribal Nations. With YOUR encouragement, I believe Obama will have the courage and conviction to commute my sentence and send me home to my family.
Looking back on the 40 years of efforts on my behalf, I am overwhelmed and humbled. I would like to say thank you to all the supporters who have believed in me over the years. Some of you have been supporters since the beginning. You made sure I had books to read and commissary funds to buy what I may need to be as comfortable as one can be in this place. You made donations to the defense committee so we could continue fighting for my freedom, too. You all worked hard — are still working hard — to spread the word about what is now being called the most outrageous conviction in U.S. history. There are good-hearted people in this world, and you’re among them. I’m sorry I cannot keep up with answering all of your letters. But thanks for the love you have shown me. Without it, I could never have made it this long. I’m sure of it.
I believe that my incarceration, the constitutional violations in my case, and the government misconduct in prosecuting my case are issues far more important than just my life or freedom. I feel that each of you who have fought for my freedom have been a part of the greater struggle of Native Peoples — for Treaty rights, sovereignty, and our very survival. If I should be called home, please don’t give up on our struggle.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse…
Donations can be made on Leonard’s behalf to the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, PO Box 24, Hillsboro, OR 97123.United States rugby captain Todd Clever spoke with reporter Morty Ain about what it was like to take it all off for ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue, his aversion to football and the future of his sport.
For more from the 2015 Body Issue, check out espn.com/bodyissue! And pick up a copy on newsstands starting July 10.
There's a lot of weight on your shoulders as a captain. In rugby, the coach's job ends on Thursday, then it's the team led by the captain. The playcallers are making the decisions throughout the game. The coach may say a few things at halftime, but other than that, he's a spectator.
Rugby is the most team sport you can have. You're playing offense and defense, you're on both sides of the line; you need to know the game plan on both sides of the ball. Some games are more physical than others, but it's a contact sport and there aren't any pads. It lasts 80 minutes. It takes a lot out of you.
This concussion risk is very low compared to American football. In any contact sport there is a risk, but there are a couple of rules of the tackle that make the injury rate really plummet. You can't tackle around the neck or head. When you first start playing, the tackle technique and the rules of rugby make it so that it's more of a tackle than a collison or crash. There are no head-high hits.
[My coaches] still want me to put on another 10 to 15 pounds. I'm at 228 pounds now. It's hard for me to be that size, even though I eat a lot and train a lot. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even jump on the scale. If I'm fit enough to play that 80 minutes and feel physically ready, that should be enough.
For me, it's not about how big you are, it's about how big you play.
Todd Clever Age: 32
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 228 pounds
This is an exciting time to be a part of rugby. It's one of the fastest-growing team sports in the nation. But we have the same challenges as soccer: It's a continuous sport, there are no timeouts, so sponsorship is going to be really tough. There are no commercial breaks. It's hard for it to become mainstream. Also, there are 100 different rules. It's completely different than all other sports. But once people get the hang of it and watch it live, that's when they really enjoy it.
My body is No. 1 for me. I put a lot into it both on and off the field, making sure I get enough sleep, making sure I get enough nutrients, making sure I challenge myself in the gym and on the field so I can play at the level I want to play at. I've never been the biggest guy or the fastest or anything like that. The thing that has really set myself apart is the work rate -- doing extras so that I'm fitter than the guy across from me.
My biggest challenge is keeping weight on. I've always struggled with my legs; they've always been pretty skinny compared to some of the competition that I go against. Five days a week I'm eating five meals a day and snacking, I'm making those Costco runs, stocking up on salmon and chicken. I had a few years where I was just eating everything, but nothing was sticking to my bones. I was pretty scrawny.
One of the most important things is making sure all those little muscles are tightening up. There's those things like grabbing 2-pound dumbbells and working on your shoulder rotator cuff, or doing little exercises from your wrists or for your ankles to really build the little muscles and strengthen the ligaments. If you put that extra time in with the bands or body-weight stuff, it really does pay off.
The biggest thing for me is: Don't disappoint your teammates. Whatever it is, whether it's training or playing, you don't want to let them down.
I dragged a Volkswagen Beetle for about 20 yards. It was with my buddies at a gym in D.C., just doing some resistance stuff. It was a little bit of an uphill slope too.
"I once dragged a Volkswagen Beetle for about 20 yards. It was a little bit of an uphill slope, too." Todd Clever
You don't have to be on a machine in a gym. You can make it fun; you can make working out social. There are dozens of things [me and my friends] have tried where we thought better of it after the first time -- like grabbing a keg and throwing it as far as we can, and ending up chipping some city stairs. Then you feel really bad, like, "Yeah, let's not do that again." There are others like that, but I might end up getting myself in trouble.
Don't stay in a comfort zone. One of the biggest gambles I took was putting all my eggs in one basket with rugby. When I was 22 years old, the decision was either to stay at university [University of Nevada, Reno] and continue to play rugby and see where it goes with the national team, or, if I want to get better, I have to train with the best and play with the best. I uprooted everything and left school and moved to New Zealand. I had the hunger and sacrificed by leaving my family, girlfriend, school, friends, my entire comfort zone.
You look in the mirror and think, "Is this worth it? Putting in all this effort?" The answer is, it always is.
At a high level with rugby, the training doesn't increase, it just gets smarter. That's when the results start setting in. Some teams and coaches still have the old mindset of "more is better." You really have to self-police yourself. It's like fingerprints, everybody's a little bit different. The same concept applies to bodies -- you just have to find your recipe, that balance of training and nutrients.
I've gotten calls from two different NFL teams about being a crossover athlete. In 2007 or 2008, we had the Rugby Sevens here in San Diego, a national tournament -- that's when I met a good friend who is now an NFL agent. He took me to some workouts. It was flattering, but I didn't entertain it too much just because of how much I was enjoying rugby and how much I was enjoying traveling and representing the USA.
I'm excited for life after rugby. I'm in a good space, especially with rugby growing so fast in America. I'm happy to leave rugby in a better place than when I came in.
This is an online exclusive story from ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue 2015. Subscribe today!I don’t think there’s any way to sugarcoat this, but 2015 has not been a particularly great year for Qualcomm in the high-end SoC business. The company remains a leading SoC developer, but Snapdragon 810, the company’s first ARMv8 AArch64-capable SoC, did not live up to expectations. Seemingly held back by design matters and a rough 20nm planar manufacturing process – a problem shared by many vendors in the last year – Snapdragon 810 couldn’t make good use of its highly clocked ARM Cortex-A57 cores, and ultimately struggled in the face of SoCs built on better processes such as Samsung’s surprisingly early Exynos 7420.
But the purpose of today’s article isn’t to reminisce about the past, rather it’s to look towards the future. Qualcomm knows all too well what has happened in the past year and the cost to the company that has come from it, so now they need to dust themselves off and try again. With Samsung’s more advanced 14nm FinFET process in hand, a new CPU core, a new GPU, and a number of other advancements, Qualcomm is ready to try again; to try to recapture the good old days of 28nm and their Krait CPU architecture.
To that end Qualcomm started talking about Snapdragon 820 early and doing so loudly. Last month the company held their first press demonstration of the SoC, showcasing early demonstrations in action and going into more detail than ever before on their performance and power projections for their next-generation SoC.
If there is any unfortunate aspect to any of this, it’s that while Qualcomm is showing off Snapdragon 820 today, it won’t be ready for the holidays (lining up with what we expect will be the typical spring smartphone refreshes). But some of this is clearly driven by Qualcomm’s business needs and the aforementioned effort at Qualcomm to quickly pick themselves up and try again.
Meanwhile after last month’s demonstrations, this month Qualcomm is ready to move on to the next phase in what has become their traditional roll-out process for a new SoC: giving the press access to the company’s Mobile Development Platform (MDP) devices. Designed for software developers to begin building apps and (for lack of a better word) experiences around the new SoC, the MDP is something of the home-stretch in SoC development, as it means Qualcomm is ready to let the press and developers see the hardware and near-final software stack. We’ve previously previewed the Snapdragon 800, 805, and 810 via their MDPs, and for Snapdragon 820 Qualcomm has once again opted to do the same. So without further ado, let’s take our first look at Snapdragon 820.
Qualcomm Snapdragon S810 Specifications SoC Snapdragon 820 Snapdragon 810 Snapdragon 800 CPU 2x Kryo@1.593GHz
512KB(?) L2 cache
2x Kryo@2.150GHz
1MB(?) L2 cache 4x A53@1.555GHz
512KB L2 cache
4x A57@1.958GHz
2MB L2 cache 4x Krait 400@2.45GHz
4x512KB L2 cache Memory
Controller 2x 32-bit
LPDDR4 @ 1803MHz
28.8GB/s b/w 2x 32-bit
LPDDR4 @ 1555MHz
24.8GB/s b/w 2x 32-bit
LPDDR3 @ 933MHz
14.9GB/s b/w GPU Adreno 530
@ 624MHz Adreno 430
@ 600MHz Adreno 330
@ 600MHz Mfc.
Process Samsung
14nm LPP TSMC
20nm SoC TSMC
28nm HPm
Taking a trek down to sunny San Diego, Qualcomm handed to us the Snapdragon 820 MDP/S. A 6.2” phablet, the MDP/S is a development kit designed for function over form, containing a full system implementation (sans cellular) in an otherwise utilitarian design. Along with the Snapdragon 820 SoC, the 820 MDP/S also includes a 6.2” 2560x1600 display, 3GB of LPDDR4 memory runnning at a slightly higher 1804MHz instead of 1555MHz we've seen on the Snapdragon 810 and Exynos 7420, a 64GB Universal Flash Storage package, a 21MP rear camera, 802.11ac WiFi, and a Sense ID ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Overall the aesthetics of the MDP/S differs significantly from what retail phones will go for, but internally the MDP/S won’t be far removed from the kinds of configurations we’ll see in 2016 smartphones.
Overall there’s little to report on the MDP/S experience itself. Qualcomm is still sorting out some driver bugs – only one device in our group was ready to run PCMark – and to be sure like past Qualcomm MDP previews this is very much a preview. However the experience was otherwise unremarkable (in a good way) with our unit completing all of our tests bar part of SPEC CPU 2000, which will require further analysis.
More interesting from a testing perspective is that Qualcomm opted to demonstrate Snapdragon 820 using the MDP/S smartphone development kit, instead of a larger MDP/T tablet development kit. Qualcomm has used MDP/T for the press demonstrations on both Snapdragon 800 and Snapdragon 810, so the fact that they are once again using the MDP/S is very notable. From a pure performance perspective the MDP/T allowed Qualcomm to show off previous Snapdragon designs at their best – these are just performance previews, after all – but after Snapdragon 810 I don’t doubt that had this been another MDP/T that the 820’s thermals and power consumption would be called into question. So instead we are looking at 820 in a phablet, and while this may not put 820 in the best possible light, the end result is that we get to see what performance in a large phone looks like, and for Qualcomm there isn’t any doubt about 820’s suitability for a smartphone.
As for Snapdragon 820 itself, we’ve already covered the SoC in some depth in past articles – and this week’s preview doesn’t come with much in the way of new architectural information – but here’s a quick recap of what we know so far. 820 uses a new Qualcomm developed CPU core called Kryo. The quad core CPU is best described as an HMP solution with two high-performance cores clocked at 2150 MHz and two low-power cores clocked at 1593MHz. The CPU architectures of both clusters are identical, but with differences in cache configuration and their power/frequency tuning.
Meanwhile the GPU inside 820 is the Adreno 530. This is a next-generation design from Qualcomm and includes functionality that until now has only been found in PC desktops, such as shared virtual memory with the CPU, which allows an OpenCL host program and a device's kernel to share a virtual address space so access to data structures like lists and trees can be easily shared between the host and GPU. The underlying architecture is capable of Renderscript and OpenCL 2.0 on the compute side – a significant step up from Adreno 400 – and on the graphics side supports OpenGL ES 3.1 + AEP and Vulkan. We know the 530 should be powerful, but like past Qualcomm designs the company is saying virtually nothing about the underlying architecture.
Finally, while it’s not something that can be covered in our brief testing, the 820 contains a new DSP block, the Hexagon 680. Hexagon 680 and its Hexagon Vector Extensions (HVX) are designed to handle significant compute workloads for image processing applications such as virtual reality, augmented reality, image processing, video processing, and computer vision. This means that tasks that might otherwise be running on a relatively power hungry CPU or GPU can run a comparatively efficient DSP instead. The HVX has 1024-bit vector data registers, with the ability to address up to four of these slots per instruction, which allows for up to 4096 bits per cycle.Paul, whose opposition to the bill may effectively doom it to defeat, didn't let the issue go even after Cassidy stopped responding.
Republicans, who hold just 52 seats in the Senate, need 50 GOP senators to support the bill for it to pass.
While Paul had voted for an earlier Obamacare replacement bill in July, three other Republican senators, John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against it, ensuring its failure in the Senate.
Meanwhile Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asked the Congressional Budget Office to quickly provide an analysis of Graham-Cassidy. A CBO "score," or projection of how much a bill will cost and affect things including the number of people insured and what they pay for coverage, is traditional for such a bill.
Because the bill is being considered through a Senate process known as reconciliation, it must be approved by Sept. 30 if it is to become law.
Also Friday, a liberal think tank published an analysis of the bill, which found it "would gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions" if it is signed into law.
The Center on Budget and Public Priorities had previously estimated, in July, that Graham-Cassidy's reduction in total federal spending on health insurance would reduce by more than $3 billion the amount of money Kentucky, Paul's state, would get through Obamacare.
Obamacare, among many other things, barred insurers from either denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions, or charging them higher rates than healthier people.
Both things occurred before the ACA became law, and were blamed for keeping the nation's uninsured rate higher than it would otherwise be.Death of 3 African-Americans by mob in Duluth, Minnesota
A memorial built in 2003 at the site of the lynchings honors the three workers killed in 1920 in Duluth.
On June 15, 1920, three African American circus workers, Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie, suspects in an assault case, were taken from jail, attacked, and lynched by a white mob of thousands in Duluth, Minnesota. Rumors had circulated that six African Americans had raped and robbed a nineteen-year-old woman. A physician's examination of her subsequently found no evidence of rape.
The 1920 lynchings are the only known time that blacks were lynched in Minnesota. 20 other lynchings were recorded in Minnesota, and included mainly Native Americans and whites.[1] Three men were convicted of rioting, but none served more than 15 months. No one was ever prosecuted for the murders.
The state of Minnesota passed anti-lynching legislation in April 1921. In 2003, the city of Duluth erected a memorial to the lynched men.[2]
Background [ edit ]
The industrial city of Duluth had been growing rapidly in the early 20th century, attracting many European immigrants. By 1920 one-third of its population of 100,000 was foreign born, with immigrants from the Scandinavian nations, Germany, Poland, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the Russian Empire. Many of the immigrants lived in West Duluth, a working-class section of the city. The African-American community in the city was small, with a total population of 495 but a number had been hired by US Steel, the major employer in the area.[3]
In September 1918, a Finnish immigrant named Olli Kinkkonen was lynched in Duluth, allegedly for dodging military service in World War I, which the United States had recently entered.[4] Kinkkonen was found dead, tarred and feathered, and hanging from a tree in Lester Park. Authorities did not pursue murder charges; they claimed that he had committed suicide after the shame of having been tarred and feathered.[4]
During and immediately following World War I, a large population of blacks began the Great Migration out of the agrarian South to the industrial North to escape racial violence and to gain more opportunities for work, education, and voting. African Americans competed with working-class immigrants and ethnic whites for the lower-grade jobs. Many felt the black migrants threatened their jobs and pay.[5]
The period after World War I was disruptive in the United States as numerous veterans sought to re-enter the job market and society. The government had no program to help them. Racial antagonism erupted in 1919 as race riots of whites against blacks in numerous cities across the U.S.; it was called the Red Summer of 1919. Unlike in mob action in the South, blacks in Chicago and other cities fought back against these attacks. After the riots subsided, racial relations between blacks and whites remained strained and volatile.[citation needed]
Event [ edit ]
On June 14, 1920, the John Robinson Circus arrived in Duluth for a free parade and a one-night performance. Two local white teenagers, Irene Tusken, age 19, and James ("Jimmie") Sullivan, 18, met at the circus and ended up behind the big top, watching the black workers dismantle the menagerie tent, load wagons and generally get the circus ready to move on. It is unknown what took place between Tusken, Sullivan and the workers. Later that night Sullivan claimed to his father that he and Tusken were assaulted, and that Tusken was raped and robbed by five or six black circus workers, who were part of the crew.
In the early morning of June 15, Duluth Police Chief John Murphy received a call from James Sullivan's father saying six black circus workers had held his son and girlfriend at gunpoint and then raped and robbed Irene Tusken. Chief Murphy lined up all 150 or so roustabouts, food service workers, and props-men on the side of the tracks, and asked Sullivan and Tusken to identify their attackers. The police arrested six black men as suspects in connection with the rape and robbery and held them in custody in the city jail.[3]
Sullivan's claim that Tusken was raped has been questioned. When she was examined by her physician, Dr. David Graham, on the morning of June 15, he found no physical evidence of rape or assault.[3]
Postcard of the lynching. Two of the victims are still hanging while the third is laid on the ground.
Newspapers printed articles about the alleged rape; rumors spread in the white community about it, including that Tusken was dying from her injuries. That evening a mob of between 1,000 and 10,000 men[3] formed outside the Duluth city jail. The Duluth Commissioner of Public Safety, William F. Murnian, ordered the police not to use their guns to protect the prisoners. The mob used heavy timbers, bricks and rails to break down doors and windows,[3] pulling the six black men from their cells. The mob seized Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. They took them out and convicted them of Tusken's rape in a sham trial. The mob took the three men one block to 1st Street and 2nd Avenue East, where they beat them and hanged them.[3]
The next day the Minnesota National Guard arrived at Duluth to secure the area and to guard the surviving prisoners, as well as 10 additional black suspects whom the police had arrested from the circus at its next stop. They were moved under heavy guard to the St. Louis County Jail.[3]
Aftermath [ edit ]
The killings made headlines throughout the country. The Chicago Evening Post wrote, "This is a crime of a Northern state, as black and ugly as any that has brought the South in disrepute. The Duluth authorities stand condemned in the eyes of the nation." An article in the Minneapolis Journal accused the lynch mob of putting a "stain on the name of Minnesota," stating, "The sudden flaming up of racial passion, which is the reproach of the South, may also occur, as we now learn in the bitterness of humiliation in Minnesota."[3]
The June 15, 1920, Ely Miner reported that just across the bay in Superior, Wisconsin, the acting chief of police declared, "We are going to run all idle negroes out of Superior and they're going to stay out." How many were forced out is not certain. All of the blacks employed by a carnival in Superior were fired and told to leave the city.[3]
Prominent blacks in Duluth complained that the city had not protected the circus workers. The mayor, Commissioner of Public Safety and police chief were criticized for their failures to break up the mob before it had gotten so powerful. A special grand jury was called to investigate the lynchings. It said that Murnian was "not competent" and the police department was in need of a "thorough overhauling".[3]
The Minnesota State Historical Society has an extensive website about the lynchings and related events. It reports that two days later on June 17, 1920, Judge William Cant and the grand jury had a difficult time identifying the lead mob members. In the end the grand jury issued thirty-seven indictments for the lynching mob. Twenty-five were for rioting and twelve for the crime of murder in the first degree. Some men were indicted on both charges. Three men: Louis Dondino, Carl Hammerberg, and Gilbert Stephenson were convicted of rioting; none served more than 15 months in prison. No one was prosecuted for the murders of the three black men.[3]
Prosecution continued against the other black circus workers. Despite the lack of evidence, seven men were indicted for rape. The NAACP had protested to the city about the lynchings. It hired defense attorneys for the men, and charges were dismissed for five. Max Mason and William Miller were tried for rape. Miller was acquitted, but Mason was convicted and sentenced to serve seven to thirty years in prison. He was a native of Decatur, Georgia, who had been traveling with the circus as a worker. He appealed his case without success. He was incarcerated at Stillwater State Prison, serving four years from 1921 to 1925. He was released on the condition that he would leave the state.[3]
Passage of anti-lynching law [ edit ]
William T. Francis, associate counsel for Max Mason, was an attorney from St. Paul. He and his wife Nellie Francis continued to work after the |
marched through the city after Alstom announced last week it would close the plant due to a lack of orders and move production to a site 200km to the north, which could lead to 400 job losses.
"We will show them that, law or no law, we will always stand against them," Francois Roche, a member of the General Confederation of Labour trade union demonstrating in Marseille, told AFP news agency.
The nationwide turnout on Thursday was, however, far lower than at the start of the rallies six months ago, when they brought hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets.
Clashes trigged by the plans for the reforms peaked on June 14, when around 40 people were hurt and dozens arrested.
Union leader Philippe Martinez has appealed to workers to continue "fighting tooth and nail to stop it [the law] crossing the threshold" of their companies.A WIRRAL man is featured in a top 10 list of Merseyside's most wanted fugitives.
Paul James Fehily, 41, from Birkenhead is wanted by police in connection with an ongoing Titan investigation into the supply of Class A drugs.
The list - part of Operation Chapar - features nine men and one woman wanted in connection with a variety of offences including domestic violence, murder and burglary.
In a statement Merseyside Police said that due to a publicity campaign on social media and in the local press, Operation Chapar has already seen 104 fugitives arrested and a further 91 hand themselves in.
Using the hashtag #MPCommunityFirst local policing teams will be taking to their local Twitter accounts to update communities on their progress as well as encouraging information in from the public.
Superintendent Mark Morgan, who is co-ordinating the force-wide operation, which involves local police officers and PCSOs, detectives, roads policing units and specialist search teams, said people wanted in connection with ongoing cases should expect a knock at the door.
"During two previous weeks of action, Operation Chapar has already resulted in dozens of outstanding and wanted individuals being brought into custody and either put before the courts or put back in prison.
"A concerted effort by teams from across the force led to 104 people being caught and, as word spread, a further 91 handing themselves in.
"We are maintaining the pressure on more people like this who know they are wanted but have yet to do the right thing and come forward.
"This third week of action will see a huge push in locating wanted individuals during the run up to Christmas, and with the help of the public will ultimately make our communities safer.
"Our most wanted individuals are on our website and social media under the hashtag #MPCommunityFirst and I would encourage people to take a look and share information with us so that we can put as many people as possible behind bars."When your smartphone goes dead, maybe you should cry just a little bit harder.
In fact, maybe you should cry yourself a river, because it turns out your tears — or, more specifically, a protein in your tears — can generate electricity.
The protein, lysozyme, is also found in egg whites, saliva and milk. Just apply pressure and feel the power, a team of scientists at the University of Limerick’s Bernal Institute in Ireland report in the Oct. 2 issue of the scientific journal Applied Physics Letters.
THIS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL LET YOU PAINT LIKE VAN GOGH
The ability to generate electricity by applying pressure — piezoelectricity — has been known and understood for years, according to a report in EurekaAlert!. The process has been applied to materials like quartz for powering the resonators and vibrators in mobile phones, deep ocean sonars and ultrasound imaging. Among the substances that possess piezoelectricity are bone, tendon and wood.
Now we can add tears — or more specifically, lysozyme — to the list.
"The high precision structure of lysozyme crystals has been known since 1965," said Tewfik Soulimane, a structural biologist who co-authored the study.
"In fact, it is the second protein structure and the first enzyme structure that was ever solved. But we are the first to use these crystals to show the evidence of piezoelectricity."
"While piezoelectricity is used all around us, the capacity to generate electricity from this particular protein had not been explored,” said physicist Aimee Stapleton, the study’s lead author.
“The extent of the piezoelectricity in lysozyme crystals is significant. It is of the same order of magnitude found in quartz.
DUBAI'S 'SPACE SIMULATION CITY' AIMS TO PAVE WAY FOR LIFE ON MARS
“However, because it is a biological material, it is non-toxic, so could have many innovative applications such as electroactive, anti-microbial coatings for medical implants."
The researchers believe further research could result in biomedical devices that would use lysozyme to power pumps that control the release of medicines into the body. Such piezoelectric devices already exist, but many contain toxic elements such as lead.
"The impact of this discovery in the field of biological piezoelectricity will be huge,” said Professor Luuk van der Wielen, director of Bernal Institute.Civil Society in Latin America Campaigns Against Trans-Pacific Partnership
MEXICO CITY, Jun 20 2016 (IPS) - Civil society organisations from Chile, Mexico and Peru are pressing their legislatures and those of other countries not to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The free trade agreement, which was signed in New Zealand on Feb. 4, is now pending parliamentary approval in the 12 countries of the bloc, in a process led by Malaysia. Chile, Mexico and Peru are the three Latin American partners.
The treaty will enter into effect two months after it has been ratified by all the signatories, or if six or more countries, which together represent at least 85 percent of the total GDP of the 12 partners, have ratified it within two years.
“We are seeking a dialogue with like-minded parliamentary groups that defend national interests, and we provide them with information. We want to use the parliaments as hubs, and we also want dialogues with organisations from the United States, Canada and the Asian countries,” Carlos Bedoya, a Peruvian activist with the Latin American Network on Debt, Development and Rights (LATINDADD), told IPS.
Civil society groups in Peru created the “Our Rights Are Not Negotiable” coalition, to reject the most controversial parts of the agreement.
With similar initiatives, “A Better Chile without TPP” and “A Better Mexico without TPP”, non-governmental organisations and civil society figures are protesting the negative effects that the treaty would have on their societies.
The activists complain that the intellectual property chapter of the agreement stipulates a minimum of five years of data protection for clinical trials for Mexico and Peru. And in the case of biologics, the period is three years for Mexico and 10 years for Peru.
In Chile, in both cases it will be five years of protection, in line with its other free trade agreements.
These barriers delay cheaper, generic versions of drugs from entering the market for a longer period of time.
Another aspect criticised by activists is that the member countries must submit disputes over investments to extraterritorial bodies, like the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The alliances against the TPP also criticise the provisions for Internet service providers to oversee content on the web in order to control the distribution of material that violates copyright laws.
Latin American activists complain as well about the U.S. demand that the partners reform domestic laws and regulations to bring them into line with the TPP, in a process separate from or parallel to ratification by the legislature.
In addition, they protest that Washington was given the role of certifying that each partner has faithfully implemented the agreement.
The TPP emerged from the expansion of an alliance signed in 2006 by Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore, within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. These countries were later joined by Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, the United States and Vietnam.
The agreement encompasses areas like customs, textiles, investment, telecommunications, e-commerce, dispute settlement, and labour and environmental issues.
The economies in the bloc represent 40 percent of global GDP and 20 of world trade.
The TPP “has negative effects on health and economic development. It won’t benefit our countries. But there will be a lengthy debate, because it contains issues that generate conflict,” Carlos Figueroa, a Chilean activist with his country’s coalition against the treaty, which encompasses 99 organisations, prominent individuals and five parliamentarians, told IPS.
Among its actions, the “A Better Chile without TPP” organises mass email campaigns to petition the government against the accord, promotes campaigns over the social networks, holds public demonstrations and is lobbying in parliament to block approval of the treaty.
In Mexico, conservative President Enrique Peña Nieto has enough votes in the Senate, which is responsible for ratifying international accords, to approve the treaty, with the votes from the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, its ally the Green Party, and the opposition right-wing National Action Party.
In Chile, socialist President Michelle Bachelet’s centre-left alliance will be able to count on enough votes from the right to ratify the agreement.
And in Peru, the party of President-elect Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former World Bank economist and Wall Street banker in favour of free trade, has only a small number of seats in Congress. But a rival right-wing party, Fuerza Popular, which has a broad majority in the legislature, will approve the TPP, after the new government takes office in July and the new lawmakers are sworn in.
But furthermore, in Peru, the content of any free trade agreement does not require legislative approval unless it goes beyond what was agreed in 2009 with the United States.
Despite attempts by governments of the countries in the bloc to promote the positive impacts of the TPP, recent reports call the supposed benefits into question.
“Global Economic Prospects; Potential Macroeconomic Implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership”, a report published in January by the World Bank, projected that the treaty could boost the GDP of its members by 1.1 percent and their trade by 11 percent a year on average by 2030.
In the case of Canada, Mexico and the United States, which have their own free trade agreement, NAFTA, since 1994, the benefit is just 0.6 percent of GDP.
And for Mexico, the positive impact would be even more reduced, because the cuts in import duties give other members of the TPP greater access to the U.S. market, the document says.
Economists from Tufts University in the U.S. state of Massachusetts had a more negative view of the trade deal, predicting “increasing inequality and job losses in all participating economies.”
“Trading Down: Unemployment, Inequality and Other Risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement”, a study by the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University, estimates that the TPP would lead to employment loss in all member countries, with a total loss of 771,000 jobs, including 448,000 in the United States alone.
In Mexico, 78,000 jobs would be lost, and in Chile and Peru, 14,000.
The authors estimate that by 2025, Mexican exports will grow 6.2 percent and GDP one percent; Peru’s exports will grow 7.1 percent and GDP 1.4 percent; and Chile’s exports will grow 2.5 percent and GDP 0.9 percent.
For its part, the U.S. International Trade Commission stated May 18, in its report “Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Likely Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Specific Industry Sectors”, that by 2032 the TPP would boost the U.S. economy by an average of 0.01 percent a year and employment by 0.07 percent.
Enrique Dussel, coordinator of the China/Mexico Studies Center at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, questions Mexico’s involvement in the TPP without evaluating the consequences of further freeing up trade.
“There has been a 20-year learning process to know what works and what doesn’t,” he told IPS. “TPP partners without free trade agreements represent one percent of trade with Mexico and one percent of investment. The question is what do I do with the remaining 99 percent, what focus do I give trade and investment.”
NGOs in Latin America are hoping the U.S. election campaign will limit the debate on the TPP to Congress until the winner of the November elections takes office.
“That gives us a little time to fight against ratification. It will be a long battle,” said Bedoya.
Dussel anticipated three possible scenarios. “In two years it goes into effect; there will be no TPP; or in the United States the new president will call for substantial changes.”
Edited by Estrella Gutiérrez/Translated by Stephanie WildesFrancis Coquelin isn't the biggest name at Arsenal but the young midfielder's introduction to the team has coincided with a brilliant run of form for Arsene Wenger's men. Adam Bate looks at why Coquelin has emerged as an unlikely hero of Arsenal’s season…
“Arsenal played a young boy in midfield; I had hardly heard of him – Francis Coquelin – and he barely played again. He was completely out of his depth.”
Sir Alex Ferguson’s verdict on Francis Coquelin’s Premier League debut was damning but the former Manchester United manager wasn’t the only one to doubt whether the young midfielder would make the grade. He didn’t start in a league win for another four months and endured an inauspicious loan spell at Freiburg the following season amid little expectation.
As recently as November, Coquelin was on loan - and on the bench – at Charlton and closing in on his 24th birthday facing the prospect of being without a contract next season. When recalled from The Valley in December, Arsene Wenger admitted that Coquelin was frustrated to be denied the chance to play Championship football just so he could take up his place among the substitutes.
Instead, Coquelin was in the starting line-up by the end of the month and has gone on to emerge as one of the key figures in Arsenal’s improved form. The results with and without Coquelin in the team offer a stark contrast. It’s eight Premier League wins from 18 without him, but 11 wins from 13 for the Gunners with the Frenchman playing.
So how has he done it? Although not an obvious success – he picked up more red cards than Bundesliga wins there – Coquelin credits his time at Freiburg as an important phase in his belated development. “The period in Germany helped me a lot, it was a tough, tough experience mentally and that was a turning point in my career. I’m happy I went there and learned a lot.”
Mental challenge
But for Wenger, the bigger mental challenge was in Coquelin’s decision-making on the field. Most crucially, the player had to reach an understanding of his own strengths and weaknesses and act accordingly. Easy to say but sometimes tricky to do for a young player who is anxious to impress. “He analysed well what he is good at - defending in midfield,” said Wenger.
“He was in between a bit the playmaking position and a box-to-box player. He is not that. He's a sitting player who can win the ball. He restricted his game to that and you make success in life with what you're good at. You don't have all the qualities but you have to express what you're good at and he's good at that.”
The numbers back up Wenger’s assessment. Coquelin has made 4.5 tackles and 4.0 interceptions per 90 minutes this season. Those numbers dwarf the efforts of Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta, the two men who had undertaken a similar role in the team prior to his emergence. He might not possess the experience of that duo but where the elder statesmen point, Coquelin runs.
Aggressive
As a result, he’s added the much-needed bite to the base of the Arsenal midfield that Flamini and Arteta could not. With quality ahead of him, it’s given the Gunners exactly what was required. “He’s very aggressive and doesn’t give the opposition much time on the ball, and that’s why he wins so many tackles,” says team-mate Aaron Ramsey. “Then he wins the ball and makes us tick over.”
Saturday’s visit to Burnley will be the next indicator of Coquelin’s impact. Indeed, Tottenham’s trip to Turf Moor last weekend will offer an interesting comparison. In an uninspired goalless draw on Easter Sunday, Spurs seemed unable to win the right to play against their hard-working hosts with no Tottenham player making more than three tackles.
It would be a surprise if Coquelin does not surpass that number and if he does it might help to give Wenger’s men the platform to cause rather more problems for the relegation strugglers than their north London rivals managed last time out. That’s his significance to this Arsenal team. Out of his depth? Not a chance. We’ve all heard of Francis Coquelin now.
Watch Burnley v Arsenal live on Sky Sports 1 HD this Saturday from 4.45pm
No contract? No problem. With a Sky Sports Day Pass you can watch Burnley v Arsenal on NOW TV.Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.
The US Conference of Mayors and The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced Friday a joint plan to fight extremism and bigotry and promote justice and equality in response to the violence protests which rocked Charlottesville, Virginia, last week.
More than 200 mayors from across the country representing the Conference of Mayors have so far have pledged to implement the plan in partnership with ADL. These include both Republicans and Democrats.
Under the 10-point Compact to Combat Hate, Extremism and Bigotry, mayors commit to: vigorously speak out against all acts of hate; ensure public safety while protecting free speech and other basic constitutional rights; punish bias-motivated violence to the fullest extent of the law; encourage more anti-bias and anti-hate education in schools and police forces; support targeted communities and bring together civic and community leaders to build trust; encourage community activities that celebrate their population’s cultural and ethnic diversity; encourage residents in their communities to report hate incidents and crimes; and ensure civil rights laws are aggressively enforced and hate crimes laws are as strong as possible.“What happened in Charlottesville last weekend reminds us all that violent hate and racism are very much alive in America in 2017,” said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the US Conference of Mayors. “For decades, America’s mayors have taken a strong position in support of civil rights and in opposition to racism and discrimination of all kinds. At this critical time mayors are doing so again through this compact in an effort to combat hate, extremism and bigotry in their cities and in our nation. ““Charlottesville made clear that we have a lot more work to do in our communities and we can’t wait a minute longer to step up our efforts,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director.In a conference call with mayors and reporters, Greenblatt drew parallels between the lynching of American Jew Leo Frank in 1915 and recent events in Charlottesville, describing the similarities as "eery.""Events in Charlottesville once again showed us we have much to do to bring Americans together," he said, stressing that his organization is ready to "redouble our efforts.""In the past week we have seen hatred at its ugliest," said Mayor Shane Bemis of Gresham, Oregon. “As a Republican mayor, I can tell you right now that President Trump’s actions, and inactions, have consequences..." he continued, charging that "Trump has divided us to nearly historic proportions and doesn’t seem to be bothered by that."“Terrorism by white supremacists, like what took place in Charlottesville, is a clear and present danger to America’s cities,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler. “Mayors are eager to join with the Anti-Defamation League to fight hate, and I’m honored that Mayor Landrieu asked me to help lead a coordinated campaign across this country to promote the Mayors’ Compact to Combat Hate, Extremism and Bigotry. Only the Statue of Liberty should be carrying a torch these days, and her message of respect must echo in America’s cities where this battle is being fought.”
Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>Morrissey in Austin earlier this year (more by Tim Griffin)
It’s been three whole days (or so) since we last posted about Morrissey and whatever drama he’s seems to be drumming up for himself, so here’s your latest update. Over the weekend, Morrissey’s new album, World Peace is None of Your Business, disappeared off iTunes, Spotify and other digital services, much as Moz predicted it might. (He claims he never signed a contract and that Harvest “has no right to sell it.”) Billboard reports that Harvest Records released a statement saying they pulled it at behest of the artist. In a note to TrueToYou.net, Morrissey says he’s “urgently seeking a label” to rerelease the new album.
That last bit came at the end of a tour announcement — European fall dates, to be specific. Hopefully for fans over there he won’t cancel them. Those are listed below. And finally, Morrissey is an on-the-record fan of ’70s New York punk (he wrote a book about New York Dolls before he started The Smiths) and was asked by Rhino Records to compile the tracklisting for their forthcoming Best of the Ramones. While the release date and actual tracklist are still TBA, Morrissey has shared the picture for the cover which he chose as well. It’s more in the style of his Smiths sleeves than anything from his solo career. That cover art, along with those European tour dates, below…
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Morrissey’s cover pic for Best of the Ramones
Morrissey – 20124 Tour Dates
10/06 Lisbon, Portugal @ Coliseum
10/13 Rome, Italy @ Atlantico
10/16 Milan, Italy @ Teatro Linear
10/17 Bologna, Italy @ Paladozza
10/19 Pescara, Italy @ Pala Gpii
10/21 Florence, Italy @ Obihall
10/22 Padova, Italy @ Geox Theater
10/24 Vienna, Austria @ Konzerthaus
11/05 Hannover, Germany @ Capitol
11/08 Lund, Sweden @ Sparbank Arena
11/09 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Falconer
11/11 Goteborg, Sweden @ Lisebergshallen
11/13 Stockholm, Sweden @ Hovet
11/19 Warsaw, Poland @ Laznia Nowa
11/23 Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle
11/24 Essen, Germany @ Colosseum
11/29 London, England @ O2 ArenaTake-Two, the parent company of GTA and Red Dead developer Rockstar Games, has responded to the recent controversy surrounding loot boxes and microtransactions. Speaking today during a Credit Suisse event, Take-Two president Karl Slatoff said the company doesn't view loot boxes as gambling. The executive said Take-Two's view is the same as what the Entertainment Software Association said earlier this year when it released a statement plainly stating that loot boxes "are not gambling."
"We don't view that thing as gambling," Slatoff said of loot box mechanics. "Our view of it is the same as the ESA statement for the most part; so [potential legislation is] going to play its course."
There has been much discussion around loot boxes of late, bubbling over in the wake of how Star Wars: Battlefront II used them before significant changes were made. In China, the odds for loot boxes in Overwatch (and other titles) are disclosed, and some lawmakers want something similar to happen in the United States. Slatoff acknowledged the consumer feedback around loot boxes and microtransactions, but said as long as the transaction feels fair to the consumer around what they spend and what they get, there is no problem.
"In terms of the consumer--the noise you hear in the market right now--it's all about content and over-delivering on content," Slatoff said. "It's about making making sure you're focused on engagement, and I think that has been our strategy; that has been our focus. And as long you keep your eye on that ball, you're going to be okay. The consumer's going to be really happy with what they get."
Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto Online, the multiplayer mode for GTA V, has been a massive success when it comes to the revenue it makes from microtransactions. In fact, the mode recently had its best quarter ever in terms of microtransaction revenue, a notable achievement considering the game launched more than four years ago.
Slatoff went on to say that it's all about creating compelling content. If what's for sale is compelling enough and priced appropriately, consumers will flock to it, he said.
"Yeah, you can't force the consumer to do anything," Slatoff said. "You try your best to create the best experience you possibly you can to drive engagement, and driving engagement creates value in franchises. That's how it's always been and how it always will be."
For lots more on the subject of loot boxes and gambling, check out GameSpot's newest episode of The Dive. In the episode, we spoke with psychology professor Ronald Riggio and psychologist Jamie Madigan about the affects gambling has on our minds and the concepts that make us feel better about spending money. We also talked about how these might apply to loot boxes and ask them both whether they feel Battlefront II and Overwatch's systems could constitute gambling.The New York Jets defensive line is an extremely talented unit, and many coaches would be satisfied having them pin their ears back and getting after the quarterback. That is not the type of coach New York has though. Jon Ledyard shows how Todd Bowles and the Jets defensive line were able to use stunts up front to confuse and defeat the opposition with four-man rushes.
New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles made his name in Arizona as the defensive coordinator of a highly-talented unit, largely because of the creativity and aggressive nature his defenses regularly exhibited. One of the staples of a Bowles defense has always been aggressive pressure packages that rely more on scheme execution than one-on-ones triumphs.
Bowles’ lack of truly dominant individual pass rushers in Arizona could have been his undoing, but the savvy defensive mind was able to scheme for success by overwhelming opposing offensive lines with a variety of pre-snap looks and blitzes up front. Those staples of Bowles’ coaching resume have been carried over to New York, where his aggressive array of defensive twists gave the Cincinnati Bengals heralded offensive line fits in Week 1.
On the Bengals second drive of the game, the Bengals faced a 3rd and 15 from their own 31-yard line. The Jets show pressure before the snap with a unique-looking front, as inside linebackers Julian Stanford (#51) and Darron Lee (#50) align as wide techniques on the edge, while outside linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin (#55) sugars the A gap opposite shaded nose tackle Leonard Williams (#92). Middle linebacker David Harris (#52) roves around pre-snap, making it difficult for the offensive line to pre-determine who will pick him up if he blitzes.
At the snap, Williams engages center Russell Bodine (#61) immediately, while Mauldin fires into the other A gap, forcing right guard Kevin Zeitler (#68) to pinch inside and ride him down the line of scrimmage. Muhammad Wilkerson’s (#96) edge rush has effectively occupied right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi (#70), leaving an unoccupied B gap for Williams to exploit.
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The defensive lineman uses a push-pull technique on Bodine, leaving the center doubled-over and helpless at the line of scrimmage. Williams bursts into the pocket to land a hit on Andy Dalton (#14), who forces a hurried throw into the clutches of defensive back Marcus Williams (#20). When you lack dynamic edge rushers like the Jets do, being able to scheme for sacks and pressures on obvious passing downs is extremely important.
Later in the first half, the Bengals again faced a disadvantageous down-and-distance thanks to a first-down sack for a 9-yard loss. The Jets send just a four-man pressure this time, running a T/E twist on the defensive right, and an E/T twist on the left.
Steve McLendon (#99) alertly attacks left guard Clint Boling (#65) off the snap, before subtly flipping his shoulders to the sideline while crashing down to left tackle Andrew Whitworth (#77). Boling recognizes the tactic quickly, recovering to pick up Lawrence Thomas (#97) as the defensive end loops inside.
On the other side of the line, it is Wilkerson who crashes from his wide technique, forcing Ogbuehi to shuffle down the line of scrimmage before passing the defender off inside. It is a good move by the second-year offensive tackle, who recognizes Williams looping to the outside and slides into position to carry the USC product up the arc. Nevertheless, Williams is quick enough to establish a half-man advantage and get on the tackle’s edge, forcing Dalton to step up and attempt to abandon the pocket.
Wilkerson is still patrolling that gap, however, and he and Williams quickly close in on Dalton for the shared sack. Even Thomas snakes out a hand as the quarterback darts forward, slowing Dalton down by grabbing his left arm. The Bengals picked this twist up fairly well, but the result was still favorable for the Jets: chaos, pressure and eventually a sack.
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The second Jets sack that came as a result of a defensive twist occurred near the end of the first half, with the Bengals threatening to take the lead and erase a 16-10 deficit. Again the Jets show a four-man pressure while running the exact same pair of twists they did on the last sack, only flipped. The left side runs an E/T stunt with the end (Mauldin) crashing and the 2 technique (Jarvis Jenkins, #98) looping, while Williams and Wilkerson switch roles on the right side as the crasher and the looper, respectively.
On the left side Whitworth kicks out to an island as the rest of the OL slides right, but the left tackle opens his hips too early and the edge rusher crashes inside. Whitworth sees the outside linebacker is employing an inside counter move and steps down hard, but Mauldin is really just pressing the B gap to give Jenkins uncontested access to Dalton off the edge as the looper.
Meanwhile, Williams is left with two options as the crasher on the other side. He can attack the right guard’s outside shoulder to open up a rush lane inside for Wilkerson, or he can attempt to bull rush Ogbuehi to create pressure himself. Because Zeitler never fully commits to Williams and is able to pick up the looping Wilkerson cleanly, the Jets second-year defensive lineman is forced to generate pressure himself.
Immediately Williams finds a leverage point and drives Ogbuehi off-balance, a task made easier when the right tackle fails to generate a punch with his left arm. The offensive lineman’s frame is left wide open, and Williams takes advantage by getting his hands inside and blowing Ogbuehi out of his path to finish the play with a big sack.
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It should be noted that while we are focusing on the Jets’ scheme here, not many of these plays are possible without the elite talent the team has up front, particularly in the form of Williams. The first-round draft pick has an elite combination of power, hand usage, and explosiveness, which he consistently maximizes by playing with superb technique and leverage. By the way, he just turned 22 years old in June. We’ll begin talking about Williams as one of the better defensive players in the league this season, and we likely won’t stop until his career is wrapping up. He’s that good.
The Jets notched one more sack off a defensive twist, once again coming with a four-man rush against a five-man protection. Another E/T twist on the defensive right side, accompanied by a T/E combination to the left. The right side of Thomas and McLendon is handled well by Boling and Whitworth, but Wilkerson’s loop takes him in a clean path through the A gap for the sack.
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Remember Williams’ dilemma on the last twist? This time he chooses the opposite tactic when Zeitler slides aggressively to him, blowing up the guard so Wilkerson can get inside cleanly. This is where a little illegal activity is often employed by the crasher, which you can almost get a glimpse of as Zeitler attempts to disengage from Williams to pick up Wilkerson. Williams gets just enough of a hold on the right guard (grabbing his right arm) to hinder his movement back inside, allowing an unscathed sack for Wilkerson. These holds are rarely seen or called by officials, so crashers will often try to hold the blocker and clear a rush lane for their looping teammate to exploit.
The beauty of a successful twist game up front is two-fold. First, it allows for the generation of pressure with just four defenders, alleviating the need to compromise coverages by sending exotic blitzes. Second, the defense is able to put the other team’s offensive line on alert the rest of the game, forcing linemen to keep their heads on a swivel at all times – on the lookout for another twist.
This can allow for easier victories in one-on-one matchups, which Williams takes advantage of on this next play. A triangle read for the right side of the Bengals offensive line here means the center, right guard and right tackle are responsible for the shaded nose, the weakside linebacker and the defensive end.
Harris, the WLB, creeps up toward the line showing blitz, and right off the snap Zeitler’s eyes are fixed on his movements. Harris’s first few steps take him toward the edge as if he is looping outside, causing Zeitler to look to his right expecting Wilkerson to crash inside on another twist. Bodine does a poor job of squeezing the A gap, and Harris’s motion causes Zeitler to hesitate just long enough for Williams to split both blockers for the hit on Dalton. The mere expectation of another twist was enough to help create pressure, causing the Bengals offensive line to see ghosts up front.
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See how Williams flips his shoulders to present minimal surface area to the blockers while spiking through the A gap? Also, notice how active his hands are as he swims Zeitler with his left arm and clubs with the opposite hand. Bodine tries to get on Williams’ edge and ride him out, but the defensive lineman is simply too powerful, running through contact to force the incompletion.
The Jets may not have top-tier edge rushers who can win one-on-one matchups with regularity, but in Bowles’ chaotic blitz schemes, execution and timing are more important than elite individual talent. Of course, having the horses matters too, and the Jets defensive line of Williams, Wilkerson, McLendon, and Sheldon Richardson (suspended for this game) is one of the best in football. Expect to see the Jets continue to present myriad issues for offensive lines with their twist games, while the Bengals must fix their communication and recognition errors up front before Sunday’s matchup against the Steelers stout defensive line.
Follow Jon on Twitter @LedyardNFLDraft. Check out his articles on veteran Demarcus Ware’s continued sucess and
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About the author
Jon Ledyard Jon Ledyard has been writing about the NFL draft for several years now, and is thrilled to be bringing creative content and analysis to InsidethePylon.com. He lives with his wife Brittany in mid-western Pennsylvania, where the couple await the arrival of baby #1 in November. Jon also coaches football at the high school level, and works as a strength and conditioning trainer with the local sports teams. Jesus, Ryan Reynolds, The Office, LOST, weightlifting, ultimate frisbee, Duke basketball, and all Pittsburgh pro sports teams are his greatest passions.Project Labyrinth Step 0 The morning sun begs me to venture out of my apartment and enjoy the outside world away from the stale air in my tiny apartment. But, its a weekend, which means its a good day for some recreational programming. There is no world away from the glow of the monitor and the clacking of the keyboard. I think Ill use Java to procedurally generate a new desktop image. Of course I have access to photo editing and 3D rendering software, but what fun is that? I want to do this from the ground up using only core Java. Ill post each version of the program as it evolves along with its output image of course. Im envisioning an infinite labyrinth stretching to the horizon. The plan is to use a space-filling curve. Check out the following 6 paths.
− | r
L 7 J
Each path visits the 25 cells making up the grid exactly once. It always enters a cell through 1 wall and it exits through a different wall. There are 6 possible ways to visit a cell for which Ive named: −, |, r, L, 7, J. Those symbols somewhat resemble the possibilities. Youll notice that the paths above are named after the way the center cell is traversed. But, not only that, the path as a whole exhibits the same visitation behavior when you consider the boundaries of the grid. For instance, the L grid scaled to 1/5th its size could replace the center cell of the L grid itself. In this way, the paths above are self-similar. In theory, you could substitute cells at smaller-and-smaller scales indefinitely, creating a space-filling curve.
If you look carefully at the (hastily created by copying, scaling and pasting in a paint program) image above, the center cell is of type L, the center 5×5 cluster of cells is of type L, and the entire path itself is of type L. This means that instead of shrinking paths, you could construct an infinitely large version by building outward. No substitutions are required. It just keeps growing.
To represent a path traversing a cell, Ill create a 3×3 grid. The tiles |
, recalculated and gave the honor instead to Emil Jannings. Not that the public would have necessarily protested an Oscar for Rin Tin Tin. “He is a human dog,” one fan wrote to his trainer, “human in the real big sense of the word.” As for Jannings and his colleagues, there may have been some doubt. A few years earlier, Movie magazine ran a feature asking “Are Actors People?”
“Big” is certainly the word for the sweeping story of the soulful German shepherd who was born on the battlefields of World War I, immigrated to America, conquered Hollywood, struggled in the transition to the talkies, helped mobilize thousands of dog volunteers against Hitler and himself emerged victorious as the perfect family-friendly icon of cold war gunslinging, thanks to the new medium of television. Whether he was rescuing a damsel in distress with a crane or herding bad guys on the frontier, Rin Tin Tin “played out the founding principles of the nation,” Orlean writes, sounding more like Ken Burns than like the author of “The Orchid Thief” (1998), her best-selling exploration of the more obsessive corners of the American character. But by the end of this expertly told tale, she may persuade even the most hardened skeptic that Rin Tin Tin belongs on Mount Rushmore with George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt, or at least somewhere nearby with John Wayne and Seabiscuit.
Like the British royal family, Rin Tin Tin was actually German, scion of a breed developed in 1899 as part of an effort to create a standardized Teutonic dog army. At Verdun, the trenches were teeming with dogs of all breeds, from anonymous “mercy” dogs carrying medical supplies to “demolition wolves” jury-rigged with bombs, as well as a few named heroes like Satan, a French mongrel who roamed the battlefield in a backpack and gas mask.
On Sept. 15, 1918, an American soldier named Lee Duncan discovered a litter of shepherd puppies in the ruins of a German encampment. He kept the two prettiest and named them Rin Tin Tin and Nanette, after a popular good-luck charm. A melodrama-minded screenwriter could not have dreamed up a more perfect rescuer than Duncan, who carried in his pocket until the day he died his admission papers from the orphanage where he spent much of his childhood. “I felt there was something about their lives that reminded me of my own life,” Duncan later wrote of the puppies. “They had crept right into a lonesome place in my life and had become a part of me.”
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After the war, Duncan brought Rin Tin Tin back to California, where he broke into Hollywood after one of his spectacular jumps was caught on film at a dog show. His first bit part, in a 1922 sled-dog picture (or “snow,” in the lingo of the time), was credited to “Rin Tan.” But a year later, “Where the North Begins,” based on a script by Duncan, pushed him to the front ranks of the more than 50 German shepherds then working in Hollywood, including Wolfheart, Fangs, Thunder, Lightnin’, Klondike, Chinook, Kazan the Dog Marvel, and Grief.
Photo
Orlean, like Duncan’s unpublished memoir, has little to say about the training techniques that produced Rinty’s amazing feats, though it does come as something of a letdown to learn that the heroic German shepherd who could leap 12 feet and jump through plate-glass windows was buried with his squeaky doll. Duncan’s own emotional life seems equally arrested in a childlike, presexual state: his first wife, a socialite who went completely unmentioned in his memoir, named Rin Tin Tin as a co-respondent in her divorce filing, while his much younger second wife (their wedding had a canine theme) reacted to Duncan’s death in 1960 by selling El Rancho Rin Tin Tin in the orange groves east of Los Angeles and traveling the world with her friend the singer Helen Reddy. (Hear me roar, indeed.) Women, Orlean shows in one of the book’s many fascinating tangents, were crucial to the popularization of dog training — restyled as dog “obedience,” to the dismay of purists — but they are largely absent from the story of Rin Tin Tin. “No, there was never any rivalry,” Duncan’s only child, Carolyn, said when Orlean visited her cluttered house in Michigan, where a portrait of Rin Tin Tin hung over a StairMaster. “The dogs always came first.”Amphetamine (AMPH) induces deficits in cognition, and depressive-like behavior following withdrawal. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether pre-treatment with memantine (5mg/kg, i.p.), a noncompetitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, attenuates memory impairment induced by withdrawal from a 1 day binge regimen of AMPH (2mg/kg, four times every 2h, i.p.), in the novel object recognition test in rats. Herein, the influence of scopolamine (0.1mg/kg), an antagonist of the muscarinic cholinergic receptors, and the impact of MK-801 (0.1mg/kg), an antagonist of the NMDA receptors, on the memantine effect, were ascertained. Furthermore, the impact of memantine (5; 10; 20mg/kg, i.p.) was measured on depression-like effects of abstinence, 14 days after the last AMPH treatment (2mg/kg×1×14 days), in the forced swim test. In this test, the efficacy of memantine was compared to that of tricyclic antidepressant imipramine (10; 20; 30mg/kg, i.p.). Our study indicated that withdrawal from a binge regimen of AMPH impaired recognition memory. This effect was attenuated by administration of memantine at both 72h and 7 days of withdrawal. Moreover, prior administration of scopolamine, but not MK-801, decreased the memantine-induced recognition memory improvement. In addition, memantine reversed the AMPH-induced depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test in rats. The antidepressant-like effects of memantine were stronger than those of imipramine. Our study indicates that memantine constitutes a useful approach towards preventing cognitive deficits induced by withdrawal from an AMPH binge regimen and by depressive-like behavior during AMPH abstinence.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.LAWRENCE — Going blind after college, Steve Lonegan couldn’t land a job.
He collected disability checks from Social Security, which he now wants to cut, and was told to seek food stamps, rent vouchers and vocational training.
“Vocational training back in 1980 meant putting together toasters or making potholders and things like that,” Lonegan told a crowd of students and fans last night at Rider University. “I chose not to pursue that course.”
Lonegan, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate facing Newark Mayor Cory Booker in the Oct. 16 special election, opened up about his blindness for the first time in his campaign Tuesday night.
Despite the odds, he managed to build a successful kitchen-cabinet business and send his two daughters to private schools, he said.
ASK LONEGAN Join us Thursday at 3:30 p.m. as U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan answers your questions during a live chat. #AskLonegan
"First of all, let me just be clear about something: I’m blind,” he began, acknowledging a disability he has rarely mentioned in public. “Where I’m standing here right now, I can’t see a single one of you, so if there’s anything you disagree with, just flip me the bird. It’s fine.”
A former college football star, Lonegan, 57, said that instead of collecting welfare checks he decided to start his business in an old silk mill in Paterson. The Lonegans sold the kitchen-cabinet company a few years ago.
“Not real sexy, you know, I wasn’t the Facebook founder,” he quipped. “(But) I employed a lot of people during my career. And I was often asked, ‘What’s it like, being blind and trying to run a business?’
“And I was like, ‘Well you know what? I hired a lot of sighted people and they make good employees, too.’”
Lonegan, who was diagnosed with the degenerative disease retinitis pigmentosa at 14, has kept a busy schedule during the campaign and his staff has an informal system to manage his blindness. An aide or family member is usually by Lonegan’s side to guide him through crowds or onto stage platforms. As people approach the candidate, their names are whispered into his ear.
At 22, Lonegan, an art and opera buff, toured through the most famous museums in Europe while he still had some eyesight, according to a 2009 Star-Ledger profile.
“When I speak with people, and when I meet people, I judge them based on how I feel about who they are,” he said. “The words they use, the ideas that they express, and the things that they believe.”
His ideas got a respectful if not warm reception by the crowd of college students, who quizzed him repeatedly after his speech about his stances opposing abortions, the $50 billion federal relief package for Hurricane Sandy victims, and same-sex marriage.
Lonegan said he believes as a Catholic that life begins at conception. He said the Sandy relief should have been offset by cutting funds sent to foreign countries such as Pakistan.
Marriage, he said, should be for heterosexual couples. But he added that he would push in Congress to “get the government out of the business of marriage” so that same-sex couples could enjoy the same legal benefits as other couples.
In a wide-ranging speech, Lonegan also said he would decriminalize marijuana, serve only two terms in the Senate – “I don’t believe in sinecures,” he said – and that he would like to join the Finance Committee if elected.
RELATED COVERAGE
• Conservative group touts Lonegan's past in new online ad
• Star-Ledger profile in 2009: Lonegan forces fellow Republican gubernatorial candidates to take notice
• Complete coverage of the 2013 special U.S. Senate electionCHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs, who waited decades to install lights at Wrigley Field and have waited more than a century to win a World Series, took a giant step toward ending the wait for something every other team in the majors already has: a JumboTron.
The city's landmarks commission, which must sign off on such plans because Wrigley is a city landmark, approved a plan Thursday to allow the team to build a first-ever electronic JumboTron and other sign above the ivy-covered outfield walls. It did so despite objections from the local alderman, who said the signs would harm the quality of life in the neighborhood, and rooftop owners, who complained the signs will cut into their views and devastate their businesses.
The full City Council still must give its approval. Traditionally in such zoning and development issues, the other aldermen vote the way the local alderman wants. But the tradition of doing what the mayor wants is even stronger, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel clearly wants this deal to go through.
In addition, the decision might have moved the Cubs and the city a step closer to a courtroom. The rooftop owners stopped short of threatening a lawsuit, as they have done in the past, but during the hearing they talked about the tens of millions of dollars they invested in their businesses after signing their own revenue-sharing deal with the Cubs.
"They call it a see-through sign," rooftop owner Mark Schlenker said of the planned sign in right field. "I call it bankruptcy."
For his part, Ald. Tom Tunney focused on what the JumboTron in left field would do to the neighborhood and asked the commission to imagine what a Jumbotron that is far bigger than the iconic scoreboard in center field would mean to residents right across the street.
The deal would allow the Cubs to erect a 5,700-square-foot JumboTron in left field of the 99-year-old ball park and a 650-square-foot sign in right field.
"The Cubs often point to large signs at Fenway and U.S. Cellular. Those signs back up to expressways, not people's homes," he said.Together, these developments “highlight the political problem that could be caused if we were to nominate someone like Ted Cruz at the top of the ticket,” said Brian Walsh, a Republican consultant and former adviser to House and Senate leaders, who has not endorsed a presidential candidate.
“In the last several elections, the Democratic playbook has been to discuss the ‘war on women’ narrative” against Republicans, Mr. Walsh said. “If you have a much more polarizing ideologue like Ted Cruz at the top of the ticket, you would make it that much easier for Democrats to prosecute that argument.”
Karl Rove, a Republican strategist and a former top adviser to President George W. Bush, has called proponents of shutting down the government to defund Planned Parenthood the “suicide caucus”; party leaders are well aware that Republican attacks on the organization back to the Clinton era have not ended well for Republicans. On Tuesday, the House Democrats’ campaign organization attacked Republicans in 18 House races, asking in news releases whether the candidates still supported the “now indicted conspirators behind Planned Parenthood videos.”
Nonpartisan opinion polls suggest Republicans are right to be concerned.
A majority of Americans continue to support Planned Parenthood and its federal payments, which reimburse nearly 700 affiliates for providing reproductive care, preventive health services and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases to low-income Medicaid recipients. Payments for abortions, which are performed by a little more than half of Planned Parenthood centers, are prohibited by federal law except in cases of rape, incest and a pregnancy’s threat to a woman’s life.
A survey for The New York Times and CBS News this month showed that nearly six in 10 Americans say Planned Parenthood should receive federal funds. That finding was statistically unchanged from a similar survey in September, even as conservatives at the local, state and federal levels stoked outrage about the videos from a group called the Center for Medical Progress, founded by a 27-year-old Californian, David R. Daleiden, one of those indicted Monday.Long-standing Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R – FL), known primarily for her pro-Israel views and her enthusiast view towards the assorted wars the US is involved in, has been tapped to lead the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.
The subcommittee is a new one meaning Ros-Lehtinen will be able to set the stage for what its duties and interests are. The smart money is on her nomination meaning the subcommittee will center on war with Iran and Syria, while supporting Israel in whatever ways the next Israeli government wants.
This sort of Israel-centric position is likely to make the subcommittee a very cushy one for incoming Congressmen, hoping to get a chance to solidify themselves as part of the mainstream DC foreign policy apparatus, with its singular interest in passing resolutions underscoring the status quo of US belligerence in the region at any given time.
Ros-Lehtinen had been the head of the entire Foreign Affairs Committee in the previous Congress and will be replaced by Rep. Ed Royce (R – CA), who announced her transfer to the new subcommittee today.
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzLast offseason, the Rays lost their star left fielder, number-two starter, mainstay first baseman, starting shortstop, and an entire bullpen yet still clawed their way into the playoffs, thanks to the biggest September comeback in baseball history. They enter the 2012 season with no significant player losses, the deepest starting rotation in the game, and also the best defense. Normally when you’re a run-prevention juggernaut with further upside (thanks to Rookie of the Year front-runner Matt Moore) you don’t sweat that stuff. But in the Rays’ case, they’re staring down the loaded Yankees and Red Sox, knowing that in a close race, their rivals will be more likely to make a high-impact deadline deal than they will. So they’ll need to solve at least some of their offensive questions. Can new DH Luke Scott stay healthy and recapture his 2010 form (.387 wOBA)? Can Carlos Pena and Matt Joyce hit lefties, and can Sean Rodriguez hit righties (and if not, how aggressive will the Rays be about platooning)? Can Jose Molina hit anyone? Some of these variables will need to go Tampa Bay’s way if they’re to overcome their AL East foes, not to mention the loser of the Rangers/Angels death match in the West.
LINEUP (Bill James projections: AVG/OBP/SLG, wOBA)
LF Desmond Jennings (.267/.347/.424,.348)
CF B.J. Upton (.251/.344/.424,.340)
3B Evan Longoria (.275/.370/.535,.386)
1B Carlos Pena (.223/.356/.458,.351)
2B Ben Zobrist (.262/.360/.436,.352)
RF Matt Joyce (.269/.357/.485,.359)
DH Luke Scott (.253/.340/.487,.357)
SS Sean Rodriguez (.252/.331/.430,.326)
C Jose Molina (.230/.284/.329,.271)
Picking up Jeff Keppinger allows the Rays to shift Zobrist to right field or first base against lefties, giving Joyce or Pena days off against tough left-handers. The Rays would benefit from carrying Brandon Guyer as a fifth outfielder for more right-handed sock, but they might prefer to give him more reps at Triple-A instead.
Why are we talking about the Rays’ bench? Because this is the rare AL team where the manager will actually use all 25 guys. Between platoon issues, health, and a catcher who’s there solely for his defense, the backups will be active. Even the more entrenched starters carry some intrigue: Upton’s an intriguing upside play at age 27 in a walk year; Longoria’s primed for a huge season given last year’s bad luck on balls in play and lost time; and Jennings has a chance to eclipse his predecessor Carl Crawford’s production at some point maybe even as soon as this year. Other than Pena and Molina, there’s a lot of potential variance in this lineup, much of it on the good side.
ROTATION (Bill James projections: IP, FIP)
James Shields (228, 3.83)
David Price (226, 3.60)
Jeremy Hellickson (194, 3.90)
Matt Moore (145, 3.64)
Jeff Niemann (159, 4.12)
The Rays’ second five: Wade Davis (or Jeff Niemann, depending on who loses the SP5 battle), Chris Archer, and the three Alexes, Cobb, Torres, and Colome. That could very well be better than the Orioles’ actual rotation. Tampa Bay’s brass talks often about their quest for depth, how they leverage it to beat top-heavy rival teams with more star power. But there may be an opportunity here in July, if the Rays need a veteran for the stretch run and are willing to part with some of that excess pitching. The bullpen’s also as well staffed as any in franchise history, with capable young arms like Jake McGee, Brandon Gomes, and Josh Lueke vying for spots behind solid late-inning duo Kyle Farnsworth and Joel Peralta. All this before we even touch a starting staff that features two pitchers capable of winning this year’s Cy Young in Shields and Price, last year’s Rookie of the Year in Hellickson, and a flame-throwing lefty in Moore who could have a better career than all of them by the time he’s done.
BREAKOUT PICK
Moore. “He’s above me where I was at the same time period. His changeup and his breaking ball, his slurve at 84, 85, 86. His fastball and his changeup are so good he probably doesn’t need that breaking ball. He has easier gas than I have. That’s the easiest 97 I’ve ever seen.” —David Price
IF EVERYTHING BREAKS RIGHT
The Rays make the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, making their initial worst-to-first burst look less and less like a miracle and more like a sustainable triumph of process over results. Aside from an abundance of pitching talent and one of the game’s best all-around players in Longoria, the Rays can count on a few extra wins a year from the litany of unorthodox strategies Joe Maddon and his staff deploy. They’ll shift three infielders to one side, against both left- and right-handed hitters. They’ll load the lineup with left-handed hitters against lefty pitching, and righties against a righty, if they spot a pitcher with, say, a killer changeup. The Rays run more aggressively than virtually anyone else, yet get caught less often than you’d expect. They keep their players healthier than nearly any other team. In short, they’ve mastered all the little edges needed to elevate them from intriguing sleepers to legitimate World Series contenders.
IF EVERYTHING GOES WRONG
The lineup springs too many holes, and a good Rays team proves not quite good enough to crack the postseason, even with the extra wild card in play. Don’t bet on it, though.Gabriel & Dresden return to the forefront of electronic music with a new album tour that highlights why they belong among the elite artists in the scene.
It’s a cold Friday night in midtown New York. The clock ticks past 10:00 PM. Inside Cielo, Gabriel & Dresden settle in behind the decks. The few people already inside get ready for a first-of-a-kind musical experience. That is because this is the first time that North American fans get to witness G&D’s new music!
The last year was quite the adventure for the famous duo. November 2016 saw them announce a Kickstarter campaign to fund their new album, a first in 11 years! However, its success came with a couple of short-term drawbacks. There would be little news of what was to happen outside of the group of fans that elected to invest in the project.
More importantly, there would be no more shows until the completion of the album. Six months of day-in, day-out studio work is a lot of time spent away from performing.
Stream Gabriel & Dresden feat. Jan Burton – Waiting For Winter on Spotify:
At the end of May, once the bulk of the work finished, the guys returned to a semi-active DJ status. Here, clubbers managed to hear sneak peeks of the music that would soon make its way to the public. Starting in October, a few singles made their way out on the legendary Anjunabeats imprint. However, it wasn’t until the New York show that the complete album would make a debut for the first time on the dance floor.
New show. Familiar concept. Same old Gabriel & Dresden we all love.
In 2015, Gabriel & Dresden embarked on 18 months long tour entitled “Classics Only”. The premise of the show was simple: the bulk of the music revolved around their old productions and some selections of new tracks they loved.
From NY waterfronts to Toronto boat cruises and legendary clubs such as Ministry of Sound in London, the tour had unique venues. To top it off, most of their performances featured five to seven hour open to close shows. With their back catalogue and DJing skills, it was the perfect way to experience G&D.
Fast forward 2017 and The Only Road tour is here. There’s a familiar feel to it, all the while connecting to something new. For this instance, fans were served a six-hour affair. There were plenty of classics of their vast repertoire. There was fresh music too, mainly in the opening half of the show. And it goes without saying, almost all of the album songs featured also.
The beauty of it all is how the various components gelled together. Never once did you feel you were listening to just one type of music. The art of DJing was on full display, something that we rarely get to experience these days as the craving for short festival sets controls the market.
The night began with the lowest of lows with the lovely deep house composition by T homas Jack vs RY X titled “ Shortline” marking the start of the journey.
Alongside Solarstone, Gabriel & Dresden are the only trance DJs that can start the night with slow music and slowly build it up. It’s somewhat unique, and it showcases a musical genre that while similar to trance in many respects, is also quite far away from it.
Personally, I prefer this approach. It allows you to quietly settle in without having a techno kick drum pounding in your ears from the first moment of the night. Instead, warm synths and vibrant atmospheres gently make you feel at home. With six hours to play with, there’s plenty of time to get to the energetic bits.
The following two and a half hours expanded upon the same philosophy. A long deep house stint kept things steady for a while. However, soon an interplay of techno and progressive house made things interesting. I do have to say, time flew by rather fast! Music was free-flowing, transitions were smooth, and there was a sense of direction.
For myself, these are the hallmark signs of a great set. I also appreciated how well they read the crowd. Two hours in, the club was filled up, but the mood was not quite right to move onto the second phase of the night. The few extra songs they played built the anticipation, and by the end, the room was itching for what we had all come to witness: Gabriel & Dresden album material!
When you’re able to connect with a person on an emotional level, it makes the encounter memorable.
“The Only Road” and “Free Your Mind” are the opening songs of the album. Coincidentally, they were the first tracks to be played out, in back to back fashion. Without any previews of these productions, it takes a keen observer to spot who’s the artist behind these compositions. Nevertheless, the clues are there for the avid connaisseurs. Sub Teal lends her voice on “The Only Road”. The melancholic vibes are present in both songs. And don’t get me started on the percussion!
Jump to a few songs later, and this one tune doesn’t need an introduction. From the first note, the entire crowd reacted and screamed as “White Walls” began to play. It’s rare to see a full room sing in harmony, but this happened on a few occasions during the night.
Gabriel & Dresden are responsible for some of the most emotive and thought-provoking lyrics within trance. They always search for deeper meanings in their music. They’re non-conformists, and as such, the standard cliche love songs are just not what they stand for.
When you’re able to connect with a person on an emotional level, it makes the encounter memorable. It is for this very reason that so many people remember their songs. Just as their DJing skills, this is a mark of a great producer. And the duo have it in spades!
The night wouldn’t be a Gabriel & Dresden show without a couple of curve balls.
The remaining hours were a well-crafted web of album material, G&D productions of old, and classics. When you get to hear “Mindcircus” and “Zocalo”, you have no right to complain about a bad night of music. Nor can you do it when you listen to music from Paul Van Dyk, Push, or Ferry Corsten. While there was an upward trend in the energy of the set, this wouldn’t be a Gabriel & Dresden show without a couple of curve balls.
Stream Gabriel & Dresden “Classics Only” @ Ministry Of Sound, London on SoundCloud:
One such instance was during “Over Oceans“, a track on which Josh Gabriel makes his singing debut for the group. By this point, the crowd was well into it, enjoying the energy of the music. However, for a few minutes, everything was stripped down.
Instead, Josh’s haunting vocals, accompanied by sweeping guitar strings, took over. It allowed for a well-designed reset without having to increase the tempo continually. Knowing when and how to execute such a feat is reserved only for those that mastered the art of DJing.
At that moment, a personal connection arose between myself and the men behind the decks.
My favourite moment of the night came towards the end. I grew up listening to electronic music from pretty much the moment I could talk. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to experience the late 90s and early 2000s scene as I was too young. For myself, this period represents a unique era in trance history: there were no genre conformities or commercial influences.
DJs had the freedom to play for how long they wanted and play whatever they wanted. The crowds were at their mercy. In many respects, Gabriel & Dresden still abide by this philosophy whenever they perform.
Paul Van Dyk is notorious for his vast collection of unreleased edits, reworks, and remixes. It is one of the many reasons his sets from this period stand out for me. There’s no better feeling than when these songs get played out because you know you’re one of the few lucky ones that have the opportunity to hear them. Well, this exact moment just happened! G&D played Paul’s remix of Sasha’s “Wavy Gravy”, in what I’m pretty sure is the only recorded occurrence that I know of outside Paul’s own sets. It is a song I lost all hope of hearing in a club environment. I’m quite convinced that I was the only person on the dance floor who recognised the song. At that moment, a personal connection arose between the men behind the decks and me, something that no one else was able to experience. It is moments like these that motivate me to travel all over the world, in search unforgettable memories.
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Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloudWalmart and a group of food giants are teaming up with IBM to explore how to apply blockchain technology, also known as distributed ledger tech, to their food supply chains.
The coalition includes retailers and food companies such as Unilever (ul), Nestlé, and Dole (dole). They will be aiming to use blockchains, a technology that made its name as the basis of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, to maintain secure digital records and improve the traceability of their foodstuffs, like chicken, chocolate, and bananas.
These companies see blockchains as an opportunity to revamp their data management processes across a complex network that includes farmers, brokers, distributors, processors, retailers, regulators, and consumers. One potential benefit: investigations into food-borne illnesses to take weeks (see this summer’s fatal Salmonella outbreak linked to papayas), but a blockchain-based system has the ability to reduce that time to seconds.
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Walmart (wmt) has already run two blockchain experiments in partnership with IBM (ibm). The first involved tracking Chinese pork. The second, which you can read about in Fortune’s latest cover story on blockchains and big business, involved tracing Mexican mangoes.
For the trials Walmart used Hyperledger Fabric, a blockchain originally built by IBM and now housed under the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger group. This is the preferred blockchain of IBM, which has been marshaling clients to try the tech across industries as varied as private equity, banking, government, and healthcare.
Frank Yiannas, vice president of food safety at Walmart, was so pleased by the pork and mango trials that he rallied peers to join the cause. “We were so encouraged that we really quickly started reaching out to other suppliers and retailers as well,” he told Fortune.
A crate of oranges being scanned as part of a food safety blockchain. Courtesy of IBM
Those discussions have borne fruit. The industry group, debuting today, also includes members Kroger (kr), McCormick and Company, McLane Company, Driscoll’s, Tyson Foods (tsn), and Golden State Foods.
Howard Popoola, Kroger’s VP of corporate food technology and regulatory compliance, said that Walmart’s experience with the software gave the tech “legitimacy.” “The food industry is ripe for a solution like that,” he said.
Indeed, the food giants like the idea of simplifying their supply chains with automatic tracking of important information, such as temperature and quality of goods, shipment and delivery dates, and safety certifications of facilities. IBM, meanwhile, is keen on selling subscriptions to blockchain-related services that integrate with its cloud business.
Although the group has not yet announced any new blockchain trials, they are expected to in short order.
“We’re asking companies to join to help evolve the solution and guide and steer its direction,” said Brigid McDermott, vice president of blockchain at IBM. “We’ll do PoCs [proofs-of-concept] later down the line.”
Businesses are already putting blockchains to the test in a variety of industries, including cargo shipping, poultry, and diamonds. The new food group is set to bring the technology one step closer to production.Human–animal communication is the communication observed between humans and other animals, from non-verbal cues and vocalizations through to the use of language.
Introduction [ edit ]
Human–animal communication may be observed in everyday life. The interactions between pets and their owners, for example, reflect a form of spoken, while not necessarily verbal dialogue. A dog being scolded is able to grasp the message by interpreting cues such as the owner's stance, tone of voice, and body language. This communication is two-way, as owners can learn to discern the subtle differences between barks and meows, and there is a clear difference between the bark of an angry dog defending its home and the happy bark of the same animal while playing. Communication (often nonverbal) is also significant in equestrian activities such as dressage.
One scientific study has found that 30 bird species and 29 mammal species share the same pattern of pitch and speed in basic messages, so humans and those 59 species can understand each other when they express "aggression, hostility, appeasement, approachability, submission and fear.[1][2]
Birds [ edit ]
Parrots are able to use words meaningfully in linguistic tasks.[3] In particular, the grey parrot Alex learned 100 words,[4] and after training used English words to answer questions about color, shapes, size and numbers correctly about 80% of the time.[5] He also, without training, said where he wanted to be taken, such as his cage or the back of a chair, and protested when taken elsewhere, or when hidden objects were not where he thought they were.[6] He asked a question, what color he himself was,[6] which has been called the only question so far asked by a non-human animal.[7] Scientific American editor Madhusree Mukerjee described these abilities as creativity and reasoning comparable to nonhuman primates or cetaceans,[8] while expressing concern that extensive language use resulted in feather-plucking behavior, a possible sign of stress.
Most bird species have at least six calls which humans can learn to understand, for situations including danger, distress, hunger, and the presence of food.[9]
Pigeons can identify different artists.[10] Pigeons can learn to recognize up to 58 four-letter English words, with an average of 43, though they were not taught any meanings to associate with the words.[11]
Java Sparrows chose music by sitting on a particular perch, which determined which music was played. Two birds preferred Bach and Vivaldi over Schoenberg or silence. The other two birds had varying preferences among Bach, Schoenberg, white noise and silence.[12]
The greater honeyguide has a specific call to alert humans that it can lead them to honey, and also responds to a specific human call requesting such a lead, by leading humans to honeybee hives so it can eat the discarded honeycomb wax after humans collect the honey. The human call varies regionally, so the honeyguide's response is learned in each area, not instincive.[13]
Crows identify and respond differently to different human faces.[14]
Fictional portrayals of sentient talking parrots and similar birds are common in children's fiction,[15] such as the talking, loud-mouth parrot Iago of Disney's Aladdin.
Primates [ edit ]
Chimpanzees can make at least 32 sounds with distinct meanings for humans.[9]
Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans have used sign language, physical tokens, keyboards and touch screens to communicate with humans in numerous research studies. The research showed that they understood multiple signals and produced them to communicate with humans. There is some disagreement whether they can re-order them to create distinct meanings.
Baboons can learn to recognize an average of 139 4-letter English words (maximum of 308), though they were not taught any meanings to associate with the words.[16]
Primates also have been trained to use touch screens to tell a researcher their musical preferences. In Toronto, for hundreds of songs in random order, orangutans were given one 30-second segment of a song, and then chose between repeating that segment or 30 seconds of silence.[17] Different orangutans chose to replay from 8% to 48% of the segments, and all exhibited stress throughout the trials. There was no pattern of selections by genre, and the researchers did not look for other attributes which were shared by the orangutans' chosen segments. No comparison was available of how many 30-second segments humans would repeat in the same situation. In another experiment the orangutans did not distinguish between music played in its original order and music sliced into half-second intervals which were played in random order. Chimpanzees can hear higher frequencies than humans; if orangutans can too, and if these overtones are present in the recordings, the overtones would affect their choices.[17]
Cetaceans [ edit ]
Lilly [ edit ]
In the 1960s, John C. Lilly sponsored English lessons for one bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The teacher, Margaret Howe Lovatt, lived with the dolphin for 2 1⁄ 2 months in a house on the shore of the Virgin Islands. The house was partially flooded and allowed them to be together for meals, play, language lessons, and sleep.[18][19][20][21] Lilly thought of this as a mother-child dyad, though the dolphin was 5–6 years old.[22] Lilly said that he had heard other dolphins repeating his own English words,[23] and believed that an intelligent animal would want to mimic the language of its captors, to communicate.[24][25] The experiment ended in the third month and did not restart, because Howe found the two-room lab and constant bumping from the dolphin too constricting.[26]
After several weeks, a concerted effort by the dolphin |
of adrenergic receptors in this region alters excitability of CA1 pyramidal cells, with increases in excitability being attributed to activity at β-receptors, while decreases in excitability are thought to be mediated by α-receptor activity (Mueller et al. 1982; Madison and Nicoll 1988; Gereau and Conn 1994). It might be expected that if methylphenidate were causing activation of adrenergic receptors, we should see alterations in the baseline responsiveness, which is not the case. However, this may be due to the level of receptor activation; for example, direct application of noradrenalin (10 μM) has been shown to cause a depression in field potential activity in CA1 (Katsuki et al. 1997), but it is likely that activation of noradrenalin receptors following application of a low dose of methylphenidate is considerably lower than following 10 μM noradrenalin application, meaning a depression would not necessarily be evident.
As well as changes in baseline excitability in the hippocampus, noradrenalin plays a significant role in hippocampal plasticity. For example, various studies have shown that application of noradrenalin or β-receptor agonists can induce a long-lasting potentiation in the absence of any conditioning stimuli (Dahl and Sarvey 1989; Heginbotham and Dunwiddie 1991; Dahl and Jingmin 1994; Pelletier et al. 1994). In addition, and perhaps more comparable to the current data, are the effects of noradrenalin and its agonist on plasticity induced by electrical stimulation. To date, a number of studies have shown that noradrenalin application increases amplitude of LTP (Hopkins and Johnston 1984; Izumi and Zorumski 1999), enables induction of LTP with lower frequency stimulation (Sah and Bekkers 1996; Thomas et al. 1996), reverses NMDA-mediated inhibition of LTP (Izumi et al. 1992), rescues impaired LTP in transgenic animals (Schimanski et al. 2007), and inhibits associative LTD (Lin et al. 2008). Our results demonstrated that methylphenidate produced a significant enhancement of LTP amplitude, which is in line with this previous data, suggesting that activation of adrenergic receptors can enhance LTP. Our finding that this effect is mediated by β-receptors is also in keeping with previous results (Sah and Bekkers 1996; Thomas et al. 1996; Katsuki et al. 1997; Schimanski et al. 2007), suggesting the importance of this receptor subtype in plasticity. In addition to enhanced LTP, we showed that when methylphenidate is present, a weak, normally ineffective tetanus can induce LTP. This adds support to the work by Thomas et al. (1996) and Sah and Bekkers (1996), the latter of which suggests that this effect is elicited via activation of the noradrenergic system, which results in blockade of afterhyperpolarization.
While we were unable to demonstrate LTD, we were able to demonstrate a dose-dependent increase in LTD with methylphenidate application, which was also mediated by β-receptor activation. The effects of noradrenalin on hippocampal LTD have received less attention than LTP (Dahl and Sarvey 1989; Katsuki et al. 1997; Scheiderer et al. 2003). Dahl and Sarvey (1989) demonstrated that noradrenalin applied to the dentate gyrus could result in long-lasting depression or potentiation in a pathway-specific manner that could be abolished by β-receptor blockade, while Scheiderer et al. (2003) found noradrenalin induced long lasting depression in CA1 in a manner mediated by α-receptors. Perhaps more comparable to the present study, which induced LTD with low-frequency stimulation, Katsuki et al. (1997) found noradrenalin suppressed LTD in the CA1 region. Our data found that methylphenidate, via activity at the β-receptor, was able to enhance LTD rather than suppress it, which is at odds with the work of Katsuki et al. (1997); but differences in drug concentrations may underlie these discrepancies.
At a behavioral level, where LTP and LTD are implicated in learning and memory, our results are consistent with previous work examining the role of noradrenalin in memory. A recent review by Ramos and Arnsten (2007) stated that noradrenalin increases the signal/noise ratio and enhances long-term memory consolidation in the hippocampus. As well as consolidation, hippocampal noradrenalin is implicated in memory acquisition (Mason and Iverson 1977; Mason and Fibiger 1978) and retrieval (Murchison et al. 2004), indicating that it is fundamental to learning and memory processes in the hippocampus. Interestingly, and very relevant to ADHD treatment, the effects of noradrenalin on retrieval have been found to be independent of attention (Murchison et al. 2004), providing further evidence against the widely held belief that improvements in learning and memory with methylphenidate are due to increased attention.
Our demonstration that a weak stimulus, which ordinarily would not induce LTP, became effective in the presence of methylphenidate, suggests a decrease in stimulus selectivity. ADHD has been characterized as a widening of the attentional window (Shalev and Tsal 2003); therefore, it would be predicted that treatments should increase selectivity rather than decrease it. However, our findings are supported by Horsley and Cassaday (2007), who demonstrated an increase in conditioning to weaker stimuli following acute methylphenidate treatment. They argued that while this is normally considered detrimental, ADHD sufferers show abnormal conditioning, and decreasing selectivity may represent an improvement. The same may not be true of the healthy methylphenidate users, making it a very real possibility that incorrect plasticity may occur in this group.
While our work uses acutely applied methylphenidate, the mechanisms demonstrated may also underlie some of the effects of chronic use. Indeed, recall that long-term methylphenidate treatment has been shown to improve working (Wright and White 2003) and visual memory (Rhodes et al. 2004), nonverbal (O’Toole et al. 1997) and visuospatial learning (Bedard et al. 2004), and reading skills (Keulers et al. 2007). It has also been found to attenuate memory deficits in Alzheimer’s disease (Kittur and Hauser 1999) and improve learning in children left with learning deficits following cancer (Thompson et al. 2001). More firmly correlated to the hippocampal activity investigated in the current study, methylphenidate can increase visual–spatial memory (Bedard et al. 2004) and Morris water-maze performance (Kline et al. 2000). While significant improvements in learning and memory are not always found (Rie et al. 1976; Swanson et al. 1991), a recent review (Pietrzak et al. 2006) suggested that improvements in short- and long-term memory are seen in 58% of studies following methylphenidate treatment, and Swanson et al. (1991) suggest that improvements are not seen in all cases, as doses are calibrated according to behavior and not cognition. Our results are also in line with the recent study showing that atomoxetine, a selective noradrenalin reuptake inhibitor, also used for treating ADHD, can enhance performance on a task aimed at modeling plasticity (Foster et al. 2006).
Although this is the first demonstration that methylphenidate can alter LTP and LTD, there is evidence for methylphenidate affecting other types of plasticity. Recent work has shown that chronic methylphenidate treatment alters dendritic and synaptic development in the anterior cingulate cortex (Zehle et al. 2007), decreases adult neurogenesis (Lagace et al. (2006), and alters a number of factors associated with plasticity including gene expression (Yano et al. 2006) and nitric oxide levels (Itzak and Ali 2006). While the effects on LTP and LTD demonstrated here may seem advantageous, enhanced plasticity and decreased selectivity could be detrimental and result in inappropriate changes in plasticity.
While these experiments were carried out using neonatal rat brains, it is important to understand that the effects seen are highly unlikely to have resulted from changes in neuronal excitability due to alterations in NMDA and GABA receptors during development. It has long been accepted that there are developmental changes in these transmitter systems that extend beyond birth (Mueller et al. 1984; Ben Ari et al. 1989, 1997; Fiszman et al. 1990; McDonald and Johnston 1990), which result in changes in neuronal excitability. GABA is known to have depolarizing effects in the neonatal hippocampus due to high intracellular Cl− levels (Miles 1999; Herlenius and Lagercrantz 2004). However, evidence from a number of different groups has established that by the end of the first postnatal week, GABA has taken up its role as the dominant inhibitory transmitter in the brain, and there are no changes in GABA A receptors or the neuron-specific cotransporter of chloride ions (Luhmann and Prince 1991; Gaiarsa et al. 1995; Miles 1999; Rivera et al. 1999; Herlenius and Lagercrantz 2004) during the age range used in the present study. In addition to this, while the NMDA receptors are yet to function as they do in the adult rat at the age used, between P22 and P35 there are no changes in levels of expression of the receptor (Herlenius and Lagercrantz 2004). Finally, we ensured that the age range used in the control condition (P22–P34) and methylphenidate conditions were comparable (P22–P35), such that should any developmental changes occur, this would be true in both conditions, and as such, there is no reason to believe that the effects seen in the current study were due to receptor and, therefore, excitability changes.
In conclusion, we have demonstrated that acute application of methylphenidate enhances hippocampal LTP and LTD, thus providing direct evidence for methylphenidate altering the mechanisms underlying learning and memory. The fact that improvements in learning and memory are thought to be a result of increased attention makes these findings even more important, as we show they may result from direct action of the drug. We suggest that these noradrenergic-mediated changes are important in the efficacy of ADHD treatment. While the current study investigated acute effects, which may differ from those of chronic treatment for ADHD, we suggest that the mechanisms demonstrated here are relevant to chronic treatment, which can result in improved learning and memory.
Previous Section Next Section Acknowledgments This work was funded as part of the James Martin 21st Century School at Oxford University, with additional funds from the Barclay Foundation. E.J.D. is a fellow of the James Martin Institute for the Future of the Mind and a Junior Research Fellow at Somerville College. We thank Martyn Preston and Steven Clifford (Cambridge Electronic Design) for technical support and Drs. Edward Mann and Paul Overton for advice on stimulation protocols.As a motion designer, there is one thing I am always looking for on the web: an After Effects counter or countdown. Whether is to show a number of likes, counting down until a launch or specific time, or an infographic, counters are very popular. I can never seem to remember the exact codes by heart, so I always have to go look through my past projects or on the web and find After Effects expression.
So instead of wasting time watching YouTube tutorials and going to multiple websites to find different After Effects counter expressions, I have decided to create my own counter resource where anyone can grab the free After Effects counter templates they need and use them. This hopefully will help you and I have more time available to design great counters rather than looking everywhere for After Effects script expressions 🙂 Don’t forget to share the page if you liked it and want more articles like this in future.
Here we go below are super simple After Effects counters templates with no design.
After Effects Numbers Preset Effect
Let’s start by the easiest counting option. On the Effects & Presets windows, type “Numbers“
and drag it to your text layer or solid. Then you have multiple type of counters such as:
Number
Timecode
Time
Numerical Date
Short Date
Long Date
Hexadecimal
Simple After Effects Counter
Here is an easy and straight-forward counter with animated numbers counting up, one expression only
with different options such as:
Number and Decimals
Add comma
Add dollar sign
begin count number
end count number
Duration
After Effects Counter with comma or period.
Here are 2 counter examples with number counting up with comma or dot/period. The counter is connected to the slider control effect. It can be adjusted easily- no need to edit the expression.
After Effects counter with word at the end
With all the social media and infographics popularity, this “like” counter is probably the most useful with numbers counting up with the word “like”. You can change the word “like” to virtually anything you want on the expression. This counter also has a slider control.
After Effects counter from 0 to 1k
Now you noticed on social media how they abbreviate the numbers so instead of showing 1000 Likes they show 1K Like, below and example if you want to convert 1000 to 1k, also the after effects source file provided after the demo. Many thanks to Ukramedia for providing the expression.
After Effects Stopwatch counter
Self explanatory here is an after effects stopwatch template counting up or down with an after effects expression, many thanks to motionscript for the codes.
After Effects Countdown
Super simple countdown here very easy to use for your next presentation launch!
After Effect Odometer Counter
Here is an simple odometer with slider control effect and an after effects expression
If I missed something or you’d would like to see a specific After Effects counter, feel free to suggest it in the comment area below. I’ll try my best to add it. Thanks!She couldn’t believe it.
She hadn’t even worked an hour and they fired her.
She couldn’t BELIEVE IT.
All of that because she tripped and spilled coffee at a customer. Some long-standing customer it seems, some tanned greek guy, of whom the bosses were very fond.
She walked the city waking up to the traffic. Slouched, with her eyes turned down. Of course she was bitter.
The city was to be that gleaming jewel to change her life, to allow her to escape the village’s rut and spread her wings!
She told that to her whole family when she left, disappointing everybody!
And the jewel, even if hypnotizing with a billion of frantic, rainbow reflections was so full of blemishes. Such as this rich, beautiful flowerbed under the skyscraper - destroyed by some high punk just getting up, holding his head.
She wondered if her life isn’t such a blemish on the face of something much, much bigger than her. She had no idea how to earn her rent, even for that tiny room in the attic. Music lessons barely allowed her to afford food.
She cringed. She won’t go to that length again. She had heard about girls finding sugar daddies, selling their bodies. Yet, she felt like that last time she sold her very soul, she felt violated from head to toe.
They called him a Tempter. She… had heard about rich deviants, the pop culture was so full of them. He, on the other hand… He was different. Way more subtle.
The deal was simple: if she manages to sit in a comfortable armchair for a whole hour, she will get more than enough money to survive half a year. She was not to touch anything on the table. And that’s all. No nudity. No perverts going around naked. No one touching her, talking to her, no strange sounds, just her, the armchair, and the table.
And the Tempter, the silent judge just outside of the light cast by a chandelier.
He didn’t invite exclusively women, although she had heard only women talking about him. Every one of them was deeply troubled - no one had managed to succeed. No one wanted to share why. But the deal was clear, nothing openly perversive.
Sick fucker.
She came to him, to an old, pre-war building in the suburbs - in the evening. She was greeted by an actual butler, so… natural in that scenery.
He was sitting in a dark room, where singular beams of light revealed an old, empty armchair and a decorative table, even emptier. His face was - of course - buried in the shadows beyond the islands of light. It was almost mystical.
Only subtle reflections of his eyes and an inviting hand politely pointing at the armchair gave away his frail posture.
She should have turned around and went away, right then.
Instead, she sat down, burying herself deep in a soft armchair. She believed he nodded to the butler.
They went over the details again. Yes, she is to sit there for an hour, not touching the table or anything to be placed on it after they start. He won’t move. No other people in the room. No cameras.
His voice was deep and soft, but flawed, like some stained velvet. He was a tempter.
My god, it seemed so EASY right then.
He finished and waited politely. She didn’t exactly see, but could feel his stare on her. She began to feel naked. She checked. She wasn’t. Haha.
She agreed.
His hand in a white glove appeared in the light and tinkled a tiny, silver bell. After several moments the butler arrived with a brown, leather violin case. He handed it to her.
The Tempter knows all people he invites very well. He has heard about her passion for music. He shared it. He sounded so honest, then.
They would start just as the sun set.
After that, one hour.
They had a couple of minutes left, so she was welcome to look inside.
And it was then.
Feeling… strange and trying not to think what was coming next she opened the case. Inside -
the most beautiful instrument she had ever seen. Wonderful, subtly crafted violin, which,
whose -
wood texture created perfect patterns, visages of angels, of ocean waves, of clouds and of snowflakes. It, they glowed with a golden light.
Surprising herself, she touched them.
They were pulsing with inspiration.
She knew it was her pulse, not violin’s.
It was her nervousness, and it was the heartbeat in her ears beating a tempo. Goose bumps, not ribbons of light wrapping her arms, it was…
Time to start. The sun had set.
She was breathing fast and hard, her whole body was shaking up and down, she was pulsing with… existence…
Please, put the violin on the table. We shall begin.
Then, she understood.
With all willpower she could muster, with rigid, unnatural moves she put the local center of the universe on the tiny table.
She sat down.
It had begun.
It wasn’t even half an hour, when she realized: she had lost.
Sweating, breathing heavily, with hands scratched bloodily with her own fingernails, with half of the muscles in her body spasming painfully, she stood there with the violin in her hands, and the first angelic notes filled the room. It was the purest of blisses, that shivering of her spine, softening knees, that lightheaded perfection, completeness.
She had lost.
Please, put the violin away.
The butler would lead her to the exit.
Of course she can come back. These doors are always open for her.
In the hot, summer night she fell to her knees on the sidewalk. And wept.
Never before she had been so humiliated and abused.
She had lost.Standing behind the batting cage at Citi Field late Saturday afternoon, two things present themselves to notice. The first is that for a 7:05 p.m. Mets/Braves start, the smell of sausage, onions and peppers arrives thick on the field right around 5:30. The second is that Chipper Jones is dipping his back shoulder a little as he swings. An inch or two. He's likely trying to help clear his hips as he turns on the ball. This is the kind of adjustment a player might make as he gets older, or as he works his way back from an injury. Or both. 10 cuts from the right side, 10 from the left, back and forth, the swing still strong and fluid and beautiful. He hits the ball hard. Pounds it, in fact, head down and perfectly still, to all fields in the summer heat and the humid gloom.
Chipper Jones' single drives in the Braves' final and decisive run Sunday. AP Photo/Frank Franklin
Love him or hate him, Chipper Jones is one of the best switch-hitters in the game's history. Now 39 years old and in his 17th season, he is a lifetime student of the true old school. Mock him for the nickname and for the red-faced "Our Gang" smile, mock him for the hustle and for the lip. Disagree with the snuff, sure, or the personal history or the small cross modestly studded with many diamonds, but there's no disagreeing with that swing. You cannot dispute the glove or contradict the arm. You cannot argue his poetry or his numbers or his purpose.
Talent and craft. But 39. Same age as Jorge Posada, currently being waked in The Bronx. Coming off knee surgery. Almost at the end of things. Another year or two.
"He's pretty optimistic about coming back," says Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. Now's the moment to look for doubt in Fredi's eyes, or falsehood, or for the skip's deepest unspeakable, the preference that his aging superstar step down, step aside, make way for the youngsters coming up behind. There is none. "I think Chipper's really, really a productive major leaguer. He's still a big part of this team, still a big contributor."
There are retired ballplayers everywhere you look at any big league game -- maybe ask them about when to step off, about how to let go gracefully.
"You play until they rip the jersey off your back," says David Wells, not really smiling, on the elevator up to the press box. John Smoltz answers him. "For me it was pretty easy. I went as far as I could go. I didn't want to be mediocre, and I didn't wanna hang around."
Both still figure they could pitch right now. Maybe they're kidding.
"I think we'd be great in this era," says Wells, "A quality start's five innings."
John Smoltz still looks like he could pitch, and he says he could, too. AP Photo/Cathleen Allison
As they step out and the doors close, both agree that the calculus for older players is immutable. "How hard are you willing to work" just to stay even? Just to lose ground more slowly? Just to hold back the inevitable another day?
On Saturday night, the Mets win a strange, out-of-phase, rain-delayed game, 11-7. Jones goes 1-for-4 with an RBI and looks good not bad doing it.
On Sunday morning, the whiteboard reminds the Braves that Mass will be celebrated up on the fourth floor at 10 a.m., and there's an 11:45 a.m. chapel in the media room. The spirit needs tending, even on gameday, even on the road.
Meanwhile, on his stool in the visitor's clubhouse, Chipper Jones' flesh is inventoried by reporters.
"How you feeling?"
"Fine."
"How's the leg?"
"Fine."
"How will you know it's time to go?"
"My body will tell me."
He has arrived at that late-career moment when reporters count on superstars for a summing up and will ask them sideways to write their own eulogies. To do so, they look out past that broad superstar shoulder for a moment, out into the future and the pensive middle-distance, take a deep breath and ask How He Wants To Be Remembered. Or what he'll Miss Most About The Game Of Baseball. Then they'll slip that great red clown nose of a microphone in front of him and nod gravely in agreement with whatever he says.
To Chipper Jones' credit, when this happens he does not punch anyone in the face. Instead, he answers as politely as he can that he's not sure yet, and that's a good question, and that he's still playing the games one at a time. Etc.
Having thus Talked About His Legacy, the knot of reporters eases and there's world enough and time to entertain a few seconds' speculation about whether or not he's dropping that trailing shoulder in order to get around on the ball a little faster. Yes, you can clear your hips quicker that way, and take some responsibility for bat speed and power off a balky leg.
Chipper Jones celebrates the latest of many wins in his career with Dan Uggla. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
"It's important to be able to adapt your swing to the situation," he says. "Sometimes you need to adapt it to how you feel, too, to how your body feels."
Then he'll walk back to the trainer's room for more heat, more stim, more ultrasound, more massage. There's a lot of medical expertise and man hours and money in maintaining those aging legs. He'll play it for laughs, too, add a little vaudeville to the hobble, make painfully small steps, his teammates chuckling, until watching him shuffle off is like watching the cross-lobby traffic at an assisted living facility.
Because maybe the aging ballplayer needs to make the joke before anyone else can make it.
So, even though he's been killing the Mets dead for two decades, on Sunday afternoon, Chipper Jones is not on the lineup card. He's on the bench. Resting.
He's on the bench resting until the bottom of the sixth inning, that is, when he's called in on a defensive swap. He jogs stiffly out to third. In the top of the seventh, he pops out to short.
But in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, the game on the line tied at five apiece, Chipper Jones digs in. He doesn't dip his back shoulder. Rather, leaning forward, he reaches for a pitch, a slider on the outside part of the plate, like a man trying to close a furnace door with a broom handle.
He pulls the ball into right field, and on Monday morning, the papers will note that it was his "27th game-winning RBI against the Mets, the most by any player versus any team during the divisional era."
He runs to first on what seem like fresh legs, on what might be the legs of a schoolboy.
Jeff MacGregor is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. You can email him at jeff_macgregor@hotmail.com or follow his Twitter.com feed @MacGregorESPN.
MORE COMMENTARY »Putin: Russia will never follow instructions from the West
Vladimir Putin delivers annual address to the Federal Assembly
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered the annual address to the Federal Assembly in the St. George's Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace on Thursday, December 4th.
In the beginning of the speech, President Putin thanked citizens of the Russian Federation for showing their resilience in the face of tribulations that Russia had to experience this year. Putin called the Russians a "mature nation." "Russia has proved that it was capable of protecting its compatriots, defending truth with honor and justice." "Our country has done it thanks to you, citizens of Russia," Putin said in the beginning of the Address to the Federal Assembly.
Afterwards, he proceeded to the topic of Crimea's reunification with Russia. Putin called the reunification of the Crimea and Sevastopol with Russia a historic event and stated that Russia believed in itself. "Russia believes in itself, in the fact that it can do a lot and that it will achieve everything," Putin said, Interfax reports. Putin also said that for Russia, the Crimea remains of great civilizational and sacred value. The president assured that the Russians would treat the Crimea this way now and forever.
Putin said that Russia's position on the sovereignty of former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, had not changed. "It is well known that not only has Russia supported Ukraine and other fraternal republics of the former USSR in their quest for sovereignty, but Russia has also contributed significantly to this process at the turn of the 1990s," the president said.
"Every nation has an inalienable right to their own path of development. Russia will always treat this with respect, and this applies to Ukraine too," Putin said. However, the talks about human rights, to cover up the bloody revolution in Ukraine, are nothing but hypocrisy. Putin urged not to conduct political chatter and give empty promises, but to assist the Ukrainian economy. Russia has already credited the Ukrainian economy at 32,5-33,5 billion dollars, Putin reminded.
In his address to the Federal Assembly, Putin accused the United States of putting direct pressure on Russia's neighbors. According to him, Moscow was completely ignored in the discussion of Ukraine's association with the EU. "It is no coincidence that I mention our American friends, as they either directly or from behind the scenes always affect our relations with our neighbors. One does not even know at times, who it is better to talk to - the governments of certain countries or their American patrons and sponsors." Putin stressed out that "in the case of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU, there was no dialogue conducted at all." "We were told that it was none of our business. Putting it in plain language, we were told where to go," said Putin.
Russia will not blindly follow instructions from the West as far as the Ukrainian crisis is concerned, Putin said. "What is this whole tragedy in Ukraine for? Wasn't it possible to settle all the issues, even controversial ones, in the course of a dialogue, within legal framework and legitimate processes? Yet, they are doing their best now to convince us that it was competent and balanced policy, which we need to obey mindlessly and blindly. This will not happen," said Putin.
Putin about sanctions
Speaking about the topic of Western sanctions against Russia, Putin said that the sanctions caused damage "to everyone, including those who imposed them." Talking to Russia from a position of strength is pointless, Putin said. The Russian president assured that despite pressure, Russia would never go the way of self-isolation, nor would it look for enemies.
"This is not just a nervous reaction of the United States or its allies to our position in relation to the events and the coup d'etat in Ukraine; this is not even a reaction to the so-called Crimean spring," Putin said.
If there had been no crisis in Ukraine, if Russia had not reunited with the Crimea, the West would have found other reasons for the isolation of Russia, the Russian president believes. The Russian Federation will be defending diversity of the world - it will be defending truth not to let others distort its image in the world, Putin said.
"We will never take the path of self-isolation, xenophobia, suspicion and search for enemies. This is a sign of weakness, but we are strong and united," said the president.
"If, for European countries, national pride is a long-forgotten concept and if sovereignty is too much of a luxury for them, then for Russia, real state sovereignty is a mandatory condition of its existence. We can either be sovereign, or we can get lost in the world," Putin stated.
About Russia's attitude to new arms race
Russia will not get involved in an arms race, but it will find non-standard solutions to ensure its defensive capability, Putin said. "We do not intend to get involved in a costly arms race, but we will ensure and guarantee the defense of our country in a new environment," Vladimir Putin said. "There are no doubts about it, it will be done. Russia has both opportunities and innovative solutions for that," he said.
Vladimir Putin warned, however, that "no one will succeed in achieving military superiority over Russia." "Our army is modern and combat-ready. As they say, it is polite, but formidable. We will have enough strength, will and courage to defend our freedom," the Russian president said.
According to Vladimir Putin, USA's efforts in the creation of the missile defense system is a threat to Russia's security. "Since 2002, after the USA's unilateral withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, which was an absolute cornerstone of international security and strategic balance of power and stability, the United States continues the persistent work to create a global missile defense system, including in Europe," said Putin.
"This is not only a threat to Russia's security, but also a threat to the whole world just because of a possible violation of the strategic balance of forces. I think that it's harmful for the USA itself, because it creates a dangerous illusion of invulnerability, strengthens the pursuit of one-sided and, as we can see, unthoughtful decisions and additional risks."
About Russia's future relations with Europe and the USA
According to the Russian president, even in light of current circumstances, Russia is not going to curtail relations with Europe and America. Russia will be open to the world, to foreign investment and joint projects.
"We, under no circumstances, are going to curtail our relationships with Europe and America, but we will restore and expand our traditional ties with the South American continent, we will continue cooperation with Africa, with the Middle East," said Putin.
Russia will be expanding its presence in the regions, where integration processes are gaining momentum now, "where they do not mix politics and economy, but, vice versa, where they remove barriers for trade, technology exchange and investment for the free movement of people," Putin said.
In particular, Putin pointed to the rapid development of the Asia-Pacific region. The Russian Federation has been strengthening cooperation with China lately. "Russia as a Pacific power will take full advantage of this huge potential. The leaders and engines of global economic development are well known. Many of them are our true friends or strategic partners," said the Russian president.
Putin also said that January 1, 2015 will be the day when the Eurasian Economic Union starts working at full swing. According to the Russian president, basic principles of association are equality, pragmatism and mutual respect, preservation of national identity and national sovereignty of all member countries. "I am convinced that close cooperation will be a powerful source of development for all members of the Eurasian Union," said the president.
About Russia's development in the future
Speaking about the development of Russia in the future, Putin stated that one must escape from the trap of zero growth and reach the growth of economy higher than the average.
The Russian president also said that prosperity and well-being of Russia depended on its citizens. According to the president, one needs to get rid of indiscipline and irresponsibility, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"We must understand that our development depends primarily on us. We will succeed if we earn well-being and prosperity ourselves, without relying on good luck or external environment, if we cope with the lack of organization and irresponsibility, if we cope with the habit of "digging into papers," Putin said.
"I want us all to understand that in the current environment, this is not just a brake on the development of Russia, but also a direct threat to its security," said the Russian president. "Ahead of us, we have difficult, stressful times, and much depends on each of us and our actions," he added.
About basic principles of Russian authorities
Vladimir Putin formulated basic principles of the Russian authorities: "Healthy family and healthy nation, traditional values inherited from our ancestors, combined with forward-looking and stability as a condition of development and progress, respect for other peoples and nations while guaranteeing the security of Russia and defending its legitimate interests - these are our priorities," Vladimir Putin said.
About the plummeting Russian ruble
Vladimir Putin commented on the speedily devaluation of the Russian ruble. "Today, we face decreasing foreign currency earnings and, as a consequence, the weakening of the national currency - the ruble. You know that the Bank of Russia proceeded to the "floating" exchange rate, but it does not mean that the Bank of Russia removed itself from showing influence on the exchange rate. It does not mean that the ruble exchange rate may easily become an object of financial speculation," said the Russian president.
"I ask the Bank of Russia and the government to carry out tough, coordinated action to discourage so-called speculators from playing on the fluctuations of the Russian currency," he said.
"The authorities know who these speculators are and they have tools of showing influence on them. It is now time to take advantage of these tools," Putin stated.
About small business
"One must remove restrictions from business to the uttermost and relieve business from obsessive supervision and control," said Putin.
"Next year, a special register will open. It will contain information on what body and for what purpose initiated an inspection and which results were obtained. This will cut unmotivated visits of inspectors. I should add that this problem is relevant not urgent only for businesses, but also for budget, local institutions and social NGOs," said the Russian president, adding that it was necessary to abandon the principle of total, infinite control.
"As for small business, I propose to establish "supervisory holidays" for it. If a company has earned a solid reputation and has not had significant complaints during three years of work, then during the following three years such a company shall be exempt from routine inspections of state and municipal control," said Putin.
About state-run companies
According to the Russian president, the budgets of state-run companies must be put in order. There will be settlement centers established in such companies to ensure "transparency and optimization of cash flows, as well as their effective management."
"Head companies should also clearly see, how the funds are used in their affiliated structures," said Putin.
"I'd like to note that remuneration for management of state companies should be directly related to achieved results and economic realities," said the president.
About demography and health care system
Vladimir Putin said that in the past two years, Russia has seen a natural increase of the population. "In the early 2000s, UN experts predicted a demographic decline in Russia. According to UN forecasts, the population of our country was to reduce to 136 million people by the end |
supporters was composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, who introduced himself by writing a check for US$5,000 (approximately $61,000 in 2007).[37] Although his prototype was damaged in its first test flight, Sikorsky persuaded his reluctant backers to invest another $2,500. With the additional funds, he produced the S-29, one of the first twin-engine aircraft in America, with a capacity for 14 passengers and a speed of 115 mph.[38] The performance of the S-29, slow compared to military aircraft of 1918, proved to be a "make or break" moment for Sikorsky's funding.[citation needed]
In 1928, Sikorsky became a naturalized citizen of the United States. The Sikorsky Manufacturing Company moved to Stratford, Connecticut in 1929. It became a part of the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (now United Technologies Corporation) in July of that year.[39] The company manufactured flying boats, such as the S-42 "Clipper", used by Pan Am for transatlantic flights.[24]
Meanwhile, Sikorsky also continued his earlier work on vertical flight while living in Nichols, Connecticut. On February 14, 1929, he filed an application to patent a "direct lift" amphibian aircraft which used compressed air to power a direct lift "propeller" and two smaller propellers for thrust.[40] On June 27, 1931, Sikorsky filed for a patent for another "direct lift aircraft", and was awarded patent No. 1,994,488 on March 19, 1935.[41] His design plans eventually culminated in the first (tethered) flight of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 on September 14, 1939, with the first free flight occurring eight months later on May 24, 1940. Sikorsky's success with the VS-300 led to the R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter, in 1942. Sikorsky's final VS-300 rotor configuration, comprising a single main rotor and a single antitorque tail rotor, has proven to be one of the most popular helicopter configurations, being used in most helicopters produced today.[10]
Igor Sikorsky was also on the board of directors for the Tolstoy Foundation Center in Valley Cottage, New York.[citation needed]
Family [ edit ]
Sikorsky was married to Olga Fyodorovna Simkovitch in the Russian Empire. They were divorced and Olga remained in Russia with their daughter, Tania, as Sikorsky departed after the October Revolution. In 1923, Sikorsky's sisters immigrated to the US, bringing six-year-old Tania with them.[42] Sikorsky married Elisabeth Semion (1903–1995) in 1924, in New York.[43] Sikorsky and Elisabeth had four sons; Sergei, Nikolai, Igor Jr. and George.[44]
Tania Sikorsky von York (March 1, 1918 – September 22, 2008), Sikorsky's eldest child and only daughter. Tania was born in Kiev, Ukraine. Educated in the United States, she earned a B.A. at Barnard College and a doctorate at Yale University. She was one of the original faculty members of Sacred Heart University in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where she served as Professor of Sociology for 20 years. [45]
Sergei Sikorsky (1925– ), Sikorsky's eldest son. He joined United Technologies in 1951, and retired in 1992, as Vice-President of Special Projects at Sikorsky Aircraft. [46] [47]
Igor Sikorsky Jr. is an attorney, businessman and aviation historian.[48] Igor Sikorsky III is also a pilot.[49]
Death and legacy [ edit ]
The Sikorsky's family house in Kiev's historical center, October 2009
Sikorsky died at his home in Easton, Connecticut, on October 26, 1972, and is buried in Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cemetery located on Nichols Avenue in Stratford.[50]
In 1966, Sikorsky was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.[51].
Sikorsky's and Andrei Tupolev's professional careers were covered in the 1979 Soviet biopic The Poem of Wings (Russian: Поэма о крыльях) where Sikorsky was portrayed by Yury Yakovlev. A working model of Sikorsky Ilya Muromets was recreated for filming.[52]
The Sikorsky Memorial Bridge, which carries the Merritt Parkway across the Housatonic River next to the Sikorsky corporate headquarters, is named for him. Sikorsky has been designated a Connecticut Aviation Pioneer by the Connecticut State Legislature. The Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, Connecticut, continues to the present day as one of the world's leading helicopter manufacturers, and a nearby small airport has been named Sikorsky Memorial Airport.[53]
Sikorsky was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1987.[54][55]
In October 2011, one of the streets in Kiev was renamed after Sikorsky. The decision was made by the City Council at the request of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, which opened its new office on that street.[56] The Sikorsky's family house in the city's historical center is preserved to this day but is in a neglected condition pending restoration.
In November 2012, one of the Russian supersonic heavy strategic bomber Tu-160, based at the Engels-2 Air Force Base, was named for Igor Sikorsky, which caused controversy among air base crew members. One of the officers said that Igor Sikorsky does not deserve it because he laid the foundations of the U.S., rather than Russian aviation. However, the Long Range Aviation command officer said that Igor Sikorsky is not responsible for the activities of his military aircraft, noted that Sikorsky had also designed the first heavy bomber for Russia.[57] In 2013, Flying magazine ranked Sikorsky number 12 on its list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.[58]
On March 22, 2018 the Kiev city council officially renamed Kiev airport International Airport "Kyiv" (Zhulyany) named after Igor Sikorsky.[59]
Philosophical and religious views [ edit ]
Sikorsky was a deeply religious Russian Orthodox Christian[60] and authored two religious and philosophical books (The Message of the Lord's Prayer and The Invisible Encounter). Summarizing his beliefs, in the latter he wrote:
Our concerns sink into insignificance when compared with the eternal value of human personality – a potential child of God which is destined to triumph over life, pain, and death. No one can take this sublime meaning of life away from us, and this is the one thing that matters.[61][62]
Published works [ edit ]
Sikorsky, Igor Ivan. The Message of the Lord's Prayer. New York: C. Scribner's sons, 1942. OCLC 2928920
. New York: C. Scribner's sons, 1942. OCLC 2928920 Sikorsky, Igor Ivan. The Invisible Encounter. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1947. OCLC 1446225
. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1947. OCLC 1446225 Sikorsky, Igor Ivan. The Story of the Winged-S: Late Developments and Recent Photographs of the Helicopter, an Autobiography. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1967. OCLC 1396277
See also [ edit ]
Aerosani – Sikorsky built some of these propeller-powered snowmobiles in 1909–10
Fedor Ivanovich Bylinkin – an early aircraft collaborator with Sikorsky, in 1910
Sikorsky Prize – a prize for human powered helicopters named in his honor
10090 Sikorsky – an asteroid named in honor of Igor Sikorsky
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
Citations [ edit ]Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt attended Hawks shootaround Friday morning at Philips Arena in advance of tonight’s game against the Pacers.
Blatt was inside the arena during the practice and spent time with Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer in his office afterward.
Blatt was abruptly fired on Jan. 23 after he coached the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals last season and the best record in the Eastern Conference (30-11) this season. Blatt said he has several good friends in the Atlanta area and has spent time here following his dismissal. He left the arena with Hawks assistant coach Neven Spahija, also a friend.
The Cavaliers swept the Hawks in the conference finals last season.
Budenholzer said Blatt was merely in for a visit.
“It’s always good to have a coaching colleague, friend, another (pair of) eyes,” Budenholzer said. “He’s very close to Neven. I’ve known him throughout the years. He came through San Antonio several times. Very good coach. Very much respected. It was nice to visit with him and catch up a little bit.”Greens co-leader Metiria Turei talks to media after meeting with Work and Income investigators about her benefit fraud.
Labour has moved to swiftly distance itself from the Green Party, following an admission from co-leader Metiria Turei that she enrolled to vote at an address she didn't live at, while she was also collecting more than she was entitled to on the Domestic Purposes Benefit.
Turei on Thursday night said she had enrolled at an address where she did not live in order to vote for a friend who was running in the Mount Albert electorate in 1993.
"The Greens have made their bed and now they have to lie in it," said Labour Deputy leader Kelvin Davis.
RNZ Law professor Andrew Geddis joins us to discuss the legal implications around news Metiria Turei enrolled to vote at the wrong address in the past.
He and leader Jacinda Ardern would be talking on Friday morning to decide how to navigate Turei's latest bombshell, as the two parties are committed to working together under a memorandum of understanding. But Davis' comments leave questions over whether Turei would be welcome in a Labour-led Cabinet.
READ MORE:
* Metiria Turei admits she registered a false address to vote
* Metiria Turei: Children shouldn't be punished for their parents' choices
* Labour bleeds while Greens profit from Metiria Turei's 'fraud bombshell'
* Tracy Watkins: Mad, bad or bold? Metiria Turei's big gamble
"It's turned to mushy peas for her, hasn't it?" Davis said on The AM Show.
"It's pretty ugly and I just think if you're going to open up about yourself like that, then you've got to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth".
On the same AM Show panel, Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett said it was a "serious" matter.
"Is she someone you can sit down at a Cabinet table with, and have her running portfolios?"
MONIQUE FORD / STUFF Greens co-leader Metiria Turei says she can see how the meeting with investigators can be traumatic for some.
Davis acknowledged that was a good question, and Labour would be assessing how much Turei's electoral revelation could damage their own party, which has just switched leadership teams due to languishing polls seven weeks from the General Election.
Ardern and Davis had not had the chance to discuss Turei's electoral admission, but Davis' comments suggested Labour could come down harshly to protect its own interests.
"The Greens - they've made their bed and they're going to have to lie in it and we're just going to have to have a good discussion about how this is going to affect us, because we don't want to be seen to be condoning this sort of stuff," Davis said.
Thursday night, Turei admitted she had enrolled at an address where she did not live in order to vote for a friend who was running in the Mount Albert electorate in 1993.
Public record habitation indexes from the time, list her as living there with the father of her child, at the same time as she was collecting the Domestic Purposes Benefit. She denies that she lived at that address however.
"I was the sole provider for my daughter. I was fully financially responsible for us both," she said in a statement.
"A friend of mine was running as a candidate in Mt Albert in 1993, and I wished to vote for them.
"That was a mistake – one of many I, like many other people, made as a young person."
Turei says she was on the domestic purposes benefit - set up for single mums - at various times from 1993 to 1998. During another period, she was also listed as living with her mother while collecting the DPB.
The Greens co-leader met with fraud investigators for the first time on Wednesday, at the Wellington headquarters of the Ministry of Social Development.
Turei's admission she was collecting the benefit while not being truthful about how many people she was living with, was during a speech to unveil the party's welfare policy last month.
However, it was a Newshub investigation, that unravelled the details that she was listed as living with the father of her child while on the DPB.
Now Labour and the Greens are scrambling for damage control, as they deal with the fallout of a new upset that it seems Turei was not planning to be part of her benefit gamble.
* Comments on this article have been closed.— The NBA is going to Disney World.
The league says Wednesday it is developing "The NBA Experience at Walt Disney World Resort," which will be located at Disney Springs in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
It will include NBA video productions, interactive experiences for fans, plus a restaurant and retail store.
Commissioner Adam Silver says the league "can't wait to bring the magic of Disney and the excitement of the NBA to guests from around the world."
Disney Springs, the largest expansion in Downtown Disney history, is set for completion in 2016 and will grow to about 150 shopping, dining and entertainment venues. There is no opening date for the NBA center, though such projects usually take a couple of years to complete.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Bob Chapek says the NBA Experience "will be a terrific addition to the world-class lineup of shops and restaurants coming to Disney Springs."Yams are a staple part of the Nigerian diet, with Nigeria accounting for around 70% of world yam production, but at current rates of consumption demand is beginning to outstrip supply of this economically important crop with huge cultural significance.
Deciphering the yam genome is of vital importance because, unlike other staple crops such as wheat, maize and rice, the crop is relatively undomesticated. Domesticated crops have advantages compared to their wild relatives when it comes to farming them, including easier usability and higher yields. Understanding the genomics of this crucial plant will help farmers increase yields and sustainability of yams.
The novel research entitled “Genome sequencing of the staple food crop white Guinea yam enables the development of a molecular marker for sex determination,” is openly accessible in the journal BMC Biology, shows just how that can be made possible. The high quality draft genome sequence is available in the public databases DDBJ and NCBI.
The big breakthrough from an international collaboration of institutes spanning the UK, Germany, Japan and Nigeria, has been in identifying the regions of the genome that determine sex in yams (dioecy), and knowledge of this rare feature is vital for improving the speed of marker-assisted breeding projects.
Dioecy, plants having separate males and females, is relatively rare and occurs only in about 5-6% of flowering plants, including yams and asparagus. Therefore, understanding the process in yams could help in improving other economically important crops.
Most importantly for Central and West Africa, this new knowledge will help transform yams from being a neglected “orphan” crop. With assisted breeding programmes, the crop can be better domesticated, boosting food security and economic well-being in an area undergoing the world’s most rapid population expansion.
Benjamen White, who led Earlham Institute’s contribution, said, “Having a reference sequence for the white Guinea yam gives us the unique opportunity to gain a better understanding of dioecy, a very rare trait in flowering plants, in a species that’s very evolutionarily differentiated from most of what’s been sequenced so far. Understanding this trait and having a genomic resource for white Guinea yam will be invaluable in breeding a better yam, one that will improve food security in West and Central Africa, and the livelihood of smallholder farmers there.”
Dr. Robert Asiedu, Director, Research for Development, for The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-West Africa, Ibadan, Nigeria, said, “This is an important breakthrough. It means that yam has joined those crops with a full DNA sequence, a development which started with rice some years ago. The implications are profound. The full DNA sequence will greatly facilitate our understanding of the genetic control of key traits such as flowering, diseases, and others including quality traits, and this in turn will make the breeding of new varieties both faster and more precise”.
Professor Ryohei Terauchi, lead author, of Kyoto University and Iwate Biotechnology Research Centre, Japan, said, “This will help to overcome some of the many challenges facing yam farmers in Africa and other parts of the world. These include pests and diseases, post-harvest losses and the need to develop more sustainable systems of farming for the crop”.Robert Adley
State Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton, is the sponsor of a bill to repeal the state inventory tax. (Julia O'Donoghue, NOLA.com/Times-Picayune)
A strategy to close Louisiana's $1.6 billion budget gap was salvaged Wednesday afternoon (April 22), after the Senate Finance Committee voted to move an inventory tax repeal bill (Senate Bill 177).
The 9-1 Senate vote means the Louisiana House will start considering several revenue-raising bills next week. The House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to vote on everything from hiking the cigarette tax to squashing film industry incentives on Monday and Tuesday (April 27-28).
"We're going to start the process," said state Rep. Joel Robideaux, R-Lafayette, chair of the Ways and Means Committee.
Robideaux was waiting to take up the unpopular tax bills until the Senate demonstrated it was serious about eliminating the inventory tax. The Louisiana Legislature's leadership wants to use the inventory tax repeal as a cornerstone of its plan to solve the state budget crisis, but the proposal worries local governments, which made getting it out of a Senate committee difficult this week.
Currently, businesses of all sizes have to pay the inventory tax to local governments on most goods they keep in stock including everything from cars at automobile dealerships to compounds stored at chemical plants. Then, the state government fully refunds the amount of money paid by the businesses. This makes the inventory tax both a major funding source for local government services but also a drain on state revenue.
A fiscal analysis shows the tax repeal approved by the Senate Finance Committee could save the state government around $600 million in the coming fiscal year. But local governments stand to lose just as much money -- probably more -- in annual funding for schools, law enforcement and other services.
"It would be devastating to our school systems," said Scott Richard, executive director of the Louisiana School Boards Association, of the tax repeal bill.
The senators attempted to calm local elected officials fears over an inventory tax repeal by adding language to the legislation to guarantee the localities would be reimbursed for all lost revenue.
"We do not want to hurt these local governments," said state Sen. Robert Adley, author of the legislation. "The bill clearly says everyone is going to be kept whole."
Adley said he would need local governments to support his legislation eventually, otherwise the repeal would never materialize. Scrapping the tax requires a constitutional amendment, which can only happen with two-thirds of the Legislature's support and the backing of voters at the ballot box next fall. It's a high hurdle, and one Adley won't clear if local governments continue to be upset.
Still, local officials didn't seem placated during the Senate Finance hearing, announcing the repeal would likely result in higher property taxes for residents across the state. An assessor from St. John the Baptist Parish told committee members property taxes in his area would have to more than double to make up for the lost inventory tax revenue.
Local school board officials said the bill would turn the state's education funding formula for primary and secondary schools upside down. It could also make school construction projects much more difficult to get off the ground.
Adley and Senate President John Alario emphasized that the legislation would probably be altered further to continue to address local governments concerns. It was passed mostly as a concept, so that the Louisiana House would start acting on revenue-raising measures over the next few days.
"Tell us what you need so we can fix that for you," Adley told local elected officials at the Senate Finance meeting.
Yet the whole purpose of passing the inventory tax repeal was to generate money to close Louisiana's $1.6 billion budget gap. Making a commitment to backfill all the funding lost to local government could complicate plans to address Louisiana's financial crisis, according to some legislators.
"I think we may have dug a bigger hole for ourselves," said Sen. Edwin Murray, D-New Orleans, the only member of the Senate Finance Committee to vote against the measure.
It's also not clear where state lawmakers would find the money to help local governments, especially when they are facing a funding shortage for health care and higher education already.
"If the money is there, I'd like to see where it is," said Sid Gautreaux, Sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, who opposed the bill.
Legislative leadership is considering a number of measures that would allow local governments to raise revenue -- such as localized cigarette, gas and internet taxes. But no firm plan has been put in motion yet.
"Whatever plan is out there, it is still on shaky ground," Robideaux said.
......
Julia O'Donoghue is a state politics reporter based in Baton Rouge. She can be reached at jodonoghue@nola.com or on Twitter at @jsodonoghue. Please consider following us on Facebook at NOLA.com and NOLA.com-Baton Rouge.The One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC) plans to launch OLPC America in 2008 to distribute the low-cost laptop computers originally aimed at developing nations to needy students in the United States.
The group, which was formed in the U.S. by teachers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), came under criticism shortly after forming because its original mission did not include the U.S.
Originally, the aim of OLPC was to develop a $100 laptop for kids in poor nations to ensure they don't miss out on the benefits of computing, and to make sure developing countries don't fall further and further behind modern nations due to their inability to buy computers, a conundrum commonly referred to as the digital divide.
OLPC America already has a director and a chairman, and will likely be based in Washington D.C., said Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC, in an interview.
"The whole thing is merging right now. It will be state-centric. We're trying to do it through the 50 state governments," he said.
The decision to launch OLPC America came about due to three considerations.
"For one thing, we are doing something patriotic, if you will, after all we are and there are poor children in America. The second thing we're doing is building a critical mass. The numbers are going to go up, people will make more software, it will steer a larger development community," Negroponte said.
The third reason is educational, so that children in the U.S. communicate with kids in developing nations and expand their horizons.
The reason OLPC had not included the U.S. in its low-cost laptop program was because of the huge difference in need, Negroponte said. In the U.S., people spend US$10,000 per year per child in primary education, but in Bangladesh, a developing country, they spend $20. It's a huge difference, and many people in the U.S. can afford more expensive laptop PCs for their kids anyway, he noted.
But although the U.S. was not the focus of OLPC in the beginning, it has always been in the plans.
"To have the United Sates be the only country that's not in the OLPC agenda would be kind of ridiculous," Negroponte said.A snowy view from the South Rim Historic District of the Grand Canyon on January 1, 2015. (Michael Quinn/National Park Service via Flickr
A New Year’s winter storm brought more than record low temperatures and damaging winds to the Southwest — it also coated the Grand Canyon in a picturesque blanket of fluffy white snow.
Northern Arizona received widespread snowfall totals of over four inches on New Year’s Eve and Day. Parts of Interstate 15 in Southern California were closed during heavy snow on Wednesday, and the storm stranded more than 200 cars and prompted the rescue of more than 130 people on highways 330 and 18 in the Big Bear area of the San Bernardino National Forest east of Los Angeles.
At the Grand Canyon, the snow created some slick mountain roads, though it appears to have been more beautiful than troublesome. “The morning of January 1, 2015, all South Rim roads are open — but the roads are really snow-packed and icy — 4 wheel drive or snow chains are recommended,” the National Park Service wrote on its Flickr page. “Grand Canyon received some additional snow this morning and it is a winter wonderland out there.”
We made it!! #grandcanyon #withSnow A photo posted by @brdgett on Jan 1, 2015 at 10:59am PST
The full, panoramic view from the South Rim Historic District of the Grand Canyon on January 1, 2015. (Michael Quinn/National Park Service via Flickr
http://instagram.com/p/xUpQIJPsiA/
#grandcanyon #snowygrandcanyon #snowstorm #travel A photo posted by @whaldar on Dec 31, 2014 at 7:43pm PST
#grandcanyon #snow A photo posted by Taylor Deakyne (@taylordeakyne) on Jan 1, 2015 at 11:10am PST
http://instagram.com/p/xUqF2ZOm3x/“An entertaining freshness… Tic Tac!” This is Ferrero‘s tag line for its most successful product, the ubiquitous Tic Tac. And the line has stuck. As WikiHow points out in how to make your breath fresh: first buy some mints, then brush your teeth.
One of the amazing things about Tic Tacs is that they are sugar free. Well… almost not. As the label explains, a single serving (one single Tic Tac) contains 0g of sugar (to be precise, less than 0.5g, as explained in a footnote). In what could initially be assumed to be a mere coincidence, the weight of a single serving is 0.49g. It did not escape my attention that 0.50-0.49=0.01. Why?
To understand it helps to look at the labeling rules of the FDA. I’ve reproduced the relevant section (Title 21) below, and boldfaced the relevant parts:
TITLE 21–FOOD AND DRUGS CHAPTER I–FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SUBCHAPTER B–FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION (c) Sugar content claims –(1) Use of terms such as “sugar free,” “free of sugar,” “no sugar,” “zero sugar,” “without sugar,” “sugarless,” “trivial source of sugar,” “negligible source of sugar,” or “dietarily insignificant source of sugar.” Consumers may reasonably be expected to regard terms that represent that the food contains no sugars or sweeteners e.g., “sugar free,” or “no sugar,” as indicating a product which is low in calories or significantly reduced in calories. Consequently, except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, a food may not be labeled with such terms unless: (i) The food contains less than 0.5 g of sugars, as defined in 101.9(c)(6)(ii), per reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving or, in the case of a meal product or main dish product, less than 0.5 g of sugars per labeled serving; and (ii) The food contains no ingredient that is a sugar or that is generally understood by consumers to contain sugars unless the listing of the ingredient in the ingredient statement is followed by an asterisk that refers to the statement below the list of ingredients, which states “adds a trivial amount of sugar,” “adds a negligible amount of sugar,” or “adds a dietarily insignificant amount of sugar;” and (iii)(A) It is labeled “low calorie” or “reduced calorie” or bears a relative claim of special dietary usefulness labeled in compliance with paragraphs (b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4), or (b)(5) of this section, or, if a dietary supplement, it meets the definition in paragraph (b)(2) of this section for “low calorie” but is prohibited by 101.13(b)(5) and 101.60(a)(4) from bearing the claim; or (B) Such term is immediately accompanied, each time it is used, by either the statement “not a reduced calorie food,” “not a low calorie food,” or “not for weight control.”
It turns out that Tic Tacs are in fact almost pure sugar. Its easy to figure this out by looking at the number of calories per serving (1.9) and multiplying the number of calories per gram of sugar (3.8) by 0.49 => 1.862 calories. 98% sugar! Ferrero basically admits this in their FAQ. Acting completely within the bounds of the law, they have simply exploited an arbitrary threshold of the FDA. Arbitrary thresholds are always problematic; not only can they have unintended consequences, but they can be manipulated to engineer desired outcomes. In computational biology they have become ubiquitous, frequently being described as “filters” or “pre-processing steps”. Regardless of how they are justified, thresholds are thresholds are thresholds. They can sometimes be beneficial, but they are dangerous when wielded indiscriminately.
There is one type of thresholding/filtering in used in RNA-Seq that my postdoc Bo Li and I have been thinking about a bit this year. It consists of removing duplicate reads, i.e. reads that map to the same position in a transcriptome. The motivation behind such filtering is to reduce or eliminate amplification bias, and it is based on the intuition that it is unlikely that lightning strikes the same spot multiple times. That is, it is improbable that many reads would map to the exact same location assuming a model for sequencing that posits selecting fragments from transcripts uniformly. The idea is also called de-duplication or digital normalization.
Digital normalization is obviously problematic for high abundance transcripts. Consider, for example, a transcripts that is so abundant that it is extremely likely that at least one read will start at every site (ignoring the ends, which for the purposes of the thought experiment are not relevant). This would also be the case if the transcript was twice as abundant, and so digital normalization would prevent the possibility for estimating the difference. This issue was noted in a paper published earlier this year by Zhou et al. The authors investigate in some detail the implications of this problem, and quantify the bias it introduces in a number of data sets. But a key question not answered in the paper is what does digital normalization actually do?
To answer the question, it is helpful to consider how one might estimate the abundance of a transcript after digital normalization. One naive approach is to just count the number of reads after de-duplication, followed by normalization for the length of the transcript and the number of reads sequenced. Specifically if there are n sites where a read might start, and k of the sites had at least one read, then the naive approach would be to use the estimate suitably normalized for the total number of reads in the experiment. This is exactly what is done in standard de-duplication pipelines, or in digital normalization as described in the preprint by Brown et al. However assuming a simple model for sequencing, namely that every read is selected by first choosing a transcript according to a multinomial distribution and then choosing a location on it uniformly at random from among the sites, a different formula emerges.
Let X be a random variable that denotes the number of sites on a transcript of length n that are covered in a random sequencing experiment, where the number of reads starting at each site of the transcript is Poisson distributed with parameter c (i.e., the average coverage of the transcript is c). Note that
.
The maximum likelihood estimate for c can also be obtained by the method of moments, which is to set
from which it is easy to see that
.
This is the same as the (derivation of the) Jukes-Cantor correction in phylogenetics where the method of moments equation is replaced by yielding, but I’ll leave an extended discussion of the Jukes-Cantor model and correction for a future post.
The point here, as noticed by Bo Li, is that since by Taylor approximation, it follows that the average coverage can be estimated by. This is exactly the naive estimate of de-duplication or digital normalization, and the fact that as means that blows up, at high coverage hence the results of Zhou et al.
Digital normalization as proposed by Brown et al. involves possibly thresholding at more than one read per site (for example choosing a threshold C and removing all but at most C reads at every site). But even this modified heuristic fails to adequately relate to a probabilistic model of sequencing. One interesting and easy exercise is to consider the second or higher order Taylor approximations. But a more interesting approach to dealing with amplification bias is to avoid thresholding per se, and to instead identify outliers among duplicate reads and to adjust them according to an estimated distribution of coverage. This is the approach of Hashimoto et al. in a the paper “Universal count correction for high-throughput sequencing” published in March in PLoS One. There are undoubtedly other approaches as well, and in my opinion the issue will received renewed attention in the coming year as the removal of amplification biases in single-cell transcriptome experiments becomes a priority.
As mentioned above, digital normalization/de-duplication is just one of many thresholds applied in a typical RNA-Seq “pipeline”. To get a sense of the extent of thresholding, one need only scan the (supplementary?) methods section of any genomics paper. For example, the GEUVADIS RNA-Seq consortium describe their analysis pipeline as follows:
“We employed the JIP pipeline (T.G. & M.S., data not shown) to map mRNA-seq reads and to quantify mRNA transcripts. For alignment to the human reference genome sequence (GRCh37, autosomes + X + Y + M), we used the GEM mapping suite24 (v1.349 which corresponds to publicly available pre-release 2) to first map (max. mismatches = 4%, max. edit distance = 20%, min. decoded strata = 2 and strata after best = 1) and subsequently to split-map (max.mismatches = 4%, Gencode v12 and de novo junctions) all reads that did not map entirely. Both mapping steps are repeated for reads trimmed 20 nucleotides from their 3′-end, and then for reads trimmed 5 nucleotides from their 5′-end in addition to earlier 3′-trimming—each time considering exclusively reads that have not been mapped in earlier iterations. Finally, all read mappings were assessed with respect to the mate pair information: valid mapping pairs are formed up to a maximum insert size of 100,000 bp, extension trigger = 0.999 and minimum decoded strata = 1. The mapping pipeline and settings are described below and can also be found in https://github.com/gemtools, where the code as well as an example pipeline are hosted.”
This is not a bad pipeline- the paper shows it was carefully evaluated– and it may have been a practical approach to dealing with the large amount of RNA-Seq data in the project. But even the first and seemingly innocuous thresholding to trim low quality bases from the ends of reads is controversial and potentially problematic. In a careful analysis published earlier this year, Matthew MacManes looked carefully at the effect of trimming in RNA-Seq, and concluded that aggressive trimming of bases below Q20, a standard that is frequently employed in pipelines, is problematic. I think his Figure 3, which I’ve reproduced below, is very convincing:
It certainly appears that some mild trimming can be beneficial, but a threshold that is optimal (and more importantly not detrimental) depends on the specifics of the dataset and is difficult or impossible to determine a priori. MacManes’ view (for more see his blog post on the topic) is consistent with another paper by Del Fabbro et al. that while seemingly positive about trimming in the abstract, actually concludes that “In the specific case of RNA-Seq, the tradeoff between sensitivity (number of aligned reads) and specificity (number of correctly aligned reads) seems to be always detrimental when trimming the datasets (Figure S2); in such a case, the modern aligners, like Tophat, seem to be able to overcome low quality issues, therefore making trimming unnecessary.”
Alas, Tic Tac thresholds are everywhere. My advice is: brush your teeth first.He was up for parole last week but the board denied his release and ordered him to complete a six month life skills program
He has attempted escape 13 times, making it out of the jail on seven occasions, only to later be recaptured
DeFriest, believed to be an autistic savant, can memorize a prison key simply by seeing it on a guard's belt before reproducing an exact copy
DeFriest, then aged 19, was initially sentenced to four years behind bars but has been in jail for 36 years thanks to multiple escape attempts
A 'Prison Houdini' who made 13 escape attempts during his 36 years behind bars has been denied parole.
Mark DeFriest is every prison guard's worst nightmare - an autistic savant able to memorize the design of a key hanging on an officer's belt just by looking at it before producing an exact replica in his cell.
J |
that will take place, behind closed doors, during the coming months. But that sweeter deal will need to be paid for with yet more sovereign borrowing, by some eurozone government or other, plus further sack-loads of taxpayers' cash.
It is telling that Greek bond-holders themselves were on Friday reassuring their investors that the reduction in the net present value of their stakes, compared with the "21pc haircut" deal, "will not be overly onerous". In addition, the July agreement, while also "voluntary", included a 90pc creditors' participation. Thursday's variant cited no such number.
So, the centre-piece of last week's "package" is far less decisive than meets the eye. It was, in fact, singularly indecisive. The hope that Greece will clean-up its balance sheet autonomously now relies even more on a privatization programme that is already laughably behind schedule. So the moral hazard will go on, making it tougher still for the governments of Portugal, Ireland and the other eurozone "peripheries" to sell to their electorates the virtues of fiscal responsibility. These are not clever-clever academic points. I'm pointing-out, quite simply, what the bond markets will have noticed.
Having said all that, the prospect of "haircuts", however half-hearted, now looms over eurozone sovereign bond-holders, not least fragile European banks. So Thursday's announcement also stressed that the €440bn (£386bn) euro European Financial Stability Facility would be "levered", allowing it to borrow to make it bigger. This is supposed to allow the eurocrats to raise cash without having to trouble national parliaments, given that they're likely to refuse.
The question of who will lend to the EFSF, on whose collateral, and who will ultimately repay the loans, was barely addressed last week. Such tricky questions will apparently be answered at the next European summit in December. Meanwhile, the fundamental disagreement between France and Germany regarding who should take the biggest losses – eurozone governments or private creditors – remains unresolved. Since Thursday's announcement, though, Germany's powerful constitutional court has issued an injunction requiring the country's full Parliament to approve any EFSF bond-buying.
What is needed, urgently, is a clean, transparent Greek default – allowing this flailing semi-developed economy to leave the eurozone, re-establish a weaker drachma and regain its self-respect. Portugal should leave too, its membership of the same currency bloc as Germany is as absurd, and self-defeating, as that of Greece. There would be further market turmoil, yes, but a few more months of volatility, leading to an ultimately more stable outcome, is surely better than the current situation where the entire world is living in fear of a massive "euroquake".
The eurocrats, of course, lack the guts to trim back monetary union to a more manageable size. Too much face would be lost. So "euroquake" fears, once viewed as outlandish, are gaining pace. Despite Thursday's deal, and all the reassurances of a "durable solution", the Italian government on Friday paid 6.06pc for 10-year money, up from just 5.86pc a month ago and a euro-era high. Such borrowing costs are disastrous, given that Rome must roll-over €300bn of its €1,900bn debt in 2012 alone. A default by Italy, the eurozone's third-biggest economy, and the eighth-largest on earth, would make Lehman look like a picnic.
The eurozone must be consolidated. World leaders should similarly force European banks to disclose their losses, we all take the hit and then we move on. Instead, we are served-up, in ever more complex variants, the same "extend and pretend" non-solutions. It gives me no pleasure to write this, but I give this deal two weeks.I imagine it's been a long time since the New York Philharmonic played with so much chatter going on in the audience. But the screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey was more like a pops concert than their usual fare. And when the closing credits of a movie are rolling, people tend to murmur, even if conductor Alan Gilbert is leading his musicians through a lovely rendition of "On The Beautiful Blue Danube." It was all in the spirit of the evening, which began with thunderous roars of pleasure after "Also sprach Zarathustra" near the beginning and concluded with applause for various names in the credits like Douglas Trumbull and Arthur C. Clarke.
During an all too brief week devoted to the art of the film score, Lincoln Center also featured an evening of selections of music from Hitchcock films (I'd kill to see Vertigo performed live in full) and a panel discussion led by artistic adviser Alec Baldwin on movie music.
But for me the highlight was the opportunity to see a flawless screening of Stanley Kubrick's landmark work of imagination with the New York Philharmonic and a chorus delivering classical selections from Ligeti, the Strauss's Richard and Johann II, among others in what is surely one of the most brilliant marriages between existing music and movie images in history.
Every viewing brings fresh insights, from the usual (the hand-made special effects are still brilliant and convincing; surely we've taken a disastrous turn for the worse with digital effects?) to the less typical (hey, Kubrick even imagined personal screens on airplanes embedded in the seat in front of you!). The sheer boldness of the story takes your breath away. Who else could devote so much screen time to showing that monumental moment when our distant ancestors first used tools? Who else would find the absolute perfect music for such a thunderous, epoch-shaking moment? And who else would then flash forward with one of the most brilliant and evocative cuts ever imagined? And then to hint at our NEXT stage of evolution and somehow make us feel we truly are witnessing such a miraculous thing? It's set in 2001, but Kubrick will always be pointing the way to the future.
You can enjoy this experience anytime you see the film (ideally in a theater with immersive sound) so I should focus on this particular experience of seeing it with a world class orchestra. It wasn't just enjoyable as any great film would be under such circumstances. It was, in its way, a unique and revealing experience.
First, the mere presence of the orchestra throughout the screening humanized the film in a very real and useful manner. If there is any difficulty in tackling this movie for newcomers, it's a certain chilliness they imagine present in 2001. That's ameliorated greatly by the living, breathing mass of people on stage who are performing some of the most indelible music ever heard. And that pairing of classical pieces with the movie isn't just handy -- it's also a constant quiet reminder of humanity and the great artistic flowering that humankind has produced, the enduring beauty that is our legacy. You can't think of just empty space and wayward computers when people who have devoted their lives to mastering this music are sitting right in front of you playing Khachaturian's Adagio from Gayane.
I didn't even notice the chorus at first. They were seated on both sides of the first balcony. When voices were called for, they arose silently in the dark and the tiny flashlights hovering over their scores looked like alien creatures in the dark, adding even more to the already spooky effect of the Kyrie from Ligeti's Requiem. Again, with the voices on both sides of the stage often battling back and forth for supremacy, it added a dynamic, emotional element to a movie often wrongly seen as merely an intellectual head trip. Best of all, I appreciated anew the use of silence in the film; nothing emphasized that more than the presence of a full orchestra on stage waiting for its next cue. And it was a subtle goosing of the excitement to see them settling into position, knowing you were about to hear more music.
I look forward to another edition of The Art Of The Score next year, including more selections of great music composed for the movies as well as great movies like 2001 that pulled from the classical repertoire. (Terence Malick, anyone, perhaps with a Bugs Bunny short to kick things off? Heck, they could do an entire evening devoted to classic music in cartoons. If Baldwin isn't available, call me.) I could have done without the unnecessary intermission that merely lengthened the night. But overall it was an excellent evening. Nothing captured the spirit more than the orchestra members onstage during the many lengthy passages without music. There they were, their instruments at rest, quietly leaning back in the dark and craning their necks to see every moment they could of the movie until it was time to go back to work.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's best friend. It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A public defender is arguing to the Missouri Supreme Court that he shouldn’t be suspended after neglecting indigent clients while he dealt with illness and a heavy caseload.
Public defender Karl Hinkebein’s attorney instead argued to Missouri Supreme Court judges on Thursday that he should only be reprimanded because of those circumstances.
The Columbia-based public defender admits he failed to properly represent and communicate with six clients between 2011 and 2014. A state agency that investigates attorney misconduct says Hinkebein should be suspended for a year before he can reapply. But Hinkebein’s attorney argues he was sick and handling an unreasonable caseload.
The case hits on larger concerns that have been raised by the head of the public defender system about underfunding and unmanageable caseloads.Oil has always given the Gulf monarchy huge power. But the US may be less dependent in future – and the world is fast losing patience with Saudi Arabia’s stance on human rights and extremism. Will King Abdullah’s death change anything?
It would be far-fetched to describe the US and Britain’s long-term relationship with Saudi Arabia as a love affair, although elements of romance, blind infatuation and lustful mutual gratification have never been entirely absent.
But what has become painfully clear from the furious row over the sycophantic official reaction in Washington and London to the death, this month, of King Abdullah is how much the relationship has changed, at least on the west’s side of the bed.
It is as if, after unquestioning decades of cohabitation, one partner woke up one morning with a jolt and blurted out: “I don’t have much in common with you any more, if I ever did. Truth be told, I don’t really like you, and what’s more, I don’t need you. In fact, I find you really annoying.”
As is common in such awkward situations, the outward trappings of the relationship appear undisturbed, for now at least, as shown by Barack Obama’s homage to Abdullah in Riyadh on Tuesday. But the ties that bind are shredding. In reality, the magic and meaning have fled.
In fact, the whole unreformed Saudi-west situation grows ever more embarrassing – and is thus ever less likely to endure intact.
Intent on offering his condolences and meeting Abdullah’s successor in person, Obama led an exceptionally high-powered delegation to Riyadh that included former secretaries of state, past presidential candidates and senior military commanders. Similarly subservient, Britain had already sent David Cameron and Prince Charles.
Prince Charles in Riyadh in 2014. Photograph: Fayez Nureldine/EPA
Yet when asked to justify this level of attention and, for example, the flying of flags at half-mast on government buildings, Downing Street was hard put to explain its stance. Saudi Arabia was an important ally and economic partner came the muttered reply from No 10, and others. To act otherwise would have been “aggressive” and impolite. A legion of critics vociferously disagreed.
This kneejerk diplomatic kowtowing, embedded in the thinking of a cold war, 1980s world that no longer exists, looks increasingly anachronistic and warrants close scrutiny. All the main policy planks underpinning the Saudi relationship are, more or less, under challenge.
Take oil, Saudi Arabia’s economic lifeline, and the main reason it has been so assiduously courted in the past. Saudi remains the world’s biggest oil producer and exporter, and the country with the largest proven reserves. It leads the mainly Middle Eastern, 12-member Opec cartel (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), and has unique influence over the global oil price.
But times have changed – as has the geopolitical power balance. Saudi Arabia’s refusal to cut oil production last year is a principal reason for the current, dramatic fall in prices.
Riyadh appeared to be trying to undermine shale-oil production in the US, which was reducing its export earnings. But the ploy did not work.
According to Citibank, shale oil and new Arctic oilfields may see US production doubling to 14.2m barrels per day (bpd) by 2020. That could leave the US free to become a net exporter, to the tune of 4.7m bpd of oil and LNG. The current US need to import 2m bpd, much of it from Saudi Arabia, may soon simply evaporate.
Increased supplies of oil from non-Middle East countries, such as Angola, coupled with the advent of alternative green-energy systems, improved conservation, and heightened awareness about the need to curb carbon emissions, are also reducing Saudi leverage.
In short, it’s possible the west will just not need the Saudis any more.
An end to dependence? A Saudi Arabian oil refinery. Photograph: EPA
Away from commodity prices, increased western focus on human rights around the world, combined with the greater transparency forced on the kingdom by the globalisation and enhanced reach of conventional, digital and social media, has placed the Saudi record under unprecedented scrutiny.
Riyadh must endure unceasing bad publicity about cases such as that of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, sentenced to 1,000 lashes, and the recent street beheading of a Burmese woman. Public pressure means western governments are forced to take notice of these concerns in new ways. Lack of women’s rights is another hot topic, previously skated over, but no longer possible for US and British politicians to ignore.
The relationship with the west has survived several wars between Israelis and Arabs, in Afghanistan and in Iraq (twice); the chilling predominance of Saudi nationals in the 9/11 attacks and the rise of al-Qaida; serious bribery and corruption scandals and diplomatic rifts; recurring oil crises; deepening concern over Saudi funding for extremist religious teaching and its links to terrorism; escalating rows about egregious human rights abuses and the repression of women, and most recently, the Syrian calamity and the ascendancy of the black-shirted head-cutters of Islamic State.
But it has survived at what cost? For many in Britain and the US (which, post-1945, gradually assumed Britain’s geostrategic role in the Arabian peninsula, as elsewhere), the rationale binding western interests so closely to the Saudi state is no longer obvious, persuasive, welcome or easily justified.
Writing days before Abdullah’s death, the American author Stephen Kinzer warned that the basis of the west’s relationship with the Saudi regime was shifting in fundamental ways, while Saudi Arabia’s position in a region beset by insurrection and civil war was ever less secure.
“The most intriguing candidate for collapse is Saudi Arabia,” Kinzer wrote. “For more than half a century, Saudi leaders manipulated the United States by feeding our oil addiction, lavishing money on politicians, helping to finance American wars, and buying billions of dollars in weaponry from US companies. Now the sand is beginning to shift under their feet.
“After [King Salman, Abdullah’s successor, departs the scene], a power struggle within the royal family is likely. No one can say how intense or violent it might become, but the prospect of crisis comes at an especially bad time. The region is afire and oil prices are plummeting. It would be foolish to bet that Saudi Arabia will exist in its current form a generation from now.”
Memories of how the Saudis and Opec deliberately triggered an economic crisis in the west in retaliation for US aid to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur war still rankle. Manipulation of the oil price for political ends has been a common occurrence since. In 2008, as the world financial crisis hit, former US president George W Bush personally requested Abdullah to cut prices, and was flatly rebuffed.
The mood regarding human rights has also changed. In 1980, a British television documentary, Death of a Princess, based on the true story of Princess Misha’al and her lover, who were publicly executed for adultery, led the Saudis to expel Britain’s ambassador and impose sanctions, much to the London establishment’s discomfiture. Many countries bowed to intense Saudi pressure not to broadcast the film. Nowadays such bullying is not so easy.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters outside the Saudi embassy in London for a vigil for the blogger Raif Badawi. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA
Yet while the external environment has altered radically, inside Saudi Arabia itself, as campaigners testify, little, if anything, has changed. Intolerance of dissent, be it political, religious or ideological, remains almost total. Saudi jails are crowded with those whose only crime is to speak freely.
Curbs on women’s rights have not relaxed significantly, despite promises dating back to the 1990-91 Gulf war, when Riyadh was running scared of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and cried out for western help. If anyone had believed King Salman would take a different tack, those hopes were quickly dispelled when, on Monday, the first public beheading took place under his reign.
The growing gulf between Saudi Arabia and its more sceptical western partners is nowhere more apparent than in the key area of security and defence cooperation, upon which the relationship was founded in 1915. The west has long viewed the Saudis as a pillar of stability in an unruly region. But Saudi policy since the 1980s has repeatedly given the lie to that over-hopeful analysis.
It was the Saudis, principally, who (encouraged by the US) funded the mujahideen in Afghanistan in their fight against Soviet occupation. But it was also the conservative Wahhabi Sunni Muslim establishment and their oil-rich billionaire supporters who went on to channel cash and arms to what morphed into the Taliban, who paid for the madrassa religious school system in Pakistan that produced new generations of extremists, and whose intolerant and anti-western views laid the ideological ground for the creation of al-Qaida, led by a Saudi citizen, Osama bin Laden.
It is the Saudis, according to regional and American reports, who helped create IS in Syria and Iraq, again by funnelling arms and cash. It was the unelected, despotic Saudi regime that, terrified by the implications of the Arab spring, opposed pro-democracy movements in Egypt and elsewhere, and energetically assisted in the brutal suppression of Shia Muslim reformers in Bahrain.
And it is the Saudis who now, in improbable alliance with Binyamin Netanyahu’s Israel, lobby most forcefully against any American nuclear deal, or broader western rapprochement, with Shia Iran, their sworn enemy.
Far from bolstering stability, Saudi policy actively works against western attempts to end the standoff with non-Arab Iran – still the natural regional partner for London and Washington that it was before the 1979 revolution. In Yemen, Iraq, Syria and across the Gulf, the Saudis’ age-old proxy war with Iran, formerly Persia, poisons hopes of peace.
They offer “intelligence-sharing” and token forces when the obvious reality, after Charlie Hebdo, is that the Islamist jihadist terrorism threatening Europe has now replaced Tehran-backed Bashar al-Assad as the west’s main security concern – and is the product, to a large degree, of the Saudis’ repeat mistakes.
To maintain its hold on western governments, the Saudi regime continues to hold out the prospect of lucrative arms purchases, such as the recent reconfirmed billion-dollar deal with BAE Systems to supply Eurofighter Typhoon jets. This despite the deeply unsavoury legacy of the Al-Yamamah bribery scandal, which revealed corruption on a scale previously unheard of in Britain.
To keep its grip, the regime uses its network of personal and official ties to Britain’s too pliant monarchy, to gullible congressional politicians, and to business and investment leaders overly impressed by its $1tn (£660bn) in cash reserves and its global investment portfolio.
But in the end it all comes down to values, not money or weapons or insider influence. In Britain and other western countries, as the past week’s events have shown, a sea-change is under way with which governmental authorities have yet to catch up. What was tolerable or ignorable 30 years ago is no longer so.
Happily, attitudes in British society, especially on individual rights, have shifted. Unhappily, in Saudi Arabia, they have not – not yet. But change there, too, is inescapable. The medieval game of thrones that is the absolutist Saudi system cannot endure. An unlikely 100-year-long affair is finally petering out.
Saudi Arabia: notes from history
A figure central to 20th-century history of the Arabian peninsula was TE Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, a quixotic army officer whose championing of Arab nationalism contributed to early British support for what became Saudi Arabia.
Lawrence’s was colonialism with a human face. To a credulous public, his experience conjured a romantic world of proud and ruthless Bedouin horsemen silhouetted against a burning sky; of Saladin, scimitars, keffiyehs, and desert hawks. But colonialism it was, all the same, as demonstrated when Britain turned the Arabian peninsula into a protectorate exactly 100 years ago, in a 1915 treaty with Ibn Saud, the founder of the Saudi dynasty.
Ibn Saud became king and absolute monarch in 1932. Britain maintained its interest and back-room clout. It was among the very first states to recognise the new country of Saudi Arabia, in 1926. The Saudis opened their first embassy in London in 1930.An enormous Tesla-installed power storage facility is up and running at Southern California Edison’s Mira Loma substation in Ontario, California. The facility, announced last fall, holds enough energy to power 15,000 homes for four hours — 80 megawatt hours of electricity with a peak output of 20 megawatts.
It’s designed to reduce the need for “peaker plants” — electricity generation facilities that run when electricity demands are particularly high, such as on a hot afternoon when air conditioners are running full tilt. They’re expensive to install and maintain, especially when in some areas they might only be used for a few hours a day — or even a year.
The 396 Powerpacks that Tesla installed (it acted as its own general contractor) for SCE were all assembled at the company’s Gigafactory in Nevada. Though 80 megawatt hours of batteries might seem like a lot, it’s the same amount of battery capacity that the company puts into its cars in just three or four days of production.
The SCE facility at Mira Loma has 396 Powerpacks, each with 16 pods of batteries inside. Each pod has 12 bricks of cells, and each brick has 85 battery cells. Add ‘em all up and it’s 6,462,720 individual “2170” battery cells, so named because they’re 21 x 70mm cylinders.
The new cell for the Model 3 will also be made at the #Gigafactory pic.twitter.com/DHldjJCqcS — Jude Burger (@JudeBurger) July 30, 2016
In addition to utility-grade storage systems like this, Tesla’s Powerpacks can also be used with solar panels or other small-scale electricity generation to build microgrids, small electrical systems for entire islands or other remote facilities.
Stationary energy storage has the potential to be big business for Tesla. Whether for big utilities like this project, as an alternative to diesel-generator backup systems at commercial or industrial buildings, or by using Tesla’s smaller Powerwall system at residences (a Powerpack is made up of 16 Powerwalls worth of batteries), expect the number of big battery installations to grow. Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted last year that the battery business would "have a growth rate probably several times that of what the car business is per year.”
While the majority of the battery production at the Gigafactory, which began last month, will eventually make its way into Tesla’s cars, the massive cell production will also drive down costs for stationary battery storage as well, making these sorts of enormous battery projects much more cost effective.
Stationary batteries and the solar panel business that Tesla acquired in the SolarCity acquisition, are just two of the reasons why Tesla Motors changed its name to Tesla last week. It’s not just about the cars anymore.With Google Assistant not that far off, it seems Google is really amping up the changes to Google Now. After the 'Explore Interests' card and autocomplete improvements, plus laying the groundwork for Assistant, the next new thing is a bottom row of tabs, with 'Home' and 'Dashboard' occupying it.
While the Home tab is the expected Google Now homepage, Dashboard is new and therefore interesting. From the tips we've had on this it's pretty clear it's not really working properly yet, but what we can gather is this: it seems to only work with the Nexus Launcher, at least at the moment, and collects data from across the different Google services and pools them all in the tab. This could constitute reminders, events on the calendar, to-do lists in Keep, emails to reply to, photos from Assistant in Google Photos, and a lot more.
Three shots of the Dashboard tab appearing in Google Now. Sadly we do not have screenshots of the tab's main appearance.
As mentioned, there's not too much information on this out there, and Google is almost certainly only testing this. It's possible that, due to the Nexus Launcher leak, end users were not even meant to see this and it was aimed at internal testing only. Also, the fact that the bottom row of tabs is only working with the Nexus Launcher is more support to the theory that Google Assistant may be exclusive to the new Nexus phones when it's released. It's also not clear if the new Google app v6.3 beta is required for this to work or not. Whatever the cause and whatever the intention behind it, it looks cool. If it works half as well as it could, Dashboard could be the next big evolution of Google Now (or is that Assistant?).Two research technicians were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital Thursday after fears of a gas leak in a building that houses lab space for MD Anderson Cancer Center, as well as the UT Police.
According to investigators, three employees became sick while working in the research lab, which is located at 7777 Knight Road. All three lab technicians complained of smelling a gassy odor, which led to the evacuation.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the building was evacuated," Vicki King with UT police said.
Two of the women were taken to the hospital and the third refused treatment, officials said.
"Looks like the first employee may have been overheated. She was working in a Tyvek suit and may have gotten overheated in that event,' King said.
The building tested negative for carbon monoxide and other hazardous gasses, investigators said.
Investigators believe that the odor the employees smelled might have come from a sewer line.
Investigators said the two women treated were in "good condition" and are expected to be released from the hospital later Thursday.
2016 Click2Houston/KPRC2Getty Images
The Vikings have yet to offer running back Adrian Peterson a contract that would pay him less than the $18 million he is due to earn in 2017. It’s unclear whether they will.
From a P.R. standpoint, there’s a good reason for the Vikings to make Peterson an offer, even if it’s an offer he wouldn’t accept. Cutting him loose is one thing; extending what appears to be a fair offer on a revised deal and having him reject it is another.
This approach presumes that the fan base wants to continue to relationship, and that the fans will place blame based on how and why it ends. What if the fans are ready to move on from Peterson?
Paul Allen of KFAN and the Vikings Radio Network appeared on Friday’s PFT Live to discuss the team’s offseason priorities. He senses that there wouldn’t be an outcry if the team decides to put an end to Peterson’s 10-year run with the team.
Besides, the team can do plenty with the $18 million that otherwise would go to Peterson in 2017. Most fans are smart enough to notice it.
Paul said plenty more about the Vikings’ priorities for the coming year. To hear everything he had to say, check out the video.So WotC has announced that with the upcoming rules compendium they would be adjusting skill DCs. I’m floored with the changes. I simply cannot understand how such a fundamental part of the game gets constantly tweaked and altered. I really begin to wonder if serious play testing goes on at the company, or the desire to push new product out to the consumer is the driving force for altering game mechanics errata.
I can see if this game were based on using 2 or 3 D6 for everything. You’re working with some trickier probabilities and when you figure bonuses from abilities and magic items, it gets a little tough. A +1 to a 2D6 roll has a greater impact than adding it to a D20 roll. But come on, everything is based on a flat probability with a D20 system. Why couldn’t this have been nailed down at the game launch? Let alone be put to rest with the release of the DMG2.
At first I think the DCs were a little high. Even with skill training, easy DC 10 checks were tricky to pull off with a roughly 20% chance of failure. Granted if you were using a skill with some ability bonus, that reduced the difficulty sharply. Still checks were pretty darn tough to pull off when 4E released.
Fast forward about a year. Now the DC values were severely trimmed down. An easy DC check was 5 (and the +5 penalty for skill DC checks removed). If you had a pretty good bump to your ability (say a +3) and were trained in a skill, you had a 70% chance of pulling off a difficult check. While a moderate check at DC 10 was virtually guaranteed. I think it really trimmed down skill checks to the point where I didn’t even bother having players roll for them, and just used passive checks for just about everything.
Now they’ve been adjusted to … close to the original values. After all the public game days, LFR, the encounters program, WotC finally saw that things were a little too easy and that skill DCs should be closer to what they were at the release of 4E? That now WotC has decided a reasonable challenge would be to have a 65% chance at success on a flat D20 roll? I don’t get it.
It is pretty simple probability to work out. You could easily work out 10 skill checks and figure out how many times a player would succeed or fail. I don’t get how such a fundamental aspect of the game is constantly being tweaked. I’m astounded someone did not sit down and start working out potential ability scores, training, and feats to figure out that some characters could trivialize a lot a DC checks with the first change, and that the original values were a little too hard.
I’m happy WotC is willing to address problems they see in the game. But I tend to think so much material is shoveled out so fast, that feedback from the consumer with post-release errata being put out 3 months later seems to be the standard procedure. It’s like WotC is treating their product like a software company with frequent ‘patches’ being released to fix problems in the game. Yeah, I’m glad they make to effort to close loopholes and halt the munchkin builds. But it seems that making these changes to fundamental mechanics is something that should have been set in stone long ago.
Geek Ken likes games. Sometimes he likes to blog about them too.ASSOCIATED PRESS Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, right, hugs Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at Facebook in Menlo Park, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015. A rare visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this weekend has captivated his extensive fan club in the area and commanded the attention of major U.S. technology companies eager to extend their reach into a promising overseas market. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Indian social media has been on fire since Monday morning, after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg changed his DP to add the Indian tricolour tint, much like the gay pride tint that went viral when the US legalized gay marriage. He did so in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India campaign. Modi had visited Facebook headquarters on Sunday, unleashing in characteristic style, photo ops and quotable quotes.
After Zuckerberg changed his profile picture, many people in India started changing their display picture enthusiastically. Even before the phenomena could properly go viral, someone noticed that when you change your display picture, the html code underneath has a bit that contains the word Internetorg. All hell broke loose immediately.
It came to be posited on Reddit that this means changing your DP to support Digital India will automatically pledge your support for Internet.org, a controversial Facebook initiative whose stated aim is to provide basic internet services free of cost to those who can't afford the full version of the internet. Critics say it is Facebook's initiative to make the poorer parts of the world believe that the internet is basically Facebook and then benefit from the hegemony.
This view spread through numerous media stories that did not even bother to check with anybody who understands code what the html bit really meant.
It should really worry Facebook from a trust point of view that the idea that it was hoodwinking people into pledging support for Internet.org spread like wild fire and nobody paused to question that a global behemoth might not do such a blatant sleight of hand especially when a head of government was involved. Besides, it was rather clear from the HTML code that the part that mentioned 'Internetorg' was little more than a descriptor for the image file.
Responding to a query, a Facebook spokesperson told HuffPost India that there was no connection between the tricolour DP and Internet.org. "There is absolutely no connection between updating your profile picture for digital India and Internet.org. An engineer mistakenly used the words "Internet.org profile picture" as a shorthand name he chose for part of the code. But this product in no way connects to or registers support for Internet.org. We are changing the code today to eliminate any confusion."
So yes, you can express support for Digital India if you want to, without worrying that it will count as a yes vote for Internet.org.Election 2016: Coalition matches Labor promise to fund Townsville sports stadium
Updated
North Queensland appears set to receive a new sport stadium, with the Coalition confirming it will match Labor's pledge to commit $100 million to the plan.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made the announcement in Townsville this morning.
Mr Turnbull did not elaborate on how the project would proceed but said the deal would ensure a prosperous future for Townsville.
"It is a radical departure from the way federal governments have approached cities policy in the past," he said.
"This is very much my vision, my government's vision, it's a new vision to ensure that we are much more coordinated with State Government and local government as opposed to simply announcing — giving money for this or that in a rather ad-hoc way.
"All cities, the more progressive cities around the world, are seeking to do something like this."
Mr Turnbull is vowing to deliver the funding within six months of returning to office if a deal is reached with Townsville City Council and the Queensland Government.
He argued the city plan built upon the pledge his party had already made to upgrade the main freight line, at a cost of $150 million.
State Assistant Minister for North Queensland Coralee O'Rourke said it was the news Townsville had been waiting for.
"Unfortunately it's a bit of a shame we've had to wait till the day before pre-polls open to have the certainty of this good news coming from Malcolm Turnbull," she said.
Treasurer and Sports Minister Curtis Pitt flew to Townsville last Friday to announce the State Government would increase its contribution to $140 million.
The North Queensland Cowboys and the NRL will also pour a combined $10 million into the $250-million project.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill welcomed the Coalition pledge and she believed the stadium could be finished within the next five years.
"I'm hearing from some of the big companies we've dealt with in the past, that they're very keen to get a portion of this work and they think we can get some really good value for money in the construction of this facility," she said.
The LNP-held electorate of Herbert, which covers most of Townsville, is a key target for Labor at the July 2 poll.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten made Townsville his camp for much of the first week of the campaign. Labor will be looking to knock off local member Ewen Jones.
The seat is held by a margin of 6.2 per cent.
Topics: nrl, regional-development, sport, liberal-national-party, federal-elections, townsville-4810
First posted(File photo) Striking platinum miners march near the Anglo-American Platinum mine near Rustenburg in 2012.
A leader for striking miners at Anglo American Platinum mines in South Africa on Saturday said they would make it difficult for the company to hire new miners after the company fired 12,000 striking workers this week. Evans Ramokga threatened that Amplats would only hire new employees “over our dead bodies.”
“Nobody will come and operate these mines. If there any people we feel must go, it is them, not us,” he said, referring to the bosses of Amplats, a subsidiary of the London-listed Anglo Platinum.
The world's top producer of platinum said it fired the workers for failing to attend disciplinary hearings in the aftermath of an unlawful strike that brought its Rustenburg operations to a halt. And Mpumi Sithole, a spokeswoman for Amplats, said Saturday that the decision to fire the workers is final.
More 20,000 mineworkers at Amplats have been staging a wildcat strike since Sept. 12, demanding 12,500 rand (about $1 |
Johnson, a long-time Island advocate for the industrial hemp sector, is more optimistic about the viability of local production and the chances of seeing it grown more widely in 2016. A key barrier to farming hemp locally has been the lack of a processing plant, he said.
The likelihood of seeing such a plant on the Island is “very, very good,” he said, adding that he is dealing with potential investors.
Johnson, of TransGlobal Hemp Products Corp., said plans to grow industrial hemp on 18 acres this year fell through after the death of his business partner. Other growers were deterred by the drought.
HEMP: IT’S NOT THE SAME AS MARIJUANA
• Industrial hemp belongs to the species Cannabis sativa L. Unlike marijuana, it only contains small quantities of the
psychoactive drug delta-9
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
• Hemp is grown for its seeds and fibre.
• About 85 per cent of hemp grown in Canada is for its seeds, used in food and health products.
• Hemp fibre has been used to make clothing, ropes and paper. The grain has been stewed, roasted and milled for food. It is used in hemp oil, protein powder, and sold as hemp hearts. Oil from the seeds has been used for cosmetics, lighting, paints, varnishes, and medicinal preparations, says Agriculture Canada.
• Hemp is a source of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and contains amino acids.
• Growers must be licensed by the federal government. Rules require a hemp parcel to be a minimum of 10 acres.
• Hemp can be grown without fungicides, herbicides and pesticides.
• Hemp matures in three to four months.Haiti, Forgive Us
The tragedy of the Haitian earthquake continues to unfold, with slow delivery of aid, the horrific number of amputations performed out of desperate medical necessity, more than a million homeless, perhaps 240,000 dead, hunger, dehydration, the emergence of infections and waterborne diseases, and the approach of the rainy season, which will be followed by the hurricane season. Haiti has suffered a massive blow, an earthquake for which its infrastructure was not prepared, after decades — no, centuries — of military and economic manipulation by foreign governments, most notably the United States and France.
Haiti was a slave plantation controlled by France. In 1804, inspired by Toussaint L’Ouverture (after whom the now barely functioning airport in Port-au-Prince is named), the slaves rebelled, founding the world’s first black republic. Under military threat from France in 1825, Haiti agreed to pay reparations to France for lost “property,” including slaves that French owners lost in the rebellion. It was either agree to pay the reparations or have France invade Haiti and reimpose slavery. Many Haitians believe that original debt, which Haiti dutifully paid through World War II, committed Haiti to a future of poverty that it has never been able to escape. (While France, as part of the deal, recognized Haiti’s sovereignty, slave-owning politicians in the United States, like Thomas Jefferson, refused to recognize the black republic, afraid it would inspire a slave revolt here. The U.S. withheld formal recognition until 1862.)
The U.S. Marines occupied Haiti from 1915 until 1934. In 1956, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier took control in a military coup and declared himself president for life, initiating a period of brutal, bloody dictatorship, with U.S. support. Papa Doc died in 1971, at which point his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, took over, maintaining the same violent dictatorial control until he was driven into exile by popular revolt in 1986. Jubilee USA, a network calling for elimination of debt owed by poor countries, estimates that Baby Doc alone diverted at least $500 million in public funds to his private accounts, and that 45 percent of Haiti’s debt in recent decades was accumulated during the corrupt reign of the Duvaliers.
Loans from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) imposed “structural adjustment” conditions on Haiti, opening its economy to cheap U.S. agricultural products. Farmers, unable to compete, stopped growing rice and moved to the cities to earn low wages, if they were lucky enough to get one of the scarce sweatshop jobs. People in the highlands were driven to deforest the hills, converting wood into salable charcoal, which created an ecological crisis — destabilizing hillsides, increasing the destructiveness of earthquakes and causing landslides during the rainy season.
Haiti’s first democratically elected president was Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Catholic priest committed to the poor. He was elected in 1990, then ousted in a military coup in 1991. In 1994, with Haitian refugees flooding into Florida, the Clinton administration was forced to restore Aristide to power, but only with additional structural-adjustment demands. Aristide was re-elected in 2000, only to be deposed again in a U.S.-backed coup in 2004, Haiti’s bicentennial.
The destruction of Haiti’s rice industry, which was replaced with U.S. government-subsidized rice that Haitians refer to as “Miami rice,” as well as the sale of critical state-owned enterprises, like Haiti’s sole flour mill and cement factory, have left the country dependent on foreign trade and aid, keeping Haiti at a permanent disadvantage.
It is critical now to cancel Haiti’s ongoing foreign debt, so that the country can devote its scant resources to rebuilding and not to repaying debt. The G-7 finance ministers met in Canada this week and announced the forgiveness of the bilateral debt between member states and Haiti. But the World Bank, IMF and IDB debts remain (the IMF controversially promised a $100 million loan after the earthquake, eliciting condemnation, and has since pledged to convert it to a grant).
Earthquakes alone do not create disasters of the scale now experienced in Haiti. The wealthy nations have for too long exploited Haiti, denying it the right to develop in a secure, sovereign, sustainable way. The global outpouring of support for Haitians must be matched by long-term, unrestricted grants of aid, and immediate forgiveness of all that country’s debt. Given their role in Haiti’s plight, the United States, France and other industrialized nations should be the ones seeking forgiveness.
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 800 stations in North America. She is the author of “Breaking the Sound Barrier,” recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.
© 2010 Amy Goodman
Distributed by King Features SyndicateHyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) party surprised poll pundits by winning two seats in the recent Maharashtra elections, cornering 0.96% of votes in 24 assembly segments.
Although just a fraction, this share means MIM candidates managed to make quick inroads into the bases of bigger parties. A barrister by training from London’s Lincoln’s Inn, Owaisi’s anti-Hindutva stand helped build his image as a next-generation Muslim leader, but he is increasingly taking his fight to the bastions of the so-called secular parties.
Owaisi has shaped his politics around the credo of his father and former MP, the late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi: that Indian Muslims are a neglected lot and therefore they must empower themselves.
Mercurial, strident and sometimes seen as divisive, a descriptor he rejects, Owaisi is poised to now launch his party from Delhi, UP and West Bengal. Excerpts from an interview:
You are clearly a rising Muslim political icon. Yet you don’t like being put into the ‘Muslim’ frame. Why?
It is very wrong to say that we are a Muslim-only party. Please look at the statistics. A vote share of 0.96% across 24 assembly seats in Maharashtra means a cross-section of the people voted us. This share works out to an average of 20,000 votes in these seats. We fielded five non-Muslims candidates, apart from one Dalit. How many Muslims did the BJP field?
Fine. But you’ve always had your ear to the Muslim ground. Where do Muslims stand in terms of political choices today?
There is a great churning. Wherever I go, Muslim youth say they want a political voice. Muslims need development with dignity. The so-called secular parties have utterly failed them. Muslims have to be rescued from being hostage of these parties. They are craving political representation.
What worked in Maharashtra?
The NCP and Congress could not stop the BJP from coming to power. The Congress has given nothing to minorities there. We took a clear stand against the NCP and Congress. Sharad Pawar has said the BJP helped me. For a senior politician like Pawar, it is a ridiculous thing to say. If that is the case, why did he break with the Congress? Why now? Pawar is worried that all his MLAs will dump him for the BJP.
And now you are poised to enter other states?
My aim is not votes…rather I want to strengthen my party. UP is India’s biggest state and we have set up good bases in 20-30 districts. Bengal is another state. We will contest from both UP and Bengal. For Delhi, we are yet to take a decision.
Your formula seems to be forging a Dalit-Muslim electoral unity?
We want to take everybody along. The larger perspective matters, not such a narrow one. Of course, Dalit and Muslims, who have similar issues, must come together. But it’s not easy task.
The MIM is often seen as a divisive, polarizing party?
In the recent Maharashtra polls, we campaigned in 24 seats. There was not a single case by Election Commission against us. When I was with the UPA, I was not thought to be communal. Is it my fault that the Congress could not stop the BJP from getting 272+ seats. Nobody wants to touch me now. I’m fine with it. They will soon have to deal with me as a relevant force in their states.
PM Modi has promised development for all, including Muslims. Some say Muslims will move closer to the BJP.
All hogwash. The PM and Sangh Parivar speak in different language. PM talks about a 10-year moratorium on riots. Why not for 100 years? Yet his party raises issues like love jihad to trigger riots. PM says he has increased grants for madrassas to Rs 200 crore. People like Sakshi Maharaj say madrassas are terror hubs. Need I say more?
Rumours have it that the BJP is exploring ways build a temple at Ayodhya.
There can be no talks on Babri Masjid. The Muslim personal law board has already committed itself to a judicial verdict. We won’t let any temple to be built and if brokers among Muslims are trying to explore ways to revive talks, they will not be tolerated.
First Published: Nov 19, 2014 23:49 ISTOne of the headlines from Charlotte in the early days of the offseason program related to the size of the body of Panthers receiver Kelvin Benjamin. Now that Benjamin apparently is in shape, Panthers G.M. Dave Gettleman has a few things to say about the reaction to Benjamin’s bloat.
“This is what frustrates me with the media today,” Gettleman said recently, via Bill Voth of the website the Panthers own and operate. “They go to DEFCON 5 on everything.... Kelvin Benjamin being overweight was not a big deal. It was April 17. Can we all get a grip?”
For starters, the media doesn’t go to “DEFCON 5 on everything.” The media showcases the stories that the audience is expected to be interested in, at every given phase of the calendar. The media companies that do that the best way thrive; those that fail to write and talk about things of interest to the audience fail.
During the offseason, after players have had a fairly extended chance to eat as much and work out as little as they want, guys who show up out of shape naturally land on the radar screen. In this specific case, the media didn’t come to the conclusion about Benjamin being all about the beignets on its own. The head coach flagged the issue while talking to the media.
“He is a little heavy,” Ron Rivera said in late April. “He knows it. We’ve talked about it. We talked about what he has to do, and he’s done a great job. Am I concerned? Yes, because he is heavy. I’m going to admit that right now. But is he working hard? Absolutely. He’s been there every day and done the things we’ve asked him to do, and it’s all strictly on a voluntary basis.”
Voth curiously (or maybe not curiously, given that the Panthers employ him) failed to mention Rivera’s words. Instead, Voth pointed to media reaction to a May 23 video of Benjamin moving sluggishly and a May 24 picture of a jersey fitting Benjamin snuggishly. (That’s not a word. Yet.) That’s the irony of Gettleman’s comments and the hypocrisy of the article that came directly from the Panthers. The head coach told the media Benjamin had gotten fat; what did Gettleman and the Panthers expect?
Some would say he and they expected exactly what happened: Benjamin had a fire ignited under his enlarged ass, and he got it and the rest of his body into shape. Gettleman essentially conceded that when asked how Benjamin reacted to his mass becoming a meme.
“You tell me,” Gettleman said. “How do you think he responded?”
So, in other words, mission accomplished. Now, apparently, the Panthers are covering their own rear ends by washing their hands of any responsibility for the criticism of Benjamin by blaming it all on the media.Microsoft was forced to apologize late last night after a mistake led to some confidential and internal Windows 10 builds being released to the public. “Builds from some of our internal branches were accidentally released for PC and Mobile,” reveals Dona Sarkar, Microsoft’s head of its Windows Insiders program. “This happened because an inadvertent deployment to the engineering system that controls which builds / which rings to push out to insiders.”
Microsoft says it quickly reverted the issue and put blocks in place to ensure these development builds didn’t reach more people, but a “small portion” of Windows 10 users still received them. Worryingly, the accidental mobile build even reached retail devices outside of Microsoft’s Windows Insiders testing. If Windows 10 testers installed the mobile build it forced phones into a reboot loop and bricked the device. Testers will have to recover and wipe the device using the Windows Device Recovery Tool.
Windows 10 testers that installed the PC build, an internal Edge branch, will have to wait for Microsoft to publish a newer build or roll back using the recovery option in Windows 10 settings. “We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for being a Windows Insider,” says Sarkar. Microsoft says it won’t be releasing any new builds this week, presumably as it’s working to ensure this surprising mistake doesn’t occur again.In the 1950s it became clear that tourism and defense spending would continue to lead to more growth in Las Vegas. “Everybody was building hotels on the Strip, hammering and construction everywhere,” said Susan Berman, who grew up in Las Vegas at the time and wrote about the experience. “Between 1950 and 1958, I watched so many hotels go up… Eastern Jewish and Italian mobsters financed the hotels as usual and installed their own front men.” By 1951 the Thunderbird Hotel, the Desert Inn, and the Silver Slipper had joined the El Rancho, the New Frontier, and the Flamingo on the Strip. Then a number of new properties were built in quick succession: the Sahara (1952), the Sands (1952), the Royal Nevada (1955), the Riviera (1955), the Dunes (1955), the Hacienda (1956), the Tropicana (1957), and the Stardust (1958), in addition to off-Strip properties such as the Showboat (1954), the Fremont (1956), and the ground-breaking Moulin Rouge (1955). The mob owners were often the biggest fans of the stars they hired. Like Bugsy Siegel, they loved entertainers, and most entertainers loved working in Las Vegas. “They were great, great audiences,” said comedian Red Buttons. “You’d look forward to working, and the money was enormous. Four weeks in Las Vegas could buy you a Third World country.” Star salaries continued to climb astronomically as the casinos competed for talent, and the money only got bigger. It was a great time to be a headliner in Las Vegas. The stars had their pick of places to perform during “the lushest price war in U.S. entertainment history.” Each new hotel-casino owner sought to have high-quality entertainment and hired the best local musicians available for their in-house orchestras. They also hired entertainment directors, dancers, stagehands, costumers, and everyone else needed to put on a first-rate show. The Thunderbird, finished in 1948, opened with entertainer Nat King Cole, though he was not allowed to gamble in the hotel because of his race. The showroom enjoyed an early period of success, with patrons such as Howard Hughes and Wilbur Clark regularly reserving booths. They witnessed performances by big-name entertainers such as jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, who made her Las Vegas debut there in 1949. More celebrities began to come to Las Vegas for the shows, which continued to proliferate.
The Thunderbird Hotel features Nat King Cole, circa 1950
Wilbur Clark opened the Desert Inn on April 24, 1950, and hired Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy, actress Vivian Blaine, and the Donn Arden Dancers to entertain in the Painted Desert Showroom. At that time Las Vegas residents called it “the most brilliant social event in the history of the Strip.” The Carlton Hayes Orchestra was the house band, providing music for the showroom and dancing, and jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong was an early headliner there. This hotel was also the first in Las Vegas to feature Frank Sinatra. The new hotel was dazzling, with a spectacular room for dancing on the third floor called the Sky Room, and individual thermostats to control the air temperature in each guest room. Like Billy Wilkerson of the Flamingo, Clark was able to finish the Desert Inn only with the help of mob financing, provided by Moe Dalitz and his Cleveland associates. Mob operators who ran the clubs in Cleveland asked Donn Arden, who went on to become one of the most successful producers in Las Vegas, to come to the Desert Inn. “I felt obliged to go. They were ‘the boys’ and they paid well.” Las Vegas was still small enough for the mob owners to maintain a personal management style, in spite of the rapid growth. “The boys were gentlemen at all times to me and treated me like a Queen,” said singer Rose Marie. “It was like a family. You could go to any of the hotels, and you didn’t pay for anything. If you wanted to go to the bar and get a couple of drinks and they knew you were working the Flamingo, you’d get no check.” Comedian Shecky Greene agreed: “These guys were great. They would protect you, they would take care of you… It was a wonderful bunch of people to work for.”
Desert Inn staff, 1950
Most people who worked in the mob-run casinos and hotels were so pleased with their work environment that they turned a blind eye to the mob’s more sinister side. “I worked with a lot of management and this is by no means an apology for the behavior of some of these men in the past, but you didn’t need a contract,” said performer Alan King. “All you had to do was shake hands with one of them and that was solid.” Hollywood star Debbie Reynolds noted, “They didn’t come near you as a woman, you know what I mean? You were like their family. It was a wonderful time, and they were great bosses. I miss that loyalty, that respect. I don’t say I respect how they got the money. It’s none of my business anyway.” The musicians who worked here during this period felt respected and valued; the mob owners paid them well and treated them well. The high demand for their services was only part of the reason that good musicians in Las Vegas were so appreciated by the moneymen. The mobsters genuinely enjoyed and rewarded real talent, generously sharing the profits generated by the successful new shows. At first, the practice of changing shows every two weeks continued, and the new competition made it more difficult for talent bookers like Maxine Lewis to find top name entertainers for their showrooms. Lewis looked for talent in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, but she learned that audiences “wanted to see stars, not untried acts.” This led the showroom bookers to Hollywood, and the practice of featuring movie stars to draw the customers into their casinos. The Hollywood stars kept coming and their salaries increased exponentially. In 1953 Marlene Dietrich received the largest paycheck to date for her Las Vegas debut — $30,000 per week. Ronald Reagan made his one and only appearance in Las Vegas at the Last Frontier in 1954. In 1955 Liberace was the opening entertainment for the Riviera, the first high-rise property on the Strip. James Cashman Sr. and Liberace at The Riviera Hotel on April 20, 1955 [photo: Las Vegas News Bureau] “The Riviera was a beautiful, big hotel, and the stage was wonderful. In those days we had a 20-piece orchestra,” said Debbie Reynolds. “You didn’t have the expenses that you have today. The hotel picked up a lot of those costs in those days. But not anymore. That’s changed.” Bill Willard, the inimitable Las Vegas entertainment writer for Variety, charted the rising costs of entertainment and the difficulty of finding stars for so many showrooms. When the Sands opened in 1952, Willard wrote, To alleviate the current shortage of top name talent, Entratter [the Sands entertainment director] is planning to keep his attractions in for at least six weeks. This policy, if put into practice, will receive the acid test during summer months when Vegas jumps with heavy tourist traffic and turnover is constant. If the idea works, other hotels may follow suit. Seven plush niteries going full blast 52 weeks and hiring acts practically in wholesale quantities can put a drain on the talent market quickly. The Sands’ scheme should be a boon to many new acts seeking work, and booking for longer span will make the western trek worthwhile. Further, the multi-week pact will hasten the end of monopolistic practices on the part of bonifaces wishing to grab and hold certain big name acts to 18-month ‘no-contracts-elsewhere-on-the-Strip’ ball and chain.” The rest of the country began to take notice. Historian Larry Gragg wrote, “The arrival of so much talent in Las Vegas attracted the attention of major magazines and newspapers. In 1953, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Variety, Saturday Evening Post, Life, Look, and Time, among dozens of periodicals, published articles that noted the explosion of celebrities appearing in the showrooms.” By July of 1953 Willard was able to boast, “Never before in nitery [sic] history has such a high-priced collection of showbiz gems been placed on display in such profusion.” Visitors to Las Vegas that month could see Spike Jones at the Flamingo, Milton Berle at the Sands, Betty Hutton at the Desert Inn, Herb Shriner and the Mary Kaye Trio at the Last Frontier, Gale Storm at the Thunderbird, Vic Damone at the El Rancho, and Red Skelton at the Sahara. A bidding war had transpired for Red Skelton, who was offered a weekly contract of $25,000. Willard also noted, “Low estimate of the combined outlay comes to $160,000 per week, including supporting acts, dance lines, orchs., etc.” The rest of the country was entranced by all of the hoopla. In 1955 Joe Schoenfeld, an editor of Variety magazine, wrote to Bill Willard, “With Vegas booming constantly from an entertainment standpoint, you are on the ground to get the news of important booking more quickly than anybody. We are very interested in this and we are particularly interested in salaries, provided they are accurate and not blown up by press agents.” In response, Willard was able to point out that the outlay for entertainment had gone from budgets of $8,000 per week in 1950 to budgets of $30,000 per week by 1955. He wrote, “Some of these terpsichorean epics alone set casinos back $30,000 per week, and outlay for headline talent, although in many instance ballooned by eager-beaver pressagentry [sic], has soared to ridiculous heights in the talent battle.” The population of Las Vegas had also almost doubled since 1950: from 24,626 people to 44,750 by 1955. The casino owners were not worried about the focus on Las Vegas. According to Willard, “The gambling bosses of Las Vegas pay little attention… Even the guys who are named periodically on lists and who squirmed before the Kefauver Committee seem unconcerned. Inside their bailiwick, which is Nevada and which gives them asylum of a sort, the gambler is made to feel secure. He is a businessman and gambling is big business here.” To alleviate the pressures of constantly searching for new talent and paying the competitive salaries of the stars, some entertainment directors established long-running shows featuring the house band, dancers, and singers. In 1955 the Dunes was one of the first hotels to do this with its “Magic Carpet Revues.” Another plan put forth by several of the hotel owners was to create one booking agency responsible for hiring all of the entertainment for the Strip. “The claim is, if it works, that bidding for top name acts via big salaries would cease,” said Willard. This did not come about. Star salaries continued to climb, and many of the hotels began featuring the elaborate shows called Las Vegas Spectaculars by the late 1950s.
Singer Frankie Vaughan outside the Dunes in 1959 for Minksy’s Revue [photo: Getty]
Some of the largest of these were produced by Donn Arden at the Desert Inn and Harold Minsky at the Dunes. Minsky, part of a family dynasty that produced burlesque and vaudeville shows, was lured to Las Vegas from New York, where there was a crackdown on the so-called indecency of the Minsky productions and others like them. “Sure, I like this better than New York,” said Minsky. “Here at the Dunes, we can stage a show on a decent budget to run four months at a whack, instead of having to put a new one together every week. We can pay our performers more and rehearse them better. We can mount the whole show more lavishly. What we’re trying to put on is a full-scale big-time Broadway-type musical, but with a genuine burlesque flavor. That’s why we’ve got Pinky Lee as our star in this show.” The fiercest competition came from Jack Entratter of the Sands Hotel, whose entertainment budget was much bigger than theirs. Minsky responded to Entratter by putting the first topless showgirls on stage in 1956 for the production “Minsky Goes to Paris,” and a new tradition was born. Not to be outdone, in 1958 Arden brought the Paris production “Lido de Paris” to the Stardust. Although it was not the first French show in Las Vegas, it was produced on a much more spectacular scale than the others had been. This show (also topless) enjoyed an enormous success, running until 1991. It required six hydraulic lifts to move props, musicians, and performers thirty feet below or ten feet above the stage. When it opened, the Stardust was the world’s largest resort complex, with a thousand guest rooms. It also contained the largest casino in Las Vegas. In addition to the “Lido” show, the showroom at the Stardust hosted singer Wayne Newton for ten years. Eddie O’Neil and His Orchestra served as the house band. Some musicians referred to O’Neil as “Full-Moon Eddie,” because he was rumored to fire a band member every time there was a full moon. Donn Arden went on to become the most prolific producer in Las Vegas, presenting shows such as “Hello America” and “Jubilee!” which is still being performed today in Bally’s showroom. These Vegas spectaculars came to be a staple on the Strip, and required bigger and bigger budgets as time went on. Arden’s shows were easily recognizable by their “over-the-top costumes and sets, novelty acts, [and] special effects.” His shows also had very specific requirements for his showgirls and dancers: the women had to be at least 5 feet 8 inches tall and have “small, firm breasts,” while the men needed “tight and firm butts.” (Minsky had an even longer and more specific list of requirements for his showgirls.)
Harold Minsky, Donn Arden [photos: UNLV libraries]
Arden became known as the Master of Disaster after he staged events such as the sinking of the Titanic and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He also created the “showgirl walk.” “There’s a certain way a girl can walk,” said Arden in 1989, “particularly when you’re going across the stage. By simply twisting the foot, it swings the pelvis forward, which is suggestive and sensual. If you twist right and swing that torso, you get a revolve going in there that’s just right. It isn’t the way a woman should walk, necessarily, unless she’s a hooker. You’re selling the pelvis; that’s the Arden Walk.” The competition was intense. Minsky remarked: All you have to do is ride up and down the Strip once and look at the signs to realize how tough the competition is here. Right now, we’re competing with the Lido show at the Stardust, with Ed Sullivan and Dan Dailey and Eddie Fisher and Rosemary Clooney and George Gobel and Milton Berle and Jack Benny, to name just a few. Next month, there’ll be a whole new team of stars coming in to take their places and draw fresh customer interest. You can’t compete with a lineup like that merely on a star basis. People here are so used to stars they don’t mean much anymore. After the opening of the “Lido” show at the Stardust, Minsky raised the stakes again by featuring six nude “models.” “Here in Vegas, you’ve got to have gimmicks and you’ve got to keep them coming all the time.” The long-running shows were very stable, but not as interesting as the star room shows from a musician’s point of view. The mind-numbing boredom of playing the same material night after night was rough on many musicians, though these jobs were also well paid and usually long term, much like working on Broadway. This type of long-term work exists only in cities that attract large numbers of tourists, such as New York and Miami as well as Las Vegas, so musicians were drawn from all over the world. As the work began to multiply, great musicians with no obvious “baggage” began to come to Las Vegas to work. One musician relates the story of an entire band that quit a tour overnight so they could stay on in Las Vegas and get jobs in the hotel bands. The opportunities seemed endless, and the money was good. In addition to bandleaders O’Neil, Antonio Morelli, and Frank Sinatra, there were also orchestras led by Marvin Hamby, Bob Rite, Morris Brand, Garwood Van, Ted Veslie, Lou Basil, Cee Davidson, and Al Jahns. The addition of so many new showrooms and lounges created a need for numerous musicians, and the groups continued to expand as the budgets got larger. In a review for the El Rancho Hotel that was then featuring Vic Damone, Willard noted, “Bob Ellis [bandleader] has added three violins to his 10 afmers [members of the Musicians Union], giving a lush sound for Damone’s purring.” Many musicians welcomed the chance to get off the road and settle down in one place, to have some stability and permanence, secure in the knowledge that the most popular entertainers and headliners would all make their way to Las Vegas eventually. In an interview given around 1957, Morelli noted, “It is safe to presume that, here in Las Vegas today, we have the best organized presentation of musicians and music available in the entertainment world. It is no secret that this did not come about by accident. These men and their families have been drawn here to the Las Vegas economy from every metropolitan center in America, hopeful and ready to continue in the chosen way of life in music.” At first the musicians were the only casino employees who were not working for tips, and they had to report all of their earnings to the IRS while others were not doing so. Johnny Haig recalled, “Everybody was getting $1 an hour. Town ran on silver dollars. If you went anywhere, it was $1. Every waitress, shill, and dealer earned $1 per hour, but they could have thrown that all away because they could walk home leaning to one side from all the silver dollar tips in their pockets.” Over time the Las Vegas musicians were able to get benefits that they did not have before, such as health care and retirement pensions. New hotels meant new contracts, which attracted musicians who were both talented and relatively stable.Hull plan to have talks with Everton striker Nikica Jelavic after the two clubs agreed a fee for the Croat.
Toffees boss Roberto Martinez made it clear he would allow the 28-year-old to leave for the right price in January to boost his World Cup prospects.
"We hope we can persuade him to come here," said Hull boss Steve Bruce. "We're trying our best."
Bruce added he was still keen on West Brom striker Shane Long, but that there had only been preliminary discussions.
Jelavic goals since the start of 2013 7 Jan 2013: Scores one in a 5-1 FA Cup victory at Cheltenham 16 Mar 2013: Scores one in a 2-0 win over Manchester City 4 Jan 2014: Scores two and misses a penalty in a 4-0 FA Cup win over QPR
"We've had a conversation with West Brom about Long's availability at boardroom level but that's as far as that goes at the moment," said the ex-Sunderland manager.
"They've appointed a new manager [Pepe Mel], so I would have thought they would have to have a conversation with him, so we'll see how that develops."
Hull manager Steve Bruce has made attacking reinforcements a priority this month.
The Tigers have scored 22 goals in their 21 Premier League matches this season, with six of those coming in a 6-0 win over Fulham.
Hull's current top-scorer in the league is winger Robbie Brady, who has managed three goals.
Jelavic, who scored twice in the 4-0 FA Cup win over QPR last weekend, joined Everton from Rangers for £5.5m two years ago and scored nine goals in 13 league appearances following his arrival.
But he netted just two goals in the whole of 2013 and has fallen behind on-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku in Martinez's plans.
"I had agreement with an Niki, that if he could have an opportunity to play between now and the end of the season, and he felt it was the right one, he would be allowed to do that," said the Everton boss.
"I spoke with him and he feels it is what he needs now, to play before the opener against Brazil in the World Cup.
"I do feel there is going to be an agreement, although they are discussing the personal terms."
After joining Rangers from Rapid Vienna in 2010, he scored 36 goals in 55 matches for the Glasgow club.I wasn’t going to do another post today – youse have had two already within the past 24 hours, and there are other things which need to be done. But then I made the mistake of having a wee look at Bella Caledonia’s take on the BBCrisis, my jaw hit the floor, then continued on its downward trajectory and at the time of writing is passing through the central core of the planet on its way to the Antipodean Islands.
It was already rumoured that BBC management had decided to axe the popular Headlines programme on Radio Scotland, presented by Ken McDonald carefully avoiding any references to Swiss Tony. Today Bella Caledonia have inside information that the BBC managers in their immense wisdom, and with their sensitivities towards accusations of arseduppery at the McCorporation finely honed after a week of disasters, are going to replace Headlines with the Kezia Dugdale and Andrew Wilson Show. That Kezia Dugdale. Labour MSP for listseatshire, former aide de camp of George Foulkes, Lord of the Dance with Polis.
You’d think Kezia would be far too busy to take on a new gig at the Beeb. She’s already got a job as an MSP representing her constituents from under the Scotsman’s troll bridge. Kezia is widely believed to have had a previous career as Fifi la Bonbon, licenced troll on the pages of the Scotsman who devoted much of her time to lecturing anyone who cared to listen of the evils of homophobic nationalism and accusing everyone who disagreed with her of homophobia or racism, or both simultaneously. When she’s not trolling for Labour, Kezia burns the midnight candle writing articles for that stout supporter of the Labour party and resolute campaigner against the evils of homophobia and racism, the Daily Mail.
On the talk page of her Wikipedia entry it helpfuls informs us that the article about Kezia is of “low importance”. So’s Kezia, and if her public profile was in any way commensurate with her talents that’s how she would remain. BBC management and the Daily Mail beg to differ.
After all the ordure BBC management have caused to fall upon Pacific Quay over the past few years, and at the end of a week when they’ve sunk so low that even Nick Clegg could lecture them from the moral high ground, facing strike action and on the brink of institutional collapse, at |
You”, “I’m With You Till The end of The Line”, and possibly “Your Bucky”), and credits as similar as possible to the *actual* Captain America poster.
Today’s choice was Titanic (1997) by James Cameron.
It was my first pick, and I never wavered (even if I *might*, if time allows, work on my second and third pick, too). And the more I think about it, the better it fits. The sinking ship. The lovers separated by catastrophe.
*Here you can find my tumblr post and art for Captain America: THE FIRST AVENGER based on Gone with the Wind (1939)
You can find the art on my Society6 shop here. I decided to post here a version cropped to look as similar as possible to the Titanic poster I used as base. Buuuuuuuut S6 requires square canvas for several gadgets, so the shop contains both this version and also a second, bigger one showing more of the art (the whole helicarrier, the whole shield and other such details.)Gunmen opened fire in a busy mall in the German city of Munich on Friday evening, killing at least eight people and sending shoppers running for their lives in the third attack against civilians in Western Europe in eight days.
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Authorities told the public to get off the streets as the city - Germany's third biggest - went into lockdown with transport halted and highways sealed off.
A police spokesman said up to three gunmen were on the run after the initial shooting. The Bavarian capital was placed under a state of emergency as police hunted for them and special forces deployed in the city.
Civilians walking to safety (Photo: AFP)
"We are telling the people of Munich there are shooters on the run who are dangerous," he said. "We are urging people to stay indoors."
Police said eight people had been killed and an undetermined number wounded. A ninth body had also been found about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the scene and they were checking to see it was one of the gunmen.
Photo: Gettyimages
Munich newspaper TZ said one of the shooters was dead. German news magazine Focus said a gunman had shot himself in the head.
At the height of the incident, people in the Olympia shopping center either fled or sought to hide.
"Many shots were fired, I can't say how many but it's been a lot," said a shop worker hiding in a store room inside the mall.
Footage frrom the terror attack in Munich
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It was the third major act of violence against civilians in Western Europe in eight days. Previous attacks in France and Germany were claimed by the Islamic State militant group. A police spokesman said there was no immediate indication that it was an Islamist attack but it was being treated as a terrorist incident. A police spokesman said there was no immediate indication that it was an Islamist attack but it was being treated as a terrorist incident.
The shooting attack in Munich
XCollege Football 24/7 begins its 17 for '17 series with a look at the top contenders for the 2017 Heisman Trophy.
17. Derwin James, S, Florida State
Defensive players who maintain Heisman momentum typically do so with help from their exploits as a return specialist. So as a defensive player who doesn't return kicks, James should be considered a true dark horse of the field. Still, he's a game-changer who will play multiple roles for a national championship contender, and the Seminoles like to blitz with him, so he can impress Heisman voters not only with interceptions, but sacks as well.
16. Jalen Hurts, QB, Alabama
Were it not for Deshaun Watson's heroics, Hurts was two seconds away from the unthinkable last year: quarterbacking a perfect 15-0 season as a true freshman. Suffice it to say he's battle-tested already, but as he enters his sophomore year, his Heisman hopes depend heavily on significant improvement as a downfield passer. By extension, Hurts' Heisman campaign will also require more pass plays called. He attempted 21 or fewer passes in four starts last year. Alabama can win like that, but Hurts can't get to New York like that.
15. Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming
The Cowboys gunslinger has drawn plenty of offseason hype as a draft prospect, but can he contend for college football's most prestigious award? His talent suggests he can. His schedule suggests he can't. How does one gain Heisman traction with only two games against Power Five conference opponents? He'll need to play well -- and win -- on his biggest stages against Iowa and Oregon, and ring up huge numbers against the rest of the slate.
14. Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon
Freeman's Heisman chances are predicated upon a return to his form of 2015, when he rumbled for 1,836 yards, 17 touchdowns, and was a serious receiving threat as well. He was injured last year and wasn't the same player, but he finally began showing flashes of old with 100-yard performances in each of UO's last three games. He's a senior now, so in his final chance to impress NFL scouts, look for another big season.
13. Deondre Francois, QB, Florida State
Francois was fire-tested last year as a freshman, and threw for 3,350 yards despite taking a beating from opposing pass rushes in some of FSU's biggest games. Not all of that was on the FSU offensive line -- Francois needs to develop more awareness for getting the ball out quickly or throwing it away -- but a little improvement on both those fronts would go a long way in 2017. He also has a super chance to seize early Heisman momentum with a Week One, nationally televised date against Alabama on a neutral field.
12. Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
Not unlike Freeman, Chubb's junior season had its moments, but didn't meet expectations. At one point, he even voiced displeasure with the Bulldogs' coaching staff. From late 2014 to early 2015, Chubb ripped off 13 consecutive 100-yard games for the Bulldogs and looked like a Heisman candidate. If that Chubb returns for 13 more this fall, watch out.
11. Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State
In the Cowboys' pass-happy offensive attack, Rudolph averaged 315 yards per game last season and threw just four interceptions in 448 pass attempts. He has a premier wide receiver to target in James Washington, and he plays in a league with more than its share of weak defenses to exploit. A big performance against Oklahoma State's only noteworthy non-conference game -- at Pitt in Week Three -- would help his cause.
10. Jake Browning, QB, Washington
The Huskies' star quarterback put together a legitimate Heisman run last year, aided greatly by UW's team success, but a late-season loss to USC hurt his candidacy. He'll have plenty of help around him once again this year, and Washington is a serious threat to win the Pac-12 again. UW's non-conference schedule won't draw much attention to Browning (Week One at Rutgers, Week Two vs. Montana, Week Three vs. Fresno State), but he could easily amass 1,000 yards passing in that stretch before even taking a snap in a Pac-12 game.
9. Bo Scarbrough, RB, Alabama
The question here is whether we'll see the same Bo Scarbrough all season. Last year, he was used rather sparingly until exploding down the stretch for six postseason touchdowns, including a 180-yard playoff semifinal game against Washington. The Tide is loaded in the backfield with Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs, and shared rushing loads have a hard time sustaining Heisman momentum. A leg fracture knocked him out of the CFP title game against Clemson and his recovery meant he was limited in spring drills, but he's expected to be fully healthy this fall.
8. J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State
From an optics standpoint, Barrett's candidacy has a lot going for it. He's a fifth-year senior and the leader of a blue-blood program, and he'll get lots of national exposure from a number of high-profile games, starting with a Week Two home date vs. Oklahoma on Sept. 9. OSU's reliance on a sound running game won't allow Barrett to keep pace statistically with some other quarterback contenders, but if he makes the plays that win the Buckeyes' biggest games, he can make up for that. His rushing skills can help, too -- his worst three passing performances of the regular season last year (vs. Indiana, Michigan State and Michigan) were his best three days as a runner.
7. Luke Falk, QB, Washington State
We know Falk will light up the scoreboard in WSU's Air Raid offense, and as long as he's healthy, we know his numbers will stack higher than just about anyone's by the end of the season. When you throw for roughly 4,500 yards with remarkable consistency for two years in a row, there is no other conclusion to draw about Year Three. What's not nearly as certain is whether his team will win enough to sustain his Heisman campaign.
6. Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
The Nittany Lions will ride Barkley heavily this fall, and there's no reason not to. When we last left off with Barkley, he blistered USC for 194 yards on 25 carries in a losing Rose Bowl effort. To the extent that the Heisman has become a quarterback's award, it won't be easy for Barkley to contend. But along with Derrius Guice of LSU, he's one of two running backs who figure to have the best chance. Back-to-back October games against Michigan and Ohio State will go a long way toward determining whether Barkley makes the trip to New York as a finalist.
5. Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
Not much went right for Rosen last year, beginning with a three-interception game in a loss to Texas A&M to open the season, and ending with a midseason shoulder injury that shelved him for the remainder of the schedule. Nevertheless, he's shown enough in his season-and-a-half as a starter to foretell he has a lot in store for 2017. He'll get another shot at the Aggies -- this time at home, and without Myles Garrett breathing down his neck -- in Week One. But he draws a tough road schedule that includes Stanford, Washington and USC.
4. Derrius Guice, RB, LSU
If you only paid attention to LSU football when Leonard Fournette was healthy last year, you might not be aware that the Tigers running game was none the worse without him, or that Guice was the reason why. He managed to establish himself as one of the nation's elite backs with the window of opportunity Fournette's injuries provided, much the way Nick Chubb did in 2014 when Todd Gurley got hurt at Georgia. He finished with 1,387 yards on just 183 carries (7.6 ypc) and 15 touchdowns despite a limited role when Fournette was a go. With quarterback a perpetual question mark in Baton Rouge, if Guice doesn't contend for the Heisman, it won't be for a lack of carries.
3. Sam Darnold, QB, USC
Darnold will be the darling pick of Heisman pundits for as long as his candidacy can be argued for. He led USC's rebound from a forgettable September last fall, ripping off nine consecutive wins from Oct. 1 (vs. Arizona State) through the Rose Bowl (vs. Penn State). He has a big arm and showed uncanny poise for a redshirt freshman. This year's schedule offers him two big non-conference stages, vs. Texas and Notre Dame. He loses a talented target at WR in JuJu Smith-Schuster, but quarterbacks like Darnold make WR1s, not the other way around.
2. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
As long as the only back-to-back Heisman winner remains 42 years deep in the history books (Archie Griffin), it's hard to establish a returning winner as the favorite to repeat. Still, Jackson is the most dynamic athlete in college football and it will be no surprise if he's right back in contention for the Heisman at season's end. He accounted for 51 touchdowns last year, and anything close to that in 2017 will be a bedrock of a foundation for Heisman votes. But he sputtered down the stretch last season as Louisville's pass protection progressively weakened, and he'll have a hard time repeating if that happens again.
1. Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
One of two returning finalists (along with Jackson), Mayfield figures to post huge numbers for the Sooners this year. For one thing, the rushing tandem of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon has moved on. For another, offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley isn't afraid to put the ball in the air all day. Most Big 12 defenses will have no answer for him. It's going to be Mayfield's show, and he has the kind of charisma that Heisman winners are made of. If he goes into Columbus, Ohio, and hangs a Sept. 9 loss on Ohio State, his Heisman buzz will grow wings.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter @ChaseGoodbread.This week, Eris released their distributed software application stack. A lot of people have been wondering: what’s the point? So I dug in.
There’s (roughly) 4 parts to blockchain-based applications.
The blockchain.
The protocol.
A protocol implementation.
An interface.
—
The blockchain is the distributed ledger. (Bitcoin’s chain. Dogecoin’s chain.)
The protocol is the agreed upon “language” by the participants in a specific network to be able to work with the blockchain and its peers.
A protocol implementation is software written that directly interacts with the blockchains (committing and retrieving information). This is tied together with a network layer. Protocol implementations talk through p2p protocols, syncs blockchains, mines them, modifies them, etc. Examples are Bitcoin Core, btcd, Obelisk and so forth.
The interface is the software that “talks” to a protocol implementation to get information about the network and the blockchain.
Sometimes the interface is combined with the protocol implementation. In early Bitcoin history, this was the case, but over time, they have been split: to separate concerns. You don’t want to run memory related to the wallet interface when you aren’t using it. In some cases, they are still combined.
Combined examples: Android Wallet & MultiBit [usually SPV wallets].
Non-combined examples: Coinbase, Hive, Blockchain.info.
Both protocol implementation & Interface [don’t have to be used in conjunction]: Coinbase’s Toshi & Bitcoin Core.
Additionally, interfaces can probably be divided into 2 parts: Developer interfaces (such as Chain.com), or user interfaces (Coinbase). They are sometimes combined as well: such as Blockchain.info.
As the protocol implementations improve, increasingly, the question becomes: What does your interface look like? And how does your interface talk to the protocol implementations?
When I built Min.io with my brother early last year (don’t go to the site, I’m pretty sure it’s broken), we rolled out our own Bitcoin node (on aws), and we wrote our own server that interacted with it [handling payments and so forth]. Building it now, we would probably have used Chain.com instead. We also wrote our own Node.js wrapper to Bitcoind. Effort that should been spent on: 1) building cool shit.
Now this is where Eris comes in.
The most important is their “Decerver” [short for decentralized server]. It’s an application server [‘back-end’] that specialises in building dapps [decentralized apps].
Usually a back-end consists of a language [Python, Javascript, PHP] and the framework that processes the requests [Django, Node.js, Laravel]. Decerver uses a javascript-based scripting language called Ate that processes requests from the front-end. Ate then, with the help of several modules (that you choose), interacts with the protocol implementations.
So, compared to the usual web infrastructure, Decerver replaces your back-end so that you can more easily interact with your database [which is a blockchain]. You could build a Bitcoin wallet interface with Decerver without worrying about writing your own wrappers.
What’s the point?
Decerver provides several new functionalities that makes it easier for dapp developers (and users).
1) There is a sandbox. When interacting with Bitcoin, you don’t really have to worry that you’ll run some script that will destroy your computer. However, with more complex dapps, you must contend with the possibility that a rogue entity might embed some actions into the blockchain, that when read and executed by your app, it could be harmful (Gregory Maxwell embedded javascript in an OP_RETURN that would be harmful if not properly protected). Ethereum implements its own virtual machine. Decerver does this at the app layer.
2) It’s about decentralized distribution as well. Like “Docker for dapps”. You can clone a decerver app, run it, on your local machine and immediately use it. This is where decerver makes the most sense. The decerver app contains the front-end code and the “controller” code [ate]. You could however run a decerver like a usual server (someone uses the app remotely). In a way, it’s like Tesla’s motto. “We want to make a great car, that happens to be electric.” With the decerver, it’s an app server that happens to work decentralized as well.
Thinking bigger.
Thinking of Eris in terms of building wallets to Bitcoin is somewhat limiting and doesn’t quite explain why you would want to use it. It’s only marginally useful in that case.
Thelonius is their other product that explains the scope of their stack. Thelonious is a “moddable” blockchain. It’s taking the blockchain and stripping it into 2 areas: the data-structure, and the consensus rules. With Thelonious, the aim is to with a smart contract itself define how the blockchain functions: who gets to commit, and how, etc. A new Bitcoin-like blockchain would have rules related to saying it is PoW with SHA256.
The cool thing here is that with Thelonious you can create, for example, a blockchain that records your company’s inventories: it automatically doubles as an audit trail. The initial smart contract specifies that only certain company employees can write/change it. A company would then not need to run any additional servers or “cloud” architecture if you install thelonious chains on each employees PC, and then get them to download the interface (the decervers).
It’s an exciting space, I must tell you this. I feel they are thinking almost 5 years too far ahead. Here’s a definite business goal, especially in terms of enterprise. If you can roll this out and do immense cost savings for companies, it’s a definite winner.
In other circumstances, I feel tools such as Counterparty or OpenBazaar would benefit from this. I spent a week trying to get Dogeparty to run natively on my Mac. A decerver would smooth out a lot of this process.Walking Dead - heat reactive coffee mug - with your name on it
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By Anonymous Customer 07 Sep 2016 11:06 Color: Daryl Mug Capacity: Daryl Mug This is awesome. will be buying more for presentsWhite Nationalists' Enthusiasm For Trump Cools
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ariel Zambelich/NPR Ariel Zambelich/NPR
Next week, white nationalists like Jared Taylor will celebrate a moment they've been waiting decades to see, when Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. Members of the white nationalist movement were among the first to embrace Trump's candidacy, and they celebrated after his election.
"Jan. 20 reflects a significant defeat for egalitarian orthodoxy," Taylor says.
Taylor promotes a very different orthodoxy, one in which race is central to innate abilities and national success. He is working to build a United States explicitly for white people. Trump arguably helps this by telling supporters that they're the victims of a system rigged against them.
"I see Donald Trump as a kind of steppingstone. He is a step in the right direction in terms of understanding America and history and the world in essentially racial terms," Taylor says.
But white nationalist enthusiasm for Trump has fallen off substantially. Since the election, the so-called alt-right has splintered, and the movement now looks a lot less potent than it once appeared.
To understand that, it helps to go back to the heady days just after the election.
"It's too much winning! Could someone please just stop winning, I don't want to win anymore," Richard Spencer, who coined the term alt-right, told a room full of fellow radicals in November. Spencer said that Trump's victory had just slingshot white nationalism into the mainstream.
"And even if we're not quite in power yet we should act like it," he said.
toggle caption Ariel Zambelich/NPR
But later that day, Spencer gave another speech, a fiery one that ended with some of the audience casting off any pretense of being mainstream.
"Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!" Spencer shouted, raising his glass in a straight-arm toast to the audience.
Some in the crowd responded with enthusiastic Nazi salutes, which captured media attention.
"Right after the election, I think it was euphoria," says Kevin MacDonald, a retired evolutionary psychology professor at California State, Long Beach and another white nationalist mainstay. "But as we get into it now, there's more trepidation."
MacDonald says Trump's appointments also have rattled the movement, especially his propensity for tapping rich Wall Street bankers.
"These are globalists in general. They love free trade, they love immigration — big red flags for us," he says.
And MacDonald says he is concerned about the reliance on generals and hawkish policy leading America into another Middle East war.
"Lot of trepidation, but the big silver lining is Jeff Sessions," he says.
MacDonald hopes Sessions, Trump's nominee for attorney general, will clamp down on immigration. White nationalists also like the nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who is seen as being close to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, a darling of the alt-right.
toggle caption Ariel Zambelich/NPR
But despite its high hopes for the Trump administration, the radical right has largely gone to war with itself. Mark Potok, with the Southern Poverty Law Center, says much of what was once called the alt-right has peeled away.
"I mean look, we are talking about a movement which spends literally more time attacking one another than they do attacking their enemies," Potok says.
No one has taken more fire from his ideological kinsmen than Spencer. Like-minded radicals have disavowed the alt-right, even called Spencer an operative bent on the movement's destruction. In the media, he is always tied to those Nazi salutes.
"I think it's good to be the person talked about, even when it's negative," Spencer tells NPR. "Our ideas are entering the discourse."
But Marilyn Mayo with the Anti-Defamation League argues that the alt-right is watching its illusion of real world influence whither.
"At some point, they may have felt that they could influence policy in some way, but I think that was really a pipe dream for them because they really are a fringe movement, and they're still a fringe movement," Mayo says.
A movement that sprang from obscurity with Trump's election seems to be dropping back into the shadows even before Trump takes power.Remember Esperanto?
Okay, maybe I’m being a little unfair. Many readers, I suspect, have never heard of Esperanto — the artificially constructed language that some nineteenth and twentieth century utopians sought to turn into a universal language — so how can I expect them to remember it? The truth is that I barely remember it. Only once do I recall coming into contact with this artificial language. I have never heard anyone speak it, and to the best of my recollection I only saw it written once. During a visit to Amsterdam in 1978, I noted that the instructions for the use of public telephones (remember those?) were written in five or six different languages, Esperanto being one of them.
That one brief exposure lay buried somewhere in the recesses of my subconscious memory until roused by a recent book review in the Forward. I haven’t read the book in question, a biography of Ludwik Zamenhof, the inventor of Esperanto, and I’m not likely to read it. I already have a long list of books of higher priority that I’m trying to find the time to read — but the book review got me thinking about the role that language plays in identity.
Esperanto is supposed to be a particularly easy language to learn, having been designed with that in mind. I have no knowledge of linguistics, so I won’t venture an opinion on that. According to this book review, Zamenhof, who died in 1917, was Jewish. I hadn’t realized that Esperanto had Jewish roots but I can hardly be surprised. Jews have been in the forefront of utopian movements throughout the modern era.
Esperanto has not exactly taken the world by storm. Its advocates claim that it currently has two million speakers world wide, which is more than I would have expected. Even if that figure is accurate, the key question is how many (if any) of those speakers use Esperanto as their primary language
Eliezer Ben Yehudah, the prime mover in the revival of Hebrew as a spoken vernacular language, would have understood that distinction. Other than the restoration of Jewish sovereignty itself, the revival of Hebrew has been modern Zionism’s proudest achievement. Ben Yehudah’s decision to raise his son Bentzion speaking only Hebrew was a radical act that served as a catalyst for the nascent movement for linguistic revival.
Of course, the Hebrew language was never really dead. It had always been the language of prayer and study, and the vehicle by which Jews of diverse origins could communicate. But it had been centuries since Hebrew had been a day-to-day vernacular, and it was that facet of the language that Ben Yehuda and his contemporaries sought to revive. As explained by Naftali Tur-Sinai, who would later become the first president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, the primary ingredient for the revival of a language is the will of its speakers: “Even an artificial language which has never been, alive as Esperanto … can be made to live if only there is a recognized need for it, and a stubborn will of people to make it come alive.”
When it comes to pure “stubborn will”, nobody beats the Jews. In the course of a century in which they created a state, built an army, developed an advanced economy and made the desert bloom, the Jews of Israel somehow found the time and inner resolve to revive the Hebrew language. The result is that, even accepting the inflated figures of Esperanto’s cheerleaders, there are more speakers of Hebrew in the world today than of Esperanto — even though the world’s Jewish population, to borrow Milton Himmelfarb’s phrase, is no more than a rounding error in the Chinese census.
The speakers of Esperanto could not match the will of the early Zionists because their fundamental premise was wrong. They believed that a common language would impel people to make the entire world primary focus of their loyalty. As the continuing weakness or instability of supra national institutions keeps reminding us, the world is not ready for universal citizenship. To take an obvious example, despite concerted efforts to create a “European” identity across national boundaries, we have seen considerable blowback in numerous countries of the European Union.
The centrality of language as a focus of loyalty remains as strong as ever. The way we speak conditions the way we think. In George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, the totalitarian government was creating Newspeak, a language in which concepts such as freedom would simply not exist. If we have no way to express such concepts, then they can hardly motivate us to action. Cultural diversity is a prerequisite freedom.
Orwell did not invent that connection, nor was he the first to recognize it. In fact, the Torah beat him to it by more than three millennia, as we can see from the story of the Tower of Babel:
And they said, “Come let us build us a city, and
a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name
for ourselves” …. and the Lord said, ‘If as one
people with one language for all, this is how they
have begun to act, then nothing that they propose
to do will be out of their reach. ”
(Gen. 11:4-6, JPS translation).
Regardless of whether you view this story literally or allegorically, the message is the same. The centralization of power in the hands of human beings can be dangerous. Differences in language, far from being an obstacle to be overcome on the road to global harmony, is one of the safeguards preventing accumulation of power in too few hands. When humans become too powerful, they forget that there are limits to their power. The practical limitations created by the diversity of languages is one important barrier against the excesses of human hubris.
Those who invented Esperanto had the best of intentions, but in their eagerness to diminish armed conflict, they ignored the countervailing danger of excessive power in too few hands. Jews, from the beginning of our history, have been in the business of reminding the world that the ultimate source of power is God, not humanity. That message has not exactly made us popular, but delivering it has been our raison d’etrere– so the fact that Hebrew speakers outnumber Esperanto speakers is good news for a world that is desperately in need of some.Auschwitz Auschwitz was the largest camp established by the Germans. It was a complex of camps, including a concentration, extermination, and forced-labor camp. It was located near Cracow (Krakow), Poland. Three large camps constituted the Auschwitz camp complex: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III (Monowitz). More than one million people lost their lives at Auschwitz, nine out of ten of them Jewish. The four largest gas chambers could each hold 2,000 people at one time.
A sign over the entrance to the camp read Arbeit macht frei, which means "work makes one free." In actuality, the opposite was true. Labor became another form of genocide that the Nazis called "extermination through work."
Victims who were spared immediate death by being selected for labor were systematically stripped of their individual identities. They had their hair shaved off and a registration number tattooed on their left forearm. Men were forced to wear ragged, striped pants and jackets, and women wore work dresses. Both were issued ill-fitting work shoes, sometimes clogs. They had no change of clothing and slept in the same clothes they worked in.
Each day was a struggle for survival under unbearable conditions. Prisoners were housed in primitive barracks that had no windows and were not insulated from the heat or cold. There was no bathroom, only a bucket. Each barrack held about 36 wooden bunkbeds, and inmates were squeezed in five or six across on the wooden plank. As many as 500 inmates lodged in a single barrack.
Inmates were always hungry. Food consisted of watery soup made with rotten vegetables and meat, a few ounces of bread, a bit of margarine, tea, or a bitter drink resembling coffee. Diarrhea was common. People weakened by dehydration and hunger fell easy victim to the contagious diseases that spread through the camp.
Some inmates worked as forced laborers inside the camp, in the kitchen or as barbers, for example. Women often sorted the piles of shoes, clothes, and other prisoner belongings, which would be shipped back to Germany for use there. The storage warehouses at Auschwitz-Birkenau, located near two of the crematoria, were called "Canada," because the Poles regarded that country as a place of great riches. At Auschwitz, as at hundreds of other camps in the Reich and occupied Europe where the Germans used forced laborers, prisoners were also employed outside the camps, in coal mines and rock quarries, and on construction projects, digging tunnels and canals. Under armed guard, they shoveled snow off roads and cleared rubble from roads and towns hit during air raids. A large number of forced laborers eventually were used in factories that produced weapons and other goods that supported the German war effort. Many private companies, such as I. G. Farben and Bavarian Motor Works (BMW), which produced automobile and airplane engines, eagerly sought the use of prisoners as a source of cheap labor.
Escape from Auschwitz was almost impossible. Electrically charged barbed-wire fences surrounded both the concentration camp and the killing center. Guards, equipped with machine guns and automatic rifles, stood in the many watchtowers. The lives of the prisoners were completely controlled by their guards, who on a whim could inflict cruel punishment on them. Prisoners were also mistreated by fellow inmates who were chosen to supervise the others in return for special favors by the guards.
Cruel "medical experiments" were conducted at Auschwitz. Men, women, and children were used as subjects. SS physician Dr. Josef Mengele carried out painful and traumatic experiments on dwarfs and twins, including young children. The aim of some experiments was to find better medical treatments for German soldiers and airmen. Other experiments were aimed at improving methods of sterilizing people the Nazis considered inferior. Many people died during the experiments. Others were killed after the "research" was completed and their organs removed for further study.
Most prisoners at Auschwitz survived only a few weeks or months. Those who were too ill or too weak to work were condemned to death in the gas chambers. Some committed suicide by throwing themselves against the electric wires. Others resembled walking corpses, broken in body and spirit. Yet other inmates were determined to stay alive.
Key Dates
May 20, 1940
Auschwitz I camp opens
Auschwitz I, the main camp in the Auschwitz camp complex, is the first camp established near Oswiecim. Construction began in May 1940 in the Zasole suburb of Oswiecim, in artillery barracks formerly used by the Polish army. The camp is continuously expanded through the use of forced labor. Although Auschwitz I is primarily a concentration camp, serving a penal function, it also has a gas chamber and crematorium. An improvised gas chamber is located in the basement of the prison (Block 11). Later, a gas chamber is constructed in the crematorium.
October 8, 1941
Construction of Auschwitz II (Birkenau) begins
Construction of Auschwitz II, or Auschwitz-Birkenau, begins in Brzezinka. Of the three camps established near Oswiecim as part of the Auschwitz camp complex, Auschwitz-Birkenau has the largest prisoner population. It is divided into nine sections separated by electrified barbed-wire fences and patrolled by SS guards and dogs. The camp includes sections for women, men, Roma (Gypsies), and families deported from the Theresienstadt ghetto. Auschwitz-Birkenau plays a central role in the German plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Four large crematoria buildings are constructed between March and June 1943. Each has three components: a disrobing area, a large gas chamber, and crematorium ovens. Gassing operations continue until November 1944.
October 1942
Auschwitz III camp opens
The Germans establish Auschwitz III, also called Buna or Monowitz, in Monowice to provide forced laborers for the Buna synthetic rubber works (part of the German conglomerate I.G. Farben). I.G. Farben invested more than 700 million Reichsmarks (about 1.4 million US dollars in 1942) in Auschwitz III. Prisoners selected for forced labor are registered and tattooed with identification numbers on their left arms in Auschwitz I. They are then assigned to forced labor in Auschwitz or in one of the many subcamps attached to Auschwitz III.
January 27, 1945
Soviet army liberates Auschwitz camp complex
The Soviet army enters Auschwitz and liberates the remaining prisoners. Only a few thousand prisoners remain in the camp. Almost 60,000 prisoners, mostly Jews, were forced on a death march from the camp shortly before its liberation. During the forced evacuation of Auschwitz, prisoners were brutally mistreated and many were killed. SS guards shot anyone who fell behind. During its brief existence, nearly 1 million Jews were killed in Auschwitz. Other victims included between 70,000 and 74,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma (Gypsies), and about 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war.CBS NEWS -- A JetBlue passenger says the airline has apologized to her after gate agents at Logan Airport forced her to change her shorts because they were too short, CBS Boston reports.
The woman from Seattle, a burlesque performer who goes by the name Maggie McMuffin, told CBS station KIRO-TV she was stopped after she tried to |
them. There are a lot within the present political framework and the government's framework that can be done...but one thing that is clearly borne in mind is that no steps should be taken that sends contrary signals.
"Therefore with all kinds of ideas, big and small, one has to pursue in one direction and that's what the present government is trying to do and I am quite certain that its only a matter of time that the ground results start reflecting on the cumulative effects of these steps," he added.?
"People are now getting convinced that India is a place to invest in."
Criticising the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's move to introduce retrospective taxation, Jaitley said: "Retrospective tax was a bad idea which damaged the economy."
Jaitley's statements came on a day the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex breached the 28,000-mark for the first time.
On India blocking the trade facilitation agreement at the World Trade Organization, Jaitley said the government is not opposed to the pact.
"This appears so because of the unreasonable positioning by some developed countries," he said.
All India is asking for is the "peace clause" on food subsidies to continue till a permanent settlement on the issue is found.
(With inputs from PTI)
Also read: Pak has to make a conscious choice of peace with India: Jaitley
First Published: Nov 05, 2014 11:58 ISTLos Angeles is considering a ban on the cultivation, sale and distribution of genetically modified organisms, which would make the city the largest GMO-free zone in the US.
Los Angeles City Councilmen Paul Koretz and Mitch O’Farrell introduced Friday a motion to curb growth and proliferation of GMO seeds and plants within the city.
The councilmen said the proposal aims to protect local gardens and city-grown food from future contamination from GMO seeds. The motion would not impact the sale of food containing GMO ingredients, however.
GMO seeds are mostly used only by large-scale farming operations, of which none exists in Los Angeles city.
"The pending ordinance would be symbolic more than anything else, but we do feel it's an important step to have the second-largest city in the nation declare itself as against genetically modified seeds," said head of Learning Garden and Seed Library of LA David King, who assisted in creating the motion.
King told The Huffington Post that if GMO seeds begin to be marketed to smaller farmers, the ban would be in place to protect home-grown food.
O’Farrell said suspicions that powerful new pesticides - incorporated into plant DNA via genetic engineering - have devastated worldwide honeybee populations by 40 to 50 percent in 2012 is the “canary in the coal mine” for GMOs. California’s almond crop, which supplies 80 percent of US almonds, has fallen on tough times given almonds rely so much on bees.
“A growing number of problems are being traced to GMOs," Koretz said in a statement. He cited examples like "the evolution of'superbug' insects which are growing immune to the pesticides engineered within GMO crops" and "'seed drift' (for example the recent finding of GMO-pollinated wheat growing in an Oregon farmer’s field)."
Some smaller US localities have banned the cultivation of GMOs, but LA would be by far the biggest US city to do so.
Genetic engineering on plants, for example, occurs when a gene from another plant species, bacterium or virus is inserted into the organism's DNA.
An international group of over 90 scientists, academics and physicians released a statement early this week saying there is no scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs for humans, as proponents like Monsanto attest, and that any GMO cultivation should take internationally-approved precautions.
“The claim that it does exist is misleading and misrepresents the currently available scientific evidence and the broad diversity of opinion among scientists on this issue,” the statement said.
“Moreover, the claim encourages a climate of complacency that could lead to a lack of regulatory and scientific rigour and appropriate caution, potentially endangering the health of humans, animals, and the environment.”
A public effort to require all GMO foods and seeds to be labeled as such throughout the entire state of California failed a year ago. Opponents of Proposition 37 - like Monsanto and Kraft - helped donate around $46 million to the cause against labeling. Supporters of labeling raised just over $9 million in that defeat.
Voters in Washington State will consider a labeling requirement next month. Opponents of Initiative 522 - led by questionable fundraising tactics by industry trade group Grocery Manufacturers Association - have pumped $17 million into the effort to defeat labeling. Supporters have raised over $5 million.
A lawsuit filed by the state against the GMA claimed that the group violated campaign disclosure laws, and forced it to reveal donors to its “Defense of Brands Strategic Account.”
Out of the 34 companies who doled out over $7.2 million into the initiative the top three were PepsiCo, which contributed $1.6 million, and Nestle USA, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Co., which spent over $1 million each.GATE entrance is an engineering based examination conducting every year for all branches of engineering students for checking his or her ability in engineering students for the admission of post graduation as well as the scores will have opted for engineering job purposes also. However, in this year GATE Score will be concerned in the field of MS studies or higher studies in abroad countries for choosing eligible better engineering students for the university.
GATE 2017 or says Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering *2017* Organizing Institute is Indian Institute of Technology rookee. However, In this year GATE 2017 Result be declaring on the march last week on any date for all the branches who were applied for the qualifying examination for engineering.
GATE Answer keys and Cut off was already declared by the board in the previous day and in about 4 module answer key for a single engineering paper for an aspirant.There is no change in result date if the board once announces the date regarding the result. Candidate need to stay updated with the login page of GATE 2017 with the respective register number provided at the initial stage.North Sea Platform Down Manned As Lights Go Out
North Sea Platform Down Manned As Lights Go Out
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North Sea platform down manned as lights go out, after suffering a complete power failure, according to operators Talisman Sinopec Energy.
The UK registered production company, a joint venture between Spanish Repsol and China’s Sinopec, confined the news stating that the incident occurred onboard the Clyde platform.
North Sea Platform Down Manned
A Talisman Sinopec spokesman said: ”We initiated a precautionary downman of non-essential personnel from the Clyde platform following loss of power at approximately 3pm on Tuesday 16th February.”
Adding: “An investigation is underway and work is being carried out to re-establish power.”
Talisman confirmed that 103 offshore workers have been evacuated out of a total of 178. The remaining 75 workers are deemed essential personnel for the safety of the platform and will be required as part of the efforts to get power restarted.
Clyde Platform Safety
In January 2015 the UK HSE hit Talisman Sinopec with an improvement notice after finding more than 180 safety critical work orders outstanding on the installation.
At the time a spokesman for Talisman said: “The safe operation of all TSEUK sites is our number one priority.”
“The facility remains fully operational and the safety of all those on-board is not compromised by the matter identified by the HSE.”
Clyde Platform
The Clyde platform is located in the UK sector of the North Sea, approximately 175 miles (282km) offshore Aberdeen. Of steel jacket design, Clyde was fabricated and installed in 1986, with first oil produced in 1987.
The Clyde platform is powered by seven, 3.7 mega watt, fuel gas / diesel oil turbine generators.
Clyde is a joint venture between Talisman Sinopec (operator) 95% and First Oil 5%.Chances are you've heard of Alt-J or could recognize several of their hit songs currently being played on every indie rock station. What you may not know is that their song Taro was written about the first female war photojournalist and her life partner who both died doing what they love.
The English rock group Alt-J was by far my favorite music group of 2013. Alt J, which literally is a computer command for the mathematical symbol Delta, mixes together multiple genres and is best described as "geek rock." Alt J made it big off of their first and only album "An Awesome Wave," which should have just been named "An Awesome Album." As I listened to the album over and over I still had almost no idea what front man Joe Newman was saying in some of the songs. This wasn't because the lyrics were so deep, it was simply becuase it sounds like he isn't speaking English in a lot of the songs. Further investigation was indeed needed.
So I did a little bit of research and found that the song "Taro" describes the life of Gerda Taro and her life partner Robert Capa who both died separately covering wars in the mid 20th century. Gerda died during Battle of Brunete on July 26, 1937 while Robert died several years later in 1954 by stepping on a land mine. The song Taro describes the events and the reunion of the two in the afterlife. Click on the links of their names for their full biography.
Who doesn't love a good mid 20th century photographer's love story?
Lyrics of "Taro," from the Album "An Awesome Wave:"
Indochina, Capa jumps Jeep, two feet creep up the road
To photo, to record meat lumps and war,
They advance as does his chance – very yellow white flash.
A violent wrench grips mass, rips light, tears limbs like rags,
Burst so high finally Capa lands,
Mine is a watery pit. Painless with immense distance
From medic from colleague, friend, enemy, foe, him five yards from his leg,
From you Taro.
Do not spray into eyes – I have sprayed you into my eyes.
3:10 pm, Capa pends death, quivers, last rattles, last chokes
All colours and cares glaze to grey, shrivelled and stricken to dots,
Left hand grasps what the body grasps not – le photographe est mort.
3.1415, alive no longer my amour, faded for home May of ‘54
Doors open like arms my love, Painless with a great closeness
To Capa, to Capa Capa dark after nothing, re-united with his leg and with you, Taro.
Do not spray into eyes – I have sprayed you into my eyes.
Hey Taro!
-end-
There currently is no music video to Taro, but are several very well done and beautifully shot videos below.As Lois Lerner attempts to garner the public’s sympathy and a sealing of her testimony in a federal case looking into the targeting of political opponents during the Obama Administration, new reports now suggest that the House of Representatives will recommend the Department of Justice (DOJ) file criminal charges against her. Lerner is the former IRS Exempt Organizations Director and, as such, she is the central player in the pending explosion of the Obama era IRS scandal.
The IRS targeting scandal of profiling and harassing conservative political groups began in March 2010, shortly after the January 2010 Citizens United case was decided by the Supreme Court. No Tea Party applications were approved for the next 27 months, while numerous liberal groups were routinely cleared.
The True the Vote case began in July 2010 and was a particularly egregious one, focusing on a local Texas Tea Party group and its founder, Catherine Englebrecht. In this case the initial IRS investigation triggered additional visits from the FBI, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Ominously, the DOJ was directly involved at a high level in the IRS scandal starting as early as October 2010 when the head of Justice’s Election Crimes Branch, Richard Pilger, met with Lois Lerner. Pilger subsequently told House investigators that the meeting was requested by Jack Smith, the director of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section. It took a Judicial Watch lawsuit to make this information public in December 2014. Further DOJ conflicts-of-interest concerns arose in related IRS scandal issues.
Lerner’s hard drive crashed in June 2011 and was destroyed by the IRS. The IRS did not look for her subpoenaed emails in five other areas—her Blackberry, the email server, the backup email server, the loaner laptop, and the backup tapes, causing 24,000 emails to be lost. Her Blackberry was destroyed about one year later, after a Congressional inquiry was underway and without the IRS making any attempt to recover any of those emails. Eight months after Congress requested all Lerner emails and one month after the IRS told Congress they were missing some emails, the IRS “accidentally” erased 422 backup tapes that may have contained those emails. Emails of up to 20 other related IRS officials suffered similar crashes around that time.
The staff of Democratic Ranking Member Elijah Cummings of the House Oversight Committee engaged in email communications with the IRS between August 2012 and January 2013 about True the Vote, without disclosing any of this to the majority members or staff. Both the IRS and Cummings asked for similar information from True the Vote, suggesting coordination and inappropriate sharing of confidential tax information. Cummings denied this contact in spite of email evidence to the contrary.
(An anecdote: After initially applying in July 2011 under the name “Media Trackers” and still having no clearance from the IRS’s Cincinnati office as of September 2012, an applicant filed under a new, more liberal sounding name “Greenhouse Solutions,” in December 2012 and was approved in 3 weeks.)
The Treasury Department Inspector General’s (IG) May 14, 2013 report found that the “IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions instead of indications of potential political campaign intervention.” Ineffective management was discovered to have been guilty of three things:
“allow[ing] inappropriate criteria to be developed and stay in place for more than 18 months,” thereby causing “substantial delays in processing certain applications, and” “allow[ing] unnecessary information requests to be issued.”
The IG report also stated these efforts began only weeks after the Citizens United court decision.
The highly invasive, Stasi-like questions asked by the IRS in the application process for targeted groups can be found here.
Lerner acknowledged publicly the targeting for the first time in response to a planted question on May 10, 2013, four days before the IG report was issued.
Lois Lerner received bonuses totaling $129,000 for 2010-2012. Her bosses, who awarded them, submitted their retirement notices within 48 hours of the IG report in May 2013 while Lerner retired with a full pension in September 2013.
The DOJ attorney assigned in January 2014 to investigate the IRS targeting scandal was an Obama and Democratic National Committee (DNC) donor, creating a conflict-of-interest from the very beginning. Given the conflict, Judicial Watch sought information, via an FOIA request, on how many hours the attorney spent on the case but was stonewalled.
Around the same time, Obama said in December 2013 that the IRS scandal was only due to a “bureaucratic…list” drawn up in “an office in Cincinnati” and said, in February 2014, that the IRS targeting scandal had “not even a smidgen of corruption.”
Even in the wake of the raised eyebrows from the 2012 election, the Treasury Department and IRS introduced a new rule around Thanksgiving 2013 that would re-categorize as “political” a whole host of activities previously categorized as “educational”—going all-in for a time to keep it in place through omnibus negotiations. At the time, Kimberly Strassel reported that Treasury, “appears to have reverse-engineered the carefully tailored rule—combing through the list of previously targeted tea party groups, compiling a list of their main activities and then restricting those functions.” This rule was so important to House Democrats that they even declined to negotiate it out in exchange for increased International Monetary Fund (IMF) funding. As Strassel noted at the time, this seemed like a rather big sacrifice for them to make for what they claimed was a mere bureaucratic procedural “rule.”
Federal prosecutors, who report to the same DOJ that met with Lois Lerner back in October 2010, decided in April 2015 not to prosecute her for contempt of Congress, setting a bad precedent.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz’s July 27, 2015 letter to President Obama is a lengthy indictment of the corruption that has pervaded the IRS targeting scandal, starting at the top. More specifically, the letter states that IRS Commissioner John Koskinen failed to comply with Congressional subpoenas; testify truthfully; preserve records; and to stop the IRS targeting campaign of political opponents. These failures ultimately led to him being censured by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; all after his predecessor visited the White House 157 times, far more than any other Cabinet member.
In June 2016, over three years after the IRS admitted to targeting tea party groups, the IRS released a list of organization subjected to greater scrutiny. The number—426—was much larger than the 298 previously identified in the May 2013 IG report.
Fast forward to 2015 – 2017, five to seven years from the beginning of this scandal to see how the IRS continues to obstruct and resist:
July 2015 : Five years later, a Judge threatens to hold the IRS Commissioner and IRS attorneys in contempt for failure to release 1,800 uncovered Lerner emails.
July 2015 : Five years later, the GAO reports that the IRS may still be targeting conservative non-profits.
March 2016 : Six years later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6 th Circuit issued an opinion with blistering words, including these –
Yet in this lawsuit the IRS has only compounded the conduct that gave rise to it. The plaintiffs seek damages on behalf of themselves and other groups whose applications the IRS treated in the manner described by the Inspector General. The lawsuit has progressed as slowly as the underlying applications themselves: at every turn the IRS has resisted the plaintiffs’ requests for information regarding the IRS’s treatment of the plaintiff class, eventually to the open frustration of the district court. At issue here are IRS “Be On the Lookout” lists of organizations allegedly targeted for unfavorable treatment because of their political beliefs. Those organizations in turn make up the plaintiff class. The district court ordered production of those lists, and did so again over an IRS motion to reconsider. Yet, almost a year later, the IRS still has not complied with the court’s orders. Instead the IRS now seeks from this court a writ of mandamus, an extraordinary remedy reserved to correct only the clearest abuses of power by a district court. We deny the petition.
August 2016 : Over six years later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2 nd District issued an opinion that Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute Center for Constitutional Studies described as:
…a blistering rebuke to the IRS and its defenders…It takes on squarely the defense the IRS had raised in this case which is, ‘Whatever happened, we promise not to do it again’….The court goes through and systematically takes that apart in a way that’s very damaging to the IRS’s overall defense.
The Court stated: “it is absurd to suggest that the effect of the IRS’s unlawful conduct…has been eradicated” when the two conservative groups in question still had their delayed applications pending before the IRS.
November 2016 : Over six years later, another federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against the IRS based on “strong evidence of viewpoint discrimination by the agency.” In response The Wall Street Journal editorialized,
According to the Treasury report, the IRS’s use of targeting criteria stopped in May [2012]. [Yet] In September 2016, when the litigation had already begun, the IRS sent a three-page questionnaire asking the group to provide extensive documentation on expenses like “salaries, administrative, overhead, fundraising and... volunteer as well as employee hours,” not to mention minutiae on its voter drives and voter guides. If the group hosts a speaker, the IRS asks whether it extends “an equal opportunity to participate to speakers on behalf of other political candidates seeking the same office.
March 2017 : Seven years later, a study showed that the IRS rule which allowed targeting in the first place remains in the IRS handbook.
March/April 2017 : Seven years later, the IRS reported it had discovered 6,924 newly identified documents in response to a 2015 Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit that presumably were not turned over to Congress during earlier investigations. One month later, the first 695 pages were made public.
The difference between Obama and Nixon on political enemies? Nixon’s IRS commissioner refused to target political enemies.
Still think the 2010-2012 IRS targeting scandal and the doubling down in 2013-2014 was a series of random events, devoid of malicious intent? That there is not something structurally wrong at the IRS when years of public scrutiny by Congress and the courts still do not alter many practices? Do you think that swapping out a few political appointees will alter existing incentives and stop this kind of behavior when surprises are still coming out seven years later?
The IRS targeting was an intentional chaos strategy in action. Chaos creates uncertainty, uncertainty creates a vacuum, and a vacuum creates opportunities for bad people to grab political power.
As Investor’s Business Daily argued in one of their editorials, “IRS officials now know they can go after any political opponent they want, ruin them any way they wish, swing an election—as occurred with Lerner’s actions—and get away with it.”Bootloader Unlock Codes for the LG V30 (H930/H930G Models) are Now Available
The last update to LG’s bootloader unlock program added the unlocked US model of the LG G6 (US997). Since then, the LG V30 has been announced, and released in select markets. It still hasn’t seen a wider roll-out yet, but it has been available for more than a month in markets such as the US. However, development for the device hasn’t started yet, because of one simple reason: there was no official bootloader unlock available, up until now.
LG has added the H930 and the H930G models of the LG V30 to its bootloader unlock program. The H930 is the unlocked European variant, while the H930G is an Italy-only model. Both of them are single SIM variants of the V30. Owners of these variants of the V30 can now head over to LG’s site and get the bootloader unlock codes.
Unlocking the bootloader allows custom recoveries such as TWRP to be flashed. Developers have already started work on getting TWRP up and running. An alpha build of TWRP has been released by XDA Recognized Developer jcadduono. The developer says that things like OTG storage, MTP and ADB have been confirmed to work, but other things such as backup / restore and SuperSU haven’t been tested yet. Also, he notes that the proprietary encryption on LG’s stock ROMs will probably never work.
Releasing the bootloader unlock codes means that, potentially, LG V30 owners could have the chance to flash AOSP custom ROMs such as LineageOS in the future. However, it’s currently too early to make bold predictions, and we’re yet to see how the story of the V30’s development will unfold. If the device gets popular among developers, then it’s good news for all parties involved, especially for enthusiast users.
It’s worth noting that LG still hasn’t added the unlocked US model of the V30 (US998) to the bootloader unlock program. As the V20 and the G6’s unlocked US models were eventually added, we expect to see LG add the US unlocked V30 model to the program in the near future. However, owners of US carrier variants or regional dual-SIM variants of the V30 are out of luck.
Source: LG DeveloperVia: XDA ForumsSource 2: XDA ForumsA 74-year-old woman tasked with opening envelopes sent by Miami-Dade County voters with their completed mail ballots was arrested Friday, Oct. 28, 2016, after co-workers caught her illegally marking ballots, resulting in an unknown — but small — number of fraudulent votes being cast for mayoral candidate Raquel Regalado.
Investigators linked Gladys Coego, a temporary worker for the county elections department, to two fraudulent votes, but they suspect from witness testimony that she submitted several more.
Coego, of Westchester, turned herself in to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Friday morning. She was charged with two felony counts of marking another person’s ballot. Coego was released after posting a $10,000 bond.
In a separate election-fraud case, authorities also arrested a second woman Friday on charges of unlawfully filling out voter-registration forms on behalf of United for Care, the campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Florida.
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The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office accused Tomika Curgil, 33, of filling out forms for five people without their consent. She also submitted at least 15 forms for people who apparently don’t exist — and several forms for people who are dead.
Police officers arrested Curgil at her Liberty City home Friday morning and charged her with five felony counts of submitting false voter-registration information. Her bond was set at $125,000.
“Our law enforcement effort against these election law violators was swift and resulted in an immediate arrest of the wrongdoers,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle, a Democrat, said in a statement. “The elections department was quick to detect and report these violations to our task force.
“Anyone who attempts to undermine the democratic process should recognize that there is an enforcement partnership between the elections department and our prosecution task force in place to thwart such efforts and arrest those involved. Now we need to move forward with the election.”
The cases were investigated by her office’s public corruption task force, which comprises police officers from several jurisdictions, including Miami-Dade, Miami, Miami Beach, Doral and the Miami-Dade school district. The task force is headed by prosecutor Tim VanderGiesen.
The arrests come as Republican Donald Trump has claimed the presidential election is “rigged” to favor Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. There is no evidence of the widespread, systematic election fraud that would be required to swing a national election, though the Miami-Dade arrests show small, isolated cases of perpetrated or attempted fraud exist.
Coego’s job was to remove mail ballots from envelopes, count the number of pages and check for any tears or stains before someone else introduced them into an optical scanner to tabulate the votes. Miami-Dade started tallying mail ballots Monday, as allowed by Florida law.
According to Coego’s arrest affidavit, she sat by herself behind a back table in a room with about 80 other workers. Another temp worker, identified as “S. Tremmel,” saw her illicitly mark three ballots Tuesday, pulling a black pen out of her purse each time. She “would hide the pen in her purse whenever a supervisor or other employee came near,” Tremmel told investigators.
At first, Tremmel said he was unsure of what he had seen, but after the third time, he reported Coego to Javier Vazquez, an elections computer technician, who in turn contacted a supervisor, Tabulation Manager LaRhonda Wimberly. She covertly watched Coego and “after only a short time, she observed Coego take a black pen from her purse and begin to mark a ballot.” Wimberly confronted Coego, confiscated the ballot and escorted Coego out of the room.
The confiscated ballot had been filled with blue ink — except for a single mark in black for Regalado for mayor. Deputy Elections Director Rosy Pastrana examined all the ballots that had been in Coego’s possession since Monday and found an unspecified number “that appeared to have been altered” because only the Regalado bubble had been filled out in black.
Coego admitted what she had done, but what she actually said has been redacted from the affidavit. She denied any connection to Regalado, and Regalado denied any connection to her.
“I don’t know this person. It has nothing to do with me,” Regalado told the Miami Herald shortly after news of the arrests broke. Regalado said she had learned of the busts Friday morning. “We’ve looked into it. The police have looked into it. There are no ties.”
A man who answered Coego’s door Friday morning and identified himself as her son-in-law would not give his name. He described Coego as a grandmother. “I don’t have anything else to say,” he said, asking for privacy.
Coego does not appear to have contributed to or been paid by any Miami-Dade or Florida candidate, according to county and state campaign-finance records. She is registered without party affiliation.
Regalado, a Republican, is running for the nonpartisan mayor’s post against incumbent Carlos Gimenez, who is also a Republican. As strong mayor, Gimenez appointed Elections Supervisor Christina White and is ultimately in charge of her department.
Since Tuesday, White said she has added more supervisors and more security guards to monitor the ballot-opening. Workers who had previously been banned from putting personal items on the table with the ballots will no longer be able to keep any personal items within reach.
“I want our voters to remain confident because our procedures clearly work,” White said. “The safeguards that we have in place to patch these things have proven successful. They should remain confident that their vote is going to count as they intended.”
On Thursday, Regalado sued to boot Gimenez off the ballot, contending he should be disqualified because he initially wrote the wrong date on his candidate-qualifying check. She said Friday that the arrests were further evidence that Gimenez has done a poor job overseeing the elections department, which she contends is plagued by irregularities.
Gimenez scoffed at the suggestion, saying the elections department and public corruption unit made “a great catch.”
“I’m happy that they did catch it, and that these two individuals will be brought to justice,” he said. Because he is a candidate, Gimenez said he is leaving any additional controls to White and Deputy Mayor Alina Hudak.
He added that he is not worried about the election result.
“We think that she confessed to bubbling in Raquel Regalado on five ballots that were under-voted,” Gimenez said. “I don’t believe that’s going to have much of an effect on the race.”
A recent poll showed Gimenez beating Regalado, a sitting Miami-Dade school board member and the daughter of Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, by 22 percentage points.
In the second fraud case, Curgil ostensibly registered voters for People United for Medical Marijuana, the political committee financing the “Yes” campaign for Amendment 2. On Oct. 12, according to Curgil’s arrest affidavit, the elections department flagged one of Curgil’s batches of forms as suspicious because all the registrations appeared to have been filled out and signed by the same person.
“In some cases we were seeing that these people were already in the system but had a status of ‘deceased,’” White said.
The fraudulent forms had been initialed “TC.”
Investigators placed Curgil, a Democrat, under surveillance on Oct. 18, the last day to register. After dropping off her kids at school, Curgil stayed home all day. Investigators didn’t see her sign anyone up, though they did see her twice turn over forms to two other women working for the campaign. One of them, Jennifer Jean, the campaign’s deputy regional manager, dropped off the forms at the elections department.
Curgil had initialed 22 of the forms. Seven contained the names of real people. The names on the remaining 15 appeared to have been invented.
Investigators reached five of the seven real people listed. None had any idea the forms had been submitted on their behalf. Four of them were already registered. One was a felon barred from voting.
On Wednesday, investigators confronted Curgil. She confirmed the applications had come from her, but said she didn’t remember working Oct. 18. The affidavit shows she “admitted” to something, but those details have been redacted.
“Curgil denied signing the voter registration applications in question in the signature box designated to be signed by the applicant,” the affidavit says.
A man who answered the door at Curgil’s maroon-and-beige stucco home in Liberty City said her family wouldn’t discuss her arrest.
Like Coego, Curgil’s name does not appear as a contributor or payee on county or state campaign-finance databases.
The medical-marijuana campaign paid canvassers by the hour, not by the form, campaign manager Ben Pollara said, but workers were expected to meet certain targets to be hired week after week.
“We’ve submitted a little more than 15,000 forms that we believe to be good voter registrations” across the state, Pollara said. “Then we submitted another few thousand voided that we believed not to be good but that we were legally obligated to submit.”
Florida law requires forms to be turned in once they’ve been filled out, even if campaigns suspect the information to be wrong. Some marijuana campaign canvassers were fired for submitting bad forms, according to Pollara, who added the campaign reached out to prosecutors Friday to offer any needed cooperation.
Every time people return VRs to their managers, there’s a process in place where the managers would check them for having similar handwriting or signatures, would check them against the existing voter file,” he said. “But some bad ones slip through the cracks.”
Miami Herald staff writers Kyra Gurney, Douglas Hanks and David Smiley contributed to this report.The creators of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story couldn’t make a film to satisfy the die-hard fans of Star Wars. That gathering of people, while vast, isn’t the only crowd. This is the essence of what has made Rogue One the achievement that it is. It figured out how to straddle both universes, and in the process it gave us the best prequel film in the series. Here’s why…
1. It’s only a prequel for namesake
A major discussion around Rogue One is whether this film is truly a prequel. Many individuals say that it isn’t, while others pronounce that it is. I for one imagine that it is, in any case, you could take out the greatest things that associate it to Episode 4 and you would still have a tremendous film. Amongst one of them is Senator Bail Organa. He figured noticeably in the official Star Wars Prequel trilogy. His presence in Rogue One is an immediate connection to those movies. It further embeds Rogue One in that course of events. Add to this the cameo by Princess Leia toward the end of the film, and Grand Moff Tarkin’s role, and it genuinely seems as though we have a 5 hour rendition of Episode 4. What isolates Rogue One and makes it better than the prequel trilogy is that it needn’t bother with the Star Wars course of events. It needn’t bother with those characters to be a superior film. With the prequels it always felt like we were sitting tight to something to happen. However, Rogue One is continually moving and that’s the beauty.
2. Rogue One is not bound by principles of the prequel trilogy
I delighted in the way that Rogue One kicked the prequel trilogy customs and broke new ground while doing it. We require these standalone movies to not be bound by rules from the movies in the trilogy. Why? That’s simply because it has characters like Jyn Erso, Saw Gerrera, Cassian Andor, ChirrutImwe and numerous others exist.
Next PageFor the Raiders’ fourth touchdown of the day, it wasn’t running backs Marshawn Lynch, Jalen Richard, or DeAndré Washington who rushed for paydirt, it was a wide receiver who took the handoff. This touchdown in particular showed the fact that Patterson can do it all, and make you pay for it, from a variety of positions on the football field.
“When [Offensive Coordinator] Todd [Downing] called in the play, I was just excited because you know we been talking about it all week,” Patterson said when asked about his touchdown Sunday. “You know we worked on it all week. They said we could get a touchdown and that’s what we did. We executed. It starts in practice and to come in here just feeling it out and it felt good to get in the end zone for the first time.”
In an offense with so many versatile weapons, Offensive Coordinator Todd Downing has a plethora of players he can feature on any given day. While the group has been successful thus far – the Raiders are currently fourth overall in offensive yards per game (384.5) and fifth in rushing yards per game (144.5) – one of the challenges is finding a way to spread the ball around.
“I was just thinking on the sideline, oh my god, we have so many weapons,” Patterson said yesterday when asked about the offense. “Sky is the limit for these guys, for us, and being part of this organization it’s amazing. I’m glad I’m here, it feels good and you know there is weapons all around the board.”
To some this might be difficult, but when you have a player like Patterson, who’s able to do a variety of things, he makes it easy.
“I think he’s an exciting football player,” Head Coach Jack Del Rio said postgame. “That was an example of some of the things we think we can do with him… He covers punts. He’s the gunner… He’s like a Swiss army knife.”Text Messages Art: SMS Conversations
We all Text Message our friends and family. We may have tried to ignore it, stay away from it, or curse it, but the SMS art has creeped up and became an intricate part of our daily lives.
The following is a list of 19 different Text Messages from separate SMS conversations that were embroidered and turned into art. The great thing is not only the text message is embroidered, the font art is apparent, the message icon is included, the time of the SMS and even the reception and battery bar.
To keep it somewhat organized, I added the entire 19 Text Messages listed in order of time, but it is not necessarily the correct order. Unfortunately the Yadda Yadda Yadda is not included.
Thanks to our friends GingerAnyhow for all their images and fun contact.
Note: at least one uses profanity…so precious eyes beware.
1:29 AM
2:03 AM
2:26 AM
2:55 AM
3:16 AM
4:48 AM
12:57 PM
1 |
.”
Researchers predict that Mongolia’s dams would have significant ecological effects on Lake Baikal, including disrupting the flow of water and sediment into the lake, effecting the quality of breeding sites for birds and fish, and blocking migration routes.
“This is likely to be yet another step toward biotic homogenization, where widely distributed, cosmopolitan species like pike increase while unique endemic species like taimen lose ground,” said Olaf Jensen, an aquatic ecologist at Rutgers University. “It’s kind of the ecological equivalent of Starbucks replacing the local bodega.”
Heeding such warnings, China, which is funding the largest of the projects, in July froze all dam construction until Mongolia and Russia jointly assess potential effects on the lake. “This is important, but just a small step in the right direction,” Dr. Simonov said.CLOSE U.S. President Donald Trump says a suspected chemical attack by the Syrian government against civilians "crossed a lot of lines." (April 5) AP
President Trump, King Abdullah, first lady Melania Trump and Queen Rania. (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)
WASHINGTON — After weeks of resisting calls for a tougher stance against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, President Trump Wednesday denounced Syria for a chemical weapons attack and implied he would adopt a new policy toward Syria.
Trump did not provide any specifics about what he might do, and his options against Syria remain limited. But two key members of the cabinet said Russia bore the responsibility.
During an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Ambassador Nikki Haley said Russia was complicit by choosing to "close their eyes to this barbarity."
"How many more children have to die before Russia cares?" Haley asked. "The U.S. sees yesterday's attack as a disgrace at the highest level — an assurance that humanity means nothing to the Syrian government.
Haley implied the United States might act alone against Syria. “When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action,” Haley said. “For the sake of the victims, I hope the rest of the council is finally willing to do the same.”
Later in the day, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said there's "no doubt in our mind" that the Syrian government is responsible for what he's calling a "horrific attack." Tillerson said the U.S. thinks that it is time for Russia to rethink its support for Assad's government.
The president said the photos of the victims of dead women and children changed his attitude toward the Assad regime "What happened yesterday is unacceptable to me." The latest attack, Trump said, "crossed a lot of lines for me."
If Trump is not committed to ousting Assad, which he has not said he would do, he may be only working at the margins, analysts said. If responsible for the attack, Assad violated the 2013 agreement to destroy his chemical weapons stockpile.
“Assad was saying, 'I can get away with anything now,'” said Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute. “Trump needs to show it’s not true.” Rubin recommends considering airstrikes that would target aircraft or airfields linked to the attack or hitting Assad's palaces.
Chris Kozak, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said airstrikes are a remote option and pose the risk of weakening Assad while strengthening the Islamic State terrorist group that has been fighting the Assad regime for years.
On Wednesday, Trump and Jordanian King Abdullah both pledged to do more to fight the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Trump could also broaden existing sanctions and attempt to aim them at Russians and Iranians helping the regime, Kozak said.
The Syrian government's role in the attack is clear, according to a senior Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because officials were not authorized to speak publicly about intelligence matters. Radar showed that Syrian warplanes were in the vicinity of the suspected chemical-weapons attack, the official said.
But the Defense official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about intelligence matters, said that a military response could imperil U.S. forces on the ground in Syria fighting the Islamic State.
There are several hundred U.S. special operations troops in Syria advising forces arrayed against the Islamic State, also referred to as ISIS or ISIL. A U.S. attack on Assad's regime could prompt him to target American troops, deepening and complicating the civil war there, the official said.
CLOSE Foreign affairs reporter Oren Dorell explains who is fighting whom in the Syrian Civil War in two minutes. USA TODAY
Trump's tougher talk against Syria also followed a change in the White House's National Security Council, as senior strategist Steve Bannon was removed as a member of the council's principals committee.
The president made his new thoughts on Syria public during a news conference Wednesday with Abdullah. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Trump denounced Syria and continued to blame predecessor Barack Obama for global troubles ranging from Iran to North Korean nukes.
"The world is a mess," Trump said. "I inherited a mess, whether it's the Middle East, whether it's North Korea, whether it's so many other things... We're going to fix it. We are going to fix it."
Speaking just hours after another missile test by North Korea, Trump said he would use this week's summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to pressure him to rein in Kim Jung-un's government over his nuclear threats. "We have a big problem," he said of Korea, and "we have somebody that is not doing the right thing."
Trump has said the United States may act against North Korea on its own, but has not provided specifics or whether that might involved preemptive military action.
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Trump also said Obama should have dealt with Syria, North Korea and other challenges. As he did Tuesday, Trump said Obama should acted after a Syrian chemical attack in 2013, especially after he had declared that such an action would cross a "red line" — even though Trump, as a New York businessman, opposed bombing Syria at that time as well.
"I now have responsibility," he said, "and I will have that responsibility and carry it very proudly." He declined to specify what actions he might take, saying he didn't want to tip off the Syrians and "I don't like to say where I'm going and what I'm doing."
Former Obama aides said their administration stabilized the globe in the wake of de-stabilizing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They said Trump's foreign policy lacks coherence, in part because the administration is under investigation for possible campaign ties to Russians involved in hacking Democratic Party officials during last year's election.
“The real mess Trump inherited is his campaign’s contacts with Russian agents," said Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council during the Obama administration. "He seems incapable of focusing on any of the actual foreign policy challenges that every president has to manage.”
Trump's guest, Abdullah, also denounced the chemical weapons attack in Syria, and called for a "political solution" that can end the violence of the country's civil war. He said the attack is another testament to the failure of the international community to adequately address the conflict.
"This is happening on our watch, on our conscience, as well as the global community," he said. “This should not be tolerated, whatsoever.”
The Syrian civil war has a had a major impact on Abdullah's nation, as thousands of refugees have poured into Jordan from neighboring Syria. Trump pledged an unspecified amount of "humanitarian assistance" to Jordan to deal with its refugee problems.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Photo: Uncredited, AP)
Trump and Abdullah also said that, during an Oval Office meeting earlier in the day, they also discussed plans to somehow re-start peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Contributing: Donovan Slack, The Associated Press
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Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2oCax9wEast Millinocket, Maine, is among rural school districts that worry they won’t be part of the focus for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
— The small parking lot outside of Schenck High School was crammed with cars, all there for the basketball game, the town’s featured event that night. The cold winter air whipped around white mounds of snow lining the town’s few residential streets and past the school to the vast blackness of Interstate 95.
This small, remote high school is perhaps East Millinocket’s last and most crucial community pillar. Even before the local paper mill shut down three years ago, the town had suffered a stark economic decline because of the mill’s dwindling profits and the widespread poverty that followed. With a shrinking tax base and an aging population, Schenck High faces an uncertain future.
Washington has long designed education policy to deal with urban and suburban challenges, often overlooking the unique problems that face rural schools like this one. With a new administration in the White House that prefers “school-choice” approaches — favoring charter schools and private-school vouchers so parents can opt out of public schools and bring taxpayer dollars with them — the nation’s rural schools are left to wonder about their fate.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s emphasis on school choice means very little out here in the wilds of Northern Maine, where the closest “good” schools are all impossibly far away. For students here, Schenck is really the only choice.
[Protesters briefly block Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s visit to a D.C. school]
Eric Steeves, superintendent of schools in East Millinocket, said in an interview Wednesday that rural schools are often left out of conversations about policy decisions in Washington and in Maine. Those like Schenck — institutions that educate millions of students nationwide — stand to gain very little from the school-choice model. If anything, it could siphon away critical funding.
“That could be disastrous. We’d lose tuition money. If we’re forced to bus students wherever they want, it would be catastrophic,” Steeves said, pointing out that Bangor schools are at least an hour away. “It depends on how it’s organized.... It may be up to their town to pay for that. And in this weather, it would be horrific.”
Sitting at the base of Mount Katahdin 60 miles north of Bangor, East Millinocket is a classic New England vision, even in the dead of winter. But the region’s beauty conceals systemic poverty and joblessness afflicting many of the town’s 2,000 residents.
Just more than half of Maine’s students attend rural schools, as do nearly 9 million of the 50 million public school students across the country, according to a forthcoming report from the Rural School and Community Trust. Many of those schools look like this one in East Millinocket, where postindustrial decline and poverty has amplified the role it plays in the community even as funding has become more scarce.
Advocates say they hope President Trump will do better than previous administrations, given that rural voters across vast swaths of the country helped put him into office. But they are concerned that Trump’s so-far singular focus on expanding access to vouchers and charter schools will do nothing meaningful to help. School administrators here in the Katahdin region seem doubtful that “school choice” will do much for Schenck High or its sister schools.
“With rural schools, there hasn’t been enough debate or dialogue. I would love to talk about it, but we never get invited,” Steeves said. “It’s always the... political types of people that make these decisions. We are left out.”
The plight of rural schools became a lightning rod this month amid confirmation hearings for DeVos, who has strongly advocated for alternatives to public schools.
[‘Students first’: New Education Secretary Betsy DeVos seeks common ground]
DeVos, a Michigan billionaire, has drawn widespread protest, particularly from the nation’s educators; a National Education Association campaign drew more than a million email complaints to Congress ahead of her confirmation this week. Her lack of experience in public education, her support for vouchers, and a rough performance during her confirmation hearing made her one of the most controversial of Trump’s Cabinet picks, leading two Republican senators — Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins — to vote against her. Her focus on choice, they said, does little to acknowledge rural needs.
[With historic tiebreaker from Pence, DeVos confirmed as education secretary]
“The mission of the Department of Education is broad, but supporting public education is at its core,” Collins said on the Senate floor on Feb. 1, announcing her opposition to DeVos. “I am concerned that Mrs. DeVos’s lack of experience with public schools will make it difficult for her to fully understand, identify, and assist with those challenges, particularly for our rural schools in states like Maine.”
(Reuters)
But what comes next for rural schools is unclear. Advocates say there are countless education issues more relevant to rural America than choice, because in many of the isolated areas of the country, there aren’t many choices.
Rural schools have trouble recruiting and retaining good teachers and principals because housing is so limited, pay is so low and working conditions so difficult, education advocates say. Trump has decried failing public schools that are “flush with cash,” but many rural schools — hobbled by a poor local tax base and weak state support — struggle with tight and often shrinking budgets.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) asked DeVos during her confirmation hearing to explain how her zeal for vouchers and choice would translate to rural places. “Certainly, rural schools in rural settings require different approaches and different options,” DeVos said. She said individual states would be best equipped to design policies for their rural communities, but she envisions an “opportunity for more choices and options” through distance learning and online courses.
Steeves stood just outside his office at Schenck High, taking a moment to point up toward the hallway ceiling, an unremarkable stretch of off-white. “Without that, we’d probably be shut down by now,” he nodded.
Steeves, the superintendent of schools, was talking about the multimillion-dollar roof repair completed in 2014, funded by a philanthropic Powerball winner. Another Band-Aid — this one a miracle — in a rural American town full of them.
For small towns like this one, the survival of a local school can be pivotal for the survival of the town itself.
“If you shut down schools, you destroy a town,” Steeves said Wednesday evening while the town gathered for a high school basketball game. “There wouldn’t be any viable base for anyone or anything here.”
Trump, meanwhile, has said he will create a new $20 billion program to encourage states to expand vouchers, which funnel taxpayer dollars to private and religious schools, as well as charter schools. In places like Northern Maine, where those types of schools are scarce, the public schools are often the only real choice for most families.
On Wednesday, East Millinocket’s residents gathered to cheer on the high school’s basketball team. Mark Scally, the chairman of the town’s board of selectmen, presided over the pep band that night. He has lived in the region since 1982 and worked at Schenck High for nearly three decades before retiring 12 years ago; he came out of retirement this school year to fill in as a music teacher. He estimates that the entire K-12 population in East Millinocket now has fewer students than the high school alone had when he moved here.
“The the thing is, without the mills... the schools are the only thing they really have to hang on to,” Scally said. “It is their anchor.”
Members of the East Millinocket-Medway Competition Cheer Squad, warming up at Schenck High School, volunteer to perform for the night’s basketball game after budget cuts eliminated the school’s cheer team. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
The ensuing decline in revenue has led to interesting arrangements. The town’s elementary school, Opal Myrick, moved into the Schenck High facility at the turn of the decade but retained its name; the single facility now houses kindergarten though grade 4, as well as 9 through 12, with 170 students in elementary school and 120 in high school.
East Millinocket also has consolidated its arts program with a nearby town — Millinocket, which is a separate township with a separate school system — and shares music teachers, show choirs and the annual musical.
And everyone on staff, it seems, is playing dual roles. In addition to being superintendent, Steeves also is the school’s guidance counselor, does curriculum work and teaches remedial social studies classes. He speaks optimistically about his work, in a thick New England accent. He also talks warmly about his students’ recent successes, including one who was accepted into the United States Naval Academy.
“We have to do that. We all have to wear multiple hats here,” Steeves said. “My wife is the principal, isn’t that bizarre? And she’s also the library media specialist and the food services director. We juggle. And it’s working.”
Many of America’s far-flung communities simply don’t have such alternatives to the local public school system within reasonable driving distance. In Alaska, more than three-quarters of communities are not reachable by road at all.
“What makes it a moot point for us in many ways is the travel, which would make things very difficult. Many parents are reluctant to have their kids on Maine’s icy roads in the winter,” Steeves said. “But it depends on what extreme school choice becomes. We don’t know, none of us know.... If we’re forced to bus students wherever they want, which would be catastrophic, that could be disastrous. We’d lose a lot of tuition money.”
Eric Steeves is superintendent of the East Millinocket and Woodville School Department. He has been worrying about cuts in the school budgets for years, especially after mills in the area closed. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
Sarah Libby, a local musician and parent, said that if she had to choose a school, she would prefer Stearns, where her son is enrolled, over the schools in East Millinocket. Libby’s daughter, who lives with her father, attends Opal Myrick Elementary at the Schenck High facility. “Did you go over and see that school?” she asked, referring to Schenck.
The superintendents of Millinocket and East Millinocket schools operate a program that allows students to swap districts — a form of public school choice — but very few families use that option. Libby agrees that’s because the schools are so closely tied to the town’s identity: “It’s true. If you drive down Main Street in East Millinocket, don’t blink because you might miss it.”
Some rural communities do have a private school, but they are often deeply religious and therefore not a choice for everyone, said Alan Richard, chairman of the board of the Rural School and Community Trust, a nonprofit advocacy organization. It is also difficult to start schools in such areas because of small populations and low funding. The closest private option for East Millinocket students is Katahdin Christian Academy, which opened in 2013 with about a dozen students and is housed in the former Opal Myrick facility.
And there are segregation concerns at play as well: Across the South, there are private schools that were founded as segregation academies, meant to give white families a place to send their children to avoid black public school classmates after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of public schools in 1954. “I don’t think most taxpayers are going to want those schools benefiting from a school choice program,” Richard said.
One version of choice — online learning — also isn’t always an option for the nation’s rural enclaves. Noelle Ellerson Ng, a policy expert at AASA, which represents school district superintendents, said rural areas often struggle with poor access to the Internet, making online learning difficult.
“You have some rural areas that don’t have the connectivity to support online learning,” she said. “To premise a so-called innovation or opportunity on technology before it’s fully there is disingenuous.”
Frank Boynton, the schools superintendent of nearby Millinocket, said that he has lost some students to online charter schools and to nearby religious private schools. That came, he said, at a steep cost to his district’s high school and the kids who remain. (Stearns High has approximately 520 students enrolled in grades 6 through 12.)
“Every time I lose a student somewhere, it’s five or six thousand dollars,” he said. “You lose seven students, that’s a teaching position.”
“I have one biology teacher, I have one chemistry teacher, I have two math teachers, a couple of English teachers, and French and Spanish, those things,” Boynton said. “Which one can I get rid of to make up for the tuition lost?”
The Great Northern Paper Company mill in East Millinocket is closed and is being demolished, dashing any hopes that it might reopen. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
Brown reported from Washington.Actress Susan Sarandon has boldly predicted that President Donald Trump may not make it through his first term in office.
The Thelma & Louise star made her prediction during an interview with People magazine that was published Friday.
“I’m excited and encouraged by the idea that maybe if everything’s falling apart so obviously — I mean, I don’t think Trump’s gonna make it through his whole term,” Sarandon said.
“But he’s not the first one to have Goldman Sachs in his cabinet, he’s not the one that started fracking wholeheartedly,” she said of Trump’s administration, which includes five people with ties to the Wall Street bank. “So where have we been? We’ve been asleep.”
Sarandon, of course, was a committed supporter of Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders’ White House bid. She accused what she called the “completely corrupt” Democratic National Committee of rigging the primary in favor of Hillary Clinton.
The Academy Award-winner eventually endorsed Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein in a letter, writing that the “fear of Donald Trump is not enough for me to support Clinton, with her record of corruption.”
Now, the 70-year-old actress, whose cleavage is turning heads on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, says she’s optimistic since average Americans are becoming more politically aware and involved.
“I’m actually optimistic because I think we’re seeing an amazing revolution happening,” the star told People.
“Not by the people that claim to be political but by Americans, and I have great faith in America. You’re seeing more people running that have never run for offices.”
“If you’re acting and you’re paying attention — you have to constantly be calling your representatives,” Sarandon added. “And ultimately it could make a difference.”
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson.Remember, if you can, the name Nodirbek Abdusattorov. At the age of only nine the young Uzbek defeated two grandmasters in the Tashkent Open last week, making the 2012 World Youth U8 Champion his country's best hope for a world-class star since Rustam Kasimdzhanov emerged in the early 90s. IM David Martínez takes a look at how the prodigy claimed his grandmaster scalps.
Abdussatorov is enjoying an extraordinary tournament in his home city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Let’s take a look at his performance round by round.
2057-rated Abdusattorov started the tournament with a stunning 3/3, sweeping aside two grandmasters and one international master. He hasn't quite managed to maintain that incredible level since, but his performance rating so far is still 2514. Perhaps a record for a 9-year-old boy?
Let’s look at the crucial moments from his victories against the grandmasters.
Both games started with the Closed Sicilian, one of the most interesting ways to counter the Sicilian that you can teach to children. The system is easy to implement but also allows different attacking plans and the chance to get to grips with a variety of structures.
A complex position where Abdusattorov needs to find a plan - and he finds a good one! You want to play f4 but that's not possible while the knight would be hanging after exf4 and recapturing the pawn… so let’s return to the knight.
20. ♘f3! ♖b8 21. ♘fd2 Black’s position gets a generous -0.27 from Houdini, meaning it actually prefers Black. That's a typical computer error, however. It looks at the short-term situation (the half-open file and good central control) but fails to appreciate the factors that will be decisive. What’s the plan? Am I going to get mated while I collect the harvest on the queenside?
21... h5⁉ Looking to activate the bishop on h6.
22. f4 ♗h6 Zhigalko probably had real doubts about whether to play this move now or first include the exchange on f4 in order to win the e5-square for the knight.
23. f5 ♗d7⁈ Once again a difficult move to make, as the bishop is clearly worse than the knight. It's possible Zhigalko played it because he couldn't work out the complications after the exchange sacrifice that might follow 23... Bxc4 24. Nxc4, or perhaps he simply preferred to keep pieces on the board with the idea of complicating the game at the right moment.
23... ♗xc4 is the normal continuation as the bishop is by no means better than the knight, and given White's potential it's better to exchange pieces! But 24. ♘xc4 would have been brilliant and I really hope it was Abdusattorov's idea. The exchange sacrifice is very dangerous and Black only holds with precise play. (24. ♖xc4 ♘b4 and due to the threat of d3 White needs to move the knight from d2 - taking it further away from its ideal position on c4! You can see for yourself that the obvious choices are Nb3 and Nf3, although you might also come up with 25. ♕e2? when Black would respond with 25... ♕g5 26. ♖f2 ♕e3 and a decisive advantage.) 24... ♗xc1 25. ♕xc1 ♔h7 Preventing Qh6. 26. f6 White's plan is Qg5 followed by a bishop sacrifice on h5 or f5. The g4-break is also a good option. The correct black defence seems to be the prophylactic 26... ♖h8! retaining the option of playing both Kg8 and Qf8-h6, blocking the white threats.
24. ♕e2 Both on this move and the next Abdusattorov demonstrates an astonishing calmness in attack (which we also see in the next game). With 24. Qe2 White somewhat improves the position of his queen, connects the rooks and, for the moment, doesn't force events.
24... ♔h7 25. ♔h1 h4⁈ A strange move as it seems clear that opening the h-file can only benefit White.
26. ♗h3! hxg3 27. hxg3 g5 A very ugly positional move with which Zhigalko makes an enormous concession, no doubt fearing White's attack - and I understand him!
27... ♖h8 was the "brave choice", but one only appropriate for those with a computer in their pocket... although even then you're running a risk! 28. fxg6+ ♔xg6 29. ♗xd7 ♗xd2+ 30. ♔g2 ♕xd7 31. ♖f5‼ If we're going to use the machine then let's use it for both sides! The black king is in a lot of danger. 31... ♗g5 32. ♕g4 ♕e7 33. ♘d2 Nf3 will follow, and Nh4 if needed, creating very serious threats against the black king.
28. ♔g2 With no tension in the structure and a closed position it's now time to manoeuvre.
28... f6 29. ♗g4 ♔g7 30. ♖h1 ♖h8 31. ♖h3 Black could stop for a moment to compare either of the black bishops to the white knights and... break down and cry?
31... ♘e7 32. b3 No hurry - defending a4.
32... ♗e8 33. ♗h5! Preventing Bf7 and the idea of exchanging off one of the precious knights.
33... ♗c6 34. ♕f3 Setting up the final blow.
34. ♘xe5 wins immediately, but it's not so straightforward. After 34... fxe5 35. f6+ ♔xf6 36. ♕f3+ ♔e6 the white attack is decisive, for example 37. ♘c4, threatening Bg4 mate, and if 37... ♔d7 then 38. ♕f6 with countless threats against the black position.
34... ♕d7 35. ♘xe5! ♕xf5 Desperation.
35... fxe5 36. f6+ requires no comment.
36. ♕xf5 ♘xf5 37. ♘xc6 g4 38. ♗xg4 ♗xd2 39. ♗xf5 ♗xc1 40. ♘xb8 ♖xb8 41. ♖h7+ ♔g8 42. ♖d7 Although the presence of opposite-coloured bishops and the diminuitive size of his opponent inspired Zhigalko to play on for another 22 moves the ending is completely lost. All the black pawns are weak, the white bishop will control everything from c4 and the king can also put in an appearance on g6. Having said all that, feel free to play through the moves if you want to enjoy the slaughter!
42... ♗b2 43. ♗e6+ ♔h8 44. ♔f3 ♖e8 45. ♗c4 ♖e5 46. ♖f7 ♗c3 47. ♖xf6 ♔g7 48. ♖xa6 ♖g5 49. g4 ♗d2 50. ♖d6 ♗c3 51. ♖d7+ ♔f6 52. ♖f7+ ♔e5 53. ♖e7+ ♔f6 54. ♖e6+ ♔f7 55. ♖e5+ ♔f6 56. ♖xg5 ♔xg5 57. e5 ♗b2 58. ♗e6 ♔g6 59. ♔e4 ♔g7 60. ♔d5 ♔f8 61. g5 ♔g7 62. ♗f5 ♗c1 63. g6 ♗e3 64. e6 ♔f6 65. ♔d6 ♗d2 66. ♔d7 ♗b4 67. g7 ♔xg7 68. e7
1-0
His second victory against a grandmaster was even more violent.
A position typical of the Closed Sicilian - one of the most interesting ways you can teach children to approach the Sicilian. The opening combines straightforward attacking plans with a chance to gain an understanding of different structures.
23. ♕h5 Nodirbek switches the queen to start an attack on the king.
23... ♗c8? Khusnutdinov trusts that he'll have time to regroup his pieces, but that's not the case.
23... exf4 is Houdini's recommendation. It gives the following variation: 24. ♗xg7 ♔xg7 25. gxf4 and claims that White only has a slight advantage... Without wanting to contradict an inanimate object I'd say that from a human point of view opening the g-file by exchanging on f4 and then taking on g7 with the king reminds me of the innocent victim Ben McLemore abandoned by his team as Rey Lebron James approached...
24. ♘d5! Exploiting the fact that the bishop has abandoned the protection of this square for a moment.
24... ♘xd5 25. ♗xd5 ♗b7 Khusnutdinov (a name I hope I spelled correctly the first time as I'm now just using copy and paste...) relies on exchanging the bishop and holding the position, but his pieces will end up very awkwardly placed whilst White's coordinate perfectly.
26. ♘f3 Threatening Ng5.
26... ♖f6 27. ♔g1 A quiet move that tries to avoid tricks along the long diagonal. Although it's not strictly necessary it still maintains the advantage since Black has zero coordination.
27. fxe5 dxe5 28. ♖xe5 destroys the black position. (28. ♘g5+ ♔h8 29. ♘e4 is similar to the game, winning.) 28... ♘xe5 29. ♗xe5 ♕e7 30. ♘g5+ ♔h8 31. ♗xf6 and Nf7 wins.
27... ♗xd5 28. cxd5 ♖e8 It's time to finish things off.
29. fxe5 dxe5 30. ♘g5+ ♔g8 31. ♘e4! ♖ff8
31... fxe4 is impossible due to 32. ♖xf6 ♗xf6 33. ♕xg6+ Attacking "everything", or at least the king, rook, bishop and a pawn all at once.
32. ♖xf5 ♖xf5 33. ♕xf5 Abdusattorov not only has a decisive attack but also an extra pawn, making what follows truly child's play (pun intended!).
33... ♘f8 34. ♘f6+ ♗xf6 35. ♕xf6 ♕f7 36. ♕xh6 ♕f5 37. ♖f1 ♕xd3 38. ♗xe5 ♕h7 39. ♕g5+ A real drubbing!
1-0
It takes a while to learn, but it's a name not to forget - Nodirbek Abdusattorov. It looks like we'll be hearing a lot more about him in future.
See also:Discovery points the way to protecting a fish that feeds multitudes
An international scientific team led by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and Tel Aviv University has identified and characterized a novel virus behind massive die-offs of farmed tilapia in Israel and Ecuador, which threatens the $7.5 billion global tilapia industry. A paper in the journal mBio describes tilapia lake virus (TiLV) and provides information needed to fight the outbreak.
Known in its native Middle East as St. Peter’s fish and thought to be the biblical fish that fed multitudes, tilapia provides inexpensive dietary protein. The world’s second most farmed fish, tilapia is also the basis of aquaculture employment in developing countries in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. (The United States is the leading tilapia importer globally.) Since 2009, Israel has seen precipitous declines in tilapia, with annual yields plummeting as much as 85 percent—highly unusual considering the fish is known to be relatively resistant to viral infections. Similar die-offs have been seen in Ecuador and Colombia.
The scientists used high-throughput sequencing to determine the genetic code of the virus from tissue taken from diseased fish in Israel and Ecuador. This process would normally be sufficient to identify the culprit, but in this case, the resulting DNA sequences didn’t match any known virus, with the exception of a small genetic segment that only remotely resembled a virus associated with the reproduction of influenza C.
Undeterred, the researchers employed other tools from their scientific tackle box, providing ample evidence that the genetic material was the same as the implicated virus dubbed TiLV. They used mass spectroscopy to characterize the proteins in cells growing the virus, which matched those they expected to see based on the genetic sequence. By analyzing the structure of viral DNA, they went on to observe 10 gene clusters with complementary endpoints, suggesting a circular form associated with a common type of viral reproduction involving a protein called a polymerase.
Finally and conclusively, healthy fish were exposed to TiLV cultured in a laboratory, resulting in disease that matched with what was seen in those countries: in Israel, the fish had swollen brains; in Ecuador, liver disease. In the coming weeks, the researchers will publish on the link between the TiLV and an outbreak of disease among tilapia in Colombia.
“The TiLV sequence has only minimal similarity in a small region of its genome to other viruses; thus, the methods we typically use to identify and characterize viruses through sequencing alone were insufficient,” says first author Eran Bacharach, a molecular virologist at Tel Aviv University.
“It appears to be most closely related to a family of influenza viruses called orthomyxoviruses; however, we still don’t understand much about its biology,” adds Nischay Mishra, associate research scientist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia’s Mailman School.
Importantly, the findings provide the genomic and protein sequences necessary for TiLV detection, containment, and vaccine development. “We are shifting our focus now to implementing diagnostic tests for containment of infection and to developing vaccines to prevent disease,” says Avi Eldar of the Kimron Veterinary Institute in Bet Dagan, Israel.
The team of 18 researchers represent five institutions in four countries: the Center for Infection and Immunity and the New York Genome Center in the U.S., Tel Aviv University and Kimron Veterinary Institute in Israel; the University of Edinburgh, Scotland; and St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies.
“The New York Genome Center was excited to join in characterizing this novel virus and contribute to this important environmental and globally impactful research,” says Toby Bloom, the Center’s deputy scientific director.
“Gumshoe epidemiology, molecular gymnastics and classical microbiological methods were required to link this new virus to disease,” says Ian Lipkin, senior author, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity and John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School. “Resolution of this mystery was only possible through the concerted efforts of this talented group of international collaborators.”
While best known for identifying viruses behind human disease, the |
a custom-fitted mask looking like something Hannibal Lecter would wear." MD Anderson allows patients to play music during such treatments, and initially Mort listened to Bruce Springsteen. But hearing "I’m on Fire" while being pelted with radiation proved a little too close to the mark. Mort told the doctors to switch to gospel music.
Back in January, when Mort first told Micki he had throat cancer, "She literally crumpled to the floor …" he said. "I remember telling her, ‘I’m not going to die.’ That’s not knowing whether I would die from this." He paused. "I still don’t know."
Over the next few months, Micki Mortensen morphed from a wife into a full-time caregiver. "Seeing her deal with it on an emotional level …" Mort recalled. "Literally having to empty your — to tend to your basic needs." When the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah called to tell Mort he was praying for him, Mort would reply, without fail, "Pray for my wife."
Bristol is no more impervious to rumors than any other outpost in sports media. Mort’s health caused enormous angst. On Sundays, Mort and Schefter typically met at 7:45 a.m. in the ESPN cafeteria to eat breakfast before Countdown. Now, Schefter found himself dining alone. "Doing Sunday NFL Countdown without Mort has been like my forgetting to tie my shoes," said Berman. "We do the show, and it’s fun and fine, but there’s a little wobble to it."
Early in his treatment, friends like Suzy Kolber called Mort in Houston to check in. As Mort’s voice was weakened by radiation treatments, he mostly retreated to text messages. If he responded to a text, his coworkers figured he was having a good day. If he didn’t, many began to fear the worst. It was only a year earlier that Stuart Scott had died of cancer.
"You hear the words ‘Stage IV’ come out," said Markman, "and all of a sudden that takes you to some pretty dark places. … Do you ask, ‘What are your chances? What are your odds?’ You don’t want to ask a guy that."
In May, Markman visited Mort in Houston, and found him in bed watching an old college football game on the SEC Network. He’d lost his hair and looked painfully thin; chemo and radiation affected both his posture and balance, so he never got out of bed. Markman said, "I remember thinking afterwards, Now I know why some people give up the fight."
"In my faith," Mort said, "our time on earth is just a short span in what we believe is an eternal walk. At the same time, it’s the only walk I know right now, so I’m selfish about the time I have on this earth."
Mort had his last radiation treatment in late spring. In August, he appeared at the NFL’s Hall of Fame weekend to accept the Dick McCann Award, which is pro football writing’s equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. On August 31, he announced his cancer had been "virtually reduced to zero detection of the disease."
What Mort didn’t realize was that the period of rehabilitation that lay before him could stretch on for years. "I can feel for a week like I’m coming out of this," he said. "Another week, I’m trying to clear whatever this crud that is deep in my throat just so I can have conversations with people. You live your day in three- or four-hour blocks."
Mort desperately wanted to get back on TV. He picked the Friday, September 23, edition of NFL Insiders so he could appear with his pal Kolber. Mort wasn’t up to traveling, so ESPN found an SEC Network bureau camera at the University of Arkansas that wasn’t far from his house. Producers decided to parcel out his segments throughout the show to protect his fragile voice. When Mort talked to Kolber a few minutes before airtime, he told her he was nervous.
Mort was afraid he might wake up feeling badly that morning, and that canceling a scheduled appearance would set off a fresh round of worrying about his health. Thus, very few people within ESPN were informed of his appearance on NFL Insiders. Even Adam Schefter, who prides himself on knowing everything, was stunned when a coworker stopped him and said, "Mort’s on TV." It was a fitting way for the ultimate insider to return. Once again, Chris Mortensen had managed to keep a secret.International Youth and Students for Social Equality member wins student senate seat at New York University
By our reporters
23 May 2017
Isaac Oseas, a member of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, has won the position of student senator for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University. Oseas won with 121 votes out of a total of 271 total votes for five candidates, or nearly 45 percent. He received nearly double the number of votes of the runner-up.
Isaac Oseas
Oseas will represent the approximately 4,000 Masters and PhD students at GSAS on the Student Senators Council (SSC)—the highest body of student government—and the University Committee on Student Life (UCSL), which assists the SSC in issues related to extracurricular activities at NYU.
The election of Oseas comes after the Student Activities Board, the student government committee that reviews new club applications, twice rejected the IYSSE’s application for club status at NYU, even though the IYSSE submitted far more signatures than required. Among the various reasons given for this decision was the claim that the IYSSE did not demonstrate sufficient support and did not have staying power on campus.
Oseas’s election platform, which was distributed to all students who voted, included the IYSSE’s demand for an overhaul of the club application process, and that the university allocate proper resources for all groups to hold meetings and events on campus.
The platform stated that “war is the most important issue facing the entire world… A new anti-war movement must be built, connecting the fight against war with the fight against capitalism.” Noting the substantial funding for NYU from the Department of Defense and the intelligence agencies, it calls for “a complete disclosure of all of NYU’s military connections” and the organization of a campus-wide teach-in against imperialist war.
The statement also pointed to the immense social inequality in New York City and throughout the US. “Unimaginable sums of wealth are accumulated by a tiny aristocracy, while workers face declining wages, cuts in health care and soaring tuition.” Students at NYU pay up to $70,000 a year in tuition and board, with graduate students often facing even higher costs.
“Both the Democrats and Republicans represent the interests of the corporations and the banks,” the statement concluded. “The IYSSE and the Socialist Equality Party are building an independent political movement of the working class to fight for socialism—that is, a society based on social need, not private profit.”
Following an article in the Intercept detailing the collaboration between NYU and the Department of Defense, Oseas issued another statement insisting that “universities must be centers of learning, not government propaganda and research in the service of war.” It called for severing all ties between NYU and the military and for the formation of a “student-led committee to evaluate the impact of the military and surveillance agencies on academic decisions made by the administration.”
During the IYSSE’s campaign for the election, many students responded strongly to the call for the building of a movement against war and were shocked to learn about NYU’s connections with the military.
“My election has real significance both at NYU and beyond the campus,” Oseas said. “Young people are being politicized and looking for a way to fight against war and inequality. A lot of students voted for me because they have become deeply concerned about these issues, and are disgusted with university’s close connection with Wall Street and the Pentagon.
“Now we really have to build on what the IYSSE has been doing at NYU. I will fight in the student senate for the realization of my platform. I encourage students to contact and join the IYSSE to take part in the enormous work that lies ahead.”
To join the IYSSE, visit iysse.com/join
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Dozens of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group were killed in air raids in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday, Al Hadath television reported.
ISIS seized Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and home to around 2 million Iraqis, in June as part of its sweeping advance through northern Iraq almost unchallenged by Iraq’s national army. Thousands of Yazidis had to flee their homes, in addition to Christians living in Mosul, in fear of being targeted by the extremist group.
ISIS fighters claim to have set up an “Islamic Caliphate” that will wash away borders drawn by Western powers in the 20th century.
But the militant group has suffered major blows in Iraq in recent weeks. On Wednesday, an air strike in west Iraq reportedly killed a senior figure of the group.
Infographic: Strikes kill dozens of ISIS fighters north of Mosul
Senan Meteeb, the so-called ISIS “emir” of the western Anbar province, was reportedly killed by a coalition air raid in the Anbar city of Hit. Twenty-four other ISIS fighters were also reportedly killed.
On the same day, ISIS failed to take the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk. The Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga forces backed by the coalition air force repelled a major attack by the by the group on the northern Iraqi city.
Iraqi security forces wilted under the initial June ISIS onslaught, but are now backed by U.S.-led air strikes, international advisers, Shiite militiamen and Sunni tribes, and have begun to claw back some areas.
Last Update: Monday, 1 December 2014 KSA 12:50 - GMT 09:50ERBIL — Washington will continue looking for ways to increase its military support for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting against the Islamic State (IS), US Consul General in Erbil says.
Matthias Mitman, the Consul General of the United States in Erbil, told Kurdistan24 Channel that his country has recently started a process of equipping 4,000 Peshmerga forces with full equipments, including heavy machine guns, armoured vehicles and other supplies.
Hoping to increase the effectiveness of the Peshmerga forces and improve their military capacity in the war against IS, Mitman stated that his country will continue looking for better ways to increase its military support for the Kurdistan Region.
Concerning an expected referendum on Kurdish independence, the US envoy insists on the unity of Iraq and urged the sides to “focus on the fight against Daesh [IS], the humanitarian issues with displaced people and the economic challenges.”
Members of the US-led coalition have so far played a crucial role in the war against IS by providing the Peshmerga forces with arial support as well as military assistance. But they are seeking more modern arms to arrive in Erbil directly to be efficiently used on the battlefields against the jihadists.Saturday 1 April 2017 Jon Pretty
Introducing Skala: A New Vision for Dotty
We are very proud today to be able to reveal that Dotty, sometimes referred to as “Scala 3”, will now officially be known as, “Skala”. And for the first time, we are delighted to announce that Skala will be adopting German keywords and syntax.
Designing programming languages based on English is a recurrent historical leitmotif, but – this April – we felt that as Britain moves away from the European Union, taking much of the influence of the English language with it, now is the perfect time to make the transition to a superior language.
Just a few years ago Dotty was a mere twinkling in the eye of Martin Odersky, but it was then that he first envisaged a successor to Scala based on German. We met up with Prof Odersky, Skala’s übermensch, at the Skala launchfest in a Munich biergarten to find out more about this exciting development.
“I always felt that the English in Scala was a weak ersatz, and risked leaving it in a hinterland in the long-term, so I realised then that I had to take this decisive diktat to set Skala on the right track for a bright future. It’s a very pragmatic move; very realpolitik…” says Odersky.
The Scala community aren’t neanderthals, though the transition may be harder for some people than others, so as long as we are all finding our feet in “Skala kindergarten”, we will not be making the English keywords verboten immediately. And any existing Scala users concerned about feeling like ausländers should not worry: over the coming months, the Skalazentrum (formerly the Scala Center) will have a blitz to convert existing Scala source code to Skala.
The Skalazentrum continues to do some very important work on Skalafix, supporting automatic code rewriting between Scala and Skala. It already supports many of the Glitzy new features first introduced in Dotty, and support for German keywords will be a trivial addition.
About the Changes
Martin goes on, “One aspect of Scala’s keywords I always liked was that val, var and def were all the same length, so identifier names would align vertically. It just looked beautiful! We’ve managed to retain that property with the new keywords, unveränderliche, opportunistisch and verfahrensweise, whilst giving each of them more character, and indeed more characters. I’m particularly fond of opportunistisch, which exemplifies how every programmer should feel about using mutable state. And while val and var were near-doppelgangers, unveränderliche and opportunistisch are now much more easily disambiguated.”
Some users may have angst about typing characters such as ü and ß, but Odersky dismisses this idea: “Being completely unable to enter half the syntax on an English keyboard may make coding slower, but that never seemed to hold Scalaz back.”
It won’t be long before talk of do / while loops, try / catch / finally blocks and if / then / else expressions, are a thing of the past, and mach / während loops, versuche / fang / endlich blocks and sofern / gegebenenfalls / andernfalls expressions become part of the programming zeitgeist.
We took choosing the new German keywords as an opportunity to improve upon their old English variants. For example, ich sounds much more personal than this, implementationsdefiniert conveys the meaning of abstract so much more concretely, and erbt saves typing a few characters over the more verbose extends. Skala also introduces the new keyword, auffaltungsanleitung – called inline in Dotty – but now with a more explanatory name.
“Also, many people criticize the concept of implicits as masochistic. That’s why I decided to not talk about them, to keep quiet, to be stillschweigend in a sense. And I’m very happy that the new keyword makes this feeling implicit.”
“I have often been approached about the suitability of Scala in the enterprise. Maybe it’s just schadenfreude, but to better reflect corporate hierarchies, super ’s replacement keyword, vorgesetzte, makes it clear that the programmer has to defer to their manager.”
In this update, we also wanted to acknowledge that German is not the only language programmers use, so we settled on replacing the return keyword, which we didn’t care much about anyway, with retoure, a French word loaned to German.
Here is a full list of Skala keywords:
implementationsdefiniert muster klasse fang verfahrensweise mach andernfalls erbt unrichtig letzte endlich für gegeben sofern stillschweigend einführen auffaltungsanleitung faul kompilationsroutine vergleiche erzeuge nichtig entität überschreiben paket vertraulich zugangsbeschränkt retoure versiegelt vorgesetzte gegebenenfalls ich wirf charakterzug wahrhaftig versuche sorte unveränderliche opportunistisch außerdem währen vorfahrtGewähren
Try it out!
One of the biggest ongoing efforts of the newly-renamed Skalazentrum is the development of the new collections library, which will form the basis for the data structures we use on a daily basis in Skala. We have already completed work on translating the current Strawman Collections to Skala, and to offer a first glimpse of the improved readability of Skala code, you can browse some Skala source code here (dead link: https://github.com/propensive/collection-strawman/blob/master/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/View.scala). We are working with GitHub to support syntax highlighting for Skala, but it’s not there yet.
You can also try out Skala for yourself today with the fully-functional compiler and REPL. Instructions on running the compiler are in the README file.
Future Work
This is just the first step in Skala’s journey, but that journey is not yet complete.
One of Scala’s great innovations was support for using method names in infix position, and Odersky would like to take that one step further to make all method applications postfix by default. As Mark Twain observes in his appraisal of German sentence structure, “…the writer [appends] ‘haben sind gewesen gehabt haben geworden sein,’ or words to that effect, and the monument is finished.” To Odersky, postfix verbs are like “the alpenglow of a sentence”.
A problem Scala always suffered from was that it was never clear what was an object, or “noun”, and what was a method, or “verb”. Soon, Skala will require that all objects start with a capital letter, and all methods start with a lower-case character. This will mean some changes to pattern matching, but as Odersky says, “most people never knew the rules about capitalization of identifiers in patterns anyway, and the backtick syntax will continue to be available, so for me it’s worth the compromise”.
Another great feature of German, separable verbs, is on the cards for Skala, too. Odersky explains, “People often accuse German of combining multiple words into a single word. But English can be just as clumsy: Why use just one word, “map”, to describe the method of a functor when, conceptually, you bilde the list ab? That ab isn’t just some insignificant particle; it changes the whole meaning of bilde!” So Skala will soon be supporting this convenient syntax for separable method names,
list.bilde(_ + 1)ab
and remembering that verfahrensweise is the keyword formerly known as def, we can define this new method with,
verfahrensweise bilde[A](f: E => R)ab =...
One more planned change to Skala’s syntax is the elimination of unnecessary spaces between modifiers and definitions. It was always a frustration to Odersky that abstract override lazy val could not be a single word. “It’s a single concept, so why not?” he asks, incredulously. Yet the reason was always that forming compound words simply didn’t work so well in English; but in German, writing implementationsdefiniertüberschreibenfaulunveränderliche is completely natural, so we intend to fully embrace it.
Get involved!
We have come a long way in getting Skala to this stage, and there continues to be much exciting work going into the language. With the help of organizations like the Skalazentrum, Typstufe, events like Skala World and inclusive groups like SkalaBridge, we hope to grow the community around this ambitious new language. So I hope you will join with us in embracing this bold step towards a better zukunft.
Editor’s note: this article is dedicated to all the non-native English speakers who use, persevere with and contribute to Scala in English. Thank you. We are also grateful to Lars Hupel for his assistance with some of the translations.A Woman’s Nation™ has released its third in a series of Shriver Reports — Special Editions, A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink, in partnership with the Center for American Progress.
The print edition of A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink, published on March 11, 2014, is available for order from Amazon here and from Barnes & Noble here.
The Kindle eBook edition of the report can be downloaded here. Amazon’s Kindle can be downloaded via the Kindle app, which is available on:
Smartphones: iPhone & iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry
iPhone & iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry Computers: Mac, Windows 8, Windows 7, XP & Vista
Mac, Windows 8, Windows 7, XP & Vista Tablets: iPad, Android, Windows 8
The report is a groundbreaking investigation into the millions of women who are doing it all and barely scraping by, struggling to provide and parent in a nation that hasn’t kept pace with the modern realities of their lives. It combines research, analysis and ideas from the nation’s top academic institutions and think tanks, essays by leading thinkers, stories of real women struggling with our modern economy, and a comprehensive poll.
The report is a product of A Woman’s Nation™ and the Center for American Progress. For more research on women and the economy, go to americanprogress.org/
Here’s a look at what is included in the 400-page, comprehensive report, which includes essays from Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Beyoncé, Eva Longoria, LeBron James, Jada Pinkett Smith, Anne-Marie Slaughter and Sheryl Sandberg.
The Shriver Report:
A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink
Table of Contents
Julie’s Story
Preface By Neera Tanden
PART I: HOW WE GOT HERE
POWER
Powerful and Powerless By Maria Shriver
ESSAYS
When We Were 9, We Were Honest By Carol Gilligan, Ph.D.
Gender Equality Is a Myth! By Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
Time to Wake Up: Stop Blaming Poverty on the Poor By Barbara Ehrenreich
Are Women Devalued by Religions? By Sister Joan Chittister
THE WORKPLACE
A Woman’s Place Is in the Middle Class By Heather Boushey and Unpaid and Undervalued Care Work Keeps Women on the Brink
ESSAYS
The Gender Wage Gap: A Civil Rights Issue for Our Time By Maya Harris
Making the Care Economy a Caring Economy By Ai-jen Poo
Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Broke By Danielle Moodie-Mills
The Changing Face of American Women By Angela Glover Blackwell
Empowering Latinas By Eva Longoria
THE FAMILY
Marriage, Motherhood, and Men By Ann O’Leary
ESSAYS
America’s Working Single Mothers: An Appreciation By LeBron James
To the Brink and Back By Catherine Emmanuelle
Marriage and Children: Another View By Ron Haskins
What About the Fathers? By Dr. Kathryn Edin
A Call to Men: Ending Men’s Violence Against Women By Tony Porter
Women and Poverty: The Role of Lawyers and Family Law By John Bouman and Wendy Pollack
Evolution of the Modern American Family By Stephanie Coontz
EDUCATION
Get Smart: A 21st Century Education By Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale and Dr. Nicole Smith
ESSAYS
Turning Poverty Around: Training Parents to Help Their Kids By Jennifer Garner
Living the Head Start Dream By Almeta Keys
Preschool for All: The Path to America’s Middle-Class Promise By Secretary Arne Duncan and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Afterschool Programs: Investing in Our Cities by Investing in Our Kids By Mayor Betsy Price
Higher Education: Interrupting the Cycle of Poverty By Eduardo J. Padrón, Ph.D.
Nikki’s Story
PART II: WHY WE MUST PUSH BACK
The Consequences of Living on the Brink
ESSAYS
The Chronic Stress of Poverty: Toxic to Children By Nadine Burke Harris, M.D.
The Trap: Mental Illness and Women in Poverty By Ron Manderscheid, Ph.D.
Armed and Vulnerable: Women in the U.S. Military By Sonya Borrero, M.D.
Human Trafficking and Slavery in the United States: ‘You Don’t See the Chains’ By Jada Pinkett Smith
Britani’s Story
PART III: THE NATION REIMAGINED
A New America that Cares By Anne-Marie Slaughter
ESSAYS
America’s Promise, One Woman at a Time By Marianne Cooper, Ph.D.
PUBLIC SOLUTIONS
Putting Women at the Center of Policymaking By Melissa Boteach and Shawn Fremstad, and introducing the Shriver Corps
ESSAYS
We Have Blown a Huge Hole in Our Safety Net By Peter Edelman
The Circle of Protection: Balancing the Budget Does Not Require Burdening the Poor By Leith Anderson
From VISTA Corps to Shriver Corps: Providing Solutions for 50 Years By Shirley Sagawa
A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out By Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter
On the Brink with a Disabled Child By Katie Bentley
PRIVATE SOLUTIONS
What If Employers Put Women at the Center of Their Workplace Policies? By Ellen Galinsky, James T. Bond, and Eve Tahmincioglu, and introducing the Thrive Index
ESSAYS
Smart Business: Reviving the American Dream By Howard Schultz
Empower Women and You Recharge the World By Muhtar Kent
Microfinancing Women: Great Return on Investment By Tory Burch
PERSONAL SOLUTIONS
Personal Action, Collective Impact By Anne Mosle and introducing Life Ed
ESSAYS
When Working Women Thrive, Our Nation Thrives By Sheryl Sandberg
When Women Achieve Their Full Potential, So Will America By Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
PART IV: IT’S TIME TO PUSH BACK
Where Do We Go from Here? By Olivia Morgan and Karen Skelton
10 Things You Can Do to Power A Woman’s Nation
Increasing Economic Opportunities for Women: The Right Thing to Do and the Smart Thing to Do By Hillary Rodham Clinton
Failure to Adapt to Changing Families Leaves Women Economically Vulnerable By Anna Greenberg, David Walker, Alex Lundry, and Alicia Downs
And be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep the conversation going and to stay informed on ways you can become involved.At least 17 U.S. church employees have been fired, resigned, refused to renew restrictive contracts, or had job offers rescinded over LGBT-related employment disputes this year.
This means that of the 40-some employees who have lost jobs at Catholic institutions since 2008 because of their sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancies or personal views on homosexuality, nearly half have lost their jobs this year.
Three developments are exacerbating problems for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender church workers and their co-workers in 2014, but there are signs of hope as well.
Though the causes are varied, most disputes are related to same-sex marriage and its rapid development in the United States. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia now allow same-sex couples to marry. Church employees are attaining civil marriages, often to recognize legally existing long-term partnerships already known to their employer.
At other times, an employee's marital status is inadvertently revealed to the church institution through avenues as mundane as a mother's obituary or mortgage application.
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Simply supporting marriage equality has been grounds for firing, too.
As equal marriage rights continue to expand, more Catholic institutions will confront the issue of employees in civil same-sex marriages and this will likely result in more firings, unless some accommodation is reached.
Five dioceses have revised teacher contracts explicitly banning employees from supporting same-sex relationships in both their professional and their personal lives. Officials in Cincinnati; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Honolulu; and Oakland, Calif., have added these "morality clauses," causing many educators to either resign in protest or refuse to renew their contracts for the coming school year. It is often heterosexual employees unwilling to end their open support for LGBT family and friends who are most affected by these contracts.
Furthermore, the question of pregnancy is cropping up. At least two lesbian women were fired this year for becoming pregnant outside of marriage and for their use of assistive reproductive technologies in doing so. The failure of some states and the church to recognize the employees' committed relationships as marriages means these types of disputes will particularly affect lesbian church workers.
In most cases, Catholic employers are considered legally justified in their actions because of religious exemptions and the patchwork nature of LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination laws.
That said, Catholic laypeople are finding the actions of church leaders to be morally unjustified and are increasingly standing beside fired church workers. Sustained protest efforts by parish and school communities experiencing employment disputes have occurred in the states of Washington, Michigan, Georgia, Missouri and Ohio.
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It is important to remember these reported incidents are only those made public. If the present pattern of firing persists, the number of LGBT-related firings of and resignations by church workers will almost certainly increase by year's end.
The following is a list of persons whose LGBT-related employment incidents have been made public so far in 2014.
Shaela Evenson, a middle school teacher in Montana, was fired in January for becoming pregnant outside marriage, which is a violation of her contract, according to the Helena diocese. Evenson, a partnered lesbian woman, has since given birth to her son. She has also filed a lawsuit against the school and a case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming discrimination.
Brian Panetta, who taught music at an Ohio high school, resigned following his engagement to a male partner. Panetta, who is Catholic and had greatly expanded the music program, had offered to resign at the school year's end, but the school made him leave immediately.
Orlando Jimenez resigned from his position as a New Mexico parish's music minister following his same-sex marriage. Additionally, the pastor banned Jimenez from freelancing weddings and funerals at the church, which had been his primary income.
Matthew Barrett's job offer at a Massachusetts high school was rescinded after Barrett's husband was listed as an emergency contact. He has filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, given that sexual orientation is a protected class under the law in that state, and, he says, the position of food services director is not included under the ministerial exemption.
Molly Shumate, a first-grade teacher in Cincinnati, resigned after the diocese added an enhanced "morality clause" to teacher contracts banning any public support of LGBT rights. Shumate, who is Catholic, refused to sign the new contract because, she says, it would mean telling her gay son that she no longer supports him.
Colleen Simon, once the social ministries coordinator at a Jesuit parish in Missouri, was fired after her marriage to another woman became public in a newspaper article highlighting the good work Simon, her wife and others had done for the local community. Simon reached out to the diocese for reconciliation, but after hearing nothing has since filed a lawsuit.
Kathleen Purcell, a high school teacher, was fired after she returned the Oakland, Calif., diocese's contract signed, but with newly introduced morality clauses crossed out. Purcell, formerly a civil rights lawyer, said a school's religious identity "is not a license to discriminate."
Eva Marlatt, director of academic support, refused to sign Oakland's new teacher contract and said it was an "unworkable dilemma," forcing educators to choose between a school community they love and a sense of personal integrity and social justice.
Anonymous, a third teacher, also refused to sign the Oakland diocese's new teacher contract, according to news reports.
Richard Miller's contract as a teacher for a Cincinnati Catholic school for the deaf was not renewed because he lives with his male partner and their six children. Though the school knew of his relationship when Miller was hired, the teacher was told new morality clauses made renewing the contract "too risky."
Richard Hague ended 45 years teaching in Catholic education after refusing to sign the Cincinnati archdiocese's contract that explicitly bans employees from publicly supporting LGBT rights. In a letter, Hague said, "I simply cannot believe that Jesus would require me to condemn my friends."
Flint Dollar was fired as band director at a Georgia Catholic school when his plans to marry his male partner became public. Dollar has filed a lawsuit against the school, claiming discrimination.
Colin Collette, a music minister for 17 years, was fired from a Chicago-area parish after posting on Facebook about his engagement to longtime partner William Nifong. Collette met with Cardinal Francis George in the hopes he would be rehired, but the cardinal called his employment at a Catholic institution "impossible."
Benjamin Brenkert left the Society of Jesus after more than a decade, in part because of the institutional discrimination against LGBT people.
Barbara Webb, a chemistry teacher, was fired from a Michigan high school because she became pregnant outside of marriage, though she is in a committed same-sex relationship.
Olivia Reichert and Christina Gambaro, a lesbian couple, were fired from their jobs at a St. Louis Catholic high school. Though Reichert and Gambaro had remained quiet about their relationship, school officials fired them after receiving a copy of the couple's joint mortgage application.
Cases have also emerged in Europe this year:
Terence Weldon was refused a volunteer position with a UK-based Catholic humanitarian assistance agency for "campaigning against Church teaching," a reference to his blog on Catholic LGBT issues called Queering the Church.
"Silvia," a pseudonym, was fired from her position at a Catholic school in Italy over rumors she was a lesbian. Silvia has not publicly stated her sexual orientation, but Italian officials are still investigating the case as discriminatory.
Luis Alberto González was fired from teaching religion at a Spanish public school over his marriage to a man in 2012. Gonzalez had been teaching for more than 15 years, including two in which he was married. Catholic bishops have oversight of religion faculty in that nation's public schools.
[Bob Shine is on the staff of New Ways Ministry, a national ministry of justice and advocacy for LGBT Catholics.]History and Background
Ever since Roger Hunt's famous World Cup goal in 1966 the fallibility of officials and how they effect the outcome of games has always been a hot debate in Football. The issue came back into the public eye after Viktor Ibkeba's penalty at the African Nations Cup in 2000 wasn't given despite TV replays clearly showing evidence to the contrary. By this stage we had the technology but could Football be dragged into the 21st century and follow the trail blazed by other sports like Rugby and Tennis?
AFRICA NATIONS CUP 2000 VICTOR IKPEBA
After a number of high profile incidents (many of which detailed below), In July 2011 FIFA sanctioned testing to begin on ten goal line technology systems and in March 2013 it announced that two were proceeding to the next stage - Hawkeye and Goal Ref with Hawkeye getting the nod from FIFA and the FA after a final round of testing and analysis.
Opposition and Criticism As well as the obvious impediments like the expense and a general cry to encourage "better refereeing" there has been some high profile opposition to the integration of technology in Football. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has been quoted as saying that this imperfection is what maintains "the fascination and popularity of Football". He later revised this opinion after Lampard's disallowed goal at the 2010 World Cup. It's also believed that UEFA's President Michel Platini is still opposed in favour of the much criticised "Fifth official" so we may yet have to wait to see Goal Line Technology in the Champions League.
In 2012 FIFA announced the goal line technology would be used in a competitive match for the first time at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.
Later on, in 2013, FIFA tested a Goal Control camera-based system in the Confederations Cup in Brazil.
FIFA confirmed it will be used in the 2014 World Cup.
How it works
There are 7 Cameras at each side of the pitch focusing the game from different angles. The cameras are processed to find the ball within the image and track it as it comes into range.
When the ball crosses the line the outcome is relayed to the referee within a second through a synchronized vibration on the watch.
Where it's already
being used
English Premier League
Capital One Cup
The Dutch Eredivisie
First Goal
Edin Dzeko scored the first Premier League goal to be given by the Hawk-Eye goal technology on 18th of January in their 4-2 victory over Cardiff.
Edin Dzeko PREMIER LEAGUE 2014 vs. :
Goals Where It Should
Have Been Used
Frank Lampard - After the German's raced into an early 2-0 lead, Lampard's wonder-strike would have brought England back on level terms before the break. Clearly a yard over the line, the goal wasn't given as England crashed out of a major tournament at the hands of Germany once again. World Cup 2010 Frank Lampard vs. :
After Mendes' controversial 40 yard effort was comically fumbled into his own net by the goal keeper Roy Carroll, no goal was given despite replays confirming the ball clearly crossing the line. Old Trafford conspiracy theorists still don't forget this event as the game ended up scoreless and Spurs were left shaking their heads. Pedro Mendes PREMIER LEAGUE 2005 vs. :
Dubbed the "Ghost Goal" by the Special One himself, Luis Garcia's goal proved pivotal in sending Liverpool to the Champions league final in 2005. Would the miracle of Istanbul have even happened had the Hawkeye technology been in place? Chelsea fans were left wondering "what if". UEFA Champions League Luis Garcia vs. :
It's always a big occasion when these two giants of Italian football meet. When Muntari's follow up header was saved by Buffon, the ball was clearly well over the line. Had Hawkeye been active, it would have come to the aid of the Rossoneri. Sulley Muntari SERIE A 2012 vs. :Google code search: A vulnerability hunters dream October 7, 2006
Posted by Imran Ghory in Computer Security
Google code search: A vulnerability hunters dream? – well maybe not, but if a hacker wants to compromise random machines rather then particular targets then Google’s making finding new exploits ever easier.
Google’s latest search tool has made it incredibly easy to take one particular vulnerability which has a fairly recognizable signature and search vasts amounts of code for it. And to prove it here are some examples:
(Some of these are derivative of various suggestions posted on reddit |
nation and in the Democratic Party itself. The DNC emails were released just 12 days after Rich was murdered, which led to then DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigning only to be hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign, and a flood of questions being asked regarding Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s shady dealings.
Consider that those in the DNC are a murderous bunch of people in their bloodthirsty cries for the murder of the unborn. However, I’m not saying that either Clinton nor the DNC had anything to do with Rich’s death, but honestly, one must consider that in light of such things as the evidence surrounding the Clinton Chronicles and this latest video here.
Watch and you judge for yourself whether or not you think someone in the DNC or the Clinton campaign had anything to do with Rich’s death or was it just another random robbery gone bad.loona-cry:
thetallblacknerd: Anti’s are leagues worse that SJWs because at least SJWs typically come from a good place, they just do the absolute most. Fucking antis only exist to be contrarian and think writing long winded posts somehow equates to them being right and “logical”; even though no person goes through life like that and they swear acting like robots is the only answer. They see things as a binary all the time SJWs coming from a good place by default? Not likely. Look at how zamii was treated. Was that coming from a good place? Telling a mentally ill person to kill themselves because their art is problematic to 0.000001% of people and causing a suicide attempt with their harassment? That wasn’t a good place. That was people being self-righteous arseholes on a power trip. They’re as bad as one another. Don’t sugarcoat it.
“Antis are worse than SJWs.”
There we have it. I predicted this would be an argument a long time ago.
Apparently, abuse, hypocrisy, and hatred in social justice spaces is perfectly fine and dandy. Apparently, people like IDCP, Vade, the TERFs and the misandrists, and the people who drove Lauren Zuke and XKit Guy off social media are just “coming from a good place”. Apparently, being a hateful, hypocritical prick is A-Ok as long as it’s for a good cause.
But when people like me are alienated by this and object to all of this– ah, now that is an outrage. That is terrible.
Yeah, no. Fuck your abuse apologia.An Israeli man charged in the United States with selling arms to Iran was arrested at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport.
The man was arrested Monday at the request of the United States and reportedly was attempting to flee the country.
He is expected to be extradited to the U.S., where he will be charged with illegal trade with Iran, exporting military equipment without a permit and money laundering, Haaretz reported.
The Israeli citizen, who was not named, was indicted last week in a U.S. court in Connecticut for illegally exporting spare parts for combat aircraft to Iran in 2012 and 2013, as well as illegally exporting military equipment from the U.S. and money laundering, according to Haaretz.
He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
He was arrested in Israel a decade ago for trading with Iran, according to Israel’s Channel 2, and previously served time in a U.S. prison.
This story "Israeli Man Charged in U.S. With Selling Arms to Iran Arrested" was written by JTA.Oct 22, 2014-
NATO scrambled fighter jets twice in two days to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, it said Tuesday amid reports that Russian military activity in the region is increasing.
Lt. Col. Robert Gericke said the Russian aircraft were flying in international airspace and had not violated the territory of alliance members.
Two Canadian F-18 Hornet jets were scrambled from the Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania on Monday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin-20 surveillance aircraft, which they shadowed for some 15 minutes, NATO said.
"Once identification was successful, the intercept mission was completed and the two Hornets returned to their base," a NATO statement said.
Earlier, the Latvian military tweeted that NATO F-16 jets were dispatched on Tuesday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin-20 surveillance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Gericke confirmed that NATO jets had also intercepted a Russian aircraft that day, but could not immediately provide more details.
NATO, which has 16 fighter jets in the region monitoring Baltic airspace, said it regularly launches jets to identify "unknown or potentially hostile aircraft" in the proximity of national airspace.
There were two similar incidents in the region on Oct. 7 and Sept. 11, but on neither occasion did the Russian aircraft constitute a threat to NATO forces, the alliance said.
In the past five days, the Swedish Navy has been combing the Stockholm archipelago for signs of a foreign submarine that officials suspect entered its territorial waters illegally. It hasn't officially linked Russia to the suspected intrusion.
The Finnish military says that Russian military aircraft have violated the small Nordic country's airspace five times this year, and the Environment Institute said Russian military ships had twice intercepted one of its research vessels in international waters.
On Sept. 5 an Estonian security service officer was detained on the Russian border — Estonia and Russia disagree on which side of it — and is still in custody in Moscow.
Published: 22-10-2014 09:31Microsoft's rumored Fortazela concept
[UPDATE 2] A Microsoft spokesperson told GameSpot, "We have nothing to share concerning these reports."
[UPDATE] VRFocus and Techradar report that several game studios have received Xbox One VR development kits. None of the studios were named, unfortunately.
The original story is below.
Microsoft will reveal its long-rumored Xbox virtual reality headset device during the company's E3 2015 briefing next summer, according to a new Digitimes report that cites "upstream supply chain" sources. The summer tradeshow is scheduled for June 16-18, 2015.
The site's sources went on to say that development on the Xbox VR headset, which will presumably work with the Xbox One, will be handled by the same team that runs Microsoft's Surface tablet line. A name for the device was not mentioned.
Microsoft's Xbox VR headset is separate from its Google Glass-like "Fortazela" project, which first leaked in June 2012. Digitimes adds that development on this project (pictured, top) is ongoing, though no further details about features or functionality are available.
Microsoft has been open in saying that virtual reality is something the company has been experimenting with for a long time now.
Competitor Sony announced its own virtual reality device, Project Morpheus, during GDC in March 2014, though the company hasn't said when it plans to launch the PlayStation 4 device or what it will cost. Meanwhile, the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift headset is also deep into development for PC.
Microsoft's mysterious VR project has been in development for years, and the company even gave a demonstration of the tech to Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Grand Theft Auto parent publisher Take-Two Interactive.
We have reached out to Microsoft for comment on this report, and will update this post with anything we hear back.Metro released a brief statement Monday afternoon with preliminary findings on the possible causes of a train derailment at the East Falls Church Station early Friday morning.
Orange and Silver Line trains resumed regular service Monday morning after the derailment shut down both lines between Ballston and West Falls Church/McLean through the weekend.
The derailment was caused primarily by a track condition where the rails the trains run on had become too wide due to deteriorated rail ties, according to the statement.
Metro says other factors that possibly contributed include weather, temperature, rail car equipment, and other causes.
There is no evidence of train operator error at this point in the investigation, Metro says.
Metro General Manager/CEO Paul Wiedefeld said Monday that all tracks will undergo a special supervisory inspection.
"While Metro and the outside experts continue their review, we are requiring supervisors to conduct a specialized track inspection to look for any other similar conditions that must be immediately addressed," said Wiedefeld.TALLINN - Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said that Russia is a major problem for the Baltic states.
“The biggest problem is Russia, which conducts military exercises close to our borders with more and more aggressive content. This forces us all to strengthen our military force,” she said in a Thursday interview with the Estonian newspaper Postimees in connection with her forthcoming visit to Estonia.
In her words, that NATO will conduct internal reforms that will lead to a significant reshaping of the planning system.
In addition, Grybauskaite said that the Lithuanian liquefied natural gas terminal placed on a ship in Klaipeda will help all three Baltic states to reduce dependence on Russian gas.
“After this ship was launched, the gas price dropped for all of us. With the disappearance of the monopoly of Russian Gazprom we have increased not only economic independence, but also freed hands for political decisions,” she said.
The president also called for ratification of the agreement on the construction of high-speed railway Rail Baltica, connecting the Baltic countries in Central Europe, even though there is still no agreement on it among states of the region.
“If the agreement is not ratified, other allies and the European Commission will say: if you are not able to negotiate and maintain your own project, why should we allocate money,” said Grybauskaite.
“In my opinion, the decision to build Rail Baltica has already been made. It is important to develop the transport corridor between the north and the south. The three Baltic states must demonstrate that they are able to cooperate,” the Lithuanian president said.
Grybauskaite will visit Estonia on June 5-6. The Estonian president's Chancellery reported that Grybauskaite intends to discuss issues of regional cooperation, the upcoming Estonian presidency in the EU Council, the future of the European Union, Eastern Partnership, Brexit, and migration. The parties also plan to discuss NATO issues, security policy, energy, and transport.Just a day after Ebbe Altberg, new CEO of Linden Lab told me that he had already supported decisions that would simplify the Linden Lab portfolio, this press release went out;
After careful consideration, Linden Lab has decided to cease development and support for dio, Versu, and Creatorverse. We’re grateful for those who took the time to experiment with these products in their early days, but ultimately we have determined that due to a number of factors, we and our customers will be best served by focusing our efforts on continuing to provide exceptional service and compelling new experiences for the users of our other products.
Although it is of course sad to see these products go and very disappointing for those people who still use them, it is good news for the people of Second Life, because it looks like this will allow Linden Lab to concentrate more on their main product, Second Life.
AdvertisementsAfter the Galaxy S Duos from 2012 and the Galaxy S Duos 2 from 2013, Samsung is now getting ready to launch the - you guessed it - Galaxy S Duos 3 (model number SM-G313HU). It looks like at least one Indian retailer is already selling the Samsung Galaxy S Duos 3, asking about $130 (7,999 INR) for it. However, Samsung has yet to list the smartphone on its official Indian website.The main difference between the new handset and the S Duos 2 from last year is the fact that the former runs Android 4.4 KitKat. Beyond that, it’s pretty much the same entry-level, dual-SIM device. Its features include: a 4-inch display with 480 x 800 pixels, HSDPA connectivity, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, VGA front-facing camera, 5 MP rear camera with LED flash, 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of expandable internal memory, and a 1500 mAh battery. The smartphone is powered by a 1.0 GHz dual-core processor of unknown provenience, and offers support for 14 regional (Indian) languages.We don’t know when Samsung intends to release the Galaxy S Duos 3 in other countries. In any case, the handset will probably be available in other emerging markets pretty soon.source: Mahesh Telecom via AndroidOS.inWelcome to the 2015 Kindle Book Awards
Sponsored by…
Chicken dinner, we have a winner…7 actually. We’re proud to present The Kindle Book Review’s 2015 Kindle Book Award Winners! It’s been a great year, and ALL of the submissions have made this year’s contest an amazing experience for our review and judging team.
We want to give a big shout out to our co-sponsor, Digital Book Today, and our other sponsors, Author Marketing Club, K-Boards, and Book Design Templates by Joel Friedlander. These are top-notch sites for authors and their many needs. Please visit their sites and tell ’em thanks for supporting The 2015 Kindle Book Awards!
The 2015 field was amazing, and very competitive. So we’re looking forward to our 2016 Awards. To learn more about the 2016 Kindle Book Awards and other KBR news, join our author newsletter by clicking here. Authors and readers… please share this announcement using the social media buttons below. Thanks!
Congrats, Winners! Each of you have won $1,200+ in cash ($350) and prizes from our sponsors. Click here for contest details
Non Fiction
TOP-5 FINALISTS
The Girl Behind the Door – John Brooks
I Am Raymond Washington – Zach Fortier
Sihpromatum, Back Packs and Bra Straps – Savannah Grace
Naked Truths About Getting Book Reviews – Gisela Hausmann
Shot Down – Steve Snyder
Split: A Child, A Priest, and the Catholic Church – Mary C. Dispenza
With Angel’s Wings – Stephanie A. Collins
It Takes a Fool – Sasha Dreams
Connecting Happiness and Success – Ray White
Kamikaze Kangaroos – Tony James Slater
21 Days in Maui – P. L. Como
Journey Into Light – Gayle Rose Martinez
Determined: The Story of Holocaust Survivor – A. Avraham Perlmutter Ph.D
Love and the Mystery of Betrayal – Sandra Lee Dennis
Trash: A True Story – Laurie Anne Hoover
On Hearing of My Mother’s Death Six Years After It Happened – Lori Schafer
Rupee Millionaires – Frank Kusy
Curbcheck Reload – Zach Fortier
Are You Kidding Me? – Stacey Gustafson
Nine Houses – Mary Eatmon
Sci-fi/Fantasy
TOP-5 FINALISTS
Eleanor (The Books of the Five Book 1) – S F Burgess
Angeli – Amy Vansant
Whiskey Witches – S.M. Blooding
JAYCE – Josh Barkey
Breaking the Nexus – Lindsay Avalon
The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty – Steve LeBel
Origins – Sean Hayden
AlterWorld – D. Rus
Dire Straits – Helen Harper
Zeus is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure – Michael G. Munz
A Time to Die – Nadine Brandes
Exigency – Michael Siemsen
Born to Magic, Tales of Nevaeh, Volume 1 – David Wind
The Walls of Flemington – Juliette Rogasik
The Sentient (The Sentient Prophecy Book 1) – Jessica Crawford
Bait – Courtney Farrell
Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic (Dowser 3) – Meghan Ciana Doidge
I See Me (Oracle 1) – Meghan Ciana Doidge
eMOTION: Hard Wired – C. Ryan Bymaster
Blood and Royalty: Dragoneer Saga Book 6 – M.R. Mathias
Romance
TOP-5 FINALISTS
A Scandalous Husband – Bev Pettersen
To Ride a White Horse – Pamela Ford
An Almost Perfect Christmas – Donna Fasano
The Man I Love – Suanne Laqueur
The Vixen and the Vet – Katy Regnery
Caught Up in You – Colee Firman
Kiss a Cowboy – Deanna Lynn Sletten
Loving Lauren – Jill Sanders
Falling for Emma – Alix Nichols
The Girl on the Half Shell – Susan Ward
Loving Lieutenant Douglas – Barbara Devlin
The Wolfe – Kathryn Le VeQue
No Perfect Fate – Jackie Weger
Soldier On – Sydney Logan
Rough Waters – Maggie Touissaint
Things Lost in the Fire – Katie Jennings
Black Moon Draw – Lizzy Ford
The Seacrest: A Love Story – Aaron Paul Lazar
A Lush Betrayal – Selena Laurence
Come Dancing – Leslie Wells
Literary Fiction
TOP-5 FINALISTS
The Other Side of Quiet – Tara C. Allred
The Poppy Field Diary – Carey Richard
The Lion Trees Vol. I & II – Owen Thomas
The Collection of Heng Souk – S.R. Wilsher
My Name is Thank You – Kaizen Love
Just Wondering: Alice’s Story – Jianna Higgins
Returning to the Lion’s Den – Marco Manfre
Triangle of Hope – Michael Meyer
The Cancer Club – Lucinda Sue Crosby
The Art of Raising Hell – Thomas Lopinski
American Gypsy Girl – Mary Zinda
Beneath the Greater Sky – Andrew Voelker
She’s Gone – Joye Emmens
Kaleidoscope – Kevin Berry
Stim – Kevin Berry
God & King – J.L. Spohr
Illusion of an Ending – Danielle Soucy Mills
Do No Resuscitate – Nicholas Ponticello
Red Clover – Florence Osmund
Mystery/Thriller
TOP-5 FINALISTS
Unallocated Space: A Thriller (Sam Flatt Book 1) – Jerry Hatchett
White Lady – Jessica Bell
Freak Show (Episode One: The Nightshade Cases) – Patti Larsen
The Eye of Shiva (The Project Book 8) – Alex Lukeman
Murder In Elysium – George Wier
This Time Justice – Liz Roadifer
Hometown Secrets (Linda Darby Mystery Book 2) -David Bishop
Fatal Redemption – Lou Kilzer and Mark Boyden
Soul (Trinity Trilogy Book 3) – Audrey Carlan
The Blacker Death: An Ebola Thriller – Larry Enright
Leverage (The Mistaken Series Book 2) – Nancy S. Thompson
Area Bird: Duty doesn’t always follow the rules (Gray Girl Book 2) – Susan l. Spieth
Gray Girl: Honor isn’t always black and white – Susan l. Spieth
GENE CARDS: A Thriller – E.E. Giorgi
Natalie’s Art (Frank Renzi Book 5) – Susan Fleet
Aberration – Lisa Regan
Henry and Tom: A Unique Rescue Novel – Michael Atkins and Wid Bastian
LIVE FREE OR DIE – Max Gordon
Fire Beach (Lei Crime, Book 8) – Toby Neal
Nobody’s Child (Georgia Davis Series Book 4) – Libby Fischer Hellmann
Suspense/Horror
TOP-FIVE FINALISTS
Mazie Baby – Julie Frayn
Don’t Look Inside – Spike Black
Abra-Cadaver – Matt Drabble
Cicada Spring: A Novel – Christian Galacer
Eyes to the Soul – Dale Mayer
Mystery and Misadventure: An Old Acquaintance – M.D. Hall
The One You Feed – James Drummond
Haven: (I Dream of Zombies, 2) – Vicki Johnstone
Ancient Enemy – Michael McBride
Madame Lilly, The Time of Sanura – Dormaine G.
Sylvie – Stacy Galloway
MILK-BLOOD – Mark Matthews
Housebroken – The Behrg
Apex Predator – J.A. Faura
Unreal City – A.R. Meyering
Hologram: A Haunting – James Conroyd Martin
Tourist Trapped – K.J. Klemme
Reaper’s Deliverance – Miranda Stork
Devil’s Lake (Bittersweet Hollow Book 1) – Aaron Lazar
The Drowning Man – Sara Vinduska
Young Adult
TOP-FIVE FINALISTS
Tales of Ever – Jen Wylie
If Everyone Knew Every Plant And Tree – Julia C. Johnston
The Clay Lion – Amalie Jahn
Circle of Nine: Beltany – Valerie Biel
Collide (The Solomon Experiments Book 1) – Christine Fonseca
Chrissie’s Run – S.A. Mahan
Sanguine Mountain (Camazotz Trilogy Book 1) – Jennifer Foxcroft
Dream On (Dare to Dream Book 2) – Kate Lattey
H.A.L.F.: THE DEEP BENEATH – Natalie Wright
Divine Fall – Kathryn Knight
Excelsior – George Sirois
THE BELIEF IN Angels – J. Dylan Yates
Sacrificed (The Last Oracle, Book 1) – Emily Wibberley
Steemjammer: Through the Verltgaat – John Eubank
Death Wish – Megan Tayte
Summer Confessions – Lynn Vroman
Lorehnin – A Novel of the Otherworld (The Otherworld Book 6) – Jenna Elizabeth Johnson
NOLA Gals – Barbara J. Rebbeck
The Place We Went to Yesterday – Lisa Mauro
How I Became a Teenage Survivalist – Julia L. Casey
Congrats, authors! See you on Sept. 1st. To see the official rules, click here.In 2008 the English teachers and the students of Mt. Hebron began a project of magnificent proportions. During our 9th graders’ study of the Holocaust, we talk about the six million Jewish people who were killed. Six million is a number that is larger than most of us can even imagine, but we need to know how large it is so that we understand just how tragic the Holocaust was. In order to grasp the enormity, we began an effort to collect six million used postage stamps. Once we have collected all of the stamps, the National Art Honor Society will use the stamps to create a mural that depicts tolerance among all people and it will be placed in a prominent area of our school. In order to reach our goal, we will need the help of everyone in the community as well as in our school. We would appreciate your not only saving stamps from mail you receive, but also passing our project along to others who could help us see our project to completion. Please send your collection of postage stamps to:
Mt. Hebron High School 9440 Old Frederick Road Ellicott City, MD 21042
Thank you for your continued support of our project.Image caption Premature birth can be dangerous for the baby
A gene linked to premature births has been discovered, scientists in the US and Finland have said.
The researchers hope their study, published in PLoS Genetics, could eventually lead to a test for women at risk of a pre-term birth.
In the UK, one in 10 babies is born before the 37th week of pregnancy, with potential problems for their health.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said it would help to identify a percentage of those at risk.
The international team of researchers looked to human evolution in their hunt for genes linked to premature births.
In comparison to other primates and mammals, humans have relatively large heads and narrow birth canals.
Acceleration
The researchers, at Vanderbilt University, Washington University and the University of Helsinki, believed there must have been an evolutionary pressure to "adapt and shift the time of birth" to produce a smaller baby.
Risks for premature babies Respiratory distress syndrome
Hypothermia
Low blood glucose
Jaundice
Infection
Retinopathy of prematurity
Necritising enterocolitis
Death
They looked for DNA which showed evidence of "accelerated evolution" - genes which have mutated more in humans than in other primates.
They identified 150 genes.
The next step was to look for an association with premature births, so the researchers compared those 150 genes in 328 Finnish mothers, some of whom had premature births.
A strong association to pre-term births was found in variants of the FSHR - or follicle stimulating hormone receptor - gene.
Follicle stimulating hormone acts on receptors in the ovaries to encourage follicle (a sphere of cells containing an egg) development and production of the hormone oestrogen.
'Greatest risk'
Professor Louis Muglia, from the department of paediatrics at Vanderbilt University, said: "Ideally we'd like to predict which women are at greatest risk for having pre-term birth and be able to prevent it. That would really have an impact on infant mortality and the long-term complications of being born prematurely."
Professor Ronald Lamont, spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: "I think it's fantastic, it's a good group of well respected people doing this research."
He said the risk of premature birth was likely to be a mix of genetic and environmental factors.
"In the future we will be able to identify a percentage of people at risk. It won't be the be all and end all, but it will contribute to our knowledge."
In a separate study, a team at Washington State University believe they have identified why eggs are produced which result in miscarriage and birth defects.
The research published in Current Biology examines the relationship between eggs and the correct number of chromosomes.A strong woman has been killed by a weak man and the world is a poorer place for it.
Marie Colvin’s death in the besieged Syrian city of Homs was shocking and violent.
Her journalist colleagues have painted a surprising picture of what drove a middle-aged woman to crawl through ditches, drive into pitched darkness with unknown armed men, and join civilians cowering under merciless shellfire in concrete basements.
In a word: anger.
Marie Colvin seems to have had an inbuilt anger: anger at injustice, anger at the wrong meted out to ordinary people in conflicts across the globe, anger at the sheer unfairness of the powerful punishing the poor. She wanted to tell their stories.
Her last report for the Sunday Times is awash with the stories of ordinary people, mostly told in their own words. Yes there’s a small section dealing with her dramatic journey to the city, a wistful paragraph on how beautiful the area would have been in different circumstances, but the piece is essentially not about her (a point missed by many other “celebrity” correspondents). No, the story for Marie Colvin was about the people she found in Homs, the people whose lives and deaths she wanted the world to know about, because what was (and is) happening to them was (and is) wrong.
As a society, we’re broadly uncomfortable with the concept of anger. We usually reserve our own anger for family members, drivers who cut us up, and anyone else guilty of petty or perceived wrongs.
Far more rare, but far more precious, is what Marie Colvin had. A driving sense of righteous anger, a courageous rage against injustice, fury at exploitation of the weak. Maybe Marie Colvin was quite capable of the first type of anger too, but she certainly had the second. She made choices to put herself in harm’s way so that the voices of the poor could be heard.
Righteous anger comes at a price. The desire to tell the story of the oppressed cost Marie Colvin first the sight in one eye, and then her life. We feel compassion for her death because we know something of her, had some basis for empathy and feeling we “knew” her, even though most of us didn’t. She, on the other hand, seemed able to experience these feelings for people she’d never met, but whose suffering she abhorred.
Contrast that with the man whose own choices led to her death. Bashar al-Assad chose as a young man to come to London to study to be an eye doctor. He chose to marry a British woman, Asma from Acton. He appeared to choose a life of doing good, of healing. In different circumstances he would probably be living out that life in London now, and no doubt would have made a caring, compassionate doctor. He would have appeared to be a good man. But how many of the people we see as good – including ourselves – have ever really been put to the test?
Circumstances changed for Bashar al-Assad. The death of his brother Basil in a car crash in 1994 ended his hopes of a life doing good in London: Bashar became the new presumed heir to his father’s power. Perhaps a stronger man would have refused to go back to Syria in the first place. Certainly a stronger man would have found a solution to the current uprising other than murder.
His weakness has cost thousands of lives and the toll is mounting daily. As the conflict started, I found myself willing him (and his British wife) on, to rediscover the values they must have thought they believed in when they lived in London.
But no, it was weakness that won out. Assad and his regime resorted to military might – and nothing demonstrates greater weakness than using the military against your own people. The Syrian opposition movement is, I am aware, an unstable cocktail of religious, political and ethnic groups, with even al-Qaeda trying to muscle in, but that in no way justifies what the UN believes are “highly likely” to be crimes against humanity.
And while weakness may seem easier in the moment, strength is what brings change. Whole empires can be brought down by the strength of one man. Mikhail Gorbachev may not have intended to end the Soviet empire when he became convinced of the case for “perestroika” – change. But that was the end result. A brutal empire built up over decades crumbled and fell because a strong man accepted the need for change.
Bashar al-Assad has demonstrated nothing but his weakness in attempting to use strength to end the uprising in Syria. Yes he’s accepted limited reforms, and yes he’s surrounded by generals and politicians telling him he has no choice but to act tough. Some see him in effect as a puppet, who couldn’t change things even if he wanted to. There’s probably some truth in this. But a strong man would be prepared to be ousted, exiled, even killed, rather than presiding over the massacre of his people.
So a weak man has killed a strong woman – a woman he could easily have known and befriended in London if the Sliding Doors moment in 1994 hadn’t taken his life in another direction.
Thanks to the courage and sacrifice of one woman, the world is more aware than ever of the brutality and cowardice of what’s happening in Syria. The life of Marie Colvin was of no higher intrinsic value than that of the French photographer Remi Ochlik who died with her, or the dozens of other people killed in Homs on the same day, or the estimated 7,000 unnamed Syrians already killed since the uprising began in March 2011.
But let’s hope the shocking loss of such a prominent figure may prove some kind of turning point, and that in death Marie Colvin achieves what she sought so courageously to achieve in life.Football Federation Australia has announced it will introduce two extra officials for the rest of the FFA Cup, a trial that could see the system ultimately implemented in the A-League.
In addition to the main referee, two linesmen and the fourth official, two assistants will stand alongside each goal for the remaining 15 matches of the competition, which has reached the round-of-16 phase.
Infamous: Manchester United's Roy Carroll drops the ball into his goal in 2005, but it was ruled no goal. Credit:Channel Nine News
The system has already been trialled in the Europa League for five years and has generally been considered a success, with UEFA since expanding it across their club and international competitions.
The advent of goal-line technology – used in the recent World Cup in Brazil, in the English Premier League and Major League Soccer – has also challenged the need for extra officials.Massive cuts to education, pensions and social services expected in Pennsylvania state budget
By Samuel Davidson
9 June 2014
Another round of massive cuts to education and other social services are expected to be part of the Pennsylvania budget that state lawmakers must approve by June 30 or face a shutdown. In addition, lawmakers are seeking to cut pensions and other benefits for state workers and teachers.
The state is facing a $1.3 to $1.5 billion deficit for the 2014-15 fiscal year that begins July 1. Tax revenue for May was $108 million below expectations and comes after April tax collections were over $495 million short. May was the sixth month in a row that tax revenue fell below targets.
In total, the ongoing recession and tax breaks for corporations have caused the state to collect nearly a billion dollars less in tax revenue than anticipated.
In February, as the unpopular Republican Governor Tom Corbett was entering an election year, his administration proposed a budget which included modest increases to education and other social programs. That budget has now been shelved and lawmakers are saying “all options are on the table” when being asked what will be cut.
Budget Secretary Charles Zogby, speaking after a meeting with state house and senate leaders, said, “If you just did a budget within the existing revenues.... you’d have no new funding for basic education (k-12), no new funding for higher education, no new funding to reduce waiting lists for those with intellectual disabilities, and we’d still probably have to go back and look at further cuts to balance.”
Education
Since coming to office, the Corbett administration has targeted public education in particular for cuts. In his first year in office, the administration cut $1 billion from public education, which led to massive layoffs, increased class sizes, and the elimination of art, music, and athletic programs in many districts—and in some cases actually cutting core classes.
Since then, the Corbett administration has made small increases to education, but the current budget is still below the 2009-10 year. The cumulative effect of the cuts has been nearly $2 billion shortfall, not counting the effects of inflation.
In all, 20,000 educators have been laid off, including teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, nurses, administrators and other staff.
Overall, the cuts amounted to $487 per student, but the Corbett administration targeted the poorest districts for the most cuts. Philadelphia was cut by over $1,300 per student while some of the wealthiest districts saw cuts of less than $50 per student. Since 2011, small increases to education has reduced the overall cut to $263 per student, that is leaving 54 percent of the initial cuts intact.
Health Care and Social Services
The new budget is likely to contain large cuts to health care and other social services. Upon taking office, one of the first acts of the Corbett administration has been to eliminate a program called “Adult Basic,” which provided health care to about 45,000 low-income adults.
Cuts to the Department of Human Services have lead to the closing of scores of offices and the elimination of hundreds of jobs. Hundreds of thousands of low-income residents have been denied Medicaid, Food Stamps and welfare through bureaucratic red tape.
Approximately 500,000 low-income residents would be eligible for health care under the Affordable Care Act but do not receive it because the Corbett Administration has refused to accept the Medicaid expansion.
Tax Breaks For the Wealthy
The Corbett administration has continued the tax breaks to corporations that originated under the previous administration of Democratic Governor Ed Rendell. Combined, those cuts amount to about one third of the total amount budgeted for education.
In addition, the Corbett administration has followed Rendell in refusing to impose any new taxes on the gas industry, which has experienced a massive boom drilling for gas in the Marcellus shale. The administration continues to provide these corporations with virtually unfettered access to public lands, including state forests and parks.
While the Corbett administration has promised “no new taxes,” in reality local school districts have been forced to push up property taxes to maintain services. These taxes weigh heavily on low-income workers and the elderly.
Pensions and Other Issues
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have also indicated that they intend to seek changes in the pension system for State workers and teachers. These moves are in line with a drive around the country—including, for example, in Detroit—to break up, reduce, and eliminate public employee pensions. The pension system is underfunded by billions of dollars, and state politicians are seeking to replace the defined benefit plan with a 401k style plan.
The administration is also seeking to sell off the state owned liquor stores, which would put thousands of workers out of jobs.
The author also recommends:
Half a million low-income residents left without health insurance in Pennsylvania
[5 May 2014]
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Art journaling has been a part of my creative process since high school. It’s the one thing I always come back to when I’m feeling lost or overwhelmed by life and is the one place where I can create intuitively, without a specific purpose or judgement. Just the act of doodling on a page or making a collage in my journal calms my nerves and helps me to reconnect with my true self.
Whenever I get the ‘itch’ to journal, I get out my art journal supply kit (which I often carry with me in my bag or purse) and get started.
My Art Journal Supply Kit Includes:
• Pens and markers
• Colored pencils and sharpener
• Glitter glue and gel pens
• My travel watercolor set
• A small pair of scissors
• Glue stick
• Mechanical pencil and eraser
• Large zipper pouch (mine is handmade by Slide Sideways, now known as Year Round Co.)
I love to experiment and have fun when working in my art journal so I like using supplies I wouldn’t normally use when making art. I love adding a touch of glitter or using a white gel pen to doodle over a dark watercolor wash.
My Favorite Collage Materials:
• Vintage National Geographic magazines
• Vintage postcards and other ephemera
• Vintage books
• Pressed leaves and flowers
• Any other bits I find and collect
You may have noticed that I use a old book as my art journal medium. There’s something about drawing inside the pages of a book that feels so satisfying. There are no blank white pages staring at me saying “this better be good” and I love choosing an old book with a title and cover that speaks to me.
Do you art journal? What are some of your favorite supplies or techniques?I’m a little startled that the newest blogger for Atlantic.com (Atlantic Monthly Magazine) is Jack |
Al Qaeda’s external operations network has been the prime target of the covert US air campaign in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The US has targeted al Qaeda and Taliban camps designated to train operatives holding foreign passports, while the leadership of the external operations branch has also been hit hard.
Al Somali is the third external operations commander to have been killed since May 2008, when Mustafa al Jazairi was killed in a Predator strike in the town of Damadola in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency. The US killed Osama al Kini, Jazairi’s successor, and his senior deputy Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan in an airstrike in the town of Karikot in South Waziristan on New Year’s Day, 2009.
Background on US strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban networks in northwestern Pakistan
US intelligence believes that al Qaeda has reconstituted its external operations network in Pakistan’s lawless, Taliban-controlled tribal areas. This network is tasked with hitting targets in the West, India, and elsewhere. The US has struck at these external cells using unmanned Predator aircraft and other means in an effort to disrupt al Qaeda’s external network and decapitate the leadership. The US also has targeted al Qaeda-linked Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan, particularly the notorious Haqqani Network.
As of the summer of 2008, al Qaeda and the Taliban operated 157 known training camps in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. Al Qaeda has been training terrorists holding Western passports to conduct attacks, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Some of the camps are devoted to training the Taliban’s military arm; some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan; some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups; some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West; some train the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda’s Shadow Army; and one serves as a training ground for the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard unit for Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and other senior al Qaeda leaders.
The US has carried out 48 airstrikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas and in the northwest this year. There were 36 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan during 2008, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-nine of those attacks took place after Aug. 31. From 2004 through 2007, there were only 10 recorded strikes.
Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.Oma raha
S-ryhmä tinkii katteistaan: "Houkutellaan asiakkaat"
Mainos (Teksti jatkuu alla) Mainos päättyy
Pallo Keskon uudella pääjohtajalla
S-ryhmän ja kilpailijoiden ruuan hinnanlaskut ovat kaukana hintasodasta. Kyse on aivan normaalista kaupankäynnistä, joka ei uhkaa niiden kannattavuutta, Inderesin pääanalyytikkotiivistää.Palvelualojen ammattiliitto kiirehti tänään kysymään, mistä hintakilpailu rahoitetaan, kun kaupat käyvät yt-neuvotteluita ja valittavat kannattavuudesta. Vilénin mukaan ruokakauppa on erittäin kannattavaa Suomessa, eikä minkäänlaisesta pudotuspelistä ole kyse.– Suomalainen ruokakauppa pärjää eurooppalaisvertailussa todella hyvin, vaikka Suomi on vaikea markkina pienen koon ja etäisyyksien takia, Vilén sanoi.Alennus on S-ryhmältä hyvää markkinointia, kun se viestii tekevänsä kuluttajalle palveluksen. Kauppojen marginaalit ovat pullistuneet viime vuosina mukavasti, ja niissä on varaa tulla alas. Myös raaka-ainekustannukset ovat laskeneet, Vilén huomauttaa.– S-ryhmä on valinnut pienen perusostoskorin, jonka hinta painetaan todella alas. Korin marginaali on kaupalle huono, mutta sillä houkutellaan asiakkaat sisään.Markkinaosuutta S-ryhmä ei halua enää kasvattaa, koska 46 prosenttia alkaa olla jo niin korkea taso, että kilpailuviranomainen ei pidä siitä. Tavoitteena on ylläpitää hintamielikuvaa ja puolustaa asemaa. Pallo on nyt Keskolla.Keskon osakekurssissa näkyi aamulla raju ensireaktio ja B-osake painui kymmenen prosentin laskuun. Kello 13 aikaan osake liikkui yhä noin kahdeksan prosenttia alamäessä. Vilen muistuttaa, että perjantaina kurssi nousi heppoisin perustein. Osa laskusta on korjausta alaspäin.– Ei voi silti väheksyä sitä asiaa, että ruokakauppa tekee Keskon rahat. Vaikka ruokakauppa on kannattava, markkinaosuuden lasku pitää saada pysähtymään. Tämä [S-ryhmän veto] tuo riskin, että se kiihtyy.– Lidlin markkinaosuus tulee jatkossakin Keskolta, ja uudelta pääjohtajalta [odotetaan näkemyksiä siitä, miten lasku saadaan poikki.Kuluttajat tarttuvat aiempaa innokkaammin tarjouksiin. Kauppa on ajautunut eräänlaiseen alennuskierteeseen, ja kuluttajat odottavat herkästi tuotteiden halpenevan vielä lisää. Sinänsä ruuan hinnan lasku on deflaatiota, mutta hyvää sellaista, Vilen sanoo.– Kun ruuan hinta laskee, et jätä sitä ostamatta sen takia että se on ensi viikolla halvempaa, vaan säästön voi käyttää johonkin muuhun.Zachary Orr’s retirement brings more than a few questions to the table for the Baltimore Ravens this upcoming offseason.
Who will start next to C.J. Mosley? Does the Front Office trust that Kamalei Correa can step into the starting role? Where does this put inside linebacker as a draft board priority? Will Baltimore look for a veteran to thrust into the role?
Orr’s departure leaves behind a big impact, there is no doubting that. Baltimore shouldn’t simply be looking for someone who can replace Orr, but someone who can complement Mosley’s strengths as an inside linebacker.
Who will start next to Mosley? That answer is nowhere in sight, yet. It could very well be Correa, a rookie, or a veteran free-agent. The answer will be much more clear as free agency and the draft come and go.
Does the Front Office trust that Correa can step into the starting role? That answer isn’t known, at least publicly, just yet. Many critics are already comparing Correa to recent second-round draft pick Arthur Brown. Brown was viewed as a future building block when he was drafted. He lasted only three years in Baltimore before being cut. Brown rarely saw the field, even on special teams. That’s where Correa has a slight edge over Brown at this point in his career.
Correa’s season was riddled with injuries, but unlike Brown, he did make a presence on the special team’s units flagging down kick returns. Starting on special teams goes a long way to seeing the field on a Baltimore defense. *Hint, hint* Zachary Orr.
Just because he was on the field for special teams in no way means Correa is ready to see the field, but it is far too early to give up on this second-rounder.
How far up did Orr’s retirement shove inside linebacker on Baltimore’s draft priority list? It pushed it into early consideration, for sure, but there are still pressing needs all along this team. A pass rusher, a complement to Jimmy Smith, and offensive line help should still hold more weight in the draft, unless a star ILB is there for the taking.
Rueben Foster from Alabama is a common consensus for the top inside linebacker in this draft. It is well known how much Ozzie Newsome loves his Alabama boys. Although, not many draft analysts have Foster dropping past the top-10 at this point.
Lastly, are there any veterans in free agency that will step in and complement Mosley right away? The short answer is yes. But, will Baltimore be able to retain any of their top options? The Front Office will certainly want to take a swing on resigning both Brandon Williams and Ricky Wagner, who will both command hefty contracts. How much would they be willing to spend on a veteran inside linebacker?
The top options on free agency, in my opinion, so far (there are always unexpected cap casualties), are Lawrence Timmons, Malcolm Smith, and Manti Te’o. Timmons should be high on Pittsburgh’s priority list, having been a mainstay in the middle of Mike Tomlin’s defense for years now. He will also command the biggest contract of any free-agent inside linebacker in this year’s crop.
Smith, a former Super Bowl MVP, had a productive year in Oakland, putting up somewhat similar-yet-lesser stats to Orr. The question with him is whether Baltimore would settle for him or go with someone with more potential.
Te’o is an interesting prospect, and has yet to show his full potential. He was a first-round talent coming out of Notre Dame just four years ago, but fell due to a pre-draft catfish scandal. He’s coming off an injury in a contract year, so who knows what next season will bring for him.
There are many different routes that Baltimore can go in finding their next starting linebacker. Luckily for the team, they have plenty of time to figure out an answer.Artist Jeff Thompson received a Rhizome commission in 2012 for his project Computers on Law & Order, for which he watched every episode of the long-running television series and took screenshots of all the computers. Thompson will present an illustrated lecture based on the project this Saturday, Feb 1 at 4pm at the Museum of the Moving Image, followed by a discussion with Law & Order graphic designer Kevin Raper. In this article, he shares some of his findings.
In the fall of 1990, a television program about crime, police investigation, and criminal trials named Law & Order aired for the first time. The show eventually ended in 2010, tied with Gunsmoke for the longest-running live-action television show at 20 seasons and 456 episodes.[1] With its unique (and consistent) style and trademark "dun-dun!" sound, Law & Order has generated several spin-offs and can likely be found playing at any hour of the day somewhere on cable.[2]
Much has been written recently about how "binge-watching" an entire season or even an entire show is changing our interaction with—and in some cases the making of—television.[3] This new TV-watching paradigm is due in large part to Netflix’s streaming service; around the same time it was launched, I started watching a lot of Law & Order. With so many episodes available in an easy-to-digest procedural format, I could just turn to the next episode in line and hit "play."
I began to take screenshots of oddities: moments where the show broke from its usual format into first-person or split-screen views, or frames of unexpected abstraction as the camera panned across a scene.[4] But somewhere in all those procedurally-formatted murders, quips, investigations, interrogations, and trials I began noticing computers. At first they were oddities too (characters using computers in funny ways, interesting-looking fake applications or websites), but as many obsessive projects start, the more screenshots I took, the more I noticed computers.
A typical computer in the background of an office (1, 22).
In the summer of 2012, I received a Rhizome commission to more systematically document computers across the entire original Law & Order series. I purchased the 120-disc box set and began to record (almost) every computer from all 456 episodes.[5] Now, a little more than a year later, nearly 11,000 screenshots have been gathered along with some related (and some not-so-related) data about the show. The project is presented in the form of a blog (computersonlawandorder.tumblr.com) and in the more curated form of a book.
After watching all 319 hours of the show (or the equivalent of about two straight months watching 40-hours a week, though that is not how I consumed it), I think Law & Order is an even more interesting cultural artifact than I could have ever expected. The show forms a unique database of images and speech, and one that reflects the fascinations, fears, and biases of its time. Law & Order's long run and its "ripped from the headlines" content makes it a useful lens through which to look at a period of great political and economic change in the United States. In particular, the show coincides with a major cultural shift: the rise and eventual ubiquity of computers and networked technologies over a crucial 20-year period in technological history.
Law & Order spans the emergence of the ever-present personal computer, the trajectory from specialized to mainstream internet use,[6] the introduction of laptops and flatscreen monitors, and finally the mass adoption of internet-enabled smartphones. Alongside the actual technology appearing onscreen, the show's content, ranging from casual conversations to crimes and crime-solving, reflects our fascination with and sometimes fears about technologies like BBS systems, email, online dating and social networking, webcams, privacy and hacking, facial recognition, and search engines.
While an investigation of the show could have taken many forms, as an artist interested in how technology shapes culture it made perfect sense to use Law & Order as a means to talk about how our relationship with computers has formed and changed over the last 20 years.[7] The screenshots resulting from this project (along with other data, including web addresses used on the show, quotes about computers, and a list of "first appearances"—all included in this book) provide a rich data set through which there are many possible lines of investigation. One of the trajectories we can trace through the show is the transition of the computer from turned-off background prop, lending realism to scenes in the workplace, to its current position as a necessary, always-networked, and constantly used tool.
The first computer on Law & Order appears nine minutes into the first episode of the show. A rather small, dull-gray monitor sits on the also-dull-gray box of a computer. The keyboard rests on the desk in front and some kind of peripheral sits to the left. Exact details are difficult to identify. We see the computer as the camera quickly pans the room, obscured by motion blur and the graininess of the film stock.[8] Alone, unused and tucked into the corner of the room, this is the state of computers for most of the first ten seasons of the show: a shared resource used only occasionally as needed, turned off more often than not, and dotted with Post-It notes left for other users. Often, these computers are shown on dedicated computer desks or tucked away in corners, below counters, or in other out-of-the-way places.
The first computer on the show (1,1).
The first computer turned on (1, 9).
Clunky monitors slowly move to the front of the desk (5, 89)
This reflection of banal details is something Law & Order excels at (whether intentionally or not) and stands in contrast with one of the show’s spinoffs, Law & Order: SVU, which often depicts police station computers in a manner bordering on the sci-fi. Unlike the smart-boards and touch-based interaction of SVU (which is intended to suggest high-tech interactivity while being decidedly not, sporting instead clunky and simplified user interfaces with the veneer of corporate design), the original series accepts the realistic limitations of blue screens and keyboard-only input, and as a result is a much better representation of the average computer user in the early 1990s.[9]
In fact, it isn't until nine episodes and 39 computers later that a machine is even turned on, and it isn't until season five that a computer appears on the front of someone’s desk. Over the course of the show as we might expect, computers become more and more common, shifting from bulky desktops to laptops and flatscreen monitors. City employees look up records for detectives and DAs, forensics and computer experts are seen using high-end software and even engaging in hacking, and computers dot the background with random programs open as if some important work had been interrupted. By the last two seasons, both detectives are regularly seen working on laptops across from each other and smartphones begin to make appearances.
This shift can be measured by counting the number of computers captured per season. The below chart shows the computer counts across all 20 seasons along with a line tracking the average trend: a steady incline in the number of computers onscreen that bumps up briefly in the middle and skyrockets towards the end of the show's run.
An overall rise in the count is to be expected as computers become more common throughout 1990s and early 2000s (the spike in the first season is likely the result of my overzealous capturing of images at the start of the project). Computer use transitioned in the late 1990s from a shared office tool to one of near constant use at work, and often at home as well. By 2002, more than half of Americans were online.[10] Computers, the internet, and computer-related stories and crimes were on everyone’s mind; this was reflected in the show’s stories and as a bump in in the computer count.
The subsequent dip in the early-to-mid 2000s is perhaps the most interesting, and is likely the result of several factors. The first may be ubiquity: we all got used to having and using computers. Computers mediated many daily tasks and the internet matured, giving us a feeling of comfort with technologies like email and instant messaging. Another possible reason is a feeling of doubt about the role computers would play as the result of the dot-com bubble, when online retailers went under and technology stocks dropped. While not seen as clearly in the screenshots themselves, these sentiments are reflected in the show’s storylines. In episode 253 (2001), one character sums up this feeling: "Then her cousin Jeff convinced her to jump on the internet bandwagon. It was a disaster."
But new technologies breed new fascinations and anxieties, and this is a likely cause for the sharp increase in the number of computers in the final seasons. With the rise of mobile computing, characters start using smartphones and laptops on a regular basis, and engage more with social networking sites (Law & Order's fake Facebook is called Faceplace, one of few domains used on the show that NBC isn't just sitting on).
Out with the old, in with the new (13, 282).
An ADA distractedly checking her email (18, 411).
One of many Apple products in the final seasons (18, 396).
There is a second possible reason for this spike: Apple became a sponsor of many NBC shows.[11] No longer did we see nameless beige computers recycled from previous episodes or devices with their brand names covered. Instead, fancy new computers proliferated, clearly identifiable as Apple products. This consistent shift to a high-end brand is out of character for a gritty crime drama, but in the end perhaps says more about how television is made than it does about computers.
Now 18 months and hundreds of episodes later, I realize this isn't a project about Law & Order at all—the show is one of many possible vehicles for exploring our culture's relationship to technology. Detailed accounts have been written of mainframes and cloud computing, social media and online commerce, but there are few books about the more humble aspects of technological culture. Consider the computer desk: formerly ubiquitous, fake-wood melamine furniture with a keyboard tray and, depending on the vintage, a box of disks or a built-in CD rack, the computer desk is one of many objects mostly lost to the past that get a rich historical document through Law & Order. If we want to dig for this sort of anthropological detail, we are unlikely to find it anywhere but in the media of the period. It is difficult to pin down exactly what these and all the other images in this archive might mean, and that's something I find satisfying. Embedded in the background of scenes, snippets of dialog, or fleetingly glimpsed fashion, I look forward to seeing more projects that use media to nibble at the profound or kitschy that lies waiting to be unearthed.
Law & Order's thebaronmuchhumpin.com (8, 175).
[1] While Law & Order ran for the same number of seasons as Gunsmoke, it is worth noting that Gunsmoke produced 635 episodes, compared to Law & Order's 456. The only show to run longer than Gunsmoke is The Simpsons, which at the time of writing has produced 25 seasons and 540 episodes.
[2] The characteristic and variously described "dun-dun!" sound effect was created by series composer Mike Post. The sound was made from "an amalgamation of nearly a dozen sounds, including an actual gavel, a jail door slamming, and five hundred Japanese monks walking across a hardwood floor."
[3] For a quick introduction to the idea of "binge-watching," including an analysis from Netflix, see this Wall Street Journal article
[5] Close to but not every computer. Computers that appeared onscreen for only a single frame and were blurred or mostly cut off were not captured. The start of Law & Order coincides with the beginning of internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee's work on the World Wide Web while at CERN
[6] Law & Order is a data set of surprising depth, and merits further analysis from a variety of fronts. Other tactics from other disciplines will yield very different results: a few possibilities include examining how justice, gender, and race are presented in the show, or textual analyses of the scripts for patterns or trends.
[7] Some internet sleuthing suggests that the computer is either an IBM Personal System/2 (which definitely appears in episode 2) or is a prop. The unidentified peripheral remains a mystery since the first mouse doesn’t appear until season six.What’s next for Senator Pacquiao?
Leo Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 8, 2016
Last Saturday we saw the return of Manny Pacquiao against a formidable, but over-matched Jessie Vargas. Despite the lower punch output from Pacquiao, it was clear that Vargas had bitten off a bit more than he could chew against the 37 year old future Hall of Famer. The fight was decided by Unanimous Decision with the cards reading 118–109, 118–109, and Dave Moretti’s laughable 114–113.
During the post-fight interview with Stephen A. Smith, who sadly had Vargas leading the fight until the mid-late rounds, Manny was asked who he intended to fight next. True to a politician’s form, Manny gave a non-committal answer.
“I don’t know who the fight will be. Whoever the people want me to fight. I am not picking an opponent. Whoever my promoter gives me, I will fight. Anybody at 147. Crawford at 140? Not a problem.”
Given what is known about the current landscape in Manny’s neighborhood (140–154), here are the top and bottom choices of what Manny should and shouldn’t do with the short time left in his boxing career.
Best Case Scenario Opponents
1) Kell Brook: Few fighters can say they’ve fought the best in their division. The number is even smaller when we consider fighters who’ve fought the best in 2 divisions above their natural weight. Even though Brook suffered a brutal loss when he moved up to fight Golovkin, his stock has never been higher. Sky and the judges had Brook ahead on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage and he was never down. Manny Pacquiao can smartly capitalize on Brook’s high stock and test just how much Golovkin took out of Brook. We haven’t seen too many Golovkin victims go on to bigger and better things and Pacquiao could coast to an easy and dominant win if a part of Brook was left in the ring last September.
2) Floyd Mayweather: Stephen A Smith made sure we all knew that Mayweather was in the house for Pacquiao’s fight. He also made sure that the first possible next opponent Pacquiao was asked about was Mayweather. Given the unreported injury from the first fight, many fans have been calling for a rematch. Mayweather has made it clear that he’s retired, but has also pointedly said he’s a businessman. For the right price (they don’t call him “Money” for nothing), it’s likely that we may see the titans clash again. If Pacquiao truly believes that the shoulder was the cause for his poor performance in their first meeting, maybe he has a much better chance in a rematch than most give him credit for. There is a reason, after all, over 4 million homes ordered the pay-per-view the first time around. Even if the shoulder was a fabrication as some believe, the payday for a rematch justifies the fight no matter what the result.
3) Winner of D.Garcia-K.Thurman: Manny stated in is his post-fight interview that he intends to return to his day job as a senator. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for Pacquiao to devote some time to legislation while he waits for the cards to fall where they may. The winner of Garcia-Thurman would be a unified champion and would be in a good place to unify one more belt. This fight becomes all the more likely given Bob Arum has reopened the lines of communication with Al Haymon.
4) Terrence Crawford: Crawford’s clear win over Viktor Postol settled all arguments over who was the best 140 pound fighter in the world. Looking forward, there aren’t many political roadblocks that would keep a fight between Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao from being made. The biggest question surrounding the potential meeting would be whether Pacquiao can be tempted by the high risk and relatively low reward of fighting Terence Crawford. Of all fighters on this list, he brings in the least amount of buzz given he’s not yet crossed over the way the others have.
5) Amir Khan: Let’s not mince words — Khan’s most recent outing ended via decapitation. To be fair, he was game throughout the fight and made a decent showing while it lasted (as expected). Khan may not be able to strong-arm Brook with as many A-side demands as before, but that fight may still be on the table. It is doubtful that Khan would turn down a payout against Pacquiao to fight his domestic rival in Brook. Shaky chin notwithstanding, Khan still carries decent name recognition and would likely be a relatively easy win with Manny’s straight left. Good payout, mid-to-low risk.
Considering his age, Manny is still very formidable. And while many have said that he’s a natural 140, at this age it may not be the wisest decision to give up any advantages no matter the division in which he’s fighting.
Bottom choices for Manny
1) Gennady Golovkin (at 154): This should go without saying, but just to say it explicitly: Manny Pacquiao is much too small. Yes, he beat Margarito to a pulp, but Manny isn’t that spring chicken anymore. He’s 37 years old, and skill aside, in the twilight years of his career. He has a life and career after the sport to consider.
2) Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (at 154): The Canelo we saw fight Mayweather was not nearly as experienced as the one that would step into the ring with Pacquiao. As with Golovkin, Manny would be giving up nearly 20 pounds to Alvarez. Besides, Alvarez and Golovkin need to be gearing up to fight each other, not another welterweight.
3) Vasyl Lomachenko (at 135): Pacquiao officially weighed 144 against Vargas. Going to 140 wouldn’t be too much to ask. Hitting 135 would be tough for a 37 year old man who hasn’t fought that low in nearly a decade.
4) Most anyone at 140: There aren’t many reasons for Pacquiao to move down to 140 unless there is a large monetary incentive. Crawford may be one of those men, the only other possible candidate is Adrien Broner. Outside of those two 140 pounders, there aren’t any other names at the weight that would be sufficiently recognizable to make an appealing matchup.An international match-fixing syndicate set its sights on a Canadian soccer league in hopes the lower-level games were far enough out of the spotlight that officials wouldn't suspect tampering, wiretaps obtained by CBC News suggests.
The Canadian Soccer League is a semi-professional league that runs in Ontario and Quebec. (Canadian Soccer League)
The syndicate targeted the Canadian Soccer League (CSL), a semi-pro league in Ontario and Quebec that serves as a feeder system for Canadian major league clubs.
CBC News obtained evidence of the match-fixing from hundreds of hours of police wiretaps revealed during a 2011 German court case into one of the largest sports-fixing scandals to hit Europe. The syndicate manipulated domestic league games around the world.
In Canada, interviews conducted by CBC News with dozens of players, soccer officials and other sources painted a picture of a semi-pro league in which players were routinely approached to fix games.
Stefan Conen, a lawyer representing one of the European fixers convicted in the Berlin court, not only admitted to CBC News that his client helped fixed a game in Canada, but says the syndicate targeted the CSL for a specific reason.
"It's easier to fix a game in the lower leagues, there’s less control, less attention to those games, plus the players earn less so they’re easier to compromise for money," Conen said.
Some CSL players earn only about $5,000 for a season of weekend games.
"If we don’t become rich here, then I don't know where we could become rich," the plotters were caught saying on the wiretaps.
Small matches, big business
One Canadian Soccer League player, who spoke to CBC News on the condition of anonymity, described how he was approached to fix a game outside a team dressing room.
"[The] guy called me over to the fence where the fans are and he's like, 'Wanna make some money?'"
The player said he has been repeatedly propositioned over the past couple seasons to fix games. "I get approached a lot and me, personally, I turn it down."
However, not all players turned it down, according to the wiretaps.
"I gave the money to [a player] who has family in Canada," one of the fixers was heard saying. "The bagman went to see him in Canada."
Experts suggest the European crime syndicate concentrated on the obscure league in Canada because of recent trends in online betting.
"The betting industry is a global business. It's 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year," said Darren Small, the director of integrity at England-based Sportradar, a company that monitors sports gambling. "So the operators wish to offer a match for betting at any second of any part of the day."
Gamblers are not just betting on who wins the game, but by the number of goals scored, or even how many red or yellow cards will be handed out by the referee.
"A game in Canada may not be of any particular interest to a domestic audience," said Small. "But actually, abroad in Asia, in Europe, in other parts of North America, maybe in South America there may be an interest in that game because it is being offered live and there is an activity on it on the betting side."
Canadian Soccer League games are available on dozens of online gambling sites, which allow wagers of up to 150,000 Euros ($180,000 Cdn) on a single game.
Toronto player denies taking bribe
Wiretaps also show that the crime syndicate targeted a Sept. 12, 2009, game in Trois-Rivières between its home team, Attak, and Toronto Croatia.
Antonijo Zupan, shown playing in a 2011 game, allegedly took a bribe during his time with Toronto Croatia to fix a game in 2009. He denies the accusation. (Rogers TV)
One of the fixers, a man identified as Zivko Budimir, flew to Canada a month before the game to make contacts and organize the details of the fix.
The documents state he helped arrange and deliver a bribe of 15,000 Euros ($18,000 Cdn) to former CSL All-Star and league veteran Antonijo Zupan to be shared with other people, including several unnamed players on his team.
Former Trois-Rivières player Reda Aggouram, who played in that game, told CBC News he had no idea that some players on the Croatia team were being paid to manipulate the game. He does remember scoring an easy goal.
"I remember my goal, it was the free kick for us. One of our players took the free kick, and then the goalie, he didn’t punch it away, he punched it in front of the net, and then I took the rebound," Aggouram said. "I know that it was an easy goal for us. Normally, that kind of goal shouldn’t happen."
Wiretaps show that Zupan and four other teammates agreed to lose by at least two goals, the required goal differential for the fixers to be able to cash in on their bets. During the game, Zupan missed a crucial penalty kick that would have tied the game 2-2 in the second half. The Attak won the game, 4-1.
Aggouram remembers being surprised. "I didn’t think we were going to win that game 4-1 because they were one of the best teams in the league" he said.
Zupan, who resides in Toronto and no longer plays professional soccer, said he had no idea why the match fixers talked about his involvement in their scheme on those wiretaps. He denied receiving any money.
"Nobody paid me," Zupan said. "I don’t know. That’s my explanation."
Crime syndicate pondered team purchase
The wiretaps show that just after midnight on Sept. 13, 2009, hours after the Trois-Rivières game, Budimir texted one of the syndicate leaders, Marijo Cvrtak, about their successful fix.
"At least something is right in this crappy life … Friend, if we don’t become rich here, then I don’t know where we could become rich," wrote Budimir.
According to the captured conversations between Budimir and Cvrtak, their interest in the CSL went beyond fixing just one game. Shortly after the match, Budimir phoned Cvrtak to plan how to fix another game in the CSL in "the future."
The wiretaps also show that Budimir had approached other players to determine everything from how much an average player makes in the league to what it would cost to purchase an entire team in the CSL.
"One can start a team there with $150,000 and play in the first league right away."
Tips? If you have any information on this story, or any other investigative tips, please email us at investigations@cbc.ca.
They also seemed pleased to hear how much they could wager on CSL games. "And one can bet $100,000 in Canada without any problems," Cvrtak told Budimir, according to the wiretaps.
CSL chairman Vincent Ursini says that while he is personally not aware of any match fixing in his league, he did ask FIFA, the world soccer governing body, to investigate.
"We were told that FIFA was going to be handling this," he said. "We were going to be informed as soon as they had findings."
If you have any information on this story, or any other investigative tips, please email us at investigations@cbc.ca.PASADENA, Calif. -- The best moment of the 2013 Rose Parade? An army sergeant who was deployed to Afghanistan stepped off a parade float to surprise his wife and young son, three months before his redeployment date.
The surprise reunion, coordinated by the military and pet food company Natural Balance, was seven months in the making. The family was kept on a need-to-know basis, which means Army Sgt. First Class Eric Pazz, 32, wasn't informed of the surprise until five weeks ago, when he was tasked with telling wife Miriam Pazz, 29, that she won an an all expenses-paid trip to the Rose Parade through a military-only contest.
Miriam Pazz and her 4-year-old son Eric Pazz II made the trip from their home at a U.S. military base in Germany to Pasadena, Calif. As they stood on Colorado Boulevard watching the Rose Parade, they were stunned to see Sgt. Pazz atop the "Canines with Courage" parade float.
The crowd stood up to watch Pazz run and hug his family. He swept his son up in his arms and handed his wife a red rose. After the tearful reunion, Pazz returned to the float to finish the parade with his family by his side.
Photo by Associated Press. Story continues below.
"It was an extremely emotional experience," he told The Huffington Post. "It was a very vulnerable, very emotional moment."
Before New Year's Day, Pazz had been separated from his family for seven months.
Miriam Pazz, who avoids watching surprise military reunions when her husband is deployed, was stunned that she was now the subject of such a video -- and a nationally televised one at that.
"It |
Jurassic Park blends the future supervision of computer graphics with the familiar vision of the film image … The dinosaurs are present to tell us that computer images belong safely to a past long gone—even though we have every reason to believe that they are messengers from a future still to come.
The Phantom Menace, which was also projected digitally in some theaters, not only evoked but embodied the future of cinema. So, in another way, did Douglas Gordon’s 1993 video installation, 24 Hour Psycho—in which, wrenched from its natural context and re-presented as a reanimated (or perhaps, de-animated), glacially slow-motion digital image of itself, requiring a full day to watch, Hitchcock’s old-fashioned analog motion picture became an extreme object of contemplation. A cyborg production like 24 Hour Psycho further induces what some experience as a loss of temporal indexicality. It has often been observed that, with its absence of flicker and greater sense of continuity, the video image seems eternally “present.”
What then is one to make of Christian Marclay’s 2010 installation The Clock, a digitally-projected assemblage of photographic motion pictures that, in its perfectly chronological, minute-to-minute temporal references, functions as a twenty-four-hour timekeeper? (The Clock’s thousands of clips include everything from High Noon and Easy Rider to Back to the Future and Pulp Fiction. No list can possibly do it justice.) As it held audiences in London, New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere spellbound and hyper-aware of time passing, The Clock demonstrated Tarkovsky’s assertion—albeit in a vulgar sense—that “Time, printed in its factual forms and manifestations,” was “the supreme idea of cinema as an art.”
Although the suspense inherent in many of the original clips undoubtedly contributed to The Clock’s power to fascinate the spectator, one might also observe that the heightened awareness of time, as well as The Clock’s utilitarian capacity to tell time in real time, provided a new sort of indexicality: The experience of watching a movie is forcibly literalized as the experience of watching a movie and this is further emphasized by the presence of so much familiar material. For many, much of The Clock is pre-saturated in personal memory or nostalgia.
It may be argued that, as fashioned from pre-existing, often well-known movie and television clips and thus employing many beloved stars, The Clock was in fact a traditional motion picture or, at the very least, a celebration of motion pictures and their undying appeal. (It was praised by several New York art critics specifically for its presumed love for movies.) Nevertheless this epic projection was, of course, digital, and—like 24 Hour Psycho or other Gordon installations—only possible as a form of digital image-making. The Clock’s occasional cropping and stretching of the original material is a factor of the high-definition video format, which demands a 16:9 aspect ratio. (Marclay employed further digital manipulation in making The Clock, sweetening some footage by removing voiceovers that implied a past tense, eliminating overly emphatic music, and creating new sound effects where necessary.)
In short, whether as a source of visual data or as a delivery system, computer-generated imagery has introduced a radical impurity into a motion picture apparatus that, save for the introduction of synchronous sound, remained markedly consistent for a hundred years. Thus, The Matrix (1999), written and directed by the brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski, represents a landmark hybrid in its combination of live action with frame-by-frame digital manipulation. No previous animated film had so naturalistically represented the physical world. “Once you have seen a movie like The Matrix, you can’t unsee it,” a Los Angeles exhibitor told the New York Times in 2002, referring to the ways in which CGI had altered the action film, in part by allowing serious actors to perform impossible stunts. The Matrix, as film critic David Edelstein would note the following year, “changed not only the way we look at movies but movies themselves.” The Matrix “cut us loose from the laws of physics in ways that no live-action film had ever done, exploding our ideas of time and space on screen.”
In addition to vaulting the gap between photographed humans and computer-generated humanoids known as the “uncanny valley,” The Matrix provided an irresistible ruling metaphor that was heightened in its force by the approaching millennium—humanity lives in simulation, in a computer-generated illusion created to conceal the terrifying Desert of the Real. “There’s something wrong with the world, but you don’t know what it is,” the most informed character told the movie’s computer-nerd protagonist.
As with Tron, the hacker was the hero but, to a far more sophisticated degree, cyberspace was the place. Despite its fantastic premise, The Matrix evoked and identified a recognizable world—a new social reality in which freedom and social control had merged, while information, entertainment, fantasy, advertising, and communication seemed indistinguishable. This was reinforced by the movie’s incidental social realism—the narrative was not just dependent on computers but cell phones and instant messages. The Matrix further benefited from and made use of DVD technology which, introduced in 1996, came into its own as a consumer product in the late 1990s (and soon began to provide the movie industry’s margin of profit), not least because of the extras the new format permitted, including com-mentary and self-promoting production documentaries. In August 2000, Time Warner announced that a record-setting 3 million Matrix DVDs had been sold.
Released at the height of the dot-com bubble, during a period in which computers saturated the home entertainment market in the manner that television did in the 1950s, The Matrix was an idea whose time had clearly come. In January 2000, less than a year after the movie’s release, Time Warner—the world’s largest media conglomerate as well as the studio that produced The Matrix—merged with the world’s largest Internet-service provider, America Online (AOL), in a deal which involved the transfer of $182 billion in stocks and debts and was the largest in history.
Evoking “a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch … a prison for your mind,” The Matrix premise invited allegory. For architecture critic Herbert Muschamp, the Matrix suggested “the monoculture of shopping malls, theme parks, edge cities, suburban subdivisions, convention centers and hotels.” It might also be AOL Time Warner or Hollywood or the National Entertainment State. The main thing is this: one cannot stand outside it. Thus, in the universe of The Matrix, Bazin’s dream arrived as a nightmare, in the form of a virtual cyber existence: Total Cinema as a total dissociation from reality.
This essay was adapted from the first two chapters of J. Hoberman’s new book, Film After Film (Or, What Became of 21st Century Cinema?), published by Verso Books.All U.S. veterans have been granted free admission to Maryland state parks, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Friday.
WASHINGTON — All U.S. veterans now have free admission to Maryland state parks, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Friday.
The announcement, made in honor of Veterans Day, applies to all military veterans, whether or not they are residents of the state.
“We can never thank our brave servicemen and women enough for what they have done and continue to do for our citizens, our state, and our nation,” Hogan said in a statement. “By providing veterans this complimentary benefit, which encourages them to access and enjoy our great outdoors, we hope to express our sincere appreciation, gratitude, and respect for their service.”
Free admission for veterans applies at all 72 parks managed by the Maryland Park Service, including Assateague State Park, Deep Creek Lake State and Point Lookout State Park.
Free admission was previously limited to active-duty military and members of the Maryland National Guard
Separately, the University of Maryland announced Friday it would waive new college application fees for members of the U.S. armed forces starting next fall.
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The incident — believed to be the first catastrophic failure of its kind in the country — is described in internal emails between turbine manufacturer Enercon Canada Inc. and the provincial Labour Department. CBC News obtained the documents through a freedom of information request.
The 80-metre turbine at the Point Tupper Wind Farm buckled around its midpoint and crashed to the ground on Aug. 17, 2016.
No workers were injured, no personal property was damaged and the power grid was not affected by the failure.
Brake not applied
The heavily redacted documents said the turbine's blades and damaged hub were removed the day before the collapse. The hub was replaced while the blades were reattached.
"Some technical challenges were encountered, but were overcome upon consulting technical support," Enercon's managing director said in an email dated Dec. 16, 2016. The director's name has been blacked out.
Enercon's email did not elaborate on the hub's damage. However, documents from the Labour Department regarding a subsequent stop-work order said a hub assembly was damaged in a "bearing failure" in March 2016.
On Aug. 17, workers tested the turbine's lightning-protection system, which required positioning the blades so they pitched into the wind.
That's when something went wrong, according to Enercon's email.
"When the rotor is unlocked, a noise is heard (suspected to be a forgotten washer in the hub)," it said.
"The Enercon technician opens the hatch to look for the washer. He notices the blades are pitched in (approx. 2 [degrees]) instead of pitched out at 90 [degrees].
"The electromechanical brake was not applied... At this moment, the Enercon technician informs the workers to climb down the WEC [wind energy converter] and proceed to the next site."
Tower evacuated
All the workers were able to evacuate the area before the tower buckled at the midway point and collapsed. (CBC)
The email said the tower was evacuated and the site cleared "as soon as the situation became dangerous." Personnel were moved to a safe distance away from the turbine before the structure toppled.
"Four hours after the evacuation of the turbine, the tower collapsed without harming anyone, no explosion nor fire was witnessed so no reporting of this property damage incident needed to be reported according to the Nova Scotia Health and Safety Act and regulations," the email said.
Some residents in nearby Port Hawkesbury said at the time they saw the turbine spinning unusually fast before it fell.
The 10 other turbines at the site, built in 2010, were not affected by the collapse, according to Renewable Energy Services Ltd., which owns and operates the wind farm.
'Bending it like a straw'
CBC News also obtained a separate email sent from provincial staff members to the deputy energy minister.
"There was an incident that occurred resulting in the blades of the turbine hitting the tower and 'bending it like a straw,'" the deputy minister was told.
A stop-work order was issued by the Labour Department, which remained in place while Enercon explained what led to the collapse.
The stop-work order was lifted four months after the collapse, when the company showed it had complied with each of the department's requests for information.
Enercon is a major player in the Nova Scotia wind power community, with its turbines generating 2.6 MW of electricity — enough to power thousands of homes.
The same turbine that collapsed in Point Tupper, called the E82, is also installed elsewhere in the province.
Second collapse
Less than five months after the collapse, a 50-metre turbine in Grand Étang, N.S., snapped in half during winds reaching 160 km/h. The turbine was made by Denmark-based Vestas.
Nova Scotia Power said no one was at the site at the time and no one was injured.An international meeting for the formation of a European organized anti-imperialist platform took place in Italy on 23-24 November. The meeting was attended by comrades from Italy, France and the organizations of Turkish workers, youth and women in Europe from Germany, Holland and Austria. During the meeting there was discussion and decisions have been made on the following points:
1. The economic crisis, its attacks and our tasks
2. The path towards a European anti-imperialist coordination
3. Initiatives of solidarity with political prisoners
4. Initiatives to support the Filipino people
1 On the first point it has been stressed that the current stage is marked, on the one hand, by the competition between imperialists for a new definition of the world, sharpening the inter-imperialistic contradictions and pressures to aggression and wars; on the other hand, imperialists, their agencies and governments are united in unloading the crisis on the people’s masses, whose resistance and opposition against any kind of government instilling in each country grows and is responded with repression and fascist tendencies.
In this situation, it becomes more and more urgent the task to give unity and leadership to the resistance movements that develop in each country, to respond to the attacks against democratic organizations and further develop the peoples movements, fighting against all governments in each country to give answers to the problems of the masses. At this aim, the forces that took part in the meeting are committed in the formation of a European organized anti-imperialist and anti-fascist platform. A proletarian, anti-imperialist and anti-fascist front, that will unite the mass organizations operating in the struggle movements and expel the agents of the enemy: opportunists, reformists and electoralists.
2 Since many other organizations were contacted during the preparation of this meeting and had already expressed their willingness to be part of this kind of front, but, for various reasons, were unable to attend, it was decided to form a provisional organizing committee. It will convene a new meeting to be held in Austria next 8-9 February and draft for that date the organizational principles on which the call to join the platform will be based. The provisional committee will also carry out a division of tasks, a plan for invitations and a general appeal for the next meeting.
3 In recent months, due to the development of mass resistance movements and state repression, the number of political prisoners has increased in all countries, and their situation is even more critical. In many countries, political prisoners resist and fight against the inhuman conditions in prisons and the unjust detention and, outside the prisons, already campaigns are ongoing to create favorable public opinion for their struggles, to defend them and demand their release. For this, from 25 to 27 April 2014 in Turkey an international symposium on political prisoners is being organized by a specific body based there. It is important the next months to prepare the participation and success of the symposium with concrete campaigns in each country and by putting together all the organizations operating in each country in the solidarity with political prisoners.
In particular, the meeting decided to support and develop in each country a campaign in support of the Turkish political prisoners in the period of 19 December, the anniversary of the massacre of in Turkish jails, and an international day of action for the release of political prisoners in India, that is to be launched by the International Committee of support to the People’s War in India. A plan and specific letters and calls for each country to include in this work other organizations of solidarity with the political prisoners has also been decided.
4 The recent disaster in the Philippines puts in front of us two urgent tasks, the first is to contribute to concrete initiatives of solidarity with the people of the Philippines, the second, and most important, is to give voice to the people, to their revolutionary, democratic and popular organizations, to expose the strategic nature of the “humanitarian” aids of imperialism, which takes advantage of the situation to send the army in the guerrilla areas and increase the role of military advisors and U.S. troops in the counter-insurgency war, planning another war on people. In addition to the continuing of the efforts already undertaken in solidarity in the different countries, the meeting decided to issue a joint statement to be spread and subscribed by people’s and democratic organizations in every European country and to assess the possibility of a round of initiatives of solidarity with the presence of fellow Filipinos.
Italy
The Provisional Organizing CommitteeThe Inhumans are coming, but not to a place that you would expect.
Marvel’s Inhumans is currently deep in production. Over the past few weeks, photos have surfaced revealing different cast members.
Now, we have a somewhat better idea of what the Royal Family’s situation will be at the start of the series. ABC via SpoilerTV has released an official synopsis that not only teases the characters but also reveals a brand new location for the group:
“After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii, where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but earth itself.”
This new setting definitely makes sense, as recent reports and set photos have shown the series to be filming in Hawaii. Now, we have absolute confirmation that the state is not doubling for another location.
Although this makes sense, it is still a major change-up from where we’re used to seeing the Inhumans. In the comics, the family is typically found in the city of Atillan, which is located on the moon. However, there have been a few comic runs that have placed the group in hidden cities on Earth. Plus, this new setting could really shake up the dynamics of the group in an interesting way.
Regardless of where they are, the good news is that we are still getting to see the Royal Family that we all know consisting of Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Triton, Crystal, Gorgon, Maximus and Lockjaw.
The series stars Anson Mount, Serinda Swan, Iwan Rheon, Ken Leung, Eme Ikwuakor, Isabelle Cornish, Mike Moh, Sonya Balmores, and Ellen Woglom.
The Royal Family will officially arrive on ABC on September 26, 2017 but will first appear in IMAX theaters for two weeks beginning on September 1, 2017.After developing underground for 17-years, a swarm of buzzing cicadas will soon emerge across eastern Ohio.
A lot has changed since they were last here in 1999, including the emergence of citizen scientists.
2016’s Cicada Swarm Coincides With The Emergence Of Citizen Science
Teenage insects enter adulthood
Cleveland Metroparks naturalist Mark Warman is digging cicada larva out of a dirt-filled dish. Known as nymphs, they lumber across his hand.
“This is a 17-year-old insect that I’ve got in my hands right now, and this is like a senior in high school.”
Soon it will shed its youthful exterior and emerge as a full-fledged adult, part of a phenomenon unique in nature.
The 17-year cicada, called periodical cicadas, are found only in the eastern US. A 13-year cousin lives in Southern states.
A patchwork of twelve populations, called broods, emerge in succeeding years from the Mississippi to the Atlantic state.
This year it’s Brood V’s turn, arriving in eastern Ohio, parts of West Virginia and patches of Virginia and Maryland.
As adults, these bumbling, teen-age nymphs will find their voice…
Magicicada septendecim recorded by Lang Elliot musicofnature.com
The ancient mysteries of Magicicada
Emerging in their millions, it’s one of the loudest sounds in nature - louder than a landing jet.
The 17-year-cicada has baffled scientists and intrigued people since the time of the pilgrims.
William Bradford, governor of the Plymouth Colony, was among the first Europeans to describe them, when after the 1633 emergence he wrote, “they made such a constant yelling noise as made all the woods ring of them.”
The Pilgrims, reminded of the biblical plague, called them locusts - a misnomer that still pops up today.
This is a 17-year-old insect...like a senior in high school.
Their scientific name is Magicicada, playing off their magical, Methuselah-like powers.
An Ohio observer was the first to figure out their 17-year cycle.
Dr. S.P. Hildreth in 1812 detailed Brood V’s emergence in his home town of Marietta, exactly 17 years after they were seen there in 1795.
2016 is just the latest in three million years of 17-year cycles for these enigmatic insects.
The evolution of the prime number cycle
“That’s one of the great mysteries of biology,” says Gene Kritsky, who teaches biology at Mount St. Joseph College in Cincinnati and has been tracking periodical cicadas for 40 years.
He says the answer may involve math.
“The benefit of having a 17 year life cycle is that it’s a prime number, and having a prime number life cycle makes it pretty difficult for a predator to evolve synchrony with a specialized life cycle like that.”
The benefit is that the cicadas come out in such huge numbers every 17 years, that no matter how matter bugs get eaten, there are still millions more to carry on the line.
“A good analogy that I’ve used before is that if you walk outside and find the world swarming with flying Hershey’s kisses, humans would eat a lot of them," says Kritsky, "but eventually we would get tired of eating them.”
And this year cicada scientists are converging on Ohio, not to eat them, but to map the Brood V emergence.
Mapping the 2016 Brood V
Leading the effort is John Cooley, who teaches biology at the University of Connecticut.
He says the key to unlocking the mystery of cicadas’ unique lifestyle, is by better understanding how all the broods fit together.
Cooley says that our attempts to understand the evolution of the 17-year life cycle, “are kind of stuck until we have a better idea where the different broods and the different species are found.”
Ohio’s Brood V includes three separate species of 17-year cicadas and Cooley and his team of citizen scientists will be diligently mapping them by listening to their unique songs.
Roy Troutman is a master cicada tracker from the Cincinnati area.
“My ears are attuned to the sound," says Troutman, "and if I hear a cicada no matter what species, it’s just like automatically I can hear it in the background.”
As a citizen scientist, he’s helping Cooley pinpoint where each species occurs in Brood V.
Cicadas emerge into the digital age
All the data is being gathered on Cooley’s website Magicicada.org. There’s a portal where anyone who sees cicadas can contribute data.
Cooley is eager to hear what citizen scientists in northeast Ohio discover.
“So it will be a good question to see whether we have all three species going all the way up to the top of the brood.”
And that’s where Cleveland Metroparks naturalist Mark Warman comes in.
He’s leading the effort to engage the public in the mysteries of magicicada in helping fill-in gaps in maps from the last time they were here in 1999.
“We don’t have that granular, or that detailed level of information, and that’s really what we hope to capture in this emergence, says Warman.
"Are they in your backyard? Are they in the park near your home? Take a picture, share it with us, or fill out our cicada reporting form.”
After 17 years underground, the bugs are emerging into the Internet age – with #Brood V, and #Cicadas 2016 – websites and GPS, this will certainly be their most documented arrival ever.A new study has found that people tend to change the pitch of their voice depending on who they are talking to, and how dominant they feel.
The research, conducted at the University of Stirling in England, put 48 participants through a simulated job interview. What the researchers discovered is that individuals’ vocal characteristics, particularly pitch, are altered in response to people of different social status.
Regardless of self-perceived social status, people tend to talk to high status individuals using a higher pitch, the researchers noted.
“A deep, masculine voice sounds dominant, especially in men, while the opposite is true of a higher pitched voice,” said Dr. Viktoria Mileva, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Stirling.
“So, if someone perceives their interviewer to be more dominant than them, they raise their pitch. This may be a signal of submissiveness, to show the listener that you are not a threat, and to avoid possible confrontations.”
“These changes in our speech may be conscious or unconscious, but voice characteristics appear to be an important way to communicate social status,” she continued. “We found both men and women alter their pitch in response to people they think are dominant and prestigious.”
The researchers also discovered that participants who think they are dominant, as well as use methods like manipulation, coercion, and intimidation to acquire social status, are less likely to vary their pitch and will speak in a lower tone when talking to someone of a high social status.
Individuals who rate themselves as high in prestige — they believe people look up to them and value their opinions, which grants them social status — do not change how loud they are speaking, no matter who they are speaking to, according to the study’s findings. This may signal that they are more calm and in control of a situation.
For the study, the participants responded to introductory, personal, and interpersonal interview questions. They lowered the pitch of their voice most in response to the more complex, interpersonal questions, for example when explaining a conflict situation to an employer.
“Signals and perceptions of human social status have an effect on virtually every human interaction, ranging from morphological characteristics, such as face shape, to body posture, specific language use, facial expressions and voices,” Mileva said. “Understanding what these signals are, and what their effects are, will help us comprehend an essential part of human behavior.”
The study was published in PLOS ONE.
Source: University of Stirling
Study Finds We Alter Voice Depending on Listener’s Social StatusJust a few days ago we reported on a story that suggested Apple might have a major recall on its hands. The gist of it was that the NAND flash and IC controller inside of some models of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, particularly those with more storage than entry-level options, weren’t performing up to snuff. As a result, the phones were prone to crashing. We’ve experienced this on our end with the iPhone 6 Plus, though a report from 9to5Mac quickly debunked claims that a recall was in the works. Apple may still be working to fix the problem, however.
According to Business Korea, Apple has narrowed the issues down to the TLC NAND storage used in the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus and the 64GB iPhone 6 and has decided to stop using those parts, which the news outlet said were provided by Anobit and purchased by Apple three years ago. Business Korea said Apple will do its best to fix existing issues on models of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that are affected by TLC NAND flash with an update in iOS 8.1.1 but that, moving forward, it will switch to MLC NAND flash storage, which is more expensive for Apple to deploy.
It still seems unlikely Apple will issue a major recall for the phones outfitted with TLC NAND flash storage, but perhaps it will allow affected consumers to swap out their phones if it does indeed switch the storage option to something more stable.Image copyright PA
More than 5,000 police officers in England and Wales are planning to leave the service in the next two years, a Police Federation survey suggests.
Of the 32,000 officers who responded, 94% said they believed morale in the service was low or very low.
The Police Federation has warned that the service could be left without enough experienced officers.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said they were working to improve morale.
The online survey, which was released to BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast, aimed to measure the impact of reforms which followed a review of police pay and conditions.
Forces should not be complacent that they have enough officers to fill their current quotas Police Federation
It found 94% of officers believe morale in the service was low, compared with 62% in the armed forces, who were asked the same question.
Some 59% of police officers said their own personal morale was low, compared with 28% of people in the armed forces.
'Experience gap'
In his 2011 report into police pay and conditions, former rail regulator Tom Winsor called for the abolition of a series of allowances and special payments and for a pay system that recognised hard work and merit instead of long service.
Image copyright HM Inspectorate of Constabulary Image caption Mr Winsor became Chief Inspector of Constabulary in 2012
Mr Winsor said his recommendations, which included making savings of £60m a year in overtime, would produce savings of £485m in three years.
Reforms, including a £4,000 cut in starting salaries, were then introduced by Home Secretary Theresa May in 2013 after the proposals were considered by the Police Arbitration Tribunal.
Even if morale is affected they go out there and do a great job day in and day out Colette Paul, Bedfordshire Chief Constable
The survey asked officers how the reforms had affected morale. Some 91% said that they had felt some reduction to morale following changes to overtime and rest day payments.
The survey found the pension age increase had led to 87.2% of officers feeling like their morale had dropped.
The Police Federation, which represents police officers up to the rank of chief inspector in England and Wales, said: "Our survey suggests 15% are planning to leave the service.
"Forces should not be complacent that they have enough officers to fill their current quotas, it's likely that when the job market picks up these officers will go, leaving an experience gap."
Bedfordshire Chief Constable Colette Paul said her force had been 60 officers short until recently, and told 5 live it had put the force under a lot of pressure.
"We actually have real urban challenges here in Bedfordshire, real strong crime challenges which we had to deal with, so if you're 60 short, because every person counts in a force of our size, it does have a big impact.
"But even if morale is affected they go out there and do a great job day in and day out."
Acpo's vice-president, Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy, said: "All parts of the public sector are reporting low morale among staff. There is concern at low pay increases, lack of promotion opportunities and the likely impact of further budget cuts with fewer staff to do more work.
"Policing is no different but there is also a weariness at what is seen as constant negative press coverage, a blame culture looking for fault rather than learning lessons and a feeling that the realities of some of the social problems the police are having to deal with are just not appreciated."
He added: "Police leaders recognise the pressures their staff are under and are working on many local initiatives to try and improve welfare and staff well being."The Basics
Tampa Bay Rowdies at San Antonio Scorpion
Saturday, July 11 8:30 p.m. ET
Watch the match at ESPN3.com
Official Watch Parties at the Rowdies Den in Downtown St. Petersburg or Shamrock Pub in Sarasota.
Scouting the Scorpions
San Antonio hasn’t had much luck in either of their season openers in 2015. First the Rowdies crashed the party in the Spring with a 3-1 win in San Antonio’s house and this past Sunday, when Edmonton trounced the Scorpions 4-0 in Canada. The wheels truly came off for San Antonio in the Edmonton match after keeper Daryl Sattler and defender Nana Attakora were sent off with straight red cards midway through the second half. Accordingly, both players will be unavailable for selection on Saturday.
The absence of Sattler (a player from the not too distant FC Tampa Bay days) puts the Scorpions in an interesting keeper situation. Matt Cardone is the presumptive starter for. The 22-year-old started his first professional match in the Scorpions’ scoreless draw with Ottawa in the Spring finale and entered the match. Cardone and Sattler are the only keepers listed on the roster at moment, so we’ll have to wait and see how head coach Alen Marcina handles the backup situation for Saturday.
Attakora’s suspension is a blow for a defense that is already reeling. The porous back line has conceded 19 goals in its 11 matches, the third highest number in the league. Attakora has been a regular starter, but Marcina has used nine different back line combinations. The constant lineup changes and shifting of players between positions are likely reasons why the Scorpions have struggled to keep opponents off the scoresheet. There is a good chance that former Rowdies player Brad Rusin will make his firs appearance for San Antonio since being traded away for Richard Menjivar in the Spring. Rusin picked up an injury in his first week of training with the club, but made his first bench appearance last week against Edmonton.
The Scorpions may not be as overall dangerous as they were 2014, but forward Omar Cummings and Billy Forbes are still worthy scoring threats. Cummings doesn’t have the speed that made him successful in MLS, although he did show in the short Spring that he still has a keen nose for goal. Five goals so far leave him tied with Fort Lauderdale’s Stefan Pinho for second most in the league. He’s shown some creative flair scoring, but most of his tallies have been poaching opportunities like the one he scored against the Rowdies in week one. Meanwhile, Forbes’ speed and excellent vision has created a number of scoring chances for his club this year.
What to Watch For
The Rowdies need to be better on the road. Flat out, you cannot be considered one of the top teams in the league if you consistently underperform in away matches. The best road performance came, coincidentally, against San Antonio in the Spring opener. Since that match, the team has lost once and drawn three times and really only looked competitive in the 1-1 draw with Carolina. Hopefully a more consistent starting lineup across the board will help the team improve its road form. Thomas Rongen has started the same midfield and forward units in three straight matches.
A primetime kick off on Saturday should ensure that the Rowdies are able to go full throttle for the entire match. You can only get by with cruise control a few times in a NASL season before you get bitten. The team should bring pressure and attention in every area of the field even if they jump out to another early lead. Thus far, San Antonio has only shown that it will crumble under persistent pressure. They have yet to put forth a noteworthy defensive effort.
Juan Guerra should prove to be an important part of the Rowdies game plan again. He can be used to man-mark either Cummings or Forbes in the defensive end to provide support. If the Rowdies can shut one or both of those players out and cut off distribution between them, they should be able to easily get a positive result.
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PrintA view of cattle at the Hills Prairie Livestock Auction in Bastrop, Texas. - Andy Uhler/Marketplace
Listen To The Story Marketplace Embed Code <iframe src="https://www.marketplace.org/2015/12/07/business/todays-cattle-business-way-more-cowboys/popout" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="240px"></iframe>
Cattle ranching is alive and well in the United States, but it looks a lot different than it did two or three decades ago.
Every Wednesday at noon, in Bastrop, Texas, a lot of young steers are at the Hills Prairie Livestock Auction, getting ready for the feed lot. The scene feels a little bit like a miniature rodeo. Cattlemen sit in the balcony and watch the steers waltz back and forth on the stage. When Clint McDonald isn’t auctioning off the cattle, he’s out in the hall running his hand along a screen projecting the futures market.
A cow being auctioned at Hills Prairie Livestock.
“This is the board, the cattle futures board," he said. "And that’s what everybody’s looking at. And when the board goes down, the cattle go down.”
It’s easy to forget that for all the belt buckles, boots and cowboy hats, these men and women are commodities traders.
Jarad Milton’s family has owned about 800 acres in Bastrop County since World War I. He’s worked cattle on the land for more than 40 years. Some of the time, though, he said, he feels like he's in Las Vegas.
"You can take a $20,000 risk and turn it into a $2,000 risk," he said. "You can afford to play the game a little bit. I caught several of the market turns and, you know, made some money every now and again. I paid for the truck and that sort of thing and it was a lot of fun. But it’s not something that works all the time. You really got to be a student of the market.”
A student of the market and a student of many other things. That’s what Jeff Geider would argue. Geider, director of the Institute of Ranch Management at Texas Christian University, said his students study soil and water conservation and ranch finance. There's even a class on marketing livestock and meat.
"It’s how to blend the economical and ecological aspects of land stewardship," he said. "Not just in ranching and farming, but in managing all natural resources.”
A lot of Geider's students come from farm and ranch families. But more and more are new to the industry and are treating it like business school. He said that’s a good thing, because back at the Hills Prairie auction those young cattle are being bid on by a lot of old men.
Cowboys being cowboys. - Andy Uhler/Marketplace
“Most of the people on these farms and ranches are in their 50s, 60s and 70s," Geider said. "There’s a huge void of people that are going to come in and operate and take over those businesses. It’s an absolute statement to the industry of where we are today. There’s very little middle ground, if you will. There’s young people and there’s old people.”
There’s at least one example of this age disparity at the auction in the form of Shelley Crenshaw and her young granddaughter.
"Pretty much every Wednesday, we come and hang out and eat lunch and watch the cows go through," Crenshaw said. "My granddaughter loves to come.”
Crenshaw’s not in the cattle business. She runs what she calls a one-cow operation. She found a calf on her five |
on cruises, ski jaunts and other free trips, where they learn about the drug companies' latest products — when they aren't indulging in lavish meals or otherwise enjoying themselves.
In many instances, drug companies spend far more on marketing their drugs than they spend on research and development. All of the expenses of physician trips and other marketing efforts are fully deductible from corporate taxes. For every $10 million a drug company spends this way, taxpayers pick up as much as $3.5 million of the tab.
Why do so many members of Congress feel obliged to curb federal spending for food subsidies for people with bare pantries? Ending tax subsidies for fancy corporate dinners would make far more sense.
Scott Klinger is an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.If Donald Cerrone is looking for a partner, Jorge Masvidal apparently has some room on his dance card.
Following a recent spat between Cerrone (25-6 MMA, 12-3 UFC) and potential opponent Myles Jury (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) over the timing of their possible bout, Masvidal (28-8 MMA, 5-1 UFC) inserted himself into the conversation and today called for the matchup with “Cowboy.”
Jury wants the fight in January, but Cerrone, who’s already 4-0 in 2014, wants another fight before year’s end. That apparently works fine for Masvidal (via Twitter):
As he said in the above Facebook video: “I need a big fight. Yo, Donald Cerrone. You don’t have no opponents. I don’t have no opponent. What’s up with Dec. 6? Let’s do it.
“You say you want fight four of fives a year. I’m ready to go. Let’s do it, man.”
Cerrone is apparently game (via Twitter):
“@GamebredFighter: @Cowboycerrone I'm FREE and OPEN to FIGHT U this December! This video is 4 U: https://t.co/lqacEHN4Fj 100% I'm down txs — Cowboy Cerrone (@Cowboycerrone) October 3, 2014
The Dec. 6 event, UFC 181, is a pay-per-view show slated for Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center. Already with two title fights, the card would be further bolstered by two of the 155-pound division’s hottest commodities.
Cerrone, who recently defeated former Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez in UFC 178 co-headliner for his fifth straight win, is ranked No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings. Although not currently ranked, Masvidal is making steady progress up the lightweight ladder with three consecutive wins and six victories in his past seven fights.
For more on UFC 181, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Target Corp. plans to sell only sustainable and traceable seafood in its stores by 2015.
Sustainable seafood efforts make sure species aren’t being overfished and that they are harvested with methods that don’t endanger other fish and seafood.
Companies such as Target, Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Whole Foods Market Inc. have worked to change their seafood policies as concern continues to rise about overfishing and the environmental effects of certain fishing methods.
Target said Thursday that its latest action will apply to all of its fresh and frozen seafood. The Minneapolis company is teaming with nonprofit organization FishWise, which works with seafood companies on environmentally responsible business practices, to help with its effort.
“As we continue toward 100 percent sustainable seafood, guests can shop with confidence knowing that Target’s seafood products are both healthy for their family and environmentally responsible,” Shawn Gensch, vice president of marketing, said in a statement.
Target said that over the past two years it has eliminated Chilean sea bass and orange roughy, which have been overfished, from all of its stores.
In January 2010 the retailer announced that it pulled all farmed salmon from its stores. Businesses have increasingly shifted away from farmed salmon because of pressure by consumers and environmentalists, who are concerned that salmon farms are bad for the environment and can be repositories for disease that could spread to wild salmon.
Target has 1,767 stores across the U.S and will open its first stores in Canada in 2013. Its stock fell 10 cents to $52.65 in afternoon trading.
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While much of the media focus on l’affaire Petraeus has centered on the CIA director’s sexual relationship with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, the scandal opens a window onto a different and more consequential relationship—that between the CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command. In a behind-the-scenes turf war that has raged since 9/11, the two government bodies have fought for control of the expanding global wars waged by the United States—a turf war that JSOC has largely won. Petraeus, an instrumental player in this power struggle, leaves behind an agency that has strayed from intelligence to paramilitary-type activities. Though his legacy will be defined largely by the scandal that ended his career, to many within military and intelligence circles, Petraeus’s career trajectory, from commander of US military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to the helm of the CIA, is a symbol of this evolution. Ad Policy
“I would not say that CIA has been taken over by the military, but I would say that the CIA has become more militarized,” Philip Giraldi, a retired career CIA case officer, told The Nation. “A considerable part of the CIA budget is now no longer spying; it’s supporting paramilitaries who work closely with JSOC to kill terrorists, and to run the drone program.” The CIA, he added, “is a killing machine now.”
As head of US Central Command in 2009, Petraeus issued execute orders that significantly broadened the ability of US forces to operate in a variety of countries, including Yemen, where US forces began conducting missile strikes later that year. During Petraeus’s short tenure at the CIA, drone strikes conducted by the agency, sometimes in conjunction with JSOC, escalated dramatically in Yemen; in his first month in office, he oversaw a series of strikes that killed three US citizens, including 16-year-old Abdulrahman Awlaki. In some cases, such as the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, commandos from the elite JSOC operated under the auspices of the CIA, so that the mission could be kept secret if it went wrong.
One current State Department liaison who has also worked extensively with JSOC describes the CIA as becoming “a mini-Special Operations Command that purports to be an intelligence agency.” For all the praise Petraeus won for his counterinsurgency strategy and the “surge” in Iraq, he says, his real legacy is as a “political tool,” an enabler of those within the national security apparatus who want to see a continuation of covert global mini-wars. Pointing to the “mystique that surrounds JSOC” and Adm. William McRaven, commander of the Special Operations Command, the liaison says, “Petraeus was trying to implement that kind of command climate at the CIA.”
“Petraeus wanted to be McRaven, and now that window has closed,” he said. “We are firmly in the age of McRaven. There is no other titular figure with the confidence of the president that is able to articulate strategies and hold their own in rooms where everyone else has the same or greater amount of intellectual heft. McRaven is everything that Petraeus is not.”
Retired Army Col. W. Patrick Lang, a former senior defense intelligence official, says that Petraeus’s arrogance—“smoothly concealed beneath the appearance of the warrior scholar”—made him deeply unpopular among the military’s high-ranking officers. Dismissing the media’s portrayal of Petraeus as a “super soldier” and great military leader as “phony bullshit,” Lang describes him as the product of a military promotion system that encourages generals to think of themselves as “divinely selected.” “In fact, he didn’t write the COIN manual, the surge was not the main thing in improving the situation in Iraq…. They sent him to Afghanistan to apply the COIN doctrine in the same glorious way he did in Iraq, and it hasn’t worked. So, if you look beneath the surface from all this stuff, it’s just a lot of hot air. There are great generals, but this guy is not one of them.” Arriving at the CIA, Lang says, Petraeus “wanted to drag them in the covert action direction and to be a major player.”
As for Petraeus’s future, the State Department liaison said, “There will be a lot of profits to be made by him and his immediate circle of advisers, as they’re given a soft landing, whether it’s in academia or within the nexus of the military-industrial complex.”
Giraldi, the former senior CIA officer, expressed concern that in these circumstances, the “CIA is going to forget how to spy.” He also noted the “long-term consequence” of the militarization of the CIA: “every bureaucracy in the world is best at protecting itself. So once the CIA becomes a paramilitary organization, there’s going to be in-built pressure to keep going in that direction. Because you’ll have people at the senior levels in the organization who have come up that way and are protective of what they see as their turf,” he told me. “That’s the big danger.”
Despite President Obama's opposition to messy, large-scale military operations, the president is actually a “very careful hawk” when it comes to military action, Jeremy Scahill argued, in an interview early this year with Francis Reynolds.At least one off-duty police officer from California was shot and injured at the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday evening (file photo).
(Update: An off-duty Manhattan Beach Police Department officer has been identified among the dead in Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Times reports. Rachael Parker, a police records technician, lost her life as a result of the attack.)
The officer was attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival outside the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort, and was in the company of several other off-duty officers from the department. None of the other were apparently injured. However, Las Vegas Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said that there were off-duty officers among the dead.
The Bakersfield Police Department issued a press statement:
The Bakersfield Police Department has been notified that several of our police officers were off-duty and attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival Sunday night when an active shooter event occurred. Some of our officers witnessed the gunfire but were not in a position to return fire. One Bakersfield Police Department officer was struck by a bullet from the active shooter and is being treated at a Las Vegas hospital for non-life threatening injuries. The injured officer’s name will be released after the situation in Las Vegas has stabilized. Chief Lyle Martin and the entire Bakersfield Police Department extend our thoughts and prayers to the victims of this brutal act, as well as the first responders of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, and Las Vegas emergency medical services.
As of 5:25 a.m. Monday morning, there were more than 50 dead and 200 injured, making the shooting among the deadliest in American history. It is comparable in scale to the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016, though it happened much faster and involved automatic weapons.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Photo: fileA British man who snapped a picture of him smiling alongside the passenger who hijacked an EgyptAir flight Tuesday said he was "not sure why" he asked for a photograph.
Ben Innes, a 26-year-old from the northern English city of Leeds, told The Sun that he was "trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity" when he approached 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa and took the photo, which later went viral.
Mustafa had claimed to have explosives in his belt and demanded that the aircraft – which was on a scheduled route from the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo -- be diverted to airports in either Greece, Turkey or Cyprus.
The aircraft eventually landed in Cyprus after the pilots warned of low fuel, and despite an initial refusal from Cypriot authorities on the landing request. The landing in Larnaca began a bizarre six-hour standoff with authorities, during which Mustafa made a series of demands described as "incoherent" by Cyprus's president, before being arrested. All 72 passengers and crew aboard the plane were released.
A Cyprus court on Wednesday ordered Mustafa’s detention for eight days because of fears that he might flee and the fact that he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police.
Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said Mustafa also faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence.
Egyptian General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek's office said Wednesday that he has asked Cyprus to "take necessary measures to extradite Mustafa in order to start an investigation," according to a statement.
Innes was one of seven people, including three passengers, kept on board the plane by Mustafa for hours after he had released most of the passengers. Innes told The Sun he suspected that the hijacker's "suicide belt" might be a fake.
"I figured if his bomb was real, I’d nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it," he told the paper. "I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap."
Italian passenger Andrea Banchetti wasn't impressed with Innes' actions.
“I could not believe it when he got up for that picture," she told The Sun. "He was smiling while standing next to the hijacker. As he walked back I said to him, 'Are you f---ing mad?'"
But the belt of explosives turned out to be "telephone cases" made to look like they were explosives.
Mustafa had threatened to detonate the belt if police attempted to "neutralize" him, Lambrianou said, but he eventually gave up.
Lambrianou added that no explosives were found in the belt, except for a container filled with an unidentified liquid. Police also found an unidentified liquid in the suspect's bag as well as numerous documents written in Arabic.
Innes and the remaining hostages were later released before Mustafa was arrested by anti-terror police.
Friends of Innes weren't surprised by the stunt, with one telling the Daily Telegraph, "Ben is a wild man and this is totally in character for him. He... didn't have much respect for authority."
The haphazard hijacking spawned derision from Cypriot and Egyptian officials as it became clear Mustafa was not connected to any terrorist organization.
Lambrianou said Cypriot authorities will ask the help of Interpol to determine how the suspect managed to pass the fake explosives belt through airport security in Egypt.
Cypriot officials had described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable" following a strange set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt.
Lambrianou said that Mustafa told police after his arrest: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?"
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, when asked by reporters whether he could confirm that the incident was about a woman, replied, "Always, there is a woman", drawing laughter.
An Egyptian Foreign Ministry official was more blunt, saying Mustafa was "not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is."
A handcuffed Mustafa flashed the "V'' for victory sign with his hand out of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca court house Wednesday after the hearing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.SOMERSET — A Pulaski County sheriff's deputy has used excessive force several times in arresting people, an attorney and several witnesses said at a preliminary hearing Friday.
The witnesses included two Somerset police officers who said they saw Deputy Steve Molen hit people without justification.
In another instance, a Pulaski County man testified that Molen slammed him into the side of his car during a traffic stop and broke his nose and shoulder, then told jail employees not to take his photograph until he'd been cleaned up.
"It was pretty brutal," Nancy resident John Dungan testified.
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Molen is not charged with a crime. Rather, in an unusual twist, a man arrested by Molen presented the testimony in order to fight charges.
Danny Whitaker, 61, is charged with fleeing, menacing and resisting arrest after Molen pulled him over for speeding in October 2009. Whitaker and his attorney, Scott Foster, want to tell jurors that Molen has a habit of using excessive force against people and then filing unfounded charges against them as a cover-up.
Lee Tobbe, the special prosecutor in Whitaker's case, argued that other alleged assaults by Molen are not relevant in the case.
District Judge Kathryn Gregory Wood heard the testimony in order to decide whether to admit it in Whitaker's trial in March. She will rule later.
Molen and Tobbe declined comment on the allegations. In court, however, Tobbe said the civilian witnesses were angry over being charged, and questioned their credibility.
Sheriff Todd Wood said that to his knowledge, no one — including those who testified — had filed a formal complaint with him against Molen.
Wood said Molen is an active officer; he leads the department in calls answered and drunken-driving arrests, for example.
"He's been a tremendous servant for the citizens of this county," Wood said.
One man who testified Friday said he told Wood that Molen had hit him.
Molen said Whitaker, whose two sons are police officers, initially didn't pull over, then acted aggressively after he did.
Molen said in the citation that he hit Whitaker one time after Whitaker reached for his back pocket, causing concern he had a weapon, and struggled with the deputy.
Whitaker, however, claims Molen punched him several times, kicked him repeatedly, and violently twisted his arm even though he was not resisting arrest.
Whitaker has sued Molen, Wood, Judge-Executive Barty Bullock and the county in federal court.
On Friday, witnesses described nine incidents in recent years in which Molen allegedly hit or treated them roughly — sometimes while they were handcuffed — or in which they saw him hit someone.
Brian Poteet, now serving time on a felony drunken-driving charge, said Molen dragged him into the weeds beside the road after a traffic stop and kicked and punched him repeatedly while other officers were present.
He and several other witnesses acknowledged they'd been drinking before the alleged assaults but said they did not resist arrest.
"Wasn't much resisting I could do cuffed," Poteet said.
Somerset police Officer Joe Criswell said he took part in a chase in September 2006 in which the camera in his cruiser recorded Molen hitting a man with what appeared to be a baton after the chase had ended. The man was handcuffed, and it was not proper to hit him, Criswell said.
Billy Bolin, a Somerset police detective, said he saw Molen kick a man after a pursuit in August 2008.
The man was on the ground, handcuffed, when Molen kicked him hard in the groin, according to testimony.
Bolin said Molen had no reason to kick the man; he thought the blow constituted fourth-degree assault.
Bolin said he did not arrest Molen, but he said a supervisor in the sheriff's office was notified of the incident.Video game giant Activision Blizzard is launching a studio to create movies and television shows based on its intellectual property, hoping to jumpstart franchises and cinematic universes, including one based on its best-selling Call of Duty games.
Named Activision Blizzard Studios, the division will be run in part by Nick van Dyk, who formerly oversaw corporate strategy and was involved in the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm while an executive at Disney. Van Dyk will act as co-president with another senior exec to be named soon.
“Our most important asset as a company is our audience, and in order to ensure that our audiences is always appropriately entertained at the level of excellence that we've come to be known for, we have to ensure that anything that relates to any of the company’s franchises is produced or developed with the same commitment to excellence that we have,” said Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. “And the only way we could see ensuring that that would happen would be to do it ourselves.”
Kotick is said by insiders to have ambitions to turn Activision into a media conglomerate and has for a long time had his eye on Hollywood. He also had an extended cameo in the Brad Pitt baseball drama Moneyball.
The first project from the studio will be an animated television series based on Skylanders, the video game series featuring magic and floating islands that was a pioneer in the toys-to-life category akin to Disney Infinity and Lego Dimensions. Skylanders is a $3 billion franchise that has a sold more than 250 million figures since 2011, according to Activision.
The show is currently in production and will feature a voice cast that includes Justin Long as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks as Eruptor and Norm Macdonald as Glumshanks. Harland Williams and Richard Horvitz are also part of the production, which has Futurama writer Eric Rogers as showrunner.
Very high on the to-do list is adapting Call of Duty, one of the biggest video games of all time and one that the company is hoping turn into a cinematic universe. Activision said Friday that the first Call of Duty movie could be released in 2018 or 2019.
Beyond that company execs were mum on their plans, but it's easy to see how a universe could be created. When the first-person shooter games were initially released, they were set in World War II. Later, they were updated to be set in modern times. The more recent games, released in this decade, have been set in the near future.
The series has sold over 175 million copies, generating sales of over $10 billion, according to the company.
With numbers like that, it’s no surprise that Hollywood has for years tried to nab screen rights to the title, as well as other games. Sony was among those vying, but Kotick said the company is not in talks with any studio at this time. Nor is he focusing on any distribution deals.
“Our focus will continue to be maintaining creative control over our content, and we’ll address distribution once we are in the place where we feel like we’re delivering the very best story-based content,” he said.
At this stage, Activision is not looking to partner on distribution (Kotick said that will be tackled on a franchise-by-franchise basis) nor on co-financing deals.
“We’re a $26 billion company,” he said. “We intend to finance through equity.”
Added van Dyk: “Unlike other forms of IP, we are part of a robust and cash-generative and financially healthy parent. That said, this IP is in such high demand that we’ll have unbelievable partnership opportunities from traditional as well as new sources.”
One reason the company isn’t worried about distribution at this stage is the unveiling of Activision Blizzard Studios follows days after the announcement of plans to acquire King Digital Entertainment, the creators of Candy Crush. King not only develops games but distributes them via social media. Activision says that, combined with their reach via platforms such as Xbox and now King's audience, the company's reach exceeds half a billion people.
"We want our audiences to experience our linear content wherever it's most convenient," said Kotick. "We're going to be very open-minded and agnostic to distribution opportunities."
And it's an audience that is actively engaged, according to van Dyk.
"Our fans spent about 13 billion hours last year with our content, which is a flabbergasting amount," he said. "That is roughly comparable to every movie seen in every theater around the world, every single ticket combined."
Updated Nov. 6, 6:00PM to clarify that Kotick is not running the studio division.Even before they vote in the elections on Nov. 3, voters in Kentucky, Virginia, and Indianapolis will be the first in the country to pass judgement on BallotReady, a new political website that hopes to empower voters with information on every candidate on the ballot—including on often overlooked local positions.
BallotReady, which just launched, is the idea of two young Chicago-based women, Alex Niemczewski and Aviva Rosman. The idea of a comprehensive online voter guide has found traction—the University of Chicago’s non-partisan Institute of Politics (IOP) provided seed funding and IOP founder David Axelrod is now on BallotReady’s board of directors. This May, BallotReady won first place at the Social Venture Challenge at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. BallotReady is partnering with political science departments at nine universities to help collect and vet data.
While voters are deluged with information about national, state and some local candidates, BallotReady’s research showed that voters often knew little about many local offices and candidates. The challenge was twofold: give voters an easy way to access comprehensive information in high profile races; and raise voter awareness about candidates and their positions in little covered local races.
The site aims to provide the information in a user friendly fashion: type in your ZIP code and it promises instant information on every candidate on the ballot in the area, including voting records, endorsing organizations and news articles. All the data is linked to the original source.
Niemczewski came up with the idea for an online voter guide when she went to vote and realized that she knew nothing about a lot of candidates on the ballot. “I felt bad and tried looking up the information later,” she said. “When I realized it wasn’t easy, I thought about coding it myself.” Rosman had a similar experience. “It was like coming in to take a test that you are completely unprepared for,” she said, recalling the long list of candidates on her ballot.
Rosman was also running as a candidate for her Local School Council (LSC). The LSC oversees the budget and other school issues that are significant for the local community but most people, including Niemczewski who lived in the same neighborhood, were unaware that they could vote for LSC members. “I tried to get people to vote for me but they didn’t know that they could vote,” said Rosman.
As the idea began to take shape, Niemczewski and Rosman talked to political reporters and political science professors in Chicago, experts in politics and government. They discovered that even those immersed in studying politics more often than not knew little about the candidates for their local wards and other local races. “It validated our thinking,” said Niemczewski.
Although the site is launching in three geographic areas, Kentucky is the primary focus for BallotReady’s launch. At first, the state seems to be an odd choice to test an online site. The US census in 2013 estimated that only 79% of households in the state owned computers and only 69% of households subscribed to broadband internet, both below the national average. Comedian John Oliver memorably mocked the state’s internet literacy during Mitch McConnell’s senate campaign last year. “The people of Kentucky deserve everyone’s sympathy, or at least the one’s with Internet access,” Oliver said. “Here’s an interesting fact: 28% of Kentuckians don’t have any online access, a commodity the UN had deemed a basic human right.” (As it turns out, Politifact crosschecked the stat and found that 28% of Kentuckians choose not to access the internet; it’s not that they can’t get access.)
This year though, Kentucky is a particularly good testing ground for a political site. The state’s gubernatorial race is a toss-up, which is likely to spark additional voter interest. Says Niemczewski, “It’s a really good place for us; we’ve gotten so much excitement from people there. We think BallotReady will be valuable as voters look for information.”
Meanwhile, if Chicago candidates are any indication, candidates in local races in Kentucky, Virginia, and Indianapolis might be feeling a mix of anticipation and anxiety as BallotReady arrives in their areas.
In Chicago, one candidate for a local race was delighted to learn that a comprehensive online voter guide was on the way. His reasoning? In Chicago, name placement on the ballot is determined by lottery. The candidate found his name in last place, virtually guaranteeing a loss (He did lose). By providing more information to voters, BallotReady could reduce the impact of the placement lottery.
Rosman and Niemczewski’s goal is to launch BallotReady nationwide in time for the 2016 presidential and congressional elections. Said Rosman, “Over 30% of voters do not fill out their entire ballot because they don’t feel informed. If we could decrease that percentage, we would be happy.”
Meanwhile, as the site goes live, the cofounders will be spending a lot of time in Kentucky trying to figure out if more information really can galvanize higher voting percentages.
This article is part of Quartz Ideas, our home for bold arguments and big thinkers.For the bulk of his tenure, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has been dogged by rumors that he and his wife consume marijuana with some frequency. Yesterday, at a press conference in Brooklyn, he told a Daily Caller reporter that “I haven’t smoked marijuana since I was at NYU” and denied he ever smoked weed at Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor. We’ve asked about these rumors ourselves. It’s worth highlighting, however, who exactly is spreading them: The mayor’s security detail and their colleagues in the New York City Police Department.
Over the past year, we’ve heard from a broad array of sources—Democrats and Republicans; aides and operatives; journalists and flacks—about the mayor’s marijuana habit. For a rumor, the details have remained fairly consistent. The main four are:
As Public Advocate, de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, liked to smoke in either their Park Slope rowhouse or a secluded section of Prospect Park; De Blasio’s unexplained decision to forgo the Public Advocate’s assigned N.Y.P.D. security detail was based on his wife’s fear that they would be caught smoking; After de Blasio became mayor, the couple began smoking at Gracie Mansion; Both the Mayor and First Lady remain suspicious that the N.Y.P.D. security detail assigned to the Mayor’s Office have leaked information about their activities and whereabouts to the press. (From a recent Politico piece: “In 2013 de Blasio’s team was even convinced that members of his police detail were eavesdropping on his private conversations in his city-assigned car.”)
Another consistent detail about these rumors is their source. Almost every person we spoke with indicated that these stories came from cops assigned to protect the mayor, and were later promulgated by their colleagues in the police department. We’re also told that the police unions have played a significant role in this whisper campaign; the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, Ed Mullins, came up in more than one of these conversations.
The fact that these rumors are coming from cops—whose racist stop-and-frisk policy de Blasio railed against during the mayoral election—does not necessarily make them untrue, or unworthy of more reporting. It would be indisputably newsworthy if the mayor of New York City smokes marijuana while the city he oversees continues to arrest people of color over small quantities of cannabis. It would be indisputably newsworthy, too, if he had repeatedly misled the public about his consumption of marijuana.
It is equally obvious, however, that N.Y.P.D. officials want to undermine and embarrass the de Blasio administration in any way they can—such as spreading rumors about the mayor’s weed habit—in order to deflect and distract the public from their department’s well-documented brutality. So when you hear about de Blasio smoking pot, keep in mind who wants you to hear about it, and why.In contrast to decades of research reporting surprisingly weak relationships between consumption and happiness, recent findings suggest that money can indeed increase happiness if it is spent the “right way” (e.g., on experiences or on other people). Drawing on the concept of psychological fit, we extend this research by arguing that individual differences play a central role in determining the “right” type of spending to increase well-being. In a field study using more than 76,000 bank-transaction records, we found that individuals spend more on products that match their personality, and that people whose purchases better match their personality report higher levels of life satisfaction. This effect of psychological fit on happiness was stronger than the effect of individuals’ total income or the effect of their total spending. A follow-up study showed a causal effect: Personality-matched spending increased positive affect. In summary, when spending matches the buyer’s personality, it appears that money can indeed buy happiness.
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Dunn, E. |
, click here. How do you say “jabroni” in British?
(Via Facebook)WASHINGTON — In the past, White House chief ushers have largely been public servants, military personnel or career staff members who worked their way up the usher ladder over several administrations. But in naming a new chief usher on Friday, Melania Trump elevated someone from within a close network of family employees to be her in-house right hand.
The White House said Friday that Mrs. Trump had chosen Timothy Harleth, the director of rooms at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, to manage about 90 ushers who are tasked with making sure life runs smoothly for the president’s family. If tradition holds, Mr. Harleth will serve as President Trump and Mrs. Trump’s confidant on all matters from planning family dinner menus to handling personnel issues. He would also manage the budget for the residence.
Mr. Trump is known to keep his circle close and for asking employees to sign nondisclosure agreements. He has also remained tied to the business empire he built, which includes the Washington hotel.When Mozilla introduced the then-called BrowserID system as a new authentication system for the web in 2011, it had big plans for it.
Designed to be a privacy-focused "one login to rule them all" services, it offered pretty much what similar authentication systems offered by the likes of Facebook or Google offered but without the privacy implications.
Things became complicated quickly when Mozilla decided to rename BrowserID to Persona, and the main reason for that the term Personas was already being used to describe lightweight themes for the Firefox browser.
So, when BrowserID became Persona, Personas became "themes" (which caused confusion as well as Mozilla made a distinction between themes and full themes then).
Persona did not really take off, which can be largely attributed to a lack of dedicated resources on Mozilla's part.
Then in 2014, the organization made Persona a community project and dedicated resources to it to keep it alive.
Persona shut down
Mozilla announced today that it made the decision to shut down Persona in November 2016 citing "low, declining usage" as the main reason for the decision.
Due to low, declining usage, we are reallocating the project’s dedicated, ongoing resources and will shut down the persona.org services that we run.
The decision has implications for websites that use Persona for authentication as the system cannot be used after November 30, 2016 anymore for that. This means that websites and services will have to remove Persona and replace it with a suitable alternative.
Mozilla plans to support Persona on a maintenance level to the day of the shut down of the system. Security issues will be dealt with "in a timely manner", services will be kept online, and support is offered on a mailing list and an IRC channel.
On November 30, 2016, the following will happen:
Persona.org, and all services hosted on the domain and other domains related to the project will be shut down. Mozilla will remain the owner of the domain for security reasons. All user data stored by the authentication service will be destroyed.
Mozilla created a Wiki page that acts as a shutdown guideline for reliers. It explains the reasoning behind the shutdown (low usage), explains what is happening and offers mitigation suggestions.
Interestingly enough, self-hosting Persona is one of the suggestions. Since Persona code is open source, it is possible to do that but Mozilla does not really recommend it to most reliers because of the complexity of the code and lack of significant development in recent years.
Closing Words
Mozilla is making dramatic changes to the products and services it maintains. Products get shut down left and right, or removed from the organization, or changed in significant ways.
It is too early to tell if this is for the better. As far as Persona is concerned, it felt as if the service never had a fair chance and that seems to be mostly Mozilla's fault.
Now You: What's your take on the shutdown?
Summary Article Name Mozilla to shut down Persona on November 30, 2016 Description Mozilla announced today that it will shut down its authentication service Persona on November 30, 2016. Author Martin Brinkmann Publisher Ghacks Technology News Logo
AdvertisementBrendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
There are still unanswered questions about the Benghazi mission killings–remaining fine details about what happened that day, what the intelligence community knew (or didn’t know) before the attack, whether better security around American diplomats could have prevented the tragedy. It’s not surprising that, directly after the incident, there was some confusion as to what, exactly, had taken place. Just as it’s not surprising that questions remain two months later. At least it’s not surprising to serious people with a background in military and intelligence matters.
Which, apparently, does not include Republican members of Congress. I wrote yesterday that Senators John McCain and Rand Paul, who’ve been ranting to the press about Benghazi and declaring their determination to get to the bottom of things, failed to attend a classified hearing on Wednesday dedicated to demystifying the attack.
On Thursday, the Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee did manage to show up for a public hearing on Benghazi, but they turned it into a political circus. Their main, no, their sole purpose was to attack President Obama and Susan Rice, the American envoy to the United Nations. They were far more interested in going over, for the thousandth time, what public statements were made by which public officials on what day than in actually addressing substantive issues.
Among the worst offenders, and that was a tough competition, was Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California: “What is clear is that this administration, including the president himself, has intentionally misinformed, read that lied, to the American people in the aftermath of this tragedy. Now, President Obama has the gall to float the name as possible secretary of state the name of the person who is the actual vehicle used to misinform the American people during this crisis.”
I can see how Mr. Rohrabacher, who was a big supporter of President Bush when he “intentionally misinformed” the world about Iraq, using an actual secretary of state as his “actual vehicle,” might come up with that scenario. But in the case of Benghazi, it’s pure fiction and it’s impossible to imagine he doesn’t know that.
When Ms. Rice said on television a few days after the attack that “extremist elements” took advantage of a protest over an anti-Muslim video, she was reflecting the intelligence she had been given – not by political appointees, but by career intelligence officers.
Reporting by The Times has drawn a similar picture of the attack, and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Thursday that the intelligence community’s assessment of what happened is now roughly what Ms. Rice recounted on television.
But that was not the narrative that Mitt Romney and other Republicans settled on during the campaign. They wanted Americans to believe that Ms. Rice and others were lying about the attack, because they thought that would hurt Mr. Obama’s campaign. It didn’t work, but the Republicans can’t seem to let go.
Their star witness yesterday was Michael Courts, an official of the Government Accountability Office, who was called to testify about a report on gaps in diplomatic security. The Republicans clearly thought it would be devastating. Except it was written in 2009. One answer that pretty much summed up his testimony: “GAO does not have any information on the specific security arrangement at the consulate in Benghazi.”
Democratic members of the committee did not sit idle during the propaganda show. After Republicans repeatedly accused the White House of short-changing diplomatic security, Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York said:
If you want to know who is responsible in this town, buy yourself a mirror. Those of us who’ve been to hearings and briefings and markups hear time and again from our colleagues that this costs too much money and we have to make cuts. Well, our evil-doing, American-citizen hating administration requested a lot more money than we provided. They requested for worldwide security $440 million more than you guys wanted to provide. A quarter of a billion dollars in security upgrades that you refused to make in this committee. And then you have the audacity to come here and say why wasn’t the protection of these people provided for?
Something obviously went wrong in Benghazi. An Ambassador died. It’s necessary and appropriate to discuss what happened so as to avoid similar missteps in the future. But missteps don’t always add up to a scandal; and confusion after the fact doesn’t necessarily constitute a cover up. The more time Republicans spend going down the conspiracy path, the less time gets devoted to learning from our mistakes and rectifying them.Share this
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CORNELL—A surprising discovery of electronic liquid crystal states in an iron-based, high-temperature superconductor is another step toward understanding superconductivity and using it in such applications as power transmission.
“Because these findings appear similar to what we have observed in the parent state of [copper-based] superconductors, it suggests this could represent a common factor in the mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity in these two otherwise very different families of materials,” says team leader J.C. Séamus Davis, Cornell University’s J.D. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences and director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Center for Emergent Superconductivity.
The researchers describe their findings in the journal Science.
Many theorists had expected the iron-based materials to act more like conventional metal superconductors, where electrons pair up to carry current effortlessly but without requiring any specific spatial arrangements of the atoms in the metal. These materials conduct electricity with zero resistance only at temperatures near absolute zero, or -270 degrees Celsius (-454 Fahrenheit).
Cuprate, or copper-based, and newly discovered iron-based superconductors operate at a range of warmer, though still chilly, temperatures (up to -120 degrees Celsius or -184 Fahrenheit for cuprates and -220 degrees Celsius or -364 Fahrenheit for iron-based compounds) that make them potentially more practical for such large-scale, real-world applications as zero-loss power transmission lines.
Cuprates are oxides of copper “doped” with various other atoms. Iron-based superconductors—first demonstrated only in 2008—are mostly doped compounds of iron and arsenic. Somehow the doping distorts the crystal structure of the material in a way that makes it possible for electrons to flow without resistance. Understanding how this works could open the door to engineering even higher-temperature, or ideally, room-temperature, versions.
The scientists used a specially built scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in Davis’ lab at Cornell, in which a tiny probe is moved across a surface in steps smaller than the width of an atom. By varying a current flowing between the probe and the surface, Davis is able to read out a spectrum of the energy levels of electrons in the material and produce a picture of the distribution of the electrons.
Davis and colleagues examined “underdoped” samples of a compound of calcium, iron, cobalt, and arsenic that becomes a superconductor when the amount of cobalt doping is increased. The particular material they used, made by Paul Canfield at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ames Laboratory in Iowa, was a crucial choice, Davis says, because it could be sliced to produce an atomically flat and perfectly debris-free surface needed for the STM techniques.
It became clear to the team that they were on to something very different than expected. They observed static, nanoscale lineups of electrons spanning about eight times the distance between individual iron atoms, all aligned along one axis of the underlying crystal, reminiscent of the way molecules line up in a liquid crystal.
Liquid crystals, used in electronic displays, are a sort of intermediate state between liquid and solid in which molecules line up in parallel rows that can control the passage of light. In the solid crystals of materials like high-temperature superconductors, electrons do not remain attached to individual atoms but behave like a fluid, and here, Davis says, the electrons seem to be in a state analogous to a liquid crystal. “You can’t use ordinary solid-state physics to understand materials this complicated,” he adds.
The scientists also found that the electrons that are free to travel through the material do so in a direction perpendicular to these aligned electronic liquid crystal states. This indicates that the electrons carrying the current are distinct from those apparently aligned in the electronic liquid crystals.
The next step will be to see how these conditions affect the superconductivity of the material when it is transformed to a superconductor.
The observations are “amazingly similar” to what Davis and his team have seen in cuprates. “If we’re able to relate our observations in the iron-based superconductors to what happens in cuprate superconductors, it may help us understand the overall mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity in all of these materials. That understanding could, in turn, help us to engineer new materials with improved superconducting properties for energy applications,” Davis says.
Scientists from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University and St. Andrews University, Scotland, collaborated on this research, funded by DOE’s Office of Science; the National Science Foundation; the Office of Naval Research; the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; and the Scottish Funding Council.
Cornell University news: www.news.cornell.edu/No other strip of Chicago will be as packed and chaotic as the Magnificent Mile during December. While it's understandable that some would shun the tourist-packed playground, I always tend to find myself down there for some reason or the other. But I always go with a plan. Some of the best restaurants on this strip are either underground, way above ground, or slightly hidden behind storefronts. Search them out and you'll find food not only good enough to sustain you for more shopping, but also destination-worthy meals that are worth a detour.
View Magnificent Mile Survival Guide in a larger map
Last week I took a look at the many dining options around State Street—the other major shopping area downtown. Since State Street is located in the Loop, there are a fair number of restaurants dedicated to cheap lunches for the many business workers. But the Mag Mile is a whole other beast. It is a stretch almost totally dedicated to taking money away from you. And while you do trade some of that money for absolute spectacle, you have to be careful.
Of course, some of the greatest restaurants in North America are located directly west in River North, but I decided to focus my search exclusively on what could be found within a block of Michigan Avenue, from the Chicago River to Oak Street. (That's roughly N. St. Clair Street on the east and Rush St. on the west.) That was tough because I had to leave out places like Balsan, Fox & Obel, and Sable, but otherwise this list would have gone on forever.
Burgers
Pick your burger poison, and the Mag Mile will deliver. Like your burgers over-sized and made of impeccably aged beef? David Burke's Primehouse might have the best example in the whole city. More of a fan of fast food-style burgers with really great shakes? There are two M Burger locations. Want to visit a joint that just screams Chicago? Though I gave its bun a hard time a few weeks ago, I sincerely love the Billy Goat Tavern. Hell, I'd even recommend going to Bandera to sample the burger that won the 2011 Hamburger Hop at Chicago Gourmet.
David Burke's Primehouse, 616 North Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-660-6000; davidburkesprimehouse.com
M Burger, multiple locations (map); mburgerchicago.com
Billy Goat Tavern, 430 N Michigan Ave # 1, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-222-1525; billygoattavern.com
Bandera, 535 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-644-3524; hillstone.com
Best Pizza
Up until a few weeks ago, this was almost exclusively the land of deep dish. Though always packed and chaotic, Gino's East is one of the better options in the city. And if you would rather get a stuffed pie, there is an outlet of Giordano's nearby. But then Bar Toma opened. Run by Tony Mantuano, the pizzas feature a blistered whole wheat crust that is also shockingly light. I suggest you grab a seat in front of the massive wood-burning oven and watch the experts work.
Bar Toma, 110 E Pearson St, Chicago, Illinois 60611 (map); 312-266-3110; bartomachicago.com
Gino's East, 162 East Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-266-3337; ginoseast.com
Giordano's 730 North Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-951-0747; giordanos.com
Chef-Driven Restaurant (Wine and Swine Edition)
A few years ago, the idea of a great mid-priced restaurant on this stretch seemed antithetical to the whole idea of the Magnificent Mile. But these days, it seems like everyone is transforming their high end restaurant into a more approachable concept. Some are very good, but none are nearly as much fun as The Purple Pig—Scott Harris and Jimmy Bannos's chaotic wine bar and temple to the pig. Basically everything here is good, but never did I know that pig's ears could be so good.
The Purple Pig, 500 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-464-1744; thepurplepigchicago.com
Where to Splurge
Of course, if you just have to spend a lot of money, there are a number of truly excellent restaurants that would be more than happy to oblige. I don't have a lot of expertise on the high end, but I know a couple that are truly exceptional. Crowning the northern end of the Mag Mile, Tony Mantuano's Spiaggia is one of the most acclaimed (and expensive) Italian restaurants in the country. (Just ask President Obama.) Founding chef Rick Tramanto may have moved on, but Tru is still the perfect place to throwdown on some champagne and caviar. Though, now that executive chef Anthony Martin is charge, that caviar comes out on stunning coral pedestal. On the slightly more affordable end of the spectrum, C-House always delivers an impressive meal.
Spiaggia, 980 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-280-3300; spiaggiarestaurant.com
Tru, 686 N Saint Clair St # 1, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-202-0001; trurestaurant.com
C-House, 166 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-523-0923; c-houserestaurant.com/
Best Place to Drink (Skyscraper Edition)
Here's the deal about the Signature Lounge, the bar on the 96th floor of the Hancock Building: 1) Buying just one overpriced cocktail ($12 to $15) gets you the best view of the city. 2) Said overpriced drink is cheaper than purchasing a ticket to the Hancock Observatory and roughly the same price you'd pay for a crappy cocktail 96 floors down in the Gold Coast. 3) Go on weekdays before dinner. And yes, I am suggesting you drink during the day.
The Signature Lounge on 96th, 875 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-787-9596; signatureroom.com
Best Place to Drink (Underground Edition)
Located one block over from the Signature Lounge and about 97 floors down, DiSotto Enoteca just opened up in the basement of Francesca's on Chestnut last year. Though it doesn't have the freewheeling excitement of The Purple Pig, that's not really the point. This place is an calming oasis of great wine and aged meat.
DiSotto Enoteca, 200 East Chestnut Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-482-8727; disottoenoteca.com
Best Food Court
A number of large food courts are littered along this strip of real estate, but no mall tries quite as hard as Water Tower Place. Featuring Foodlife, Foodease, Mity Nice, Wow Bao, a brand new M Burger, and much more, it's almost impossible to not find something you like.
Water Tower Place, 835 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-440-3166; shopwatertower.com
Best Coffee
As with the State Street Survival Guide, Lavazza is there to help with any espresso needs you may have.
Lavazza Coffee Cafe, 162 East Ohio Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-255-8850; espressionusa.com
Hot Dogs
Unlike the plethora of burger options, there are surprisingly few good hot dogs in this area. Downtown Dogs comes close to mimicking the feel of a real Chicago stand, but its skinless dog holds it back. Still, it's almost worth a visit to see the hundreds of pictures of dogs tapped to the walls.
Downtown Dogs, 804 North Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-951-5141
Desserts
If you like your cupcakes dainty and bite-sized, the absurdly tender specimens at Sprinkles are a nice pick-me-up from the exhausting shopping. If you're looking for a few creature comforts, the gorgeous Pierrot Gourmet at The Peninsula has a good pastry selection and some surprisingly good hot chocolate.
Sprinkles Cupcakes, 50 East Walton Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-573-1600; sprinkles.com
Pierrot Gourmet at The Peninsula, 108 East Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (map); 312-573-6749; peninsula.com
You Tell Us
Where would you recommend to eat near the Magnificent Mile? Let us know!
—Nick Kindelsperger
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.According to Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst, the biggest commercial Linux vendor is planning on hiring at least 1,000 new employees in 2012--increasing the size of its staff by 24 percent.
This interesting data was revealed in a recent interview in Investor's Business Daily, where Whitehurst cites cloud computing as the big reason for Red Hat's explosive growth.
[ Free download: Killer resumes for techies ]
Ironically, Whitehurst sees the success of Red Hat and companies like Amazon in the cloud as a factor in actually slowing overall economic growth:
"Companies are finally starting to see significant productivity gains from technology, so they are able to grow without hiring as many people. "We are hiring, and I'm sure companies like Amazon and others who provide cloud computing are hiring. But I think that is a drop in the bucket relative to the productivity we are providing enterprises, and that again leads to, unfortunately, slower job growth."
Whitehurst's revelation of Red Hat's hiring plans jibes well with the overall job growth being reported in the Linux ecosystem. Last month, SUSE VP of Linux Engineering Ralf Flaxa told me that his company was opening 10-20 new positions a week… a trend that, if it continues through 2012, would have the Linux division of Attachmate picking up anywhere from 500-1000 employees as well.
Red Hat seems well on the way to acquiring the 1K workers… in its fiscal third quarter that ended on Nov. 30, Red Hat had hired 250 staffers. The company is also moving from its Centennial Campus offices at North Carolina State to bigger digs in downtown Raleigh, NC later this year.
Beyond the overarching growth of cloud computing, Whitehurst specifically sees the growth of big data as the major impetus for cloud's success in the months to come:
"It's likely that if you bought a washing machine in the last two or three years, it has a microprocessor more powerful than your first computer. In the future, your car's engine will be hooked up to the (wireless) system in your house and it will download the latest updates to see the way your gas is being used based on the weather conditions. Dishwashers and washing machines will also be connected (to the home network). This mega new network explodes the need for computing on the back end, in the cloud. I call it a paradigm shift from client servers to this new generation."
This is a telling observation, because clearly such a massive influx of data is going to need to have the back-end infrastructure to handle the load.
Data systems such as those provided by Hadoop, Cassandra, and Brisk will become even more popular in the days to come--not to mention infrastructure services provided by Red Hat, Amazon, and OpenStack.
It will be interesting to see how this wave of new data will change the topography of enterprise and (if Whitehurst is correct) our home networks. But with the growth of the true automated cloud services will come the growth of Linux.
More than anything, I am sure this is why Microsoft felt compelled to enable Linux on its Windows Azure cloud; if the cloud monster wave is indeed coming, then at this point Microsoft has to do anything it can to ride that wave… even it means piggy-backing on Tux's surfboard.
Read more of Brian Proffitt's Open for Discussion blog and follow the latest IT news at ITworld. Drop Brian a line or follow Brian on Twitter at @TheTechScribe. For the latest IT news, analysis and how-tos, follow ITworld on Twitter and Facebook.NEW DELHI: Urging people to make digital payments a "habit" to make the country a cashless economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a mobile app for the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). The application, which will be common across all banks and financial institutions, is called BHIM (Bharat Interface for Mobile).In his 40-minute speech at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi during the inauguration of the DigiDhan Mela, Modi time and again evoked Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar -- father of the Indian Constitution – and drew parallels between his contribution towards the upliftment of the downtrodden and the idea behind the BHIM mobile app."Right now, business happens by the way of [currency] notes and coins. That day is not far when all business transactions will be conducted through the BHIM app," the prime minister said in Hindi.The central banking system was born out of a thesis written by Dr Ambedkar and the federal structural of independent India, the economic structure between states and the Centre and idea of the finance commission were all a result of Ambedkar’s imagination, Modi said.The BHIM app will empower the poorest of the poor, he said. "It is for the small merchant, farmers in far-flung areas, tribals. That’s why its name has been borrowed from the man who sacrificed his life for the downtrodden," the prime minister said.Adding that the BHIM app doesn’t even require an Internet connection since it can also work on simple feature phones, Modi said Aadhaar-based payments system would be added to the app in the next two weeks. "Currently, it is being security checked. After it is launched, BHIM will not need a mobile phone, internet or even a feature phone. It will only need your thumb (impression)."He said the country already had more than 100 crore Aadhaar holders with most of the adult population covered.There was a time, he said, when illiterate people were called "angootha chap". But now, the thump impression would make way for a person’s bank, identity and even business, he said. "After two weeks, when the new (Aadhaar-based) system will be launched, BHIM will be the biggest wonder of the world," Modi said.The common UPI-based BHIM app will enable people to send and receive money through their mobile phones by linking their bank accounts and getting a UPI PIN number. The app will also work on feature phones through an upgraded USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) platform.ET had reported on December 28 that the Centre planned to launch a stripped-down version of the UPI app to make it easier for people to transact digitally -- either with or without an internet connection since the app would be linked to the USSD platform that was being upgraded for easier functioning.The BHIM app comes with basic features such as the ability to send or receive money, linking of accounts, saving profile of the user, changing the language, recording beneficiary details and providing balance enquiry.Banks that currently have individual UPI apps can either endorse the common BHIM app or only allow their customers to use the in-house app which may be loaded with more features, National Payments Corporation of India managing director AP Hota had told ET recently.Union minister for IT and law Ravi Shankar Prasad said at the launch that after the government announced demonetisation on November 8, the growth in digital payments has accelerated from 400 per cent to 2000 per cent. "After the Aadhaar-enabled payment is launched, through the combination of Aadhaar, mobile and Internet, the country will be transformed," Prasad said.Once people start using digital payments for everyday transactions, small merchants and micro merchants and even people who provide services such as washing and ironing clothes will be able to get soft loans from banks due to their transaction history, which will be now available, weaning them away from usury, Modi said.Towards the end of his speech, interspersed with digs at the opposition and the previous UPA government, the prime minister urged people to embark on digital transactions starting January 1. "Even if you do five transactions, cashless payments will become a habit and the country will lead in the digital movement," he said.Throughout the United States, a familiar scene takes place every Easter in which well-meaning Christian parents dragged their atheist son or daughter to church with them. The stated explanations for this behavior ranged from the believable (e.g., "Because it is important to me") to the nonsensical (e.g., "Because it is Easter"). But the outcome was the same. The kid went to church because he or she had no choice or wanted to appease a parent.I remember this scenario playing out in my childhood home many times. Granted, it wasn't just Easter that it happened; it was almost every week. But I do remember Easter being particularly important. And I remember not having a choice I left church behind long ago. In fact, the moment I had the opportunity to stop going, I took it. But I remember those days of coercion all too well. If you are going through it now, I feel for you. It is like a prison sentence. You know the day will come when you are free, but it still seems like an eternity. Your parents are wrong to do this to you. They may realize this some day like mine did, or they may not. But that doesn't change the fact that they are making a mistake by putting you through this. You will have your chance to break free at some point. Focus on that, and maybe it will make the experience a little more tolerable.Rewind back to my experience, toggling (showing/hiding) an element is one of the most common tasks in UI, which I have done like below for a long time… (shamefully)
Component toggle UI
I slowly evolved from this to css to perform the toggling.
Css Style
Component toggle UI with classname
While that works, I often lost track of what the actual style looks like when glancing quickly at the code. I kept feeling this is not the best approach to implement animation.
There should be a better and easier way to perform animations in react. So I wrote my own. I present to you react-simple-animate.
React simple animation
A declarative and simple way to perform animation in react. I can control the start of the animation and the styles to apply at the end of the animation. This is a good pattern in my opinion. Hooray!When I first started playing Minecraft a few months back, I played with a rule: if I die, I have to delete the entire world. This is the diary I kept of that experiment.
I ignored the game entirely when it was a purely creative toy - yeah, yeah, people made amazing stuff. I'm amazed. I've been amazed so often now that I'm in a permanent state of maze, and it would take someone building a working time machine in Zuma Deluxe to un- and subsequently re-maze me. But when it added a health bar, suddenly I was interested. I can die? I love to die! I'm there.
Day 2
Minecraft randomly generates its world when you start the game, a landscape you never need to leave. It's eight times the size of Earth, so you're not going to run out of room for Cobblestone Hovel #3. But you can also delete worlds, to free up a slot for a new one. You lose that vast, unique place, along with everything you've found, collected and created within it.
Normally, death just means respawning and a short trip to find where you dropped all your stuff. But since it's the survival aspect of the game that appeals to me, I wanted to be scared. I wanted a harder death penalty: the end of the world.
World 1, Deaths 0
Minecraft is blocky. It's made out of blocks, so it's understandable. Every time we write about it, someone comments about how ugly or dated it looks. I can see it that way if I try, but it's like 3D pixel art: when you're looking at the shapes and spaces it creates, the chunkiness is part of the charm. Its landscapes are strange yet natural, things a designer would never make, and that makes exploring a new one feel like a discovery.
This one is amazing.
Craggy cliffs, jagged mountains, snowtopped trees, trickling waterfalls, enticing caves. There are little patches of thawed grass in the shade of each tree and rocky outcrop, where the snow can't fall. I've seen plenty of cool shots of Minecraft, but there's something special about the first world it generates for you.
I trundle down the mountain I start on with dangerous enthusiasm, scramble up the next one and head for a waterfall with a gloomy cavern behind it. I'm having so much fun. When I finally reach it, I gawp stupidly at what is essentially a cuboid blue stick, and wander into the cave behind.
My face explodes. I'm flung out of the cave, past the waterfall, all the way off the mountain and plummeting into the valley below. I'm killed on impact.
Exit to menu.
Single player.
Delete world.
World 1.
Yes, I'm sure.
This game fucking sucks.
Next: in World 2, I find out what comes out at night.
Minecraft Classic is free to play in your browser. Minecraft Alpha, which I'm playing in this diary, is €10 and also gets you all future updates to the game.For our last Alienware Cup of 2012, we wanted to do something special and what better than to support a game which helped us build up our organisation? On Sunday December 23rd we are hosting a Return To Castle Wolfenstein one-day-cup, with a £200 winner-takes-all cash prize. We start with 16 teams, but if we receive 32 or more signups then we will increase this to 32 teams.
Stream
We have invited eight top teams who are guaranteed a spot in our tournament and will receive a seed, while all other spots are available for open signups so hurry up and get your team signed up. If we receive more than 32 signups we will use a check-in system to decide which teams get to play.
Update: the main caster of the tournament will be Warwitch and hopefully we can still get an appearance from Stuart 'TosspoT' Saw during some of the games! To accomodate with Warwitch's timezone the tournament will now start at 20:00 CET in case of 8 or 16 teams, and 19:00 CET when we have 32 signups.
Invited teams
Mort6s
RAW
Badass
Highbot
Fusion (one soldier / overpowered mix)
KiH
National Owners
cave
All other spots are available for public signups!
How do I sign up?
Make a comment on this newspost with your name, nation and IRC nickname. You are expected to idle #dignitas.cup on Quakenet (Chat) 30 minutes before the cup starts.
Alienware Arena:
Alienware Arena™ is an on-going series of contests and promotions presented by Alienware® and held online and at LAN parties, LAN centers, trade shows, retail locations, and other special events. Meet and compete against rival gamers in head-to-head and team tournaments for opportunities to win cash and high-performance Alienware gear or simply join in on discussions about your favorite existing and upcoming PC games.
Links:
Alienware Arena
Like Team Dignitas on facebook
Follow Team Dignitas on twitter
Tournament Details
Game: RTCW 1.4 Pack (Download here)
Teams: 16 (32 if we receive enough signups)
Map pool: Base, Beach, Frostbite, Ice, Village
Cup date: Sunday 23rd December
Starting time: 20:00 CET (16 teams), 19:00 CET (32 teams)
Brackets: here
Stream: Warwitch will stream on TwitchTV
IRC: #dignitas.cup
Admin: Sui
Prizes:
£200 winner takes all
Rules: (if you have any feedback on these rules, please talk to Sui as we are looking to improve)
- RTCW 1.4 Pack (Download here)
- All servers will run OSP
- One map per match, Best of 3 rounds per map.
- Grand Final will be two maps, 2 rounds each (ABBA).
- Map is picked by map elimination, each team gets two eliminations and the remaining map will be played.
- No deliberate weapon boosting the objective holder.
- No bug exploits (e.g. gold gate pass on village)
- Any form of cheating will result in a permanent ban from all Team Dignitas cups. An admin is free to kick/ban any player from the cup if he suspects a player of cheating / abusive behavior.
- Screenshots of scores must be made after each round to serve as proof incase of a conflict |
disturbed.[citation needed] Kasabian featured at Glastonbury Festival 2005 on the "Other Stage".[21]
Despite having two prior single releases with debut single "Processed Beats" and lead single "Reason Is Treason", it was their third single release "Club Foot" that gave Kasabian success in the UK Singles Chart. The song, which was written in the early years of Kasabian, went on to enjoy both critical and commercial success, and being performed at nearly every Kasabian live performance since its release.
During this period, various drummers played with Kasabian, including current keyboard player Ben Kealey, DJ Dan Ralph Martin, Martin Hall-Adams, brothers Mitch and Ryan Glovers and some others. While recording in Bristol, the band met Ian Matthews, who plays on "Processed Beats", "Butcher Blues", "Beneficial Herbs" and possibly some other songs on the debut album and B-sides. He was asked to tour with them in 2004 and became a permanent member in April 2005. The album was produced by Jim Abbiss.
Empire and Karloff's departure (2006–07) [ edit ]
During the recording of Kasabian's second album, Empire, Christopher Karloff, one of the band's chief songwriters, had "artistic and creative differences" and was asked to leave the band, according to the band's website,[22] although there is evidence to suggest that he left due to personal circumstances. He had contributed to three of the songs on Empire.
The album, which was co-produced by Jim Abbiss, was released in the UK on 28 August 2006. "Empire" was released as the first single from the album, and reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart "Shoot the Runner" reached No. 17 in the same chart. A third single, "Me Plus One", was released on 2 January 2007.
Kasabian won the Best Live Act award at the 2007 NME Awards.[23]
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (2008–10) [ edit ]
The band released an EP titled Fast Fuse in late 2007 which featured the songs "Fast Fuse" and "Thick as Thieves". Both tracks are featured in their third album.
Kasabian started work on their third album in late 2007 with producer Dan the Automator. On 5 March 2009, it was revealed that the album title would be West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, with a release date of 8 June 2009. The song "Vlad the Impaler" was released as a free download for a period of 4 days, as a preview for the album. The promo video for "Vlad the Impaler" stars Noel Fielding of The Mighty Boosh.[24] Fielding is a fan of Kasabian, and appeared in an NME cover with the band. The album's first single was the track "Fire", which was released on 1 June 2009, used as the theme song for the English Premier League from the 2010–11 season onward, and the song "Where Did All the Love Go?" was released as the second single. The third single "Underdog" was used in the movie Takers (2010).[25]
On 14 June 2009, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, spending two weeks there. West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum was shortlisted for the 2009 Mercury Prize, and was named "Best Album" at the 2009 Q Awards. The band won "Best Group" at the 2010 Brit Awards. At the 2010 Q Awards the band won the "Best Act in the World Today".[26]
The first three albums were released as a box-set called The Albums in 2010.
Kasabian started work on their fourth album, Velociraptor!, in November 2010 with Dan the Automator as producer. It was revealed in a number of interviews that some songs were already written. One track, titled "Green Fairy", which featured on the London Boulevard soundtrack, is present on the record under the name "La Fée Verte", but the album version is different from the soundtrack version. In June 2011, Kasabian closed the Isle of Wight Festival. They also headlined Rockness festival and played at Rock Werchter in July 2011. The band confirmed that the album would be released on 19 September 2011.[27][28]
"Switchblade Smiles", the first song to be heard from Velociraptor!, was exclusively played on UK radio on 7 June 2011 during Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1. The title and release date of the fourth album was also confirmed on the show. This first single from the album was available for visitors to listen to on the Kasabian website, and was available as a download for people who pre-order the album. Two tracks from the album ("Velociraptor" and "Switchblade Smiles") were premièred throughout the four-date warm-up tour including playing at the Leeds O2 Academy before the RockNess and Isle of Wight festivals in June 2011. A track from the album "Days Are Forgotten" was due for radio release on 22 July 2011. However, it surfaced online the night before. The album failed to crack the Billboard Top 200 chart upon its first week of release in the United States.
On 27 November 2011, Kasabian performed "Goodbye Kiss" during the BBC's Formula 1 2011 closing season montage. In the same month, the band went on a full tour of the UK, including two sold out gigs at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, supported at the shows by Miles Kane and Australian band ME. On 31 December 2011, Kasabian played a New Year's Eve concert entitled NYE:Rewired at the O2 Arena, London. The event was streamed live on YouTube.[29]
Following early 2012 dates in Japan, Australia, and Europe, Kasabian launched their North American leg in Dallas on 12 March, with 19 dates in U.S. and Canada until late April.[30] It was announced on 16 May on the Kasabian website that their show of 15 December 2011, that was filmed at the O2 in London, would be screened in over 60 cinemas in the UK and Ireland on 30 May 2012. The film, titled Kasabian Live! Live at the O2 is distributed by Altive Media and Eagle Vision. On 29 June 2012, Kasabian performed at the Main Square festival in Arras France. At the end of the set, Tom Meighan returned to the stage without the band and performed The Beatles "She Loves You" unaccompanied, something that he had also done three days earlier in Athens, Greece, and on 16 June in Denmark at the NorthSide Festival. On 8 July 2012, the band headlined the UK festival T in the Park.[31] Kasabian also headlined the Reading and Leeds Festivals on 24 and 25 August 2012.[32][33]
In March 2013, Sergio Pizzorno confirmed via Facebook that touring rhythm guitarist Jay Mehler had left Kasabian to join Liam Gallagher's new band Beady Eye as a touring bass guitarist.[34] Tim Carter joined Kasabian as a touring guitarist, first performing with the band on 6 March 2013 at Russell Brand's Give It Up for Comic Relief, comedy and music gig at Wembley Arena.[35] Carter is a music engineering producer and assistant to Dan the Automator, who co-produced West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum and Velociraptor!.[36]
Following a handful of gigs and festival performances throughout the year, Kasabian posted a teaser video in November 2013, announcing that they had been working on new material for the previous six months.[37] The album was produced by Sergio Pizzorno.[38] They also announced that they would be playing a homecoming gig in Victoria Park, Leicester to 60,000 people in June 2014, around the ten year anniversary of their debut album.[39][40] On 4 April 2014, Kasabian were confirmed to be headlining the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2014 on 29 June 2014.[41]
On 28 April 2014, the band revealed that the album would be titled 48:13, and be released on 9 June 2014.[42][43] The lead single to promote the album, "Eez-eh", was released on 29 April 2014.[44] "Eez-eh" was performed at Glastonbury Festival 2014 alongside other tracks from 48:13 and previous albums. The show also featured two cover versions - "Crazy", originally recorded by Gnarls Barkley, and "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim, which has been used as an intro to their song "L.S.F".
At the NME Awards 2015 Kasabian were nominated for 9 awards, beating the 2009 Oasis record (7 nominations).[45][46]
For Crying Out Loud (2016–present) [ edit ]
In 2016, the band played a short tour in May,[47] culminating in two concerts at Leicester City Football Club's ground, the King Power Stadium, to celebrate them winning the Premier League. At the first of these two concerts, Kasabian debuted a new song, "Put Your Life On It", dedicated to the city and those who are no longer with us to see the city's recent sporting achievements, accompanied by a gospel choir from De Montfort University.[48] They also performed a short set in Leicester's Victoria Park, as part of the LCFC victory parade on 16 May.[49] Numerous inspirations for the sixth album also have been listed, including Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Claudio Ranieri. On 8 September, it was confirmed[50] that "Comeback Kid" will be featured on the soundtrack of EA Sports game FIFA 17. In December 2016 the group were rumoured to play Reading & Leeds Festival the following year, but insisted that, "The band are currently finishing their new album".[51] The band have been announced for several festivals in summer 2017, including a slot at Reading & Leeds Festival in August.[52]
In January 2017, in an interview to NME Pizzorno revealed that the upcoming album would contain a track called "Bless This Acid House", which, in the musician's opinion, is one of the best songs he has written.[53]
In March 2017, it was confirmed that the band's sixth album would be titled For Crying Out Loud,[54] and released in of that year.[55] The album cover features a photograph of the band's guitar technician Rick Graham.[56] The band embarked on a world tour in support, that included performances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals and headlining TRNSMT in Glasgow.[18]
Band members [ edit ]
Current members Tom Meighan – lead vocals (1997–present)
Sergio Pizzorno – guitar, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals, keyboards, percussion, electronic programming (1997–present)
Chris Edwards – bass (1997–present)
Ian Matthews – drums, percussion (2004–present) Former members Christopher "Chris" Karloff – lead guitar, bass, keyboards, electronic programming (1997–2006) Touring members Ben Kealey – keyboards, piano (2006–present)
Gary Alesbrook – trumpet (2006–present)
Tim Carter – guitar, keyboards, percussion (2013–present) Former session musicians/Touring members Jay Mehler – guitar (2006-2012)
Ryan Glover – drums (2004)
Mitch Glover – drums (2004)
Daniel "Dan" Ralph Martin – drums, piano (2004)
Martin Hall-Adams – drums (2004)
Timeline [ edit ]
Discography [ edit ]
Studio albums
Awards and nominations [ edit ]The RPM Package Manager (RPM) is a powerful command-line driven package management system capable of installing, uninstalling, verifying, querying, and updating software packages. RPM was originally written in 1997 by Erik Troan and Marc Ewing. Since then RPM has been successfully used in all versions of Red Hat Linux and currently in Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
RPM offers considerable advantages over traditional open-source software install methodology of building from source via tar balls, especially when it comes to software distribution and management. This has led to other Linux distributions to accept RPM as either the default package management system or offer it as an alternative to the ones which are default in those distributions.
Like any big, widely used software, over time several features are added to it and also several security flaws are found. On several occasions Red Hat has found and fixed security issues with RPM.
Florian Weimer of Red Hat Product Security discovered an interesting flaw in RPM, which was assigned CVE-2013-6435. Firstly, let's take a brief look at the structure of an RPM file. It consists of two main parts: the RPM header and the payload. The payload is a compressed CPIO archive of binary files that are installed by the RPM utility. The RPM header, among other things, contains a cryptographic checksum of all the installed files in the CPIO archive. The header also contains a provision for a cryptographic signature. The signature works by performing a mathematical function on the header and archive section of the file. The mathematical function can be an encryption process, such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), or a message digest in the MD5 format.
If the RPM is signed, one can use the corresponding public key to verify the integrity and even the authenticity of the package. However, RPM only checked the header and not the payload during the installation.
When an RPM is installed, it writes the contents of the package to its target directory and then verifies its checksum against the value in the header. If the checksum does not match, that means something is wrong with the package (possibly someone has tampered with it) and the file is removed. At this point RPM refuses to install that particular package.
Though this may seem like the correct way to handle things, it has a bad consequence. Let's assume RPM installs a file in the /etc/cron.d directory and then verifies its checksum. This offers a small race-window, in which crond can run before the checksum is found to be incorrect and the file is removed. There are several ways to prolong this window as well. So in the end we achieve arbitrary code execution as root, even though the system administrator assumes that the RPM package was never installed.
The approach Red Hat used to solve the problem is:
Require the size in the header to match with the size of the file in the payload. This prevents anyone from tampering with the payload, because the header is cryptographically verified. (This fix is already present in the upstream version of RPM)
Set restrictive permissions while a file is being unpacked from an RPM package. This will only allow root to access those file. Also, several programs, including cron, perform a check for permission sanity before running those files.
Another approach to mitigate this issue is the use of the O_TMPFILE flag. Linux kernel 3.11 and above introduced this flag, which can be passed to open(2), to simplify the creation of secure temporary files. Files opened with the O_TMPFILE flag are created, but they are not visible in the file system. As soon as they are closed, they are deleted. There are two uses for these files: race-free temporary files and creation of initially unreachable files. These unreachable files can be written to or changed same as regular files. RPM could use this approach to create a temporary, unreachable file, run a checksum on it, and either delete it or atomically link it to set the file up, without being vulnerable to the attack described above. However, as mentioned above, this feature is only available in Linux kernel 3.11 and above, was added to glibc 2.19, and is slowly making its way into GNU/Linux distributions.
The risk mentioned above is greatly reduced if the following precautions are followed:
Always check signatures of RPM packages before installing them. Red Hat RPMs are signed with cryptographic keys provided at https://access.redhat.com/security/team/key. When installing RPMs from Red Hat or Fedora repositories, Yum will automatically validate RPM packages via the respective public keys, unless explicitly told not to (via the “nogpgcheck” option and configuration directive).
Package downloads via Red Hat software repositories are protected via TLS/SSL so it is extremely difficult to tamper with them in transit. Fedora uses a whole-file hash chain rooted in a hash downloaded over TLS/SSL from a Fedora-run central server.
The above issue (CVE-2013-6435) has been fixed along with another issue (CVE-2014-8118), which is a potentially exploitable crash in the CPIO parser.
Red Hat customers should update to the latest versions of RPM via the following security advisories:
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1974.html
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1975.html
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1976.htmlThere won’t be any "Bigfoot" sightings in the UFC again any time soon.
The promotion released Antonio Silva recently after a rough stretch for the former elite heavyweight, MMA Fighting confirmed with UFC officials Friday. Globo was the first to report the news. Silva had lost three straight, all by knockout
Globo reported that Silva, 37, is already fielding offers from other promotions. "Bigfoot" owns a win over Fedor Emelianenko under the Strikeforce banner in 2011 and the promotion that signs Emelianenko could very well want to put together that rematch.
Silva (19-10, 1 NC), a former EliteXC and Cage Rage heavyweight champion, has just one win in his last eight fights and all of his losses have come via knockout. In his last outing, the Brazilian lost by second-round KO to Roy Nelson in September.
Before this current skid, "Bigfoot" was regarded as one of the best heavyweights in the world. Silva, who had been in the UFC since 2012, owns victories over the likes of Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Travis Browne and Andrei Arlovski on his record. His fight with Mark Hunt in 2013 was one of the best heavyweights bouts in UFC history, but was somewhat marred when Silva, a past user of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), was suspended due to elevated testosterone levels.Bernie Sanders's best idea is, so far, missing from his presidential campaign.
Both Sanders and Hillary Clinton have unveiled plans to cut drug prices. Both documents feature the standard raft of liberal ideas: Let Medicare bargain with drug companies, let pharmacies import drugs from Canada, force more transparency in pricing, and so on.
But Sanders isn't a standard-issue Democrat when it comes to pharmaceutical spending. He's a radical. Yet his most radical idea — and perhaps his best — was left out of his proposal.
The pharmaceutical industry is staggeringly, ridiculously profitable — its margins dwarf those of other industries. Pfizer, for instance, boasted a 42 percent profit margin in 2013. And, as the BBC notes, Pfizer wasn't alone; in 2013, "five pharmaceutical companies made a profit margin of 20 percent or more — Pfizer, Hoffmann-La Roche, AbbVie, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly."
Whenever you see profits like that, you should ask a simple question: Where is the market failing? Why isn't competition grinding down those profits into nothing?
The answer, here, is there's no market at all. The patent system give pharmaceutical companies a government-backed monopoly over the sale of their drug for 20 years. Within that period of time, they can charge as much as they want for the drug.
We're number one — in drug prices
The good of this system is that extraordinary profits can generate extraordinary innovation — and they have. For all the talk of me-too drugs, the pharmaceutical industry has driven tremendous advances in human well-being. Liberals angry about the high prices of pharmaceuticals are often too quick to dismiss the benefits of those drugs, or to assume that they would have been developed and brought to market amid more modest rewards.
The bad of this system is that pharmaceuticals are becoming increasingly, wildly unaffordable. America's spending on pharmaceuticals has more than doubled since 2000. Other countries offer patents to drugmakers, but they recognize the fundamental problem — when there's no competition for a lifesaving medicine, there's almost no price that dying patients and their families won't mortgage their home to pay, and so there's almost no price that a sufficiently mercenary pharmaceutical company can't charge.
Every other developed country deals with this problem the same way: The government sets pharmaceutical prices. So in Canada, for instance, Pfizer can have their monopolies, but they can only charge what the Canadian government allows. America allows pharmaceutical companies to charge whatever they want, and so they do.
There's another, subtler, problem lurking in the American system: The big money is made in treatments for the most common conditions. If you invent a drug that cures baldness, or lowers cholesterol, the profits are massive; if you invent (or, in the case of Daraprim, become the sole manufacturer) of a drug that treats a rare, but deadly, condition, the possible profits are minuscule — at least unless you jack up the drug's price to ridiculous levels.
The result is predictable: Drugmakers spend fortunes on derivative drugs for common conditions and nearly nothing on more serious, but rare, illnesses.
Bernie Sanders's radical idea: prizes, not patents
Before he ran for president, Sanders had a fascinating idea for overhauling this system. The bill was S.627: The Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act. It proposed setting aside 0.55 percent of gross domestic product — about $86 billion in 2012 — as prize money for pharmaceutical development.
The concept, in its way, was wonderfully simple; rather than rewarding drug companies with a lengthy patent for creating new drugs, the government could reward them with prize money. The size of the prizes would be set based on the severity of the condition, the size of the patient population, and so on. So the prize for a drug curing Alzheimer's might be in the billions of dollars, while the prize for a slightly better treatment for tinea versicolor would be tiny. Either way, the drug would then be generic from the get-go — anyone could produce it, which would mean costs would fall sharply.
This is a bold reimagining of how pharmaceutical innovation could, and should, work. The idea, as an analysis from Knowledge Economy International observes, is to "separate the markets for products from the markets for innovation." It would create a pathway to offer huge rewards for innovations that didn't have huge markets, and to make it more profitable for pharmaceutical companies to pursue real breakthroughs rather than simply steal market share from one another by creating derivative drugs for existing markets.
Even so, Sanders's bill goes quite a bit further than I think is wise. He more or less does away with the patent system entirely — a move that requires too much faith in the federal government to decide what drugs need to be developed, and that suggests too little faith in a market that, all things considered, has done amazing things.
When I asked Sanders about the concern that reducing pharmaceutical profits could harm innovation, he had little patience for the idea. "A lot of the money in health-care research goes into me-too drugs, copycat drugs where they will come up with another drug that really doesn't substantially increase the kinds of benefits that it has on the patient," he said.
Sanders is too pessimistic. There's research showing higher expected profits lead to more pharmaceutical innovation, and that that innovation has real benefits. Moreover, even me-too drugs can have their uses; different drugs work on different patients, and while derivative drugs may not have massive benefits for society, they can have huge benefits for small groups of patients.
So I wouldn't go as nuclear as Sanders. The current pharmaceutical market has worked too well to do away with it entirely. My preference would be to keep the patent system in place but begin to develop a prize system in parallel — perhaps starting with rare but severe diseases.
Still, the prize idea shows Sanders at his best: uninterested in the customary boundaries of American policymaking, skeptical of the industry-friendly status quo, and unafraid of angering some of the richest corporations on Earth. It's the kind of actually bold thinking the presidential race — and the country — needs more of, and so it was disappointing to see it left out of his plan to cut pharmaceutical costs. Here's hoping it makes a comeback.
Further reading:A Lazair Series III with its bottom-mounted control stick. This one has been modified with a streamlined pod and windshield. The engines are the Rotax 185 9.5 hp two-stroke powerplants driving “biplane” propellers.
A Lazair Series III showing the original Tedlar covered wings and tail surfaces
A Lazair Series II displays the very long wing which gives this aircraft good gliding performance. This aircraft has been modified with conventional aircraft fabric and wider main landing gear.
A Lazair II two-seat trainer with its JPX PUL 425 engines of 26 hp (19 kW).
A Lazair II two-seat trainer has one of its JPX PUL 425 engines started. Lazairs generally do not have electrical systems, and their engines are started by recoil start
The Ultraflight Lazair is a family of Canadian designed and built twin-engine ultralight aircraft that were sold in kit form between 1979 and 1984.
With a total production of over 2000 aircraft delivered the Lazair series is the most produced Canadian-designed aircraft.[1]
Development [ edit ]
The designer of the Lazair, Dale Kramer, was an aeronautical engineering student at the University of Toronto when he attended the Oshkosh EAA convention in 1977. He was very impressed with the potential of the ultralight aircraft designs that he saw there and returned with a Superfloater glider kit. Convinced that improvements to the design were possible, Kramer started with a blank sheet of paper and designed a completely new aircraft, even going so far as to design a custom airfoil for it.[1]
The design features a constant taper wing with a progressive and constant washout from root to tip. Combined with an airfoil that is cambered with concave portions on both the top and bottom surfaces, this produced an aircraft with optimized low-speed handling and very gentle stall characteristics. The wing is constructed from an aluminum "D" cell leading edge, foam ribs and an aluminum tubular trailing edge. The aircraft also featured some of the first winglets used on light aircraft.[1][2][3]
The very long wing made the Lazair a good glider, giving it a 12:1 glide ratio, and it could be soared in even light thermal conditions.[3][4]
Kramer named the aircraft “Lazair” as a contraction of “Lazy-Air”, a comment on the slow cruise speed of the aircraft, which was about 40 mph (64 km/h).[5]
The Lazair incorporated standard aircraft materials but had innovative design features in every component, including:[1][6]
winglets
full three axis controls (unusual in ultralights in 1978)
inverted V-tail with ruddervators
transparent PET film covering for the wings and tail surfaces
twin engines for safety
Initially Mylar was used as a covering on the wings and tail, attached to the airframe with two sided tape. After the Mylar proved to have a short service life due to UV damage, it was replaced by a more expensive product, Tedlar.[1][3]
For control run simplicity the control stick pivot point was located above the pilot with the stick hanging downwards. The ailerons and ruddervators on the inverted V-tail were interconnected so that turns were made with connected rudder and aileron by moving the stick to the side. Pitch control was via conventional fore-and-aft stick movement moving the ruddervators together as elevators.[1][3]
Because Kramer could not find a suitable engine for the design that provided the needed power with reliability, he opted for two engines instead, placed as close together as possible to reduce yaw when one failed. The entire concept was to produce an aircraft that would fly with minimum power and so the prototype had two chainsaw engines that produced a total of 11 hp (8.2 kW).[1][3]
The first Lazair prototype was constructed by Kramer and his friend and associate Peter Corley and first flown in 1978.[6][7]
Kramer formed Ultraflight Aircraft to produce the design in his home town of Port Colborne, Ontario. Sales commenced in 1979 through the subsidiary "Ultraflight Aircraft Sales".[1]
Variants [ edit ]
Series I
The first Lazairs were originally marketed just under the model name "Lazair", but were later termed “Series I” after improved models had appeared.
The initial model Lazair was a single-seater with a 36.3-foot (11.1 m) wingspan and was powered by two 5.5 hp 100 cc Pioneer chainsaw engines, directly driving plastic propellers in tractor configuration. The main landing gear used 16-inch (410 mm) wheels with a track of just 26 inches, which combined with the long wing span, meant that taxiing in more than 7 mph (11 km/h) of wind required a wing walker. Tail skids were fitted to the inverted V-tail.[1][2][3]
Series II
There was customer demand for putting the Lazair on floats, but this required more power than the Pioneer powerplants could develop. The solution was to substitute 9.5 horsepower (7.1 kW) Rotax 185 engines. These single-cylinder engines were used extensively in forest fire fighting water pumps and had proved reliable in that application.[3][4][8]
The propellers were the same plastic units used on the Series I with its 5.5 hp (4.1 kW) engines. To absorb the greater power two propellers were stacked to form a “biplane propeller”. This was done because Ultraflight had ample supplies of the existing propellers and using them saved money over developing a new propeller.[8]
During the production of the Series II the tail skids were replaced with tail wheels and later on, swiveling wheels. Skis were also available, although open cockpit flying in the winter could be a challenge. Rudder pedals were introduced which allowed side slipping of the aircraft as well as crosswind landings. The rudders could be coupled to the ailerons or de-coupled and controlled by the pedals in flight through a mixer gear.[1][3]
Series III
The third series of the single-seat Lazair introduced customer-requested upgrades, such as:
landing gear widened to 46 inches (1,200 mm)
jury struts for increased negative-g tolerance
conventional floor-mounted control stick
toe brakes[1][3][8]
Power on the Series III is still provided by two 9.5 horsepower (7.1 kW) Rotax 185 engines with the option of a pair of KFM 25 hp (19 kW) or JPX PUL 425 26 hp (19 kW) engines.[3]
Elite
The Lazair Elite is a limited production aircraft that includes a structurally strengthened airframe and an enclosed cockpit. It is suitable for heavier pilots.[1]
Lazair II
The Lazair II is a two-seater trainer with the seats in side-by-side configuration. It was introduced in 1983 and 50 were completed.[1][5]
The Lazair II is powered by two JPX PUL 425 engines producing 26 hp (19 kW) each. The engines are more widely spaced than on the single-seater models which gives it vastly different single engine handling characteristics. With one engine at full power and the other shut down it descends faster than with both engines off.[5]
Lazair SS
The “SS” is the “Surveillance Special” which was designed for police use, which included the Elite airframe and the JPX PUL 425 engines of 26 hp (19 kW) each as used on the two-seat Lazair II.[1]
Lazair SS aircraft were employed by the Monterey Park Police Department in California.[6]
ELazair
Electric Lazair (eLazair)
In 2011 Lazair designer Dale Kramer introduced an experimental electric-powered Lazair on an amphibious mono-float, with outrigger floats at AirVenture. The aircraft is powered by twin Joby JM1 powerplants with Jeti SPIN Pro 300 controllers and dual 16 cell 4 amp-hour battery packs that produce 63 volts, mounted in the wings. The aircraft won Antique Ultralight Champion and Best Ultralight Amphibian at AirVenture. The aircraft is an experimental project and no production is planned.[9]
Production [ edit ]
Lazair production commenced in 1979 and was completed in 1984, the company citing “liability concerns” and the resulting cost and availability of insurance as the reason.[1]
The aircraft were widely sold in Canada and the United States and sales totaled more than 2000, making the Lazair the most produced Canadian aircraft design. The Series II Lazair was the most produced individual model.[1]
The Lazair inspired many other aircraft designers to use the Lazair wing construction techniques. The Blue Yonder Merlin is one aircraft that uses a wing based on the Lazair wing.[10][11]
Regulatory status [ edit ]
In Canada all Lazairs are classified as Basic Ultra-lights. A multi-engine rating is not required to fly the Lazair in Canada as there is no multi-engine rating for ultra-light aeroplanes.[12]
In the USA the single-seat models are flown as ultralights under FAR 103, whereas the Lazair II two-seat models are usually registered as experimental amateur-builts.[13]
Present day [ edit ]
In the 21st century many Lazairs are still in use by private owners. As when first introduced, they remain prized for their handling qualities, if not their cruising speed.[8]
In November 2007 the Canadian register still carried a total of 460 Lazairs of all models.[14] In the USA where the majority of Lazairs are flown as unregistered FAR Part 103 ultralights there were also ten registered as amateur-builts in November 2007.[13]
Specifications (Lazair Series II) [ edit ]
General characteristics
Crew: one pilot
one pilot Length: 13 ft (3.96 m)
13 ft (3.96 m) Wingspan: 36 ft 4 in (11.1 m)
36 ft 4 in (11.1 m) Height: 6.3 ft (1.92 m)
6.3 ft (1.92 m) Wing area: 143 sq ft (13.3 m²)
143 sq ft (13.3 m²) Airfoil: Custom Lazair airfoil, reflexed top and bottom
Custom Lazair airfoil, reflexed top and bottom Empty weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
210 lb (95 kg) Useful load: 240 lb (109 kg)
240 lb (109 kg) Max. takeoff weight: 450 lb (204 kg)
450 lb (204 kg) Powerplant: 2 × Rotax 185, 9.5 hp (7.1 kW) each
Performance
See also [ edit ]
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and eraBefore we start debating whether Kentucky could beat the Cavaliers -- which is a ridiculous question, because we all know John Calipari can't coach in the NBA -- let's pause to reflect what's transpired in Cleveland the last few months:
1. LeBron James returned, putting championship expectations on a team that went 33-49 last season.
2. Kevin Love was acquired, forming a super-talented Big Three, albeit one where two-thirds has never made the playoffs or been on a winning team.
3. Kyrie Irving, coming off an MVP run at the FIBA World Cup, was asked to hand over the leadership reins and No. 1 option responsibilities.
4. David Blatt was hired, a successful coach in Europe, but one who had never sat on an NBA bench before.
5. Dion Waiters was asked to play a complementary role after shooting 17-plus times per game last season.
6. No rim protector was drafted, signed or traded for in a deal.
Now, is a 5-7 start that much of a shock to the system? We knew Cleveland's Big Three could struggle early on after seeing Miami's super team do the same (a 9-8 start in 2011) a few years ago. But the issues have been profound. Despite having three of the most talented players in the league, the team's offense is league average. The team's defense -- which doesn't feature a single player averaging a block per game -- is even more pedestrian, ranking No. 26 in points allowed per possession.
Some of these bumps will eventually be smoothed out. LeBron will eventually loosen up, Love will find his niche, Irving will learn to run the offense and Waiters will shoot above 40 percent. But some of the issues aren't going away, like the team's lack of a shot-blocker or bench depth.
• Play FanNation's new NBA games: Fast Break | Basketball Throwdown
Let's keep the hot takes to a minimum this week and acknowledge while the Cavaliers are plagued with problems, LeBron isn't taking his talents back to South Beach if the team's four-game skid continues.
In non-LeBron news, the best player in the NBA, Anthony Davis, moves his team up to No. 12 this week. The Spurs and Suns rise after 4-0 weeks and the Hornets tumble as their disappointing start continues.
(All stats and records through Nov. 23).WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. services sector activity rebounded to an 11-month high in September, an encouraging sign for economic growth that may increase the prospect of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year.
Trenton Duerksen, an exhibition maintenance manager, cleans a 94-foot-long blue whale model at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, New York, U.S. September 7, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) said on Wednesday its non-manufacturing activity index surged to a reading of 57.1, the highest level since October |
as “anti-copyright” goes a bit far. Still, the groups send a strong message to the RIAA, that the organization’s stance on moral rights is abhorrent.
The songwriter and artist groups stress that the RIAA might shoot itself in the foot, as it’s distancing the people it needs to further its interests around the globe. As for the metadata problems, they believe that the streaming platforms and other services will come up with a proper solution eventually.
“We believe there’s no doubt music platforms will come up with innovative and effective ways to give credit. Certainly there’s no need to set expectations at rock bottom as the RIAA did in their comments,” the groups write in their letter.
The groups urge the RIAA to revise its views and start collaborating with creators to address specific implementation problems. The record labels and creators should stand together as one, instead of going against each other.
It will be interesting to see if and how the RIAA responds to the critique.
While the US Government has yet to decide on the moral rights issue, in other countries the attribution right is taken very seriously. Just recently, a District Court in Isreal awarded a local music composer $223,000 in statutory damages because his name was removed from the credits of an online kids animation series.How did former NFL tight end Jeremy Shockey ring in 2015? (A question I’m sure that’s on the forefront of everyone’s mind who reads the site on a regular basis on a post-holiday weekend Monday evening.) The former Giant, Panther and Saint hung out with Phish during their New Year’s run in Miami as this picture with band drummer Jon Fishman would attest.
Although the pairing of Shockey and Phish, at first glance, seems a little odd it turns out he’s a long-time fan of the Vermont band. Here’s an excerpt from a dated New York Magazine feature from 2003 about how he took Page McConnell to the Playboy Super Bowl party that year:
Shockey’s entourage was characteristically eclectic. He brought Robert Bailey, his marketing agent, and Drew Rosenhaus, his football agent; a couple of Oklahoma high-school pals; his Humvee dealer; and Page McConnell, the keyboard player in Phish, Shockey’s favorite band. “I ask him every so often if he’s got anything going on with a particular girl,” McConnell said, laughing. “Shockey says, ‘You know me—always on the rebound.’ ” Bunny Jennifer sidled up to Shockey. Would the tight end like to squeeze her tail? He would.
Man … those Shockey years with the Giants (2002-2007) in New York would have been even more surreal if Twitter and social media existed in their current, 2015, form. (Hey Jeremy … if for some reason you ever need a person who brings absolutely nothing — at all — to the table for your current-day entourage, my Twitter is included at the top of the page.)
RELATED: Hard Pass Podcast 9: Phish, Halloween Costumes and Origin Stories
RELATED: The Russell Wilson / Phish Connection Gets the NFL Films Treatment
[H/T SI_Vault]In this year’s Presidential election, voters were asked to choose between two candidates with widely disparate views on the Second Amendment. On one side stood Hillary Clinton, who attacked the Supreme Court for simply affirming Americans’ right to possess firearms for self-defense, while on the other stood Donald Trump, who made clear that our government should empower law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families.
While there were undoubtedly other issues that led Americans to vote for one candidate or the other, there is no question that this election was a victory for gun owners and an affirmation of our God-given right to self-defense.
Part of this of course is that unlike politicians in Washington, a strong majority of Americans have long believed in gun rights and more importantly, the right to self-defense. Roughly one out of every four Americans own or have a gun in their home and over 14 million Americans now have a concealed carry permit – a 215% increase since President Obama took office.
In the days ahead, gun owners hope and expect that President-elect Trump will follow through on his campaign promises and vigorously defend the Second Amendment. This includes nominating judges that will abide by the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States. Instead of passing new laws and government regulations that only erode the freedoms of law-abiding citizens, our government should enforce the laws already on the books and prosecute violent criminals. Lastly, we would encourage the President-elect to promote long overdue reforms such as national concealed carry reciprocity in all 50 states.
Gun owners should also not rest on our laurels from this year’s election though and should recognize that the anti-gun lobby will continue to spending millions of dollars to roll-back our freedoms. There are at least five things Second Amendment supporters can be doing today, tomorrow and beyond:
Act Responsibly & Lead: With over 200,000 members spread out across all 50 states, USCCA is the first & largest member-owned association dedicated to educating, training, and insuring responsibly armed Americans. But whether you’re a member of USCCA or not, it’s important to acknowledge the right to self defense also comes with responsibilities. All gun owners should continue to seek out and obtain quality training from knowledgeable instructors, exercise proper judgment at all times and lead by example. Let’s not give anti-gun advocates any excuses to further undermine our freedoms. Engage & Educate: The facts of the gun debate are on our side and there are few Americans that understand crime better than law-abiding gun owners, and particularly concealed-carry permit holders, because they make a point to be aware of it, which is really the first step to self-defense. In fact, a recent report by the Crime Prevention Research Center found, not surprisingly, that concealed-carry permit holders are among the most law-abiding demographic of Americans today. You are our best messengers to talk to friends and neighbors who may have less familiarity with firearms or have been on the receiving end of misinformation from anti-gun groups or the national media. Support Our Second Amendment Allies: Make sure that in the months ahead, our Second Amendment supporters in Washington and in state capitols across the country are hearing your voices and that they know you have their back. Anti-gun advocates like former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are pouring millions of dollars into states to attack them and we need to counter that with vocal support and energy for those defending our freedoms. Hold Anti-Gun Advocates Accountable: Anti-gun advocates would have Americans believe that only if there were universal background checks, “gun-free zones,” and gun show “loopholes” closed then we would see an end to gun violence. In fact, it’s been shown time and time again that background checks do nothing to reduce crime, while so called “gun free zones” are essentially advertisements to evil-doers that citizens there will not have the ability to fight back. Three recent massacres occurred in states – California, Colorado and Oregon — which already have strict background laws in place and Chicago, which has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, continues to be plagued by gun violence. Let’s also not forget that a massacre was prevented at Minnesota’s Crossroads Center shopping mall in September because an off-duty police chief, who is also a USCCA firearms instructor, ignored the “gun-free zone” signs and killed a Somali terrorist who had stabbed multiple innocent people. When anti-gun politicians spread misinformation, let’s all work to get the facts out there as quickly and publicly as possible. Stay Active, Stand Strong and Win: The Second Amendment is what protects the First Amendment and if we want to have any chance of maintaining our natural-born right to self-defense and self-protection, all of us must stay engaged and work hard to oppose political efforts aimed at eroding our freedoms.
Gun owners achieved some significant victories this year but the fight continues and we must always stay vigilant in the effort to protect our God-given freedoms.
Tim Schmidt is the president and founder of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, and may be contacted at Press@USCCA.com.impactwrestling.com
Much like any kind of music, wrestling theme songs just make life better. They are part of the soundtrack of our lives.
Who among us hasn’t at least once ripped off our shirt when “Real American” played? Who hasn’t given their neighbour a Stunner when “Glass Shattered” blared? Who hasn’t tried to propose marriage to their significant other while Billy and Chuck’s “You Look So Good To Me” was on the radio?
Now, it needs to be stated at the outset than I am in absolutely no way, shape or form qualified to be a music critic. However, my taste in wrestling theme songs has never been questioned...largely because I keep that opinion to myself. But I’ve decided that won’t stop me from compiling TNA’s best theme songs of all time!
Yes, WWE has a much richer history of original music, and many TNA originals were just bad rip-offs of what a talent had in another promotion. However, you’ll still find some gems along the way. For the ranking system here, the criteria is that the theme fits the character, it’s catchy and bonus points for being recognisable within the first few moments.
You might not choose any of these songs to play at the first dance of your wedding (though very few things bring more people to the dance floor than a Jeff Jarrett tune), but these 10 songs absolutely belong in your secret (or not so secret) playlist of wrestling themes!The Alabama Justice Project has obtained documents that reveal a Dothan Police Department’s Internal Affairs investigation was covered up by the district attorney. A group of up to a dozen police officers on a specialized narcotics team were found to have planted drugs and weapons on young black men for years. They were supervised at the time by Lt. Steve Parrish, current Dothan Police Chief, and Sgt. Andy Hughes, current Director of Homeland Security for the State of Alabama. All of the officers reportedly were members of a Neoconfederate organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center labels “racial extremists.” The group has advocated for blacks to return to Africa, published that the civil rights movement is really a Jewish conspiracy, and that blacks have lower IQ’s. Both Parrish and Hughes held leadership positions in the group and are pictured above holding a confederate battle flag at one of the club’s secret meetings.
The documents shared reveal that the internal affairs investigation was covered up to protect the aforementioned officers’ law enforcement careers and keep them from being criminally prosecuted.
Read more…Serbian President Boris Tadic on Thursday confirmed the arrest of suspected war criminal Ratko Mladic. "On behalf of the Republic of Serbia, we announce that Ratko Mladic has been arrested," Tadic told reporters after convening a press conference. He said the arrest of the man believed to have been responsible for the Srebrenica massacre opened the door for reconciliation across the entire Balkan peninsula. With Mladic's detainment, Serbia has closed a difficult chapter in its history and relieved itself of a serious burden.
"We ended a difficult period of our history and removed the stain from the face of the members of our nation wherever they live," Tadic said.
'An Important Step'
Mladic's arrest had been set as a condition for eventual Serbian membership in the European Union. Family members had long sought to convince the government and public that the former general had died. It is widely expected that EU membership procedures will now be expedited for Serbia following Thursday's development. President Tadic said he hoped a door to the EU would be opened.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday greeted the arrest and urged Serbia to quickly extradite the war crimes suspect. "This is an important step forward for Serbia and international justice," she said in a statement. "Full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal remains essential on Serbia's path towards EU membership."
Mladic was considered the most wanted war crimes suspect in Europe, and he had evaded capture for 15 years.
ID Questions
Initially there had been uncertainty over whether the detainee was Mladic. Officials with the Serbian Security Intelligence Agency arrested a man named Milorad Komadic on Thursday morning, who bore a remarkable resemblance to the former Bosnian-Serbian general, initial reports stated. Through DNA testing, they were later able to confirm his identity.
In the 1990s Mladic was military chief of the Bosnian Serbs, who tried to ethnically cleanse parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina to create a "Greater Serbia" of ethnic Serbians. He was wanted by the War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in connection with allegations that he committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity between 1992 and 1995. Officials in Serbia said Thursday that he would be extradited to the Netherlands, where he has been indicted by the Hague-based tribunal.
Arrest Followed Critical Report
For years, officials in the European Union as well as the war crimes tribunal complained that Serbia had not done enough to capture Mladic, who was ultimately found on Serbian soil. "The capture is Serbia's biggest obligation," read a report submitted this morning to the UN Security Council by UN war crimes chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz, according to the BBC. "Until now efforts by Serbia to detain fugitives have not been sufficient."
The full report will be formally released next week. But on Thursday, President Tadic rejected the criticism.
"We have been cooperating with the Hague Tribunal fully from the beginning of the mandate of this government," he said. He also denied the arrest had been made because of international political pressure. "It is crystal clear that we did not calculate when we had to arrest Ratko," he said.
'Some of the Darkest Episodes'
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark greeted Mladic's arrest. "General Mladic played a key role in some of the darkest episodes of Balkan and European history," Rasmussen said in a statement. "Almost 16 years since his indictment for genocide and other war crimes, his arrest finally offers a chance for justice to be done."
The human rights organization Amnesty International also expressed relief over the arrest. "At last the people who suffered have hope that he will be brought to justice," Widney Brown, senior director of international law at the organization stated. But Amnesty also said additional war crimes suspects must also be found. "The Serbian authorities need to renew their efforts to arrest the remaining indicted suspect General Goran Hadzc believed to be at large in either Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina and bring him to justice."
The main allegation against Mladic, who has been dubbed "the Butcher of Bosnia," is that he orchestrated the Srebrenica massacre. The slaughter of around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian enclave in July 1995 was the worst mass killing to occur in Europe since World War II.
Mladic is also accused of ordering sharp shooters to fire on civilians during the two-year siege of Sarajevo.
The arrest of the war crimes suspect could also impact the trial of his former boss, Radovan Karadzic, who was captured in July 2008 and is currently being tried in The Hague on genocide charges.Travi$ Scott is better known for his production skills than his lyrical ability, but he unfortunately missed an opportunity to prove himself as a rapper with his latest BET Cypher freestyle.
Scott took the increasingly rare approach of actually going off the dome on his 16, but it came off as more careless than ambitious. The Owl Pharaoh rapper confirmed in a tweet yesterday that the quality of his verse suffered due to the "underwhelming" beat provided (which he also mentioned in the freestyle).
While there's no shame in Travi$' preference for maximal production, it's important to note that the beat was likely chosen for its iconic status in hip hop, standing as one of the most sampled breaks in the genre's history. It comes from James Brown's 1974 "Funky President," and has been used in N.W.A.'s "Fuck The Police," Public Enemy's "Fight The Power," and most recently, Kanye West's "Clique" (which appeared on an album Scott did a fair amount of production on).
Check out the freestyle Scott described as "ass," as well as his tweet below.These days, loyalty programs are everywhere. Nearly every business out there has a rewards card, loyalty membership program or a customer appreciation discount to try and reel you in with incentives. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't. The average household belongs to a total of 18 loyalty programs whether they shop there or not. This might be why you're hesitant to offer a rewards program through your own business. It seems like it would be impossible to get noticed over the rest. Besides, why would you want to offer incentives and rewards if customers who sign up don't end up spending money with you anyway? It's all about the program. This infographic will walk you through the process as a medieval restaurant owner, Henry, creates, launches and maintains a successful loyalty program for his growing establishment: Henry's Turkey Legs.The most conspicuous difference between the law’s problems in determining historical facts and those of other disciplines lies in the procedure of decision. Other disciplines rely primarily on the method of inquiry, reflection, and report by trained investigators. In other disciplines the final conclusions as to key facts are drawn by experts, and the conclusions may be changed if they are found later — after further inquiry and reflection — to be wrong. The law, in contrast, depends in most formal proceedings upon presentation by the disputants in public hearing before an impartial tribunal, a tribunal previously uniformed about the matters in dispute. And findings of fact by the tribunal are usually final so far as the law is concerned. – Hart and McNaughton, Evidence and Inference in the Law
The rules and practices of evidence in United States law provide a rich substance to examine from a dialectical perspective. Evidence is a current running through all areas and subjects of the law: varying in importance and proliferation, but nonetheless a key component even when they are supposed to matter less, namely in appeals. While the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) provides much of the infrastructure, the common law and trends of practice within different courts also provides a significant amount of the practices and procedures around evidence. Furthermore, the judge stands as the gatekeeper of evidence, the final word not only on what evidence is allowed but the way in which it is allowed. It is one of the most powerful means by which judges control our legal system, a deeply undemocratic governance full of bigotry and contradiction. One of the few checks on the behavior of individual judges is risk of having their decision overturned on appeal.
Peter Schmidt of Prison Legal News put this check to the test:
And so we went beyond a macro review of appellate dispositions and examined the reversal rates of every Second Circuit judge on every panel for all 1,985 cases that fell within the survey period. The results were eye-opening. Reversal rates of current Second Circuit judges who sat on at least 50 panels reviewing convictions after trial ranged from 0 percent,.8 percent and 1.6 percent (Judges Lynch, Livingston and Raggi), to 6.6 percent, 7.7 percent and 8.8 percent (Judges Jacobs, Calabresi and Parker). That’s quite a difference. If you draw a panel of judges with the lowest reversal rates, your odds of prevailing, even with an arguably meritorious issue, are vanishingly small. Draw a panel of judges with the highest reversal rates and your chances increase almost ten-fold.
There is plenty of additional evidence showing the same phenomenon: that the particular judge’s individual characteristic has an incredibly profound effect on how a legal proceeding occurs. The recent case of Brock Turner is just one anecdotal example, and also an example of one of the other checks on judges’ behavior: concerted, well-organized public outrage. Unfortunately these more egregious and obvious examples of judges abusing their discretionary power overshadow the little, daily ways that they do, so I wanted to shed light on one particular component: the relevancy requirement and standard of evidence.
The test for relevancy is provided by FRE 401, which reads:
Evidence is relevant if: (a) it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence; and (b) the fact is of consequence in determining the action.
The dialectic of relevancy can thus be expressed as follows: (1) probability is the thesis, (2) connection to the action is the antithesis, and (3) relevancy, or as it is called in application probative value, is the synthesis.
Another dialectical property, the effect of quantity on quality, emerges when we delve into the probability element. The test for probability can be expressed in two functions: (1) P(H¦E)<P(H) or P(H¦E)>P(H); (2) P(E¦H), where P=probability, H=hypothesis, E=evidence (and yes, I was pleased that my Evidence readings looked like a passage out of Capital). The first method contrasts the hypothesis pre-evidence with the hypothesis post-evidence. The second method takes the hypothesis as given and examines the likelihood of the evidence with the assumption made. The fascinating part about these tests are that they are an epistemological fiction: by definition, any evidence in some miniscule way makes a fact more less probable, at least in a ‘butterfly effect’ sense, and vica versa. And of course in practice, a lawyer is far more likely to introduce evidence stronger than a butterfly flapping its wings. So how does this test get applied?
In looking at the case of Knapp v. State, Knapp was alleged to have killed a marshal. Knapp testified that he would not have in anyway confronted the marshal because he had heard from some people around town that the marshal had recently brutalized an old man, resulting in his death. In response the State introduced evidence that the old man had died of alcoholism and old age. Knapp’s counsel argued that the evidence was not relevant because the fact was not of consequence as to whether or not Knapp had been told that the marshal had killed the man. The Court disagreed, allowing the evidence as connected to the rumor Knapp had heard because of the propensity for people to tell the truth. The court reasoned that proving the rumor false demonstrates that people were less likely to have spread it and that therefore the probability that Knapp was lying was higher. In the case the evidence was not considered in a vacuum: the Court particularly notes that their finding is based on Knapp “den[ying] that he can remember who gave him the information.” So in this case the Court used the second function, assuming that Knapp was lying and finding that with the assumption made it was more likely that the rumor would be false.
But conversely, and rather tellingly, in the case of Sherrod v. Berry, the situation was reversed: a police officer was accused of wrongfully murdering a man. The officer claimed he shot Sherrod because of his “quick movement with his hand into his count…[as if] he was going to reach for a weapon.” The plaintiff in this civil rights action introduced into evidence a search of Sherrod made after he was murdered wherein no weapon was found on his person. Applying the same logic as before, assuming that the police officer was lying, we’d expect the Court to find that with the assumption made it was more likely that Sherrod did not have a weapon on his possession. The Court not only ruled to the contrary, it did in a very firm manner: “the reception of evidence or any information beyond that which Officer Berry had and reasonably believed at the time he fired his revolver is improper, irrelevant, and prejudicial to the determination of whether Officer Berry acted reasonably ‘under the circumstances.'”
Let’s pick apart this difference. First, let’s try to apply the first function and see if we reach the same result as the court. The probability that Officer Berry shot Sherrod because he was or seemed to be reaching for a weapon would certainly be increased by evidence showing that Sherrod did not have a weapon. Not only does it make it highly unlikely that Sherrod was actually reaching for a weapon, it also makes it less likely, even if Officer Berry was telling the truth, that he was reasonable in his belief that he was reaching for a weapon. Perhaps then it was not the probability element but rather the connection. But of course even a cursory consideration of this is enough to show the Court’s ruling still departs from the rule: in a civil rights action dealing with the killing of a man by a police officer, evidence that goes to the motive is paramount to establishing the preponderance of the evidence needed in the lawsuit. And speaking of, the fact that this was a civil trial and that Sherrod faced a far smaller burden of proof than the State in Knapp v. State underlines that the Court’s reasoning is, at best, suspect.
One could conclude that courts simply rule in favor of state actors (and that isn’t untrue) but let’s look at this difference through a dialectical perspective. The difference seems to be reducible to the following: that the possibility of a layperson lying is relevant enough whereas the possibility of a police officer lying is irrelevant. For while the court makes the claim that the issue is what was reasonable for Officer Berry to believe when firing his weapon, as outlined above Sherrod not having a weapon goes to precisely that element. We will apply some of Lenin’s elements of dialectics:
Objectivity: We know that Officer Berry as a thing unto himself is different than Knapp, primarily by his role as an actor of the State. Relations: We know that the Courts tend to protect police officers because of their relationship within the system of law. Development: We know that Officer Berry is facing the lawsuit because of his murder of Sherrod. What is not known, what is the significant gap in this element, is how his decision to murder Sherrod developed: whether it was from a reasonable belief that Sherrod was reaching for a weapon or another reason. Contradiction: To enforce the law, judges must not enforce the law on police officers to preserve their relationship. Sum and Unity of Opposites: Probability and connection at first may not seem like opposites, but their application makes them such. Probability is the element of low-threshold: as previously stated, by technicality it is always met. Connection is the element of high-threshold, at least relatively: the parts of the action that can be connected to are definitively limited whereas the range of probability is endless. The synthesis gives us relevancy, a concept that is the sum and unity of low- and high-threshold elements. It is worth noting that FRE 401 was originally written as a single element with two parts and only in 2011 was it split into the two elements for clarity of purpose. Negation of the Negation: The sum and unity of low- and high-threshold elements is a negation of each of the other’s significance: the test cannot be low-threshold because of the high-threshold elements and conversely the test cannot be high-threshold because of the low-threshold component. But as the test is applied we have the negation of this negation: Knapp becomes low-threshold and Sherrod becomes high-threshold. It is not of consequence that the court’s explanation is a negation based on legal fiction: the low-threshold component was still negated, allowing the court to limit the connection to the moment Officer Berry pulled the trigger. The Connection of Everything: A synthesis like relevancy, and the negation of the negation it contains, is essential for upholding the previously stated contradiction. Like the necessity of quantum states to allow particles to function, there is a range of possible negations that can to a certain degree be predicted, or at the very least measured as a probability (so yes, one could call it a probability of relevancy’s probability). Like quantum mechanics (though with more variables but less complex functions), knowing certain factors about a case and a piece of evidence can lead us to deduce the likely finding of relevancy.
But this becomes even more complicated when one considers the connection between the relevancy test and whether evidence is prejudicial, which in turn synthesizes into a balancing test that results in the negation of the negation between the relevancy test and the test for prejudice.
However, to bring us full circle to our conclusion, one predominant factor makes such calculations far easier: the judge. The judge has primary sway over how the negation of negations in the numerous tests of evidence, as well as a number of other legal issues, operates. By dissecting the nature of evidence law, the dialectics of components like relevancy, it becomes clear just how much power judges wield.
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FROM the bathroom window of his Berlin flat, Colonel Noel Mason-MacFarlane could see where Hitler would stand to watch the crowds celebrating his 50th birthday.
Using a high-powered rifle, the highly decorated Army officer promised his Whitehall superiors that he could assassinate the German leader with a single shot.
Had the Scot, then Britain’s military attaché in the German capital, been allowed to carry out the audacious plan five months before the invasion of Poland in September 1939, World War II would never have happened.
The remarkable story is being told by James MacManus in his new historical novel Midnight in Berlin – a fictional thriller based on Mason-MacFarlane’s extraordinary plan.
Journalist James, 66, said: “I came across his story by accident when I was doing research into Hitler’s life.
“I discovered there had been several plots to assassinate the Führer, including a very credible plan by a Colonel Mason-MacFarlane. I was overwhelmed when I realised how detailed and well thought-out his assassination attempt was.
“On April 20, 1939, his 50th birthday, Hitler would mount the reviewing stand on Berlin’s main avenue at 11am. With a high-powered rifle, Mason-MacFarlane would place himself on the landing of his apartment, 30ft from the bathroom window to avoid muzzle flash and to blanket the sound. Firing through the window, he would kill Hitler with a single head shot.
“As he said at the time, it would have been ‘an easy rifle shot. I could pick the b*****d off from here as easy as winking.’”
The Führer’s birthday parade, organised by Joseph Goebbels, was to be the largest Nazi celebration the city had seen. Every leading Nazi was to be present and would remain at Hitler’s side for several hours, all within sight of the British diplomat’s flat. Mason-MacFarlane even argued there should be little risk of reprisals against British embassy staff if the Gestapo pinpointed the assassin because a swift military coup would remove the Nazi regime.
James said: “British intelligence had learnt the German chief of staff, General Franz Halder, had discussed the idea of removing Hitler the previous autumn.
“Mason-MacFarlane argued that, with Hitler dead, the chief of staff would certainly move for a military coup against the heirs apparent to the Nazi leadership – Goering and Goebbels. Both men were loathed by the German high command.
“It was an ideal opportunity. If only the snobs in Whitehall had listened and allowed him to go ahead with his plan, Mason-MacFarlane would have taken out the man who was to start the world’s most horrific war.”
And the colonel, who would go on to become an Army general and then a Labour MP, had the ability to carry out the killing. He was a crack shot, having learned to shoot as a child on his dad’s farm in Turin, near Forfar.
James said: “Whether the plan was put to Prime Minister Chamberlain is not known but senior members of the Cabinet were told and were quick in their dismissal.
“Lord Halifax, the foreign secretary, summed up the distaste, saying, ‘We have not reached that stage…when we have to
use assassination as a substitute for diplomacy.’ The general view was that the assassination would not be sportsmanlike behaviour.
“This remark was made dismissively to Mason-MacFarlane, probably by someone in the Foreign Office. He later repeated it to his family.
“After 18 months in Berlin as military attaché, the colonel was replaced and given a staff posting in Aldershot.
“However, he remained in the capital long enough to attend the parade at which he had intended to shoot Hitler. There are even photos of him on the reviewing stand, scowling ferociously.”
The Gestapo were well aware of Mason-MacFarlane’s hostility to the regime and had been working to force his removal for some time.
James, who dedicated the novel to the Army officer, said: “It was a joy weaving his story into my novel. It is set on the eve of World War II with the British thinking they could do a deal with Hitler. It was not the dawn of peace – Europe was about to enter its darkest hour.”
Mason-MacFarlane spent a lot of his life in Scotland, as a young man in Forfar and later in the Borders, where his son and daughter settled.
His grandson Michael Hall, 66, who still lives in Galashiels, said: “My grandad was very brave and intelligent. He was outspoken but his views were never blinkered.
“He knew Hitler was a megalomaniac bent on world domination. He knew about the atrocities Germans were carrying out against Jews, gypsies and other political opponents in labour camps as early as 1935.
“I remember my mum telling me his plot had been dismissed with the words, ‘My old boy, it’s just not cricket.’ He must have been so angry at their appeasing attitude. He could have single-handedly stopped the war.”
Michael, who runs Hall’s Auctioneers in Galashiels, was only four when his grandad died in 1953, aged 63, but his mum Mona, who was a Bletchley Park decoder, often talked about her father.
He said: “I’m so proud of my grandfather. He was given the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order as well as a knighthood. After leaving the Army, he was a Labour MP.
“It’s just a pity we will never know what would have happened if he had been given the go-ahead to kill Hitler.”Paul: 'The time is right'
Ron Paul said Thursday that he's running for president "because time has come around to the point where the people are agreeing with much of what I've been saying for 30 years."
Story Continued Below
"So I think the time is right," Paul said in officially announcing his candidacy for the GOP nomination on ABC's "Good Morning America." The Texas congressman was set to follow his announcement with a 10 a.m. speech in Exeter, N.H., as well as an address Friday night to the Grafton County Republican Memorial dinner in the state.
Paul's 2012 campaign has picked up right where he left off in 2008 — generating major online buzz, successfully rallying his dedicated, libertarian-minded following, and raising big grassroots money via his patented "money bombs." He hauled in more than $1 million online last week during a 24-hour period leading up to the first presidential debate.
Though Paul launched his campaign from New Hampshire — the "live free or die" state is an ideal stronghold for the libertarian standard-bearer — his team has made clear he also intends to play hard in Iowa. He's one of the only presidential hopefuls to have set up a campaign office there, and has frequented the state in recent months. Paul also tapped three members of the state party's central committee to chair his campaign in the state.
A CNN/Opinion Research poll last week showed him running stronger against President Barack Obama than any other GOP candidate.
And unlike last time, when Paul was relegated to fringe media coverage for much of the race, he's now attracting widespread attention. With Paul receiving some credit for kick-starting the tea party movement — sometimes called its "godfather" — and keeping up his longtime push to audit the Federal Reserve, it would seem that the decades he's spent beating the libertarian drum have reached an apex.
Even so, few Republican insiders or tea party leaders expect him to be a force for the nomination when all is said and done.
"Ron Paul has his fans and they will keep him going, but that is it. His campaign will gain little traction," Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips predicted. "A majority of those in the [tea party] movement do not think Ron Paul is a good candidate.
"His most recent comments about the [Osama] bin Laden raid have really hurt him," Phillips added, referring to Paul's comments that he wouldn't have authorized the raid to take out the terror leader. It's that kind of isolationist foreign policy that has long made him a libertarian hero, even as it also alienates him from establishment GOP leaders.
"I was talking about the procedure, I endorse the whole idea of going after him," Paul said Friday morning. "I have no qualms about getting him, I'm glad that he's gone."
Levi Russell, a spokesman for Tea Party Express, said that Paul "has some dedicated fans, and I'm sure they'll be out in force. But broadly, I think this is still wide-open.... Paul isn't a new face in the crowd, so he'll need to work hard to sell his ideas to a broad audience."
Paul first entered the House in 1979, serving for three terms. He ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988, and returned to the House in 1997, where has has served since.
This article tagged under: 2012
Ron PaulGetting Specific About Downballot Elections: The Minnesota State Senate.
Introduction.
Xenocrypt Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jan 4, 2017
Ever since the election of Donald Trump, there’s been a lot of talk about Democratic problems winning in the Midwest and/or in races for downballot offices like Congress and state legislatures. These discussions are usually at such a vague and general level — “Democrats don’t recruit enough candidates or invest enough effort downballot; they don’t try to win outside urban areas” — that I never know what anyone is really talking about. “Why have Democrats been losing downballot?” is an unhelpfully broad question; the answer will probably depend on which offices, states, election cycles, and districts you mean.
Let’s try to do better and talk about one office, in one state, in one election cycle: The Minnesota State Senate in 2016. Democrats went from a 39–28 majority after 2012 to a 33–34 minority, losing a net of six districts and, with them, one of their few legislative footholds in anything approaching a swing state.
Our question can therefore go from the unhelpfully broad “why have Democrats been losing downballot?” to the narrower “why did Democrats lose the Minnesota State Senate?”. How well do the usual explanations — “Democrats are too clustered”, “Democrats don’t |
The Things They Carried, including the torture, and if they were difficult to film. Jensen said that because he had worked with Travis before, that made them easier in a way, because they’d both worked out the kinks and the characters now have a past together. Though it was also new ground because most of Cole’s interactions were with Demon!Dean until now.
Jensen asked if Travis had talked about the filming of those scenes when he did his first con in Vegas.
Me: No, but coincidentally we just interviewed Travis and he talked a lot about those scenes.
Jensen: Oh, what did he say?
Me: (wishing I had a better memory) He said that you really helped him. That scene was emotionally overwhelming for him and you came over when you didn’t have to and helped him get it right. To remind him that he had the emotion down, that he could now just say the lines. He said it was you being a wonderful director, even though you weren’t directing that episode, and that he really appreciated it.
Jensen: (is possibly blushing…)
Me: He also talked about his character choice to have Cole call Sam ‘Sammy’ and Dean ‘Deano’ so I get why he did that now, how it makes sense for Cole as ex-military and given his long past with pursuing Dean and his time with Sam as his captive. I understand it now, but at the time that jarred me, just because it’s canon that nobody calls Sam “Sammy” except Dean. Did it feel that way to you and Jared?
Jensen said it didn’t jar them too much. (Sometimes I think fandom takes those canon things more seriously than the actors or writers – or maybe it’s just that it’s hard for us to let the characters evolve, we love them so much and we love the way they relate to each other so much). He did say that there was something else that Cole says that did jar them, not calling them ‘boys’ but close to that.
Jensen: And Jared and I looked at each other like ‘no.’ If he said that, there would be some reaction in the script.
So they changed that phrase, whatever it was.
I have to admit, most of the time I love it when they do that. I love that they know those characters so well, and are assertive about making sure they stay true to Sam and Dean. I love that they were able to work so comfortably and collaboratively with Travis as a guest actor and come to consensus and help each other so that everyone gave their best performance. No wonder the damn show is so good!
Jensen said that it was also scripted originally for Dean to repeatedly refer to Cole as “kid”, which is slightly ridiculous considering Wade is older than Ackles! So they changed that too. Jensen gave props to Travis – they originally were going to cast a twenty year old, but with Travis, they got an experienced actor who could really pull off the character.
Jensen was so excited about the episode that Tom Wright directed recently (and did you know he did Hitchcock’s storyboards?? And that he storyboards his episodes of Supernatural? So cool.) Anyway, Jensen was so excited about the episode that he suggested a few things for it, and Tom liked them and incorporated them. I love that the Show is such a collaboration, in so many ways.
Someone asked about the actors who have played young Dean and young Sam, and mentioned how Dylan Everett said that Jared had helped him get Dean right. Jensen said that Dylan came to set also, to watch ‘Jensen, not Dean’. He wanted to study how Jensen walked, how he moved, the cadence of his voice.
Jensen: [joking] It was a little creepy. I was like, who’s that kid watching me?
He was impressed by the amount of “homework” that Dylan did for the part. He also gave a little advice to Colin Ford, making suggestions about the way young Sam would talk taken from his knowledge of the way Jared speaks as Sam.
A fan asked about the Mockumentary, and whose idea it was for Jensen to be a meditating yoga loving sort of hippie. Jensen laughed and said “Misha’s”.
Fan: You were a good sport then.
Jensen: (laughing) We put Misha through enough on a daily basis, I’m happy to do whatever he wants.
Another question was about the amazing visuals on the show, the production values and the sets.
Jensen: That’s the genius of Jerry Wanek and the art department. They’re second to none. The sets are so amazing, I can feel like I’m really there. The Men of Letters bunker is amazing. Like I have to jump up and touch the wall to be sure it’s not real, the painters are so good at texture.
Jensen: I want them to come remodel my house!
At this point, Jensen helpfully jumped up and touched the wall to demonstrate, which I feel certain everyone in the room appreciated greatly. I always appreciate it when Jensen stands up.
Sorry, got carried away there.
He also gave kudos to Chris Cooper, the Show’s prop master. When you direct an episode, there’s a “show and tell” where they lay out all the props for the episode, and the director gets to pick. Very important props like the First Blade or the amulet, Jerry will design himself.
We interviewed Chris when we were writing Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls – what a great guy! The props on this show are second to none too.
Jensen also joked that the art department gets a kick out of putting self references all over the place. You’ll see their names pop up on the boys’ phone screens or on flyers sitting on motel tables, etc. Margie Kugel, the beer the boys drink, for example, is named for Wanek’s grandmother. And there are a million others if you have a keen eye and good screencap software.
Jerry asked Jensen what he’d like to name the diner in an episode last year and Jensen named it Little Levi’s after his nephew. After the episode, his brother was like, what happened to that sign? It’s now decorating Levi’s room.
I have no clue what question he was responding to, but Jensen also got a chance to geek out about camera angles and filming efficiency and lines of sight, again jumping up to demonstrate.
Jensen [excitedly] I’m giving you a little glimpse behind the curtain!
It had to do with filming along a single line of sight instead of on a ‘plus sign’, which would mean you’d have to film it from all directions for each line of sight instead of just for one. Jensen lights up when he talks about that technical stuff, but he says he wants to be an actor, not a director. He also said he didn’t want it written into his contract that he gets to direct, because he doesn’t ever want them to feel like they “have to” let him. He only wants to do it if they want him to. Which means he doesn’t know yet if he’s directing in S11!
Cross your fingers, fandom!
In the meantime, check back here for more from Seacon and more from VegasCon, including some amazing photos by the talented photographer who worked with us in Vegas, and that interview with Travis Aaron Wade that Jensen asked me to link him to (once I actually write and post it, that is…)
Who’s excited for tomorrow night’s new episode? Rhetorical question, obviously. Everything I heard at SeaCon has made me even more apprehensive, and at the same time, nearly overwhelmed with anticipation. I love that this Show can still do that to me after all these years. I wonder what will happen…hmmm…
–Lynn
Read more from Jensen, Jared, Misha,
Jerry Wanek and many more in Fangasm:
Supernatural Fangirls on amazon
at the link at the top of this page!Graphic from the Economist.
By Patrick Bond
[Address to the Muslim Youth Movement 40th Anniversary Conference, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, September 30, 2012. Posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission.]
At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe, the United States should be strengthening, not weakening, basic rules of law and principles of justice enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But instead of making the world safer, America’s violation of international human rights abets our enemies and alienates our friends. – Former US president Jimmy Carter, 25 June 2012, New York Times US actions since 9/11 represent the final stage in the US's century-long effort to complete the project of making US-led globalization a concrete reality across the world through three historical moments: 1) the attempted creation of a global Monroe doctrine between 1898 and 1919; 2) the Roosevelt administration's creation of the Bretton Woods Institutions – the World Bank and IMF – and the UN; and 3) globalization – the US-led effort to establish a new global regime based on free trade, deregulation, and privatization. – Neil Smith, The Endgame of Globalization, 2005
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa and former three-time ambassador, Johnnie Carson, was feted by Brooks Spector recently at Daily Maverick, in an article entitled “America’s Mr Africa”. While it is always fitting to honour African-Americans who persevere to the top despite that country’s deep internal racism, Spector makes contentious political and economic claims about the “new” US Africa policy. “For some observers at least”, he says, “Barack Obama’s new partnership with Africa was announced in his speech in Accra [July 11, 2009], when he declared the era of the authoritarian African big man to be over – kaput!”[1] As described below, however, Washington has maintained extremely cozy relationships with a variety of African dictators.
Spector then endorses Carson’s claims that “US interests in the continent fundamentally stem from its interest in strengthening trade to help African states grow their economies and meet development needs”, and that “the US wants to work with African nations to strengthen democratic institutions, good governance and efforts to stamp out corruption [and] to spur economic growth through market-driven, free trade principles”. Sorry, but we recall Washington’s deregulatory support for Wall Street’s market-driven binge, which in 2008-09 contributed to the worst global economic crash in 80 years, resulting in around a million South African job losses. We know that only the wealthy recovered so far, and that in the US, the top 1 per cent received 93 per cent of all new income since 2009, because the system wasn’t fixed. And who can forget White House hypocrisy when it comes to vast and often illegal US agro-corporate subsidies which continue to thwart African production? And is there any capital city whose political system is more corrupted by corporate (especially banking) campaign contributions than Washington, resulting in such extreme malgovernance that Obama cannot even make an effort to convict a single banker for world-historic economic misdeeds?
Spector’s most flawed assumption is that by increasing trade with (and vulnerability to) the world economy, “Africa” grows. Although a few elites have certainly grown rich from extraction, the opposite is more true, if we make a simple, rational adjustment to GDP: incorporating the wasting of Africa’s “natural capital” (a silly phrase but one used increasingly by powerbrokers eyeing the ‘Green Economy’). Measuring this loss is something that 10 African leaders agreed to start doing so in May, in the Gabarone Declaration initiated by Botswana president Ian Khama and the NGO Conservation International. The adjustment entails counting the outflow of natural capital (especially non-renewable mineral/petroleum resources) not only as a short-term credit to GDP (via “output of goods” measuring the resources extracted and sold), but also as a long-term debit to the natural capital stocks, as non-renewable resources no longer become available to future generations. Number-crunch the resource depletion, and net wealth declines in Africa as well as the Middle East.
Even the World Bank is taking seriously the need to adjust GDP, e.g. in its 2011 book The Changing Wealth of Nations, which concludes that instead of growing rapidly, as often advertised by naive commentators, Africa is shrinking even faster. Conservatively estimated for the year 2007-08 (the last available measurements), Sub-Saharan Africa’s decline in Adjusted Net Savings exceeded 6 per cent of national income (and that does not even include diamond and uranium outflows, too hard for the World Bank to calculate).
The continent-wide "resource curse" makes the August 16, 2012, Marikana massacre look like a picnic, and allows us to dismiss Spector’s article as the kind of idle spin-doctoring fluff one gets from the State Department’s US Information Service (his former employer). But that is not a particularly satisfying place to leave matters, for the broader assumptions about the US in Africa also need a rethink, in part because South Africa is hosting the BRICS summit in Durban next March, and we’re being subjected to rhetoric from Pretoria about a “new dynamic” in the emerging market power bloc, supposedly challenging the sole-superpower system of global governance. So it is timely to consider whether the two words US and Imperialism still fit snugly, and then (on another occasion in the near future) whether Resource-Cursed South Africa also deserves the description “sub-imperialist” because of its persistent collaboration as an economic deputy-sheriff to Washington. When a decade ago, Thabo Mbeki introduced the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, it was termed “philosophically spot on” by Carson’s predecessor in the Bush regime, Walter Kansteiner. With both presidents gone for nearly four years, what’s new and different?
The US versus African democracy
Has Washington, as Carson claims, helped Africa democratise? The quaint US State Department notion is based on Washington’s “talking left” about democracy. On closer examination, Obama and Carson are “walking right”, along the same neo-conservative track George W. Bush prepared across Africa’s military, geopolitical and extractive-economic terrain. Thanks to White House patronage, murderous African dictators still retain power until too late, most obviously Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, who is personally worth at least $40 billion (according to an ABC News report) and who was recipient of many billions of dollars in US military aid in the 18 months following Obama’s speech. As Carson’s boss Hillary Clinton remarked in 2009, “I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family”, and offered this gaffe a few days before the corrupt tyrant was overthrown in February 2011: “Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable.” As a result of her affection for one of the worst African big men, Egypt’s democratic movement’s core activists turned a cold shoulder to Clinton again and again.
Washington’s coddling of other dictators was signaled just weeks after Obama’s Ghana speech, when his UN Ambassador Susan Rice announced a New York luncheon with 25 African heads of state (40 had been invited): "We are looking to have a dialogue with responsible leaders about the future of Africa’s economic and social development.”
Obama dined with numerous tyrants that day, as only a few governments (Eritrea, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Sudan and Zimbabwe) were specifically “left off the guest list because of disputes over their governance or an antagonistic relationship with Washington”, according to Kenya’s Nation newspaper. Among the 40 were Cameroonian dictator Paul Biya, and as his office reported, “At the end of the two and a half hours that they spent together, most of the African leaders left the dining hall visibly satisfied.” Democracy and human rights were apparently left off on the menu, according to a briefing by the main White House Africa security official, Michelle Gavin.
Another attendee was Gambian president Yahya Jammeh, a colonel who after overthrowing a democrat in 1994 and later claiming to have found an AIDS cure, last month came under renewed criticism from international human rights advocates after carrying out the first nine out of a potential 40 mass death-row executions (those threatened include an elderly 84-year-old, eight prisoners with mental health issues and eight foreign nationals). As one local citizens’ network put it, “Given that the Gambia government uses the death penalty and other harsh sentences as a tool to silence political dissent and opposition, Civil Society Associations Gambia believes that any execution is a further indicator of the brutality with which President Jammeh’s regime is bent on crushing political dissent.” Yet when asked whether, like the European Union, the US State Department would “also have some sort of response should they not heed these warnings not to proceed?”, the official answer was chilling: “I think we haven’t telegraphed any response at this point.”
One reason not to annoy Jammeh was the US Central Intelligence Agency’s reliance upon a Banjul airport as a secret destination and refueling site for “rendition” victims, i.e. the illegal transfer of suspected terrorists to countries carrying out torture on behalf of Washington. According to former US air force veteran and Miami Herald journalist Sherwood Ross, among 28 countries “that held prisoners in behalf of the US based on published data” are a dozen from Africa: Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, South Africa and Zambia.
With the possible exceptions of Kenya and Zambia, all these regimes remain close Pentagon allies, and hence difficult for genuine democrats. Last March, as the Arab Spring wave moved east from Tunisia, Obama backed the Djibouti regime of Ismail Omar Guelleh against pro-democracy protesters, apparently because of the tiny dictatorship’s hosting of several thousand US soldiers at Washington’s only solely-owned base on the continent.
Such hypocritical relations are not new, and even though he served less than a term in the US Senate, Obama developed ties to some of the continent’s most venal elites. Promoting US interests in the form of petro-military complex profits, an ever-expanding “war on terror” and an anti-Chinese political block, are the common denominators behind Washington’s African alliances. Some examples are illustrative:
In 2006, before becoming president, he visited Chad’s dictator Idriss Deby in part to press the case for Chevron Texaco, which Deby had just expelled for failing to pay sufficient taxes.
Obama infamously extended red-carpet treatment to oil-rich Gabon’s world-class kleptocrat tyrant Ali Bongo 15 months ago in spite of nearly unprecedented controversy.
This acknowledged that “he was notoriously repressive, undermining Obama’s maxim that was followed by a similar invitation a few months ago to Ethiopia’s then prime minister Meles Zenawi, in spite of objections from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International leaders who complained, “The United States, the World Bank, and other states and institutions have shown little or no attention to Ethiopia’s worsening human rights record. By inviting Meles to the G-8 summit, the US government is sending a message that at best shows a lack of concern about the human rights situation in Ethiopia, and at worst, will be perceived as a US endorsement of the Ethiopian government's policies.” After Meles died in August, the New York Times acknowledged that “he was notoriously repressive, undermining Obama’s maxim that Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions ”. The article quoted former US National Security Council official John Prendergast’s concern about “a vexing policy quandary” in Washington’s relations with Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan: “All of them have served American interests or have a strong US constituency, but all have deeply troubling human rights records.” (Whether this is a “vexing quandary” or instead best described as a time-honoured tradition is up to the reader to decide.)
Rusesabagina Foundation). Obama’s support for Rwandan strongman Paul Kagame, including $800 million a year in aid and in June 2012, protection against possible UN censure for supporting genocide in the Congo, attracted complaints by respected social justice groups (including the Hotel RwandaFoundation). Maurice Carney of Friends of the Congo explains, “Since Rwanda invaded Congo in 1996, millions of Congolese have perished, hundreds of thousands of women have been systematically raped and Congo’s wealth has been looted. So the impact of Rwanda’s role in destabilizing the Congo has been tragic for the people of the region and especially the Congolese people. And this is really the sad part about the whole situation, because it’s within the means of the United States to hold its ally accountable, but it has not done so to date.” Washington subsequently chided Kagame, apparently as a result of his turn to new Chinese patrons, according to analyst Eddie Haywood : “US State Department cables released by Wikileaks show that Washington has been keeping a close watch on Rwanda-China economic ties. Referring to meetings by Rwandan officials with a Chinese delegation, the cables took note of Rwanda's economic agreements with China and loans from Beijing for the construction of buildings to house the Office of Foreign Affairs and to finance a railway project. China also agreed to consider funding the construction of a new stadium, a women's center, and a Confucius Institute. Rwanda requested the delegation for duty-free access to Chinese markets, and Rwandan rice cultivation and road projects were discussed. As Rwanda is a transportation gateway for the Congo’s vast resources to the global market, it goes without saying that China's ‘control by investment’ of a railway project traversing Rwanda through to a port in on the East coast of Tanzania would raise concerns in Washington.”
Last year, citing US national security interests, Obama issued a waiver so as to send more than $200 million in military aid to US-allied regimes in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, South Sudan and Yemen in spite of a 2008 US law prohibiting such funding because of their armies’ recruitment of child soldiers. According to Human Rights Watch’s Jo Becker, “The Obama administration has been unwilling to make even small cuts to military assistance to governments exploiting children as soldiers. Children are paying the price for its poor leadership.”
Although Northwestern University professor Richard Joseph does give Washington credit for its roles in facilitating democracy (albeit in US interests) in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Malawi, the overall message is one of extreme hypocrisy: Obama is only opposed to African dictatorships which are anti-US (or allied to China), but if you are a sub-regional power, help hunt Al Qaeda or have substantial oil reserves, you may commit horrendous crimes and still get the prized White House photo op.
In WikiLeaks we trust
We partly know this thanks to the NGO WikiLeaks, which in late 2010 published more than 250,000 US State Department cables. These repeatedly demonstrate how Clinton, Bush and Obama promoted, retained or imposed undemocratic regimes where these coincide with US interests. (Tellingly, Spector does not even mention this treasure trove as a source when reviewing Carson’s bona fides.) Because of WikiLeaks, we know that just a month after Carson took office, Hillary Clinton asked eleven of Washington’s embassies in Africa to collect fingerprints, DNA, iris scans, email passwords, credit card account numbers, frequent flyer account numbers and work schedules of local political, military, business and religious leaders, including United Nations officials. “To spy on the UN does take it a bit far”, remarks African politics researcher Liesl Louw-Vaudran of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. Thanks to WikiLeaks’ revelations of “meddling chitchat” by Carson and his colleagues, says Louw-Vuadran, “I think many Africans are a little bit disgusted, a little bit shocked… once again forcing Africans to question the US’s role [and] voice serious doubts about the US.”
One simple reason, she says, is “that if the US cannot protect its secrets, how on earth will they be able to protect people from terrorist attacks, for example?” Along with increased access to oil, imposition of market-driven (i.e. pro-corporate) economic policy, and hostility to China, Washington’s attempt to gain African cooperation in the “War on Terror” appears the most important factor in foreign policy. That role leaves the Pentagon’s Africa Command (AfriCom) very busy from its main bases in Frankfurt and Djibouti. “Rather than the simple and cheap rhetoric of bringing stability to the continent in the name of the ‘war against terror’”, according to veteran analyst Daniel Volheim, “AfriCom is involved in almost 38 African countries [including] Chad, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone.”
In the watchdog website Foreign Policy in Focus, Conn Hallinan reports, “So far, AfriCom’s track record has been one disaster after another. It supported Ethiopia’s intervention in the Somalia civil war, and helped to overthrow the moderate Islamic Courts Union. It is now fighting a desperate rear-guard action against a far more extremist grouping, the al-Shabaab. AfriCom also helped coordinate a Ugandan Army attack on the Lord’s Resistance Army in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – Operation Lightning Thunder – that ended up killing thousands of civilians.” Add to that the failure to gain a satisfactory transition in Libya, after Washington and European powers misled the South African government about NATO’s bombing intentions, in the wake of the African Union’s failed efforts to settle the civil war peacefully.
But the problems are just beginning, observes US investigative journalist Nick Turse: “Today, the U.S. is drawing down in Afghanistan and has largely left Iraq. Africa, however, remains a growth opportunity for the Pentagon.” Since 2009, Turse continues, “operations in Africa have accelerated far beyond the more limited interventions of the Bush years: last year’s war in Libya; a regional drone campaign with missions run out of airports and bases in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and the Indian Ocean archipelago nation of Seychelles; a flotilla of 30 ships in that ocean supporting regional operations; a multi-pronged military and CIA campaign against militants in Somalia, including intelligence operations, training for Somali agents, a secret prison, helicopter attacks, and U.S. commando raids; a massive influx of cash for counterterrorism operations across East Africa; a possible old-fashioned air war, carried out on the sly in the region using manned aircraft; tens of millions of dollars in arms for allied mercenaries and African troops; and a special ops expeditionary force (bolstered by State Department experts) dispatched to help capture or kill Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and his senior commanders.”
Adds University of Pittsburgh international affairs professor Michael Brenner, the AfriCom expansion “is self-perpetuating since there will be a steady supply of murderers and extortionists and Islamic radicals in this tormented environment which we never will be able to suppress. Our efforts, moreover, will generate the inevitable anti-Americanism and retaliation such ventures spawn – as in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. So why launch this latest enterprise of dubious value? Well, when you have created an AfriCom, when you have staffed it with a few thousand personnel, when you have a Special Forces corps numbering 60,000, when you have a vastly expanded CIA Operations Division, and when American strategic thinking is still locked in the auto-pilot mode set in September 2001 – when all these forces are at work, there will be action.”
Of course, corpses of US troops on African soil are to be avoided at all costs, as Bill Clinton’s disastrous 1994 Somalia mission taught the Pentagon. AfriCom’s head General Carter Ham explained last year that Washington “would eventually need an AfriCom that could undertake more traditional military operations, and he moved his command in that direction” although “not conducting operations – that’s for the Africans to do.” Writing more frankly about the anticipated division of labour in the US, Air University’s Strategic Studies Quarterly in 2010, Major Shawn T. Cochran quotes a US military advisor to the African Union, “We don’t want to see our guys going in and getting whacked… We want Africans to go in.”
Terror blowback
However, even with military ventriloquism, blowback damage results from Washington’s aggression, Volman argues. “The 2006 invasion of Somalia by the Ethiopian forces was clearly a proxy war, with AfriCom providing the logistics-allowing a criminal organization like al-Shabab to claim a legitimate reason for its war and brutal terror against the very people both sides claim to be freeing: the poor ordinary Somalis.”
The next stage of the proxy war was in 2010 when the US gave aid to the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), but when the New York Times reported the growing AfriCom role, Carson said its reporter’s allegations of Washington's “military advisors assisting and aiding the TFG… [and] helping to coordinate the strategic offensive that is apparently underway now, or may be underway now, in Mogadishu, and that we were, in effect, guiding the hand and the operations of the TFG military… are incorrect.”
Yet it turned out, within a few months, that the Central Intelligence Agency was extremely active in Somalia and that mercenaries (such as Bancroft Global Development) were Washington’s hired guns, as Carson admitted to the New York Times, “We do not want an American footprint or boot on the ground.” Hence, according to The Times, drones were used against the Shabab (Al Qaeda’s allies in Somalia).
The contradictions grow, because as The Times reported in mid-2010, Washington would need to spend “$45 million in arms shipments to African troops fighting in Somalia. But this is a piecemeal approach that many American officials believe will not be enough to suppress the Shabab over the long run. In interviews, more than a dozen current and former United States officials and experts described an overall American strategy in Somalia that has been troubled by a lack of focus and internal battles over the past decade.” Most worrisome, Washington aimed to get African armies addicted to mercenary trainers: “The governments of Uganda and Burundi pay Bancroft millions of dollars to train their soldiers for counterinsurgency missions in Somalia under an African Union banner, money that the State Department then reimburses to the two African nations.”
Obama’s repeated drone-war executions of innocent civilians is another manifestation of cowardly attacks from far above which then exacerbate hatred and revenge sentiments, creating the conditions for the counterproductive, violent mob attacks by Islamic extremists witnessed recently. Most blowback from US military extremism is felt within Africa, reports Turse: “Last year's US-supported war in Libya resulted in masses of well-armed Tuareg mercenaries, who had been fighting for Libyan autocrat Muammar Qaddafi, heading back to Mali where they helped destabilize that country. So far, the result has been a military coup by an American-trained officer; a takeover of some areas by Tuareg fighters of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, who had previously raided Libyan arms depots; and other parts of the country being seized by the irregulars of Ansar Dine, the latest al-Qaeda ‘affiliate’ on the American radar.”
In the Washington Post in early October, Greg Miller and Craig Whitlock report that “al-Qaeda’s African affiliate has become more dangerous since gaining control of large pockets of territory in Mali and acquiring weapons from post-revolution Libya”, leading the White House counterterrorism office, the CIA, State Department and AfriCom to recruit Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Gambia to carry out war games (with French help), and in coming months to undertake probable proxy duties, not to mention drone attacks. According to their report, “the emphasis is on replicating aspects of the counterterrorism formula in Somalia. The United States has conducted intelligence operations there, as well as strikes, but has mainly relied on African troops to battle an al-Qaeda-linked militant group.” However, they acknowledge, “Some counterterrorism experts voiced concern that the administration is inflating the threat posed by al-Qaeda in North Africa”, which is considered “the most underperforming affiliate of al-Qaeda.”
Of course, the very idea of ‘terror’ is suspect when it comes to Washington vocabulary. On two occasions (1994 and 1996) I worked in the office of a man officially labeled a “terrorist”, a South African targeted by the CIA in the early 1960s and only taken off the US State Department’s no-entry “terror watch-list” in July 2008 (!) thanks to a formal Congressional intervention. We learn lots about Washington’s whimsy not only from Nelson Mandela’s experience, but also from the Pentagon’s embrace of – and arms-supply to – Saddam Hussein for so long, and from US vice-president Joe Biden labeling WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a “hi-tech terrorist” two years ago, since hounding him to the point he today cowers in a tiny Ecuadoran embassy room in London.
Petro-military complex, Chinese competition and climate polluters
As WikiLeaks demonstrated, Washington is choc full of pathological hypocrites. For example, "China is a very aggressive and pernicious economic competitor with no morals. China is not in Africa for altruistic reasons”, Carson argued in early 2010 to a cozy Lagos mansion meeting with his most important constituencies: executives from Shell, Chevron, Exxon, Schlumberger oil and the American Business Council.
“It’s a common observation, to the point of triteness, that we tend to hate those traits in others that we’re prone to ourselves”, replied political economist Kevin Carson. For has China “maintained a ‘defense’ budget almost as large as those of the rest of the world put together? Deployed a navy with a dozen carrier groups capable of raining death from the skies on any country that defied their will? Formulated a national security doctrine which explicitly calls for China to remain the world’s sole superpower forever and ever, and to prevent any other power from ever arising to challenge its hegemony?” The “trip wires” that Carson informed the oil executives will make Washington “start worrying” about the Chinese are: “Have they signed military base agreements? Are they training armies? Have they developed intelligence operations?”
Explaining why this attitude could revive Africa’s status as a Cold War battleground, one of Carson’s predecessors, Ryan Henry, revealed in April 2007 that Washington’s rationales “for establishing AfriCom included fighting terrorists in Africa, countering Chinese diplomacy on the continent, and gaining access to Africa‘s natural resources, especially oil.” Added AfriCom’s second-in-command, Vice-Admiral Robert Moeller, “the free flow of natural resources from Africa to the global market” was a guiding principle”, along with preventing “oil disruption”, “terrorism”, and China’s “growing influence.”
Another source of oil disruption in Nigeria of concern to Washington was a civil society case against Shell Oil in May 2012 in which Shell argued it should have no human rights liabilities because of its corporate status, a position that the US rejected when it came to US citizens’ rights to sue. “But when the Supreme Court ordered a rehearing in the case, and asked whether human rights lawsuits could be brought when the abuses happened outside the US”, according to EarthRights International’s Marco Simons, Washington actually sided with Shell. “Obama is saying that if a foreign government abuses human rights, we can bomb them, like we did with Libya. But we can't hold anyone accountable in court, because that would threaten international relations.”
This essentially pro-corporate predatory perspective has informed Washington’s ‘3D’ strategy. “The concept of cooperation among diplomacy (State Department), development (US Agency for International Development) and defense in order to dry up support for extremists and terrorists has been adopted by the US government”, explains US Air War College researcher Stephen Burgess. “The criticism from think tank experts and others is that the military dominates because of the preponderance of resources and the large D of the military swamping the much smaller D of diplomacy and development. The critics believe that AfriCom will dominate the diplomatic and development instruments of power in Africa.”
AfriCom was initially rejected by every African country that then Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld desired as host country, says Burgess. “Only the reversal of the directive to place the command on the continent brought grudging acceptance, along with US offers of training exercises and other forms of security assistance.” For in this “American way of diplomacy, the military leads the way with well-resourced and powerful and regionally focused combatant commands. Congress is willing to fund the military and not the State Department and the US Agency for International Development.”
Confirms a leading US Africanist scholar, Michigan State University sociologist David Wiley, “The continuing US budget for the Egyptian military is more than the entire US aid budget for HIV, food emergencies, and other programs for the entire continent. Carson also needs to be tweaked for his participation in folding together the US military, intelligence, State Department, USAID, and other agencies into the new ‘whole of government’ philosophy that results in the military being the face of US policy and programs in Africa.” In the words of Carson’s State Department colleagues, “Civilian power is as fundamental to our national security as military power and the two must work ever more closely together.”
That means wherever there is socio-ecological, religious and economic pressure, such as Uganda and Somalia, Washington’s instinct is the iron fist, followed by denialism and ‘goo-goo’ good-governance rhetoric. “From Carson's presentations two years in a row at the annual African Studies Association meetings, most of us felt we heard the same speeches we heard in the Bush Administration”, says Wiley.
Add Mauritian rights activists Ram Seegobin and Lindsey Collen, “It is clear that the Obama administration is following essentially the same policy that has guided U.S. military policy toward Africa for more than a decade. Indeed, the Obama administration is seeking to expand U.S. military activities on the continent even further.” For as they point out, while hesitant to put its own people in harms’ way in Africa, Obama has budgeted for weapons deals to assist regimes with human rights violations in Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria, Algeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC amongst others.
In Kampala, the authoritarian rule of Yoweri Museveni has lasted three decades, and in 2005, Carson – no longer working for the State Department – explained in the Boston Globe that his longevity was “motivated by a desire to protect those around him, including his son and half-brother, from charges of corruption for alleged involvement in illegal activities.” Complained Uganda Daily Monitor journalist Tabu Butagira, “It is such a paradox that Mr Carson, as chief of Barack Obama administration’s diplomatic engagement with the continent, flies to Kampala regularly to confer with Museveni on wide-ranging issues, including regional security operations and democracy. When this newspaper asked him if he felt Museveni of 2011 was a worse dictator than that of 2005, Mr Carson said the US considers him a ‘duly elected President of Uganda’.”
Apparently because Uganda has vast, newly discovered oil reserves at |
outstanding own free agents in Aeneas Williams and Eric Swann. Phil: Boomer or Jim, who are your most feared defensive opponents? Boomer Esiason: I fear no man, first of all. But I have great respect for players like Bruce Smith, Rod Woodson, Reggie White, and our own Eric Swann. Rod: Boomer.. I'm a die-hard Bengals fan...what do you think of the Bengals since you left?? Boomer Esiason: You're asking me that? I think that finally they have put together an outstanding football team, the same way they did in the '80s, built around offense. The explosiveness of Blake, Pickens, Scott, McGee, and Carter will allow the Bengals to make a serious run at the AFC Central title once again. collins: Boomer- What do you think of the Garrison Hearst mess? Do you think Leeland McElroy will be able to equal Hearst's talents? Boomer Esiason: Unfortunately we lost Garrison when our team took a risk by exposing him on the waiver wire. Leeland has only been a professional football player for about two weeks so he is coming on as expected. Fortunately for us we have a halfback by the name of LeShon Johnson who many people don't know of. And he will be ready to go against Indianapolis this week, which is an important factor for us. CT: Question for Boomer. How confident do you feel behind the Cards OL and what's your opinion of Kent Graham? Boomer Esiason: With the addition of Lomas Brown our offensive line possesses a true all-pro and leader. It's amazing the effect that a player of his caliber can have on the rest of his teammates. Kent Graham and I have gotten along terrificly and his future seems to be very bright. COLT FAN: Jim, I am a die hard Colts fan. I was wondering what you think about the Cardinals defense. Jim Harbaugh: They have a lot of talent on defense with Rice, Swann, and other proven quality players. We also know that Vince Tobin will have a proven quality team. Jim: Boomer, who do you see going to the Super Bowl this year? Boomer Esiason: The Cardinals of course! And if its not the Cardinals in the AFC you have to look at the Colts, the Bills, Kansas City, and Cincinnati. Dan Wilkinson is playing pretty good. In the NFC other than the Cardinals, you'd have to say Green Bay is one, and it's so wide open in the NFC I don't even know. Dallas and San Francisco will be there. Of course they're all behind the Cardinals. Jim: Jim, with the passing game so sharp,will the game plan call for more pass than rush? Jim Harbaugh: We'll try to utilize our strenghts the best way possible to capitalize on their defense. If the game calls to air it out we will, but I'm a scrapper and I just want to win. Andy Hill: Jim or Boomer, what do you want to accomplish before you retire? Boomer Esiason: For me I have accomplished every individual award there is in football. What I'm playing for now is a chance to get back to the Super Bowl. Deep down in the back of every player's mind that's what they hope for, that Super Bowl ring. Smack: Jim - Do you have any personal milestones your would like to achieve this year? Jim Harbaugh: My personal goals are team goals. I'd like the team to win is my personal goal. I'd like to start all the games, win the division. I want to be durable and I want the team to know they can count on me. Opus: Boomer, what do you think of Rich Kotite? Boomer Esiason: Unfortunately in losing situations I think that people have a skewed view of one another. Honestly, if the Jets had won everybody would've gotten along fantasticly. In a rebuilding and losing season, everybody looks to put blame elsewhere. It's the reality and humility that I say I wish I could have played better and he would say he wished he would have coached better. Rod: Jim, what were you thinking when Aaron Bailey dropped the ball??? Jim Harbaugh: I saw that it was incomplete, then I saw the replay screen and I thought he caught it. I wouldn't call it a drop. He came about as close as you can to catching it. He got up over all the receivers that we're going for the ball was pretty incredible. Danny Lan: Jim or Boomer-- If you could choose any player from the NFL to play on your team for free, which one would you choose? Boomer Esiason: Jerry Rice. It's not a slight to anybody, it's a great amount of respect for a player who I think epitomizes championship caliber play, professionalism, and ability. Plus my wife loves him. Jim Harbaugh: I'd pick Brett Favre but he plays the same position as I do. Reggie White would have to be my choice. John Rogers: Boomer, how will you being at Arizona affect Larry Centers game? Boomer Esiason: First of all we have a totally different offensive system than last year. Secondly, this is an offense that is bent on getting rid of the ball quickly and not holding on to it. There for there won't be as many sacks or fumbles at this position as last year. That's not a slight to Dave Krieg, the offense last year was drop back, hold, and look around. With the speed of the defenses now, a quarterback can't hold onto the ball, he has to get rid of it. Nick Adkins: Do you think you have a chance at the Super Bowl this year? Jim Harbaugh: I like our chances. We have some new faces, especially in the offensive line. We had a very young team last year and hopefully we'll get better with the experience they gained last year. PHIN-MYSTER: Boomer, what do you think Neil O'Donnell will have to do to avoid be sacked as often as you were? Boomer Esiason: I would say that the Jets have invested millions of dollars on the offensive side of the football team. Part of which actually acts as an insurance policy for O'Donnell's health and well-being. Namely, two experience offensive tackles in David Williams and Jumbo Elliott. Chip: Jim, what's it like to be reunited with so many ex-Bears? Jim Harbaugh: It's been great. All the guys that have come down from Chicago, especially a guy like Richard Dent who brings so much leadership and ability. There's a lot of guys on the team that I've played with for a long time. Moderator: Boomer, do you have any questions or comments that you would want to relay over to Jim? Boomer Esiason: Dear Jim, Congratulations. Your patience and hard work have paid off. Can I borrow a few bucks? Jim Harbaugh: Boomer, thank you. I don't have any liquid cash on me. Moderator: Jim, do you have any questions or comments that you would want to relay over to Boomer? Jim Harbaugh: Boomer, I haven't really seen enough of your offense and I was wondering how you'd describe your offense -- the "West Coast" offense? Boomer Esiason: Jim, I would describe the West Coast offense as a derivative of Lindy Infante's offense. You know what I mean? Go long on the stock market. Jim Harbaugh: Boomer -- How's Jeet Chryz doing? He's a good friend of mine. Boomer Esiason: He is! Jim knew Jeet in Chicago. He's doing great! He's the full-time tight end coach here now. Keith Kidd said that Eastern Kentucky is going to be Western Kentucky this year. Jim Harbaugh: Western is going to make it 3 out of 4 and tell Jeep I said, "Hi." Moderator: Boomer and Jim, will the quarterback matchup be the key to victory this Sunday? Boomer Esiason: Obviously the quarterback matchup is important in every game. We don't play each other but we'd both like to walk off the field the victor, and that's something that drives both of us. Jimmy deserves all the press he got last year, he worked very hard for it. I'm very familiar with the Colts because I've played them six times in the past two years. I'm familiar with Harbaugh's comeback heroics, we gave him the opportunity last year. The Colts have an extremely hornery, low scoring defensive unit. They're very sound in their approach. Watching film it doesn't seem like they miss their old defensive coordinator too much. Jim Harbaugh: I think Bill and Vince should arm wrestle for it. Moderator: Boomer, any parting comments for Jim before you sign off? Boomer Esiason: Good luck Jim. Stay healthy, and I'll see you on Sunday. Moderator: Jim, any parting comments for Boomer before your matchup this Sunday? Jim Harbaugh: Boomer -- Spoken like a true veteran. I would expect no less. Good luck and health. I will be looking forward to playing you and your team on Sunday! John Rogers: Jim or Boomer, with all the talk about Brett Farve and pain killers, just how often are they used or abused in the NFL? Jim Harbaugh: I don't think it's that wide spread. LARRY: Jim, if Football becomes an Olympic sport, would you participate if asked? Jim Harbaugh: The country would be better served with Aikman, Favre, or Young. Jaime Guevara: Jim or Boomer, who is one the best corners in the league in your opinion? Jim Harbaugh: I think we're playing one this week in Aeneas Williams. Jeff Hoot: Jim H....who is the best athlete on the Colts? Jim Harbaugh: All-around I'd have to say Corey Ott. Danny Lan: Jim or Boomer, what's you favorite sport besides football? Jim Harbaugh: Golf. I just went today. Rod: Jim...How does it feel to be some ones idle..you are after all a hero. Jim Harbaugh: I don't really feel like a hero. I'm just an ordinary guy. Everyday I'm taken back by the fact that I get to have such a great job. Russ: Jim... how do you feel about an 18 game schedule with only 2 pre-season games and a shorter training camp? Jim Harbaugh: I'm all for a short training camp. I don't think having so many games before the season begins that subject players to injury is worth while. Phil: Jim, what would you do if you weren't in the NFL? Jim Harbaugh: I'd be a college football coach like my father. I'd probably go back to Kentucky and help out my dad. Go WKU! Thanks for having me on, sorry I couldn't spend more time and I look forward to getting the season started! Moderator: Thanks Boomer and Jim for joining us on NFL.COM for Cyberspace Showdown, presented by Sprint. We'd also like to thank fans for participating and providing questions for the players. Be sure to join us again next Tuesday, September 3 at 9:00 PM ET when two more members of the NFL Quarterback Club will be with us on the Cyberspace Showdown - Bengals quarterback Jeff Blake and Chargers linebacker Junior Seau. Good night and see you next week.Beyond July’s historic Vanity Fair cover spotlighting Olympic decathlete-turned-reality-television star Caitlyn Jenner, the past year has seen unprecedented representation for the transgender community. From actress Laverne Cox and her Orange Is the New Black co-star, gender-fluid model Ruby Rose, to Kristin Beck, a trans woman and former Navy Seal now running for Congress, to President Barack Obama condemning the persecution of transgender people in his State of the Union address – it’s been a banner year for trans visibility.
But for trans youth, a generation growing up in an era of unrivalled cultural recognition and political appeals, how does it all shake down? We wanted to hear firsthand from transgender teenagers from coast to coast about the issues they live with every day. Struggling with profound body image issues as they strategize their medical transitioning, battling bureaucracy to secure proper legal identification documents or fearing simply going to the washroom – it all makes teen angst look like child’s play.
All this on top of the most difficult challenge: gaining acceptance, understanding and support from family and friends.
While the teenagers faced unique troubles – from parental estrangement and bullying at school to homophobic employers – what all agreed on is this message to adults: If you think coming out as transgender in your teens is a passing “phase,” just look at the myriad hurdles, logistics, and conflicts involved and then consider whether anyone would change genders for a lark.
Most of all, trans youth entreated parents to support their children. Here are their stories.
Caleb Ashmeade, seen here with his father, has been transitioning from female to male for the past 4 years and has been on testosterone for 3 years. (Jimmy Jeong for The Globe and Mail)
Caleb Ashmeade
From the age of 4, Ashmeade felt like he wasn’t born in the right body. The 18-year-old from Vancouver came out at 14 and has been transitioning with the support of family, including his father, a bodybuilder. Ashmeade is undergoing surgery and taking a gap year before university, where he plans to study tourism.
I had cars and blocks and Spiderman and was always firm on wanting to wear boys’ clothes. People always mistook me for a boy. On special occasions, I would have to wear dresses but, other than that, I’d throw a tantrum. It just didn’t feel right. In my head, it always made sense that I was a boy but I didn’t know about this correct term: transgender.
When my body started to change in Grade 6, it was more than I bargained for. It was hard because a lot of the other guys in my class were starting to hit puberty: They were all going in one direction and I was stuck. I realized some drastic changes had to start being made pretty soon. The first people I came out to were my closest friends, who I knew would understand. They kind of knew. Another big support for me was my high school guidance counsellor. She was one of those down-to-earth people who likes hugs.
The first person in my immediate family I told was my dad. We were in the car driving back from my guitar lesson. He said: “You seem pretty down lately. What’s going on?” I broke down and told him what was happening; that I didn’t want to go to school any more because I didn’t feel like I was like everybody else. He said: “If that’s how you feel and if that’s what you feel needs to be done to make you happy, okay.” Hearing that from him was really important. All that weight just coming off your chest – that’s really how it was. Nobody in my family had ever seen this happen to anybody else. Four years ago, this was something you’d see on a CNN special. My mother just wasn’t sure that this was something that I needed to do. Me being her first-born, she said: “I feel like I’m losing my daughter.” We both needed time to cope.
Today, I’m not comfortable with having lots of male friends because I feel I can’t connect on a lot of bases. Sometimes I’m like, “Dude, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I find guys harder to talk to. I was raised as a girl and I had a younger sister and all my cousins were girls. That’s who I was comfortable talking to. Even though I’ve always felt so male, it’s such a different experience when people identify you that way right off the bat. I’m trying to adapt to male everything.
I’m still learning how to accept myself as a transgender person. Dysphoria can hit hard; it gets kind of ugly. It comes in waves and it changes. Before, I just wanted to conceal my chest. Now, with working out, I’ve gone to the beach and concerts and had my shirt off around other people. Now I’m getting more dysphoric about my bottom half.
As I get a little older, people ask: “What do you want to do with your life? Do you want to get married and have kids?” Will I ever have my own biological children? When I was 15, I was worried about how my voice sounds and wishing I had bigger arms. Now, it’s real-life things that are starting to get to me, things I know won’t be easy to change.
I’m not afraid to stand alone and I’ve had to, a lot of times. Being able to work through this has made me stronger.
Luna LeFort, 19, is in her first year of studies at Universite de Moncton. (Dale Preston for The Globe and Mail)
Luna LeFort
Originally from Cape Breton, N.S., 19-year-old LeFort just completed her first year at the University of Moncton, where she is a music major. She came out at 16 and began presenting as female at 18.
Before 12 or 13, gender wasn’t really an issue. You didn’t care who you played with. I ended up hanging out more with girls. By 14, I wasn’t interested in sports or associating with any of the masculine things at all. Around 16, I started Googling and found transgenderism. It was a realization: This makes sense. I was looking for my proper seat and I eventually found it. I was looking to be comfortable.
I started out coming out to my friends, who were either very for it or had no idea what I was talking about. There was plenty of explaining. Some of my friends had this vision in their heads of who I was and then, suddenly, that picture changed. I told them: “I always was a girl, you just didn’t know it.” It’s sort of like Pluto never actually was a planet: we just had it wrong the whole time.
My father, who works in the military, was completely okay with it as soon as I said it. He’s very much, “I won’t claim to understand it, but I will support you.” My mother was accepting but also hesitant. It remained an elephant in the room for a while. I never told my siblings, a younger brother and an older sister, but they caught on after a while. Once you start seeing your brother in a dress, it’s like, “Something’s going on.” Now I present as female 50 per cent of the time. If I feel girly today, I’ll wear a dress. Another day, I’ll be lazy and wear jeans and a T-shirt. I don’t hate how I look.
If I present as male, I use the male washroom. If I present as female, I use the female washroom. I’ve gotten plenty of stares and dirty looks in the women’s washroom but I’ve learned how to deal with it. If you’re trans and scared, take a buddy and be sure they’ll stick up for you. It saddens me a little. More, it frustrates me. Trans youth, we just want to live our lives.
For my small community, the most important thing would be education: teaching trans kids and giving them the tools they need. I learned from the Internet, an invaluable resource for any trans kid in this age. Later, I found a support group where you can talk face to face as comrades, rather than having to explain everything beforehand. It’s important to find a community of people who support and accept you. Be safe in that group. Numbers help.
Lana Tong, 18, is non-binary, which means she identifies her gender as neither male or female. (Chad Hipolito for The Globe and Mail)
Lana Tong
Tong, an 18-year-old living in Victoria, identifies as non-binary, which means neither male or female. Assigned male at birth, Tong has been transitioning hormonally since last year, presenting as female at school this past year. Tong is taking a gap year before attending Halifax’s King’s College to study aesthetics and contemporary studies.
There’s male, female and I don’t fit into either of those. What I feel right now is a-gender. There are so many things that a human is and can be. I define myself by my interests and by my personality. But I also find it terrifying because it confuses people a lot. Humans like to label things to find their community and we define social expectations and interactions by gender.
When I was growing up, all my best friends were girls. I put makeup on and played with Barbies. But I never treated these as feminine activities. I just thought I was playing with toys because I’m a kid (I also played with RC cars).
Around 16, when I hit male puberty, I thought: “No. This is the wrong one.” I wanted to go through that other one. At the start of Grade 12, I went to school presenting female. I was so nervous: It’s a private school with male and female uniforms. But people were coming up to me and hugging me saying, “You look great.” Even the ones you think are going to be awful, the really douchey jocks, they’ve been smiling at me and being really nice.
The first two months my mom was iffy, saying, “I don’t think I’ll ever accept this.” It was pretty much every parent’s concern around LGBTQ children: She thought it was just some random passing phase. She wondered if I could just not get on hormones. Or in her words, “stay a boy.” She went to a counsellor with me and re-evaluated some things. Now, she’s awesome.
Ultimately, parents should have a say in what their child does or doesn’t do, but only to a degree. Puberty blockers – provided that the child talks to a specialist – should be available. It can be really harmful for teens to have to wait for so long. It’s that sense of hopelessness that leads to suicide. For me, it was important to get on hormones because masculine characteristics are really strong and it’s hard to get rid of them or cover them up. I had to do counselling for six months and then the endocrinologist wait time was three months. I had to sit and stew and wait for the day.
One of my aunts thought I was doing this for attention. This isn’t something anyone does lightly. On trans forums online you can see how people deliberate coming out; how much it will mess with their life and how much everyone will hate them. Coming out is a huge decision to make.
Seth Tubman-Watkins, 18, has been is taking hormone therapy to transition from female to male. (Jimmy Jeong for The Globe and Mail)
Seth Tubman-Watkins
After beginning hormone therapy (and hearing his choir voice drop to baritone from mezzo soprano), 18-year-old Tubman-Watkins feels more in his own skin. Today, the Vancouver teen has finished Grade 12 and hopes to go into social work.
I never was comfortable with being a girl. I wore a dress once when I was 5 and I was screaming: “No! Take me out of this!” I cut my hair when I was 15. Before that, I wore it up and wore hats. My parents were very open and they didn’t push anything on me.
At 14, I found out that people transition. I got really into watching online videos and doing research. I was 16 when I started taking it as an idea for myself. I decided it would make my life more happy and probably fix a lot of the ways that I feel about myself. From a young age, I’d been feeling body dysphoria but I just hadn’t identified it that way.
I told my mom that I’m confused about my gender and that I might be trans. She said: “Let’s figure this out. You haven’t really been a girl.” She was really supportive. It’s been an adjustment for my dad: I’m an only child and, for him, I was his little girl. It’s still hard for him to wrap his head around the whole idea that I’m not going to be that person that he thought I was going to be. I do understand that.
Today, there’s so much support: We have education and so many people in the media who are trans or advocating for trans people. But all of a sudden, all the people who are transphobic, it’s making them more uncomfortable. They’re putting things forward such as the amendments to bill C-279 so people can’t use the proper bathrooms. My schools have been very good because I’ve been on their case about it – that there needs to be a gender-neutral bathroom and the option to use whatever bathroom you feel you need to use.
I don’t think people fully realize what a process being transgender is. Besides all the doctors and wait lists just for hormones, then you have to figure out funding or wait for surgery for years. Finding clothing that fits you properly and doesn’t make you look female, changing your name legally, those are huge processes too.
Today, it’s so much easier for me to look in the mirror. Before, I was nervous about social situations and the way people were perceiving me with my voice being very high and my body being a certain shape. Testosterone has helped with that. Being comfortable with yourself makes it so much easier to go out in the world and be comfortable with other people.
Skye Cross appreciates that her mother has served as her advocate with other members of her family. (Aaron McKenzie Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
Skye Cross
Growing up impoverished with a homeless mother, 18-year-old Cross struggles with the cost of transitioning – from surgery and laser hair removal to changing her legal identification cards. The Halifax teen hopes eventually to do social work, helping people who are battling addiction and mental health disorders.
In Grade 10 I started experimenting with makeup, but I still identified as male because I didn’t know anything else. I dropped out of school in Grade 11 because of bullying. It resulted in a lot of mental health issues. I didn’t know exactly what I was and it’s hard to ask for support when you don’t know what you need.
When I dropped out, I came out. For Grade 12, I moved to a different town and started school there. That didn’t go well either. I was at a very awkward phase of my transition: I had just started hormones and was very androgynous-looking. I was getting teased and also misgendered by students and teachers. I dropped out again and started working. I’m going to write my GED. It’s the best option.
I’m also on hold because I can’t legally change my name yet; you need to be 19 here in Nova Scotia. Under that age, you need parental consent but my father doesn’t live in the province and he wasn’t interested in hearing about it.
Technically, I never came out to my mother. I started wearing makeup and eventually she started buying me makeup as gifts. I changed my name on Facebook and she just started calling me Skye, too. It wasn’t until this year that we talked about it and now she refers to me as a girl. My mother has talked to other members of my family and tries to straighten them out. She has been very upfront and assertive. That’s what I wanted most: for my mom to be an advocate.
Trans teens need representation and role models. That’s what I wish I had. I went through my transition completely blind and it was extremely stressful. With hormones, it would have been great to have had someone to ask, “Hey, can you tell me what’s going to happen?” I was the only trans woman I knew and I didn’t have anyone to relate to. So, I started going to a community organization here called the Youth Project. I sit on the board and it’s provided me with so many opportunities. They flew me to Toronto to speak at the national Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools conference. I spoke at the Human Rights Commission and at schools across the province. It’s been the biggest thing in changing me as a person.
Today my confidence in my body is a lot higher. It’s definitely not perfect, but no one’s is.
Lyra Evans is convinced that youth who have supportive families are much better off than those who don’t. (Dave Chan for The Globe and Mail
Lyra Evans
Raised in a small Ontario town, Evans didn’t know transgender people existed. That changed when the youth activist moved to Ottawa, where she began transitioning and helped start up ETC. Youth, a non-profit organization that offers a safe place for LGBTQ teens to socialize, hosting a trans-inclusive choir and same-sex-friendly high-school dances. Evans is taking a gap year before university; she’s mulling social work or engineering.
Growing up, I’d been taught that everyone fell into one of two categories and that it was predetermined. It never occurred to me that I might be a girl. But I went and did traditionally female activities, like ballet, gymnastics and figure skating. I had long hair throughout most of my childhood. I didn’t really click until I moved to a more urban area. I was already out as gay and, as I became more involved in the queer community, I learned that there was a trans community. That’s when I fully realized who I was.
I decided to prepare everything in advance: I chose a name and when I was going to come out. Within one week, I told everyone and at the end of that week I posted it on Facebook: “Here’s who I am. You’re going to have to live with that.” I was on hormones within two weeks of coming out publicly. Reaction was overwhelmingly positive. I could be who I truly am without feeling like I was hiding something.
One of the things that adults don’t seem to get is that identities are fluid. A person may come out as a trans woman one year and five years later come out as non-binary. Identities might change and they might not. Another big myth about trans people is that all trans paths look the same. Not everyone’s path is going to start with hormones and end with surgery. Some people might take hormones for a long period of time and decide that’s as far as they want to transition. Some people want to go further and some want to take a step back. My personal path? I haven’t decided where I want to stop yet.
I have encountered my fair share of hostility. I’m a non-confrontational person; so, if there are people who refuse to accept me for who I am or who want to fight me about it, I simply don’t interact with them. My advice to adults is listen to the people who are living that experience: They will know best what they are going through and what can help.
Youth who have supportive families are much better off than youth that don’t. At Easter, I opened my apartment up to anyone who for any reason couldn’t go home. It’s called the “chosen family” – you spend holidays with the people you want to spend them with. I made almond butter stir fry with cauliflower, mixed vegetables and tofu – not a traditional Easter dinner at all. I only had two people over, but it’s still two people. For every holiday that is supposed to be family-oriented – Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving – I’ll always try to make myself available to people who don’t have anywhere else to go. It’s usually sort of sombre because everyone has a lot of feelings regarding families.
Message to parents: support your child. They’re still your child. There is so much damage being done to what would be families, and are not.
These interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.
The sobering reality of trans youth statistics
Homelessness, unemployment, discrimination, depression and suicide: the statistics for trans youth are sobering.
A 2009 survey about transphobia in Canadian high schools found that 87 per cent of transgender students felt unsafe in change rooms, washrooms and hallways. Two in five reported being physically harassed and nine out of 10 said they’d been verbally harassed for expressing their gender. Half said that school staff never intervened when bigoted comments were made; nearly half had skipped school because they felt unsafe, compared to less than a tenth of non-LGBTQ pupils.
While 71 per cent of trans people have at least some college or university education, about half make $15,000 a year or less, according to Trans PULSE, a community-based project that tracks discrimination against trans Canadians. It has been estimated that approximately 25 to 40 per cent of homeless youth are LGBTQ, although experts feel that number may be higher as many trans individuals feel safer on the streets than in shelters, where they may face transphobic violence.
Research has shown that trans youth without familial support are at much greater risk of depression and suicide. A 2012 study found that 70 per cent of trans youth with unsupportive parents had contemplated suicide in the year prior; 57 per cent of transgender teenagers with unsupportive parents had attempted suicide, compared with 4 per cent of young people with supportive parents. The rate of depression was 75 per cent for trans teens whose parents invalidated them. That figure dropped to 23 per cent for children with understanding parents. Fifty-five per cent of trans youth with unsupportive parents faced housing issues; that number was zero among teens whose parents were sympathetic.
A recent University of Western Ontario study of 380 transgender people in Ontario age 16 and up found a link between suicide risk and several factors: lack of parental support, transphobia and a dearth of access to medical transition. Researchers found that 35 per cent of trans Ontarians seriously considered suicide in the past year and 11 per cent attempted it. The suicide risks dropped when transgender people had social supports and felt protected from harassment and assault. They also benefited from having official documents (driver’s licence, health card or passport) that matched the gender they identified with.Steele Sidebottom has been able to spend more time on the wing this season
Game-plan
The Crows have become tougher around the contests, averaging 71.88 tackles per game from rounds 10-19 compared to 66.55 in the first nine rounds. Contested possessions (159.66 up from 149.88) are also up.
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Veteran midfielder Richard Douglas has spent more time up forward, with Rory Atkins rolling through the middle of the ground. Former captain Nathan van Berlo and draftee Wayne Milera have both been squeezed out of the side after playing in round one. First-year player Mitch McGovern has held his spot for the whole season.
You might not have noticed
The return of tough nut Brad Crouch after a stint in the SANFL has coincided with the Crows winning more contested ball. - Lee Gaskin
Game-plan
Not much has changed as the season has worn on. Instead, the Lions are still trying to bed down Justin Leppitsch's ‘pressure-turnover-counter-attack’ style of game. Moving better ball users to half-back, like Allen Christensen (before injury) and Daniel Rich, has been an attempt to launch counter-attacks and mitigate against costly back-half turnovers, which have killed the team all season.
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After three off-seasons of massive list change, this is the first year Leppitsch has had the team he wants in the current rebuild. However, with so many injuries, there hasn't been much flexibility for change. Josh Green and Lewy Taylor have been dumped at various stages in favour of Ben Keays as the Lions search for more forward pressure.
You might not have noticed
Winning ball at the source has been a focus for Leppitsch, and after winning the contested ball count just once in the first nine rounds, the Lions have won it four times in the past nine. - Michael Whiting
Game-plan
The Blues have embraced Brendon Bolton's message – they are playing with purpose, are well organised in their structures and prepared to take risks. Their pressure on the ball carrier and relentless running have been consistent elements of their game.
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The Blues are rebuilding and providing opportunities for youngsters, with three of last year's draftees being given a taste of senior football. Ex-Giant Lachie Plowman has played the past 15 games after missing the opening three rounds, but it appears several are on the outer including veteran defender Michael Jamison, Kristian Jaksch, Jason Tutt and Mark Whiley.
You might not have noticed
Their midfielders have been clearly instructed to push back hard into defence to help out. This did not happen enough under Mick Malthouse's tenure. - Howard Kotton
Game-plan
Spearhead Travis Cloke's decline has made the Pies less predictable in attack because rather than being too Cloke-centric, they have been forced to direct more ball to targets such as Darcy Moore, Jesse White, Mason Cox and Alex Fasolo.
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When an injury-ravaged club uses an AFL equal-high of 39 players and bloods six debutants, change is inevitable. Jeremy Howe was lured from Melbourne to play a forward/wing role but injuries have forced him to defence, where he has been terrific. Jarrod Witts started the season as the No.1 ruckman before being sidelined with injury, and Brodie Grundy has since become one of the AFL's form big men. Premiership veterans Alan Toovey, Tyson Goldsack and Brent Macaffer have been regularly overlooked, while Nathan Brown was also on the outer for a time.
You might not have noticed
The recruitment of Adam Treloar, the emergence of Taylor Adams and the availability of Levi Greenwood has given the Pies luxury of using Steele Sidebottom more on a wing, where his running power, one-on-one skills and disposal are perhaps most damaging. - Ben Collins
Jeremy Howe joined the Pies as a forward but has thrived down back. Picture: AFL Media
Game-plan
John Worsfold had great intentions to improve the Dons' scoring after its bottom-four finish in 2015. But the loss of 12 senior players to season-long suspensions changed the focus to merely competing. The Bombers are the league's lowest scoring team, averaging nine goals a game. Essendon still tends to hold onto the ball too long in setting up its forward forays, creating an often stagnant forward group.
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Essendon is a completely different looking team to what it was last year. The interesting part is who have done well enough this season to hold their place next year. Darcy Parish has shown he is already one of the club's best midfielders, even with a full side, while Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti's run and drive from defence has guaranteed him a place. Orazio Fantasia's pace and skill up forward will see him finish second in the club's goalkicking, and Michael Hartley has impressed at full-back.
You |
years as an Armored Cavalry Officer in the U.S. Army, including tours in Korea and the Balkans, and two tours in Iraq. He was Snyder's campaign manager in 2010.
Redford served 28 years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Captain in 2012. He was a military trial judge for five years in the U.S. Navy Reserves and had three tours as a commanding officer, of the Navy Reserve Trial Judiciary, the Reserve Navy Legal Service Office and the civil litigation unit in Washington, D.C.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.
Read or Share this story: http://bcene.ws/1TuFVPLKatherine Archuleta, chief of the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is resigning, CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett confirmed Friday, following the massive hack in which the records of nearly 22 million people were stolen from OPM computers.
Archuleta's resignation is effective at the close of business Friday, according to the White House.
"New leadership with a set of skills and experiences that are unique to the urgent challenges that OPM faces are badly needed," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday.
Hack of U.S. government data worse than thought
Starting Saturday, Beth Cobert will assume the role of acting director of the agency. Cobert is currently the U.S. chief performance officer and deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). At OMB, Cobert oversaw the office of the chief information officer, and she led federal information technology (IT) spending.
Leaders on Capitol Hill have been notified that Archuleta will be stepping down, Garrett reports. Following the news of the OPM breach, Democrats and Republicans in Congress quickly called for her resignation.
Earnest said Friday that Archuleta did accomplish much at the helm of the agency. "It's precisely because of some of the reforms she initiated that this particular cyber breach was detected in the first place," he said.
Still, he said that Archuleta acknowledged -- and the White House agreed -- that new leadership was necessary for the agency to move forward, respond to the data breaches and implement steps to mitigate future risks.
House Republican leaders on Friday released a statement slamming the administration, charging that Archuleta's resignation doesn't let President Obama off the hook.
"The resignation of the OPM director does not in any way absolve the president of the responsibility to repair this damage to our national security," House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said. "We know from last year's resignation of the VA secretary that a change in personnel does not always lead to real change."
An investigation into the hack concluded with "high confidence" that personal information, including the Social Security numbers of 21.5 million individuals, was stolen from OPM databases. Hackers also stole information about people's financial, personal, and employment histories. They stole information about 19.7 million Americans who were subjected to federal background checks as a condition of employment, as well as 1.8 million Americans who were listed as family members or friends of those applicants.Review, Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy will be one of the best-selling skin products for years to come. Fades, and even erases stretch marks on the breasts, stomach, upper arms, thighs and buttocks.
We all get them ladies, be it from pregnancy or from a few extra pounds we did not plan for as we got older, but stretch marks are a burden we must all bare. At least now we have something that can help us in getting rid of those unsightly stretch marks and return us our smooth, youthful looking skin.
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Skinception New Tool To Combat Stretch Marks
With Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy, we have a new tool in our kit to combat stretch marks and it is coming with some added benefits. This is not some chemical that is trying to tighten up your skin through some trick. This is using a formula called Regestril to get your body to increase production of collagen within the skin to give it that youthful, smooth and tight look we all miss having.
Now Regestril is not just some fancy named formula that does the same as water, this stuff has been clinically tested and showed amazing results, we are talking women with pregnancy stretch marks using this stuff for only two months and seeing nearly a 30% reduction in the stretch marks themselves.
When something as simple as applying cream and letting it set can give results like that then that is something to sit up and pay a bit more attention to.
Read Skinception Stretch Mark Cream Customer Reviews
How The Regestril Works?
So I got to looking at how this Regestril works, and it is pretty interesting, the formula has this substance called Phaseolus extract and rutin that antagonize the cells causing the stretch marks, then this other substance called matrikines triggers a repair action on the damaged skin cells. So this stuff is working at the cellular level to repair these stretch marks and get rid of them, and that is just one of the active ingredients in Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy.
You also have Darutoside, which reduces the length of the stretch marks and increases the smoothness of the skin area, and then the other active ingredient is Pro-Sveltyl.
Now Pro-Sveltyl is the substance that is triggering a tightening of the skin and increasing the hydration of it for that smooth youthful look, it does this with a substance called Lisoaspartyl methyltransferase, which is a protein repair enzyme.
It's Three Ingredients
So we have three active ingredients all with clinical studies backing up how exactly they help repair and remove the skin that is afflicted with stretch marks so that we can get back our young and beautiful skin, and now the question, are there side effect?
We know that when you have a good thing there is normally a bad thing following it, so you must be asking, what are the drawbacks to this Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy, well here is the answer – Nothing.
Some may try and claim the price tag, well guess what, 90 day trial, you buy it, try for 90 days and if it does not do exactly what they claim then you can get a full refund, the ingredients used are completely safe and non-toxic for the skin, and I have yet to find a single person that has had any kind of reaction to the cream.
So there really is no reason to not try this out, it is a no risk thing and I can honestly say after my two kids, this cream has helped get rid of some unsightly stretch marks for me as well.Danbury police seek missing WestConn student
DANBURY -- Police are investigating the disappearance of a 24-year-old Western Connecticut State University commuter student reported missing by his family last week.
Ihtzaz Z. Ahmed, of Town Hill Avenue, was reportedly last seen late the evening of May 10 and left behind most of his personal items, including his wallet, keys, car, laptop computer, cell phone and university identification.
He was reported missing early Friday morning, Danbury police said.
WestConn police, who were assisting in the investigation, said they searched the area around the school's westside campus, off Lake Avenue Extension, but found no trace of Ahmed.
Ahmed's sister, Faria Iqbal, said she last saw her brother May 10, and was surprised not to find him at home when she returned from school the next afternoon.
"When he wasn't at school, he was in his room studying," she said. "We are very worried. We just want him home."The Perceptions of Pregnancy blog, like the Researchers’ Network, aims to reach beyond boundaries and borders, and to facilitate an international and interdisciplinary conversation on pregnancy and its associated bodily and emotional experiences from the medieval to the modern. Today’s post from Leanne Calvert explores men’s roles in childbirth in the nineteenth century.
What about fathers? Men and childbirth: some evidence from nineteenth-century Ulster.
Every week, millions of us tune into Channel 4’s One Born Every Minute –the fly-on-the-wall documentary series that follows midwives and expectant mothers in maternity wards across Britain and Ireland. The unlikely star of the show, however, can be found standing next to the hospital bed –the expectant father. In any given episode, fathers can be seen nervously fidgeting and pacing, holding their partners’ hands, and encouraging them as they puff through each contraction. Many fathers are present at the time of delivery and some even cut the umbilical cord. Such scenes have become commonplace in contemporary society. Today, fathers are a visible presence in the delivery room and, with the increasing availability of paternity leave, are much more involved in early childcare than previous generations of men. But, just how modern is this conception of fatherhood? What role did fathers in past centuries play in childbirth?
It would be easy to assume that fathers played a minimal role in childbirth. Indeed, men are conspicuously absent from histories of pregnancy and childbirth. We are told that these events were largely managed and controlled by women, to the exclusion of men. Childbirth itself even took place in a designated area of the home known as the ‘birthing chamber’ – a space to which men were not permitted entry. The local midwife, close female friends and family of the pregnant woman, and other women experienced in childbirth were usually present at the time of delivery. With the exception of male medical professionals (who were increasingly admitted to the birth chamber as male midwives from the late-eighteenth century onwards), we are told that men played a limited role in childbirth. As fathers, they fetched those who were to attend the birth; they awaited news of the birth with a company of their male friends; or they paid a midwife for her services.[i]
The omission of fathers from the rituals of childbirth can partly be explained by a lack of evidence. Sources that offer an insight into how men felt about, and responded to, childbirth are very rare. Generally, men’s accounts of childbirth offer only brief details such as the time of birth or sex of the infant. For example, when Robert Tennent wrote to his father, the Reverend John Tennent, minister of the Presbyterian congregation of Roseyards, county Antrim, news of the birth of his niece Letitia in 1806, he summed up the event in one line, placed at the end of his letter: ‘Mrs Tennent was safely delivered of a girl the 27th Feb[ruary] & her & it continue pretty well’.[ii] Likewise, the Reverend Robert Magill, minister of 1st Antrim Presbyterian congregation, recorded the birth of his daughter Sarah in 1825 as follows: ‘Mrs Magill gave birth to Sarah at ¼ before 8 oclock this morning’.[iii]
Such clipped descriptions, however, can be misleading. When the Reverend James Morell, minister of Ballybay Presbyterian congregation, county Monaghan, recorded the birth of his son in March 1816, he also used similar language: ‘My Dear Wife presented me with a fine Boy about half past 5 this morning. She was but a short time ill, and is recovering fast’.[iv] The brevity of Morell’s entry, however, masks the true extent of his involvement. He later admitted that the night’s events had not left him ‘time to make much preparation for the [Sabbath] service’ and that he had been forced to ‘preach on an old sermon’.[v] While Morell did not explicitly detail his involvement, it is very likely that he was detained from his ministerial duties on account of his wife’s labour.
A more compelling case for the involvement of fathers in childbirth can be found in the papers of the Crawfords, an Ulster Presbyterian family, on whom I recently published an article in the Journal of Family History. [vi] Central to the article is the experience of the Reverend Alexander Crawford (1790-1856) and his wife, Anna Gardner (1803-82). As a husband and father, Crawford earned a reputation among his wider family circle as a ‘nurse’ for the attentions he paid to his wife during childbirth and the days that followed. Letters detailing these events reveal that he was not only present during his wife’s labour(s) as an onlooker, but that he took on the role of assistant following delivery. For example, Crawford not only fed his new-born son, James (1826-), he also monitored his bowel movements and kept watch over his wife as she slept. While Anna was ‘lying-in’, Crawford also paid her regular visits, read his wife Scripture passages, and even moved his bed into her room following the birth of their daughter Jane (1833-) so that he could attend to her needs –prompting Anna to refer to him as a ‘careful and tender nurse’.[vii]
While it is true that the rituals of childbirth were gendered, this did not necessarily mean that men were denied a place in the birthing room. Like today, childbirth was an event that not only interested men as fathers, but also demanded their assistance and support as husbands.
Author
Leanne Calvert is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ulster University. She is currently working alongside Dr Leanne McCormick (Ulster University) and Dr Elaine Farrell (Queen’s University, Belfast) on an AHRC-Funded project entitled ‘Bad Bridget: Criminal and deviant Irish women in North America, 1838-1918’. Her research interests centre on the family, the household and the life-cycle, with a particular emphasis on Ulster Presbyterian families, between the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries. She has published in Analecta Hibernica, Women’s History Review and recently contributed an article to the Journal of Family History on men, pregnancy and childbirth in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Ulster. You can follow her on Twitter: @DrLeanneCalvert or on Academia: https://ulster.academia.edu/LeanneCalvert
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[i] L.A. Pollock, ‘Childbearing and female bonding in early modern England’ in Social History Review, 22:3 (1997), pp 286-306; Helen King, “Midwifery, 1700-1800: The Man-midwife as Competitor,” in Midwifery in Britain Since 1700, eds. Anne Borsay and Bille Hunter (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012), 107–27.
[ii] Robert Tennent to Reverend John Tennent, 7 Mar. 1806 (Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, hereafter PRONI., D1748/A/1/5/25).
[iii] Extracts from the diary of Reverend Robert Magill (1821-28), 9 May 1825 (PRONI., D2930/9/5).
[iv] Diary of Reverend James Morell, 10 Mar. 1816 (Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland).
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Leanne Calvert, ‘“a more careful tender nurse cannot be than my dear husband”: reassessing the role of men in pregnancy and childbirth in Ulster, 1780-1832’ in Journal of Family History, 42:1 (2017), pp 22-36.
[vii] Calvert, p. 28.
AdvertisementsCould drug control systems be extended to include brain chemicals or even tomatoes? Representatives of a global syndicate with offices in London, Frankfurt, Bogota, Mexico City and New York are calling on UNCOD to extend the drug control conventions so as to include the chemicals produced by the body during psychotic episodes. “This might sound strange, but after all,” said an UNCOD official, “ these are chemicals concealed by individuals inside the cavities of the body and brain. The drugs which are already illegal are in many ways just poor copies of the real thing, like endorphines and adrenaline. We think it’s worth considering whether these chemicals should be banned at source” As well as enabling drug abusers to be healed, society would also benefit from the jobs that could be created in surgery and the new biotech industries. The Sicilian office also called to include lycopene - which is found in tomatoes. However, it was agreed that cynics may see this as no more than a backdoor into the lucrative Ketchup market. [Read More]
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UNCOD and United Nations support the world’s third largest industry At the recent annual meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the Executive Director of UNCOD affirmed the continued support of his organisation to maintaining a healthy cash-flow into the illicit drug trade. The illegal status of its products ensures both maximum profits for the drugs market and the health, security and influence of those who command its largest corporations. These international businessmen - who are wealth creators for global society - require a rigorous defence of their human right to luxury homes, goods and services at a time when a growing chorus of trouble-makers are seeking to undermine the international drug control conventions by arguing for a properly regulated market. [Read More]
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Defend the drug control conventions, defend the banking system, says UNCOD leader Many will recall Mr Antonio Costa’s warm appreciation of the role that the illegal drugs industry played in staving off the collapse of the global banking system in late 2009. “Inter-bank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities...
There were signs that some banks were rescued that way,” said former UNODC leader. Mr Costa noted that at certain critical points, “the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital.” With a modesty that typifies their business practice, however, leading figures from the global drugs industry declined to be interviewed, insisting to UNCOD officials that their work is sufficient reward. UNCOD’s Executive Director said this morning—“It is a sobering thought that, without a tough interpretation of the conventions, there would have been no spare cash to rescue the banks.” [Read More]
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Private prison system shores up human rights, says International Narcotics Broadcasting Corporation Professor Harry Goodsheep, Chair of the INBC, last night spoke of the debt the world owes to the drug control conventions and their strict interpretation in the United States. Warning his student audience to beware of the insidious influence of so-called “harm reduction”, he said that the only way to really reduce harm and to defend human rights is to heal drug users in prisons where they are made to work. “Tough healing is the only kind that really works,” said a spokesperson for the new 50,000 capacity correctional facility in Sodom City, Arizona. “Healing addicts as they replace tarmac on our roads, for example, both frees them from the shackles of drugs and protects the human rights of Americans, many who are further reassured by the presence of black men in chains perspiring with shovels on interstate highways.” [Read More]
.........................................................................................................................................................................WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Classified U.S. diplomatic cables reporting corruption allegations against foreign governments and leaders are expected in official documents that WikiLeaks plans to release soon, sources said on Wednesday.
A man carries a briefcase in a file photo. REUTERS/File
The whistle-blowing website said on its Twitter feed this week its next release would be seven times larger than the collection of roughly 400,000 Pentagon reports related to the Iraq war which it made public in October.
Three sources familiar with the State Department cables held by WikiLeaks say the corruption allegations in them are major enough to cause serious embarrassment for foreign governments and politicians named in them.
They said the release was expected next week, but could come earlier.
The detailed, candid reporting by U.S. diplomats also may create foreign policy complications for the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, the sources said.
Among the countries whose politicians feature in the reports are Russia, Afghanistan and former Soviet republics in Central Asia. But other reports also detail potentially embarrassing allegations reported to Washington from U.S. diplomats in other regions including East Asia and Europe, one of the sources familiar with the WikiLeaks holdings said.
The U.S. government has strongly objected to past WikiLeaks revelations, which it said compromise national security and can put some people at risk.
Past WikiLeaks releases of classified U.S. documents on related to Iraq and Afghanistan have given a battlefield view of both conflicts and sensitive intelligence, but contained few startling revelations.
CREATING TENSION
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Washington was assessing the implications of what WikiLeaks may reveal and was notifying foreign governments “that a release of documents is possible in the near future.”
“We decry what has happened. These revelations are harmful to the United States and our interests. They are going to create tension in our relationships,’ Crowley said. “We wish that this would not happen but we are obviously prepared for the possibility that it will.”
Both the State Department and the Pentagon confirmed they had been in touch with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to inform them of what may be coming.
Sources said three international news organizations which previously published stories based on classified U.S. government documents acquired by WikiLeaks — the New York Times, Britain’s Guardian newspaper and the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel — were given access the documents some time ago by Julian Assange, the Australian-born computer hacker who says he is WikiLeaks’ founder and leader.
Two of the sources said Assange has also made the documents available to at least two other European publications — the newspapers El Pais of Spain and Le Monde of France.
Assange did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
The New York Times, Guardian and Der Spiegel are trying to coordinate when they release their first stories about the material — likely to be next week — but one of the sources said that it is unclear whether Le Monde and El Pais will be publishing on the same schedule.
The sources said the documents — which also report on other local controversies beyond allegations of corruption — may result in more international uproar than did the earlier release by WikiLeaks of Pentagon reports on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Asked by e-mail to comment on the latest anticipated WikiLeaks release, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller told Reuters: “If we had a big story in the works, we’d be disinclined to discuss it before publication.”Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto gives a speech next to Australia's Governor-General Peter Cosgrove (not pictured) during an official welcoming ceremony, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico August 1, 2016. REUTERS/Henry Romero
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Tuesday he was willing to meet with Donald Trump, months after comparing the Republican presidential candidate to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
“Yes, I would meet with him,” Pena Nieto said, referring to Trump in a pre-taped television interview broadcast on Tuesday night.
“I have never met him. I can’t agree with some of the things he has said, but I will be absolutely respectful and will seek to work with whomever becomes the next president of the United States.”
Trump has sparked outrage in Mexico with his campaign vow to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs, and to make Mexico pay for it.
In a Mexican newspaper interview in March, Pena Nieto said Mexico would not pay for the proposed wall under any scenario, likening Trump’s “strident tone” to the World War II era dictators.
But at a June summit in Canada, Pena Nieto said he only drew the comparison as a reminder of the devastation wreaked in the past.The big payment processing companies - Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover - are processing funds for some of the vilest white supremacist groups. Including the groups behind the racial terrorism in Charlottesville.
White supremacist hubs like Stormfront are able to easily receive funding from their members because these companies are allowing them too. And thanks to transaction fees, these companies are making money every time someone donates to these hate groups.
Some of the groups receiving money from Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover are responsible for numerous hate crimes, murders, and the radicalization of terrorists Dylann Roof, Timothy McVeigh, and Wade Michael Page. These companies have all cut off other hate groups in the past, it’s time for them to step up and cut all white supremacist groups from their financial resources. Enough is Enough.
To Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and other financial service companies:
Here is the Petition:Reid Wiseman is the second-best cheerleader in professional football history.
Today we honor Baltimore's finest, Larry Henson, for representing #RavensNation and the National Football League.
Captain Dee-fense is the only NFL fan inducted into the Fan Hall of Fame, meaning that Viking World Order's Syd and Diggz and the iconic New York Jets superfan Fireman Ed were no match for the all-powerful Henson. (Thanks, Mark Sanchez.)
Earlier (without hashtagging ThrowbackThursday), the Captain tweeted a picture of him giving his speech at the Fan Hall of Fame induction ceremony two years ago.
Just after giving my induction speech. I owe it all to "Raven Nation. The greatest fans in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/llGWHIE4Ki — Captain Dee-Fense (@deecapt) June 5, 2014
How was the legacy born?
Years ago in the Memorial Stadium parking lot, a little girl spotted Larry Henson wearing his camouflage pants and asked him, "Are you the captain of defense?" That afternoon, Captain Dee-Fense was born. A 24-year military veteran, Captain D is now a staple at Ravens home games in his full purple military uniform. His presence is felt well beyond M&T Bank Stadium. As a community leader, he regularly speaks at hospitals, fundraisers, and charity events. During his induction speech, Captain D came to tears, saying "I would be remiss not to thank Purple Nation back home."
If you're not already, please 'Like' his Facebook page. He asked me to, so I'm sharing it with our readers.
We talked with Captain Dee-Fense and he had this to say about the upcoming year:
Dan, I'm very optimistic about the upcoming year. The defense will be much younger and faster with the insertion of more youth.There is competition at a couple of position which always brings out the best in a team. I'm curious to see who plays alongside Daryl Smith at the inside LB position. We'll also have some pretty good rotation on the D line. I'm excited and really looking forward to our new offense. With the addition of Steve Smith alone, it will open up the middle of the field for Dennis PItta, Torrey Smith and Marlon Brown. Steve Smith, the wily veteran who won't blow by anyone but knows how to find the soft spots in the defense. He will also bring a certain "swag" and toughness to the offense. I believe with the new OC Gary Kubiak and QB coach and if the O line gives Joe time, this will be his best passing year yet. Ozzie will get the O line taken care of before the season starts one way or the other to improve the running game. With Jacoby as the returner and we get a Top 10 performance from the defense and a Top 15 performance from the offense, we'll be right where we belong, atop the AFC North.
Boom. Can your team's most-amazing fan do that?
Good to know that the real Cap' plays for Baltimore -- and he's (definitely) not being overpaid.
Ravens fans -- not Vikings fans -- bleed purple.
Ravens fans -- not Steelers -- bleed black.CIA unit's wacky idea: Depict Saddam as gay
By Jeff Stein
During planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the CIA's Iraq Operations Group kicked around a number of ideas for discrediting Saddam Hussein in the eyes of his people.
One was to create a video purporting to show the Iraqi dictator having sex with a teenage boy, according to two former CIA officials familiar with the project.
“It would look like it was taken by a hidden camera,” said one of the former officials. “Very grainy, like it was a secret videotaping of a sex session.”
The idea was to then “flood Iraq with the videos,” the former official said.
Another idea was to interrupt Iraqi television programming with a fake special news bulletin. An actor playing Hussein would announce that he was stepping down in favor of his (much-reviled) son Uday.
“I’m sure you will throw your support behind His Excellency Uday,” the fake Hussein would intone.
The spy agency’s Office of Technical Services collaborated on the ideas, which also included inserting fake “crawls” -- messages at the bottom of the screen -- into Iraqi newscasts.
The agency actually did make a video purporting to show Osama bin Laden and his cronies sitting around a campfire swigging bottles of liquor and savoring their conquests with boys, one of the former CIA officers recalled, chuckling at the memory. The actors were drawn from “some of us darker-skinned employees,” he said.
Eventually, “things ground to a halt,” the other former officer said, because no one could come to agreement on the projects.
They also faced strong opposition from James Pavitt, then head of the agency’s Operations Division, and his deputy, Hugh Turner, who “kept throwing darts at it.”
The ideas were patently ridiculous, said the other former agency officer.
“They came from people whose careers were spent in Latin America or East Asia” and didn’t understand the cultural nuances of the region.
“Saddam playing with boys would have no resonance in the Middle East -- nobody cares,” agreed a third former CIA official with extensive experience in the region. “Trying to mount such a campaign would show a total misunderstanding of the target. We always mistake our own taboos as universal when, in fact, they are just our taboos.”
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to confirm the accounts, or deny them.
"While I can't confirm these accounts, if these ideas were ever floated by anyone at any time, they clearly didn't go anywhere," the official said.
The reality, the former officials said, was that the agency really didn’t have enough money and expertise to carry out the projects.
“The military took them over,” said one. “They had assets in psy-war down at Ft. Bragg,” at the army’s special warfare center.
“The agency got rid of most of its non-paramilitary covert action in the 1980s, after Bill Casey died,” said the third former official. “He was a big fan of covert action, but neither Bob Gates, who succeeded him as acting [CIA] director, or any after him, wanted anything to do with it.”
“There was a flurry of activity during the first Gulf War,” the official added, “but [Gen. Norman] Schwarzkopf made it clear he had to approve everything, and he basically approved nothing, except, reluctantly at first, surrender leaflets. By the late '90s there were very few people left who knew anything about covert action or how to do it. “
The leaflets also had “unintended consequences,” the former official added.
“In the perverted logic of Iraq, the Iraqi soldiers decided they had to have a leaflet to surrender, so they fought us to get one."
According to histories of the 2003 invasion, the single most effective “information warfare” project, which originated in the Pentagon, was to send faxes and e-mails to Iraqi unit commanders as the fighting began, telling them their situation was hopeless, to round up their tanks, artillery and men, and go home.
Many did.
Hear a further discussion of the videos on PRI's The World.The Russian translation of the words “versatile composer” could well be Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The Russian musician who walked the earth for only 53 years (1840-1893) had a big impact on Russian art. He wrote ballets, operas, symphonies and various kinds of other classical music. His work conquored the world and with that he was a pioneer who single-handedly opened doors for the next generation of Russian artists. Like a true musician Tchaikovsky was far from a teetotaler. Even for a Russian he drunk so much that many people label him an alcoholic. His early death however had nothing to do with alcohol, ironically it was water that killed the famous composer.
Tchaikovsky came from a respected family with a long military tradition. His great-grandfather Fyodor Chaika fought with great courage under the legendary tsar Peter the Great, who loved a good drink himself. But the young Tchaikovsky wouldn’t spend much time with his family. At age 10 his parents sent their son Pyotr from their small village Votkinsk in the Ural mountains to the big city Saint Petersburg. This early separation of especially his mother and her death from cholera 4 years later are said to have traumatized Tchaikovsky for life. And of course that trauma was explained as an explanation for his heavy drinking.
The meetings Tchaikovsky had with his German colleague Johannes Brahms are legendary. The dynamic duo met only 2 times in their life and both times they got pretty hammered. After several bottles of wine they discussed each other’s music in all honesty and became friends for life. But Tchaikovsky was not always a social drinker, he often used alcohol as a medicine during his depressive moods. In his diary he is very frank about this fact: “It is said that to abuse oneself with alcoholic drink is harmful. I readily agree with that. But nevertheless, I, a sick person, full of neuroses, absolutely cannot do without the poison.” Seems like this first step of the AA program was also the last one Tchaikovsky was willing to take. And why would he go any further? In 19th century Russia is was completely acceptable to get smashed on a daily basis and we can’t say he wasn’t productive with world famous pieces like Swan Lake and The Nutcracker Ballet and Suite.
Given the whole discussion about his heavy drinking it’s quite ironic that Tchaikovsky died because he wanted to drink water. During a major outbreak of cholera – indeed the disease that killed his mother – in Saint Petersburg the musician went out to eat with some friends and ordered a glass of water. Health regulations at the time (because of the outbreak) required that all water served in restaurants had to be boiled first. When the waiter told him that boiled water was unavailable, Tchaikovsky ordered cold and unboiled water. He then ignored all his friends who warned him not to drink it, saying he didn’t fear cholera. The next morning however the musician suffered from an upset stomach and diarrhea. For days he refused to see a doctor until it was too late. The moral of this story? Never order water when there’s beer on the menu. Cheers.
Micky Bumbar
More drinkers that left their mark on the world’s history.
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As the University of Louisville grapples with the terms of a controversial $6 million gift proposal from Papa John’s International CEO John Schnatter and billionaire Charles Koch, university-watchers might want to take a look at what Koch got for his money from his most recent taker, Arizona State University.
On Nov. 28 (Black Friday to many), ASU announced that the Charles Koch Foundation had agreed to donate $3.5 million toward the creation of a Center for the Study of Economic Liberty in the college’s business school. Along with $1.5 million from the W.P. Carey Foundation, the money will pay for the center’s operating costs for five years, including unspecified “positions and activities” in support of the center’s mission.
That mission, according to the Koch Foundation, will be to explore how “economics, policy and general well-being are influenced by individuals’ ability to make choices.” ASU joined Florida State University, West Virginia University, Utah State University, Clemson University and others in serving as potential collegiate launchpads for Koch’s libertarian view of a business-centric society unfettered by government oversight.
An ASU spokeswoman said Arizona law forbade her from providing a copy of the contract with the Koch Foundation. ASU did provide a clause saying that “all search and hiring processes for individuals employed at the Center, which will follow ASU’s standard procedures for selecting faculty and staff, is subject to ASU policies as set forth in its Academic Affairs Manual.”
The center’s new executive director, Scott Beaulier, is already aboard the Koch bandwagon. He received his Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University — a bastion of the Koch free-markets worldview — and before moving to Arizona led the Koch-financed Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University in Alabama.
In November, the Johnson Center published a report called Improving Lives in Alabama: A Vision for Economic Freedom and Prosperity. Among its findings: “Regulations and licenses impede business formation and growth, pose barriers to individuals to enter the workforce and to career mobility, and raise costs on consumers.”
University of Louisville President James Ramsey confirmed last month that U of L is in talks with Koch and Schnatter about a monetary gift and the establishment of a “free economics” center. The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, citing unnamed sources, reported on Dec. 9 that Schnatter would put up $4.5 million, Koch $1.5 million and that the center would be named after Schnatter.
For Arizona State, the Center for Economic Liberty gift was its second dip in the Charles Koch Foundation well in 2014. Earlier in the year, Koch gave $1.1 million toward the formation of the Center for Political Thought and Leadership in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
That center’s director is Donald Critchlow, a self-described “American conservatism expert.” And last July 30, the center ran an ad seeking to hire a faculty member with research background in “the relations between free-market institutions and political liberty in modern history.”
Reporter James McNair can be reached at jmcnair@kycir.org and (502) 814-6543.
Disclosure: In October 2014, the University of Louisville, which for years has donated to Louisville Public Media, earmarked $10,000 to KyCIR as part of a larger LPM donation.Former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) made an impassioned plea Friday to evangelical voters still on the fence about rallying behind Donald Trump.
“We don’t get a do-over,” Bachmann told TPM in a brief interview at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. “Because, four years from now, if Hillary Clinton is in, the demographics will have so changed in the country, because what she and Barack Obama and Ted Kennedy going back to 1965 have intentionally tried to do is bring in to the United States people |
Trump administration on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 17, 2017. / AFP / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Thanks to Republican efforts to rush the confirmation of Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. secretary of education, far too little is known about her understanding of education law and policy, financial interests or agenda for the nation's public schools. Unlike most previous education secretaries, DeVos has no record of commitment to public education as an educator, administrator or elected official.
Because of her sparse record and the lack of time provided for questioning in her confirmation hearing, senators from the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions submitted more than 1,000 official written questions, desperate to better understand her intentions for the position. DeVos' answers were alarming.
DeVos cherry-picked the questions to which she responded, blatantly ignored entire portions of questions and copied the same answers across different questions. She dodged questions by using the phrases "I look forward to working with you" and "I will review all current rules/regulations" 155 and 97 times, respectively. Sadly, the questions that DeVos did answer solidify that she poses a real threat to students nationwide. Her lack of knowledge of basic education policies and unwillingness to commit to key tenets of current law that promote equity should disqualify her from serving as secretary of education.
DeVos lacks an understanding of the functions and role of the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education exists to interpret and implement federal education policies; hold states, districts and institutions accountable to federal requirements and for student outcomes; and distribute funding for federal programs. DeVos does not seem to appreciate the importance and enormity of these responsibilities.
When asked how she would interpret or implement federal law, her answer to almost every question included some version of "I will work with states and local districts." Responsibility for most education issues – such as curriculum, staffing, scheduling and more – does rest with states and districts. But compliance with federal law is clearly the responsibility of the department. This response and approach will not promote clarity and equity for all schools and students. Congress grants the department the authority to implement the law; states look to the department to clarify the intent of the law; and students and families look to the department for protections that will supersede any one state.
Take the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. DeVos refused to commit to enforce accountability provisions in both the regulations and the statutory language. This enforcement is not a matter of states' rights; it's a matter of fulfilling the duties bestowed upon the department by Congress.
It appears that DeVos either doesn't understand the role of the department or plans to neglect her responsibilities as its leader, which should worry the many parents and students who live in states that have a history of providing students with a subpar education and trying to cover it up with low standards and accountability requirements.
DeVos dismisses the needs of low-income students. The largest stream of federal funding for K-12 education is the Title I program, which provides money to supplement state and local funding. When asked, DeVos would not commit to maintaining Title I funding for low-income students as it currently stands.
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DeVos also demonstrated a lack of understanding of the sacrifices some parents must make to ensure their students can attend even a free public school. She cavalierly dismissed one of the largest problems with vouchers and one of the main reasons they simply don't work for most low-income students when she said, "Just as the Pell Grant is not always enough to pay for the cost of tuition and fees at many institutions of higher education, vouchers in the K-12 arena sometimes fall short." Advocating for a program that most low-income students can't access because it would still leave private K-12 schools unaffordable, while decimating funding for students' only other option, is simply unacceptable.
DeVos demonstrates no knowledge of or appreciation for the laws that protect students with disabilities. During her confirmation hearing, DeVos did not know that the Individuals with Education Act – a critical civil rights law and the second largest K-12 program the department oversees – was a federal law. It appears DeVos has not adequately brushed up on her knowledge since then.
Her written answers show that she doesn't understand the basic premise of the law. DeVos used the fact that districts sometimes place students with disabilities in a setting different from their neighborhood school as a justification that private schools participating in voucher programs should be able to refuse to serve students with disabilities. DeVos said that since any given public school may refer a child to another school, a private school accepting public dollars should be allowed to do the same.
This shows a blatant misunderstanding of the act. Students with disabilities are guaranteed the right to a "free and appropriate public education" in the "least restrictive environment." A group, including educators, administrators and the child's parent, collaboratively decide the best placement for the child. The district ensures that every child is offered a placement specific to their disability. No public district refuses to serve a child, no matter the severity of the disability.
In addition, DeVos continued to show no concern for the unique needs of children and young adults with disabilities. For example, she refused to commit to promote competitive, integrative employment for all individuals with disabilities and said she would not defend the Obama administration's policy to make it easier for students who are permanently disabled and in default to discharge their student loans.
DeVos is unwilling to commit to defending policies that will promote inclusion and acceptance of all students. During the 2016 campaign, a Trump surrogate called the Office for Civil Rights at the Education Department "self-perpetuating absolute nonsense." It stands to reason, then, that DeVos was questioned extensively about her intentions for the office, and for promoting and defending civil rights more generally. Unfortunately, DeVos' answers showed no appreciation for the office's important role and no intent to protect the rights and dignity of students across the country. Most of her written answers were little more than stock language about her plans to review regulations and enforce existing statutes – never mind that such enforcement can look vastly different based on who is interpreting the law.
DeVos refused to commit to enforce civil rights protections and guidance that include reducing educational disparities on the basis of race, sex, and disability and reducing the use of exclusionary discipline practices such as out of school suspensions and expulsions; maintaining the office's role in responding to sexual assault; and responding to reports of discrimination against students based on sexual orientation or gender identity, just to name a few. Since enforcement of statutes can vary so widely, there is no way to know if she plans to stand up for the kids who most need advocates.
DeVos refuses to clarify her financial interests that may conflict with her responsibilities as secretary. DeVos dodged direct questions about her financial holdings in her written responses, failing to reveal the true nature of many of the investments she will maintain while overseeing the Department of Education. Despite her vast wealth and complex and varied financial holdings, the Senate committee made an exception for her that was not made for any other Trump nominee: to hold her hearing before the results of her financial disclosure paperwork were made public.
As a result, senators did not get a chance to ask her questions for the record about her financial holdings, including her investments in a large for-profit university slated to go public in the coming months from which she was not asked to divest, a company that refinances federal student loans into private student loans and dubious "brain training" company Neurocore (from which she will not be required to divest).
DeVos indicated very clearly in her responses to senators' questions that she expects her extended family will continue to make donations to candidates, PACs or political action committees, political parties and other partisan organizations. This is concerning because these donations may affect elected leaders' decisions about whether to challenge her education proposals, regardless of their merit.
On Feb. 1, two additional senators – Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced their opposition to DeVos as nominee for secretary of education. Like many others, they expressed concerns about DeVos' sparse record, misplaced priorities and lack of qualifications to act as the president's cabinet-level adviser on matters related to education and the nation's public schools. They are right to be concerned, as are the parents and students of the nation's public schools.
Lisette Partelow, Contributor Lisette Partelow is director of teacher policy at the Center for American Progress.Ever since I read Richard Dawkins’s book The God Delusion (2006), one thing has stayed with me above all the fiery polemics. It is an answer that Dawkins gave in the book to a question about priestly abuse of children: ‘I replied that, horrible as sexual abuse no doubt was, the damage was arguably less than the long-term psychological damage inflicted by bringing the child up Catholic in the first place.’ In the five or six years since I read this, it has disturbed me, put me off balance, to an extent that I would not have expected.
I was raised a Quaker, a member of the Religious Society of Friends, and lost my faith around the age of 20. I am as much a non-believer as Dawkins is, yet I look back on my religious training positively. We young Quakers were encouraged to think for ourselves and this was the foundation of my lifetime commitment to philosophy. The moral and social concerns of Quakers have been guides to my life as a teacher. In an entirely secular way, I see the inner light – what Quakers call ‘that of God in everyone’ – in each of my students. So I cannot see religious training as abuse. Nor is this simply because Quakers are a special case. There are Catholic beliefs, such as transubstantiation, that I could never accept, nor do I approve of every aspect of a Catholic education. But, intellectually, I am pretty small beer compared to thinkers such as John Henry Newman, the 19th-century theologian. Socially and morally, I could never measure up to people such as Vincent de Paul or Dorothy Day, whose actions were inspired by their religious beliefs.
Dawkins’s comment has led me to think seriously about the choices we make in being atheists, or theists, for that matter. Atheism, or its opposite, is not just about epistemology, that is, a question of whether or not it is true that there is no god or (Christian) God. It is also a matter of morality, of ethics: should one believe in a god or specifically in God, or should one shun such a belief? And if I believe in a god, am I abusing my children if I bring them up to believe in this same god?
The Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga, professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, provides the contrast here with Dawkins. Plantinga, a Calvinist, thinks that God has given us a direct way of insight to Him. As John Calvin wrote in 1536: ‘There exists in the human mind and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity [sensus divinitatis], we hold to be beyond dispute, since God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead.’ Plantinga would say that those who deny the existence of God do so only because their thinking is corrupted by original sin.
These questions of whether one has a moral obligation to believe – or not – in God seem a bit strange. If I were to ask ‘Is there an Eiffel Tower or not?’ it seems clear that the answer is not really a matter of morality, but of epistemology, a question of knowledge. It doesn’t make sense to ask ‘Should you believe in the Eiffel Tower?’ or ‘Should you tell your kids about the Eiffel Tower?’ But the God question – to restrict ourselves now to the Christian deity – is obviously different. By and large, one doesn’t bump into God at the supermarket or see Him on the skyline in Paris. Even if He speaks to you – as apparently He did to Joan of Arc – He does not necessarily speak to me. As Joan’s interlocutors made clear, it is not proven that we should believe that He was speaking to her, or you for that matter. You might be making it up or be delusional. While we can have a consensus about whether or not the Eiffel Tower exists, you can see that there is a dimension of freedom around the God business that does demand judgment and commitment.
Here the moral dimension comes flooding in, in two distinct but related ways. First, are you morally obligated to believe in God, or to not believe in God? Second, what are the consequences of God-belief? Ought you to promote a God-view for society, and teach your children about God?
Morally speaking, ought you to believe in God or not? The 19th-century English mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford spoke of the ‘ethics of belief’: you ought to believe only that for which you have good grounds. If you have a nasty lump and, after tests, your doctor says you have cancer, and you have just had a confirming second opinion, I’m afraid you should accept the conclusion. If you are hard up and spend your last pennies on a lottery ticket, it might give you comfort to think that you will win, but you have no right to believe that. It is not just that you shouldn’t have a big spend in anticipation – that is wrong anyway because you don’t have the money. Clifford would say that you should not kid yourself in the first place. It would be wrong – morally wrong – to deceive yourself.
Now what about the God question? Here people divide. Some, like Dawkins and me, think He doesn’t exist. Others, such as the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury, think that He does. People differ, but you can still come down hard on one side or the other. In my neck of the woods (Florida), most people don’t believe in evolution. I think they are wrong and that it’s not a matter for debate: they are truly, absolutely, utterly and completely wrong. Some feel that believing in God is just as clear-cut: on both sides are individuals who think the other point of view is truly, absolutely, utterly and completely wrong. I suppose if you feel this strongly, one way or the other, you know your moral duty, as Clifford would have it.
I cannot reconcile the existence of God with evil. For me, God died with Anne Frank in Bergen-Belsen
What about someone like me? Can I be so certain the other side is wrong? Like most reasonably sophisticated Christians, I take the Bible as a story of how a nomadic people came to recognise and refine their notions of their Creator. One can take the Old Testament in particular as an account of growth, from infancy through childhood to adulthood, until one has the loving God of the gospels: there are problems moving from the literal and the metaphorical and so on, but they can be worked out. On the other hand, I think certain things make the existence of God simply untenable. The very notion itself is confused – the God of the Christians is an uneasy amalgam of a Greek notion of the Divine, eternal and unchanging, and the Jewish God, personal and part of daily existence. What is more, I cannot reconcile the existence of God with evil. For me, God died with Anne Frank in Bergen-Belsen. Finally, I think all the stuff about faith is simply self-deception.
On the other hand, I can see why some choose to believe. Why is there something rather than nothing? I am content to say I don’t know, but others are not, and when they say there must be a reason, I think they have a fair point. Equally, I am happy to accept that consciousness, sentience just happens, even though I cannot explain it – how can a computer made of meat think? But if the believer can make sense of consciousness only by invoking a deity, I cannot stop them from doing so, nor do I very much want to. And if someone says, sincerely, that the only way they can make sense of great evil is via religion, I don’t dismiss them as stupid or insincere. A process theologian, following Alfred North Whitehead, might argue that God has emptied Himself of His power – ‘kenosis’ – so He can suffer with us. Only by seeing a grieving God at the side of Anne Frank as she lay dying can we live and make sense of this life. This explanation might be incorrect – I think it is – but I am not going to say that someone who believes it is morally wrong.
To be perfectly candid, I am groping my way forward here. But for me, belief in God would be immoral. In Clifford’s terms, I should not believe because I do not have the grounds to do so. But this does not imply that all who believe in God are immoral in their belief: quite the opposite. I am talking about people who sincerely wrestle with these issues and decide that God exists. For them it would be immoral to do otherwise. Am I being paradoxical or outright contradictory? I don’t think so. Such issues are vexed. At some level, you have to respect the integrity of those who disagree with you on the God question, when they have good grounds for their own beliefs. Of course, when it comes to the consequences of those beliefs, we might have to take a harder line, as we would if the grounds for those beliefs proved entirely unreasonable.
It would be wrong for me or another atheist such as Dawkins to indoctrinate our children with belief. I have followed this maxim myself: although I have a deep affection for the Quakerism of my childhood, I have been meticulous not to impose any of this on my five children. Equally, I think sincere Christians have a moral obligation to bring up their own children as Christians.
Here’s the rub, of course. If it were just a matter of bringing up your children as fans of Arsenal or Manchester United – or in my pathetic case, Wolverhampton Wanderers, reflecting my Midlands childhood – then no one would care much. However, when it comes to religion, it never is that simple. People want to run their own lives and those of others according to their religious or non-religious beliefs. In my society, there are major battles over gay rights, capital punishment, state welfare, the place of women in society and, above all, abortion. Everybody wants to tell others what they should or shouldn’t do, in the name of the Lord or otherwise. What people believe as a matter of their religion can impinge on society – can impinge on what I can do and believe.
We start to see that the moral dimension of belief it is not quite as simple as I have suggested. Suppose someone is a sincere Nazi, believing Jews to be evil and all of that. I obviously don’t want any children brought up that way. But does my argument commit me to defending the moral integrity of the Nazi? I don’t think so. I am prepared to accept the integrity of a Christian believer but only because I see them as taking a stand on what I judge reasonable grounds, even if those grounds do not persuade me. Anyone who is a Nazi today rejects the indubitable findings of modern genetics for a start, and so, whatever else, it is just not a reasonable position to hold. It is immoral to be a Nazi and it is immoral to bring up children as Nazis.
If Christianity means being something like a Quaker or a liberal Anglican or a Unitarian, then I for one am not too bothered by people holding those beliefs. However, let us suppose that part of your Christian belief is that gays are in some sense deviant. In the case of Catholics, their Catechism ‘reaffirms that every such inclination, whether innate or pathological, incurable or curable, permanent or transitory, is an objective disorder, an intrinsically disordered inclination’. But psychology and biology have taught us enough about the nature and origins of sexual orientation that to make this kind of claim is simply false. Let us say what seems to be reasonable, that about five per cent of people are gay. Apart from anything else, evolutionary biology says you don’t get those kinds of numbers without some good biological cause, being maintained by natural selection. So clearly and morally, I don’t think you should hold these beliefs – and I don’t think you should teach any children, including your own, these beliefs. They fail Clifford’s criteria of having good grounds.
I don’t like Catholics – or Protestants – teaching their children that gay people are ‘intrinsically disordered’ because such teaching leads to unhappiness and regressive social policies
Although I think Catholics should shun views about ‘intrinsic disorders’, I don’t see this as an essential element of their faith. Catholic thinking about sexuality is based on natural-law theory, articulated by Aquinas and going back to Aristotle, arguing that morality should conform to what is natural. Modern science makes us rethink the naturalness of non-heterosexual inclinations and behaviours and, taken in this context, it can be agreed that being gay is not only not ‘intrinsically disordered’ but quite possibly very intrinsically ordered. A gay person should love a gay person and not be caught in mauvoise foi (bad faith) pretending to be straight.
Lack of truth value is only one reason to reject religious teachings on homosexuality. I don’t like Catholics – or Protestants – teaching their children that gay people are ‘intrinsically disordered’ because such teaching leads to unhappiness and regressive social policies. Two of my students are heterosexual and are getting married: as a newly qualified notary public, I am doing the honours. Two of my students are gay: too bad if they want to do the same – gay marriage is banned in my state of Florida.
At the same time, I am wary of the state moving in on families to monitor what people tell their children. A case can be made for saying greater social evil might ensue from enforced conformity than from allowing false or even hurtful views to be propagated at home. But not everyone would agree with me. Plato, for instance, was prepared to force people to believe even false things for the sake of societal harmony. In the Republic, it is clear that Plato did believe in a god, although he was probably iffy about the Mount Olympus gods. But he thought god-belief necessary to keep order in the ideal society he was sketching. In the Laws Plato suggested that non-believers should be imprisoned, subjected to extreme thought control, served only by slaves and, when dead, buried anonymously. I think the dreadful regimes of the 20th century – Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia – have shown pretty clearly that forcing uniform beliefs on everyone causes great harm. It’s not at all clear that either uniform positive belief in God or uniform non-belief in God is necessarily good for society, regardless of whether God exists or not – or whether a belief in the existence of God is reasonable or not.
The social scientists don’t offer much definitive help. There are surveys, perhaps not surprisingly often backed by religious organisations, suggesting that religion does help in the quest for morality and keeping society humming along smoothly. One of my favourite findings (by the Barna Group in 2008) is that religious people are less given to gossiping than atheists. A little more seriously, in the US there is evidence – gleaned from tax returns – that people from states with higher levels of religiosity are more prone to give to charitable organisations, although often these are, in fact, their own churches. On the other hand, many European countries have less religiosity and greater state-supported social networks and consequent higher levels of health, longevity and the like. In other words, a state (eg New York) that endorses and enacts Obamacare might have higher wellbeing than a state that does not (eg Mississippi), even though Mississippi has both higher religiosity and charitable giving. A non-believer might be just as morally good as the believer, but prefer to contribute through taxes than through voluntary donations. One interesting finding, judged from internet downloads, is that US porn consumption is highest in Mormon-saturated Utah.
Whatever the side effects, then, it’s not clear whether we’d be better off if we were all made to believe in God, or if we were made not to believe in God. There is no simple answer, and we have to let people make choices, however much tension this might cause. Thus, I am brought back to Dawkins and to his provocative claim about teaching religion being a form of child abuse. At one level, I think he is wrong. If you have weighed the evidence and come out believing, then I would say that, morally, you should believe. But weighing the evidence means taking science and other empirical endeavours much more seriously than many religious believers are prepared to do. I’d say you have an obligation to teach your children your beliefs, thus purified, so to speak. However, if people hold religious beliefs that I consider false on grounds that should be accepted by all (like the findings of modern science), then I’d argue it’s wrong to teach those beliefs to children, and the rest of us have an obligation to speak out against what is happening.
I have spent a lot of my life on the podium, in court and in print arguing that crude biblical literalism is false and morally pernicious. Children should be taught about evolution. But this is not a call for enforced uniformity of belief. Of course, if parents are teaching their children views that could be harmful – say, that women are naturally suited to be multiple wives in a polygamous marriage – intervention might be called for. But generally one has to weigh the issues and decide. I am not about to send the thought police down to the local Baptist Church to check out their Sunday school teaching. You might decide that my thinking is flabbier than that of Richard Dawkins. Perhaps so. Or it could just be that matters are a lot more complex than he thinks and, while I might not have things quite right, I don’t have them quite wrong either.i What is Indica?
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NOTE: no loyalty points were earned during the Boxing sale.Musicians target trade with Rock Against the TPP tour as experts say today’s artists often turn to tweets, not tunes, to make political statements
In Philadelphia last week, a parade of big name musicians performed and expressed their support for the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. They included Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Paul Simon and Boyz II Men.
They offered a stark contrast to the Republican convention in Cleveland the week prior, which ended with a group of musicians explicitly telling the GOP nominee, Donald Trump, not to use their music.
As the nation watched the conventions, however, a group of artists led by the former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and Talib Kweli criss-crossed the country on the Rock Against the TPP tour, seeking to bring attention to the highly controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
The tour was organized by advocacy groups with differing political stances, such as Fight for the Future, the Sierra Club and the Teamsters, and pushes attendees to call on their representatives to vote against the deal when it hits the House floor this fall.
“Once people learn about the TPP, they generally don’t like it,” said Evan Greer, a campaigner for Fight for the Future and musician performing on the tour.
Rock Against the TPP is a rare example of mainstream artists pushing fans to take political action. There has been a steady decline in artists using their voice to call for political action outside carefully choreographed events such as the Democratic convention.
This is a far stretch from the 1950s and 60s, when mainstream success almost required an active political stance. The likes of James Brown, Bob Dylan and Gil Scott-Heron were deeply involved in protest and used their platform to push an agenda.
Carlos Chirinos, director of New York University’s Music and Social Change Lab, said musicians had not been very politically engaged in the 2016 election cycle. “There doesn’t seem to be a concerted effort these artists these days to tackle … the obvious issues surrounding the election,” he said.
Social justice issues have greater appeal to musicians. The magnitude and reach of the Black Lives Matter matter movement, for example, has forced usually apolitical artists such as Jay Z and Beyoncé to take a stance.
Chirinos said there was a difference between artists taking positions on social justice issues and actually calling for action. Similarly, while many have blasted the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, most such words have been reactionary rather than proactive. Twitter, Chirinos said, has made it easier to for artists to voice discontent without calling for action.
“Just compare a tweet, which seems to be the main way of writing for artists to raise their voices, with the full media campaign that [John] Lennon launched in ’71,” Chirinos said, referring to Lennon and Yoko Ono’s War Is Over campaign, in opposition to the Vietnam war.
The TPP, a complicated trade deal, is not the easiest topic with which to inspire political action. It is complex, and it has produced bipartisan disdain. Both Clinton and Trump have voiced opposition. Anti-TPP activists heckled Barack Obama during his speech at the Democratic convention.
Furthermore, the music industry is an ardent supporter of the deal, which contains several copyright protections. Greer said these measures would in fact force other countries to adopt America’s draconian copyright laws.
Each stop on the tour includes workshops, led by the actress Evangeline Lilly, on the inner workings of the deal – details have largely been shielded from public scrutiny – and a rally before the show.
More than 1,000 attended the tour’s first stop in Denver last week, and a few hundred showed up in San Diego on Saturday. Performers included Anti-Flag, Flobots, Downtown Boys, Taina Asili, Lia Rose, Ryan Harvey and Son of Nun. Talib Kweli will join the tour on 19 August in Seattle.
“I think part of the goal of this tour is to work with large, well-known artists who are going to help reach out to the mainstream audience,” Greer said.
At the teach-in events, attendees signed postcards that will be delivered to congressmen. Greer said she was blown away by the kind of people that showed up.
“I thought the teach-in would be more the activist folks,” she said. “It was a really wide mix.”
Rock the Vote and Global Citizens are the most notable political movements involving mainstream artists in recent history. Rock the Vote has enjoyed a great deal of success in encouraging young voters, although its 2014 midterms campaign faced criticism after stars featured turned out not to have voted in previous midterms themselves.
Artists are not obliged to lend their voices to political causes. Dick Weissman, longtime musician, ex-college professor and author Talkin’ ’Bout a Revolution: Music and Social Change in America, pointed out that to do so can often alienate fans. The Dixie Chicks, for example, called out George W Bush in a concert. Several radio stations subsequently pulled their music from playlists.
“Their particular fanbase … didn’t think it was appropriate for them to be criticizing government figures in the United States,” Weissman said.
According to Chirinos, if artists do want to enter the political sphere, movements such as Rock Against the TPP are the most effective way to do so.
“They’re not just telling you we’re upset about this,” he said. “Moving from expression to action is the critical point.”UO’s public records office routinely uses fees and delays to frustrate the intent of Oregon’s public records law, aided by the desultory enforcement efforts of the local DA and the Oregon DOJ. UO even charges its own student journalists fees, and refuses to let them use ASUO i-fee money to pay those fees.
The federal government is much more reasonable about fees – I get anautomatic waiver up to $250, as a blogger, and so do student reporters. And now the D.C. Circuit courts has significantly expanded fee-waiver for students. Frank Lo Monte has the news here:
… When a requester asks a federal agency to produce documents, the government normally is allowed to charge hourly fees for the time spent finding and reviewing the documents. But the federal FOIA statute limits what agencies can charge “educational institutions” to just the actual cost of making copies.
University of Virginia graduate student Kathryn Sack, aggrieved by a $900 bill from the Pentagon to locate records needed for her doctoral research, insisted that the “educational institution” discount should apply to her. A U.S. district judge disagreed, but on Friday, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit ruled in Sack’s favor.
“If teachers can qualify for reduced fees, so can students,” Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote in the court’s 3-0 opinion. “ Students who make FOIA requests to further their coursework or other school-sponsored activities are eligible for reduced fees under FOIA because students, like teachers, are part of an educational institution.”
Students affiliated with journalistic publications were already eligible for the fee reduction, which extends to “a representative of the news media.” But a student doing a research paper for a journalism course unaffiliated with a recognized media outlet – or perhaps with nothing more than the aspiration of selling the work as a freelancer – fell into a zone of uncertainty that the appeals court has now helpfully clarified. …PLEASE NOTE: Taking part in a Kadenze course For-Credit does not affirm that you have been enrolled or accepted for enrollment by the institution offering this course. Successfully completed For-Credit courses are recognized by the offering institution, and transferability of credits into or between institutions is at the sole discretion of the issuing and receiving institutions. Some institutions may require additional information from you in order to generate an official transcript from the institution. In addition, completion of a course for credit shows up on your Kadenze resume/portfolio, which can be valuable for presentation to potential employers, or schools to which you might apply.
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Be Polite. Show your fellow students courtesy. No one wants to feel attacked - ever. For this reason, insults, condescension, or abuse will not be tolerated.
Show your fellow students courtesy. No one wants to feel attacked - ever. For this reason, insults, condescension, or abuse will not be tolerated. Show Respect. Kadenze is a global community. Our students are from many different cultures and backgrounds. Please be patient, kind, and open-minded when discussing topics such as race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other potentially controversial subjects.
Kadenze is a global community. Our students are from many different cultures and backgrounds. Please be patient, kind, and open-minded when discussing topics such as race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other potentially controversial subjects. Post Appropriate Content. We believe that expression is a human right and we would never censor our students. With that in mind, please be sensitive of what you post in a Peer Assessment. Only post content where and when it is appropriate to do so.
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Students with Disabilities: Students who have documented disabilities and who want to request accommodations should refer to the student help article via the Kadenze support center. Kadenze is committed to making sure that our site is accessible to everyone. Configure your accessibility settings in your Kadenze Account Settings.On December 19, 2013, after a groundbreaking ACLU report that detailed the harsh realities for inmates sentenced to life without parole for nonviolent offenses, President Barack Obama granted clemency to eight federal inmates now known as “Obama’s Eight.” The group was the first wave of inmates to have their sentences commuted by Obama.
Jason Hernandez was one of them. Hernandez was once a prominent crack dealer from McKinney. He started out on the street corners of East McKinney at the age of fifteen, learning from his brother J.J., whose escalating crack addiction would propel Hernandez deeper into the drug game.
In 1998, Hernandez was convicted on fifteen charges related to running a major drug conspiracy. He wasn’t part of a gang or cartel, and he had never been linked to violence. Still, he received life in prison without parole. He’d just turned 21, and his life in the free world was effectively over.
But when J.J. was murdered in state prison in 2008 everything changed for Hernandez. He started taking paralegal courses and educating himself on incarceration rates for nonviolent offenders. Soon, he launched CrackOpenTheDoor.com, which sought to tell stories like his, with this mission statement:
We exist to bring awareness to a class of federal inmates that will perish in prison for reasons that have been dispelled by research, no longer supported by scientific evidence, and viewed by the public as racially discriminative towards minorities: first time and or non-violent crack cocaine offenders, serving life sentences without parole.
After his release from prison, Hernandez took a full-time position as a welder and now splits his time between his full-time job and traveling across the country to advocate for the release of nonviolent drug offenders serving life sentences. He’s also working on developing a curriculum for juvenile offenders and at-risk kids to help keep them out of prison.
Nearly two decades after his arrest, Hernandez reflects on his path from a rising teenage drug dealer to an advocate for people that the system has forgotten.
Story as told to Amy McCarthy.
The Beginning
Drugs came to McKinney, and they never left. It was 1992, and I was fifteen years old. I’d been out there watching my older brother, J.J. He’d drive to Dallas, pick up |
escape from the norm. A way “to spice it up a bit” or “to get some relief from the mundane.” But this narrow view clouds the reality that a temporary escape from the real world can actually lead into a more permanent less healthy attachment. The typical narrative of pornographic sex is pretty simple: strangers meet, have sex, and never see each other again. Even within that pattern there are consistent sub-patterns that are relatively standardized and predictable (read: mundane). Problems arise when porn viewers become more attached to the pattern than to the person they’re committed to having sex with. That attachment bonds the viewer to a fetish of impersonal sex and ultimately leads them away from personal relationships and back into pornography. This can lead to overuse and compulsion. It feels like escape. And it’s a lie.
Myth of Privacy: Many viewers justify their porn habit as no big deal because it doesn’t affect anybody else. This is naive. In addition to the myths discussed above – all of which have implications for others – we now live in a world where everything is interconnected and it’s virtually impossible to assume that your private behavior has no public impact. But consider the simple notion that porn use is a gateway to sexual escalation. Dr. Gottman has articulated a “typical” descent from porn to infidelity simply by seeking out increasing stimulation. Eventually private online activity leads to personal interactions and giving yourself permission to cross boundaries you swore you’d never cross. Once this happens, you compromise your own privacy as well as the privacy of your family and community. Privacy is a lovely idea. And it’s a lie.
By now you’ve figured out that when I say “myth,” I really mean “lie.”
Fun fact: During the course of my research for this article, I learned that the least popular day for Americans to view porn is Thanksgiving Day. I wonder if that tells us something about the relationship between gratitude and intimacy. If not, perhaps it should.
Click here to read the full article by Zach Brittle.
About the Author
Zach is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Gottman Therapist in Seattle, WA specializing in couples therapy. You can learn more about Zach and inquire about availability at www.zachbrittle.com.
The Gottman Institute is dedicated to combining wisdom from research and practice to support and strengthen marriages, families, and relationships. It brings the knowledge of research to therapists–and the insight of therapists to researchers. This link between research and practice reflects the collaboration of John and Julie Gottman, whose combined research and clinical experience is extensive, and incomparable.
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Raise awareness on the fact that porn kills love. SHARE this article to spread this message to those who need it and offer hope.I have three men in my life who are important to me above everyone else. My husband, my son and my father. These men mean everything to me. Watching Roy Moore go through the current media circus has made me fear for the future of these men whom I love. The idea that someone can lose a career, his reputation, and the public trust over accusations of events that happened decades ago — that no one was witness to, saw, heard, reported, or acknowledged in any significant way— is terrifying. Let me remind you of something that Americans hold sacred: the presumption of innocence.
Many people think that the reason why the American experiment existed was a result of religious persecution, but it wasn't the only abuse suffered. Another major reason people fled England was the unfair court system that put the burden of proof on the accused. If you were charged with a crime, you were guilty unless you could prove you were innocent. This led to many false imprisonments. The concept of innocence until proven guilty did not come into being in England until the 1800s. Until then, the law heavily favored the wealthy, who could produce the required number of witnesses (usually 12) to absolve them of a crime. The poor were most times unable to do so. The presumption of innocence was essential in the minds of our forefathers.
It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, “whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,” and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever. ~ John Adams, On Innocence, The Portable John Adams
It should disquiet you that this tenet of our belief system is being overwhelmed by Gloria Allred and her gaggle of female accusers that she drags out every election cycle. We've all heard the term "trial by public opinion," but until now that still didn't trump the actual trial in a courtroom. What's happening to Roy Moore is now becoming commonplace in American politics. A man is being destroyed based on rumors and accusations. There is no judge, no jury, and no justice.
How many husbands out there have had "closed door meetings" with women they work with because of sensitive topics like performance reviews or otherwise? If any one of those women decides she doesn't like the notes on her job performance, what's stopping them from leveling accusations against him that can't be proven, like Moore's accusers? What will stop them from destroying your family next? We used to be a country that demanded proof. Hearsay is not proof.OTTAWA -- Finance Minister Bill Morneau says two-thirds of Canada’s small business owners, including farmers and physicians need not worry about the proposed federal changes to the tax system because they won’t be impacted “at all” by what the Liberals have put on the table.
"We have no intention of trying to make it more difficult for the family farm," said Morneau in an interview with Evan Solomon, host of CTV’s Question Period.
The Liberal government’s proposal to close what it calls “unfair” tax loopholes has been met with fervent opposition from small business owners since the its three-pronged plan was unveiled in Ottawa in July.
The government’s proposal includes limiting a corporation’s ability to convert income into capital gains and dividends, halting business owners from lowering their tax rate by sprinkling money to family members regardless of their involvement in the business through dividends or by paying them salaries, and restricting the ability for private corporations to recover taxes through passive investments.
Morneau said that while the government will look at the potential unintended consequences being raised, two-thirds of small business owners in Canada that earn $73,000 per year or less won’t be impacted “at all” by the tax changes.
"We don’t want in any way to jeopardize the healthy family farm," Morneau said in the interview, adding that farmers will still be able to have family members working for them, and will have the ability to pass down their farms to future generations.
"Those are things that are embedded in our tax code now. They’ll still be able to have their family members working in their farm," said Morneau. "They’ll still have a million-dollar capital lifetime gains exemption. They will still be in a position that is advantageous for the farm."
Farmers have raised concerns that the changes would have financial impacts on their businesses, including putting incorporated family farms at a disadvantage to factory farms.
Many have taken to social media, posting photos and videos of themselves working long hours inside combines and tractors, refuting the idea that their businesses are tax shelters.
At the Liberals' Kelowna, B.C. caucus retreat, Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made numerous attempts both to the media and to their own concerned caucus members to diffuse anxiety that the proposals will impact small business owners.
The government says the most impact will be felt by those business owners who are making $150,000 a year or more, or those who have money to tuck away after contributing the annual maximum to RRSPs and TFSAs.
"This isn’t about small business, just to state clearly. We want small business to continue to invest in our economy. We want to continue with a very advantageous position for small business," Morneau said, noting that there’s been a threefold increase in the use of businesses incorporating in order to lower their tax bill and it’s this “broader professional class” that these changes are aimed at.
The tax proposal has been a rallying point for the official opposition, with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and his party vowing to go hard at the government for it once the House of Commons resumes sitting Sept. 18.
The federal government is now in a 75-day consultation window and will be soliciting feedback from people on its proposal until Oct. 2.
Morneau was non-committal on extending the consultation period, despite the concern being raised.
"This is absolutely what we think needs to happen to make sure that our tax system is working for the long term," he said.The Quick Way to get Minecraft Pocket Edition on Amazon Kindle Fire!
Wait you're telling me you can get Minecraft on the Amazon Kindle Fire? Why yes, fellow reader, that is what I'm saying. Currently, Minecraft isn't on the Amazon app store. However, You can get Minecraft Pocket Edition on your Kindle Fire quite easily in fact. And I'm going to be telling you how in very simple steps!
Exhibit A: Kindle Fire.
Step 1: You have to have Google drive or an Android account
Google Account
Step 2: Go to Google Play to get the game!
Step 3: Plug you Kindle Fire in your computer
Step 4: Put the.apk file into your downloads folder in your Kindle Fire.
Step 5: If you haven't already, install a Kindle Fire explorer (like Androexplorer).
Exhibit B: Minecraft on the Kindle Fire!
Step 6: Use your explorer and Install Minecraft!Detectives investigating a scam which saw a 90-year-old woman conned in to spending £50,000 on gadgets - including an iPad and a Playstation - have released images of two men they would like to question.
The victim also bought a mobile phone and two watches in Selfridges after someone pretending to be a police officer told her to buy them during a phone call.
She bought the items in her home town of Welwyn Garden City as well as central London after the hoax call on September 23, Hertfordshire Police said.
Detectives believe the telephone used to contact the pensioner was topped up in a convenience store in Midland Road, Bedford and have released CCTV pictures of two men seen inside the shop.
Detective Constable Mark Cotte said: "The two men pictured are believed to have been in the store around the time the phone was topped up and so we would like to speak with them as they may be able to assist our investigation."
Anyone with information can contact Hertfordshire Constabulary on 101 quoting crime reference B1/14/2834 or speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.Miamians are total suckers for their furry family members -- no surprise in a city where one in five of us snuggle up at night to a canine companion. That's more than 480,000 pooches in our sunny metropolis, which equates to many a wet nose, wagging tail, and puppy-whipped pet owner.
Adorned in tutus, leather jackets, or rhinestone collars (and even, sometimes, au naturel) dogs strut the streets of South Beach and the sidewalks of Coconut Grove with their pet parents in tow. You'd be hard pressed to find a city more friendly to the likes of Fido than our fair Miami. So what is it about the Magic City that makes us such a pet-friendly populous?
1. The canine social scene is tabloid-worthy.
Dog parks (including Blanche Park, with its recent $140K renovation) are a neighborhood priority all over the city. At Kennedy Park, your mirthful mutt can mingle with his favorite friends, big or small. At Perrine Wayside, pooches can sunbathe on the banks of a homemade lake. Pups can even romp the beach in Key Biscayne, Baywatch-style. In fact, there aren't a lot of places man's best friend isn't welcome in MIA.If you live in Pakistan, you would know that other people consider it their right to pry into your personal affairs (am I right, Imran Khan?).
Nevertheless, I thought, surely there is one relationship that is too sacred to be defiled by gossip?
Surely, basic decency would prevent people from making this one special relationship the subject of their nosy speculations; the relationship between a woman and her Dupatta.
Sadly, that isn't the case. My relationship with my Dupatta has of recent become talk of the town and I’m ashamed to say we have let this come between us.
You see, my Dupatta has recently been despondent. Drooping at the hem, its mukaish seemed more dull and the curves of its paisley embroidery less cheerful than before. I knew it was time for a talk.
Also read: How the hijab has made sexual harassment worse in Iran
Dupatta sighed when I suggested that, and fell into a dejected silence. “Come on now,” I said, “Is this about how many creases you have had recently? Sweetheart, you know you are always beautiful to me.”
“It’s just…” Dupatta responded, “Do you even love me anymore?”
“Darling! How can you ask such a thing?”
“Everyone’s been saying it. Don’t pretend you haven’t heard them. Everyone knows I’m not good enough for you.”
“Oh, you know how people talk. They don’t understand us, and they never will. Why are you thinking about silly gossip?,” I tried consoling it.
“Because, I – I – I’ve failed you!” Dupatta burst into tears. “I was supposed to protect you!”
I sighed heavily. I finally understood what Dupatta was so upset about.
“Now listen here. Is this about that day years ago, when I walked to the bank two houses down from my office to cash my cheque and a man grabbed my backside? Why darling! What could you possibly have done about that? You were just six yards of snow white crinkle chiffon!”
“But, but…everyone says it was my job to defend you! Maybe I shouldn’t have been white crinkle chiffon that day! Maybe I should have been a big, black chadar and then that young man would never have touched you!”
“Oh Dupatta, whatever material you were made of that day, it would hardly have mattered. You go around my chest and my shoulders. Unless I’ve been wearing you wrong for 10 years, I’m pretty sure you don’t cover my entire body anyway,” I said gently. “And besides my dear, it was mid-July then! It would have been torture to wear a big black chadar outside in the sun in that weather!”
“But…what about that day when you were walking home from the bank in your own gated residential colony, and that middle-aged man in the black corolla stopped his car beside you and insisted that you go home with him? By the way dear, going to the bank does not seem to work out well for you. Maybe you should give up the idea of having your own finances altogether. Maybe that’s the problem.”
“You were made of emerald green pashmina that day,” I replied, ignoring Dupatta’s remarks about my finances, “and even though I was starting to feel very hot, I still kept you draped around me, didn’t I?”
“And still I could not stop that man from making inappropriate advances at a woman half his age!” My Dupatta wailed. “Surely I must have done something wrong!”
“Now stop this silliness, Dupatta! There was nothing you could have done. Just like there was nothing you could have done when my friends and I went to Sheesh Mahal (Glass Palace) last weekend and that group of boys loitering there all turned around and kept their eyes glued to our bodies as we climbed down into the courtyard.”
“But I should have, I should have done something! Why couldn't I rip into a dozen little rags and wrap myself around each of the boys’ eyes like blindfolds? WHY?” Dupatta burst into fresh sobs.
“Darling, you’re getting hysterical…” I said, but it was no good.
“And when you were 13 years old and walking out of Alhamra with your siblings after watching a play and that young man shoved his hand between your legs!”
“My dear, how is that your fault?”
“Because, if only I had been made of reinforced concrete instead of off-white georgette! Why didn't it occur to me? Oh the shame, the shame!"
I waited for Dupatta to calm down before I tried to reason with it. “I know people’s gossip is frustrating, but why do you let this come between us now? We’ve been happy together for years!”
“How can you reduce our relationship to just the sexual? Is that all I am to you? What about everything else between us? You’re my safety net whenever I enter a ridiculously over air-conditioned room in midsummer, or when a passing car stirs up a cloud of dust on to my clean hair, or when the smoke and pollution is getting to my lungs.
“Who wipes my tears if I get upset and don’t want it to show? When it rains, who do I hold over my head?
“When the sun shines too bright on winter days, who creates a little canopy over my head?
“Who ripples out behind me in the wind on my friend’s rooftop during the monsoon rain so I can pretend I’m a Bollywood heroine?”
“I do…” said Dupatta with a watery smile. “I do all those things, but do I make you feel safe at all?”
I sighed. “Well, for some years, you know, at the beginning of our relationship, I didn’t feel safe without you. But as time passed, I wondered, isn’t there something wrong with a world where a 15-year-old girl doesn’t feel secure without a piece of cloth? Especially, when it doesn’t seem to help her safety much anyway?”
“Well, when you put it like that…I’m glad we stopped being codependent and moved on to a happier, healthier relationship.” Dupatta paused. “But…doesn’t it ever bother you that we had an Arranged Marriage, instead of a Love Marriage?”
I sighed. “Well, it is true that we were introduced by my parents. And it’s true we met under certain assumptions about women’s bodies. But since then and even before, we went out together so many times just because we wanted to, didn’t we? And now, we could very well leave each other. But we choose to stay together.”
“Yes...almost all the time. But what about when you go out without me?”
“You know we need space sometimes.”
“So…it’s not because I’m oppressing you?”
I started to laugh. “Where did you hear that?”
“Oh, you know, some white people on social media were talking about poor backward Muslim women.”
“Well, if we can’t let anyone within our own culture define our relationship, we certainly can’t let people from outside our culture butt in, can we? Besides, although I respect whatever religion you currently identify with, you know you really don’t have much to do with Islam dear. Your name comes from Sanskrit, and your ancestors can be traced back to Mohenjodaro, and that was long before Islam. What do those people know about us? Remember our first week at college?”
Dupatta nodded slowly.
“When that senior boy who became my friend was afraid of sitting on the grass and I asked why, and he finally admitted that he was afraid of bugs on the grass, and I spread you out on the ground for him to sit on?”
“And he said it’s nice when girls do things like that?”
“Yeah. I think he meant it’s nice when boys can say they’re afraid even of something silly like bugs and be treated with some chivalry in return.”
“Mmm. That was quite sweet, wasn’t it? I bet they never imagined you and I ever subverted gender roles together.”
“No, they didn’t. Because what they don’t realise is it’s not about whether we are seen together or not. It’s about us and what happens here behind closed doors, when I make the decision to go with you or without you, based on my own reasons of where I'm going, what I'm wearing, the weather outside, how I feel that day and a million other factors that only you and I know about. My dear, I really think no amount of cloth and no style of clothing are ever going to stop harassment and assault.
“Because a family member who tells a girl what to wear and a man who gropes at that girl on the street are both really saying the same thing: Your body does not belong to you. I get to tell you what to do with it.
“Harassment will only stop when we start to teach our children that only the person whose body it is should get to decide what happens to that body. That decision – whether it is about who touches your body or what clothes you wear on it – belongs to that person alone.”AT&T’s CFO said the carrier has a large chunk of unused spectrum that he said gives the carrier a “unique” position against its rivals. Specifically, AT&T’s John Stephens said the operator owns roughly 140 MHz of spectrum nationwide but is only using around 100 MHz of those holdings.
“There are a couple of things that are unique to us: One is our spectrum position. We have the largest – about 140 MHz, maybe more than that – of low- and medium-band spectrum, which gives us a unique advantage,” Stephens said this week at the Oppenheimer 9th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference.
“If you look deeper into that spectrum, you realize there’s about 40 MHz of that spectrum – AWS-3 and WCS – that we have acquired over the last few years that is very lightly, if at all, used in our network. So all the traffic we’re carrying today is carried by the first 100 MHz,” he explained. “And then if you look at that 100 MHz, some of it’s dedicated to 2G, which will be able to be repurposed next year as we move off the 2G services. And a large part of it is dedicated to 3G, which over time will also be able to be upgraded to 4G LTE or 5G.”
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Stephens said AT&T’s spectrum holdings will help the carrier meet users’ increasing data demands: “The data growth has been dramatic,” he said. “People are getting more functionality out of the phones.”
Added Stephens: “So what we have is we have a large block of spectrum that we’re ready to put into service over the next few years that will dramatically improve our capacity, because it will all be LTE, or at some 5G, which is much greater than the average capacity of our spectrum today.”
Interestingly, Stephens also said that building out new spectrum like WCS or AWS-3 is a less expensive way to increase network capacity than densifying a wireless network with additional macro sites and small cells. From a capacity position, he said, “we feel very comfortable.”
“So we have a spectrum plan for the next five years that’s very, very effective and efficient,” Stephen said. “And it gives us a unique advantage.”
Stephens’ comments on AT&T’s spectrum position are notable as Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile each work to bulk up their own spectrum positions and build out their spectrum holdings. Sprint, for example, is working to build out a wireless network on its 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings, partially via small cells. Meanwhile, T-Mobile is working to broaden its coverage through LTE services running on newly acquired 700 MHz spectrum. And Verizon, for its part, is also working to densify its network with additional small cells and other techniques.
Importantly, AT&T and the rest of the nation’s top carriers – except for Sprint – are participating in the FCC’s ongoing incentive auction of TV broadcasters’ unwanted 600 MHz spectrum licenses. That auction, if it is successful, could provide bidders with significant additional spectrum holdings.
For more:
- see this webcast
Related articles:
AT&T begins deploying 2.3 GHz WCS spectrum for LTE
Analysts: AWS-3 auction helps AT&T catch up to Verizon in spectrum ownership in major markets
T-Mobile to start AWS-3 spectrum buildouts later this year, ahead of AT&TTalking about the case, he said that finding the Sadhvi was difficult as the letter was anonymous. The investigating officers had narrowed down on 10 Sadhwis out of which only two agreed to speak up.
He said that while investigating the case, it was difficult for the CBI to enter the Dera premises as the goons of Ram Rahim would threaten them. He hopes that the Dera chief will be convicted in other cases against him.
Dera Sacha Sauda sect head was on 28 August sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment by a CBI courtfor raping two of his disciples in 2002.
The conviction of the sect head on 25 August was followed by violence which claimed 32 lives in Panchkula and six in Sirsa, besides leaving over 260 injured.May 27, 2015
Discussions of raising the maximum block size often turn into discussions of Bitcoin’s very-long-term future – “but what about when the block reward goes to zero” or “but how, exactly, will it all work if Bitcoin is used by billions of people per day…”
I’m going to upset a lot of engineers, but I think it is a mistake to try to predict what is going to happen that far in the future, and an even bigger mistake to spend a lot of time now worrying about what might happen ten or twenty years from now.
I’m inspired by F.A. Hayek’s “The Fatal Conceit”:
The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. To the naive mind that can conceive of order only as the product of deliberate arrangement, it may seem absurd that in complex conditions order, and adaptation to the unknown, can be achieved more effectively by decentralising decisions, and that a division of authority will actually extend the possibility of overall order.
‘Aha!’ you say: ‘Hypocrite! You’re proposing 20MB blocks, and that’s the very definition of centralized decisionmaking!’
Yes, that’s true– it is an attempt at a short-term compromise, to address the fears that, if left unchecked, the block size might grow too large for anybody but large companies or wealthy individuals to fully validate the entire blockchain.
I’ll discuss alternatives to that compromise in my next blog post.
621 KudosBrigham Young University student Keli Byers penned a bold open letter for Cosmopolitan this month, in which she challenges her school's regressive, anti-woman ban on sex. It's an incredibly brave move, considering that, as a teen, Byers was suspended from church for being sexually assaulted by an older Mormon missionary—a nonconsensual trauma that rendered her "unchaste" in the eyes of church elders.
Though she mentions being a member of a non-sanctioned group called the Young Mormon Feminists, it sounds like Byers is committed to remaining a member of her church. So this letter is definitely risky. Good for her.
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An excerpt, via Cosmo:
When I came to BYU last year, I signed its honor code and promised to live a "chaste life" — students who don't could get expelled. But my attitude changed after I joined the Young Mormon Feminists, a group that's not endorsed by the Church or BYU. We talk about how the Church doesn't see women as equal to men and how BYU is slut-shaming. The school's honor code forces women to dress modestly — no skirts above the knee — supposedly to help men control their thoughts. The group helped me reclaim my sexuality and realize my sexual assault wasn't my fault. I'm now in a questioning phase with the Church. I still think the idea of committing to someone for eternity is beautiful, but the Church could use improvement in the way it treats women....The truth is, I'm not a virgin. I'm a sexual woman and a proud feminist, and I don't feel bad about it. But it's hard to admit that, because women at BYU who aren't virgins are treated as inferiors and that's not fair. Talking about this could get me in trouble, but I want to start a discussion about changing an honor code that hurts women. BYU needs to know that it's OK for women to be sexual, and it's not OK to punish them for it. I care enough about this school to want to push for change. I'd rather be judged and scrutinized than silenced and shamed.
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I don't know what it feels like to have your life and community defined and anchored by a religious institution, so if I were Byers I'd cut and run and leave those dicks behind (or, rather, ahead). But, like I said, I don't have that personal, emotional, familial attachment to a church. So massive kudos to Byers for attempting to change this oppressive institution from the inside, for all the other women who can't or who don't think they deserve better.CUE Art Foundation is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by Shawn Thornton, curated by Tom Burckhardt. Titled Pareidolia, the exhibition includes small-scale oil paintings, videos, and altar-like sculptures produced between 1995 and 2017. “Pareidolia” is a psychological term that refers to the human brain’s tendency to see patterns where none exist—perceiving faces, images, or messages in nature or in everyday objects. Thornton’s intricate work references his own hallucinatory visions, the result of an undiagnosed brain tumor in his pineal gland, which he experienced for over a decade. He also employs a range of images and symbols that reference 16th-century Dutch painting, mandalas, hieroglyphics, and indigenous and mystical traditions, layering them into interwoven compositions that invite the viewer to approximate his otherworldly medical experience, and serve as a mode of research into that experience.
In his painting Witch Doctors at the Eye of the Solar Epoch (2008-2010), Thornton presents a map—a god’s-eye view of a watery city or an entire cosmos—where water and roadways emerge from curving sections of pale blue, white, and brown. The same blocks of color form a sailboat, viewed from the side. The dual composition is overlain with a complex network of symbols: tiny rainbows, Coptic crosses, directional arrows, and skulls connected to spinal columns, whose geometric vertebrae look like railway tracks, rendered in brown and orange.
Thornton’s process is painstaking. He often takes over a year to finish a single piece, working with meditative deliberation to transform it into an object of shamanic power. Curator Tom Burckhardt notes, “Thornton creates a Gesamtkunstwerk around his life and studio, making paintings, music, ritual-like pop objects, and clothes. All of this is in service of rebuilding his mental pathways after a serious illness—a kind of tantric idea of how to hold an image in one’s mind as a tool of consciousness.”
Shawn Thornton lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and East Madison, Maine. He earned his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2000, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2002. Thornton was the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, and has completed residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Ox-Bow School of Art. His work has been included in exhibitions at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Stephen Romano Gallery, and the Philadelphia Institute for Advanced Study, among others.
Curator Tom Burckhardt was born in New York City in 1964 and has spent his entire life living there. He graduated with a BFA in painting from SUNY Purchase in 1986 and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture that same year. He has been exhibiting since 1992 at various galleries such as Tibor De Nagy Gallery and Caren Golden Fine Art in New York, and the Gregory Lind Gallery, in San Francisco.
Burckhardt’s most recent show of paintings was exhibited at Tibor De Nagy in Spring 2015, and his 2005 cardboard installation FULL STOP has just completed touring the US for the last two years. He participated in the 2016 Kochi-Muziris Bienale in Kerala, India, where he exhibited a new installation piece, Studio Flood. The installation will be shown at the Pierogi Gallery, New York, in September 2017. Burckhardt has been a resident faculty at Skowhegan in 2007 and currently teaches part time at SUNY Purchase.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 32-page color catalogue, with texts by Shawn Thornton, Tom Burckhardt, and Becky Huff Hunter. The catalogue is available online, and free of charge to gallery visitors. For more information please contact Programs Director Shona Masarin-Hurst at shona@cueartfoundation.org.
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View catalogue
Catalogue essay: Shawn Thornton: Pareidolia by Becky Huff HunterDespite losing a thrilling European Masters final 9-8 to Judd Trump earlier this month, the five-times world champion is not happy with his game after losing to Michael Holt in the last 16 of the International Championship and Shanghai Masters and the last 32 of the English Open to Chris Wakelin.
Here Ronnie discusses honestly the ongoing challenges he faces to remain competitive, and why he may have to accept losing to become a winner again.
---
'I must improve to challenge for trophies'
It's not been a great start to the season.
In fact, I’d say it's been a bit of a nightmare.
I've feel like I’ve only played two or three good matches out of 15 - that works out at one good match in five which is not really going to be enough to win events these days.
To be fair, since winning the Welsh Open earlier this year, I haven’t gone beyond the last 16 of any event apart from losing to Judd in the European Masters final in Bucharest.
I partly put that down to not preparing right. Maybe I’m focusing on too many competitions, and not practising enough.
Or maybe I’ve been too playing too much exhibition stuff over the last 12 months. Who knows?
‘Time and tide wait for no sportsperson’
Maybe part of this process is about having some acceptance, and realising that I can't put all my eggs in one basket with snooker.
It was okay in my 20s and even my mid-thirties, but I’m now in my early 40s.
I'm not sure I want the pressure of it all. I’ve enjoyed branching out into other areas away from the table.
It is something I never wanted to do, but I felt I had no choice at my age and stage of my career.
Snooker is very hard these days. There are loads of events, and lots of travelling.
Unless you win tournaments regularly, there are not great rewards for the top players. But the demands are no less when you have to travel to Barnsley, Wigan and Preston to play qualifying matches.
Video - Ronnie O'Sullivan makes 137 against Xiao Guodong 02:15
It is not something I relish, but I accept it is part of the way the game has gone.
I admit it was hard sitting out the sport when I still felt like I had something to offer. That's why I came back to playing after some time out. But after coming back, the idea of playing was better than the reality.
What I really missed was being at the events and getting the buzz from playing: seeing the boys, the TV people and the tournament officials.
Video - English Open champion Liang Wenbo chats to Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White 02:41
They are like a tapestry of my life. That's why I've enjoyed the punditry work so much, and working at the English Open in Manchester earlier this month.
In fact, I got as much enjoyment out of doing the punditry as I do playing sometimes - that's great news as I look to the future.
‘I'm committed to snooker, but not only as a player’
I'll still play snooker just in case everything else goes belly up. That's the one thing I can do forever without having a boss.
But for now, it will have to fit in around all the other things I do. I need to make snooker become part of what I do, instead of all I do.
The fun bit is seeing if I can nick a competition now and again. I nearly managed it in Romania, but came up short.
I suppose the fans that follow me will have to get their heads around it, just like I'm trying to. I still know that on my game I'm capable of winning events. That I have no doubt about.
But finding the time to practice and play in most of the events at the highest level is proving very difficult.
You don't always want to go to the club and play for four or five hours, the drive is not the same as you get older.
Video - Ronnie O'Sullivan tells Judd Trump: 'We all love your naughty snooker' 01:00
Maybe I feel like I've had the wind taken out of my sails a bit, and to keep trying to come back into the game after so many lay-offs makes it tougher.
Hence I feel my form will be much more up and down as a consequence of not staying on top of things when I was flying.
The saving grace for me, is that I'm quite happy with my CV. In many ways, it's not a bad place to be.
‘Fans deserve to see more matches between elite players’
If at some point in the future, the game’s best players have |
the first team and to help us."
An opportunity and a test. It calls to mind Gareth Southgate's views on Loftus-Cheek last year. "There's a phrase: tough on talent," said the England Under-21 boss. "And he's a talented player. We keep challenging him." Conte has presented the next challenge in Loftus-Cheek's career. The good news is that the Chelsea youngster is already showing signs of rising to it.Tesla wants to open more stores and manufacture cars in China. That means it’s going to need more workers there.
To that end, the company plans to hire nearly 500 people in China this year, according to a report this week by Shanghai-based financial media outlet Yicai citing a Tesla employee. According to Yicai, the staffer made the comment during a university recruitment event, one of four campus events Tesla held in China this month, according to the company’s official account on messaging app WeChat (link in Chinese). The open positions include sales, engineering, and IT, according to the list seen by the Yicai reporter.
Tesla told Quartz it was kicking off campus recruiting in China, as in the previous year, and that the number of hires is yet to be determined. Earlier, the company told Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper that the Yicai number was a misstatement (link in Chinese), and that the number of open positions would depend how many stores Tesla opens next year in China. Tesla currently operates 30 stores in the country.
Jon McNeil, president of global sales and services at Tesla, said in a March interview with Chinese financial media outlet Caixin that it planned to double its number of stores (link in Chinese) in China this year.
The company has 89 full-time positions open (link in Chinese), focusing on sales and customer services, across 15 Chinese cities as of Aug. 29.
Sales of Tesla vehicles in China more than tripled in 2016, hitting $1.1 billion—that’s one-seventh of its overall revenue last year, despite Tesla’s sticker price in the country being 50% higher than in the US. This week, the Wall Street Journal reported (paywall) that the company has secured a deal to manufacture vehicles in Shanghai, without a local partner, which would be a first for a foreign automaker in China. Tesla also just opened its largest charging station in the world, with 50 Superchargers, in Shanghai.
Earlier this month, Tesla fired hundreds of workers at its plants in Fremont, California, where the company employs nearly 10,000 workers. A Tesla spokesperson said the firings were part of the company’s annual performance review process.
Correction (Oct. 25): An earlier headline called the firings at the Fremont plant “layoffs,” a characterization Tesla disputes under the terms of the 1988 WARN Act. The post was also updated with Tesla comment.PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Czech and Jewish community officials on Tuesday signed a memorandum to boost the security in and around Jewish institutions due to increased concern over global terrorism.
“The problem in Europe has been growing and we feel that Jewish institutions are threatened. An attack on our institutions may come any time,” Petr Papousek, head of the local Federation of Jewish Communities, told reporters.
Deputy Interior Minister Jiri Novacek added in a statement that “the memorandum creates the post of a security coordinator, who will represent Jewish organizations in contacts with the government.”
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“Security cooperation… will now be lifted to a new level,” he added.
The memorandum was signed by the Interior Ministry, the police, Prague city hall, the Federation of Jewish Communities, the Jewish Museum in Prague and Prague’s Chabad Center which seeks to boost Jewish awareness.
Prague is home to six synagogues including the Old-New Synagogue dating from 1270, Europe’s oldest synagogue still in use.
Prague’s Jewish Quarter is one of the most popular destinations for tourists coming to the Czech capital.Hello! I'm Orsi, the girl who ended up modeling most of the trees for this game. When I joined the team two years ago, I didn't think I would be doing much serious environment modeling. I was fresh out of school, hired to develop some interesting, hidden things around the island. For the first six months or so, I did a lot of brainstorming and playing around in the engine, but nothing that improved the aesthetics of the island in any significant way. However, since some of my projects involved mocking up certain types of trees, I realized that tree modeling is one of my favorite ways to unwind. So, when I got burned out working on a particularly challenging project, I started to volunteer to make tree sets.
previous tree updates Back then, most of the trees around the island were variations of an oak-like tree, seen in the. The landscape architects had plans for different tree species for each unique area, but the other artists didn't seem to enjoy modeling vegetation, so they mostly focused on the buildings and paths, and used the old trees we already had to complete the scene. The result was a lot of architecturally distinct areas, set mostly in the same generic oak forest environment.
When I added my first few tree sets, the other artists grew excited and started letting me model or modify trees for them, and certain places started to really pop out as unique, coherent areas. Here are some examples of the trees I created:
Near the starting point of the game, there is an agricultural field lined with birch trees. Luis, an other artist on the project, made some birches of his own. They looked nice, but they had short, stubby trunks covered up by with big circular clumps of foliage. When they were placed around the area, they just didn't feel like a birch forest to me. I missed the defining characteristic of a birch forest: the thin, graceful trunks that parallax beautifully as you walk past them. I asked Luis if he would mind if I made some birches of my own, and he was happy to let me do it. You can see the result above.
The autumn forest existed way before I joined the team, but also used to consist of differently colored generic oak trees. I made a set of maple trees instead, with dark, tall trunks and thin sprays of foliage positioned loosely around the branches. These were probably the most controversial trees I made. We spent a long time debating whether the impressionistic way the leaves were scattered around the branches was working with the style of the game or not. In the end, everybody seemed to like them too much to change them. I think this way of modeling the foliage allowed for the airy, glowing, golden feel I was trying to achieve. This was also the place I first realized what a big impact trees had in defining the area. Once I placed the trees, all I had to do was create some ground textures and grasses to create the forest you see above.
In this screenshot, you can see some oaks I made to replace Shannon's old ones. I created a set of three, in different stages of growth, which is usually the way I approach tree making. It is the best way to create an area that feels like it is alive and still growing. The huge oak in the foreground was one of the few modular trees I actually had to sculpt more detail into, since the trunk got so huge it needed to be broken up a little.
The pine forest is very dear to my heart, because it's my project...and I don't mean just the modeling. Jonathan had three puzzles in a mostly empty area, and I decided to explore the concept behind them a bit more. I ended up designing and modeling this whole area, including the puzzles (with tons of feedback and guidance from Jon, of course). The pine trees here were the landscape architect's idea, and I was very excited to model them. I tried to stay away from making them all look too Christmas tree shaped, so I found reference images of older, taller pines with saggy, less regularly spaced branches, and decided to go with that. I especially love the way the light bounces around in the messy foliage.
The landscape architects also asked for some mangled, old olive trees in the agricultural area. This was a nightmare to figure out how to model to fit our style, since we don't usually have a lot of detail in objects, and the reference images they provided had crazy twisted trunks full of holes and cracks. I ended up sculpting the trunks in Zbrush, and decimating them, leaving some hard edges. We use this process a lot for other things around the island, but it was the first time I used it for trees. I made the branches modular, and created two significantly different trunks, which the artists can use to combine into even more messed up, mangled shapes. I am still not entirely sure whether I like these or not.
These flowering apple trees took me a while, and they are still not very efficiently textured, but they are getting there. The challenge was to get the silhouette looking like there are branches coated with flowers poking out all over the place. I feel far from finished with these trees, but they seem to be getting a lot of positive feedback, which surprises me constantly.
The eucalyptus forest is a little transitional area I decided to dress up when I had a week to spare. I didn't get very far with the trees, there is actually only one eucalyptus model, and it's not very detailed. I had some difficulty with the very directional foliage. All the leaves had to point down, which was very different form the way I used to make foliage before, where I'd just place planes at random angles in a big bunch. I'm sort of glad I left it where I did, however, because I learned a lot from the following plant I made, and I can apply it to the problem when I revisit these trees during polish.
This last tree is more of a vine, but it's one of my latest creations, and I'm very happy with it. It's a modular wisteria set. There are two bunches of flowers, two trunks (for a corner and for a flat wall), and an independent bunch of vines. All these different pieces can be placed to create varied shapes, to make each plant look unique and and adapt to the surface it's climbing on. The way I created the flowers is how I'm going to re-do the eucalyptus foliage in the future, and I imagine that will make those trees a lot more interesting and beautiful.image courtesy of Michelle Taylor
Happy Galentines everyone! Miss Fats is a HUGE supporter of this made-up holiday. She doesn’t need any excuses to brunch or celebrate with girlfriends, but whatever, she’ll take it. Since Miss Fats remains technically single this year (though obvi her better half of Miss Fats is her real valentine), Galentines is getting a double feature: february 13 AND 14. So for all you out there looking to share galentines (or valentines) with friends, Miss Fats is sharing some ideas for budget entertaining.
This past weekend she hosted two little get togethers: a larger dinner celebration for a friend, and a valentines cookie decorating dinner party. Since she’s in grad school, budgets are tight. However Miss Fats is obsessed with a deal. And both of these parties were a steal. (She hopes her excessive enthusiasm for thriftiness doesn’t cheapen the experiences for those readers out there who might have attended one of these shindigs!) Now, none of this is Martha-style, but both parties are fun, casual ways of providing guests the opportunity to play with their food while you don’t have to do all the work. Now put your hostess hats on and get the partay started (sorry, that just happened).
Gyoza Making Party: 12 guests, 2 hours prep (3 including dessert)
Yeah, Miss Fats just wanted to give you a taste of just how epic gyoza party is. We’re talking way too much food, satisfied guests and activities: all for about $30. Yep. That’s right: $30. For 12 people. INCLUDING dessert. For a party of this size it will require a bit of leg work, but this is easily scaled down depending on the number of guests. Miss Fats is going to give you the run-down for the gyoza and sides, and for the dessert, you can head on over to Monday’s post. So here’s how you do it:
Shopping List:
Round gyoza wrappers. This can be a little tricky to find, but for the most part, grocery stores (Whole Foods or fancier places) will carry them. The ideal spot to find these, however, is an asian grocery store. They’re dirt cheap (about $1.50) and can easily be frozen/hoarded. For 12 people, Miss Fats used 3 packages of about 40 wrappers. (FEAST)
1 head of cabbage
1 package of firm tofu
1.5 lbs of ground pork
1 large ginger root
1 bunch of green onions
About 1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tbs sesame oil
Ingredients for Obachan Spinach (Miss Fats quadrupled this recipe)
2 cups uncooked white rice
Any assortment of dipping sauces you’d like. (Miss Fats likes to keep it simple: she just mixes half white vinegar and soy for her gyoza dipping sauce).
Prep:
Basically, get ready to spend at least an hour chopping. Miss Fats recommends turning on your favorite tunes and entering into a mental chop zone. For lazy people out there, you can purchase things like shredded cabbage to make your live easier, though this will up the budget a bit.
Essentially all that needs to be done pre-guest arrival is chopping up and mixing together all the ingredients to make the filling. This can even be done the day before (which Miss Fats almost prefers because it gives the yummy pork and tofu time to hang out in the flavorings). For this past weekend’s party, Miss Fats opted to do both vegetarian and pork gyoza. This means chopping everything up and simply dividing the ingredients between two giant mixing bowls. Thinly chop the green onion and shred the cabbage (Miss Fats probably used about 4/5 of the large head of cabbage). Grate in about 2 inches of fresh ginger into each bowl. Roughly chop the tofu (do not worry about this- it will look like crap) and throw all of it into one of mixing bowls). In the other, dump in the pork. Divide the soy, and sesame oil between the two bowls (this does not need to be exact by any means) and mix!
Store your filling in the fridge until guest arrival. Meanwhile, make that Obachan Spinach, and about 30 minutes prior to guest arrival, begin the rice.
Party Activities:
At your dining room table, set up your big bowls of filling, wrappers with small spoons to go around, a couple of trays or baking pans to put the gyoza on, and a few bowls of water.
Now it’s time to teach folks how to fill. Miss Fats thinks that this blog did a much better job documenting the process, so she asks you to head over there for instructions. While peeps are hard at work, you should set up a couple of nonstick frying pans and a steamer if you have one, on the stove. For a crowd this size, Miss Fats highly recommends as many cooking pans as possible. It seriously speeds up the process.
To pan fry the gyoza, heat some canola or vegi oil to medium high in a nonstick pan. Once the oil is hot, place the flat side down and allow to brown (about 1-2 minutes). Pour about 2 tbs of water into the pan and immediately cover with a lid. Reduce heat to medium and allow the gyoza to steam through (about 7 minutes for the pork, less for the tofu). (Just break one of those bad boys open to make sure they’re all cooked.) Repeat this process until your giant trays of gyoza are all done! (This is exactly why Miss Fats recommends also using the steamer. That shit has three levels and doesn’t need to be attended to. Plus then guests get even more food options.)
To serve these up, Miss Fats just sent them out on some large trays and allowed people to grab what they wanted, along with the big bowls of rice and spinach. Now there’s a rule to this party that Miss Fats fully believes in upholding. There can be NO LEFTOVERS. You and your guests did all that work, and frankly, those gyoza aren’t that great the next day, so get your fat pants on and FINISH them.
Cookie Decorating Party: 5 guests, 2 hours prep (plus 1 hour a day prior)
This delightful little holiday-themed get together was a fun way for Miss Fats to share her love of baking with her friends, while indulging in some much-needed child-like crafting and nostalgia. This party was basically part two of last week’s card crafting sesh, and this time it was Miss Fats’ turn to host. For dinner, she kept it light with a hearty winter salad of brown rice, baby spinach and roasted sweet potatoes. This allowed for maximum cookie consumptions during decoration. The budget for this party came to about $30, which when you compare to the gyoza party, is not as much of a deal. However this could easily be subsidized by asking folks to bring along sprinkles and candies. (Sprinkles ate up this budget.) Miss Fats also recommends spreading the prep over two days, because the sugar cookie dough or even the baked-off cookies can easily be stored over night.
Shopping List:
3 sweet potatoes
6 cups baby spinach
1 small onion
2 cups uncooked brown rice
1 inch fresh ginger
About 2 tbs honey
About 1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbs curry powder
2 lemons
Feta cheese
1 1/2 cups butter (for all recipes)
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups flour (plus extra for rolling)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
Any assortment of sprinkles
Ziplock bags
Day Before: make cookie dough and bake cookies
The day before the party, Miss Fats recommends just banging out these easy cookies. Her favorite recipe is an old-school dough from an ancient copy of Joy of Cooking. She will share it with you below:
Sugar Cookie Cuouts
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1. Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and a dash of salt. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in flour. Divide dough in half and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out your dough on a floured surface to about 1/3 inch thick. Cut out your hearts and bake for about 8 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies), or until edges are ever-so-slightly golden.
Store these in an airtight container for the next day.
Day of Prep:
With all that pesky baking out of the way, all that needs to be done is the salad and frosting. About an hour before the party, cook the brown rice. Then work on the following components:
Roasted Sweet Potatoes:
3 diced sweet potatoes
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 inch grated ginger
2 tbs melted butter
2 tbs honey
1 tbs curry powder
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk honey, ginger, butter, oil and curry powder together. Add potatoes and onion and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for about 30 minutes or until they are tender and browned.
Dressing:
Juice of 2 lemons
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tsp honey
About 2 tbs olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1. Whisk together all the ingredients. Add warm cooked brown rice and toss to coat.
To serve up this salad, lay down a bed of the baby spinach, followed by about a 1/3 cup of the brown rice, a couple of heaping spoon fulls of the potatoes, and finally top with a little feta. Pretty, heathy and delicious.
Ok ok, so far this party sounds pretty contained and bougie, right? Well Miss Fats doesn’t do under-indulgent, prim and proper. Not to mention, this valentines day themed party was seriously lacking chocolate. So, because this meal was looking too healthy, Miss Fats decided at the last-minute, to throw together some salted double chocolate chip cookies for snacking (got to keep the energy up).
Unfortunately, these were not factored into the budget because Miss Fats literally had all the ingredients on hand (obvi.) She used Martha’s double chocolate chip cookie recipe, added salt, and simplified them by refusing to use more than one bowl. Simply skip a couple of steps by melting the chocolate and butter together in the microwave, and moving directly to step 2 of the recipe. Once the batter is done, sprinkle a little kosher salt over top. Miss Fats also recommends allowing the dough to sit out on the counter for about 30 minutes to firm up: she found her second batch to be a lot fluffier once it had sat for a bit.
Chocolate and Salt: literally one of the greatest combos in the world.
Now after enjoying your salads and cookie apps, Miss Fats recommends stepping away from your guests to make the buttercream frosting. This will take you literally 5 minutes.
Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup butter (2 sticks), soften to room temp (VERY IMPORTANT)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
food dye (optional)
optional: make your frosting chocolate buttercream. All you need is 1/4 cup chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1. Beat the butter on high for about 2 minutes until fluffy, and light in color. Scrape down sides. Sift in the sugar in batches (so as not to make a huge mess), beating to combine each time. Add the vanilla and salt. Beat to combine. Optional chocolate: remove about 2/3 of the frosting into other bowls. Beat in melted chocolate into the remaining frosting.
2. In separate bowls, divide your frosting and mix in whatever colors you’d like. Miss Fats kept it simple with white, pink and chocolate. To make little pastry bags, distribute frosting into ziplock bags and simply cut the tip off of one corner.
And now it’s decorating time. Miss Fats kept it simple my throwing down some paper bags to protect the table and allowed people to just have at it.
So much craft delight, with treats to take home.
Clearly Miss Fats’ friends are not the most adept pastry chefs, but it’s about the experience, people. Plus they all taste damn good.
Miss Fats hopes this inspires you to celebrate with your girlfriends today. In the very least eat a waffle or watch a chick flick.
AdvertisementsApollo 13
Since we first turned our dreams of travelling to the moon into a reality, there has been controversy. Some believe that most of the landing footage was faked, and others believe we never even went there, despite there being plenty of evidence suggesting we did. But here’s the tricky part — some of the footage from various Apollo missions might indeed have been faked or even “refurbished.” Many insiders have also accused NASA of doing things like this, but, based on the information we have from sources like these, and many others, it seems the problem is not that we didn’t get to the moon, but rather what we found — and concealed from the public — when we got there.In fact, the Russian government has accused the U.S. of concealing film footage. Agency insiders, like Norman Bergrun (view some of his publications for NASA, where he worked for more than a decade, here ), or Bob Dean, United States Army Command Sergeant Major, who also served at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) of NATO as an intelligence analyst, are a few out of many.“Ladies and gentlemen, my government, NASA, which many of us in the United States say stands for Never A Straight Answer, proceeded to erase 40 rolls of film of the Apollo Program — the flight to the Moon, the flight around the Moon, the landings on the Moon, the walking guys here and there. They erased, for Christ’s sake, 40 rolls of film of those events. Now we’re talking about several thousand individual frames that were taken that the so-called authorities determined that you did not have a right to see. Oh, they were ‘disruptive,’ ‘socially unacceptable,’ ‘politically unacceptable.’ I’ve become furious. I’m a retired Command Sergeant Major. I was never famous for having a lot of patience.” (source) What, exactly, is on the moon, remains a mystery for many. For example, Dr. John Brandenburg, who was also the Deputy Manager of the Clementine Mission to the Moon (( Source: page 16 of 18 )), which was part of a joint space project between the Ballistic Missile Defence Organization (BMDO) and NASA that went searching for water at the Moon’s poles in 1994, blew the whistle and revealed that it was actually a photo reconnaissance mission to check out structures on the back side of the moon — structures that were put there by somebody else.Brandenburg has also worked for the government with top secret security clearances on various projects. He worked on the Rocket Plume Regolith Interactions on the Moon and Mars, the Vortex theory of Rocket engine design, and the combined Sakharov-Kaluza-Klein theory of Field Unification for purposes of space propulsion and Mars science. He also invented the Microwave Electro-Thermal plasma thruster using water propellant for space propulsion.You can listen to a lecture of his here where he goes deeper into his take on the extraterrestrial issue.As you can see, these are just a few out of many people with high credibility trying to let the world know that something strange is going on.“Shortly after I retired from the Air-Force, and I still was maintaining contacts with friends and associates at the various bases and one Col Parker in the Air Defence Command, the Space Command... mentioned an incident which I later confirmed. A spacecraft went to the rescue of Apollo 13, and they accompanied Apollo 13 on their voyage around the moon and back to Earth, and on two occasions they thought they might have to transfer the crew to their spacecraft. But they saw them safely back to the Earth.”The quote above comes from Colonel Ross Dedrickson, who, in the 1950s, was responsible for maintaining the inventory of the nuclear weapon stockpile for the AEC and accompanying security teams checking out the security of the weapons, among many other duties throughout his career.He is one of hundreds of military whistleblowers with verified backgrounds to have been brought forth by Dr. Steven Greer’s Disclosure Project. His testimony about UFOs — specifically about UFOs and nuclear weapons — can be corroborated by a wealth of information and evidence that’s now available within the public domain. (To read more about a few of these encounters, click here.) Many of these whistleblowers have made multiple appearances at the National Press Club in an effort to get this information out to the world, with the most recent example being the Citizens Hearing on Disclosure, which took place a few years ago.Below is a video of Dedrickson’s testimony.A Massachusetts woman accused of encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself before his suicide was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Friday.
Michelle Carter faces up to 20 years in prison after her conviction in the death of 18-year-old Conrad Roy III — who died from carbon monoxide poisoning inside his pickup truck in July 2014.
Juvenile court Judge Lawrence Moniz said Carter was “mindful” of the toxic environment building in Roy’s pickup — yet encouraged the troubled teen to get back in the vehicle.
“She is mindful that the process in the truck will take approximately 15 minutes,” Moniz said during Friday’s hearing in Taunton.
Carter did that despite knowing “all of the feelings” Roy had shared with her previously, including a prior attempt to drown himself, Moniz said.
“Instructing Mr. Roy to get back in the truck constituted wanton and reckless conduct, creating a situation where there’s a high degree of likelihood that substantial harm would result,” Moniz said.
Carter — who spoke to Roy in a series of text messages and phone calls during his suicide bid — took no action to help Roy by calling either police or his family despite knowing of his plan and location, Moniz said.
“She did not issue a simple additional instruction: Get out of the truck,” he continued.
Moniz also banned Carter from contacting Roy’s relatives and ordered her not to obtain or apply for a passport. Carter is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 3.
Text messages between the two shown in court revealed that Carter, then 17, told Roy to “get back in” the vehicle as it filled with the lethal gas.
“You can’t think about it,” Carter allegedly texted Roy on the day of his death. “You just have to do it. You said you were gonna do it. Like I don’t get why you aren’t.”
Prosecutors also noted that Carter sent a text to a friend from high school about two months after Roy’s death, admitting she was to blame.
“It’s my fault,” Carter texted to classmate Samantha Boardman. “I could have stopped him but I told him to get back in the car.”
Carter also told Boardman she was worried about what investigators would find on Roy’s phone.
“I’m done,” Carter wrote in one message shown in court. “His family will hate me and I can go to jail.”In his inaugural address, Donald Trump vowed to put America first, with a commitment to bring back jobs, rebuild our infrastructure, and “harness the energies, industries, and technologies of tomorrow.” He resoundingly rejected the globalist status quo and excoriated the political elite for their excesses. Trump proclaimed, “The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.”
After a dizzyingly energetic first week as president, in which he’s issued over a dozen executive actions, it’s safe to say Trump is making good on his promises.
Four of those actions have been executive orders. The first, signed on Inauguration Day, has to do with Obamacare. The most recent, signed on Friday, orders a temporary ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. But it’s the middle two, signed by Trump on Wednesday, that I want to focus on.
The two Wednesday executive orders, like Trump’s other actions thus far, instruct the government to take steps that would fulfill pledges he made on the campaign trail. These in particular concern immigration and border security.
Trump has ordered that work on a border wall between the United States and Mexico be started immediately and made sanctuary cities ineligible for federal grant funds, among other actions.
Trump’s views on globalization, notably those on immigration and trade, are troubling, and will give us policies that fail to revitalize the economy or “Make America Great Again.”
Walling ourselves off from our southern neighbor is not the appropriate response to a stagnating economy and civil unrest. We should capitalize on improved technological capabilities and infrastructure in Mexico, as well as increasing urbanization rates.
Trump began his campaign with a promise to “build a great, great wall on our southern border” that Mexico would pay for. In fact, throughout the campaign, this promise was branded into an effective call-and-response tactic deployed at every rally, to very great effect.
He illustrated a grim portrait of the Mexican migrant and turned the U.S.’s relationship with a key trade partner on its head. His engagements with Mexican officials, such as former president Vincente Fox Quesada (2000–2006), and with Mexican members of the media, such as Univision’s Jorge Ramos, have been adversarial, contributing to an atmosphere of uncertainty between the two nations moving forward.
Just yesterday, in light of Trump’s decision to follow-through on his wall proposal, Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto canceled a meeting with him that had been scheduled for next week.
Trump’s portrayal of Mexicans as the enemy is built on the legacy of militarizing the southern border and initiatives such as “Operation Wetback” (1954) and “Operation Hold the Line” (1993) which, as Miguel Antonio Levario explains, were meant to “guard against what some people along the border called an ‘immigrant invasion.’”
Judging by these historical precedents, and current rhetoric, Trump’s wall is meant to protect us from an enemy.
If Trump’s wall is built, we are not only walling out Central and Southern Americans, but are walling ourselves in, and isolationism has consequences. The wall is lousy foreign policy, and his anti-globalist sentiment will also result in poor economic policy.
Wilbur Ross, Trump’s nominee to be commerce secretary stated in his confirmation hearing, “NAFTA is logically the first thing for us to deal with,” and that it would be a “very, very early topic in the administration.” There are certainly opportunities to improve the trade agreement, but it is not clear that Trump has the competence, resources, or willingness to negotiate a deal that both Mexico and Canada would agree to. Additionally, the signals sent by Trump on the U.S.’s relationship with Mexico have resulted in “a growing number of Mexican officials and businesspeople asking what price is worth paying to stay in [NAFTA].”
Regardless of the politics of the situation, the U.S. and Mexican economies are deeply intertwined. After 15 years of NAFTA, “at least 80 percent of Mexico’s trade is with the U.S., and Mexico is the second largest destination for U.S. goods.” Forbes highlights, “In 2011, the most recent year for which this data is available, Mexican industries consumed $140 billion in U.S. intermediate goods, and U.S. industries consumed $111 billion dollars’ worth of Mexican inputs. This is direct evidence of joint production taking place between the United States and Mexico on a massive scale.”
Trump’s antagonistic view of free trade and globalization, and his elevation of fanatically anti-globalist “counselors” such as Steve Bannon, will likely lead his administration to enact harmful “pro-business” policies that will ultimately weaken the economies of Mexico and the United States. What’s more, as The Financial Times’ Martin Wolf projects, engaging in a trade war with Mexico will likely lead to them turning to a left-wing populist, which has huge geopolitical ramifications.
Instead, we should look to the Bracero Program as an example for how Mexico and the United States can work together to exploit their respective, comparative advantages. This isn’t saying that the Bracero Program was perfect — I submit that there were serious injustices committed against Mexican migrants — but the framework for the program is better than the “disaster” H2-A program we have now.
Mexico is our neighbor, and one of our biggest trading partners, which should naturally create an incentive for the Trump administration to work closely with them on solutions beneficial to both sides. By allowing a more fluid movement of workers and goods between our borders, both of our countries would benefit economically.
The European Union serves as an example of the power of economic cooperation. The World Economic Forum found that collaboration between the three founding members of the EU has facilitated impressive growth in real GDP per capita over the last half-century, with Germany, France, and the Netherlands outperforming the U.S. and U.K.
And Trump is not only creating conflict with Mexico, he is setting the stage for battles with cities that have vowed to protect undocumented immigrants living within their administrative borders, known as Sanctuary Cities. The executive order on the issue states:
Sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States willfully violate Federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States. … These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our republic.
Setting aside Trump’s overarching stance on immigration, and focusing on the empirical claims he’s made about the level of disorder caused by cities adopting sanctuary status, Trump is wrong based on his own argument.
An analysis by Tom Wong, a political scientist at the University of California-San Diego, found “that counties designated as ‘sanctuary’ areas by ICE typically experience significantly lower rates of all types of crime, including lower homicide rates, than comparable non-sanctuary counties.”
The Washington Post’s Wonkblog published this helpful chart:
So there are both moral and empirical reasons why Trump’s crackdown on sanctuary cities isn’t — I’ll put this as diplomatically as possible — the most pressing matter for him to focus on.
Trump’s broader platform on border security and immigration, though not on globalization, prompt memories of Mitt Romney’s self-deportation comments from the January 2012 Republican presidential debate. The president’s actions intend to squeeze people out of the country, many of whom are the most vulnerable among us. Surely we are a nation of laws, but we are also a nation of compassion built on the promise of freedom and liberty; it is our duty to open our arms to those seeking a better life and protect the vulnerable.
“History of Immigration” mural at Callowhill and 2nd streets, Philadelphia.
Trump is using people of Central and South American descent as scapegoats to enact a thoroughgoing nationalist agenda. His misguided views on globalization, trade, and migration will result in administrative policies that act against our long-term interests and goals.
But it’s not all doom and gloom — I’m optimistic about the wake-up call Trump’s presidency will generate, and in many ways has already generated, in the form of activism on both the right and left. Do we need reform in many of the areas Trump is focusing on? Sure. But it’s important that our approach is in line with our values; policies based on freedom, liberty, and compassion."The LabVIEW graphical programming environment helps with rapid development and deployment. If we had undertaken the same programming challenges in a text-based language, we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are now in the development cycle."
The Solution: Using NI CompactRIO hardware and NI LabVIEW software to control and monitor ammonia cracking to deliver regulated DC electrical power that produces only clean water and nitrogen as by-products. This new PowerCube system provides a clean and reliable electrical supply to rural areas of Africa, and, as a result, enables mobile phone coverage to become more stable and far-reaching.
Author(s):
Dr. Mike Rendall - Diverse Energy Ltd
Introduction
According to a report by the United Nations, mobile phone adoption in Africa rose more than 500 percent between 2003 and 2008 and can be expected to continue rising exponentially. As such, mobile phones are revolution |
into the genre to begin with, and its ambience so far enhances this retro feel.
Promising to combine its strategy combat with interpersonal politics, and offering a variety of ways to manage your fleet, [XO] is certainly an ambitious title. It's good to see such a positive reception so far, and there's plenty of time left for it to reach stretch goals and other rewards for the backers. Sci-fi enthusiasts should watch this game and its Kickstarter campaign closely, as should strategy fans. It's looking like a project with a lot of potential and heart behind it, thanks to the folks at Jumpdrive staying true to their inspirations while taking time and effort to create something modern.
EDIT: After being informed of some corruption on the GIF in the original post, I have replaced it with a different still image.LABOR will be clobbered by voters at the Penrith byelection, with secret ALP polling obtained by The Sun-Herald indicating Premier Kristina Keneally will preside over the greatest-ever swing against a NSW government.
In an ominous sign for the scandal-plagued state government before an election in March, internal party polling predicts a massive two-party preferred swing of 27 percentage points against the government in Penrith on June 19.
The slaughter is set to be worse than the previous greatest swing in NSW, when John Watkins's former seat of Ryde returned to the Liberals last year with a 23-point two-party-preferred swing.
On a two-party preferred basis, Labor is on track to claim just 32 per cent of the vote, with 68 per cent for the Liberals representing a stunning turnaround from the 2007 election when disgraced former MP Karyn Paluzzano won for Labor with 59 per cent of the vote.
The results of the polling have left ALP strategists reeling and senior government figures clutching for reasons why things cannot get any worse for the ageing Labor administration 10 months out from an election.(CNN) It started like any other of Peter Greste's 400 days in captivity.
The Australian journalist, held in an Egyptian prison since December 2013, was exercising when the prison warden beckoned him over and told him that he needed to get ready to leave.
"Pack your stuff," he was told. Confused, he asked the warden what he meant -- was he being transferred to another prison?
"He said: 'You're going... the embassy's coming, they'll be here in an hour, so get your stuff and go,'" Greste told his network, Al Jazeera, in an interview with correspondent Stefanie Dekker in Cyprus.
Mix of emotions
'None of our lives will be the same' say Greste parents
'None of our lives will be the same' say Greste parents 06:20
'None of our lives will be the same' say Greste parents
"I can't tell you that real mix of emotions that was boiling inside," said Greste.
"It's a relief and excitement but also real, real stress at having to say goodbye to my colleagues and friends, the people who have really become family inside that prison."
Having experienced "an awful lot of false starts with this, and an awful lot of false alarms," Greste hadn't wanted to set his faith in the Egyptian system until he was safely out of the country.
But once he had his "backside into a seat on the plane," the relief was palpable.
However, his joy was tempered by the fact he was leaving behind fellow Al Jazeera journalists, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.
All three were convicted of supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood, but have maintained their innocence.
In addition, another seven were convicted in absentia alongside the journalists.
Incredible angst
"I feel incredible angst about my colleagues, leaving them behind," said Greste.
"Amidst all of this relief I still feel a sense of concern, a real sense of worry because... if it's right for me to be free, then it's right for all of them to be free."
After spending more than a year in such close proximity -- "in a box" -- Greste says deep bonds were forged, making "the moment of walking out of that prison, saying goodbye to those guys" much more conflicted.
"Over that period I've got to know them... as family," he said. "They're my brothers. It couldn't be any other way."
Still, he says that his release is a positive step, and he hopes that it signals a change in direction from the Egyptian government.
Optimism for colleagues' release
"The sense of euphoria, of optimism is so overwhelming," Greste said.
"What's very clear is that... for Egypt too this is a big step forward. I think everyone has acknowledged that this is a very important moment and I just hope Egypt keeps going down this path with the others."
Sue Turton, an Al Jazeera English senior correspondent who was sentenced in absentia in Greste's trial, spoke to CNN's Hala Gorani about the possible release of the network's Cairo bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy.
Fahmy had needed to take the drastic measure of renouncing his Egyptian citizenship in his bid for freedom, she said.
"He has now renounced that citizenship," she said.
"He was really coerced to do so. He was told by the Egyptian authorities that if this was going to happen he was going to have to give away his Egyptian passport."
It represented an extreme step for the journalist, who came "from a very patriotic, proud military family," she said.
"This is a big deal for him. This isn't just a question of saying, 'Oh well. I'll just take a Canadian passport and that'll be that.'
"Now we're getting quite a lot of diplomatic messages through that it sounds like really his release is very imminent and he is pretty soon hopefully going to be on a plane headed to Canada."
Ecstatic parents
Meanwhile, Greste's parents spoke to CNN's Christiane Amanpour about his release. His mother, Lois Greste, says that they initially weren't sure that the email that informed them of his release could be trusted.
"It was pretty difficult to take it in, that this was really going to happen," she said. "But then a couple of hours later we got a call from Peter to say that he in the airport and about to hop onto the plane."
His father, Juris, confirmed that his son's release was a wholly unexpected development.
"He was just as surprised as anybody that he was asked to pack his small amount of gear and be ready to leave," he said, smiling.
And now he's free? "Juris suggested I put him over my knee and give him a whack," said his mother, laughing.
But, she conceded, "foreign correspondents have a habit" of worrying their parents.In a scandal where even seasoned MPs and senators were persuaded to sing from the PMO songbook, a lone Conservative staff member stood his ground on parliamentary ethics.
Chris Montgomery is the plucky but soft-spoken Tory who said no when he was asked by some of the most powerful people in the country to help tinker with a Senate report on Sen. Mike Duffy’s questionable housing expenses.
The details of Montgomery’s stand were laid out in an 80-page RCMP court filing, released publicly this week. The documents describe a plan hatched between the Prime Minister’s Office and Duffy to have his expenses repaid, while making sure a Senate report into the matter treated him with kid gloves.
Nigel Wright, Harper’s former chief of staff, and Duffy face allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The allegations have not been proven in court, and no one has yet been charged.
Chris simply does not believe in our goal of circling the wagons
Montgomery, who has since joined the private sector, was the director of parliamentary affairs for former Conservative Senate Leader Marjory LeBreton for six years. His online LinkedIn profile says he was there to “exercise sound judgment in guaranteeing that agendas were advanced in accordance with minister’s mandates.”
But when the agenda of the PMO involved manipulating Senate committees, and shaping a Senate report, Montgomery balked.
Discussions began in February about how to ensure a Senate rules committee would make a favourable declaration on Duffy and his residency requirements. Questions had been raised in the media about whether he was legally able to represent Prince Edward Island when he appeared to live most of the time in Ottawa.
If that committee wouldn’t play ball, the PMO talked about stacking a whole new subcommittee to do it.
“Chris simply does not believe in our goal of circling the wagons,” Wright complained in an email about Montgomery.
“Because of this lack of buy in, it was impossible to discuss meaningfully the parliamentary strategy…”
Montgomery also told police that he ignored a request from Wright to keep tabs on Duffy to make sure where he stood on the plan.
“He did not want to get involved in the audit process,” RCMP Cpl. Greg Horton wrote in his court filing.
Eventually, a deal was struck with Duffy to have his expenses repaid. Part of the agreement was to ensure that an independent audit and ensuing Senate report didn’t wade into the question of his residency.
The Prime Minister’s Office and key senators moved to strip a Senate report of paragraphs critical of Duffy. They held a meeting with Senate staff a day before the report was made public. Montgomery again said no.
“He gave advice to senators [Carolyn] Stewart Olsen and [David] Tkachuk not to amend the report as they had an obligation to the Senate to give a rationale for having reclaimed the money from Duffy,” wrote Horton.
Montgomery also appeared to try to remind Harper’s office of the autonomy of Senate committees.
“He advised the PMO … that they should not be involved in the Senate audit and reports regarding Sen. Duffy,” Horton wrote, noting that the PMO pushed forward anyway.
“During his seven years in the Senate, [Montgomery] cannot recall other times when representatives from the PMO actually attended meetings and insisted on wording of a Senate report.”
Harper’s office was apparently not amused.
“I am in a meeting with Montgomery, LeBreton, [LeBreton staffer] Sandy [Melo], CSO [Stewart Olsen]. This is epic. Montgomery is the Problem,” Patrick Rogers, the prime minister’s manager of parliamentary affairs, wrote to Wright.
Montgomery is the Problem
“Should I come over?” Wright responded.
“We’re done, Patrick made it happen,” came a response from another staff member, director of issues management Chris Woodcock. It’s not clear from the RCMP files how Rogers ensured the report was altered in that meeting.
Montgomery is described by one Conservative as “smart, principled and soft spoken.” A Liberal who worked with Montgomery in the Senate said he is “genuinely a nice guy — very professional in how he approached his work here.”
The McGill University graduate worked with the Progressive Conservative party in western Canada and then the new Conservative party before joining the government in 2006. He now works as a communications manager at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers in Calgary.
He did not respond to a request for comment.Cont
Cont
runCont
The Cont monad in the popular Haskell monad transformer library does not satisfy the requirements. The captured continuation has the type of a monadic function. The Cont documentation (through the current version 2.0.1.0) confirms that view, saying ``Computations are built up from sequences of nested continuations, terminated by a final continuation (often id) which produces the final result. Since continuations are functions which represent the future of a computation...'' We have already argued that undelimited continuations are not functions and that one should forget about the ``final result.'' It behoves for a typed language to statically enforce the forgetting. Incidentally, in the presence of first-class undelimited continuations, computations can no longer be viewed as ``sequences of nested continuations.'' As Peter Landin said, ``You can enter a room once, and yet leave it twice.'' Our code will show a simple example.
Recall that monad is a technique of embedding an impure, object language, into a pure functional (meta)language. For an object language with control effects, the well-known embedding technique is continuation-passing style (CPS) -- which is what all our monads implement. In CPS, an object language expression of the base object type a is represented as a Haskell value of the type (a -> w) -> w where w is a so-called `answer-type', to be discussed shortly. An object-language a->b function is represented as Haskell's a -> ((b->w) -> w) function. An object-language co-value of the type a, that is, the continuation consuming a value is represented in Haskell as the value of the type a->w. We stress that although the representation of an object language continuation is a Haskell function, it differs, in type, from the representation of any object language function. CPS operations for building primitive computations, extending them, capturing an undelimited continuation and invoking it have the following form:
return x = \k -> k x m >>= f = \k -> m (\v -> f v k) callCC f = \k -> f k k throw k x = \_ -> k x
All our monads share the above code, modulo newtype -induced conversions. The monads differ in their treatment of the answer-type w. An object-language computation cannot know what w is; to it, w is arbitrary. This fact gives us the first implementation, with the following types for monadic values and continuations:
newtype CPS1 a = CPS1{unCPS1:: forall w. (a -> w) -> w} type K1 a = forall w. a -> w
callCC
callCC1 :: (K1 a -> CPS1 a) -> CPS1 a callCC1 f = CPS1 $ \k -> unCPS1 (f k) k
callCC
w
CPS1
w
K1
CPS1
K1
callCC
callCC1
K1
CPS1
callCC1
A different way to introduce a type whose values cannot be used is to define an algebraic data type with no constructors -- an empty type (disregarding bottom). Monadic values and continuations get the following types:
data Falsum -- no constructors newtype CPS2 a = CPS2{unCPS2:: (a -> Falsum) -> Falsum} type K2 a = a -> Falsum
Falsum
CPS2 a
a -> Falsum
Falsum
Cheating is always an option. We can run the computation and obtain its result through a side-channel. Since the side-channel is an effect, we need another monad:
newtype CPS3 m a = CPS3{unCPS3:: (a -> m Falsum) -> m Falsum} type K3 m a = a -> m Falsum
run
m
ST s
ST s
Either a
runCPS3 :: (forall m. CPS3 m a) -> a runCPS3 m = runST (do res <- newSTRef (error "Continuation has escaped!") unCPS3 m (\v -> writeSTRef res v >> return undefined) readSTRef res)
runCPS3
m
runCPS3
m
m
The implementation CPS3 looks suspiciously like Cont in the monad transformer library MTL, with the side-channel monad m playing the role of the answer-type w. Neither should be looked at by computations. We obtain the final implementation
newtype Cont w a = Cont{unCont:: (a -> w) -> w} type K w a = a -> w callCC :: (K w a -> Cont w a) -> Cont w a callCC f = Cont $ \k -> unCont (f k) k throw :: K w a -> a -> Cont w b throw k x = Cont $ \ k_ignored -> k x runCont :: (forall w. Cont w a) -> a runCont m = unCont m idA solid effort, but room for improvement.
If the Mexican national team had a school report for 2017, it would read something like the above. Overall, it was a fairly satisfactory 12 months for El Tri, but the year also made it abundantly clear where Mexico needs to improve and find solutions before the World Cup swings around next summer.
There were 15 wins, six draws (over 90 minutes) and four losses for Juan Carlos Osorio's side in 2017. El Tri finished the year in 16th place in the FIFA rankings, which seems a fair reflection of where Mexico is heading into 2018.
Mexico's relative ease in qualifying for Russia 2018 was put in perspective by the United States' failure to make the World Cup. Mexico had been the story for all the wrong reasons four years ago, and while El Tri just scraped over the qualifying line ahead of Brazil 2014, the No. 1 priority for the Mexican federation in the cycle ahead of 2018 was to leave that drama behind.
That was achieved in 2017 with a certain degree of swagger. Only October's final-day defeat to Honduras in San Pedro Sula ended Mexico's undefeated World Cup qualifying record. El Tri finished in first place, five points ahead of Costa Rica and with only seven goals conceded over 10 games.
Yet it won't have been lost on Osorio that 22-year-old winger Hirving Lozano was Mexico's top goal scorer in qualifying. The PSV Eindhoven star netted six goals in 2017 for El Tri -- two more than Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, who became Mexico's all-time leading goal-scorer in March.
Lozano's rise in prominence, his move from Pachuca to PSV and the way he has responded to the challenge in Europe have been among Mexico's highlights of 2017. Lozano's brace against Belgium in November was the outstanding performance of the year from any national team player. If PSV can hold on to him until after the World Cup, the Dutch club might just be able to sell him for a record fee for a Mexican player.
Aside from Lozano, Mexico has remained largely consistent in terms of the starters. Sure, Osorio's rotation policy has been there for all to see when there are two games with little space in between, but for the most important matches, a clear starting XI is evident.Scientists: "We're Close" to Creating a Real-Life Tricorder
At Phoenix Comic Con this weekend, medical researchers were on hand to discuss the state of burgeoning medical technologies, and they had some exciting news for Trekkies: we're getting closer and closer to making a real-life tricorder.
told CNN, and went on to say that the most revolutionary aspect of the Scanadu is that it can be used by anyone: "We've medicalized your smartphone. You can now check your health as easily as your email. People will no longer ask if there's a doctor on the plane, but if there's a tricorder." "Star Trek was more than just a movie, it was a business plan," creator Walter De Brouwer
"A tricorder has two functionalities. It has to provide real-time vitals, and it has to be able to scan the body. And a lot of the apps only focus on one biometric. Which is not to say that we don't have technology that's close to a tricorder, but none of them actually are one."
"This seems like the coin we have to flip. We can either scan or get real-time vitals.
We are close. We do have technology that is very tricorder-esque in nature."
"We're on the verge of actually developing these technologies."
Just like the cell phone and the mobile tablet before it, the tricorder from Star Trek may soon be a reality. At the Future Medical Diagnostics panel at PHXCC this weekend, scientists claimed that tricorder technology is not only close to being a reality, but to some extent already exists."Current trends in ultraportable biomedical equipment involve smartphone integration," they explained. There are already several apps that can measure different biometrics in the human body—although not so accurately that they are fully accepted by the medical community—such as blood pressure, heart rate, and even blood alcohol content. And smartphones are now such a ubiquitous part of our lives that researchers believe they are the future of medical tech. Attempts to create real-life tricorders generally involve smartphone technology measuring biometric data and uploading it directly into a patient's medical records.The closest existing analog to a tricorder, they explained, is Scanadu Vitals, a tiny, round device that measures heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, oxygen level and provides a complete ECG reading through a sensor when placed on the forehead. The device is still seeking FDA approval, but the company claims that early real-world testing has been promising so far.But, as the researchers at PHXCC explained, this isn't a tricorder proper, since it isn't able to scan the body fully for illnesses:Scanadu Vitals focuses on several biometrics at once, so it is the closest technology we have to a tricorder so far, but we're still not quite there yet.But there is still a chance that we will be able to combine this mobile biometric measurement with scanning technology, or at least that's the assumption behind the upcoming Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize. This $10 million competition will allow one team to develop a real, proper tricorder, capable of diagnosing 12 different diseases single-handedly and measuring biometrics such as blood pressure, respiratory rate, and temperature.France has been producing talented young footballers for many years. Youngsters have come through the academies and burst on to the professional scene. Many have made the move abroad to enhance their careers. Varane was a prime example to follow for young French footballers as he has cemented his place in the Real Madrid side as a teenager, moving from the Ligue 1. Kurt Zouma is the next young star to come through from the Western European country.
Profile
Kurt Zouma, hit the scene when joining the club’s youth setup back in 2009. He impressed in the youth team along the way, enjoying a good cup run and featuring in the Coupe Gambardella. During his stints in the youth team, his performances didn’t go far amiss from the French setup and was called up to the U-17 national squad to play in the sizzling heat of Mexico, in the U17 World Cup. After glowing reports in the youth setup, Zouma made his debut to the Les Verts squad at the beginning of the 2011-2012, at aged just 16, which is incredible considering a centre back is often needed to be the most experienced part of the team.
Soccer Wiki Profile
Zouma, when beginning his Ligue 1 career, didn’t even have his name on the back of his shirt. This was because Coach Galtier wanted to protect Zouma and keep him out of the spotlight, and prevent any unnecessary hype around the player. The potential for him was there straight from the bat. Everyone at Saint Etienne, knew he has the ability to become a great player. French Football Weekly have compared Zouma to world-cup winner, Marcel Desailly.
On his future international career, who knows it all depends on how he grows as a player, as France have a current conveyor belt of young talent and have great depth in young centre backs such as Varane, Sakho, and Mangala.
Kurt Zouma featured in our list of 100 Best Young Players to Watch-out for in 2014. He was at #1 in our list of defenders. See the entire list here.
UPDATE: Kurt Zouma joined Chelsea in Jan 2014 and was loaned back immediately.
Style, Strengths and Weaknesses
Zouma has been described by Saint Etienne legend, Rocheateau, as the “jewel of the academy”. Every time I watch Zouma he seems to become an even better player, he has a lot in the part of his game, that just seem to make him a cut above the rest.
First of all, his physical characteristics for an 18 year old are implausible; being 6 ft 2 and weighing in at 13 stone. His surprisingly quick pace makes him one of the quickest centre backs in the league. It makes him no doubt up for any challenge, if it is a more physical forward or a more pacey forward, he can deal with them with supreme effect. It really is incredible to see how much upper body strength he possesses despite being in his early years. He uses his upper body strength to his advantage in matches; he uses this and accompanies his speed and agility to match up with attackers and dispossess them with his strength. He isn’t the typical old school centre back, as he doesn’t dive into tackles and try and rip his opponent into two. He is more intelligent than that in his defensive duties. Zourma jockeys often as well, a very successful tactic for him and many young defenders, a strategy which is being used more frequently by coaches and is paying off.
He is a calm and collective defender, often playing the ball out of defence with ease and seeming very composed with the ball. He manages to spread the ball well, his pass accuracy for the 14 games in which he has competed in stands at 87% which is impressive. Although he has played a lot less games than his Les Verts counterparts. I definitely think passing is the best attribute about him so far. Despite his plaudits when passing on the deck, I think that his long passes definitely need work on as they are not always accurate, but this part of his game will develop as time goes on.
Decent in the air, and rarely beaten when it comes to the ‘long ball’ approach, attributable to the incredible spring on him. Recently he scored his first goal for Les Verts, a beautiful headed goal from a corner. I would like to see Kurt enforcing a bit more effort going forward down to his natural physical presence. He wins on average about 69% of his duels when featuring for Saint Etienne.
One aspect, that might be deemed worrying is his track record of injuries, he has sustained several injuries during his time at Saint Etienne. I hope this won’t be something that continues if he were to join another club.
Transfer Situation
Zouma, seems an excellent prospect and many clubs around Europe will have their heads turned, especially because of his current form for Les Verts.
I don’t expect Zouma to stay at the club much longer because of the ever-growing hype around him. I can see a big club coming into him in the summer, There have been rumours of clubs like Manchester Utd, Arsenal and even Bayern Munich, tracking the 18 year old.
The future of Zouma possibly lies in Wenger’s hands in all honesty. If Arsenal are interested and pursue Zouma, I would not be surprised if they ended up clinching the deal because of players from France enjoying so much success at the North London club. I think it will take Zouma a bit of time for him to adapt to the Premier League, but as aforementioned his sheer athletiscm will no doubt aid him in the Premier league.
At this age, I think it would be more beneficial for Zouma if he were to leave the club in the summer to a top flight team, and then re-join Saint Etienne on loan for a season. This works out really well for young players as they get a lot more game time under their belt and will join their new team, looking like a different player.
All will be competing for first team places in the Les Bleus. I definitely wish the best of success for Zouma wherever he goes, he is a great player and character in the dressing room with his post-match dance antics and is a very out-going person, great for any manager to cope with.
This article was written by Saint-Etienne fan @TheSanogoal.
Featured image taken from cantheyscore.comMr. Kerry’s support for a no-flight zone was echoed by two Republicans who spoke on the Sunday television news shows — Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader, and Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008.
Mr. Gates, the Obama administration’s most prominent Republican, testified Wednesday about the risks of a no-flight zone before the House Appropriations Committee just as Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi were bombing insurgents outside Tripoli. He said such a strategy would require “a big operation in a big country” and scoffed at “loose talk about some of these military options.”
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“Let’s just call a spade a spade,” Mr. Gates said last week. “A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses. That’s the way you do a no-fly zone. And then you can fly planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that’s the way it starts.”
Mr. Daley took pains Sunday to support Mr. Gates, saying Mr. Gates “knows the difficulty of war and the challenges.” And while President Obama said last week that Colonel Qaddafi had to go, Mr. Daley, when pressed, would not say that removing the Libyan strongman was vital to the interests of the United States — a threshold that the Obama administration would presumably want to meet if it ordered military intervention.
“It’s in our interest as human beings,” Mr. Daley said.
Mr. Kerry urged Western powers not only to provide humanitarian aid but to turn over $30 billion in frozen Libyan assets to the insurgents. He also said he assumes that weapons supplied by the West “are going to find their way over there in the course of the next weeks.”
Senator McConnell said a no-flight zone was “worth considering,” and he urged the administration to explore other options like “aiding and arming the insurgents.” But he cautioned that the United States was “not sure who the insurgents are,” so it “ought to make sure who we’re dealing with here.”
He too said he did not believe Libya was “vital to our interests,” but said that the United States “ought to look for ways of being helpful to those seeking to overthrow dictators, short of sending our own personnel.”
Mr. McCain, speaking on ABC’s “This Week with Christiane Amanpour,” was asked about Mr. Gates’s skepticism and said, “we can’t risk allowing Qaddafi to massacre people from the air.” He said sending in ground forces would not be appropriate, “certainly not at this time.” But taking measures like a no-flight zone, humanitarian aid and offers of intelligence would send a signal to those around Colonel Qaddafi “to depart a sinking ship.” Mr. Qaddafi would not change his outlook, Mr. McCain said, because “he’s insane.”Former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel let loose Wednesday, a day after current Bruins boss Jim Mora said the program was "soft" when he inherited the team in 2012.
"The country thinks UCLA is soft because of their baby blue colors," said Neuheisel, who coached the team from 2008-2011, on his radio show.
"All (Mora) did was paint the walls black and wear black on the sideline and thinks that's tough. I've been in the locker room. There's all sorts of stuff about Sun Tzu and the Art of War and pain. He takes the team to Navy SEAL training. Congratulations. I'm glad you had the money to do it. But don't talk about toughness with my football team. I'll go to war with any of (my former players)."
The Bruins posted a 21-29 record over Neuheisel's four seasons, though significant financial constraints on the football program at the time limited his off-field resources.
Neuheisel was also peeved to hear - through Mora's account - that athletic director Dan Guerrero agreed with the assessment that the Bruins were "soft" under his leadership.
"Jim Mora has done a nice job at UCLA, but to hear Dan Guerrero say that we were soft? That makes me bristle because Dan Guerrero never came to practice. He never came to my office in four years. Not one time did he ever come and be a part of what was going on out there," Neuheisel said.
In Mora's first four years at the helm, the Bruins are 37-16, and have won at least eight games in all four seasons. Still, Mora said numerous times that his team needs to get bigger and play more physical to become an elite program.
- With h/t to CBS SportsMonday night's embarrassment at Lambeau Field has changed the conversation surrounding the Minnesota Vikings. Whereas they once seemed a team in transition from one quarterback era to another, it's now fair to question whether they have deeper and more difficult problems to solve.
Nowhere is that more evident, at least to me, than in the Vikings' counterintuitive turnover numbers. As the chart shows, no team has committed fewer turnovers than the Vikings this season. They are one of four teams with less than 10, but the Vikings are 2-7 while the other three teams are a combined 24-4.
Turnovers don't always have a direct correlation to winning and losing, but it's worth noting that the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers have all committed an NFL-high 21 turnovers. Their combined record is 10-17.
Generally speaking, we can say the Vikings haven't handed their opponents many extra opportunities to beat them. Quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Christian Ponder have combined for five interceptions in 267 attempts, tied for the third-fewest in the NFL. Tailback Adrian Peterson, meanwhile, hasn't lost a fumble in 196 touches.
It would be much easier to dissect the Vikings' 2-7 record this season, and install a fix, if they could attribute it to something as straightforward as turnovers and/or mistakes. Absent that, you simply have to wonder if their team -- its collection of talent and the structure upon which it sits -- is good enough to forge a consistent winner.
Christian Ponder, 7, and Donovan McNabb have combined to throw five interceptions in 267 attempts this season. Rob Grabowski/US Presswire
The Vikings have hardly played mistake-free this season. They had 10 penalties accepted against them Monday night, and their 66 accepted penalties this season is the eighth-highest total in the NFL. Monday, coach Leslie Frazier said: "It's hard to overcome when you play a good team and then you do some things like we did in crucial situations with penalties that really set you back, and that’s something that we’ll have to address."
Some of those penalties were particularly harmful, most notably a false start on Fred Evans that tacked an extra five yards onto a Ryan Longwell field goal attempt in the first quarter. Longwell was short from 52 yards. But 10 penalties can't account for a 38-point loss, and I don't think anyone who has watched the Vikings this season would suggest that 66 penalties accounts for a 2-7 record.
Instead, over the final seven games of the season, the Vikings will need to make an honest assessment of what they do and do not have. If their hope was to manage the transition from the Brett Favre Era to the Ponder Era while continuing to compete for a playoff spot, they have failed.
I suggested Tuesday that the Vikings might be more in need of a rebuild than the remodel they were hoping to achieve. If you're not giving away the games you lose, there is only one alternative explanation: You're just not as good, from the top of the organization to the 53rd man on the roster. There is plenty of season left to change that perception, but that's where the Vikings are as they head into Week 11.This has to be one of the best ways to kick off the new year with 7 solid new album releases that can set the tone for what us fans can expect for the New Year. There’s something for everyone if you enjoy Roots, Funk, Hip Hop, Acoustic, Dub or just some good old generic Reggae.
This is a month where tours will slowly start to pick up as everyone awakes from the holiday hangover to get back to the daily grind of new releases, new tours in an effort to reach new ears in the New Year. We at ThePier would like to do our part by showing off 7 fresh new releases that can play as our soundtrack to new beginnings.
Whenever there is new music, there is generally tours to support them, so be sure to check our Show Locator to see where each band will be playing next. If there’s a group you don’t see inside our Show Locator, let us know and we’ll update it. In the meantime, save your paycheck and take a peak at what the first month of January holds for us with new album releases…
January 2012 Album Releases
Zen Robbi – Lovely In The Middle An Acoustic Collection
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Zen Robbi has released their new album on January 3rd titled Lovely In The Middle: An Acoustic Collection”. It was produced by Mic Dangerously at Hollywood Stock Studios as well as Fork & Spoon Studios in Long Beach, CA. It includes guest appearances by Micah Brown on Slide Guitar/Dobro, Josh Fischel on Back Vocals as well as Todd Forman (Sublime with Rome).
There are 10 total tracks and here’s what the group had to say about their new acoustic themed release: ”We went about things a bit differently this time around. We wanted to see how much noise we could make in our home studios with a few acoustic guitars and a 2 piece drum set. So, we left out the amps and pedals, and gathered a bunch of old school recording gear and microphones so we could bring you a classic sounding acoustic soul record, guaranteed to put a big smile across your face. Here comes the change up!”
– Zen Robbi
Read The Pier’s Official Album Review HERE
Rebelution – Peace of Mind
Release Date: January 10th, 2012
Rebelution has released their 3rd studio album, Peace Of Mind, through their own label 87 Music in partnership with Controlled Substance Sound Labs. Voted by YOU the fans as The Pier’s Live Artist of the Year, Rebelution will be expanding beyond their normal in-house production routine, collaborating with five different producers comprised of Michael Goldwasser (Easy Star All-Stars |
’s especially troubling for the family. There have been several anonymous people who’ve come forward with specific and similar information regarding the case, but Nicole is concerned authorities are not taking that information seriously.
“I think every lead is worth looking into and being followed up on. Let’s not leave any stone unturned,” Nicole said. “It’s devastating that it isn’t being taken seriously enough.”
Another area of concern for the family surrounds Stacey’s boyfriend. Family members say Stacey had met him earlier in 2016 and moved in with him at his property outside town shortly thereafter.
Shortly before Stacey vanished, the invitations for family to visit them at that house near the lake decreased.
“As I was starting to ask more questions, people started coming up with that they had seen them fighting in public,” Nicole told Dateline. “There have been red flags in that direction definitely.”
No one has been named a suspect or charged in connection with Stacey’s disappearance. Investigators with theTrinity County Sheriff’s Office are continuing to investigate.
Many online have connected Stacey’s case to that of Sherri Papini who disappeared in November. Papini was found alive on Thanksgiving day. Both women disappeared from the same region in Northern California. However, authorities have made it clear they do not believe the two cases are connected in any way.
Stacey Smart and her daughter Nicole when Nicole was a baby. Nicole Santos-Hamann
As the months have gone on, Stacey’s family has had to celebrate the holidays without her. All they are now hoping for is answers of some kind.
“My mother has never taken off. I’ve never not been able to get in contact with her,” Nicole told Dateline. “She always put her family first and that’s what we need to do for her.”
Stacey Smart is described as 5’8” tall, weighing 180lbs. with blue eyes and blonde hair.
If you have any information regarding her whereabouts, you are urged to call the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office at (530) 623-3740.
You can also visit the Facebook page ‘Help Find Stacey Smart’ or the GoFundMe Page for more information or to learn how you can help in the search.“Guardians of the Galaxy” isn’t just performing well for Disney at the box office. The company is seeing strong interest in the film and its cast of misfits on the small screen, as well — especially for its videogame “Disney Infinity.”
Since becoming available in July, brisk sales for Rocket racoon and the “Guardians” playset have put them in a position to beat out Captain America and Spider-Man to become the game’s top overall pre-selling figures and playsets. The character Groot is No. 3 so far, behind Venom.
In fact, Rocket is currently selling nearly twice as much as the game’s bestselling characters last year, which were “Monsters Inc.’s” Mike Wazowski and “Frozen’s” Elsa. And it keeps climbing with the number of Rockets sold tripling over the previous week. Disney declined to provide actual sales figures.
“The film is really driving all of the awareness” for the “Guardians” characters, John Blackburn, senior VP and general manager of “Disney Infinity” told Variety. And the sales show “just how popular these characters are and how they’re surpassing other popular characters that have been available longer.”
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The sales are in the form of pre-orders, given that the 2.0 version of “Disney Infinity” won’t be available until Sept. 23.
The first edition of the game already has generated over $500 million from the sale of more than 3 million starter packs, priced at $75. There are higher expectations for the second version, given it will now feature Marvel’s superheroes for the first time.
SEE ALSO: Even Disney is Surprised by the Success of ‘Disney Infinity’
Because of early popularity of the “Guardians” characters, Disney also has revealed that mercenary Yondu, played by Michael Rooker in the film, will now also get a physical figure that will be added to the game, rather than just appear in playable missions.
The Falcon, from “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” also will be added to “Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes” next year.
In addition to Rocket, Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora and Groot will be featured in a new “Guardians” play set this fall for the second iteration of Disney Interactive’s video game that combines on screen game play with physical figures.
Inspired by the Marvel Studios film that bowed Aug. 1, the “Guardians” play set follows Star-Lord and his fellow Guardians as they arrive at the space station Knowhere, having just stolen a powerful cosmic object from the villainous Ronan the Accuser. Players will guide the team as they race to protect Knowhere from Ronan and his attacking Sakaaran fleet while keeping their newly liberated item safe from the villain’s evil grasp.
Iron Man, from “The Avengers” play set, and Nova (from the Spider-Man play set) will also be playable in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” edition, while Cosmo, The Collector and Yondu will give missions.
Since the launch of “Disney Infinity” last year, Disney has long positioned the game as a way to showcase its popular but also new characters, especially as new films or TV properties are released. Disney decides a year in advance on which characters to add to the game, in order to give it time to design and manufacture the figures and integrate them into the gameplay.
Disney began promoting the availability of the “Guardians” characters for “Disney Infinity” in July, during San Diego Comic-Con. The film wasn’t released in theaters until Aug. 1. It’s gone on to earn nearly $600 million at the worldwide box office since then.
Making the decision to promote the “Guardians” before their release “was really easy,” Blackburn said. “Marvel’s batting a thousand. It’s easy to get behind anything they’re doing.”
Disney Interactive has been working to reduce the amount of time it takes to add new characters to the game, timing them closer to a film’s release in order to capitalize on the marketing of the title to moviegoers.
The characters from Walt Disney Studios’ “Big Hero 6” will also soon also be added to the game, shortly before its release on Nov. 7, a similar strategy taken with “Frozen” last year.
SEE ALSO: Marvel Super Heroes Join ‘Disney Infinity’ Game
In Rocket’s case, strong interest in the character could be coming from collectors or just fans who may not necessarily be buying him to play the game.
“That’s a big part of this business,” said Peter Phillips, executive VP and general manager of Marvel interactive and digital distribution. “These (figures) were made with that in mind.”
But Marvel already had seen a spike in sales for all-things “Guardians” related as early as last year, especially the comicbooks and then early merchandise like Rocket plush.
“That was even before anyone really knew what it was yet,” Phillips said.TEL AVIV
THE cease-fire that ended the latest round of violence between Israel and the Palestinians has enhanced the popularity of the militant group Hamas. This extremist organization has become the only interlocutor for the Arab world, for the West and, indirectly, for Israel. But Hamas refuses to recognize Israel’s existence or to negotiate with Israelis. Meanwhile, the pragmatic Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, is rapidly losing legitimacy and Israel’s recent strikes on Gaza will only weaken it further. Negotiating with Hamas may secure a lull, but Hamas cannot be a partner for peace.
If the world wants to express support for the Palestinian party that recognizes Israel, seeks to avoid violence, and genuinely wishes to reach a peace agreement in which a Palestinian state exists alongside — not instead of — Israel, it will have its chance later this week when Mr. Abbas makes his bid for recognition of Palestinian statehood before the United Nations. If American and Israeli opposition to a Palestinian bid continues, it could serve as a mortal blow to Mr. Abbas, and end up being a prize that enhances the power and legitimacy of Hamas.
It is paradoxical that Israel’s current government is so vehemently opposed to Mr. Abbas’s bid for recognition. After all, it was 65 years ago this week, on Nov. 29, 1947, that the Palestinians and their friends in the Arab world expressly rejected United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181, which recognized the need to establish a Jewish state alongside an Arab state in the former British Mandate territory of Palestine.
Now, the Palestinians are admitting their mistake and asking the same assembly to recognize a state of Palestine alongside Israel, and requesting that the boundaries of their state be determined as a result of negotiations with Israel. Meanwhile, Israel’s right-wing parties — which in 1993 rejected the Oslo Accords that envisaged Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the establishment of Palestinian autonomy in those areas — are now using, and abusing, that same agreement to prevent Palestinian statehood.
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This week’s request wouldn’t be taking place if both sides had abided by the Oslo Accords’ original time frame, if Israel’s peacemaking prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, hadn’t been assassinated in 1995, and if we’d reached a permanent agreement by May 1999, as initially envisioned.Christopher Scott Roy, an atheist teacher in New Zealand who claimed he was pressured to resign due to his beliefs, lost his bid to make a claim before the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).
The New Zealand Herald reported that Roy, a former art teacher who resigned from Tamaki College in Auckland in 2010, told the ERA that he was assaulted and intimidated by staff and that he had taken the $6,500 settlement under duress when he was "constructively dismissed."
Roy said the school saw Christianity as "a core responsibility to which he was indifferent," according to the Marlborough Express. He refused to attend Christian-based powhiri events, a traditional Maori ceremony.
His more scandalous claim, however, was that Alfred Ngaro, a board of trustees member who is now an MP with the New Zealand government, punched him in the back of the head when he refused to pray at a post-rugby match dinner.
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Roy claimed that Kings College officials asked if anyone objected to prayer. Roy did not take part as everyone else bowed their heads. He said that Ngaro later came up to him outside with the school’s principal, Soana Pamaka, and hit him.
Both Ngaro and Pamaka deny the assault occurred.
ERA member Tania Tetitaha found numerous holes in Roy’s case. He changed the evidence, including the location of his injuries and Pamaka’s involvement. The ERA also concluded that there was no evidence of bullying behavior and that the motivation for the assault didn’t “ring true.”
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Sources: The New Zealand Herald, Marlborough Express
undefinedLiam Neeson has made a dangerous new enemy.
Gunmaker PARA USA has called for an industry boycott of movies starring the actor after he criticized U.S. gun policy during a press tour for his latest film.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page Saturday, PARA said it "regrets" providing firearms for the action blockbuster "Taken 3" and won't provide guns for any more of Neeson's films. He plays retired CIA agent Bryan Mills in the "Taken" franchise, which has so far has grossed more than $750 million worldwide.
Neeson criticized gun culture -- and the high levels of ownership in the U.S. -- in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings in France, while on a press tour in Dubai last week.
"There's too many f---ing guns out there," he told Dubai-based Gulf News.
"I think the [U.S.] population is like, 320 million? There's over 300 million guns. Privately owned, in America. I think it's a [expletive] disgrace. Every week now we're picking up a newspaper and seeing, 'Yet another few kids have been killed in schools,'" Neeson said.
Related: 20 antique guns that fetched big bucks
PARA said the comments made by the Irish-born actor "reflect a cultural and factual ignorance that undermines support of the Second Amendment and American liberties."
The company has called on others to support its ban on Neeson.
"[We] ask that our friends and partners in Hollywood refrain from associating our brand and products with his projects," the firm said. "We encourage our partners and friends in the firearms industry to do the same."
The fast-paced action "Taken" films contain plenty of gunfire. But Neeson dismissed any link between violent movies and real-life crime.
"I grew up watching cowboy movies, loved doing that [gun gesture] with my fingers, 'Bang, bang, you're dead!' I didn't end up a killer," he said.
"A character like Bryan Mills going out with guns and taking revenge: it's fantasy. It's in the movies, you know?"Mollies Pack Wolves Baiting a Bison. Image: Wikipedia. Washington State University researchers have found that it is counter-productive to kill wolves to keep them from preying on livestock. Shooting and trapping lead to more dead sheep and cattle the following year, not fewer.
Writing in the journal PLOS ONE, WSU wildlife biologist Rob Wielgus and data analyst Kaylie Peebles say that, for each wolf killed, the odds of more livestock depredations increase significantly.
The trend continues until 25 percent of the wolves in an area are killed. Ranchers and wildlife managers then see a "standing wave of livestock depredations," said Wielgus.
Moreover, he and Peebles write, that rate of wolf mortality "is unsustainable and cannot be carried out indefinitely if federal relisting of wolves is to be avoided."
The gray wolf was federally listed as endangered in 1974. During much of its recovery in the northern Rocky Mountains, government predator control efforts have been used to keep wolves from attacking sheep and livestock. With wolves delisted in 2012, sport hunting has also been used. But until now, the effectiveness of lethal control has been what Wielgus and Peebles call a "widely accepted, but untested, hypothesis."
Their study is the largest of its kind, analyzing 25 years of lethal control data from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Interagency Annual Wolf Reports in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. They found that killing one wolf increases the odds of depredations 4 percent for sheep and 5 to 6 percent for cattle the following year. If 20 wolves are killed, livestock deaths double.
Work reported in PLOS ONE last year by Peebles, Wielgus and other WSU colleagues found that lethal controls of cougars also backfire, disrupting their populations so much that younger, less disciplined cougars attack more livestock.
Still, Wielgus did not expect to see the same result with wolves.
"I had no idea what the results were going to be, positive or negative," he said. "I said, 'Let's take a look at it and see what happened.' I was surprised that there was a big effect."
Wielgus said the wolf killings likely disrupt the social cohesion of the pack. While an intact breeding pair will keep young offspring from mating, disruption can set sexually mature wolves free to breed, leading to an increase in breeding pairs. As they have pups, they become bound to one place and can't hunt deer and elk as freely. Occasionally, they turn to livestock.
Under Washington state's wolf management plan, wolves will be a protected species until there are 15 breeding pairs for three years. Depredations and lethal controls, legal and otherwise, are one of the biggest hurdles to that happening.
Wolves from the Huckleberry Pack killed more than 30 sheep in Stevens County, Wash., this summer, prompting state wildlife officials to authorize killing up to four wolves. An aerial gunner ended up killing the pack's alpha female. A second alpha female, from the Teanaway pack near Ellensburg, Wash., was illegally shot and killed in October.
That left three breeding pairs in the state.
"We're one-third of the way towards recovery and now we're way off," said Wielgus. "Recovery is going to take x more years because of what happened. Obviously you can't keep doing that."
As it is, said Wielgus, a small percentage of livestock deaths are from wolves. According to the management plan, they account for between.1 percent and.6 percent of all livestock deaths—a minor threat compared to other predators, disease, accidents and the dangers of calving.
In an ongoing study of non-lethal wolf control, Wielgus's Large Carnivore Lab this summer monitored 300 radio-tagged sheep and cattle in Eastern Washington wolf country. None were killed by wolves.
Still, there will be some depredations, he said. He encourages more non-lethal interventions like guard dogs, "range riders" on horseback, flags, spotlights and "risk maps" that discourage grazing animals in hard-to-protect, wolf-rich areas.
"The only way you're going to completely eliminate livestock depredations is to get rid of all the wolves," Wielgus said, "and society has told us that that's not going to happen."
Explore further: Conservation groups oppose Wyoming wolf managementThe Uber receipts are piling up. Your landlord is raising your rent. The blow to your wallet that is wedding season is on the horizon. If we can all agree on something, it's that life in L.A. ain't cheap.Now, we can't change the fact that you have five destination weddings on your docket this summer, but we can help you save some serious dough when it comes to one of Angelenos' favorite pastimes: dining out. That's right, being able to hit up the city's best restaurants isn't a privilege only for the deep-pocketed — L.A. has endless choices when it comes to affordable, delicious meals. The only trick? Finding where they are. So, to help you navigate the world of cheap eats, we've rounded up 31 of the best spots L.A. has to offer. From tried-and-true diners to new hotspots, click through to peek our list. Your wallet will thank you.BELLE PLAINE, Minn. – What began as a humble monument for fallen veterans has turned into a battle over free speech.
And soon, a memorial featuring a kneeling solder praying over a grave marked with a cross at the Veterans Memorial Park in Belle Plaine will share space with a satanic, black cube with inverted pentagrams, a soldier’s helmet and a plaque honoring veterans who died in battle.
Both monuments will be placed in a newly designated “limited open forum” space where private citizens or groups can apply to put temporary monuments, as long as they honor veterans.The open forum, or free speech space, was created by the city council after the Freedom From Religion Foundation threaten to sue the city for allowing the display of a religious symbol on public land.“They said it was a violation of the first amendment,” said Mike Votca, city administrator of Belle Plaine. “We knew that our policy is going to be inclusive of anyone and any group could be a part of that.”The second application received and approved by the city was from the Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts.“The application meets the criteria of the city policy, so it’s approved to be in place,” said Votca.Doug Mesner—who uses the pseudonym Lucian Greaves—is the founder of the Satanic Temple and its non-profit group Reason Alliance.He says the group does not worship Satan, but its rather a non-theistic, religious group “that venerates the mythological narrative construct of the ultimate rebel against tyranny, best embodied, by Satan.”Mesner says the 2 x 2 x 3-foot steel monument is the temple’s way of both honoring the sacrifice of vets but celebrating the protections of the First Amendment.“It’s certainly better to preserve the First Amendment than to preserve your notions of religious supremacy on public grounds. That’s certainly not what America was founded on and certainly not what our soldiers fought for,” said Mesner.Brett Holbrook, who operates a State Farm insurance business across the street from the park, says he understands the fight for free speech but doesn’t understand why it needed to take place at a veterans memorial in Belle Plaine.“To me it feels more like they are just trying to poke the eye of the community, and they are doing it just because they can do it,” said Holbrook.“These soldiers fought for our country, and you are going to put a satanic thing next to it,” said Jessica Ellman while walking her daughter near the park. “It’s like you are mocking them. I’m not a fan”The satanic monument is still in the works in Massachusetts, and it’s expected to be shipped to Belle Plaine and installed likely in the next month, according to Mesner.Americans are putting more solar panels on their roofs than ever before. Yet only a small group of people -- homeowners, mostly well-to-do -- are driving the boom. Apartment dwellers, cash-strapped families, renters and others are largely shut out of the solar movement, sidelined by financial and technical constraints.
Enter community solar projects.
Paul Hyun and his neighbors have one of them on their rooftop. They live in a 70-unit apartment complex in a tightly packed neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A solar array is affixed to the roof, and each neighbor pays about $80 a month to cover the cost of installing and maintaining the system. All the electricity that’s produced is sold to the local utility, Consolidated Edison Inc., and the neighbors split the proceeds.
Hyun said he typically saves 15 to 30 percent on his electric bills thanks to the solar panels. In January, he received a $1,000 rebate check from the housing cooperative, which manages the project.
“When I talk to my neighbors in other buildings, a lot of them are jealous of what we have,” said Hyun, a real-estate agent in Sunset Park.
Shared solar arrays are a tiny but growing segment of the broader U.S. solar market. As demand for cleaner and cheaper energy rises, more residents are finding alternative ways to access renewable energy -- even when they don’t own homes or have deep pockets.
Such projects are critical for accelerating the nation’s overall use of lower-carbon energy, analysts say. More than three-quarters of U.S. homeowners can’t put up panels because their roofs are positioned wrong or the costs are too high. Even fewer renters, public-housing residents or condo owners can go solar due to building restrictions.
Through shared arrangements, solar companies and utilities can tap into an otherwise overlooked demand segment, said Cory Honeyman, a senior analyst covering U.S. solar markets at GTM Research in Boston.
“Community solar is one of the next largest growth market opportunities in the broader U.S. solar market,” the analyst said.
Photo: GTM Research/"U.S. Community Solar Outlook 2015-2020"
Installations of shared solar projects are expected to total 115 megawatts in capacity this year, a jump of nearly 75 percent over last year’s additions, according to GTM Research. In 2020, neighbors and business owners could add 500 megawatts of community solar, or about 5 percent of total solar installations that year.
Favorable policies and incentives in a dozen states and the District of Columbia are driving much of the growth in shared solar-project ownership, and at least four other states are considering adopting similar rules. Major players in the rooftop solar space, such as SolarCity Corp. and SunEdison Inc., are extending their third-party financing programs to community projects.
Most recently, the Obama administration this week unveiled a plan to help low- and middle-income Americans gain access to solar energy, including a low-cost loan program for homeowners and a nationwide initiative for renters.
Photo: Shared Renewables HQ
Elizabeth Kennedy, the solar-program director at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, said her agency is exploring more ways to help residents invest in the community solar space.
Massachusetts’ first shared solar project was developed in 2011 by a group of 50 residents in the town of Harvard, Kennedy said. The state-run agency was rolling out a program to help cut the costs of rooftop solar projects, but not everyone could participate. Their houses were considered historic landmarks, faced the wrong way or were surrounded by too many trees. “Those residents banded together and worked with a local installer” to build their own joint solar array, she recalled. “There’s such a community aspect to it.”
While these projects benefit residents who couldn’t otherwise access solar, the shared nature of these arrays has its own drawbacks. Community projects tend to be larger than the typical single-home solar system, so they take longer to design, develop and permit. They also require participation by dozens or hundreds of people to drive down the costs for individuals.
“Sometimes, there’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem,” Kennedy said. “The developer wants to build a community shared solar project, but you have to line up a critical mass of interested customers in order to do that.”
GTM Research’s Honeyman said participants in shared solar projects tend to save less on their monthly electric bills compared to homeowners with individual systems. In some communal projects, participants may see no savings at all, unless the price of traditional electricity begins to rise substantially.
But with lower savings comes lower risk, Honeyman said. Homeowners or businesses with their own arrays can’t pluck the panels off their rooftops when they move, as each has to sell the solar apparatus with the building. Individual owners must deal directly with solar developers. For Hyun in Brooklyn, his solar investment is hands-off: He sends in a monthly check to the housing cooperative, and the rest takes care of itself.
“There’s less headaches that come with participating in community solar than participating in rooftop solar,” Honeyman said.
Photo: GTM Research/"U.S. Community Solar Outlook 2015-2020"
Shared solar projects are still just a tiny slice of the nation’s broader solar market. Of the 6,200 megawatts of solar photovoltaic projects installed last year, only about 1 percent was considered community solar, GTM Research data show.
Nonetheless, Honeyman said the market is now gaining steam. Beyond 2020, community solar could grow exponentially and eventually beat out the residential, commercial and utility-scale solar sectors. “There’s an increasingly strong case for post-five years from now... of it being the leader of new solar development,” he said.There may be a price for all this. After his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, riveted the overflow crowd for 16 minutes on Tuesday at an airplane hangar here, it was Mr. McCain’s turn, and people in his audience began murmuring and drifting away midway through a 14-minute speech that was flat and cheerless. When Mr. McCain made his first appearance without Ms. Palin, on Monday morning in Jacksonville, Fla., he faced an arena that was one-quarter full.
Still, it is the course Mr. McCain has chosen and one his aides say he will stay on.
To a certain extent, Mr. McCain, of Arizona, is grappling with the fact that he is now a general election candidate in an environment where, more than ever, the other side (or reporters who are following him) is ready to seize on any slip-up, real or imagined. This is no time for the idle remark, bout of frankness or edgy humor that once stood Mr. McCain apart on the candidate field.
And what voters are seeing in these final weeks of the campaign is a deliberately retooled version of Mr. McCain — what he says, how he says it and how he goes about the day-to-day steps of campaigning. It came about as part of a fundamental reordering of his campaign that resulted from the ascension of the hard-driving, disciplined Steve Schmidt, a senior campaign adviser and veteran of President Bush’s 2004 campaign, who popped up on Mr. McCain’s plane one day this week.
Mr. McCain is by all appearances struggling to stick to his script and avoiding, whenever possible, events that his campaign cannot control.
There are now not one but two drawn curtains on Mr. McCain’s plane separating his spacious quarters from the press corps. Left idle is the couch that was built in the front of the plane — called “Straight Talk Air” — to reproduce at 30,000 feet the freewheeling chats with reporters that were the stock-in-trade on his bus; the other morning it was covered with newspapers. Mr. McCain, who promised to hold weekly news conferences if elected president, has not held one in more than a month.
He recently began doing town-hall-style meetings with voters, including one with Ms. Palin on Wednesday night in Grand Rapids, Mich. But these are mostly by invitation only — reminiscent of Mr. Bush’s town-hall-style meetings of 2004 — as was made obvious by the succession of softball and adulatory questions floated across his plate.
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For anyone who has covered Mr. McCain over the last decade, this new version of the candidate can be a striking sight. There the senator was the other day leading a crowd in a chant of “drill, baby, drill,” the words that now invariably arise from his crowds when he talks about his support for offshore drilling, a position he once rejected.
There are the attacks against Wall Street — the denunciation of cheats and greed and self-dealing — which recall the decidedly populist cant of Al Gore when he was the Democratic nominee for president in 2000. Mr. McCain attacked Mr. Obama, of Illinois, for holding a celebrity-strewn, big-dollar fund-raiser in Hollywood despite the fact that he had just held his own celebrity-strewn, big-dollar fund-raiser in Hollywood.
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There are the indignant attacks on corruption and self-dealing in Congress, the institution in which he has served for 25 years. “The word is going out, my friends — to the old-boy network, the pork-barrelers, the earmarkers — that change is coming,” Mr. McCain said at stop after stop. “Change is coming! Two mavericks are coming to Washington, and we’re going to shake things up!”
And most notable are the dizzying cascade of attacks on Mr. Obama, who seems to have come to consume Mr. McCain as the weather turns cool, a reminder that this long election cycle is approaching its end.
“Let’s have some straight talk,” he said. “Senator Obama is not interested in the politics of hope. He’s interested in his political future. That’s why he is hurtling insults and making up facts.”
For years, Mr. McCain has struck a different kind of cloth as a presidential candidate: as a politician capable of defying his party or embracing it; holding a world view that defied any easy ideological setting; having an ironic detachment as he observed himself on the campaign trail, combined with a sly sense of humor that leavened his occasional bursts of temper.
These days, Mr. McCain sounds less like his old self than Bob Dole, another Republican senator who ran for president in 1996, sounded in the closing days of his campaign — speaking louder or repeating statements that he thinks might be overlooked. “The American economy is in a crisis!” Mr. McCain said. “It’s in a crisis!”
Mr. McCain’s aides suggested that their candidate would spend as much time as possible campaigning with Ms. Palin in the final weeks of the race, pointing to her proven ability not only to draw a crowd but also to animate the ticket in a way that Mr. McCain cannot. And she has shown no hesitancy about carrying a traditional burden of vice-presidential candidates by attacking Mr. Obama.
But these days, this Mr. McCain seems content carrying that burden himself.The NSW Supreme Court has given a chronically ill man permission to refuse medical treatment keeping him alive, granting his wish to die on his 28th birthday.
In a case which again raises the issue of assisted suicide in a therapeutic context, Justice Rowan Darke made a declaration this month that staff at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle would be acting lawfully by switching off the ventilator that was keeping a young man known as JS alive.
The court heard JS had quadriplegia from the second vertebrae since the age of seven, meaning he could only breathe via a ventilator applied via tracheotomy.
He had been living as an outpatient until March last year when he was admitted to John Hunter's intensive care unit with ventilator-associated pneumonia and collapse of his left lung.
Over the next few months, the man suffered repeated episodes of autonomic dysreflexia, an involuntary reaction by the nervous system, associated with extreme respiratory distress. JS was discharged in February but returned after seven days with a deteriorating heart condition, recurring urinary infections and a likelihood of acute respiratory failure.TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada’s minority Conservative government, which a few months ago seemed on the verge of having enough popular support to win a majority in Parliament, has seen its lead in one poll fall back to the lowest point since last summer.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in this December 9, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Chris Wattie
An EKOS survey released on Thursday showed Conservative support at 33.1 percent, down 2.8 percentage points from the last EKOS poll on December 17, and support for the Liberals, the biggest opposition party at 27.8 percent, up 1.1 percent.
The Conservatives’ lead had been as high as 15 percentage points in mid-October, when voters reacted negatively to Liberal threats to trigger an election.
EKOS, which polled 1,744 Canadians in an automated telephone survey, said that no single issue has dragged down support for the Conservatives.
However, it said that the decision by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to suspend — or prorogue — Parliament until March, effectively shutting down opposition criticism, has added to the decline in the party’s popularity.
The opposition parties had been hammering away at the Conservatives over allegations that Afghan prisoners that the Canadian military handed over to Afghan authorities in 2006 and 2007 were subsequently tortured.
“Certainly, the prorogation maneuver is drawing near universal raspberries outside of the shrinking CPC (Conservative Party of Canada) base,” EKOS President Frank Graves said in a statement.
He added that the Conservative defections generally seemed to be going more to the left-of-center New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Green Party than to the Liberals, and it “may be that voters are still punishing the Liberals for their election threat.”
NDP support was at 16 percent in the poll, which was down 1 percent.
The poll said the Greens, which have no seats in Parliament, may be at a high water mark at 13.4 percent, “but if they can grow another point or two, they really will bear watching.” The Greens were up 2.2 percent from a week earlier.
The separatist Bloc Quebecois — which runs only in the French-speaking province of Quebec — was at 9.8 percent support, up 0.6 percent.
The EKOS survey was conducted between January 4 and January 5 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points 19 times out of 20.Bitcoin Cash Becomes the Longest Chain As Miners Toggle Between Profits
The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network is almost a month old and seemingly growing stronger as the days continue. As of August 22, the BCH chain is longer than BTC’s blockchain by 959 blocks, while also capturing the most hashrate that day for a short period of time.
Also read: SEC Suspends Trading of Bitcoin Firm’s Shares After 7000% Price Jump
Miners Continue to Bounce Back and Forth Between Chains Chasing Profitability
The BCH chain continues its voyage as it’s processed 4385 blocks mined since the hard fork on August 1. Currently, there are six known mining pools processing BCH blocks including BTC.top, Viabtc, Pool.Bitcoin.com, F2Pool, Antpool, and BTC.com. There are also three “unknown” miners who capture roughly 19 percent of the BCH network hashrate.
Earlier this week, it became more profitable to mine BTC as the BCH mining difficulty adjusted higher. However, on August 24, the BCH blockchain experienced multiple drops in difficulty and now operates at 10% of the legacy chain’s difficulty.
Hashrate between both chains has had an interesting relationship as BTC and BCH miners have been bouncing back and forth between difficulty adjustments. On August 22, the BCH protocol surpassed the entire BTC hashrate for a short period, and now the legacy chain’s hashpower is only one exahash higher.
Downward Difficulty Drops and New Infrastructure Announcements
At the time of writing, BTC has a hashrate capturing roughly 4.3 exahash per second, while the BCH hashrate is 3.2 exahash. The reason miners have been jumping around chasing profitability, is because of BCH’s median time difficulty drops significantly compared to bitcoin’s difficulty recalculating every 2016 blocks. However, bitcoin’s price has spiked quite a bit, and mining on the BCH chain is only 5 percent more profitable to mine.
BCH supporters have also seen some more infrastructure support for the network, as last week the Blockchain startup announced wallets would have an extraction tool shortly. Further, the social media startup the Yours network revealed they were switching from litecoin to BCH. Additionally, other projects are in the works like a bitcoin cash-based paper wallet generator, and the new Exodus wallet (Eden) announced it would support BCH.
Nchain and Craig Wright Deny Being Involved With Bitcoin Cash
In addition to the BCH chain’s achievements over the past few weeks Nchain’s chief scientist, Craig Wright, recently applauded the efforts set forth by bitcoin cash developers. Moreover Wright and his company Nchain announced they were not behind the BCH project as many assumed the firm might’ve been the “unknown” mining hashrate.
“The incorrect comments include anything suggesting that I am behind the bitcoin cash initiative; I am not,” explains Wright.
However, I applaud the efforts of whoever is behind bitcoin cash to achieve a truly decentralized, peer-to-peer electronic cash with higher, more efficient transaction capacity.
Nchain’s CEO Stefan Matthews also confirmed Wright’s statements |
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