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it was just another weird fashion craze. However, a post by a middle school teacher, originally shared on Naver Matome and translated by Japan Crush, describes the disturbing trend behind the patches:
After class one day, I went into the equipment store in the gymnasium to tidy up. The door had been left open, and when I looked inside, a male pupil and a female pupil had their faces close together and were kind of fumbling around. Could it be bullying? I wondered, but when I had a good look, the boy was licking the girl’s eye! Surprised, a shouted “What are you doing? Stop it at once!” and the two of them were so shocked they jumped apart. The girl burst into tears, and the boy just went bright red and was shaken up. At any rate, to try to calm them down I took them to the janitor’s room and listened to their story.
On questioning, the two students revealed that eyeball licking is basically like second base – what you graduate to after Frenching.
Mr. Y immediately told the school staff the story. A classroom assembly for the year 6 students was held, and when each homeroom teacher questioned the students, it was revealed that a surprising one third of the kids had done “eyeball licking”, or had had their eyeballs licked.
Lest you think this is just cod moralising from a squicked out adult, eyeball licking is a great way of spreading trachoma (eye chlamydia) and conjunctivitis/pink-eye.
One potential inspiration for the eyeball licking trend is this video from Japanese band Born, in which the lead singer gets his eyeball licked by a knife-wielding woman (around 3:35, warning video contains terrible emo rock):
Don’t lick each other’s eyeballs kids.Dr. James Naismith was the Canadian-born physical education instructor who, inspired by a teaching assignment and his own childhood, invented basketball in 1891.
Naismith was born in Almonte, Ontario and educated at McGill University and Presbyterian College in Montreal. He was the physical education teacher at McGill University (1887 to 1890) and moved to Springfield, Massachusetts in 1890 to work at the Y.M.C.A. International Training School, which later became Springfield College. Under the direction of American physical-education specialist Luther Halsey Gulick, Naismith was given 14 days to create an indoor game that would provide an "athletic distraction" for a rowdy class through the brutal New England winter. His solution to the problem has become one of the most popular sports in the world, and a multi-billion dollar business.
Struggling to develop a game that would work on wooden floors in an enclosed space, Naismith studied sports like American football, soccer, and lacrosse with little success. Then he remembered a game he played as a child called "Duck on the Rock" that required players to knock a “duck” off a large boulder by throwing rocks at it. "With this game in mind, I thought that if the goal was horizontal instead of vertical, the players would be compelled to throw the ball in an arc; and force, which made for roughness, would be of no value. A horizontal goal, then, was what I was looking for, and I pictured it in my mind," he said.
Naismith called the game Basketball—a nod to the fact that two peach baskets, hung ten feet up in the air, provided the goals. The instructor then wrote up 13 Rules.
The first formal rules were devised in 1892. Initially, players dribbled a soccer ball up and down a court of unspecified dimensions. Points were earned by landing the ball in a peach basket. Iron hoops and a hammock-style basket were introduced in 1893. Another decade passed, however, before the innovation of open-ended nets put an end to the practice of manually retrieving the ball from the basket each time a goal was scored.
Dr. Naismith, who became a medical doctor in 1898, was subsequently hired by the University of Kansas that same year. He went on to establish one of collegiate basketball’s most storied programs and served as the Athletic Director and faculty member at the university for nearly 40 years, retiring in 1937.CLOSE Social Media platforms are spoon feeding information to users about voting. Any questions, just look. While twitter bots are taking over the conversations. Alyse Barker (@IamAlyseBarker) has the story. Buzz60
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on their final campaign swings before Election Day. (Photo11: AP)
WASHINGTON — In the race for president of the United States, everyone's vote counts. But some count more than others.
That fact of American democracy is never more obvious on Election Day, when the president and vice president are elected state-by-state under systems that change from county-by-county or even precinct-by-precinct.
By the end of the night, more than 100 million individual voting decisions will be distilled into the only votes that count: the 538 votes in the Electoral College. The first candidate to 270 wins.
Beyond the red states and blue states, voters will be segmented into bellwether counties, in-person voters and absentee ballots, and dozens of demographic groups: men and women, the more and less educated, Baby Boomers and Millennials, Catholics and Jews, African-Americans and Hispanics, union and non-union households.
For savvy election watchers, understanding those differences can send signals about who's winning and whose losing even before the last vote is cast. The Associated Press and the television networks have traditionally used exit polling to help quickly "call" states for one side or another. But as more states allow greater access to early voting, it's also possible for significant numbers of votes — more than half in some states — to be counted and reported immediately after the polls close.
With the results in most states seemingly predetermined, the race comes down to a handful of "swing states" — places like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Nevada. Most analysts agree that Donald Trump needs more of those states than Hillary Clinton does.
But the president isn't the only federal office on the ballot. The 2010 Tea Party surge swept in a class of Republican senators now defending their seats. Twenty-four of the 34 Senate seats are being defended by Republicans, and Democrats only need to win five of them to regain control of the Senate — or just four if Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine is presiding.
CLOSE When each state in America closes their polling, times converted to Eastern. By Janet Loehrke and Ramon Padilla, USA TODAY. USA TODAY
Here's a guide to watching the returns:
5 a.m. ET
Every state has different poll opening and closing times, but in Vermont the polls can open as early as 5 a.m. And almost as soon as poll workers show up, there will almost certainly be problems reported.
Locked polling places. Long lines. Power outages. Ballot shortages. Those are all problems that can bedevil election officials even in a less contentious election year. Social media and growing distrust of the election system will shine a brighter light on them this year.
And given the acrimony of 2016 — and Trump's charges that the election will be "rigged" — both sides will be carefully watching to make sure elections are conducted peacefully and fairly.
6 p.m. ET
Polls close in most of Indiana and Kentucky.
Senate race to watch: Democratic hopes to win the Senate could depend on a comeback by Democratic former senator Evan Bayh, scion of an Indiana political family. Bayh has been in a tight race with GOP Rep. Todd Young for the seat now occupied by retiring Sen. Dan Coats.
7 p.m. ET
Polls close in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia, most of Florida, and the western parts of Indiana and Kentucky.
Battlegrounds: Florida is one of the first states with polls to close, and — if recent elections are any guide — will be one of the last states to be called. That means election watchers could have one eye on the Sunshine State for much of the night.
But early voting could give some early indications: As of Sunday, 6.2 million voters had already cast ballots. That's nearly half the number of registered voters, and three-quarters of the number voting in 2012. Registered Democrats had cast 32,528 more votes than registered Republicans, but that gap is narrower than it was in 2012.
Hillsborough County, home of Tampa, has the ethnic and economic diversity to make it a near-perfect microcosm, with a mix of longtime residents and snowbirds from other swing states like Michigan and Ohio. “That diversity in geography and diversity in demographics makes Hillsborough County such a purple county," said Ana Cruz, the former head of the Florida Democratic Party. Hillsborough is "a microcosm of what this battleground state of Florida represents."
By all rights, Georgia shouldn't be in play; it hasn't gone Democratic since Bill Clinton in 1992. Trump has a healthy lead in recent polls, so a Clinton win — or even a close race — could signal trouble for Trump later on. One reason: It would likely signal a motivated African-American turnout, which is going overwhelmingly for Clinton.
An election official hands out stickers to encourage early voting in Atlanta on Oct. 17, 2016. (Photo11: Erik S. Lesser, European Pressphoto Agency)
7:30 p.m. ET
Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.
Battlegrounds: Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. It's not as important as it was a decade ago, but it's still more important to Trump as it is to Clinton. No Republican has won the White House without it. And on paper, it should be fertile ground for Trump's message: It has a high proportion of white voters without a college degree, and it's been buffeted by job losses caused by globalization.
Look to swing counties like Stark, Ross and Clark as bellwethers. Ottawa County, on Lake Erie, has predicted the national winner every year since 1964. But don't call the state until Cleveland vote comes in. Cuyahoga County often reports its votes late, and its high concentration of true-blue Democratic voters can cancel out Trump wins downstate.
"I always feel like the Republican generally leads in the middle portion of the night, and then we wait and see if what happens in Cuyahoga," said Kyle Kondik, author of The Bellwether: Why Ohio Picks the President.
North Carolina is enjoying — if that's the right word — its newfound status as a swing state. In 2008, President Obama was the first Democrat to win it since 1976, but he lost it to Republican Mitt Romney four years later. It's gotten plenty of attention from both campaigns — and from Obama, who made three stops there in the last week of the campaign.
At the same time, the state has been roiled by debates on transgender bathrooms and voting rights.
The African-American turnout was key to Obama's 2008 victory and is crucial for Clinton as well. "If she doesn’t have a decent showing by black voters, then it makes it that much harder to make the state flip to blue," said Mike Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College. Early voting is a good sign of whether the Clinton campaign has been successful in getting those voters to the polls; the first returns reported after the polls close could be revealing.
Senate race to watch: Democrat Deborah Ross, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, is challenging Republican Sen. Richard Burr in the Tar Heel State. Burr made national headlines in the final days with comments about putting a bull's-eye on Clinton and promising to block Supreme Court nominees for another four years.
A win by Democratic Senate challenger Deborah Ross in North Carolina could signal a change in Senate control. (Photo11: Gerry Broome, AP)
8 p.m. ET
Polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, most of Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, most of Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, most of Texas, eastern Tennessee and the Florida panhandle.
Battlegrounds: Pennsylvania is so important to Democrats that Clinton decided to end her campaign there with a Philadelphia rally that brought her heaviest hitters — the president and first lady — back to the city where she was nominated. A big turnout in Pennsylvania is essential for her, but much of the attention will be in the suburban "collar counties": Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery. The moderate Republican voters there are usually a counterbalance to the urban Democrats, but this year could be different.
"In Donald Trump, you have a perfect storm of a candidate in terms of pressing buttons to sending white, college-educated voters, particularly women, in the other direction," said Ruy Teixeira, a fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress.
Part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula is on Central time, so polls there close an hour later. But networks could call the state earlier based on exit polls in the Eastern time zone. Turnout in Detroit's Wayne County will be a key indicator of Clinton's support among African-Americans, but a better bellwether might be Macomb County, just north of 8 Mile Road. It's historically been ground zero for Reagan Democrats and could indicate whether Trump's anti-trade, anti-immigration message swings enough union members to close the gap.
Maine is a curiosity, because it's one of two states (Nebraska is the other) that splits its electoral votes by congressional district — giving Trump a chance to pick up a spare vote in Maine's 2nd district.
New Hampshire voters have seen these candidates up close more than anyone else, and Trump has surged in the polls there in recent weeks. A Trump win may not be decisive — it has just four electoral votes — but it could be a signal of whether Trump's rebound is for real.
Senate races to watch: In Missouri, GOP Sen. Roy Blunt faces a surprisingly strong challenger in Democratic Army veteran Jason Kander. In New Hampshire, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan is taking on GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte in a race dominated by the candidates' relationship to the presidential candidates. And in Pennsylvania, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is fending off a challenge from Katie McGinty, a former environmental protection official with close ties to Clinton and Obama.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey and Democratic challenger Katie McGinty take part in a debate in Philadelphia on Oct. 24, 2016. (Photo11: Matt Rourke, AP)
8:30 p.m. ET
Polls close in Arkansas.
9 p.m. ET
Polls close in Arizona, Colorado, western Kansas, Louisiana, the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, western South Dakota the western panhandle of Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Battlegrounds: In a normal election year, Arizona would be safely in the Republican column. The state has gone Democratic just once since 1948, and that was in the three-way race in 1996 when Reform Party candidate Ross Perot siphoned off Republican votes. While an Arizona Republic poll three weeks ago showed Clinton up by 5 percentage points, more recent polls have favored Trump.
But those poll results are based largely on models that show that Hispanic voters are historically underrepresented in voter turnout. And Democrats are hoping that Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric will drive Latinos to the polls. Exit polls will show whether that's happening.
Trump supporters arrive at a rally in Phoenix on Oct. 29, 2016. (Photo11: Caitlin O'Hara, AFP/Getty Images)
Obama carried Colorado twice, moving it from purple to blue on most electoral maps, and Clinton leads in most recent polls. And its demographics work against Trump: It's younger, more educated and more Hispanic than the country at large.
But Trump visited the state Saturday night, and GOP officials say they've pulled ahead on mail-in votes submitted by Republican voters.
"I don't think people are talking about it today, but we're 1,700 votes ahead in an all mail-in state in Colorado today. It is a jump ball in Colorado," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said on ABC's This Week.
That's a change from a week ago, when Trump visited the state and claimed there were "real problems with ballots being sent" and encouraged supporters to vote in person.
In New Mexico, Clinton has had a consistent lead in the polls, with the latest Albuquerque Journal poll showing her leading, 45% to 40%. So the most interesting thing to watch may be how well former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson does. The Libertarian candidate once hoped to play spoiler here, but his support has been cut to 11% from his high-water mark of 24% in September.
10 p.m. ET
Polls close in southern Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, eastern North Dakota, far eastern Oregon and Utah.
Battlegrounds: Once considered competitive, Iowa seems to be trending in Trump's direction. A Des Moines Register poll published Sunday showed him up by 7 percentage points.
“The bigger surprise on election night would be if he lost Iowa, not that he won it,” said Amy Walter, national editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. “Donald Trump can’t afford to lose Iowa, and Hillary Clinton can.”
Like Colorado, Nevada is another state where the two main sources of predictive data — polls and early votes — are trending in opposite directions. Trump seems to have a slight lead in recent polls, but a surge of early ballots cast by registered Democrats would seem to favor Clinton.
Trump needs crossover and independent votes — and big turnout by Republicans on Election Day — to overcome a 40,000-ballot early-vote advantage by registered Democrats.
But Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., told a Trump rally in Reno on Saturday that the early voting numbers fail to take into account independent voters, who he said will break toward Trump on Tuesday. “Guess what, the history in Nevada is Election Day is elephant day. Election Day is independent day," he said.
Also closely watched will be the fate of Utah's six electoral votes, with recent polls showing insurgent conservative Evan McMullin within striking distance of Donald Trump. McMullin would be the first third-party candidate to win electoral votes since George Wallace in 1968 — and those are electoral votes Trump needs.
Senate race to watch: The retirement of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid leaves an open seat in Nevada. Hoping to fill it are Catherine Cortez Masto, the Democratic former state attorney general, and GOP Rep. Joe Heck.
Democratic candidate Catherine Cortez Masto shakes hands with GOP Rep. Joe Heck after the Nevada Senate debate on Oct. 14, 2016, in North Las Vegas. (Photo11: Erik Verduzco, AP)
11 p.m. ET
Polls close in California, Hawaii, northern Idaho, western North Dakota, most of Oregon and Washington.
12 midnight ET
Polls close in most of Alaska.
1 a.m. ET
Polls close in half the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
Contributing: Joel Burgess of the Asheville Citizen-Times, Susan Page of USA TODAY, Alexandra Glorioso of the Naples Daily News, and Amy Bennett Williams of the Fort Myers News-Press, Jason Noble of the Des Moines Register, Seth Richardson of the Reno Gazette-Journal.
More election coverage from USA TODAY:
• Plot Trump's or Clinton's path to 270 electoral votes
• See the latest national and state presidential polling averages
• Check out poll closing times in each state
• Candidate info and ratings for all races
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2fx1EajThe Freedom Rally planned for Saturday in San Francisco was called off Friday night after Patriot Prayer’s founder Joey Gibson said he feared for the safety of those attending the event.
“At the end of the day I had to make that decision because it just felt like it was a set up — the way everything was set up,” Gibson said from an undisclosed location where he spoke with a handful of reporters on Saturday.
“All these random people mixed together — I just felt like it was going to be a huge riot,” Gibson said, adding that the police had fenced off Crissy Field where the group had a permit to hold the rally and would only let about 50 people inside the perimeter, then they would allow the admission of others, who would have had to pass by Antifa counter-protesters that would be allowed to gather outside the fence barrier.
Gibson said he felt it would be “dangerous” for people to attend the rally.
Gibson had planned instead to hold a small press conference at Alamo Square Park but canceled that too after Antifa crowds started to gather.
Despite the cancelations, Antifa protesters gathered at Alamo Square Park.
“Demonstrators shut down a major San Francisco freeway off-ramp Saturday and scuffled with police at the edge of Alamo Square Park during a day of protests,” the local CBS affiliate reported.
“At least one person was detained outside Alamo Square as demonstrators gathered to disrupt a press conference by the alt-right group Patriot Prayer,” CBS reported, noting that the conference had been called off hours earlier.
At around 1:30 p.m. PDT a group of protesters blocked the Central Freeway off-ramp into San Francisco’s Western Addition, backing up traffic on Highway 101, according to CBS.
Gibson and his group has been labeled white supremacist and racist by the media and political figures, including San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who took part in a rally on Friday.
“Now ya’ll know that some people are coming in tomorrow to our city,” Lee said. “You know as well as I do that they have a message that we don’t believe in — a message of hate.”
“And we’ve seen across this country how that message can easily translate into violence,” Lee said. “San Francisco is a city of love and compassion.”
“We are at the forefront of another social movement that says, ‘Not in our America,’” Rep. Jacki Speier (D-CA) said at the event. “We are not going to allow hate to infect us and become a cancer in this country.”
“Love will win,” Speier said.
But even after Gibson canceled the event, one Democrat said the cancelation showed the “true colors” of Patriot Prayer and deemed the shift to another park for a press conference an “illegal” protest.
“Today the right-wing extremist group Patriot Prayer — with a history of violent rallies — showed its true colors by canceling, at the last minute, its permitted rally at Crissy Field and scheduling an illegal un-permitted rally at Alamo Square,” State Senator Scott Wiener (D-SF) said in a statement.
Gibson has publicly denounced white supremacy and Nazism and was profiled in an article on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website, which infamously puts conservative and Christian groups on its “hate map” because of their traditional views on marriage, family, and other social issues.
Neither Gibson nor Patriot Prayer are listed on the “hate map.”
At the press conference Gibson said that, in fact, it is Antifa that is instigating violence at otherwise peaceful gatherings in support of liberty and free speech.
“When are these politicians, these corrupt, establishment, these corrupt, career politicians going to start to speak out against Antifa?” Gibson said at the press conference.
“We cannot allow these extremists to run around unopposed,” Gibson said. “It’s ridiculous.”Sources: About 15,000 pieces of evidence being checked for damage after HPD sprinkler mishap, = about 4,200 cases #abc13 — Kaitlin McCulley (@KaitlinMcCulley) October 19, 2016
A sprinkler malfunction inside the Houston Police Department's evidence room has jeopardized more than 4,000 criminal cases, according to sources.An HPD spokesman said the sprinkler went off Tuesday afternoon in a freezer inside the property room. That freezer contained mostly biological and toxicological evidence according to a letter from the Harris County District Attorney's office to Houston-area attorneys.Sources tell Eyewitness News about 15,000 pieces of evidence will have to be examined for water damage.Dr. Jasmine Drake is an associate professor of Forensic Science at Texas Southern University. She said HPD has a serious situation on their hands."There's gonna have to be a lot of documentation, photos will have to be taken, notes on the exact situation, the time, all of these things will be factors in determining if the evidence will be compromised," Drake said.Dr. Drake said biological evidence is particularly susceptible to water damage."For DNA and biological samples, they are actually stored in paper bags, paper materials and dry materials because moisture build-up will destroy or contaminate that evidence," Drake said.Attorney Tyler Flood is the president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. He is calling for a panel of attorneys, investigators and forensic specialists to work together in making sure the evidence is handled properly."Time is of the essence in something like this because there are people that are going to court every day whose evidence might be in there and might have been destroyed," Flood said, "But they are still pleading guilty or going to trial."A spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office said the office is waiting on information from HPD on which cases are affected. Once they have that information, the office will contact defense attorneys and prosecutors in those cases.The Houston Forensic Science Center is assisting HPD in examining and restoring evidence.Plans for the development of the first phase of more than 1,300 homes to be built on 30 hectares of vacant Dublin City Council-owned land will be finalised within weeks.
The council plans to develop a mix of social housing, affordable “starter” homes, private, and the new model of “affordable rental” housing” outlined in Budget 2016, at sites the council owns at Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock, O’Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, and St Michael’s Estate in Inchicore.
The building programme, its most ambitious since the regeneration of Ballymun, is to start with 76 houses on the largest of the three sites, a 17- hectare plot at Coolock Lane, at the Santry end of Oscar Traynor Road, just east of the entrance to the Dublin Port Tunnel, which the council has designated for 655 homes.
Sinn Féin councillor Noeleen Reilly said there must be consultation with residents before the land goes on the market.
“Dublin City Council officials have informed me that a development brief is being prepared to market part of this site in the coming weeks,” she said.
A spokesman for the council said a detailed brief was being finalised for the development of the first tranche of Oscar Traynor Road lands.
It “will be bought back to the councillors at a joint meeting of the council’s Housing and Planning SPCs [strategic policy committees] prior to being issued to the market”.
He said it was likely this meeting would be in May. The development of housing on the lands would be subject to a planning application, he said.
In January, councillors directed that 30 per cent of the 1,300 homes must be social housing.
However, it is not clear whether this first phase of 76 homes – 44 houses and 32 duplex units – will accommodate 30 per cent social housing tenants, or whether the 30 per cent will be provided as a quantum of the overall scheme of 655 homes.
Starter homes
The council had intended to reserve 16 homes for social housing, but to sell 60 as “starter homes”, from €240,000.
The Government defined starter homes as those costing €300,000 or less. The council said it believes it can reduce prices to €240,000 for a two-bedroom house and €260,000-€275,000 for a three-bed.
Separately, the council is to present plans to councillors today for the demolition of O’Devaney Gardens to make way for its redevelopment.
Almost 400 new homes will be built on the site of the 1950s flat complex near Phoenix Park.Ms Yazgi, 38, is the partner of the mayor's senior aide Emma Wolfe
Stephanie Yazgi is campaign director for the Office of Immigrant Affairs
New York City's mayor Bill de Blasio has come under fire after he was accused of giving an unadvertised job to his aide's girlfriend with a reported salary of $150,000 a year.
Appointed as 'campaign director' for de Blasio's Office of Immigrant Affairs in May, Stephanie Yazgi's salary will initially be paid for by the taxpayers until it is covered by a delayed private grant.
The 38-year-old is the partner of one of the mayor's most trusted aides, Emma Wolfe.
The startling findings were revealed by the New York Post, who were told by one Democrat insider that it was 'just a made up position.'
Scroll down for video:
New York City's mayor Bill de Blasio (left) has come under fire after he was accused of giving an unadvertised job to Stephanie Yazgi, (right) his aide's girlfriend with a reported salary of $150,000 a year
City hall has so far refused to comment on whether anyone was interviewed for the job, which
Ms Yazgi, who reportedly shares an apartment with Wolfe in Brooklyn, was chosen for the job after beating off competition from 10 other people, Immigration Commissioner Nisha Agarwal said.
Agarwal praised Ms Yazgi for her credentials, calling her'very experienced' having worked as the director for Walmart Free NYC campaign.
Details of her job description have emerged, revealing her main task was 'overseeing the mayor's national organizing efforts on immigration, specifically the Cities for Action on Immigration coalition.'
Stephanie Yazgi, 38 is the partner of one of the mayor's most trusted aides, Emma Wolfe (pictured)
Nisha Agarwal defended the decision to create the new job, pointing out that it represented the mayor's promise to introduce reforms following last December's immigration summit.
Held at Gracie Mansion, the summit saw a dozen mayors from across the States signing de Blasio's 'Five Point Challenge' for improving the co-ordination of immigration strategy and improving its effectiveness.
Prior to joining the mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Ms Yazgi worked at consulting firm Hilltop Public Solutions, which played an integral part in de Blasio's winning mayoral campaign.A League of Legends team competing in the World Championship Finals. View Full Caption Flickr/artubr
THE LOOP — Is online gaming a sport worthy of including in a college's athletic program?
Robert Morris University thinks so, announcing this month that student-athletes can compete in League of Legends online games as part of its newly launched "eSports" program, calling it an "online sport."
Citing the "large surge in popularity" of video game competitions, the university announced that the school "recognizes the value and legitimacy of eSports and is excited to add eSports to its already rich athletic curriculum," that also includes championship-winning women's lacrosse and men's basketball teams.
League of Legends is an online multiplayer battle arena game modeled in part after World of Warcraft, which pits players against each other in one-on-one fights and team battles.
The move to integrate League of Legends and the eSport category with the university's athletic program also makes eSport athletes eligible for athletic scholarships to the Loop university.
Robert Morris is the first school in the country to offer athletic scholarships of up to 50 percent tuition and 50 percent room and board to qualified gamers who join the university's "League of Legends" team.
The eSports program will organize video game competitions hosted at its Loop campus, but playing out in the online game's digital arenas. Robert Morris' team will join the Collegiate Star League, made up of 103 universities, including Arizona State, George Washington and Harvard.
Kurt Melcher, Robert Morris' associate athletic director, said he's happy to see online athletes included in the school's sports program.
"League of Legends is a competitive, challenging game which requires a significant amount of teamwork to be successful," he said in a statement. "Robert Morris has always been at the forefront of providing opportunities for a diverse student population with different interests and skills."
The university announced plans to begin recruiting student athletes for the inaugural "League of Legends" from high school students who have competed in the "League of Legends" High School Starleague.
Last summer, the U.S. State Department determined that competitive online gaming was a legitimate sport, and participating, qualified players can move to the U.S. under the same visas provided to professional athletes in traditional sports.
Robert Morris' League of Legends team will begin competing this fall. Incoming students interested in consideration for the team should contact Melcher at 312-935-4110 or kmelcher@robertmorris.edu. Application fees will be waived for eSport "League of Legends" applicants.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The statue was found 300 metres from its original position
A six-feet sculpture of a Celtic sea god that was stolen from Binevenagh Mountain, near Limavady, in County Londonderry has been recovered by soldiers on a training exercise.
Manannán Mac Lir, which is made out of fibre glass and stainless steel was stolen last month.
The Ministry of Defence has said it was located by members of the Royal Irish Regiment.
Police said a group of ramblers spotted the statue and alerted the soldiers.
The statue was installed last year and was a popular tourist attraction.
Alan Robinson, the mayor of Limavady, said police told him there seemed to be some damage to the statue.
"The police officer in question said there appeared to be some damage around its head and whether or not that could be repaired was a matter for a sculptor to determine," he said.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence said: "Soldiers from 2nd Batallion Royal Irish Regiment were deployed by helicopter to the north Antrim Coast last night for a weekend exercise.
Image copyright PSNI press office Image caption Police released photographs of the statue taken before the theft and appealed for information
"Whilst trekking through Binevenagh forest near Magilligan Strand they discovered the missing statue and immediately alerted the PSNI.
'Detached'
"The Ministry of Defence is delighted this unique statue has been found."
Sergeant Major Wallace Mehaffey said the statue was found 300 metres from its original position and was badly damaged.
He said the base of it had been "ripped off its mount" and part of the head was detached.
"We were approached by a group of ramblers and they told us they had found what appeared to be the said statue, because it has fallen down the side of a rocky outcrop I would say some 50 to 70 metres, it is damaged to the back of the head," he added.
Police said they were pleased the statue had been recovered and appealed to anyone with information about its theft to contact them.
They said a group of ramblers spotted the statue and alerted the soldiers.
Those who stole the statue last month left a wooden cross with the words "You shall have no other gods before me" in its place.
Sculptor John Sutton, who has worked on the Game of Thrones television series, said that it would have taken a number of men with angle grinders several hours to remove the £10,000 figure from its base.
The theft prompted a campaign for its safe return, and led to a'missing persons appeal' by police.
Earlier this month, Limavady Borough Council had voted to replace the stolen artwork with a sculpture "as similar to the original as possible".Portland bans 'neonicotinoid' pesticide
The Portland City Council on Wednesday voted to ban the use of neonicioinoid pesticides, which the city currently uses at the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park and at Peninsula Park.
Parks Commissioner Amanda Fritz introduced the ordinance last Wednesday, with support by advocates including the Xerces Society, Audubon Society of Portland, Center for Biological Diversity and Beyond Toxics.
Neonicotinoids are one of the most widley used pesticides in the world, but have recently been found to be a major threat to pollinator health.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture documented seven bumble bee death incidents related to the application of neonicotinoids on trees since June 2013, six of which happened in the Portland metro area.
Portland Parks & Recreation currently relies on neonicotinoids to control the pest known as the rose midge, found only in the Rose Test Garden and Peninsula Park.
The neonicotinoid used to control the pest is called "imidacloprid," and applied in a granular form to the top layer of the soil.
The ordinance calls for a phased elimination of the neonicotinoid pesticide at these locations over time, while alternative pest control methods are developed.
In the meantime, the city will continue "limited and judicial use" of the pesticide.
The ordinance calls for some immediate action:
Parks staff will provide a plan to Fritz within four months to phase out all purchase of commercial nursery stock, trees and other plants treated with neonicotinoids.
City bureaus and offices will purchase plants that are neonicotinoid-free.
Parks staff will develop a phase-out plan with goal for complete phase-out by Dec. 1, 2017 unless otherwise justified.
Broader impact
In the meantime, the search for alternative methods begins.
"Neonicotinoids kill more than pollinators they kill beneficial insects in the garden and the soil that help manage pest outbreaks," the ordinance reads.
The parks bureau will evaluate alternatives to address pests, including organic methods such as mulches and non-toxic sprays.
They'll also develop a management plan for the rose midge, not just for successful rose management "but as guidance to the general public, showing that successful pest management is possible with practices that protect bees and other pollinators."
A pilot project will test the viability of using alternatives to neonicotinoids to manage the rose midge and other pests in the park system.
The pilot will include test beds at Peninsula Park or other locations with rose gardens will include consultation from experts at Oregon State University, businesses, nonprofit groups, government agencies and others.
Parks staff will monitor the test plots and report back two years after planting. If it's successful in combatting the rose midge and other pests, staff will do a cost-benefit analysis.
If the pilot is successful, the bureau will convert all city rose garden beds to neonicotinoid-free methods, requesting increased funding for the new method in the city budget if necessary.
If the pilot is unsuccessful, neonicotinoid pesticide use may continue on a site-by-site basis as the ordinance allows.MAY 21--Entrusted with a government credit card, an Internal Revenue Service worker allegedly used the plastic for a years-long Amazon.com shopping spree that netted her hundreds of items, including a chocolate fondue fountain; Bollywood movies; Pampers; Harlequin romance novels; Omaha Steaks; Apple Bottoms skinny jeans; mango body wash; and a Ginsu knife set.
Yetunde Oseni, 37, was named |
Obama administration failed to gather public input when deciding to name or expand national monuments. The Trump administration has refused to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by watchdog group Western Values Project for documents that would prove or disprove Trump’s claim. In May, the Western Values Project filed a lawsuit in federal court to force the release of documents from the Obama administration’s deliberations over Bears Ears and other monuments.
Zinke’s recommendations for the national monuments — if and when they are released to the public — are likely to face numerous legal challenges. The U.S. attorney general, in a 1938 opinion, found that the president does not have the power to reduce the size of or abolish a national monument. Supporters of eliminating or reducing the size of national monuments counter that no court has ever approved of the attorney general’s 1938 opinion.
The early 20th century law known as the Antiquities Act makes it possible for presidents to create national monuments. The law has survived various court challenges that have strengthened it. But the president’s authority to create a national monument of any size has not yet been challenged in court.
The recommendations in Zinke’s report are the conclusion of a 120-day review Trump initiated in April that targeted 27 land and marine national monuments.
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“Zinke’s sham review was rigged from the beginning to open up more public lands to fossil fuel, mining and timber industries,” Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
In the summary, Zinke argued that Trump was correct in tasking him to review and provide recommendations of all national monuments that were designated from 1996 to the present that are 100,000 acres or greater in size or made without adequate public consultation. “There is no doubt that President Trump has the authority to review and consider recommendations to modify or add a monument,” Zinke wrote.
Some of the most outspoken opponents of protections for national monuments in the West, including the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah and the Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada, are anti-government militia groups and extremists whose racist ideologies are well-documented.
In an interim report released in June, Zinke recommended that Trump significantly reduce the size of Bears Ears, an area of land that is considered sacred to Native Americans and is home to an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites. Though Zinke did not say in June how many acres would be cut from the monument, he did suggest there are “a lot more” landscapes that do not need to be protected as a national monument than there are historical artifacts and sacred sites that warrant protection under the Antiquities Act.
President Bill Clinton declared the 1.9 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996, while President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears as a national monument in late 2016. The 113,000-acre Cascade-Siskiyou in Oregon was established by Clinton and expanded by Obama in January.
“Secretary Zinke’s apparent decision to roll back protections for national monuments and his failure to disclose the details of that decision is monumentally out of touch with the will of the American people,” Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement. “We have a right to know how he intends to change monument designations, and which of these special places are at risk.”
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The Western Values Project filed an expedited Freedom of Information Act request with the Interior Department on Thursday seeking information on the monument review that was submitted to the White House. “If Secretary Zinke wants to redraw the maps for millions of acres of public land, he should at least be transparent and honest with the Western communities who will be impacted by his actions,” said Chris Saeger, executive director of the Western Values Project.
Saeger said it is a “farce for him to claim this review is about public input, while hiding the recommendations he’s made to President Trump on behalf of the American people.” Zinke is opening the door for “special interests to run the show on Western public lands” and “has sold out his Montana values and handed over the reins to lobbyists and Washington, D.C. insiders.” Zinke served as Montana’s only member of the U.S. House of Representatives prior to be named Interior secretary.
On Friday, the Sierra Club filed its own Freedom of Information Act request seeking details on recommendations from Zinke on the future of public lands protected as national monuments. The summary report released by Zinke “was void of any actual recommendations or decision-making metrics,” the environmental group said.
“The only real information conveyed in the report was Zinke’s willingness to sweep aside overwhelming support for preserving public land safeguards. We won’t be hustled. The truth is in the details, which is what we plan to find out with this request,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement.WASHINGTON—Conceding that designing plays is a difficult task, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan admitted Thursday that his mother, Peggy, helped him create most of the formations, schemes, and strategies in the Washington playbook. "My mom is so nice about it. I sometimes have trouble figuring out the blocking—especially what to do with the guards—and she always helps me, no problem," said Shanahan, adding that his mother is "way, way better" at getting Robert Griffin III space to run. "I'd ask my dad, but lots of times he gets upset that I can't figure things out, instead of just helping me and making me feel good." Kyle Shanahan, who confirmed that he talks to his mother on his headset during games, said that she offers encouragement as well as advice on how to get the tight ends more involved.
Advertisement0 Man fired over post about driving through Trump protesters
An Arizona man who said he was “being made into a horrible person” because of a social media post that referenced a violent incident in Charlottesville was fired from his job Wednesday, the Arizona Republic reported.
James Cobo was responding to a Facebook post about protesting President Donald Trump’s visit to Phoenix. “You are all pathetic. Can’t wait to drive through. 4x4 with push bumper will be sweet in this crowd. I named my lifted truck ‘trumper,’” Cobo wrote.
The comment seemed to reference the incident 10 days previously, when Heather Heyer was killed after a car plowed into a group of protesters in Charlottesville.
Cobo’s employer, West Valley Tires Point S of Buckeye, Arizona, was not amused and fired him Wednesday, The Arizona Republic reported.
"I'm being made into a horrible person over a joke that was just meant to ruffle some feathers," Cobo told the Republic on Wednesday. “I admit it was a tasteless joke, but keyword here is it was a joke. If anybody was ever going to go and intentionally hurt people, why would they talk about it on social media publicly before doing it?"
Cobo defended what he wrote and said he was not racist.
"I never hurt anybody, nor did I have the intent to," Cobo said. "I never said I was actually going to hit anybody with a vehicle. They assumed it. Never would have thought it would be a big deal.
"I still can't figure out why I'm being called a racist. I've never even said anything racist."
Cobo admitted his intent was to upset people.
"I was poking at them, trying to get a reaction like they do to the Trump supporters," Cobo said. "Just hurt feelings like they do to everybody that doesn't feel the same way they do about life."
He also denied that his post was referencing Heyer’s death, but he was not sympathetic, the Republic reported.
"If you play in the road, you might get hit by a car. My parents taught me that when I was little," he said. "Now, her family has $225,000, because she played in the street, and people feel sorry for her family."
A GoFundMe page created to raise money for Heyer's family raised nearly $225,000, before it was closed.
Cobo said he had no regrets.
"I don't care that I got fired. I already got another job," he said. "The only thing that upsets me about this situation is that adults are able to throw a tantrum and raise hell and get what they want by doing so. This is not how America is supposed to work."
© 2019 Cox Media Group.Google's self-driving cars are required to have a brake, accelerator, and steering wheel to test in California. But the Big G has found a loophole, and it's making unwitting test subjects out of NASA employees at the Ames Research Center outside of Mountain View, CA.
Google struck a deal with Ames management to test its control-less prototypes on the campus where over 2,000 NASA employees work. The reason: it's based on the Moffett Federal Airfield, which isn't subject to the California's autonomous vehicle testing regulations.
As you'd expect, some of Ames' employees aren't exactly thrilled to be sharing their campus with driverless robocars, among them is Ames Federal Employees Union President, Leland Stone.
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"Civilized society long ago rejected coerced human participation in experiments, but strangely, senior leadership thus far does not appear to fully grasp this," Stone wrote in a letter to NASA employees. "We hope again that common sense will prevail to resolve this concern, but the bottom line is that the union is prepared to take every lawful action necessary to prevent management from forcing Ames employees to be guinea pigs in an experiment against their will."
The deputy director at Ames, Deb Feng, told the Mountain View Voice:
Ames established and implemented a multi-disciplinary safety board to review the proposed research activities and operations of these vehicles. Prior to operating autonomous automobiles on the Ames campus, Google will provide appropriate documentation and information to obtain approval from Ames Protective Services and the Ames Safety Office. Employees may discuss any concerns with their supervisors prior to the tests.
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Considering the current issues Google has with its autonomous vehicles, the employees aren't completely unwarranted.
"Folks should not be participating in experiments either coercively or unwittingly," Stone told the Mountain View Voice. "Someone may say, 'I'm pregnant and I'm not going to take a chance. I don't want to be that one-in-a-million who gets hit.' Shouldn't that person be able to opt-out? We expect that nothing bad will happen, but we have to prepare for the worst, so all participants can say, 'I understood the risks.'"
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A Google spokesperson clarified the company's approach, saying, "As we develop new technologies, we often partner with organizations like NASA Ames who have related interest and expertise. In all cases, we collaborate closely with our partners to ensure that all testing is conducted safely."
Google has tested its autonomous Lexus and Prius models at Ames, is currently collecting mapping data, and plans to start using the facility for its latest self-driving prototype in October and continue through 2018. Ames officials are due to address the concerns brought up by the union today.The AT Strategic Alliance recently released an official statement about the professional degree for athletic training. The following are some common questions and answers related to the statement.
Note: Find more resources related to the degree change, including videos and helpful tips for AT educators, at Higher Education Resources.
Who made the decision to change the degree level?
The Athletic Training Strategic Alliance is made up of the BOC, CAATE, NATA and the NATA Research & Education Foundation. The NATA boards and CAATE boards, with the full support of the BOC and NATA Foundation boards, unanimously approved this change.
Current ATs
I’m a certified/licensed AT. How does the degree change impact me?
It does not have a direct impact on your certificate/license. It does have an impact on your profession and its longevity, as the strategic alliance believes that the changing nature of health care and an increased emphasis on inter-professional practice will make the master’s level of education very important to the profession’s future.
I’m a certified/licensed AT. I have a bachelor’s degree. Do I have to go back to school to get a master’s?
No. Current athletic trainers will not need to earn a master’s degree to satisfy this new standard. This change in degree level will affect future athletic training students. It will take no less than seven years for the change to occur, so the first students who will be impacted are not yet in high school.
AT Education
I'm in an accredited bachelor's program now. Will I need to also obtain a master's degree before I can be eligible for the exam?
Current students enrolled in a program will not have to obtain a master's degree to be eligible for the exam. When the CAATE establishes the implementation date, future students will know how to select their institutions to ensure they meet the requirements.
Doesn’t this degree change increase student debt?
The extra one to two years of school does mean debt will increase; however, when you compare ATs who have master’s degrees with those who don’t, ATs with master’s have more longevity in the profession and higher rates of full time employment, which often corresponds to increased salaries. Even though the debt is higher, having a master’s could help contribute to increased salary, thus reducing student debt at a quicker rate.
Will the graduate assistant model go away?
Yes. About a quarter of the jobs posted through the NATA Career Center are positions such as graduate assistantships or internships. More investigation is being conducted to determine how to best change this employment model. The NATA Executive Committee for Education has taken on that task and will be addressing it over the next year, long before the transition takes place.
What is the timeline for implementation of the master’s degree requirement for Professional Programs? (Per the CAATE )
The Standards for Accreditation of Professional Athletic Training Programs will be changed to include a requirement that professional programs be at the master’s degree with a specific implementation deadline of at least 7 years. A decision of this magnitude requires significant discussion on the implementation details; the CAATE anticipates acting on the implementation deadline at the August 2015 meeting.
The Profession
Will changing the degree level increase salaries?
There is data to prove athletic trainers with a master’s degree earn more than those with a bachelors; however, as part of the review process a health care economist conducted a study specific to athletic training education. The research shows degree level alone is not a strong indicator of salary increase. But, years of full time employment plus an advanced degree can lead to an increased salary. In addition, ATs who have a master’s are more likely to stay in the profession and again that is one of the components that lead to increased salary.
How will the degree change impact diversity retention in the profession?
It was found that greater diversity exists at the graduate level of athletic training programs than it does at the undergraduate level. In addition, minorities represent a high population of student athletes. Therefore, the degree level change may also open up the opportunity to become an athletic trainer for more minority students, as the athletes can complete their AT coursework once their undergraduate playing days are completed.
The degree change might not have an influence on the reputation of athletic trainers so why do it?
The perception of Program Directors, who oversee programs at the master’s level is that students at the graduate level show an increase in maturity, commitment to the profession and benefit from a higher quality of clinical experience. This will aid the public’s perception of athletic training and ensure proper professional alignment with other health care professions. It’s also been shown that the retention of ATs who have a master’s is better than those who don’t. This longevity also impacts reputation.
How will the degree change impact reimbursement?
The health care economist study found that the degree level had almost nothing to do with the reimbursement process. With a lack of recognition of athletic training, health care facilities assume insurers will not reimburse and choose to not attempt billing. However, it is believed that changing the professional degree to the master’s level will heighten the perception of the athletic training profession and could aid in the reimbursement process.
Background
Some believe the decision to change the degree level was pre-determined even before the presentations were made at national, district and state meetings and other research into the change started. Is that true?
A considerable amount of time and resources went into making this decision. The strategic alliance investigated everything possible to determine which outcome was in the profession’s best interest. This was not investigated and decided by one person or entity. The research included program director focus groups, a health care economist study focused on athletic training education, expert opinion from CAATE Commission physician and administrative members, CAATE’s call for open comments and numerous open-discussion sessions at state, district and national meetings, as well as the Professional Degree in Athletic Training White Paper.
Has enough evidence been gathered to support a decision on a degree change?
The strategic alliance has been investigating this transition for the past 2.5 years. Program director focus groups, a health care economist study focused on athletic training education, expert opinion from CAATE Commission physician and administrative members, CAATE’s call for open comments and numerous open-discussion sessions at state, district and national meetings, and the Professional Degree in Athletic Training White Paper were all used to help reach this decision. It would have actually been easier to succumb to analysis by paralysis and to continue to gather evidence over the next 7 – 10 years. However, that could halt the profession’s progress significantly when the degree change is important to cementing our role in the health care team.
What’s Next
I’m an educator. How will I learn more about the transition as we move forward?
Within the next few weeks a new strategic alliance website will be launched at ATStrategicAlliance.org. This site will allow you to submit questions, it will include a link to FAQs and it is where the strategic alliance partners will update and provide additional information as it becomes available. In addition, CAATE and NATA will often update on their websites as we move through the transition process. CAATE will provide information on the standard change and the transition. NATA will provide tools and best practices to help with the transition. It could be at times that there is no news. This is a long process as the transition will take no less than seven years so there will be times when there is nothing new to report, but work will be happening consistently behind the scenes.TORONTO (Embargoed until 11am EST, Jan. 28, 2015) - A new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found that the measure of brain inflammation in people who were experiencing clinical depression was increased by 30 per cent. The findings, published today in JAMA Psychiatry, have important implications for developing new treatments for depression.
"This finding provides the most compelling evidence to date of brain inflammation during a major depressive episode," says senior author Dr. Jeffrey Meyer of CAMH's Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute. "Previous studies have looked at markers of inflammation in blood, but this is the first definitive evidence found in the brain."
Specifically, Dr. Meyer's research team was able to measure the activation of immune cells, known as microglia, that play a key role in the brain's inflammatory response.
To investigate whether brain inflammation was increased in people during clinical depression, Dr. Meyer and his team conducted brain scans on 20 patients with depression but who were otherwise healthy and 20 healthy control participants using a brain imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET). Results showed a significant elevation of brain inflammation in participants with depression. Rates of inflammation were also highest among those with the most severe depression.
Although the process of inflammation is one way that the brain protects itself - similar to the inflammation of a sprained ankle -- too much inflammation may not be helpful and can be damaging. A growing body of evidence suggests the role of inflammation in generating the symptoms of a major depressive episode such as low mood, loss of appetite, and inability to sleep. But what was previously unclear was whether inflammation played a role in clinical depression independent of any other physical illness.
"This discovery has important implications for developing new treatments for a significant group of people who suffer from depression," says Dr. Meyer, who also holds a Canada Research Chair in the neurochemistry of major depression. "It provides a potential new target to either reverse the brain inflammation or shift to a more positive repair role, with the idea that it would alleviate symptoms."
The drive to uncover new ways to target and treat depression is fueled by the reality that more than half of people with major depression do not respond to antidepressant treatments and four per cent of the general population is the midst of a clinical episode. Current treatments do not target inflammation, and treating depression with anti-inflammatories is one avenue for future research, Dr. Meyer says.
"Depression is a complex illness and we know that it takes more than one biological change to tip someone into an episode," says Dr. Meyer. "But we now believe that inflammation in the brain is one of these changes and that's an important step forward."
First author of the study was post-doctoral research fellow Dr. Elaine Setiawan. This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ministry of Research and Innovation.
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The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital and a world leading research centre in this field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental illness and addiction. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. For more information, please visit http://www. camh. ca or follow @CAMHnews on Twitter.
Media Contact:
Kate Richards
Media Relations Specialist
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
416 535-8501 ext. 36015
media@camh.caAfter hearing NASA had released information on their website denying the End Times scenario in Dr. Stankov’s latest article The Fears of the Masses about Dec 21 are Encroaching the US-Elite today, I felt compelled to address this issue.
First off, NASA is completely denying there is any type of significance to December 21, 2012 whatsoever other than it being another typical winter solstice. They are even denying all evidence leading to any type of cosmic alignment, regardless of any major consequences one way or another.
It’s one thing to deny rumors about a doomsday scenario with major catastrophes occurring, but saying there will be no type of cosmic alignment despite so much support is suspicious and outright disconcerting to me.
Even the answers on their 2012 webpage are worded like a cover-up:
Q: Is NASA predicting a “total blackout” of Earth on Dec. 23 to Dec. 25? A: Absolutely not. Neither NASA nor any other scientific organization is predicting such a blackout. The false reports on this issue claim that some sort of “alignment of the Universe” will cause a blackout. There is no such alignment (see next question). Q: Could planets align in a way that impacts Earth? A: There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. One major alignment occurred in 1962, for example, and two others happened during 1982 and 2000. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.
This is certainly not the first time NASA and the U.S. government have been involved in keeping secrets, as they did with the 1986 Challenger Disaster, and there has always been much discrepancy about the Apollo Moon Landing.
Furthermore, this is exactly the type of behavior you would expect from the dark forces in order to keep the masses unaware of spirituality and to discredit all information about ascension. They do not want people to wake up and learn the truth. They know what is really going on, and they want to maintain control.
This is the classic battle of Light vs. Dark, Gnostic vs. Agnostic, and the question is, where do you stand yourself? Are you going to allow the government, the same government who manufactures wars, to continue to tell you what to think?
Maybe those crazy New Agers with their organic food and outrageous alternative ideas about saving the planet are actually the biggest patriots of all? What if they are the freedom fighters in disguise, the ones telling the truth despite being ridiculed, assassinated, drugged, and committed to mental institutions?
Why would people fight so hard to expose something if it wasn’t true? Why would people put their entire credibility and livelihood on the line for nothing?
People need to wake up and stop giving their power away to the “authorities”. We have been programmed to automatically believe everything NASA or the government says. Have you ever considered these so-called authorities are actually murderous psychopaths? Have you seen what went down on 9/11?
For those questioning the validity of the Three-Earth scenario, it seems to me it’s playing out exactly as predicted. Those who are preparing for a doomsday experience are energizing the Earth B timeline; those preparing for ascension are energizing the Earth A timeline; and those undecided are energizing Earth A/B.
When the alignment with the Galactic Center occurs, we will enter a state of zero-point, the Matrix will be reset, and each individual will end up in the respective destination he or she has energized according to their soul contract.
This is the “nothing” NASA is talking about. The agenda of the cabal is to achieve a negative harvest, and keeping this information secret is in their best interests.
Regardless if you believe this stuff, we will find out for ourselves soon enough.New Delhi: Powerful body of Muslim cleric, Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind on Friday opposed the Supreme Court decision to take up the matter relating to marriage and divorce rights of Muslim women.
Raising objections over Supreme Court hearing a plea on Muslim women rights, Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind claimed that Muslim personal law flows from the Holy Quran and therefore, it cannot be subjected to any scrutiny by the apex court.
In its plea seeking to be made party to the case, Jamiat told the Supreme Court that it was beyond the court's power to examine the constitutional validity of practices of marriage, divorce and maintenance in Muslim personal law on the grounds that such laws cannot be challenged citing citizen's fundamental rights.
The group also said that the previous judgements of the apex court have already provided adequate protection to Muslim women in marriage as well as divorce issues.
The Supreme Court had recently noted, "It was pointed out that inspite of guarantee of the Constitution, Muslim women are subjected to discrimination. There is no safeguard against arbitrary divorce and second marriage by her husband during currency of the first marriage, resulting in denial of dignity and security to her."
Last year, a two-judge bench had ordered registration of a separate PIL and requested the Chief Justice to set up a Special Bench to deal with issues relating to the challenge to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act.16-year-old charged with felony assault after locker room brawl hospitalizes New Braunfels teen
Canyon High School in New Braunfels, TX, where sophomore student Logan Davidson was assaulted and later died of his injuries. Thursdayu, Nov. 14, 2013. Canyon High School in New Braunfels, TX, where sophomore student Logan Davidson was assaulted and later died of his injuries. Thursdayu, Nov. 14, 2013. Photo: Bob Owen, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Bob Owen, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 63 Caption Close 16-year-old charged with felony assault after locker room brawl hospitalizes New Braunfels teen 1 / 63 Back to Gallery
A New Braunfels teen has been charged with felony aggravated assault after an altercation that hospitalized a 15-year-old Canyon High School student, according to the New Braunfels Police Department.
NBPD spokesman David Ferguson confirmed the new charge against the 16-year-old, who has since been detained and placed at the Guadalupe County Juvenile Detention Center. His name will not be released since he is a minor.
RELATED: New Braunfels teen out of ICU after high school locker room fight
The incident in question occurred Jan. 9 at about 8:30 a.m. at Canyon High School in the boys’ locker room.
The two teens got into a fight and the younger teen suffered a head injury. He was transported via EMS to University Hospital in San Antonio, according to a previous report.
A spokesperson for the school district in Comal County previously told mySA.com the injured student was released from the hospital that same week.
The New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung reports the 15-year-old is expected to make a full recovery, but he has not gone back to school yet.
CISD spokesman Steve Stanford told the New Braunfels paper the felony charge for the 16-year-old student could warrant an expulsion under the student code of conduct. The student will not be allowed back to the school for the remainder of the school year.
RELATED: Assailants at large after pregnant woman tied up, robbed in NW Side home
As a result of this and other fights, the high school is getting rid of a program called Mega Lunch, which was primarily used as a means to get students to get tutoring, go to clubs and do other work, according to the New Braunfels paper.
The school is instead adopting a new bell schedule with three lunches and time for tutoring, the Herald-Zeitung reported.
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With lots of incredibly interesting offers that cover all market segments from mainstream to the incredibly high-end, EVGA has established itself in a rather short period when it comes to PSUs. We reviewed one of their more recent additions to the G2 line, the G2-750, and it left us fully satisfied with its performance and features. EVGA also sent us its bigger brother, the G2-850, which was released at the same time and is based on exactly the same Super Flower platform, but has 100 W more capacity.The G2-850 features Gold efficiency, which will save you a lot of money on your electricity bill, and exploits a fully modular cabling design to make installing and routing cables a breeze. It also promises to be incredibly reliable because its modern platform uses components of high quality, like Japanese capacitors, and comes with a stunning ten year warranty, currently the longest period of any company. We should note that you have to register your product within 30 days after the purchase to make use of the warranty. It also can't be transferred to another owner should you decide to sell the PSU, and owners must have a valid invoice in hand to claim it. You will find more about EVGA’s terms of warranty hereOceanographers claim grainy pictures showing world’s largest animal 250 miles off the coast are first since it was hunted to near-extinction
The great creature surfaced from the murk of a deep-sea canyon, lingered just long enough for observers to grab a few pictures, and then vanished from sight into the fog and rain.
Oceanographers believe these grainy photographs are probably the first to show a blue whale in English waters since the mammals were almost hunted to extinction in the north-east Atlantic.
The blue whale, the largest animal in the world, was spotted by scientists on board RRS James Cook, which is studying the seabed and marine life of the Whittard Canyon, located off England’s south-west coast.
Russell Wynn, a senior research scientist at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Southampton, said he was undertaking his daily marine mammal survey and watching about seven fin whales close to the ship, when his attention was grabbed by a shape surfacing about a kilometre away.
“I had just enough time to secure some conclusive photos before the visibility decreased and the whale disappeared into the gloom,” he said.
One photo shows a glimpse of spray from the whale’s blowhole; in the second the animal’s mottled bluish-grey back and tiny dorsal fin are visible.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A glimpse of spray can be seen from the blue whale’s blowhole. Photograph: National Oceanography Centre
The NOC’s Veerle Huvenne, who is chief scientist of the expedition, added: “There was huge excitement on board as many people got a glimpse of their first blue whale, but only later did we realise that this is probably the first to be photographed within English waters. The Biscay margin is already recognised as a hotspot for whales, dolphins and seabirds – our new data further underlines the importance of this area for iconic marine life.”
Want to see some seals? Head to Canary Wharf | Philip Hoare Read more
The blue whale was hunted to near-extinction in the north-east Atlantic in the early 20th century, but this sighting, and others from observers on ferries crossing the Bay of Biscay further south, may indicate that the population is slowly starting to recover and move into new areas.
In addition to the blue whale, the expedition has recorded more than 20 fin whales, the second largest animal on Earth, in the waters of the canyon, which acts as a highway for sea life between the shallower waters of the continental shelf and the deep ocean.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Blue sharks have been pictured using the expedition’s remotely operated vehicle. Photograph: National Oceanography Centre
On the same day that the blue whale was seen – 24 August – the survey team, using their remotely operated vehicle (ROV), recorded a broad-billed swordfish several hundred metres below the surface. Swordfish are rarely encountered in UK waters. Up to 12 blue sharks have regularly been seen around the ship and have been captured on ROV video.
The Whittard Canyon lies some 400km (250 miles) off the British coast on the northern margin of the Bay of Biscay. Part of it, including where the blue whale was seen, can be classified as being in English waters as the area falls within the UK Exclusive Economic Zone.Caracas, January 30th 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) - Venezuelan housing rights groups took to the streets of Caracas on Thursday to reject the political opposition’s plans to privatise social housing.
Since launching its housing "mission" or program in 2012, the Bolivarian government, together with communities, has built more than 1 million homes for some of Venezuela’s poorest families.
But the recently built social housing is now under threat of being sold off, thanks to a motion pledging to privatise the houses introduced by the newly elected opposition-controlled National Assembly early in January.
Dubbed the Law for the Award of Property Deeds to the Beneficiaries of the Venezuelan Great Housing Mission (GMVV), the legislation was approved by parliament in initial discussions on Thursday. It will now go to second discussion where it will likely be passed.
“The majority opposition assembly is defending the rights of the banks, the construction and property lobbies that have been hit hard,” said marcher Kristal V, a member of the Pioneers Movement, to Venezuelanalysis.
“Nobody is going to privatise our right to housing, our right to be a socialist community. Today we are fighting for the right to urban soil,” she added.
The new law follows an opposition win at the country’s National Assembly elections on December 6th last year - when legislators affiliated to the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) swept a two-thirds majority for the first time in over seventeen years.
The new majority allows opposition legislators to pass national legislation virtually unopposed in parliament and has led to a stand-off between the Bolivarian government and opposition controlled legislature.
On Thursday, protesters took to the streets to lend support to the government against the new legislators. They said the law was a direct attempt to eliminate the hard fought right to public housing in Venezuela.
“The approval of this law would be a huge setback to the advances made by the state to ensure the right to housing,” Juan Carlos R of the Settler’s Movement explained to Venezuelanalysis.
“We poor people do not need a house as a piece of merchandise, we need it to live in! It’s the bourgeoisie that has two or three houses which they buy and sell for business,” he added.
The mastermind behind the law, MUD legislator Julio Borges, has said that the new legislation will give residents the official property titles to the houses, allowing them to sell the state-built homes on the private market.
Until now, GMVV residents have been granted a Deed of Use legal document which gives them the right to the houses for life - but the homes can only be sold under specific circumstances and not on the private market.
The opposition move has been vehemently attacked by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has vowed to block the legislation. He told opposition legislators that they would “have to overthrow” him in order to pass the motion in his annual state of union address.
Maduro’s government has promised to build millions more public homes for the approximately 50% of the population that currently lives in makeshift houses in the country’s shantytowns - also known as barrios.
For Borges, however, it’s not the role of legislators “to build houses”.
“My role is to give ideas for people to progress, and to that end we are doing what is correct.”
“There is no explanation why the executive would deny something that is as important to Venezuelan families, such as having the full deeds to the property they live in. Something that will mean that families can progress, inherit and sell these houses if they want to keep progressing,” stated Borges.
But the government and social movements argue that the homes should not have a speculative value, but rather remain as houses destined for families in need.
“They (the opposition) never supported the project of the GMVV, they protested when the state took over urban soil for construction and now their mouths are filled with hypocritical lies about democratising the right to housing. They never built a single home, and now they want to capitalise on this project,” explained Kristal.
For many other marchers on Thursday, the proposed law also leaves a huge question mark hanging over what options will remain for those Venezuelans who rely on the subsidised social housing.
Many fear they will be unable to access the houses once they are floated on the highly speculative and unaffordable private housing market.
“They want to send us back to the hilltops, that’s what they want,” said Ricardo Molina, who echoed several other protesters in describing the law as an attempt to re-gentrify exclusive areas of Caracas where blocks of social housing have been built - to the dismay of many middle class voters.
On Thursday, MUD legislators made no reference to the march, but confirmed that they will move ahead with the planned legislation - despite government and social movement opposition.
If Maduro blocks the law, it will then be passed to Venezuelan Supreme Court judges who will have to decide if it potentially violates the constitution.
But social movements aren’t leaving the future of the housing to chance, and they have pledged to continue resisting the proposed legislation in the streets.
“We will take over all urban land if the opposition nullify the laws,” stated Molina.
Reporting by Jonas Holldack.A federal judge on Wednesday once |
accounts: https://github.com/colinbjohnson/snippets/tree/master/aws/cloudformation/multi_region_and_account_vpc_cloudformation
Part 2: Why is this all required?
Any time you have complexity it is important to keep focus on what actually needs to be done and why. I’ll describe the reasons why the additional complexity is required below:
We need to ensure that when creating subnets using CloudFormation that the subnets are created in different Availability Zones. AWS doesn’t provide a facility for doing this. Result: we must define Availability Zones when creating subnet resources. AWS provides no mechanism for getting the Availability Zones in which subnets can be created. Result: we must manually provide a list of Availability Zones where subnets can be created. We do this using a map. If multiple accounts are used we run into a problem where the manually provided list of Availability Zones where subnets may be created are potentially different in each different account. Result: we need a map that allows CloudFormation to select Availability Zones where subnets can be built and that takes the “account” into account.
I’ve described the solutions to each problem above in more detail below.
Choosing Subnets Yourself
If you simply define subnets without specifying an “Availability Zone” property for each subnet there is a good chance that Amazon will create these subnets in the same Availability Zone. An example of defining subnets without an Availability Zone property is below:
"PublicSubnet1" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Subnet", "Properties" : { "CidrBlock" : "10.0.0.0/25", "VpcId" : { "Ref" : "VPC" } } }, "PublicSubnet2" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Subnet", "Properties" : { "CidrBlock" : "10.0.0.128/25", "VpcId" : { "Ref" : "VPC" } } },
There is a pretty good chance that this will cause two problems:
If you are creating resources that use these subnets – such as an ELB – the ELB resource creation will fail due to the fact that an ELB can only have /one/ subnet per AZ. In the case above, if PublicSubnet1 and PublicSubnet2 are both in us-east-1b – ELB creation will fail. You may end up with an availability problem as a result of resources being created in the same Availability Zone. For example, if PublicSubnet1 and PublicSubnet2 are both in us-east-1b and you create an Auto Scaling Group that utilizes both PublicSubnet1 and PublicSubnet2 – your instances will still all be brought up in us-east-1b.
The solution would be to use “Fn::GetAZs” but…
“Fn::GetAZs” Returns AZs Where Subnets Can’t Be Placed
To solve the problem of placing subnets in the same Availability Zone, you’d think that you want to use Amazon’s “Fn::GetAZs”. For example, you’d call “{ “Fn::GetAZs” : { “Ref” : “AWS::Region” }” (this returns a list of Availability Zones) and then you’d build PublicSubnet1 in the first Availability Zone, PublicSubnet2 in the second Availability Zone and so on. An example is below:
"PublicSubnet1" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Subnet", "Properties" : { "AvailabilityZone" : { "Fn::Select" : [ "0", { "Fn::GetAZs" : { "Ref" : "AWS::Region" } } ] }, "CidrBlock" : "10.0.0.0/25", "VpcId" : { "Ref" : "VPC" } } }, "PublicSubnet2" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Subnet", "Properties" : { "AvailabilityZone" : { "Fn::Select" : [ "1", { "Fn::GetAZs" : { "Ref" : "AWS::Region" } } ] }, "CidrBlock" : "10.0.0.128/25", "VpcId" : { "Ref" : "VPC" } } },
However, if you use Amazon’s “Fn::GetAZs” – you’ll get a list of all Availability Zones – not just those Availability Zones in which a subnet can be created. As an example, if I call “Fn::GetAZs” using my own account in the us-east-1 region, the return values are [ “us-east-1a”, “us-east-1b”, “us-east-1c”, “us-east-1d”, “us-east-1e” ]. A problem arises because the “us-east-1a” Availability Zone isn’t available to me for subnet creation, so CloudFormation stack creation fails. Here’s a screenshot of that behavior:
“Mapping Method” to the Rescue
Using a Map solves this mess. The solution isn’t ideal as it requires one time creation of a map containing a list of Availability Zones where subnets can be created. This map does allow you:
ensure subnets are built in different AZs. provide support for multiple regions.
Availability Zones that Support VPC Subnets are Different Per Account
If you require VPCs built in different accounts you’ll be required to take one additional step – specifically, you’ll need to provide an Availability Zone to Subnet map per account because each account may have different Availability Zone properties. An example of this mapping is below:
"Mappings" : { "RegionAndAccount2AZ": { "us-east-1" : { "Production" : [ "us-east-1a", "us-east-1b", "us-east-1c" ], "Development" : [ "us-east-1b", "us-east-1c", "us-east-1d" ] }, "us-west-2" : { "Production" : [ "us-west-2a", "us-west-2b", "us-west-2c" ], "Development" : [ "us-west-2a", "us-west-2b", "us-west-2c" ] } } },
And an example of using this mapping to place a subnet in the correct Availability Zone:
"PublicSubnet1" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Subnet", "Properties" : { "AvailabilityZone" : { "Fn::Select" : [ "0", { "Fn::FindInMap" : [ "RegionAndAccount2AZ", { "Ref" : "AWS::Region"}, { "Ref" : "Account" } ] } ] }, "CidrBlock" : "10.0.0.0/25", "VpcId" : { "Ref" : "VPC" } } }, "PublicSubnet2" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Subnet", "Properties" : { "AvailabilityZone" : { "Fn::Select" : [ "1", { "Fn::FindInMap" : [ "RegionAndAccount2AZ", { "Ref" : "AWS::Region"}, { "Ref" : "Account" } ] } ] }, "CidrBlock" : "10.0.0.128/25", "VpcId" : { "Ref" : "VPC" } } },
And… in Conclusion:
The situation of building VPCs and subnets across regions and accounts using CloudFormation will likely improve. Examples of potential improvements might include a “Fn::GetAZs” pseudo parameter that returns only Availability Zones where subnets can be built or for loops that can build 1 to “x” subnets. The techniques described in this blog post can likely be improved by using conditionals or lambda. If anyone does this – let me know and I’ll update the post. Other tools that support “shelling out” or running arbitrary commands may provide better mechanisms that allow a single file to create VPCs and Subnets – although using a tool outside of CloudFormation may not be an option you are open to considering.
Hope that you have found this post useful – if you have questions or comments please feel free to send me an email: colin@cloudavail.com.DUNNELLON - Marion County Parks and Recreation has temporarily suspended access to swimming, tubing, diving and paddle boarding on the Rainbow River at KP Hole Park, 9425 SW 190th Road, Dunnellon, as a precaution due to reports of a large alligator upriver exhibiting aggressive behavior.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has a nuisance trapper actively pursuing the alligator.
Ron Cannon, 37, of Dunnellon, said that he and his 9-year-old daughter were swimming in the middle of the river just off the bank of some property owned by family members about a quarter-mile south of the headsprings a few minutes after 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
"I heard a tremendous commotion and knew it was a gator," Cannon said.
He said he heard thrashing about 80 to 100 yards away in a marshy area where there was underbrush. He said he immediately told his daughter to make her way to shore, and to hurry. He said he saw the gator's head and he could tell that the gator was swimming for them as fast as it could.
Watch a video about the situation: Aggressive gator forces officials to cancel swimming, tubing at KP Hole
"I wanted to get away from it," he said.
As the gator continued to "make a beeline for us," he said, he kept pushing his daughter forward.
As soon as she reached the dock and climbed up, he was right behind her. He said he turned to see the gator had stopped in the water and stayed on top and watched them.
"He didn't ever go down," Cannon said.
He said most of the gators in the river are 3 to 6 feet in length; this was an 8-footer, he estimated.
Cannon called FWC, and a representative and a contracted trapper soon showed up.
The gator, in the meantime, had disappeared. Cannon pointed out where he had seen the creature.
He said he also went to a property next door where he could hear people laughing and talking and warned them about the gator.
His wife, Tiffany Cannon, said, yes, they see gators all the time, but "nothing this big or this aggressive."
County parks director Jim Couillard said his office was contacted at 11:15 a.m. Thursday by the state Department of Environmental Protection about an aggressive gator.
Rainbow River State Park is under the state; KP Hole is a Marion County park. At the state park, people are allowed to swim inside a roped-off area at the headsprings. There are numerous private residences on the riverbanks all along the waterway. At KP Hole, people can swim or launch tubes, kayaks and canoes.
Couillard said state and county officials were monitoring the situation Thursday and that a trapper contracted through the FWC was looking for the gator Thursday night. He said the county decided to close KP Hole and issued that news Friday morning.
He said the action of the gator was "unusual behavior for a gator, usually they avoid people."
Although people know that most local bodies of water have alligators in them, and might question shutting down the water access, Couillard said he did not want to be in charge of a facility that is so popular in the summer and "turn a blind eye and have a worse issue."
"The chances of something happening are very slim, but if it did, it could be catastrophic," he said.
He said the gator "might have lost its fear; that's how people get hurt."
Jenny Allebach, from Odessa, which is near Tarpon Springs, arrived at 8:40 a.m. Friday at KP Hole with her teenage daughter and two of the girl's friends. Allebach said they came to go tubing on the river. She said someone mentioned that a gator had approached a person a couple of days ago. She and the girls decided to go kayaking instead, which was being allowed.
"We drove a long way and didn't want to turn around, or do nothing," Allebach said as they headed out.
Two employees with Rainbow River Canoe and Kayak, which is owned by Dunnellon Mayor Nathan Whitt, were busy helping kayakers into the water.
"We're intruding in their home," Jake Skelton said of the gator.
Ken Shaydik said that they were telling people who showed up to rent kayaks about the gator but that no one had declined to proceed. He said they had 18 to 20 customers during the early morning.
Wenda Howard said she comes to KP Hole a couple of times a year.
"We knew about the aggressive gator, but we are not concerned," she said over her shoulder as her kayak was guided into the water.
Daniel Cronin and his girlfriend LeAnn Thornton, from St. Pete, also make a long drive to the river. He said it was her first time visiting the area. They were going kayaking and he said they were not fazed by the warning about the gator and that if they saw it, they would "get away from it."
Couillard said he does not recall any such incident with a gator as long as he has been with parks and recreation, which is 10 years.
Marion County Parks and Recreation will lift the suspension when it is deemed safe to restart the activities, and will post updates on its website www.marionparksrec.org, and Facebook page www.Facebook.com/MarionCountyParksandRec.
For more information, contact Marion County Parks and Recreation at 352-671-8560.
— Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118 or austinmiller@ocala.com.A listing of seats purely by swing to win is not the same as a listing of future target seats as other factors come into account too. It does however give a good overall picture of the territory over which the next election will be contested.
So courtesy of Phil Rodgers on Twitter, this table is worth some study:
Given that the Conservatives and (in Scotland) the SNP are in government, and it is usually easier to win seats off the government than off other opposition parties, the predominance of Conservative and SNP seats in this list is helpful.
Also worth study are these two extracts from the House of Commons Library’s report into the 2017 election (in full below), especially the way the map of Lib Dem support does not obviously match up with the map of Remain support across the country – a sign of how the Lib Dem pro-European message did not work or a sign that the pro-European message was the wrong one? That’ll be debated I’m sure during the forthcoming leadership contest, especially if Norman Lamb (a rebel on the Article 50 vote in Parliament) is one of the runners.
2017 general election results reportThe newest spin on bold, Southwestern cuisine has arrived in Westminster, Colorado.
Kachina Southwestern Grill, which opened late last week, is the newest establishment from Denver-based Sage Restaurant Group. “Kachina will be a go-to dining destination for both locals and visitors alike,” said Peter Karpinski, Co-Founder and COO of Sage Restaurant Group. “The restaurant will showcase the incredible flavors and experience of the Southwest in a vibrant, relaxing atmosphere, featuring the distinctive scene and subtly infused local vibe for which SRG concepts are known and recognized.”
The restaurant highlights traditional Four Corners flavors through menu items grounded in chiles, corn, fresh herbs, and spices. Offering a full selection of authentic appetizers, stews and soups, entrées, and desserts, the Kachina menu also showcases a stand-out collection of Navajo Tacos imagined by Chef Patrick Hartnett, previously of Rafters Restaurant at The Westin Westminster. To enhance the dining experience, a food cart filled with seasonal fare including corn-on-the-cob or custom tamales roams the dining area.
Guests enter the restaurant through the patio, claiming an outdoor bar and scenic view of the Rocky Mountains. Once inside, the space is given warmth by the nature-inspired decor of cascading, wooden lanterns and light, honey wood paneling. A fireplace completes the intimate dining experience, located behind a wall of double-sided sand art.
Kachina Southwestern Grill is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays; reservations are recommended.Building a great company is about predicting the future. You build something people want now and predict they'll continue to want it in the future.
There's something Garry Tan sometimes says: he starts a sentence with "if you live in the future…" and completes it with a prediction about how the future will look.
Things that seem unlikely to happen tomorrow, but could happen years from now, start to seem plausible.
Steve Jobs might have said, if you live in the future, the file system will be less important. He built iOS devices to not have a central file system. [1]
Drew Houston might have said, if you live in the future, you will have a file system that's accessible anywhere, from every device. He built Dropbox.
Elon Musk might have said, if you live in the future, cars will be electric. He built Tesla.
Dean Kamen might have said, if you live in the future, you won't drive short distances. He built Segway.
Bill Gates might have said, if you live in the future, there will be a computer on every desk. He built Microsoft.
While seemingly simple statements, they produce high stakes decisions. You bet your company or product on it. It creates focus.
I think the minimum viable product has made us so effective at thinking short term that we spend less time thinking long term. We talk to customers and iterate daily. But, we may forget about this future world in which our products exist.
Before you build, it's worth making a guess about the future, even if it seems obvious. Don't think about switching costs, moats and other barriers to entry. Just think, if you live in the future, what does it look like? When you see it, that's what you should build.
Comments on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5799838
Subscribe to updates here.
[1] Steve Jobs discussing the file system in 2005:Richard Haass has been president of the Council on Foreign Relations since July 2003. He responds to the statement by Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations that President Obama's deal with Iran is "bad news for the world."
MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC: I wish [the Israeli ambassador] had minced words more. I don't know, he was very clear, and calls it "bad news for the world." Is it?
RICHARD HAASS, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: He is under instructions, he has to do that. I think what the administration was hoping to do with the U.N. vote [held yesterday], was in some ways lock the Congress in.
I don't think it will work. I think Congress will vote the way it votes, but what it also shows is, if the U.S. decides not to go along with the agreement, where the rest of the world is, we're not exactly on the same page. It sends a message that everyone else is on board with this deal...
This agreement in no way solves the Iranian nuclear conundrum. All it does is it buys you ten or fifteen years at a certain price.
It potentially makes the aftermath more difficult, and it clearly makes the next ten or fifteen years more difficult when it comes to Iran's regional activity.Are you more, or less, outraged over data-mining of this kind when it is done by internet marketers, search engine web-crawlers, or people who use search engines? The government is restricted from using its own mined data by the threshold inquiry of the Fourth Amendment. Do you think that this is more, or less, restrictive than the burdens internet marketers, search engines, and other private entities place on themselves when they access or distribute your data? If you didn’t want data of this kind being mined, why did you give your phone company and your cable provider the right to do so in the EULA you signed? What sort of outcry do you think is appropriate for the fact that the government’s Postal Service has location, date, and timestamps for every piece of physical mail sent in the United States, and that the government can read your mail when they think they can beat the 4th Amendment threshold for suspicious messages or messages between terrorists? What reasonable expectation of privacy does your twitter feed have?
The PRISM program tracks who you call and when – it doesn’t record your phone calls. Your phone company tracks who you call and when – it doesn’t record your phone calls. PRISM knows what’s on your Facebook page. So does Facebook, and thousands of its internet marketing affiliates. PRISM knows what you tweet. So does Twitter and everyone else who wants to.
Answers welcome in comments. Good to be back.
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Like this: Like Loading... RelatedA couple of weeks ago, the FCC collected everyone’s comments about why Charter should or should not be allowed to go through with buying Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in one massive merger. The next step in the process is for Charter to get to respond as to why they think the yea-sayers are right and the nay-sayers are wrong, and they submitted that response this week.
In their filing (95-page, absurdly slow-loading PDF), Charter rebuts all the opponents’ talking points with points of their own. Charter, naturally, claims that this merger is more or less the best thing since sliced bread and will bring better internet, more competitive TV, and other boundless blessings on subscribers nationwide.
The FCC is tasked with ruling if telecom transactions serve the public interest, and so Charter’s main argument is that this one will. Summarized, Charter’s key claims are that:
Making Charter bigger will increase broadband competition
Making Charter bigger will allow it to support online distribution of programming better
Making Charter bigger will allow it to compete more in the business broadband space
Merging will improve operating efficiency and therefore accelerate innovation
Merging Charter will allow the business to provide better customer service
The unstated but implied reasons Charter would be able to bring all these improvements are, mostly, that Time Warner Cable currently kind of sucks. Charter’s filing touts the commitment New Charter would bring to not having data caps or usage limits (as TWC currently does) and also their commitment to having excellent customer service (as TWC currently does not). Charter also says that merging would allow them to expand a program Bright House currently has for low-income families to receive reduced-price broadband access to the full post-merger footprint, much as Comcast said they would expand their Internet Essentials program to TWC’s footprint if those two companies merged.
Charter also specifically rebuts objectors’ claims that the merger is anticompetitive or harmful to the public interest. The filing says that “opponents’ broadband market definitions are out of step with economic reality and ignore major competitive forces” in the broadband marketplace that is.
Charter starts that argument by essentially rejecting the FCC’s 25 Mbps minimum definition of “broadband” speed. Because that threshold is aspirational and future-looking, Charter posits, it’s basically irrelevant to the world of today, 10 Mbps is what really matters, and competition, at that speed, exists thanks to DSL and mobile. If you must look to the future, Charter continues, then you have to assume that the mobile market keeps improving, that 5G takes off, and that all the businesses that have promised to run fiber in various cities actually make good on it — therefore, making the environment competitive.
Charter also asserts that although the national footprint completely doesn’t matter as a metric, their plan to buy TWC is not as bad as Comcast’s because after the deal is done they would control a much smaller percentage of said national footprint anyway, clocking in with less than 30% of the nation’s high-speed broadband subscribers. And as for lessening geographic competition locally, Charter points out, this merger wouldn’t do that because the three companies already have no overlap in service area (which, indeed, cable companies rarely do).
The filing also rejects opponents’ assertions that a merged mega-Charter could wreak havoc at the peering or interconnection level by pointing out that to date, Charter has not done so and therefore would not do so in the future, because the marketplace is competitive and doing so would make them lose money. Even if they wanted to. Which they don’t.
Charter does point out that although they are a cable company, they know perfectly well that the money and the future are all in broadband and that therefore, anything that screwed with customers’ access to OVDs (online video providers like Netflix, Amazon, and others) would backfire. “New Charter has no incentive to harm OVDs in the first place,” the filing says. “It is in New Charter’s interest to promote OVDs, both because OVDs are the linchpin that will drive broadband subscription growth into the future and because blocking OVDs would be unprofitable.”
Opponents to the merger now have another ten days to reply to Charter’s reply to their objections. After that, the comment generation section of the pleading cycle closes. That means the proceeding moves from the “public shouting” stage to the “FCC deliberating” phase. The informal shot clock the FCC is using for this transaction would, barring any holdups, put the deadline for a decision in early March.This is the third installment in my “Fun with Congressional Data” series in which I’ll take a look at the percent of Republicans and Democrats after midterm elections. Previously, I took a look at the majority party in congress and it’s connection to GDP and a look at what congressmen did prior to being elected. The data again, comes from here. First let’s take a look at the proportion of each party as a whole of congress over the years since 1857. I’m starting in 1857, since that marked the beginning of the two party system between Democrats and Republicans.
Out of the 80 congressional elections during this time, democrats won a congressional majority 44 times (55%) compared to 35 for Republicans. They tied once. One of the trends that we note is that when a party has a substantial margin for a number of years in congress, that proportion doesn’t flip quickly. Rather they go back towards 50%. Here are the 5-number-summaries of the samples for the two proportions:
summary(DemPCT)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
23.05 44.65 52.42 50.82 58.86 76.84
> summary(RepPCT)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
19.96 40.89 46.61 47.84 53.76 76.95
So you can see that Republicans had both the lowest and highest percentages of congress, in 1939 and 1865, respectively. These represent two vastly different time periods in American History, the end of the civil war and the beginning of World War 2 (also during FDR’s presidency). Now let’s take a look at the breakdown in the Senate.
In the senate, we see the same trend that the country tends to go back to the middle, rather than flipping extremes in parties. The five-number-summaries are shown below:
summary(DemPCT)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
14.86 44.04 48.96 48.59 56.68 78.12
> summary(RepPCT)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
17.71 42.00 50.00 49.53 55.00 82.43
In this case, Democrats had the lowest proportion of senators out of all years in 1969 while republicans had the highest held percentage of the Senate during this time. Finally, let’s shift our focus to the House of Representatives below:
The house data is more fickle than the senate (and overall congressional data) with one 10% or more majorities by a party turning into a 10% minority in between elections. The election for the congress starting in 1875 in which a 69.28 % republican majority turned into a 36.52 % minority. Democrats held a majority for 43/80 of these congresses. The final 5-number-summary for this data are shown below:
summary(DemPCT1)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
23.60 44.27 52.71 51.39 59.43 76.55
> summary(RepPCT1)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
20.46 40.18 46.56 47.40 54.48 75.92
Here we see that Republicans had the lowest percentage in the congress that started in 1937, the same year that Democrats had their highest proportion of representatives.
But what about independents?
We’ll get to that next week! So tune in next week for:
“The Myth of Independent Representation and 2016 Choices”
If you enjoyed this post, check out the previous “fun with congressional data” posts.
Till next week!
-Andrew G. Chapple
AdvertisementsPepperdine's Paul Caron, writing at TaxProf Blog, reports that while the Supreme Court Justices are usually picked on the basis of ethnicity, their law clerks are mostly picked on merit. [ SCOTUS Law Clerks Are Still Mostly White And Male, December 11, 2017.] That's not Caron's analysis, it's mine, but that's what the numbers say.
Caron links to and quotes a study from the National Law Journal:
National Law Journal, Shut Out: SCOTUS Law Clerks Still Mostly White and Male: According to a National Law Journal study, the U.S. Supreme Court’s clerk ranks are less diverse than law school graduates or law firm associates—and the justices aren’t doing much to change that.... [A]mid the luster of being a law clerk, there’s an uncomfortable reality: It is an elite club still dominated by white men. While some variables are outside the court’s control, few justices seem to be going out of their way to boost diversity. Research conducted by The National Law Journal found that since 2005—when the Roberts court began—85 percent of all law clerks have been white. Only 20 of the 487 clerks hired by justices were African-American, and eight were Hispanic. Twice as many men as women gain entry, even though as of last year, more than half of all law students are female. The numbers show near-glacial progress since 1998, when USA Today and this reporter undertook the first-ever demographic study of Supreme Court clerks, revealing that fewer than 1.8 percent of the clerks hired by the then-members of the court were African-American (now it is 4 percent,) and 1 percent were Hispanic (now the figure hovers at roughly 1.5 percent). The percentage of clerks who are of Asian descent has doubled from 4.5 percent then to nearly 9 percent since 2005. Then, women comprised one-fourth of the clerks; now they make up roughly a third.... Low numbers span the court’s ideological spectrum. Only 12 percent of the clerks hired by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Clarence Thomas since 2005 were minorities. Ginsburg has hired only one African-American clerk since she joined the high court in 1993, and the same goes for Justice Samuel Alito Jr., who became a justice in 2006....
I've boldfaced the racial stuff above—this chart below just says "minorities", but in order to get it as high as 12 percent, they have to count Asians and Hispanics. Asians are smarter than whites, on average, and many Hispanic lawyers are whites—pictured right, the half-Irish, half Cuban Ted Cruz, a former Supreme Court clerk, who would count as minority on the chart below.
You'll notice that the highest number of "minority" clerks is under Gorsuch, but that's three out of seven—he just got there.
The second highest, 31%, is under Wise Latina Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Miss Affirmative Action of 2009.
Since the National Law Journal doesn't know about differences in IQ, they consider all this suspicious, but I suspect it actually means that the Supreme Court has a fairly competent staff.
There just aren't that many minorities who can compete at the Supreme Court level, and even if half of law students are female, the high end of the scale is still going to be male, due to the flatter curve of female IQ.
The only one I really consider evidence of prejudice myself is Sotomayor's hiring practices, and even she hired 25 whites out of 36 clerks.Love stories tend to fall into patterns — Boy/Girl meets Boy/Girl, they go on a date, they continue to see each other, a problem arises, the problem is solved, and the characters kiss after a huge declaration of undying love. The audience has seen this couple put their differences aside to overcome the obstacle that kept them from loving each other, so clearly they can handle anything life will throw their way. Love conquers all! But what happens when the "obstacle" doesn't have a true resolution? What happens to a relationship when an "obstacle" can be noticed and managed, but never goes away? These are some of the questions that FXX's You're The Worst Season 2 has been trying to answer.
Most of the first season dealt with Jimmy and Gretchen's mutual fear of commitment, and they bonded over the fact that they considered themselves "equally dead inside." However, in Season 2, something changed. Gretchen begins sneaking out in the middle of the night and driving away. Jimmy assumes she's cheating, only to discover that she drives to a remote location and cries alone in her car. Gretchen's behavior starts to change as well, and she seems distant and unengaged. She dances to no music, and dreads having to spend a moment by herself. Then, Gretchen has an explosive blow-up that involves trying to tear down all of her friends by mocking their flaws. "It's back isn't it?" Gretchen's best friend Lindsay asks, revealing to the audience that Gretchen is clinically depressed. From that moment, You're The Worst began an incredibly honest portrayal of depression that only became better in every episode, culminating in one heart-wrenchingly honest scene, that was so realistic to those who have dealt with depression, it immediately took me back to a formative moment in my own life.
"I'm Actually Really Good At Handling It"
The lead-up to the revelation was already one of the best portrayals of depression on television, with Aya Cash's performance featuring honest moments as the happy-mask that Gretchen has to wear for day-to-day life begins to slip away. But unlike problems that arise in most sitcoms, Gretchen's depression doesn't just go away. Showrunner Stephen Falk said in a conference call with reporters that he didn't want to just examine depression, he wanted to ask the question "What happens to a relationship in depression?” and was supported by the writers who "all have experience with it [directly or indirectly]." After putting what Falk calls "a lot of research into clinical research," the writers crafted not just a touching storyline, but the single most emotionally powerful moment on television in 2015.
Jimmy and Gretchen's story has always been about the intersection of their self-interest, but things start to fall apart when Gretchen starts losing interest in everything — even talking (They have a full argument while in the same room, but Gretchen can only bring herself to text him). Jimmy wants to "fix" Gretchen, but doesn't understand that depression can't be "fixed." He wants to talk to Gretchen about what is going on in his life, but Gretchen doesn't care, because she doesn't care about anything. Jimmy's inability to understand Gretchen's state leads him to start talking to another woman, going so far as to almost sleep with the owner of his bar of choice. His decisions may read as insensitive, but when faced with a void of emotion where there was once clearly love, Jimmy's actions can be understood. They're not right, but they make sense. At the end of the twelfth episode of Season 2, "Other Things You Could Be Doing," Jimmy ends a confrontation with Gretchen blankly laying down, as he starts to leave to go pursue the bar owner. He goes to leave, but doesn't.
"I'm Scraped Out."
Depression takes many forms, and Gretchen's sends her through a variety of emotional states. She reaches new heights of anger and vitrol, then lies on the couch and remains nearly motionless for days at a time. She can still manage to smile and enjoy a fun event occasionally, but usually she's struck by an inability to function without severe self-medication through cocaine and Adderall, and amidst all of this, she is pushing Jimmy away — even if she doesn't mean to.
This leads to a moment that will undoubtedly resonate with many people who have struggled with depression or anxiety. Because sometimes, after you have pushed someone you deeply care about away — berated them, insulted them, treated them poorly, tore them down, wanted someone else to feel as empty as you did — and yet, they stayed, it can have a profound effect. At least, it did for me.
During my junior year of college, I was given a diagnosis that matched something that those around me had suspected for a while — I have depression and generalized anxiety disorder. I was partial to spending days in bed, usually unmotivated by anything, unless alcohol, my very best friend, or both were involved. I always chalked this up to laziness and never considered myself depressed, because I knew people who seemed much sadder than me. I could not be depressed, I thought, because I clearly wasn't sad enough. What I didn't realize was that depression doesn't have to be an excess of sadness, it can be a lack of any emotion at all.
"It Strikes Me Whenever, And I Have No Idea Why"
Once at an alcohol-friendly gathering, I had been caught in a social faux pas (telling someone something that I wasn't supposed to). In a usual circumstance where one would apologize and shake it off, my whole mind went black and my body |
politics.
Before Trump made his own foray into politics, he read Peale’s book and adopted its program of “positive thinking.” The two men began to trade public compliments. Peale, always generous in his assessments of human nature, said that Trump had a “profound streak of honest humility.” Trump, not exactly showing that humble streak, said that Peale “thought I was his greatest student of all time.” In a certain sense, Trump was right. Peale has had no more perfect disciple.
Peale distilled the optimism and self-sufficiency of the American character into a simple creed. The first article of his faith was a warm patriotism. He called the U.S. “the greatest country in the world” and addressed his writing to “everyday people of this land” who “are my own kind whom I know and love and believe in with great faith.” These were the people he met in masonic halls, resort hotels, and cruise-ship conference rooms. In them he sensed innate decency and ability. Any one of them could become efficient and successful—if only he would believe in himself, harnessing the power of positive thinking.
Peale promised his readers “constant energy” if they thought positively. Optimistic thoughts opened one up to a vital force coming directly from God. Negative thoughts, especially a tendency to dwell on one’s faults, could interfere with the divine charge. He warned those with active consciences that “the quantity of vital force required to give the personality relief from either guilt or fear” was so great that it left “only a fraction of energy” for going about one’s tasks. Productivity and cheeriness became for him the signs of eternal election. (In attacking Jeb Bush for being “low-energy,” Trump effectively accused him of having forfeited the Holy Ghost.)
For Peale, “attitudes are more important than facts.” The man who displays “a confident and optimistic thought pattern can modify or overcome the fact altogether.” The first fact that Peale’s positive thinking had to overcome was the fact of human frailty. Peale knew about the difficulties some encounter in alcohol, in troubled marriages, and in economic hardship, but he never could accept the inevitability of misfortune or that all must pay the wages of sin. Like one of Job’s comforters, he told the suffering that they simply needed to look on the bright side. Where the Bible urges man to search his heart and know his faults, Peale encourages him to “make a true estimate of your own ability, then raise it ten percent.” For Jeremiah the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, but for Peale its dark recesses are bathed in California sunshine.
Thus the necessity of repentance recedes. It is important to think positively, and a negative thought, such as Domine, non sum dignus, can be injurious to spiritual health. Yet the gloomy aspect of traditional Christian practice is also the wellspring of Christian compassion. At the moment a Christian asks for forgiveness, he must acknowledge his own weakness and look mercifully on the weakness of others. In the Our Father, the Christian asks that he be forgiven, just as he in turn forgives. From the holy terror that Peale called “fear thoughts” comes the light of Christian love.
At a campaign event in Iowa, Trump shocked the audience by saying that he had never asked God for forgiveness. All his other disturbing statements—his attacks on every vulnerable group—are made intelligible by this one. The self-sufficient faith Trump absorbed from Peale has no place for human weakness. Human frailty, dependency, and sinfulness cannot be acknowledged; they must be overcome. This opens up the possibility of great cruelty toward those who cannot wish themselves into being winners. A man who need not ask forgiveness need never forgive others. He does not realize his own weakness, and so he mocks and reviles every sign of weakness in his fellow men.
Because Peale was a decent man of sincere if not quite orthodox Christian faith, he never drew out the harsh implications of his views. Trump feels no such restraint, and so has taken Peale’s teaching to its logical conclusion. He has called the widow whose house he tried to take a “terrible human being” whose lawyer is a “loser.” He has mocked a reporter for having a disfigured hand. He has demeaned a contestant on one of his reality shows by suggesting how she’d look in a pornographic scenario. And he has applauded Planned Parenthood for doing “very good work.”
Peale is now largely forgotten, and his bestseller languishes in used book stores. This is a shame, for it has led us to underestimate the influence and power of the self-sufficient faith that he promoted, and that he imparted to his greatest student. Peale meant to preach a gentle creed, one that made hellfire and terror into mere afterthoughts. In Trump it has curdled into pagan disdain. Both forms of this philosophy have captured the public imagination, and both stand at odds with the faith taught by Christ.
Christianity is a religion of losers. To the weak and humble, it offers a stripped and humiliated Lord. To those without reason for optimism, it holds up the cross as a sign of hope. To anyone who does not win at life, it promises that whoever loses his life for Christ’s sake shall find it. At its center stands a truth that we are prone to forget. There are people who cannot be made into winners, no matter how positive their thinking. They need something more paradoxical and cruciform.
After one of Trump’s outbursts, I walked up to Marble Collegiate Church to see where he once worshipped. I tried a front and then a side door before deciding that the church must be closed. When I was about to turn away, a janitor came out of the building. He asked me what I wanted and then led me inside. The sanctuary was painted in burgundy and gold, with soft carpet, and pew brackets that hold plastic thimble cups used for communion. The janitor pointed out a recently installed stained-glass window depicting the Crucifixion. “Before that window was put in, there was no cross in here,” he told me. I asked him whether he attended church there and he said, no, he was a Catholic.
Matthew Schmitz is literary editor of First Things.
Photo via Flickr user iirraa.Patch 1.7.2 solves a series of bugs and brings some quality of life improvements for new players.
Changes:
We've tweaked the matchmaking system to reduce the probability that new players that just started the game are being paired up with more seasoned ones in the beginning of their career.
We want to provide new players with the best experience possible. For most new players that means that it's more fun to play against other players that are on the same skill level as them. Previously, it was more easily possible for new players to encounter an experienced veteran in a Recruit Fleet game. We've now lowered the emphasis on the fleet rating for these matches and increased the importance of player experience when it comes to matchmaking.
The onboarding matches in the Proving Grounds now support scoring events for Kills, Assists, Parry, etc.
These scoring events were previously not actively shown during these matches. To improve the first-player-experience and make the training matches in the Proving Grounds more like PvP matches to provide a proper preview of what future matches will be like, we have turned these events on now.
GENERAL:
Fixed an issue that would cause players in a squad to disconnect right at the end of a match if they were on the losing side.
Fixed an issue that allowed a player to switch the selected fleet after matchmaking had started.
Fixed an issue that would allow a fleet in maintenance to be queued for a new game before maintenance had been paid.
Fixed an issue that would cause the play button to become unresponsive if matchmaking was cancelled right as a match was found.
Fixed an issue that would cause the play button to become unresponsive if a player left a squad after matchmaking had started.
Fixed multiple causes for crashes/freezes of the game and the service.
UI:
Fixed the tooltips for the Simargls improved modules not showing the stat increases.
Fixed an issue with Corevettes' internal modules that would not show all available options for customization.
Fixed an issue that would cause the Vanguard Bundle icon to be stuck on screen after exiting the Dashboard.
GAMEPLAY:The Justice Department on Monday sued the three largest U.S. credit card companies for anticompetitive practices and reached a proposed settlement with two of them, MasterCard and Visa.
"We want to put more money in consumers' pockets, and by eliminating credit card companies' anticompetitive rule, we will accomplish exactly that," Attorney General Eric Holder told an afternoon news conference. "The companies put merchants and their customers in a no-win situation" and "consumers are being held hostage."
MoneyWatch: What the Settlement Means to You
In papers filed in federal court in Brooklyn, the department and various state attorneys general sued all three companies, saying they were attempting to insulate themselves from competition.
At the same time, the Justice Department filed a proposed settlement with Visa and MasterCard.
Under the proposed settlement, Visa and MasterCard agree not to prohibit merchants from offering customers discounts or rebates for using a particular kind of card.
The lawsuit says the card companies are impeding merchants from promoting the use of competing credit or charge cards with lower acceptance fees.
Each time consumers use a credit card to make a purchase, the merchant must pay a fee. Such fees brought in $35 billion last year to the three credit card companies and their affiliated banks.
"We're partway there" with the proposed agreement with Visa and MasterCard, Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, head of the department's antitrust division, told the news conference.
"We remain open" to seek a settlement with American Express," Varney added.
Shares of American Express are down more than 4 percent; Mastercard was down less than a percentage point, and Visa was up less than half a percentage point.Richard Dawkins was supposed to speak at this event in Berkeley on August 9: a talk about his new book, Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Atheist. As you see, the talk has been canceled.
But why? You can guess. The talk was to be sponsored by a Berkeley radio station, KPFA, and they made this announcement—but didn’t even inform Richard before deep-sixing the event. Through the ticketing agency, Brown Paper Tickets, KPFA sent out this email with the “reasons”:
From: Brown Paper Tickets
Date: July 20, 2017 at 2:04:53 PM PDT
To: [NAME REDACTED]
Subject: Notification for Richard Dawkins: Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist Dear Richard Dawkins event ticket buyers,
We regret to inform you that KPFA has canceled our event with Richard Dawkins. We had booked this event based entirely on his excellent new book on science, when we didn’t
know he had offended and hurt – in his tweets and other comments on Islam, so many people.
KPFA does not endorse hurtful speech. While KPFA emphatically supports serious free speech, we do not support abusive speech. We apologize for not having had broader knowledge of Dawkins views much earlier. We also apologize to all those inconvenienced by this cancellation. Your ticket purchases will automatically be refunded by Brown Paper Tickets. Sincerely,
KPFA Radio 94.1 FM
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen: the termites have spread to Berkeley, and have dined well on the wooden heads of the Deciders. Although there are undoubtedly a few authoritarian Dawkins-bashing atheists who will be pleased at this, it’s a terrible blow for free speech, and likely a big disappointment for those who hoped to see Richard. I’m sure that some of the Perpetually Offended, with perhaps Muslims among them, complained to the radio station, and KPFA caved.
I asked Richard about what happened, and what KPFA was. He emailed his response, which I reproduce with permission:
KPFA is a liberal radio station in Berkeley. When I lived there, they were the good guys and I listened to their station almost every day. They were scrupulous in their fact-checking in those days – how sad that they have come to this: if they had done any fact-checking at all, they couldn’t possibly have come to the conclusion that I used “abusive speech” against Islam. The only only one of my tweets I can find this year, which could possibly be called abusive, is nothing to do with Islam. As follows: “Ashamed to be American?” Don’t be. The majority of you voted against this narcissistic, xenophobic, vainglorious, ignorant 2-year-old. [JAC: This was of course about Trump.] Not only did KPFA fail to fact-check. They didn’t even tell me before cancelling the event and refunding tickets. KPFA, like so many, is guilty of confusing free speech with “abusive speech”, banning a talk, and thus depriving people of the chance to hear Richard–and probably ask him questions or even criticize him. Here’s the station’s inevitable “but”: While KPFA emphatically supports serious free speech, we do not support abusive speech. Give me a break! Criticism of ideas is not criticism of people, nor is it “abuse.” Shame on KPFA for not realizing this, and for their craven behavior in canceling the talk. If you wish to write to KPFA, their website is here, and their contact information is here. I’ll be writing them for sure. Dawkins is not Milo Yianopoulos; his “abusive speech” is simply criticism of religion in general, including Islam. I guess believers can’t bear to hear that criticism, and they didn’t have to go to that talk. But what right do they have to prevent others from hearing it? Berkeley was, you’ll recall, the home of the Free Speech Movement. How low the city has fallen! _________ UPDATE: Here’s an email I sent to the station: Dear KPFA, Your cancellation of Dawkins’s talk was unconscionable. His speech has not been abusive towards Islam, but has involved criticism of religious dogma–and of all faiths. That is free speech, not “abusive” speech. All meaningful speech hurts some people’s feelings, but in this case there was no “abuse.” Can you point to any? Your craven behavior towards this talk, and caving in to those who want to prevent others from hearing it, is unconscionable. How dare a radio station commit such a blatant violation of the First Amendment? Shame on you. Jerry CoyneWe want the whole budget story, not just half
Posted
If the Government wants to bring in a budget that keeps shifting us back to surplus, then maybe it is time to admit it's not all about cutting spending, but that revenue also needs to be increased, writes Greg Jericho.
When I look at the budget figures I almost feel a certain amount of sympathy for Joe Hockey. For a man who wants to get the budget back to surplus he has a pretty big problem.
The difficulty for him is that he appears willing to only countenance half of the problem and in doing so exacerbates his difficulty by failing to level with the Australian voters.
Last week betwixt all the leadership palaver, the Government let it be known that the path back to a budget surplus would be more difficult than anticipated in either the 2014 budget or last December's MYEFO.
Now, for a man who has put such great store in charting the path back to the surplus, Hockey needed to explain the situation. He told journalists last Thursday that the problem was "we are currently spending $100 million more every day than we are collecting in revenue." He suggested this was "why we need to fix the budget."
Except all his rhetoric is about cutting Government spending rather than noting the revenue side. Indeed he only mentioned the falling revenue in a response to questions on tax cuts. He argued that "we are still absolutely committed to doing that (cutting taxes) but, obviously, we face challenges with the budget, because we've had falling revenue ourselves."
But instead of pointing out that aspect of the problem, he again straight away turned to expenditure saying, "I ask the Labor Party and the Opposition in the Senate to help us deal with the massive growth in expenditure that was a legacy of Labor".
Not surprisingly with this attitude the talk about Government expenditure is the only one being heard by the party faithful.
Former adviser to Nick Minchin, David Miles, for example on last Thursday's episode of The Drum took the position that there was not a revenue problem at all.
Miles suggested that, "if you look at the past history of revenue growth in this country, other than two years which was the GFC period where he did have drops in revenue, after those two years it went back - it returned. And if you have a look at the graph of government revenue over the last 10 years there has been one dip and its returned back to a linear line as though those dips had never occurred."
This suggests Hockey has a pretty serious dilemma. Because if your own side is suggesting there's no revenue problem then you're going to have a tough time explaining it to the voters.
So let me lend the Treasurer a hand. And we'll take Miles' advice and look at some graphs along the way.
Firstly, yes tax revenue is higher now than it was in the last year of the Howard government. But that doesn't tell us much - inflation and the size of the economy in that time makes such a thing inevitable.
Tax revenue is supposed to grow each year. That is why the "dip" where tax revenue fell is so astonishing. It was the first time since WWII that tax revenue fell two years in a row. In the 45 years since 1970, taxation revenue has fallen just three times in nominal terms: 1991-92 and in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
But that dip doesn't just occur and then disappear as if it "never occurred" - it has lasting effects. And this is where the whole problem of a "linear path" comes. Taxation revenue has yet to catch up to where we would have expected had we continued along the same linear path of the 10 years from 1998-2008:
Yes our revenue is growing again along a linear line, but it is akin to two runners racing side by side at a steady pace and then one stops for 10 seconds and then starts running again. She will only catch up if she runs faster than she was before.
And we are not gaining revenue fast than before:
In the 10 years to 2008, revenue grew on average by 7.9 per cent each year in nominal terms and by 4.7 per cent in real terms (account for inflation).
But according the December MYEFO, in the eight years from 2010-11 (when revenue began to rise again), revenue is expected to grow till 2017-18 by just 6.4 per cent each year in nominal terms and 3.8 per cent in real terms.
However, talking in dollar amounts is a bit misleading. Nominal figures ignore inflation and the growing economy and even accounting for inflation is a bit dodgy given we would hope the economy would grow faster than inflation (otherwise real GDP growth would be 0 per cent).
The standard measure of revenue and expenditure is as a percentage of GDP. In the 10 years to 2008 taxation revenue averaged 23.6 per cent of GDP. Since then the highest it has been is the 22 per cent of GDP it was expected to reach in this financial year - but this now seems unlikely.
To suggest that taxation revenue has returned to where it was after a dip during the GFC is complete bollocks.
Yes Hockey has had to deal with revenue write-downs. So too did Wayne Swan. You can blame Treasury for being too optimistic, or blame the Treasurer for trying to get the Treasury to be too optimistic, but either way you can't get passed the fact that Swan and now Hockey are dealing with revenue much lower than John Howard or Peter Costello ever had to contemplate.
Now I know, what about expenditure?
And yes it is higher.
In the 10 years to 2008, government expenditure averaged 24.1 per cent of GDP, since then it has only been down to that level once - in 2012-13 when Wayne Swan massively cut spending (and moved a bit of spending forward into 2011-12):
In the 10 years from 2000-08 out to 2016-17 the estimated cumulative spending the government will have undertaken equals roughly 11.5 per cent of GDP more than what it would have been had spending remained at the average of 24.1 per cent of GDP each year.
That's a hell of a lot of money - about $182 billion in today's money.
But if that sounds like a lot, in the same period the cumulative taxation revenue is estimated to be 20.3 per cent of GDP less than it would have been had the government been collecting that 10 year average of 23.6 per cent of GDP each year.
That works out to about $321 billion over that period.
So sure there may be a spending problem. If you want to get to a surplus there is likely to be some spending to be cut. But if you're only looking at that side of the ledger you're missing a much bigger issue.
If the Government wants to bring in a budget that keeps shifting us back to surplus, then maybe it is time to admit it's not all about cutting spending, but that revenue also needs to be increased - and by much more than small measures like a 1 per cent "debt levy" to the top tax bracket.
Perhaps it is time to consider changes to how superannuation is taxed. After all - the Treasury last month estimated in 2014-15 $27.3 billion in taxation was foregone due to concessional taxation of employer superannuation contributions and entity earnings.
That's about equal to 1.7 per cent of GDP.
But to do that (or even half of that) you need to convince the public that it needs to be done. And that means throwing out the talking points and the tired and now ignored blaming of the ALP.
With 13 weeks to go till the budget, maybe now is the time to start telling voters the whole story, rather than just half.
Greg Jericho writes weekly for The Drum. You can read his blog and he tweets at @grogsgamut.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, business-economics-and-finance, budgetFlorida State is No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll, followed by Alabama, Oregon and Mississippi State. The top four teams were unchanged for the first time since late September.
Associated Press Top 10 No. 2 Alabama picked up five more first-place votes to pull even closer to No. 1 Florida State in The Associated Press college football poll.
Complete poll 1. Florida St. (37) 6. TCU 2. Alabama (21) 7. Ohio State 3. Oregon (2) 8. Georgia 4. Miss. St. 9. UCLA 5. Baylor 10. Michigan St. First-place votes in parenthesis
The gap between the Seminoles and the Crimson Tide narrowed after another close call by Florida State, which beat Boston College 20-17 on a field goal in the waning seconds.
Florida State received 37 first-place votes and 1,458 points, down six first-place votes and 18 points from last week. Alabama has 21 first-place votes 1,445 points. No. 3 Oregon received two first-place votes, one more than last week.
Mississippi State is fourth, followed by Baylor and TCU. Baylor and TCU swapped places. Ohio State remained No. 7.
No. 22 Minnesota, No. 23 Clemson, No. 24 Louisville and No. 25 Boise State moved into the rankings. Nebraska, Utah, USC and Duke dropped out.
The Gophers are ranked for the first time since 2008.LSU football recruiting is off to a great start for the 2014 class, which currently includes 10 commitments. Les Miles and company finished with one of the nation's best classes in 2013, and they're trying to continue that success as the 2014 recruiting cycle starts to heat up.
It's early, but the Tigers have to be considered the odds-on favorite to sign the No. 1 overall recruiting class in the country. LSU could conceivably sign eight players rated five-stars, which would be the most by any team this century.
LSU already has the top player in Mississippi, one of the top players in Texas, leads for another in the Lone Star State, and on top of all that, it's a special year in Louisiana. And Louisiana stars rarely get away from the Tigers.
Commitments since last update: Sharieff Rhaheed, Tony Upchurch, Garrett Brumfield, D'Haquille Williams
Decommitments: None
Current verbal commitments
D'Haquille Williams, Mississippi Gulf Coast CC: Williams is absolutely ridiculous. A 6'3, 213-pound receiver who will remind many of Cordarrelle Patterson, Williams will be a consensus five-star recruit. It says something about the class LSU is assembling that he might not be the top player the Tigers sign when all is said and done.
Ed Paris, Mansfield (TX) Timberview High School: Paris is one of the top defensive back recruits in the country. He picked LSU over Texas and Florida. The 6'1, 190-pound Paris will likely end up at safety, but has excellent cover skills as well. He is a consensus five-star recruit.
And The Valley Shook on LSU's great start: LSU continues to compile what could be the top recruiting class in the nation and one of the best in the school's history. The addition of the nation's top junior college player, wide receiver D'haquille Williams, on Friday is another big piece of the puzzle and gives LSU an immediate contributor at a position of need. Mostly, this class could be special due to the insane amount of talent within Louisiana’s borders. While LSU is in excellent shape for just about all of the National Top-100 types in-state, they’re still waiting for a couple of those guys to commit to really get the ball rolling. Les Miles is also doing a great job complementing the in-state kids. Texas defensive back Ed Paris is already committed, and LSU leads for arguably the top prospects from the states of Texas (Tony Brown), Oklahoma (Deondre Clark), Mississippi (Devin Voorhies) and Illinois (Clifton Garrett) and one of the best from New Jersey (Saeed Blacknall).
Garrett Brumfield, Baton Rouge (LA) University Lab: How nice it is to have a school literally on LSU's campus that produces top talent. Brumfield is another Lab project. He's a nice guard prospect at 6'3 and 275 pounds. Brumfield is a consensus four-star recruit and is one of the 15 best guards nationally.
Chris Hardeman, Houston (TX) Alief Taylor High School: Hardeman is a 5'8, 180 pound cornerback who is a consensus four-star recruit and considered a top-30 player at his position. He has scholarship offers from Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and UCLA, among numerous others.
Devin Voorhies, Woodville (MS) Wilkinson County High School: Voorhies is a consensus four-star prospect who is 6'2 and weighs 185 pounds. The athlete could play either quarterback or safety at the college level; 247Sports considers him the fifth-best safety in the class. He holds offers from Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Will Clapp, New Orleans (NO) Brother Martin High School: Clapp, another consensus four-star recruit, is an offensive guard who stands 6'3 and weighs 280 pounds. He is ranked as the ninth-best guard in the class by 247 Sports and holds offers from Alabama and Ole Miss.
Jacory Washington, Westlake (LA) Westlake High School: Washington is 6'5 and weighs 220 pounds, and he is ranked as the 10th-best tight end prospect in the class by 247Sports. And he, too, is a consensus four-star recruit. He has offers from Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Miami, Texas A&M and UCLA, among others.
Donnie Alexander, New Orleans (LA) Edna Karr High School: Alexander is a solid linebacker recruit who has recently bulked up to 210 pounds. He is a consensus three-star linebacker who also held early offers from Illinois and Louisiana Tech.
Tony Upchurch, Dawson (TX) Pearland High School: Upchurch is a physical three-star receiver at 6'2 and 200 pounds.
Sharieff Rhaheed, Fort Pierce (Fla.) Central High School: Outside linebacker Rhaheed is a very good fit for LSU's defense, which relies heavily on speed. He's slight at 6'2 and 202 pounds, but has very good quickness.
National Signing Day is almost a year away. Verbal commitments are non-binding and change frequently.
Top targets
Leonard Fournette, New Orleans (LA) St. Augustine School: Fournette very well could be the best player in the country. He's 6'0, 225 pounds and has the ability to do things in tight spaces that just shouldn't be done by a man of his age and size. Fournette reminds us of a better version of Willis McGahee when he ran wild at Miami. Fournette is a consensus five-star recruit. Alabama is the main competition for Robinson.
Cameron Robinson, West Monroe (LA) High School: Robinson is the top offensive tackle in the country and a consensus five-star. He moves much better than a 6'6, 330-pound high schooler should. Alabama is the main competition for Robinson.
Tony Brown, Beaumont (TX) Ozen High School: Brown is a five-star cornerback and is considered one of the five best nationally. At 6'0 and 190 pounds, he has excellent size for the position. Plus, LSU has an in: Brown's sister is on LSU's track team.
Laurence Jones, Monroe (LA) Neville High School: Jones is a 6'2, 200-pound safety. He is a consensus five-star and one of the five best nationally.
Gerald Willis, New Orleans (LA) Edna Karr High School: Willis is a consensus five-star defensive linemen. He's a bit of a tweeter at 6'2.5 and 250 pounds, but is a very good football player nonetheless. Willis is one of the 15 best defensive linemen nationally.
Clifton Garrett, Plainfield (IL) South High School: Garrett is an excellent linebacker recruit. At 6'2 and 228 pounds, he is a consensus five-star and a big hitter. As of early May, LSU is the favorite to land Garrett.
Speedy Noil, New Orleans (LA) Edna Karr High School: Noil's name is very fitting. He's a major speedster receiver, and is right on the verge of being a five-star nationally. Noil is 5'10.5 and 175 pounds. Texas A&M is probably LSU's biggest competition at this point.
Malachi Dupre, New Orleans (LA) John Curtis: Dupre is a fringe five-star receiver. He has good size at 6'2.5 and 187 pounds. Dupre is one of the five best receivers nationally.
For more on LSU Tigers recruiting, visit And The Valley Shook.
More from SB Nation:
• When the SEC’s seven-year streak could’ve ended
• EDSBS: Get yourself a field like Wyoming’s
• Nick Saban doesn’t have time for Bob Stoops’ s---
• Be careful with the USA Today college sports revenue database
• National recruiting coverage
• Today’s college football news headlinesIsraeli MK Moshe Feiglin (center) speaks with a supporter last night in Queens at a dinner held in his honor (Photo: Alex Kane)
Moshe Feiglin was the star last night in Queens, New York. The far-right Israeli activist, West Bank settler and newly minted Member of Knesset (MK) wined and dined with some of his most ardent supporters in Fresh Meadows, an affluent neighborhood in Queens with a large Jewish community. Feiglin wore a white shirt with a red tie and worked the room, shaking hands and taking pictures with American Jewish supporters of his Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) movement. Feiglin was in his element, even though he had only recently touched down in New York and was heading right back to Israel that same night. Members of the audience received free professional pictures, which Feiglin signed throughout the night.
The mostly forty-and-up crowd had paid good money, and they now got to spend an intimate evening with their hero, who spoke about his plans to lead Israel and also touched on President Obama’s upcoming visit. The dinner was the latest example of how the far-right of the American Jewish community–a minority that remains influential–play an outsize role in fueling some of the most destructive elements of Israeli politics. In this case, the dinner, and the cash that went along with it, was held for the purposes of honoring a politician who advocates paying Palestinians to leave their land as well as destroying Palestinian infrastructure.
“We’ll take over the Likud, we’ll take over the country,” vowed Feiglin.
The event cost at least $120 to get in, and some paid even more with a “diamond” reservation going for $1,000. The money, according to one attendee who was a supporter of Feiglin, was going to the U.S. arm of Manhigut Yehudit, which has helped Feiglin’s political campaign with money from American supporters. They have a PO Box in Cedarhurst, New York (on Long Island), the location of what the party calls its “international” home.
The scene played out in Fresh Meadows’ Chateau Steakhouse and the room was packed with about 100 supporters of Manhigut Yehudit. Feiglin was being honored by the Americans who had backed him every step of the way, a journey that has taken him from riling up right-wing Israeli activists in protest of the Oslo Accords to the halls of the Knesset.
“Here’s our member of Knesset, standing in the heart of Queens,” announced Shmuel Sackett, a longtime friend and associate of Feiglin who was born in the U.S. and also lives in a West Bank settlement in addition to his New York home. Both Sackett and Feiglin were supporters of the virulently racist Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was assassinated in 1990. In 2010, Feiglin said “I believe most of the things Rabbi Kahane said were true” and just recently reaffirmed his support for Kahane. Sackett is the former executive director of the banned Israeli political party Kahane Chai.
Moshe Feiglin stands with his close friend Shmuel Sackett (Photo: Alex Kane)
It was a “special evening” for Feiglin, as Sackett put it. Feiglin frequently comes to New York for annual dinners with his supporters. But this was the first time he was coming as a Member of the Israeli Knesset.
The audience, which was composed of people who, for the most part, knew each other, clapped at Sackett’s introduction to Feiglin.
The dinner attendees represented a vibrant right-wing Zionist community in New York that rears its head every time a prominent Palestine-related event is announced. Helen Freedman, the executive director of Americans for a Safe Israel and a ubiquitous presence at right-wing Israel events, was thanked for her longtime support of Feiglin by Sackett; she was part of the gaggle of Israel advocates who stood with Assemblyman Dov Hikind to smear and intimidate the students organizing the Brooklyn College event on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
A Jewish Leadership movement supporter sitting next to me struck up a conversation and explained that Feiglin visits them every year. He, along with the other audience members, were big supporters of Feiglin who had given money to Feiglin’s most recent successful primary campaign, which led to his seat in the Knesset. According to the Jewish Daily Forward, Feiglin garnered $20,000 from American Jews in 2012 in the run-up to the Likud primary, which Feiglin rival Benjamin Netanyahu won.
While the $20,000 is not a large sum, it is only a fraction of the amount that American Jewish supporters have given to Feiglin’s movement over the years. According to a New York Times feature on tax-exempt American funds used for West Bank settlement growth, the U.S. arm of Manhigut Yehudit has raised $5.2 million over the past few years. Some of that money has gone to Mahigut Yehudit “community facilities,” some of which are indeed located in illegal settlements, like the extremist Kiryat Arba colony in Hebron. The Times reported that the U.S. group “skates close” to violating American law, since it is prohibited to use “charitable funds for political purposes at home or abroad.”
Given Feiglin’s ambition to be Israel’s prime minister, he will need a lot more cash in the future from his supporters in the U.S.
Before Feiglin took the stage, Sackett introduced a promotional film lauding Feiglin. When an image of Meir Kahane came on the screen, some audience members clapped. And when the film intoned that the Israeli mainstream derided Feiglin as someone who wants to “expel” Palestinians, one audience member yelled out a “woo!” while another clapped. The film followed Feiglin from his early days as the leader of the Zo Artzeinu (This is our land) movement, which used civil disobedience to protest the Oslo Accords. Feiglin was arrested and tried for sedition for his acts with Zo Artzeinu, and was sentenced to six months of community service.
Some of the film was devoted to his quest to gain leadership of the Likud party from within, a choice that some other right-wing Zionists have questioned.
Benjamin Netanyahu is quoted in the film as saying “he doesn’t belong” in Likud. Netanyahu is surely worried that Feiglin’s brazen disdain for Palestinians and ardent advocacy for Jewish control of the Temple Mount–Feiglin wants to
“expel the Moslem wakf from the Temple Mount and restore exclusive Israeli sovereignty over the Mount”–can only mean trouble for Israel’s international image. Feiglin seems to cares little about Israel’s image and wants the country to stop receiving |
returned to their units Tuesday after posting bail.
Authorities were trying to determine each person’s role in the assault, which quickly escalated after the bar began to drain of people at 2AM. Silver Fox bartender Sky Sunday told the Post that he was attempting to help the suspects move out of Redondo Ave. just after the bar closed when he became surrounded by the men who were calling him a “fag” and insulting the fact he worked at a gay bar.
Though Sunday says he made it back inside the bar after only being shoved by the suspects, a San Dimas man and his boyfriend emerged soon after and that is when fists flew. The victim, who is requesting not to be identified, was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Two others who came to his aid also sustained minor injuries.
Because at least one of the suspects used derogatory terms about the victim’s orientation, Long Beach Police Department is investigating the assault as a possible hate crime. The Marine Corps is also conducting its own probe.
“This is an isolated incident,” Camp Pendleton spokesman Major Manuel J. Delarosa told the Huffington Post. “Committing any hate crime is unacceptable behavior and is not tolerated in the Marine Corps.”Microsoft is making many, many changes to simplify its ecosystem. One of the newest changes includes rebranding the Windows Phone Marketplace.
In Windows 8 there is the Windows Store, so it only makes sense for Windows Phone 8 to have the Windows Phone store. You can see Microsoft mention the name several times in the quote below from the Windows Phone Dev Center.
The new Windows Phone Dev Center has everything you need to create great apps and add them to the Windows Phone Store for the world to see, try, and buy. You can start creating apps anytime. When you’re ready to offer them in the Store, you’ll need a subscription to the Dev Center where you can start the process of adding them to the Store catalog.
It’s not a huge change, by any means, but we like the simplification. If nothing else, at least it’s easier to write Store than Marketplace, right?
[via The Verge]Not everything Michel Therrien does makes sense. Because of that, we give him a rough ride as fans and analysts from time to time. However lately, Therrien has been doing a pretty excellent job from a deployment perspective and he's not getting the credit that he deserves.
I've noticed a lot of complaining specifically about the way he's deploying his forwards over the last three games, so I'm going to explain what's going on there so we can all see it clearly, because it's actually really smart.
First line: Shut down (most situations)
We can debate forever what first line means, but this is the first line in Therrien's eyes. You've got two players in Gionta and Plekanec that have excellent two-way games, and a one-dimensional scorer in Briere. This line is matched against the top offensive threat the opponent has to offer, and they're not matched zonally, or at least not very much.
They're your shutdown guys primarily, but because there's a lot of talent there, Briere's addition also means they're looking for goals, even though it's not the number one priority. Montreal has better scoring threats on other lines, so if this line can shut down the opposing team's best, and chip in the odd goal, they're doing their jobs.
First line: Shut down (lead protection)
Travis Moen Tomas Plekanec Brian Gionta
Late in games, when leading, Therrien has been taking Briere off the top line and putting Moen up there, because Moen is much better defensively than Briere. Moen plays a simple game, and Therrien knows that if Plekanec or Gionta have the puck in the defensive zone and there's no outlet, they can put the puck to Moen along the boards and they'll be in safe territory.
When teams are trailing, they'll often load up a line as well. Pittsburgh did this with Crosby and Malkin on Saturday, so Therrien is loading up a defensive line. It's smart.
Second line: Defensive heavy work
Two players with excellent two-way games, and all three with great skating and puck moving ability. Galchenyuk isn't great in his own zone yet, but he's going to learn with these two. This line is all about absorbing defensive zone faceoffs. Since they were put together, they've been starting just 37.9% of their non-neutral zone shifts in the offensive zone.
Eller's ability to skate the puck out and Prust's defensive awareness are what makes this work, and although they haven't clicked offensively yet, this is a line that given a bit of time, should end up looking a lot better than it has. Desharnais was tried in this role earlier in the season in order to give the EGG line an offensive push, but it didn't work at all. In many ways Eller is the victim of his own versatility (offensively), but the fact is that he has a rising star on his left wing that's going to produce in any role eventually, he just needs to grow into it.
Third line: Exploitation offense
These are the guys getting as many offensive zone starts as Therrien can manage. Since they've been united, they're seeing about 69.5% of their non-neutral zone starts in the offensive zone. Their job is to score, and they've been doing it.
Pacioretty is the defensive water carrier for this line when they do get the odd defensive zone start, or get caught in their own zone. Brendan Gallagher was playing this role with Eller and Galchenyuk earlier this season, and he seems stapled to it ever since he broke in. That's not really a knock on him, because his defensive game is coming along, it's just that Therrien has recognized that Gallagher is an absolute demon in the offensive zone. No one else on the Canadiens produces scoring chances at anywhere near the rate that Gallagher does, so he needs to be on the main line of offense.
Fourth line: Mop up
Last season Therrien used the 4th line sacrificially, always starting them in the defensive zone, but this year it seems like he's just using them whenever his other three lines are tired and need a shift off. If they need to be used in the defensive zone, Moen and White are solid there and Bournival is no slouch either. If there's a spare shift in the offensive zone, Bournival is excellent there and Moen has been cycling the puck well all year, while White can execute a reasonably solid forecheck.
Because of how the other lines are used, this line is usually going to play the other team's fourth line, and because they're three solid players, they're probably going to outplay them most games, like they did against Washington.
***
Therrien's logic in how he's deployed his lineup is pretty sound thus far, with the only question mark being whether he keeps Prust with Eller to use that line defensively, or if he gives up on that idea and puts Bournival there, switching the 4th line to tough minutes in order to create two exploitation lines.
Both strategies have pros and cons, and it'll be interesting to see where he goes with it.
And then there's Rene Bourque, and I'm not exactly sure where he fits anymore.
More from Eyes On The Prize:A man has spent three nights sleeping on the beach building an unusual vessel, and it's all for a good cause. NBC 6's Laura Rodriguez has his story. (Published Wednesday, April 13, 2016)
A man has spent three nights sleeping on the beach building an unusual vessel, and it's all for a good cause. It looks like a Ferris wheel out in the ocean, and close up it's still difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is.
The mastermind behind the man-propelled bubble, Reza Baluchi, calls it his Hydro Pod; he plans to travel inside it from Pompano Beach, Florida, to Bermuda, Haiti, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The first leg alone is about 1,033 miles.
"Mind is power. It's 85 percent your mind. Anything you can do," Baluchi said.
This type of adventure isn't unusual for the endurance athlete, who said he has survived weeks in Death Valley, biked across six continents and run around the perimeter of the United States.
S. Carolina Pediatrician Stops Taking Unvaccinated Patients
A South Carolina pediatrics office is turning away unvaccinated patients, citing the health and safety of other immunocompromised children who are in danger of catching contagious diseases in the waiting room. Parents say their choices for their unvaccinated children are shrinking. (Published Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019)
In 2014, he tried to run across the sea in a similar bubble, but a distress signal notified the Coast Guard and Baluchi had to terminate his trip.
"They burst my bubble, and now I put signs up that say 'please don't burst my bubble,'" he said with a laugh.
Baluchi has been working the last couple of years to perfect the Hydro Pod. Each side has 36 buoyancy balls, and he has a life jacket that has a water filter, a GPS tracking device and even shark repellent.
To survive at sea, Baluchi filled backpacks with endurace bars, seasickness gum and tied Gatorade bottles with pantyhose to the Hydro Pod. His eventual goal is to run through every country in the world and raise money for children in need.
"I try to do the best thing from my heart. Giving help to children," Baluchi said.In addition to reclassification of the Swiss Arms and CZ 858 rifles, the Harper government also announced the coming-into-force dates for two of the most anticipated functions of bill C42; the movement of POLs to PALs, and the automatic inclusions of ATTs as a function of restricted PALs: September 2nd. The government press release is below:
“Today, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honourable Steven Blaney, announced the coming into force of two additional provisions under the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act.
Effective September 2, 2015, these changes to the Firearms Act will come into force:
The elimination of the Possession Only Licence (POL) and conversion of all existing POLs to Possession and Acquisition Licences (PALs); and
The Authorization to Transport (ATT) becoming a condition of a licence for certain routine and lawful activities.
The elimination of the POL and conversion of all existing POLs to PALs simplifies the firearms licencing regime by eliminating one type of licence for adults. Specifically, it provides the roughly 530,000 holders of Possession Only Licences (POL) with acquisition privileges, formerly reserved for Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) holders. POL holders will be authorized to acquire the types of firearms they are currently authorized to possess. The conversion of existing POLs to PALs will happen automatically with no action required by holders of valid POLs.
Currently, firearms owners apply to a Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) when they wish to transport restricted and prohibited firearms, and they carry the ATT as a separate document. The changes to the ATT provision mean that an ATT will be automatically attached as a condition on a licence. Therefore licence holders will no longer have to apply separately in order to transport those firearms to certain routine activities such as target shooting; taking a firearm home after a transfer; going to a gunsmith, gun show, a Canadian port of exit or a peace officer or a CFO for verification, registration or disposal.”
Comments
commentsLeaked document shows plans to close and sell Dapto TAFE and part of Wollongong West TAFE campus
Updated
A leaked cabinet paper has revealed that Dapto TAFE is to be closed, and other sites across the state are to be partially sold off, raising $63 million.
News that Dapto TAFE is to be closed and sold off for $2 million may come as a shock, but it won't come as a surprise.
The campus hasn't taken on any new enrolments since earlier this year, and staff began to be redeployed to other sites.
Also in the firing line is the larger, Wollongong West campus, that will be partially sold off to raise $1.33 million, and a vacant block of land in Vincentia, ear-marked for TAFE.
Greens MP John Kaye says the 'cabinet-in-confidence' document lists campuses that are being considered for either a full or partial sale.
Mr Kaye says it's clear the Premier Mike Baird wants a smaller public system.
"The same training market that's being implemented by the Baird government took the Victorian TAFE system to being a minor player with less than 20 per cent of all students," he said.
"It's privatisation and we see the beginnings of that with the buildings that are being sold off."
The Dapto campus of TAFE sits in one of the fastest growing urban areas of the Illawarra.
The local state MP Anna Watson says under the previous state Labor Government Dapto TAFE had over 650 students and 110 staff, but now its being systematically gutted.
"We have slowly seen this TAFE gutted like a blue fin tuna," she said.
"I think the people of Dapto and West Dapto ought to be very disgusted and upset about this."
Illawarra TAFE Institute Director, Dianne Murray, says the Dapto campus currently has just eight remaining students, but the campus continues to advertise courses.
Ms Murray says TAFE corporate services staff are being moved to West Wollongong and school education staff are being moved directly to schools.
She says she can't comment on suggestions the state government wants to sell it off.
"We still have courses advertised at the moment, unfortunately students are choosing to study elsewhere where he have invested a lot of money in upgrading facilities," she said.
The ABC has obtained a leaflet advertising TAFE courses for school students for 2016 and it makes no mention of a campus at Dapto.
The Managing Director of TAFE New South Wales Pam Christie says nothing's been decided, but it's part of a bigger plan.
She rejected claims the plan involves shifting more students to online courses.
The government's parliamentary secretary for the Illawarra, Gareth Ward, was clearly caught by surprise at the cabinet document leaked by Greens MP John Kaye.
The Kiama MP said that no-one had briefed him about the news, and declined to comment until he had the full details.
Anna Watson has challenged Mr Ward to join her in a community fight to save Dapto TAFE.
Topics: education-industry, continuing-education, dapto-2530, wollongong-2500, vincentia-2540
First postedThe NCAA announced today that it will no longer license its trademarks to EA Sports for use in the popular NCAA Football video game series. 2014's will be the last edition to feature the NCAA name and logos. (Individual schools and conferences have their own contracts.)
We are confident in our legal position regarding the use of our trademarks in video games. But given the current business climate and costs of litigation, we determined participating in this game is not in the best interests of the NCAA.
"We aren't afraid of the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit, yet we're getting the hell out of the highly profitable video game market." Makes sense.
The class-action suit led by O'Bannon, you'll remember, charges the NCAA with profiting off the images of current and former student-athletes without sharing a dime. The NCAA has always maintained, and continues to do so in this statement, that the players in the games are not meant to represent actual unpaid laborers. (This despite common sense, and former EA employees saying of course they're meant to be the specific athletes.)
This move will have no effect on the standing of O'Bannon's suit—that genie's not fitting back in that bottle. But it does provide a glimpse of how fucking terrified the NCAA clearly is about the wave of pending litigation. And it gives a preview of the NCAA's possible strategy for mitigation.
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The suit's about video game money, yes, but it's more about the fraud of amateurism—the idea that college sports is somehow above money, even as the NCAA and its member institutions pull in millions by licensing off facsimiles of uncompensated players. All those athletes want is a slice of that pie. Rather than give it to them, the NCAA is declaring that no one can have any pie. Or, a more appropriate metaphor: the NCAA is that kid who, when losing at a game, hurriedly turns off his console.An owner of a well-known dress rental shop has called for an investigation after her shop was robbed by a group of women.
An owner of a well-known dress rental shop has called for an investigation after her shop was robbed by a group of women.
'Naming and shaming is my only option' - Owner of well-known dress shop calls for investigation after female gang robbery
Kara Maher has spoken out about the incident and said she witnessed a group of women stuffing their buggies and tops with her stock.
The incident took place at 'Frock n Fabulous', Exchequer Street on Sunday, May 22.
Ms Maher told RTE's Liveline today that six "foreign women" entered her dress shop and took dresses off the rails, putting them into their buggies and up their tops.
Kara posted photos of the culprits on her Facebook as she said “naming and shaming seems to be my only option.”
“I had to physically tackle these girls who were robbing dresses, putting them into buggy and up their tops. I tried stopping them at door but they pushed past me. I work so hard at my business. It's my livelihood yet these girls keep robbing,” she wrote.
'Frock N Fabulous' on Dublin's Exchequer Street
“My business can’t sustain this level of theft.”
Another caller Austin O’Malley of O’Malley Electrical in Charleville told Joe that he experienced a similar theft in his shop.
“A woman walked into the shop and she put her hand on an electric iron. She lifted her skirt and put the box under and attached it to something under her skirt and then she just walked out the door.
“She sailed out the door without a bother. I was looking on but what could I do. She had it under her skirt,” Austin said.
'Frock N Fabulous' on Dublin's Exchequer Street
“The manner in which she was dressed would suggest that she was of a particular ethnic I suppose.”
Austin said that she ran to a car approximately 20 yards down the road.
“She was in the shop I’d say for 10 or 12 seconds I’d say. It was very quick, she was very good at it and sure what could I do, I couldn’t approach her.”
“It was educational. I was shocked how she made it look so easy. I’m sure stuff was stolen from the shop before but I had never seen it,” he said.
'Frock N Fabulous' on Dublin's Exchequer Street
“For €20 would you be bothered taking that risk? The risk doesn’t come near logic.”
Una O’Reilly owner of Allicano dress shop on South William Street also shared a similar experience.
“Last Saturday the exact same group came into my shop,” Una said.
She said that she looked at the photos that Kara put on Facebook and saw that it was the same group who tried to rob her shop.
“I have them on camera and I looked at photos that (Kara) put up on Facebook, they’re exactly the same as the photo.”
Una said she refused to let the women out of the shop and blocked their exit.
“They’re not Irish. A group of four of them came in and they had pockets built into their skirt because I could see them and they were trying to get the clothes in and I said I don’t have what you’re looking for,” said Una.
“They weren’t scared, they were in there for the long haul but I wouldn’t let them out. I work too hard. I design and make the clothes. I work 18 hours a day, there’s no way they were getting past me.”
“It’s very stressful. They don’t seem to care because nothing happens to them.”
Gardai were unable to confirm to the independent.ie that an investigation was underway.
Online EditorsIf you've enjoyed this blog, please consider picking up a copy of my Ubuntu book, Instant Ubuntu. Thanks for visiting!
I recently found a fun feature available within the sudo program that will insult you when you do the wrong thing such as enter your password incorrectly. I’ll tell you how you can activate the feature for a few laughs and also give a few examples of what insults you might get.
To turn the feature on you’ll need to use the following command:
sudo visudo
(always use visudo when you need to edit your sudoers file as it has a self-check system that won’t let you screw it up.)
Find the line that begins with Default and append insults to the end. (Any addition to that line is comma separated.) Your entry will then look like this:
Defaults!lecture,tty_tickets,!fqdn,insults
Save the file and you’ll notice the next time you screw up your sudo password you’ll get an insult.
Note: to clear your sudo session and be required to enter the password again try:
sudo -K
A few examples below:
Maybe if you used more than just two fingers… I have been called worse. Listen, burrito brains, I don’t have time to listen to this trash.
Good luck!Hillary Clinton says she will put out more medical records “very shortly” and that she’s worked hard to be more transparent than her Republican rival Donald Trump.
“I think I’ve worked very, very hard to be more transparent than not just my opponent, but really in a comparison to anybody’s who’s run,” Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, said in an interview with “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” that was posted online Thursday on blackamericaweb.com.
“The medical information I put out, and we’re going to put out more, meets and exceeds the standard[s] that other presidential candidates, including President Obama and Mitt Romney, have met,” she said.
“My tax returns are out there — 40 years of transparency about my tax returns,” she said.
“So I think that the real questions need to be directed toward Donald Trump and his failure to even meet the most minimalistic standards that we expect of someone being the nominee of one of our two major parties,” she said.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign released more information about her health on Wednesday in the wake of her bout with pneumonia, which the campaign belatedly disclosed after she stumbled while leaving a 9/11 memorial event on Sunday.
Dr. Lisa Bardack, Mrs. Clinton’s physician, wrote that Mrs. Clinton has remained healthy and hasn’t developed new medical conditions this year other than a sinus infection and ear infection and the recent pneumonia, and that she is “recovering well” with antibiotics and rest.
Mrs. Clinton said she plans to release more medical information “very shortly.”
“Because we really want to respond to legitimate questions that people might have. I am very touched by the concern that’s been set forth about my health,” she said.
“I’m really glad that I did finally follow my doctor’s orders and take some days to rest instead of just trying to keep powering through, which I think is a common experience for people. So we’re going to put out more information and that will be then twice as much as he’s put out, and we’ll see what, if anything, he’s willing to disclose,” Mrs. Clinton said.
Mr. Trump taped an appearance on Dr. Mehmet Oz’s television show Wednesday. Dr. Oz has said the health summary Mr. Trump showed him indicates Mr. Trump is healthy enough to be president.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.There has been a lot of talk in Cleveland about how quarterback Colt McCoy could be on the outs. He's not happy that the team drafted Brandon Weeden in the first round. McCoy and his family have been vocal with their displeasure on McCoy's status with the Browns.
A lot of people think the Green Bay Packers could come after McCoy because they have Graham Harrell sitting behind Aaron Rodgers. Last year's backup Mike Flynn is now in Seattle hoping for a starting job. Harrell has never thrown a pass in a regular season NFL game. The Packers believe in developing their own players, but we'll see soon enough if they have any interest in McCoy.
What about the Eagles? They have Mike Kafka pegged as the backup right now. He's played in a couple of games, but is still very light on experience. Should McCoy be a target?
I don't think so. I was a huge Colt McCoy fan when he came out. I loved watching him at Texas. McCoy was talented, but won plenty of games with toughness and heart as well. I think guys like that have a real shot to succeed in the NFL. Unfortunately, McCoy was drafted by the Browns and has had a rough go of it. The NFL changes players, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.
Look no further than Vince Young last year. Was that really the same guy who led Texas to a pair of Rose Bowl wins? Young didn't have the same confidence or flair. He has had success in the NFL, but the league has changed him. Football is a business here, not a game. I think Young struggles with that. He wants to be the BMOC.
McCoy happened to go to a team with significant offensive issues. The Browns have finished 29th or worse in points and yards in each of McCoy's two seasons. They did the same thing the year before he got there. This isn't about one player. This is a systematic failure. They lack talent, scheme, and execution. The talent side of things may be changing with the arrival of young players such as Trent Richardson, Greg Little, Josh Gordon, and Weeden. Still, the only thing close to a slam dunk prospect there is Richardson.
As a rookie, McCoy's most productive wide receiver was Chansi Stuckey. He caught 40 passes and averaged a whopping 8.7 yards per catch. Tight end Ben Watson caught 68 passes and led the team with three touchdown catches. 2011 wasn't a whole lot better. Little led the way with 61 catches, two of them were touchdowns. Watson fell off to just 37 catches. This was truly a pop-gun offense.
This is important to understand because it factors into the evaluation of McCoy. The guy we saw at Texas who was so tough and creative and productive...we don't know if he still exists. You could make a trade and hope that is the player that shows up. I have my doubts.
Here's the thing. Quarterback is a tough position. Young players who struggle and get their head beaten in do not always bounce back from that. The best example I can think of is David Carr. He was a stud at Fresno State. The Houston Texans drafted him first overall in 2002 and hoped he would be the star of the franchise. The Texans ignored the offensive line significantly as they built up the team and Carr led the NFL in getting sacked for three of his first four seasons. That ruined him. Carr still had the physical skills, but he was gun shy permanently because all he knew was constant pressure.
Sacks and hits have been somewhat of an issue for McCoy, but equally as bad is simply dealing with players who cannot get open. That forces a quarterback to hold the ball. He then becomes indecisive about who to throw to. A good quarterback plays with a sense of rhythm. His back foot plants on the drop back and he fires the ball out. A struggling quarterback drops back and looks, looks, looks before finally getting the ball out. To me, that's kind of where McCoy is right now.
It also doesn't help that McCoy has had two different offenses and sets of coaches in two years. That can shake a young player's confidence. Sam Bradford showed great promise in 2010 and looked awful in 2011. The big difference was a coaching change.
What do we know about McCoy? Not much, in a definitive sense. He has 21 NFL starts. The team was 6-15 in those games, but that's hardly all on him. His quarterback rating is 74.5, which is okay for a young guy with limited weapons. McCoy hasn't shown anything special, in terms of instincts or physical skills. He could develop into being a solid starter, but we've not seen enough evidence to think that is likely. And we don't know if the bad habits developed over the last two years are something that can be coached out of him or if they're permanent.
The Browns obviously don't feel much confidence in McCoy. We know that because they spent a first round pick on a 28-year old quarterback prospect. You don't draft Weeden to develop him for the future.
I must admit that I'm bothered by the way McCoy has handled the situation. No player wants to lose his job. That's a hard part of football. Complaining in the press or having family members complain in the press just isn't the right way to handle things. I go back to the Drew Brees-Phillip Rivers story. Brees was the incumbent starter when the Chargers took Rivers early in the first round. Brees attitude was that "This is my team. I'm here. I'm the leader. I'm not giving it up." He didn't say that to the press or management. He said it to his teammates. Brees then went out and had the best year of his young career.
The only reason the Eagles should have interest in McCoy is if they see him as a clear upgrade on Mike Kafka. Some people will point to McCoy's 21 starts and a few good games or wins that he had as evidence that he would be an improvement. The problem here is that people are mistaking the fact that Kafka hasn't done much with the conclusion that he can't do much.
Kafka is an unknown commodity. He could turn out to be a good starter. He could be a bad player. The Eagles have faith in him, at least as a backup. They scouted him. They drafted him. They coached and developed him. Now they are comfortable with him as the backup. While Kafka doesn't have McCoy's experience, he also doesn't have his bad habits. Kafka isn't a shell-shocked player who the coaches need to fix. He's a young guy that the team is trying to improve. That can be a big difference with quarterbacks.
Trying to teach someone a new offense and make them un-learn bad habits is harder than you might think. When put into a live practice or game situation, a player reverts to what he knows. Old habits show up in a big way.
Kafka is entering his third year with the Eagles. He's shown progress each year. The mini-camp reports from the spring said that Kafka looks better than ever. This wasn't one person, but a general opinion. Kafka doesn't have the resume to point to, but he fits the profile you want with a young quarterback. He's in the same system. He's dealing with the same coaches. He's got a good line and good skill players to work with. Kafka doesn't have to go on the field and be Drew Brees. He just needs to run the team in an efficient way and let the players around him do their jobs.
McCoy would have to learn the offense, although I'm sure it is similar to the one he played in last year since his coach was Pat Shurmur, a former Eagles assistant coach. Still, the way the system worked in Cleveland and the way things are in Philly are different. McCoy would have to adjust to the players and coaches. He'd be learning a lot. I just don't see the upside to making a change.
If a guy like Matt Hasselbeck for some reason became available, go grab him. He's a proven veteran who knows the system and worked with Reid years ago in Green Bay. He'd be worth the trouble. McCoy should be a target for teams who don't have a backup they are comfortable with. The Eagles front office and coaching staff still likes Kafka. The drafting of Nick Foles tells you that they may not see Kafka as a starter, but he can still be a good backup if he takes a step forward this season.
I wouldn't be angry if the Eagles traded a late pick for McCoy, but I don't think that will happen. I also don't think it should. Is he a true upgrade over Kafka? Remember, the question isn't whether he's got more experience. He does. Is McCoy better? Coming out of college I would have said yes, but a lot has happened since then. At this point, I think sticking with Kafka is the prudent move.You can listen to the debate at MPR.
7:02 CT: There will be no rules, but candidates should keep their answers concise. The candidates were then wheeled out in alphabetical order: Dean Barkley, Norm Coleman and Al Franken.
7:03 CT: Coleman starts first, the lawsuits will take the stage. Coleman stated that he has not received any gifts from family friends or allies. "The plaintiff to the lawsuit said that their was not basis for this claim." I highly doubt that if they took the time file a lawsuit.
7:04 CT:Norm was then asked if Al Franken has any connection to the lawsuit; Coleman did not answer the question but detoured to talk about how "Al Franken is targeting [Norm's] family."
7:05 CT: "Mr. Franken, do you have any connection to the lawsuit?" Franken responded, "None," and then paused for a moment. "The lawsuit is not about Norm Coleman's wife it's about Norm Coleman's sugar daddy. Norm Coleman cannot blame this on me; this is Norm Coleman's problem." Franken would not go so far to say that Coleman is corrupt, but called it a serious allegation.
7:08 CT: Barkley has had no part in this debate so far.
7:09 CT: Coleman: "There is a line to be drawn." The ad Norm Coleman continues to referrer to, the one where Al Franken attacks his wife follows. Nothing in the ad directly attacks his wife.
7:10 CT: Franken responded by stating that the lawsuit "is not about Norm Coleman's wife, this is about money."
7:13 CT: Now onto Dean Barkley, "now you know one of the reasons I'm running. This is probably the most negative campaign in Minnesota history...I may end up getting sued too."
7:14 CT: What will be the biggest issue to face America in the next six years? Dean went first and stated that he wants to turn America around and put it on a new direction. He also wants to clean up Washington; "Lets take the direct bribery out of politics."
7:16 CT: Norm Coleman next: "If you play to the partisan divide you accomplish nothing."
7:17 CT: Franken then stated that he wants to fix the economic situation; "Washington has not been working for Minnesota families." Franken then went on to list several issues that he believes he can fix.
7:18 CT: Question from a women in the audience. She asked each of the candidates to name one program they support that could be set aside while the nation gets its financial situation in order.
7:20 CT: Franken gets to respond first, "every item on my agenda has a return on my investment...that's what Clinton did."
7:21 CT: Barkley then got his typical line of "I've been working on the issues since 1992 when I first said it was broke...We need a four year spending cap to stop the bleeding; how are we going to pay for these things Al." Barkley then went on to question the massive military spending that contributes to our nations 11 trillion deficit.>
7:22 CT: Coleman then stated the standard Kerry line: "You can't support something if you voted against it." The moderator then essentially said that's not the question, please answer it. "I would give up my raise," the crowd started booing and then he again got side tracked after briefly mentioning a spending freeze."
7:24 CT: Another question from the audience; the college question. How will you make it more affordable?
7:25 CT: Coleman essentially stated that he will continue his work with Pell grants. He was also sure to point out that his IRA has taken a hit and that he has two kids in college.
7:26 CT: Franken discussed his intention to give a $5,000 tax credit for kids seeking higher education. Franken then told a story about a student from Mankato State University who has to donate his plasma to pay for his education and he will still graduate with debt. He then went on to mention Obama.
7:28 CT: Onto Barkley, "If you want a guy who can make empty promises, I'm not your guy." He later went on to say that he will not pander, but will focus on the issues.
7:30 CT: Barkley gets to ask a question to Al Franken: "I know you support Obama, but can you name a position McCain supports that you also support."
7:31 CT: "I agree with Sarah Palin and John McCain...on their counter terrorism stance. You don't kill everybody. You make friends and then your friends tell you who to kill."
7:32 CT: Norm Coleman then asked Franken to "name three things Franken has done for Minnesota."
7:33 CT: Franken started but Coleman didn't like the fact that Al was actually answering the question. It got testy for a moment. "Franken went on to say that he worked with chemical dependency" patients. Franken then cited his participation in Operation Helmet, a joint venture with a Republican from Texas with the intention of providing additional helmets for the troops overseas. The third activity he cited was his numerous charitable events.
7:36 CT: Franken then asked Coleman "how many years should a politician have to debate until they can be a lobbyist."
7:37 CT: Coleman responded by saying "what would that accomplish" in reference to a lifetime ban.
7:38 CT: Franken responded by answering Norm's question; Franken roughly stated that Senators vote on certain bills because they believe it will benefit them later down the road.
7:39 CT: Barkley finally got another question. Would you cut off funding for the war? Barkley said "Yes," Coleman said "No" and then gave a story about mothers in his office, and then Franken said "No." Barkley stated that the question was not a direct question about "the Iraq war, but rather a hypothetical immoral war."
7:42 CT: Another question from the crowd; it sounded like a young boy. How would you help push alternative energy?
7:43 CT: Coleman went first and stated his support for the 2005 energy bill citing the fact that "85 senators voted for this bill and Franken said he would not."
7:44 CT: Barkley next |
, adapt to authentic use of target language and achieve native level fluency. Learners will learn how to use the language for recreational and social purposes, not just utilitarian purposes.
Here is a suggestion on how teacher and learners can include TV commercials in their Chinese lessons. Choose a TV commercial with a theme to discuss. Learners must engage in active listening and viewing. Discussion points can be about the product slogan, the main selling points, the language and cultural similarities and differences noticed, body language, culture-specific paralanguage, market similarities and differences, and so on. Teachers can choose different commercials to suit different levels of learners. Teachers can also use the same commercials for different levels of learners but focus on different linguistic and cultural elements. Some commercials are longer in duration and contain more verbal messages, which is ideal for learning Chinese, such as the one below.Just a few months before the shootings at LAX on Friday, LAX administration removed armed police from their stations at TSA checkpoints, according to the Los Angeles Times. After 9/11, LAPD officers and airport police were armed and placed at checkpoints; months ago, they were moved to “roving patrols.”
According to airport police officer and president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association Marshall McClain, staffing concerns led to the change. McClain said officers would respond within one or two minutes to crises, and added that while armed officers were in Terminal 3 during the shooting incident, they were not at checkpoints.
“Our officers performed valiantly,” McClain stated, adding that the shooter carried an AR-15 in a bag through the ticketing area before pulling it out to muscle his way through security checkpoints.Much to the chagrin of the eschatologically-minded, the world simply does not keep ending. The Romans feared that the city would be destroyed on the 120th year of its founding (634 B.C.), and a recalculation after the date passed set the end of the Roman world at 389 B.C. Early Christians were fairly certain that the apocalypse would happen in the 1st Century A.D. (Jesus was expect to return within one generation of his crucifixion). The Essenes (an ascetic Jewish sect) believed the revolt against Rome in 66-70 A.D. was the beginning of the end. The early Christian movement of Monatism (more or less an early version of Pentecostalism) believed Jesus would return sometime in the 2nd Century A.D. Martin, the Bishop of Tours (316-397 A.D.) firmly declared the world would end in 400 A.D. Various prominent Christian theologians variously prophesized that the world would end in 500 A.D (Hippolytus of Rome, Sextus Julius Africanus, Irenaeus ), 793, 800, 806, 848, 995, 1000 A.D. (Predicted by Pope Sylvester II himself), 1033 A.D. (the 1000th anniversary of the death of Jesus), 1184, 1186, 1260, 1284, 1290, 1335, 1351 (Bubonic Plague spreading across Europe), 1370, 1378, and 1504 A.D.
Jewish Kabbalist Sabbatai Zevi predicted the arrival of the Jewish messiah and consequent end time was scheduled for 1648 A.D. Mathematician Jacob Bernoulli suggested a comet would destroy the earth on April 5, 1719 and Mathematician William Whiston said the same thing, but set the date as October 16, 1736. Wovoka, Northern Paiute religious leader and founder of the Ghost Dance movement said the world would end in 1890 A.D. French Astronomer Camille Flammarion thought Halley’s Comet would destroy all life on Earth in 1910. Famed Psychic Jean Dixon said the final day would be February 4, 1962. Scientists Gribbin and Plagemann predicted that a gravitational alignment of the planets would bring about the apocalypse on March 10, 1982. Pat Robertson said 1982 as well. Marshall Applewhite of Heaven’s Gate maintained that it was all over on March 26, 1997. The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo was ready for November 29, 2003. These are just a sampling of the numerous apocalyptic prognostications that have not come to pass, as there are far too many for a relatively brief, yet illustrative account.
Of course, we have a parcel of dates for Armageddon that have not passed yet. As of this writing (December 20, 2012), we are one day from the end of the Mayan Long Count. The Mayans themselves had very little to say about this. They just stopped counting. Sunni Muslim theologian Said Nursî predicted 2129. Mainstream Orthodox Judaism places the next date for the apocalypse around 2240 (another Talmudic opinion says 3240). Then there are the physicists that are pretty confident that things will be getting fairly uncomfortable when our Sun becomes a red giant around 5 billion years from now, that the “Big Rip” resulting from the expansion of the universe will occur around 22 billion years in the future, and finally as 10100 years from now we can look forward to the ultimate heat death of the universe. Eventually the apocalypse will arrive, but since estimates vary from 1 day hence to 10100 years from now, holding one’s breath is ill-advised.
Does it seem so unreasonable to request a little creativity in the nature of the coming apocalypse? Call me consumed with existential ennui, but it is a little tiresome for devotees of the deep weird to read about yet another prediction of an erstwhile messiah returning and judging us unfit, a comet sending us the way of the dinosaurs, pole shifts, tidal waves, earthquakes, demons loose on the earth, the occasional scientific accident creating a black hole that devours the planet, or igniting the atmosphere with nuclear detonations. How about putting a little effort into Armageddon? Plagues of locusts and rivers turning to blood are so 1st Century. Rampant jaguars and household appliances turning on us? Now we’re getting somewhere, but unfortunately, the details of the upcoming Mayan pre-Christmas apocalypse are a little fuzzy, and such things are merely modern accretions that were never discussed by actual Mayans. No monsters, no fire and brimstone, no natural disasters we can examine are involved in the end of the Mayan calendar, at least not according to the Mayans themselves. I won’t dwell on the Mayans since one can turn on the Discovery or History channel anytime in the next few days and be inundated with documentaries on the subject, replete with clinically fascinating interviews of crazy-haired “experts” discussing ancient aliens. Allow me to summarize. Boring. When envisioning an apocalypse, one hopes for at least an interesting cast of nefarious characters. Case in point – the Zoroastrian Apocalypse starring the serpent/dragon/general evil dude and snappy dresser Aži Dahāka.
Before the ascendancy of the Abrahamic religions in the Middle East, the go-to religion was Zoroastrianism (also known as Mazdaism), formerly one of the world’s largest religions. This is one seriously old religion, with precursors in the early religions of Indo-Iranian peoples. Due to migrations, proto-Indo-Iranian religion split into two strains with a common inheritance, those being Zoroastrian (in the Middle East), and Vedic (in India). Zoroastrian theology influenced the mythologies of the Abrahamic religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, where Vedic theology influenced the development of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Even elements of classical Greek philosophy were thought to have been influenced by Zoroastrian ideas. Basically, a fair portion of the organized religions currently extant have at least some mythological roots in the proto-Indo-Iranian religion. “While other religions of the ancient world, such as those of ancient Egypt, Chaldea, Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome, have disappeared from the face of the earth, this has survived many trials and vicissitudes and still flourishes, if not in all its pristine vigour and glory, with many of its distinctive features preserved practically intact. In the earlier days of its greatness its adherents were counted by millions, and it had a considerable body of renowned literature. But the repeated conquests of Persia by foreigners, are believed to have caused the destruction of a greater part of that literature, and only a few fragments now remain. Centuries of persecution and oppression, moreover, have considerably reduced the number of its adherents, who are now a mere handful. But small though its literature and insignificant the number of its followers, this religion and the ancient customs of its followers, some of which have been preserved up to this day, possess certain striking and interesting features, which have always excited the admiration and respect of those who have brought a liberal and sympathetic spirit to bear on their study” (Bharucha, 1893, p.1). One would think that those crazy Zoroastrians would get a little more air time, but alas it is estimated that there are only about 190,000 remaining Zoroastrians in small communities in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North America, and Australia. And more to the point, nobody seems particularly concerned about the prophesized Zoroastrian apocalypse and its monstrous central figure Aži Dahāka.
Zoroastrianism was founded on the revelations and philosophy of the Persian prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra) who is reputed to have died around 583 B.C. The primary collection of its sacred texts is called the Avesta, written in ancient Avestan, an East Iranian language that was extinct in the 1st millennium B.C., but remains in use as a liturgical language for Zoroastrian adherents to this day. The central tenet of Zoroastriansim was that existence is a continual struggle between truth (aša – although it is considered a subtle and untranslatable concept that would require a dissertation for proper exploration) and lie (druj), and that mankind’s purpose is to sustain and increase aša. The central figure of Zorastrianism is the highest deity Ahura Mazda, the omniscient (but not omnipotent) upholder of aša, and an uncreated god i.e. first principle. Ahura Mazda shares his existence (in the same way that Catholicism conceptualizes the trinity) with the destructive spirit Angra Mainyu. Angra Mainyu corrupted the original creation of the universe with evil, but in a final climactic apocalypse called the Frashokereti (“Destruction of Evil”), existence will be renovated through complete destruction, resulting in perfect unity of everything with Ahura Mazda. The first hymn in the Avesta mentions our creature of interest as the serpent.
Ahura-Mazda spake to the holy Zarathustra.
I created, O holy Zarathustra, a place, a creation of delight, but nowhere was created a possibility of approach.
For had I not, O holy Zarathustra, created a place, a
creation of delight, where nowhere was created a possibility of approach.
The whole corporeal world would have gone after
Airyana-vaeja, this paradise.
The first and best of regions and places have I created, I who am Ahura-Mazda:
The Airyana-vaeja of the good creation.
The Airva Maineyus, who is full of death, created an opposition to the same:
A great Serpent and Winter, which the Daevas have created. Ten winter months are there, two summer months.
And these are cold as to the water, cold as to the earth, cold as to the trees.
After this to the middle of the earth, then to the heart of the earth.
Comes the winter; then comes the most evil.
(“F. Speigel translation of first Fargard of the Zend-Avesta,” Parks, 1887, p.203)
So, essentially, one of the first things an angry Angra Mainyu does is creates a great serpent, who comes to be known as Aži Dahāka (Avestan. Aži = “Dragon or Snake”, cognate in Sanskript; Dahāka has an unclear origin, but it has been suggested that original meaning may have been “burning, stinging, manlike, or huge”). Suffice it to say, Aži Dahāka (later referred to as Zohhāk in Persian) was not meant to describe something pleasant. Aži Dahāka figures prominently in the Frashokereti apocalypse. The Frashokereti itself is strikingly familiar in its proposed scenario for Armageddon.
For the earth should be consumed with fervent heat. Its solid rocks should become for three days like molten metal, through which the righteous should move as a soft bath of milk, while the guilty were purged of the last traces of impurity in the penal fire. And then the powers of evil should be overthrown. Not for them, indeed, was there any hope of deliverance or redemption. The warfare which had been since the beginning would end in the eternal victory of right. The Lie and its hideous progeny should be driven into the heart of the flame; the stench and pollution arising from the regions of darkness should be consumed and the land of hell should be brought back for the enlargement or prosperity of the world.
(Avesta, “The Vendidad”, Carpenter, 1903, p.112)
Aži Dahāka is described as a hideous serpent with three heads and six eyes (the position of his eyes with respect to his heads are not recorded, but we can reasonably presume two eyes per head), or to put it more floridly, “Azi Dahaka, the three-mouthed, the three headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand senses, that most powerful, fiendish Druj, that demon baleful to the world, the strongest Druj that Angra Mainyu created against the material world to destroy the world of the good principle” (Majumdar, 1909, p.133). Other descriptions assign him a single human head with two snake head and enormous wings that blot out the Sun. Traditionally, lizards and scorpions continuously crawl over his body, and when injured, he bleeds vermin such as snakes and insects. Not someone to bring home to mother. The Avesta relates a story about mythical Iranian king Fereydūn as a nine-year-old, defeating Aži Dahāka, wounding him with consequent bleeding of vermin. Ahura Mazda asked Fereydūn not to kill Azi Dahaka to prevent these vermin from infesting the world. Fereydūn obliges and chains Aži Dahāka on Mt.Damāvand. The Zoroastrian version of the apocalypse is prophesized to begin with Aži Dahāka escaping from his imprisonment and indiscriminately consuming one out of three humans and livestock, taking possession of the earth until his ultimate prognosticated defeat in a fairly complex set of events where demons turn on each other, culture heroes rise from the dead to battle evil, and everything bad in the universe gets tossed through a hole in the sky.
The arch-demon Az [Aži Dahāka], Greed, dominates the whole apocalyptic scene. Az, the closest companion of the Evil Spirit [Angra Mainyu], is terribly weak, deriving no power from the creations of Ohrmazd [Ahura Mazda]. “Wrath and Greed will (each) say to the Evil Spirit: ‘I shall devour you, ignorant Evil Spirit for your creation has been seized from you and the thief (has suffered) no harm and it is not possible for me to survive’. First demon-created Greed will devour Wrath with the bloody club, and second he will devour demon-created Zamestan, and thirdly Sej of the furtive movement, and fourthly Zaman short of breath, until (only) a few yet live”. The Evil Spirit turns a hopeless appeal to Ohrmazd: “This creation was created by me, and demon-created Greed, who is my creation, now says that you wish to devour me; I shall take you to judgment. Ohrmazd will stand up with Sros the righteous, and Sros’s righteousness will smite Greed. Ohrmazd will expel the Evil Spirit out of the sky, with the hateful darkness and the evil which he first brought when he invaded and he will expel all (of it) from the sky through the hole through which he [i.e. the Evil Spirit] invaded. And that hole will make him so stunned and senseless, (that) after that (his) stupefaction will remain. There was one who said: ‘The eternally-existing ones will make him powerless by killing his form. The Evil Spirit will be no more: no (more) of his creation!”
(Moazami, 2000, p.12)
Zoroaster himself wasn’t too concerned with setting the date for the Zoroastrian apocalypse and the hungry rampage of Aži Dahāka, but Zoroastrian cosmology divides universal history into four periods of 3000 years each, so we are happy to do it for him. We are in theory in the fourth and final age that began with the prophet Zoroaster, which is further subdivided into three 1000 year blocks. The 1st block was 583 B.C. – 417 A.D., the second block would thus be 417– 1417 A.D., and the third a final block would be 1417 – 2417 A.D. When 2417 rolls around, we should be on the lookout for three-headed, six-eyed, flying, snake-like people and cattle eaters. The upside to the apocalypse being that we get in touch with our inner Ahura Mazda. The omens are there. As actor Jon Cryer said, “I can’t imagine Jon Cryer performing with the New York Philharmonic isn’t one of the signs of the apocalypse”.
REFERENCES
Bharucha, Ervad Sheriarji Dadabhai. A Brief Sketch of the Zoroastrian Religion & Customs: An Essay Written for the Râhnumâi Mâzdayasnân Sabhâ of Bombay. Bombay: the Duftur Ashkara Oil Engine Printing Press, 1893.
Carpenter, J. Estlin 1844-1927. Studies In Theology. London: J.M. Dent, 1903.
Majumdar, Jnanendralal. The Eagle and the Captive Sun. Calcutta: Bhattacharya & sons, 1909.
Moazami, Mahnaz. “Millennialism, Eschatology, and Messianic figures in Iranian Tradition”. Journal of Millennial Studies: Winter, 2000.
Parks, Leighton, 1852-1938. His Star In the East: a Study In the Early Aryan Religions. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1887.Image: Antana/Flickr
What a year it's been for Bitcoin. Scandal! Intrigue! Long-awaited acknowledgement by the Internal Revenue Service!
Bitcoinworld has never been boring, but 2014 stood out as an especially eventful period in the digital currency's short history. The year began in January when Bitcoin poster child Charlie Shrem was arrested for money laundering in connection with the digital drug marketplace Silk Road; it ended in December with him being sentenced to two years in jail.
Shrem's sentencing will make him the first notable Bitcoiner behind bars. Accused Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht and others affiliated with the site are still awaiting trial, and Trendon Shavers, Bitcoin's version of Bernie Madoff, was only just arrested in November.
That was just the beginning of the bad news. February brought the ignominious collapse of Mt. Gox, the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, which had custody of 744,408 bitcoins or roughly 6 percent of the global supply.
Ryan Selkis, who blogs under the handle Two Bit Idiot and broke the news of Mt. Gox's demise, was worried that the site's downfall would sink the whole currency.
"When Mt. Gox happened, I thought that was a better-than-average or good chance that regulators and authorities would step in and basically crack down on all the major Bitcoin players in the industry and make it impossible to do business," said Selkis, who is now working on a Bitcoin investment fund. "If the industry can survive Mt. Gox, I'm pretty bullish on its health and its ability to weather many storms in the future."
The death of Mt. Gox was arguably the end of the Bitcoin old guard
The death of Mt. Gox was arguably the end of the Bitcoin old guard. All the players that were dominant in the younger days of Bitcoin—Mt. Gox, Silk Road, Shrem's company BitInstant—have fallen. Even the Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit trade association formed by lead developer Gavin Andresen and other early members of the community, was racked by a series of resignations and its authoritative position undermined.
Meanwhile, Newsweek doxed a California retiree, Dorian Nakamoto, who is probably not the creator of Bitcoin. The resulting media frenzy inspired Bitcoin fans to send money and model trains to the engineer, and death threats to Newsweek reporter Leah Goodman. A hacker hijacked an email account associated with the true creator, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, but failed to produce more evidence of the mysterious cryptographer's real identity. After nearly six years of being tortured by the mystery, we started to wonder if Satoshi's real identity even matters.
There was some good news, too: the IRS finally explained how to account for Bitcoin on your taxes, and New York financial regulators made headway on an official BitLicense for digital currency businesses.
We also saw the price of a single bitcoin fall from a peak of more than $1,200 at the end of last year to about $321 at the time of this writing. The currency is down 52 percent year over year, writes Quartz, which called it "the worst investment of 2014."
If 2013 was the year of unbridled hype, 2014 may have been the year of true greed. While some amateurs plugged money into the rapidly inflating currency and promptly lost half their retirement savings, the real capitalists were moving in.
At the very end of 2013, the Silicon Valley A-list venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz led a $25 million investment in Coinbase, which facilitates merchant payments in Bitcoin. Xapo, a more sophisticated Mt. Gox, set a record for Bitcoin funding when it raised $40 million in July. Circle, which is "trying to build a financial services market" for Bitcoin, raised $17 million. BitPay, another merchants servicer, raised $30 million. A payments processor raised $8.5 million and a mining company raised $14 million.
This little roundup is hardly comprehensive, but it should give the right impression: there was a lot of venture capital invested in Bitcoin in 2014.
"Last year there was a lot of hype due to the rapid rise in prices," said Nicolas Christin, an assistant research professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies Bitcoin. "This year, it is more about people going 'long' with it—not necessarily people interested in making speculative investments with it."
In other words, we're seeing high-risk, high-reward investors bet serious money on Bitcoin having massive long-term returns. That investment has spurred improvements in design, usability, and availability of the currency in an unprecedented way. We'll likely see the full impact of that trend next year—and maybe the stock photos will even get better.For years, Google's Nexus line could be counted on for one thing, an unlockable bootloader. While carriers have occasionally had limited freedom to defile customize certain models sold through their service, owners were at least free to either modify the stock software or completely replace it with custom builds.
It goes without saying people were more than a little disheartened to learn Google's second attempt to team up with US carrier Verizon lead to yet another disappointing result: the Google Pixels sold through VZW have non-unlockable bootloaders. In fact, there are at least two carriers selling non-unlockable Pixels. The other is EE Limited (formerly Everything Everywhere) in the UK.
If you ended up buying one of these developer-unfriendly models, you might be looking for a way to restore their full range of function, and now you can. Justin Case (jcase) and beaups, possibly best known for their Sunshine unlock service, have discovered a method to force the Pixel's bootloader into an unlockable state, allowing it to be treated just like the models sold direct from Google. They've developed a free tool called dePixel8 that makes the process quick and fairly straight-forward.
Full instructions and a download link are available on theroot.ninja site, but the steps basically involve copying the dePixel8 tool over to your Pixel, changing its permissions to be executable, and then running it. The device will restart to the bootloader where fastboot can be used to issue the oem unlock command. Just like a normal unlock, the user data partition will have to be wiped.
It's important to note that the method used by dePixel8 to enable unlocking will surely be fixed soon, most likely with the November security patches, due out on the 7th (first Monday of the month). In other words, if you want to unlock your Pixel, do it sooner rather than later because this tool may not be an option after the next update.
Again, the tool is completely free (and without warranty), but jcase and beaups encourage users to either purchase unlocks for other supported devices with their Sunshine unlock tool or make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.Telfer: Attack on sheltie brings out best in people
Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Telfer: Attack on sheltie brings out best in people 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
Hardly a day goes by anymore without news of some horrific event. Whether it is a mass shooting, mass stabbing, suicide bombing, police shooting or police being shot, a truck being driven into a crowd of people or some other atrocity, it seems like the world is going crazy.
It makes us feel vulnerable, disheartened and left wondering whether there is any good left in humanity.
But even through all this darkness, a light of hope can pierce and shine brightly. From unexpected places, we can find kindness and goodness, support and concern.
My wife and I have experienced the better side of humanity over the past three weeks as we have hoped and prayed that our nearly 9-year-old sheltie, Lanie, would recover from injuries suffered when she was attacked by another dog.
Lanie still is not home and might not be for awhile yet, but her story has brought out the best in the people we have encountered since the attack. Topping that list is the entire staff at the Eastman Animal Hospital, who took on the challenge of trying to keep Lanie alive even when it seemed like it was against all odds. They have done so much it is hard to express in words: five surgeries, daily bandage changes, blood monitoring, medicine administration and more. They even bought Lanie YaYa’s chicken in a bid to get her eating again, after she went several days needing to be force fed. And, guess what? It worked!
The care Lanie has received has been above and beyond anything we had a right to expect, and we are so appreciative of each and every person at the clinic who has touched her life, and ours.
The people in our neighborhood have been equally wonderful. Whether we have been out for a walk, or in the front or back yard, or taking a bike ride, these friends have taken the time to check in with us and find out how our rescue Lanie is doing.
But perhaps the most unexpected source of support has come from the people we know on social media. We had no idea when we made our first post on Facebook about Lanie’s injuries how much people would care. We were overwhelmed by the empathy shown and the love offered. Dozens of people commented on the post, offering words of encouragement and prayers for healing. Dozens more liked the post as a way of letting us know they were thinking of us.
Because early on we were not certain Lanie would survive (we are fairly certain she will make it now, but still not 100 percent), we decided to post stories and photos almost every night detailing her progress. Each post was greeted with a similar outpouring of encouragement as the first one, and often a number of new people would write to let us know they, too, were thinking of us and Lanie.
By the end of the week, my wife and I were emotionally drained but spiritually uplifted because so many people had shown us how much they cared. Today, some three weeks later, we are just looking forward to bringing Little Miss Lanie home and sharing that good news with all our friends on Facebook.
We don’t know when that day will be yet, but we do know there are many, many good people who are looking forward to it almost as much as we are.
Jack Telfer is editor of the Daily News.Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday accused NBC of “intentionally” interfering in the 2016 presidential race to undermine President Trump’s campaign.
“Consider the infamous ‘Access Hollywood’ tape,” Carlson said, referencing a controversial recording of Trump lewdly discussing women in 2005.
"That tape belonged to NBC. It was shot by NBC cameramen for an NBC show on NBC property. So how did it wind up in the hands of The Washington Post, which broke the story?”
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“How, in other words, did valuable intellectual property from one news organization end up benefitting a competitor? Intentionally, that’s the short answer.”
Carlson mocked NBC's coverage of Russian interference in last year's election, saying the network's role in the "Access Hollywood" tape release taints its coverage of Trump.
“Complaints from NBC about election meddling? Given that company’s conduct over the last six months, that is a bit rich," he said.
“The shocking and vulgar remarks, the immediate and disastrous effect that tape had on candidate Trump’s poll numbers. It was a political bomb detonated in the final days of the most intense political race of our lifetimes. The fallout was so overwhelming that few paused to consider where that tape came from.”
Reports emerged early last October about a 2005 tape of Trump discussing sexually aggressive behavior towards women with Billy Bush, the former host of NBC’s “Access Hollywood.”
Trump dismissed his remarks as “locker room talk” and ended up defeating Democratic presidential nominee 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 for the presidency in November.But Mohamed Omara, a scholar associated with the Brotherhood, said that allegations of religious faith or infidelity had no place in the Egyptian crisis, which was a political disagreement and not a test of faith — even when the tanks were circling the presidential palace. “No one who speaks in the name of religion has the right to excommunicate a faction of those battling in Egypt,” he said. “Excluding others is not the right stance.”
The first fragmentary account of the clerics’ statements appeared on Wednesday in a harsh report on a Web site aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. That suggested that at least some of the soldiers and police officers who heard the speeches sympathized with the Brotherhood enough to leak the information.
Then professional-quality segments of the speeches began appearing on the Internet over the weekend; it was unclear who released them.
In one of the segments, Dr. Abdel Galil is seen addressing the subject of the military takeover directly: “They speak of a coup. What coup? This is the will of the people.” He appeared to call its Islamist opponents “preachers of strife” and to say, “Those are criminals; those are aggressors, and the state needs to take the necessary measures to eradicate them.” He said Sunday night that these comments were also edited and distorted.
Dr. Khaled is seen advising the soldiers and the police not to “let anybody make you question your faith.” He added: “The day you wore that uniform and these boots, and you made that salute, and you stood up in your line — you’re not doing a job for a commander, you’re working for God.”
Dr. Gomaa, the former mufti, said in a television interview that he had spoken for 30 minutes before a video camera at the military’s Moral Affairs department, and the resulting video had been shown to soldiers and police officers across the country “to keep up their spirits.” He said he did not mean to authorize the killing of peaceful Morsi supporters; rather, he said he was referring to use of force against what he described as “an armed rebellion against the ruler.” But he insisted that the unrest since the military takeover amounted to a clash between two armed groups.
As soldiers and security forces dispersed the two pro-Morsi sit-ins, journalists covering the events saw security forces fire lethal ammunition at unarmed demonstrators in the early morning, killing hundreds within hours. But Dr. Gomaa insisted in the television interview that for most of the morning, Morsi supporters were the ones shooting, and that the security forces reluctantly moved in and began returning fire only after 1 p.m.
“If a person wanted to rebel with arms against the military, what would the situation be?” Dr. Gomaa said. “Kill him. I hereby say it again. Those who rebel against the Egyptian military or police deserve, according to Shariah, to be killed.”Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter
Oct. 15, 2013, 12:50 PM GMT By Matt Sedensky
There was a time when Tom Sadowski thought he'd stop working after turning 65 earlier this year. But he's put off retirement for at least five years — and now anticipates continuing to do some work afterward.
In an illuminating sign of changing times and revised visions of retirement, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Monday finds older Americans like Sadowski not only are delaying their retirement plans, they're also embracing the fact that it won't necessarily mark a complete exit from the workforce.
Some 82 percent of workers 50 and older say it is at least somewhat likely they will work for pay in retirement. And 47 percent of them now expect to retire later than they previously thought — on average nearly three years beyond their estimate when they were 40. Men, racial minorities, parents of minor children, those earning less than $50,000 a year and those without health insurance were more likely to put off their plans.
The recession claimed Sadowski's business and a chunk of his savings, and with four teenage daughters, the graphic designer from Sterling, Va., accepts the fact he won't retire for another five years or more.
"At this age, my dad had already been retired 10 years and moved to Florida," he said. "Times are different now for most people."
About three-quarters of respondents said they have given their retirement years some or a great deal of thought. When considering factors that are very or extremely important in their retirement decisions, 78 percent of workers cited financial needs, 75 percent said health, 68 percent their ability to do their job and 67 percent said their need for employer benefits such as health insurance.
"Many people had experienced a big downward movement in their 401k plans, so they're trying to make up for that period of time when they lost money," said Olivia Mitchell, a retirement expert who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.
The shift in retirement expectations coincides with a growing trend of later-life work. Labor force participation of seniors fell for a half-century after the advent of Social Security, but began picking up in the late 1990s. Older adults are now the fastest-growing segment of the American workforce; people 55 and up are forecast to make up one-fourth of the civilian labor force in 2020.
That growth has paralleled a rising interest in retirements that are far more active than the old stereotype of moving to Florida, never to work again. Among those who retired, 4 percent are looking for a job and 11 percent are already working again. Those still on the job showed far greater interest in continuing to work: Some 47 percent of employed survey respondents said they are very or extremely likely to do some work for pay in retirement and 35 percent said they are somewhat likely.
"The definition of retirement has changed," said Brad Glickman, a certified financial planner with a large number of baby-boomer clients in Chevy Chase, Md. "Now the question we ask our clients is, 'What's your job after retirement?'"
One such retiree who returned to the workforce is Clara Marion, 69, of Covington, La., a teacher who retired in 2000 and went back to work a year later. She retired again in 2007 but soon returned to part-time work because she needed the money.
When she first retired, she had about $100,000 in savings, but she has used much of that up. Her pension isn't enough to pay her bills, and she isn't eligible for Social Security. So she's back in a second-grade classroom, four days a week.
"I'd love to be sleeping in," she said, "but I will probably never retire."
Though Marion's finances are primarily what keep her working, she says she enjoys her work, in line with other survey respondents reporting exceptional job satisfaction. Nine out of 10 workers in the study said they are very or somewhat satisfied with their job.
Increased lifespans and a renewed idea of when old age begins are also fueling more work among older adults. Six in 10 people said they feel younger than their age; only 6 percent said they feel older. Respondents said the average person is old at about 72. One in 5 said it depends on the person.
Even so, one-third of retired survey respondents said they did not stop working by choice. The figures were higher within certain demographic groups: racial minorities, those with less formal education or lower household incomes were more likely to feel they had no option but to retire. Eight percent say they were forced from a job because of their age. In interviews, survey respondents cited health as well as layoffs followed by unsuccessful job searches.
David Sandersfeld, 62, of Dayville, Ore., was laid off |
the local pub? While everything is burning down around you?
That you attribute your ancestors’ achievements to yourselves?
That you choose not to accept the fact that your grandfather killed nazis? By strafing their destroyers with cannons from a gleaming p-52 Mustang?
That you hate being called a Nazi? Even though you meet at least 99.25% of the requirements?
That you always carry a flatulent bag of Hannity talking points from the previous night, but don’t really have any real opinions of your own?
That there are no Muslims in your town but you detest them? Kinda the way I detest Martians that don’t speak Khlingon?
That you don’t know your NFL team’s divisional standing because daddy said kneeling is wrong.
That you now only order Papa John’s godawful pizza because daddy’s friend hates kneeling too?
That you had to soak the pizza in garlic sauce overnight to make it bearable?
That you don’t even know they found bone spurs in your quarterback’s pinky toe, so now he can’t attend the team’s draft meeting?
That nationalism means you don’t coordinate with international fuckwads such as yourself? Online? Recklessly jerking off to Ann Coulter interviews?
That trade is essential to your ability to replenish your AR 15 ammo, secret pictures of Kid Rock’s penis, and food?
That confederate flags and collusion with hostile states are treason and not patriotism?
That you actually can’t deport all minorities because Liberia has imposed travel restrictions on the US?
That Pepe’s creator hates you and hopes your dick gets chomped off by a lunatic toad-frog?
That Pepe’s creator hates you and hopes your nipples get licked by a depraved giant toad-frog after he put you in a headlock?
That you’re a jackass?
That there are more of us than there are of you?
That there’s only one good side and it’s not yours?SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean president Michelle Bachelet sent Congress a bill on Wednesday to reform an electoral system inherited from the country’s 17-year military dictatorship, making good on a key campaign promise.
Chile's President Michelle Bachelet answers a question during a news conference at the La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago, March 12, 2014. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado
“This is a long-held desire that has dragged on for more than two decades,” said Bachelet, who was sworn in for a second non-consecutive term last month.
The current electoral system, devised under dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s regime, effectively guarantees that the two biggest party coalitions dominate Congress, with neither having a large majority. It also almost always assures that independents are underrepresented.
Although the government has not yet published full details of the bill, Bachelet said it would include proposals to add 12 seats to the Senate for a total of 50 and increase the Lower House by 35 seats to 155. Districts would be redrawn to better reflect demographics.
It also seeks to have a more equal representation of men and women in Congress, mandating that no more than 60 percent of representatives of any party be of the same sex.
“Let’s not mince words, the binominal system is a thorn in the heart of our democracy, it’s a system that owes its existence to the dictatorship and that perpetuates exclusion,” said Bachelet at the La Moneda presidential palace.
The electoral system introduced by Pinochet is known locally as being “binominal”.
Bachelet’s center-left Nueva Mayoria coalition, which ranges from moderate Christian Democrats to communists, does not have the necessary three-fifths majority in Congress to pass the bill and will have to negotiate with the right-wing opposition and independent lawmakers to get it onto the statute books.
However, some have already suggested that they could throw their weight behind some of her policies.
The electoral reform bill comes a day after Congress approved a law giving Chileans living abroad, estimated at around 800,000, the right to vote. Their exclusion was another legacy from the 1973-1990 Pinochet dictatorship.Free from the dictates of tradition-bound publishers, inXile boss Brian Fargo is answerable to at least 74,00 bosses, and as our huge GDC 2013 interview reveals, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
The beauty of crowd-funding
Started in 2002 by Interplay Productions co-founder Brian Fargo. Specializes in role-playing games. Known for 2004’s The Bard’s Tale and 2011’s Hunted: The Demon’s Forge among others. Currently developing Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera through Kickstarter funding. Has pledged 5% of post-launch net profits of Wasteland 2 to back future Kickstarter projects.
After acquiring the rights to Wasteland back from Konami in 2003, inXile Entertainment founder Brian Fargo announced in 2007 he was planning to bring back the game which inspired the original Fallout.
Then, all went quiet until that fateful day in February 2012 when Fargo announced Wasteland 2 would soon be up for crowd-funding. On March 13, 2012, the Kickstarter page for Wasteland 2 went live with $900,000 needed to fund development. Within 43 hours, the goal was surpassed, and when dust cleared on April 17, Wasteland 2 had raised over $2.9 million.
It was the third highest crowd funded game on Kickstarter at the time, and an additional $107,152 was donated through PayPal pledges.
Due to such overwhelming success, in January 2013, inXile decided to try its hand at Kickstarter again: this time, with the spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, Tides of Numenera after the acquisition of the Torment license. The firm was understandably nervous doing so, as it would be the second project it posted to the crowd funding site within a year’s time.
Such trepidation seemed to be justified when funding for the project seemed to stagnate at one point – before it took off like a rocket and became the second largest gaming Kickstarter to date.
“The first time around, with Wasteland 2, there wasn’t enough data to signify to me [stagnation] was normal,” inXile founder Brian Fargo told me during GDC. “So we thought we were in the middle of a drop-off, but we were wrong. We were like, ‘what happened?’ But we soon found out it’s a very natural progression.
“I read that 87% of Kickstarter projects are small, and I think that in the beginning, someone said only half of the projects were getting financed and only one quarter of those were video games. That’s insane. I mean, if you are out pitching products to publishers, maybe 1% of those are successful. This means that the successful one quarter on Kickstarter being financed brings that figure up to 20-25%. That is a huge statistic.”
“Kickstarter is maturing and helping vet projects what wouldn’t have sold. There is always a concept people will get behind. You just have to figure out what it is.”
With so many games and hardware options being financed through Kickstarter, many have predicted that the bubble is going to burst. While such a thing could be construed as inevitable, it’s not hard to suspect things are indeed slowing down, what with projects from high-profile developers either barely scraping by or failing to meet funding goals. Two such titles comes to mind off the top of my head: 22Cans’ Godus which we all thought at one point wasn’t going to make it, and Robotoki’s The Adventures of Dash, respectively.
“For a while all I heard about was Kickstarter fatigue or that it wasn’t going to happen or whether we should do another one,” said Fargo. “And I thought, if I can provide compelling reasons why and give people more detail – I mean you’ll notice the Torment pitch video was way more detailed than Wasteland 2, and that’s because the expectations were different than a year ago. Just a year made a difference. But we took more time with the Torment pitch and if you are really striking the right chords and personifying and people understand why they should support a project with their money, I think Kickstarter will continue to do well.”
Fargo believes many Kickstarter projects fail due to pitches which don’t follow “the golden rules,” such as those that only show game footage. For a developer trying to get their game funded, such lack of attention to detail can make or break them. Backers need to know the developer: their background; their goals; their intentions with the title; why they have taken to Kickstarter in the first place instead of going the traditional route.
“I could never have raised money from the venture capitalists to do what I’m doing. It just wouldn’t have happened. Kickstarter is still in a growth period. Like all entertainment mediums, the filtering is going to get tighter.”
An example of one Kickstarter project which failed was the Fire Emblem-style tactical RPG, Telepath Tacitics. However, according to Fargo, the reason the title is once again back on Kickstarter, and successful this time, is because its developer learned from the previous failure.
“Look at Craig Stern: he went onto Kickstarter with Telepath Tactics and failed, yet people liked what they saw and knew he was a bright guy,” Fargo said. “So, he made another run at it and he’s funded this time. He learned and proved himself through failure, and came back and made it happen.
“I believe with the indies that if they are persistent and they show something they will start to have people recognize their talent and will have a chance to make it. They have to keep going. There is no other way. It’s just not as easy as it was that first year of Kickstarter when everything was going wild – it was like when the Internet exploded and everyone was becoming a millionaire.”
Fargo believes Kickstarter isn’t a trend. It will continue to be a source of funding; however, it has matured and is no longer going through its “unnatural” first phase.
“It’s maturing and helping vet projects what wouldn’t have sold,” he said. “I have friends with Kickstarters that didn’t work out and, I tell them that people still like them, and like what they do – they just didn’t care for that particular concept. They voted. They didn’t like it. There is always a concept people will get behind. You just have to figure out what it is: there’s so much psychology at work.
“I could never have raised money from the venture capitalists to do what I’m doing. It just wouldn’t have happened. I don’t see it going away, its still in a growth period, it’s just that like all entertainment medium, the filtering is going to get tighter. There are some developers who are trying to make Kickstarter their first project source. That’s a hard way to cut your teeth production wise. I mean, for example: ‘Here’s a Flash game. Isn’t it really great? Well now I am going to do this.’ There are a lot of indies out there who have never produced anything before and say: ‘give us money.’ That’s a harder conversation.
“Also, I think those products will be coming less and less, but that doesn’t mean it will prevent the indie from finding a way to get their voice out there through Flash or Unity or whatever the case may be. I have been doing this for 30 years so I have a bigger voice, for these guys to be in my position later they have got to get something to market so that people can see them and start to build a fan base. ”
Triple-A, the lack of indie support, and sexy heroines
Post-apocalyptic RPG co-developed by Obsidian Entertainment’s Chris Avellone, and sequel to 1988’s Wasteland. Kickstarter launched March 13, 2012 with a $900,000 goal. Contributions hit over $600,000 within 24-hours. Funding ended April 17 with $2,933,252 raised through Kickstarter and $107,152 through PayPal. Members returning from the original Wasteland team include: Alan Pavlish, Ken St. Andre, Liz Danforth, Nathan Long, Colin McComb, Mark Morgan (Fallout and Fallout 2 composer), and Michael Stackpole. Is number six on Kickstarter’s “Most Funded” list, nestled between Double Fine Adventure and Homestuck Adventure Game. Slated for Linux, Mac, and PC in late 2013 and will be bundled with the original title.
Much has changed since Brian Fargo first’s foray into the industry in 1982, after having been bitten by the video game bug with his first Apple II computer back in 1977. Fargo’s first game released was the graphic text-adventure RPG Demon’s Forge, which he developed and marketed himself as he worked on various educational games for World Book Encyclopedia.
By 1983, he had founded Interplay Productions where he developed another text-adventure game called Mindshadow which was published by Activision. Then came Bard’s Tale for Apple II and Commodore 64 from publisher Electronic Arts. After finding success, Fargo co-designed Wasteland and in 1988 Interplay became both a development studio and publishing house.
Interplay published Silicon & Synapse’s RPM Racing, developed by Ayman Adham and Michael Morhaime – who eventually changed their name to a Blizzard Entertainment. Other studios which found publishing deals under Interplay include Parallax Software, which was later renamed Volition, and even BioWare. Under Interplay’s Black Isle division, Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment were released, as was the original Fallout.
During the mid-1990’s, Universal/MCA had purchased a 45% stake in Interplay, and the firm went public in 1998. However, the firm’s main investor Titus Software and Fargo had a difference of opinion on how to run the company, so in 2000 Titus took over control of Interplay, a move which caused Fargo to resign.
It’s no wonder Fargo is less than trustful of large publishing firms, and is a huge supporter of indies. He started out as one; became entangled in big business politics and money; left for while; and now he’s making a comeback on his own terms in an era where indie is taking on triple-A – and by all accounts succeeding.
Independent developers are younger, hungry, tired of the status quo, and ready to fight tooth and nail for a place in gamer’s homes and handhelds.
“Look at the indie scene now compared to 2004. There was no Steam. There was no Kongregate. There was nothing for indies. It was the Dark Ages,” he said.
“You have to look at the snapshot over the last decade rather than the last year. You’ve got consoles like OUYA and GameStick – you’ve got all these companies embracing them, you’ve got Sony, Steam, you’ve got Project Greenlight, Kickstarter, it’s so much better now than it was. There was nothing back then.
“In fairness, you’ve got to have some perspective regarding what’s happened over this last decade to give so many more people a chance. I mean, there was literally nothing and there’s not a lot of opportunity in the triple-A space for indies to go pitch publishers. It’s almost non-existent. Thankfully we have these other vehicles now.
“I mean who would have thought a few years ago that Apple would come along with iPad and obliterate Nintendo. Who would have thought that would’ve happened?”
Fargo isn’t shy when voicing his opinion on the triple-A scene, and since he is an independent developer, he doesn’t have to worry about focus groups hired by larger publishers which dictate what sells and what doesn’t sell in the marketplace, such as the idea of a video game having a female protagonist as a main character.
“I think people were overly influenced by Tomb Raider and being the sexy heroine. Now, that isn’t what is necessary or needed to make a game work.”
Publishers have tried to force their ideas on developers – like Naughty Dog, a venerable developer which was asked to push Ellie to the back the box art for The Last of Us – with the suggestion that the game would not sell as well to what is deemed a predominantly male audience. Beyond: Two Souls developer Quantic Dream was also asked to show star Jodie Holmes brandishing a gun on the game’s cover. Both developers refused to budge. Dontnod were even told by publishers it pitched Remember Me to that female characters ‘don’t sell video games’, before signing with on with Capcom.
This insistence that women don’t work as protagonists, and serve merely as over-sexualised eye candy or romantic interest, is something Fargo blames on focus groups tested by marketing firms stuck in the glory days of Tomb Raider.
“This is my theory: I think people were overly influenced by Tomb Raider and being the sexy heroine,” Fargo told me. “In Wasteland, we have a female character and she’s a bad ass so I think that’s more where [female protagonists] are going.
“I think that Tomb Raider kind of broke the mold in having a female heroine. But she was sexy, so I think there was a natural marketing inclination that thought: ‘well that worked, so let’s kind of stick with that formula.’ Now, that isn’t what is necessary or needed to make a game work.
“I think we’re finally seeing an evolution beyond the Tomb Raider, sexy-heroine-only sort of attitude. I think that that’s suggesting itself pretty quickly in this climate.”
Going back to his roots
Spiritual successor to 1999’s Planescape: Torment. Centers around a story-driven campaign set in Numenera, and authored by Monte Cook. Launched on Kickstarter March 6, 2013 and was successfully funded within six hours. Backers pledged $4.2 million towards $900,000 goal. It’s the second most funded gaming Kickstarter of all time. Set for release in 2015 on Linux, Mac, and PC.
With Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, Fargo and his team at inXile Entertainment are going back to their role-play roots after “not being able to develop,” what they wanted, and instead, doing “everything else.”
One such title the firm worked on in its early days, which was far from an RPG, was HEI$T for Codemasters: an open-world title set in San Francisco, California, circa 1969. In it, players controlled a group of criminals as they performed dozens of heists which would inevitably turn them into the greatest bank robber of all time. In addition to knocking off banks throughout the city, players would pull off further jobs such as raiding bars, restaurants, strip clubs, armored cars, and more in order to acquire the bigger and better tools needed to penetrate the increasingly more difficult banks and, eventually, the San Francisco Mint.
It sounded promising, but after being originally slated for release around Christmas 2007, in March 2008 Codemasters delayed the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 title to June the same year. After the announcement, the game fell off the radar until it was revealed in 2010 that it had been cancelled. Codemasters said at the time the project had been “terminated” as the firm was shifting focus to “high quality titles that will, in the majority, be developed and produced,” by its internal studios.
According to Fargo, the game had potential, and its troubled development cycle stemmed, in part, from too much publisher input.
“That was a game which had a lot of potential, and the writing was very Quentin Tarantino-ish. It had Christian Slater in it and he did wonderful job, he was very funny, ” said Fargo. “But that was just another situation where the developer just needed to be left alone to do their thing.
“It’s tough to be a developer, and on that particular project, we had an agreement where we would create an open-world game using Unreal Engine on the PS3 – but the specs didn’t exist yet. So, at that point you’re guessing and then when you finally get there you find there’s a performance issue and you say: ‘eh, let’s just drop it. We can make it run great on PC and Xbox – but [Codemasters wanted] PS3.
HEI$T – A grainy video of what might have been
“We didn’t know about the RAM issues or performance issues with Unreal on the console. We had no idea, and you just go round and round in conversations that get nowhere. That’s the thing about being a developer. There’s this difficult relationship [with the publisher] that’s unnecessary, and I find that the developers who are doing the best work have the ability to get paid on a regular basis and focus on what they’re doing – and that’s the beauty of doing a Kickstarter project.
“Because I can tell you as an executive of a company, you are spending 30-100 % of your time worrying about keeping all your guys employed. So what’s next? Pitches, production, everything takes 6-9 months. So when you half way through developing one, game you are already pitching another product. You are not spending all of your energy just focusing on the game – whereas with Wasteland and Torment all I am doing is worrying about the game. This allows me to make a better game. It sounds simple, but it’s a very important dynamic.”
Plus, with Kickstarter, the project’s backers are basically not only investors, but they can also be considered the publishers: this makes for a much more understanding and flexible “boss” if you will.
“The dynamic with the people who donate is much different [than working with investors], ” said Fargo. “Like with Wastelands 2, they were asking ‘when are we going to see the demo?’ It ended up being about four weeks later than planned, and they were like ‘no problem’. We delivered and everyone was happy.
“There also wasn’t the threat of: ‘if you don’t deliver the demo you don’t get paid.’ It’s a great dynamic. I could not be happier about being in a position to where the consumer who wants the game is also the one who helped fund the game. 100% of our interests are in line. I could not be happier.”
Big thanks to The_Red for reminding me to ask Fargo about HEI$T.Dallas Police officers were stationed along US 75 on Saturday, watching for the possible return of a motorcycle group that shut down the highway last Memorial Day Weekend. (Published Sunday, May 27, 2012)
Drivers along US 75 in Dallas saw nearly a dozen police cars Saturday afternoon sitting atop overpasses and along the shoulder with their lights flashing.
Dallas Police would not confirm why so many patrol cars were stationed along the North Central Expressway, but the move comes just days after the department said it had a plan to prevent a group of motorcyclists from repeating damage to the highway.
Last Memorial Day Weekend nearly 100 motorcyclists barricaded traffic along US 75, performing stunts and spraying graffiti on the highway it was was said to be in honor of a fallen rider. Two men were arrested on graffiti charges after the incident was posted on YouTube and other drivers took pictures of the riders.
Earlier in the week Dallas Police said they would be ready to prevent a repeat of 2011.
"The department has a plan in place to prevent a re-occurrence of the damage done on 75 last year," the department said in a statement. "However, we are unable to disclose the specific strategies and tactics being utilized."
But drivers certainly noticed the extra police presence.
"I saw the police presence," said Andrew Nichols. "And you know every holiday they turn into a no tolerance zone as far as drinking and driving. You know, New Year's, all the holidays, weekends and stuff, that's all we thought it was."
Nichols, a former motorcyclist himself, was unaware of the incident on US 75 last year, or the year before, but wasn't surprised. He says bikers have a strong bond and become like family and they'll do things like that to remember their friends, not that he agrees.
"Shutting it down like that, spray painting and everything else, I don't see that, but that's my opinion," he said.
On line message boards indicated that the group would return to 75 or the new Margaret Hunt Hill bridge this year for the memorial ride. Dallas residents we spoke with said they were glad the police were ready to shut them down.
"It makes me feel a lot better, but I'm still shocked that anyone would try to pull that off, it's amazing," said Claudia Davis.
UPDATE: The 2012 Memorial Stunt Ride may have happened, even with increased police vigilance.
A video uploaded to Vimeo shows stunt riders on I-635 and US-75 and is labeled as the 2012 occurrence of the ride.
WARNING: The video, embedded below, uses a soundtrack that includes many expletives.My childhood and life itself has been shaped and influenced by many different things. Among the major instances of such is the Object Community, and I can never thank it enough. But one of the main people in that community that inspired me to do... what I do? None other than Adam Katz and the rest of the Inanimate Insanity crew.Adam is an incredibly talented artist, animator, and writer, but behind the scenes, he's also a terrific friend and all-around swell guy. I don't think I'd be who I am today if it not for him and his innovation.So here's to your birthday Adam, and here's to many more. Perhaps we'll become closer acquaintances or friends in the near future, and maybe in the long-run... who knows? Maybe we'll both continue to inspire others through our pencils and brushes, whether it be individually, or perhaps even working together.So here's to you. Happy birthday.A bill to adopt approval voting has been filed in the N.H. House, and one of the co-sponsors is a member of the relevant committee. The bill would establish approval voting for all state offices and presidential primaries. Approval voting is an electoral system for single-winner elections that allows voters to cast not more than one vote for as many candidates as they like and selects the top vote-getter. Steven Brams and other political scientists have endorsed the system as an alternative to plurality rule (or “first-past-the-post”) because a) approval voting is more likely than plurality to select a Condorcet winner when there is one, b) approval voting tends to favor candidates with even temperament and broad ideological appeal, and c) approval voting is more likely than plurality to permit victories by independent and third-party candidates. (However, approval voting is much less likely to ensure representation for political minorities than is a multi-winner, proportional electoral system.) I see approval voting as a good option for inevitably single-winner elections like gubernatorial races and possibly also when it is desirable to keep districts very small and “close to home,” as the massive N.H. House of Representatives does. However, the N.H. Senate has highly artificial districts, and statewide party-list proportional representation seems like a more logical system for that body. Nevertheless, all efforts at bringing electoral reform to the fore of debate are to be welcomed.
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Like this: Like Loading... RelatedFrom the "sports truths are stranger than fiction" category. American No. 2 Jack Sock often seemed distracted in his third-round loss to Dominic Thiem on Tuesday, stopping his serve mid-toss and glancing in the same direction a few times to shoot looks of annoying disbelief. A heckler maybe? A jilted doubles partner? A spurned love interest? Just some guy who hit the Budweiser tent too hard? Nope.
Jack Sock said it was his former agent who was pounding his feet against the surface of the bleachers during his match (and in past matches too) as a form of distraction, among other things. You know, sort of like you used to do at high-school football games when you were SIXTEEN.
Article continues below...
"Every week, every tourney every match. That guy used to be my agent, I know what he does."
Nothing a well-placed 125 mph serve wouldn’t fix, Jack.To say President Roosevelt was manly is such a massive understatement about the size of his balls you risk a gnarled punch to the chops from the enraged ghost of Teddy himself just for suggesting such a thing. Roosevelt was a man composed of pure balltanium and he was so keen for everyone to know that fact he had every picture of him not looking like a badass destroyed.
To explan, it’s tradition for a sitting President to have an official portrait made of their likeness so that future generations will know what they looked like and how much old timey ass they got. In Roosevelt’s case, scarring his manly mug into a stretch of canvas was tasked to one, Theobald Chartran.
Though Roosevelt’s wife positively gushed over her portrait which featured her daintily sat in front of the white house wearing a hat that would make even the most fetching of pimps stand in awe, Roosevelt fucking hated his. Apparently Roosevelt wasn’t a fan of how the portrait failed to capture the aura of power he constantly exuded.
Realising that he had to put the portrait somewhere Roosevelt went out of his was to ensure that it was displayed the “darkest corner of the White House” so he wouldn’t have to look at it. By darkest corner we presume Roosevelt meant the part of the house furthest away from the ethereal beam of light his smile constantly gave off.
Roosevelt’s family were well of aware of how angry the portrait made him and constantly referred to it as the “Mewing cat” whenever he was around. Eventually, out of both anger and because he hadn’t killed something in 8 minutes, Roosevelt had the painting destroyed and demanded a new one be painted of him by an artist capable of capturing the essence of a real man. Whether or not Roosevelt destroyed the painting by flexing, thus exploding it out of existence through sheer power isn’t clear, but considering his reputation we wouldn’t put it past him.
After the painting was destroyed, Roosevelt commissioned another artist called John Singer Sargent to paint its replacement. That painting is the once you can see below and we think we can all agree that everyone reading is now either pregnant or has grown chest-hair on their eyes so it was probably a good call.
AWS.InvalidParameterValue: B00GLOX08I is not a valid value for ItemId. Please change this value and retry your request.I love new ways of doing the usual. Who would have ever guessed that partially burned wood pieces could be a new way of producing furniture and deliver furniture that is beyond stylish? Ukrainian designer Yaroslav Galant discovered that charred wood can be employed in various interior schemes with striking aesthetic effects. His “Born 2B Burn” collection can be organically adapted to different design concepts from classical to eclectic and contemporary.
Yaroslav Galant is the founder and main designer of “Yaroslav Galant innovative design” company. The daring projects of Yaroslav and his team often attract the attention of international media.
The designer shares some secrets regarding his manufacturing technique: “Furniture frame is charred at temperature about 2000°F. The short-term influence of high temperature carbonizes surfaces with proper color and texture, while the wood core still remains undamaged.
Meet also Colorful furniture by Richard Woods & Sebastian Wrong HERE!
After cooling down, the furniture is impregnated with a special substance epioftonol (patented by Yaroslav Galant). On the final stage the wooden surface is varnished”. As you can see in the photos below, the resulting furniture displays an original finish, one that is certain to impress and amaze. Definitely a piece to have in mind for your bedroom decoration!
In 2008 Yaroslav was awarded for the design of the shipping company’s office (Odessa) with the prize “Golden Arch” in category “Public interior. Hotels. Offices”. The designer also was awarded for the project “Marigras” with the prize “Domus Design magazine’s choice 2008”.
Meet more cool furniture HERE!
Source: Freshome.comPlayers are people. If you prick them, they bleed. Despite a professional existence that involves getting kicked, not all are invincible shoulder-goal-popping memes. They have feelings. If they sit on the bench for not scoring goals, then their confidence dips and they score less goals. It’s a brutal cycle. And it’s one in which Fernando Torres finds himself.
But there is hope. Thanks to my total lack of knowledge, education, and experience as neither a psychiatrist nor a coach, I have some ideas for El Nino. We can hopefully restore his confidence in a few simple steps.
First and foremost, honesty is always the best avenue. AVB needs to find some positive words of encouragement, but they can’t ring hollow. Players can smell insincerity a mile away. Thus, you can’t call Fernando “world class” anymore. You can’t even say “you’re the best striker at Chelsea.” However, you can say in a loud voice “Fernando, you are easily the most talented striker at Chelsea today….” and then say under your breath “…named Fernando Torres.”
Second, AVB needs to prioritize and also keep Nando in the loop. Above all, AVB has to put a positive spin on his decisions. For example, when Fernando warms the bench in a league game against a lowly team, AVB just needs to let him know that this team is way way below Fernando. Then, when Chelsea play a do-or-die Champions League encounter, AVB needs to let Nando know that the game is still below him. In fact, all games aside from the Champions League final will be below him for the foreseeable future. And if they reach the final, it will be below him. Only the historically important Carling Cup is worthy of Torres. And even then, only for 30 minutes a game.
Third, AVB needs to help Torres get over his love affair with Spain. Right now, the whole “will I be selected or not” question is totally messing with his head. In part, it is understandable. Yes, la Furia Roja has won a World Cup and European Cup. Yes, Nando played for both of those teams and got some silverware. But answer me this – if Spain is so good, then how come they can’t take on any dead weight like Torres? If Spain was a bunch of super all-stars, they’d easily be able to compensate for his recent misfiring ways. But they aren’t that good. And there’s no shame in Fernando realizing that the team is not good enough to call him up because the players are simply not talented enough to compensate for his poor form.
Fourth, and importantly, Fernando needs to know that Chelsea cares. This also deals with how the message is delivered. Torres needs to know that he’s loved and cherished. Every time he rides the pine or doesn’t dress for a game, he needs to know that the Blues have his long-term interest at heart – after all, if he plays a game, he could get injured at any minute. ANY MINUTE. And that’s a risk they just can’t afford to take with Mr. Important Player.
Fifth, and lastly, Torres needs to feel like a million bucks. This will require some PR magic and a bit of sleight of hand. First, the Blues should circulate a rumor that they are willing to sell him for half his price last winter: $31 million dollars. Then, when he confronts the manager or the owner about the rumors, they can feign ignorance. They can drop their jaws and state “Fernando, that is such a preposterous thing! We would never sell you for that…..but, did you or your agent hear anything from other clubs?”
Elliott’s eBook “An Illustrated Guide to Soccer & Spanish” is available on the Kindle for only $5.99. Check out a free preview here.ELPA
ELPA is the Emacs Lisp Package Archive, written originally by TomTromey. It is included in GnuEmacs, starting with version 24. package.el is the package manager library for ELPA.
“Our goal is to make it simple to install, use, and upgrade Emacs Lisp packages. We supply package.el a simple package manager for Emacs, and a repository of pre-packed Emacs Lisp code.”
package.el supports multiple ELPA repositories. Sometimes “ELPA” is used to refer to an ELPA repository.
GnuELPA The GNU ELPA repository contains FSF-sanctioned Emacs packages. It is the default repository used by package.el.
You can use other repositories. The following examples show how to access Marmalade and MELPA repositories, in addition to GNU ELPA.
Add this to your init file:
(setq package-archives '(( "gnu". "https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/" ) ( "melpa". "https://melpa.org/packages/" )))
Any combination of repositories is fine. You should probably always include “gnu”, which is for GNU ELPA, but it is not required.
Package archives may also be local to your machine.
You can also add repositories one at a time:
(add-to-list 'package-archives '( "melpa". "https://melpa.org/packages/" )) (add-to-list 'package-archives '( "org". "http://orgmode.org/elpa/" ) t)
Emacs users in China mainland can use popkit.org(http://elpa.popkit.org/) archive:
(add-to-list 'package-archives '( "popkit". "http://elpa.popkit.org/packages/" ))
You can also customize option ‘package-archives’ :
M-x customize-variable [RET] package-archives [RET]
You get a UI and then you can add the archives directly:
Hide Package Archives: INS DEL Archive name: gnu URL or directory name: https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/ INS State : SAVED and set. An alist of archives from which to fetch. Hide The default value points to the GNU Emacs package repository.
Contributing to GNU ELPA
Package authors may wish to contribute their packages to the GNU ELPA repository.
The first and main step is to complete your FSF copyright assignment to cover changes to Emacs, and to make sure that all significant contributors to the package have done the same.
Then visit the Savannah GNU website and create an account. You can request inclusion in the emacs group.
Once granted, clone the GNU ELPA repository as shown on this page, using the instructions from section Member clone. Be sure to read the README file in the repository.
You should now be able to push to the ELPA repo.
You might also want to look at the details of MakingPackages for ELPA and Marmalade.
Contributing to other package repositories
There are varying degrees of difficulty and hoops to contribute to MarmaladeRepo and MELPA.
How Packages work in Emacs 24 |
fxstat64" ) ;
old_lxstat = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "__lxstat" ) ;
old_lxstat64 = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "__lxstat64" ) ;
old_open = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "open" ) ;
old_rmdir = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "rmdir" ) ;
old_unlink = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "unlink" ) ;
old_unlinkat = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "unlinkat" ) ;
old_xstat = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "__xstat" ) ;
old_xstat64 = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "__xstat64" ) ;
old_fdopendir = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "fdopendir" ) ;
old_opendir = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "opendir" ) ;
old_readdir = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "readdir" ) ;
old_readdir64 = dlsym ( RTLD_NEXT, "readdir64" ) ;
[... ]
Randomly, have look to the ”open” function. As you can see a “__xstat” is performed to get file informations:
[... ]
struct stat s_fstat ;
[... ]
old_xstat ( _STAT_VER, pathname, & s_fstat ) ;
[... ]
After that, a comparison informations like Group ID, path, and “ld.so.preload” that we want to hide. If these informations match, the function doesn’t return any result:
[...]
if(s_fstat.st_gid == MAGIC_GID || (strstr(pathname, MAGIC_DIR)!= NULL) || (strstr(pathname, CONFIG_FILE)!= NULL)) {
errno = ENOENT;
return -1;
}
[...]
It is organized like this in every functions, and people are not supposed to notice any suspicious file or activity (like the back connect shell). But what about detection?
Detection
Surprising (or not), but this rootkit is undetected by rkhunter and chkrootkit. The reason is that these two anti-rootkit check for signs, and as we should know, this is not the best to do.
Indeed, for example, just clean the “LD_PRELOAD” variable and generate a “sha1sum” of “toto”, as follows:
fluxiux@handgrep:~$ sha1sum toto-dyn
a659c72ea5d29c9a6406f88f0ad2c1a5729b4cfa toto-dyn
fluxiux@handgrep:~$ sha1sum toto-dyn > toto-dyn.sha1
And then set the “LD_PRELOAD” variable and check if the sum is correct:
fluxiux@handgrep:~$ export LD_PRELOAD=$PWD/libmy_printf.so
fluxiux@handgrep:~$ sha1sum -c toto-dyn.sha1
toto-dyn: OK
IT… IS… CORRECT???!
Exactly! We didn’t modified anything in the ELF file, so the checksum should be the same, and it is. If anti-rootkit like rkhunter work like that, the detection must fail. Other techniques are based on suspicious files, signs and port binding detection like in “chkrootkit”, but they failed too, because this type of rootkit is very flexible, and in Jynx we have a sort of port knocking to open the remote shell for our host.
To avoid these rootkits, you could check for any suspicious library specified in “LD_PRELOAD” or “/etc/ld.so.preload”. We know also that “dlsym” can be used to call the original function while altering it:
$ strace./bin/ls
[...]
open("/home/fluxiux/blabla/Jynx-Kit/ld_poison.so", O_RDONLY) = 3
read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\240
\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832
fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0755, st_size=17641,...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 2109656, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f5e1a586000
mprotect(0x7f5e1a589000, 2093056, PROT_NONE) = 0
mmap(0x7f5e1a788000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x2000) = 0x7f5e1a788000
close(3)
[...]
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2", O_RDONLY) = 3
[...]
And disassembling “ld_poison.so” file, we could see that there are many substitutions in functions, that could hide malicious files or activities. Looking for strings in the binaries, when it is not packed, could provide us some interesting clues (but get in minds also that packing is suspicious sometimes):
fluxiux@handgrep:~/blabla/Jynx-Kit$ strings ld_poison.so
[...]
libdl.so.2
[...]
dlsym
fstat
[...]
lstat hooked.
ld.so.preload
xochi <-- sounds familiar
[...]
/proc/%s <-- hmmm... strange!
[...]
A rootkit as Jynx-kit, proves that signing detection is just a hopeless way to protect us against technologies like rootkits. If you want to make it right, base your detection on heuristics.
To finish, there is also some interesting forensic tools that compare results with many techniques (“/bin/ps” output against “/proc”, “procfs” walking and “syscall”). Indeed, Security by default has provided a special analysis on Jynx-kit[5] that made me discover Unhide[6], that checks if there are no hidden processes and opened ports (brute-forcing all available TCP/UDP ports).
References & Acknowledgements
[1] Shared libraries – http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Program-Library-HOWTO/shared-libraries.html
[2] Static, Shared Dynamic and Loadable Linux Libraries – http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LibraryArchives-StaticAndDynamic.html
[3] (French) Le monde merveilleux de LD_PRELOAD – Open Silicium Magazine #4
[4] Jynx-Kit LD_PRELOAD Rootkit Release – http://forum.blackhatacademy.org/viewtopic.php?id=186
[5] Análisis de Jynx (Linux Rootkit) – http://www.securitybydefault.com/2011/10/analisis-de-jynx-linux-rootkit.html
[6] Unhide – http://www.unhide-forensics.info0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
The release of documents by Wikileaks has caused some embarrassing moments for American diplomats, and there are calls for the arrest of Julian Assange for treason and many on the right claim he is a traitor. One could excuse the harsh rhetoric from the right if they had expressed the same outrage during the Bush era for the lies and deception used as a reason to invade Iraq and wage war on innocent Iraqis.
Sarah Palin, the quitter half-ex-governor of Alaska claimed she could have stopped Assange from publishing the leaked documents in court although she refers to a court case that is not remotely similar to the Wikileaks matter. Palin also declares that the CIA should hunt Assange down like Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and Al Qaeda, because according to Palin, ‘He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands.” Palin suggested that the CIA should consider killing Assange as an enemy combatant even though he is a journalist. In Palin’s infinite wisdom as master of all journalistic endeavors, she claims with utmost false authority that, “Assange is not a ‘journalist,’ any more than the ‘editor’ of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a journalist.”
Palin goes on to attack the White House for not pursuing Assange and chides President Obama’s administration as being ineffective for not putting out the effort to stop the treasonous Assange and claimed that, “the administration’s inability to hunt down Assange showed a lack of effort.” Apparently, Palin’s gravitas as the authority on journalism misses the 1st Amendment’s freedom of the press meaning as well as the meaning of traitor and treason. Assange is Australian, and did nothing treasonous to Australia, and he certainly cannot be a traitor to the United States because he is not American. As usual, Palin distinguishes herself as a fool and continues to believe that just because she believes or declares something, it is a fact.
Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and current false-Christian preacher said that Assange should be executed for treason for harming American relationship and foreign policy. The follower of Christ and preacher went farther and claimed that execution would be too kind for Assange. Huckabee must have missed Jesus Christ’s message of peace and admonition to forgive offenders and reject violence.
It is not so surprising that Palin and Huckabee espouse anti-Christian actions or ignorance of the definition of treason. It is somewhat curious that they forget that real traitors in the Bush Administration were given a pass when they exposed an active undercover CIA operative as punishment for a report that said Bush’s evidence for war with Iraq was false.
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and their cast of traitors deliberately ‘outed’ Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA operative whose identity was classified and her operational status was covert. Now if there ever was a case for treason, the Plame affair qualifies easily, and any American official who had information of covert actions and disseminated it to the public is clearly a traitor. When the Bush administration exposed Plame as an operative working to protect national security, they committed treason pure and simple.
During the past 2 years, conservatives have demonstrated that they work under authority of hypocrisy as a matter of course. Republicans fought against the stimulus that the Obama Administration provided and claimed it produced no jobs, but they were the first ones to lobby for stimulus funds and claimed it would create jobs in their home districts. When the money was granted, they took credit and posed with the big Publisher’s Clearinghouse checks as if they advocated for the stimulus from the start. It is worse that after they received stimulus funding that created jobs, they continued to claim the stimulus did not work and created no jobs. They can’t get much more hypocritical.
To demand execution for an Australian citizen for being a traitor against America is ridiculous in itself, and it boggles the mind until the source is considered. Palin or Huckabee never called for the execution of Bush, Cheney, or their cohorts because they were Republicans drooling to go to war. It didn’t matter that to sell the war the Bush administration committed treason by endangering an American spy, or that they lied to the American people causing the deaths of thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens.
If an American commits treason or is a traitor, there are laws to deal with them. The law makes no distinction between a public servant and private citizen, and it is clear that exposing a covert operative’s (spy’s) identity by a president and vice-president is treason. Bush and Cheney were traitors, but Republicans never called for their execution. But when a foreign national releases documents that embarrasses diplomats, conservatives like Palin and Huckabee call for their execution displaying the characteristic hypocrisy of the Republican Party.
Julian Assange may have released embarrassing documents about diplomats, but he is not a traitor. If Assange can be prosecuted for releasing the documents, it will not be for treason, and he will not be executed like Palin and Huckabee propose. It is the epitome of hypocrisy for Palin and Huckabee to call for an Australian’s execution when they condoned Bush and Cheney’s truly treasonous acts. Hypocrisy is a Republican hallmark, and besides being liars, cheaters and fake Christians, Palin and Huckabee epitomize the Republican Party’s double-standard, and there is no sign they will relinquish their title of Supreme Hypocrites anytime soon. At least their hypocrisy is consistent, albeit shameful.
If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human:Loved ones mourn after senseless S.F. killing
Melquiesha Warren (seen on the right), a 23-year-old Bay Area native who was living in Sacramento, died in a shooting near Sixth and Jessie streets in San Francisco at about 2:10 a.m. on Sunday November 17, 2013. less Melquiesha Warren (seen on the right), a 23-year-old Bay Area native who was living in Sacramento, died in a shooting near Sixth and Jessie streets in San Francisco at about 2:10 a.m. on Sunday November 17,... more Photo: TiffanyRenee Warren, Courtesy Photo: TiffanyRenee Warren, Courtesy Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Loved ones mourn after senseless S.F. killing 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
It was supposed to be a time of celebration for Melquiesha Warren. The recent college graduate was at a nightclub in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, celebrating her wife's 28th birthday just days before she would turn 24.
But a fender bender outside the club early Sunday led to a confrontation and then gunfire. When it was over, Warren was dead and a friend was critically wounded.
Now, friends and family are planning for Warren's funeral.
"I'm just flabbergasted. It was just an accident," Warren's wife, TiffanyRenee Warren, said Monday. "She lost her life. An innocent life was taken over an accident."
Melquiesha Warren, who went by "Mel," was out with friends and her wife, celebrating TiffanyRenee Warren's birthday at Club OMG! on Sixth Street.
After leaving the club about 2 a.m., Melquiesha Warren and a friend, 21-year-old Danisha Bean of Hayward, were sitting in Bean's car in a parking lot at Sixth and Jessie streets when a car with two people inside backed into their vehicle, TiffanyRenee Warren and police said.
Bean's front fender fell off, and Melquiesha Warren got out of the car to inspect the damage. Words were exchanged, and someone pushed her, TiffanyRenee Warren said. Someone also tried to force Bean out of her car, but Bean had her seat belt on.
That's when a man who had been in the car that hit the women "just opened fire," TiffanyRenee Warren said.
Melquiesha Warren was shot in the head, and Bean was struck in her side.
The two were taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where Warren died, six days short of her birthday. Bean was being treated for life-threatening injuries, said Officer Gordon Shyy, a police spokesman.
The assailants drove away east on Jessie, but one of the attackers fled on foot in an unknown direction, police said. No arrests have been made.
Melquiesha Warren graduated in 2012 from Cal State Sacramento, where she majored in criminal justice and minored in philosophy. She grew up in Oakland and attended Tennyson High School in Hayward, where she played on the basketball team.
She was a licensed security guard, but wanted to teach basketball to children and hoped to work with troubled youths at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center in San Leandro, relatives said. She loved music and taking photos.
"She was the most loving, compassionate, kindhearted person that you would ever meet, with the biggest smile ever," her wife said. The couple had been together for five years.
She said she had a message for whoever was responsible: "You reap what you sow, and, I hope, I pray to God that he has mercy on him, I really do, because he took an innocent life from us."
The victim's aunt, Sil Warren, 40, of San Leandro said, "She will definitely, truly be missed. She was a bright young lady."Sexual assault Gallery Official Name Sexual Assault First appearance Unknown
Sexual Assault is any involuntary is any involuntary sexual act whether by coercion or force, and any other non-consensual sexual touching or behaviour. It is a commonly used theme or plot device in comics - and a frequently controversial one, which the DC Universe has seen dealt with on many occasions.
Contents show]
History
Sexual Assault is any involuntary sexual act whether by coercion or force, and any other non-consensual sexual touching or behaviour. It is a commonly used theme or plot device in comics - and a frequently controversial one, which the DC Universe has seen dealt with on many occasions. The sometimes violent nature of these acts make sexual assault a go-to crime for "darker and edgier" comic stories, which is sometimes perceived as cases of "fridging" a character.
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Trivia
No trivia.On our show, we like extreme tech. And, as far as we're concerned, racing go-karts at 90 mph with your butt half an inch off the ground certainly qualifies as extreme. With scary acceleration and speed, high-performance karts are as exhilarating as it gets in racing circles. But these track-only rides use two-stroke engines, which are notoriously dirty--one kart can spew as many pollutants as 100 cars.
We care about the environment and want to do our part, but still have a little fun. So we wondered: Could we create an electric kart that would outperform its noisy, gas-powered twin--and be just as thrilling?
Starting with two Tony Kart gas models, we converted one to electric in 12 hours flat. (We even amazed ourselves.) We used a 25-hp brushed DC (direct current) electric motor and an industrial controller from a golf cart, and then focused on four details that can trip up electric vehicles--torque curves, weight, batteries and cost. Cameras in tow, we headed out to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Race tracks, loud noises and burning rubber: just an average day on a MythBusters shoot.
Cruise Control
Photograph by Mark Richards
Adam: I had to create a link between the throttle pedal and the potentiometer, which is a mechanical device that tells the speed controller how much pressure is on the throttle pedal. The speed controller translates that signal to regulate how much amperage is sent to the motor--and that determines how fast the kart will go. Here, we're testing the linkage.
Battery 101
Photograph by Mark Richard
Jamie: Most manufacturers plan on using lithium-ion batteries in future hybrids and electric cars, but some current types can suffer from thermal runaway, or overheating, and catch fire. We avoided this by using lithium-iron-phosphate batteries from Thunder-Sky. They aren't as sensitive to temperature, but they do need to be kept under pressure. This bracket is part of a vice I'm building for the batteries. As they heat up, they can swell and crack the casing if they're not squeezed together. We used 28 batteries with a total of 110 volts. The kart can be charged to 80 percent in an hour and 100 percent overnight.
Slot Machine
Photograph by Mark Richard
Adam: I'm using an oxyacetylene torch to cut a motor mount, which has slots--not holes--so that the tension the motor puts on whatever it's driving can be adjusted. You learn this the very first time you don't do it and wreck a motor. Everyone I know has ruined a motor this way.
The Need for Speed
Photograph by Mark Richard
Adam: As soon as our kart was charged, we went out to the track in Sonoma, Calif., and got ready to race. I'd never driven a go-kart. I had a ton of spinouts learning how it's done, but it was a good opportunity to smoke the tires. (Until they get warmed up and kind of soft, you don't have any traction.) The roar of the gas motor is something that's carnally interesting--like the first time I rode a motorcycle--so the absence of that noise in the electric was disconcerting, but it was easily outweighed by how fast the kart got off the line. Jamie: Our electric flattened your ears coming out of a curve. But once the gas kart hit its butter zone at 15,000 rpm, it was almost too hot to handle.
Photo Finish
Photograph by Mark Richards
"My lap time for both karts was under a minute, but the track record was 13 seconds faster," says rookie racer Savage, shown here conferring with the beret-wearing Hyneman. "It's like watching Tiger Woods play golf--I have no idea how you'd shave 13 seconds off what I was doing."
Jamie: In the end, the karts' lap times were within 1 second of each other, even though the electric was significantly heavier. The electric's off-the-line acceleration was much higher than the gas's, but the top-end acceleration of the gas kart was greater than that of the electric, so it balanced out.
Adam: If we'd had more than a day on the build, we would have goosed the electric's performance by adjusting the linkage between the throttle and potentiometer.
Bottom Line
Photograph by Mark Richard
Adam: So what did our tests tell us? Electric vehicles are here to stay. Although the electric kart weighed almost twice as much as the gas version, it performed about as well. That means there's a lot of power in those batteries and a lot of potential in electric vehicles. Jamie: With electrics, you generate a fraction of the pollution per mile that you do with gas vehicles--without any sacrifice to those of us in a hurry.Philadelphia 76ers big man Nerlens Noel was always going to make his name on the defensive end. A candidate to be the No. 1 pick before injury concerns dropped him down to No. 6, Noel's potential on that end of the floor made scouts and executives salivate.
Unable to play during his rookie year as a result of those health issues, Noel has been trying to catch up in his sophomore season while starring for the 76ers. There aren't many teams in the league that could afford to give Noel the opportunity to learn and grow on the fly, but Philadelphia's been willing to risk present-day losses for long-term benefits.
And while it took Noel a few months to get his feet under him, it appears the fruits of Philadelphia's patience are beginning to bear fruit. Noel has blossomed since a full-time move to the center position, quickly reaching the potential that many had envisioned for him out of Kentucky.
The improvement has got people around the 76ers excited, as Noel's proving to be the one bright spot in an otherwise ugly season.
"I am so proud of his evolution and development," coach Brett Brown said Wednesday to Philly.com. "He's really starting to grow as a leader outside of what we see on the court."
A rise after the trades
Noel's evolution on and off the court has been exciting to see, but it's on the defensive end where he's forging his reputation.
Over the first few months of the season, Noel showed flashes of his exciting potential, but struggled to string together quality performances on one of the league's worst teams. Trading away key cogs like Michael Carter-Williams and K.J. McDaniels could've made things worse, but instead he's taken the extra pressure and thrived. Noel has averaged 12.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and 1.8 steals over his past nine games.
The Sixers have only gone 2-7 in that span, but Noel's impact on the defensive end isn't hard to see. While Philadelphia's on-off numbers with Noel are relatively even over the course of the season, the team has been a few points better per 100 possessions over the past nine games when he's playing. That's entirely because of his work defensively, where the Sixers allowed 105.7 points per 100 possessions with him out and just 97.3 points per 100 possessions with him in, per NBA.com.
The news isn't as rosy on the offensive end, where Noel is still developing most his game, but even there the improvement is obvious. Over the recent stretch, he's shot 51 percent from the floor and earned nearly five free throw attempts per game, up from 44 percent and 2.3 attempts, respectively.
Those kinds of incremental improvements are exciting to see, particularly given how much better he can get on both ends.
SB Nation presents: How Michael Carter-Williams made it to the NBA
There's more room to grow
While his defense is fantastic in a lot of areas, the numbers reveal significant room for improvement.
One place where Noel has thrived throughout the season is defending ball handlers on the pick-and-roll, according to Synergy Sports. Noel is a rare breed of big man who can step out of the paint and face up against ball handlers. He's allowed just 0.732 points per possession while taking on those situations frequently.
Where Noel hasn't been so great is dealing with guys who directly try to score on him. While he piles up blocks and steals, Synergy rates him as below-average against isolation plays, post-ups and spot-up jumpers. Part of that likely has to do with his situation, since Noel always has to consider how to cover for less talented teammates. But it shows an obvious area where Noel can take his defense to the next level.
Filling out physically, something that's already been happening during his first year-plus in the league, should help significantly. One of the primary concerns surrounding Noel, beyond the injuries, was how his wiry frame would hold up against the league's big men. He's responded by holding his own, although Synergy rates his numbers around the basket as below average.
Still, given Noel's length and defensive instincts, he'll become a fantastic rim protector in time as he grows stronger and more comfortable throwing his weight around. The blocks show he has the instincts to make plays if he can just polish things up.
Opponents have found success by posting-up Noel, scoring 1.097 points per possession on those plays, per Synergy. But it's the kind of thing that will be solved by playing bigger and smarter.
That puts Noel in an exciting position, as he's clearly the cornerstone of the 76ers for now and is showing signs he deserves that label. Even though he's playing on a struggling team with similarly inexperienced teammates, he's managed to hold his own and make progress, something many didn't expect coming off such a long break.
It's easy to see why Brown and others are getting on board. The 76ers have a lot of work to do, but they should have one of the game's best defensive big men soon.U-15 BNT
CHICAGO (Oct. 30, 2015) – U.S. U-15 Boys’ National Team head coach John Hackworth has named 60 players for a week-long domestic training camp from Nov. 1-8 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. It is the final camp for players born in 2000 before they move into the U.S. U-17 Residency Program.
The camp roster includes 56 players from the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, including clubs that only have a U-14 age group.
Players will play intrasquad games on Nov. 3, 5 and 7.
U.S. U-15 BNT Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (6): Alexander Budnik (Sockers FC; Arlington Heights, Ill.), Carlos Dos Santos (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.), Mason Finnell (Sacramento Republic FC; Folsom, Calif.), Justin Garces (Kendall FC; Miami, Fla.), Quantrell Jones (Baltimore Celtic; Baltimore, Md.), Hunter Pinho (PDA; Cranford, N.J.)
DEFENDERS (20): Jake Arteaga (LA Galaxy, Glendora, Calif.), Carlos Asensio (Georgia United, Roswell, Ga.), Kelee Cornfield-Saunders (LA Galaxy; San Marcos, Calif.), Griffin DeBolt (Crew SC Academy; Westerville, Phio), Michael Edwards (D.C. United; Woodbridge, Va.), Jonathan Estrada (LA Galaxy; Santa Ana, Calif.), Tyler Freitas (New England Revolution; North Attleboro, Mass.), Chris Gloster (New York Red Bulls; Montclair, N.J.), Ben Huynh (Seattle Sounders; Everett, Wash.), Jaylin Lindsey (Sporting Kansas City; Charlotte, N.C.), Rayshaun McGann (Philadelphia Union; Royal Palm Beach, Fla.), Benjamin Mines (New York Red Bulls; Ridgefield, Conn.), Ian Murphy (FC Golden State; Redlands, Calif.), James Orozco (CASL; Durham, N.C.), Bryan Perez (LA Premier FC; Los Angeles, Calif.), Carlo Ritaccio (BW Gottschee; Westbury, N.Y.), Ethan Sawdon (IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.), Allen Seals (Orlando City FC; Orlando, Fla.), Nykolas Sessock (Philadelphia Union; Holland, Pa.), Chandler Vaughn (D.C. United; Woodbridge, Va.)
MIDFIELDERS (17): Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union; Medford, N.J.), George Acosta (Weston FC; Hollywood, Fla.), Isaac Angking (New England Revolution; Providence, R.I.), Carlos Anguiano Diaz (Los Angeles, Calif.; LA Galaxy), Christopher Durkin (D.C. United; Glen Allen, Va.), Blaine Ferri (Solar Chelsea SC; Southlake, Texas), Jean-Julien Foe Nuphaus (San Jose Earthquakes; San Jose, Calif.), Christopher Goslin (Georgia United; Locust Grove, Ga.), Seth Kuhn (Philadelphia Union; Wyomissing, Pa.), Ben Lederman (IMG Academy; Barcelona, Spain), Alex Mendez (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), John Murphy (PDA; Scotch Plains, N.J.), Bryce Orsini (D.C. United; Rockville, Md.), Jesus Sahagun Garcia (Weston FC; Miami, Fla.), James Sands (New York Soccer Club; Rye, N.Y.), Arturo Vasquez (FC Golden State; Mira Loma, Calif.), Adrian Villegas (Portland Timbers; Hood River, Ore.)
FORWARDS (17): Patrick Ajdukiewicz (Sockers FC; Barrington, Ill.), Ayomide Akinola (Toronto FC; Brampton, Ont.), Zico Bailey (LA Galaxy; Las Vegas, Nev.), Misa Becerra (LA Galaxy; East Los Angeles, Calif.), Andrew Carleton (Georgia United; Powder Springs, Ga..), Nicolas Garcia-Morillo (Unattached; Madrid, Spain), Niccolo Lemoine (De Anza Force; Livermore, Calif.), Mario Licor (Orlando City FC; Titusville, Fla.), Kevin Negrete (LA Galaxy; Hawthorne, Calif.), Alejandro Pereira (Orlando City FC; Oviedo, Fla.), Issa Rayyan (Philadelphia Union; West Chester, Pa.), Will Sands (New York Soccer Club; Rye, N.Y.), Joshua Sargent (Scott Gallagher Missouri; O’Fallen, Mo.), Tonny Temple (IMG Academy; Millville, Pa.), Jack Valderrabano (New York Red Bulls; New York, N.Y.), Mason Visconti (Sporting Kansas City; Lee’s Summit, Mo.), Tristan Weber (LA Galaxy; San Clemente, Calif.)The President of the Vintners Federation of Ireland Gerry Mellett has called for a minimum price to be set on alcohol sales.
Gerry Mellett said that this is the only way pubs will survive competition from supermarket sales of alcohol.
He said that the removal of restrictions on below-cost selling of alcohol in supermarkets is 'breaking the back' of the pub industry.
At the moment he says pubs cannot compete with the low prices charged by supermarkets who, he claims, use alcohol to attract customers to buy groceries as well.
Mr Mellett says publicans are under severe pressure with turnover down between 20% and 40% and says many more will close if something is not done.
Gerry Mellett also said that the imposition of the smoking ban has also been contributing to what he called the death of the Irish pub.
The Revenue Commissioners have released figures showing that the number of pub licences in Ireland over the past five years has fallen by 1,300.
Last night, it was announced that up to 85 jobs are expected to be lost with the closure of Galway city pubs: Cuba bar and nightclub, The Cellar Bar and the Harvest Off-Licence are to close because of falling sales.
A Department of Enterprise spokesperson later said the move to introduce a minimum price on alcohol could give rise to legal issues under competition legislation. These issues, he said, would have to be considered by the Competition Authority.Dear David
Unfortunately it is not just at Addenbrookes that the whole trial is being stopped. I became aware of the information as Autifony contacted us last week and all other sites are stopping, and as you have correctly understood the researchers found the drug had not been working.
I am aware that there was only a few months left however Autifony will be posting a statement on their website this week.
I will keep you in mind for any further trials that may appear in the future and stay in contact.
I heard back from the hospital. I take the liberty to copy here the e-mail verbatim as it was sent to me:Let's wait for the official statement. Hopefully we will learn the results and future plans.Republicans distanced themselves from GOP Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore on Thursday after a woman alleged that the controversial judge sexually assaulted her when she was 14 years old.
Leigh Corfman, who is now 53, told The Washington Post in a deeply reported article published Thursday that Moore, then a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, took off her shirt and removed his clothes in the 1979 incident. He touched her over her bra and led her hands to touch him over his underwear, she said.
Three other women who spoke to the Post said Moore “asked them on dates when they were between 16 and 18 and he was in his early 30s.”
James Lawler Duggan/Reuters Republicans are calling for Roy Moore, the GOP nominee for a special election to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate, to step aside if allegations that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl are true.
Moore’s campaign blasted the report in a statement on Thursday, saying he was the victim of a “systematic campaign to distort the truth about the Judge’s record and career and derail his campaign.”
“After over 40 years of public service, if any of these allegations were true, they would have been made public long before now,” Moore’s campaign said.
Only one Republican in the chamber, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, called on Moore to “immediately” step aside. Other Republicans, however, said that he ought to do so if the allegations are “found to be true,” as one senator put it.
“The allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore are deeply troubling,” Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement. “If these allegations are found to be true, Roy Moore must drop out of the Alabama special Senate election.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose allied group the Senate Leadership Fund opposed Moore in the Alabama Senate primary, echoed Gardner.
“If these allegations are true, Roy Moore should step aside for all the obvious reasons. These are very disturbing allegations,” McConnell told reporters on Thursday.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. 2 Republican leader in the chamber, called the allegations against Moore “deeply disturbing.” Cornyn endorsed Moore last month.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she had spoken to Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), who lost to Moore in the Alabama Senate primary, about potentially running a write-in campaign before the Dec. 12 special election.
If these allegations are true, Roy Moore should step aside for all the obvious reasons. These are very disturbing allegations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
Alabama law prohibits withdrawal of a candidate from a ballot within 76 days of the election.
Reached by phone on Thursday, Alabama’s Republican secretary of state, John Merrill, said he had no comment about whether Moore should withdraw from the race. He noted that, under the state’s election law, Moore’s name will still appear on the ballot in December.
“The people of Alabama will have an opportunity to have their voice heard. That can’t change,” he said, calling sexual allegations against Moore “just another piece of information that will allow them to make their decision.”
Merrill questioned the timing and source of the report, however.
“It’s odd to me that this information has just been introduced. In all the campaigns Judge Moore has ever run before ― and he has run a lot of them, probably a dozen campaigns. It’s very, very odd to me this information has just been introduced.”
He added that Alabama is home to many “outstanding news people” and that “not one of those people has ever been able to” unearth the allegations in the Post story.
Richard Shelby, the senior senator from Alabama and also a Republican, similarly called on Moore to withdraw if the allegations are proved true.
“If that’s true, I don’t believe there’d be any place for him in the United States Senate,” he said.
This post has been updated with more reactions.oberstleutnant said: Iowa, Warspite, if you can work with the Imperial Japanese Navy, Kriegsmarine and the Regia Marina to fight the Abyssal, surely you can fight with the Soviet Navy who was actually your ally during World War 2
Grudgingly an ally. Churchill didn't trust Stalin at all, and Roosevelt didn't particularly either. The Soviets |
offender. I could be wrong, we’re going to find out, but I think that’s the deal on this one. So stay together as a herd.”
He’s not wrong. Signs at the entrance to Lake Shore Village, on the north-eastern outskirts of Orlando, warn: “Adults only. No Children.” The park is described on the owner’s business cards as “sex offender housing” and a “habitat for offenders”.
On the forecourt the owner, Lori Lee, tells Rolfe’s students she dedicated the park to sex offenders 20 years ago – and hasn’t looked back.
“We were a family park when we first started. [But] about 20 years ago, I couldn’t get on the property because a drug dealer had separated from his girlfriend in the park across the street... and there was a long line of cars because she was undercutting her boyfriend.”
Lee, 70, says she was advised that if she took in sex offenders the drug dealers would leave. “So, I started taking in sex offenders, and I have a very clean property. Sex offenders are watched by the news media, the TV, the sheriff’s department, probation, the department of corrections... so when they are in there, the drug dealers and the other people don’t like to be around.”
Sex offenders have been good for Lee financially, with park occupancy running at “1,000%”. She rents trailer pad spots for about $325 a month. The trailers are either owned by the tenant or rented from a third party. Many trailers are divided into three bedrooms, for which tenants are charged $500 a month per room.
Lee claims she was once offered $5m for Lake Shore Park, which is home to about 50 trailers.
“Last year I bought a park down the street, got rid of all the families, the drug dealers, the prostitutes, and brought in convicted felons. And then I bought the property across the way,” she says. “Once you’re into it and you’re making money it’s easy to say, ‘One more, one more’.”
She has her eyes on a fourth park, “but then I’m through. I’m 70 years old and I don’t want to own any more”.
Asked by an eager investor how regularly tenants leave her parks, Lee says: “When they die. [They] stay forever, they have no place to go.”
Lee’s strategy impresses Rolfe’s students.
“I thought it was a brilliant idea, brilliant,” says Mitch Huhem, who is looking to buy a trailer park with his wife, Deborah. “These people need a place to live, and they don’t want to mess around.
“They’ve got to live somewhere, so you combine them in a certain place. They don’t go out to hurt people. I think it’s a community service, because if not they will be in your neighbourhood. Now they’re all in one place, you can watch them all in one place. And they pay well and won’t mess things up. I mean, why would you not? I think it’s a brilliant idea.”
‘The rents do not go down’
Facebook Twitter Pinterest David Santana and his family recently moved into a more upmarket Orlando trailer park after giving up on their dream of ever owning their own bricks and mortar home. “We ran into the community and talked to the property manager, and when we talked to him we fell in love with the place,” he says. Photograph: Mae Ryan/the Guardian
Rolfe, who with his business partner Dave Reynolds owns about 160 parks across the midwest, is unsure about taking in sex offenders. But he is certain Lee could make even more money if she raised the rent.
“She could definitely raise the rent,” he says, as the tour group gets back on the bus. “She’s got a definite niche, but she is definitely under the Orlando rent; she might be under by $100 a month, maybe.
“Raising the rent is typically part of the day one purchase, because often the ‘mom and pop’ [previous, family-run owner of a park] has not raised the rent in years so it’s far below market.
“[The rents] do not go down, that’s one thing that’s a safe bet in the trailer park world. Our rents do not go down.
“We traditionally raise our rents by an average of 10% a year or something like that, and it’s pretty much true for the industry. Our world record [rent increase] went from $125 to $275 in one month.”
Raising the rent is typically part of the day one purchase, because often the'mom and pop' has not raised rent in years Frank Rolfe
Rolfe, who bought a pistol for personal security when he bought his first park, 20 years ago, says he sent a letter to every tenant at that park in Grapevine, Texas, telling them the rent was going to more than double but was still below the market rate of $325.
“If you don’t like this or you think you can do better, here’s a list of all the other parks in Grapevine and a list of the owners,” he said in the letter. “Go ahead, call them if you want to move. How many customers do you think we lost? Zero. Where were they going to go?”
Rolfe, who started Mobile Home University seven years ago and now runs boot camps every couple months in cities across the country, tells his students they can easily increase the rent even at parks that are already charging market rates, because there is so much demand for affordable housing and local authorities are very reluctant to grant permission for new parks.
He quotes US government statistics showing that in 2013, 39% of Americans earned less than $20,000 – less than the government’s poverty threshold income of $20,090 for a three-person household.
“That’s huge. No one believes that number – people say: ‘You’re crazy, this is America, everyone is rich.’ [Being on an income of $20,000 or less] means you have a budget of about $500 a month for your housing, but the average two-bedroom apartment is $1,109 a month. There’s not a lot you can do.”
Kenneth Staton, a 58-year-old, disabled tenant at a nearby (non-sex offender) trailer park, knows it.
“It’s a profitable investment, but raising the rent is what hurts because people like myself, we’re on a fixed income and we can only afford so much,” he says, on the dirt road outside his trailer. “I’m on disability, and I go around and collect aluminium cans to see myself through a little bit.”
Asked if he thinks he will see out his days in the trailer park, Staton says: “It kinda looks like it, unless I can find a house somewhere I can afford. I only get $830 a month; $500 goes for rent, about $95 goes for electric. It don’t leave much to live on. Luckily, I get food stamps.”
‘There’s more poor people every day’
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Santana’s children, and their friends, say they much prefer playing in the trailer park to playing in the apartment they used to live in three blocks over. Currently more than 20m people, or 6% of the population, live in trailer parks, according to US census figures. Photograph: Mae Ryan/the Guardian
Back at the boot camp, Rolfe, who runs his empire from the tiny town of Cedaredge, Colorado, is in full swing.
“Today there’s a huge number of poor people, and there’s more poor people like every day,” he says. “Some of our parks get 100 calls a week from people that are looking for a mobile home to rent.”
He tells his students tenants are more likely to be encouraged to put in a few more hours at Walmart or other low-paying jobs than find the $3,000-$5,000 it costs to move their trailer – the majority of tenants own their trailers and rent the pad space beneath – to another park.
The students are sold on the idea. Thomas Hawcett, a navy veteran from Long Island, vows not to go home until he’s found a park to buy.
“The first park I’m going to look at is a 279-pad park,” he says, over a “team dinner” at Orlando’s Bonefish Grill. “I won’t tell you where. I’ll spend a week, and if I have to spend another week I’ll spend another week. I brought enough money that I can write a cheque and give a good deposit if I see one.”
Taylor Boyd, who already owns a trailer park but has yet to step inside a trailer, says the economics of trailer parks are “compelling”.
What's that thing? 'Sell to the masses, eat with the classes.' There's a lot more poor people than there are rich people Taylor Boyd
“What’s that thing? ‘Sell to the masses and eat with the classes’,” he says, touting the inside of a dilapidated and mould-infested trailer in Overland Village, another Orlando trailer park owned by Lee. “There’s a lot more poor people than there are rich people, and they’re not making any more trailer parks.”
Is he planning to follow Rolfe’s advice and raise the rent? “If you’re a landlord, you’re going to raise the rent, but you’ve got to keep it low enough for the people to be able to afford to be there.”
A few trailers over, Chuck Newton is sitting on the steps of his trailer, shooting the breeze with some friends as Boyd and the other students excitedly explore the park and plan their burgeoning business ideas.
If the investors were to buy this park and put up his rent, Newton, who collects disability payments of $700 a month and pays $550 a month in rent, fears he would be forced on to the street.
“I would have to find another low-rent place to move to,” he says. “I would probably end up having to be homeless.”In an effort to provide a sustainable system for waste treatment and energy production, scientists at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute are working microbial fuel cells or MFCs, which target electrons from waste streams and convert them into useful energy.
Some of the planet’s tiniest inhabitants may help address two of society’s biggest environmental challenges: how to deal with the vast quantities of organic waste produced and where to find clean, renewable energy.
According to César Torres and Sudeep Popat, researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, certain kinds of bacteria are adept at converting waste into useful energy. These microorganisms are presently being applied to the task, through an innovative technology known as a microbial fuel cell or MFC.
As Torres explains, “the great advantage of the microbial fuel cell is the direct conversion of organic waste into electricity.” In the future, MFC’s may be linked to municipal waste streams or sources of agricultural and animal waste, providing a sustainable system for waste treatment and energy production.
To scale up the technology however, improvements in efficiency will be required. “My particular focus is to understand at a fundamental level how anode respiring bacteria transfer electrons from their cells onto an electrode,” Popat says, “as well as to design new systems that are both economical and efficient.”
The group was able to demonstrate that significant loss in MFC efficiency was due to reactions occurring at the fuel cell’s cathode. By modifying materials used in the cathode, as well as adjusting pH levels, they were able to improve cathode performance.
The group’s research results appeared recently in the journal ChemSusChem in a special issue devoted to MFC technology.
Torres and Popat work in Biodesign’s Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, directed by ASU Regents’ professor Bruce Rittmann – a co-author of the current study. Environmental biotechnology is a rapidly developing discipline in which disparate fields including microbiology, bioinformatics, chemistry, genomics, materials science, and engineering join together to harness biological entities – including bacteria – for the purpose of helping society.
Two chief areas of environmental biotechnology are bioremediation, or the clean up of environmental contaminants, and the production of clean energy. As the authors note, an MFC can perform double duty, targeting electrons from waste streams and converting them into useful energy.
An MFC is a unique kind of battery – part electrochemical cell, part biological reactor. Typically, it contains two electrodes, separated by an ion exchange membrane. On the anode side, bacteria grow and proliferate, forming a dense cell aggregate known as a biofilm that adheres to the MFC’s anode. In the course of their microbial metabolism, the bacteria act as catalysts for converting the organic substrate into CO2, protons, and electrons.
Under natural conditions, many bacteria use oxygen as a final electron acceptor to produce water, but in the oxygen-free environment of the MFC, specialized bacteria that send the electrons to an insoluble electron acceptor, namely the MFC’s anode, dominate.
The anode-respiring bacteria are able to oxidize organic pollutants, such as those found in waste streams, and transfer the electrons to the anode. The scavenged electrons then flow through an electrical circuit, terminating at the MFC’s cathode, thus generating electricity. Ions are transported through the fuel cell’s ion membrane, to maintain electroneutrality, although the membrane is often excluded.
In an effort to refine the technology and address losses in MFC efficiency, the group looked at the oxygen reduction reaction at the MFC cathode. While it had earlier been speculated that efficiency loss at the cathode was due to a low availability of protons, the new research showed instead that the transport of hydroxide ions (OH-) away from the catalyst layer of the cathode and into the surrounding liquid largely governed cathode potential losses in the device.
“We found that the cathodes were limiting the power densities we can produce in these MFCs,” Popat says. “This is very surprising because, in chemical fuel cells, the same catalyst allows much greater power densities.”
A key to the disparity lies in the fact that MFC’s, unlike chemical fuel cells, must operate at neutral pH in the anode chamber to ensure optimum growth and activity of the microorganisms catalyzing the reactions. At the cathode, OH- ions cause a local increase in pH, due to a limiting rate of their transport. Further, every unit of pH increase at the cathode results in a loss of 59 millivolts of energy – the authors found that the local cathode pH could easily reach >12, representing a substantial loss.
To attempt to remedy this situation, the group conducted a detailed examination of transport properties at the cathode. An ion exchange binder contained in the cathode usually assists transport of ions to the surrounding electrolyte. Normally, this binder is made from a material called Nafion, which the authors explain is good for transporting positively charged cations like protons, but a poor conductor of negatively charged anions like the hydroxide ions that accumulate at the MFC cathode, or anionic buffer species, such as phosphates and bicarbonates, that help transport OH- ions.
An experimental polymer known as AS-4, which has high anion-exchange capacity, was substituted for Nafion as a cathode binder in the study. The modification ensured the efficient transport of hydroxide ions and improved the performance of the cathode. The study showed that OH- transport could be further enhanced by adjusting pH directly, though the addition of CO2 mixed with air as a buffer for the cathode catalyst.
The study represents the first comprehensive analysis of cathode limitations in MFC’s and will further the development of these systems through refinement of materials and operating conditions.
“The main importance of our study is not to provide immediate answers, but to conduct a mechanistic study to determine how the cathode operates and identify the sources of inefficiency,” Torres explains. “Now we can begin to work on solutions.”
Image: The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State UniversityDear 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.
Uncertainty abounds concerning the fate of Israeli-Canadian Gill Rosenberg, who was reportedly captured by Islamic State.
Islamist websites – some of them known to be close to, or even serving as a front for, the terrorist organization – reported Sunday that the 31-year-old adventurer was captured during fierce battles with Kurdish fighters in unspecified areas.
According to the websites, Rosenberg was taken hostage following three suicide attacks on sites where Kurdish fighters had barricaded themselves.The websites gave no further details regarding the circumstances of the capture, nor provided any proof of it.The Islamic State claims do not make clear whether Rosenberg was captured in Iraq or in Syria. The main battlefield between the Kurds and Islamic State is in the Syrian- Turkish border town of Kobani.Kurdish sources approached by Israel Radio reporter Eran Cicurel expressed doubt over the Islamic State report. They said Rosenberg was not in Kobani. In the assessment of these Kurdish sources, the reports of Rosenberg’s capture are probably the terrorists’ propaganda.The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) told The Jerusalem Post that “there are no further details at this stage.”Rosenberg wrote on her Facebook page on November 20 that she was handing over management of her account to “someone else” and would be without Internet access for at least two weeks, until December 8, she wrote. It is not clear where she went at this time.If the websites’ reports are true, Rosenberg would be the first confirmed Western female to fall into Islamic State captivity. Holding Israeli citizenship would complicate her situation even further.Unlike the US and the UK, which refused to negotiate over their respective captured nationals, thus giving the impression of a laissez-faire interest, Israel invests intense concern into the fate of its citizens captured by terrorists.This does not mean Israel will negotiate for Rosenberg, if she has indeed been captured – or that Islamic State would agree to talk with Israel, making her nationality Canadian alone.If Rosenberg is in captivity, she would be the second Israeli – of dual nationality – in this position. Steven Sotloff, a freelance American journalist who also held Israeli citizenship and filed for The Jerusalem Report on the Syrian civil war, was captured by Islamic State last year shortly after crossing the Syrian border and beheaded by the Islamist group this past August.As well, Rosenberg breached Israeli law by flying to Iraq, an enemy country, which Israeli citizens are forbidden to enter.No matter what has happened to her since joining the Kurdish forces, upon return to Israel she will be arrested and prosecuted, as was the case of several Israeli Arabs who joined Islamic State and subsequently returned to Israel.This is not Rosenberg’s first tryst with adventurism – in 2009 she was arrested in an American con scandal and sentenced to four years in jail. This is, however, her first serious willful encounter with death.Rosenberg was born in Vancouver, and experienced a family crisis after her parents divorced. In an interview with Ma’ariv in 2009, she said that already at the age of 22 she was pursuing a promising career as a pilot of Boeing passenger planes, but decided to leave everything behind and immigrate in 2006. In Israel, she joined the IDF, serving as an instructor for Kenyan soldiers who came to Israel for home front search and rescue training.Rosenberg said she had ambitions to join the Mossad, but was hurt during her military training and afterwards had money problems.She met an American friend in an ulpan Hebrew language course who led her into crime, she said.She joined a group of Israelis who were accused of setting up a ring to cheat elderly Americans and steal their money through a fake lottery scheme. According to the indictments filed against them, they stole hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps even millions, from the unknowing pensioners.After a number of complaints were filed, a joint Israel Police and FBI investigation was launched. The probe led to the arrest of several suspects and their extradition to the US, where they were tried. Rosenberg served four years in jail.She may have decided to fulfill an act of redemption after getting out of jail and regaining her freedom.Hopefully the Kurdish sources are right, and Rosenberg is indeed far from executioners.Canada is trying to confirm reports that Rosenberg has been captured, a foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday.“Canada is pursuing all appropriate channels” to seek further information and is in touch with local authorities, the spokesman said in a statement.Yossi Melman is an Israeli journalist and writer who specializes in security and intelligence affairs. He is co-author of "Spies Against Armageddon: inside Israel's Secret Wars.Visit Yossi Melman's blog: www.israelspy.com Reuters contributed to this report.
Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>An Irving, Texas man was arrested by FBI agents for his alleged involvement in a scam where he posed as an Internal Revenue Service agent to fraudulently wire funds to India.
Narasimha Bhogavalli, 50, allegedly defrauded victims by contacting individuals posing as an IRS agent, according to U.S. Attorney John Parker in a news release.
Victims were then advised there were outstanding warrants for their arrest and they would be sent to jail unless they deposited money orders, and sometimes cash, into bank accounts controlled by Bhogavalli and other co-conspirators, according to the release.
Bhogavalli used at least two Bank of America accounts — one in the name of Tekdynamics, Inc., and one in the name of Touchstone Commodities, Inc.
The investigation revealed that Bhogavalli also controlled additional accounts used in the money soliciting scam, including a Citibank account held in the name of Touchstone Commodities.
Between Nov. 5, 2014, and Feb. 2, 2015, approximately 242 deposits of cash and money orders, totaling approximately $1,661,247, which includes at least 2,250 separate money orders totaling $1,493,848 were made in one of the Bank of America accounts, according to the release.
During the two-week period, between approximately Jan. 16-30 of 2015, at least 60 money orders, totaling $37,957 were deposited into the other Bank of America account. Between Nov. 4, 2014, and Feb. 5, 2015, at least 128 money orders, totaling $96,716 were deposited into the Citibank account.
A financial analysis of those accounts shows that immediately following the deposits made by the victims of the money soliciting scam, the proceeds were transferred to other accounts Bhogavalli reportedly controlled, where he either spent the funds or wired them to other countries, such as India.
Records indicate Bhogavalli was listed as the Director of Touchstone Commodities in Irving, Texas.
In account opening documents, Bhogavalli characterized Touchstone Commodities as an “import-export” business. On its website, Touchstone Commodities is “experienced in the global sourcing and supply of many valuable commodities,” including iron ore, steel and wood chips.
Bhogavalli is awaiting a detention hearing this week following his arrest.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Nicholas Bunch is tasked with prosecuting the case.
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
Editor’s note: subsequent court records indicate that charges were later dropped on December 30, 2016.An anomalous and unbalanced predator In the past century, humans have become the dominant predator across many systems. The species that we target are thus far in considerable decline; however, predators in the wild generally achieve a balance with their prey populations such that both persist. Darimont et al. found several specific differences between how humans and other predatory species target prey populations (see the Perspective by Worm). In marine environments, for example, we regularly prey on other predator species. These differences may contribute to our much larger ecological impact when compared with other predators. Science, this issue p. 858; see also p. 784
Abstract Paradigms of sustainable exploitation focus on population dynamics of prey and yields to humanity but ignore the behavior of humans as predators. We compared patterns of predation by contemporary hunters and fishers with those of other predators that compete over shared prey (terrestrial mammals and marine fishes). Our global survey (2125 estimates of annual finite exploitation rate) revealed that humans kill adult prey, the reproductive capital of populations, at much higher median rates than other predators (up to 14 times higher), with particularly intense exploitation of terrestrial carnivores and fishes. Given this competitive dominance, impacts on predators, and other unique predatory behavior, we suggest that humans function as an unsustainable “super predator,” which—unless additionally constrained by managers—will continue to alter ecological and evolutionary processes globally.
Humans have diverged from other predators in behavior and influence. Geographic expansion, exploitation of naïve prey, killing technology, symbioses with dogs, and rapid population growth, among other factors, have long imposed profound impacts—including widespread extinction and restructuring of food webs and ecosystems—in terrestrial and marine systems (1–3). Despite contributions from the “sustainable exploitation” paradigm (4), contemporary humans can rapidly drive prey declines (5–7), degrade ecosystems (8, 9), and impose evolutionary change in prey (10, 11). Owing to long-term coevolutionary relationships that generally limit exploitation rates, especially on adult prey, these are extreme outcomes that nonhuman predators seldom impose. Meanwhile, whether present and future exploitation can be considered sustainable is hotly contested, especially in fisheries. Debate has been largely restricted to elements of the sustainable exploitation model, namely, a model of prey abundance and yields to humanity (e.g., 12, 13).
Here, we approach the notion of sustainable exploitation differently by asking whether humans—extreme in their impacts—are extreme in their predatory behavior (14, 15). Previous work has variously estimated exploitation by humans, nonhuman predators, or both, but systematic comparisons have focused on specific taxa or regions, have lumped all predators together, have been reconstructed indirectly, and/or did not include age classes (e.g., 14, 16, 17). We address these limitations with data spanning wildlife, tropical wild meat, and fisheries systems (data files S1 and S2). We examine variation in annual finite exploitation rates of marine fishes from every ocean (n = 1494 estimates, 282 species from 110 communities) and terrestrial mammals from every continent except Antarctica (631 estimates, 117 species from 179 communities) (fig. S1 and tables S1 and S2) by predator type (humans versus nonhuman), ecosystem (marine versus terrestrial), region, and trophic level. We focus on adult prey because hunters and fishers overwhelmingly target adults (18). We complement this quantitative assessment by identifying additionally unique predatory behaviors by humans that (i) facilitate the large differences in exploitation rates we detect and (ii) elicit the manifold consequences of humanity’s predatory hegemony.
Differences in exploitation rates between hunters and terrestrial predators varied among comparisons. Globally and pooled across trophic levels, exploitation rates by hunters (median = 0.06) did not differ from those of carnivores [median = 0.05; Wilcoxon test W = 46076, P adj(2) = 0.11] (Fig. 1A and figs. S2A and S3A). A paired comparison over shared prey within the same community, however, revealed that hunters exploit at higher rates than the highest-exploiting terrestrial predator [paired Wilcoxon test V = 929, P adj(2) = 0.03] (fig. S3B). Additionally, a similar paired comparison showed that the median proportion of mortality (an independent metric) caused by hunters (0.35) was 1.9 times that (0.19) caused by all other predators combined (paired Wilcoxon test V = 1605, P = 0.004) (Fig. 1B).
Fig. 1 Patterns of exploitation by human and nonhuman predators on adult prey. (A) Complementary cumulative distribution functions showing the probability of predators exploiting prey at a rate (R) greater than or equal to a given annual finite exploitation rate (r), on the basis of the number of available individuals in populations (terrestrial mammals) or biomass (marine fishes). (B) Proportion of annual mortality caused by hunters and all other (i.e., aggregated) terrestrial predators consuming the same prey population. (C and D) Exploitation rates of human and nonhuman predators across trophic levels in (C) terrestrial and (D) marine systems. Whiskers represent distance from upper and lower quartiles to largest and smallest nonoutliers. [Art by T. Saxby, K. Kraeer, L. Van Essen-Fishman/ian.umces.edu/imagelibrary/ and K. Eberlins/123rf.com]
Trophic level and regional analyses (across taxa and areas with abundant data) revealed additional patterns. Although globally pooled comparisons showed that hunters and terrestrial predators exploited herbivores (artiodactyls) at similar rates [W = 14751, P adj(9) = 1.00] (Fig. 1C), hunters in North America and Europe exploited herbivores at median rates 7.2 and 12.5 times those of hunters in Africa [both P adj(9) < 0.04]; rates did not differ statistically between hunters and terrestrial predators within any of the regions (fig. S4A). Globally, hunters exploited mesocarnivores [W = 248, P adj(9) = 0.03] and large carnivores [W = 181, P adj(9) < 0.001] at higher rates than nonhuman predators by factors of 4.3 and 9.2, respectively (Fig. 1C). Remarkably, hunters exploited large carnivores at 3.7 times the rate that they killed herbivores [W = 2697, P adj(9) < 0.001] (Fig. 1C).
Fisheries exploited adult prey at higher rates than any other of the planet’s predators (Fig. 1A and fig. S2B). Among nonhuman predators across all oceans, 50% of exploitation rates were less than 1% of annual adult biomass. In contrast, fisheries exploited more than 10% of adult biomass in 62% of cases. Overall, the median fishing rate (0.14) was 14.1 times the take (0.01) by marine predators [W = 83614, P adj(2) < 0.001] (fig. S3A). In paired comparisons, median fisheries exploitation (0.17) was 3.1 times the median rate (0.06) by the highest exploiting marine predator of the same prey [V = 382, P adj(2) = 0.02] (fig. S3B). At all trophic levels, humans killed fishes at higher rates than marine predators [all P adj(9) < 0.04] (Fig. 1D), but there were no differences in take by each predator across trophic levels [all P adj(9) ≥ 0.5]. Pooling all trophic levels, the median rate of Atlantic fisheries exploitation (0.20) was 2.9 times that of Pacific fisheries [median = 0.07, W = 6633, P adj(4) < 0.001] (fig. S4B).
Although our varied data set could impose biases in both directions (supplementary text), we reveal striking differences in exploitation rates between nonhuman predators and contemporary humans, particularly fishers and carnivore hunters. Interactions between human and natural systems likely underlie patterns. For example, global seafood markets, industrial processing, relatively high fecundity among fishes, and schooling behavior could, in part, explain the particularly high fisheries take, whereas gape limitation by piscivores and a generally species-rich marine environment might explain why marine predator rates are comparatively low. Higher human densities and reduced fish biomass (from longer exploitation) likely explain higher fishing rates in the Atlantic versus Pacific oceans. Moreover, motivations to kill typically inedible carnivores for trophy and competitive reasons [intraguild predation; (7)] are evidently powerful and drive acutely high rates. Although, in terms of numbers, it is easy to exploit high proportions of (less abundant) carnivore populations, the implications remain profound (below). In addition, whereas declines in tropical wild meat (5) might predict an opposite pattern, lower hunting rates of African herbivores could relate to simpler technology, less reporting, and/or longer adaptation to human predation.
Whereas sociopolitical factors can explain why humans repeatedly overexploit (19), cultural and technological dimensions can explain how. Human predatory behavior evolved much faster than competing predators and the defensive adaptations of prey (20). Indeed, division of labor, global trade systems, and dedicated recreational pursuit have equipped highly specialized individuals with advanced killing technology and fossil fuel subsidy that essentially obviate energetically expensive and formerly dangerous search, pursuit, and capture. Moreover, agri- and aquaculture, as well as an ever-increasing taxonomic and geographic niche, leave an enormous and rapidly growing human population demographically decoupled from dwindling prey. In fact, low prey abundance can drive aggressive exploitation, because of the increased economic value of rare resources (21).
Emerging evidence suggests that the consequences of dominating adult prey are considerable. For example, human preference for large ornaments and/or large body size has fundamentally altered the selective landscape for many vertebrates. Not only can this rapidly alter morphological and life-history phenotypes (11), the resulting changes can modify the reproductive potential of populations (22) and ecological interactions within food webs [e.g., (23)]. In addition, owing to different behavior (e.g., age-class preferences and seasonality of exploitation), hunters likely cannot substitute for carnivores as providers of ecological services [e.g., regulation of disease and wildfire (7, 9), as well as mesopredator control (8, 24)]. Finally, less explored is the potentially substantial impact of prey biomass removal from ecosystems; global trade and sanitation systems shunt energy and nutrients from food webs of provenance to distant landfills and sewers.
These implications, the high exploitation rates that drive them, and the broadest taxonomic niche of any consumer uniquely define humans as a global “super predator.” Clearly, nonhuman predators influence prey availability to humans [e.g., (25)]. But overwhelmingly these consumers target juveniles (18), the reproductive “interest” of populations. In contrast, humans—released from limits other predators encounter—exploit the “capital” (adults) at exceptionally high rates. The implications that can result are now increasingly costly to humanity (26) and add new urgency to reconsidering the concept of sustainable exploitation.
Transformation requires imposing limits of humanity’s own design: cultural, economic, and institutional changes as pronounced and widespread as those that provided the advantages humans developed over prey and competitors. This includes, for example, cultivating tolerance for carnivores (7), designing catch-share programs (27), and supporting community leadership in fisheries (28). Also key could be a new definition of sustainable exploitation that focuses not on yields to humanity but rather emulates the behavior of other predators (14). Cultural, economic, and technological factors would make targeting juvenile prey challenging in many cases. Aligning exploitation rates on adults with those of competing predators, however, would provide management options between status quo exploitation and moratoria. Recent approaches to resolve controversies among fisheries scientists reveal how distant such predator-inspired management prescriptions are now. For example, although the mean “conservative” fishing rate estimated to rebuild multispecies fisheries across 10 ecosystems (0.04) is one-fourth their maximum sustainable yield rates (0.16) (13), it remains 4 times the median value we estimated among marine predators globally (0.01). Consequently, more aggressive reductions in exploitation are required to mimic nonhuman predators, which represent long-term models of sustainability (14).After filing similar suits against Well Fargo, Citi, and Bank of America, the city of Los Angeles is now going after JPMorgan Chase for allegedly pushing minority loan applicants into riskier and less-affordable mortgages than they were eligible for.
The complaint [PDF], filed this morning in a federal court, alleges that Chase “has engaged in a continuous pattern and practice of mortgage discrimination in Los Angeles since at least 2004 by imposing different terms or conditions on a discriminatory and legally prohibited basis.”
These sorts of allegations have dogged many of the nation’s largest lenders since we first reported on the practice back in 2008. These banks have been accused of systematically steering minority applicants into subprime loans that were not generally offered to white loan applicants.
This process is known as redlining, wherein banks deny credits based on an applicant’s particular neighborhood or race; or reverse-redlining, in which lenders target certain neighborhoods and racial groups with subprime financial products.
“JPMorgan engaged in redlining, and continues to engage in said conduct, by refusing to extend mortgage credit to minority borrowers in Los Angeles on equal terms as offered to non-minority borrowers,” reads the complaint. “JPMorgan engaged in reverse redlining, and continues to engage in said conduct, by extending mortgage credit on predatory terms to minority borrowers in minority neighborhoods in Los Angeles on the basis of the race or ethnicity of its residents.”
The complaint includes statements from whistle-blowers with information on Chase’s redlining practices.
“If you wanted to target the Hispanic community you had to have certain words in there that you’d want to use to attract [the borrowers],” reads one statement, which adds that it was easier to get minority applicants approved for adjustable-rate loans but that loan officers did not always explain the repercussions of what happens when that sweetheart 1% APR starts to take off like a rocket a few years into the loan.
“That’s where a lot of clients were misled,” continues the statement. “They thought it was a 1 percent fixed [rate].”
When the cost of adjustable-rate loans jumped in 2007-2008, these borrowers were no longer able to afford their homes and many were lost to foreclosure. This drove housing prices down.
This rash of foreclosures — which the city contends could have been prevented had these borrowers received loans they deserved — resulted in a loss of property tax revenue for the city. The city cites one report claiming that there were 200,000 foreclosures in Los Angeles from 2008 through 2012, resulting in a $481 million loss of city property tax revenue.
“L.A. continues to suffer from the foreclosure crisis — from blight in our neighborhoods to diminished revenue for basic City services,” L |
on prosecutors in the 2014 case that raised questions about police use of force in the United States, particularly against minorities.
The two Cleveland officers involved in the shooting are white and the boy, Tamir Rice, was black.
“The police’s use of deadly force was fatal, unconscionable, that we deem criminal in nature,” read the 131-page citizen complaint filed in a Cleveland Municipal Court.
The 1960 law has been seldom invoked in Ohio, one of a handful of states that allows “citizens knowledgeable of the facts” of a crime to seek an arrest and criminal charges through the courts, bypassing prosecutors.
Those who presented the citizens’ affidavits said they have grown frustrated and distrustful of authorities handling the case. The group includes a university professor and local clergy.
Cleveland’s police department agreed last month on a plan to minimize racial bias and the use of excessive force after the U.S. Justice Department found a pattern of abuses against civilians by police.
Rice was shot outside a city recreation center last Nov. 22 while playing with a Airsoft-type replica handgun used in pretend combat.
Rookie police officer Timothy Loehmann fired at Rice twice within two seconds of arriving at the scene with his partner Frank Garmback in response to a 911 emergency call about a man with a gun outside the recreation center, according to authorities. The sixth-grader died the next day.
Slideshow (5 Images)
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has said the evidence in the shooting will be presented to a grand jury to decide on bringing charges against Loehmann and Garmback after a county sheriff’s department completed its investigation last week.
Rice family lawyer Walter Madison said his clients were worried about the transfer of the case to the prosecutor in light of the acquittal of Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo in May in another case.
Brelo, who is white, was charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of a black man and a woman.Imagine that one of these years, we run into life on another planet. Not bacteria or some other tiny life-form, but say a kind of medium-sized mammal. Would we eat these creatures?
I’m not talking about you or me as individuals, or Elon Musk when he first sets foot on the planet in question, but about society in general. Would the cultural consensus be that these are creatures that we’re allowed to hunt or raise for food?
Much will depend on their exact nature and their qualities. How intelligent are they? To what extent are they similar to ourselves and to the animals we’re already eating? Let’s assume that in terms of intelligence, these extra-terrestrials are somewhat similar to pigs. In terms of physical aspects, they look completely alien (they may not have a head, or may have a weird number of limbs, a strange color and skin, or whatever), but they definitely look edible (meaty, let’s say). We’re also assuming we can’t communicate with them any more than we can with animals on this planet.
You may think that humankind is just about depraved enough to start factory farming these creatures. My guess, however, is that when we find this sort of life form on another planet, it would be much easier to grant these creatures the right not to be eaten than to grant it to pigs (or cows or chickens). Part of the reason could lie in some kind of curiosity and respect we’d have for them for being from another planet. But the more important reason is that we are not using these beings yet. Prohibiting ourselves from eating them wouldn’t really affect many people. Compare that to the attempt to give rights to farmed animals, of which we are eating over sixty billion specimens a year (not counting sea creatures). Both economically and individually, we are incredibly dependent on using animals right now.
One way to put this situation is: where we stand depends on where we sit. If we have a stake in killing and eating animals, changing our mind about them will be so much more difficult (we’re steakholders), than in the case of a newly discovered alien life form that is in many respects pretty similar to the animals we’re already eating.
This dependency on using animals needs to be tackled if we want to make any progress with changing people’s minds. That’s why developing alternatives, including clean meat, is so enormously important. When we will have decreased our use of animals, hearts and minds will be a lot more open to change. This applies to both the individual level and the societal level.
E.T., I think, is relatively safe. Now, let’s get back to Earth and take all the other animals out of the food chain.
PS Check out www.alienbbq.org, or read this interview with Dr Jared Piazza, in which he talks about a research study involving a thought experiment with an imaginary creature.Luka Modric had to leave Croatia's game against Bulgaria at half-time with pain in his groin. The midfielder is not injured as Croatia's coach Ante Cacic decided to play it safe.
"I wanted to take him off because he had some pain in his groin and we did not want to take any chances," said Cacic.
Although Modric should be fine, he could also need to take some time to recover properly from this physical problems. Real Madrid have already lost Karim Benzema for a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury picked up during this FIFA break and losing Modric could also be devastating.
Knowing how tricky muscle injuries are, Modric should not feature for Croatia until his condition is tested. Real Madrid will host Levante this next weekend and that could be a good game to give Modric some more rest in order to have him ready for the upcoming matches against PSG.(written from a Production point of view Real World article
Iman Birth name: Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid Gender: Female Date of birth: 25 July 1955 Place of birth: Mogadishu, Somalia Character(s): Martia
Iman (born 25 July 1955; age 63) is a Somali actress who played the chameloid Martia in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
She was born in Mogadishu, Somalia as Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid, her first name meaning "faith" in Arabic. Outside of her acting career, she is a well-known model. From 1992 to 2016, she was married to musician / rock star David Bowie, with whom she has one daughter. She also has another daughter from a previous marriage to former basketball player Spencer Haywood.
She is the last actress to kiss William Shatner in a Star Trek production.
Filmography EditRally for the bees by Brittney Goodman |.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | Culture |
We need bees. They pollinate, enabling plants to reproduce. The Plains Art Museum is engaged in the fourth year of a project to educate our community on the importance of bees.
The Defiant Gardens Pollinator Project began with a summit, hosted by the Plains Art Museum under the direction of Former CEO Colleen Sheehy. By 2010, Minneapolis-based Artist and Ecologist Christine Baeumler joined the project.
According to Melissa Kossick, Communications Coordinator and Media Producer for The Arts Partnership, the initial social engagement was centered around the Madison neighborhood of Fargo, “selected for its incredible diversity, with 17 different languages spoken in that school.” Kossick was brought into the Pollinator Project as Lead Curriculum Developer in 2011, along with NDSU Extension and 4H Youth Engagement Coordinator Monique Stelzer. Now Kossick is Social Engagement and Artist-Educator for the project.
This Spring, the Plains Art Museum’s Buzz Lab Teen Internship Planning Team, including Christine Baeumler, Melissa Kossick, and Plains Art Museum’s Director of Education, Netha Cloeter, designed a template for the Buzz Lab Teen Internship, in its third year, which poised the project as an “integral dimension” of Baeumler’s Pollinator Garden for the Plains Art Museum, according to Karis Thompson, Community Engagement Liaison for Plains Art Museum.
Thompson explains that the 2016 interns are being invited to “think and act on behalf of pollinators, exploring avenues for heightening the bee-friendliness” of our cities and engaging to “create art to advocate on behalf of pollinators.”
Each year, the Plains Art Museum receives applications from Middle School and High School students from across the Metro. Kossick says that is an “unbelievably difficult” task for the project’s leadership team “to select the interns from the talented application pool.” Kossick describes the student interns in Buzz Lab as “some of the brightest of our region. They are invested in both ecological responsibility and the arts." This year, 21 interns, ages 11-17 were selected to be “advocates for pollinators and have the power to change the social perceptions of urban agriculture."
The Rally for the Bees is a rally organized by the Buzz Lab interns held in the Plains Art Museum atrium on Friday, June 17, 3:30 – 4pm. The event will be a way to introduce the interns’ learning from their week-long internship and future projects to their families and friends of bees and community stakeholders, according to Thompson. The rally gives a chance for the interns to “engage with and maintain the Pollinator Garden,” according to Netha Cloeter, Director of Education and Social Engagement at Plains Art Museum.
The Buzz Lab Teen Internship is an offshoot of the Defiant Gardens Project, which is a concept and term borrowed from Kenneth Helphand’s book “Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime” (2008). Helphand writes: “These gardens offer evidence of the profound meanings contained in the expression of gardens.”
Another branch of Defiant Gardens is the Heritage Garden and Amphitheater in Moorhead. Kossick explains that each artist team “decides what aspect of the garden’s context they aim to ‘defy,’ whether defying the urban environment, the harshness of winter, or an industrial site.”
Kossick asserts that funding for this project "has been critical to its success and longevity.” Defiant Gardens for Fargo-Moorhead has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Artplace America, the Bush Foundation, and Lake Region Arts Council.
IF YOU GO
Rally for the Bees
June 17, 3-4:30pm
Plains Art Museum, 704 1st Ave N., Fargo“We will picket the Proms” promised Palestine solidarity activists who had responded to a Palestinian call for a boycott of the BBC Proms concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in London. When the concert went ahead this evening, more than 40 protesters gathered outside while a determined group inside the Royal Albert Hall disrupted both the first and second half of the performance, forcing the BBC to take the Radio 3 live broadcast off air. In anticipation of disturbances, security had been greatly increased, including airport-style bag searches.
As the orchestra played Passacaglia, Op. 1 by Webern, the group calling themselves ‘Beethovians for Boycotting Israel’ positioned themselves in the choir stalls so they could be seen by the audience. To the tune of Ode to Joy by Beethoven they sang:
Israel, end your occupation:
There’s no peace on stolen land.
We’ll sing out for liberation
’till you hear and understand.
Ethnic cleansing and apartheid
Should belong to history.
Human rights cannot be silenced:
Palestine will soon be free.
Before 13 of the group were escorted out, they held up individual letters spelling, ‘Free Palestine’ – many of which were snatched off them by angry audience members. At the very beginning of the next item, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, four remaining activists stood up and chanted slogans such as “Settlements are out of tune with international law!” After the interval, and during Albéniz’s Iberia, a number of groups intervened with further slogans. Even after many in the audience had responded with their own chants of “Out, out, out!” and cheered the removal of some of the activists, the words, ‘Free Palestine’ still rang out clearly across the vast hall. The BBC refers to ‘some people in the audience’ who began booing and shouting. You can listen to the BBC audio of the action here.
A request by a few members of the orchestra and the audience for the Israeli national anthem, Hatikva, to be played at the end was ignored by the conductor Zubin Mehta. The Jerusalem Post reports that Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey, who was in the audience tweeted, “Demonstrators seem to have turned the entire audience pro-Israel.”’ Another tweet by @JonathanPos compared the disruption to the Night of Broken Glass, or Kristallnacht – the pogroms against Jews in Nazi Germany (in 1938): “Closed my eyes and suddenly imagined I was at the Berlin Philharmonie circa 1936. Breaking glass would have added a bit of colour”.
In an open letter, Out of Tune with Human Rights, Palestinian cultural institutions, including the leading musical organizations, had urged the BBC to cancel the concert, due to IPO’s complicity in whitewashing Israel’s persistent violations of international law and human rights. A letter in Tuesday’s Independent newspaper signed by over twenty musicians explained that when the Director of the Proms, Roger Wright, was asked to cancel the concert in accordance with the call from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott (PACBI), he rejected this call, saying that the invitation is “purely musical”. The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine BRICUP wrote its own letter to Roger Wright on 31st July: “By inviting the IPO, a pillar of the Israeli state system and of its cultural propaganda campaign, you provide the Israeli government, perpetrator of the Cast Lead invasion of Gaza and of so many other violations of international law and of human rights, with the support that they crave. Cancel the concert!”
An inside source reported overhearing orchestra members referring to a cancelled concert tour in Scandinavia in response to the boycott call.Last Thursday, attorneys general in 20 states sued six generic drug makers for conspiring to increase prices on generic medications to boost profits.
The companies named in the lawsuit are Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc., Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc., Citron Pharma LLC, Mayne Pharma Inc., Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
The companies allegedly conspired to distort prices for doxycycline hyclate delayed release, an antibiotic, and glyburide, a diabetes medicine, through a series of “industry dinners.” Pharmaceutical executives agreed to avoid competing with one another as it would reduce their profits. Communications pertaining to those agreements were later destroyed.
As the old joke goes, you can’t put two businessmen in the same industry in a room without a price-fixing conspiracy developing.
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen told Bloomberg News the investigations were instigated by suspiciously high prices. Generics, being off-patent drugs, are supposed to be relatively cheap as the cost of production involves no intellectual property fees. Instead, prices for doxycycline hyclate delayed release and glyburide were high.
The price-fixing lawsuits come on the heels of criminal charges filed last Wednesday by the Justice Department against Jeffrey Glazer, former CEO of Heritage Pharmaceuticals, and Jason Malek, a former president, in what The Consumerist reports is the first time the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has prosecuted a case involving generic medications.
Glazer and Malek appear to be cooperating with DOJ, which would mean they are likely to offer up their co-conspirators for a reduced sentence and fines.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), roughly 80% of prescriptions filled in the US are for generic drugs. If price-fixing goes unpunished, the consequences could affect millions of Americans.In the history of cultural dichotomies—Yankees versus Mets, Taylor versus Katy, or Ginger versus Mary Ann—boobs versus butts ranks right up there among the most heated battles of our time. Because ultimately, the answer to that questions your emotional truth at its very core. (JK it says nothing about you whatsoever.)
The good number-crunchers at Pornhub Insights, however, have used their statistician skills to put this debate to rest. In their latest data dump for the Swiss website 20 Minuten, Pornhub Insights (with the tube site YouPorn) calculated which countries preferred top to tail, and vice versa.
Interestingly, the answer to this question appears to be depend on equatorial proximity, if the Pornhub Insights infographic is any indication:
Pornhub Insights
As you can see from the above map, butts reign supreme in South America and Latin America—which is perhaps unsurprising, given that buttock-enhancements are extremely popular in countries like Venezuela and Brazil. In fact, the only country west of the Atlantic where boobs reign supreme is Canada, so it looks like our Neighbors to the North are keeping their eyeballs up North as well.
There seems to be a similar pattern in Africa, where butt searches rule in every country except Egypt. The European Union, however, overwhelmingly skews toward breasts, with countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom ranking in the top 10 of global boob searches. Why is this? Your guess is as good as mine. (The euro’s resemblance to a boob, maybe?).
Pornhub Insights
The Pornhub Insights post also revealed the popularity of other search terms worldwide, such as “pussy” (which is most searched for in Uganda, Jamaica, and Papua New Guinea) and “feet,” which, judging by its popularity in countries like Syria and Iran, might factor heavily in Middle Eastern peace talks. Pornhub also determined how the popularity of boobs versus butts varies in the United States, with Southern states vastly preferring callipygian women over bustier ones.
Pornhub Insights
Like most Pornhub Insights posts, the boobs vs. butts study doesn’t reveal anything particularly telling; it’s more just a voyeuristic peek into global masturbation habits. That said, there’s something kind of beautiful and inspiring about seeing that despite our cultural and geographical differences, the one thing that unites us all are the body parts we masturbate to. So many thanks, Pornhub, for coming up with your version of “It’s a Small World” for perverts.
H/T Pornhub Insights | Photo by Alex-501/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)The National Endowment for the Arts recently published a paper reporting that it could find only 30 high-quality arts assessments in use across the country
Photograph by Ryan Mcvay/Lifesize.
In November 2010, I visited Harrison District 2, a low-income, largely Latino school district in Colorado Springs. As part of a plan to evaluate and pay all teachers according to how well they “grow” student achievement, the district had just rolled out its first-ever testing program in the visual arts, music, and physical education—a program that has since become a national model.
On the first-grade art exam, students were asked to write a paragraph about a Matisse painting. In second-grade gym class, a pencil and paper test required students to “Draw a picture of how your hands look while they are catching a ball that is thrown above your head.”
The program, launched by crusading superintendent Mike Miles (who has since been appointed to a much more high-profile job leading the Dallas public schools), was not immediately embraced. Some Harrison art teachers complained about being assessed on their students’ writing skills, and gym teachers balked that they were now expected to teach drawing. This past school year, Harrison administrators responded to those concerns by showing teachers exam questions ahead of time, and allowing them to give feedback on whether the reading level and content expectations were appropriate for their students. (Administrators say complaints from teachers subsequently fell.)
Harrison supplements its paper exams with what testing experts call “performance-based assessments”: In elementary grades, phys-ed students are asked to show they can dribble a basketball and juggle two scarves; high school music students perform three songs; art students must demonstrate the difference between a one- and two-point perspective drawing. In all these courses, tests require students to write about their learning in full sentences and paragraphs, using subject-specific vocabulary.
Assessments like these are controversial. Many parents don’t like the idea of their already over-tested children taking even more exams, particularly in subjects like art and gym, which are usually thought of as relaxing breaks in an otherwise stressful school day. Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, a watchdog group, calls state standardized assessment in the arts “fundamentally ludicrous. Testing knowledge of terms used in artistic disciplines, as some have suggested, is not assessing the arts, but rather how well students memorize and regurgitate specialized language.” American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten often advocates for holistic assessment systems, such as portfolios of students’ work collected over the course of an entire semester or year, instead of a drawing or musical performance done in a single sitting. Paraphrasing the (perhaps apocryphal) Albert Einstein, Weingarten likes to say, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”
But with the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program providing billions of dollars to states and school districts that agree to evaluate all teachers according to student achievement data, attempts to “count” learning in nontraditional subjects are proliferating. In response to this increased interest, the National Endowment for the Arts recently published a paper reporting that it could find only 30 high-quality arts assessments in use across the country, with far too many schools relying on pencil-and-paper exams to measure students’ art skills. The report recommends the creation of a national, online database of high-quality arts assessments. Under Secretary Arne Duncan, the Department of Education, too, is encouraging states to think beyond fill-in-the-bubble for these nontraditional subjects, but so far, has not released any formal guidelines.
Despite the lack of consensus, states are forging ahead. South Carolina’s fourth-grade music exam, administered via computer, asks: “When singing a melody together with a friend, what dynamic level should you sing? A) Louder than your friend B) Not too loud and not too soft C) Softer than your friend or D) the same as your friend.” (The correct answer is D.) Students are then shown a measure of sheet music and asked to identify which of four electronic recordings matches the notation. The multiple choice section of the state’s fourth grade arts exam shows students a picture, such as one of a vase and a bowl of fruit placed on a chair, and asks them to identify the drawing as either a “landscape,” “portrait,” “non-objective,” or “still-life.” The question is: Does a student’s ability to answer such queries correctly actually indicate arts proficiency? Can such a test measure creativity—or is creativity not the point?
Florida has launched a statewide Performance and Fine Arts Assessment Project to develop a “bank” of test questions and performance-based assessment scenarios for dance, music, and theater, from which local schools can borrow. The most potentially controversial idea Florida is exploring is whether artificial intelligence software might be able to score at least some portion of students’ musical performances, recorded and submitted electronically. AI musical assessment already exists, and is used to help students learn whether the notes they sing or play are on-pitch—which is, of course, just one of many elements that make up a competent musical performance, some of which, such as emotional engagement with the music, might be impossible to quantify.
As I’ve reported in Slate, the push toward computer grading of student essays has a lot to do with saving money; while the technology can assess grammar, spelling, and structure, it cannot yet tell whether students have real knowledge of facts from the curriculum. So as the education establishment moves forward with arts assessment, will states and test-makers follow recognized best practices or go with less rigorous, cheaper, easier to administer exams and grading systems? There is ample precedent for shortcut taking in public school testing: When No Child Left Behind required schools to assess all students in math and reading, many states made tests easier in order to inflate proficiency numbers. Last month, Florida rejiggered the grading of its writing exam in order to avoid embarrassingly high failure rates.
So, when it comes to arts assessment, what are the acknowledged best practices? The International Baccalaureate program, a college-preparatory curriculum available to schools around the world, provides one sophisticated assessment model. I talked to Tara Brancato, a fifth-year music teacher at the Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy International High School (KAPPA), a Bronx public school with a high-poverty student population. As part of their end-of-course IB exam, Brancato’s 11th- and 12th-grade students listen to recordings and identify their composers, time periods, and musical features; compose original pieces of music; perform on their instruments; and write a research paper comparing musical cultures from around the world. Brancato has fair warning about what will be on her students’ tests, which are created and graded in Cardiff, Wales by IB administrators. She might know in advance, for example, that her students will hear recordings by Mozart and Aaron Copeland, but she won’t know which specific pieces they will hear or what they will be asked about them. Brancato’s teacher evaluation score is partially based on how well her students do on these tests from year to year, and so she gives a lot of practice assessments—something she doesn’t mind, because she thinks both the IB curriculum and the assessments attached to it are high quality.
Another model comes from the nonprofit College Board’s Advanced Placement studio art course, which requires students to electronically submit portfolios of artwork created over the course of a year—the kind of assessment program many teachers’ unions support. The College Board’s website provides free examples of high-scoring student drawings, sculptures, and other works of art. Even Bob Schaeffer of FairTest hails this assessment, which he says is “not perfect” but is at least “based on a real body of work.”
In 2007 the Theater Communications Group, a trade association, launched the TEAM project to help theaters across the country work with schoolchildren whose learning outcomes need to be measured, often to maintain funding for theater programs in a time of budget cuts. One of the biggest challenges in using student achievement data to evaluate teachers is getting a snapshot of what students know (or don’t know) when they enter a classroom, so their “growth” can be tracked over the course of a semester or year. TEAM recommends surveying students at the beginning of a theater program with questions like: “Have you seen a play before? “Have you read a play before?” “Are you confident performing on stage?” The students are asked similar questions at the end of the program, in order to measure their progress. It’s easy to imagine how data from such surveys could be included as part of a teacher’s evaluation grade.
Measuring teachers according to how well their students perform a monologue or create an oil painting—or even how much they learn to enjoy art— will never be exactly like tallying up test scores in algebra, and shouldn’t be. But if schools assess students fairly in the arts—and ideally involve teachers in creating these assessments—they’re sending an important message: The arts matter. After a decade of No Child Left Behind, in which the arts, social studies, and science were often scaled back as schools obsessed over math and reading scores, this could be a real upgrade. The challenge will be in training teachers, improving the curriculum, and communicating with students and parents about what nontraditional assessment is all about. In most districts, this work has barely even begun.Reflecting its unhappiness, Caesar’s team has yet to give the United States the rest of the 55,000 photos and says it may seek the help of photo analysts in other governments or nongovernmental agencies. A senior American law enforcement official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the issue, said that authenticating the photos was complex and painstaking and that there was no timetable for completing the work.
American officials have culled about 4,800 photos from the nearly 27,000 the F.B.I. received and compared them against visa and passport photos in the State Department’s database and with photos in a separate terrorism database. Representative Ed Royce, the California Republican who serves as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and who also shares concerns about the methodical pace of the work on the photos, said that American officials had identified at least seven likely matches, though it is not clear whether any are foreign citizens.
Caesar, however, has looked to the United States for more than evidence for a possible war crimes trial. When he visited Washington last summer, he was hoping that his trip would lead to more forceful American action.
Besides testifying before Mr. Royce’s panel, Caesar sought a meeting with Susan E. Rice, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, his aides say. Told she was not available, he scribbled a note in Arabic to Mr. Obama, which he gave to Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, at an emotional meeting at the State Department.
“I have risked my life and the life of my immediate family, and even exposed my relatives to extreme danger, in order to stop the systematic torture that is practiced by the regime against prisoners,” Caesar wrote. “What is it that you can possibly do to prevent the killing, especially since there are more than 150,000 prisoners in the jails of the regime awaiting this black fate?”
The White House did not want Caesar to leave Washington without a meeting, and one was organized with Mr. Rhodes and Jake Sullivan, who was serving then as the national security adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Explaining that he was speaking on behalf of the president, Mr. Rhodes praised Caesar’s courage and voiced the hope that Caesar’s photos would shame others not to help the regime.President Trump dubbed protesters at a largely peaceful demonstration in Boston "anti-police agitators" after thousands of protesters and counterprotesters showed up for a conservative "Free Speech Rally" in the city.
"Looks like many anti-police agitators in Boston. Police are looking tough and smart! Thank you," Trump said on the social media platform.
Looks like many anti-police agitators in Boston. Police are looking tough and smart! Thank you. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2017
Trump also praised Boston's mayor and law enforcement officers amid the protests on Twitter.
Great job by all law enforcement officers and Boston Mayor @Marty_Walsh. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2017
The Boston Free Speech Coalition, the group that organized Saturday's rally, had until recently planned to include speakers with ties to white nationalism.
It has since publicly distanced itself from the racist groups that incited violence in Virginia last weekend, advising hate groups on Friday not to join their rally.
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Boston officials prepared for the large crowds following the violence in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend, with hundreds of uniformed and undercover police officers working to manage growing crowds.
According to reports the protests were mostly peaceful, though some minor clashes occurred, including some "scuffles" with police.
CNN reported eight people were arrested.
#BPD is asking individuals to refrain from throwing urine, bottles and other harmful projectiles at our officers. — Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) August 19, 2017
The free speech rally was set to begin at noon, but counterprotesters began gathering around the city hours ahead of the scheduled demonstration on the Boston Common.
Police tweeted that the rally was officially over shortly after 1:30 p.m. local time.It's incredibly disappointing to see the words directed at San Francisco 49ers wide receiver and punt returner Kyle Williams. It was Williams who fumbled the last punt of the game, setting up the New York Giants' game-winning field goal in overtime. And it was Williams who was the overwhelming target of angry fans' ire.
With Twitter and social media in general, the ability to instantly react is both a gift and a curse. In Williams' case, fans abused that ability to instantly send him thoughts, bombarding his mentions with threats and other harsh words. To say it was bad would be putting it mildly.
For example:
@KyleWilliams_10. I hope you, youre wife, kids and family die, you deserve it — JAVIER PASQUEL (@javpasquel) January 23, 2012
There's worse, and much of it isn't fit for public consumption -- littered with swear words, slurs and worse. A check of his mentions or a Twitter search reveals just how bad it got after the game, and how bad it continues to be.
It's embarrassing to see the outbursts and the threats. Sports are emotionally charged by nature, but there's absolutely no reason for a fan or observer to lash out in the way many have at Williams.
There are plenty of 49ers fans tweeting words of encouragement and other positive thoughts, but the actions of those taking aim at Williams were absolutely disgusting and overshadow it all. Be better than this. Think before you speak. And please, don't take it out on a kid who made a mistake in a game -- no matter how high-profile that mistake was.
Edit: Patrick Willis is straight class.Until such time as the Guinness Pro12 dips into the US gravy train, it’ll just have to make do with a cross-border competition from four different countries.
At last Tuesday’s seasonal launch in the Aviva Stadium, the ever-eloquent Gerald Davies, Pro12 Rugby chairman, called upon everyone to embrace the Pro12’s cross-border diversity, and having quoted William Shakespeare at last season’s launch, concluded his opening address by quoting Robert Browning this time.
“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?”
It’s doubtful that many of those even competing in the Pro12 would be quite so moved, but then again on reflection, Connacht’s stirring and stunning triumph – along with the decision to have the final in Murrayfield – was something of a boon for the competition, even if Leinster might not have seen it that way.
Wearying effects
From the moment the two sides met a week after the Six Nations at the Sportsground, Connacht’s unlikely rise gave the Pro12 a climax it hasn’t known in years, which was all the more welcome given the wearying effects of a World Cup season.
The organisers have ensured a climactic ending to the regular 22-game campaign this season with a manufactured conclusion on May 6th, which has, all too predictably, been entitled Super Saturday.
All six matches will kick off at the same time and will be parochial affairs: two Welsh and Irish derbies, with Glasgow facing Edinburgh and Zebre taking on Treviso. The playoffs will take place a fortnight later, with the final at the Aviva Stadium on May 27th.
So an interesting, localised finale is seemingly assured, as is usually the case, for the Pro12 has historically been illuminated with high-quality semi-finals and finals.
Last year was no exception, with Leinster and Connacht producing their best performances of the campaign in their home semi-finals, and Connacht going better again in the final.
The organisers’ decision in advance to have the final in Murrayfield was not without its bad planning – clashing as it did with the Edinburgh marathon – but on balance the sense of occasion and record attendance for a final proved a benchmark for the often troubled competition.
Having the final at the Aviva appears the likeliest way to replicate that sale of 35,000 tickets last May, while there remains the forlorn hope that Dublin hoteliers won’t rip off customers on the same scale.
There must also be the hope that the Welsh RFU will pitch their bid for the 2017 final at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Whether the Italians are yet ready to host a final is a moot point, but rotating the final at the main stadia in each participating country would ensure the competition’s growth, and certainly Italy retains the most potential, as yet untapped, for the tournament’s further development.
Priority
Of course, the league remains a particularly hard competition to sell in Wales.
The Pro12 chief executive, Martin Anayi, has said increasing the tournament’s fan base is their priority and with disgruntled Welsh fans specifically in mind, have thus decided to abandon Sunday matches in Wales. This will be well received in the other countries as well.
Even so, the Welsh have always seemed like reluctant participants having lost their much cherished Anglo-Welsh League. The clear signals from the English clubs are that they are doing just dandy for themselves.
So too, of course, are the French, whose impending €98 million a year deal with Canal+ for rights to the Top 14 and Pro D2 dwarf the undisclosed but relatively modest combined rights for the Pro12 of around €11 million. Securing increased TV rights is paramount.
Whatever about a climactic run-in and final few weekends, where – or more accurately when – the league struggles is from the November window through to the end of the Six Nations in mid-March. What with the December and January rounds of European matches, the league is left sucking the hind tit of the season. It just becomes very staccato and the league’s leading lights rarely feature.
The World Cup pretty much had the same effect on the first three months of last season’s campaign, so it’s little wonder that the Pro12 only caught fire from mid-March onwards. This season, therefore – with teams and players wanting to make an impression both in the opening six rounds of the league and the first forays into Europe – should be different.
Another difference, of course, is that Connacht are reigning champions.
From their opening day joust with Glasgow, they will be a target now, as John Muldoon admits. “The surprise factor is gone. I would imagine there won’t be too many teams coming to the Sportsground and resting players or leaving some of their international contingent behind. That in itself will pose a big challenge for us. The key last year was that our away form was so good. It will be difficult. It is not a Wold Cup year so there will be a tighter focus and we are also involved in the Champions Cup. It is a huge challenge.”
Yet they were deserving champions, and are capable of making hay again through the November and Six Nations windows. They won five of the first six before and during the World Cup, and four from four from the week before the Six Nations until the end.
Gregor Townsend, who coached Glasgow to their first title two seasons ago before Connacht wrenched it from their grasp on successive days at the Sportsground, does not believe Connacht will fade away.
“No, they’ve got a formula that worked for them. I’m sure they’ve been doing that in pre-season. They always had that aggression, that passion playing at home; what Pat [Lam] has done is make them more ambitious and certainly improve their skills.
“The final was a great example of taking on one of the best defences in Europe and finding gaps and |
original Nexus 7 was replaced with the new model last year, and reports suggest a new Nexus 8 is in fact coming sometime this summer.
Over the course of the past few months the entire Nexus program has been up for debate, but lately more and more rumors have emerged suggesting Google has a stellar 8.9-inch Nexus tablet coming soon.
Read: Nexus 8 Rumored Along with Two New HTC Tablets
Currently the 2013 Nexus 7 that has been available for more than a year is due for an upgrade, and if one is coming, the stock should start dwindling from the Google Play Store in preparation for a new model, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing. Recently the Nexus 7 has completely gone out of stock from Google’s store, with only the 32GB 4G LTE model being available. The regular 16 and 32GB variants are both “out of inventory” but the listing does say to check back soon. Could a Nexus 8 be coming soon?
In previous years we’ve seen devices like the Nexus 4 go out of stock for weeks on end, eventually to be replaced by the current Nexus 5, and that could be the same situation growing near for the tablet.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen popular Nexus smartphones or tablets go out of stock from the Google Play Store, but with so many Nexus 7 options unavailable it could mean stock is empty as the company prepares for a new release.
It’s also worth nothing that many of these rumors as of late are suggesting both the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 will be replaced with a perfect one size fits all (or so Google hopes) with the new Nexus 8. Some are calling it a Nexus 8 however, as the rumors suggest it will come with an 8.9-inch 2048 x 1440 HD display. This would be the perfect size that isn’t too large, but isn’t too small. Not to mention there’s no need for a Nexus 7 if the next Nexus smartphone is a 5.9-inch whale.
Read: Nexus 8 Details Emerge in Huge Leak
So what can potential buyers and enthusiasts expect from a new Nexus 8 or Nexus 9? A pretty impressive device. If all the reports thus far are accurate Google is going back to its roots from the first Nexus One smartphone, HTC. Rumor has it the Nexus 8 will be made by HTC (rather than ASUS like the last two) and finally offer an aluminum design to better compete with the iPad lineup, and Samsung’s growing tablet offerings. Here’s what rumors claim:
Nexus 8 Specs (Rumored)
8.9-inch 2048 x 1440 Full HD display
NVIDIA Tegra K1 Quad-core processor, or Snapdragon 805 with 2/3GB of RAM
16/32 GB storage configurations
Android 4.4.4 KitKat, or Android L Release
Aluminum zero-gap design
Dual Front Facing Speakers (like the HTC One M8)
8 Megapixel Camera with Optical Image Stabilization, 3MP Front Camera
8.91 x 5.98 x 0.31
More
The image above is reportedly the new Nexus 8, but is only a conceptual render based on leaks and one leaksters first-hand report of the device in question.
Early rumors suggested the next Nexus tablet would arrive alongside the Nexus 6 and Android 4.5 or 5.0 “L Release” but that isn’t expected to arrive until this fall, possibly sometime in October or November. With the current Nexus 7 out of stock in almost all variants, a release could be coming much sooner, but with Android 4.4.4 KitKat on board with the update to Android L quickly behind it.
Again, the current Nexus 7 stock status from the Google Play Store in no way proves a new tablet is indeed coming soon, but it’s something we’ve seen in the past from Google, Nexus releases, and other manufacturers. No official hardware leaks have been spotted, but if a new Nexus tablet is in the works, we’ll see it soon enough.Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti has spent much of his career irritating people. He has usually appeared to find their irritation fun. No longer, he said Tuesday. At his first council meeting since brain surgery less than two months ago— he says he was told he might not live — he smiled a lot, teared up in thanking a doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital, and renounced the colleague-tormenting he has turned into a kind of high-concept performance art.
Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti says that after undergoing brain surgery he is a changed man. “I can honestly say that this experience is life-altering,” he said. ( VINCE TALOTTA / TORONTO STAR )
“I can honestly say that this experience is life-altering,” he said in an interview in which he seemed serene. “It changes who you are as a father, it changes who you are as a politician, who you are as just a person. “And you recognize that there are a number of things that probably need to be changed to finish out your life. And sometimes you have to be a little nicer, a little calmer, and do your job in a way that doesn’t make all the enemies that perhaps comes with being a politician. So I’m going to try all of that. And maybe you’ll see a little something different from me.” He said he will not stop being “passionate” but will “stop getting under everybody’s skin.”
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“I know I’m good at getting under other people’s skin,” he said with a smile. “But I make enemies, and I really don’t want to fight with people to that degree anymore. It’s time for me to change a little bit.” Mammoliti, 51, is an unabashed political chameleon known for his inflammatory rhetoric and unusual policy proposals. He began his career as an NDP MPP, in 1990, before shifting to the right — then joining left-leaning mayor David Miller’s executive committee, then joining the executive of his former arch-nemesis, Rob Ford, and denouncing Ford critics as “communists.” Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) announced his resignation from Ford’s committee on the November day the mayor appeared to have been ousted from office by a judge. He said Tuesday he plans to continue supporting the administration’s agenda but thinks the city should focus on raising revenue rather than reducing the size of the government workforce. How does the new Giorgio Mammoliti think the city should raise revenue? “I’m talking about casinos; I’m talking about lotteries — a Toronto-driven lottery, which is within our realm to do; I’m talking about certain user fees, perhaps, that we could get away with; I’d like to look at whether or not couriers that ride bikes can actually be licensed. Not all people that ride bikes — couriers.”Mark Hatcher practices Atheism. (Marlon Correa/WASHINGTON POST)
A 2009 Pew Research analysis found that 59 percent of African Americans were members of black Protestant churches, but there were others — many others — who fell into the category of “Other.” Five out of the 59 percent were grouped as an Other Historically Black Protestant. Two out of 15 percent of black Episcopalian Protestants fell into the category of Other. Then there are Buddhists, Scientologists and yes, atheists, who fall into their own realm of Other. They ascribe to a way of life or belief system that is outside the mainstream of religions often followed by African Americans.
What are the others like? How do they fit into a society that skews to mainstream Christians, and a culture in which so many black gatherings start or end with a gospel brunch, prayer breakfast or Christian church service?
In The Other Believers, we spoke with five African Americans about their lives outside of mainstream historically black religions. Here is the story of one of them.
Mark D. Hatcher, 31, is a Ph. D. student in physiology and biophysics at Howard University. He started the group Secular Students, the first of its kind at any historically black college or university, at Howard in 2011. Hatcher is a consultant with African Americans for Humanism. This is his story:
I was brought up religious. My father was Baptist; my mom was Catholic. I was baptized and raised Catholic. I was raised in private schools. I was raised very Christian. I believed that there was something up there. We went to church sparingly — my parents, they’d rather hang out with the kids on Sunday and do other stuff. They weren’t big church people, but they were religious... I got most of my [religious] education from school. Most of the Sunday school things that people get, I got all of that five days a week. I remember back thinking [on] Jonah and the Whale: “That’s a nice story. How does that work?” I was always asking questions, and teachers [would say], “Well, it just is”...
What really clicked for me was when I started learning about — I hate to say it — evolution and the origin of the cosmos. [It] was, I think, the last thread holding the whole God thing in place for me. Look around. Why is there something rather than nothing? With the very elegant solutions that evolution by natural selection provides, it’s a very simple, very natural way of getting from point A to point B. Then we have to think about the origin of the cosmos. We can explain how there’s zero total energy in the universe and how things can’t have come from nothing, because nothing really isn’t nothing but a boiling, bubbling brew of a bunch of stuff. At that point I thought about it and I said, “You know, if there’s a God up there, then he’s bored. He got nothing to do.” He’s redundant at best.
I really weighed it upon myself to say, “Well, is it a better explanation for me to say ‘Well, there’s a God out there, that’s breaking all sorts of laws of physics and caring about us, or did we just kind of make him up to explain things we were worried about in our scientific infancy before we really had the tools to go out and explore the world around us? Is it just the way we had of coping with our ignorance?” And that made more sense. That’s how I became an atheist. People don’t become atheists as much as they just realize that they are...
I remember telling my mom about it, and sitting her down...I thought I was going to get hellfire and brimstone rained down upon me...She said to me, “You know, I’m a believer, but half of that stuff I don’t buy either.” She said to me that she still believes in God and she still believes that he touches lives, but she’s like “Preachers, a lot of preachers don’t know what they’re talking about. I don’t really do the heaven or hell thing,” and I was so surprised...But now looking back on it, the fact that she’s so inquisitive and she always taught my brother and I to be inquisitive, it shouldn’t have been that surprising as it was. But she said she felt a lot of pressure from her mother to raise us as religious as she did, which is not surprising at all, either. She’s been extremely supportive and I can’t thank her enough for it.
A lot of people don’t really understand that when you say you’re an Atheist, you’re not saying ‘I’m telling you that there’s no God up there.’ Atheist means ‘I don’t have a belief in it.’ When people ask me what I am and I’m trying to be legally correct about it, I say I’m an agnostic atheist. And I don’t say agnostic because it’s a 50/50...agnostic means “We can’t know for sure.” There are a lot of agnostic atheists out there — they are people that believe in God, but they’re not positive. I’m an agnostic atheist. I don’t have faith. I don’t have a belief in a God, but I don’t know for sure...I never really stopped going to church, because I never really started, but to this day if somebody invites me to go, I’ll go. I love the songs. I love the music, I love the community, I love the fact that people can come together and feel good and try to spread good messages. Sometimes those messages get muddled by bronze-age philosophy, but people coming together and singing and having a good time...it’s great. That’s a wonderful experience. That’s something that Atheists don’t do enough of. What we need in our community is someplace where we can go and just hang out...
[One day] I’m walking across campus, and normally don’t have it on, but I had my Atheist t-shirt on. Somebody came up to me and said “Oh my God, I thought I was crazy, I thought I was the only one. Thank you for letting me know I’m not insane.” That’s understandable in our community. You gotta love Jesus. If you don’t love Jesus, you gotta love somebody. My mom’s first question to me was ‘What, so you don’t believe in anything?!” And that’s hard in the black community. You gotta believe in something in order to be a complete person. This person coming up to me, saying that they thought they were insane because of the type of pressure that was on them to believe in something that they just simply couldn’t, I was like, “You know what? We need a community here”...
The reaction on campus was generally positive. We haven’t gotten any overt horrible things. I’ve had somebody run up and throw holy water on me once, but that was the worst that has ever happened. For the most part, we haven’t had any problems outwardly. I’ve heard rumblings...and whenever we put up our fliers, a lot of times they get vandalized or ripped down. That’s unfortunately an expected response, but we haven’t had any problems from the administration outwardly. We haven’t had any people coming up and yelling “You’re going to hell” — yet.
I have at least two long-term relationships terminated simply because of [my beliefs]...I almost feel a responsibility, when I’m interested in someone, to just put it out there. I feel like that’s the responsible thing to do because I feel like I’d be leading somebody on otherwise, and that’s not true, but the amount of religiosity in black women — I kind of have to expect that somebody’s not gonna be interested which is more often than not the case...I have to be intellectually honest in everything that I’m thinking and everything I’m believing, and that helps being a scientist, because you know as a scientist that there could be something out there that you couldn’t even have fathomed...I expect to be wrong in a lot of things that I do because I can’t have all of the information in everything, so if I’m wrong about something, I rejoice. I’m happy to be wrong! I’ve learned something new. If I’m wrong about it, Yay! I want to know the truth, but insofar as the evidence available to me, I don’t see a reason to believe. But I could be wrong.
More from The Root DC
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Low turnout at Pr. George’s meeting on murder of slain student
Wrestlemania at BET Hip-Hop AwardsTAXPAYERS in Edinburgh face a multi-million-pound bill over the city’s housing repairs scandal.
Auditors drafted in to investigate the city council’s property conservation department have revealed that the local authority is unlikely to be able to claw back millions of pounds it has paid out to contractors.
The department was rocked by widespread allegations it had commissioned millions of pounds worth of unnecessary work. Police have investigated the claims surrounding the repairs scheme. Staff have been sacked and suspended, but there have been no prosecutions so far.
Edinburgh’s scheme allowed the council to hire private firms to carry out work on properties – largely ageing tenements – without the approval of owners, who were then billed. The system was suspended in April 2011 after the allegations emerged and was effectively scrapped last month.
By April 2011, officials had paid contractors about £27 million for work carried out but had not yet invoiced residents.
Now independent auditors from Deloitte say the council is unlikely to get back millions paid to contractors because it does not have enough evidence to prove the works were necessary in order to recover the money from homeowners.
They said the council would struggle to “demonstrate that all works undertaken were necessary and that the associated costs were reasonably incurred”, making likely taxpayers will have to fund at least a portion of the outstanding £22m bill.
Those representing homeowners caught up in the scandal said many would refuse to pay if the council could not demonstrate the work had been legitimate and correctly priced.
Patrick McGuire, a partner at Thomsons Solicitors, which is representing nearly 100 homeowners, said: “Edinburgh city council are going to find it extremely difficult to enforce payments now that it is clear they are lacking key evidence.
“Homeowners will not – and should not – pay if they believe work was unnecessary or excessively expensive, and the council in many cases won’t be able to prove otherwise. I would also anticipate a second group of homeowners emerging – those who have dutifully paid their bills and now want at least some of their money back.”
He said if the council took residents to court with incomplete files on repair projects, the cases were likely to be thrown out.
Gordon Murdie, from Quantas Quantity Surveyors, which is also representing residents, said: “Homeowners are going to say to the council, ‘We want to see where the repair costs to our property stems from, who the surveyor was, what were the original estimates and what kind of materials were used’. If the council can’t provide these,, they aren’t going to pay.”
Property conservation department director Mark Turley said: “The fact that we commissioned Deloitte to properly investigate this matter shows how seriously we took the concerns, although it’s worth remembering that the police investigation found no evidence of criminality in the property conservation service.”
Officials have received some 945 complaints relating to 604 projects since the scheme was suspended. At one stage, about 3,000 notices a year were issued, affecting around 37,000 people.
Allegations against the council included the commissioning of work that was unnecessary and the use of poor-quality or needlessly expensive materials.
The auditors were paid £2.4m for the investigation into management culture at the council and compiling the report, which was completed last June but published only yesterday.
SEE ALSO: • Edinburgh statutory repairs: Millions to be recovered
• Analysis: The statutory notice system was fit for purpose – the people running it were notThe Saskatoon SPCA is wrestling with the fate of seven dogs rescued from a rural home near Yorkton after the animals ate the remains of their deceased owners.
RCMP last week found the couple — a man, 67, and woman, 57 — who had died on a rural property near Springside. Police do not suspect foul play, but the matter is being investigated by the coroner.
Police concluded that for more than a week the dogs — five Shelties and two mixed breeds — survived by eating the remains of the couple.
The question now is whether the dogs should be put down or given a new home.
Neighbour Margaret-Ann Irving, who knew the dogs' owners, said the animals cannot now be adopted.
"Those dogs need to be put down," she said. "You can't place a dog that's been eating on human flesh for two or three weeks and put it in a home where there might be a child."
Saskatoon SPCA spokeswoman Tiffiny Koback said it was not an automatic conclusion that the animals should be euthanized.
"They're simply doing what it takes to survive, given the circumstances," said Koback. "So we're not concerned that they're going to go out there and start looking at someone and equating it as a meal."
The dogs are being assessed by a local animal rescue organization to determine whether they are adoptable. Potential owners would be told of their background.
The provincial SPCA said the fate of the dogs in cases like this rests with the local shelter, in this case, the Saskatoon agency.There is compelling evidence to support an aetiological role for inflammation, oxidative and nitrosative stress (O&NS), and mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathophysiology of major neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer's disease (AD). These may represent new pathways for therapy. Aspirin is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is an irreversible inhibitor of both cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2, It stimulates endogenous production of anti-inflammatory regulatory 'braking signals', including lipoxins, which dampen the inflammatory response and reduce levels of inflammatory biomarkers, including C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin (IL)--6, but not negative immunoregulatory cytokines, such as IL-4 and IL-10. Aspirin can reduce oxidative stress and protect against oxidative damage. Early evidence suggests there are beneficial effects of aspirin in preclinical and clinical studies in mood disorders and schizophrenia, and epidemiological data suggests that high-dose aspirin is associated with a reduced risk of AD. Aspirin, one of the oldest agents in medicine, is a potential new therapy for a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, and may provide proof-of-principle support for the role of inflammation and O&NS in the pathophysiology of this diverse group of disorders.SimCity launched on Oct. 3, 1989.
It's 25-years-old today.
I loved that game.
Will Wright made it. Cleverest bloke working in games.
You build cities. They are yours.
You drop city blocks into place and connect them and sometimes they work great and sometimes they don't.
The cleverness lies in how the connectivity of the blocks is scored by human behavior.
So, it's not about how many levels you beat or how many monsters you slay. It's about how smart you have been in creating utility.
The city blocks require servicing, with police stations and schools and such. You feed the streets. It's like a pet.
I was working on a computer magazine when it came out. I played it at work, during lunch hours, after work.
It wasn't a game you played to pass the time; it was a game you found time to play.
We had Macs. I played it in monochrome.
1989 was a good year for smart games made by smart people. Tetris. Populous. Prince of Persia. Herzog Zwei.
I liked to think about the little people going about my city, the busy streets.
We've had a lot of great games, made by people who understood how games work, but this one was a great game made by someone who understood how the world works.
It's impossible to play SimCity for the first time and come away dumber than you were before.
After SimCity there were The Sims and there were other SimCity games, and they made a bunch of people happy and they made a lot of money, but I liked the first one the best.
I liked dragging my mouse along and making railway lines and connecting them all together.
Wright made the game after reading a short story about an engineer who helps a deposed tyrant by creating a simulated environment for him to bully. This reveals a deep truth about our relationship with video games
Also, I like it when games are inspired by obscure books, rather than merely by big-selling games or by blockbuster action movies.
When he was making it, Wright became obsessed by the science of urban planning. Most of our passing obsessions are mundane and sad. But I feel like a Will Wright obsession about anything instantly makes that thing a lot more interesting.
In SimCity there are disasters, random things that go wrong. I didn't like this part of the game. I might be remembering this wrong, but I think you could turn them off, and I did.
The game was political in ways that are sensible. Spending tax money on efficient city transit systems is good for everyone. Skimping on essential services like hospitals is harmful. A lot of people still do not understand these things.
SimCity wasn't just a fun game; it wasn't just a clever game. It was important. It uttered something about how a game could say something valuable, and really mean it.
Put it this way. On your gravestone, would you rather it said you'd given the world a SimCity, or a Grand Theft Auto?Fox News has been on the air nearly two decades and some Beltway journalists are still denying the transparent truth about the cable channel and its intricate political machinations. Even some longtime conservatives, such as historian and former Reagan aide Bruce Bartlett, now concede Fox News is "brainwashing" the conservative electorate, and that the GOP is being harmed by the network.
Responding to Bartlett at Politico, senior media writer Jack Shafer insists, "Fox in its current incarnation is neither a help nor a hindrance" to the Republican Party. Shafer argues the network, "a news-entertainment hybrid," doesn't really have much impact on the GOP and has not moved the party to the far right. "The Fox tail does not wag the Republican dog," Shafer concludes. Instead, Fox News is just trying to make a buck. Yes, it ventures into partisan politics with "combative programming," according to Shafer. But people like Bartlett who claim the channel's changed or damaged the Republican Party are overstating their case.
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The truth is, as Media Matters has documented for years, the over-the-top programming on Fox News, anchored by baseless claims and wild attacks, routinely mirrors Republicans' legislative agenda. The focused misinformation trademarked by Fox News doesn't exist in a vacuum; it's not merely "entertainment" concocted to sell advertising. (Although it does that quite well.)
The programming on Fox News is designed to shape and change American politics, plain and simple. It's designed to do damage to Democrats and Democratic initiatives. It's built to be the marketing arm for the Republican Party, as it hurdles further and further towards the radical right. And quite often, Fox News is successful.
There's a reason that Fox contributor Newt Gingrich once told conservative activists that Fox News helped make Republican Scott Brown's senate "insurgency possible" in 2010. And there's a reason Fox News drafted the theme of the 2012 Republican convention, "You Didn't Build That."
I'm not sure tails can wag much harder than that.
To bolster his argument, Shafer invokes Roger Ailes' failed efforts at political kingmaking and the network's audience size compared the general voting population, but he downplays the larger role that Fox News plays in influencing the Republican Party.
To claim Fox News simply toils in the fields of "entertainment" (or even "news-entertainment") is to deny the seamless and unprecedented relationship between Rupert Murdoch's cable channel and the Republican Party. It's a link many in the D.C. press have spent years trying to play down, since the open association crosses all previous known boundaries of journalism.
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Fox News itself hasn't been shy about advertising its historic role, so why do journalists look away? In 2009, when asked how his channel would adjust to having a new Democratic president after having spent the previous eight years cheering President George Bush, Fox News VP Bill Shine suggested that Fox would adjust by serving as "the voice of the opposition."
In 2015, the Fox effect has continued to advertise itself. Just ask Indiana Gov. Mike Pence who ignited a national controversy after he signed his state's "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" (RFRA) into law. The law -- which was widely criticized by religious leaders, legal scholars, and even the Republican mayor of Indianapolis -- provided a legal defense for individuals and business owners who cited their religious beliefs while discriminating against LGBT people.
Under intense political pressure, Pence backtracked. But long before Gov. Pence signed Indiana's RFRA into law, Fox News laid the groundwork for Republican politicians to take action by routinely championing bogus claims of religious persecution to justify the passage of sweeping "religious freedom" laws.
As Media Matters noted:
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In early 2014, those horror stories were the primary argument used to justify Arizona's SB 1062, a similar "religious freedom" bill that would have allowed business owners to turn away gay customers on religious grounds. That legislation, which similarly garnered national condemnation, was eventually vetoed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), who described the bill as a solution in search of a problem.
In other words, you see it on Fox News now, you read it in Republican-sponsored legislation later. In that regard, think of Fox News as a Rupert Murdoch-funded GOP think tank, but with television hosts.
Meanwhile, just this month, the House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing addressing the government's food stamp Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps the poor. During the hearing, Fox News' misleading 2013 special, The Great Food Stamp Binge, was referenced several times by Republican members of Congress as evidence of abuses within the SNAP program.
It's no surprise that Fox's nasty attack work on SNAP served as a talking point. After The Great Food Stamp Binge aired, the network delivered copies of the show to members of Congress in an apparent attempt to influence a vote to cut SNAP benefits by $40 billion. Indeed, Fox News has spent years demeaning food assistance programs and their recipients
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In April, Media Matters highlighted how Fox News' long-running campaign to stigmatize those recipients may have been a key influence in Republican legislators in both Missouri and Kansas moving to pass welfare-shaming laws to curtail what recipients could purchase with their aid.
That's not how "news-entertainment" works. Not when programming talking points are regularly turned into legislation.
Fox News' influence also extends behind the scenes. In 2010, the New Yorker reported that Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told fellow senators negotiating a climate change bill that "they needed to get as far as they could in negotiating the bill 'before Fox News got wind of the fact that this was a serious process'" and derailed the negotiations by targeting the bill's supporters.
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As for Shafer's claim that Fox News "is neither a help nor a hindrance" to the Republican Party, he might want to ask Mitt Romney about that. Because what were arguably Romney's two biggest public missteps of the 2012 campaign? The first came when Romney was surreptitiously recorded while addressing wealthy donors criticizing the "47 percent" of Americans who allegedly "pay no income tax" and are "dependent upon the government."
Where did Romney likely pick up the divisive idea that 47 percent of Americans "believe that they are victims" and mooch off the federal government? He certainly could have gotten it from Fox News, which championed the claim and touted it endlessly, including here, here, and here. In terms of the larger, "makers vs. takers" talking point which Romney echoed in his tape recorded comments, Fox News had pushed that malevolent themehere, here, here, here, and here.
Romney then followed-up his "47 percent" misstep with another high-profile blunder at the second presidential debate when, pressing the issue of the Benghazi terror attack and echoing bogus Fox News claims, the candidate claimed Obama had refused to immediately call the deadly raid an act of "terror."
Those two stumbles clearly represent examples of how Fox News directly influenced the Republican Party (how the tail wagged the dog) and how the Republican Party likely paid a very steep price for it. That's at the center of Bartlett's claim about party members being "brainwashed."
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And he's right.Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.
Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah has a question for you: "Would you play a Dragon Age Tactics game?" He's launched a Twitter poll asking fans to weigh in. Something to note here is that by "tactics" he says he means something along the lines of tactical franchises like XCOM or Fire Emblem.
Would you play a Dragon Age Tactics game? — Mark Darrah (@BioMarkDarrah) February 19, 2016
Your options are "Yes," "No," "Only on PC," and "Only mobile/handheld." Voting closes later today, so if you want your voice heard, now is the time to submit your response.
There is no guarantee that BioWare will indeed make a turn-based Dragon Age tactics game, of course, but it's still interesting to think about.
Darrah also clarified that if this game were to happen, it would not replace the mainline Dragon Age series, something fans will probably enjoy hearing.
@TalionGamer this would be in addition to the main series line as opposed to instead of — Mark Darrah (@BioMarkDarrah) February 19, 2016
This would also be a "full game," he mentioned.
Like the first Dragon Age, 2014's Dragon Age Inquisition allowed you to play from a top-down view for some portions, which amounted to something of a more tactical experience.
Inquisition is the latest entry in the main series; no new games have been announced.Education Minister David Eggen says he wants to reduce school fees paid by parents for mandatory items like textbooks and instructional materials.
"We recognize the importance of reducing school fees in the province," Eggen said in a year-end interview with CBC. "They've become quite expensive."
New figures released by Alberta Education show parents paid $44.8 million for those items in the current fiscal year. Parents paid another $40 million for transportation and $20.8 million for lunch supervision, bringing the total for mandatory fees to $105.6 million.
Parents paid another $54.8 million for instructional fees like technology, field trips and optional course fees.
Earlier this year, Eggen asked all 61 Alberta school districts to provide him with fee information. He found fees vary widely from district to district.
"It was a bit of wild west out there for a number of years," Eggen said. "There was no clear direction in regards to extra fees
"So it's high time we pulled it in and accounted for them, and made sure we pull out some of the things that are necessary for a student to meet the needs of the curriculum and the program of studies."
Eggen said he wants school boards to start accounting for the fees and evaluate whether some of them are truly mandatory.
The NDP promised during the provincial election campaign to reduce fees overall by half, with a goal of ending lunch supervision fees. Alberta's finances are squeezed right now so Eggen instead plans to focus more on items children need to learn.
With the economy in doldrums, many families would welcome some financial help, he said.
"There's more people that have less money out there that could probably use some help with school fees, so we're assessing it carefully," he said.Though we live in a noisy world, many people struggle with too much silence in their lives. They are either living alone or living with others who are engrossed in their own thing. (That’s easy to do in the digital age).
Sure, you can always click on the TV, the radio, or your latest digital gizmo. But what happens if you’re aching for a live person to talk to? To bounce ideas off of? To appreciate your accomplishments (big or small)?
When you’re feeling lonely, chances are you’re neglecting to give enough attention to a very special person. One who is always there with you. Who’s that? Why, you, of course. So, talk to yourself. Not just in your head. But out loud.
Talk to yourself out loud? Doesn’t that mean you’re becoming daft? Losing it? Ready for the funny farm?
Not at all.
Talking with yourself not only relieves the loneliness, it may also make you smarter. It helps you clarify your thoughts, tend to what’s important and firm up any decisions you’re contemplating. There’s just one proviso: You become smarter only if you speak respectfully to yourself.
I know one woman, a sane and lovely lady, who is not so lovely to herself. Her self-talk is a testament to everything she has done wrong. “You idiot!” is her hallmark headline, followed with a complete dressing down. “You should have done it this way; you should have been aware of that; you should have thought of it sooner.” That kind of self-talk is worse than no talk at all. So if your style is like her style, cut it out. Right now. Begin talking to yourself like you are your own best friend. Which you are. Right?
Here are four types of self-talk that will make you smarter and feel better about yourself:
Complimentary. Why wait to get compliments from another? If you deserve them, give them to yourself. Besides, most people aren’t going to have the foggiest notion about the little actions you take that serve you well. Like the time you were tempted but decided to bypass the ice cream shop because you honored your commitment to yourself to lose five pounds. Doesn’t that deserve a shout-out compliment such as, “I’m proud of you”? Or the time you finally accomplished a bunch of things that you’ve been meaning to do — doesn’t that deserve a shout-out “good job!”? Kids hear that phrase incessantly while most adults never hear it. Let’s fix that right now! Motivational.You may not feel like doing boring or difficult tasks. Live with others and they’ll give you a swift kick in the pants as a reminder to clean up your mess or tend to that tough task. But you can motivate yourself to get going with a much kinder voice. “Hey, sweetie-pie (that’s you you’re talking to). You’ve got time this morning to tidy up; how about it?” Or, “Hey, big guy, time to call your accountant before the IRS comes knockin’ at your door.” Outer dialogue. Having trouble with making a decision? Should you stay or should you go? Speak up or stay silent? Buy this gift or that gift? Choices aren’t easy. Indeed, because they’re so difficult, we often don’t really make a choice; we respond impulsively from habit or anxiety. It’s much more effective, however, to create a dialogue with yourself so that you can hear what you think. “I want to stay because of xxxx but I want to go because of yyyy. I’m clearly ambivalent. Nevertheless, l need to figure out which decision to make. Time to have an interesting dialogue with myself and see which way the wind is blowing.” Having such a dialogue can assist you in making a commendable compromise or a workable conciliation |
sunshine, inward joy;
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy!"
But if the farmer's boy, when a successful man of business, separates himself from the rank and file; if he forms alliance by marriage with European aristocracy; if he favors the social system and pleasures of the leisure class of Europe, he is playing into the hands of Socialism. He is creating classes in a democracy, and so is furnishing the factors for that "class struggle" which Karl Marx pronounces the evolutionary road to Socialism.
[13] The separation of heads of great corporations from their workmen, by the necessity that keeps one in a financial centre and the other in an industrial centre, suited to their special product; the separation in sympathy between capital and labor, as labor has become more and more foreign—all these causes have produced in America to-day what we denied existed a quarter of a century ago, namely, classes.
Success, too, separates the fortunate from the unfortunate. Not only is there a social change in the status of the man who has arrived, but there is little sympathy felt by him for the man who is left behind. Success and humility rarely go together. "Qu'il est difficile, messieurs, d'être victorieux et d'être humble tout ensemble!" cried the French orator, Fléchier, in his eulogy on Marshal Turenne. Our victorious captains of industry are not often enough Turennes,—at once successful and humble.
Under the circumstances of an increasing class separation in the United States, any-thing that can counterbalance undemocratic influences should be looked upon with favor. The Church to-day can help stem this undemocratic tide and can be of great social, industrial and political usefulness.
The permanent utility of the institution known as the Church is grounded in its power to affect association—to bring classes together. No other institution, except the state, gives one so large and permanent a tie with his fellows. The family is small and shifts. School and college meet the needs of only a part of our lives. Organizations for special objects, even great ends, are naturally one-sided and change complexion with success or failure, as can be seen in labor unions and political parties.
The Church represents a permanent interest from the cradle to the grave—a universal interest; an organization of ideals which all men can share and aspire to; an association of all classes in a common hope.
The best thing about the Sunday-night meetings at the Church of the Ascension—upon which the views expressed in this article are based—is that they have done just the thing the Church can and should do; they have brought extremes together—the rich and poor, the educated and uneducated. When thrown together the good in each is mutually appreciated. The sincerity of the capitalist and the honesty of the radical working-man have been made apparent. While no attempt to make proselytes was for [13/14] a moment contemplated or permitted, yet, to my surprise, a large number of persons, who supposed themselves hostile to religion, experienced in the course of these meetings almost an emotional conversion to a more peaceful and spiritual view.
The power of popular government is an ethical power. The masses cannot reason as well as a selected, trained aristocracy; but they reduce political problems to ethical terms and solve them by the use of a healthy conscience. The Church to-day, like the prophet of old, should be the voice of conscience and should keep a democracy true to its moral ideals.
PERCY STICKNEY GRANT.“You’re never short of good conversation here,” says Natalia, a vendor at Torzhok Sunday market. “That’s why I like working at the market — because there are a lot of intellectuals.” Natalia, the former head of a secondary school, now heads the market in the Tver region, roughly 300km north of Moscow. She is typical of those working there, many of whom were once civil servants, engineers, teachers, doctors, army officers or specialists in various Soviet enterprises, who lost their jobs in the late 1980s when a hefty cut in the state budget pushed people into other lines of work. Nor is Torzhok’s market different to those in other Russian towns. Over at the market in Satka, a town in the Southern Urals, the majority of hawkers are former workers from heavy industry, which collapsed following the dissolution of the USSR, as well as migrants from post-Soviet states.
Following the demise of the Soviet Union, unemployment meant that many of those working in the technical and scientific fields began new lives as market traders. Rough estimates indicate that by 1996, the main source of income for 41% of Russia’s economically active population, about 30 million people, was low-level trade.
Market and retail trade in Russia has always flourished during times of economic downturn. When the Civil War broke out in 1918, the meshochniki (suitcase salesmen) sprang into action. Likewise in the 1990s, when industrial production suffered a massive decline, the chelnochiki (import-export merchants) emerged and succeeded in setting up their own import-export businesses, thereby breaking the state monopoly on this kind of trade. It’s as if they’d all watched TV series which advised that in times of upheaval the public should “Drop everything! Buy goods and sell them for a profit!”
In Torzhok market, the number 15 kept being bandied around, mainly in relation to the number of years ago that traders started peddling their wares. Studying demographic patterns in the town reveals that 15 years ago, in the mid-1990s, Torzhok experienced its most significant population decline. It was then that most of its heavy industry closed down, while the remaining enterprises cut their workforce by over 50%. Unemployment forced many to seek alternative means of income. For years, residents lived in the hope that the economic crisis would end and that they would be able to return to their respective fields of expertise. Fifteen years later, and they’re still waiting.
A former teacher from Torzhok recalls that even after working extra hours she still could not solve her financial problems. “I normally bought 200g of pasta and two eggs. I’d prepare 100g of the pasta with one of the eggs in the evening to give to my son the next day. I’d finish anything he didn’t eat. The next day it was the same. I lost between eight and ten kilos. I had nothing to live on. In the end, I set up the first stall at this market. I was very ashamed. I kept on teaching but also selling at the market.”
The values of the Soviet intelligentsia do not sit well with the wheeler-dealer lifestyle
As members of the now obsolete Soviet techno-scientific intelligentsia, they view their new positions as an enforced step down, a lowering of their former social status. “For ten years I cried every morning when I left the house to go and sell footwear,” recalls the former head accountant of a factory. To this day her husband views working in the market as below him. Early each morning he helps her transport her goods to the market and erect her stall and then scarpers before the customers arrive. The values of the Soviet intelligentsia do not sit well with the wheeler-dealer lifestyle.
For a younger generation of small business owners, unburdened by memories of the Soviet past, it’s easier to adapt to the market environment. Unlike their elders, they do not suffer any crises in their worldview. The former heavy industry workers we met in Satka’s market rows found it equally easy to switch occupation. Their ability to use family connections to further commercial interests also set them apart from the “intelligentsia” traders of Torzhok. Traders in the Urals are much more likely to operate as whole families. Two or sometimes three generations can be involved in a single enterprise with a primitive division of labour. One person procures the goods, another takes care of transportation and a third mans the stall.
An examination of the type of sites where markets tend to spring up offers an insight into the cultural implications of such a large-scale socio-economic shift. In general, trading areas have surfaced in stadiums, parks, houses of culture, former factories, and bus and train stations. These public spaces have been adapted for trade because they offer some of the best transport connections as well as high footfall.
In the early 2000s, when certain industries began to pick up, municipal authorities thought they could banish flea markets from town centres. But the process of industrial regeneration occurred largely in big cities and Russia’s small towns are yet to recover from the financial crisis of the 1990s. Worse still, with an ever-growing number of Russians moving to cities, many smaller settlements risk losing their status as towns if populations drop below the required threshold of 50,000 people.
Russian markets are a symbol of financial crisis, a form of employment during straitened times
Satka and Torzhok belong to this category of towns at risk. Industry is not developing intensively enough and where it has been progressing, regeneration has involved advanced technologies that haven’t created new jobs. What’s more, weak consumer demand makes such towns unattractive to retail chains which means primitive forms of market trading are set to stay for a while yet. Meanwhile, in order to maintain an acceptable quality of life, the economically active population are either leaving town or taking to small-scale trade and business. Alternative social trajectories are available to few.
Unlike the traditional institution of the bazaar, as described by American anthropologist Clifford Geertz, Russian markets are rather a symbol of financial crisis, a form of employment during straitened times. The new social reality is also reflected in the way towns are now organised, with many former Soviet enterprises adapted for storage and market activity. In Torzhok, the Sunday market takes over the longest street in the town, closing it to all transport.
The market in Satka also occupies a central position atop a small hill that crowns the town’s main street, Solnechnaya Ulitsa. In contrast to Torzhok, Satka’s market is open daily. The offering at both is extremely varied: motorcycles, rugs, food and household cleaning products. Although there are barriers marking the official borders of the market, informal street trade spills out beyond them: in the central street, hawkers sell berries, potatoes and souvenirs. These informal stalls are manned by pensioners and people from nearby villages — in other words, the poorest inhabitants.
Traders are constantly trying to occupy new territories. The first floors of residential houses are being rebuilt and re-classified as commercial property. For a business owner, opening a shop in town presents new possibilities and is a symbol of a successful career. The shops in Torzhok and even several of the boutiques in the Tver region are the result of local business owners diversifying: the fact that they are opening salons or specialised outlets does not mean they are rushing to leave the bazaar. The boutiques on the central streets of the towns are in truth a continuation of the bazaar. They are about as traditional as the bazaar is modern.
The administrations of many small towns are no longer doing battle with criminals, but with the traders themselves
For more than 25 years, the municipal authorities of big and small towns have been trying to regulate markets and lead them out of the black and grey economic zones. In the 1990s, the markets were the birthplace of powerful criminal gangs that operated rackets. For example, the famous Uralmashevsky Group formed in the central market in Sverdlovsk. Nowadays organised crime has lost its control over retail trade but not because of the declared government crackdown. It’s more likely that major criminals have simply abandoned markets for more lucrative spheres.
So now, the administrations of many small towns are no longer doing battle with criminals, leeching off small-scale street trade, but with the traders themselves, combatting things like non-compliance with sanitary regulations and product standards. The local newspaper frequently report raids by police, trying for the umpteenth time to rid this or that bus station or park from street traders. These raids will continue until small towns such as Torzhok and Satka resolve their biggest problem: black market employment.
For Victoria, a former factory worker in Satka, leaving her job was not so difficult given that all aspects of life can be “equally hard”. “I’m not afraid of anything anymore. Would I be able to make it as a trader? What’s there to be afraid of?” she says. “We are already standing on our knees, so the worst that can happen is hitting the asphalt with your face. There is nothing scarier than death. As kids we were afraid of our parents when we were naughty, at work, of our bosses. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I’ll stand up for myself and my family in any situation.”North Canton police are investigating a gun-related incident sparked by a father-son dispute over attendance at school.
A father-son dispute over the young man’s refusal to stay in school Tuesday ended in arrest after investigators say he took his father’s gun and ammunition.
Hoover High School was on lockdown for about five minutes, said Jamie Smart, spokesperson for the North Canton school district.
Police Chief Stephan B. Wilder said the boy’s father called police at 9:33 a.m. to alert them.
Wilder said the boy, a 17-year-old junior, left Hoover High Tuesday morning and went to his home on Overland Avenue NE, where he met up with his father. An argument ensued and the teen left, grabbing his father’s revolver and ammunition from a vehicle. The revolver sported a gunlock, but the young man was able to remove it, Wilder said.
Police called the school, which went into lockdown mode.
But the boy did not go to the school.
As police continued to search for him, officers called Northwood Elementary School and St. Luke’s nursing home and assisted living center to ask them to lock down their buildings, but no lockdown was necessary.
Wilder said they were on the phone with St. Luke’s officials when officers spotted the young man walking east in the 200 block of Applegrove Street NE. Officers believe he was heading home.
When they tried to stop him at Overland and Chapel Hill Drive NE, he ran, police said. They were able to stop him.
He was arrested without incident, and police seized the loaded revolver, Wilder said. The loaded.357-caliber handgun was found in the young man’s waistband.
Officers said he had not gone to the schools or the nursing home.
The incident that began at 9:33 a.m. was over by 10 a.m., Wilder said.
“It’s our understanding that he has had some emotional issues in the past,” the chief said, adding that the young man was being taken to Akron Children’s Hospital for evaluation.
The incident remained under investigation and, Wilder said, the young man could be facing criminal charges.
Wilder said he plans to confer with the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office upon completion of the officers’ investigation into the incident.
“The safety of our students remains our number one priority,” the school system said in a news release shortly after the incident. “Due to the close working relationship between the North Canton City Schools and the North Canton Police Department, the issue was resolved quickly with as little disruption to the students as possible, while maintaining their safety at all times.”
Reach Lori at 330-580-8309 or lori.monsewicz@cantonrep.com.
On Twitter: @lmonsewiczREPBlue Bell Creameries announced that its first shipment of ice cream will ship to “select markets” on August 31, roughly four months after a Listeria contamination forced the company to issue a nationwide recall.
Blue Bell resumed production at its upgraded Alabama creamery in late July, while its Texas and Oklahoma facilities remain closed pending further upgrades.
“Over the past several months we have been working to make our facilities even better, and to ensure that everything we produce is safe, wholesome and of the highest quality for you to enjoy,” Ricky Dickson, Blue Bell’s vice president of sales and marketing said in a press release.
The company announced a phased shipment plan that will begin with deliveries to parts of Texas and Alabama and eventually fan out across 15 states.
Read next: This Instagram Artist Created a Stunning Portrait of Caitlyn Jenner Using Cereal
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Contact us at editors@time.com.Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump vowed today to “free NASA” from serving “primarily” as a logistics agency for low Earth orbit operations. He also supported more public private partnerships and asserted that if he wins “America and Florida will lead the way into the stars.”
Trump spoke at the Orlando Sanford International Airport today. Originally, he planned to visit Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Space Coast, but those plans changed over the weekend. Florida Today reported that the Trump campaign concluded there was no suitable indoor venue near KSC and outdoor locations posed security risks, but Trump did, indeed, speak outdoors at the Sanford rally. He mentioned that it was to have taken place inside an airplane hangar, but it was too small for the crowd.
The space program came up at the end of an almost hour-long speech (available on YouTube). The following is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s transcript:
“My plan also includes major investments in space exploration, also right here [in Florida]. You know what we call this place.
“Over the last 8 years, the Obama-Clinton administration has undermined our space program tremendously. That will change. So many good things come out of it, including great jobs. That will change very quickly under a Trump administration and it’ll change before it’s too late.
“Did you ever see what’s going on with space, with Russia and different places? And us? We’re, like, we’re like watching. Isn’t that nice? So much is learned from that, too.
“A cornerstone of my policy is we will substantially expand public private partnerships to maximize the amount of investment and funding that is available for space exploration and development. This means launching and operating major space assets, right here, that employ thousands and spur innovation and fuel economic growth.
“I will free NASA from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistics agency for low earth orbit activity. Big deal.
“Instead we will refocus its mission on space exploration. Under a Trump administration, Florida and America will lead the way into the stars. With a victory in November, everything will change. Just think about what we can accomplish in 100 days.”
His characterization of NASA as an agency whose primary mission is providing logistics to low Earth orbit (LEO) is surprising even assuming that his remarks were centered on the human spaceflight program and not NASA’s many robotic spacecraft in Earth orbit and elsewhere in the solar system. The only logistics flights to LEO associated with NASA are the commercial cargo missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Upcoming commercial crew flights would also fit under that categorization, but it ignores the the ISS itself and the round-the-clock, round-the-year crew presence that enables scientific experiments important to future human exploration.
His embrace of public-private partnerships, rather than being at odds with the Obama Administration, is an extension of President Obama’s policy, which itself built on the George W. Bush Administration’s commercial cargo initiative.
Still, these are the most extensive remarks from the candidate himself. Two campaign advisers, Robert Walker and Peter Navarro, published on op-ed in Space News last week laying out the broad strokes of a Trump civil space policy. They followed-up this week with a second op-ed addressing national security space, asserting that Trump would follow a “peace through strength” strategy. That includes a recognition that “many of our military needs can be met with commercially available launch, communications and observation capabilities,” an approach that will reduce costs and access new advances more quickly, they stated. “No space goals will be more important to Donald Trump than defense of our nation and that a freedom-loving people will lead the way to the heavens above.”
Walker is Executive Chairman of the Wexler|Walker lobbying firm and a former member of Congress from Pennsylvania who served as chairman of what is now the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House. He was part of Gingrich’s inner circle. Both are avid space supporters and advisers to Trump. Navarro is a Harvard-educated economist and business professor at the University of California-Irvine.So the University of Maryland's mens basketball schlepped up to Happy Valley over the weekend where they ended up beating the Nittany Lions 76-73 in what Deadspin described as "a hard-fought game that went down to the wire."
But the real action, Deadspin notes, came about midway through the first half when senior Dez Wells walked to the foul line to be greeted by chants of "No Means no! No means no!" from the home court crowd.
A little context:
Back in 2012, "Wells was kicked off of Xavier University's team and expelled from the school for "a serious violation of the Code of Student Conduct." Wells was accused of sexual assault. An Ohio grand jury, however, decided against hitting him with federal criminal charges," Deadspin reported.
Wells transferred to Maryland and sued Xavier, "claiming that the allegations were false, and only came after consensual sex. The two parties settled late last year," Deadspin reports.
We're all for trash talk -- it's part of the fun of going to a game. But it seems this might be one instance where Penn State could choose its jeers a little more carefully.
What do you think? Have your say in the comments.professional dancer
Lucia Joyce dancing at Bullier Ball – Paris, May 1929
Lucia Anna Joyce (26 July 1907, Trieste – 12 December 1982, Northampton) was a professional dancer and the daughter of Irish writer James Joyce and Nora Barnacle. Once treated by Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung, Joyce was diagnosed as schizophrenic in the mid 1930s and institutionalized at the Burghölzli psychiatric clinic in Zurich. In 1951, Joyce was transferred to St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton, where she remained until her death in 1982.
Early life and career [ edit ]
Lucia Anna Joyce was born in the Ospedale Civico di Trieste on 26 July 1907. She was the second child of Irish writer James Joyce and his partner (later wife) Nora Barnacle, after her brother Giorgio. Her parents being expatriates living in Trieste, Lucia's first language was Italian. In her younger years, she trained as a dancer at the Dalcroze Institute in Paris. Joyce studied dancing from 1925 to 1929, training first with Jacques Dalcroze, followed by Margaret Morris (granddaughter of William Morris), and later with Raymond Duncan (brother of Isadora Duncan) at his school near Salzburg.[2] In 1927, she danced a short duet as a toy soldier in Jean Renoir’s film adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "La Petite marchande d’allumettes" (The Little Match Girl). She furthered her studies under Lois Hutton, Hélène Vanel, and Jean Borlin, lead dancer of the Ballet suédois.[1]
In 1928, she joined "Les Six de rythme et couleur," a commune of six female dancers that were soon performing at venues in France, Austria, and Germany.[2] After a performance in La Princesse Primitive at the Vieux-Colombier theatre, the Paris Times wrote of her, "Lucia Joyce is her father’s daughter. She has James Joyce’s enthusiasm, energy, and a not-yet-determined amount of his genius. When she reaches her full capacity for rhythmic dancing, James Joyce may yet be known as his daughter’s father."[5] [3]
On 28 May 1929, she was chosen as one of six finalists in the first international festival of dance in Paris held at the Bal Bullier. Although she did not win, the audience, which included her father and the young Samuel Beckett, championed her performance as outstanding and loudly protested the jury’s verdict.[4] Her relationship with Samuel Beckett was one of unrequited affection. Allegedly, when Lucia was 21, she and Beckett, who was her father's secretary for a short time, became lovers. Their relationship lasted only a short while and ended after Beckett, who was involved with another woman at the time, admitted he was solely interested in having a professional relationship with James Joyce.[5]
At the age of 22, Joyce, after years of rigorous dedication and long hours of practice, decided "she was not physically strong enough to be a dancer of any kind".[6] Announcing she would become a teacher, she then "turned down an offer to join a group in Darmstadt and effectively gave up dancing."[7]
Her biographer Carol Shloss, however, argues that it was her father who finally put an end to her dancing career. James reasoned that the intense physical training for ballet caused her undue stress which in turn exacerbated the long-standing animosity between her and her mother Nora. The resulting incessant domestic squabbles prevented work on Finnegans Wake. James convinced her she should turn to drawing lettrines to illustrate his prose and forgo her deep-seated artistic inclinations.[8] To his patron Harriet Shaw Weaver, James Joyce wrote that this resulted in "a month of tears as she thinks she has thrown away three or four years of hard work and is sacrificing a talent".[9]
Mental illness and later life [ edit ]
Joyce started to show signs of mental illness in 1930, a year after she began casually dating the 23-year-old Samuel Beckett, then a junior lecturer in English at the Ecole normale supérieure in Paris. In May 1930, while her parents were in Zurich, she invited Beckett to dinner, hoping "to press him into some kind of declaration."[10] He flatly rejected her, explaining that he was only interested in her father and his writing. In his biography of James Joyce, Gordon Bowker argues that the underlying reasons for the rejection were Beckett's keen awareness of the "strong unfulfilled erotic bond between Lucia and her father" and her need to find "a genius father-substitute", together with "her predilection for unprotected sex."[11]
By 1934, she had participated in several failed affairs, with her drawing teacher Alexander Calder, another expatriate artist Albert Hubbell, and Myrsine Moschos, assistant to Sylvia Beach of Shakespeare and Company. As the year wore on, her condition had deteriorated to the point that James had Carl Gustav Jung take her in as a patient. Soon after, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the Burghölzli psychiatric clinic in Zurich. In 1936, James consented to have his daughter undergo blood tests at St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton. After a short stay, Lucia Joyce insisted she return to Paris, the doctors explaining to her father that she could not be prevented from doing so unless he had her committed. James told his closest friends that "he would never agree to his daughter being incarcerated among the English."[12]
Lucia Joyce returned to stay with Maria Jolas, the wife of transition editor Eugene Jolas, in Neuilly-sur-Seine. After three weeks, her condition worsened and she was taken away in a straitjacket to the Maison de Santé Velpeau in Vésinet. Considered a danger to both staff and inmates, she was left in isolation. Two months later, she entered the maison de santé of François Achille Delmas at Ivry-sur-Seine.[13]
In 1951, Joyce was again transferred to St Andrew's Hospital. Over the years, she received visits from Beckett, Sylvia Beach, Frank Budgen, Maria Jolas, and Harriet Shaw Weaver who acted as her guardian. In 1962, Beckett donated his share of the royalties from his 1929 contributory essay on Finnegans Wake in Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress to help pay for her confinement at St Andrew's.[14]
In 1982, Joyce suffered a stroke and died on 12 December of that year.[15] She is buried in Kingsthorpe Cemetery.
Legacy [ edit ]
Her mental state, and documentation related to it, is the subject of a 2003 study by Carol Shloss who believes Lucia Joyce to have been her father's muse for Finnegans Wake. Making heavy reference to the letters between Joyce and her father, the study became the subject of a copyright misuse suit by the James Joyce estate. On 25 March 2007, this litigation was resolved.[16][17]
In 2004, Joyce's life was the subject of Calico, a West End play written by Michael Hastings, and of the 2012 graphic novel Dotter of Her Father's Eyes by Bryan and Mary M. Talbot.[18] Another play exploring her life titled L was performed to a limited audience in Concord Academy from April 14–16, 2016. It was written and directed by Sophia Ginzburg.[19] In 2016, she was the subject of a biographical novel, The Joyce Girl by Annabel Abbs, which was published in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and translated into German, Spanish and Turkish. She is the protagonist of the "Round the Bend" chapter of Alan Moore's 2016 novel Jerusalem; set at the Northampton clinic where she spent her final years, the chapter is written in the style of her father's Finnegans Wake.
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Patry, William (2006), "The Patry Copyright Blog: Copyright's Wake" (concerning research done on Lucia as Joyce's muse). Retrieved 28 August 2015
Shloss, Carol Loeb. Lucia Joyce: To Dance in the Wake. Farrar, Straus, and Girous, New York, 2003. ISBN 0-374-19424-6WASHINGTON — A liberal public interest organization released a report Monday warning that any indictments from Special Counsel Robert Mueller would not benefit Democrats by election time.
According to a 34-page report from the Washington D.C. based Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA), researchers found that the party was looking to bring disgruntled Republican voters over to the Democratic Party side as opposed to reaching out to the progressive base.
The report, funded by Action for a Progressive Future, found the Democratic Party prioritized the “elusive Republican voters” over “people of color, young people and working-class voters overall” and called such a plan to be a “losing strategy.”
“The Democrats are mistaken if they think that revelations of Trump corruption will drive voters to their party in droves. Experience shows us that corruption charges generally breed cynicism, not citizen involvement,” IPA’s Richard Eskow said in a statement.
Eskow added, “That’s especially so in this case, where Republicans will undoubtedly bring up Tony Podesta as well Bill Clinton’s $500,000 speaking fee from a Russian bank.”
Manafort and his former business partner Richard Gates were charged by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia with 12 counts of conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
“The best way to fight cynicism is: Voters need to believe that their vote will actually change things for the better,” a spokesman from IPA stated.
The spokesman later said, “Rather than addressing topics beyond the control of the Democratic Party (whether FBI Director Comey, Russia, misogyny of some voters, etc.), this Autopsy focuses on some key factors that have been significantly under the party’s control.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer hoped Monday the Special Counsel investigation would continue “unimpeded” saying, “These reported indictments show that the special counsel’s probe is ongoing in a very serious way. The rule of law is paramount in America and the investigation must be allowed to proceed unimpeded.” (RELATED: Schumer Wants Special Counsel Probe To Continue Investigation ‘Unimpeded’)
WATCH: KEY ROLE IN INDICTMENT
Within the report, an aggregated data and analysis illustrate Democratic policies and campaign strategies of the national party hurt turnout from its base in the 2016 general election, according to IPA.
“After suffering from a falloff of turnout among people of color in the 2016 general election, the party appears to be losing ground with its most reliable voting bloc, African-American women,” IPA states.
IPA also makes suggestions such as eliminating the Democratic National Committee system and promote single-payer Medicare for all, free public college tuition, infrastructure and climate change issues.
Follow Kerry on TwitterTwenty-six kilometers away from the most iconic building of hoysaLa-s, the belUru kEshava temple, seated is a quiet village doDDagaddavaLLi hosting a peculiar yet extremely interesting temple complex built for dEvi mahAlakshmI. Though not as exuberant in intricacy and effusively iconographic as the other popular hoysaLa temples, doDDagaddavaLLi still offers a great insight into the evolution of hoysaLa style of architecture, the social life in the early hoysaLa period, the rare form of chatuShkUTa arrangement and its beautiful symmetry.
Built 900 years ago, in 1114 during the rule of the great viShNuvardhana, the temple is the lone hoysaLa construct of its kind – the quadruplet shrines. [bElUru has a single shrine, haLEbIDu has two, hosahoLalu and sOmanAthapura have three, and gOvindanahaLLi has the rare five shrines interconnected.] The village and the temple were not founded by the king or any of his ministers but by a merchant who enjoyed a great business success during the period. The mahA vaDDavyavahAri – kullahaNa rAhuta and his wife sahajAdEvi hailing from kolhApura were inspired by the deity herself to build this temple. The temple had become so prominent in that age that the village doDDagaddavaLLi earned the epithet of abhinava-kolhApura.
The sthapati of the temple is unambiguously a certain mallOja-mANiyOja; the disputable part though is, if the title represents one person or two persons – father and son, perhaps. Nonetheless, they were a significant pair of architect-sculptor of the early hoysaLa period, and have created a historical piece of architecture. The inscription in the temple complex explains: mallOja-mANiyOja built the temple of mahAlakshmI as if [it was] creation ofvishvakarma himself. It appears from the works of many modern day researchers that the duo were well versed in the shilpashAstra-s.
As evident from the above image, the structure not based on any elevated platform or jagati, the commonly found feature in the later hoysaLa architecture. The three vimAna-s are in the distinct kadamba style while that of the lakshmI dEvi shrine is in drAviDa style. Apart from the main four shrines, the complex has five more, smaller, but beautiful shrines – one each in the four corners bearing the sculpture of saLa stabbing a tiger and a little bigger shrine for bhairava consisting of a garbhagR~ha and a sukhanAsi, facing South. The entire complex of approximately 110’ x 120’ area has two entrances – one on to the East facing a tank and the other on to the West facing the village. The West entrance consists of a manTapa supported on sixteen ornate pillars while the same for the East entrance is missing. The main entrance into the shrine complex guarded by vaishNava dvArapalaka-s is facing West.
The immediate space upon entering the shrine complex is the navaranga receiving the shrine dedicated to kALi facing South. The main mUrti is a stunning life size sculpture of the dEvi seated on the back of rudra with a small mUrti of gaNapati at her feet. The shrine is guarded by two big mUrti-s of vEtALa facing each other, in the sukhanAsi. The navaranga ceiling has ornate carving of a male figure holding sword. The ceiling of the kALi shrine has lotus carving while the lintel has a tusked head with prEta-s on each side.
The kALi shrine is set little apart from the group of other three shrines which share a common navaranga with aShTadigpAla-s intricately carved out of the ceiling supported by pillars. The shrine facing the kALi shrine is dedicated to viShNu and the lintel at the entrance of the garbhagR~ha has yOgAnarasimha relief on it. The mUrti of viShNu – the kEshava form, though, is missing inside. To the left of the viShNu shrine is the shrine dedicated to bhUtanAtha, with a garbhgR~ha having an entrance lintel with a beautiful gajalakshmI relief. The mUrti of bhUtanAtha is in the li~Nga form. Exactly opposite to this is the shrine dedicated to lakshmIdEvi with no sukhanAsi attached unlike the other three shrines. The entrance lintel has tA~nDavEshvara relief. This aShTabhuja shiva image marks a milestone in the timeline of hoysaLa architecture – the first naTanA mUrti of shiva of hoysaLa shilpa. The dEvi mUrti is a sculpture of 4-5 ft tall in standing posture flanked by female attendants on each side. The dEvi is holding sha~Nkha in the upper right hand, chakra in the upper left, gadA in the lower left and bears an abhaya mudrA in the lower right hand.
The exterior of walls does not exhibit any intricate sculptures at all, expect the miniature of ornate gOpura-s at regular intervals, and one stunning sculpture of harasiddhi, the goddess who confers attainment of the desired ends to her votaries; the dEvi carries the Damaru, the kama~nDalu, the khaDga and a drinking vessel.
The enclosure of the temple complex has several mutilated sculptures lying around. It also houses a vIragallu [hero stone] and an all important stone inscription which details the story behind the village-temple building and explains the technical matter concerning the construction of the temple. The inscription is in ancient kannaDa and in hoysaLa kannaDa script – one of the most decorative forms in the evolution of the kannaDa script.
The village hosts another temple, much smaller in size, currently in a dilapid |
review in Kwok (2001).
The first planetary nebula ever seen by a human was the Dumbbell Nebula M27 in Vulpecula, which was discovered by Charles Messier on July 12, 1764. Charles Messier also discovered the second of these objects, the Ring Nebula M57 in Lyra in January 1779; this object was the first to be compared to a "fading" planet by Antoine Darquier in the same year. Following were the subsequent discoveries of the Little Dumbbell Nebula M76 in Perseus in September 1780, and the Owl Nebula M97 in Ursa Major in February 1781 by Pierre Méchain.
These four planetaries are the only ones which found their way into Messier's catalog, and all which were known to summer 1782, before William Herschel entered the scene. Among his early discoveries, even before he really started his comprehensive scanning the of the deep sky with large telescopes, was that of another famous planetary nebula, the Saturn Nebula NGC 7009 (his H IV.1) in Aquarius, in September 1782.
William Herschel eventually invented the name "Planetary Nebula" for these objects in his classification of nebulae in 1784 or 1785, because he found them to resemble the planet newly discovered by him, Uranus. On November 13, 1790, Herschel found the planetary nebula NGC 1514 (his H IV.69), which has a very bright central star; thus he became convinced that the planetary nebulae were nebulous material (gas or dust) associated with a central star, and not unresolved clusters as he and others had thought previously.
William Herschel classified 79 of his objects as planetary nebulae, but only 20 of them actually are of this type, together with 13 others which he had classified differently, bringing his total to 33 to 1794. The next couple of discoveries was made in the 1820s, when Karl Ludwig Harding and William Herschel's son John Herschel discovered each one, Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve found two, and James Dunlop five of these objects; John Herschel added another 16 southern planetaries between 1834 and 1837, so that his General Catalogue (GC) of 1864 contains a total of 62 planetary nebulae - two of them having two entry numbers each (M76 = GC 385/386 = NGC 650/651, and H II.316/317 = GC 1519/1520 = NGC 2371/2372). J.L.E. Dreyer's 1877 addendum to the GC lists an additional 6, plus one rediscovery (duplication). His NGC catalog of 1888 contains 94 (again with two entry numbers for each of the two objects listed above, plus a total of two duplications), and the IC catalog of 1895 and 1907 has an additional 35 IC objects; the IC also contains 3 more duplicate entry numbers for planetary nebulae (plus one for a knot in another one, IC 4677 in NGC 6543). Together with the only one discovered but not included into either of these to the time of IC II (BD+30 3639, "Campbell's Hydrogen Star"), this was a total of 130 objects to 1907. During the 1910s and 1920s, only few new planetary were found, a recent count of the present author brought up a number of 153 planetary nebulae known to 1930 (not all recognized as such objects at that time). A notable summary, the first catalog devoted solely to planetary nebulae and a photographic atlas, was published by Heber D. Curtis in 1918 (Curtis 1918). Eventually, Steven Hynes' book (Hynes 1991) lists a total of 1340 planetaries known to about 1991. Today, databases like SIMBAD contain over 3,000 planetary nebulae (early 2014).
The radiation emitted by the planetary nebula is remarkable because of its peculiar spectrum, as was discovered for the planetary nebula NGC 6543 (also known as Cat Eye Nebula) by the English amateur astronomer and pioneer of astronomical spectroscopy, William Huggins, on August 29, 1864 and published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of 1864 and later in the Nineteenth Century Review of June 1897 - according to Hynes (1991):
As expected for gaseous emission nebulae, the spectra of planetaries consist of emission lines, but 90 to 95 % of the visible light are emitted in one single emission line only! This `Chief Nebular Line' occurs at 500.7 nm (5007 Angstrom), in the green part of the spectrum. It is this circumstance that planetary nebula brightnesses differ significantly if determined with various methods: These objects are often considerably brighter (up to 2 magnitudes, a factor of more than 6) visually than photographically, because the 5007 Angstrom line lies close to the highest sensitivity of the human eye. Also, as films are often less sensitive in the green part of the spectrum, it is difficult to get a good "true color" image of planetary nebulae. As this spectral line at 5007 Angstrom could not be assigned to a known element at the time of its discovery, Huggins suspected it must be emitted from a previously unknown substance, which was called "nebulium". It was not before 60 years later that the "nebulium" spectrum was identified (by the American astro-physicist Ira S. Bowen) to be caused by forbidden lines of double ionized "normal" oxygen, "[O III]" (with the square brackets).
Besides the "nebulium" [OIII] lines, other emission lines occur in the planetary nebula spectra in weaker intensity. These include more forbidden lines of ionized oxygen, neon, nitrogen, and other abundant elements, as well as permitted lines of hydrogen and helium, as well as fluorescence O III lines in case of strong He II emission. Also, a very week continuum underlies the line spectrum, which is due to interactions of electrons with ions.
Our Sun will probably reach this state of evolution at an age of about 10-13 billion years; as it is now only about 4.7 billion years old, we have probably some time left until this event happens.
The planetary nebula has only a short life compared to the time scales in stellar evolution, being visible only a few thousands or 10,000s of years, and then fading out as its matter is spread in the cosmic environment, enriching the interstellar matter with carbon, oxygen, and other elements. Its central star cools down to a white dwarf. This is the reason that, although there are very many sunlike stars among the hundreds of billions in our Milky Way galaxy, which now come into age (especially in the globular clusters), the number of planetary nebulae in the Galaxy is of order of 10,000s only: Accounting for a number of uncertainties, estimates have been given that there are probably only between 15,000 and 60,000 planetary nebulae (of which only about 3,000 could yet be detected, the other being hidden behind obscuring interstellar dust). Of the about 150 globular clusters with each several 100,000 stars, planetary nebulae have been discovered only in 4 of them, namely Pease 1 in M15, IRAS 18333-2357 in M22, and the two recently discovered planetary nebulae Jafu 1 and Jafu 2 in globular clusters Palomar 6 and NGC 6441, respectively (Jacoby and Fullton 1997; also see George Jacoby's Planetary Nebula gallery).
There are also only few, if any, planetary nebulae found in open star clusters. The reason for this fact is again the short lifetime of these objects. Once it had been thought that, as planetary nebulae occur only late in the life of a star (for stars of an initial mass of 1 solar mass, after about 10 billion years), and these stellar swarms tend to dissolve in times shorter than that needed for a star to evolve in a planetary nebula (typically, less than 1 billion years); low-mass stars of less than about 3 solar masses have considerably more than 1 billion years of lifetime in their hydrogen-burning phase. With the discovery of a number of white dwarf stars in young clusters, such as the Pleiades, M45, of only about 100 million years of age, it became clear that stars of initial masses of at least up to 6 solar masses will develop to White Dwarfs: These stars must have started their life with a high mass so that they evolved rapidly, but lost a significant portion of their mass during their lifes, probably in the form of strong stellar winds, and must have gone through a planetary nebula stage. The upper limit for the initial mass of a star to develop to White Dwarf is now thought to be at about 8 to 9 solar masses (more massive stars are thought to end up in a supernova explosion).
It seems that because of the short lifetime of this stage, there is only one faint planetary nebula, PHR J1315-6555 (PN G305.3-03.1), which was discovered to be a member of open cluster ESO 96-SC04 (cluster discovered 1967, nebula around 2000). The more wellknown cases of the planetary nebula NGC 2438 which is observed in the same direction as M46, and NGC 2818. projected on the inconspicuous, rather old open cluster, NGC 2818A, are apparently chance alignments.
The cooling process of the white dwarf goes on until all thermal energy is radiated, and the star approaches a stable "end state" as "black dwarf" after many billion years - the universe is probably still much too young to contain any "cooled-out" black dwarf.
Planetary nebula are often typized for their appearance, according to the Vorontsov-Velyaminov scheme:
1 Stellar Image
2 Smooth disk (a, brighter toward center; b, uniform brightness; c, traces of a ring structure)
3 Irregular disk (a, very irregular brightness distribution; b, traces of ring structure)
4 Ring structure
5 Irregular form, similar to a diffuse nebula
6 Anomalous form
Another interesting, though rarely used classification scheme had been proposed by Stuart R. Pottasch (Pottasch 1984), the "excitation classes:" Running from excitation class 1 to 10, with increasing degree of ionization of the various chenical elements in the nebula. For example, class I has considerably stronger lines from O II (single ionized O) than from O III (double ionized O), He II comes in with class VI, and Ne V with class 8. The excitation class of the nebula is related to the properties of the central star, in particular surface gravity and surface effective temperature. Messier's planetary nebulae are classified by Pottasch in excitation classes as follows: M27, class 7p to 8p; M57, class 6p to 8p; M76, class 8p; and M97, unclassified. Grigor Gurzadyan (Gurzadyan 1991) uses a slightly modified classification, running from class 1 to 12, with increasing degree of ionization. He classifies the Messier planetary nebulae as: M27, M57, M76, all class 10; and M97, class 8.
All individual planetary nebulae mentioned in this page, including the four Messier objects, are members of our Milky Way Galaxy. Planetary nebulae have also been discovered in other galaxies with large telescopes, including the Large and the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Andromeda Galaxy M31, M33, M32, and NGC 6822 as well as other galaxies in the Local Group and beyond. It is very probable that they are common in all galaxies.
Nebulium, from the History of Astronomical Spectroscopy website
Supernova Remnants
Dark Nebulae
Last Modification: October 22, 2018User Nytraulics is on a quest to change the way shooter games both look and play using our platform, as evidenced by Underscore, a recently submitted work in progress that looks unlike anything we’ve ever seen on ROBLOX. Though Underscore is more of a tech demo than an actual game (you can move around, utilize the camera system, fire your weapon, etc.), the possibilities that this sort of advanced system could bring about are endless. The user interface is polished–it looks like something from a triple-A console game. The weapons he’s created feel unique, a combined effect of custom animations and sounds coupled with detailed weapons constructed using individual parts. He’s also intentionally writing “engine” code, meaning he will be able to use it to power additional maps and game play styles in the future. We thought we’d catch up with Nytraulics to discuss how Underscore was created and where he hopes it’ll go.
The Tech
Nytraulics’ idea to create a game with an over-the-top perspective came from tower defense games, though his vision included another layer of complexity: he wanted the user to be able to move the camera, in real-time and on the go.
“The new GetMouse feature that ROBLOX added last month really helped,” said Nytraulics. “I took the camera, did some math with CFrame and Vector3, and arrived at a way to get the camera to look down on the player.”
Once the angle was right, Nytraulics had to get the camera to move smoothly. He took the math he did to create the proper angle and applied a customizable script over top the camera’s fixed location. This allowed him to control the perspective of the camera at any given time.
When you’re playing Underscore, the camera perspective can be aligned to four different focus points–you switch between these points using the “q” and “e” keys. It’s an interesting system that gives adept players the option of rotating the angle of the camera with on the direction they’re heading.
Once Nytraulics had created the free-flowing camera system, he needed to populate his game world. To do so, he decided to work with friend and scripter Redditor, who he had worked with previously on another game called Bracket. Bracket is a concept game, as well–it’s a first-person shooter that features advanced animations and controls (e.g., the ability to sprint and aim down the sights of your weapon by right clicking).
Nytraulics ported the weapons featured in Bracket, as well as the sense of speed–Underscore is a noticeably fast-paced game that may be slightly intimidating for first-time players. After playing ROBLOX for a while, you begin to get an overall feeling of pacing in each of the games. In Underscore, thanks to custom movement objects and a custom-made body velocity movement gyro, pacing and movements are totally different than what you’ve come to expect. The game was also built around a custom framework called Tabby–it focuses primarily on objected-oriented programming using Lua.
You don’t need to know all the underlying technical details to realize how unique Bracket and Underscore are–within 10 seconds of running around and firing your gun you’ll notice how much work has gone into customizing the experience. And it’s fast.
The Experience
“Our system allows players to look freely around the map without changing perspectives,” says Nytraulics. “In the test level we have now, there’s a trampoline that uses our custom movement system. We had to tweak the velocity settings manually to get it to work.”
Now that Nytraulics and Redditor have finished building a template of sorts, they’re in the process of figuring out what kind of game Underscore is going to be. Nytraulics wants to create a game that takes facets of many popular shooters, including Counter-Strike and Call of Duty. He explains:
“Underscore is going to be a team-based shooter, and we want to focus on unique objectives that you’ll have to work together on to beat. This isn’t going to be team versus team, this is going to a collaborative game where you have to work together. I’ve also been experimenting with a Counter-Strike-type purchasing system for guns and items. Lastly we want Underscore to have its own aesthetic, so we’re focusing on making the guns and environments look totally unique.”
Both Nytraulics and Redditor have a long path ahead of them, but they’ve created the base foundation for something that is already a first for ROBLOX. We can’t imagine how crazy and frantic the game will become once they add enemies to it. For now, the 14-year-old programmer has lofty ambitions for the future.
“Underscore will have five or six maps, and three or four game modes before we’ll be able to say, ‘done,'” says Nytraulics. “So it depends on how quickly we can do those things. We’re pretty good about coding functional stuff and fixing things quickly. I estimate this will be ready to play in about three months.”
We’ll keep an eye out, and you should too.I Dream of Wires is a new documentary about the history of the modular synthesizer. Among its many interviews is one with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor and Alessandro Cortini that took place in Reznor's studio. Below, watch a 12-minute extended version of the interview, not featured in the theatrical cut of the film.
The documentary also features interviews with Gary Numan, Vince Clarke, Throbbing Gristle's Chris Carter, Clark, Factory Floor, Morton Subotnick, Jimmy Edgar, James Holden, and others. Watch a trailer for the film below the interview.
The film's four-hour extended cut, the Hardcore Edition, is available to order on DVD and Blu-ray. The film's theatrical cut will premiere in the spring.
The soundtrack to I Dream of Wires was composed by Solvent. Listen to "King Vincent" from the soundtrack here.The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, said Tuesday that telecoms operator Asiacell will offer free access to the website to its nearly 12 million mobile phone customers in war-torn Iraq.
The partnership is the first by a telecoms operator in Iraq and the foundation’s Wikipedia Zero project, which waives mobile data fees to subscribers of participating telecom operators so they can access Wikipedia without using their mobile data.
The news was announced at the Mobile World Congress, the biggest mobile event of the year, in Barcelona in northeastern Spain, which wraps up on Thursday.
“Asiacell customers will be able to edit Wikipedia without mobile data charges — adding to and improving articles in their preferred language and sharing knowledge of Iraq’s rich cultural history, heritage and its people with the rest of the world,” the foundation said in a statement.
Like Wikipedia, Facebook and Google also operate programmes internationally that exempt from users’ data caps to help boost access to information in developing nations.
Asiacell was the first mobile telecommunications provider in Iraq to achieve nationwide coverage. Its network covers 99 percent of the Iraqi population.
Wikipedia, which has over 40 million articles in nearly 300 languages, is written by volunteers around the world and its articles are edited by registered users.
It has been run since 2003 by a non-profit organisation, the Wikimedia Foundation, which is headquartered in San Francisco in the United States.
Wikipedia receives more than a billion single visits a month, making it one of the most visited websites in the world, according to the foundation. DM
Are You A South AfriCAN or a South AfriCAN'T?
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From the #GuptaLeaks into State Capture to the Scorpio exposés into SARS, Daily Maverick investigations have made an enormous impact on South Africa and it's political landscape. As we enter an election year, our mission to Defend Truth has never been more important. A free press is one of the essential lines of defence against election fraud; without it, national polls can turn very nasty, very quickly as we have seen recently in the Congo.
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Please or create an account to view the comments. To join the conversation, sign up as a Maverick Insider.Report callers to Google, and also the FTC or the FCC.
to Google, and also the FTC or the FCC. Hang up the phone. Do not press any key, even if the voice recording prompts you to in order to speak with a live person or to be taken off the call list.
Do not press any key, even if the voice recording prompts you to in order to speak with a live person or to be taken off the call list. Contact your phone company to see if they can block calls from any numbers.
to see if they can block calls from any numbers. Register your personal number with the National Do Not Call Registry at: https://www.donotcall.gov/register/reg.aspx or call 1-888-382-1222.
You’re eating dinner with your family when the phone rings, and you see a phone number that you don’t recognize. You answer and hear a recording:This is a common type of robocall, or automated phone call that delivers a pre-recorded message to sell or market services. Some, like informational notices from a doctor’s office, airline or pharmacy, can be useful and are allowed by law. Many others, however, are both useless and illegal in the United States. As the FTC explains : “if the recording is a sales message and you haven't given your written permission to get calls from the company on the other end, the call is illegal.”Robocallers have targeted Google users for many years. Callers commonly bombard recipients—usually small business owners or individuals—with misleading offers and promotions for improving Google Search and AdWords rankings, or to improve their Google My Business profile. Since the beginning of 2015, we’ve received hundreds of complaints from users about robocalls they’ve received from businesses claiming to be affiliated with Google.These illegal calls are a huge nuisance, cause small businesses and Google users to unnecessarily worry, and can lead to rip-offs. Illegal robocalls never have, and never will, come from Google.Unfortunately, this is part of a much larger issue that extends beyond just Google users and customers. The FCC received 215,000 complaints about robocalls in 2014, the FTC gets approximately 150,000 complaints about them every month and says it has brought more than 100 lawsuits against more than 600 companies and individuals responsible for billions of illegal robocalls, to date. Robocallers impersonate many different companies, and have even impersonated the local police, the IRS, and the FTC itself.If you receive illegal robocalls, here are a few things you can do right now to protect yourself:It’s difficult for Google to take action against callers because they often use untraceable phone numbers, fake company names, and massive global networks of intermediaries. However, today we’re filing an action in California against one search engine optimization company for making these robocalls and confusing our users. It’s unfortunate when a problem must be addressed in a court of law, but we believe this course of action will protect our users and discourage this practice more broadly.Running a small business is hard work under the best of circumstances. Dealing with illegal robocallers isn’t just a waste of time, it can result in wasted resources and significant damage to your business. We hope these tips, and shining a light on the issue, will help discourage and eventually eliminate this practice.The search engine optimization company that we took legal action against has now agreed to stop making these calls, which is a great outcome for consumers: fewer misleading calls and interrupted meals!As online campaign gathers support, Downing Street confirms PM will not be withdrawing invitation to US president
An online petition calling for Donald Trump to be prevented from making an official state visit to the UK has passed 1m signatures.
The petition, on the government’s official petitions site, which at one point was being signed by more than a thousand people a minute, quickly reached the 100,000 signatures needed to be considered for a debate in parliament.
This Trump petition shows UK citizens will not bend a knee to hate | Suzanne Moore Read more
However, Downing Street confirmed that Theresa May would not be withdrawing her invitation to the US president because it remained “substantially in the national interest”.
The petition, which falls short of calling for Trump to be banned from the UK, argues that he should not receive a full state visit, including audiences with the royal family, “because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen”.
The petition’s creators said: “Donald Trump’s well-documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by the Queen or the Prince of Wales. Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official state visit.”
As global condemnation of the ban spread, British Conservative politicians joined the Labour party and Liberal Democrats in questioning May’s decision to go ahead with a state visit during which Trump would be courted by the government and royalty.
Jeremy Corbyn called for the visit to be postponed while Trump’s immigration ban was in place. He also questioned why May was so quick to invite the president given his controversial policies. “Donald Trump should not be welcomed to Britain while he abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees’ and women’s rights,” the Labour leader said.
“Theresa May would be failing the British people if she does not postpone the state visit and condemn Trump’s actions in the clearest terms. That’s what Britain expects and deserves.”
Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, said in an interview on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the invitation should be withdrawn and should never have been made. “What I am opposed to is Theresa May, when she should have gone over to the States to defend our corner and stand up to Donald Trump, has gone over and held his hand and is being seen now as giving him a royal audience in the United Kingdom,” Farron said.
“She should be standing up for British people and British interests, not going over there and tickling his tummy.”
Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Conservative party in Scotland, released a statement saying state visits were designed “to celebrate and entrench the friendships and shared values” between countries. Trump, she said, should not be welcomed to Britain “while a cruel and divisive policy which discriminates against citizens of the host nation is in place”.
Writing in the Guardian, the Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said that while the state visit would be likely to go ahead, how it was done would provide an important “symbol”. She argued that Westminster Hall ought to be reserved for leaders who had made a lasting and positive difference to the world. “That does not include Mr Trump. No doubt there will be those who wish to fawn over him but that must not be from the steps of our nation’s greatest hall,” she said.
Parliament has already held a debate about Trump following a public petition about whether to ban the Republican presidential frontrunner from entering the UK after he originally floated the idea of banning Muslims from America. MPs described him as a “fool”, a “buffoon” and a “wazzock” in the lengthy parliamentary debate in January last year.
Last year’s petition calling for a second EU referendum following the vote for Brexit was the largest parliamentary petition on record. It was signed by more than four million people.
In addition to the anti-Trump petition, campaigners from groups including Stand Up to Racism are planning to organise “the biggest demonstration ever” to coincide with the US president’s visit. On a Facebook event page, organisers said: “The invitation to Donald Trump for a state visit will be opposed by millions in Britain. Our government should not be seen to be endorsing the sorts of ideas and policies he is putting forward. We are committed, along with other campaigning organisations including Stop the War, People’s Assembly against Austerity and CND, to oppose this visit and to organise mass protests if it takes place.”
Downing Street was asked for a response to the calls to cancel his state visit. A spokesman said: “We extended the invite and it was accepted.” Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.
By late on Monday evening the petition had been signed by over 1.5 million people.How did the United States military and a song about the War of 1812 become so inextricably associated with American sports? It didn’t happen overnight
The playing of the Star-Spangled Banner is so familiar and perfunctory a trapping of sporting events in the United States that few Americans even bothered to consider what it means and why it’s a tradition until last year when Colin Kaepernick chose to take a knee in protest of police violence and racial inequality. The stakes were redoubled this September when Donald Trump called on NFL owners to fire any players who kneel, recasting Kaepernick’s movement as not a protest of social injustice but an affront on patriotism and an insult to the military soldiers who paid the ultimate price for freedom.
But how did a song about the War of 1812 that wasn’t even adopted as the national anthem until the 1930s become so indelibly bound to the American sporting experience? It didn’t happen overnight.
Colin Kaepernick’s dignified protest echoes the spirit of Jackie Robinson | Richard Williams Read more
While the first documented performance of the Star-Spangled Banner at a sporting event was before an 1862 baseball game in Brooklyn, the anthem as game-day ritual became crystallized in the national consciousness during Game 1 of the 1918 World Series between the Red Sox and Cubs at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. These were the days before stadium sound systems that blast pop music at ear-splitting volumes during even the thinnest slivers of down time. Live music was a luxury that incurred the cost of hiring a military band, which left renditions of the anthem for special occasions like opening day or the World Series.
The United States had lost more than 100,000 soldiers in the 17 months since entering the first world war and morale had been further undercut by the bombing of the Chicago Federal Building only four days earlier, an attack that killed four people and injured 30 more. Attendance for the opener was low and public morale was lower, while a pitchers’ duel – ultimately won by Boston pitcher Babe Ruth! – did little to stoke passions in the stands.
That was until the military band on hand played the Star-Spangled Banner during the seventh-inning stretch and Red Sox third baseman Fred Thomas, playing the Fall Classic while on furlough from the US Navy, stood at attention toward the flag atop the pole in right field.
“The yawn was checked and heads were bared as the ball players turned quickly about and faced the music,” read the New York Times’ account the following day. “First the song was taken up by a few, then others joined, and when the final notes came, a great volume of melody rolled across the field. It was at the very end that the onlookers exploded into thunderous applause and rent the air with a cheer that marked the highest point of the day’s enthusiasm.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Members of the New York Yankees baseball team hold their caps over their hearts during the national anthem before Game 8 of the 1921 World Series. Photograph: FPG/Getty Images
The song wouldn’t be officially adopted as the national anthem until a congressional resolution in 1931, but the impact of the moment was not lost on baseball’s power brokers, who had stood by as the government began drafting major league ballplayers for military service while shortening the season by a month.
“Professional sports needed to define themselves as patriotic in order to be seen as as part of the war on the home front and center for morale rather than as an expendable entertainment which is how they were initially,” says Mark Clague, an associate professor of musicology at the University of Michigan who is one of the nation’s foremost experts on The Star-Spangled Banner, lest we believe anything but the owners’ self-interest made the anthem into the ubiquitous tradition we know today.
Clague says the development and proliferation of stadium technology enabling the playing of pre-recorded music combined with a groundswell of patriotism during and after the second world war has given the anthem an almost continuous place in baseball in the years since. Football was similarly keen to wrap itself in the flag with NFL commissioner Elmer Layden in 1945 calling for a league-wide adoption of the anthem, saying: “The national anthem should be as much a part of every game as the kick-off. We must not drop it simply because the war is over. We should never forget what it stands for.”
Says Clague: “When world war two happened, professional sports had really figured out that patriotism was good for their business and it protected them against this question of being defined as a non-essential occupation.”
Criticism over anthem etiquette is nearly as old as the tradition itself. In 1954, Arthur Ellers, the Baltimore Orioles’ general manager and a world war one veteran, bemoaned that spectators conversed and laughed and moved around while the anthem was played. Celebrities enlisted to perform the anthem from Roseanne to Christina Aguilera to R Kelly have absorbed withering criticism, while a long line of athletes prior Kaepernick have taken heat for falling short in their fealty, either intentionally or otherwise.
These days, the 203-year-old song has exposed a fault line between those who see the anthem and flag as ideals beyond reproach and others who believe patriotism is contingent on how a country treats its citizens. But the NFL’s place on the front lines of the debate is curious when you consider that players weren’t even required to stand on the field for the anthem, with the exception of the Super Bowl and extraordinary circumstances such as the aftermath of 9/11, until 2009. That the hurlyburly threatening the future of America’s most popular sports league centers on an eight-year-old tradition really is something.
The bombastic pre-game spectacles of patriotism that had become commonplace at NFL games began to make sense in 2015, after a report by Republican senators John McCain and Jeff Flake revealed the Department of Defense had spread $6.8m of taxpayer money among more than 50 professional teams across the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS and Nascar. In return, the teams promised organized displays of national pride including the honoring of members of the armed forces, surprise military homecomings and on-field color guard and reenlistment ceremonies. The co-opting of America’s most popular institutions as recruiting tools went by an easy-to-remember name: paid patriotism.
“Americans deserve the ability to assume that tributes for our men and women in military uniform are genuine displays of national pride, which many are, rather than taxpayer-funded DOD marketing gimmicks,” the 145-page report said.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and a longtime champion of civil rights, was to the point in his defense of Kaepernick for the Washington Post. He wrote: “What should horrify Americans is not Kaepernick’s choice to remain seated during the national anthem, but that nearly 50 years after [Muhammad] Ali was banned from boxing for his stance and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ raised fists caused public ostracization and numerous death threats, we still need to call attention to the same racial inequities. Failure to fix this problem is what’s really un-American here.”
Stick to sports? Good luck. It’s clear by now that the battle hymn at the center of national debate in the US will always be associated with the games we watch. If only our commitment to the issues put forth by Kaepernick and co was as resolute.Responsive design, which allows designers and developers to build websites that adapt to every screen size, is one of the most empowering web tools to be adopted in the last decade.
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Responsive philosophy is not just about designing websites that adapt to screen size. But adapting to the screen is only the first frontier of a new, responsive web. Today, users expect online experiences that not only respond to what device they’re using, but also their location, time of day, what they’ve already read, and events happening in real time. To capture a user’s attention for the next generation of the web, you’ll need more than just responsive design. You’ll need a responsive philosophy.
What Print Newspapers Get Right When you look at the print version of any major print publication over time, you realize that they don’t just have a couple of templates. They have hundreds. They have the ability to respond to any combination of events with a design that gives each event the proper editorial weight. Somehow, we’ve lost that ability on the web. Most homepages use the exact same layout, day in and day out. And it’s not just homepages. Article pages–where most users first land on websites–look exactly the same, too. To a user, a day when war breaks out in Iraq can feel exactly the same as a day when the biggest news is a change in Bieber’s hairstyle. These limitations aren’t just stifling for readers. The lack of variation in online presentation limits a news organization’s ability to communicate its perspective and editorial voice to readers through design choices.
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It’s no wonder that some publications feel so one-dimensional online: not all are equipped respond to events with the cultural understanding and editorial vision that once made newspapers so essential. Websites should do more than respond to devices. Web experiences should respond to multiple contexts so that they’re meaningful to every reader, in every moment, on every device.
Solutions For Adopting A Truly Responsive Design One example of this approach is the reuse of elements. We’ve long noticed that publishers invest massive amounts of energy and resources designing front-page and section treatments, and spend too little time designing elements for the articles themselves. An easy way around this is to empower editors to reuse packages of content originally designed for one context anywhere on the site, and make these packages automatically respond to their context. For example: on the homepage, a gallery might expand to take over the entire width of the page. On an article page, it might |
the "rites of passage" of adolescent maturation when a child transforms and "has to go into the world".[14] He said that he was influenced by personal exposure every day as he grew up to "violent, dark, cautionary fairy tales" that "prepare children for the future obstacles in the wider world", as well as his "deep love for the mystical qualities of David Lynch movies", by the patterns of narrative that he prefers because of his dyslexia, and by working as a child in his parents' puppetry company.[14]
In an interview with Film School Rejects, Wright acknowledged David Lynch as a major influence on Hanna[15] and also pointed to The Chemical Brothers' score: "You can expect an extraordinarily loud, thumping, deeply funky score that will not disappoint".[15] The music, including The Devil Is In The Beats[16][17] and The Devil Is In The Details,[18] underscores the movie's style,[14] recalling Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange[19] with musical motifs consistent with Wright's "fairy tale theme"[19] of childhood innocence confronting the modern "synthetic" world.[19] Several reviewers have commented that the movie has a hyper-stylized Kubrickian tone, reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange.[20] The "Kubrick-esque" style[21] includes Isaacs' "gleeful sadism... at times darkly comedic,"[22] a whistling villain reminiscent of Alex DeLarge.[21] Joe Wright's "love of fairy tales and David Lynch movies"[14] was seen as blending A Clockwork Orange [22][23] and the work of the Brothers Grimm.[22][24]
Richard Roeper judged it to be a "surreal fairy tale" with "omnipresent symbolism".[25] Matt Goldberg said it was "an effective and surreal dark fairy tale"......"with a dreamlike sensibility......Everything in the picture is slightly askew and provides immediacy to Hanna’s offbeat coming-of-age tale......a film that refuses to exist solely in the realm of reality or fairy tale......'gritty' realism simply isn’t worthy of the story he’s trying to tell."[26] Fairy tale motifs are strewn through the film.[24][27][28] In the "tightly-edited patchwork of visual iconography, allusion and symbolism"[29] Wiegler is equated with the Big Bad Wolf[22][27][28] or the queen in Snow White.[30] "Classic fairy tale movie tropes abound;"[29] for example, the camera spins in obvious circles as Hanna makes her escape from the underground government facility early in the film, "just as the young heroine’s world is spinning out of control."[29] Peter Bradshaw found the fairy tale mythology "unsubtle".[31] Conversely, some reviewers did not comment on the fairy tale elements,[32][33][34][35] and others did so with expressive reservation.[30][36]
Kyle Munkittrick of Discover magazine notes that Hanna is a "transhumanist hero". Despite being genetically engineered to have "high intelligence, muscle mass, and no pity", she is still a good-natured person. He says Hanna "symbolizes the contest between genetics and environment", or, "perhaps more familiarly, nature versus nurture".[37]
The film also contains references to the novel Frankenstein. A scene in which Hanna observes a family interacting through a small opening in the box where she is hiding parallels the Monster's experience while he hides in a cottage. That she is a being created by people playing god is an overarching thematic similarity.
Reception [ edit ]
Hanna received mostly positive reviews; it has a 71% favorable rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 212 reviews. The site's critical consensus states: "Fantastic acting and crisply choreographed action sequences propel this unique, cool take on the revenge thriller".[38] On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 65/100 based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[39] Justin Chang of Variety said that Hanna is "an exuberantly crafted chase thriller that pulses with energy from its adrenaline-pumping first minutes to its muted bang of a finish".[3] Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, commenting "Wright combines his two genres into a stylish exercise that perversely includes some sentiment and insight".[40]
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, on the other hand, gave the film two stars out of five, stating "With its wicked-witch performance from Cate Blanchett, its derivative premise, its bland Europudding location work and some frankly outrageous boredom, this will test everyone's patience."[41] Kenneth Turan, of the Los Angeles Times, stated that the film "starts off like a house afire but soon burns itself out", adding that even though the film is "[b]lessed with considerable virtues, including a clever concept, crackling filmmaking and a charismatic star, it ultimately squanders all of them, undone by an unfortunate lack of subtlety and restraint".[42]
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hanna came in second place at the U.S. box office in its first weekend behind Hop.[43] When the film closed on 7 July 2011, it had grossed $40.3 million in North America and $25.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $65.3 million.[4]
Awards and nominations [ edit ]
Soundtrack [ edit ]
The soundtrack album features a score composed by the British big beat duo, The Chemical Brothers.
TV series [ edit ]
In March 2017, David Farr was announced to write a TV series based on the film.[60] On May 23, 2017, Amazon officially ordered the series to production.[61]OAKLAND -– Luke Walton knew what his father would think, that the old man would point out the advantages of being part of a winning team and the disadvantages of being chiefly responsible for rebuilding a loser.
Bill Walton has been outspoken about his son remaining with the successful Warriors, who followed up their 2015 NBA Championship with a league-record 73-win season. Bill’s message: Continue living comfortably and well, son, and don’t dive into the first bank that comes along waving cash under your nose.
So Luke didn’t bother consulting with his father, a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, upon meeting with the Lakers on Thursday. Nor did he tell Bill that he was thinking about taking the job, which he accepted Friday afternoon.
“I didn’t tell him until after,” Luke told CSNBayArea.com.
[RATTO: Walton signs on with Lakers, a job he will inevitably hate]
Asked what Bill’s response was, Luke launched into an impersonation of his rhapsodic dad.
“He said, ‘I’m the happiest, proudest father in the world,’ “ Luke rumbled.
How can a father with basketball in his blood not be proud of a son who was an assistant coach for all of two years before becoming the head coach of one of America’s truly storied sports franchises?
This, not being an assistant coach with the Warriors, is Luke Walton’s dream job, and it doesn’t much matter that today’s Lakers are not the Lakers we used to know.
The man at the top of these Lakers, Jim Buss, who inherited the franchise from his father, Jerry, has generated a catalog of questionable, even inane, decisions. The roster is largely a bunch of ill-fitting puzzle pieces with curious chemistry. This once-proud organization has never been so low.
Why would Luke ever leave the Warriors, where all the ingredients to success are in place, to go to work for the Los Angeles Lakers?
Because, first and final, it’s the Lakers, for they are No. 1 among three of four NBA jobs Walton would have considered accepting.
“The fact I played for the Lakers and I feel part of that family; I still root,” Walton said. “Even before I took this job, I watched Lakers games and hoped that they succeed and win. So it’s kind of nice to be able to go back and try to help rebuild what we used to have there.”
Even now, as they feed at the bottom of the NBA, the Lakers remain the crown jewel of the Southern California sports scene, synonymous with accomplishment even if they haven’t done much in recent years. Walton is a Laker at heart. They drafted him into the NBA in 2003 and he spent nearly nine seasons wearing the purple-and-gold. He was on the roster of their last two championship teams, in 2009 and 2010.
So Walton was a captive audience when he met with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and Buss on Thursday at Jack London Square. Luke, who owns a home in nearby Manhattan Beach, says he “didn’t have to sleep on it.” It didn’t hurt that the Lakers’ brass was offering $25 million, over five years, as a financial incentive.
[POOLE: Walton to be next Lakers head coach: 'He's certainly ready']
He was sold. Never mind that D’Angelo Russell, drafted last June to be the point guard of the future, has alienated his teammates and the rest of the NBA by going public with private locker room business. Never mind that loose cannon Nick Young is under contract for at least one more season, with an option for 2017-18. Never mind that Roy Hibbert, signed as a free agent last summer, looks like a third-tier center, or that the Lakers are coming off a 17-65 season, which followed 21-61, which followed 27-55.
There is hope, assuming Buss doesn’t get in the way. Kobe Bryant and his imposing shadow have left the premises. The Lakers have about $60 million to spend on free agents this summer, and Buss and Kupchak dropped a few names when meeting with Walton.
Walton, 36, couldn’t stand the thought of someone else taking over as coach, finding success and locking themselves in for the next 10 years.
“It’s obviously tough to leave this place,” Walton said of the Warriors, “but, you know, I think it’s one of those opportunities you can’t pass up on.”
Walton’s exit after this postseason will leave a massive void with the Warriors. He’s that guy nobody says bad word about, ever. He’s that guy players can confide in, management can consult with and ownership can trust.
With the Warriors going 39-4 this season – including winning their first 24 games –with Walton as interim head coach, it appears he knows his way around a clipboard.
“It’s bad news for all of us,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “You can’t replace Luke. He’s one of a kind. They broke the mold after they made Luke. We’re going to miss him desperately.
“When we put our staff together last year, I kind of figured Alvin would be gone pretty quickly. I didn’t think Luke would be gone this fast. ‘Disappointed’ is not the right word because I’m thrilled for him. ‘Sad’ is probably the more appropriate term. He’s a huge part of our culture and so much fun to be around. He’s going to be fantastic. It was just a matter of time until he was a head coach. It just happened quicker than we expected.”
It happened quicker than Walton expected, too, and that applies to both father and son. And, for now, both are ecstatic about the possibilities.Photo
Phys Ed Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.
Someone can train for a marathon and simultaneously qualify as a couch potato, recent research shows, raising provocative questions about how sedentary most of us really are.
The amount of time that most of us spend sitting has increased substantially in recent decades, especially as computers and deskbound activities have come to dominate the workplace. According to one telling recent study, the average American sits for at least eight hours a day.
Such prolonged sedentariness may have health consequences, additional research shows. A study of almost 2,000 older adults published in August, for instance, found that those who spent the most hours seated every day had a greater risk of high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, a poor cholesterol profile and body-wide inflammation than those who sat the least, no matter how much either group exercised (which, generally, was not much).
So, too, a stark numerical 2012 analysis of lifestyle, health and death statistics from a large group of Australian adults concluded that every hour that someone spent watching television — a widely accepted marker of sitting time — after the age of 25 reduced his or her life span by almost 22 minutes. More broadly, in this analysis, watching television for six hours or more per day shaved almost five years from a typical adult’s life span, compared with someone who did not watch TV. Life span was shortened even if someone met the standard medical recommendation of exercising moderately for 30 minutes or so on most days of the week.
But many highly active people, including those completing their preparations for Sunday’s upcoming New York City Marathon, probably feel immune from such concerns. After all, it seems reasonable enough to assume that multiple hours spent training must lessen the number of hours spent plopped in a chair.
Until recently, however, no studies had specifically examined whether people who are extremely active are, on the whole, also truly not sedentary.
So scientists affiliated with the School of Public Health at the University of Texas at Austin recently set out to fill that research gap. They began by contacting runners who had signed up for the local Austin marathon or half-marathon. More than 200 of the race entrants, male and female, agreed to participate.
The Texas researchers asked these volunteers to complete a questionnaire that precisely parsed how they spent their time each day. “We didn’t want to look only at certain measures” of sitting time, such as television viewing, said Geoffrey Whitfield, who devised the study as a doctoral student at the University of Texas.
Instead, the questionnaire asked about work, commuting, and telephone habits, as well as time spent watching television or playing computer games. It also asked the volunteers to enumerate how many hours they spent training each day and their anticipated race pace.
As expected, the runners, training as they were for a marathon or half-marathon, reported spending considerable time sweating. On average, they exercised vigorously for nearly seven hours per week, “which far exceeds the standard exercise recommendation,” said Dr. Whitfield, who is now an Epidemiological Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
But those hours of exercise do not seem to have reduced sedentary time. On an average workday, the runners reported sitting for more than 10 hours at the office and at home, easily topping the national average. (Almost all of the participants were employed; a few were students.) On non-workdays, the runners spent about eight hours inactive.
The researchers found no correlation between running pace or training volume and sedentary time; fast runners and slow runners both sat equally often, as did those who were putting in the most or the fewest hours each week training.
In effect, the data showed that “time spent exercising does not supplant time spent sitting,” said Harold Kohl, a professor of epidemiology and kinesiology at the University of Texas and senior author of the study. “It seems that people can be simultaneously very active and very sedentary.”
The study does not necessarily intimate, however, that being a marathon runner and couch potato is in any particular way harmful, Dr. Kohl pointed out. He and his colleagues did not measure the runners’ health, he said, only their lifestyle. “It is impossible to say” based on their data, whether heavy training would ameliorate any undesirable effects of sitting or whether such effects even would occur in the supremely fit.
Still, the findings are a cautionary reminder that many of us, including the most physically active, may be more sedentary than we imagine. “The fact is that exercise, even at very high doses, does not occupy much time in most people’s days,” said Dr. Whitfield, who himself used to train for triathlons. And while the science about the health impacts of prolonged sitting may still be incomplete, he said, “it’s pretty safe to say that it would a good idea for most of us to spend more of our time up and moving.”On Saturday, July 8 there will be a little history made at Yurcak Field. On that evening Sky Blue will become the first club to play 100 regular season NWSL matches. The original clubs have all played 86, and Sky Blue will be the only team to hit its 14th match of the season that weekend. Two weeks later, Lauren Barnes and Christine Nairn can become the first players to hit the century mark since the league launched in 2013. Both could change of course. None of the league seasons have been completed without at least one postponement, and Barnes and/or Nairn could certainly miss a match though it has only happened once before for each.
It is hardly a big deal for a club to play 100 matches, and barely a big deal for a player. But in the world of woso where the first two tries at a pro league flamed out after three seasons—topping out with 63 total matches for WUSA clubs—hitting triple digits represents a very big deal. It will be a further sign of stability, a line to which NWSL has been creeping closer to for the last several years.
The league also expanded the season to 24 games which will match 2014 for the longest in league history. The goal is only to grow the season even longer so we can say it is unlikely there will ever be another NWSL season shorter than 24. This is a good thing on numerous levels, but partly because it will remove certain qualifiers from league records.
We all marveled last season when 41-year old Christie Rampone was one of five players to play all 1,800 minutes of the season. But in 2014, when that total was 2,160, only Brittany Taylor played them all. Alyssa Naeher played every minute for the Breakers but that total was 2,115 because they had a game in Kansas City called after 45 minutes due to weather. (Becky Edwards played every minute for the Dash until joining Kristianstads DFF on loan and missing the rescheduled season finale.) With the season back to 24 games, no longer are any games played or minutes records out of reach only because the season is shorter.
NWSL is also closing in on the 10,000 minute mark, but that cannot happen this season. Not only is no player close enough but teams will get to 110 games after this season and it takes a minimum of 112 90-minute matches to crack 10,000 minutes. There will be a 50-goal scorer one day too, but the closest active player, Jessica McDonald, needs 19 to get there.
Here is a look at some of the milestones that can be reached in NWSL this season.
approaching the century mark
Barnes and Nairn have both played 85 of a possible 86 regular season matches. They were the only two Reign to appear in all 22 games during the club’s disaster of a debut season and are reunited this year after Nairn spent 2014-2016 in Washington. If they both stick to their ironwoman ways they can hit 100 on July 22 at home against Sky Blue. Here is the full list of players who are within 24 games of 100 for their NWSL careers:
85: Lauren Barnes (Seattle Reign FC*); Christine Nairn (Seattle Reign FC)
83: Brittany Taylor (FC Kansas City); Keelin Winters (retired)
82: McCall Zerboni (North Carolina Courage)
79: Nicole Barnhart (FC Kansas City*); Tori Huster (Washington Spirit*); Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC*); Merritt Mathias (Seattle Reign FC); Jessica McDonald (North Carolina Courage); Katherine Reynolds (Portland Thorns FC); Jasmyne Spencer (Orlando Pride)
78: Jessica Fishlock (Seattle Reign FC*); Angela Salem (Boston Breakers); Erika Tymrak (FC Kansas City*)
76: Joanna Lohman (Washington Spirit)
*-indicates player has spent entire NWSL career with same club
chasing little, holiday
Kim Little and Lauren Holiday both spent three seasons in NWSL and neither are in the league for 2017. But Little, now with Arsenal, and Holiday, retired, are the respective league leaders in goals and assists. Neither figures to last the season on top, particularly Little who holds a 32-31 lead over Jessica McDonald.
Also hot on Little’s heels are Allie Long (28) and Samantha Kerr (26). Carli Lloyd is on 25 but is with Manchester City at least through June. Christen Press is eight behind Little with 24 goals and has played fewer games and minutes than any of the 10 players currently on 20 goals.
The other four players with 20 or more regular season goals are: Diana Matheson (23); Christine Sinclair (23); Holiday (22); and Nadia Nadim (22).
On the assist front, Tobin Heath set the league record last season when she became the first player to record 10 in a single season. But Heather only totaled 4 assists over the first three seasons and her 14 puts her four off the pace of Holiday’s total of 18. Among active players though the closest to Holiday is the duo of Vaessa DiBernardo and Kelley O’Hara with 15. (Heather O’Reilly, currently with Arsenal, has 16 and Little has 15.)
Barnie pacing the keepers
The goalkeeping scene is much different in that Nicole Barnhart has started 79 of a possible 86 FC Kansas City matches, giving her an 18-match cushion over Ashlyn Harris. Barnhart also has a comfortable lead in wins (36) and shutouts (32). In both categories the closest players to her are no longer in the league. Hope Solo (26) is next in line in wins but is both injured and in limbo after being suspended by U.S. Soccer. Karina LeBlanc (22) retired after 2015. The closest active keepers to Barnhart are Harris (20) and Alyssa Naeher (18).
Barnhart has led the league in shutouts all four seasons giving her 32 and a large lead over LeBlanc and Brittany Cameron (14 – Cameron now plays in Japan). Naeher is next with 11 (tied with Solo) followed by Harris and Adrianna Franch (10).
Playing for a winning team has been a boon for Barnhart though. She has lost only 25 of her 79 starts, third all-time behind Naeher (30) and Harris (27).
If draws interest you, Barnhart (18) leads the way followed by LeBlanc (15), Cameron, and Harris (14). Solo, Franch, and Erin McLeod (currently in Sweden) all have 11.
Miscellany
-Nairn has appeared in 59 consecutive regular season matches, the longest current streak in the league. She is a dozen behind Jen Buczkowski’s league record streak of 71. Buczkowski started every game in her career before retiring last May to start physical therapy school.
-The consecutive minute streak could go down by the end of the month. Brittany Taylor holds the record at 3,690 but Kassey Kallman is hot on her heels at 3,600 meaning she will tie the record if she plays a full 90 for the Spiriit on opening day and then break it if she starts Week in Orlando. Dahlkemper is next in line with 3,420 straight minutes.
-Dahlkemper and Danielle Colaprico have both started every possible game since being 1st round picks in 2015. They have each started 40 matches (plus two playoff games each.)
-For all of Barnhart’s records she has never been on the right side of a penalty kick. All 11 PKs taken against Barnhart—and against FCKC—have been converted. The only other team never to save or have a PK missed is the Pride who faced two, both successful, in their debut season.
-Jessica McDonald has 6 multiple goal games putting her out in front of Kim Little, Allie Long, Nahomi Kawasumi, and Christen Press who all have 5.
-Little has the most multiple assist games with 4 followed by Holiday and Abby Wambach at 3. The group at 2 includes Kelley O’Hara, Lynn Williams, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, and Katy Freels.
-Jessica Fishlock and Alyssa Mautz have the most yellow cards with 12 each. Ella Masar has 10. Twenty-three players have a red card. No one has two.
-The winningest coach is two-time Shield winner Laura Harvey in Seattle with 42. She is followed by FC Kansas City’s two-time NWSL Championship coach Vlatko Andonovski with 39. After that comes Jim Gabarra (36), Rory Dames (34), and Mark Parsons (32).
The Flash-Courage conundrum
According to a Courage spokesperson, the club will wipe the slate clean in terms of statistics and not build on anything from the last four seasons as the Western New York Flash. This is a debate that has roiled sports fans over the years and is one that has no perfect answer.
On one hand, the team moved 700 miles south, has a new name, new identity, new owners, new uniforms, and an almost entirely new fan base. In a sport carried by supporters’ culture around the world it would be disingenuous for Courage fans in North Carolina to lay claim to any of the Flash’s achievements. Using this angle it seems entirely correct to treat the clubs as completely separate entities.
On the flipside, the team was sold and transferred intact and the roster is the fruit of seeds planted mostly in Western New York. Should the Courage win the NWSL Championship, surely Paul Riley and any returning players will want to be considered back-to-back champions. Using this angle it seems entirely correct to consider the Courage a linear continuation of the Flash.
Sports history is no guide here. In Major League Soccer, the San Jose Earthquakes packed up and left for Houston in 2006 and were reborn as an expansion club two years later. Today all of the Earthquakes statistics and history is catalogued as one and the Houston Dynamo years stand alone. That seems to make sense until you realize the Dynamo won MLS Cup each of their first two seasons, and those were the third and fourth in seven years for the club that originated in San Jose. Do Dynamo fans want credit for 2001 and 2003? Surely not.
Does it seem off not to celebrate that the linear version of the Earthquakes-Dynamo won MLS Cup four times in seven years with a Supporters Shield in the mix? Surely it does. And what about Dwayne De Rosario being part of all four Cup winners and several others who were around for three of the four?
In the NBA, the Seattle Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and the Thunder still honor the Seattle era. However, when the team moved the NBA decided the Supersonics history would be preserved for any future team that played in Seattle. In other words there could come a day when the Thunder have to relinquish any ties to Seattle including the 1979 NBA Championship. That seems odd.
The NBA’s scenario with teams currently based in Charlotte and New Orleans is too convoluted to explain here in full but it has resulted in a historical perspective that makes little sense. It also changed when the Bobcats changed their name to Hornets, the name the original Charlotte team had until becoming the Pelicans in New Orleans—more than a decade after landing in Crescent City.
It seems that nicknames have an important role here. The Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics, and Arizona Cardinals are among current pro sports teams who have carried nicknames around the country. All of them are inexorably and forever linked to their brothers from past cities. Would it be the same for the Courage had they just kept the name Flash?
My personal opinion here is that the linear history of the teams should be honored and that the Courage should build on the NWSL legacy they acquired from the Flash. I also understand why they are not going to. I don’t see harm tracking both either. So if Abby Dahlkemper is in the starting XI for the opener, I’ll be recognizing that she’ll be part of the first North Carolina Courage starting lineup but also take note that it will be her 41st straight start for the same club since the Flash drafted her 3rd overall in 2015.
writer’s note: all statistics contained in this article are personally compiled and should not be considered officialAt the NAACP Image awards Friday night, a former special adviser to President Obama turned the other cheek to Glenn Beck.
At the NAACP Image Awards on Friday night, a former special adviser to President Obama turned the other cheek to Glenn Beck.
The adviser, Van Jones, has long been criticized by the popular Fox News talk show host, who called him a “communist-anarchist radical,” among other things. Beck’s attacks are widely believed to have been at least partly responsible for Jones’ removal from his post with the Obama administration.
But instead of lashing back, as others have done, Jones took a different approach.
“Last thing I want to say is this: To my fellow countryman, Mr. Glenn Beck. I see you, and I love you, brother. I love you, and you cannot do anything about it. I love you, and you cannot do anything about it. Let’s be one country! Let’s be one country! Let’s get the job done!”
Jones attended the ceremony to accept the President’s Award for his advocacy of an American economy focused on alternative forms of energy.
The NY Times pointed out that Fox News broadcast the award ceremony live
Beck has lashed out at more well-known people, including Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, who issued her own aggressive rebuttal to Beck’s casual accusations.In the sleepy English country town of Stowmarket you’ll find one of the world’s top Ducati specialists: Made In Italy Motorcycles. For thirty years John Fallon has been buying, selling and restoring Ducatis—and we’ve finally snared a set of images that show the incredible quality of his work.
It’s a heavily customised 860 GT, inspired by Ducati’s beautiful 1970s Super Sport machines. The man responsible for the metallurgy is Fallon’s workshop guru Neil Ridgewell, who’s also a qualified Ferrari, Bentley and Maserati technician.
Most Ducatisti will be scratching their heads looking at this bike, so it’s worth digging into the backstory a little. It starts with Giorgetto Giugiaro, the world’s most lauded car designer in the 1970s.
Giugiaro drew sensuous curves for Alfa Romeo, De Tomaso and Maserati, and posters of his cars adorned millions of teenage bedroom walls.
So you can’t blame Ducati for asking Giugiaro to design the 860 GT. But Giugiaro suddenly changed tack, and ditched the curves for what became known as the ‘folded paper’ look.
It worked for the Lotus Esprit and the VW Golf, but left the angular 860 GT looking awkward and out of place in the Bologna factory’s line-up.
The 860 GT is not a bad bike, though—apart from a slight tendency to weave at high speed. And this one has the looks to match its capabilities.
It’s a 1977 model owned by Tom Craig, who’d set his heart on a ‘green frame’ 750 Super Sport. “I was living in Monaco and wanted a bike for day trips into the mountains and over to Italy,” he reports. “But I ended up with an 860 GT.”
Tom decided to give the bike an extreme makeover. So he briefed Made In Italy Motorcycles to restyle his GT with a classic Ducati vibe. It’s effectively a monochrome version of a green frame bike, but obviously a custom build.
“I felt uncomfortable doing a straight copy of the green frame,” says Tom. “But I think the result is pretty good. Everything is as it should be, and it goes as well as it looks.”
“The red leather saddle is confirmation that this bike never sees wet days—not that there are many in Monaco!”
Images by Ian Daisley—ProBikeART.
Head over to the Made In Italy Motorcycles website to see more fine Italian machinery, including Moto Guzzis, MV Agustas and Laverdas.
For a different take on the 860, check out our feature on Hermann Köpf’s 860 GTS.Farhad Khosrokhavar, a sociologist at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, said adolescent and postadolescent boys and girls were increasingly involved in jihad in Europe. “And then we have a second category, which is women,” he said.
While the extremist women operating today in France typically proclaim loyalty to the Islamic State and have been in touch with people affiliated with the group, they appear to be acting with guidance and encouragement only from afar, from men either in Syria or in Europe.
Yet there are also continuing signs of the ways in which the male-dominated nature of Islamic jihadist culture defines the relationships between male and female extremists. Recruiters encourage online betrothals, and one of the women who were recently detained in the case of the train station attack had been engaged online to two different extremists, each of whom was killed in carrying out gruesome attacks in France, Mr. Molins said.
These somewhat contradictory elements suggest that the threat is coming from a more independent, feminist type of jihadist, who sees herself as acting similarly to a man, but at the same time, some in this category of women also appear to be acting on instructions from male counterparts in the Islamic State. In both cases, there is the possibility, experts say, that the Islamic State and other groups are using women to goad men into staging attacks.
Recent comments made by Rachid Kassim, a Frenchman who joined the Islamic State and is now suspected of being one of its leading propagandists, suggest this kind of strategy might be at play.
“Women, sisters are going on the attack,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging application last month, after the gas canister plot was thwarted, according to the newspaper Le Monde. “Where are the brothers?” he added. Mr. Kassim is suspected of encouraging the women in that plot.
The recent plots in France led by women show both determination and the limits of their efforts. They also highlight what these women have in common: Some are converts, and some have tried to go to Syria but have been turned back. And the younger ones, especially, seem emotionally troubled, said Wafa Messaoud, a Muslim chaplain, who works with Muslim women in French prisons.Boys and girls in skirts at school. (Screenshot)
“White boys could soon self-identify as black girls in Delaware.” So begins one of the latest columns of Fox News’ Todd Starnes, reporting on what parents probably wish was fake news. Unfortunately for the families in The First State, reality may soon be optional for kids in Delaware public schools.
In one of the more incredible headlines of the year, local officials in the state’s Department of Education are actually debating a regulation that would let students choose their race and their gender.
If it sounds unbelievable, that’s because it is. For the last few years, families have been shocked that they’d have to defend traditional biology in places as sacred as restrooms, showers, locker and changing rooms. Now, the proponents of this government-sponsored make-believe are trying to make everything self-subjective.
It’s the campaign for these “protected characteristics,” local liberals argue, that would give children the ability to redefine their most defining traits. And without ever calling home. Under “Regulation 225 Prohibition of Discrimination,” students can make these determinations without letting their parents know.
“Prior to requesting permission from a parent or legal guardian, the school should consult and work closely with the student to access the degree to which, if any, the parent or legal guardian is aware of the Protected Characteristic and is supportive of the student, and the school shall take into consideration the safety, health, and well-being of the student in deciding whether to request permission from the parent or legal guardian,” the proposal states.
“Literally,” Delaware Family Policy Council President Nicole Theis told Starnes, “if a parent affirms their child’s biological sex, and now race, they are [considered] discriminatory through policies like Regulation 225. These policies are setting parents up as … unsupportive, even abusive, if they affirm their child’s biological realities … ”
Of course, the irony is that someone’s being abusive, according to the American College of Pediatricians—and it isn’t parents. This is exactly the kind of agenda they classify as “child abuse.” Theis is calling on people across the state to get involved in stopping state officials from putting kids in dangerous situations—and keeping parents in the dark about it.
By law, the people of Delaware have 30 days to “comment” about the regulation, but the agency is under no obligation to change it. Hopefully, parents can apply enough pressure to force the governor to back away from the idea. Join Theis and other concerned citizens by pushing back on this madness. If you’re from Delaware, click here to speak up.
This was originally published in Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, which is written with the aid of Family Research Council senior writers.
Tony Perkins is president of the Family Research Council.Timothy Egan on American politics and life, as seen from the West.
After the last insult had been spat from the Senate floor, after final passage of a legislative attempt to do something significant in this messy democracy, a leading voice of the opposition made a public prediction:
“People will be hunting Democrats with dogs,” said Senator Phil Gramm of Texas.
This was 1993, in the fragile first year of Bill Clinton’s presidency, on a vote to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1.2 percent and cut them for the poor and small businesses. That budget bill passed without a single Republican vote.
What followed was the greatest period of peacetime prosperity in modern times, a budget surplus of $559 billion and a president who left office with an approval rating of 66 percent — the highest of any since World War II. But first, some Democrats were indeed hunted, particularly in the South, which has been cleansing itself of the party since the Civil Rights era.
Gramm went on to deregulate the banking industry, setting the stage for a binge of economic nihilism that nearly brought down the world economy.
That fight in 1993 is worth recalling this Christmas Eve, as the voices of the |
list of top 50 manga creators by sales since January 2010, in its September 2011 issue; Gosho Aoyama, the author of Case Closed was ranked 16th, with 3,320,000 copies sold.[143] It was the 17th best selling manga in 2012, with 2,430,572 copies sold.[144] In 2013 Case Closed became the 24th best selling manga, with 1,966,206 copies sold.[145] It won the 46th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category in 2001, and respondents in an online poll for Japanese citizens in their mid-twenties voted Case Closed as one of the top three manga they wanted to continue running in publication.[146][147][148][149] The first volume of Case Closed appeared thrice in the top ten selling lists, right after its premiere,[150] the same volume has also appeared in the Diamond Comic Distributors's ranking list.[151] Later-published volumes have appeared on the New York Times Manga Best Sellers lists.[152][153][154][155] In France, the series was nominated for the Angoulême Festival Graphic Novel award among the Japanese selection.[156] In the United States, Case Closed received praises from Mania. com's Eduardo M. Chavez and IGN's A. E. Sparrow for its stories—telling the mysteries and how they were unfolded by the investigations of Conan and gang. Sparrow called the style of the series a mix of Scooby-Doo and Sherlock Holmes, while Chavez believed the manga had appeal to readers of all ages.[157][158] The series ranked on About.com's top continuing manga series of 2010, under the title "Best Underappreciated Gem: Shonen" category.[159]
The animated adaptation of the series was also popular in Japan, appearing in the top six of Japanese TV Rankings at various times.[160][161] The television series ranked among the top twenty in polls conducted by anime magazine Animage from 1996 to 2001.[162][163][164][165][166][167][168] It also placed better than twenty-third in polls for the Top 100 anime conducted by Japanese television network TV Asahi in 2005–06.[169][170][171] The series received considerable airtime in China; it was the second most broadcast animation there in 2004.[172] Several of the franchise's films were nominated for awards in their home country. The ninth film was nominated for the feature film category at the 5th Annual Tokyo Anime Awards, and the next five films were nominees for the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year in their respective years of release.[173][174][175][176][177][178]
Melissa Sternenberg from THEM Anime Reviews reviewed and praised its animation and plot.[179] ActiveAnime's reviewers commented on complex character design and the "spirit" that the series has, indicating that fans of serialized mystery shows would rather enjoy it. The series is also said to better suit the more matured audience.[180][181] In the United States, the dubbed series faced several negative reactions toward its changes to localize the content for North American audiences. Jeffrey Harris of IGN found it pointless to change the names of the characters, and Anime News Network's Carl Kimlinger said that the changes of certain Japanese cultural references rendered several parts of the mysteries and their investigation illogical.[182][183] The voice-overs proved to be a mixed bag for Carlo Santos, who reviewed the first DVD release of Case Closed for Anime News Network; he said that while the main characters sounded like "real people", the secondary ones "[came] off as caricatures".[184] Lori Lancaster of Mania.com described Case Closed as "a clever series that had mysteries at every corner", noting the "bizarre" and "interesting" nature of each case.[185] IGN's Chris Wyatt was positive to the manner the cases were set up, relating them to Agatha Christie's locked-room mysteries. He described the series as "Inspector Gadget meets Law & Order but in an anime style."[186] His colleague, Harris, however, expressed annoyance with repetitive elements in the show and the contrived methods the series uses to keep Conan's identity a secret from certain characters.[182]
In 2006, the Japanese government used Conan in campaigns to help promote crime awareness among children.[187] Targeting the same audience, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs used Conan and his friends in two pamphlets: one to promote the ministry's mission, the other to introduce the 34th G8 summit held in the country in 2010.[188][189][190][191] Several characters in the series featured in the sixth installment of the Anime, Heroes and Heroines commemorative stamp series issued by Japan Post in 2006.[192] Aoyama and his creations are celebrated in his hometown Hokuei, Tottori; a museum with exhibits of his work is located there, and several bronze statues of Jimmy Kudo, Conan Edogawa, and Rachel Moore are installed in various locations throughout the town.[193][194][195][196][197] It also has other tourist attractions related to Detective Conan, including a Detective Conan themed airport and train station, and it is promoted as Conan Town.[198]
Licensed merchandise based on Detective Conan are sold in Asia. In Japan, Detective Conan licensed merchandise sold ¥2.89 billion in 2003, ¥17.29 billion during 2005–2008, and ¥9.03 billion during 2010–2012, adding up to at least ¥29.21 billion ($366.09 million) sold in Japan between 2003 and 2012.[199] In 2018, Detective Conan caught the attention of American late night talk show host Conan O'Brien, who discussed the character Detective Conan as well as Conan Town in his talk show Conan,[200] and visited the town in September 2018.[201]
References [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Manga
AnimeNano Server is a Windows OS created for the cloud age. It has been announced by Microsoft this April and is going to be shipped with Windows Server 2016.
What makes Nano Server special?
A very small disk footprint compared to traditional Windows Server deployments (a few hundred MB instead of multiple GB).
A very limited attack surface.
A very limited number of components, which means fewer updates and fewer reboots
Much faster virtual and bare-metal deployment times due to the reduced footprint.
How is this possible?
In short, the OS has been stripped from everything that is not needed in a cloud environment, in particular the GUI stack, the x86 subsystem (WOW64), MSI installer support and unnecessary API.
What about OpenStack support?
Nano Server and OpenStack are a perfect match in multiple scenarios, including:
Compute instances (virtual and bare-metal)
Heat orchestration
Hyper-V Nova compute nodes with native and OVS networking support
Cinder storage server, including Scale-out File Server clusters
Windows Containers host (Nova-Docker and soon Magnum)
Manila SMB3 file servers
Nano Server compute instances on OpenStack
Nano can be deployed on OpenStack like any other Windows or Linux guest OS. Currently it supports Hyper-V compute nodes, with KVM and other hypervisors as soon as drivers become available. Bare metal deployments using Ironic or MaaS are also supported.
Like in any other Linux or Windows instance case, a guest boot agent is required to take advantage of the OpenStack infrastructure.
I’m glad to announce that Cloudbase-Init is now fully supported on Nano Server!
How to create a Nano Server image for OpenStack?
Creating a Nano OpenStack image is easy and as usual we open sourced the scripts required to do that.
Disclaimer: please consider that Nano Server is still in technical preview, so things can change before the final release.
At the time of this writing the latest public available Nano Server install image can be obtained as part of the Windows Server 2016 TP3 ISO, available for download here.
The following steps need to be executed using PowerShell on Windows, we tested them on Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 TP3 and Hyper-V Server 2012 R2.
Let’s start by cloning our git scripts repository, checking out the nano-server-support branch:
git clone https://github.com/cloudbase/cloudbase-init-offline-install.git -b nano-server-support cd cloudbase-init-offline-install 1 2 git clone https : / / github. com / cloudbase / cloudbase -init -offline -install. git -b nano -server -support cd cloudbase -init -offline -install
The following variables need to match your environment, in particular the folder where you’d like to put the generated Nano VHDX image, the location of your Windows Server 2016 technical preview ISO and the password to assign to the Administrator user. Please note that this password is only meant for troubleshooting and not for OpenStack tenants (more on this later).
$targetPath = "C:\VHDs\Nano" $isoPath = "C:\ISO\Windows_Server_2016_Technical_Preview_3.ISO" $password = ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlaintext -Force "P@ssw0rd" 1 2 3 $targetPath = "C:\VHDs\Nano" $isoPath = "C:\ISO\Windows_Server_2016_Technical_Preview_3.ISO" $password = ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlaintext -Force "P@ssw0rd"
We can now build our Nano Server image:
.\NewNanoServerVHD.ps1 -IsoPath $isoPath -TargetPath $targetPath ` -AdministratorPassword $password 1 2. \ NewNanoServerVHD. ps1 -IsoPath $isoPath -TargetPath $targetPath ` -AdministratorPassword $password
Download Cloudbase-Init:
$cloudbaseInitZipPath = Join-Path $pwd CloudbaseInitSetup_x64.zip Start-BitsTransfer -Source "https://www.cloudbase.it/downloads/CloudbaseInitSetup_x64.zip" ` -Destination $cloudbaseInitZipPath 1 2 3 $cloudbaseInitZipPath = Join-Path $pwd CloudbaseInitSetup_x64. zip Start-BitsTransfer -Source "https://www.cloudbase.it/downloads/CloudbaseInitSetup_x64.zip" ` -Destination $cloudbaseInitZipPath
Install Cloudbase-Init and prepare the image for OpenStack:
$vhdxPath = "C:\VHDs\Nano\Nano.vhdx".\CloudbaseInitOfflineSetup.ps1 -VhdPath $vhdxPath -CloudbaseInitZipPath $cloudbaseInitZipPath 1 2 $vhdxPath = "C:\VHDs\Nano\Nano.vhdx". \ CloudbaseInitOfflineSetup. ps1 -VhdPath $vhdxPath -CloudbaseInitZipPath $cloudbaseInitZipPath
Done!
We’re ready to upload our freshly built image in Glance:
glance image-create --property hypervisor_type=hyperv --name "Nano Server" ` --container-format bare --disk-format vhd --file $vhdxPath 1 2 glance image -create -- property hypervisor_type = hyperv -- name "Nano Server" ` -- container -format bare -- disk -format vhd -- file $vhdxPath
Booting your first Nano Server OpenStack instance
If you don’t have Hyper-V nodes in your OpenStack environment, adding one is very easy. If you also don’t have an OpenStack deployment at hand, you can have one installed on your Windows server or laptop in a matter of minutes using v-magine.
Nano instances can be booted on OpenStack like any other OS, with one exception: Nano does not currently support DVDRom drives, so if you plan to use ConfigDrive, Nova compute on Hyper-V must be set to use RAW disks (ISO or VFAT).
Here’s a simple nova boot example, where $netId is the id of your private network. Make sure to pass a keypair if you want to obtain the password required to login!
nova boot --flavor m1.standard --image "Nano Server" --key-name key1 --nic net-id=$netId nano1 1 nova boot -- flavor m1.standard -- image "Nano Server" -- key - name key1 -- nic net - id = $netId nano1
Once the system is booted, you can retrieve and decrypt the instance password using nova get-password, passing the path to the keypair’s private key:
nova get-password nano1 "\path\to\key1_rsa" 1 nova get - password nano1 "\path\to\key1_rsa"
By the way, all the above steps can be performed in Horizon as well, here’s how a Nano instance console looks like:
Connecting to Nano Server instances
Nano does not support RDP, since there’s no GUI stack, but it supports WinRM and PowerShell remoting. If you’re not familiar with WinRM, you can think of it as the rough equivalent of SSH for Windows.
In your security groups, you need to allow port 5986 used for WinRM HTTPS connections. Cloudbase-Init took care of configuring the instance’s WinRM HTTPS listener.
nova secgroup-add-rule default tcp 5986 5986 "0.0.0.0/0" 1 nova secgroup -add -rule default tcp 5986 5986 "0.0.0.0/0"
To enter a remote PowerShell session:
# Get your instance address, possibly by associating a floating IP: $ComputerName = "yourserveraddress" # Your password obtained from "nova get-password" is used here $password = ConvertTo-SecureString -asPlainText -Force "your_password" $c = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential("Admin", $password) $opt = New-PSSessionOption -SkipCACheck -SkipCNCheck -SkipRevocationCheck $session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $ComputerName -UseSSL -SessionOption $opt ` -Authentication Basic -Credential $c Enter-PSSession $session 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 # Get your instance address, possibly by associating a floating IP: $ComputerName = "yourserveraddress" # Your password obtained from "nova get-password" is used here $password = ConvertTo-SecureString -asPlainText -Force "your_password" $c = New-Object System. Management. Automation. PSCredential ( "Admin", $password ) $opt = New-PSSessionOption -SkipCACheck -SkipCNCheck -SkipRevocationCheck $session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $ComputerName -UseSSL -SessionOption $opt ` -Authentication Basic -Credential $c Enter-PSSession $session
Done! You’re connected to Nano server!
Can I avoid passwords?
Windows supports password-less authentication using X509 certificates in a way conceptually similar to SSH public key authentication on Linux, here’s a blog posts that we wrote on this topic.
Customizing Nano with userdata scripts and Heat templates
Cloudbase-Init supports PowerShell and Windows batch userdata scripts on any Windows version, including Nano Server. Heat templates are supported as well, in the limits of the features available on Nano of course, so trying to deploy an Active Directory controller won’t work on the current technical preview!
Here’s a very simple example PowerShell userdata script that can be provided to Nova when spawning an instance:
#ps1 echo "Hello OpenStack!" > C:\hello.txt 1 2 #ps1 echo "Hello OpenStack!" > C : \ hello. txt
What’s next?
Cloudbase-Init integration was just the first step in getting Nano Server supported in OpenStack.
Coming next: Nova compute for Hyper-V, Open vSwitch and Cinder Windows storage support!Update (November 14, 2017): Miami, Sydney, Paris, Milan and Madrid have been added to the Dropbox Edge Network.
Since launching Magic Pocket last year, we’ve been storing and serving more than 90 percent of our users’ data on our own custom-built infrastructure, which has helped us to be more efficient and improved performance for our users globally.
But with about 75 percent of our users located outside of the United States, moving onto our own custom-built data center was just the first step in realizing these benefits. As our data centers grew, the rest of our network also expanded to serve our users — more than 500 million around the globe — at light-speed with a consistent level of reliability, whether they were in San Francisco or Singapore.
To do that, we’ve built a network across 14 cities in seven countries on three continents. In doing so, we’ve added hundreds of gigabits of Internet connectivity with transit providers (regional and global ISPs), and hundreds of new peering partners (where we exchange traffic directly rather than through an ISP). We also designed a custom-built edge-proxy architecture into our network. The edge proxy is a stack of servers that act as the first gateway for TLS & TCP handshake for users and is deployed in PoPs (points of presence) to improve the performance for a user accessing Dropbox from any part of the globe. We evaluated some more standard offerings (CDNs and other “cloud” products) but for our specific needs this custom solution was best. Some users have seen and have increased sync speeds by as much as 300 percent, and performance has improved across the board.
2014: A Brief History
Going back to 2014, our network presence was only in the US. With two data center regions (one on each coast) storing all our user data, and five network PoPs in major cities across the country where we saw the most traffic. This meant that users across the globe could only be served from the US, we were heavily reliant on transit, and often higher latency paths across the Internet limited performance for international users.
Each PoP was also connected to the local Internet Exchange in the facility where it was located, which enabled us to peer with multiple end-user networks also connected to the exchange. At this time we peered with only about 100 networks, and traffic was unevenly spread across our PoPs, with some seeing much more ingress and egress traffic than others over both Peering and Transit links. Because of this traffic pattern, we relied mostly on Transit from tier-1 providers to guarantee reliable and comprehensive connectivity to end users and allow a single point of contact during outages.
Our edge capacity was in the hundreds of gigabits, nearly all of which was with our transit providers and shifting traffic between PoPs was a challenge.
Dropbox Routing Architecture
In 2014 we were using Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) at the edge of the network to connect with the transit and fabric peers in our network, and within the backbone to connect to the data centers. We used Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) as the underlying protocol for resolving Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) required by BGP within the Dropbox network.
Within the routing policies, we were using extended-BGP-communities which are tagged to prefixes within the network as well as prefixes learned from peers like transit and fabric. We also use various path attributes in the BGP protocol suite that are used for selecting an egress path for a prefix if more than one path exists.
2015: The year of planning, cleanups
In early 2015, we overhauled our routing architecture, migrating from OSPF to IS-IS, changing our BGP communities, and implementing MPLS-TE to improve how we utilized our network backbone. The latter is an algorithm that provides an efficient way of forwarding traffic throughout the network, avoiding over-utilized and under-utilized links. This improved how our network handled dynamic changes in traffic flows between the growing number of network PoPs.
More details on these changes will be covered in a future Backbone Blog.
By mid-2015, we started thinking about how we could serve our users more efficiently, reduce round trip time and optimize the egress path from Dropbox to the end user.
We were growing rapidly outside of the U.S., and started focusing our attention on the European market, specifically looking for locations where we could peer with more end user networks in the region. We selected three European PoPs which provided connectivity to the major peering exchanges and ambitiously expanded our peering edge in both North America and Europe. Our peering policy is open and can be referenced here: Dropbox Peering Policy.
By the end of 2015, we added three new PoPs at Palo Alto, Dallas and New York, along with hundreds of gigabits of transit capacity, and we increased both the number of peer networks, and our traffic over peering connections substantially. Though we were still predominantly relying on our transit partners, our expanded peering footprint, geographically and in terms of capacity, allowed us to implement more extensive traffic engineering to improve user performance. It also laid the foundation for our new edge proxy design.
2016: The year of expansion, optimization and peering
As we started 2016, we sharpened our focus on three key areas:
Deploying new PoPs across Europe and Asia to get closer to the user and start improving the sync performance Designing and building the custom architecture that would enable faster network connections between our PoPs, including new edge proxy stack architecture, new routing architecture and standardized/optimized IP transit architecture Establishing new peering relationships to increase the peering footprint in our network
Expanding across Europe and Asia
Based on the data collected for traffic flows, and a variety of other considerations, we narrowed our focus to London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam, which offer the maximum number of eye-ball networks for cities across Europe. These were successfully deployed in 2016 in a ring topology via the backbone and were connected back to the US through New York and Ashburn as port of entries in the US.
At the same time, we saw an increase in our traffic volumes from Asia in 2016, so we started a similar exercise to what we did for Europe. We decided to expand Dropbox’s edge network across Asia in Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong in Q3-2016. These locations were selected to serve local as well as other eyeball networks that use Dropbox within the Asia-pacific region.
Edge Proxy stack architecture
Once we had our PoP locations in place, we built out the new architecture to accelerate our network transfers.
The edge proxy stack handles user facing SSL termination and maintains connectivity to our backend servers throughout the Dropbox network. Edge proxy stack comprises of IPVS and NGINX machines.
More details on proxy stack architecture will be covered in a future blog post.
Next-Gen routing architecture
With the proxy stack in place, we turned our attention to routing. Our original strategy was to advertise all our public prefixes from every PoP. This made sense when our front-ends were consolidated in our data centers. With our proxy stack coming online and new PoPs being deployed we needed to change this to avoid asymmetric or sub-optimal routing. Doing so allows us to ensure users are served from from the PoP closest to them. Factors that we considered for new routing policy design were:
Drive more effective utilization of network resources.
Enable more predictable failure scenarios.
Enable more accurate capacity planning.
Minimize operational complexity.
In the new design, we introduced the concept of “metro”, which meant breaking regions into individual metros. This design was validated based on Dropbox traffic flows and requirements. The idea behind a metro is:
Users in close proximity of a metro should be routed to the closest PoP within the metro, rather than being served out of any other PoP, which cut down on latency and improved the user experience.
Some metro’s will have multiple PoPs from redundancy perspective.
A metro is a failure domain within itself i.e traffic can be shifted away from the metro as needed by withdrawing metro specific prefixes to the internet.
Prefixes are contained within regions/metro and are only advertised out to the internet from that region/metro.
To make intra vs inter-routing decisions more apparent.
We also updated our BGP communities to support the new metro scope. Prefixes are now tagged with their Origin. Internally and externally learned routes are assigned the appropriate Route-Type. Prefix advertisements are limited (or summarized) to a Metro, Region, Continent, or Global as appropriate based on their Route-Scope. In addition we have defined a set of Actions which can be applied to a prefix which have internal meanings to the routers. The use of a Tag allows us to include other information (such as the community) with the prefix for special handling.
Standardizing & Optimizing IP transit architecture
Dropbox’s transit capacity until mid-2016 was more uneven and imbalanced than it is today. The IP transit ports in every metro had different capacity, so if we had to drain a metro, we wouldn’t necessarily be able to route traffic to the nearest PoP due to limited capacity. To fix this issue, we standardized the IP transit capacity across all the PoPs to ensure sufficient capacity is available in each PoP. Now, if a PoP goes down or if we have to do a Disaster Recovery Testing (DRT) exercise, we know that we will have enough capacity to move traffic between metros. Dropbox ingress traffic coming from the transit providers was also imbalanced. So we worked in collaboration with our tier-1 providers in implementing various solutions to fix the ingress imbalance into our ASN.
We also re-designed our edge routing policies for IP transit so that a prefix now uses the shortest AS-PATH to exit our ASN between transit providers. If there is a tie between AS-PATH among multiple tier-1 transit providers, then one of the bgp attributes for path selection which is Multi-exit Discriminator (MED) would be used to break the tie.
Expand Peering
Up until Q1-2016 the majority of Dropbox traffic was egressing out via transit providers because our peering footprint was relatively small. We started identifying the top ASN’s behind transit providers in every metro and started collecting some data through netflow. By mid Q2, we had a list of certain ASNs (i.e., eye ball networks) with whom we could initiate some peering discussion. By the end of 2016, we shifted 30% of traffic to peering for better connectivity and to get closer to the user. Users across the globe saw significant performance improvements while accessing Dropbox.
The Edge Network Today
By executing the SSL handshake via our PoPs instead of sending them to our data centers, we’ve been able to significantly improve connection times and accelerate transfer speeds. We’ve tested and applied this configuration in various markets in Europe and Asia. For some users in Europe, for example, median download speeds are 40% faster after introducing edge proxy servers, while median upload speeds are approximately 90% faster. In Japan, median download speeds have doubled, while median upload speeds are three times as fast.
The below graphs show major improvements in the TCP/SSL experience for users in Europe and Asia-pacific after the edge proxy stacks were deployed in every PoP within Dropbox. These graphs plot connect times for different countries (lower is better).
We’ve also heard from several customers across Europe and Asia that their performance to Dropbox has significantly improved since we launched these PoPs. The below graph shows how latency dropped for one of these customers.
By the end of 2016, we had added six new PoPs across Europe and Asia, giving us a total of 14 PoPs and bringing our edge capacity into terabits. We added hundreds of additional gigs of transit, fabric, private peer capacity based on metro/regional traffic ratios and standardized transit footprint across the network. We also added 200+ unique ASN’s via peering. Today, the majority of our Internet traffic goes from a user’s best/closest PoP directly over peering, improving performance for our users and improving our network efficiency.
We’re hiring!
We’re on the lookout for experienced network engineers to help scale the Dropbox edge network beyond terabits of traffic and 100G uplinks. Or how about our backbone network where we’re constantly improving the reliability and performance of our CLOS-based fabrics. We also have a hybrid security/networking position for a Network Security Engineer in San Francisco. Want something more high level? The traffic team is also hiring both SWEs and SREs to work on TCP/IP packet processors and load balancers, HTTP/2 proxies, and our internal gRPC-based service mesh. Not your thing? We’re also hiring for a wide variety of engineering positions in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Tel Aviv, and other offices around the world.The world may be some years away from seeing the first trillionaire, but billionaire Mark Cuban has an idea about the kind of work from which they, whoever they are, will make their trillions.
“I am telling you, the world’s first trillionaires are going to come from somebody who masters AI and all its derivatives,” the Shark Tank investor said, according to CNBC, “and applies it in ways we never thought of.”
Cuban made his prediction Sunday night in front of a full house at the SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas. The Dallas Mavericks owner presented a sink-or-swim scenario, where knowledge of artificial intelligence is the determining factor, and where critical thinking matters more than ever.
“Whatever you are studying right now, if you are not getting up to speed on deep learning, neural networks, etc., you lose,” he told the audience. “We are going through the process where software will automate software, automation will automate automation.”
The future according to Cuban would be a world where the mind becomes more important, as technical skills gradually get picked up by automation and computers. “I would rather be a philosophy major,” he said.
“Knowing how to critically think and assess them from a global perspective I think is going to be more valuable than what we see as exciting careers today,” he continued.
For more about Mark Cuban, watch Fortune’s video:
Cuban also encouraged attendees of the conference to come up with solutions to mitigate job losses from automation—something he warned about last month on Twitter—while throwing more shade at the current federal government.
“That’s what people in this room can help think of, because our current administration is not going to solve that problem by thinking they are bringing back factories,” he said.Ontario Provincial Police have identified the body found south of Kemptville last week as that of a Niagara Region man, Deepak Beaudoin-Reichmann, 27, who was reported missing by his family on Oct. 5.
“We’re still treating this as a suspicious death,” OPP Sgt. Kristine Rae said Sunday afternoon, noting preliminary autopsy results were inconclusive and further testing was necessary.
Police had earlier released details about what the victim was wearing in an attempt to identify the body. The victim, whom police described as Caucasian, slim and fit, was wearing a T-shirt with the logo of the hardcore metal band Bane and a dog tag stamped with words from one of the band’s most popular songs — “count me out” — inscribed on it. He also wore Jones jeans and Doc Martin boots.
The body was discovered in Kemtpville Creek near the junctions of county roads 20 and 18, east of Bishops Mills in North Grenville, in the early evening of Oct. 14.
Rae said the victim’s family thought he had been in Ottawa as of Oct. 5.
The OPP have not released details about how the body was found. Nor have they confirmed reports that it was stuffed into a duffel bag.
Rae, however, said there are indications the body had not been in the creek very long. “He had a well-groomed beard and definitely physically fit,” she said.
Police are asking anyone with information about the death or who may have seen Beaudoin-Reichmann between Oct. 5 and Oct. 14 to contact the Grenville County-Kemptville detachment at 613 258-3441, the OPP communications centre at 1-888-310-1122, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. Tips can also be submitted at www.tipsubmit.com.Opening day box office collection has earned 'Ram-Leela' 5th place in the list of top openers of 2013.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela' has had stupendous box office collections on the opening weekend, with the movie bagging a grand total of Rs 33 crore across Friday and Saturday.
'Ram Leela', the romantic saga starring Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh in lead roles opened to jam-packed theaters with Rs 15 crore on the day of its release and Rs 17.5 crores on Saturday.
Hrithik Roshan's Krrish 3 box office collections, however, makes it the current leader of course.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to pen the staggering numbers that 'Ram Leela' managed.
Taran Adarsh: #RamLeela continues to win hearts. Saturday Rs 17.5 cr. Total so far: Rs 33.5 cr nett. Expect a bigger total on Sunday.
It's opening day box office collection has earned 'Ram Leela' 5th place in the list of top openers of 2013 and 10th place in the list of Bollywood's top 25 openers."
Despite cricketing 'God', Sachin Tendulkar's final match that took place in Mumbai, the numbers seemed unaffected.
However, 'Ram Leela' did face a few protests with certain groups claiming that the title and content of the film is insensitive to religious Hindu sentiments. As a result of which, some cinemas were forced to shut down and certain shows were suspended.
But Ranveer and Deepika are surely celebrating the success of their Indian Shakespearean drama. The rumoured couple is being showered with praise for their performances both by critics and fans along with co-stars Supriya Pathak and Richa Chadda.Squatting is on the rise again in these times of austerity (see for example the recent occupations of flats in Southern Spain, mostly carried out by housewives and families). An Italian project that’s caught my attention since its beginning is in Pisa, where last year’s Occupy protests evolved into the reappropriation and transformation of abandoned buildings for the benefit of the local community.
The Occupy Pisa project started in November 2011 with the occupation of some old buildings owned by a bank in Pisa, with the aim of providing alternative and self-managed social spaces for the local community. After only a few months of successful initiatives, such as a low-cost canteen, courses and advice drop-ins, the building was evicted in February. The eviction didn’t stop them though, as they went on to set up a permanent camp in the nearby Piazza Dante, which was used as a base to organise pickets and demonstrations, and to keep engaging with the local residents. Thanks to these tactics the project has grown from being an activist-based movement to being a mixed group of people from all sorts of backgrounds, including students, precarious workers, unemployed people and local residents of all ages.
After the global day of action against austerity on May 15th – which in Italy was focused on Equitalia, the Italian state-owned tax department – the project decided to move on and occupy an abandoned sports centre, disused for the last 6 years despite the local residents’ requests to re-open it. The works at the “Nuova Periferia Polivalente” started straight away and culminated with a public assembly on June 3rd to discuss ideas and proposals for the project, which obviously include renovating the sports facilities, but also creating social spaces for adults and children, an employment-focused area to organise the local workers and an “Anti-Equitalia Advice Centre” for people in debt. The low-cost social canteen – one of key elements of the project since its origins – will come back with a newly built outdoor wooden oven.
Italian sources: here and here. For Italy Calling's older articles on the Occupy Pisa movement and other occupations see here.
Italy Calling is on http://italycalling.wordpress.com.For a few fleeting, horrifying moments this past week the fault lines that underlie the global economic crisis erupted into plain view. With deft and quick effort leaders in Washington, Europe and Asia papered over the fissures and fears largely subsided. But the shock of plain truths which resulted in violent currency movements are the latest reminder that the 21st century economic order will bear little resemblance to the world we now know.
The tremors began in Beijing, where an essay from the governor of the People’s Bank of China seemed to favor the creation of an IMF currency to replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve. In Europe, the rotating president of the European Union, outgoing Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, characterized America’s plan to combat the widening global recession as the road to hell. At the same time, British Member of the European Parliament Daniel Hannan made headlines the world over with his stinging rebuke of the inflationary and debt-focused policies of the current UK government.
As a result of these clearly voiced frustrations, the U.S. dollar suffered a drubbing. However, Treasury secretary Geithner and his ministerial counterparts in Berlin, Paris and London did their best to convince everyone that the world is pulling together as one to combat the economic crisis. The charm offensive was effective in restoring calm.
Given the size and scope of the remedies that the Obama Administration is cajoling the world to adopt, it is likely that the unease will grow until many countries emerge in open revolt to America’s plans.
President Obama and the majority of our leadership on both sides of the aisle are confident that the right mix of monetary and fiscal policy can restart the spending party that defined America for a generation. And as the bleary-eyed revelers wisely reach for a cup of black coffee or stumble into a rehab center, Obama is pouring grain alcohol into the punch bowl hoping to lure the walking zombies back onto the dance floor. Europe and Asia fully understand that Obama will ask them to lend the booze.
Washington is telling us that our problems result from a lack of consumer spending. Therefore, the solution is for government spending to pick up the slack. However, if Americans are too broke to spend, then how can our government spend for us? The only money they have is taken from us through taxation. To postpone immediate tax hikes (adding interest for good measure), Washington plans to borrow more from abroad. However, if our foreign creditors refuse to pony up, much of the money will simply be printed instead.
Printing money is merely taxation in another form. Rather than robbing citizens of their money, government robs their money of its purchasing power. Many people assume that if government provides the funds we can spend our way back to prosperity. However, it’s not money we lack but production. If the government simply prints money and doles it out, we will not be able to buy more |
March 31. They won 22 matches, and were so far ahead of their competition that they earned the title four games before the season ended, according to the team's GoFundMe page.
Read MoreNewly Updated BC'S
New for 2018, we have had the Ballistic Coefficients (BC’s) of our AccuBond-Long Range (ABLR) bullets tested and verified with Doppler radar. This has resulted in a revision of our published BC numbers to more accurately match real-world flight characteristics. Using Doppler radar to verify our BC’s allows us to provide the most accurate BC numbers to our customers while increasing the accuracy of long range ballistics calculations. To perform this critical testing, we selected the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. EMRTC is the largest privately owned ordnance and ballistic test facility outside the government, encompassing 40 square miles and over 30 test ranges. EMRTC is internationally recognized as a center for excellence in energetics and ballistics research and testing. We are pleased to provide these highly accurate BC numbers and feel confident that they will bring a new degree of precision to your long-range ballistics calculations. For the utmost accuracy, we recommend using the G7 BC when calculating trajectories with the ABLR bullet line.Amid Donald Trump’s ongoing attacks on the family of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American solider who was killed fighting in Iraq, a number of his supporters latched onto a conspiracy theory that Khan’s father is a “Muslim Brotherhood agent” and his son was on an “Islamist mission.”
The theory seemed to originate with the fringe right-wing site Shoebat.com, which is run by Walid Shoebat, a Palestinian-American who has claimed to be a former terrorist and “radicalized Muslim” before his conversion to Christianity.
In a lengthy post published Sunday, Shoebat and his son Theodore argue that Khizr Khan, who made an emotional appeal Thursday at the Democratic National Convention to vote for Hillary Clinton to honor his son, “wants to advance Sharia Law and bring Muslims into the United States.”
The grammatically-challenged post concludes that Khan’s academic work on Islamic law, along with his work in immigration legal services, means he is a jihadi. The writers also group Captain Khan in with so-called “Muslim martyrs” who they accuse of being double agents for the U.S. and Al-Qaeda.
“Is it likely that Khan’s son was killed before his Islamist mission was accomplished? Only another type of investigation will determine that,” the blog reads.
That post came the same day that the Islamic State said Captain Khan died as an “apostate.”
Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, who no longer has a formal role with the campaign but frequently acts as a campaign surrogate, was among the most notable voices pushing the claim, along with his favorite pet conspiracy theory about top Clinton aide Huma Abedin:
Mr. Khan more than an aggrieved father of a Muslim son- he’s Muslim Brotherhood agent helping Hillary https://t.co/mJuUYw60nK — Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) August 1, 2016
But Stone wasn’t alone in pushing the “Muslim Brotherhood” line.
Conservative columnist Cal Thomas tweeted the link and then deleted it after fierce blowback. It remained live on his Facebook page Monday morning, with the caption “there is always more to a story than the initial report.”
New Hampshire state Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Trump delegate and co-chair of the real estate mogul’s veterans group who infamously called for Clinton to be “shot for treason,” advised his Twitter followers to “follow the money” on Khan:
Read the truth about your hero, Mr Khan who used his son as Political Pawn @CNN @FoxNews @hooger123 @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/Nrt7CEU3ua — Rep Al Baldasaro (@Al_Baldasaro) August 1, 2016
In a blog post, Allen West offered his condolences to the Khans before chastising them for not using the DNC to denounce terrorism.
“You, Mr. Khan, had the chance to be the face and voice of a Muslim family that stood with the fundamental principles and values of liberty, freedom, and democracy upon which this Republic was founded,” West wrote. “Mr. Khan, I grieve for the loss of your son. However, I grieve even more that you used his sacrifice and loss as nothing more than a damn politicized stunt.”
Libertarian blogger Mike Cernovich, a vocal Trump supporter, compared Khan to Ahmed Mohamed, the Muslim teenager from Texas who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school that anti-Muslim activists insisted was “half a bomb”:
Turns out Mr. Khan is reportedly a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Another media hoax – like “clock boy.” — Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 1, 2016
Conservative talk radio host Michael Savage simply tweeted the link to Shoebat:Every summer, music lovers pack festival grounds across America for dancing and day drinking to their favorite bands. But before fashionable #Coachella selfies clogged your Instagram, Bonnaroo—the magical Woodstock-esque fest on a 700-acre Manchester, Tenn., farm—inspired a nation of weirdos to unplug and plan an annual pilgrimage. With the 15th edition kicking off June 9, past performers and key figures trace its wild history.
ASHLEY CAPPS, Festival cofounder, AC Entertainment: I started traveling [to Europe] fairly regularly in the 1980s, and I saw what a vibrant festival culture there was. I was like, “Why doesn’t the States have more of these?” So on a small scale I produced Mountain Oasis in 2000, outside of Asheville, N.C., and it was overwhelmingly successful. I was like, “This is an idea whose time had come.” I started talking with [event production company] Superfly—they had Jazz Fest in New Orleans.
JONATHAN MAYERS, Festival cofounder, Superfly: We connected in 2001, I was very inspired. We’d been to some of the European festivals and always had a dream to do a fest. We started looking at sites in the Southeast.
CAPPS: We poked all over the Southeast, actually. Superfly was in New Orleans—they had just graduated from Tulane University—my office was in Knoxville [Tennessee]…Ultimately, we found the site outside of Nashville. A friend of ours had been involved in a festival [there] two or three years before us, Itchycoo.
After securing the Farm in Manchester, it was time to get teams in place and the town on board.
ANNA BOROFSKY, Founder, Clean Vibes [which oversees waste management]: When we first got the call it didn’t have a name, it was “this festival in Tennessee,” and we were told that they would have 50,000 people. We thought, wow, how are they going to pull that off?
CAPPS: Oh man, we brainstormed thousands of names [for the festival].
MAYERS: I think one was AXIS, but that was when President Bush had come out and said the Axis of Evil. We were looking through old records and we came across a record Dr. John record, Desitively Bonnaroo, and Bonnaroo jumped out at us. We looked it up and it was a Creole slang word for “good stuff.” Everyone rallied around that.
As for the lineup…
CAPPS: I have a long-standing relationship with Widespread Panic, and I remember going out to the land and standing there and their response was, “You’re crazy, but we’ll do it.” Once we had a band of their stature, people started buying into the concept.
DAVID PENNINGTON, Former mayor of Coffee County, where Bonnaroo is held: I’d never heard of some of those bands. I thought, “Good God! This won’t do no better than Itchycoo.”
The fest sold all 70,000 tickets—and quickly.
MAYERS: I remember the day we went on sale and being in my apartment and one of my partners calling me and being like, “Have you seen ticket counts?”
CAPPS: We sold like 12,000 tickets [that day]. We hoped to sell 6,000 or 7,000 in those first two weeks. We were like, “Oh my God. What are we going to do?” After a couple more days we had to raise the price—and then they sold even quicker! It was all because of that network of fans that the bands had established on the Internet. Jam bands pioneered the use of the Internet to communicate directly with their fans.
In the months that followed, organizers worked tirelessly to get the grounds ready. On June 21, 2002, they opened the gates.
CAPPS: I woke up at, like, 4:30 a.m. and started driving to the site, and every square inch of space was occupied. It was like Shakedown Street. I was like, “This is amazing,” and “Oh s—, can we get arrested for this?” Our original traffic plan was rejected, and when it was [we said], “Traffic’s going to be blocked 20 miles in both directions.” The patrolman said, “Not on my watch.” That afternoon, I ran into [him]. He said, “Traffic’s backed up 20 miles. Next year we’re doing it your way.”
PENNINGTON: It flat out stopped our town. The biggest challenge was that we had underestimated what they told us to expect.
BOROFSKY: When everyone gets to Manchester, the first thing they do is go to the big Walmart—even though they had sold out all the tickets, no one had believed it was really going to happen. The cashiers there got a real surprise.
STEVE MOLITZ, Particle: We were stuck with everybody else so we decided to take advantage of the time—we were going up and down this line of cars handing out our CDs for free and trading some beers. [Laughs] I don’t know if we were worried about missing our set, but if we had, we probably would have just played on the side of the road.
Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio, Ben Harper, and String Cheese Incident headlined, while Jurassic 5, North Mississippi Allstars, Particle, and others played—and partied—that first year.
LUTHER DICKINSON, North Mississippi Allstars: The infrastructure was so good. We came from Europe, where the festival is an art form, and at that point in America it was not such.
CHALI 2NA, Jurassic 5: We were festival veterans as far as Europe is concerned. It felt good to travel to a remote place, see the dopest bands, and party like that.
DICKINSON: I’m not going to say sex, but it was a lot of drugs and rock & roll. Our crew went way off course.
Over the years, Bonnaroo has become famous for all-night sets. Jam band Particle started the trend in 2002, and acts like My Morning Jacket and Skrillex have upheld the tradition. It’s also the only festival where you’ll find Questlove and Ben Harper or MMJ’s Jim James and John Oates collaborating for the fest’s famous SuperJams.
MOLITZ: We played at, like, 3:30 p.m. and partied all day. Then our manager said, “If we can get a PA, would you want to play [late-night]?” We scrambled!
JAMES: One of the fun things about Bonnaroo is that nobody has to worry about any normal-life concerns. You’re on a different plane of existence. So it’s fun to say, “F— it, let’s keep playing.” There’s no reason for any rules.
SKRILLEX: It was the craziest amount of work ever for one show. [But] that first moment, walking out and [U.K. MC] Sgt. Pokes saying, “Bonnaroo! This is the SuperJam!” Lettuce playing the live horns, Big Gigantic on the saxophone, the drums and the f—ing guitars…it was so sick.
The festival has evolved beyond its jam-band roots. Top rock acts like Radiohead and Metallica have headlined. And Kanye West had perhaps the most controversial set, when his 2008 slot was delayed until 4:30 a.m., angering fans.
DANNY CLINCH, Photographer: [The organizers] were trying to get Radiohead to play [at the 2006 festival, when they headlined for the first time], and they weren’t having much success. I was with the band and told them, “It’s the closest to the European festival that you’ll find. You would really enjoy this.” Shortly after, they made the decision to do Bonnaroo.
CAPPS: With Radiohead’s performance, you could see Bonnaroo becoming a festival that has a wide embrace of the musical world. [With Kanye West], that was a particularly complicated situation—there was a breakdown in communication.
WAYNE COYNE, The Flaming Lips [who attended the year West performed]: I thought, “This is what Kanye does; he’s going to get more attention playing at 5 a.m. than if he played at 11 at night.” And you can get caught up in the Kanye hatred and be like, “Who does he think he is?” But I still thought that s—t he was doing was cool.
2NA: I was on around the same time [as West]. And I had like 8,000 people there but because people were leaving his set! So by the time I’m five or six songs in, my tent is spilling out! I gave him a shout out—I said, “Yo! Big up to Kanye West! Whatever you’re doing over there, man, my tent is extremely packed right now! So thank you!” [Laughs]
Recently, Bonnaroo has given EDM acts headlining slots and helped launched artists like My Morning Jacket and Mumford & Sons from tent-size crowds to main stage sets.
SKRILLEX: The first year [I played in 2012] people were going, “What the f— is Skrillex doing here?” [But] if you like something, you’re going to be way less vocal about it. You’re not going to be all over the message boards like, “F—k! I like this!”
CLINCH: The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon—those bands were not well-known when they came. I have film of the Black Keys driving up in their own van and Dan Auerbach stringing his own guitar backstage. Fast-forward a few years and [all three are] headlining. To me, that’s like, “How could this festival not have an effect on contemporary music?”
JAMES: Bonnaroo has been special to us. We’ve kind of been on the same trajectory—though I think Bonnaroo has grown more than we have. [Laughs] I go there to lose my mind, whether that’s on stage playing and lost in music or out in the crowd with friends, or in the silent disco tent—or just walking late at night over to the ferris wheel.
CAPPS: When we booked [Mumford & Sons in 2010], they were the opening act in one of the tents, and we weren’t sure it was a good idea. By the time they got to the festival, they had talked us into letting them close the tent.
TED DWANE, Mumford & Sons: I don’t remember that! [Laughs] We were right after Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch, and they were backed by a bunch of Old Crow [Medicine Show] guys—we were freaking out. Old Crow’s manager was like, “We heard you guys do a version of [Old Crow’s] ‘Wagon Wheel.’ If you want, the guys will get up there with you.” It was one of the most significant musical days we’ve had in America.
By 2013, Mumford & Sons had upgraded to a headlining slot. It was supposed to be their biggest set on American soil, but Dwane had been feeling ill on tour in the weeks prior. Doctors found a clot in his brain and he underwent surgery immediately. Forced to scramble, organizers asked Jack Johnson, who happened to be in attendance but hadn’t performed in four years to sub. He agreed.
DWANE: I thought that was so cool that he did that. If I’m at a party or something and there’s a stage and someone’s like, “Aw, get up there!” I’m not up for it. But he was fine to jump on stage and do Bonnaroo without any rehearsal.
In 2015, the band finally got their set.
DWANE: To get to Bonnaroo and play that show, finally, was just about the joy of doing something that you were so looking forward to doing, and having that taken away for a bit.
CAPPS: That’s one of the most exciting things to have witnessed over the course of the last 15 years.
Whether artists played the first or 14th year, everyone remembers their first ’Roo…
JAMES: It’s what I always imagined the set of Mad Max would be like. It’s like you’re out in the future in this crazy, lawless place. Pulling in felt like, “Here’s this place I always thought existed but I never found….”
COYNE: We were blown away by how much people embraced us. We came from this confrontational punk-rock thing, and Bonnaroo, it changed us. We thought, “That’s how we want to be.” People who saw us that night just loved us. Everybody would say, “We’re all here together and f—k all that.”
GARY CLARK JR.: I didn’t really know what to expect. And I remember pulling up in the van and it was hot and dusty and bigger than I could have imagined. We parked in the woods and walked out and I’ve been to festivals, but I’ve never seen anything like it. You know if someone is coming to Bonnaroo they’re a real music lover, because you have to commit.
DWANE: Our first impression of Bonnaroo was the best you could imagine. Coachella is very smoothies and protein shakes, Bonnaroo is a bit more hippie, a bit more out-there. Not to undermine Coachella, but [Bonnaroo] is our people.
A version of this story originally appeared in the May 27, 2016 issue of Entertainment Weekly.New television series is casting talent in New Mexico.
The New Mexico Film Office announced earlier this month that 20th Century Fox Television will start producing the pilot for a new series called Hieroglyph filming in Albuquerque next month.
The new series features Reece Ritchie, Kelsey Chow and Condola Rashad. Hieroglyph centers on a notorious thief who is taken from prison to serve the Pharaoh in ancient Egypt.
Filming is scheduled to begin early this March for two weeks. Production is expected to continue for 13 episodes, if the series gets picked up.
For casting call details see the details below:
We are looking for 18 yr olds who look younger, real military, ex military and military types.
We are also looking for all types for lots of different scenes. Pls update your information if you have previously sent us with updated photo etc.
If you are interested, pls email a photo, contact number, height, weight and your availability to:
[email protected]
Source: Santa Fe New Mexican White Turtle Casting NM Film OfficeMUMBAI: Over Rs 35 lakh cash in new Rs 2,000 notes and 2.5 kg gold have been seized from six persons at Panvel near here, police said today.Acting on a tip off, Navi Mumbai police last night nabbed the six from Adesh circle in Panvel, a senior police officer said.A vehicle carrying six persons was intercepted. During the checking, two of the occupants, Devram Solanki and Kumaram Choudhury, were found in possession of over Rs 35 lakh cash in Rs 2,000 notes, he said.The duo, both residents of Navi Mumbai, claimed that they run a general store and the money belongs to them, the official added.The other four, Nanaji Matkare, Raghunath Mohite, Santosh Pawar and Suryakant Kande, were carrying gold biscuits weighing 2.5 kg, he said, adding they are residents of Pune and claimed to be working for jewellery stores.All the six persons have been handed over to the income tax department for further investigation, he added.The countdown until the launch of Bitcoin Futures on Cboe Exchange has started. The futures will be launched on the exhange at 5:00 p.m. Central Time on December 10.
CBOE to launch Bitcoin Futures on December 10
CBOE Bitcoin Futures main features
Ticker symbol: XBT
XBT futures are based on the Gemini's auction price for Bitcoin, denominated in U.S. dollars
The contract multiplier for the XBT futures contract is 1 Bitcoin
Minimum price intervals: 10.00 points USD/XBT (equal to $10.00 per contract). The individual legs and net prices of spreads in XBT futures may be in increments of 0.01 points USD/XBT (equal to $0.01 per contract)
Trading in XBT futures will be halted for 2 minutes if during trading hours the best bid in the XBT futures contract closest to expiration is 10% or more above the daily settlement price of that contract on the prior day
After trading commences following such a halt, trading in XBT futures will be halted for 5 minutes if during trading hours the best bid in the XBT futures contract closest to expiration is 20% or more above the daily settlement price of that contract on the prior day
CFE will be waiving all of its transaction fees for XBT futures in December 2017
Type of Trading Hours Monday Tuesday - Friday Extended 5:00 p.m. (Sunday) to 8:30 a.m. 3:30 p.m. (previous day) to 8:30 a.m. Regular 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
The XBT Bitcoin Futures trading data can be tracked on the official website of Cboe Futures Exchange, but the information will appear with a 10 minutes delay.
What is more, the end of the year is marked by the arrival of Bitcoin futures contracts, and the information about other exchanges launching Bitcoin futures you can find here.Can't beat the value
Great deal for a bare bones system. Add on a Radeon 6450 & hard drive, and other than peripherals you have a cheap htpc. CONS: -No case fans (maybe don't need them) -Motherboard doesn't support sleep mode (S3 in bios). I added some fans to the case, but when the computer goes to sleep they don't go off. No way to fix that in bios. -Front slot for the 120mm case fan is tight, you have to slip it in through the HD bays. Plus no place for air flow through the front of the case. OTHER: -Power supply is doing the trick. Currently running 2 hard drives and even a Radeon 5770 for a couple weeks. Decent cable management in the case, but not a ton of connections and isn't modular. -Probably all you need is a rear exhaust fan with a fan controller. I grabbed a Rosewill fan on BF with a controller. Turn that down onto low to keep the system silent. -Probably go with a passive cooling video card if you want this to be a silent HTPC.Malkoč was a young Imam in Bosnia when the war broke out. He "had served on active duty as an officer in the Yugoslav army and was a gifted military leader." [1] In 1943 he joined the newly formed Waffen-SS Division "Handschar" and was initially appointed an Imam to the "SS-Gebirgs-Pioneer Bataillion 13". In July he and several other Bosnian ulema were sent to Dresden for an important three week " Imam Training Course " organised by SS Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger and honorary SS officer Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Classes included lessons on " The Waffen-SS: Its Organization and Ranks " and German language tuition. There were also excursions to the Berlin Opera and the Babelsberg castle, Potsdam and the Nicholaisee.
During training, Communist "agents provocateurs" in the Division staged a mutiny on 17 September near Villefranche-de-Rouergue in France in which several SS officers were executed. A German called Dr. Schweiger turned to Malkoč for help. The Imam eventually persuading the men to surrender and disarm. A report stated, "To complete this task the doctor sought the assistance of Imam Malkoč, who proved to be quite helpful, demanding complete obedience from the troops."[2]
In recognition of his services he was awarded the Iron Cross, second Class, in October 1943. A year later he was appointed Imam for the entire Division after the first appointee, Imam Abdulah Muhasilović, deserted on 21 October 1944.You quote Burr and Hamilton; you can rattle off all the King Georges; you've taken the Schuyler sister quiz; but how well do you know the kick-ass ensemble of Broadway's Hamilton?
BroadwayBox gets to know each of the phenomenal performers tearing it up at the Richard Rodgers Theatre a bit better in our new spotlight series. Next up, Carleigh Bettiol, Andrew Chappelle, & Ariana DeBose.
Carleigh Bettiol
(Broadway debut! Understudy for Eliza Hamilton.)
1. Moment in Hamilton I look forward to most each night:
Thayne Jasperson always has something funny to say to me during a very quick moment that we have in 'Helpless’. Sasha Hutchings always tries (and usually succeeds) to make me laugh during serious moments. Anthony Ramos and I always do a silly freestyle dance during ‘Guns And Ships’. Those are just a few!
2. Broadway show that changed my life the first time I saw it:
The first time I saw A Chorus Line. There was something about watching all of those performers dance AND sing AND act, and I loved the music (even though I didn’t understand some of its meaning at the time!).
3. Time period I wish I could travel back and live in for a while:
This is tough, because my first thought is fashion, and there were some many good time periods of fashion…but I think I’d say either 1920s or 1960s. Flapper-esque dresses and all types of embellishments in the ‘20s, and fun mini dresses and boots in the ‘60s!
4. Biggest Hamilton pinch-me moment:
Our opening night party was one of my favorite events yet. Fireworks over the Hudson, a live performance by The Roots, my mom and sister were there, and I had just officially made my Broadway debut in this gigantic hit of a show. I wanted to do it all over again the next day. And the next.
5. My New York City happy place (outside of the Rodgers):
Anywhere in West Chelsea or the West Village. Those quiet (for NYC) tree-lined streets with one gorgeous brownstone after another….thats my fav.
6. Job that got me my equity card:
Playing Val in A Chorus Line at Pittsburgh CLO.
7. Special skill on my resume that I’m most proud of:
Moonwalking. I had to learn when I was on tour with Flashdance and I think it’s pretty cool!
Andrew Chappelle
(Past credits: Mamma Mia! on Broadway, Priscilla Queen of the Desert tour. Understudy for Laurens/Phillip, Lafayette/Jefferson & Mulligan/Madison.)
1. Moment in Hamilton I look forward to most each night:
I love the Kiki moments we have when most of us are offstage and hanging in stage management.
2. Broadway show that changed my life the first time I saw it:
The Boy from Oz.
3. Time period I wish I could travel back and live in for a while:
The ‘70s. Can't you see me twirling in a field with a fringe vest and hopping in a van headed for San Francisco?
4. Biggest Hamilton pinch-me moment:
When Meryl Streep kissed me on both cheeks and talked to me about my performance. WHAT?!?!
5. My New York City happy place (outside of the Rodgers):
The West Village.
6. Job that got me my equity card:
Cinderella at North Carolina Theatre.
Ariana DeBose
(Past credits: Nautica in Bring It On The Musical, Leading Player in Pippin, Motown & TV’s So You Think You Can Dance.)
1. Moment in Hamilton I look forward to most each night:
I love watching Daveed, Oak & Leslie in ‘We Know!’ Three different men that I have learned so much from by watching their process. Plus, that arrangement is fire!!! Props to LAC.
2. Broadway show that changed my life the first time I saw it:
Mary Poppins. #judgeifyouwant. I saw it for the first time early in my senior year. But more importantly, I listened to "Anything Can Happen If You Let It" over and over on the plane to LA to find out if I made the Top 20 of SYTYCD (season 6).
3. Time period I wish I could travel back and live in for a while:
As crazy as the world is now, I don't think I'd want to live in any other time. Women have more opportunity now than ever!
4. Biggest Hamilton pinch-me moment:
Meryl & Angela Bassett. Meryl because she's just divine & beautifully human... Growing up I quickly identified with Angela's work—she's strong, beautiful & brown! They can do anything!
5. My New York City happy place (outside of the Rodgers):
My couch with my cats :) #proudcatlady
6. Job that got me my equity card:
Bring It On the Musical, ATL premier.
7. Special skill on my resume that I’m most proud of:
Flag & rifle work:) I spun on color guard in high school. I felt real badass to say the least.
See this talented trio in 'Hamilton' at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre, and check back to meet the rest of the crazy-talented 'Hamilton' crew.Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic can play together, says Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho is convinced Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be able to play together
Jose Mourinho is adamant it would be "easy" for Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to play together at Manchester United.
Mourinho signed Lukaku from Everton for £90m in the summer with the striker taking the No 9 shirt worn by Ibrahimovic last season, after the 36-year-old's contract expired.
United re-signed the former Sweden international in August, and Mourinho confirmed on Friday that the forward is set to return to the squad following knee ligament damage he suffered in April for Saturday's Premier League game with Newcastle.
Jose Mourinho has welcomed the return of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic Jose Mourinho has welcomed the return of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic's return has led to questions regarding Lukaku's place in the starting line-up, after a run of seven league appearances without a goal for the 24-year old.
However, Mourinho is convinced the pair can work effectively together.
"I am excited because I have more options, I am excited because the team can be better, I am excited because I want to have players available," he said.
"I don't want to make a situation of Zlatan and Romelu because it can be Zlatan and Romelu, it can be just Zlatan, it can be just Romelu or it can be just no one. I want options and I have more options now in attack
"He (Ibrahimovic) can play everywhere, and this season we played so many times with two strikers. Especially when we played three at the back and the wing backs, we brought the second man to the centre so we can do it, we are ready to do it and we prepare ourselves since pre-season (to do it).
"Is easy, easy. Good players can play together. Is easy to play together. The problem is when the players are not good."
Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez insists his focus is fully on Manchester United this weekend, rather than on any feud between him and Mourinho Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez insists his focus is fully on Manchester United this weekend, rather than on any feud between him and Mourinho
Ibrahimovic has suggested he could drop into a number 10 role when he makes his long-awaited comeback, though Mourinho has warned not to expect an immediate impact.
The forward scored 26 goals in 48 appearances for United last season, helping the side win three trophies including the EFL Cup and Europa League, and the United boss has urged to give him time.
Ibrahimovic has not played since suffering knee ligament damage in April
"He [Zlatan] made a full recovery," added the United boss. "Now you cannot expect him to play 90 minutes or to be ready to play consecutive matches like he did all his career.
"He needs times to be back to his level - his fitness, his confident, his sharpness. But from the clinical point of view to be back and ready is fantastic."ARMONK, N.Y. -- Byram Hills High School in Armonk will host a run called "Miles for Miles," which is intended to raise awareness about mental health.
The run, supported by Team Daniel, is scheduled for May 31 at 9 a.m., with registration open on site an hour earlier.
Robert Laitman recently told North Castle Town Board members about the event. He said that it is named for Miles Applebaum.
Applebaum, an Armonk resident, was found dead last fall days after he went missing. Community members at the time joined Applebaum's family for a vigil in Wampus Brook Park.
Team Daniel's website notes that the run will be on the same cross-country course where Applebaum once ran.
Speaking at the Town Board meeting, Laitman noted that May is a month for mental-health awareness. He compared awareness of mental health to where cancer was 10 to 15 years ago.
Information on the run is available here.
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Four years ago the United States team at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was young and inexperienced at the highest international level.
The team named Wednesday by USA Hockey for the 2014 Sochi Olympics will not carry the same stigma heading into the tournament next month. Thirteen members of the silver-medal winning squad from Vancouver was named to the 25-man roster, which was announced on the Michigan Stadium ice surface after the Bridgestone 2014 NHL Winter Classic.
"This is second time I've done this because I did this with Brian Burke [as general manager] in 2010 and all I can say is we did not have these decisions, anywhere close to these decisions to make this year [four years ago]," United States general manager David Poile said after the Winter Classic. "If I can say this the right way, this is the first time we're having to make similar decisions that Canada has made for years. We're leaving off top, top, top players."
Among the 13 returnees are all of the guys who were named as part of the "leadership group" by USA Hockey at the summer orientation camp; forwards David Backes, Dustin, Ryan Callahan and Zach Parise and defensman Ryan Suter. Also back is 2010 tournament MVP, goaltender Ryan Miller.
The strength up front for the American team appears to be on the wings. Parise, Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel are three of the top wings in the NHL, while Dustin Brown, Callahan, James van Riemsdyk, Max Pacioretty and Blake Wheeler offer a lot of skill, size and speed and T.J. Oshie is one of the best playmakers at the position.
Backes leads a group of five centers, and where they fit on the depth chart will be interesting to monitor. Paul Stastny, Ryan Kesler and Joe Pavelski were all in Vancouver, with Derek Stepan as the lone newcomer of the bunch.
Poile emphasized chemistry among players like van Riemsdyk and Kessel, Oshie and Backes and Stepan and Callahan, skating ability for players like Wheeler, Pacioretty and van Riemsdyk and mentioned Oshie's shootout prowess as a potential weapon in the short tournament.
"There's a lot of guys that can skate well, and I think that is huge," van Riemsdyk said. "Going over on the bigger ice, there is 15 extra feet to work with. We have a lot of guys with international experience and played on the bigger surface, whether it is stuff like that or guys playing in college on the bigger sheets. When you have that familiarity to it, it definitely makes it easier to go over there and adjust to it."
Suter will be the No. 1 defenseman for the Americans, and is a strong candidate to be among the tournament leaders in time on ice. The defense corps is the biggest area of turnover on the club, with only Suter and Brooks Orpik returning.
Orpik and Paul Martin have been defense partners both at even strength and on the penalty kill for the Pittsburgh Penguins. American coach Dan Bylsma has coached both players in Pittsburgh since 2009..
The rest of the defense corps is a collection of some of the best young talents in the League at the position. All five, John Carlson, Justin Faulk, Cam Fowler, Ryan McDonagh and Kevin Shattenkirk, are 24 years old or younger.
No player on this team likely came as far in the eyes of the management team as Fowler, who had struggled for much of the past two seasons before playing well at the end of 2012-13 season and becoming a breakout star for the Anaheim Ducks this year.
"Anybody who has seen [Fowler] play this year, especially in the last six weeks, he may be one of the best defensemen in the League right now on a top team," Poile said. "His skating ability, his whole vision of his game, he's taking his game up to a much, much higher level."
While the men's team won silver at the |
-EYED WONDER.The WHITE STAG gets shot with an ARROW and turns into a FLOCK OF BIRDSHawkeye: Oops, sorry, my bad. I was shooting at a space monster over in the next theater.The Prince From Another Castle: Heya! I'm back! Didja miss me? I'm sorry I let you get captured and locked up in a dungeon for most of your life.Princess White Falling Snow Caressing The Lithe Nude Bodies Of Rapunzel And Cinderella: S'okay, we're cool.One of the DWARVES gets SHOT WITH AN ARROW.Dwarf who got shot: Message for you, Princess.The dwarf who got shot DIES.The Huntsman kills the Evil Queen's BROTHER.They all run AWAY.The Prince from the Other Castle: Here, have an apple.Princess Sleeping Between Rapunzel And Cindarella In The Beautiful White Snow: Okay.Evil Queen: It's a trap! Plus, I'm not really the prince from another castle!The Huntsman and the Prince From Another Castle attack the Evil Queen, who turns into a FLOCK OF BIRDS, but it's totally DIFFERENT from the white stag turning into a FLOCK OF BIRDS because those birds were WHITE and these birds are BLACK, which means they're EVIL.Joseph Smith: See, that's what I said!Princess Sleeping Snow White Because She's Totally Been Poisoned goes into a COMA.Six Dwarves: We should take her to the castle.Huntsman: Why?Six Dwarves: The reward offer didn't say she had to be alive.The PRINCE FROM ANOTHER CASTLE kisses the PRINCESS. Nothing HAPPENS.The HUNTSMAN kisses the PRINCESS, who comes BACK TO LIFE.Huntsman: Um, you do know I'm not a prince, right? I was just hoping for some nookie.Princess Sleeping Snow Rapunzel Cinderella Beauty: I know. I've been awake all this time. I just didn't want to give him the satisfaction. He left me to rot in a cell for most of my life, after all.Prince From Another Castle: Wait, I thought we were cool about that.Princess Beauty White Sleeping Snow gives the least inspiring INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH in Hollywood's HISTORY.Princess Sleeping Rapunzel Beauty Snow: Let us ride into battle against the Evil Queen's castle!Tank: So what do you need? Besides a miracle.Princess Beauty Snow Sleeping White: Guns. Lots of guns.The Duke: Have fun storming the castle!Six Dwarves: We can sneak into the castle and raise the gate.The audience LAUGHS.Six Dwarves: Why is that funny? We're miners so we're strong as hell, we're able to fit through spaces that the Evil Queen won't anticipate and likely hasn't defended, we know how to work together in dangerous situations, we've been working as brigands for the last ten years, and her guard is probably mostly poorly trained men-at-arms. Is this supposed to be funny just because we're short? Do you fuckers have any idea how offensive that is?Tyrion Lannister: You tell 'em, yo.TheSix Dwarves sneak in through the JEFFERIES TUBES, kick ASS and raise the CASTLE GATE. The audience LAUGHS.Evil Queen: I am going to stab you.Princess Sleeping With Rapunzel And Cinderella: Nuh-uh. I am going to stab you.The Evil Queen DIESSome Dude: I now crown you Queen Rapunzel Snow Sleeping White Beauty Cinderella.Prince From Another Castle: Oh, yeah. I'm definitely going to live happily ever after with her, if you know what I mean. And I'm sure you do.Huntsman: Oh, yeah. I'm definitely going to live happily ever after with her, if you know what I mean. And I'm sure you do.Prince From Another Castle: Wait, what?The movie ENDS.The ending credits ROLL, accompanied by INCREDIBLY LAME ENDING MUSIC.Me: This movie would have been so much better if the soundtrack had been done by Evanescence.Evanescence: Inorite?Since 9/11 Muslim terrorist groups has been hogging the lime light of every television news channels so much so that we are often surprised to come across a non-Muslim terrorist group. Here I’ve attempted to inform the readers about 10 such non-Islamic terrorist organisations.
Note: These are in no particular serial order; I’ve simply written about 10 non-Islamic terrorist organisations.
10. Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias De Colombia (FARC)
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
From 1964 this leftist guerrilla organization has been involved in the Colombian Civil War. FARC is the militant wing of the Colombian Communist Party. FARC claims to represent the poor people of rural Colombia and has around 7,000 to 10,000 active members including child soldiers. The group is notoriously known for using landmines and is held responsible for the death of 460 soldiers and thousands of civilians. FARC funds itself through illicit drug production and distribution, kidnap for ransom, illegal mining & extortion.
9. Revolutionary Struggle / Epanastatikos Agonas (EA)
EA is a Greek militant group that has been active since 2003. The group is infamous for their anarchist and anti-globalization views and are known for attacking government buildings, major banks, business institutions, police stations and the American embassy in Athens. They seek to bring a revolution in Greece.
8. Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA)
Primarily operating in Spain and France ETA is a Basque nationalist and separatist organization founded in 1958 to promote Basque culture with the goal of establishing an independent Basqueland. ETA is accused of committing attacks on politicians, judges, journalists, businessmen, and tourists, killing over 829 people. The group’s best work was the assassination of President Luis Carrero Blanco. ETA had also made assassination attempts on Prime Minister José María Aznar and King Juan Carlos. Over the years owing to their notoriety the group is said to have been losing sympathy of its supporters.
7. Shining Path / Sendero Luminoso
Shining Path is a communist guerrilla group in Peru formed in 1980. Their aim is to overthrow the Peruvian government and establish a Marxist government in its place. Though the group mainly draws its support from peasants they also often lead violent attacks on peasants whom they suspect of supporting the government. They therefore are responsible for carrying out numerous brutal massacres and running labour camps. There have been reported 31,000 deaths and disappearances related to Shining Path’s conflict with the Peru government. But since the arrest of its leader Abimael Guzman in 1992, the Shining Path has declined in activity.
6. Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA)
An offshoot of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), RIRA’s main goal was to unite Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Before RIRA’s leaders were arrested in 2001, the groups had committed several terrorist activities in the UK and Republic of Ireland mainly targeting British military and Northern Ireland police force. RIRA’s best notorious work is the bombing of Omagh (a town) in 1998, killing 29 people and injuring 220 others therefore making it the deadliest terrorist incident in Northern Ireland’s history.
5. Ulster Defense Association (UDA)
In Northern Ireland a loyalist militant organization was founded in 1971 with the objective of protecting Protestants from Catholics. UDA vehemently opposes uniting Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland and is responsible for 259 deaths, mostly Catholics. Also known as the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) UDA’s most recognised terrorist attack was the massacre of Greysteel, a predominantly Catholic village, in 1993. The UDA/UFF declared ceasefire in 1994 but continued violent attacks until an armed campaign in 2007 officially ended it.
4. New People’s Army (NPA)
Formed in 1969 NPA is the Communist Party of the Philippines’s armed wing. It operates in rural areas and commits heinous crimes. The group advocates left wing people’s revolution ideology. The NPA has allegedly been involved in a prison raid, attacks on mining sites, attacks on the military, the police, and even government informers. They justify their actions saying they are in defense of the poor but NPA has a reputation of committing violence and extortion on the same poor people. In 1989, the NPA assassinated the U.S. Army Colonel James “Nick” Rowe who was assisting a military program of the Philippine Army. Till date 40,000 lives has been lost in the conflict between the NPA and government forces.
3. Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo is a Japanese cult organisation established on the mixed philosophical beliefs of Christianity, yoga, Nostradamus’s prophecies, and various conspiracy theories by Shoko Asahara in 1984. The terrorist group is known to carrying out brainwashing sessions on its members using electric shocks, LSD et al. The group has around 40,000 worldwide members with 9,000 members residing in Japan. Aum Shinrikyo gained international prominence in 1995 with their sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system, successfully killing 13 commuters and injuring several more. Their purpose was to bring apocalypse.
2. Kahane Chai
An Israeli political party, Kach was founded by the infamous Meir Kahane in 1971. Following Kahane’s assassination, Kahane Chai broke away from the main Kach fraction in 1991. It was a far right political party that advocated extreme Jewish supremacy and was responsible for spreading racism towards Arabs. The party had been accused of many notorious works like bombing girls’ school, conspiring & assassinating. The Kahane Chai had demonstrated open support for Baruch Goldstein – a Jewish man who killed 29 Palestinians in 1994 following which the party was banned by the Israeli government in the same year.
1. Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
Founded in 1987, the LRA is a militant cult that operates in Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. Their self-proclaimed objective is to bring peace and prosperity in Uganda, however LRA is accused of widespread human rights violations including murder, abduction, mutilation, child sex slavery and making soldiers out of children. Between September 2008 and July 2011, the group has allegedly killed more than 2,300 people, abducted more than 3,000, and displaced over 400,000 across Central Africa.LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. -- Swooping low over the Willamette River near Lake Oswego, chasing a pair of ducks in flight, a hunting bald eagle is an impressive sight.
But Tricia Glad's experience with the bird lately has been more frightening than awe-inspiring.
"We've lived here for 14-years," said Glad, "and have never had something attack our animals, let alone try to attack our kids."
The family's dog isn't phased by the fuss, but their outdoor cat hasn't been the same since the eagle left a claw mark on its cheek.
Then there's the family's ducks, Splish and Splash.
"Splash and my other duck were sitting down by the river," said Tricia Glad's daughter, Keri. "And then the eagle just came down and just started - and just came down and took it and then it pushed it underwater."
Splash is recovering. Splish is gone.
The Glads understand some runners along nearby Old River Road say the bird's swooped down on them too.
The eagle is so large, the Glads thought it was a golden eagle, not a bald eagle. Bald eagles are common along the Willamette River.
Bird experts at the Portland Audubon Society are sure the bird is a young bald eagle; not a golden.
The Audubon Society is skeptical about the reported attacks on runners.
The attack on the Glad family's cat would also be unusual.
But the Audubon Society says an eagle targeting ducks like Splish and Splash is natural behavior for this bird of prey.
The Glads wonder what the bird may target next.
"I don't know how it's going to coexist because we watch it - anything that comes around, it starts chasing."
Bald eagles and golden eagles are both federally protected bird species.Tech site TechCrunch as been subject to a hacking that has taken its main content completely offline.
As at 10:20pm PDT Monday (Jan 25) TechCrunch was offline with a message that simply stated “hi” on its main page (see image above.)
The hacking seems to have affected the main TechCrunch.com domain only, with subdomains still online.
Keith Dsouza on Twitter noted that the hack appeared to be server based, and not a DNS based hack.
The new hacking comes as some have recently reported security issues with Rackspace, the host of TechCrunch, Mashable, and range of other sites, including The Inquisitr.
Update: as at 10:37 PST (5:37pm AEDT) TechCrunch remains offline. A review of the HTML code for the page shows no hidden message: the only line in the code states “Hi.”
Update 2: as at 10:40pm PST (5:40pm AEDT) TechCrunch is back up.
Update 3: strangely after the site reappearing, there’s now a “we’ll be back shortly” message (time: 11:15pm PST to 11:25pm PST.)
Update 4: 11:33pm PST, TechCrunch back up again, although they’re still not saying anything about the hack.
Update 5: 11:43pm PST: the we’ll be back soon message is back.
Update 6: midnight PST TechCrunch is still down with the “we’ll be back soon message.” You can only presume they’ve kept it offline until they sort through the risk aspect.
Update 7: TechCrunch is still down as at 12:55am PST (07:56pm AEDT.) The message though has changed to “Earlier tonight techcrunch.com was compromised by a security exploit. We’re working to identify the exploit and will bring the site back online shortly.”
Update 8: As at 1:25am PST (Jan 26) TechCrunch is STILL offline with the same message as before.
Update 9: 01:45 PST (8:45pm AEDT) still down.
Update 10: 01:50 PDT TC back up1. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE THE CHANCES OF WINNING.
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Drizly, Inc., 334 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116Introducing the BlackBot
Guy Brandon Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 6, 2017
Prompt settlement without undue slippage is vital if Incent is to succeed as a reward currency amongst mainstream merchants and consumers. We’ll be using the Waves DEX to ensure a 24/7 market, but liquidity and orderbook depth is currently lacking. Here’s how we plan to address that.
In order for Incent to be useful to consumers, it must be possible to buy and sell it around the clock, with minimal delays and as close to market price possible. Our flagship concept of ‘Open Value’ starts to look a whole lot less attractive if $10 of Incent can only be sold for $8 because the orderbooks are too thin.
We’ll be making heavy use of the Waves DEX, since it runs 24/7 without interruption, is totally secure, and has very low fees. In order to take advantage of the liquidity on centralised exchanges, we plan to arbitrage DEX against Bittrex and others, passing volumes through to them whenever it’s of benefit.
Ultimately the market will be able to support itself, but in the early stages we need to ensure that DEX itself has at least a minimum of activity on it so that, whatever else is going on, we know we can settle orders without customers taking a hit.
Marketmaking bot
With this is mind, we’ve always intended to run various marketmaking operations. One strand of these takes the form of a trading bot that we designed this way back at the beginning of our journey. Before, in fact — it’s based on the same premise that this bot uses, back in the Bitscan days. Whilst the theory is good (it’s based on the well-known grid-trading strategy), implementation is everything and that particular iteration of the tradebot was somewhat glitchy due to lack of programming expertise.
Fortunately, we’ve had some help this time. Peter Black, a long-term member of our Incent community and the developer of the PyWaves Python library for Waves, has volunteered to work on the project. Back in the day, this trading algorithm was dubbed the ‘GuyBot5000’ for reasons that will hopefully be forever lost in the mists of Incent lore. Whilst the algorithm remains the same, due credit must be given for actually building a working version of it, and so the new iteration will henceforth be known as the BlackBot, which in any case sounds a lot cooler. Here’s how it works.
Buy low, sell high, rinse, repeat
Grid trading doesn’t care about which way the market’s going — in fact, as a profitable strategy it works best in ranging markets, though in our case we’ll be using it to facilitate what we hope will be a steady rise in the value of Incent. The strategy places a ladder of sells at regular intervals above market price, and another ladder of buys beneath it. If a sell is filled, those funds are used to place a buy just beneath that sell. Thus you can think of the grid as a series of pairs of buys/sells stretching up and down the price chart, with either the buy or sell in each pair always active.
For example, let’s say the last price is 2000 satoshis you’ve got sells laddered up at 2100, 2200, 2300… If the price hits 2100, you immediately use those funds to place a new buy at 2000. If it drops to 2000 again, you buy back the Incent you sold at 2100. If it rises further, you sell at 2200 and open a buy at 2100. Whichever way the price moves, you’re providing depth — buffering the market and smoothing out any peaks and troughs. Additionally, if you open and then close a trade within a tranche (e.g. you sell at 2200, then buy back at 2100) then you make a small profit — though this is a nice bonus in our case, since our primary aim is to increase liquidity with the intention of facilitating settlement and attracting enough traders to develop a mature market.
We intend to place tranches 1% apart, rather than a fixed amount, so that merchants will never have to worry about more slippage than that on orders below a certain size (probably around $100). Assuming all goes to plan, we’ll end up having sold tranches of Incent all the way up to a point where the price is an order of magnitude greater than it is now. The good news is that the magic of compound interest means you don’t have to spend a lot in dollar terms to support the market all the way up to a 10x in price. (If you’re interested, then starting at a price of $0.20, you’d need 230 tranches of Incent spaced at 1% to hit $2 each, for a total of 36,000 Incent. That seems like a smallish price to pay for 1,000% appreciation.)
How we hope you’ll help
The bot is currently in testing — it’s already working as planned, but we’re obviously keen to ensure there are safeguards for the edge cases where it doesn’t function properly for one reason or another.
Once we’re ready, what we intend to do is open source the BlackBot so that anyone can use it on DEX, with any pair of tokens. Waves is getting a major overhaul with an incredible new user interface for the wallet and DEX, and the Waves-NG algorithm enabling massively increased throughput, so we expect the platform will attract many, many more users and traders in the coming weeks and months. There is benefit in deploying the BlackBot for any token that currently lacks liquidity, which includes many of the tokens that also trade on centralised exchanges.
The bot is written in Python and can easily be customised for different pairs of tokens, tranche sizes, spacing, and so on. We’ll make sure there’s a BTC-INCNT and/or WAVES-INCNT market, and we hope that other people will run the bot on these too to increase the depth. But they can also run it on other pairs, providing a wider benefit for the DEX. (There’s no reason you couldn’t run it on BTC-WAVES or BTC-ETH, grinding out a little profit every time the market moves up and down 5%, for example.)
Stay tuned for more developments, and we hope to have some code for the community to review and test themselves soon.A bill passed by the Michigan State Senate would endanger the health of Michiganders by granting sweeping new powers to practitioners of unscientific bogus medicine and treatments, said the Center for Inquiry.
The Goat That Ate Islamic Science
May 12, 2010
The Ayatollah Khomeini once remarked that there are no jokes in Islam. If that is true, it is not for want of material. My latest favorite, related to me by Ibn Warraq, has to do with the rather unfunny hadith—one of the purported sayings and deeds of the Prophet and his companions—that requires death by stoning for adulterers. Once during a debate in London, Warraq made good on his entire career as the world’s leading apostate by coming up with the one-liner that he didn’t want to live in a society in which one gets stoned for committing adultery, but rather in a society in which one gets stoned and then commits adultery. But that was not the joke we were talking about.
It seems that the stone-the-adulterers commandment has long been the subject of theological controversy because although mandated by traditional religious law, or shari’a, it does not appear in the Quran. Instead, the Quran mentions the much less severe punishments of flogging or perhaps confinement. Some fornicators actually get into such things, maybe even in combination. Presumably a death sentence would have been important enough to merit inclusion in the revelation. Why didn’t Allah mention it before? According to another hadith, He did. Muhammad had written down the revealed verse on a piece of paper and placed it under his bed for safekeeping. One day while Muhammad had taken ill and the household was preoccupied with nursing him, a goat wandered in and ate it.
Islamic scholars took from this story not the lesson that I find obvious—that the goat was a second Messenger of Allah, who wanted to show Muhammad exactly what he could do with his bonkers idea of stoning adulterers. Instead, they used it to argue that were it not for the goat, the Quran would have (therefore should have?) included the missing verse and that this resolves the apparent doctrinal inconsistency—a hermeneutics of animal husbandry.
I’m sorry. This comic tale doesn’t really have a punch line. But it does reveal something about the nature of knowledge and epistemic authority in Islam, and this may go a long way toward explaining why Arab-Islamic societies never produced a scientific revolution while European societies did.
The Religion of He-Said, He-Said
A major preoccupation of Islamic scholars is verifying the “genuineness” of various hadith. Their preferred method is to trace the transmission from one source of these stories to the next, as in
Abu al-Ayman narrated to us, saying: “Shu’yab narrated, saying: ‘Abu al-Zynad told us that Abd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-A’raj... narrated to him that he heard from Abu Hurayrah who heard the Prophet saying...’1
A text is considered trustworthy when one can establish an unbroken chain of personal testimonies leading back to a person who had direct contact with the Prophet. Islam is a religion of he-said, she-said—minus most of what she said, of course. (In the case of the goat-ate-my-surah story, however, the original source was said to be a woman, or rather a girl: Aisha, Muhammad’s child wife.)
The chain-link epistemology of hadith was mirrored by the structure of legal scholarship. Instruction took place through individualized apprenticeships rather than institutionalized degree programs. Intellectual and professional attainment came in the form of a certificate passing on the authorization to teach a particular subject, which would be issued by a particular teacher to a pupil who had mastered the subject to that teacher’s satisfaction.
Historian of science Toby Huff argues that this diffuse organization of knowledge hindered the development of science, which relies on peer criticism by appeal to objective standards held in common across a discipline.
It is due to this personalistic and particularistic factor that one finds literally hundreds of schools of law over the centuries, each founded by a faqih who, through the power of his intellect and the magic of his personality, established his own school of law capable of issuing its own rulings (fatwas), unconstrained by a body of precedent and universal legal principles. Thus, law, jurisprudence, as the paradigmatic body of knowledge in Islamic civilization, established a model of inquiry antithetical to that required of modern science, that is, a system based on personal authority rather than collective or impersonal collegial standards.2
The study of the natural philosophy and proto-science of the Greco-Roman world, which had been collected and translated by Arabic-language thinkers, took place under an additional burden. It was not permitted in the colleges, or madrasas, which were primarily devoted to the study of Islamic law. Instead, this heterdox knowledge had to be cultivated by individual scholars acting in a private capacity.
In Europe, by contrast, the legal innovations in the eleventh and twelfth centuries made possible the creation of legally autonomous corporate entities—including universities and, later, scientific associations—in which groups of thinkers could coalesce around shared projects and shared standards in relative freedom from Church and state power.
The Trouble with Half-Totalitarianism
The above history should serve as a corrective to some of our own received stories. One story says the West has Arabic-Islamic societies to thank for “passing the torch” of classical civilization. What the popular wisdom elides is that this learning typically survived not because of but in spite of the nature of Islam. Another story says that intellectual development under Islam was stunted because Islam is a totalitarian system. This is also half true. Islam was half totalitarian, so to speak. It was doctrinally totalitarian, in that matters of truth and justice were completely determined by religious tradition, hence the suppression of subversive thought in the madrasa system. Yet socially, Islamic learning was highly individualistic by comparison with elaborately institutionalized European learning.
Even the best Arabic-Islamic thinkers suffered for want of organized skepticism—the powerful effects of iterated peer-review feedback. Personal testimony is unreliable. Memory fails. Our pet ideas can get eaten by life’s goats. The more watchful eyes there are, the better the chances that someone will catch the next one that slips into the tent looking for dinner.
Notes
[1] This comes from the hadith collection Sahih Al-Bukhari, book 11, no. 876.
[2] Toby E. Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China and the West, 2nd ed., (Cambridge University Press, 2003), 228.Lunyr Writer’s Block(chain) Competition
Lunyr Blocked Unblock Follow Following Aug 25, 2017
Greetings Lunyrians! We’d like to announce our first ever Lunyr Writer’s Block(chain) Competition. Writers will compete for a prize pool of $10,000. The winning entries will receive the Grand Prize, an invitation to the Lunyr Private Alpha, a signed framed copy of the original concept sketch that started Lunyr, and a limited edition Lunyr jacket.
PRIZES
A total of 3 prizes will be made available during the competition.
One Grand Prize
$6,000
Invitation to Private Alpha
Signed framed copy of original Lunyr concept sketch
Limited Edition Lunyr Jacket
One Finalist Prize
$3,000
Invitation to Private Alpha
Limited Edition Lunyr Jacket
One Runner-up Prize
$1,000
Invitation to Private Alpha
Limited Edition Lunyr Jacket
Monetary awards will be in the form of ether. The amount of ether will be calculated as the award amount (in USD) divided by the price of ether on Coinmarketcap.com at the time of payment. Limit one prize per person.
ELIGIBILITY
Anyone is eligible to join the competition including writers outside of the US.
DEADLINE
All articles must be submitted by 11:59pm PST on October 2, 2017. Please submit your articles using this form. Only Word documents or pdfs will be accepted.
OFFICIAL RULES
Writers enter the competition by submitting an encyclopedia article with a minimum of 1,500 words about any relevant topic to the crypto community. Any factual information in the article should include citations in the References section. Lunyr will judge the article based on relevance and need to the crypto community, style, grammar, accuracy, and overall excellence. Articles should be written in a formal tone and third-party voice. All articles must start with a summary of the topic. All entries must be original works written in English. Copyrighted content will be rejected. Multiple entries are allowed but one prize per person is allowed.
WARRANTY/INDEMNIFICATION BY ENTRANT
By submitting an article, each entrant warrants that (a) the article is original to and |
May 26, 2016. (Photo: Mike Groll, AP)
House Speaker Paul Ryan — a reluctant Trump supporter who does not hesitate to differentiate his views — told CNN Tuesday that Ginsburg’s comments are proof of the need for a Republican president to choose who goes on the Court next.
"I think it is out of place in an appointed branch of government. That shows bias to me," Ryan said during a CNN town hall. "I don't think that is something she should have done."
And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (who has endorsed Trump but makes it clear he doesn’t support him on a variety of issues) had the businessman’s back in this one.
How can a #SCOTUS justice involved in partisan attacks during campaign be impartial in any cases involving a Trump administration? — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 13, 2016
But it wasn't just Republicans who were critical, Democrats saw issues as well.
“We all know that the justices on the Supreme Court have political views. I’m not sure we’re well served by them airing them out in the open,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. according to Politico. “Those of who have been concerned about the open political leanings of conservatives like Clarence Thomas also have to be bear the same concerns about judges on the other side of the bench.”
“She may have got out over her skis a little bit and [been] more forthright and political than she should have been. It’s very unusual,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said according to Politico.
But The White House stayed out of the comments (kind of) when asked about them Wednesday.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest declined to comment on Ginsburg’s Trump remarks, but observed, “She didn’t earn the nickname ‘The Notorious RBG’ for nothing.”
Contributing: Gregory Korte
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/29BH0RoOn Saturday I wrote about difficulties that defense encounters in trying to get documents from copyright troll Malibu Media / X-Art (M. Keith Lipscomb). My belief is that resistance to produce documents is caused by the fear that uncovered truths can essentially end the trolling enterprise. Specifically, it is very plausible that, being paid only a 10% cut, the plaintiff is not actually interested in recovering “damages” caused by piracy, and the entire attorney-plaintiff relationship is a sham. If it turns out to be true, this revelation will at minimum halt the lawsuit machine and prompt Bar investigations. The other essential part of the equation is the German “forensic expert” IPP International: if it indeed works on contingency, consequences for Lipscomb and his clique can be much more severe.
While to continue applying pressure via persistent discovery requests and interrogatories is the right thing to do, there is a more straightforward way to get necessary information, and defense lawyers across the country should seriously consider it.
Who, except Lipscomb, knows how much settlement ransom money he received, how much he paid to plaintiff, and how much — to “expert witness” IPP International? The answer is simple: his bank. It appears that there is only one point of entry for settlement money, and it is Lipscomb’s law firm’s deposit account as shown on the settlement check endorsements:
Indiana attorney Paul Overhauser pursued this path by sending a subpoena to SunTrust bank this fall:
(Subpoena and list of requested documents.)
Although the bank refused to produce Lipscomb’s financials, a mere threat of subpoena caused streams of sweat on his forehead, and he balked and dropped the complaint against defendants represented by Overhauser. This is a good enough finale for defendants, yet if any defendant wants to push further and convince a judge in a troll-hostile jurisdiction to compel SunTrust to reveal troll’s dirty laundry, a house of cards Lipscomb built so patiently could be blown away in a moment.
FollowupScheduled Scaling Updates for the Bitcoin Network Are Getting Closer
Over the past six months, the bitcoin scaling debate has been going on relentlessly as many cryptocurrency proponents are trying to figure the best solution to improve the network’s fees and transaction throughput. There have been many ideas brought to the table, but this summer there are some specific plans that all bitcoin holders should keep on their radar.
Also Read: 70 Percent of the Bitcoin Hashrate Begins Signaling Segwit2x
Bitcoin Scaling Changes and Three Possibilities
The block size debate has been going on since Satoshi Nakamoto put a 1MB limit on blocks in 2010, which only allows for a certain amount of transactions per block. More recently the ‘community’ has been divided talking about a variety of ideas that could help blocks hold more transactions as bitcoin becomes increasingly more popular.
One of the ideas right now is Segregated Witness (Segwit), a soft fork protocol designed to remove witness data from transactions which theoretically will add more space for additional transactions. Then the other side of the community wants to implement a hard fork that would change the 1MB block size limit to either 2MB, 4MB, 8MB, or even unlimited block space.
For a long time now Bitcoin proponents have yet to implement any of these plans. There has been a stalemate for quite some time between businesses, users, miners, and many individuals involved in the bitcoin economy. Now certain members of the bitcoin community seem to be moving a lot closer to attempts towards activating their plans on the bitcoin network.
UASF (user activated soft fork)
USAF or BIP 148 stands for a “user activated soft fork,” which is an idea that proposes full nodes can activate Segwit on the bitcoin network. The concept was first introduced in February by an anonymous pseudonym named Shaolinfry. The creator of UASF believes Segwit can be implemented on the network by utilizing the vote of full nodes similar to the P2SH soft fork (BIP16) that took place in the past. However, BIP 148 is a fork that will also require miners to deploy the existing Segwit protocol.
“‘Flag Day’ — Prior to August 1st, 2017, miners should either; update their node software to a BIP148-enforcing version; or run a BIP148 border node to filter out invalid blocks, and update their existing mining software to produce blocks with version 1 bit enabled, to vote for Segwit activation,” explains the UASF Working Group website.
On forums and social media, there seems to be a good following of people who support the UASF movement, while others would disagree and say there isn’t much BIP 148 support at all. As far as node count is concerned, there are 918 nodes signaling BIP 148 out of 7441 total full bitcoin nodes at the time of writing. The UASF Working Group website and many others within the community have also admitted to the fact that UASF can split the bitcoin blockchain.
UAHF (user activated hard fork)
Due to this concern on June 15 the ASIC manufacturer and mining pool operator, Bitmain announced a protection plan for this event. The Beijing-based company revealed its UAHF contingency plan (user activated hard fork) because the company believes “the UASF chain presents a risk of the original chain being wiped out.” Bitmain believes a UASF poses a threat to the network and will support a defensive hard fork and are also producing replay protection software. The company states it will have software built for this contingency plan by the end of this month.
“Currently, there are at least three client development teams working on the code of the spec,” explains Bitmain. “All of them want to stay quiet and away from the propaganda and troll army of certain companies. They will announce themselves when they feel ready for it. Users will be able to install the software and decide whether to join the UAHF. The software is expected to be ready before July 1st, and it will be live on testnet by then.”
We wish that New York agreement will be developed and carried out well. It is the last hope for Bitcoin to scale unitedly in the face of the BIP 148 threat. We will try our best to deploy and activate it as soon as possible.
Segwit2x
The next plan on the horizon is called Segwit2x, an idea that mixes Segwit with a 2MB hard fork. Segwit2x was originally designed by Sergio Demian Lerner of Rootstock and has evolved into a pact made at the Consensus Conference — Otherwise known as the “New York Agreement.” The covenant was announced by Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group which said 58 bitcoin-based companies backed the plan alongside 83 percent of the network hashrate as well.
Since then a working group has been building on the project led by bitcoin developer and Bloq CEO, Jeff Garzik. The group released the alpha code for Segwit2x on June 16, and since then a vast majority of pool operators have started signaling support for the protocol upgrade. Segwit2x scaling is currently being signaled by mining pools such as Bixin, BTC.top, F2pool, 1hash, Viabtc, BW.com, Bitclub, Antpool, BTCC, and others. Furthermore, the Segwit2x working group has also been working to make certain parts of the UASF compatible with its plan.
As of right now the signals mostly show ‘intent to support’ the protocol, in the end, eighty percent of the hashrate must signal bit 4 which essentially will lock in BIP 91. If this happens, they must continue the support through 336 blocks in order to activate Segwit. Then a 2MB hard fork following a similar process 12,960 blocks later (3 months) is planned to follow.
“The prediction is that miners activate rapidly. Therefore, block 485218 becomes the hard fork point. “+3 months” is the fallback safety measure, in case activation is slower than predicted,” explains Jeff Garzik.
No One Can Predict The Outcome of These Events
People right now including the developers of these plans cannot predict the exact results of these planned events. UASF supporters hope the majority hashrate will follow their lead creating a snowball effect towards what they believe will be the prominent chain. Others are skeptical of Segwit2x and think that if Segwit is activated the other half of the bargain will not be fulfilled. There are also those who vehemently oppose both of these ideas for one reason or another.
Both of these plans may or may not happen but are planned by supporters to take place over the course of the next three months. If they do happen, ordinary users should know that if they hold their own private keys in a non-custodial wallet, they don’t need to do anything. Those holding money on trading platforms will have to deal with the exchange’s decisions.
What do you think about the scaling plans slated to happen over the next few months? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, Coin Dance, and Salty Lemon.org.
Do you want to vote on important Bitcoin issues? Bitcoin.com has acquired Bitcoinocracy, and rebranded the project to Vote.bitcoin.com. Users simply sign a statement with a non-empty Bitcoin address and express their opinions. The project focuses on determining truth backed by monetary value and transparency.Bloomberg Raghuram Rajan, governor of the Reserve Bank of India reacts during a news conference in Mumbai, India
Raghuram Rajan, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, has been leery of the unconventional monetary policy tools used by central banks since the financial crisis. At some point, he said, pushing interest rates low seems to have the perverse effect of making people save rather than spend.
Perhaps the most cogent critic of Fed quantitative easing policy, Rajan says the asset-price boost that comes with it may disappear if these assets can’t grow into their valuation. That risks still haunts the U.S. economy, he said.
In an interview with MarketWatch on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting in Washington, he said he wants the Federal Reserve to raise rates at a measured pace. Doing so would give other leading central banks room to move away from unconventional policies as soon as there are signs of a recovery, Rajan said.
Rajan, 53, is on leave from his teaching post at the University of Chicago. He served as the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist and rose to prominence for raising prescient concerns about the serious risks facing the financial system well before the financial crisis.
The following is a transcript of an interview with Rajan, edited lightly for clarity.
MarketWatch: The latest International Monetary Fund report on the global economic outlook makes for dismal reading — why shouldn’t the Federal Reserve pause and wait until global conditions improve?
Rajan: If you read the writings of economists, it is not clear what’s keeping us still so slow, seven or eight years after the crisis. Ken Rogoff would say it is still the debt overhang and the deleveraging. [Robert] Gordon and others might say it is low productivity and still others may say it is the poorly understood consequences of population aging. But what do we do? And here I think there is more of a consensus that monetary policy pretty much has run its course. There are still guys who are looking for helicopter drops of money but I think that is a step sort of too far into the dark, where I am not sure there is a political consensus to do that in the major economies, if it comes to that.
Also read: Bernanke says so-called helicopter money could work
“A bridge that relies on wealth effects, you better hope that you got enough growth to justify the asset price increase which created the wealth effect in the first place.” Raghuram Rajan
And I am not sure we fully understand what will happen with that. You already see we don’t fully understand the consequences of negative interest rates. So I would argue that, certainly, monetary policy is probably not the policy answer any more, of choice.
What does that leave? It leaves small-scale reforms that we know will have positive effects — larger-scale structural reforms that may have short-term negative effects, and in the longer run should be beneficial, and possibly fiscal policy in some countries, although it matters a lot what you spend on, given that there is a lot of anxiety about the future already. So I think, in the industrial world at least, it seems as if unless we have a brain wave and understand fully what is really going on, it is really muddling through, doing what we can — which then means we have to be a little more pragmatic about growth. If you look at the IMF forecast, they start the year thinking growth will be much stronger than before and end the year revising down, down, down, down. The IMF is not an exception here. Everyone is doing this, which suggests that everybody sort of somehow thinks we’re going to make up that missing growth somehow when in fact it may not be possible. So I am not giving you a great answer. It is an answer of satisficing, rather than one that says we absolutely know the answer, here it is, my favorite instrument and push as hard as you can on it.
MarketWatch: For the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Fed, the best thing for now would be to stop moving in the easing direction?
Rajan: My sense is industrial countries’ central banks should probably consider whether they are doing more harm than good by easing further. I don’t think the benefits beyond a certain point have been that clear, and certainly the costs of staying in this ultra-accommodative phase for much longer will build up – the known costs – and then there are less-known costs. How much are we, with these policies, preventing adjustments that should take place. I know this has got a bad name, it is the “liquidationist” or “Austrian” view, but it is a very real question of whether we’ve allowed the adjustments to take place enough or whether we’re keeping too many inefficient firms alive.
MarketWatch: You’ve said you’re concerned with the wealth effect of quantitiative easing – that asset prices have gone up and investors are worried they are going to come back to earth.
Rajan: This is the problem of the bridges. If you build a bridge it has to reach to the other side. So I think a bridge that relies on wealth effects, you better hope that you got enough growth to justify the asset price increase which created the wealth effect in the first place. So there is some sort of virtuous cycle that gets kicked off which becomes self-fulfilling over time. The alternative is you kick off the wealth effect now, but over time people realize the wealth ain’t coming and then you have an asset price adjustment. I think the jury is still out on which one we’re going to go through.
MarketWatch: A big worry in the U.S. is that we’ve got to do more or we’ll end up like Japan. I sense from reading your speeches that you think this worry may be misplaced.
Rajan: The same factors are there in the U.S. as they were in Japan. Japan was a bank-dominated economy which went through this phase where the banks really had big losses, spent a fair amount of time denying the need to clean up, and then cleaned up quite rapidly. But then the banks didn’t have much of a business model post that clean up, and they’ve been looking for it for some time. I think the central problem with Japan, aside from the recovery from the great financial crisis they had, was the aging of the population and it was unclear what forces that triggered and I think we don’t fully understand. I think in the U.S. you don’t have the population aging, you have a much younger population, still vibrant. The U.S. cleaned up much faster. So that the question that is still outstanding is why is the U.S. not growing faster, why is productivity growth so slow? And I don’t think we understand the answer to that.
MarketWatch: Does the argument about secular stagnation fill the bill?
Rajan: I view secular stagnation as an argument that basically things were in place even before the crisis. I’m fully on board on that argument. The question is what was it that made it? Is it the slow productivity growth? If so, what is the answer to that? Is it aging? What is the answer to that? Secular stagnation sort of describes a phenomenon of slow growth over a long period of time which we may have masked by the debt bubble for a little while. I think we’re agreed that may be what is going on. But what causes the secular stagnation to my mind is the clear question that we don’t have an answer to.
MarketWatch: And how to get out of it.
Rajan: And how to get out of it, absolutely.
MarketWatch: Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen has taken to talk about the neutral interest rate, saying it is currently low by historical standards, and justifies an accommodative stance. What is your take on this?
Rajan: Take any model you want. If inflation is relatively low and investment is relatively low, my guess is you would come up with a very low neutral rate, because you want to pump up investment to get more aggregate demand and the low inflation suggests there is weak aggregate demand relative to supply. And I guess you also want to pump up consumption because investment alone won’t do it. You want to bring down savings and domestically you want to bring up investment to increase domestic demand and so consumption and investment work together. So in that kind of model, it seems as if the equilibrium interest rate is strongly negative. If you push it down low enough, things sort of iron out. But the question you have to ask yourself is — is it possible that consumption behaves perversely with respect to interest rates beyond a certain point?
This is the point that a number of people have been making, which is if I push interest rates below a certain point, the income effects start becoming greater than the substitution effects. The usual point is I push down interest rates – I say, “wow, it is better to consume now than to save,” and I consume. But what if I have an end-of-life goal in terms of savings and I push down interest rates really low and I say “wow, I really can’t meet my savings goal. I am going to be on the streets when I am old, so I better save some more.” That is the perverse effect of low interest rates.
You could get savings increase rather than decrease. And as far as investment goes, it is not clear to me that the key constraint on investment is interest rates. It may be aggregate demand. But if there is this perverse effect of interest rates on consumption than you are not helping aggregate demand, either. We don’t understand why, at such low interest rates, people aren’t investing, but they’re not. I think the constraints may be other than the cost of capital. So, in other words, I am saying you are pushing down interest rates but you are not having the effect you desire of increasing aggregate demand.
MarketWatch: So the Fed should continue to inch interest rates up?
Rajan: For sure, more moves in the direction of accommodation ought to be thought of very, very, carefully. Because we haven’t seen all the moves so far pay off. And at some point, like the generals in World War I, sending people over the trench and seeing them mowed down, you start asking whether this tactic actually works. And you can’t keep saying more, more, more, right? So I think we’re about at that place where we need to ask is more the answer? That doesn’t mean less is the immediate answer. The problem with monetary policy is that changes matter. From where you are, you change very abruptly, you cause a lot of disruption. You have to have a measured pace of change. But it is probably not towards more accommodation, in my view.
MarketWatch: I heard from criticism of you this week that you wanted the Fed to move cautiously and now you’re saying the Fed is not moving fast enough — and that you will never be satisfied.
Rajan: I am not saying the Fed is not moving fast enough. In fact, I think the Fed is weighing things reasonably. What I am saying is that it is probably about time that, as the economies strengthen, we get out of this period of exit. I mean I’ve always been saying the fundamental problem is this period of extended monetary policy accommodation. The various measures, one after the other. Once we are in the measure, I’ve also been quite consistent in saying, let’s be careful in what we do to take us out because you’ve stretched the system so much, that if you do it very abruptly, it breaks. That is still my view, that we should do it at a measured pace. But we should do it. I’m not saying we should stay in it for much longer because it is weakening the system.
MarketWatch: You are famous for your Jackson Hole paper warning about the risk to the global economy from the financial system. What do you see now, is the financial system still a risk?
Rajan: No, I am more worried about lending by the financial system. You know there are two worries about the financial system: one, have they retreated too much from market-making because of all the capital charges etc. or liquidity regulation. And if and when that abrupt change in asset prices comes, is there the capacity to prop up the markets amongst the people who can take the other side, or are they relatively thin.
The second one is, you hear across the globe, and I don’t know how to weigh this against the level of complaint, but it is true that small and medium enterprises are generally starved of credit. But have we increased the regulation on risky assets so much that they are even more starved? So one is small and medium-sized enterprises and the other is cross-border lending.
So again, I am being accused of two different views on cross-border lending. On the one hand, capital flows are dangerous. On the other hand, I am saying [there is] too little cross-border lending. I am actually saying cross-border lending and cross-border capital flows are good in a measured way, if they were steady, if they were reliable, if they financed risk, that would be good. Because there is a lot of knowledge that comes behind foreign capital in financing risk. The unthinking foreign capital which comes in because there is huge optimism over this country and as soon as that proves not-so-right leaves in a hurry, that causes a lot more volatility than countries can handle. And so that is what I think we have to be a little careful about — not get carried away with the capital coming in but instead trying to encourage the right kinds of capital to come in.
So I think there may be a missing segment of that capital now, the risk-bearing capital, perhaps, and this is something we need to understand better, because of all the regulations we’ve put on. Now, don’t get me wrong. We needed to re-regulate the banks. We had gone too far the other way. The question we have to ask now is have we regulated them properly or are there mismatches between what we desire of them and what we’ve done?
MarketWatch: The good kind of capital is absent?
Rajan: I think risk capital is probably at a premium in a number of emerging markets. And to the extent that risk capital is provided by external sources, it is worth looking at that.
MarketWatch: The Indian economy is the bright spot in the global economy. When other central bankers and finance ministers ask you for your secret sauce, what do you tell them?
Rajan: Well, I think we’ve still to get to a place where we feel satisfied. We have this saying, “in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” We’re a little bit that way. We feel things are turning to the point where we could achieve what we believe is our medium-run growth potential. Because things are falling into place. Investment is starting to pick up strongly. We have a fair degree of macro-stability. Of course, not immune to every shock, but immune to a fair number of shocks.
The current account deficit is around 1%. The fiscal deficit has come down and continues to come down and the government is firm on a consolidation path. Inflation has come down from 11% to less than 5% now. And interest rates therefore can also come down. We have an inflation-targeting framework in place. So a bunch of good things have happened.
There is still some things to do. Of course, structural reforms are ongoing. The government is engaged in bringing out a new bankruptcy code. There is goods and services tax on the anvil. But there is a lot of exciting stuff which is already happening. For example just last week, I was fortunate to inaugurate a platform which allows mobile-to-mobile transfers from any bank account to any other bank account in the country. It is a public platform, so anybody can participate. It is not owned by any one company unlike Apple Pay or Android Pay or whatever. I think it is the first of its kind. So technological developments are happening and making for a more, hopefully, reasonable life for a lot of people. Let’s see how it goes.
MarketWatch: How do you compare India and China? It is a natural question for Americans.
Rajan: I think, first, we’re about 10 years behind in the reform process of when we started and when they started and that reflects in the relative size of the economies — we’re about a quarter to a fifth their size. I think that we could catch up if we do the right things over a period of time. It is extraordinary what good policies they followed to get where they are, so we have to be very good at our policy making as well as our implementation. I think what people admire China for is how they have managed to get things done. Now we have some strengths of our own, and we should emphasize those — I think there is a significant amount of flair and creativity in the Indian economy and we have to try and capitalize on those as we are trying to grow. We shouldn’t follow the same path that others have followed. But that means working very hard and creating the appropriate infrastructure, creating the human capital that we need to succeed. Building up a good regulatory environment,light but effective, and, of course, building adequate access to finance.
MarketWatch: Your monetary policy seems like it could be described as opportunistic easing.
Rajan: I wouldn’t call it opportunistic easing. We’re still in an accommodative phase, which means as we see disinflation happen, we will find more room. Now, given all the pushes and pulls in the global economy, you can forecast but you’re not quite sure your forecast will come out. So, we’re sort of a little more data-driven than we would be in more normal times. As the data come in and we get more certainty about how things are playing out, we will act accordingly.
MarketWatch: When you say data, does that include the monsoon?
Rajan: The monsoon is very big in India for a couple of reasons. It does significantly influence sentiment in rural areas, rural demand. It certainly affects about 50% of our population which is tied in some way to agriculture. Only 15% of value-added is agriculture and that is still falling, but many people have rural links. So the monsoon does impact all that. It has a moderate impact on food prices because good food management can alleviate the effects of the monsoon but if we have a bountiful monsoon than we don’t need effective food management to get lower food prices. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed. The good news seems to be that the meteorological department is saying it is probably going to be a good monsoon.
MarketWatch: I see your term is up in September.
Rajan: Absolutely.
MarketWatch: Is it going to be extended?
Rajan: It is a question that has to be answered.
This story was first published on April 15, 2016.
Want news about Europe delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Europe Daily newsletter. Sign up here.Liam Scheff, a story-teller and podcaster, speaks to RT
RT may bill itself as a news channel, but it stretches the definition of that term in several readily apparent ways. It blurs the line between entertainment, advertising and news, with many producers and on-air personalities coming from backgrounds in advertising or entertainment rather than journalism. It tends to portray the US and EU in hyperbolic, dystopian terms. Much of its reporting is based on the word of purported experts whose credentials are, to be frank, fishy. And, as readers of this column already know, many of its stories promote weird conspiracy theories about economics and world affairs.
The latter point even applies to RT’s interviews with entertainers and celebrities. Rather than offering viewers a respite from the relentless stream of propaganda, these interviews instead give celebrities an opportunity to join the freaky chorus of fringe political punditry. These celebrity pundit wanabees may not share a set of coherent political beliefs, but all seem to relish being treated as authorities on the important issues that concern them.
One RT favorite is Roseanne Barr, who was once one of the world’s most successful entertainers, but has turned in recent years to reality TV and extremist politics with a focus on chemtrails (a belief that commercial airlines are secretly spraying mind-altering chemicals), 9/11 truth, and opposition to banks and US imperialism. Marijuana legalization is one of her other key issues. Barr hosts a daily radio program/podcast, has an active Twitter presence and has run for US president twice. In fact, Roseanne announced her 2012 candidacy for president on RT’s Max Keiser Report. (Video here.) In that interview, Roseanne went on to attempt with some difficulty to do what no one else has done: to spell out the demands of Occupy Wall Street. She also joked at length with her host about executing bankers by beheading them, a common Max Keiser Report theme.
On March 28, 2013, having failed to be elected president, Barr was back on RT to argue that the US media maintains a profit-based, “hierarchal” (sic), “rape culture” based on keeping women as “slave labor.” She went on to discuss one of her favorite conspiracy theories: “MK Ultra mind control rules in Hollywood. If you don’t know what that is, google it.” (The “MK Ultra” program, in which the CIA tested mind-altering drugs on unwilling participants, was uncovered by New York Times reporter John Marks in 1973 and became the subject of hearings by the Church Committee in 1974. After its existence was revealed, it was ended in disgrace. Today, forty years later, it lives on only in the minds of those for whom Illuminati and reptilian shape-shifters don’t suffice as subjects of paranoid delusions. Whatever Roseanne Barr imagines is happening in Hollywood with respect to mind-control, MK Ultra has nothing to do with it.) Getting to the heart of the matter, Roseanne concludes her discussion of MK Ultra by claiming that she is the victim of blacklisting based on her revelations of these secrets; the people behind the CIA’s secret mind-control program have stopped her from getting acting roles.
In December, 2013, Roseanne again appeared on RT, this time to push for further investigation of conspiracies surrounding 9/11, which, she predictably connects to “MK Ultra mind-control.” Going on at length about this novel form of 9/11 trutherism, Barr implicates in the web of MK Ultra evil the Saudi royal family, the Bush family, the Rothschild family, the British royal family and the Vatican. (You can cut to that here.) She then answers those who’ve called her beliefs about this crazy by saying “intelligence looks like insanity to an imbecile.” She concludes the interview, after again complaining about being blacklisted from acting roles, by declaring her candidacy for US president in the 2016 election.
With respect to 9/11, to mark the twelfth anniversary of that terrible day, RT conducted an extensive interview with actor Ed Asner about his theories concerning what really happened. The “official story,” Asner claims, “is filled with holes. It’s filled with holes about Building 7. It’s filled with holes about the hot steel. It’s filled with holes about thermite. It’s filled with holes about… ah… the, uhhh… the confusion about the terrorists themselves. It goes on and on and on…” In response to a question about whether those who believe in conspiracy theories such as this are silenced by the “corporate media” calling such beliefs – well — conspiracy theories, Asner answers in the affirmative. Calling people like him conspiracy theorists is meant “to diminish us.” Citing a 9/11 Truth organization he calls “2000 Architects and Engineers on 9/11,” Asner says that there has been “no rational, objective discussion going on anywhere in the country” to refute their claims that the US government was behind 9/11. “People don’t want to challenge the myth of America, that America could do this, or allow this to be done to itself, or they’re too afraid to challenge authority.”
In response to a question about the relative silence of Hollywood’s peace movement during Obama’s presidency, Asner blames this in part on the fact that leftists in Hollywood believe untruths about “the evils of Assad.” (The interview took place in September, 2013, during the height of the debate about the US role in Syria.)
It’s not only 9/11 Truth that brings celebrities to RT. On April 9, 2014, hip-hop performer Chuck D of Public Enemy appeared on RT to make the case that corporations literally enslave their workers. Chuck’s interview went off topic when he was asked an odd question about his “notions of internationalism.” In response, Chuck complains about having to get a passport to travel overseas for concert tours. “Getting a passport is like begging for a slave paper. So what difference is that from South Africa where you had to have your freedom papers or you showed somebody in America that you gotta get permission to go from one plantation to another plantation because the masters told you so? Well, I just think it’s derogatory for human beings – especially in the millennium – to get permission to visit planet Earth.” Chuck goes on to clarify that he “likes the world, and likes to visit the world, (but doesn’t) like having to ask governments permission to visit the Earth.”
Another member of Public Enemy, their former “Minister of Information” Professor Griff, has also been interviewed by RT about his politics. It may be wrong to identify Griff as an entertainer, considering that for the past 25 years, he has been better known for his angry, bizarre beliefs than for his music. In 1989, Griff gave a series of interviews in which he blamed Jews for “the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe,” announced that he was boycotting gold jewelry in protest of “Jewish support for Apartheid,” and quoted from Henry Ford’s infamous The International Jew.
Public Enemy responded to the resulting furor by comparing those who criticized those beliefs to those responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. In recent years, Griff has turned his focus to fighting what he describes as an Illuminati campaign to control the world, which somehow involves a plan to indoctrinate black people to be gay. He gives lectures and interviews on the subject, and markets a line of books and videos elaborating on them at great length. This video, showing one of Griff’s obscenity-packed rants about this gay Illuminati conspiracy, gives only a taste of the man’s madness. Among the many bizarre conspiracy theories packed into that talk, Griff claims that the CIA used “remote control” to cause the plane crash that killed R&B singer Aliyah before she could reveal the truth about this Illuminati conspiracy. He also says that the Illuminati exploit a phenomenon with which you may be unfamiliar: that people of different races emit different “frequencies”, and that interracial marriage is part of an Illuminati plan to exploit and/or neutralize the special “frequency” emitted by black people. In another video about these beliefs, Griff describes how all federal agents are forced to have an Illuminati microchip implanted in their bodies. Elsewhere, Griff will inform you that the slogan of the 2008 Obama campaign, “Yes We Can,” when said backwards is “Thank you, Satan.”
In October, 2013, RT welcomed Professor Griff to their studios to discuss “the evolution of hip-hop and the true political power structure of this country.” In a rambling interview, a disoriented looking Griff fails to actually discuss either of those issues; in fact, one would be hard-pressed to summarize what he does discuss. Suffice it to say that he seems to have made an effort to tone down his rhetoric for RT audiences even as he failed to clarify it. At the conclusion of the interview, the RT host thanks him for “speaking truth to power.”
Not all entertainers who are interviewed on RT are identified as such. Sometimes, obscure actors or comedians are falsely identified as either experts on the field they’re interviewed about, or journalists reporting on the subject. For example, when Liam Scheff, a little-know artist, story-teller, and pod |
/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City amid Israel's heaviest air and artillery assault in more than three weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting AP Photo 37/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians who lost relatives in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a UN school in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, mourn outside the Kamal Edwin hospital in Beit Lahia AFP 38/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Flames engulf the fuel tanks of the only power plant supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip after it was hit by overnight Israeli shelling, in the south of Gaza City Getty Images 39/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians from a damaged apartment building inspect the damage to a neighboring building, the offices of the Hamas movement's Al-Aqsa satellite TV station, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, destroyed by an Israeli strike AP 40/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli soldier prays on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip as smoke billows from a power plant following overnight Israeli shelling in the coastal Palestinian enclave. The only power plant supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip was knocked out of commission by Israeli shelling, deputy director of the energy authority in the Palestinian territory said AFP 41/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A building within the Gaza port is seen on fire after several strikes Getty Images 42/124 Israel-Gaza conflict The rubble of the house of the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, – pictured in the poster, hit by a pre-dawn Israeli strike, in Gaza City AP 43/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Smoke rises from Tuffah neighbourhood after Israeli air strikes in the east of Gaza City. Relentless bombardment has crippled the city’s infrastructure EPA 44/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A woman wounded in an Israeli strike is taken to hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza Getty Images 45/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man walks in front of a fire raging at the Gaza's main power plant following an overnight Israeli airstrike, south of Gaza City EPA 46/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Horses belonging to internally displaced Palestinians look for eatable things in the rubbish outside a UN school, which was transformed into a shelter in the Jabalia district, northern Gaza Strip EPA 47/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian girl poses while playing during the first day of Eid al-Fitr in a United Nations school.Muslims usually start the day by visiting cemeteries, to pay their respects to the dead, and then exchange family visits AP 48/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian Abir Shamaleh, left, sits next to the grave of her son Saher, a civilian according to the family, who was killed in an Israeli strike during the war, as members of the family visit a cemetery in Gaza City. Monday marked the beginning of the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, which caps the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan AP 49/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli army Merkava tank rolls along the border between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The UN Security Council joined US President Barack Obama in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel and Hamas ignored calls for a truce despite mounting civilian casualties AFP 50/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A wounded Palestinian woman runs in the street after Israeli airstrikes in Al Tufah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City 51/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man cries after identifying the body of his loved one, killed in an Israeli strike, inside the morgue of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip 52/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian Ahmed Jadallah, center, 75, prepares a body for burial at the morgue of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip 53/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian mother mourns over the body of her son, Abd al-Karim al-Shibari, who was killed after a UN school in the northern Beit Hanun district of the Gaza Strip was hit by an Israeli shell, at the morgue of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 54/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian medics run carrying children, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, into the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 55/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a UN school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, flashes the V-sign for "Victory" as he arrives on a stretcher at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City 56/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian helps a relative, wounded in an Israeli strike in Gaza City 57/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians inspect the rubble of a destroyed house after Israeli airstrikes in Al Tufah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City 58/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Members of the El Ajramy family salvage some of their belongings from their house, which was destroyed by an overnight Israeli strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip 59/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians inspect the wreckage of a car following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 60/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian helps his son who got injured when a UN school for refugees was allegedly hit by an Israeli tank shell in the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip 61/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man carries a child, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, into the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 62/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian girls cry after their father was killed in a UN-operated school after an alleged Israeli attack in Beit Hanun town, northern Gaza strip 63/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian children, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, cry as they lay on the floor at the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 64/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man cries over the body of his son who died when a UN school for refugees was, according to medics, hit by an Israeli tank shell in the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip 65/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian youth carries a child, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, into the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 66/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A pool of blood in a UN-operated school after an Israeli air strikes in Beit Hanun town, northern Gaza strip 67/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian medic carries a wounded injured to a treatment room of Nasser hospital, following an Israeli airstrike at their family house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 68/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A relative of two-year old Palestinian Salma Radiya killed by shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell in the north of the Gaza Strip holds her body at the morgue of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia 69/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man carries his father as he and others run to take cover during an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip 70/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians paramedics run for cover from Israeli air strike during their search for injured people in the damaged area in Al Shejaeiya neighbourhood, during an Israeli military operation in the east Gaza City 71/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians flee during a two hour temporary ceasefire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood 72/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man holds a copy of the Koran, Islam's holy book, near a heavily damaged mosque following an Israeli military strike in Gaza city 73/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian relatives of Tawfiq al -Aga, who medics said was killed in Israeli shelling, mourn during his funeral in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 74/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Red cross staff arrive to the damaged area in Al Shejaeiya neighbourhood, during an Israeli military operation in the east Gaza City 75/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian mother lies on the ground as she mourns the death of her son, who medics said was killed by Israeli shelling, at a hospital in Gaza City 76/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A relative of two-year old Palestinian Salma Radiya who was killed by shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell in the north of the Gaza Strip holds her body in the street outside the morgue of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia 77/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A mourner touches a wreath placed on the grave of fallen Israeli soldier Natan Cohen, killed during fighting in Gaza, during his funeral in the town of Modi'in, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv 78/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A mourner reacts during the funeral for Israeli soldier Natan Cohen, killed during fighting in Gaza on Tuesday, in the town of Modi'in, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv 79/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Soldiers carry the coffin of Sergeant Max Steinberg during his funeral in Jerusalem, Israel 80/124 Israel-Gaza conflict The parents of Sergeant Max Steinberg grieve at his coffin during his funeral in Jerusalem, Israel 81/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Jewish worshipper takes part in a special prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City for the well-being of Israeli soldiers in Gaza 82/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A banner depicting the names of Palestinians killed in Israel's ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip hangs on the landmark Pigeon Rock in Beirut's Rawshe seafront 83/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israel officer with a bird on his shoulder speaks to his soldiers after they returned from a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, at an army deployment area near Israel's border with the besieged Palestinian territory, as the conflict entered its third week with neither side showing any sign of willingness to pull back 84/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian families who fled their homes from east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip ride on a car in their way to the city of Khan Younis AP 85/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Smoke from an Israeli strike rises over Gaza City AP 86/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli 155mm self-propelled howitzer fires from southern Israeli into the Gaza Strip EPA 87/124 Israel-Gaza conflict The morgue attendant hands over the body to a relative of two-year-old Palestinian Lamar Radiya killed by shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell in the north of the Gaza Strip Getty Images 88/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man, in clothes stained with the blood of his father, who medics said was killed by Israeli shelling, mourns as he disembarks an ambulance transporting his father's body, at a hospital in Khan Younis Reuters 89/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of Sgt. Max Steinberg, during his funeral at the Mount Herzel military cemetery in Jerusalem. Steinberg, a 24-year-old American citizen who grew up in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, was killed while fighting in Gaza AP 90/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian paramedics carry a six-month-old baby into the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia after he was injured in an Israeli strike in the norhtern Gaza Strip 91/124 Southern Gaza Strip A relative of Shahed Qishtah, a nine-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in an Israeli strike while playing, left the Kamal Adwan hospital where he brought her in Beit Lahia in the norhtern Gaza Strip 92/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian child screams in pain at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip after she was hit by shrapnel during an Israeli military strike near her family house Getty 93/124 Southern Gaza Strip The father of a nine-year-old girl, Shahed Qishtah, leads a relative carrying her to hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza; she died of her injuries AFP/Getty Images 94/124 Southern Gaza Strip An injured Palestinian at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah 95/124 Southern Gaza Strip Mourning relatives of the Kelani family cry as they attend the funeral in Beit Lahiya, Gaza EPA 96/124 Southern Gaza Strip Brothers and family members of Ibrahim al-Kelani, the father and husband of a family of seven with dual Palestinian-German citizenship, attend his funeral in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip 97/124 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives of Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant Abduallah El-Buhasi, who medics said was killed in an Israeli air strike, mourn during his funeral in Deir El-Balah in the central Gaza Strip 98/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian woman runs to seek cover from tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes at a protest against the Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip, at Howwara checkpoint near the west bank city of Nablus 99/124 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Al Shejaeiya neighbourhood during a military operation in eastern Gaza City 100/124 Southern Gaza Strip A member of Palestinian Selam family is rescued under the wreckage of their house, destroyed by an Israeli airstrike within the 'Operation Protective Edge' Getty Images 101/124 Southern Gaza Strip Firemen cut Palestinians free from the wreckage of the building, in which 11 Palestinians died and others injured following an Israel assault in Rimal, in Gaza City 102/124 Southern Gaza Strip One member of Palestinian Selam family is is killed and 8 others get wounded after an Israeli airstrike, hit their hose and destroyed it within the 'Operation Protective Edge' 103/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man is helped to flee Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood, after an Israeli strike in the area 104/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect the rubble of the destroyed Al Aqsa Martyrs' mosque in Gaza City 105/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian rescuers inspect the damage of Al-Shalam (Peace) tower, destroyed by an Israeli strike 106/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian inspects the damage of the Al-Shalam (Peace) tower, destroyed by an Israeli strike 107/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian walks inside the Al Aqsa Martyrs mosque destroyed by an Israeli strike in Gaza City 108/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians look at the remains of a mosque, which police said was hit in an Israeli air strike, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip 109/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire at a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 110/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man stands on the wreckage of a car as he searches the rubble of his destroyed apartment for belongings following an Israeli air strike in the center of Gaza City 111/124 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises as flames spread across buildings after Israeli strikes in the Shijaiyah neighborhood in Gaza City 112/124 Northern city of Nazareth Israeli riot police arrest an Arab Israeli man during clashes that followed a protest against Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip, in the northern city of Nazareth 113/124 Northern city of Nazareth Israeli riot police keep watch during clashes that followed a protest against Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip, in the northern city of Nazareth 114/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect a destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in the Gaza City 115/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian medics tend to a boy who they said was wounded in an Israeli shelling, at a hospital, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip 116/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian medics from Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital react while body bags with the remain of ten children arrive after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 117/124 Sderot, Israel Israeli soldiers stand near their tank while smoke due to airstrikes and shelling rises from Gaza near Sderot 118/124 Israel-Gaza border Israeli soldiers of the 155mm artillery cannons unit fire towards the Gaza Strip from their position near Israel's border with the coastal Palestinian enclave 119/124 Israel-Gaza border An Israeli tank manoeuvres outside the northern Gaza Strip 120/124 Israel-Gaza border Israeli cannon fires artillery shells from an artillery unit near the Israeli border with Gaza 121/124 Holon, near Tel Aviv The parents of 32-year-old Israeli army captain Tzafrir Bar-Or, a commander of the Golani Brigade killed the previous day fighting a group of Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, mourn over his coffin during his funeral in the central town of Holon, near Tel Aviv 122/124 Holon, near Tel Aviv An Israeli female soldier mourns during the funeral of 32-year-old Israeli army captain Tzafrir Bar-Or, a commander of the Golani Brigade killed the previous day fighting a group of Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, in the central town of Holon, near Tel Aviv 123/124 Holon, near Tel Aviv Family members of Major Tsafrir Bar-Or mourn and cry during his funeral in Holon. Major Tsafrir was killed during the operation 'Protective Edge' 124/124 Israel An Israeli soldier inspects an Israeli home allegedly hit by a Hamas rocket in Sderot 1/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian boy peaks from behind Palestinian militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigade, the armed wing of Hamas, during a rally to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Islamist movement's creation AFP 2/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man carries the body of his daughter, who was killed during Israeli shelling, outside the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City AFP/Getty 3/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian girls play inside their school which was destroyed during the 50 days of conflict between Israel and Hamas last summer, in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City AFP 4/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Members of Hamas security forces march during their graduation ceremony at the fisherman's port in Gaza City AP 5/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli soldier gestures in relief as he walks with comrades near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip after returning from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian coastal enclave AFP 6/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli Merkava tank moves along a road near the border with the Gaza Strip, Southern Israel EPA 7/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians attend Friday noon prayers next to a destroyed mosque was hit by Israeli strikes in Gaza City AP 8/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians attend Friday noon prayers in a destroyed mosque that was hit by Israeli strikes, in Gaza City, as Israel and Gaza militants resumed cross-border attacks after a three-day truce expired and Egyptian-brokered talks on a new border deal for blockaded Gaza hit a deadlock AP Photo 9/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians attend Friday noon prayers in the shadow of a toppled minaret at a mosque that was hit by Israeli strikes in Gaza City, as Israel and Gaza militants resumed cross-border attacks after a three-day truce expired and Egyptian-brokered talks on a new border deal for blockaded Gaza hit a deadlock AP 10/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Relatives mourn during the funeral of 10-year old Ibraheem al-Dawawsa. According to medics the child died in an Israeli airstrike on a mosque which is under construction. The boy is the first dead in Gaza after a 72-hours ceasefire EPA 11/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A relative of Palestinian boy Ibrahim Al-Dawawsa, 12, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, grieves during his funeral in Gaza City AP Photo 12/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians attend Friday noon prayers in a destroyed mosque that was hit by Israeli strikes, in Gaza City AP 13/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Smoke rises following Israeli air strikes in northern Gaza City. The Israeli army hit targets in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, after a three-day ceasefire ended and Egypt-mediated indirect talks failed to secure a longer truce EPA 14/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man stands on the rubble of a home destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Rafah Getty Images 15/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Israeli soldiers embrace each other as they sing at a staging area at an unspecified location near the Gaza border EPA 16/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A shell lies on the ground at the heavily damaged Sobhi Abu Karsh school in Gaza City Getty Images 17/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A shrapnel-holed wall in the Sobhi Abu Karsh school in Gaza City’s al-Shejaea neighbourhood Getty Images 18/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Israeli soldiers celebrate after returning to Israel from Gaza Reuters 19/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian men ride a donkey cart past destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip Getty Images 20/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian inspects destroyed houses and the area where the Al-Wafaa hospital used to stand Getty Images 21/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man holds his child in his destroyed home in Beit Hanoun EPA 22/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian brothers sit on the rubble of their house in front of an apartment block in part of the northern Beit Hanun district of the Gaza Strip after a 72-hour truce accepted by Israel and Hamas came into effect AFP/Getty 23/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A general view shows destruction in part of the northern Beit Hanun district of Gaza Strip at the beginning of a 72-hour truce accepted by Israel and Hamas AFP/Getty Images 24/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian carries his belongings from rubble of his destroyed house in Khoza-a neighbourhood in the east of Khanyounis town in the southern Gaza Strip EPA 25/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Backdropped by the damaged minaret of the Al-Azba mosque, Palestinians inspect the damage to the Nada Towers residential neighborhood in the town of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip AP 26/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians used pieces of cardboard as protection from the sun while queuing up in front of a bakery in Gaza City. A seven-hour humanitarian ceasefire called by Israel went into effect in most of the Gaza Strip, after an attack that killed 10 people at a UN-run school EPA 27/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli soldier rides an armoured personnel carrier (APC) towards a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip. Palestinians accused Israel of breaking its own ceasefire on Monday by launching a bomb attack on a refugee camp in Gaza City that killed an eight-year-old girl and wounded 29 other people REUTERS 28/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians carry bags as they return to check on what is left of their homes and businesses following the Israeli military offensive, close to the Rafah refugee camp, in southern Gaza Strip AFP/Getty Images 29/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Civil defence workers and medics are searching the neighborhood looking for victims of the ongoing Israeli military operation which has killed some 1,829 Palestinians, mainly civilians in nearly one month AFP 30/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man picks through rubble in a classroom inside a UN school that was hit by shelling Getty Images 31/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man inspects the damage at a UN school at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip Getty Images 32/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian civilians wounded during Israeli shelling in a UN school wait at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia Getty Images 33/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Damage inside a classroom caused by Israeli shelling of the Abu Hussein UN school AP 34/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians walk next to the collapsed minaret of a destroyed mosque in Gaza City. It was destroyed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on Tuesday EPA 35/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians who lost relatives in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a UN school in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, mourn outside the Kamal Edwin hospital in Beit Lahia where victims from the attack were brought AFP/Getty Images 36/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City amid Israel's heaviest air and artillery assault in more than three weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting AP Photo 37/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians who lost relatives in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a UN school in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, mourn outside the Kamal Edwin hospital in Beit Lahia AFP 38/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Flames engulf the fuel tanks of the only power plant supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip after it was hit by overnight Israeli shelling, in the south of Gaza City Getty Images 39/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians from a damaged apartment building inspect the damage to a neighboring building, the offices of the Hamas movement's Al-Aqsa satellite TV station, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, destroyed by an Israeli strike AP 40/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli soldier prays on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip as smoke billows from a power plant following overnight Israeli shelling in the coastal Palestinian enclave. The only power plant supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip was knocked out of commission by Israeli shelling, deputy director of the energy authority in the Palestinian territory said AFP 41/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A building within the Gaza port is seen on fire after several strikes Getty Images 42/124 Israel-Gaza conflict The rubble of the house of the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, – pictured in the poster, hit by a pre-dawn Israeli strike, in Gaza City AP 43/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Smoke rises from Tuffah neighbourhood after Israeli air strikes in the east of Gaza City. Relentless bombardment has crippled the city’s infrastructure EPA 44/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A woman wounded in an Israeli strike is taken to hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza Getty Images 45/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man walks in front of a fire raging at the Gaza's main power plant following an overnight Israeli airstrike, south of Gaza City EPA 46/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Horses belonging to internally displaced Palestinians look for eatable things in the rubbish outside a UN school, which was transformed into a shelter in the Jabalia district, northern Gaza Strip EPA 47/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian girl poses while playing during the first day of Eid al-Fitr in a United Nations school.Muslims usually start the day by visiting cemeteries, to pay their respects to the dead, and then exchange family visits AP 48/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian Abir Shamaleh, left, sits next to the grave of her son Saher, a civilian according to the family, who was killed in an Israeli strike during the war, as members of the family visit a cemetery in Gaza City. Monday marked the beginning of the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, which caps the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan AP 49/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli army Merkava tank rolls along the border between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The UN Security Council joined US President Barack Obama in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel and Hamas ignored calls for a truce despite mounting civilian casualties AFP 50/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A wounded Palestinian woman runs in the street after Israeli airstrikes in Al Tufah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City 51/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man cries after identifying the body of his loved one, killed in an Israeli strike, inside the morgue of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip 52/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian Ahmed Jadallah, center, 75, prepares a body for burial at the morgue of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip 53/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian mother mourns over the body of her son, Abd al-Karim al-Shibari, who was killed after a UN school in the northern Beit Hanun district of the Gaza Strip was hit by an Israeli shell, at the morgue of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 54/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian medics run carrying children, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, into the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 55/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a UN school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, flashes the V-sign for "Victory" as he arrives on a stretcher at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City 56/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian helps a relative, wounded in an Israeli strike in Gaza City 57/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians inspect the rubble of a destroyed house after Israeli airstrikes in Al Tufah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City 58/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Members of the El Ajramy family salvage some of their belongings from their house, which was destroyed by an overnight Israeli strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip 59/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians inspect the wreckage of a car following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 60/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian helps his son who got injured when a UN school for refugees was allegedly hit by an Israeli tank shell in the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip 61/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man carries a child, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, into the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 62/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian girls cry after their father was killed in a UN-operated school after an alleged Israeli attack in Beit Hanun town, northern Gaza strip 63/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian children, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, cry as they lay on the floor at the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 64/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man cries over the body of his son who died when a UN school for refugees was, according to medics, hit by an Israeli tank shell in the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip 65/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian youth carries a child, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, into the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya 66/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A pool of blood in a UN-operated school after an Israeli air strikes in Beit Hanun town, northern Gaza strip 67/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian medic carries a wounded injured to a treatment room of Nasser hospital, following an Israeli airstrike at their family house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 68/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A relative of two-year old Palestinian Salma Radiya killed by shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell in the north of the Gaza Strip holds her body at the morgue of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia 69/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man carries his father as he and others run to take cover during an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip 70/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians paramedics run for cover from Israeli air strike during their search for injured people in the damaged area in Al Shejaeiya neighbourhood, during an Israeli military operation in the east Gaza City 71/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinians flee during a two hour temporary ceasefire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood 72/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man holds a copy of the Koran, Islam's holy book, near a heavily damaged mosque following an Israeli military strike in Gaza city 73/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian relatives of Tawfiq al -Aga, who medics said was killed in Israeli shelling, mourn during his funeral in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip 74/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Red cross staff arrive to the damaged area in Al Shejaeiya neighbourhood, during an Israeli military operation in the east Gaza City 75/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian mother lies on the ground as she mourns the death of her son, who medics said was killed by Israeli shelling, at a hospital in Gaza City 76/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A relative of two-year old Palestinian Salma Radiya who was killed by shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell in the north of the Gaza Strip holds her body in the street outside the morgue of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia 77/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A mourner touches a wreath placed on the grave of fallen Israeli soldier Natan Cohen, killed during fighting in Gaza, during his funeral in the town of Modi'in, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv 78/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A mourner reacts during the funeral for Israeli soldier Natan Cohen, killed during fighting in Gaza on Tuesday, in the town of Modi'in, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv 79/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Soldiers carry the coffin of Sergeant Max Steinberg during his funeral in Jerusalem, Israel 80/124 Israel-Gaza conflict The parents of Sergeant Max Steinberg grieve at his coffin during his funeral in Jerusalem, Israel 81/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Jewish worshipper takes part in a special prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City for the well-being of Israeli soldiers in Gaza 82/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A banner depicting the names of Palestinians killed in Israel's ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip hangs on the landmark Pigeon Rock in Beirut's Rawshe seafront 83/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israel officer with a bird on his shoulder speaks to his soldiers after they returned from a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, at an army deployment area near Israel's border with the besieged Palestinian territory, as the conflict entered its third week with neither side showing any sign of willingness to pull back 84/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Palestinian families who fled their homes from east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip ride on a car in their way to the city of Khan Younis AP 85/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Smoke from an Israeli strike rises over Gaza City AP 86/124 Israel-Gaza conflict An Israeli 155mm self-propelled howitzer fires from southern Israeli into the Gaza Strip EPA 87/124 Israel-Gaza conflict The morgue attendant hands over the body to a relative of two-year-old Palestinian Lamar Radiya killed by shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell in the north of the Gaza Strip Getty Images 88/124 Israel-Gaza conflict A Palestinian man, in clothes stained with the blood of his father, who medics said was killed by Israeli shelling, mourns as he disembarks an ambulance transporting his father's body, at a hospital in Khan Younis Reuters 89/124 Israel-Gaza conflict Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of Sgt. Max Steinberg, during his funeral at the Mount Herzel military cemetery in Jerusalem. Steinberg, a 24-year-old American citizen who grew up in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, was killed while fighting in Gaza AP 90/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian paramedics carry a six-month-old baby into the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia after he was injured in an Israeli strike in the norhtern Gaza Strip 91/124 Southern Gaza Strip A relative of Shahed Qishtah, a nine-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in an Israeli strike while playing, left the Kamal Adwan hospital where he brought her in Beit Lahia in the norhtern Gaza Strip 92/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian child screams in pain at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip after she was hit by shrapnel during an Israeli military strike near her family house Getty 93/124 Southern Gaza Strip The father of a nine-year-old girl, Shahed Qishtah, leads a relative carrying her to hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza; she died of her injuries AFP/Getty Images 94/124 Southern Gaza Strip An injured Palestinian at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah 95/124 Southern Gaza Strip Mourning relatives of the Kelani family cry as they attend the funeral in Beit Lahiya, Gaza EPA 96/124 Southern Gaza Strip Brothers and family members of Ibrahim al-Kelani, the father and husband of a family of seven with dual Palestinian-German citizenship, attend his funeral in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip 97/124 Southern Gaza Strip Relatives of Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant Abduallah El-Buhasi, who medics said was killed in an Israeli air strike, mourn during his funeral in Deir El-Balah in the central Gaza Strip 98/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian woman runs to seek cover from tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes at a protest against the Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip, at Howwara checkpoint near the west bank city of Nablus 99/124 Southern Gaza Strip Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Al Shejaeiya neighbourhood during a military operation in eastern Gaza City 100/124 Southern Gaza Strip A member of Palestinian Selam family is rescued under the wreckage of their house, destroyed by an Israeli airstrike within the 'Operation Protective Edge' Getty Images 101/124 Southern Gaza Strip Firemen cut Palestinians free from the wreckage of the building, in which 11 Palestinians died and others injured following an Israel assault in Rimal, in Gaza City 102/124 Southern Gaza Strip One member of Palestinian Selam family is is killed and 8 others get wounded after an Israeli airstrike, hit their hose and destroyed it within the 'Operation Protective Edge' 103/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man is helped to flee Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood, after an Israeli strike in the area 104/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians inspect the rubble of the destroyed Al Aqsa Martyrs' mosque in Gaza City 105/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian rescuers inspect the damage of Al-Shalam (Peace) tower, destroyed by an Israeli strike 106/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian inspects the damage of the Al-Shalam (Peace) tower, destroyed by an Israeli strike 107/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian walks inside the Al Aqsa Martyrs mosque destroyed by an Israeli strike in Gaza City 108/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinians look at the remains of a mosque, which police said was hit in an Israeli air strike, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip 109/124 Southern Gaza Strip Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire at a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City 110/124 Southern Gaza Strip A Palestinian man stands on the wreckage of |
America’s families an estimated $17 billion a year,” the president said.
It’s unlikely that Republicans in Congress will be able to muster enough votes to override the president’s veto, a feat they’ve never accomplished.
Senate Republicans approved the joint resolution, despite not having the 60 votes needed to overcome filibusters, by using the Congressional Review Act. It gives lawmakers 60 days to pass a resolution with a simple majority, although such measures that would repeal regulations still must be signed by the president.
Republican lawmakers said the rule will hurt middle-class investors by limiting their access to financial advice.
“This administration has been on a long regulatory march for years now, and too often, its regulations end up hurting the very Americans they purport to help,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said last month.
Rep. Phil Roe, Tennessee Republican who introduced the resolution, said the veto “threatens the retirement security of millions of working families.”
“The flawed fiduciary rule will make it harder for low- and middle-income workers to save for the future, limit the ability of individuals to receive basic financial advice, and jeopardize the creation of small business retirement plans,” said Mr. Roe.Miami Hurricanes Basketball: Breaking down the “University-7” allegations, info, & timeline Here’s what is alleged, and has been reported, regarding Miami’s potential involvement in the FBI bribery scandal
On Tuesday, the FBI released a complaint against several schools and individuals regarding bribery, corruption, and wire fraud in connection to College Basketball recruiting. While not named overtly in the complaint, the overwhelming thought is “University-7” is the University of Miami.
Here’s our piece from yesterday, which includes the released complaint, the descriptor of “University-7”, and two subsequent updates relevant to the University of Miami.
After having a day to read over things, and see other reports on this topic, let’s translate the information into plain English, and put things in order.
For accuracy and clarity, I will be quoting heavily from the released complaint. I will make clear when I’m offering commentary.
Is “University-7” Miami?
Here is the description of “University-7” from the FBI release:
Private School. 16,000 students (across all campuses and programs). More than 2,600 faculty. Approximately 15 Varsity Sports (UM’s Athletics website lists 16 varsity sports). Private school with Division 1 athletics.
Yeah, that’s Miami.
Who is named in the complaint?
The Louisville Courier-Journal did a great job with their timeline piece. Here is what they said regarding the named individuals in the released complaint:
In the Louisville complaint in particular, the FBI named James Gatto, Merl Code, Christian Dawkins, Brad Augustine and Munish Sood. Gatto, who the complaint said worked for "Company-1," is the head of global sports marketing for basketball at adidas. Per the complaint, Code is also “affiliated with Company-1 (presumed to be adidas) and its high school and college basketball programs." Dawkins was an employee of a sports management company based in New Jersey, and the complaint alleges that he sought the future business of several highly touted basketball recruits. Augustine is the program director for an AAU team. Sood is the founder of an investment services company.
While Sood is mentioned in the University-6 (Louisville) section, his name is absent from the University-7 (Miami) section.
So, Gatto (adidas exec), Code (adidas exec), Dawkins (sports management company) and Augustine (Orlando-based 1Family AAU team) are the named individuals in the Miami complaint.
What is alleged to have happened?
It’s important to know what is alleged against Louisville (from the C-J link above) because at several places in the Miami portion of the complaint, the above-named individuals make references to repeating what was done with “University-6”. So, they’re bringing back the same playbook to the alleged Miami interaction that they used in the alleged Louisville interaction.
In short, it is alleged that a “University-7” (Miami) coach “Coach-3” communicated with Gatto and Code from “Company-1” (adidas) to facilitate payment of $150,000 to a HS recruit “Player-12” in order to get him to commit to “University-7” (Miami). Dawkins spoke with Code regarding this arrangment. Augustine spoke with Code because “Player-12” is associated with the AAU team run by Augustine.
Here’s the timeline:
July 2017-September 2017 — Gatto, Code, Dawkins, and Augustine allegedly conspired to funnel approximately $150,000 from “Company-1” (adidas) to “Player-12”, a top high school basketball player expected to graduate in 2018 (we’ll get to that) to assist one or more coaches from “University-7” (Miami) to ensure that “Player-12” would commit to play at “University-7” (Miami) AND furthermore ensure that “Player-12” would sign with Dawkins’ sports management company and “Company-1” (adidas) upon entering the pros.
Moreover, since “Company-1” (adidas) could not make the payments to “Player-12” or his family directly, Gatto, Code, Dawkins, and Augustine conspired to conceal the payments by funneling them through Code, Dawkins, and Augustine, as well as an amateur (AAU) basketball team controlled by Augustine.
August 9, 2017 — Code and Dawkins on a phone call (that was tapped by FBI warrant) discussed paying “Player-12” and/or his family at the request of at least one coach (“coach-3”) at Miami (“University-7”).
On the call, Dawkins told Code that, according to Augustine (the AAU coach), “Coach-3 knows everything” and they would start the process of funneling money to “player-12” to get him to commit to “University-7” (Miami) upon his high school graduation in 2018.
With respect to the need to funnel money to “Player-12”, Dawkins told Code that “Coach-3” “knows something gotta happen for it to get done” (‘it’ being Player-12 committing to University-7). Code replied he had just left Gatto a message regarding the payment.
August 11, 2017 — Gatto and Code spoke twice on the phone regarding the payment outlined in the previous conversation between Code and Dawkins (see above).
During those calls, among other things, Gatto and Code discussed “Coach-3’s” request to Gatto that “Company-1” (adidas) pay $150,000 to “Player-12” in order to prevent “Player-12” from committing to attend another NCAA Division 1 university sponsored by a rival athletic apparel company. The rival university had allegedly offered “Player-12” a substantial sum of money to commit to their institution.
Call 1 — Code and Gatto discussed funneling payments from “Company-1” (adidas) to “Player-12” in order to influence his decision to attend “University-7” (Miami), a school sponsored by “Company-1” (adidas). In particular, on the recorded call, Code informed Gatto that they had “another “University-6 (Louisville) situation”. Code added “except it’s with “University-7” (Miami) this time.”
This is referring to the scheme allegedly used by Louisville to recruit Brian Bowen, as per multiple reports and outlined in the Courier-Journal link I provided above.
Returning to the call, Gatto asked Code if “University-7” was “hot”, to which Code replied “University-7 (Miami) wants this kid named “Player-12”.” Gatto confirmed that he already knew about “University-7’s” request for “Player-12”, and told Code that he had spoken to “Coach-3” who had “just asked about the kid and then he said supposedly the kid was having a meeting with” an unnamed senior executive at a “Company-1” (adidas) sponsored program geared toward high school amateur athletes that occurred between August 3 and August 7, 2017.
The adidas-sponsored event in question was likely an AAU tournament. After checking the adidas uprising website, adidas Nation’s Global select AAU event was held in Houston, TX on August 3 through August 7, 2017.
Call 2, part 1 — Code discussed with Gatto the involvement of Dawkins and Augustine in the scheme to facilitate payments to “Player-12” in order to secure “Player-12’s” commitment to attend “University-7” (Miami). Code explained that another Division 1 university “University-4” (yet unknown what school this is) was offering “Player-12” $150,000. Code stated “and we’re trying to keep him from going to one of their (rival apparel company’s) schools”.
Code further went on to tell Gatto that Dawkins and Augustine had asked Code if Gatto “would be able to keep him at “University-7” because they really want the kid.” Gatto confirmed that “Player-12” would be a rising senior in high school, and Code assured Gatto that the payments need not be “all in one lump sum. I can make it work...” Code went on to tell Gatto that the situation was “not one of those where I need an answer today. You know what I’m saying? I just wanted to put it on your plate.”
Call 2, part 2 — Still on call 2, Gatto asked whether “Company-1” (adidas) would “have to match the “University-4” (unknown school) deal?” Gatto went on to ask if the payments could be pushed to 2018, saying “if I have to pay it out in ‘18, that’s fine”, but “I just don’t know if I, I just don’t know if I can’ do anything in ‘17 that’s what I’m saying”.
Referring back to the “University-6” (Louisville) scheme involving “Player-10” (thought to be Brian Bowen), Gatto told Code that he should “try to get it to, what did we do with “Player-10”, a 100”, which the FBI believes to represent a $100,000 payment to “Player-10”. Code replied that he was not sure “they’ll take that much less if I can take it down at least twenty five” (25 likely representing a $25,000 reduction in payment to “Player-12”), to which Gatto replied “alright, well let’s just see.”
August 12, 2017 — A phone call between Code and Dawkins is recorded by the FBI wiretap. On this call, Code relayed to Dawkins the substance of the August 11th calls between Code and Gatto regarding payments by “Company-1” (adidas) to “Player-12”, including Gatto’s request that Code negotiate the $150,00 asking price set by “Player-12”. According to Code, however, if “University-4” (unknown school) was willing to pay the full $150,000 “then that’s where the kid is going to go.”
Referring to Gatto’s statement about not having sufficient funds to pay “Player-12” in 2017, Code stated if “Company-1” (adidas) waited until January 2018 to commit to a payment amount “by that point that number might be 200” indicating $200,000. Code added that “Company-1” (adidas) “won’t play if it’s... at that level, we won’t play.”
Dawkins asked what would be the highest payment that Gatto and “Company-1” (adidas) would agree to, to which Code replied “I think they do 150 [$150,000] if, if “Coach-3” stayed on it.”
August 19, 2017 — A phone call between Code and Augustine is recorded by the FBI wiretap. On this call, Code informed Augustine that he would do what was necessary “to make sure that we secure... the kid” but that “budget-wise, everything was kind of strapped for ‘17... so ‘18 puts us in a better place to have that conversation.”
This is less substantive than the other recorded phone calls as far as content, but still important. This connects Code to Augustine, who runs a premier AAU program — 1Family — with top players. A little bit of “connect the dots” but it matters.
Who is “Player-12”?
The obvious question here is, if there is a scheme to pay a player to go to a school, then who is the player?
Several people were quick to jump the gun on this yesterday, and I repeatedly cautioned them against such things. Most of the names thrown out to me on Twitter yesterday are wrong, based upon the information available, and a couple different reports.
The big piece of information here is that Brad Augustine coaches the 1Family AAU team. This Orlando-based team has some elite talent on its roster, and has for years. Additionally, this team is sponsored by adidas, so the connection continues.
Getting to the heart of the question, the identity of “Player-12” is likely 5-star wing Nassir Little. He is a current high school senior, with a graduation date in 2018, and plays on Florida 1. Additionally, Little participated in the adidas nations global event on August 3-7, 2017 in Houston, TX. This timeline matches up with “Player-12” having a conversation with a “Company-1” (adidas) executive at a “Company-1” (adidas) sponsored event geared toward high school amateur athletes on the dates listed from the released complaint.
Listed by all recruiting services as a top-15 player in the class of 2018, Little is the kind of elite talent that could demand a payment in the range of $150,000.
Miami, along with North Carolina, Arizona (which had an assistant coach arrested in connection to this FBI investigation), and Duke are among the teams most heavily recruiting Little.
Now, if we extend things out, and assuming “Player-12” is indeed Little, all three of the schools listed that Miami is competing with for Little’s commitment are sponsored by Nike. (North Carolina is sponsored by Jordan Brand, which is a subsidiary of Nike, so it falls under the same umbrella). So, it is possible that one of those schools is “University-4” with the competing monetary offer of $150,000 for Little.
UPDATE: according to our Arizona Wildcats SBNation sister-site, in their multiple pieces on the Arizona connection to this FBI probe, they have found through similar deduction as we used for the “University-7” part above that Arizona is indeed “University-4”.
AZ Desert Swarm See all the Arizona Wildcat news (including coverage of the FBI probe) on Arizona Desert Swarm See more from Arizona Desert Swarm
As seen by our intrepid contributor Josh White on Tuesday, Little tweeted and quickly deleted a tweet stating he would be opening his recruitment.
Adding intrigue to the situation: Little is scheduled to take an Official Visit to Coral Gables this weekend. He had to reschedule his OV from earlier (September 16th) because of Hurricane Irma. It will be interesting to see if Little makes his scheduled visit to Coral Gables or not.
That should give you a clear idea of the particulars of what is alleged, by whom, and when regarding “University-7”, which is the University of Miami.
There will be more on this in the coming days and weeks. We’ll have updates and information when appropriate.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Rajini Vaidyanathan on India's female bikers
Motorbikes have always been popular in India, but it's usually men who are in the driving seat.
Now, more women are starting to ride these machines, and a number of female-only clubs have helped kick-start this trend, and overturn widely held stereotypes.
Aparna Bandodkar admits she gets some strange looks as she pulls up to work.
Travelling to the office on a Royal Enfield Standard 350 motorbike isn't, after all, the regular mode of transport for a dentist.
Aparna is one of a growing number of women riding big motorbikes in India. She says her bike, which she's nicknamed Bijli (meaning thunderbolt in Hindi) is like a friend to her.
"It's a thrill riding such a big beast - it gives me confidence and it's a head turner; I just can't imagine life without it," she says, brimming with affection for the machine.
"If men can ride motorbikes, why can't women," asks Aparna, who first started going for rides with her dad at a young age.
In a country where two-wheelers are the vehicle of choice for millions, seeing a female on a motorbike isn't uncommon.
Except they're usually the ones taking a backseat while the man drives.
"People say girls can't kick-start bikes or put them on a stand without the help of a man; I just wanted to prove girls can do that too," she says as she powers up Bijli to demonstrate.
Biker meet-ups
Aparna recently started a club in Mumbai for female Royal Enfield riders, known as the Regals.
In recent years, a number of women-only bike clubs have begun to spring up in India, a sign of increasing participation.
In Bangalore, Hop on Gurls is another group for Bullet riders, and there are more and more female only biker meet-ups happening across the country.
The Association of Female Bikers in India, Bikerni, is the first India-wide motorcycle club for women. It was started 18 months ago and has more than 100 active members who regularly take part in group rides.
Image caption Ketaki rides with Bikerni and joins the group on its weekend bike trips
It was co-founded by Firdaus Sheikh, who estimates there are as many as 4,000 women bikers across India.
I meet Firdaus, who's dressed in full biker leathers and a helmet, as she powers up a mountain on her motorbike in the resort of Lonavla, a few hours drive from her home city of Pune, in Maharashtra. She's joined by seven other Bikerni riders, from across the state.
"We started Bikerni to empower women through motorcycling," she says. "We decided there was a need for women to have this group to learn to ride bikes, to have a platform where they can come together and support one another."
Firdaus, 23, started riding smaller bikes from a very young age. She used to ride with male clubs, but said she often felt out of place.
"Some men have a very narrow mindset, they say that girls should only be riding (smaller) scooters, but I don't understand the difference. Both have an engine, both have two wheels and both consume fuel, so whether you choose a bike or a scooter shouldn't make a difference."
'More broadminded'
India is the second largest motorbike market in the world, after China. Last year, some 13.4 million, two-wheelers (motorbikes, scooters and mopeds) were sold in the country, 14% more than in the previous year, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturer (Siam). The lion's share of this was motorcycle sales.
Breaking records Sheetal Bidaye, 36, became the first female solo biker to reach the world's highest motorable pass, Marsimik La, and won a place in India's Limca book of records for her feat. "Riding gives me a lot of adventure and the way we ride here going to difficult terrains and doing off-roading is what I like the best. "Girls used to just ride bikes to commute, but now there's more people doing off-roading. Before they weren't so adventurous to ride across rivers and mountains. "For me, biking definitely gives me a sense of freedom, it's a kind of liberation, and I feel good about it. I feel one with myself when I'm riding. I was the only person to go to the highest mountain pass in the world on my bike, and until now no-one has broken this record."
It is impossible to estimate how many people overall are riding bikes in India, but experts at Autocar India put it at well above the 350 million mark. While as many as one-third of scooter riders are women, the numbers of females on big motorbikes is thought to be much smaller, below the 5% mark, according to the magazine.
It is a small, yet significant, minority which is growing as attitudes in India change, argues Shaikh.
"Gradually, India is becoming more broadminded, mentalities are becoming more accepted, so I think women are shedding their inhibitions and pursuing motorcycles.
"There was a time when women were bound by traditions, they used to fit in the profile of being a housewife or a mother or a daughter. When it came to pursuing their passions, they'd have to compromise. But today they're realising their self-worth."
Another factor driving the change is the increased availability of motorbikes. "There was a time when you only rode Royal Enfields," quips Shaikh as she grips the handlebars of her treasured Pulsar 180 CC Classic.
To some, the sheer weight of the machines - some can weigh in at almost 440lb (200kg), and their height from the ground can make them harder to ride, but even this is changing.
Companies are introducing lighter bikes, with lower stands into the Indian market to tap into a growing interest from women. The Italian firm Ducati this year launched the Monster 795 bike into the India, which weighs far less and is lower to the ground.
Backseat
But practical considerations aside, there are other hurdles which many women bikers have to overcome. Having the choice, and chance, to ride motorbikes remains a challenge. This is a society where women are often forced to take a backseat in more ways than one.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Why female-only motorbike clubs have been set up
"It's still not going to be like it is in the West, you're definitely not going to see women riding off on Harleys into the sunset," says Hormuz Sorabjee, the editor of Autocar India.
Sorabjee says the Indian bike market is primarily focused on commuters and for women, scooters rather than motorbikes. "By and large, women are still quite conservative to be going on big bikes and zooming off," he argues.
But biking groups believe increased support for women who want to ride bikes, and the increased availability of maintenance workshops to educate women in the mechanics of motorcycles, will help drive uptake in a nation where two-wheelers are so popular.
For India's biker women, taking to the roads offers a sense of freedom and independence like no other. They might make up a very small percentage of the traffic here, but those in the saddle are arguably trailblazers in more ways than one.Welcome back to the Way of Kings Reread on Tor.com. I’m Carl Engle-Laird, and I’m happy to announce that as of this week, I’ll be joining Michael Pye as a second rereader. This will be my third time reading the novel, and I’ve previously written two articles about spren for Tor.com. From now on Michael and I will be alternating weeks; I’ll cover chapters 5 and 6 this week, and next week we’ll be back to Michael.
These are two exciting chapters for me to begin with, as they introduce some excellent elements to the story. Chapter 5 brings us into contact with Jasnah Kholin, scholar, historian, and atheist, and Chapter 6 introduces Kaladin to Bridge Four, the personal hell that will become his family. The Way of Kings reread index can be found here. For news about Words of Radiance and opinion pieces about the series generally, you can check out the Stormlight Archive index. Now, without further ado, let’s get to the reread!
Chapter 5: Heretic
Setting: The Conclave in Kharbranth
Point of View: Shallan
What Happens
The epigraph presents a grave omen: “I have seen the end, and have heard it named. The Night of Sorrows, the True Desolation. The Everstorm.”
Shallan examines Jasnah Kholin, the woman she has chased across the world and who she hopes will accept her as a ward. She takes note of Jasnah’s unexpected beauty, her regal bearing (“Stormfather! This woman was the sister of a king.”), and the unmistakable jewelry on her wrist: a Soulcaster. Walking with Jasnah is a kind, elderly man who Shallan belatedly realizes must be Tarvangian, the king of Kharbranth. They are discussing some matter having to do with the ardents and the devotaries, and after Jasnah agrees that Taravangian’s terms are agreeable she motions for Shallan to join them.
Although Shallan is worried that Jasnah will be angry with her for being so late, Jasnah says her tardiness was no fault of hers. Instead, she is impressed by Shallan’s tenacity, admitting that she’d “presumed that you’d have given up. Most do so after the first few stops.” The chase was the first of several tests that Jasnah subjects potential wards to, and having passed it, Shallan is allowed to petition.
Jasnah tests Shallan’s command of music (good), languages (passable), and writing (persuasive enough). Shallan’s grasp of logic is less sufficient, as Jasnah rattles off half a dozen logicians that she is not familiar with. Worst of all is her knowledge of history, where Shallan has only a minimal grounding. Shallan tries to defend her ignorance, but is harshly rebuffed, and when they move on to the sciences she loses her temper and mouths off.
Jasnah is less than impressed, and reveals a surprisingly deep understanding of Shallan’s family history. On hearing that her stepmother has recently died, she suggests that Shallan should be with her father, “seeing to his estates and comforting him, rather than wasting my time.” Shallan begins to lose hope, especially when Jasnah reveals that she is the twelfth woman to petition her this year.
At this point their party reaches its destination, a caved-in chamber far underground. Attendants are everywhere, waiting anxiously, and Taravangian reveals that a recent Highstorm had brought down a section of the ceiling, trapping his grand-daughter within. Jasnah prepares to fulfill her end of a bargain with Taravangian by clearing away the caved-in stone, but first asks Shallan how she would ascertain its mass:
Shallan blinked. “Well, I suppose I’d ask His Majesty. His architects have probably calculated it.”
This is clever and concise, and Jasnah recognizes as much, praising her for not wasting time, showing that no verdict has been reached on Shallan’s wardship. She gets the weight from the king, steps up to the stone, and Soulcasts it:
Jasnah’s hand sank into the rock. The stone vanished. A burst of dense smoke exploded into the hallway. Enough to blind Shallan; it seemed the output of a thousand fires, and smelled of burned wood.
Soulcasting, dear readers! Having performed this immense magical service, Jasnah calmly returns her attention to Shallan and tells her that she is not going to like what Jasnah has to say. Despite Shallan’s protest that she hasn’t yet demonstrated her artistic talents, Jasnah scoffs. The visual arts are useless and frivolous to her, which is too bad for Shallan, because they’re easily her greatest strength. She decides she cannot accept Shallan, and leaves her behind on her way to the Palanaeum.
Shallan is rocked, but determined. Six months ago, she thinks, she might have given up, but things are different. She follows after Jasnah, determined to become her apprentice:
She would apprentice herself to Jasnah Kholin, scholar, heretic. Not for the education. Not for the prestige. But in order to learn where she kept her Soulcaster. And then Shallan would steal it.
Quote of the Chapter:
“I have read through the complete works of Tormas, Nashan, Niali the Just, and—of course—Nohadon.” “Placini?” Who? “No.” “Gabrathin, Yustara, Manaline, Syasikk, Shauka-daughter-Hasweth?” Shallan cringed and shook her head again. That last name was obviously Shin. Did the shin people even have logicmasters? Did Jasnah really expect her wards to have studied such obscure texts?
And just like that Sanderson establishes a deep and rich academic community. Not only is the body of knowledge she expects Shallan to know vast, indicating a long history of academic scholarship, it is international and not limited to the Vorin states. Syasikk sounds like a name from Tashikk, or one of the other nations in that region, Shauka-daughter-Hasweth is definitely Shin, as well as obviously female. I’d really love to know how many of these scholars are women; we discover later that Gabrathin is male, perhaps from a time before men were not allowed to write, so Shauka-daughter-Hasweth is really the only demonstrably female member of this scholarly community. It must be very difficult to write a logical treatise by dictation, so I assume that most logicmasters are female now.
Commentary:
Jasnah Kholin: Princess, scholar, heretic. This chapter only gives us a brief look at who she is, but it still reveals a lot of her personality. Her requirements for pupils are exacting and she doesn’t suffer fools. She’s rather stiff and doesn’t really brook humor or attempts to lighten the mood, much less whining, unfortunately for Shallan. That being said, she’s always willing to praise Shallan when she actually deserves it, which I think we need as an audience. Her praise, because it is rare, is very potent, and has a big impact on Shallan. She has to earn it, which makes us enjoy it more, and respect her more. During my first read-through I found Jasnah to be a very welcome opposition to Shallan. It’s nice for your viewpoint not to always be the smartest person in the room
The relationship that will emerge between Shallan and Jasnah is going to be rocky, but very interesting and rewarding, although I think we should wait to delve into it until it’s begun to unfold a bit more. At this point Jasnah is still a rather mysterious figure. Why is she a heretic? What does that even mean? And how did she get that magical Soulcaster?
Speaking of Soulcasters! They are a truly fascinating magical technology. Soulcasters, or at least major Soulcasters, can turn anything into anything else. The limiting factor that keeps this from being totally, ridiculously overpowered are gemstones, which can be burned out through strenuous use. That being said, the ability to turn rocks into smoke, or food, or gold, or anything else you can imagine, is a pretty wonderful thing for a society to have access to.
Jasnah’s tests show us much more concretely what count as “feminine arts” in Vorin culture. Women are expected to be masters of mathematics, logic, art, history, music, and science, to be able to speak and write persuasively, to balance budgets, and above all to think critically. It’s not just scribing, but also scholarship that is woman’s work. Men handle money, and hit things with sticks and stick-shaped objects, while giving over all intellectual activity to women. There’s a definite power imbalance between the genders, with both sides having very different but very significant realms of influence. I’m going to be keeping a close eye on how Vorinism constructs gender roles and how those roles are viewed by various characters and societies as we go forward. I look forward to discussing debating the issue with all of you in the comments.
This chapter also introduces Taravangian, the kindly old king with the terrible secret. He doesn’t do very much here. He dodders down a hallway, strikes a bargain with Jasnah, and displays concern for his granddaughter. There is one moment, however, that hints at his greater influence; when Jasnah worries that the ardents have a lot of influence in Kharbranth, he confidently assures her that they will be no issue. He’s not always so confident, so I’d consider this to be something of a tell. That being said, we’ll later see that the devotaries are mostly toothless, and normally wouldn’t pose a threat to civil authorities anyway.
The epigraph for this chapter names what I assume will be our final confrontation with all bad things: The Night of Sorrows, The True Desolation, The Everstorm. This is an extremely intimidating message, and there’s a lot to unpack from these names. I don’t know what to think about the Night of Sorrows, although creatures of the night feature prominently in Dalinar’s highstorm dreams. The True Desolation is a little more transparent; now that the Heralds have abandoned the fight, the upcoming Desolation will be a final confrontation, a climactic and decisive battle. And, finally… the Everstorm. A Highstorm that lasts forever? That’s certainly an ominous message.
And, finally, the chapter ends with the revelation of Shallan’s true mission: to find and steal Jasnah’s Soulcaster. Our wonderful, witty young woman, a thief? A deceiver? Who would have thought she had it in her? This unexpected motivation is a great starting point to build contradictions into her character, and will be at the root of all of her most interesting personal developments for the rest of the book.
Chapter 6: Bridge Four
Setting: The Shattered Plains
Point of View: Kaladin
What Happens
At the Shattered Plains warcamp, Tvlakv releases Kaladin and his fellow slaves from the cages so that they can be presented to a female lighteyes. The warcamp is large, and well-settled, filled with signs of long occupation. It’s also full of disorderly-looking soldiers, with unruly uniforms. Kaladin is disappointed by the force he hoped to join, but decided that even if it’s not what he hoped it would be, fighting for that army could give him something to live for.
The lighteyes approaches and barters with Tvlakv over the price of the slaves. She singles Kaladin out, noticing that he “is far better stock than the others,” and has him remove his shirt so she can examine the goods. By his scars she presumes him to be a military man, and he confirms this, then spins a lie about how he earned his shash glyph; he claims to have gotten drunk and killed a man.
Tvlakv steps forward and gives the lighteyes the truth, telling her that Kaladin is a deserter and leader of rebellions. He says she cannot trust him with a weapon, and that he fears Kaladin might have corrupted the rest of his stock with talk of escape. She buys them all up anyway as a reward for his honesty, commenting that “we need some new bridgemen.”
Before he’s led away, Tvlakv apologizes to Kaladin, but this doesn’t go far with him. The lighteyes orders her guards to tell someone named Gaz that Kaladin “is to be given special treatment.” Kaladin is brought through the camp, where he sees the banner of Highprince Sadeas, ruler of his home district, as well as a number of children, camp followers, and parshmen.
Finally, Kaladin finds himself presented to a one-eyed sergeant named Gaz. After Gaz laments that the new slaves will “barely stop an arrow” and treats Kaladin to some petty verbal abuse, a horn blows, and the camp springs into action. Kaladin is assigned to Bridge Four, and made to carry a massive wooden bridge, “about thirty feet long, eight feet wide,” on his shoulders. He has not been assigned the leather vest and sandals that the other bridgemen wear as a kind of pathetic uniform.
The bridges begin running across the Shattered Plains, the army behind them, spurred on by Gaz and other sergeants. The weight presses down on Kaladin, and the wooden supports bite deeply into his shoulders. He soon finds himself tripping on rockbuds underfoot and gasping to catch his breath. A leather-faced man working the bridge near him gives him advice, telling him to focus on counting his steps, and Kaladin manages to trudge on for a long time. After over an hour, they reach a chasm, drop the bridge, and push it across, then collapse to the ground as the army passes over. Kaladin watches a man in red Shardplate ride a horse across the bridge at the center of the army, and wonders aloud if he’s the king.
The leathery bridgeman laughed tiredly. “We could only wish.” Kaladin turned toward him, frowning. “If that were the king,” the bridgeman said, “then that would mean we were in Brightlord Dalinar’s army.”
After a brief break Kaladin mutters that he’d be glad to get back, but his leathery friend corrects him. They aren’t anywhere near their destination, and Kaladin should be glad of that. “Arriving is the worst part.”
The bridgemen cross the bridge, pull it up, and jog across the plateau to the next crossing point. They lower the bridge, and the army crosses. This goes on a dozen times or more, becoming a mechanistic routine, until Gaz issues an unfamiliar command: “Switch!”
Kaladin is pushed from the back of the bridge to the front, switching places with those who had been in the lead. As they jog towards the last chasm, Kaladin begins to realize how this new position, with its fresh air and clear line of view, is actually a curse in disguise. The Parshendi are waiting ahead of them, and they have bows trained on the bridges.
The Parshendi fire on the bridgemen, and Kaladin’s friend dies immediately. Arrows fall all around him, killing many at the front of the bridge. Kaladin is grazed, but not badly hurt, and he and Bridge Four manage to place their bridge before he falls unconscious.
His windspren wakes him from his stupor, despite his desire to slip away and not return, by giving him a brief, energetic slap. This saves his life, as the army would |
mazz, they left a mark on the fledgling emo scene that’s still felt. It could rock out and even get a little screamy, but for the most part it’s an epic, achingly tuneful slab of post-adolescent soul-purging. The members of California’s Sense Field were a little longer in the tooth, having spent time in the hardcore band Reason To Believe before going sweetly, dreamily melodic on albums like 1994’s Killed For Less. Released on the hardcore label Revelation, it also set the stage for a similar-sounding band of former hardcore dudes, Texas Is The Reason, who were a couple years away from unleashing Do You Know Who You Are?, their heralded album on Revelation.
Likewise, Seattle’s Sunny Day Real Estate featured former members of hardcore bands, including Christ On A Crutch. Sunny Day Real Estate’s 1994 debut, Diary, couldn’t be further from that kind of corrosive punk. Layered, lush, and otherworldly, Diary hit the emo scene hard. The album has been heaped with hyperbole since its release, but it’s best to remember that it was already spoken about practically in whispers when it came out. Diary was a sea change in emo—not just because it was so intricate and singular, but because it came out on Sub Pop, the label that meant both artist credibility and commercial viability. First grunge had gone mainstream, and then pop-punk. Was emo next? Diary was the first album that raised that question, even though it was still many years before that question would be definitively answered.
One of the bands that would eventually haul emo into the mainstream is Jimmy Eat World—not that you’d know it from the group’s 1994 self-titled debut. Recorded when the members were still teenagers, it’s a promising yet rough document of feisty, messy pop-punk—a style that would soon change when Jimmy Eat World began playing shows with Christie Front Drive, resulting in a split single in 1995 and JEW’s gradual ascent to emo superstardom. It didn’t hurt that, in a few years, the up-and-coming JEW would tour with a band that was just beginning to find its feet in 1994: Blink-182. That band’s first album, Cheshire Cat, came out in ’94, and its off-kilter bounciness immediately caught the ear of kids who were already starting to wander from the Epitaph/Fat Wreck flock. Cheshire Cat isn’t radically different from your typical Fat release from 1994, but there was a refreshing sloppiness and wide-eyed exuberance to it that augured lucrative things to come.
Green Day had sold out. The Offspring had sold out. Many more would follow, regardless of whether selling out was really as evil or clearly defined as many ’90s punks thought it was. Besides Fugazi, one of the biggest bands that seemed to be holding the independent line was Jawbreaker. 1994 marked the release of the group’s third album, 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, which remains many fans’ favorite—and by then, Jawbreaker had become a bona fide phenomenon. After 1992’s sprawling, ambitious Bivouac, 24 Hour was punchier and punker; at the same time, it packed odd pockets of strangled noise and tangled verse into its short, sharp doses of raspy pop-punk.
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But Jawbreaker was already straining at the indie leash. In 1993, the band had been hand-picked to open for six dates on Nirvana’s In Utero tour—and before long, Jawbreaker would sign to Nirvana’s label, Geffen. Before that polarizing (and ultimately disastrous) leap to the majors happened, Jawbreaker delivered a masterpiece of ’90s punk. On one of the disc’s high points, the anthemic “Boxcar,” leader Blake Schwarzenbach spits in the face of punk orthodoxy with the opening lines, “You’re not punk, and I’m telling everyone / Save your breath, I never was one.” And on “Indictment,” he throws around phrases like “Selling kids to other kids” and “What’s so wrong with a stupid, happy song?”—clues that he was already wrestling with the decision to follow another catchy Bay Area trio, Green Day, into the great, mainstream unknown.
Fear Of 1995: In 1995, it became official: After 20 years of making only marginal inroads in America, punk was the next big thing. Not only that, but The Offspring showed that it was possible to have it both ways—be a platinum-selling band while remaining technically independent. While bands like Rancid went for the gold, others like J Church remained proudly underground, even as the first Warped Tour began to solidify the money-generation infrastructure of mainstream punk. The sleeping dragon of the ’90s, hardcore, finally awakes in 1995, and so do ska-core and street-punk. In the midst of it all, gloriously unique groups like Smoking Popes and Scared Of Chaka forged their own sounds in the cracks between subgenres. It’s the hump year of ’90s punk—and it shows.The deficit isn't sexy. There's no use pretending it should be. But it falls to public figures and writers to make unsexy issues tolerable, at minimum. So I appreciate the effort Matt Yglesias put into his article "Debt and the Millennials," which builds a succinct frame for understanding the deficit debate. I agree with just about every part of the post:
-- Since the problem is overwhelmingly one of projected future increases in spending, it's perfectly reasonable to expect that the majority of change relative to baseline will come on the spending side.
-- But since the problem is overwhelmingly one of the growing cost of longstanding commitments, rather than new commitments, it's absurd to expect the change to be entirely on the spending side.
-- What you spend on and what you tax matters more than "how much" you spend and tax. Taxing pollution and reducing expenditures on bombs has very different implications from taxing labor and reducing expenditures on school construction.
-- It's absurd to be spending large and growing sums of money preventing people from moving here while simultaneously facing a Social Security shortfall driven primarily by unexpectedly slow population growth.
-- Young people should push, at the margin, for any cuts in Social Security/Medicare spending to be implemented sooner rather than later. Proposals to let everyone born before 1955 evade any cuts forever are unreasonably punitive to the youngest generation and yet are universal dogma in DC. Complain about this!Add Cy Vance to the Trump family’s personal chickenshit club.
That’s the title of journalist Jesse Eisenger’s book about the federal prosecutors who let the bankers who blew up the American economy in 2008 off the hook. His New Yorker bombshell on Wednesday—written with his ProPublica colleague Justin Elliott and WNYC’s Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz—showed money talking and Trumps walking in Manhattan as the well-compensated Manhattan DA found a way to see no evil.
That happened in 2013, when Vance—up for reelection—overruled his own prosecutors on the Major Economic Crimes Bureau and dropped a criminal probe of Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., even as his office seemed to have them dead to rights for misleading potential buyers of Trump SoHo condos. That project verged on collapse when units hit the market just after the economy fell off of a cliff in 2008. The DA’s office had emails, one person who’d seen them told the magazine, with the Trump kids desperate to salvage the project discussing how to coordinate their fraudulent statements to potential buyers—and Junior even assuring a broker, who was in on the reported hustle, that no one outside of the email chain and the Trump Organization would ever know about it.
But Vance dropped the case just after returning a $25,000 contribution from Donald J. Trump’s personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz. In 2009, one of his colleagues at Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman had run against Vance, and the firm had sent $300,000 to her campaign. After a $25,000 contribution in 2012 to Vance, bygones were bygones and Kasowitz soon had a meeting with the new DA himself to discuss the Trump SoHo case. That came days after his check was returned, which Vance told the magazine is his office’s standard procedure when a donor has a case before it. In any event, Vance said, the big give had “no influence whatsoever on my decision-making in the case”—which was already in the works when Kasowitz cut it.
Three months after Trump’s attorney “simply repeated the arguments that the other defense lawyers had been making for months,” according to the New Yorker report, the case against the kids was dead, and six months after that Kasowitz—who says his gift had nothing to do with the case that he asked Vance to drop, but came because he was “extremely impressed by him as a person of impeccable integrity”—gave the D.A. an additional $50,000.
Vance, now running unopposed for a third term, says he dropped the case because “I did not at the time believe beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime had been committed”—which is usually the standard for jurors, not prosecutors. And that he’ll give back the $50,000, too, since “I don’t want the money to be a millstone around anybody’s neck, including the office’s.”
Too little, too late.
**
So Vance appears to have joined Republican Attorneys General Pam Bondi of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas in Trump’s personal chickenshit club. As Trump himself explained on the campaign trail about how he did business with politicians before becoming one:
“I gave to many people… I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And do you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me.”
When New York’s attorney general, Democrat Eric Schneiderman, filed a civil suit in August 2013 charging Trump and associates with fraud at Trump University, where employees were told that “an attendee’s problem represents a golden opportunity” to peddle ever more pricey “education” packages, Bondi’s Florida office said it was “reviewing the allegations,” what with dozens of complaints against Trump Institute, as it was called in the state.
That same week, the Trump Foundation—a charity!—made a $25,000 gift to a campaign group working to reelect her. This after Bondi, according to an aide, had personally solicited Trump for campaign cash. Unrelated, Bondi says, she decided not to pursue any charges against Trump University, and three years later his charity (which in its 2013 annual disclosure had said the money it donated that went toward her reelection was for a charity with a similar name in Kansas) paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS for its illegal gift to a political campaign.
Also in 2013, Greg Abbott had his own probe of Trump University, with lawyers in his Consumer Affairs Division who’d gone undercover to expose Trump University’s operations in Texas calling on him to sue Trump and others for $5.4 million in repayment and fines for breaking state laws and operating an unlicensed university.
But one of Abbott’s subordinates with authority over the division told them to drop the case. Abbott, who says he knew nothing about that decision before his office made it, received $35,000 from Trump when he ran for governor the next year.
Said one of the main lawyers involved in the probe after it was shut down: "They can spin it all they want. They treated Trump differently from every other similarly situated scam artist.”
So while Abbott later said that he wasn’t involved in the decision not to charge Trump and Bondi that she had no idea about any possible probe when she reached out to Trump directly for a contribution, Trump sure knew:
“Do you know that these people went to every attorney general, practically, in the country that they could, and do you know this case was turned down by almost every attorney general, from Texas to Florida to many of these states?” he said last year, as he continued to fight Schneiderman’s suit.
**
While Trump finally didn’t succeed in jamming up the New York State probe with more compromised cash, it sure wasn’t for lack of trying.
Much of his kompromat scheme was laid out in a bizarre 7,000-word hit piece about the AG published in 2014 by the New York Observer, the paper owned by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. The article was accompanied by an illustration of Schneiderman as the serial killer from A Clockwork Orange, and nearly a thousand additional words of batshit “reporting notes” explaining how “the Observer took great care to ensure fair, unbiased journalism throughout the reporting and editing of this story”—which it turned out that Editor in Chief Ken Kurson had originally assigned to a freelancer then managing a New Jersey ice-cream shop, who quit as it became clear this was “basically a smear piece.” Kurson then hired another freelancer to put his name on the opus.
The scheme, of course, involved Trump money, specifically Schneiderman raising money from Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and another Trump personal attorney, Michael Cohen, even as he looked into Trump University. Unlike the honest attorneys general in Texas and Florida, who decided there was no crime to go after here, the New York AG, declared the family’s house paper, was trying to shake down the family for protection money (which, notably, they paid) even as “the evidence seems overwhelming: Mr. Schneiderman is pursuing a weak case that just got a whole lot weaker.”
But Schneiderman wiped the chickenshit off his feet and pressed on—likely aided by the Observer story, which was so bizarre and nakedly self-interested it became a story itself, and made other outlets reluctant to wade into the waters it muddied about the AG’s fundraising. At least one reader appreciated it, though, albeit in a tweet that generated almost no responses.
And Trump finally gave in. After years of vowing that he’d never settle, and bragging about the great education Trump University provided its many satisfied students, he cut a deal just after winning the presidency last November, agreeing to pay out $25 million without acknowledging wrongdoing and with most of that money going to compensate his many marks.
There are two obvious lessons, at least in hindsight, for clashing with Trump: Stay the course, and stay away from his cash. Those come too late for Vance, who made what looks to be a reputation-destroying political decision at a time when the Trumps seemed much less important.
But they’ve been noted by other state and local prosecutors, whose honest services have never been more important now that the Justice Department answers to a man who’s made a career out of buying influence, and tarnishing its purchasers in the the process.Joe Hachem, the 2005 World Series of Poker champion, said he had lost respect for a new brand of aggressive players who seemed to want to gamble all their chips on every hand in the main event. Hachem said after two hours of poker on Monday that the pace had not slowed at the no-limit Texas Hold ’em tournament in Las Vegas because many players were willing to risk their tournament with mediocre hands. Play started with 185 players, and 38 were eliminated in two hours, despite starting with many chips relative to minimum bets. Hachem said the overaggressive style was disrespectful to the tournament. Hachem was eliminated later in the day, leaving last year’s winner, Peter Eastgate, as the only former main event champion in the tournament.As I write, it is Veterans Day. Coincidentally last night, November tenth, the annual Marine Corps birthday party took place at the Tratoria, a local Italian restaurant. I hadn´t gone before, not being much of a joiner, but went this time with Vi and Natalia. The assembled were nice people, well along in years, as am I. There were good food, patriotic speeches, and a birthday cake. We sang the Marine Corps Hymn, though “from the halls of Montezuma” was perhaps not a high point of diplomatic appropriateness in Mexico.
A camaraderie exists among Marines, into which I fit oddly. It starts with boot camp at Parris Island or, for the Hollywood Marines, at the recruit depot in San Diego. Men remember it because it was hard, demanding, a rite of passage to manhood. I understand that boot has been watered down as the country moves toward the goal of a non-violent Marine Corps, but in the Sixties it hadn´t been. If you got through it, you had done something, and you knew it. Those who hadn´t were an inferior species. We remember it with fondness, and a bond. Curmdugeing Through Pa... Fred Reed Check Amazon for Pricing.
And then for Marines there are the wars, which we always have. I don´t know why. For most at the Tratoria, it was I suppose Southeast Asia. We had talk of sacrifice and duty. There is a romance to war that has called to men since well before the days of Marcus Aurelius wintering on the Rhine-Danube line, when Rome, not America, was Rome. War is another bond.
For me it was lying in the tropical night of Danang on top of a sand-bagged amtrac, LVT P5, big engine growling at the idle, star shells flickering high and trailing white smoke that looked almost solid, rifle in hand, occasional spent bullets from the valley below zzzzzzzzzzzzzz! overhead. It was a time for men, of big events, away from the sorry life we would mostly retune to of offices and soft pogues for bosses.
So I understand when veterans get together and give patriotic speeches at a thousand Legion halls around the world. Yet, listening to the speeches, I wondered at the near total disconnect from reality. We Marines, I heard over and over, had made sacrifices “to protect our freedom.” Made sacrifices or been sacrificed? How exactly, I wondered, had remote wars against primitive societies on the other side of the world protected our freedom? As so often, I marveled at the automatic assumption that America is somehow more free than other places. How more free than Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Germany, or Holland? I feel freer in Mexico than in the growing police state to the north.
Most veterans in the Legion halls have had little contact with people in other countries, especially with the people of the countries where they have fought. I did. I covered the last year of the debacle in Vietnam, 1974-75, as a stringer for Army Times. A very green reporter cutting my teeth on a big story, I lived in $20-a-month rooms in back alleys, close to the bone.
There I found the Viets, the Cambodians, the Chinese to be likable sorts, damned interesting, caught up in a godawful tragedy not of their making and beyond their understanding. They didn´t understand about our freedom. They didn´t understand why half a million foreigners were in their country, bombing, shelling, napalming, burning, killing. Which is exactly what we were doing. A Grand Adventure: Wis... Fred Reed Check Amazon for Pricing.
A decade of so back, I was visiting friends in Bangkok and decided to catch the train north to Nong Khai on the Thai-Lao border and spend a week in Laos. I took a room in a hotel on the Mekong, not much more than a large creek at that point. At a local pizzeria I met a young Lao woman who spoke English and, with her husband, ran a jackleg tour service. He had a car.
Laos was then, as it was during the war, a slow, hot, pleasant Asian backwater posing no threat to anyone at all. We drove through endless quiet, quiet, quiet, hot, hot, hot countryside to see what was there. At one point we stopped in Vientiane to talk to some of the young woman´s friends (I forget her name). They spoke English. She mentioned something about before her father died. What happened to him, I asked?
“He died fighting the Americans.”
Wrong question.
How many Laos did we butcher for nothing, how many Vietnamese, how many Cambodians? Millions, literally. For nothing. Nothing. How many Iraqis? Afghans? Pakistanis? If any of it preserved my freedom, I am unaware of it.
How many in the Legion halls, the Marine Corps birthdays—they are friendly, decent, likeable men—have any idea of this?
Cambodia: Another sleepy land of jungle and silence and horrendous death, thanks to protecting our freedom. During the siege, I lived on a rooftop apartment at 98 Jawaharlal Nehru Street, shared with Steve Hedder, a young stringer for Time or Newsweek, I forget which. Half of it was patio, open to the sky.
Here was more of the poisoned romance of war. Often we lay under the night, floating in a Nembutal haze, the smell of flower trees thick in the air and charcoal smells and low murmer of Khmer voices from neighboring roofs. There was the occasional whistling twitter of Chicom 107s sailing in from the swamps, kerboom, but we knew we were out of range. Oh yes. Au Phuc Dup and Nowher... Fred Reed Check Amazon for Pricing.
There were living with us two young Khmer girls, perhaps sixteen, sisters I think of Steve’s Cambodian wife Devi. They were pretty, slender, sweet kids. I could talk to them because they had learned French at the Alliance Francaise and mine, while it would have caused the entire nation of France to retch in three-part harmony, was adequate for communication.
The end came. Steve got Devi out in the evacuation, but not the girls. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, a direct result of the destabilization of Southeast Asia by the US, took Phnom Penh. The KR proceeded to kill, by torture, beating, starvation or overwork, anyone with soft hands—students, intellectuals, the middle class. The girls didn´t have a chance. Rifle-butted to death? Raped and bayoneted? Fell from exhaustion on the forced exodus from the city? I don´t know.
But please God, not Tuol Sleng, the torture operation set up by the KR in a former girls´ school. I went there many years later and wished I hadn´t. Far better to be raped and bayoneted.
God knows how many of these poor innocents were tortured to death in Tuol Sleng, a place the CIA would love. After the war a friend found a picture of a former girlfriend in the death records. We are, however, still free.
The rest of the planet pays a high price for our freedom. This is no doubt justified because we are the city of the hill, a light to the nations, bringing democracy and human rights to a globe thirsty for improvement by us. I have just never seen it. I like the people at the Legion halls, at birthdays for the Marine Corps, but I may be a little less proud of what we did.
The Best of Fred ReedTLC launched a new series featuring six single women looking for love. The twist? They're from the 49th state. The stars of "Alaskan Women Looking for Love" said they were tired of the dating scene in their small town, Kodiak Island. One date scene showed what the problem was for Sabina, at least.
She arrived at Zach's boat and said, "His beard took all of the attention.”
“This is where all the magic happens," he said, amiably enough.
“Zach is the kind of guy that I’m just... I’m just over it," Sabina explained. "I just can’t date guys like that anymore.”
And so, the episode ended with the women jumping on a plane and heading for the sunny beaches of Miami, where they hope to find love sometime before the season wraps. It sounds like a fun and innocent enough show -- that didn't try very hard with its title -- but not everyone is happy about it.
The ladies' hometown paper, the Juneau Empire, had some reservations, saying that the show doesn't exactly "resonate well" with The Last Frontier. "We’re worried Alaskan women will be generalized into one single category — we’re all desperate and live isolated, antisocial lives where dating options are few and far between," the paper said. "It’s true for some Alaskans, but certainly not all … While we’ll be rooting for these young women to truly find love, or just have fun doing it, we worry the show will leave them feeling a little embarrassed and perhaps offended.”
The quest for love continues on "Alaskan Women Looking for Love," Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.“Being alone never felt right. Sometimes it felt good, but it never felt right.”
―Charles Bukowski
“This morning I felt lost and alone as I was driving home after a brutal breakup with my boyfriend. I turned on the radio and the Michael Jackson song ‘You Are Not Alone’ was playing. A few seconds later, at the exact moment the chorus began, I passed a huge billboard sign with big black letters that read, ‘YOU ARE NOT ALONE!’”
That’s the opening paragraph of an email I received today from a reader named Ella. It made me smile because I love when life delivers seemingly coincidental, positive messages like that, right when we need them most.
However, the rest of Ella’s email further described her ongoing struggle with feeling “lost and alone” in life. Which got me thinking…
Why do people have to feel this way? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them craving connection, and looking for specific experiences and people to satisfy them, yet inadvertently isolating themselves in the process. Why? Was the planet put here just to nourish our loneliness?
The more I’ve experienced and explored my own feelings of uncertainty and loneliness, the more I’ve realized how necessary these feelings are. It’s good for us to spend time exploring unknowns, alone. It gives us an opportunity to discover who we really are and what life is all about.
Here are some things to keep in mind when you feel lost and alone:
1. You are not alone in being alone.
So many of us are fighting the same exact battle alongside you. We are all in this together. So no matter how embarrassed or pathetic you feel about your own situation, know that there are others out there experiencing the same emotions. When you hear yourself say, “I am all alone,” it’s just your worried mind trying to sell you a lie. There’s always someone who can relate to you. Perhaps you can’t immediately talk to them, but they are out there, and that’s all you need to know right now.
2. Sometimes when you’re lonely, you need to be alone.
Sometimes you need to be alone, not to be lonely, but to enjoy a little free time just being yourself and finding your way. In other words, the moments you feel lonely are the moments you may most need to be by yourself. This is one of life’s cruelest ironies.
We need solitude, because when we’re alone we’re detached from obligations, we don’t need to put on a show, and we can hear our own thoughts and feel what our intuition is telling us. And the truth is, throughout your life there will be times when the world gets real quiet and the only thing left is the beat of your own heart. So you’d better learn the sound of it, otherwise you’ll never understand what it’s telling you. (Read Quiet: The Power of Introverts.)
3. You have to be a little lost first to find what you’re looking for.
Not until you are lost in this world can you begin to find your best path. Realizing you are lost is the first step to living the life you want. The second step is leaving the life you don’t want. Making a big life change is pretty scary. But you know what’s even scarier? Regret.
I can tell you from my own life experience that I’ve found love, lost it, found it, lost it and then I found it once again. But each time what I found was more incredible than the last. So remember that everyone suffers in life at some point. Everyone feels lost sometimes. The key is using your experiences to grow. When you apply what you’re learning to your future choices and actions, you move forward not backward. You become stronger and wiser. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it in the end.
4. It’s all about accepting the reality of what is.
You cannot find peace by avoiding life. Life spins with unexpected changes; so instead of avoiding it, take every change and experience as a challenge for growth. Either it will give you what you want or it will teach you what the next step is. And remember, finding peace in life does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, no challenges, and no hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things while remaining calm in your heart.
Honestly, life is too short to spend at war with yourself. The biggest disappointments in our lives are often the result of misplaced expectations. Letting go of needless expectations is your first step to happiness. Come from a mindset of peace and acceptance, and you can deal with almost anything and grow beyond it.
5. In every situation, YOU choose your attitude.
Be determined to be positive. Understand that the greater part of your misery or unhappiness is determined not by your circumstances, but by your attitude. A happy person is not a person who’s always in a good situation, but rather a person who always has a good attitude in every situation. So smile at those who often try to begrudge or hurt you; show them what’s missing in their life and what they can’t take away from you. Doing so doesn’t mean forgetting or giving in, it means you choose happiness over hurt. (Read Buddha’s Brain.)
6. Being alone does not mean you are lonely, and being lonely does not mean you are alone.
The trouble is not always in being alone; it’s being lonely in the presence of others. One can be lonely in the midst of a crowd. Wouldn’t you agree? So keep this in mind and choose your relationships wisely. It’s always better to be alone than to be in bad company. And when you do decide to come back for someone, do so because you’re truly better off with this person. Don’t do it just for the sake not being alone.
7. Everyone you care about does NOT need to support your decisions.
Friends and family won’t always support your goals, but you must pursue them anyway. Follow your intuition. Following your intuition means doing what feels right, even if it doesn’t look or sound right to others. Only time will tell, but our human instincts are rarely wrong. Even if things don’t turn out as you anticipated, at least you won’t have to spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been. So don’t worry about what everyone else thinks; just keep living and speaking your truth.
Ultimately, you know you’re on the right track in life when you become uninterested in looking back, and eager to take the next step, regardless of what anyone else thinks.
8. You are not who you used to be, and that’s OK.
You’ve been hurt; you’ve gone through numerous ups and downs that have made you who you are today. Over the years, so many things have happened – things that have changed your perspective, taught you lessons, and forced your spirit to grow. As time passes, nobody stays the same, but some people will still tell you that you have changed. Respond to them by saying, “Of course I’ve changed. That’s what life is all about. I’m still the same human being, just a little stronger now than I ever was before.”
9. The best you can do changes from day to day.
Always do your best. And realize that “your best” is going to change repeatedly. For instance, it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.
Under any circumstance, simply do your best in the present moment and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret. And remember that no matter what’s happening, you can efficiently fight the battles of just today. It’s only when you add the battles of those two abysmal eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that life gets overwhelmingly complicated. It’s necessary, therefore, to let yourself live just one day at a time – just today – just right here, right now. And do the best you can in it. (Angel and I discuss this in more detail in the “Self_love” chapter of 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.)
10. It all matters in the end – every step, every regret, every smile, and every struggle.
The seemingly useless happenings add up to something. The minimum wage job you had in high school. The evenings you spent socializing with colleagues you never see anymore. The hours you spent writing thoughts on a personal blog that no one reads. Contemplations about elaborate future plans that never came to be. All those lonely nights spent reading novels and news columns and comics strips and fashion magazines and questioning your own principles on life and sex and religion and whether or not you’re good enough just the way you are. All of this has strengthened you. All of this has led you to every success you’ve ever had. All of this has made you who you are today.
The floor is yours…
What helps you stay positive when you feel lost and alone? What’s something encouraging you try to keep in mind when you’re up against lots of uncertainty? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
Photo by: Little ZokerISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Russia must be held accountable for the people it has killed in Syria, arguing that Moscow and Damascus were together responsible for 400,000 deaths there, Dogan News Agency reported.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Senegalese counterpart while on a state visit to the West African country, Erdogan also said Russia was engaged in an invasion of Syria and accused it of trying to set up a “boutique state” for its longtime ally President Bashar al-Assad.
“Russia must be held accountable for the people it has killed within Syria’s borders,” Dogan quoted him as saying. “By cooperating with the regime, the number of people they have killed has reached 400,000.”
His comments are likely to further enrage Moscow. Relations between Turkey, a NATO member, and Russia hit their worst in recent memory in November after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane Ankara said had violated Turkish airspace from Syria.
The two are on opposing sides of the five-year-old Syrian civil war, where Russia’s intervention with airstrikes to help the Assad regime has tipped the war in Damascus’ favor, reversing gains rebels made last year.
Russia has accused Turkey of preparing a military incursion into northern Syria. Ankara has dismissed this as propaganda intended to conceal Russia’s own “crimes”.
Turkey, which has taken in more than 2.5 million refugees fleeing the Syrian war, wants Assad out and says only his removal can bring long-term peace.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
by liberal goobers who signed on with Crazy Uncle Liberty because he made some gobbling noises about drones and war and the useless efforts to battle pot to a standing draw. It was for them that the blog enacted its Five Minute Rule.
If you listen to a Ron Paul fan, or to the man himself, for five minutes, you will agree with everything he says. However, at precisely the 5:00.01 mark of the conversation, they, or he, will say something so completely drawn from the archives of the Planet Zontar that you will find yourself sidling towards the door at an alarming rate.
Herewith today's example.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Monday that secession was a "deeply American principle," amid a growing number of people petitioning the White House to let their states secede from the U.S. "Secession is a deeply American principle. This country was born through secession. Some felt it was treasonous to secede from England, but those 'traitors' became our country's greatest patriots," the former presidential candidate wrote in a post on his House website. "There is nothing treasonous or unpatriotic about wanting a federal government that is more responsive to the people it represents."
First of all, no. The country was not born through "secession" as anyone understands the word. The determination of the American colonies to leave the British Empire was not "secession." Secession implies that both sides entered into an voluntary arrangement that one side now chooses to leave. I would have liked to see Crazy Uncle Liberty wander into the Second Continental Congress and explain to delegate Jefferson how the relationship between Great Britain and its American holdings was merely a voluntary association that the Americans wanted to abandon.
Secondly, secession hasn't been a "deeply held American principle" since Pickett's division came staggering back from Cemetery Ridge. Even at the beginning, it was recognized to be the single most perilous notion to the success of the American experiment, as it later proved to be. The country is a union of people, not a voluntary association of individual states. Hence the first three words of the Constitution, which Crazy Uncle Liberty claims to have memorized. And, as Mr. Madison wrote, shortly before he died:
The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated. Let the open enemy to it be regarded as a Pandora with her box opened; and the disguised one, as the Serpent creeping with his deadly wiles into Paradise.
That's you he's talking about there, Ron.SAN FRANCISCO—Running back Christian McCaffrey of STANFORD has been named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, defensive end DeForest Buckner of OREGON the Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year and Mike Leach of WASHINGTON STATE and David Shaw of Stanford, the Pac-12 Co-Coaches of the Year. Quarterback Josh Rosen of UCLA has been named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and linebacker Cameron Smith of USC has been named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. In addition, quarterback Mike Bercovici of Arizona State has been named Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Offensive Player of the Year – Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford: McCaffrey, a sophomore from Castle Rock, Colo., totaled 3,035 all-purpose yards, a Pac-12 single-season record, and currently leads the nation. The Doak Walker, Maxwell and Walter Camp Player of the Year semifinalist and Hornung finalist led Stanford to wins over No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 18 UCLA and No. 6 USC to earn a berth in the Pac- |
implementation project, which began in 2009, and was undertaken by National Grid US.
11:40 am Crude Oil Update: Crude oil futures eased by Rs 26 to Rs 3,736 per barrel today as speculators reduced their positions amid a weakening trend overseas.
Profit-booking at existing levels too weighed on crude prices, analysts said.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in December was trading lower by Rs 26, or 0.69 percent, to Rs 3,736 per barrel in 1,902 lots.
The oil for delivery in far-month January 2018 also fell by Rs 25, or 0.66 percent, to Rs 3,749 per barrel in 43 lots.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 0.3 percent at USD 58.15 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.4 percent to USD 63.51 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
11:20 am Buzzing: Tata Motors share price rallied 3 percent intraday following strong commercial vehicle sales data reported by the company in November
"The commercial and passenger vehicles sales performance in domestic market in November 2017 was at 52,464 units, a growth of 58 percent, over last year due to growing demand across segments, introduction of new products and strong customer initiatives," the company said in its filing.
Commercial vehicle sales increased 71.9 percent year-on-year to 35,307 units in month gone by.
"The commercial sector has bounced back strongly after the initial disruption in the market, surrounding demonetization and the BS4 transition that largely affected the transport industry last year," the company said.
Tata Motors said passenger vehicle sales growth of 35 percent at 17,157 units was driven by strong growth momentum of new generation Tata cars.
11:06 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks gained strength again, backed by Infosys that extended rally to nearly 4 percent after appointment of Salil S Parekh as MD & CEO of the company.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 112.18 points at 32,945.12 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 30.70 points at 10,152.50.
About 1,223 shares advanced against 1,077 declining shares on the BSE.
10:57 am Sales Data: Steel Strips Wheels achieved total wheel rim sales of 12.92 lakh against 11.99 lakh in November 2017, representing a growth of 8 percent YoY.
The volumes of truck segment helped post highest healthy revenue growth for the company.
In terms of value, the company has achieved gross turnover of Rs 172.75 crore in November 2017 against 128.62 crore in November 2016, there by recording a growth of 34 percent and achieved net turnover of Rs 138.85 crore in November 2017 against Rs 115.25 crore in November 2016, recording a growth of 20 percent.
"The record turnover is driven by record growth in truck segment and we expect this trend to continue going ahead," Steel Strips Wheels said.
10:40 am Joint Venture: Fiem Industries informed exchanges that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese firms Aisan Industry and Toyota Tsusho Corporation for establishing a joint venture company in India.
The joint venture company will manufacture fuel pump module and IC connector assembly for two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
Fuel pump module will become mandatory for two-wheelers and three-wheelers w.e.f. April, 2020 under Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) regime.
This is an advanced Emission Control System Product, which will have huge market in India under BS VI norms, Fiem Industries.
10:20 am Order Win: Shares of Transformers and Rectifiers India gained 5 percent in morning as it has received order worth Rs 127 crore.
"..... has been awarded order for 15 number of transformer amounting to Rs 127 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India."
The said order fall under the normal course of business. The company neither has any interest in the entity that awarded the order nor fall within related party transactions.
With this order, the company's order book as on stands around Rs 937 crore.
The company continuously thrives to deliver quality products and services, and over a period of time has become a leading manufacturer of transformers in the country.
10:12 am EIR from USFDA: Shares of Dr Reddy's Laboratories was up more than 2 percent intraday as it has received EIR for its Miyapur facility.
The company has received establishment inspection report (EIR) for Miyapur facility, Hyderabad, Telangana.
The audit of the said facility has been completed by USFDA in September with zero observations.
10:01 am Rupee Trade: The rupee was trading down by 3 paise at 64.49 against the US currency in early trade today at the interbank foreign exchange as the dollar strengthened in global markets after progress on the US tax-cut proposal.
Dealers also attributed the rupee's fall to increased demand for the US currency from importers but a higher opening in the domestic equity market capped the losses to some extent.
The rupee opened lower by 7 paise at 64.53 against last close of 64.46 on higher demand for the dollar. Later the rupee reverses its losses to touch a high of 64.45 in early trade.
On Thursday, the rupee had lost 15 paise to close at 64.46 a dollar on growing concerns with regard to fiscal deficit and possible extension of crude oil production curb by OPEC. Forex and money markets were closed on Friday on account of Id-E-Milad.
Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak
9:53 am Buzzing: Shares of JSW Energy rose 2.2 percent in morning as it has secured (power purchase agreements) PPAs aggregating to 208 MW.
This PPA consists 176MW PPA with Haryana Power Purchase Centre to be supplied from the Karcham Wangtoo Hydro Electric Project of Himachal Baspa Power Company, a 100 percent subsidiary of the company.
And 32MW under group captive scheme to be supplied from the Ratnagiri plant of the company.
With this, the long term PPA proportion of the company on a consolidated basis has increased from 64.6 percent at end of Q2FY18 to 69.3 percent currently.
9:43 am Adani Enterprises under pressure: China’s two biggest banks said they do not plan to finance a controversial Australian coal mine, in the latest blow to Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises’ long delayed project.
The stock fell more than 4 percent after this news, but immediately recovered to trade 0.4 percent lower.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank said in separate statements they were not working on the project, after media recently reported that Chinese banks may get involved.
Adani is seeking 2 billion Australian dollar (USD 1.5 billion) in financing by March 2018 for the 4 billion Australian dollar first stage of its proposed Carmichael coal mine in the state of Queensland, a project that has been shrunk from a 16.5 billion Australian dollar plan to make it more viable.
Adani declined to comment on its financing plans on Monday or the statements from the Chinese banks.
9:31 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks wiped out opening gains to trade flat as gains led by Infosys, Tata Motors, HDFC and Axis Bank were offset by Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ITC.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 5.47 points at 32,827.47 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 15.30 points to 10,106.50.
9:25 am Buzzing: Share price of Alphageo advanced more than 4 percent in the early trade on receiving award of contract from ONGC.
The company has received a notification of award of contract from ONGC, WOB, Vadodara, Gujarat for acquisition of 3D seismic data in Mehsana carpet area of Cambay basin, India for an estimated contract value of Rs 154.77 crore.
A meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on December 4, 2017, to consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter and six months ended September 30, 2017.
9:20 am Infosys in focus: Infosys' board of directors has appointed Salil S Parekh as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (CEO & MD) of the company effective January 2, 2018.
The appointment ends a nearly four-month long search for the top job at India’s second largest IT services firm.
Parekh joins Infosys from Capgemini where he was a member of the Group Executive Board.
He has Master of Engineering degrees in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
UB Pravin Rao will step down as the interim CEO and Managing Director effective January 2, 2018 and will continue as Chief Operating Officer and a whole-time Director of the Company.
9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off the week on a positive note, backed by Infosys that gained 2.5 percent after the appointment of new CEO and MD.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 89.51 points to 32,922.45 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 23.60 points at 10,145.40. About 980 shares advanced against 291 declining shares on the BSE.
Infosys, Indiabulls Housing, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's Labs, SBI, Aurobindo Pharma and ICICI Bank were early gainers while Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and Hero MotoCorp were early losers.
Biocon surged 10 percent as the US FDA approved Mylan and Biocon's Ogivri, the first biosimilar for Trastuzumab, for the Treatment of HER2-Positive breast and gastric cancers.
Syngene International, MT Educare, Zee Learn, Videocon Industries and Ashok Leyland gained up to 8 percent.This year, my New Year’s Resolutions are going to take a somewhat different form to those of previous Januaries. I’m forgoing my usual goals to drink less, eat more fruit and to hit the gym rather than bingeing on trash TV. Instead, there is only one thing I plan to give up in 2015: my guilt for things that give me pleasure.
I’m not just being contrary; I’m taking a cue from experts. We may have more than enough worries that are out of our control, anyway, without feeling bad about the things we should enjoy. But what’s more, psychologists have found that those guilty feelings about our diet or lifestyle don’t appear to help us live a healthier life. Rather than leading us away from temptation, guilt often drives us straight to our vices.
This irony may arise for many possible reasons. One idea is that guilty forms of pleasure have been so engrained in our psyche that feelings of sin and remorse actually trigger thoughts of desire in the brain. In other words, our vices are so tempting partly because we know they are bad for us.
To show that our subconscious really does work in this masochistic way, Kelly Goldsmith at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, gave volunteers some word games. They were first asked to unscramble some sentences, some of which contained words like “sin” or “guilt” or “remorse”, while the others contained more neutral terms.
For the second part of the experiment, they were then shown fragments like “E N _ _ _” or “P L _ _ _ _ _ _” and asked to complete the word. Those who had previously unscrambled the sentences about wrong-doing were subsequently far more likely to fill in the gaps with words associated with desire – such as “enjoy” or “pleasure” – compared to other obvious possibilities, such as “enter” or “pleading”. In other words, rather than deflecting thoughts away from sin, the guilty subconscious started to think more lustfully.
Importantly, Goldsmith found those feelings translated to real sensual experiences. People primed with guilt said they enjoyed eating sweets in the lab more than others, for instance. The same was true even if Goldsmith subtly reminded them of the consequences on their health; looking at fitness magazines both increased their guilt, and their enjoyment, of the sweets. Nor was it limited to confectionary; the guilty words also made the volunteers take greater pleasure in looking at sexy pictures on an online dating website.
The “what-the-hell” effect
But the ironic twists of guilt don’t stop there. Besides enhancing your attraction to temptation, the feeling may also set off the so-called “what-the-hell” effect. This well-studied psychological phenomenon is the reason that you can’t stop at one slice of pie – you think that if you’ve failed once, you might as well give in completely.
When Roeline Kuijer and Jessica Boyce at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, recently looked at eating habits, for instance, they found that participants who naturally associated chocolate cake with guilt had lower belief in their self-control than people who associated it with more positive feelings, like celebration. Over the next three months, that then became a self-fulfilling prophecy; although their intentions were exactly the same, the people who felt guiltier when thinking about chocolate were less successful at losing weight, compared to the people who viewed the chocolate with excitement rather than despair. The same was also true of another group who were trying to maintain a healthy weight; over 18 months, those who innocently enjoyed their food were also the least likely to pile on the pounds.
Goldsmith is keen to emphasise that these findings can’t explain away all our personal failings. She suspects we would feel very different if you are hurting someone else in the process, for instance – if you were to skip visiting your grandmother to go somewhere like a concert, say. “Maybe there are more bad feelings associated with that kind of guilt – compared to the guilt when we let ourselves down.”
But the discoveries may highlight a problem with some public health campaigns. “If you take an activity that didn’t used to be associated with guilt, and all of a sudden make it feel naughty, it enhances the pleasure,” says Goldsmith. Along these lines, one study found that a “no smoking” sign seemed to increase smokers’ cravings. And as Kuijer and Boyce point out in their article, it is perhaps not a coincidence that the United States has higher levels of obesity than France, despite the fact that people individually feel guiltier about the food they eat than the French do. Although no one has yet tested ways to alter campaigns along these lines, Goldsmith wonders if it might be more effective to focus on the positive - emphasising the benefits of making a healthier choice rather than overloading the public with facts about the dangers of the "forbidden" vice.
Low-brow attitude
The same issues may also hamper our own resolutions – which is why I have decided to be less puritanical this year. That’s not to say that I will deliberately take up more vices, but just that I will try to enjoy the pleasures for what they are, rather than feeling too anxious about the long-term effects.
After all, deliberately indulging yourself every now and then could be essential for maintaining your willpower with larger goals. “Whenever we have to use self-control, to resist a temptation or to continue an unpleasant task, the strength of this ‘muscle’ is depleted,” explains Leonard Reinecke at the University of Mainz in Germany. “As a consequence, it is harder for us to resist desires in subsequent situations."
Consider my reality TV binges ‒ during which I spend a whole evening compulsively devouring episode after episodes of Shedding for the Wedding, Jersey Shore and Keeping Up With The Kardashians, even if it leaves me feeling slightly nauseous with self-disgust. Reinecke has found that low-brow entertainment is a great way to rest what he calls that “willpower muscle” and recharge your self-control. But there is a catch: people who felt guilty at succumbing to the entertainment were the least likely to gain any benefit. Even more ironically, it was often the people with the most depleted self-control who felt the guiltiest.
In other words, forgiving a bit of down-time, or the odd treat, should mean that I can recover a healthier outlook more quickly – and I should then be able to muster up the willpower to go to the gym the next day. That kind of attitude is often not emphasised enough, says Goldsmith.
"One thing I think might be ignored in the literature is that it’s OK to indulge and it’s nice to feel pleasure from indulgence,” she says. “If you are eating the right thing most of the time, you don’t have to worry about the ice cream that makes you feel guilty. Enjoy that pleasure – it’s fine."
And that is exactly what I plan to do.
If you would like to comment on this, or anything else you have seen on Future, head over to our Facebook or Google+ page, or message us on Twitter.In an election year defined by angry populism, Hillary Clinton made an optimistic economic pitch on Friday, presenting a wide-ranging plan for job growth that would provide incentives for corporations that invest in employees and strip tax benefits from companies that move jobs overseas.
Speaking at an auto parts manufacturer in Detroit, days before Michigan holds its Democratic primary, Mrs. Clinton proposed a “new bargain for the new economy” that would bring back manufacturing jobs and increase collective bargaining rights.
She unveiled her economic proposal as two other presidential candidates, Senator Bernie Sanders and Donald J. Trump, descended on the state as the campaign entered a new phase, moving to the industrial heartland of the country, where both men are hoping their anti-free trade message resonates.
A new “clawback” proposal she unveiled would rescind tax relief and other benefits for companies that move jobs overseas. This is the latest revision to the corporate tax code Mrs. Clinton has proposed in an effort to create jobs and lift wages, which have been virtually stagnant for 15 years even as the costs of college, child care, housing and health care have soared.When Deal Or No Deal first hit our screens, Jon Ronson was instantly hooked. One year on, he goes behind the scenes to work out the show’s mass appeal. Is it all about chance, or just a little cosmic ordering?
Think outside the box: behind the scenes of Deal Or No Deal
A young man called Bill stands in the shadows behind a curtain at a converted paintworks factory in Bristol, now a TV studio. "To be honest," Bill says, "I'm a bit shell-shocked."
"This is it!" yells a man called Jim. "Concentrate, Bill! Hit it! Hit it! Hit it! Let's do it, mate! Come on! Come on!"
"I'm bricking it," says Bill.
"Go out there!" Jim says. "Fierce! Do it! Be affirmative, man! Win some money! Do it! Positive! This is your moment! This is your chance! GO! GO! GO! GO!"
And, at that, Bill steps out from the shadows to rapturous applause, and he proceeds randomly to open the first of 22 boxes.
Nine months ago, I was on a treadmill at the gym. A Channel 4 afternoon gameshow called Deal Or No Deal was on the TV. I'd never seen it before, so it took me a minute or so to understand what was going on.
Twenty-two contestants stood behind 22 boxes. One of them, Fin, was selected to be that day's player. There was a cash prize inside each box, from 1p to £250,000. Each time a box was opened, the box, and whatever cash prize was in there, was out of play. Fin would win whatever money was left in the last box he opened. From time to time, a telephone rang and a mysterious person on the other end, The Banker, tried to tempt Fin to stop opening the boxes by offering him a cash settlement. And that was it. That was the game.
"It's all luck," I thought. "It's a gameshow with no skill. He's just opening boxes. What a terrible idea."
Forty-five minutes later, I was convinced Deal Or No Deal was the greatest game show I'd ever seen, full of unbearable drama and unexpected weirdness.
At first, Fin looked pretty ordinary. But then he produced a scrap of paper from his pocket and showed it to the presenter, Noel Edmonds. "It contains distilled wisdom from Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist," he said.
"I like the sound of this, Fin," Noel replied. "You've got a sensitive, almost spiritual side."
"How does Fin think distilled wisdom from Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist will help him choose the right boxes?" I thought, as I jogged. "It's all luck. And when did Noel Edmonds suddenly get so mystical?"
There was a close-up of the scrap of paper, upon which Fin had scribbled, "Listen to your heart."
Suddenly a trance-like state overwhelmed Fin as he scanned the boxes.
"What's going through your mind?" Noel asked.
"I'm trying to just let the numbers come to me," Fin said.
"For a big guy, you're looking incredibly serene," said Noel.
"I'm listening to my heart," Fin said. "Box number 16, please."
It was opened - £5. The audience cheered. Now Fin wouldn't go home with the paltry sum of £5. And so it continued. Fin's psychic trance state turned out to be an astonishing triumph. He opened the £1 box, the 50p box and the 10p box. Noel and the audience and I watched awed, as if witnessing a miracle.
"The way you're playing the game is actually more powerful than luck itself!" Noel said.
It was turning into one of the most exciting television-viewing experiences I'd ever had. Each time a box was opened, the tension was so agonising, I was practically running a four-minute mile. Although this was quarter past four in the afternoon, four million viewers - nearly half of everyone watching TV at that moment - were watching Fin.
Then The Banker phoned and offered Fin a huge cash settlement of £44,000. The audience gasped. A mystical look crossed Fin's face.
"No deal!" he said. There was cheering. And then disaster struck. Fin opened the £100,000 box, followed, devastatingly, by the £250,000 box. He ended up walking away with a relatively crappy £10,000.
Everybody in the audience - including Noel - went quiet and looked embarrassed and even a little ashamed. The mood was what I imagined it must feel like when somebody turns on all the lights at an orgy. The fact is, Fin should have accepted the £44,000. Listening to his heart and making decisions based on psychic impulses cost him £34,000. It was a victory for rational and vaguely negative thinking.
"My God," I thought, as I climbed off the treadmill, exhausted. "They're in a bubble. They've got no sense of reality. They have, in Noel Edmonds, a charismatic leader who believes in nutty things. It's like a religious cult! An incredibly nail-biting and entertaining cult, brilliantly presented by Noel, but a cult none the less."
And so I phoned Endemol, the show's producers. I asked if I could be a fly on their wall. The programme is filmed in Bristol, they said. The first anniversary show would be filmed in early October. I was welcome to come along.
It is early October, in Bristol, and despite all the backstage motivational pumping by Jim the contestant carer, Bill is having a terrible game. He's randomly opening all the wrong boxes. They film three shows a day, and this is the last. It is especially awful to watch Bill in such straits because this morning another contestant, Dan, won £70,000.
I'm sitting in the green room next to Pete the coach driver. Pete ferries the contestants between the hotel and the studio. His contact with them is minimal. This morning he announced to the coach that he would be grateful if people stopped calling him Driver.
"I hate that," Pete said. "My name is Pete."
Now, as we watch Bill's painful show unfold on the monitor screen, I can hear Pete whisper to himself. I listen closer. He's murmuring, "Come on, Bill. Believe. Keep the dream alive."
But it doesn't work out. Bill opens the wrong boxes to the end and walks away with a devastatingly small £750. He emerges from the studio drained of colour. We climb on to the coach. Pete drives us back to the hotel in silence.
Deal Or No Deal was invented within Endemol's Dutch HQ. It has sold to 45 countries, from Albania to Vietnam. When Endemol developed the format for British television, they came up with a brilliant idea. In other countries, such as the US, the people behind the boxes, the box-openers, are professional models, former Playboy centrefolds, etc. They all wear identical showgirl costumes. UK Endemol's brilliant idea was to make the box-openers fellow contestants - players-to-be. This means they're all sequestered away together at a hotel in Bristol, sometimes for weeks on end, away from the anchor of their homes, while they await their chance to get out from behind the boxes and become the main player. Consequently, an intense group bond forms. Late at night in the hotel, tiny things become huge things. Emotions are heightened. And in the morning, when filming begins, you can feel the drama in the winces and the cheers and the looks of love and hate that pass between the contestants.
According to the Cult Information Centre's pamphlet Cults: A Practical Guide, cult leaders routinely employ 26 skilful techniques to keep their followers under their spell. One of the main ones is "Isolation: inducing loss of reality by physical separation from family, friends, society and rational references."
Endemol, which also makes Big Brother, realises that isolation doesn't only produce good cults, it also produces good television.
Now, as the coach trundles miserably back to the hotel, I realise this is the first time that the mood has been at anything less than a fever pitch of positivity. Jim the contestant carer is forever giving motivational talks. We're getting about four every day.
"GROUP CHEER!" Jim constantly yells, his eyes aflame.
I wonder if this is in any way because of Noel Edmonds' famous antipathy towards negativity. Noel writes in his recently published self-help book, Positively Happy, that he can't abide negativity in the workplace. Noel hates negativity. He even advises readers, on page 88, to dump their sexual partners if they are too negative. I can't help thinking that, if I were Noel Edmonds' lover, he would dump me.
"But surely a bit of negativity makes you - you know - interestingly spiky and sassy," I suggested to Noel earlier, during a break from filming.
"I simply will not get involved with people who are negative," Noel replied. "I won't tolerate people in the workplace who are negative. I like realistic people, but negative people? No. Just get rid of them."
"I have a habit of being a bit negative sometimes," I said. "I'd hate my wife to read Positively Happy and dump me as a result."
"Then be careful," Noel said, looking me in the eye, "because she might."
There was a silence.
Actually, Kevin the studio warm-up man was a bit negative yesterday. His job was to buoy up the audience into a frenzy of excitement, and he did have an upbeat voice, but the things he said were terribly miserable. "I'm so sad," he told the audience, "that if I went to a wife-swapping party where everyone throws their keys into the middle, I'd be the only one to walk home alone! That's how ugly I am!"
The audience shuffled uncomfortably in their seats. That was yesterday. Today, Kevin's nowhere to be seen. He's been replaced by a far more cheerful and upbeat warm-up man called Mark.
It is 10pm, back in the hotel. I have a drink with contestant Tony from the West Midlands. Earlier, during recording, Tony was standing behind Box 8 and Noel mentioned that he thought he looked like a funeral director. It got a laugh: Tony does look slightly undertakerish, with white hair, a white moustache and a long, thin face. Now, unbeknown to everyone else, Tony is desperately worried about it.
"I'm semi-retired," he says. "Everything in my life revolves around quarter past four. I do the washing, the cleaning and then I sit down. Deal Or No Deal is an addiction for me. So actually to get through the auditions and on to the show... I'm dreaming! Apparently the chances of becoming a contestant are 70,000 to one. And I make it through all that, and Noel calls me a funeral director." Tony pauses. "If only he could see the real me. Maybe I should have laughed or something. But to stand there and laugh at nothing? It's hard. And I didn't sleep well last night. There were police cars going up and down all night. Was Noel aware of that?"
Suddenly, Tony stops and glances at my notepad. "Where's this information going?" he asks. "Is it going to The Banker?"
There's a lot of paranoia among the contestants that things they say and do in the hotel might be relayed to The Banker - the mysterious figure on the other end of the phone who is never seen or heard. They fear that when it's their turn to play, The Banker might give them low cash offers if they've been deemed to have behaved in a desperate or cowardly or negative way back at the hotel.
"It isn't going to The Banker," I say.
Tony pauses. He narrows his eyes. "Are you giving it to someone who'll give it to The Banker?" he asks.
"No," I say.
At this, Tony relaxes. And it's true: Noel hasn't seen the real him. He's a warm, lovely man. As we drink, he keeps asking me, "What can I do to make Noel realise that I'm nothing like a funeral director?"
Every night after dinner there's a contestants' meeting. It is a chance for the three main players of the day to dissect their games. Bill - the £750-winner - takes the floor.
"I just want to say," he says, "that The Banker was a twat and a dickhead, and thank God he wasn't standing in front of me." Bill sits down again.
"You stood strong, Bill," says a contestant called Edward. "That's what matters. You stood strong."
I glance over at Dan, today's £70,000 winner, who, ironically, is probably the least mystical person here. He's always laughing to me about his fellow contestants' crazy systems. And then he went and won £70,000. There's a big smile on Dan's face now. His beautiful girlfriend is draped over him. They spent the afternoon shopping for designer clothes. I glance back at Bill, looking hunched and lonely. I resist the temptation to think that this was somehow predestined, that Dan looks a winner, and always did, and Bill looks a loser. But I don't think that, because it is an irrational thing to think.
Then I am asked to take the floor to introduce myself. "Some people apparently believe that I'm not really from the Guardian," I say, "and am, in fact, The Banker's spy. Well, I just want to say, I might be!"
I pause to receive laughter, but there isn't any.
"We're serious," a few people say. "Are you or aren't you working for The Banker?"
"I'm not," I say.
They give me three cheers.
Some contestants get drunk. The drinkers are, I've noticed, the ones who realise, like I do, that the box opening is all about luck and not at all spiritual. Maybe the weight of that knowledge is enough to drive you to the bottle. Other contestants sit quietly and concentrate on their systems.
Ned from Liverpool has a system. He shows it to me. It is a series of boxes and Xs, like some weird periodic table, printed on a neatly folded piece of A4.
"What I did," Ned says, "was discard the 17 numbers that make up my name: NEIL THOMAS CULSHAW. For instance, the number 1 has gone because it corresponds with the letter A. I'm left with five numbers, and I've put them in the order of which boxes contained the highest amounts during last week's shows. But I've reversed the order, based on the assumption that if they contained the highest amounts last week, they'll contain the lowest amounts for me. So, bearing all that in mind, the five numbers I'm leaving to the end are 16, 17, 10, 22 and 18."
"So you believe you've calculated that when you're the main player, box 18 will be the box most likely to contain £250,000?" I ask.
"Yes," Ned says confidently.
"Complex," I say.
"Not really," Ned says.
I'm surprised that so many contestants still put such stock in their systems. If the show has taught us anything over the past 12 months, it has taught us that systems don't work and that people aren't telepathic. Contestant Steve has a lucky number, but he won't tell me what it is, in case sharing the information inadvertently robs the number of its power.
Last week, John - who claimed to be both telepathic and have a foolproof system - had his chance as the main player. John, a retired bank manager, had assiduously analysed 105 shows. At night in the hotel, he sat apart from the others, studying spreadsheets. He concluded that boxes 1, 2, 5, 6, 18 and 19 were the luckiest. John's telepathy manifested itself in a tingle in his fingers. If he laid his fingers on a box, and his fingers tingled, he knew the box contained a high amount. John was convinced his telepathy, coupled with his system, would make him unbeatable.
In the end, John walked away with £1.
None the less, the contestants tonight are undaunted. "John wasn't telepathic," says Nalini, "but I've always been telepathic. One night I jumped out of bed. I said to my husband, 'Something bad has happened.' He said, 'Don't be ridiculous.' I said, 'I mean it. I can't go to work because I know something terrible has happened.' And later I discovered that this was the exact moment that my eldest son died. It was in the Maldives. That's the other side of the world. The exact moment. That was 10 years ago."
Still, Nalini says she doesn't want her turn as the main player to come just yet because that means she'd have to leave the bubble and go home.
"I love being here," she says. "My husband is a driver for Iceland, and on Saturdays he drinks." She shrugs. "So I prefer being here in the hotel. This is a holiday." Then Nalini pauses and moves closer to me. "Some people think too much," she says. "They go mad in the hotel."
But for Bill, who just walked away with a terrible £750, there is no talk of systems or psychic powers any more. For him, the bubble has burst.
"I'm not worried any more that I lost," he tells me. "I'm worried about coming over as a twat on TV."
"You didn't," I say.
"If people say, 'There's that twat', it'll make the rest of my life very hard," Bill says.
I go to bed.
In the middle of the night, the fire alarm goes off twice. I have to traipse down nine flights of stairs to the car park.
The next morning, everyone is exhausted. I visit Noel in his Winnebago. It is parked deep within the Endemol complex, near a dried-up river. Inside, it is very luxurious, all cream leather seats. Les Dennis's far smaller and less deluxe Winnebago is parked next to it. Les Dennis is filming a Channel 5 game show called Speculation in another studio.
"Les Dennis can have the big Winnebago when he gets the ratings we get," Noel says.
I glance stealthily around the Winnebago for little clues that might reveal dark secrets of Noel's personal life. Noel's love life has been of interest ever since he made it known earlier this year that he asked the cosmos to provide him with a woman.
Noel believes that if you order wishes from the cosmos, the cosmos will oblige, as long as you follow the correct ordering protocols: you must write down your wish on a piece of paper. You absolutely have to be positive. The cosmos will not accept negative wishes. You must keep your wish general. The cosmos won't, for some reason, grant overspecific wishes.
As Noel explains to me the ins and outs of cosmic ordering, I involuntarily look dubious. Immediately, Noel changes tack to insist he hasn't gone "off with the fairies".
"Yes, the word cosmos might sound off-putting," he says, "but you don't have to call it cosmos. Cosmos is just a word. You can call it anything you like. You can call it Argos, or MFI."
It strikes me that Noel Edmonds is probably the only modern-day spiritual guru who would even consider Argos or MFI as alternative names for the cosmos. That's the odd thing about hanging around here - the mystical people are not at all new-agey. They are retired bank managers. They work in betting shops. They are Noel Edmonds. The last time I saw Noel was 10 years ago. He barged past me in some country house hotel, heading for his helicopter - the epitome of the no-nonsense Conservative businessman and celebrity, off to do some deal. He was nothing like the vulnerable, spiritual Noel sitting in front of me now. If anyone doubts the extent to which mysticism has permeated the hitherto secular corners of British society, they should spend a couple of days behind the scenes at Deal Or No Deal.
"I wrote to the cosmos that I would like to meet a woman who'll make me laugh and make me happy," Noel tells me. "I wrote that |
people who can deliver nominations to the Nobel committee. These include members of international courts and national assemblies; university rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes.
Nominations for laureates should be postmarked for consideration in the following December's prizes no later than February 1 for the advisers to review the short list of the suggested candidates.
Since 1901, when the Nobel Peace Prize was launched, it has been awarded to a hundred individuals who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
The Nobel Peace prize however, is corrupt. Overseen by Norwegian and Swedish establishments, it has become an instrument of foreign policy. — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 15, 2013
Last year Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of passing secret materials to WikiLeaks, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination was proposed by the Movement of Icelandic Parliament, which asserted that revelations produced by the documents Manning allegedly exposed “have helped to fuel a worldwide discussion about America’s overseas engagements, civilian war casualties, imperialistic manipulations, and rules of engagement.”
In 2011 founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks Julian Assange was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian MP Snorre Valen.
Snowden’s nomination is expected to be reviewed by the committee for next year's prize. Should Snowden get the coveted award, he would be the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate in the history of the prize.
The 30-year-old nominee is wanted in the US on charges of espionage after revealing secret NSA surveillance programs and could face the death penalty in his home country. He fled American soil for Hong Kong in May and then flew to Moscow, where he has been stuck in an airport transit zone for three weeks.
On Friday Snowden said he is seeking political asylum in Russia because he cannot fly to Latin America.
During his meeting with rights activists and lawyers at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, Snowden explained what was behind his decision to leak the secret NSA spying programs. He said he did what he believed to be right and “began a campaign to correct this wrongdoing.” Snowden underlined that he did not seek to enrich himself, or to sell American secrets.
“I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice,” Snowden said, adding that he does not regret his decision.
Russian migration officials said that they have not yet received an asylum plea from the NSA leaker.
America has launched a persecution campaign in response, “threatening with sanctions” countries who stand up for Snowden’s rights.
So far, three countries in Latin America – Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua – said they could offer Asylum to the American whistleblower.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier stated that Moscow would grant him asylum if Snowden stopped activities aimed at harming “our American partners.”Story highlights Golf star Phil Mickelson is thinking of leaving California to avoid paying high taxes
Edward McCaffery: Lefty has a point -- high tax rates create disincentives
He says the problem is that we tax work, not wealth; this is is backward
McCaffery: We should be taxing the act of spending, not that of work and savings
Phil Mickelson, aka Lefty, is thinking of leaving California and perhaps America because, according to his own reckoning, he is facing tax rates of 62% or 63%. Mickelson, probably the second-most-famous professional golfer in the world after Tiger Woods, later backed off from his initial comments about making "drastic changes."
Reports suggest that Mickelson earned more than $60 million in 2012. In that sense, he appears to be doing better than the Romneys, and perhaps you are not all that sympathetic to him.
The Romneys (remember them?) paid so little tax. In 2011, Mitt and Ann Romney paid federal taxes of $2 million on reported income of $14 million, for an effective tax rate of 14%, all roughly. The Romneys even had to foreswear taking all of their available charitable deductions to make their tax rate seem so high for appearance's sake.
It does bear noting that Mickelson is doing something to earn his $60 million. Whoever is paying him that much believes that he is worth it. Who are we, really, to argue?
Edward J. McCaffery
Mickelson's instinctive reactions to high tax rates, even if his math may be a bit muddled, are sound and sensible ones. Tiger Woods certainly agrees with him
But that is not the problem in the story. Lefty faces such seemingly inescapably high tax rates that he might just pack up his golf bags and leave home. Mitt pays so little tax that he has to ignore the law to pay a higher rate for appearance's sake.
How can this be?
The Mitt-Lefty paradox has a simple explanation: In America, we tax work. And highly. We do not tax capital or wealth much at all. Indeed, if you have wealth already, taxes are essentially optional under what I call tax Planning 101, the simple advice to buy/borrow/die.
In step one, you buy assets that rise in value without producing cash, such as growth stocks or real estate. In step two, you borrow to finance your lifestyle. In step three, you die, and your heirs get your assets, tax free, and with a "stepped up" basis that eliminates all capital gains. That's it.
Romney, with a personal fortune estimated at $250 million (his five kids have another $100 million) has figured this out. When he pays taxes, at all, he does so at the low capital gains rate.
Not so with Lefty.
He is a wage-earner, albeit a very highly paid one, and he's going to pay over one-half of his income in taxes if he stays in California. We may not be shedding any tears for Lefty any more than we feel for Gerard Depardieu, who recently left France for Russia to escape taxes, or for the Rolling Stones, who many moons ago left England and recorded Exile on Main Street from France.
Yet one fact not making news is that it is still the case that the highest marginal tax rates in America do not fall on the highest incomes, like Lefty, but on certain of the working poor, many of them single parents, who are being taxed at rates approaching 90% as they lose benefits attempting to better themselves.
It's a "poverty trap" that works just like the severe marriage penalties for the lower-income classes. But the working poor do not have the options of going to Canada, Russia or France.
Lefty has a point -- high tax rates create disincentives. If the rates are high enough, people react by moving. This should not surprise us: American companies have been fleeing our shores for years, in droves. Ask Mitt.
But this should worry us, for two reasons.
One, the fact that the high incomers do flee jurisdictions, or flee from the productive activity of working, is a bad thing for the U.S.
Two, the very risk that the rich and famous might leave, aided by the appearance that some do, holds tax reform hostage. We have struggled to raise rates at all on the rich, blocked by the mostly mythical Joe the Plumber as much as by the realities of Mickelson or the Rolling Stones. When we do finally raise rates, as we did at the fiscal cliff, we do so on the wrong rich, in the wrong way. Lefty's taxes went up, Mitt's need not.
The problem -- and it is the same problem as with Mitt's taxes -- is that we are taxing the wrong thing, in the wrong way. In sum, we tax work, not wealth. This is backward.
We should be taxing the act of spending, not the socially beneficial ones of work and savings. Then we could raise tax rates without fear of ill effects.
Mitt's taxes would go up, for he is surely spending more than $14 million a year, as by running for president, and we wouldn't need any special capital gains preference under a consistent spending tax. Lefty's taxes would go down to the extent he saves some of his $60 million, helping us all by working and saving. When and if Mickelson or his kids spend, we could tax him or them then.
And if Lefty is really insisting on both earning and spending $60 million a year? Well, I figure he can buy a lot of borscht in Russia with that.When Windows Phone 7 came out, the SDK provided a really easy class to maintain the app settings: the IsolatedStorageSettings.
Basically, the class is an IDictionary<string, object> with a Save() method that will take the instance and serialize it to a file called “__ApplicationSettings” in the root of the app’s isolated storage.
Now if you upgraded your app from Windows Phone Silverlight 8.0 to the Windows Runtime model, you’ll probably want to migrate the settings from the old format to the new one, right?
Problem is that though the class exists in Windows Phone Silverlight apps, it does not in the new Windows Runtime apps, being replaced with ApplicationData.LocalSettings and ApplicationData.RoamingSettings instead.
So the only solution will be doing it ourselves, by reading and deserializing the “old” settings file!
Here’s a sample of the content of an “__ApplicationSettings” file from one of my tests:
PhoneApp1.Address, PhoneApp1, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null <ArrayOfKeyValueOfstringanyType xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/Arrays"><KeyValueOfstringanyType><Key>Name</Key><Value xmlns:d3p1="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" i:type="d3p1:string">John Doe</Value></KeyValueOfstringanyType><KeyValueOfstringanyType><Key>Age</Key><Value xmlns:d3p1="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" i:type="d3p1:int">20</Value></KeyValueOfstringanyType><KeyValueOfstringanyType><Key>Country</Key><Value xmlns:d3p1="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/PhoneApp1" i:type="d3p1:Address"><d3p1:Code>UK</d3p1:Code><d3p1:Name>United Kingdom</d3p1:Name></Value></KeyValueOfstringanyType></ArrayOfKeyValueOfstringanyType>
By looking at the contents of some samples of settings file like the one above, here’s what we can learn:
the file has always two lines (second line in the above sample is auto-wrapped to fit the post!)
the first line has the known types full names that should be loaded and passed on to the DataContractSerializer constructor, each properly separated by a null char
if only basic types are used, the first line will be empty
the second line is the serialized xml data
So I wrote the following code snippet to read and deserialize the values from “__ApplicationSetting” to an IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, object>> :
public async Task < IEnumerable < KeyValuePair < string, object >>> GetValuesAsync () { try { using ( var fileStream = await ApplicationData. Current. LocalFolder. OpenStreamForReadAsync ( "__ApplicationSettings" )) { using ( var streamReader = new StreamReader ( fileStream )) { var line = streamReader. ReadLine ()?? string. Empty ; var knownTypes = line. Split ( '' ). Where ( x =>! string. IsNullOrEmpty ( x )). Select ( Type. GetType ). ToArray (); fileStream. Position = line. Length + Environment. NewLine. Length ; var serializer = new DataContractSerializer ( typeof ( Dictionary < string, object >), knownTypes ); return ( Dictionary < string, object >) serializer. ReadObject ( fileStream ); } } } catch { return new Dictionary < string, object >(); } }
So all you now have to do is call the GetValuesAsync() method above and load those values to one of the new Settings repositories!
The Cimbalino Toolkit way
Starting in Cimbalino Toolkit 1.2.0, you’ll be able to use the new IApplicationSettingsService to access Local, Roaming, and Legacy app settings.
In case that wasn’t clear from the names, the Legacy settings will allow you to get the values on the “__ApplicationSettings” file (do note that only the Values property is implemented, so it’s read-only).
Here are the platform rules for the ISettingsService :
Local Supported in all platforms
Roaming Supported in all platforms except Windows Phone Silverlight 8.0
Legacy Only supported in Windows Phone
One last suggestion: after migrating the legacy settings remember to delete the “__ApplicationSettings” file as it won’t be needed again! ;)Image copyright CERN / LHCb COLLABORATION Image caption An illustration of one possible layout of quarks in a pentaquark particle such as those seen at LHCb (showing five tightly-bonded quarks)
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have announced the discovery of a new particle called the pentaquark.
It was first predicted to exist in the 1960s but, much like the Higgs boson particle before it, the pentaquark eluded science for decades until its detection at the LHC.
The discovery, which amounts to a new form of matter, was made by the Hadron Collider's LHCb experiment.
The findings have been submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters.
There is no way that what we see could be due to something else other than the addition of a new particle Dr Patrick Koppenburg, LHCb physics co-ordinator
In 1964, two physicists - Murray Gell Mann and George Zweig - independently proposed the existence of the subatomic particles known as quarks.
They theorised that key properties of the particles known as baryons and mesons were best explained if they were in turn made up of other constituent particles. Zweig coined the term "aces" for the three new hypothesised building blocks, but it was Gell-Mann's name "quark" that stuck.
This model also allowed for other quark states, such as the pentaquark. This purely theoretical particle was composed of four quarks and an antiquark (the anti-matter equivalent of an ordinary quark).
New states
During the mid-2000s, several teams claimed to have detected pentaquarks, but their discoveries were subsequently undermined by other experiments.
"There is quite a history with pentaquarks, which is also why we were very careful in putting this paper forward," Patrick Koppenburg, physics co-ordinator for LHCb at Cern, told BBC News.
"It's just the word 'pentaquark' which seems to be cursed somehow because there have been many discoveries that were then superseded by new results that showed that previous ones were actually fluctuations and not real signals."
Image copyright CERN Image caption Scientists used precision measurements at the LHCb experiment to unmask the new pentaquark particle
Physicists studied the way a sub-atomic particle called Lambda b decayed - or transformed - into three other particles inside LHCb. The analysis revealed that intermediate states were sometimes involved in the production of the three particles.
These intermediate states have been named Pc(4450)+ and Pc(4380)+.
"We have examined all possibilities for these signals, and conclude that they can only be explained by pentaquark states," said LHCb physicist Tomasz Skwarnicki of Syracuse University, US.
Previous experiments had measured only the so-called mass distribution where a statistical peak may appear against the background "noise" - the possible signature of a novel particle.
But the collider enabled researchers to look at the data from additional perspectives, namely the four angles defined by the different directions of travel taken by particles within LHCb.
"We are transforming this problem from a one-dimensional to a five dimensional one... we are able to describe everything that happens in the decay," said Dr Koppenburg who first saw a signal begin to emerge in 2012.
"There is no way that what we see could be due to something else other than the addition of a new particle that was not observed before."
Image copyright Cern / LHCB COLLABORATION Image caption An alternative layout for the pentaquark, showing a meson particle (one quark and one antiquark) and a baryon (three quarks) weakly bonded together
Image copyright Cern Image caption The first new data in two years began flowing from the LHC last month
LHCb spokesperson Guy Wilkinson commented: "The pentaquark is not just any new particle… It represents a way to aggregate quarks, namely the fundamental constituents of ordinary protons and neutrons, in a pattern that has never been observed before in over fifty years of experimental searches.
"Studying its properties may allow us to understand better how ordinary matter, the protons and neutrons from which we're all made, is constituted."
The LHC powered up again in April following a two-year shutdown to complete a programme of repairs and upgrades.
Follow Paul on Twitter.The Flying Pig will host live music performance on Wednesday. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska
QUEENS — A popular Forest Hills gastropub will get a new name, more TV screens and new booths, the owners said.
The Flying Pig will soon be called “Austin Public,” said Declan Morrison, 35, one of the founders of the pub. Morrison said that the new name will seek to reflect the fact that it’s a neighborhood place attracting mostly local patrons.
The gastropub, at 70-28 Austin St., near 70th Road, will also change its decor. The owners will add five new TVs, bringing the number of screens to nine.
New booths with leather banquettes will also replace regular tables near the entrance of the restaurant, Morrison said.
The menu will also change, the owners said, although the details are still being worked out.
The makeover, Morrison said, comes with a new co-owner — John Maloney, who also runs craft beer bar Off the Rails on the Upper East Side and The Junction, a sports bar near Grand Central Terminal.
"Forest Hills is just a great busy neighborhood," Maloney said. He added that he wants the pub to be more family friendly during the day, but at the same time to attract young and hip crowd with its "nighttime vibe."
The pub will continue to serve dozens of craft beers and pricey whiskey shots, Morrison said. It will also host live music events.
The venue will close for renovations on April 28 and will reopen on May 2, just in time for the Cinco de Mayo weekend, Morrison said.
The Flying Pig was one of three pubs that opened in the area in spring last year, two others being Banter on Queens Boulevard and Forest Hills Station House on Continental Avenue.Roberto Martinez has thanked Samuel Eto'o for his contribution to Everton after the 33-year-old striker's transfer to Serie A side Sampdoria.
The Cameroon international joined the Club on a free transfer in August 2014, scoring four goals in 20 appearances.
A four-time African Footballer of the Year and former Champions League winner with Barcelona and Internazionale, Eto'o has returned to Italy on a two-and-a-half year deal with the Genoese club.
The Everton manager said: "We thank Samuel for his efforts and for bringing his know-how to the team and to Finch Farm where he passed on some of his terrific experience to all of the young players in particular.
"The memory of his performances in Europe stand out especially.
"On behalf of all Evertonians, we wish him well for the next chapter in his career."The Coalition is the only party with a workable plan to stop the influx of human rights onto Australian shores, the Prime Minister Tony Abbott said today.
Mr Abbott said stemming the flow of human rights into Australia was crucial to the Government’s success. “Only we can stop the human rights smugglers. What we don’t want to see is a return to a situation where human rights are given free reign”.
The Prime Minister conceded that human rights had made attempts to infiltrate the country since the Coalition came to power, but said they had been turned back on each occasion.
“My very clear message to would-be human rights smugglers is this: we are more than a match for you. Our determination to win votes by playing on the irrational fears of Australians is greater than your determination to show concern for the rights of others”.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten could not be found.
For more breaking stories, follow The Shovel on Facebook and Twitter or sign up for email updates at the bottom of this page.Project: Renard the Fox (Vocalists/Voice Actors Needed)
By heyacfox,
http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Reynard_the_Fox
I am taking a great deal of creative liberties with the story, as I hope to mesh it with both ancient and modern-day fables and show how all of the stories that we tell are interconnected across time. Here's a brief introduction:
Setting
A king's court. Various locations inside characters' minds. Many of the parts of the story take place in either flashbacks or flashforwards,
Characters
Renard the Fox
A crafty fox who always seems to be able to get out of trouble just in the nick of time. Through bravado and clever wits, he outsmarts all of the other characters in the story to get his way. But is he too smart for himself? He is married to Hermeline the Fox, and once had a long-term relationship with Hersent the Wolf.
Narrator
The narrator of the story. He helps to speed things along when the characters get dragged down in the complexities of their decisions. In the stage adaptation, the narrator plays guitar, providing the only instrumentation for all of the songs.
Ysengrin the Wolf
Renard's arch nemesis. While it seems like he should have the upper hand against Renard, he is continually tricked by Renard and holds a very large grudge against him. He is currently asking the king to punish Renard for "harassing" his mate, Hersent.
Noble the Lion
The King. He is trying to rule with justice and fairness, but his subjects do not quite value justice and fairness quite as highly as they should. He tries to follow the will of his subjects, but also has started to try to see through their inconsistencies.
Tibert the Cat
Quite possibly the only one at the court who can match wits with Renard. He is looking for opportunities to use Ysengrin and Renard's conflict to his advantage.
Chanteclere the Rooster
A bit of a rockstar. A little bit. He has a gripe against Renard since he suspects Renard killed his relatives, though he can't quite prove it yet.
Bruin the Bear
The strong, dumb brute of the group. He has long since abandoned the ideals that others in the group hold to and can be easily sated with carnal desires.
Grinbert the Badger
Renard's cousin, the bishop. Always trying to get Renard out of the trouble he gets into, often without success. Eventually, Renard will give him a real confession, but Grinbert will put up with him until then.
Assorted Other Characters
Enselmble parts. Roenel's mate, a hound. Noble's Mate: Fiere the Lion. Hermeline the Fox. Cuwart the Hare, Bellin the Ram, Tielcelin the Crow, Petitpas the Peacock, Pele the Rat, and others. There are a LOT of potential characters to use. Many characters are interchangeable, and can be added or removed as desired. The different characters that are used determine the pace of the plot.
Plot
After a musical introduction to the characters, Ysengrin poses a complaint to Noble about how Renard has been "harrassing" his mate, Hersent. After some of the characters take Ysengrin's side and some take Renard's side, Noble decides that Renard should be brought to court and he should make his case.
After this, Renard and the cast go on a series of misadventures trying to decide whether Renard is guilty, and what exactly he should be guilty of, culminating in a deep understanding of the past and future fated love.
Structure
Most of the dialogue takes place in the "present" with the characters discussing Renard the Fox. However, many of the songs take place inside the characters' minds, showing what has happened or what will happen to them as either a reason or a consequence of their actions and ideologies.
What I'm looking for!
I have sheet music for some of the songs, and dialogue for some of the scenes. Therefore, I would really like to have the chance to work with some of the awesome furs here who like to do vocal things. I really don't have many requirements if you want to do some voice acting/vocals. There are a few main characters, but MANY sub characters. (In a stage adaptation, the same actor might be required to play 5-7 different roles). There are individual songs, duets, and enselmble songs. So, whether or not you want to play a major character or just part of a group (There is a large group of mice in one song, a large group of eagles and pigs in another, and there will undoubtedly be more as I keep writing songs.
If you have interest in helping me out, write a comment or send me a note, just telling me what types of roles you'd like to play (Dramatic/Comedic, Large/Small, Solo/Group), your vocal range (or just links to some of the songs you've sung that you think show your vocal skills), and any other fun facts you'd like me to know.
If you have any questions about this, let me know! Here's my progress, currently:
<Number of Songs> : <State>
2 : Sheet music written and complete
2 : Written with chords, but no sheet music ready yet
2 : Between 50-80% complete
~5 : In conceptual stages For the past 4 years, I have been working on a musical based on the story "Renard the Fox".I am taking a great deal of creative liberties with the story, as I hope to mesh it with both ancient and modern-day fables and show how all of the stories that we tell are interconnected across time. Here's a brief introduction:A king's court. Various locations inside characters' minds. Many of the parts of the story take place in either flashbacks or flashforwards,A crafty fox who always seems to be able to get out of trouble just in the nick of time. Through bravado and clever wits, he outsmarts all of the other characters in the story to get his way. But is he too smart for himself? He is married to Hermeline the Fox, and once had a long-term relationship with Hersent the Wolf.The narrator of the story. He helps to speed things along when the characters get dragged down in the complexities of their decisions. In the stage adaptation, the narrator plays guitar, providing the only instrumentation for all of the songs.Renard's arch nemesis. While it seems like he should have the upper hand against Renard, he is continually tricked by Renard and holds a very large grudge against him. He is currently asking the king to punish Renard for "harassing" his mate, Hersent.The King. He is trying to rule with justice and fairness, but his subjects do not quite value justice and fairness quite as highly as they should. He tries to follow the will of his subjects, but also has started to try to see through their inconsistencies.Quite possibly the only one at the court who can match wits with Renard. He is looking for opportunities to use Ysengrin and Renard's conflict to his advantage.A bit of a rockstar. A little bit. He has a gripe against Renard since he suspects Renard killed his relatives, though he can't quite prove it yet.The strong, dumb brute of the group. He has long since abandoned the ideals that others in the group hold to and can be easily sated with carnal desires.Renard's cousin, the bishop. Always trying to get Renard out of the trouble he gets into, often without success. Eventually, Renard will give him a real confession, but Grinbert will put up with him until then.Enselmble parts. Roenel's mate, a hound. Noble's Mate: Fiere the Lion. Hermeline the Fox. Cuwart the Hare, Bellin the Ram, Tielcelin the Crow, Petitpas the Peacock, Pele the Rat, and others. There are a LOT of potential characters to use. Many characters are interchangeable, and can be added or removed as desired. The different characters that are used determine the pace of the plot.After a musical introduction to the characters, Ysengrin poses a complaint to Noble about how Renard has been "harrassing" his mate, Hersent. After some of the characters take Ysengrin's side and some take Renard's side, Noble decides that Renard should be brought to court and he should make his case.After this, Renard and the cast go on a series of misadventures trying to decide whether Renard is guilty, and what exactly he should be guilty of, culminating in a deep understanding of the past and future fated love.Most of the dialogue takes place in the "present" with the characters discussing Renard the Fox. However, many of the songs take place inside the characters' minds, showing what has happened or what will happen to them as either a reason or a consequence of their actions and ideologies.I have sheet music for some of the songs, and dialogue for some of the scenes. Therefore, I would really like to have the chance to work with some of the awesome furs here who like to do vocal things. I really don't have many requirements if you want to do some voice acting/vocals. There are a few main characters, but MANY sub characters. (In a stage adaptation, the same actor might be required to play 5-7 different roles). There are individual songs, duets, and enselmble songs. So, whether or not you want to play a major character or just part of a group (There is a large group of mice in one song, a large group of eagles and pigs in another, and there will undoubtedly be more as I keep writing songs.If you have interest in helping me out, write a comment or send me a note, just telling me what types of roles you'd like to play (Dramatic/Comedic, Large/Small, Solo/Group), your vocal range (or just links to some of the songs you've sung that you think show your vocal skills), and any other fun facts you'd like me to know.If you have any questions about this, let me know! Here's my progress, currently: : 2 : Sheet music written and complete2 : Written with chords, but no sheet music ready yet2 : Between 50-80% complete~5 : In conceptual stages 2 commentsA pair of New Hampshire residents skinny dipping in the Atlantic became the unwitting "spectacle" of a beachfront wedding party in Salisbury over the weekend.
ABC reports Zachary Tomko, 29, and Holly O'Neal, 20, stripped naked, streaked across Salisbury Beach and plunged into the ocean while the wedding goers -- some offended, others laughing -- watched from the nearby Blue Ocean Music Hall.
Members of the wedding party reported the incident to police around 4:25 p.m.
"Yeah, it was an embarrassing moment talking to the cop," Tomko told ABC. "'Hey, how's it going?' while covering myself."
He added, "We get to the ocean, like, 'Alright, if we do it fast, nobody will notice.' Turns out, everybody noticed."
Tomko and O'Neal were arrested and booked on disorderly conduct charges. Mugshots taken by Salisbury police show each of them grinning widely.
Each pled guilty Wednesday in Newbury District Court and paid roughly $300 in fines.
ABC interviewed Tomko near the beach, where he apologized to the family and said he "wasn't trying to ruin" "the wedding."
"I didn't even know it was a restaurant," he said.Donald Trump has declared "with tax reform, we can make it morning in America again" and that "revising our tax code is not just a policy discussion — it is a moral one, because we are not talking about the government's money – we are talking about your money, your hard work."
The Republican tax plan, which would cut rates for individuals and small businesses, sounds like good policy, but it's not. Before we get lost in details and political infighting, it's worth laying out what effective tax reform actually looks like.
The hallmark of a good tax code is that it doesn't attempt social engineering via revenue collection.. It's our money and the government shouldn't be telling us how to spend it or what to spend it on. And yet our tax code is larded up with all sorts of incentives for certain types of purchases—such as the mortgage-interest deduction, which is defended on the grounds that owning a home is morally and culturally superior to renting. It's not by the way, and the result is market distortions that saddle families that would be better off renting with mortgage debt. Trump's tax plan keeps the mortgage interest rate deduction--and the one for charitable giving, which is another example of social engineering.
Another distortion in the tax code is that individuals can deduct the cost of their state and local taxes from their federal bill, effectively allowing jurisdictions like New York and California to get away with charging their residents more than they would otherwise. To its credit, the Trump plan at least attempts to do away with this practice, although it's doubtful this idea will survive the legislative process..
The most important principle for tax reform is that revenue should cover the actual costs of government so that citizens can actually make an informed decision about what services they're willing to pay for. On this score, Trump's plan is sadly business as usual.
First, it would take even more people off the tax rolls. There are already over 40 million households that pay no federal income tax at all and the president brags that his plan would add another 31 million to that total. As Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute writes, "taking more people off the tax rolls is not a good way to keep the government limited. If something is 'free,' people will demand more of it."
And the problem is much bigger than that. For decades now, the feds have been spending far more in any given year than they take in via taxes. Last year, for instance, the government spent 20 percent more than it took in and between 2009 and 2013, it spent 33 percent more than it brought in. Hence annual deficits and ballooning national debt. This is like government by Groupon: Every year, we're getting such a great deal, of course we want more and more stuff. We'd be stupid not to.
Where does Trump's plan land on this topic?
Who knows?
Every tax reform promises to either be revenue neutral or to increase the government's haul. In many cases, neither outcome is close to being truthful. More to the point, after years of accumulating debt we need to focus on government spending first and foremost. In 2016, the feds took in about $3 trillion in taxes. That should be the absolute spending limit—instead of the nearly $4 trillion Congress is talking about.
Taxes aren't the price we pay for civilization—they're the price we pay for government. And until we bind the two together, we'll be spending more and more money that we don't have on things we almost certainly wouldn't want if we had to pay full price for them.
Produced by Todd Krainin. Written and narrated by Nick Gillespie. Cameras by Jim Epstein.
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Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes.“Smaller but cleaner.” That’s one of the predictions voiced in I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus, the 1971 album by comedic legends the Firesign Theatre. “Bozos” describes a dystopian future in which the president of the United States is powered by a mainframe successfully hacked by the hero—cutting-edge technology for the era.
But in fact, the future is smaller but cleaner. Over the past 15 years, big iron has given way to servers powered by inexpensive microprocessors, cloud computing, ubiquitous mobile technology, and a movable feast of wireless networking. The result affords millions of technology users a pervasive presence. When that identity intersects with corporate networks, IT departments must draw on new resources and collaborate with business leaders to ensure everyone on the bus is rolling at peak efficiency toward corporate goals.
Like the PC itself, many of the great disruptions in enterprise IT have come from the bottom—and some chief information officers never saw them coming. Here are some of the tectonic technology shifts that suggest everything we knew in 1998 was wrong.
The rise of the x86 server
At the end of the last millennium, minicomputers and mainframes still had a tenuous toehold on the enterprise. If any smaller computers were going to be important to the enterprise, your average Fortune 500 CIO would have contended, they were going to be servers with processors based on the Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) architecture—not the Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) architecture of Intel's x86 family of CPUs. And they would run on a proprietary operating system built on Unix or with a big-iron heritage: Solaris, VMS, HP-UX, AIX, MVS, or OS/390.
Intel? Windows? No way. Linux? What's that?
Sun's Solaris and SPARC architecture boomed along with the dot-com rush of the late 1990s as companies rushed to buy Web servers. But IBM saw the Internet as a guarantee that mainframes would be back in vogue. In 1999, Fortune magazine noted the boom in IBM's CICS mainframe software. IBM marketing Manager Neil McHugh called it "'amusing' that Microsoft's Windows NT operating system gets so much press since it can't handle as many users." The Internet would only make mainframes more useful, they contended—Charles Schwab was using CICS for its stock-trading website, after all.
But the Intel architecture servers that had come in the back door to serve up files over Netware were already well on their way to world domination before Linus Torvalds ever mentioned that phrase |
, Sheriff Guadalupe Treviño said. All four have resigned.
Treviño said he has to fulfill a duty as both a father and as the county's top law enforcement officer.
“I was the one who disarmed and took the badge away from my son and turned him in,” he said. “But as a father and a family man, I have to support his son. And I and my wife will be there to support him as he goes through this ordeal.”
Along with being part of the Panama Unit, Espinoza was attached to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement task force.
It was the ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility that initially received information about the alleged crimes and launched an investigation, according to court records.
Espinoza's father, the Hidalgo police chief, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon. Attorneys for all four men were unavailable Wednesday as well.
jbuch@express-news.net
Twitter: @jlbuchby
In 1997, Norway instituted Debt Forgiveness and “Wrote Down” 90% of the Countries Mortgage Debt.
It’s been done, documented, and completely hidden from the World, through the World Media, until 19 April 2012.
Complete and Total Censorship of anything Debt Forgiveness Related, World Wide.
Here is a link to radio Interview of a Lawyer from Norway instrumental in bringing Mortgage Debt Forgiveness to Norway.
[ Broadcast on: 19 April 2012
Morning Ireland: Conference on ways to tackle personal debt – Norwegian lawyer Egil Rokhaug ]
IMF SAYS TARGETED DEBT REDUCTION POLICIES CAN WORK
The IMF has said that targeted household debt reduction policies can deliver significant economic benefits.
Latest IMF report notes link between high levels of household debt and the effect on economic recovery
The IMF has said that targeted household debt reduction policies – including mortgage write-downs – can deliver significant economic benefits.
The International Monetary Fund made the comments in its latest World Economic Outlook.
The IMF said such policies can substantially mitigate the negative effect of household deleveraging on economic activity.
The report noted the well established link between high levels of household debt run up during a housing boom, and the effect of a high debt overhang on economic recovery.
It found that countries, like Ireland, that saw house prices and household borrowing skyrocket, saw a longer than average period of recession after the bursting of the housing bubble.
A large part of this protracted recession it said is due to households trying to reduce their debt levels, which in turn leads to less spending in the economy, driving the recession deeper and further.
“Because debt is acting as a brake on economic growth, it is important to unstick the brake” said the report’s author Daniel Leigh.
The IMF has studied the response of a number of countries to situations where large parts of the population are burdened with high mortgage debt in a recession, and finds that such programmes can help prevent self-reinforcing cycles of falling house prices and lower aggregate demand.
“Such policies are particularly relevant for economies with limited scope for expansionary macroeconomic policies and in which the financial sector has already received government report”, notes the conclusions. Ireland meets both these criteria.
The report highlighted what it calls the “bold ” household debt reduction programmes implemented in the US in the 1930’s and in
Iceland in this crisis, which it said can “significantly reduce the number of household defaults and foreclosures and substantially reduce debt repayment burdens”.
It contrasted these examples with others that have not been successful, such as the current response to the crisis in the US and Hungary, and the policies pursued in Colombia and the Scandinavian countries in the 90’s.
As well as the “bold” approach, it said that ensuring a strong banking sector is crucial during the period of household deleveraging. It stated that the policies in Colombia and Hungary were not a success as they placed too much burden on an already fragile banking sector.
It also said the policies must be designed to have incentives for both banks and borrowers to participate, notably by offering a viable alternative to default and foreclosure.
The IMF noted that government support for household debt restructuring programmes involves clear winners and losers. “The friction caused by such redistribution may be one reason why such policies have rarely been used in the past, except when the magnitude of the problem was substantial and the ensuing social and political pressures considerable”,’ it stated.
It cited another study which found that political systems tend to become more polarised in the wake of financial crises, and raised the question of collective action problems – that distressed mortgage borrowers may be less politically organised than banks – and this can hamper efforts to implement household debt restructuring.
In the US in the 1930’s the Roosevelt administration introduced the Home Owners Loan Corporation, which bought distressed mortgages from banks with government bonds, with federal guarantees on principal and interest. It then restructured these mortgages to make them more affordable to borrowers.
80% of the restructured loans (some 800,000) were protected from repossession by the measure, and the mortgages were subsequently sold on over time for a nominal profit at the time the programme was brought to an end in 1951. The mortgage purchases amounted to 8.4% of 1933’s GDP in the US.
The IMF said “a key feature of the HOLC was the effective transfer of funds to credit constrained households with distressed balance sheets and a high marginal propensity to consume, which mitigated the negative effects on aggregate demand” caused by the recession and need for household deleveraging.
The main mechanism to make loans more affordable was to extend the term of the mortgage – sometimes doubling the term – and converting it from a variable to a fixed rate. In a number of cases the HOLC also wrote off part of the principal to ensure that no loans exceeded 80% of the appraised value of the house.
In the case of Iceland the situation was more difficult, due in part to the much bigger proportion of the population that was affected, and to the wide presence of foreign currency mortgages.
The government and the newly constructed Icelandic banks developed a template to be used in case by case restructuring discussions between borrowers and lenders. The templates facilitated substantial debt write-downs designed to align secured debt with the supporting collateral (i.e bring the loan into line with the value of the house) and align debt service with the ability to repay.
The IMF found that such case by case negotiations safeguard property rights and reduce moral hazard, but they take time. As of January of this year, only 35% of the case by case restructuring applications had been processed. To speed things up, Iceland has introduced a debt forgiveness plan which writes down deeply underwater mortgages to 110% of the households’ pledgeable assets.
It noted that only when a comprehensive framework was put in place and a clear expiration date for relief measures announced that debt write-downs finally took off. As of January 2012, 15 to 20% of all Icelandic mortgages have been or are in the process of being written down.
However, it said the jury is still out on Iceland’s plans, and said the extent to which Iceland can put its citizens back on their feet and minimise moral hazard remains to be seen.
WHEN DEBT IS FRAUD, DEBT FORGIVENESS IS THE LAST AND ONLY REMEDY – Zeus Yiamouyiannis, Ph.D.
Endgame: When Debt Is Fraud, Debt Forgiveness Is The Last And Only Remedy
Charles Hugh-Smith from Of Two Minds.
Today I present an important guest essay by long-time contributor Zeus Yiamouyiannis, who suggests that when debt is essentially fraudulent, then debt forgiveness is both the logical and the only remedy.
Endgame: When Debt is Fraud, Debt Forgiveness is the Last and Only Remedy, by Zeus Yiamouyiannis, Ph.D., copyright 2011.
Introduction
Finally serious economists are considering a position I have been maintaining and writing about since the 2008 financial meltdown. Whatever its name— erasure, repudiation, abolishment, cancellation, jubilee—debt forgiveness, will have to eventually emerge forefront in global efforts to solve an ongoing systemic financial crisis.
“On a grand scale the only way to erase counterfeit money and (counterfeit) assets of hundreds of trillions of dollars is to erase the debts associated with those fake assets. (Let me underscore again, these are not “toxic” assets, they are fake assets.)… Forgiveness in general, and forgiveness of debt in particular, stand as virtues if they free us up to acknowledge, address, and learn from our culpability, start anew, and create forward.” (The Big Squeeze, Part 3: The Quiet Rebellion: Civil Disobedience, Local Markets, and Debt Erasure (January 29, 2011)
Debt forgiveness, therefore, accomplishes two important things. It eliminates the increasing and outsized portion of productive enterprise to pay off unproductive obligations, and it clears the ground for new opportunities, new thinking, invention, and entrepreneurialism. This is why the ability to declare bankruptcy is so essential in the pursuit of both happiness and innovation.
Currently we are mired in a “new normal” and calls for “austerity” which are nothing more than the delusional efforts of a status quo to avoid the consequences of its own error and fraud and to profit evermore. So bedazzled by the false wealth created by debt multiplication and its concomitant fantasy of ever-higher returns, this status quo continues to be stupidly amazed that people are not spending and that the economy is not picking up. But how could it be otherwise?
Productive wealth has been trapped in a web of parasitic theft, counterfeiting, liability evasion, non-regulation, and prosecutorial non-accountability. All the fundamental attributes of a functioning exchange economy have been warped to reward creative criminals. I spoke extensively about this in my posts from 2008. (Imaginary Worth, Empire of Debt: How Modern Finance Created Its Own Downfall (October 15, 2008)
The unsustainable nature of debt
Two observations: 1) Fabricated/parasitic so-called “wealth” destroys value by diluting the value of productive wealth. 2) Debt/credit that cannot be paid back is never an asset and is always a hot-potato liability (needing to be foisted to a greater fool to garner “profit” and transaction fees):
“The models [modern debt are] based upon had no contact with reality. They assumed unlimited growth and ability to pay. When matched against the reality of people paying ten times their salary for mortgages that actually added more money owed to their principal (i.e. with negative amortization), required no money down, and set up “balloon payments,” large step-ups in payments after a few years) there is no possible way they could NOT default in a predictable span of time.” (Part II: How the Credit
Default Swap Scam Works (October 13, 2008)
Systemically, all debt that charges a percentage (“usury”) originates in delusion. Debt grows exponentially indefinitely, growth (income and otherwise) cannot. This leads to a widening condition where the fruits of productive “growth” devoted to interest payments increase until those fruits are entirely consumed. (The Elephant In The Room: Debt Grows Exponentially, While Economies
Only Grow In An S-Curve (Washington’s Blog)
Once this happens, stores of wealth (hard assets) begin to be cannibalized to make up for the difference. You see this in Greece with its sale of public assets to private companies, and in middle-class America where people are liquidating retirement accounts to pay for their cost of living.
This problem is compounded by a private Federal Reserve that lends money into circulation at interest, and then allows the multiplication of this consumer debt-money liability through fractional reserve banking. The money in circulation today could pay only a small fraction of the total private and public debt. That fact alone is evidence of a kind of systemic fraud. “If you just work hard enough, save, and make sensible decisions, you can get out of debt” could only physically work for a bare fraction of the population, given the money-to-debt ratio. The rest would have to simply default to clear the boards.
This is why debt forgiveness makes not only moral but rational, mathematical sense. Finances require balancing to be coherent.
There must be some way to redress systemic imbalance. One has to be able to “zero the scales” to get an accurate weight of value and to re-establish healthy value creation.
Voices in the debate
Some analysts are beginning to see the forest through the trees in terms of debt forgiveness. Steve Keen, Australian economist and current deflationist, and Michael Hudson, American economic contrarian and prescient essayist, are both using clear-sighted reality-based financial analysis to debunk accounting games that obscure the untenable debt situation and to call for debt forgiveness.
How can selling sovereign assets and imposing austerity on Greek citizens (taking money out of their hands through higher taxes and lower benefits) do anything other than hollow out value and contract the Greek economy in the face of a deep global recession? Michael Hudson: It can’t. Greece’s debt needs to be written off.
“It seems unreasonable and unrealistic to expect that large sectors of the New European population can be made subject to salary garnishment throughout their lives, reducing them to a lifetime of debt peonage… (T)he only way to resolve it is to negotiate a debt write-off…” (The Coming European Debt Wars: EU Countries sinking into Depression (Michael Hudson, Global Research, April 9, 2010)
(“[We’ll Have] a Never-Ending Depression Unless We Repudiate the Debt, Which Never Should Have Been Extended In The First Place” (Washington’s Blog)
Why isn’t “quantitative easing” and flooding the U.S. economy with debt-money working to prime borrowing and lending? Steve Keen: Because the money is going into deleveraging in a time of overextension:
“Bernanke is throwing (a) trillion dollars into the system. Rather than that leading to ten trillion dollars of additional credit money, creating the inflation people are expecting, that trillion dollars is all that goes in, and people deleveraging actually reduce their level of spending by more than a trillion dollars by trying to pay their debt down, and it cancels out what the government is trying to do… We need a 21st century jubilee.” (On the Edge with... Steve Keen (Max Keiser, video)
Other well-known commentators are not seeing the debt forest at all. In their contentious debates over deflation and inflation, neither Rick Ackerman nor Gonzalo Lira seem to be aware of the overwhelmingly fraudulent nature of present global debt– including the 600 to 1,000 trillion dollars of fabricated notional wealth represented by the derivatives markets, fraudclosure, and a host of other sources.
Rick Ackerman: “’Ultimately, every penny of every debt must be paid — if not by the borrower, then by the lender.’ Inflationists and deflationists implicitly agree on this point… and we differ only on the question of who, borrower or lender, will take the hit.” (Let’s Think This Through Together….)
I posted a pithy response in the comment section:
“Both Rick and Gonzalo left out the obvious third way–debt forgiveness. No… debt does not have to be paid by someone; it can be absolved, especially debt created upon fraudulent and/or counterfeit-ridden practice… (D)erivatives are not real wealth, and neither was the ostensible climb in the values of housing resting in large part on those phony-wealth derivatives.
The only “real wealth” here revolves around ability to produce real and needed goods (to allow us to survive), and the ability to create something that increases one’s quality of life (to promote our thriving). Precious little of the present global economy involves either one of these. Yeah, if we use FASB standards and Goldman Sachs accounting, we can pretend our worthless junk is
all really simply very rare, “unique condition” collectibles worth trillions of dollars.
I’ve got a better idea. Take our financial junk out of the global attic in boxes, put them out on the front lawn, and see if
anyone wants to pay a few bucks for the various items, give away the leftovers to anyone interested passing on the sidewalk, and recycle, donate, or dispose of the rest. It’s a moving sale, and if our economy is going to get moving, maybe we ought to have one.” (Zeus Yiamouyiannis April 6, 2011 at 4:11 pm)
How it might play out
This subtle debt extortion creates a system of never-ending debt-slavery for a vast majority of the population. When this “manageable” slavery is aggravated by a desire to use hardship to extort ever greater assets from the overburdened at ever cheaper prices (what Naomi Klein calls “disaster capitalism”), by open and unapologetic widespread fraud, and by the unjust offloading of risk and liability to taxpayers who had nothing to do with poor decisions of private banks, then the systemic abuse is revealed in the daily lives of citizens.
Debt creates scarcity, which stimulates fear, which drives manic competition, which favors opportunism, collusion, and concentrations of power, which translates to abuse, which results in a collapse of legitimacy for the economic system. Overreach causes a breaking point, and we are getting close to it. Will the response be warfare, taxpayer revolt, political upheaval, mass default, debt forgiveness, something other, some combination? I have predicted pockets of violence would be mixed with some softer combination of taxpayer revolt, mass default, political upheaval, and debt forgiveness, along with a return to community exchange to meet basic needs. (The Big Squeeze, Part 3: The Quiet Rebellion: Civil Disobedience, Local Markets, and Debt Erasure
(January 29, 2011)
This possibility of epic reprisal may very well compel banks to come to the table around debt forgiveness to avoid violent backlash and criminal prosecution, even over preserving their gravy train companies. The bitter irony of these companies and their galloping greed is that they ended up victimizing each other by selling junk to each other and extracting all the real value in salary and bonuses. Their assets rest on notional values, that when unmasked would drive each into immediate insolvency. They have simply been scam artists, producing little value and extracting mountains of money.
What might this look like? Looking at present trends and using the very useful framework of Kubler-Ross’s stages of grief, it might go something like this…
Average debtor:
1) Denial: Liquidate savings to pay for over-priced house and cost of living.
2) Anger and fear: Exhaust resources, experience want, compounded by austerity measures.
3) Bargaining: Attempt to negotiate with bank through HAMP and other mechanisms to lower payments. Banks don ‘t bite and even
have incentives to foreclose.
4) Depression: Lose/default on the house and move in with family or cheap rental.
5) Find out life is better without being a debt slave and spend more time with community and the ones you love.
Bankers:
1) Denial: Collect 144 billion in bonuses after financial collapse and laugh as not a single trading day loss arises for zombie TBTF banks completely subsidized by governments.
2) Anger: Express false righteousness, indignation, and hubris over even modest/toothless demands/regulations attempted to be placed on them by governments. Exhibit sadistic zeal at being able to simply claim you own and liquidate properties they have no clear title to.
3) Bargaining: Experience dawning awareness that may have just cooked your own gooses as strategic defaults skyrocket, populist demands to prosecute fraudclosure gain traction, and quantitative easing ad infinitum dwindles and fails to keep stock prices artificially aloft. Improvise panicked attempts to “be reasonable” and actually negotiate, once the asset and money flow well runs dry.
4) Depression: Contemplate and realize possible bankruptcy by big banks. Retreat to the Hamptons to hire criminal defense lawyers, contemplate empty life, and shoulder the abuse of media and contempt of a global citizenry.
5) Acceptance: Trying to regain “good guy” status and avoid criminal prosecution by agreeing to be part of debt forgiveness.
Once defaults happen in increasing numbers and certain asset prices plunge (i.e. real estate), what will initially look like a bonanza for capitalist parasites could easily get out of hand, with people either unable or unwilling to buy inventory even at greatly reduced prices. Profits would tank at banks, liabilities would skyrocket even with most of it transferred to government guarantee. Because no one plays the game anymore, banks could go under as well, as people rise to vote out bank-friendly politicians and simply refuse to pay. This unraveling could easily force exposure of the notional value of derivatives in banks as worthless, meaning they are as bankrupt as the people they exploited. At this point, there will be a common desire and need to simply “forgive” the debts and try to find some way to distribute these empty homes.
Conclusion
Debt forgiveness simply calls out either the inherent systemic inability to make good on debts or the recognition that debt was produced through fraudulent means. In the present situation, both conditions obtain. There has likely been no point in world history where debt forgiveness has been so comprehensively merited. The only speculation from my point (barring world-wide global feudalism and eternal debt slavery) is whether we will initiate such forgiveness or be forced into it.
Thank you, Zeus, for this prescient and insightful analysis of debt and debt renunciation.The Kondratieff Cycle can only turn to Spring after debt renunciation completes the Winter cycle. Let’s stop pretending we’re still in Summer, and that the Fed’s puny “quantitative easing” and monetary cargo-cult machinations can reverse the seasons.
***
A two part column/exposition on the concepts of a Debt Jubilee and Public Credit
Stephen Keys
April 13, 2012
Debt Jubilee for New Zealand – The Great Reset
Australian economist Steve Keen is amongst a growing group of economic renegades who believe things are so far gone with the global economy that a debt jubilee and a total reset of the financial system is required. He proposes nationalizing the banks and wiping the slate clean because he contends that it is now mathematically impossible for most countries to repay the combination of their sovereign and private debt. He also contends along with economic historian Michael Hudson that the mortgage and consumer credit that western banks have extended is verging on odious, lent recklessly for short term gain by banks more concerned about their profits from the resultant interest and fees than the effect it would have on not just individual consumers but also the nations they are citizens of. As Hudson says,
“This is why relinquishing policy control to a creditor class rarely has gone together with economic growth and rising living standards. The tendency for debts to grow faster than the population’s ability to pay has been a basic constant throughout all recorded history. Debts mount up exponentially, absorbing the surplus and reducing much of the population to the equivalent of debt peonage.”
Even Alan Bollard admitted in his book Crisis that banks may extend more credit than is good for individuals and nations. Have banks and the rest of the financial sector so grossly distorted capitalism that it is on the point of collapse?
The concept of a debt jubilee is not new. It dates back to biblical times and the Book of Leviticus where the Hebrews would every 50 years free slaves, prisoners and forgive debts. In modern times the concept of jubilee has been applied to the debt of third world nations. If Keen and other proponents are correct the time has arrived for a general debt jubilee to be applied to western democracies including New Zealand.
But why should people be absolved from mistakes in their personal financial decisions? What about the prudent amongst us who have paid off their debt or refused to accumulate any of it at all? Surely you cannot reward the reckless, for what kind of message does this send to people and how does it distort future behaviour if everyone thinks they will be bailed out at some point down the track.
These are all valid points and not without irony given the biggest opponents to jubilee would probably be the big creditors like the banks who have had the same criticisms leveled against their own bailouts. What the jubilee does is give the money to the debtor to repay their debt rather than to the creditor to maintain the debt. One is consumer/citizen friendly, the other bank friendly.
The way Keen gets around the moral hazard problem is to give everyone a large chunk of cash whether they have debt or not. The proviso is that anyone with mortgage, student, consumer or personal debt would have to have the money applied towards that debt. They would remove or radically reduce their debt and thus free up more of their current earnings for consumption or savings. They could not use their money to leverage more debt or speculate. There would be no incentive to load up on debt before a jubilee. The people without debt would be able to use their unencumbered money to spend or invest in the economy immediately, unlike borrowed credit with no interest attached, jump starting economic activity again. Keen doesn’t mention a figure but consider how your own and the nation’s situation would change if say every adult over eighteen got $100-200 000.
This leads to the other major criticism of this jubilee concept, that it would be hyper inflationary. After all we are talking in New Zealand’s case about the government creating hundreds of billions of dollars out of thin air. This would not necessarily be inflationary if a number of other things were done concurrently. The idea isn’t just to pay off debts and restart the current credit system – it is to completely reform and re-regulate credit to prevent the same lunacy of the GFC happening again.
Keen talks about nationalizing the banks. The government would use its newly “printed” money to expunge debts it had assumed in the nationalization. Debts wiped out are deflationary rather than inflationary given that in the current system the vast majority of all “money” in the system comes into being from the banks as interest bearing credit. One would cancel out the other so in the case of the indebted the new money cannot increase the money supply.
Nationalisation might not be necessary. As debts were paid off the private banks would either shrink dramatically or withdraw from the market without needing to be taken over. They are not being forced to take a loss on their loans, only having their future income stream from interest radically reduced. Yes there would be large job losses in the banking sector but people would in theory be reabsorbed by a newly stimulated low debt economy.
Of course the people without debt would now have much greater spending capacity and this would be potentially inflationary without strict regulation. Keen’s suggestion is that the level of all types of credit available to the economy from the reset point be reduced by an amount equal to or greater than the new money created. There would be no getting your cake and eating it too.
For instance taking this idea further, Loan to Value Ratios on property might decrease dramatically, almost certainly below 80%. Commercial banks remaining could still lend but only at 100% reserve and depositors chasing interest with them would do so at their own risk. Customers would have government guaranteed current accounts held by the banks at the Reserve Bank. These would not be part of the banks balance sheet and non interest bearing. If a bank failure happened, current accounts and the payments system would be unaffected.
At the same time the tax system could change moving taxes away from income and towards finReviews
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9 – Samit Sarkar, Polygon
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9 – Nic Rowen, Destructoid
“With its distinctively clean retro stylings and deceptively simple set up, Videoball may blindside you with the pace and depth of its gameplay. It's reminiscent of arcade classics, and is easily one of the best multiplayer experiences of the year.”
8 – Jason D'Aprile, GamespotUNITED NATIONS -- In the annual Secretary General Report on Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations placed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition on its "blacklist," accusing it of involvement in the deaths and injury of almost 700 children in Yemen.
The U.N. report, produced after extensive consultations with Saudi Arabia, also said that the coalition had taken steps to improve their actions in the ongoing war, in which 10,000 people have been killed.
Famine and cholera have also plagued Yemen in which the Houthi rebels and several other groups have fought the government of President Abd-Rabu Mansour Hadi.
Yemen's civil war fuels cholera outbreak
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General, said the Secretary General is "appalled that more than 8,000 children were killed and maimed in conflict situations in 2016," referring to conflicts around the world including in Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen and by extremist groups including Boko Haram and al-Shabab. The highest number ever recorded in Afghanistan, which includes over 3,000 child deaths.
Several human rights groups heralded the decision to include the Saudi coalition on the list, since it had initially been placed on the list then removed from it in 2016, under the direction of a previous Secretary General.
The report includes appendices naming (and shaming) countries involved in the deaths of children in the conflict. In addition to Saudi Arabia, it lists the Houthi-rebel group, which is backed by Iran, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemeni government forces, and pro-government militia, saying that the Houthis and related rebel forces were responsible for over 400 children dead and injured during 2016.
The report also blamed the Saudi-led coalition (which included Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan) for 38 attacks on hospitals and schools. The U.S. has supplied the coalition with money and logistical support, and significant arms sales have been made by the U.S. and several western allies to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
On Friday, the U.S. halted some military exercises with Gulf Arab nations, citing the diplomatic crisis with Qatar.
Everyone was watching for a showdown after a dust-up last year that ended up with a humiliation for the U.N.'s human rights record when then-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he temporarily removed the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen from a U.N. blacklist for violating child rights because its supporters threatened to stop funding many U.N. programs.
Following that decision, "coalition attacks harming children continued in Yemen throughout 2016 and into 2017," said Human Rights Watch's Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director.
The compromise negotiated by the new Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, had two lists, including one for countries that have not improved their record, the other for countries that initiated measures to protect children in the future. The Saudi led coalition was on the "improvement" list.
At a news conference on Friday, Saudi Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi issued a statement saying "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its regard to the Secretary General's recognition of the important steps taken by the Coalition and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to ensure the protection of children."
The war has taken its toll on Yemen. International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that cholera cases could reach one million by the end of the 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the number of suspected cholera cases reached 500,000 in August, within the large and impoverished country, which is located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Saudi Arabia provides $67 million in aid for cholorea to Yemen, more than any other country, in addition to other aid it provides.
"The regrettable effects of this conflict are a direct result of the Houthi and forces loyal to former president Saleh use of immoral and illegal actions that put the civilian population at risk," a statement by the Saudi Kingdom said.
Human Rights Watch applauded the decision to include the coalition on the list but disputed the view that the military was taking measures to protect children.
"The coalition needs to …take concrete action to stop these deadly unlawful attacks in Yemen, and allow desperately needed fuel and aid to reach those in need," Becker said.
Speaking with CBS News after a call with Secretary General Antonio Guterres, al-Mouallimi said he could not speak for the Secretary General but said he thinks Guterres "recognizes the importance of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United Nations and we have had a good relationship with him."
"He has been to Saudi Arabia, met with his Majesty [King Salman], he has spoken with his Majesty a few days ago, so there is continuous communications," the Saudi Ambassador said.
Asked if the process is better than it was, he said, "It certainly is better than it was. At the very least, we are not put on the 'bad guys' list, as last year. This year, we are put on the 'good guys' list, and we should not be on any list, but at least we are there."He hasn't placed first in any of the three states that have cast their votes, but Florida Sen. Marco Rubio still believes that he can win the GOP nomination - in part because he sees a limit to how much support there is for Donald Trump.
"Part of the dynamic up to this point is Donald has been, you know, in the mid 30s to low 30s, high 20s in most polls and then you have 70 percent of the Republican electorate that says, 'We're not voting for him,'" Rubio said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation. "But they're divided up among five or seven people. So as that five or seven people continues to narrow down, I think it's going make the race clearer and clearer."
He's aiming higher than just picking up the anti-Trump vote, though. Rubio said, "There are people supporting Donald Trump that we believe we can win over as well."
Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have claimed the first-place spot in all of the nominating contests to take place so far but Rubio beat expectations in both Iowa and South Carolina, which voted Saturday night. He appeared to edge out Cruz for second place by less than 1,000 votes even though Cruz was running well ahead of him until the final days leading up to the primary.
He did not do as well in New Hampshire, finishing what he said was a disappointing fifth place. But even though Ohio Gov. John Kasich finished second there, Rubio said that "practically speaking" the race is now down to "three people who are still running full-scale national campaigns."
Rubio said he has "tremendous respect" for neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has vowed to remain in the race despite finishing last in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and he also suggested that Kasich's sole focus will be on the upcoming Michigan primary.
"We're going to continue to campaign everywhere. And we feel really good about this coalescing," he said.
He argued that he could take voters away from Trump because he is "very realistic about the challenges we face."
He also criticized Trump for not releasing detailed policy positions, arguing the voters will begin demanding more specificity from the candidates going forward.
"If you're running to be president of the United States, you can't just tell people you're going to make America great again. I think you need to begin to explain exactly how you're going to do it policy-wise," Rubios aid. "We're not going to win a general election with a candidate that refuses to detail policy. Obviously, Donald still has time to do that and then we can have a policy debate about whose ideas are better. But I honestly believe that once people begin to understand what's at stake here, that we have a chance here not just to make our country great, but greater than it's ever been and we have a plan to do it, I think that's going to begin to influence a lot of voters."
When moderator John Dickerson noted that voters believe Trump is the stronger candidate on national security issues, Rubio argued, "strong rhetoric and strong action are two separate things."
As an example, he cited Trump's views on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"His views on Vladimir Putin I think are troubling and I don't think he fundamentally understands exactly who Vladimir Putin is or exactly what he's trying to do," he said. "When you're the commander-in-chief, you're the commander-in-chief on day one. You don't get a six-month grace period. The world doesn't just stop and say, 'Well, let's wait until the president catches up before we start challenging America.'"
"If you want to be president, you have to start detailing some specific public policy and I don't think from this point forward in the campaign, voters are going to be as tolerant of the lack of that as they've been up till now," he added.
Rubio also warned that if the GOP nominates someone who is "nebulous" about their policy proposals, the Democrats are going to "eat our lunch in November."Sohail Raza Khan would rather die than go back to Pakistan. He's made this abundantly clear to U.S. immigration officials, begging them to send him to federal prison, or just let him rot in the ICE detention facility where he's spent the past several years. Anything but deportation.
According to a 2009 opinion by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Khan fled Pakistan in 1985 after being arrested and tortured by police. He applied for asylum under the U.N.'s Convention Against Torture, but his request was denied by a local immigration judge, who signed a deportation order on May 21, 2007.
His appeal, based on the judge's refusal to allow testimony from Khan's sister backing up his claim that the Pakistani government had been keeping tabs on him and would likely torture him again upon his return, was denied, first by the Board of Immigration Appeals, then by the 5th Circuit.Shawn Russell had a DK Diary last week about this that got very little attention at the time:
Mississippi Wants to Ban Abortion Even in the Case of Rape and Incest
But, time is running out to fight this, and I'm confident The Great Orange can help reverse the cone of silence around Amendment 26.
Mississippi has an unemployment rate of 10.3% (9th worse in the nation), consistently ranks in the lowest in education, 17.6% of Mississippians have no health insurance, and 21.8% of its citizens live below the poverty level. Yet, these yahoos think it's important to focus on further degrading women by making it impossible to get an abortion instead of taking |
the time when the summer vacation ends and the young players are returning to school and secondly the most anticipated event of the year, The International ends in August and it consumes a lot of our energy. The hype about the game scales a bit down during the next months when all the pro players are enjoying their well-deserved vacation.
In 2013 DotA 2 has registered only a 5.53 % loss of active players in September while during the same month of the last year the number was even smaller, only 2.62% of DotA 2 players switching their focus from the game.
It is unlikely that the new rebalance 6.85 patch will bring back some of the active players as another source of disappointment would be the fact that the much expected Pit Lord hero had its announcement already postponed for a few times. Icefrog has made clear to all of us when he announced the 6.85 that the next major patch will come after the Frankfurt Major, which means that there will be no hero implemented until November 21st when the first Major Championship will end.
Until then it will be interesting to see if Valve decides to step in with a drastic solutions to stop the leak of active accounts.
Source: steamcharts.com
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You would think that learning from experience is a common thing to do. But, for the Democratic Party’s leadership this seems not to be the case. After the landslide victory of Trump’s version of the Republican Party in the 2016 national election, it is fair to say that the Democratic Party is in big trouble. As Senator Bernie Sanders has observed, the party needs to reform. Among other things it needs to ensure that whoever is the head of the Democratic National Committee [DNC] is dedicated to growing the party in a pro-civil rights as well as populist way. The party also needs to break free of special interest money and do away with biased “super delegates” that subvert the nominating process. Sanders suggests a reform commission to look into implementing the necessary changes.
There are millions of local Democratic voters who agree with Sanders. I am sure that their local party officials have heard from a lot from them. However, to date none of this has transferred over to the party’s national scene. Indeed Democratic power brokers like Chuck Schumer in the Senate and Nancy Pelosi in the House, who should be discredited in the eyes of everyone who identifies themselves with the Democratic Party, are still in place calling the shots. And, it is almost certain that whoever becomes head of the DNC will be vetted by these obsolete leaders and will follow their lead. It is a formula for repeated political failure, but it has the sense of something inevitable nonetheless.
Contributing Factors
Why have things worked out this way? Here are some of the contributing factors:
— Both the Democratic and Republican Parties have evolved into bureaucratized organizations at once dependent upon the financial resources of special interests and mainly responsive to those interests’ needs. This has led both parties to pay more attention to the siren calls of powerful lobbies than the needs of local constituencies.
This fits with the fact that the United States is not a democracy of individuals so much as a democracy of competing interest groups. These interest groups range from conservative to liberal, and many play both sides of the ideological field by giving donations to both parties and their major political leaders.
— The concentration on special interests has been facilitated by the fact that, historically, many American citizens care little about politics. They know little or nothing about how the political system works, much less the issues and pressures to which it responds. Many do not vote. Those who do vote are only marginally more knowledgable than those who do not. This means the party system relies on relatively small populations of avid supporters.
The entrenched nature of the party bureaucracies and the traditional indifference of a large part of the citizenry make the system very hard, but not impossible, to reform.
— It is the Republican Party’s structure, and not that of the Democrats, that has suffered the strongest assault over the past couple of years. This is so despite the fact the Republicans have paid more attention to capturing state governorships, legislatures and even town councils than have the Democrats. The assault has come from the so-called Tea Party, which has its own local and regional organizations imbued with a strong sense of mission. That mission is to minimize altogether government involvement in society. The Tea Party had grown disappointed and estranged from the traditional Republican leadership and structure.
— The basis for Donald Trump’s success was partially laid by the Tea Party’s willingness to abandon their traditional support for the Republicans and place their faith in Trump. Ultimately, what now survives of the formal Republican Party are those elements which are willing to ally with Trump.
— In contrast, the Democratic Party survives intact, having marginalized Bernie Sanders’s liberal effort to restructure it. Ironically, its structural survival is its greatest weakness. As a consequence it will just plod along, stuck in its rut. All things being equal this might condemn the Democrats to minority status for a long time.
— The only thing that might alter this fate is the catastrophic failure of Trump and his Republican allies – failure to such an extent that the Democratic party, at least temporarily, again appears as an acceptable alternative to a population scared for its future.
Republican Failure?
Actually, catastrophic failure on Trump’s part may occur.
This is because Trump, his Republican allies in the House and Senate, and the Tea Party are all determined to destroy a good part of the federal government’s social and environmental programs, as well as radically deregulate the economy. To this end the very first bill the Republicans rammed through Congress (it happened on 4 January 2017) was “one designed to roll back a range of environmental and consumer regulations.” The bill was appropriately named the “Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2017.” This bit of misguided legislation is only the beginning.
Regulations have a foundational reason for being, foundational because they serve as a check on the greed and larceny that, all too often, seem to lie at the heart of political and economic leaders. That does not mean that regulations should not be fair and efficient – carrying with them a minimum of red tape. However, to do away with them all altogether is, historically, stupid.
The economic and social history of 19th- and 20th-century American makes it abundantly clear that regulation is the sine qua non of modern societal stability. Don’t want discrimination based on race, religion, gender, and the like? Don’t want another economic depression? Don’t want adulterated food and drugs? Want safe transportation both on the ground and in the air? Want safe medical treatment? Want drinkable water and breathable air? Then you want, indeed you absolutely need, economic, environmental and social regulations.
Somehow President-Elect Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and their many rightwing associates are unaware of the historically established need for such action. In that part of their brains where the relevant historical facts should reside, these individuals have substituted neoliberal ideology – the same sort of outlook that brought you the 1929 Great Depression and other assorted woes. If our present crop of rightwing leaders get their way, then, sooner or later, we will be able to relive all that misery.
Then, without reforming themselves at all, the Democratic Party might once more win a national election — the hard way.I am not writing this based on it being a Raspberry Pi 3, I am writing it based on the fact that it is a packaged kit. There's nothing wrong with the Raspberry Pi itself. Raspberry Pi works great. Just like the many other reviews which I at first didn't believe, the SD card that came with this kit was corrupt on arrival. Not only was it corrupt but it was not fixable. The thermal substance that they include with the kit to attach the heat sinks, is not thermal adhesive, it's just thermal grease. Which means the heat sinks won't stay permanently in place. The case is a very nice case, except the fact that the lid doesn't quite Snap-on. It sits on snuggly, and it has some registration pins, but it doesn't attach in such a way that you could turn it upside down and then lid won't fall off. I enjoy the little LED actually. The quality of the HDMI cable seems to be decent. The power adapter seems to supply enough power. Part of my reason for buying a kit was to save myself some time and for the convenience of getting everything in one place. The fact that I will have to track down proper thermal adhesive, a case that will stay closed, and purchase another SD card, pretty much defeats the purpose of having bought a kit. And all the items in this kit I could have theoretically gotten cheaper elsewhere. I just was buying this for the convenience and knew that it was for the convenience. But considering the fact that I'm going to have to Source a number of items from the kit on my own anyway because the ones that provided were either broken cheap and effective the wrong kind or poorly designed, means I can't give this kid a high rating. I kind of actually like to get my money back for the SD card since I had to buy one to replace it.Experimental/noise/hip hop trio Clipping celebrate the release of their new album, Splendor & Misery (Sub Pop) with a live mini set and signing at Amoeba, Hollywood. They "make party music for the club you wish you hadn't gone to, the car you don't remember getting in, and the streets you don't feel safe on." - Clipping
The new album will be available for purchase at the in-store. Signing after performance will be limited to copies of Splendor & Misery purchased at Amoeba Music.
Playing at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica later Thursday night.
Clipping formed in Los Angeles in 2009. Initially conceived as a remix project, Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson began pairing noise and power-electronics inspired tracks with (stolen) vocals by commercial rap artists. Jonathan and William did this mostly to amuse each other and the duo earned very few fans. However, the band began in earnest in early 2010, when rapper and friend Daveed Diggs joined the group. Clipping was their first project as a trio, building on both their long friendship and their many shared obsessions: rap, experimental music, and genre fiction, among others.
Clipping released Midcity on their Bandcamp page in 2013 and signed with Sub Pop three months later. The band described their debut as “party music for the club you wish you hadn’t gone to, the car you don’t remember getting in, and the streets you don’t feel safe on.” In 2014, they released their Sub Pop debut, CLPPNG, omitting “I” in the title and lyrics to vacate rap of its traditional center, revealing instead a collage of recurrent rap themes. 2016’s Wriggle EP, released after Daveed’s Tony award for his role as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the acclaimed Broadway musical Hamilton, included “Shooter,” which used gunshot sounds as the beat for an imagistic narrative of three different violent encounters.
Since the release of CLPPNG, things have changed for the band—William finished his Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies with a dissertation on experimental music, Jonathan composed scores for the films Starry Eyes, The Nightmare, Excess Flesh, and Contracted: Phase II, and Daveed hit Broadway. Their activities outside Clipping have always influenced their work in the band, but never as much as in the creation of Splendor & Misery.
Splendor & Misery is an Afrofuturist, dystopian concept album that follows the sole survivor of a slave uprising on an interstellar cargo ship, and the onboard computer that falls in love with him. Thinking he is alone and lost in space, the character discovers music in the ship’s shuddering hull and chirping instrument panels. William and Jonathan’s tracks draw an imaginary sonic map of the ship’s decks, hallways, and quarters, while Daveed’s lyrics ride the rhythms produced by its engines and machinery. In a reversal of H.P. Lovecraft’s concept of cosmic insignificance, the character finds relief in learning that humanity is of no consequence to the vast, uncaring universe. It turns out, pulling the rug out from under anthropocentrism is only horrifying to those who thought they were the center of everything to begin with. Ultimately, the character decides to pilot his ship into the unknown—and possibly into oblivion—instead of continuing on to worlds whose systems of governance and economy have violently oppressed him.When we think of responsive web design development, the first thing that comes to mind is how we can use media queries to change the look and feel of our site depending on rules defined by the query. Media queries are conditional, with CSS being applied if the browser is meeting the condition. A visual change to a site may also require a change to how the site functions. This is where we start using JavaScript.
There are many examples of where we may want to change functionality; for example, where on desktop we want to show content in a modal window. This provides a good, usable experience on desktop. However, on mobile devices modal windows often look cramped and provide a poor user experience. The best option is to disable the modal functionality on mobile. It's here that CSS can fall short, and where JavaScript can be used to pick up the work.
Watch this video to accompany the tutorial...
Unfortunately, adding JavaScript that manages the change of functionality based on the responsive state of your site can be trickier than simply using a media query. This is because we need to gracefully handle the transition between states. With CSS media queries, the styles are just turned on or off, or overridden when we're in different states, but, with JavaScript, we must handle both the conditional logic and the turning on or off of functionality ourselves.
The browsers don't leave us completely unaided as newer browsers feature the matchMedia API. The matchMedia API can watch to see if a condition is met. If it is, it will fire a method. Conditions are in the form of the same media queries that we are already familiar with from CSS. To see how we can use the matchMedia API, we can take a look at the following example that logs to the browser console when we enter and leave the mobile state:
var mql = window.matchMedia("screen and (maxwidth: 768px)"); mql.addListener(function(e){ if(e.matches){ console.log('enter mobile'); } else{ console.log('leave mobile'); } });
We set up a query list using window.matchMedia and set up query notifications by calling the addListener() method passing our callback. When the media query is matched or unmatched, our listener method is called and we can handle the change of state.
Browser support for the matchMedia API is good with the exception of Internet Explorer, as the earliest version to support it is Internet Explorer 10. If you want to use the matchMedia API, you have the option to include a polyfill for the matchMedia API, which enables support for the matchMedia API in older versions of Internet Explorer.
Open a new page on mobile instead of opening a lightbox
The main limitation of this API is that it handles the switching between states. However, it doesn't handle having a resize event for each state, which may be required for some functionality. Typically, this has led to me ignoring the matchMedia API and, instead, rolling my own solution based on using the browser resize event. This typically would look something like this:
var stateManager = (function () { var state = null; var resizePage = function () { if ($('body').width() < 768) { if (state!== "mobile") { displayMobile(); } resizeMobile(); } else { if (state!== "desktop") { displayDesktop(); } resizeDesktop(); } }; var displayMobile = function () { state = "mobile"; console.log("enter mobile"); }; var displayDesktop = function () { state = "desktop"; console.log("enter desktop"); }; var resizeMobile = function () { console.log("resizing mobile"); }; var resizeDesktop = function () { console.log("resizing desktop"); }; return { init: function () { resizePage(); $(window).on('resize', resizePage); } }; } ()); stateManager.init();
Here we added a resize event to the window that checks the current state of the browser. As the browser is resized, we check the width of the page and determine whether we're in the mobile or desktop state. Once this has been determined we check whether we're already in the state. If we are, we simply fire a state resize method. Otherwise, we fire an enter state method. Simple. However, if you have more than a couple of states, this method has the potential to become very unwieldy.
This is when I usually start looking at JavaScript libraries to see if there's something that makes things simpler.
Looking at libraries
So far, we've looked at how we can simply write our own JavaScript to handle responsive states. However, there are JavaScript libraries that will make our job easier. Not only does using a library make writing responsive JavaScript simpler, libraries often handle cross browser differences, so you don't have to.
SSM is designed to target responsive states across devices
A popular library for handling responsive JavaScript is SimpleStateManager. SimpleStateManager is built around the concept of states, a state being the condition of the browser at a specific width. A good example of states you may already be using is where a responsive site may have a small state for mobile devices, medium state for tablets and a large state for desktop. In this example you could use SimpleStateManager to add JavaScript specific to each of your states.
SimpleStateManager allows you to add JavaScript methods for entering, leaving and resizing responsive states based on the width of the browser. The core methodology for using SimpleStateManager is to prepare a state on the onEnter event, clean up the state on the onLeave event and use the onResize event for handling the resize of the state.
There are two ways in which you can get started with SimpleStateManager, the first of which is to use Bower. Alternatively you can download the library's JS file from SimpleStateManager and include it in your project. You can then start adding states:
(function(window){ ssm.addStates([{ id:'mobile', maxWidth: 767, onEnter: function(){ console.log('enter mobile'); } }, { id: 'desktop', minWidth: 768, onEnter: function(){ console.log('enter desktop'); } }]); ssm.ready(); }(window));
In this example, we add two states: mobile and desktop each with an enter event that logs out to the console which state we have entered. We then fire a.ready() method to tell SSM that we have added our states and we are ready to run any onEnter methods required for the current state.
SimpleStateManager allows you to add infinite states, which can overlap one another, meaning you do not need to duplicate code between states. While it's possible to add infinite states, please bear in mind the performance implications of adding too many states.
The key advantages of using SimpleStateManager is that it makes it really simple to add states to your browser in a way that offers great performance. SimpleStateManager also provides you with the APIs to write your own plug-ins to extend the built in functionality. This means you can extend it to support feature detection like geolocation and touch. Unlike libraries that use the matchMedia API, it doesn't require a polyfill to work in older browsers such as Internet Explorer 7, 8 and 9.
You can add plug-ins to SimpleStateManager to add extra functionality
The disadvantage of SimpleStateManager is that it's limited to only responding to changes in the width of the website. This means that it works great for the majority of responsive websites. Should your website need to carry out more complex queries you have the option to either write a plug-in to extend SimpleStateManager. Alternatively, you can use a library that utilises the matchMedia API.
To summarise: the key benefit of using a library like SimpleStateManager over rolling your own solution (either with the matchMedia API or the browser resize event) is that it makes writing responsive JavaScript much simpler. This means that we can concentrate on optimising our sites to work responsively rather than spending our time having to manage the process of switching between our responsive states ourselves.
Words: Jonathan Fielding
This article originally appeared in net magazine issue 250.For decades now — certainly since Ronald Reagan, if not before — conventional wisdom has held that conservatives and Republicans care more about freedom, while liberals and Democrats care more about equality. A slightly more sophisticated version holds that the distinction is between “negative liberty” (“freedom from”) and “positive liberty” (“freedom to”), a distinction usually attributed to Isaiah Berlin's 1958 essay "Two Concepts of Liberty,” though it’s actually found in Eric Fromm’s 1941 book "Escape From Freedom," as highlighted by Conor Lynch here at Salon back in February — a point we’ll return to below.
But findings in a new NPR/PBS Marist poll neatly refute both versions of the claim. The poll asked if we have gone too far in expanding or restricting freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to protest the government and the right to vote. On all four questions — which hinge on questions of government restriction and thus “negative liberty” — conservatives and Republicans were more likely to say freedoms had been expanded too far, compared to liberals and Democrats. And on all issues except religious freedom, conservatives and Republicans were significantly more likely to say rights had been expanded too far, rather than restricted too much.
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Let’s start with the three most clear-cut questions:
On freedom of the press, Democrats thought it had been restricted, rather than expanded too far, by 32 percent to 11 percent (for liberals, 37-10), while Republicans thought the opposite by 42 percent to 9 percent (for conservatives, 35-11).
On the right to protest or criticize the government, Democrats thought it had been restricted, rather than expanded too far, by 31 percent to 7 percent (for liberals, 40-7), while Republicans thought the opposite by 41 percent to 6 percent (for conservatives, 33-16).
On the right to vote, Democrats thought it had been restricted, rather than expanded too far, by 44 percent to 5 percent (for liberals, 54-4), while Republicans thought the opposite by 25 percent to 6 percent (for conservatives, 20-10).
The pattern here is unmistakable. While the numbers are almost all pluralities, with large numbers taking middle positions, Republicans and conservatives are consistently much more likely to think that rights have been expanded too far, while Democrats are much liberals are more likely to think they have been restricted too harshly. On these three key issues, conservatives display much greater antipathy to freedom than Democrats/liberals do. What’s more, it’s negative freedom -- a supposed conservative value -- that they object to. They want more restrictions placed on people. They want to place more power in the hands of the state — to control the press, to stifle citizens' criticism and to limit voting.
There should be nothing surprising in any of this. Conservatives everywhere around the globe tend to share these same tendencies. But with such basic freedoms enshrined in our First Amendment, American conservatives have long been forced to express themselves in more circuitous, devious, or deceptive ways. Until the passage of the 14th Amendment, for example, state governments were not limited by such guarantees of freedom, and state-sanctioned churches were once commonplace. And of course, states had complete control of who would be allowed to vote — a right contested repeatedly throughout our history.
The NPR/PBS poll results on freedom of religion actually illustrate the broader pattern of how American conservatives work around the basic liberal thrust of the Constitution. As mainstream acceptance of same-sex marriage began to seem inevitable, the religious right poured enormous energy into a bold attempt to redefine the battlefield in a never-ending culture war. This was analyzed in depth in in a January 2016 report, “When Exemption is the Rule: The Religious Freedom Strategy of the Christian Right,” by Frederick Clarkson, which I wrote about here when it came out. The strategy today — of cloaking discrimination in the garb of religious liberty -- has been tried before, as Clarkson noted:
As recently as the 1980s, Christian Right activists defended racial segregation by claiming that restrictions on their ability to discriminate violated their First Amendment right to religious freedom. … Instead of African Americans being discriminated against by Bob Jones [University], the university argued it was the party being discriminated against in being prevented from executing its First Amendment rights. The Supreme Court disagreed.
The fact that the religious right has been much more successful this time around (most notably in the Hobby Lobby case) has everything to do with political power having reshaped the courts, and nothing to do with the actual meaning of religious liberty. As I noted in my previous article, "the worst violations of religious liberty actually came from the anti-gay religious right itself — from a 2012 constitutional amendment in North Carolina, which criminalized the performance of gay marriage. The law was successfully challenged by the United Church of Christ in 2014."
In fact, the preface to Clarkson’s report was written by the UCC’s general minister and president, the Rev. John C. Dorhauer. The North Carolina law made it clear that genuine religious liberty was the last thing the religious right was interested in. Still, it’s a powerful propaganda tool, as reflected in the NPR/PBS poll, in which religion was the only issue where the Republican/conservative response at least gave the appearance of favoring freedom — although not as strongly as the Democratic/liberal response.
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Democrats thought religious freedom had been restricted rather than expanded too far, by 27 percent to 9 percent, while Republicans thought the same by 34 to 17 percent. So Republicans were more likely to endorse both views, but were almost twice as likely as Democrats to say that religious freedom had been expanded too far.
Taken all together, the four NPR/PBS freedom questions and the responses tell us everything we need to know about how Republicans and conservatives really feel about freedom. The only area in which their anti-freedom bias is muffled is precisely the area in which that “freedom” has been vigorously redefined around the “right” to infringe on the rights of others.
Conventional wisdom aside, this poll shouldn’t be the least bit surprising. Since the 1970s, the General Social Survey has asked questions about whether unpopular views should be heard — for instance, those of atheists, communists, socialists, homosexuals, racists and advocates of military rule. Questions are posed in three different forms — about allowing someone to speak, allowing a book to remain in the library or allowing someone to teach in a college or university. As one might expect, liberals have consistently been more tolerant than conservatives of all the usual suspects — but they’ve also been more tolerant of racists and militarists, too. Conservatives, in contrast, are consistently more willing to restrict others' rights.
The truth is, conservatives love to talk about liberty, but they've always had peculiar ways of defining it. “Religious liberty” is just one example of a broader strategy. As I wrote back in 2012:
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Both Ron Paul and his son, Rand, oppose the 1964 Civil Rights Act, because it outlaws private acts of discrimination. This is an "infringement of liberty", they argue. And they're right: just like laws against murder, it infringes the liberty of bullies. And that's precisely what justice is: the triumph of right over might.
I went on to note that in June 2004, Rep. Ron Paul was the sole voice in Congress to oppose a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. On the House floor, he said:
… the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not improve race relations or enhance freedom. Instead, the forced integration dictated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty.
Two years later, as I noted here, Rand Paul tried to rewrite his own history before an audience at the historically black Howard University in Washington. “I’ve never been against the Civil Rights Act. Ever,” he said. “I have been concerned about the ramifications of the Civil Rights Act beyond race … but I’ve never come out in opposition.” Rachel Maddow then refreshed his memory with a tape of his 2010 appearance on her show, reminding us of what he’d actually said.
But it’s not just the Pauls and libertarians. Freedom is such a central American value, it’s not surprising that conservatives, like everyone else, would seek to lay claim to it. On the level of elite discourse, they have received sporadic hints of support from political scientists. From the 1950s onward, various researchers have proposed different ways of structuring political beliefs, using more than just one dimension. Hans Eysenck’s 1956 book "Sense and Nonsense in Psychology" was one early example, positing one dimension called "Radicalism" and another called "Tender-Mindedess" (T-factor). One of Eysenck's more technical critics, Milton Rokeach, went on to develop his own two-factor theory based on equality and freedom, in the 1973 book "The Nature of Human Values." But his views and findings didn’t match what American conservatives wish to claim.
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Rokeach and his team used content analysis on texts using frequency counts covering more than a dozen values. They drew on various socialists, plus Adolf Hitler (representing fascism), Barry Goldwater (representing capitalism) and Lenin (representing communism), with the following results:
Socialists: Freedom ranked 1st, Equality ranked 2nd Hitler/fascism: Freedom ranked 16th, Equality ranked 17th Goldwater/capitalism - Freedom ranked 1st, Equality ranked 16th Lenin/communism - Freedom ranked 17th, Equality ranked 1st
Of course, American liberals are watered-down socialists at best, leaving no difference at all between them and Goldwater in terms of freedom, only in terms of equality. What’s more, during the decade after Rokeach’s book appeared, Goldwater responded to the rise of the religious right with a distinct chill. In today’s environment, 30 years after that, the former Arizona senator would no longer represent a typical conservative.
What has kept the conservative claim to care about freedom alive is less on the level of political philosophy, and more on the level of political trench warfare and the propaganda that supports it. In 2012, I wrote about the ways that Planned Parenthood and the NRA represented two contrasting models of freedom, which play key roles in America’s decades-long culture wars. The NRA constantly uses the language of freedom, far more prolifically than Planned Parenthood does.
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Yet a careful examination of the underlying history and facts shows a much stronger case for Planned Parenthood’s model, reflected for example in the quantities of lies used both to promote the NRA and to attack Planned Parenthood. Virtually no one wants to take guns away from ordinary law-abiding Americans, for example, even though the NRA frequently makes such claims, while opposing common-sense measures that its own membership strongly supports. At the same time, Planned Parenthood’s enemies want to shut it down completely. It's not just abortions they oppose, but everything Planned Parenthood does to empower women to have control over their own bodies. What could be more fundamental to the idea of liberty than that?
As I wrote at the time, "It's not just that conservatives are opposed to women's freedom, they genuinely can't even conceive of it.... Women are non-persons. They have nothing to do with discussions of freedom -- unless, of course, they want to buy a gun."
In short, this latest NPR/PBS poll result simply underscores what we already know: Liberals and Democrats actually care about freedom substantially more than conservatives and Republicans do. When it comes down to the most basic forms of freedom Americans have long recognized, conservatives may talk a good game, but that talk is largely BS.
But is there something more than BS going on here? As I mentioned at the beginning, the notion of positive vs. negative freedom is usually traced back to Isaiah Berlin, but Fromm’s earlier work sheds a different light on things. As Conor Lynch wrote in February:
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Fromm posits that industrialization and the rise of liberalism resulted in the “complete emergence” of the individual (i.e., “individuation”), along with newfound freedom, but also upended “primary ties” that had once provided men and women with “security and a feeling of belonging and of being rooted somewhere.”
Lynch goes on to quote Fromm:
If the economic, social and political conditions on which the whole process of human individuation depends, do not offer a basis for the realization of individuality … while at the same time people have lost those ties which gave them security, this lag makes freedom an unbearable burden. It becomes identical with doubt, with a kind of life which lacks meaning and direction. Powerful tendencies arise to escape from this kind of freedom into submission or some kind of relationship to man and the world which promises relief from uncertainty, even if it deprives the individual of his freedom.
And that, in the end, is where the hunger for lies and propaganda comes from, which is why simply refuting it is never enough. One must find ways to alleviate the craving for it as well.
This is also why positive liberty for the individual is never enough, even for those who don’t suffer directly the way that Fromm describes. As traditional foundations for security erode, new ones must be created in their place, through the collective exercise of positive liberty. Following a strong authoritarian leader, and imbuing him with perceived infallibility, is one way to replace those lost foundations. But society as a whole can create other, better options: new frameworks of shared meaning that draw on the past critically, bringing new concerns into focus along with the old.
This is precisely what social movements like Black Lives Matter have done, at their best. Their political work necessarily derives from a much longer time-frame of historical consciousness and forward-looking aspiration. It is profoundly difficult to translate the significance of such efforts into snapshot public opinion polls. Their most important work is not altering how people respond to polling questions. It’s altering how people question the world as they encounter it, discovering new questions that need asking to form the shape of freedom in a world not previously imagined.Before performing on the season premiere of MTV's TRL reboot, Quavo, Offset and Takeoff stopped by Beats 1 Radio to shoot the breeze with Zane Lowe.
When Zane asks what Migos are plotting on next, Offset has a surprising answer: movies. "My boy Quavo writing the scripts," he says. "He been in that kitchen trying to whip up."
"I'm a '90s baby and all my favorite movies got all my dope artists in 'em," Quavo says, before listing films they're inspired by. " Juice, Menace II Society, All the Snoop Dogg movies, Master P movies, I Got the Hook-Up, Baller Blockin' the Big Tymers movie. That's what we're doing right now; we're looking into the script."
Before they dip out, Zane sneaks in a question about Quavo and Travis Scott's long-awaited collab project, but there doesn't seem to be much of an update. "We still figuring it out with the music," says Quavo. "We got all that we wanna do, we just trying to get all the track listing."
Last week, we got a sneak peek of what Quavo and Travis have been working on when video surfaced of Quavo's "Butterfly Effect" remix.
Watch Migos talk with Zane Lowe below.There are a few turtle species currently listed as endangered in the Garden State, and the danger they face may be more present this time of year than any other.
It's prime nesting season for New Jersey's shelled friends, and females are on the hunt for an ideal spot to care for their unhatched young.
"All turtles start to be active during the summer, and most turtles run the risk of being hit by cars during the warmer months," said Brian Williamson, research scientist for The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor.
Diamondback terrapins - not one of the state's endangered species - are a special case because their presence on the roads, especially in Cape May County, is overwhelming.
"You go drive down a lot of these shore town roads and you'll just seem them crushed all over the place," said Chris Leone, owner of conservation group Garden State Tortoise.
Leone noted another threat to turtles is "human encroachment" — development of land that had previously been designated as a turtle's "home range."
Barrier fencing to keep turtles off the road. (Photo provided by The Wetlands Institute)
To put a dent in the number of road casualties, The Wetlands Institute and other local groups install and maintain tubing as a barrier between bodies of water and the road.
"We run it along the side of the road and stake it down, so that way the terrapins can't get underneath it, and actually, it's not possible for terrapins to climb over it," Williamson said. "It's not 100 percent effective, but it does reduce the numbers that we see on roadways."
The group also has a 38-mile route it travels to save road-traveling turtles, as well as the eggs of turtles that failed to survive the trip. The eggs can be incubated, and the gender of the young is decided by the temperature of the incubation.
If you see a turtle in the road and want to help, experts advice that you move the turtle in the direction it's headed.
The Christie administration on Monday proposed an indefinite ban on the harvesting of northern diamondback terrapins, which are captured and sold to oversea markets as food.
According to Ben Wurst, habitat program manager with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, exportation of these turtles from New Jersey and the U.S. has been on the rise in recent years.
"This administrative order is just and valid," he said. "We don't really even know the actual size of the population of terrapins in New Jersey, so why should we be harvesting them with no reporting, no permits, no nothing that's recorded?"
The state had partially closed the harvest season the past two years. A public hearing on the proposed shutdown of harvesting is scheduled for June 13 at the Stafford Township Municipal Building.
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation website lists the following turtles as endangered in New Jersey: Atlantic hawksbill turtle, Atlantic leatherback turtle, Atlantic loggerhead turtle, bog turtle, and the Kemp's ridley turtle.Transcript:
Rat: I hear you went to the Dodgers/Giants game. What was the score? Pig: Giants one. Dodgers two. Rat: How can they both win? Pig: They didn't. I said the Giants had one. Rat: And |
's a cake you make that, when assembled, makes each piece into an American flag. Perhaps it's a little gimmicky, but it's pretty cool when you see the entire thing come together.
This cake has been making the rounds on the internet for awhile now, but generally in the form of a recipe and a few assembly photos. Last year my sister Ali and cousin Carly made the cake and I recorded a video. Unfortunately, they ran out of frosting and couldn't finish the cake until the day of the 4th so I've been saving this video for an entire year. If you want to see how this cake is actually made and assembled, a few tips on how to expedite the process, and some of the problems you may run into, watch the video above. Here's what you'll need:
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Two vanilla cake mixes (although you might want to get a third just in case you screw something up or want to make a bigger cake), plus any ingredients those mixes call for. You can make the cake from scratch, but we tried it that way this year and it tasted like a sugary egg sponge. Using a mix is faster and it tasted much better to us.
(although you might want to get a third just in case you screw something up or want to make a bigger cake), plus any ingredients those mixes call for. You can make the cake from scratch, but we tried it that way this year and it tasted like a sugary egg sponge. Using a mix is faster and it tasted much better to us. Two containers of vanilla frosting. Any standard-sized store brand will do. (You won't need all the frosting in both containers, but you'll need more than one.)
. Any standard-sized store brand will do. (You won't need all the frosting in both containers, but you'll need more than one.) One bottle of red food dye and one bottle of blue food dye. It's a little troubling, but you'll use it all up.
and. It's a little troubling, but you'll use it all up. 8" or 9" cake pans, depending on how much cake you're going to get out of the cake mix you bought. (Most cake mixes can make two 9" cakes, so you should be fine either way.)
, depending on how much cake you're going to get out of the cake mix you bought. (Most cake mixes can make two 9" cakes, so you should be fine either way.) A 4" cookie tin top (or anything that can cut an even 4" circle out of cake).
Once you've got all that stuff, watch the video above to learn how to make it. It's much easier to see this cake come together than to imagine it based on written instructions, but if you want to march forward blindly (or just have a little bit of textual reference) you can follow the instructions below:
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Use one cake mix to make the red cake batter. (You'll probably need the whole bottle of red food dye to get the right color.) This should yield two red cakes. Split the other cake mix in half and mix one half normally (without food dye) and the other half with blue food dye. Bake the red cakes in your 8" or 9" cake pans (depending on how much you made. When those cakes are done, bake the white cake and the blue cake in the same pans (or at least two more pans that are the same size).
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Slice both red cakes horizontally through the middle to create four red layers. Slice the white cake in half just like the red cake. Place a small dollop of frosting on the platform where you're going to put the cake so the cake doesn't move around while you're assembling it. Once you've done that, add one of the red layers. Frost the red layer, being sure to remove any stray crumbs beforehand. Add one of the white layers, then frost that too. Add another red layer and frost it. Now you've got the base of your American flag.
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Take the blue layer—the only cake that wasn't sliced in half through the middle—and use the 4" cookie tin to cut a circle in the middle. You'll probably need to use a knife to fully remove the center, but however you get it out you can just set it aside—you're not going to need it. (This wouldn't be an American cake if we didn't waste part of it!) Place the blue layer (with the center missing) on top of the red layer you just frosted, then frost the inside of the blue layer (but not the top—we'll do that in a bit). From the remaining white layer of cake, use the 4" cookie tin to cut out a circle, then do the same from the red layer. All you need are the circles you cut out of each layer and you can discard the rest. Place the white circle on the bottom, frost the top of it, and then place the red circle on that frosted top. This will create a cake sandwich. Place the circular cake sandwich you just made inside the whole in the blue layer. Once you do this, your cake has been completely assembled. Frost the entire outside of the cake with the remaining frosting. Add any decorations you want, or just leave it blank and white so it'll be a surprise to whoever cuts into it first.
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As you can see from all the steps, the process is a little complicated. That said, this should only take you a little over an hour to make if you're using cake mixes. Enjoy, and happy fourth!Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Milton Nkosi says up to seven people were killed
Police in South Africa have opened fire during clashes with striking workers at the Marikana platinum mine, leaving at least 12 people dead, witnesses say.
Police opened fire after miners carrying machetes, clubs and spears refused to disarm, eyewitnesses said.
A witness told the BBC he saw 18 bodies on the ground after the shooting.
The mine, owned by Lonmin, has been at the centre of a violent pay dispute, exacerbated by tensions between two rival trade unions.
Ten people had previously died in violence since the strike began last Friday.
The striking miners had gathered on a rocky hill overlooking Marikana, the third-largest platinum mine in the world.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Several injured people were treated at the scene after the violence
Union leaders and police had tried in vain to disperse the crowd, some of whom said they were prepared to die on the hill.
During the clashes, missiles - thought to be either petrol bombs or grenades - were thrown at police, who responded by opening fire, eyewitnesses said.
Reports said a group of miners had approached police lines before the shooting began.
One witness, Molaole Montsho, of the South African news agency Sapa, told the BBC police had first used tear gas in an attempt to disperse the miners.
"The police threatened with them water from the water cannon, fired tear gas and stun grenades. And then in the commotion - we were about 800m (2,600ft) from the scene - we heard gunshots that lasted for about two minutes," he said.
He also said he had counted 18 bodies lying on the ground after the gunfire, but could not tell whether they were dead or alive.
'Illegal gatherings'
The police ministry acknowledged that there had been deaths, but defended the police's actions.
"To protest is a legal and constitutional right of any citizen," spokesman Zweli Mnisi told the AFP news agency in a text message.
"However, these rights do not imply that people should be barbaric, intimidating and hold illegal gatherings. We had a situation where people who were armed to the teeth attacked and killed other."
President Jacob Zuma said he was "shocked and dismayed at this senseless violence".
"We call upon the labour movement and business to work with government to arrest the situation before it deteriorates any further," said Mr Zuma.
"I have instructed law enforcement agencies to do everything possible to bring the situation under control and to bring the perpetrators of violence to book."
The recent violence was initially thought to have been triggered by a turf war between the long-established National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the newly-formed Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which is more militant.
However, the AMCU has since demanded a pay rise of 12,000 rand ($1,500; £930) per month.
Lonmin said in a statement on Thursday that the strike was illegal and that any striking workers who did not return to work by Friday would be sacked.
The company said it had missed six days of production as a result of the unrest, and estimated it would lose around 2% of its normal yearly output of saleable platinum. The company's share price dropped by more than 6% on Thursday on the London Stock Exchange.
The violence has shocked South Africans, with many finding the scenes reminiscent of how the apartheid regime dealt with protests, the BBC's Milton Nkosi in Johannesburg reports.As Donald Trump stumps through Middle America in his quest to “Make America Great Again,” his office buildings are already doing great.
His first large edifice, Trump Tower, is perched at 725 Fifth Ave. on the northeast corner of East 56th Street, right next to Tiffany & Co.
He and wife, Melania, rode down the escalator in its pink marble multifloor atrium to join the throngs waiting for his presidential announcement back in June.
The flagship Gucci store has a large piece of the retail, while Nike has its flagship in an adjoining building on East 57th Street. The tower’s office portion is just shy of full, and its residences have rare resales available, including a 57th-floor unit asking $18 million.
Trump resides in the top triplex while the Trump Organization offices are on the 26th floor, where his private office overlooks Central Park. One floor is now being used as a political floor, Trump said.
The office building was an early convert to green living with its sawtooth setbacks that provide each floor with a dozen corner offices and rippling trees for shade.
The entire 14,972-square-foot 17th floor and a 8,856-square-foot portion of the 15th floor have asking rents of $130 per foot.
Cushman & Wakefield teams lease both Trump Tower and the Trump Building at 40 Wall St. downtown.
Steps from the New York Stock Exchange, the 72-story Art Deco 40 Wall was the city’s tallest before a rival developer popped a spire onto the Chrysler Building. It still offers a commanding river-to-river view.
In 1995, Trump was delighted to best a Chinese group that had paid $10.8 million at an auction before being mired in unworkable renovation plans.
Trump saved them from themselves, kept a tax certiorari settlement and cut deals with their contractors to bring his final cost to around $1 million — and then renovated himself.
“I took it over at a low point,” Trump recalled.
Now worth around $600 million, the 1.35 million-square-foot building has a mere $160 million mortgage and a ground lease that can be extended to 2194.
According to CoStar, a handful of spaces are available, totaling 52,272 feet at asking rents from $37 to $46 per foot. A 21,000-square-foot retail space “has offers” and should be gobbled up as the nearby 70 Pine St. residential tower opens.
With Vornado, Trump also owns a stake in 1290 Sixth Ave. and the Bank of America tower in San Francisco.
Whether or not he is elected, you can be sure Trump will continue to develop great towers, golf courses, hotels, resorts and residences around the world. “They are all great,” Trump agreed. “That’s what I do.”
The Dept. of Finance has just supplied more information about the in rem actions filed against properties last month. A total of 370 properties are in the midst of being foreclosed and owe the city $110.5 million.
In Manhattan, there are 82 properties owing $27.05 million, for an average of $330,000.
Queens has 10 properties on the list that owe $7.5 million, but a high average lien of $748,000. Next up is the Bronx, with 116 properties owing $39.22 million, or $338,000 each. Brooklyn had the highest, at 162 properties owing $36.7 million with an average tab of $226,700.
The last time properties were foreclosed by the city was in 2008. Since then, critics have said that without that tool in place, certain property owners would not have an incentive to pay up, even while collecting rents from others. Prior to filing the in rem actions, in fact, 258 properties were redeemed by taxpayers.
There are also thousands of city properties on the lien list making some tax payments.
Owners have about 22 months to pay in full or enter into an installment agreement. The rest will be transferred to a nonprofit entity, Neighborhood Restore, before a permanent qualified owner is found. According to the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, its Third Party Transfer program rehabilitates buildings, maintains affordability and protects existing tenants from displacement while improving their living conditions and providing responsible long-term ownership.The Washington Post produced a “bombshell” scoop (as CNN described it) on Friday evening, alleging that Jared Kushner met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December and wanted to establish a “back channel” of communication with Russia. It also reported that Kushner had met with an executive of a sanctioned Russian bank.
None of that is new.
The meeting with Kislyak was reported nearly three months ago. The meeting with the banker was reported two months ago. And stories about a potential “back channel” were reported almost two months ago.
The only new piece of information is that Kushner may have discussed the back channel at the Kislyak meeting. That allegation comes from communications intercepted by American intelligence — and leaked to the media.
Presumably, Kushner’s name had to be “unmasked” in order to reveal who Kislyak was meeting. For the second time, then, rogue U.S. intelligence officials have broken the law to leak the name of a U.S. citizen to the media.
The irony is that the information tends to exonerate Kushner, and the Trump presidential campaign, of collusion with Russia during the 2016 elections. If Trump had been colluding with Russia already, no “back channel” would have been necessary. And the persistent, illegal leaks from U.S. intelligence officials show exactly why such a “back channel” would be entirely justified.
The president now has to evade spying by his own government.
There is nothing wrong or illegal about using diplomatic back channels. President Barack Obama used them all the time — often to dubious effect — to communicate with enemy nations like Iran. Trump was well within his rights to seek ways to communicate with Russia, with whom the young administration has had a hot-and-cold relationship.
The Post claims — citing “people familiar with the matter,” not necessarily official sources — that the Kushner meeting with Kislyak is now of “investigative interest.” But it would seem to be of no value to an investigation of campaign collusion.
The value to Trump’s political opponents, eager to save the Russia conspiracy theory, is clear.
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.Juan Carlos I ( Spanish: [xwaŋˈkaɾlos];[a] Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a former King of Spain, reigning from 1975 until his abdication in 2014.
Juan Carlos is the grandson of Alfonso XIII, the last king of Spain before the abolition of the monarchy in 1931 and the subsequent declaration of the Second Spanish Republic. Juan Carlos was born in Rome, Italy, during his family's exile. Generalísimo Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator who initiated the civil war by means of a coup d'état against the constitutional republic in 1936, took over the government of Spain after his victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939, and in 1947 Spain's status as a monarchy was affirmed and a law was passed allowing Franco to choose his successor. Juan Carlos's father, Juan, was the fourth child of Alfonso, who had renounced his claims to the throne in January 1941. Juan was seen by Franco to be too liberal and in 1969 was bypassed in favour of Juan Carlos as Franco's successor as head of state.[3]
Juan Carlos spent his early years in Italy and came to Spain in 1947 to continue his studies. After completing his secondary education in 1955, he began his military training and entered the General Military Academy at Zaragoza. Later, he attended the Naval Military School, the General Academy of the Air, and finished his tertiary education at the University of Madrid. In 1962, Juan Carlos married Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark in Athens. The couple had two daughters and a son together: Elena, Cristina, and Felipe. Due to Franco's declining health, Juan Carlos first began periodically acting as Spain's head of state in the summer of 1974. Franco died in November the following year and Juan Carlos became king on 22 November 1975, two days after Franco's death, the first reigning monarch since 1931; although his exiled father did not formally renounce his claims to the throne in favor of his son until 1977.
Expected to continue Franco's legacy, Juan Carlos, however, soon after his accession introduced reforms to dismantle the Francoist regime and begin the Spanish transition to democracy. This led to the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum, which re-established a constitutional monarchy. In 1981, Juan Carlos played a major role in preventing a coup that attempted to revert Spain to Francoist government in the King's name. In 2008, he was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America.[4] Hailed for his role in Spain's transition to democracy, the King and the monarchy's reputation began to suffer after controversies surrounding his family arose, exacerbated by an elephant-hunting trip he undertook during a time of financial crisis in Spain. In 2014, Juan Carlos, citing personal reasons, abdicated in favour of his son, who acceded to the throne as Felipe VI.
Early life [ edit ]
Juan Carlos was born to Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Rome, Italy, where his grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain and other members of the Spanish royal family lived in exile following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. He was baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias. He was given the name Juan Carlos after his father and maternal grandfather, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
His early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father and General Franco. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there after his father persuaded Franco to allow it.[5] He began his studies in San Sebastián and finished them in 1954 at the Instituto San Isidro in Madrid. He then joined the army, doing his officer training from 1955 to 1957 at the Military Academy of Zaragoza.
Juan Carlos has two sisters: Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz (born 1936); and Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (born 1939). He also had a younger brother, Alfonso.
Brother's death [ edit ]
Juan Carlos de Borbón, painting by, painting by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau (2014)
On the evening of Holy Thursday, 29 March 1956, Juan Carlos's younger brother Alfonso died in a gun accident at the family's home Villa Giralda in Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera. The Spanish Embassy in Portugal then issued the following official communiqué:[6]
Whilst His Highness Prince Alfonso was cleaning a revolver last evening with his brother, a shot was fired hitting his forehead and killing him in a few minutes. The accident took place at 20.30 hours, after the Infante's return from the Maundy Thursday religious service, during which he had received holy communion.
Alfonso had won a local junior golf tournament earlier in the day, then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school. It is alleged that Juan Carlos began playing with a gun that had apparently been given to Alfonso by General Franco.[7][8] Rumors appeared in newspapers that the gun had actually been held by Juan Carlos at the moment the shot was fired.
As they were alone in the room, it is unclear how Alfonso was shot, but according to Josefina Carolo, dressmaker to Juan Carlos's mother, Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and pulled the trigger, unaware that it was loaded. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, also said that Juan Carlos fired the pistol not knowing that it was loaded, and adding that the bullet ricocheted off a wall, hitting Alfonso in the face. Helena Matheopoulos, a Greek author who spoke with Juan Carlos's sister Pilar, said that Alfonso had been out of the room and when he returned and pushed the door open, the door knocked Juan Carlos in the arm, causing him to fire the pistol.[9][10]
Education [ edit ]
In 1957, Juan Carlos spent a year in the naval school at Marín, Pontevedra, and another in the Air Force school in San Javier in Murcia. In 1960–61, he studied Law, International Political Economy and Public Finance at Complutense University.[11] He then went to live in the Palace of Zarzuela and began carrying out official engagements.
Prince of Spain: 1969–1975 [ edit ]
Juan Carlos de Borbón in 1971
The dictatorial regime of Francisco Franco came to power during the Spanish Civil War, which pitted a government of democrats, anarchists, socialists, and communists, supported by the Soviet Union and international volunteers, against a rebellion of conservatives, monarchists, nationalists, and fascists, supported by both Hitler and Mussolini, with the rebels ultimately winning.[12] Franco's authoritarian government remained dominant in Spain until the 1960s. With Franco's increasing age, left-wing protests increased, while at the same time, the far right factions demanded the return of a hardline absolute monarchy. At the time, the heir to the throne of Spain was Juan de Borbón (Count of Barcelona), the son of the late Alfonso XIII.[13] However, General Franco viewed him with extreme suspicion, believing him to be a liberal who was opposed to his regime.[14]
Juan Carlos's first cousin Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz was also briefly considered as a candidate. Alfonso was known to be an ardent Francoist and would marry Franco's granddaughter, Doña María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco in 1972.[15]
Ultimately, Franco decided to skip a generation and name Juan de Borbón's son, Prince Juan Carlos, as his personal successor. Franco hoped the young prince could be groomed to take over the nation while still maintaining the ultraconservative nature of his regime.[13] In 1969, Juan Carlos was officially designated heir-apparent and was given the new title of Prince of Spain (not the traditional Prince of Asturias).[13] As a condition of being named heir-apparent, he was required to swear loyalty to Franco's Movimiento Nacional, which he did with little outward hesitation.[16] His choice was ratified by the Spanish parliament on 22 July 1969.[17]
Juan Carlos I of Spain on a 100 peseta coin from 1988
Juan Carlos met and consulted Franco many times while heir apparent and often took part in official and ceremonial state functions, standing alongside the dictator, much to the anger of hardline republicans and more moderate liberals, who hoped that Franco's death would bring in an era of reform. During 1969–1975, Juan Carlos publicly supported Franco's regime. Although Franco's health worsened during those years, whenever he did appear in public, from state dinners to military parades, it was in Juan Carlos's company. Juan Carlos continued to praise Franco and his government for the economic growth and positive changes in Spain.[18] However, as the years progressed, Juan Carlos began meeting secretly with political opposition leaders and exiles, who were fighting to bring liberal reform to the country. He also had secret conversations with his father over the telephone. Franco, for his part, remained largely oblivious to the prince's actions and denied allegations from his ministers and advisors that Juan Carlos was in any way disloyal to his vision of the regime.[19]
Royal Standard as Prince of Spain
During periods of Franco's temporary incapacity in 1974 and 1975, Juan Carlos was acting head of state. On 30 October 1975, Franco gave full control to Juan Carlos; he died three weeks later, on 20 November.[13] On 22 November, two days after Franco's death, the Cortes Generales proclaimed Juan Carlos King of Spain. In his address to the Cortes, Juan Carlos spoke of three factors: historical tradition, national laws, and the will of the people, and in so doing referred to a process dating back to the Civil War of 1936–39.[13] On 27 November, a Mass of the Holy Spirit was celebrated in the church of San Jerónimo el Real in Madrid to inaugurate his reign. He opted not to call himself Juan III or Carlos V, but Juan Carlos I.[13][20] Juan Carlos is reported to have been pressured by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to personally tell Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who had traveled to Spain for Franco's funeral, not to attend his coronation.[21]
Restoration of the monarchy [ edit ]
Royal trips of King Juan Carlos I from 1975 until 2010.
Juan Carlos's accession met with relatively little parliamentary opposition. Some members of the Movimiento Nacional voted against recognising him, and more against the 1976 Law for Political Reform. But even most Movimiento members supported both measures.[22] Juan Carlos quickly instituted reforms, to the great displeasure of Falangist and conservative (monarchist) elements, especially in the military, who had expected him to maintain the authoritarian state. In July 1976, Juan Carlos dismissed prime minister Carlos Arias Navarro, who had been attempting to continue Francoist policies in the face of the king's attempts at democratisation.[23] He instead appointed Adolfo Suárez, a former leader of the Movimiento Nacional, as prime minister, who would go on to win the following year's election and become the first democratically elected leader of the new regime.[24]
Further legitimacy was restored to Juan Carlos's position on 14 May 1977, when his father (whom many monarchists had recognized as the legitimate, exiled King of Spain during the Franco era) formally renounced his claim to the throne and recognized his son as the sole head of the Spanish Royal House, transferring to him the historical heritage of the Spanish monarchy, thus making Juan Carlos both de facto and de jure king in the eyes of the traditional monarchists.[25]
On 20 May 1977, the leader of the only recently legalized Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Felipe González, accompanied by Javier Solana, visited Juan Carlos in the Zarzuela Palace. The event represented a key endorsement of the monarchy from Spain's political left, who had been historically republican.[26] Left-wing support for the monarchy grew when the Communist Party of Spain was legalized shortly thereafter, a move Juan Carlos had pressed for, despite enormous right-wing military opposition at that time, during the Cold War.[23]
On 15 June 1977, Spain held its first post-Franco democratic elections. In 1978, the government promulgated a new constitution that acknowledged Juan Carlos as rightful heir of the Spanish dynasty and king; specifically, Title II, Section 57 asserted Juan Carlos's right to the throne of Spain by dynastic succession in the Bourbon tradition, as "the legitimate heir of the historic dynasty" rather than as the designated successor of Franco.[27][28] The Constitution was passed by the democratically elected Constituent Cortes, ratified by the people in a referendum (6 December) and then signed into law by the King before a solemn meeting of the Cortes.[23]
1981 coup d'êtat attempt [ edit ]
There was an attempted military coup, known as 23-F, on 23 February 1981, when the Cortes were seized by members of the Guardia Civil in the parliamentary chamber. During the coup, the King, in the uniform of the Captain-General of the Spanish armed forces, gave a public television broadcast calling for unambiguous support for the legitimate democratic government. The broadcast is believed to have been a major factor in foiling the coup. The coup leaders had promised many of their potential supporters that they were acting in the King's name and with his approval, but were unable to demonstrate either, and the broadcast – coming just after midnight on the night of the coup – definitively showed the King's opposition to the coup makers.[5]
When Juan Carlos became king, Communist leader Santiago Carrillo nicknamed him Juan Carlos the Brief, predicting that the monarchy would soon be swept away with the other remnants of the Franco era.[29] After the collapse of the attempted coup, however, in an emotional statement, Carrillo remarked: "Today, we are all monarchists."[30] Public support for the monarchy among democrats and leftists before 1981 had been limited; following the king's handling of the coup it increased significantly.[31]
Later role in Spanish politics [ edit ]
The victory of the PSOE in 1982 under González marked the effective end of the King's active involvement in Spanish politics. González would govern for over a decade, and his administration helped consolidate Spanish democracy and thus maintained the stability of the nation.
On paper, Juan Carlos retained fairly extensive reserve powers. He was the guardian of the constitution, and was responsible for ensuring that it was obeyed. In practice, since the passage of the Constitution (and especially since 1982) he took a mostly non-partisan and representative role, acting almost entirely on the advice of the government. However, he commanded great moral authority as an essential symbol of the country's unity.
A 5000 Spanish peseta note with the image of King Juan Carlos.
Under the constitution, the King has immunity from prosecution in matters relating to his official duties. This is so because every act of the King as such (and not as a citizen) needs to be undersigned by a government official, thus making the undersigner responsible instead of the king. The honour of the Royal Family is specifically protected from insult by the Spanish Penal Code. Under this protection, Basque independentist Arnaldo Otegi[32] and cartoonists from El Jueves were tried and punished.
The King gives an annual speech to the nation on Christmas Eve. He is the commander-in-chief of the Spanish armed forces.
In July 2000, Juan Carlos was the target of an enraged protester when former priest Juan María Fernández y Krohn, who had once attacked Pope John Paul II, breached security and attempted to approach the king.[33]
When the media asked Juan Carlos in 2005 if he would endorse the bill legalising same-sex marriage that was then being debated in the Cortes Generales, he answered "Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica" ("I am the King of Spain, not of Belgium") – a reference to King Baudouin of Belgium, who had refused to sign the Belgian law legalising abortion.[34] The King gave his Royal Assent to Law 13/2005 on 1 July 2005; the law legalising same-sex marriage was gazetted in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 2 July, and came into effect on 3 July.[35]
According to a poll in the newspaper El Mundo in November 2005, 77.5% of Spaniards thought Juan Carlos was "good or very good", 15.4% "not so good", and only 7.1% "bad or very bad". Even so, the issue of the monarchy re-emerged on 28 September 2007 as photos of the king were burnt in public in Catalonia by small groups of protesters wanting the restoration of the Republic.[36]
The King (left of centre, in grey suit with red necktie) standing with the leaders of all the other Iberoamerican Nations present at the XVIII Ibero-American Summit
2007 Ibero-American Summit [ edit ]
In November 2007, at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago de Chile, during a heated exchange, Juan Carlos interrupted Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, saying, "¿Por qué no te callas?" ("Why don't you shut up?"). Chávez had been interrupting the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, while the latter was defending his predecessor and political opponent, José María Aznar, after Chávez had referred to Aznar as a fascist and "less human than snakes". The King shortly afterwards left the hall when President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua accused Spain of intervention in his country's elections and complained about some Spanish energy companies working in Nicaragua.[37] This was an unprecedented diplomatic incident and a rare display of public anger by the King.[38]
Botswana hunting trip [ edit ]
In April 2012, Juan Carlos faced criticism for making an elephant-hunting trip in Botswana.[39][40][41] Spaniards found out about the trip only after the King injured himself and a special aircraft was sent to bring him home.[42] Spanish officials stated that the expenses of the trip were not paid by taxpayers or by the palace, but by Mohamed Eyad Kayali, a businessman of Syrian origin. Cayo Lara Moya of the United Left party said the king's trip "demonstrated a lack of ethics and respect toward many people in this country who are suffering a lot"[41] while Tomás Gómez of the Socialist party said Juan Carlos should choose between "public responsibilities or an abdication".[43] In April 2012, Spain's unemployment was at 23 percent and nearly 50 percent for young workers.[44] El País estimated the total cost of a hunting trip at 44,000 euros, about twice the average annual salary in Spain.[44] A petition called for the king to resign from his position as honorary president of the Spanish branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature.[43] The WWF itself responded by asking for an interview with the King to resolve the situation.[45] In July 2012, WWF-Spain held a meeting in Madrid and decided with 226 votes to 13 to remove the king from the honorary presidency.[46][47] He later apologised for the hunting trip.[48]
Family and private life [ edit ]
Juan Carlos was married in Athens on 14 May 1962, to Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Paul of Greece, first in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Church of St. Denis, followed by a Greek Orthodox ceremony at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. She converted from her Greek Orthodox religion to Roman Catholicism.
They have two daughters and one son:
Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo (born 20 December 1963 at Our Lady of Loreto Clinic in Madrid)
Infanta Cristina (born 13 June 1965 at Our Lady of Loreto Clinic in Madrid)
King Felipe VI of Spain (born 30 January 1968 at Our Lady of Loreto Clinic in Madrid)
Juan Carlos is also the alleged illegitimate father of Alberto Sola, born in Barcelona in 1956, of María A. L. A, born in Catalonia in 1964,[49] and of a Belgian woman, Ingrid Sartiau, who has filed a paternity suit but complete sovereign immunity had prevented the suit prior to his abdication.[50]
Iñaki Urdangarin, who married Juan Carlos's daughter Cristina in 1997, became embroiled in a financial scandal in 2011 and was convicted of tax evasion in 2017.[51]
In 1972, Juan Carlos, a keen sailor, competed in the Dragon class event at the Olympic Games, finishing 15th. In their summer holidays, the whole family meets in Marivent Palace (Palma de Mallorca) and the Fortuna yacht, where they take part in sailing competitions. The king has manned the Bribón series of yachts. In winter, the family often go skiing in Baqueira-Beret and Candanchú (Pyrenees). At present, his hobbies include classic sailing boats.[52]
Juan Carlos also hunts bears; in October 2004, he angered environmental activists by killing nine bears, one of which was a pregnant female, in central Romania.[53] It was alleged by the Russian regional authorities that in August 2006 Juan Carlos shot a drunken tame bear (Mitrofan the Bear) during a private hunting trip to Russia; the Office of the Spanish Monarchy denied this claim.[54]
Juan Carlos is a member of the World Scout Foundation[55] and of the Sons of the American Revolution. Juan Carlos I is also a black belt in karate.[56]
Health [ edit ]
Royal monogram
A benign 17-19mm tumour was removed under general anaesthetic from King Juan Carlos's right lung in an operation carried out in the "Hospital Clínic" of Barcelona in May 2010. The operation followed an annual check-up, and Juan Carlos was not expected to need any further treatment.
In April 2012, the King underwent surgery for a triple fracture of the hip at the San Jose Hospital, Madrid, following a fall on a private elephant-hunting trip to Botswana.[57] He also underwent a hip operation in September 2013 at Madrid's Quirón hospital.[58] In April 2018, Juan Carlos was admitted to hospital for a surgery on his right knee.[59]
Budget of the royal house [ edit ]
After the King's son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarín was accused of corruption (the "Urdangarín affair"), the King in 2011 for the first time detailed the yearly royal budget of 8.3 million euros, excluding expenses such as the electricity bill, paid by the State.[60][61]
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the tech industry from several years. He was the co-founder of the company which founded Netscape Navigator. Later on, he founded Andreessen-Horowitz VC firm with his long-time business partner Ben Horowitz. The firm has invested in a lot of high-profile start-ups like Facebook, GitHub, Pinterest and Twitter.
The debate was sparked when Andreessen said that it is morally wrong to deny the poorest the right of accessing the Internet. His tweet was related to Indian telecom authority's decision to prohibit any differentially priced tariff plan or zero rated plans. That meant programs like Facebook's free basics would not be allowed to operate in India.
FB's 'free' Internet for India not so free - a walled garden where FB decides which app could be free. @pmarcahttps://t.co/GOGTgMmU9P — Vikram Chachra (@lemonandice) February 10, 2016
Ben Evans, a tech blogger, and analyst at Andreessen-Horowitz, said that from 1947 India's growth has been slow because of misguided government policy. But how they clubbed India's post-independence economic growth rate to the anti-colonial movement that led to India's independence from the British in 1947 is unclear. Silicon Valley is often criticised for being blind to cultural sensitivities of the customers of their mammoth tech products and networks and Andreessen's comment will go into history as a textbook case.
. @vijayshekhar@jackerhack Seriously WOW coming marc n Ben. Threw me off the chair. Really sad. pic.twitter.com/9hnRLZTsIf — Krishnan V (@krishnanv) February 10, 2016
Later, Andreessen retracted saying he opposed to colonialism in any country.
And for the record, I am opposed to colonialism, in any country. https://t.co/3ommgZssMm — Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) February 10, 2016
A lot of Indian Twitter users reacted to this tweet by offering various responses.
TIL being blocked by @pmarca is a badge of honour. https://t.co/LrRgiIjHKz — Kiran Jonnalagadda (@jackerhack) February 10, 2016
Meanwhile, users on reddit India has started discussing the tweet and Marc Andreessen in a thread.A large Scandinavian hotel chain is to banish pork from breakfast at the behest of the group owner’s wife — a globally active climate change campaigner.
With over 150 hotels and resorts across Norway and Sweden, Nordic Choice Hotels is a significant player in the Scandinavian market, but has lost faith in the power of free choice, forcing their guests to go green in the morning. The change comes just weeks after the United Nations pushed a report claiming to have linked bacon and sausages with cancer.
The chain has been steadily greening their food choices for nearly a decade, introducing Organic breakfast alternatives in 2007, and banning palm oil from their kitchens. Now pork products will be removed from the breakfast menu altogether, as the chain embraces a “new breakfast concept”. Although it is not clear what precisely will now replace bacon and sausages, it is understood to be a “healthy, plant-based” alternative.
No other meats have yet been affected, although the selection of cereals and cheese offered will also be reduced to help fight climate change, reports TheLocal.se.
Behind the move is the wife of chain owner Petter Stordalen. Gunhild Stordalen, the CEO of the entirely innocent sounding GreeNudge foundation has helped formulate the new breakfast. Sounding remarkably like a United Nations body itself, GreeNudge describes itself as working for “a quicker transition to a sustainable society”.
Cached in the friendly language of modern corporatism, GreeNudge helpfully explains: “A nudge means a friendly, little push in green direction. GreeNudge is an organisation with the goal to initiate, fund and promote research into behavioural change as a climate measure”.
Taking away the traditional Scandinavian hotel breakfast of crispy pan-fried bacon, chipolata sausages, and scrambled eggs from the customers of Nordic Choice may be seen as a great achievement for the foundation, and in line with their mission statement.
One Nordic Choice employee has reported some customers to be “upset” by the change, but a manager for the chain explained the move was all about ending traditional breakfast. He said: “We want to challenge and break down many of the traditional conventions around hotels”.
Pork products are under increasing pressure accross Europe. Many fast food outlets no longer sell bacon to cater for Halal tastes, and as reported by Breitbart London last month pork foods may be banned in workplace kitchens and eateries out of “good etiquette” towards Muslims.
The new guidelines by the CoExist House interfaith group could also spell the end for the boozy Christmas office party, as it advises serving alcohol at corporate events can hurt the feelings of members of particular faiths.
Follow Oliver Lane on Twitter: Follow @Oliver_Lane or e-mail to: olane@breitbart.comSaudi Arabia’s Cabinet has approved a new anti-terrorism draft law that criminalizes acts that disturb public order, defame the reputation of the state or threaten the kingdom’s unity.
A rights activist and a rights lawyer decreed the law as too broad, saying that besides terrorists, it could be used to target civil society activists calling for democratic reforms. They spoke anonymously for fear of retribution.
The Saudi Council of Ministers is comprised of nearly two dozen members all appointed by King Abdullah. The meeting Monday was chaired by his likely successor, Crown Prince Salman, who is also deputy premier and the defense minister.
Any legislation approved by the council must be ratified by the king.
State-owned Saudi media released details of the law online after the Cabinet meeting.
Last Update: Tuesday, 17 December 2013 KSA 23:17 - GMT 20:17A new nationwide study has unearthed the huge hidden potential of tapping into salty aquifers as a way to relieve the growing pressure on freshwater supplies across the United States.
Digging into data from the country’s 60 major aquifers, the U.S. Geological Survey reports that the amount of brackish — or slightly salty — groundwater is more than 35 times the amount of fresh groundwater used in the United States each year.
Supplies exist in every state except New Hampshire and Rhode Island, with the largest reserves in the central U.S. In the Golden State, the California Coastal Basin and Central Valley aquifers together contain close to 7 billion acre-feet of brackish water, which if desalinated could provide enough water for the state’s needs for the next 160 years.
Related Articles See all that water flowing into the ocean? California bill aims to save it
New scale to rank atmospheric river storms like hurricanes Untreated brackish water can replace fresh water for some uses, but would have to be desalinated for municipal use. A recent study by the Oakland-based Pacific Institute found that the costs of doing that were competitive with other methods of adding water capacity.
“This is a big leap for the water sector,” said Newsha Ajami, director of urban water policy at Stanford University’s Water in the West program. “It’s amazing we have so much capacity now to map and measure.”
Finding evidence of more than 800 times the amount of brackish groundwater the U.S. currently uses, the study provides a starting point for more in-depth local analyses.
“The use of brackish groundwater has been growing since the 1970s,” said Jennifer Stanton, a USGS hydrologist and lead author of the study. “Our goal was to determine the data gaps so we know enough about the resource to use it sustainably.”
Brackish water contains dissolved minerals ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 milligrams per liter. But the salinity doesn’t matter too much for the mining and oil and gas industries, which have been the biggest users of untreated brackish groundwater. The salty cousin of fresh water also finds favor with many livestock species that can drink brackish water in the lower concentration range, as well as with carefully managed salt-tolerant crops. When it comes to using brackish water for municipal use, however, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency follows higher standards that entail treatments to remove salts.
Texas, California and Florida lead the pack with the most number of brackish groundwater desalination plants.
In the Bay Area, the Alameda County Water District has one such facility in Newark that has been desalting about 14,000 acre-feet of water annually since 2003 — about 40 percent of the water supplied by the district. There are currently two dozen brackish desalination facilities in California producing a total of 80,000 acre-feet of water annually. That’s a year’s worth of water for 400,000 people. The dry state of Texas has 46 inland brackish desalination facilities producing similar amounts — and hopes to develop more.
“The thing that surprised me is just how much interest there is in obtaining updated information about brackish groundwater resources,” Stanton said.
The report is expected to spark more discussion because it lays out the depths at which the water exists, salt concentrations, water volumes and aquifer features that make them easy or difficult to tap.
Although California just had one of its wettest years on record, experts warn that the situation could quickly change. “Yes, we have had one year of flooding and a lot of rain, but it doesn’t mean that in a year or two we’re not going to go back to drought conditions,” Ajami said.
That means local and regional water agencies must continue to develop a variety of water supplies to make themselves more secure during the drought years, said Rich Mills, chief of the water recycling and desalination section at the California Department of Water Resources. “You want to make sure different regions have diverse water supply portfolios, which means that if one falls short, you have another one to rely on,” added Ajami.
In that light, water agencies will continue to look to California’s vast salty aquifers to make their overall water supply more resilient, Mills said. Three new brackish desalination plants are under construction in the state, and at least 17 more are being planned — one of which will be located in an unincorporated area of Monterey County just north of Marina.
All of the other projects will be located in Southern California. Also, an alliance of Bay Area water agencies has plans for a large plant in Pittsburg, with the potential to desalt brackish water from the Delta and deliver 23,000 acre-feet of water a year.
Despite the interest, however, it is unclear how sustainable it will be to pump the vast resource because of real concerns about groundwater overuse and land subsidence — the Central Valley being a prime example. Aquifers in the highly productive agricultural region have a lot of clay. “When we take water out of layers that are mostly clay, they squish and you lose the pore space forever,” said Rob Jackson, an earth scientist at Stanford.
“People in the Central Valley are using groundwater from deeper and deeper layers,” added Jackson, who published a California groundwater map last year. “If we’re going to use
groundwater, we’ve got to think about where the subsidence will occur and pump groundwater from somewhere else.”
Recharging the aquifers is also an issue. Deeper layers contain ancient water that can take hundreds of thousands of years to refresh naturally, so using the resource would be highly unsustainable.
“If the agencies are going to be pumping brackish water out, they also have to manage how it will recharge over time,” said Rich Juricich, principal engineer in charge of sustainable groundwater at the California Department of Water Resources.
One of the ways toward groundwater sustainability is to replenish aquifers artificially by injecting water into them or by allowing water to trickle down through ponds and trenches. “There’s an opportunity to do more managed recharge in California to capture some of the runoff water and store it underground for use and also to recharge the aquifers,” Jackson said.
The USGS report, he and other experts say, is a promising start in pinpointing areas where brackish water could become a sustainable resource for many communities.
“There’s a lot of usable groundwater under our feet in California,” Jackson said, “as long as we’re careful about where and how we use it.”The United States is losing its competitive edge.
So says a new report from the World Economic Forum which found the U.S. slipping in dozens of areas compared with just a few years ago. Perhaps most troubling is the conclusion that since 2008, the United States has slid from No. 1 in the world in "global competitiveness" to No. 7 this year.
Out-ranking America are: Switzerland, Singapore, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany.
Sure, it's just a number. But the WEF's ranking takes into account a broad range of factors, from debt to corruption to regulation to red tape to education to health care.
And virtually across the board, the U.S. is falling behind.
"The slide in the global competitiveness report is almost certainly due to... policy-related factors," James Gwartney, economics professor at Florida State University, told FoxNews.com. Gwartney, with dozens of other institutes, has co-authored a separate report on economic freedom set to be unveiled next week.
The World Economic Forum study reflected both the slack in the U.S. economy from the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, and the increasing anxiety over the nation's skyrocketing debt, among other factors.
In the latest report, the U.S. ranked at number 140 out of 144 on its government deficit as a percentage of GDP. The U.S. ranked at 97 four years ago.
The ranking on "public trust in politicians" has likewise fallen, from 41 to 54. The ranking on government wastefulness fell from 67 to 76. On government regulation, it fell from 50 to 76.
Gwartney said it's unclear whether the U.S. can turn things around anytime soon. With the debt hitting $16 trillion this month and no plan in place to actually reduce it, Gwartney called that figure "nothing more than future taxes" that will eventually have to be paid.
The fiscal outlook for the country is decidedly dim, with a raft of tax hikes and spending cuts set to kick in at the end of the year without congressional intervention.
U.S. policymakers face a difficult choice -- between economic and budgetary peril. Lawmakers could decide to stall the spending cuts and tax hikes, to the detriment of the budget deficit. Or they could let them go into effect, to the detriment of economic growth.
"I think it's going to be difficult to do anything better than hold the line (on the U.S. global ranking)," Gwartney said. "There's not much evidence that either political party is serious about attempting to reduce government expenditures and reduce the size of the debt."
President Obama, in his nomination acceptance speech last week, reiterated the goal of reducing the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years. Yet speaker after speaker at the convention slammed GOP running mate Paul Ryan for his plan to tackle entitlements -- and the deficit -- by overhauling Medicare.
Republicans at their convention in Tampa hammered the debt issue, displaying two giant debt clocks inside the convention halls and calling for fiscal discipline. Yet Democrats have criticized the GOP ticket for proposing a new wave of tax cuts while declining to detail which tax loopholes they would close -- which Democrats warn could exacerbate the country's budget problems.
There is some good news for the U.S. in the latest World Economic Forum study. The U.S. is still in the top tier for categories dealing with innovation. And, according to the study, the availability of airline seats in the U.S. is second to none.Chelsea have pulled off an incredible transfer coup by agreeing an initial fee of £58million with Real Madrid for Alvaro Morata.
In a statement on their website on Wednesday night, Chelsea confirmed Telegraph Sport’s earlier report that a deal with Madrid has been agreed and Morata will now discuss personal terms and undergo a medical.
Chelsea did not reveal the size of the fee, but Telegraph Sport understands the Premier League champions will pay an initial £58m before add-ons.
That is almost £20m less than the initial £75m Manchester United paid for Romelu Lukaku, who had been Chelsea’s top target.
Sources close to the deal believe Chelsea have struck a superb deal for Spain international Morata in the current transfer market, where fees have spiralled out of control.
Morata had agreed a deal to join Manchester United Credit: Reuters
The £58m will still eclipse Chelsea’s previous record spend of £50m on Fernando Torres in 2011. It is believed the add-ons could see the final fee for Morata rise towards £70m if Chelsea achieve their targets with him.
Morata travelled with Real for their US tour, but will now break away from that to discuss personal terms with Chelsea and undergo a medial.
Having initially left their options open following their failure to land Lukaku, the Blues made a breakthrough in negotiations with Real over Morata on Wednesday and hope to conclude the deal swiftly.
The 24-year-old has been keen on the prospect of working with Conte at Chelsea since the Blues tried to sign him last summer.
"I am very happy, God willing, tomorrow I will be at Chelsea, a club that has always wanted me," Morata told Spanish newspaper Marca on Wednesday night.
"I'm not disappointed about anything, I've won four titles here [with Real Madrid], but now I only think of putting on the Chelsea shirt.
"I want to grow up, if I didn't I wouldn't have left. I'd like to thank Zidane and wish him luck for the upcoming season.
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Morata scored 15 La Liga goals for Real last season, but wants to move to become the number one striker after acting as back-up to Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
He had agreed to join United, but they instead hijacked Chelsea’s interest in Lukaku which left Morata in limbo.
The arrival of Morata will be welcomed by several members of the Chelsea squad, who have become concerned at the precarious situation the club find themselves in.
Chelsea announced that head coach Antonio Conte had been rewarded for his fine first season with a pay rise, which underlined the commitment that the Italian will start this campaign in charge.
But the absence of any extension means there remains no long-term guarantees over Conte’s future, which has prompted speculation among players that he might only be in charge for a further 12 months at most.
There was also some dismay that Chelsea left for their pre-season tour of China and Singapore without any significant new signings in the squad and Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic left behind.
Defender Antonio Rudiger could meet up with the Chelsea squad in Singapore after his holiday, but midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko will continue his recovery from injury at the club’s Cobham training ground.
Chelsea were keen on Real Madrid right-back Danilo Credit: Getty images
Clinching the signature of Morata will certainly improve the mood within the squad and among Chelsea’s fans.
With Real right-back Danilo, who Conte had been keen to sign, set to move to Manchester City, Chelsea will try again to reach an agreement with Juventus over left-back Alex Sandro.
Negotiations have been slow regarding Sandro, despite Chelsea indicating a willingness to pay £60m for the Brazilian.
Italian sources have claimed the sale of Leonardo Bonucci means Juve will not sell Sandro and will instead offer him a new contract, but that has not yet put off Conte and Chelsea.
Juve’s interest in midfielder Nemanja Matic adds another dimension to Chelsea’s pursuit of Sandro.My last six nights have looked like this: camping in the truck, camping in the tent, Great American Beer Festival shenanigans, local brewery Shenanigans, GABF shenanigans, and then camping above 10,000 feet in the snow. Needless to say I was a bit knackered after all that adventuring and drinking — IT’S WHAT DUDES DO!
During those six days I trained twice, not including hiking and the inevitable core workout that comes from off-roading for hours at a time. While the first time was at CrossFit Lodo on Friday, the second time was at the gym hotel (which was equipped with machines and dumbbells up to 100 pounds). This is a short guide on training with limited time or equipment, but is mostly focused on being in a different location (as opposed to trying to get a workout at home).
The Basics
Think about what the foundations of your fitness or performance entail: strength, mobility, and endurance. If you’re exclusively a strength athlete, that will include power and swollertrophy. High intensity conditioning and muscular endurance would be relevant to an endurance athlete, fitness competitor, or even “applied fitness” trainees (a term we use in FIT to signify someone who requires fitness for their job, like a fireman or soldier). Mobility is inherently important to all trainees and provides the capacity to get strong and muscular. At the very least your skewed training schedule will give you time to work on your mobility, and that may be enough for some people. You can create a workout that fits your training style, but you can also do something simple to “get the blood flowing”. Increasing the heart rate and moving through a full range of motion — not necessarily at high intensity — can aid recovery, relieve stress (especially if you’re on a busy work trip), and provide a positive stimulus to fuel regular training after returning home.
Bring as much as you can.
If you literally won’t have any equipment, you can improvise with what is available to you. For example, chairs can be dipped on, stepped on, or used to elevate the feet for push-ups. Otherwise bring as much small pieces of equipment as you can. Light bands and a jump rope can easily fit into a carry-on bag for band pulls and very light conditioning. Otherwise bring your mobility gear and work on your problem areas.
What’s the goal?
Now that you clarified what type of trainee you are and have acquired available equipment, what is your goal for the session? If it’s just to get the blood flowing, just jump rope and do some calisthenics. If you are a strength and power athlete, then use speed and explosive work. If you are a general trainee, then use assistance exercises to aid the strength lifts or catch a contagious, World Health Organization-worrying pump. If you are an endurance, applied fitness, or conditioning trainee, then use the light weights and your body weight for higher rep sets for muscular endurance or go ahead and get a high intensity conditioning workout.
Explosive Work
This is probably the most under-utilized style of training in limited environments, yet the most effective. If the dumbbells only go up to 50 pounds, then press them (with a neutral, palm-in grip) for speed doubles or triples on the minute. Hold the dumbbells and do speed squats or deads. Do three pull-ups on the minute as fast as you can. Use different jumps like squat jumps (i.e. preceding the jump with a full squat), high jumps (i.e. jumping as high as you can), broad jumps (for horizontal distance), triple jumps (i.e. same as broad jumps, but using the landing of the first and second jumps as an immediate stretch reflex for subsequent jumps), or bounds (i.e. jumping for horizontal or vertical distance off one foot at a time. In the past I’ve alternated jumps with presses on 30 second intervals.
Keep the speed or plyometric structure simple and do two or three reps on a 30 to 60 second clock and do 5 to 10 sets. The idea of timed plyo work is to demand that the muscle fibers contract as fast as possible while fatigued — the fact that they are doing it in a fatigued state is the thing that they aren’t adapted to (i.e the adaptive stress). Speed work will help improve rate of force development and neuromuscular efficiency.
Assistance
If you’re tired, unmotivated, injured, or have crusty mobility from sitting all day and don’t want to jump around, just hit some assistance exercises that will either push your main lifts or give you some maximum jackage. The former may include dumbbell or banded good mornings, weighted lunges, or even holding a heavy dumbbell and do Zercher or front squats. The latter could include a few sets of dumbbell bench or press, triceps press downs, pull-ups, dumbbell rows, or weighted back extensions. Oh, and curls. Do at least one thousand repetitions of your choice curl and then go out of your way to tell everyone about it (i.e. co-workers, hotel employees, children in the swimming pool, etc.). It’s the curl that will give you the most bang for your buck since it hits both heads of the biceps and incorporates the brachioradialis of the forearm.
Notice that most of these exercises are compound movements that will improve the main lifts, but still improve muscularity. Realistically you could forego all of this advice and just do shirtless chest flies in front of the mirror while chewing gum, but I digress.
You may also remember “When In Doubt…Train Your Back“, a post I wrote about training the back side when short on time. But don’t forget other necessary exercises like farmer’s walks and side planks. Having a whacky schedule is the perfect opportunity to do pre-hab exercises or improve your grip.
Conditioning
It’s really not hard to get a solid high intensity conditioning workout in with limited equipment. In FIT I give plenty of examples, but aim to use compound, multi-joint exercises that use a lot of musculature to use a lot of energy to create a deficit in substrates for a quality adaptive stress. If that sentence doesn’t make sense, then read through FIT because we break it down Crayola style there.
Just Do It
The biggest issue with training during a weird schedule is actually getting off your ass and doing it. On Saturday, we were hungover and tired. In a few hours we were going to jump back into the fray at the GABF, but I decided to get a quick workout in the hotel facility. After a bit of jump rope, dumbbell bench, dumbbell front squat, machine rows, banded good mornings, and back extensions, we felt much better (I did press and weighted pull-ups the day before, otherwise I would have pressed the DBs and done the pull-ups). When you’re on a trip that has halted your training, strung you out, and possibly left you hungover, a quick muscle contraction workout will help immensely."Piggy" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their second studio album, The Downward Spiral (1994). It was written by Trent Reznor, co-produced by Flood, and recorded at Le Pig (10050 Cielo Drive). It was released in December 1994 as a promotional single from the album. The song is known for being Reznor's only live drumming performance.
Recording [ edit ]
Reznor wrote the song after the extended play Broken (1992) was completed. It was initially a poem which he expanded into a full song. He later moved to a house famous for its status as the site of the gruesome Tate murders, on July 4, 1992, and created a studio space there, calling it Le Pig.[1] When asked about the building where production on the song was done, Reznor responded that he chose it merely for space considerations, claiming not to have been aware of the house's connection to the murders until after he chose it. "I looked at a lot of places", Reznor said. "And this just happened to be the one I liked most."[2]
The studio name, Le Pig, alludes to the word "PIG" written with Tate's blood on the front door by the murderers, itself a reference to The Beatles' song "Piggies". This incident introduced Reznor to their 1968 album, the White Album, which included "Piggies".[3]
The frantic drumming on the outro is Reznor's only attempt at performing drums on the record, and one of the few "live" drum performances on the album. He had stated that the recording was from him testing the microphone setup in studio, but he liked the sound too much not to include it.[4]
Music and lyrics [ edit ]
This is the first NIN song to use the line "nothing can stop me now", which concludes the track. The phrase appears often in Reznor's later writing, making appearances in the songs "Ruiner", "Big Man with a Gun", "La Mer", "We're in This Together", and "Sunspots".[5][6][7][8][9][10]
A leitmotif used throughout the album first appears on "Piggy". Pictured here is the pattern (transposed to A) on the album's title track
Quiet and slow overall, the song's tempo is 65 BPM, and played in the key of B. It is also the first track on the album to use "The Downward Spiral leitmotif", albeit on the organ. It also appears on Closer on piano, the title track on acoustic guitar, and A Warm Place with the acoustic guitar part reversed. [11][not in citation given]
Release and reception [ edit ]
"Piggy" was released as a promotional single on The Downward Spiral in December 1994. The single was not labeled as a halo number, and has no music video created in promotion of the song. It reached number 20 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, making the album fly upwards to number 62.[12] "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)," a remix of "Piggy" produced by Rick Rubin and featuring Dave Navarro on guitar, appears on The Downward Spiral's accompanying remix album, Further Down the Spiral (1995).[13] The subtitle is the "nothing can stop me now" lyric.
Personnel [ edit ]
Trent Reznor – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, piano, organ, synthesizers, drums, percussion
Track listing [ edit ]
US promotional CD single[14]
Charts [ edit ]
Chart (1995) Peak
position US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[15] 20
References [ edit ]
BibliographySan Diego is widely considered one of the greatest beer cities in America—and for good reason. Home to craft behemoths like Stone, Green Flash, and AleSmith, and critically lauded darlings such as Societe Brewing, Alpine Brewing, and the wide network of Pizza Port brewpubs, this quaint city is a popular vacation destination for craft beer enthusiasts and casual beer fans alike.
Indeed, it seems like the self-proclaimed “Craft Beer Capital of America” offers a little something for everyone, but even with more than 100 breweries and dozens of world-class pubs, beer bars, and bottle shops dotting the county, there’s always been one thing missing from this storied landscape: a high-quality producer of funky farmhouse ales.
Sure, we seem to be happily drowning in IPAs, and breweries like AleSmith are single-handedly keeping barrel-aged stouts and Old World styles relevant in the city, but where are the sours, the saisons, and the farmhouse-inspired libations? These beers, fermented (often spontaneously and without discrimination) with menacing-sounding bugs such as Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus, can be dry, funky, tart, crisp, and refreshing—in other words, they’re ideal for a sunny, perfect San Diego day. Why has nobody yet to capitalize on this gaping hole in beer paradise?
Enter: Toolbox Brewing
Based out of North County San Diego, Toolbox Brewing opened in September of 2014 with a modest list of beers spanning a wide variety of styles, including wild and farmhouse ales. Eventually those beers grew to become so popular that six months later, on the cusp of their first bottle release, they officially became the first (and only) brewery in San Diego County to go 100% wild.
Co-owned by Amanda Elder and Spencer Peters, with hometown homebrew hero Peter Perrecone captaining brewing operations, their lineup of regular beers on tap now consists entirely of ales brewed with wild yeasts and bacteria—those scary-sounding bugs mentioned above. The result is a regularly-rotating tap that consists entirely of funky farmhouse ales and tart wild ales. Their claim to fame is their fruited series of sours, in which they add incredible amounts of fruit to a base sour blonde ale with incredible results.
I’ve been to Toolbox many a time, so I already knew what to expect when I walked into the brewery and tasting room on a mild Thursday afternoon. I was there to pick up bottles they’d recently released online (which sold out in approximately 67 seconds) and decided to check out some of their ever-changing lineup.
First up was a new batch of their acclaimed Virgin Cherry, a sour blonde with tart cherries added. Delicious, light, and tart, the beer sways more sour and less cherry-esque, with a grainy finish that’s reminiscent of a nice cherry pie crust. Next was the new batch of Grass Fed Lettuce. The first batch of this dry-hopped sour blonde wild ale was far and away my favorite of their releases thus far, and batch #2 did not disappoint; The tartness was immensely balanced, with a faint hop aroma that blooms on the finish.
The remaining beers were new to me, the freshest of which being Haole Honey, just tapped that day. A farmhouse ale brewed with Hawaiian lehua honey, Haole had an incredible aroma that led to an intriguing interplay between sweet honey and signature Brettanomyces dryness. The strong, assertive notes of both resulted in an unbalanced profile, with each element battling for palate dominance. Nonetheless, it’s different from anything else in San Diego and a definite must-try.
Peachin Camaro was next up, a sour blonde wild brewed with peaches. The initial aroma on this was disappointing, not too much peach on the nose, but the flavor was an incredible stonefruit explosion on the palate with an immensely balanced tartness. Simply put, it was alcoholic Kerns nectar.
Last but not least, The Carlton was the beer I’d been looking most forward to—the most recent bottle release darling of the lineup. A sour blonde with blackberries, the beer is dark as sin with a light blonde body, hence the name (get it?). Upon first sip this was a lot sweeter than I’d anticipated, with a taste that was more compote or reduction than jam. This balanced out once the tartness kicked in, and gave way to an almost buttery (but not diacetyl) note leading to an incredibly funky, musty finish. It was definitely more complex than any of their previous fruited iterations, and I’m glad I purchased bottles.
Moving forward, Toolbox looks to ramp up the production and increase the amount of bottle releases. Since dialing in their bottling line and schedule months ago, they’ve released two to three beers every month, with three more releases in July that look awesome—the aforementioned Haole Honey, a plum sour wild, and a berry-based sour wild. Back in March I asked Spencer what it takes to succeed in such a cutthroat, saturated market like San Diego, and he simply replied that they don’t consider themselves successful quite yet.
Cut to the present day—even with bottle limits, each subsequent release has sold out progressively quicker, no matter the beer or style. I can’t speak for Toolbox, but I’d consider that pretty successful.Princeton University is looking to hire a certified clinician to promote “healthy masculinity.”
The university created the new job position — “Interpersonal Violence Clinician and Men’s Engagement Manager” — to work with survivors of dating violence and stalking, as well as sexual harassment and assault, according to the College Fix. The manager will also seek to discourage these practices on campus by promoting a culture of safety and healthy interaction.
In order to qualify for the job, the candidate must have a masters or doctorate degree in women’s studies or social work.
Also included in the job description is a duty to create programs that will challenge gender stereotypes and expand Princeton’s Men’s Allied Voices for a Respectful and Inclusive Community program which seeks to end violence and “toxic masculinity,” per its Facebook page. It’s unclear what the group means exactly by this term.
The manager will be tasked with starting initiatives that identify “high-risk campus-based populations for primary prevention of interpersonal violence, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic/dating violence, and stalking.”
The position encourages the implementation of a mandatory “accountability program” for those who’ve been accused of sexual harassment or assault, regardless of whether the claims are proven true or false.
The university expects that the manager will be a role model for “men-identified students,” and demands that the the candidate “engage men as agents of positive change,” according to Princeton’s communications office.
The university’s communications office did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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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.Breivik did what he did to promote his 1500-page book 2083. A European Declaration of Independence. It’s a morbidly fascinating book, which is a compendium of Islamophobic writings by Breivik and Fjordman (who is called Breivik’s “favourite contemporary author” in the book - “Our views are quite similar with the exception of me being an actual armed resistance fighter”), the detailed diary of preparations for the massacre, FAQ section, as well as an extensive section about forming a terrorist underground, including detailed instructions for bomb-making and “urban warfare”.
In the book itself Breivik calls the forthcoming massacre a “marketing operation”:
I’ve spent a total of 9 years of my life working on this project. The first five years were spent studying and creating a financial base, and the last three years was spent working full time with research, compilation and writing. Creating this compendium has personally cost me a total of 317 000 Euros (130 000 Euros spent from my own pocket and 187 500 Euros for loss of income during three years). All that, however, is barely noticeable compared to the sacrifices made in relation to the distribution of this book, the actual marketing operation;) […] Q: Personal achievements that you are most proud of? A: I started the early stage of the planning phase (financing the operation) around 2002 by developing a company from scratch: Anders Behring Breivik ENK later converted to E-Commerce Group AS. During the next years I had a total of 7 employees in five different countries: 1 person in the US, 2 in Russia, 1 in Romania, 1 in Indonesia and |
be the most backward and primitive: the indigenous societies of the world, from First Nations in Canada, to aboriginals in Australia, to tribal people in India, and many others. In countries with influential indigenous populations, like Bolivia and Ecuador, there is by now legislative recognition of rights of nature. The government of Ecuador actually proposed to leave their supplies of oil in the ground, where they should be, if the rich countries would provide them development aid amounting to a small fraction of what they would sacrifice by not exploiting their oil resources. The rich countries refused.
While indigenous people are trying to avert the disaster, in sharp contrast, the race toward the cliff is led by the most advanced, educated, wealthy, and privileged societies of the world, primarily North America.
There is now much exuberance in the United States about “100 years of energy independence” as we become “the Saudi Arabia of the next century.” One might take a speech of President Obama’s two years ago to be an eloquent death-knell for the species. He proclaimed with pride, to ample applause, that “Now, under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. That’s important to know. Over the last three years, I’ve directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states. We’re opening up more than 75 percent of our potential oil resources offshore. We’ve quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We’ve added enough new oil and gas pipeline to encircle the Earth and then some.”
The applause tells us something important about our social and moral malaise. The President was speaking in Cushing Oklahoma, an “oil town” as he announced in greeting his appreciative audience—in fact the oil town, described as “the most significant trading hub for crude oil in North America.” And industry profits are sure to be secured as “producing more oil and gas here at home” will continue to be “a critical part” of energy strategy, as the President promised.
A few days ago the New York Times had an energy supplement, 8 pages of mostly euphoria about the bright future for the US, poised to be the world’s greatest producer of fossil fuels. Missing is any reflection of what kind of world we are exuberantly creating. One might recall Orwell’s observations in his (unpublished) introduction to Animal Farm on how in free England, unpopular ideas can be suppressed without the use of force, not least because immersion in the elite culture instills the understanding that there are certain things “it wouldn’t do to say”—or even to think.
In the moral calculus of currently prevailing state capitalism, profits and bonuses in the next quarter greatly outweigh concern for the welfare of one’s grandchildren, and since these are institutional maladies, they will not be easy to overcome. While much remains uncertain, we can assure ourselves, with fair confidence, that future generations will not forgive us our silence and apathy.Alisher Apsalyamov, the 23-year-old Kazakh who became Cardiff City's head of recruitment, has stepped aside temporarily over a visa issue.
BBC Sport understands immigration officials spoke to the club about his work permit on Tuesday.
The club are believed to be confident any issues will be resolved quickly.
Cardiff shocked fans last month when they replaced Iain Moody with Apsalyamov, who was formerly at the club on work experience.
A Home Office spokesperson told BBC Sport: "We do not routinely comment on individual cases.
"Any allegation that an individual has breached the terms of their visa will be investigated."
Commenting on the Apsalyamov situation on Friday, Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay said he was concentrating on football matters.
"It's just something the chief exec can get on with and deal with. My focus is on my team."
Moody left Cardiff City on 11 October when owner Sri Vincent Tan released a statement backing Malky Mackay, the club's manager.
At a media conference on 18 October, Mackay described Moody as "a class act".
In his scouting role at the club, Moody - who had previously worked with Mackay at Watford - helped sign summer recruits including Gary Medel from Sevilla and Steven Caulker from Tottenham.
Apsalyamov's appointment - with a remit to focus "on gathering data on individual players", according to a club statement - is one of several controversial decisions made by the club's Malaysian owner Vincent Tan.
Many Cardiff fans reacted negatively when the club's colours were changed from blue to red during the summer of 2012.UPDATE: Bill Martin, Mississippi State’s Assistant AD of Media Relations, confirmed to The Big Lead that Dak Prescott was indeed attacked by a random group of men at a Waka Flocka concert in Panama City, Florida. Martin stated that no police were involved and no charges are currently being pressed. Prescott was with backup quarterback Damian Williams and defensive lineman Torrey Dale.
***
Dak Prescott, the Mississippi State quarterback, was attacked while at a concert in Panama City during Spring Break. A user on the message board EliteDawgs first posted the this message according to MaroonandWhiteNation:
Dakota Prescott.. and another player got jumped in Panama City at a concert. Dakota got hit with a bottle in the head…other player hasn’t been named yet. They were at a Waka Flocka concert…no idea extent on injury at this point. Rumored, I repeat rumored to be Tenn fans that jumped them- but no idea at this point.
Backup quarterback Damian Williams shared the following tweets, which have since been deleted:
We got jumped for no reason, It's sad we can't go anywhere without being attacked by people — Damian Williams (@DamianDevon) March 10, 2015
Police watched it happen — Damian Williams (@DamianDevon) March 10, 2015
***
UPDATE: The following screengrab is circulating regarding the incident. It appears to show several individuals boasting about the attack. We cannot confirm that these individuals were in fact involved, but it sure does look like it.
***
UPDATE 2: Here is video of incident, which includes graphic language. You can hear a bottle break and then see Dak rolling around on the ground.
***
Thanks for all the Concerns and Prayers! I'm okay and ready to get back to Starkville. Ignorance happens! Be safe on Spring Break! — Dak Prescott (@15_DakP) March 10, 2015
[pics via @BrooksR_BSR, top vid via @domonics]'I think it’s really important for all of us to come together,' King says. King: 'Support the president' on Syria
Rep. Peter King is calling for bipartisan support of President Barack Obama in the wake of airstrikes launched in Syria late Monday evening.
“This is a very, very positive step and I think it’s really important for all of us to come together,” the New York Republican said Monday on Fox News’ “The Kelly File.” “Whatever happened in the past, that’s behind us.”
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He continued, “What’s important now is as Americans we go forward, support the president and urge him to continue this to make sure these attacks continue and go on until ISIS has been devastated.”
The Pentagon confirmed on Monday night that the United States would lead airstrikes in Syria that evening. On Tuesday morning, a statement from the U.S. Central Command said that Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain also participated in the airstrikes.
“I think it’s a major step by the president,” King said. “I and others have been calling for this for weeks now, if not months, but the bottom line is that it is being done.”After a first round bye Highlanders’ coach Jamie Joseph has named his team for the big South Island clash against the Crusaders on Saturday night in Dunedin. As with last season the team will be co-captained by Nasi Manu and Ben Smith. Joseph has selected from a near fully fit squad with just Shane Christie (hamstring), Richard Buckman (knee) and Pingi Tala’apitaga (knee) unavailable due to injury. There are 7 players set to make their Highlander debuts including Josh Hohneck, Ross Geldenhuys and Waisake Naholo in the starting lineup.
This game is set to be a thriller as the Highlanders will look to right the wrongs of 2014 after losing to the Crusaders in the dying minutes as a try in the corner was disallowed by the TMO.
Highlanders v Crusaders, Forsyth Barr, Dunedin – Saturday 21st Febraury 7.35pm (NZT)
1. Josh Hohneck
2. Liam Coltman
3. Ross Geldenhuys
4. Tom Franklin
5. Joe Wheeler
6. Elliot Dixon
7. John Hardie
8. Nasi Manu (c)
9. Aaron Smith
10. Lima Sopoaga
11. Patrick Osborne
12. Shaun Treeby
13. Malakai Fekitoa
14. Waisake Naholo
15. Ben Smith (c)
16. Ash Dixon
17. Kane Hames
18. Ma’afu Fia
19. Mark Reddish
20. Dan Pryor
21. Fumiaki Tanaka
22. Jason Emery
23. Marty Banks
Head Coach: Jamie Joseph
Assistant Coaches: Tony Brown, Scott McLeod
Team Manager: Paul McLaughlan
EndMillions of Mexico, US and across the world children are overweight and obese. Exposure to fossil-fuel combustion sources increases the risk for obesity and diabetes, while long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) above US EPA standards is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mexico City Metropolitan Area children are chronically exposed to PM2.5 and O3 concentrations above the standards and exhibit systemic, brain and intrathecal inflammation, cognitive deficits, and Alzheimer disease neuropathology. We investigated adipokines, food reward hormones, endothelial dysfunction, vitamin D and apolipoprotein E (APOE) relationships in 80 healthy, normal weight 11.1±3.2 year olds matched by age, gender, BMI and SES, low (n: 26) versus high (n:54) PM2.5 exposures. Mexico City children had higher leptin and endothelin-1 (p<0.01 and p<0.000), and decreases in glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP 1), ghrelin, and glucagon (<0.02) versus controls. BMI and leptin relationships were significantly different in low versus high PM2.5 exposed children. Mexico City APOE 4 versus 3 children had higher glucose (p=0.009). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D<30 ng/mL was documented in 87% of Mexico City children. Leptin is strongly positively associated to PM 2.5 cumulative exposures. Residing in a high PM2.5 and O3 environment is associated with 12h fasting hyperleptinemia, altered appetite-regulating peptides, vitamin D deficiency, and increases in ET-1 in clinically healthy children. These changes could signal the future trajectory of urban children towards the development of insulin resistance, obesity, type II diabetes, premature cardiovascular disease, addiction-like behavior, cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Increased efforts should be made to decrease pediatric PM2.5 exposures, to deliver health interventions prior to the development of obesity and to identify and mitigate environmental factors influencing obesity and Alzheimer disease.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Shooting of 2-year-old appears to be accidental, officials say
A 2-year-old remains in critical condition after what authorities are calling an accidental shooting in St. Cloud on Monday night.A large presence of Osceola County deputies could be seen at the Michigan Avenue home after a family member called 911 around 6 p.m.The child was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.According to the sheriff's office, the evidence points toward the child accidentally shooting himself; however, the incident remains under investigation.Family members indicated the boy located a small caliber handgun in a truck parked at the home. It's unclear whether the boy accidentally fired the weapon or it somehow discharged on its own and struck him, officials said.Authorities have not yet said whether charges would be filed in the case.14277264
A 2-year-old remains in critical condition after what authorities are calling an accidental shooting in St. Cloud on Monday night.
A large presence of Osceola County deputies could be seen at the Michigan Avenue home after a family member called 911 around 6 p.m.
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The child was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
According to the sheriff's office, the evidence points toward the child accidentally shooting himself; however, the incident remains under investigation.
Family members indicated the boy located a small caliber handgun in a truck parked at the home. It's unclear whether the boy accidentally fired the weapon or it somehow discharged on its own and struck him, officials said.
Authorities have not yet said whether charges would be filed in the case.
AlertMeBy Kim Yoo-chul
Tesla Motors is approaching LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation as part of its strategy to diversify its battery-sourcing channels beyond Japan's Panasonic.
LG Chem is expected to win the Tesla business thanks to its output commitment, good pricing and on-time delivery. A solid partnership with LG Display could also help LG Chem. The company previously supplied batteries for Tesla's Roadster model, though the volume it shipped was "small."
"Tesla intends to use more Korean technology on its Model 3. It decided to use tires manufactured by Hankook Tire and LG Display will possibly be supplying its OLED panels for the automotive systems. Additionally, Tesla is testing the manufacturing capability and production of LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation," said an official, Tuesday.
Tesla executives recently visited key research centers at LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation, holding working-level meetings with all of them.
An LG Chem spokesman said the largest battery supplier in the world has no official comment about its business with specific clients. Samsung SDI said it has no authority either to confirm or to deny business deals with its major clients. SK Innovation wasn't available for comment.
The Model 3 electric vehicle is faster, cleaner, more reliable and has better handling; while its entry price will start at around $35,000, cheaper than many competing gas powered cars.
Because of those factors, market analysts and officials say that the Model 3 "should be a game changer" at an affordable price point.
They said the Model 3 will drive the "third wave of adoption" in the electric vehicle industry. This third wave will finally attack the majority "mainstream and economically attractive" segment and it's been expected that others will follow including the GM Chevy Bolt, which should help propel EVs to the real tipping point of mass adoption.
"This is why LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation all are keenly interested in boosting their tie-up with Tesla. The three Korean battery manufacturers can't afford to lose the new business given the Model 3's impressive initial responses from customers," said another official.
Tesla plans to produce up to 500,000 electric vehicles by 2018. The Model 3 will be available in 2017, at the earliest. The company has received 400,000 pre-orders.
Currently, Japan's Panasonic is the exclusive battery partner with Tesla, supplying small-sized rounded batteries as these are more economical and easier to mass produce.
Both LG Chem and Samsung SDI are also manufacturing round batteries.
Although LG is pushing the pouch-type battery as its mainstream product with Samsung SDI focusing on the rectangular-type battery, sources who are involved with the issue say Tesla may use LG and Samsung's mainstream technologies to keep adequate inventory levels as it's been widely expected the supply for the Model 3 will remain tight.
"The Model 3 is aiming for a base price of $35,000, which after subsidies would be $28,000 in the United States (or $25,000 in California), this puts it up against the far bigger entry level luxury sedan segment such as the BMW 3-series (at $33,000-$38,000) before subsidies, or mainstream sedans such as the Honda Accord ($22,000-$34,000) after subsidies," Bernstein Research's senior analyst Max Warburton said.Given the increasing importance of science for many aspects of our lives, what will the impact be on UK science if we are in or out of Europe?
The first question to ask is whether we are financially better off by being in Europe. In the current EU research framework programme (how the EU invests in research) the UK is the second largest recipient of funding. In the five years since 2007 our scientists in businesses, universities and elsewhere are estimated to have received around £3.7bn from Europe. Just this week it has been announced that 80 out of the 302 senior researchers awarded a share in €680m of European Research Council funding will be based in the UK, twice as many as the next most successful country.
Our strong position is based on the excellence of our science base. As with our own funding system, the EU invests in the best science wherever it may be, and because the UK is good at science we generally do well in the funding competitions. Another beneficial side-effect of competing for financial support across the EU, rather than just at home, is the extra spur it provides towards quality. This competition and the collaborations that result with our European colleagues help us raise our game, increasing the quality of the work we do.
There are presently proposals for a significant increase in funding for the 2014-20 research programme and the UK should gain significantly if that were to take place. Increasing funding makes sense because this will help to promote innovation and sustainable economic growth. Innovation is a key area where the UK and the EU must continue to be strong and this ultimately relies on science. However in the inevitable horse-trading that goes on in Brussels, the proposed increase to the research budget is under threat from those supporting the agriculture and infrastructure budgets. If that threat was made real it would not be good news for the UK. It also should be remembered that in the proposals for 2014-20, the proposed increased research allocation would only account for around 8% of the EU budget, which is small compared with what is spent on the agriculture and infrastructure sectors.
It is also important to realise that science is an increasingly collaborative endeavour. Over 35% of articles published in high quality science journals are international projects. Science does not need pan-European institutions to work together but it does help. There are also some areas of science, tackling global challenges and addressing fundamental questions in science, that require international collaboration. The Large Hadron Collider is a great example of something achieved through co-operation that could simply not have been done at a national scale. The collider is not an EU project but relations with our EU partners will have helped make it a reality. The Innovative Medicines Initiative is an EU programme and is aimed at speeding up the development of better and safer treatments. If done well, it will bring together universities, pharmaceutical companies, doctors and patients to tackle problems such as antibiotic resistance.
And more porous borders can help attract the best scientists to the UK. It was easier for our recent Nobel prizewinners Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov to come to the UK because they were already working in the Netherlands. The rhetoric around current government policy on immigration is giving the impression to some abroad that the UK is not open to bringing the best people here to work. Were we to be outside the EU, that situation could be exacerbated and that would damage UK science.
Our strength is not only recognised in the funding we secure but also in the fact that the first ever chief scientific adviser to the European Commission is Professor Anne Glover, the former chief scientific adviser for Scotland. This reflects our potential influence over matters in Brussels.
Some things worry me though. Few in the science community in the UK would agree with EU thinking on GM crops, and there are concerns about the EU's position on data protection and health research for example. However, I think that influencing from within would be the most effective way forward. Scientific evidence will more often than not carry the day, as can be seen from the EU's leadership on climate change. The UK's strength in science means that it should play a central role in shaping European science policy and that means that the UK must be at the table.
Looking at it from the perspective of science in the UK, it would be hard to make a case for us being better off outside the EU. There is a reasonably strong financial case and that is only part of the argument. The benefits to promote scientific collaboration are also strong. However, the EU is facing a crossroads in its current budget negotiations. Speaking at the Royal Society recently, David Willetts and George Osborne made a case for the EU research budget to be a larger part of a smaller overall budget. I suspect a greater focus on science and research and recognition of how this can help promote sustainable economic growth would help make a stronger case for many in the UK to support EU membership. This would certainly apply to UK scientists but if the plans to make the research budget more important are rejected then they are less likely to be quite so enthusiastic.
Sir Paul Nurse is president of the Royal SocietyWhat do luxury handbags have to do with fried chicken? Not much, other than a lawsuit: A South Korean fried chicken restaurant has been sued by Louis Vuitton for using its name and a play on its logo, according to the South China Morning Post.
The restaurant's name, "Louis Vuiton Dak," is a play on the Korean word tongdak, which means "whole chicken." The owner also created a logo for his designer chicken restaurant that bore a striking resemblance to the French fashion house's signature monogram; Louis Vuitton understandably took issue with the resemblance, sending the restaurant a cease-and-desist letter.
The owner then changed the name to "chaLouisvui tondak," claiming the new name was different enough, but according to the Korea Times, a South Korean court disagreed: It fined the restaurant owner $12,500 for not complying with the previous cease-and-desist.
Similar copyright issues have arisen in the U.S., including in Portland, Oregon where a charcuterie brand Olympic Provisions received a cease-and-desist from the Olympic Games and was forced to rebrand. On the other side, employees sometimes seek protection from large brands, like one man in Puerto Rico who went so far as to attempt to copyright a chicken sandwich, but to no avail.CEDAR RAPIDS — Temporary flood berms erected along the riverfront in the last 10 days to hold back the Cedar River may remain in place for years, a city official said.
City officials are considering whether berms should be taken down or left in place until permanent flood protection is in place, possibly in several years. In most cases, it makes sense for them to remain, said Rob Davis, Cedar Rapids flood control program manager.
For example, the city plans to erect a permanent earthen berm for Czech Village in the next two to three years, so it would make sense to leave the temporary flood protection, located just 75 feet away, in place, he said. It would mean having to find a detour for the Cedar River recreation trail, which is blocked by the berm, he noted.
“We have all the fill there and the clay there for that system,” Davis said. “We could build that in a two- to three-year time frame. Maybe we shouldn’t move that out, for example.”
The berm near the African American Museum of Iowa could be removed because it sits on an easement. The city owns the land where the rest of the berms sit, Davis said.
Davis provided a briefing on the flood response and possible updates to the flood protection plan to the Cedar Rapids City Council’s Flood Control Subcommittee on Tuesday. The discussion also focused on financing, pump stations and flood protection for the New Bohemia District.
FINANCING
The city could move more quickly on flood projects with changes to the state’s Growth Reinvestment Initiative, which allows the city to put tax revenue toward flood mitigation efforts, Davis said. Cedar Rapids is one of 10 cities splitting $30 million, which is the state cap on the program, but generates more than it is allowed to use.
City officials may lobby to change state policy to remove the cap or allow Cedar Rapids to collect it’s allotment of $270 million for flood protection in 10 years rather than 20, Davis said. This could potentially save $75 million in inflationary costs, Davis said.
PUMP STATIONS
City staff want to expedite installation of pump stations along the Cedar River, which should prevent flooding via manholes and drainage intakes, Davis said.
Water coming from the river through underground pipes, rather than overflow from the river banks, proved most problematic as the Cedar River reached its second highest crest ever last week at just under 22 feet, city officials have said.
Pump stations cost about $5 million to $6 million a piece, and those costs could be offset by delaying flood barriers, such as for Kingston Village and downtown two to three years, Davis said.
A pump near the McGrath Amphitheatre and Kingston Village, and adding a pump and gate system near the CRST Center downtown, could be moved up from the 10-year to the five-year time frame. The pump station housing is already built near CRST, Davis said.
A pump station along 10th Avenue SE for the New Bohemia District is already under contract and should be done by 2018, and another pump station at the old Sinclair meatpacking site should be installed by fall 2017. Also within five years, a pump station could be installed behind the Czech Village berm, Davis said.
The pump stations are critical because they allow city officials to shut off outflow pipes to the river to prevent backups and switch on pumps in the event of rain or seepage, Davis said.
“Maybe not full pumping capacity, but that would make what we went through mostly nonexistent in those areas,” Davis said.
NEWBO FLOOD SYSTEM
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A groundbreaking for construction of a permanent flood protection system for NewBo is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday on Second Street SE south of 16th Avenue SE.
The system includes a 13-foot-tall barrier that is a berm in some places and a wall in others, as well as the two pump stations and a detention basin. It is to run from the African-American Museum of Iowa to near the Alliant Energy substation, and would protect the entire district, including properties south of 16th Avenue SE, which were left on the “wet side” of the temporary flood barrier last week.
The $11 million project should be complete by November 2017 and protect NewBo from a 40-year flood, or if the river reaches 21 feet in elevation, Davis said. However, as additional pieces of the flood system are installed, the NewBo area would be protected to higher levels, eventually being able to withstand the 31-foot record river level in 2008.
Within two to three years, the city is designing a series of small parks on the “wet side” of the NewBo berm connected by trails and with benches and monuments along the way, Davis said.
City Council member Kris Gulick, who serves on the flood committee, questioned whether additional measures of protection would be needed when the permanent system in place. Davis said the permanent system should provide full protection.Most designers hate it – one is even campaigning to have it banned – but this writer has always had a soft spot for the font's rounded edges and handwritten aesthetic
Typographers will cringe, but I've always had a soft spot for Comic Sans. It was the first font I ever used. I was aged seven and making mayhem at my dad's office. My exasperated father sat me at his computer, threw me a copy of the day's paper and said: "See if you can't do better." Cue my first 'broadsheet': a Xeroxed slip of A3 that chronicled imaginary boardroom bust-ups, and real-life photocopier meltdowns.
In traditional typographical terms, it was a disaster. My headline font? Comic Sans. My body-text typeface? Comic Sans. My byline? Again, Comic Sans. But given the circumstances, I think my decision was justified. Of the handful of fonts in the Windows 95 package, only Comic Sans – with its rounded edges and its handwritten aesthetic – seemed friendly and accessible to my seven-year-old self. There was something called Helvetica, but that was too bland. And I toyed with this sophisticated thing called Garamond, but eventually found it too formal. Comic Sans, though – that seemed about right.
Of course, in 2010 my choice seems horribly crude. As Holly Combs, one of the founders of the Ban Comic Sans movement, tells me from Indianapolis, "Using Comic Sans is like turning up to a black-tie event in a clown costume." Indeed, Comic Sans is now the bete noir of the design world, widely known as the font typographers love to hate. It's used, supposedly unthinkingly, by thousands of amateurs every day, sometimes in the most inappropriate of places – on gravestones, on commemorative benches, and even funeral invitations. The program in which Comic Sans first appeared – Microsoft Bob – was named as one of Time magazine's 50 worst inventions. And most terrible of all, according to one designer I spoke to, the spacing between each of the font's letters is uneven.
It's not all bad, though: recent weeks have heralded a mini resurgence for the font. This spring, a major American gallery – Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art – temporarily redesigned its website, replacing Helvetica with Comic Sans. And only last Tuesday, literary website McSweeney's published a strongly worded pseudo-first-person defence of the typeface. Concluding that a light breeze of change was sweeping through typographical discourse, I set about persuading the design establishment that Comic Sans deserves a reappraisal.
For most designers, however, the idea is laughable – not least because, in their eyes, Comic Sans is simply not a very pretty font. As Paul Barnes – who co-designed the very font you're reading – explains, "On a purely aesthetic level Comic Sans is not a particularly well-crafted letterform. It's based on lettering one might find in a comic book, but it has none of the fluidity you associate with the real thing." Julian Morey, a typographer who has worked with Vogue, the V&A and Giorgio Armani, agrees: "I don't like slagging off typefaces, but in aesthetic terms, there are much better handwritten fonts than Comic Sans." And he should know: Creative Review once challenged him to design a poster that made Comic Sans look beautiful – and his only solution was to render the font unrecognisable, concluding that: "You can't make your mark on Comic Sans. Comic Sans is Comic Sans. It's not very flexible."
Little wonder, though: the font was made in a hurry. Inspired by the lettering in the graphic novel Watchmen, Vincent Connare – then Microsoft's inhouse designer – created the font within three days back in 1994 to accompany the company's child-friendly Microsoft Bob. Only later was the font packaged with Microsoft Word, and it was a fateful decision: Ty's Beanie Babies soon used it as their brand font; I used it in my newspaper; and once Disney picked it up, Comic Sans was unstoppable. While trained typographers think it's an over-used, poorly designed eyesore, millions of Microsoft users quickly saw Comic Sans as the typographical equivalent of the emoticon – the easy communication of friendliness – and it's adorned pizza menus, misguided CVs, and passive-aggressive notes ever since.
For Combs, who heads the slightly tongue-in-cheek Ban Comic Sans movement with her husband Dave, every use is a misuse. "You see it in the most inappropriate places. I once read a leaflet about irritable bowel syndrome that had been written in Comic Sans. Now that's just wrong."
But I've always thought that Comic Sans has its place. The written word can seem aggressive unless it's displayed in an accessible way – and so by using Comic Sans, which connotes warmth and friendliness, lay designers aren't necessarily displaying a lack of imagination, but rather an awareness of graphic design's central goal: the easy and reliable communication of information. If you don't have an extensive font library, then Comic Sans might be your only choice. It doesn't display ignorance, just a lack of alternatives.
But when I speak to Connare, the father of Comic Sans, he doesn't completely agree. He admits he is irritated by some critics of the font, but not because he thinks it's always used effectively, or because it's great design. In fact, Connare takes the opposite view: "It's like they're comparing a kid's drawing to Picasso or the Sistine Chapel when they're not in the same category." And he's otherwise slightly lukewarm about his creation. "I'm proud of it," he told me from Dalton Maag, his London typography studio, "but only because it suited its purpose at the time. We were trying to make a product, and Comic Sans suited the product. But I'd agree that it's often misused. I saw it recently in a bank – and that's not a great use of the font."
And so it takes another typographer to mount a firmer defence of Comic Sans. American Corey Holms – who, like Morey, was challenged by Creative Review to make Comic Sans look beautiful – thinks that the font is still relevant outside Microsoft Bob. "Comic Sans is not a 'beautiful' font, but there are appropriate uses for it," he tells me. "Most of the designers who mock Comic Sans don't seem to understand that the person using it is not necessarily displaying poor taste, but rather trying to communicate at a rudimentary level with the tools available to them. Comic Sans is proof positive that design works, the public gets it and understands that type means more than just words."
And perhaps Lacher, speaking for the Comic Sans typeface in the recent McSweeney's article, sums it up best: "You think I'm pedestrian and tacky? Guess what, Picasso. We don't all have 73 weights of stick-up-my-ass Helvetica sitting on our 17in MacBook Pros."If Iran is hoping that China will buy more of its oil to make up the exports it is slated to lose because of a European embargo on Tehran’s crude it will be disappointed, Chinese analysts here predict.
Beijing “will not take the risk for Iran’s benefit” of angering the United States and becoming too dependent on one source of oil, says Ma Xiaolin, a commentator on Middle East affairs and head of the Beijing-based BLSHE economic consultancy.
The European Union agreed in principle on Wednesday to ban oil imports from Iran, ratcheting up Western efforts to pressure Tehran into negotiating an end to its alleged nuclear-bomb program.
Iran denies it has such a program, and Iranian Vice President Mohammed-Reza Rahimi recently threatened that Iran would block shipping in the Straits of Hormuz if sanctions were imposed on its oil exports.
Iranian officials also say they have alternatives in place should the threatened EU embargo actually be enforced. “We could very easily replace those customers” by selling more oil to China, other Asian nations, and Africa, S.M. Qamsari, head of the international department of the National Iranian Oil Company, told Reuters news agency.
Experts here are dubious about that, however. “I don’t believe China would buy more from Iran in the event of a European embargo,” says Li Guofu, an Iran expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, a government-supported think tank here. “China has a number of sources of oil, and regular contracts.”
In a sign that Beijing bases its crude purchases on commercial, rather than political, grounds, China’s imports of Iranian oil this month are expected to fall dramatically, traders say, as it haggles over the terms of its 2012 contracts with Tehran, which are due to be renegotiated by the end of January.
China is Iran’s best international oil customer, taking 22 percent of its exports during the first half of last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration. EU countries bought about 18 percent in 2010.
Playing fair?
Though China is unlikely to help Iran off the hook of the threatened EU embargo, it is strongly opposed to the latest US effort to put pressure on Iran.
Last Saturday, President Obama signed a bill that would ban foreign financial institutions that deal with Iran’s Central Bank from operating in US financial markets.
That would make it impossible for Chinese refiners to pay Iran for the oil they buy unless their bankers are prepared to forgo doing business in the world’s largest financial market.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei lashed out at the new law Wednesday, saying that “China opposes the placing of one’s domestic law above international law and imposing unilateral sanctions on other countries.
“China maintains normal and transparent energy and economic cooperation with Iran, which does not violate UN Security Council resolutions and these interactions should not be affected,” he added.
China would be particularly affected by the US law, since not only does it rely on Iran for about 9 percent of its oil imports, but it sells Tehran about one-third of the gasoline Iran needs, since Iran does not have sufficient refining capacity itself.
A way around the embargo in Asia?
Japan and South Korea, among other big importers of Iranian oil in Asia, have also expressed reservations about the new US law.
“There are many questions to address with regard to such sanctions, including substitute suppliers of oil for Iran and whether it is possible to find ways to settle transactions other than through the Iranian Central Bank,” Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters earlier this week.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is due to travel to Japan and China next week to discuss “continued coordination with international partners in the region to increase pressure on the government of Iran, including financial measures targeting the Central Bank of Iran,” a Treasury Department statement said Wednesday. He is not expected to receive a very warm welcome here.
Still, there is some hope for compromise. Chinese analysts note that the US law does allow Obama to issue waivers, exempting financial institutions from the law’s requirements if they come from countries important to US national security.
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“I cannot predict what Obama will do” about Chinese financial institutions, says Professor Li, “but it will depend on how he regards relations with China.
“If the US uses domestic law to impose its will on international affairs,” Li adds, “that kind of method will be America’s problem |
same push for effervescent conversation or novelty or excitement as there is for someone to talk to for hours about fear and hope of babies or the problem of point of view. We couple up, go to graduate school, take jobs: our interests and lives taper from a delta of options into a directed watercourse. We seek friends who will feel like family. Settled now into ourselves, rooting like a river into its banks, we search for what stays, for familiar cartographies
H
erpetologist Archie Carr, who ended up being a key figure in Caribbean conservation projects and in the establishment of Costa Rican national parks, was one of the first to recognize homing instincts in turtles. His book The Windward Road recounts a story he heard from several turtle fishermen, which got him interested in turtle navigation. The fisherman had captured several green turtles in their feeding grounds, branded the turtles with their initials, and put them on a boat headed for Key West. The boat capsized in a storm, and months later, the fisherman discovered the branded turtles back in the same spot off the Nicaraguan coast. Carr stipulated that green turtles had an “extra sense,” what we now recognize as a homing instinct, “that lets them make long, controlled journeys in trackless seas.”
The homing instincts of the eponymous homing pigeon–a crucial historical figure that has announced the results of Roman chariot races; relayed updates throughout Genghis Khan’s empire; spied for the Germans and saved French battalions in World War I; and today spots shipwrecks from U.S. helicopters and ferries blood samples across Europe–are still not well understood. The pigeons might use the sun, but when it’s cloudy, rely on magnetic navigation; they have small deposits of iron in their beaks that might act as a compass; they might navigate using sound or odor.
And they might just take the damn highway. A 2004 Oxford University study, the culmination of 10 years of careful tracking of homing pigeons with tiny GPS devices, concluded that the birds aren’t using the mystical powers of magnetoconception but are instead sailing right along the road.
“It is striking to see the pigeons fly straight down the A34 Oxford bypass, and then sharply curve off at the traffic lights before curving off again at the roundabout,” Professor Tim Guilford told the Daily Telegraph. “It really has knocked our research team sideways.”
Y
ou know you’ve been in the U.S. too long when you have a wispy, romantic moment in the Target parking lot. You’re looking left, out of the garage and over the nearby Family Dollar, and you see in the distance a hazy summer-green hill and you think fondly and half-consciously of going home to mash up cheerios for a baby and sit around in the warm fading light doing little other than being home.
And then you open the car door for your husband and say, “We should move to Burma.”
It’s hard to tell how much all of this is purely biological. It has the intensive swelling of a biological urge, like thirst or the pressure to urinate. It is not necessarily related to one particular place–I certainly have no fantasies about living more than two months longer in Pittsburgh–as it is to the idea of a place that would be mine. Of a familiarity that wouldn’t be based on ready-made nostalgia from the anticipation of leaving. Lately, on these cornflower-and-hay Midwestern evenings with a train shuddering under the pedestrian bridge and the water tower a robin’s egg blue on a forested hill, I’ve realized how much of the thrill I get from being here comes from projecting myself into the near future when I will not be here and will be looking back.
Years of traveling make excellent training for such instantaneous forward and backward-looking projection. Maybe all of this travel has been, at root, an evasion of time, an evasion of the flat line on the heart rate monitor by creating so many spirited bumps. Summiting one after another I’ve avoided the fear of boredom, the fear of banality, the fear of mediocrity, but after awhile it also seems I’m avoiding the risk of more sustained, exigent, meaningful connection, subtler perhaps, less immediately self-congratulatory, but enduring. I’m not ready for death, but I might be ready for a kitchen table.
I envy writers like Joan Didion, who belong so clearly to and are so clearly of a place. I’m not sure yet that I know how to do or to write that. I’ve lately spent time perusing Audubon guides to eastern trees and birds and moths – a blue-winged martin here, a downy woodpecker there – as a sort of grappling for local subjects. I fear trying to see home – the unseen blue screen behind all the travel narratives that’ve made me a writer – as I’ve seen abroad. Where Mexico offers up its bloody crucifixion scenes and its bawdy teenage clowns in a screaming panorama, Ohio is hard to see at all: I need fussy nature books – barn swallows and nighthawks – to bring it into relief.
Didion’s relationship with California was complex and wrought–it can be as sour and acrid as the burning Santa Ana winds, but with a bittersweet and tender nostalgia for those winds. I wonder if part of this complexity doesn’t stem from the career girl’s shame at returning to the nest, although I suppose that shame is blunted when the nest is New York or Los Angeles, perfectly acceptable places to return to in our culture.
Ohio, meanwhile, is a place the ambitious and creative and talented are meant to escape from and then perhaps look wryly back on or write about from New York or Los Angeles (or Mexico). But I think regardless of the cultural acceptability of one nest or another, it is still the nest, and the singular aim of ambitious young travelers is to escape it. So when the homing instincts kick in, they are bound to come with radiating undertones of capitulation and failure: I didn’t make it far enough, didn’t push or try hard enough.
But perhaps, also, these guilty desires for all that would’ve seemed lamentably tame years ago are the acceptance that screeching novelty can only be novel for so long, and the awareness of a certain self-deception or ironic ease in the mantra that only the unfamiliar, changing, distant can pose a challenge. I have spent my twenties in flight from easiness, throwing hurdles at myself just for the joy of scissoring over them.
Why else would anyone chose writing but to be perpetually challenged, to know that on the relieved denouement from one success or project there lies another nauseating, terrifying, potentially devastating risk? I wonder, then, if writing has come to be risk enough: if I don’t need reckless Mexican taxis or unmarked Chinese trails as much anymore because the act of putting the words on a page before a discerning editor is hair-raising enough. I can go home now, and defy and frighten the wits out of myself just by sitting down at my desk each day.
But I don’t want to go broody; I still want my curiosity, want to roam. I recognize now, however, that interior mechanism pointing back home: its stubborn innateness, the map that defies all maps. I turn back with more regularity, more gratefulness, for longer and longer stretches, letting myself go.
D
ung beetles are highly competitive; when one encounters a pile of dung, it has to roll up a little ball and move that ball away as fast as possible or other dung beetles will come along and swipe it (it’s far easier to swipe someone else’s ball then to roll your own, and courtesy has not been evolutionarily rewarded in the cutthroat world of dung beetles).
The fastest route away from macho dung-robbers-in-waiting is a straight line. “If [you] roll back into the dung pile, it’s curtains,” biologist Eric Warrant warns in National Geographic. Scientists, wondering how the beetles –who push their balls while facing backwards – could stay such a direct course, designed an experiment to test their navigation. The scientists built tiny cardboard and plastic hats for the dung beetles, like miniature visors of the type seen on clueless dads at amusement parks. The beetles with the cardboard hats took far longer to navigate at night than those with the transparent ones, and even in a slightly cloudy or moonless sky the transparent-visored beetles rolled faster. The beetles, the scientists concluded, navigated using the Milky Way.
The scientists also discovered that whenever the beetles hit snags on their routes, they stood atop their balls of poo and “danced” to the stars, turning round and round until they oriented themselves by the Milky Way’s light.
Unlike other animals, which might simply give up after a certain number of pokey scientific intrusions, the dung beetles will keep on trekking even when scientists put them on rolled tracks or drop them off ledges.
“They are so tenacious in what they are trying to do. They cannot be distracted, they don’t get frightened, they don’t change their minds, they don’t get stage fright. They are so, so, so determined,” zoologist Marcus Byrne told The New Yorker. For what is at stake is nothing more or less than home: the secure ball will attract a mate, who will lay an egg inside it. When the egg hatches, it eats its way out, emerging from its snug dung-home to face the fervent competition of the wider world, and the cycle repeats itself.
Swedish scientists, mesmerized by the dung beetles, spent weeks on end in the Kalahari, where they constructed a wooden table surrounded by a moat. The beetles walked across the table in straight lines, stopping when deterred, then dancing to reorient themselves, then continuing, until they fell into the moat with wet plunks that marked the end of their journeys.
The scientists themselves, far from their homes, would eat and drink under the spell of the Milky Way, waiting for the sound of a watery arrival, the surprised splash of one more beetle dancing its way home.
H
umans, too, may have homing instincts. Beginning in 1976 and throughout the 1980s, biologist Robin Baker conducted experiments that suggested humans also navigate using magnetoconception. Baker wanted to understand human behavior through the lens of evolutionary biology, which would explain an inborn tendency to find home even when twisted and turned and confused and dropped onto an unexpected hilltop. If so many animals had such a built-in evolutionary mechanism, why wouldn’t we?
He began with his “bus experiments,” blindfolding students at the University of Manchester, driving them on what a November 1980 article in The Evening Standard called “torturous roads” to unfamiliar landscapes, and then asking them to point back towards Manchester and identify its compass direction. He discovered that far more people noted the correct direction than would be expected by chance, and so he repeated the experiment using magnets: with a local TV station in tow, he brought 42 blindfolded high school students – half of whom had functioning magnets strapped to their heads, and half of whom were equipped with “dummy” magnets – far from their town of Barnard on Castle, guided them into field or forest, and asked them to aim for home.
The students who wore the real magnets were disoriented and had lower success rates than those with the dummy magnets, suggesting that the magnets had interfered with some sort of natural mechanism of magnetic orientation. The results were published in Science and Psychology Today and repeated at Cornell, SUNY, and Princeton – so many blindfolded youngsters driven so far from home and plunked atop mountainsides with magnets to their skulls (will they come back to us?)– but the results proved controversial. The American experiments were not nearly as successful; explained biologist James Gould to the Standard, “We’re not sure what’s wrong…It may be us, it may be our subjects. Perhaps Americans are just rotten navigators.”
Eventually Baker’s research, unable to be successfully reproduced in many places, was faced with intense skepticism, but Baker kept on, expanding to include “chair studies,” in which the subject puts on a blindfold and earmuffs and is rotated and then asked to identify the compass direction he or she is facing; and walkabouts, in which subjects are given real or dummy magnets and sent off somewhere in the woods, then asked to point back towards their starting points. Baker worked with subjects of all ages and nationalities and, according to his website, included “specialist groups” such as nudists, dyslexics, orienteers, and “trans-equatorial travelers.” (It remains to be told whether nudists have superior navigational abilities.)
Baker’s research has never been fully accepted, which he attributes to the marginalization of magnetic navigation as a sort of imagined science of the occult. He defended his work in a 1982 interview on the BBC show Naturewatch by saying,
“All of the techniques that other animals use to find a place to live are effectually the same as ours – it’s exploring, it’s judging habitats using its memory, it’s making decisions, and all of the time it’s keeping an awareness of how to find its way back.”
W
hen I was young I used to travel each weekend from Columbus, where I lived with my dad and stepmom, to Cincinnati to visit my mom. The Ohio landscape was a flat canvas outside, sometimes minimalist in Rothko squares of hay and navy, sometimes dramatic Constable-inspired landscapes of clouds: massive ivory ships with green-violet underbellies sailing against the gunmetal of thunderstorms. These panoramas were interrupted, here and there, by the outlet malls and DQs and reminders that HELL IS REAL. I remember once being in the backseat of the Toyota Tercel – sticky pleather seats, two doors, one of Dad’s $2000 finds – in the middle of a summer storm. I don’t remember which way we were going, north or south, towards or away from Washington Courthouse where Dad handed me off to Mom and vice versa, but I remember feeling safe. Not the kind of safe that is pitted against danger, but the kind of safe that is cozy and secure, existentially safe as if nothing else – school or dinner or leaving one parent behind for the other – mattered, because I was in this moving car with someone who loved me and whom I loved and there was a vibrant storm outside.
It is the kind of safe I feel now in the summer in our boiling apartment, when I go upstairs after I’ve spent the morning writing and open the door to the cool bubble of the bedroom, where the ancient air conditioner throbs with its expellation of chill, and where Jorge and the dogs lie in a cold mess on the rumpled sheets, into which I throw myself. It is a sensation that comes only with being closed in, homed in, the boundaries between myself and the world very clearly defined, narrow, containing only me and my family.
I have spent so much of the last decade searching for this sensation’s polar opposite – the sense of vastness, wideness, the enormity and potential for infinite variation of the world. Backpacking alone in Patagonia to feel not safe but free, discovering my small, fleeting insignificance in a huge world of gray stone and pink sky and blue ice. Throwing myself at mountains and rugged shorelines, at the unknowable, in order to sense the tininess of my own existence, in order to blur and render insignificant the intricate roots and details that bind me to everyday and to home: to feel, in other words, the big picture.
N
ow, I open the fridge and root around for leftover brownies. Now I stand by the windowsill drinking a cold glass of water and smelling the sour tang of the mulberries finally ripened, I take a walk in the afternoon with the dogs to the big grassy hill at a nearby university, I sit and watch the same minor duckling dramas in the same small koi pond, I lie in bed all afternoon reading Lolita and enjoying the whiff of barbecue from a backyard grill nearby, I stand on the pedestrian bridge and watch the trains hurtle by beneath me.
Adulthood, it seems to me, is about narrowing. The salmon roams the vast Pacific and then, to the thrum of its own programmed brain, begins its journey in a shrinking triangle closer and closer to the river mouth, then up the river, then over the falls, then into the forest to that one tapering stretch that is now its focus, center, and range.
E
.S. Starr wrote in The Century Magazine in 1886,
“My long experience with the homing pigeon in its vagaries and its methods leads me to rank its performance as the highest act of which an animal is capable, and to believe that it is not to be ascribed to the blind guidance of instinct or intuition, but that the bird is entirely dependent upon its intelligence; that its superior organization of brain permits some sort of mental direction to its actions of which others of the animal creation are not capable; that it is by its keen sight and wonderful memory, directed by its intelligence and poised by perfect physical condition, that it answers to the demand of the governing impulse of its nature – the love of home.”UTSA teammates(Tampa Bay Rays/17th round),(Philadelphia Phillies/24th round) and(Miami Marlins/34th round) all were selected on the third and final day of the 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday.Muller, who was the 499th pick overall, is coming off a junior season that saw him appear in 13 games, including one start, before seeing his campaign come to an end early due to injury. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-hander posted a 2-0 record, four saves and a 1.72 ERA in 31.1 innings of work. He struck out 44 hitters, which ranked second on the club, while walking just eight and surrendered only 18 hits for a.165 opponent batting average.Meanwhile, Markham, the 713th overall selection, returned from last spring's injury for an outstanding senior year. The 6-foot, 200-pound outfielder led the Roadrunners with a.338 batting average and 77 hits, a total that included a team-high 21 doubles and program single-season record-tying eight triples. He also paced the squad with 22 multiple-hit contests, including three four-hit performances. Markham scored 54 runs, blasted four home runs, stole five bases and walked 23 times in his 55 games (54 starts) of action. The Willis native reached base at a.411 clip and registered a.553 slugging percentage on the strength of 126 total bases.Craigie, the 1,019th choice overall, is coming off a strong senior campaign out of the UTSA bullpen. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound southpaw racked up a 7-1 record with a 2.66 ERA in 47.1 innings of work this past spring. The Pflugerville native made 26 relief appearances and he earned a save at Charlotte on May 14 to help the Roadrunners secure the series win. Craigie registered 39 strikeouts on the year, including a season-best six against WKU, and allowed just four extra-base hits, all doubles.UTSA now has seen a total of 35 players selected in the MLB Draft in its history.**ATTENTION: Thank you for participating in our Shatner SHOUT Sweepstakes! The sweepstakes is now over!!
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a Rafflecopter giveawayThe Ashburn Colored School, which was vandalized over the weekend. (Kate Patterson/For The Washington Post)
Five Loudoun County teenagers are to be charged in connection with vandalizing a historic schoolhouse that once served the county’s African American students, allegedly spray-painting swastikas and “white power” on the side of the aging wood building.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said county prosecutors have not determined what charges the five teens will face for allegedly defacing the Ashburn Colored School. Police have not publicly identified the teens because they are minors.
The school, a small wood structure with peeling white paint and a stone foundation, is being restored by students from the Loudoun School for the Gifted, a project aimed at turning this historic school into a sober reminder of the county’s segregated past. The one-room schoolhouse opened its doors to the county’s African American students, who were barred from attending schools with whites, in 1892. It remained open until the late 1950s, when the county built another school for African Americans.
The building was vandalized either late Friday or early Saturday morning. In addition to swastikas and “white power,” the sheriff’s office found other vulgar messages spray-painted in blue, pink, red and black on the building’s sides and windows, which had just been installed.
[Historic black school defaced with ‘white power’ and Nazi graffiti]
The sheriff’s office offered a $2,000 reward for tips leading to the identification of suspects and enlisted the help of the FBI, and after the vandalism was publicized, tips poured in about who might be behind it. Information from the community ultimately aided the sheriff’s office in identifying the suspects, spokesman Kraig Troxell said.
“We would like to thank the community and our local leaders for their outpouring of support and for understanding the significance of these offenses,” said Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman.
The vandalism sparked a massive outcry from the community and from around the country. Donations poured in to boost the restoration effort.
Deep Sran, the principal of the Loudoun School for the Gifted, said the project’s GoFundMe fundraising page went from a total of $6,000 in donations on Saturday morning to more than $65,000 five days later.
[While building a modern school, Va. students hope to save a historic one]
Sran said he was heartened by the response from the community, which offered financial support but also appears to have helped the sheriff’s office identify the perpetrators. He said he was shocked that local teenagers — who are about the same age as the students restoring the school — are suspected in the vandalism.
“I’m frankly very, very surprised,” Sran said, adding that he had always found Ashburn to be a community that embraced diversity. “You just don’t think that would happen here because of how tolerant and diverse a place it is.”
The Loudoun School for the Gifted hoped to offer an in-depth and hands-on lesson on the history of segregation when it purchased the building to fix it up. Sran said the vandalism incident — and the quick identification of suspected perpetrators — created another teaching moment.
“People are always going to do bad things,” Sran said. “It depends on how the community responds.”
Despite the ugliness of the graffiti and the grueling nature of removing it, Sran said the episode left him feeling optimistic.
“People should be heartened by the outcome here,” Sran said. “The fact the community rallied, the fact that the project is now accelerated... this is a good outcome at the end of the day.”
Weather permitting, the Loudoun School for the Gifted plans to host a community restoration event at the schoolhouse, located at 20579 Ashburn Road, on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., inviting community members to help clean up the building.You may remember Emily Krabill as the 2015 Goshen High School prom queen. She made a big splash in the Elkhart Truth, and her story was named one of the top 10 feel good stories for 2015. Like most 19-year olds, Emily loves listening to Selena and the Scene, talking about her favorite celebrities and making big plans for the future. At the moment, she thinks might want to be a chef or a professional public speaker when she grows up.
Since graduating (that’s right, Emily graduated with a formal degree after successfully completing standardized testing and tough courses like algebra), Emily works part-time in a dish-washing job while also spending three days a week at ADEC’s Goshen Day Service. While she’s there, she enjoys spending time on the computer, baking and participating in the art projects.
Blogging
Emily loves to write. She started writing for the Goshen High School paper during her sophomore year. Since graduating in 2015, she started a blog she updates regularly. Sometimes, she highlights teachers who have made a difference in her life, other times, she shares about her favorite bands. More often than not, she talks about what it’s like to live with Down syndrome.
I feel like people with special needs are being looked down on or overlooked because of our extra chromosome,. Emily wrote in a February 7 blog post. Having an extra chromosome is like we’re slower to develop and learn. But almost every time I can hear other people say the “R, word.” It means that they are calling us dumb and shallow!
Do they even know what that word means? It means to me that it’s starting getting on my nerves. They think that’s who we are but they haven’t given us a chance. They don’t even know who we are, but they’re judging us based on what they think of us. That isn’t who we are, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what everyone thinks.
But we are not selfish or stupid, thinking we are just toddlers stuck in a grown up’s body. That’s not who we are and we are more than that. I want to give a message to everyone who could be reading this who has special needs. We are special for a reason but that doesn’t mean we should be ridiculed because of it. If you are not happy for who you are, you should know that you are beautiful and strong.
If you ask Emily about having a disability, she will correct you immediately. “I don’t have a disability. I think of it more as a special need. We’re all learning differently. It’s not that we’re not skilled, it’s that our learning developments are slower. It’s not that we don’t have the ability.”
One of Emily’s primary goals in keeping her blog is to help others with her special need.
“I really have a passion for helping people,” Emily explained. “I want to be the voice for everyone that doesn’t have one.”
Advocacy
One of the things Emily is most passionate about is ending the use of the “r-word.” She signed a campaign at Goshen High School to “Spread the Word to End the Word.” She works to accomplish this big goal by speaking with groups about the negative impacts the r-word has on her and her peers.
“I want to be taken seriously,” Emily said. “Out in the real world, I’m always the fun, energetic girl. But I don’t know if they will take me seriously if I say, ‘Hey, I have down syndrome and I’m insecure about that.’”
This is just what Emily accomplishes in her blog. Keep an eye on ADEC’s Facebook page as we will be sharing Emily’s posts so we can all learn and grow from what she has to share.
Article by Whitney Craig | Communications Specialist
Photos by Rod Tackett | Communications SpecialistEcotricity, the world’s first ever green energy company, will form a partnership with the British Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to develop renewable energy installations in more environmentally friendly sites, and which could even double as wildlife reserve.
Ecotricity was the company contracted to construct the wind turbine at the RSPB headquarters in Sandy, Bedfordshire last year, this plan works to build on that partnership, and strengthen the link between green energy, and the environment and wildlife.
Dale Vince, the founder of Ecotricity, explained that,“protecting wildlife and creating habitats is not just close to our hearts, it is central to what we do. We’re already making green energy to cut the carbon emissions that cause climate change, which in turn impacts habitats and wildlife. This partnership takes that one step further, making closer links between nature and green energy.
Related article: The Darker Side of Renewable Energy
This is a long-term strategic partnership that will not only protect wildlife, but develop new habitat creation, and make the RSPB a more integral part of the process of our green energy projects.”
The partnership will focus on two different areas to strengthen the link between energy and nature:
• The RSPB will use their expertise to help Ecotricity create green energy projects that combine wildlife habitats with wind, wave, and solar generation facilities.
• Ecotricity will use its expertise to help the RSPB increase their use of renewable energy, and install EV charging points in wildlife reserve visitor centres.
Editor’s Note: EarthTechling is proud to repost this article courtesy of OilPrice.com. Author credit goes to Joao Peixe.So you've heard about All Aboard Florida, the private railroad line that will connect Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach to Orlando set to be completed in 2017. Perhaps you've imagined one day ditching your car in favor of a ticket on the train for your next trip to Disney World, but you've been wondering just how much that would cost. Well, according to a new study, tickets will be about $143 for a one-way, business-class journey between the Miami and Orlando stations. Tickets from Miami to Fort Lauderdale will be around $11.
Those prices aren't official, but according to South Florida Business Journal, the company says that's about the price range customers can expect. They are much higher than an opposition study released earlier this year that suggested tickets between Miami and Orlando would cost about $34.
Tickets from West Palm Beach to Orlando are expected to about $99, tickets from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando will be $126. Coach class tickets will be somewhat cheaper. Those tickets from Orlando to West Palm Beach, Lauderdale, and Miami will run $66, $83, and $94.On Sunday, nationalist activists in Kiev attacked the Russian Embassy twice in the course of 24 hours, first smashing up diplomatic vehicles with sledgehammers and throwing smoke bombs in the dead of the night, and then pelting the Embassy with green dye, eggs and rocks in the daytime. Sputnik offers a timeline of events.
In the aftermath of the February 2014 Maidan coup d'état, attacks on the Russian Embassy in Kiev have become a regular occurrence. The largest attack, taking place in June 2014, following the election of President Petro Poroshenko, was carried out by activists from the Right Sector, 'Maidan Self-Defense', Azov and other ultranationalist radicals armed with axes, baseball bats, rocks and Molotov cocktails.
During that event, extremists destroyed seven diplomatic cars, tore down the Russian flag, and threw bottles with green dye and eggs at the Embassy, causing 19 million rubles in damage. Then Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrei Deschitsa (currently ambassador to Poland) supported the protesters, while Interior Minister Arsen Avakov called the riot an expression of the "civil stance of the people," and held off police intervention.
Déjà vu
Early Sunday morning, in the dead of the night, a group of about a dozen people in dark clothes and balaclavas, armed with sledgehammers, gathered outside the Embassy, throwing smoke bombs and flares at the building and smashing up three Russian diplomatic vehicles. Embassy security had to fire warning shots into the air to deter the attackers.
Shortly after the attack, a video posted to YouTube explained that the attack was carried out in support of Nadezhda Savchenko, a former volunteer pilot fighting for the Aidar Battalion (a neo-fascist group accused of war crimes in eastern Ukraine) captured by Donbass militia in 2014 and charged with killing two Russian journalists, who is currently being tried.
Regarded as a political prisoner by Ukrainian authorities and the country's media, Savchenko, who is formally listed as an MP in absentia from the ruling coalition fraction 'Fatherland', is on trial for murder in Russia, having illegally crossed the Ukrainian-Russian border in 2014 disguised as a refugee. The court session during which she is set to deliver her final statement is now scheduled for March 9.
Commenting on the nighttime Embassy attack, Russian news commentators took note of the fact that the attackers did not even attempt to hide their identities; the YouTube video of the attack was posted by the known extremist and former 'Kiev-2' volunteer battalion fighter Evgeniy Karas.
Nighttime Turns to Day
The nighttime attack was followed by daytime rallies and pickets, scheduled ahead of time to be held in Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa (i.e. Ukrainian cities with a Russian diplomatic presence through an embassy or consulates) on March 6, calling for Savchenko's immediate release.
During the day Sunday, about 100 people gathered in front of the Embassy in Kiev, waving flags and carrying signs reading '#FreeSavchenko'. Some of the protesters tossed eggs and green and red dye at the Embassy walls. Eventually, several men in military fatigues began climbing through the fence, throwing rocks, breaking a window and a security camera, painting obscenities on the Embassy gate, trampling and then burning a Russian flag, and stringing up an effigy of the Russian president with a noose over his neck.
© REUTERS / Gleb Garanich A protester shouts as he climbs the fence of the Russian Embassy in Kiev during a rally demanding the liberation of Ukrainian army pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, March 6, 2016.
Throughout the affair, Ukrainian riot police were shown standing idly by, refusing to detain the most zealous protesters, saying it was not in their competency, especially since 'no significant damage' had been done.
© AFP 2018 / SERGEI SUPINSKY A protester throws a brick at a door of the Russian Embassy in Kiev after climbing over a fence during a rally to demand the release of hunger-striking Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, March 6, 2016.
Sunday's vandalism of the Russian Embassy was met with a protest in the Russian capital Sunday evening. Protesters outside the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow cried 'Shame', 'Savchenko is a murderer' and 'Fascism will not pass', and carried banners calling for Russian-Ukrainian friendship and against the 'Kiev junta' and its 'puppet masters' in Washington. A few eggs were thrown, none of them managing to hit the Embassy building, whose lights were out.
Police in Kiev said that they had launched a probe into the attack which took place Sunday morning, interviewing witnesses and finding one of the hammers used to smash up Embassy cars. The attack has been qualified as 'hooliganism', a charge punishable by a monetary fine, or up to six months' imprisonment.
Commentators have made note of the fact that the Embassy attack featured similar tactics to an Azov battalion attack on the Ukrainian Security Service office in Kiev earlier this month. That attack took place following the security agency's detention of one of Azov's leaders – Stanislav Krasnov, the head of the battalion's Crimean wing.
Commenting on the attack on the Russian Embassy for RIA Novosti on Monday, Sevastopol Governor Sergei Menyailo suggested that the attackers had chosen the wrong address.
"The people in Kiev got the wrong address, mixing up the street with the Russian Embassy for Bankova street [which houses the Ukrainian Presidential Administration]. It's not the Russian diplomats who are to blame for Ukraine's economic crisis, nor are they the ones who launched a war in Donbass, or the ones who started this quarrel with their closest neighbor," Menyailo said.This is a remix of johann517's excellent G-Clamp (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1673030). I've made the clamp double-sided and added a ring that can be used to hang it (e.g. suspend from a ceiling).
It's useful for all sorts of things! You can extend-a-shelf from basically anywhere it can clamp on to. You can also use it to hang things up in your kitchen, garage, etc by clamping it where you want and then clamping the thing to the other side of the clamp.
It can also be used to chain things together! If you use the ring to hang something from a ceiling, for example, you could then chain those things together by clamping each side of the thing you're hanging one to the next, to the next, so on and so forth.
Example usage:Receiving rejection slips is a pretty disheartening process, so being upbeat I thought I’d write an entire column on the matter. But instead of providing tips on how to deal with rejection (spoiler: keep on writing, keep on submitting) I’m highlighting a group of famous bestsellers that were rejected. Then, just because I know it strikes fear into LitReactor’s editorial team when they see titles like ‘ |
That’s three points right there.”
The Wings’ defense isn’t good enough to withstand lack of structure. A significant upgrade on the back end sorely is needed, and management remains actively trying to address the issue.
An early afternoon flight Tuesday into New York afforded Wings brass the opportunity to scout defenseman Cam Fowler as Anaheim played that night at New Jersey. At last asking price, however, the Ducks’ demands included Anthony Mantha.
Evgeny Svechnikov has become another target after an especially strong exhibition season, and he’s another prospect the Wings would be loath to relinquish.
Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.Sidney Crosby can really do it all.
The captain of the Penguins suited up as a goalie in a Pittsburgh-area ball hockey game Tuesday, and was joined by former Penguin Colby Armstrong.
Crosby played for "Team Iceland" in a division in the Cranberry Dek Hockey League.
And of course, the 28-year-old led the team to a victory, by a score of 4-3.
It's not the first time Crosby has strapped on the pads in ball hockey, as the native of Cole Harbour, N.S., also suited up in December 2012, during the NHL lockout.
Congrats to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pens?src=hash">#Pens</a> front office dek team, <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamIcelandD2">@TeamIcelandD2</a>! Tonight they got a little boost from Crosby and <a href="https://twitter.com/armdog">@armdog</a>. <a href="http://t.co/M7Fz65b3l5">pic.twitter.com/M7Fz65b3l5</a> —@penguins
Got to play on a line with Colby Armstrong <a href="https://twitter.com/armdog">@armdog</a> with Sidney Crosby in net tonight. <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamIcelandD2">@TeamIcelandD2</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NevadaColor">@NevadaColor</a> <a href="https://t.co/t9t39qYlOo">https://t.co/t9t39qYlOo</a> —@quinn_wirthTILLER, Ore. - In the tiny, dying timber town of Tiller, the old cliche is true. If you blink, you might actually miss it.
But these days, this dot on a map in southwestern Oregon is generating big-city buzz for an unlikely reason: Almost the entire town is for sale.
The asking price of $3.5 million brings with it six houses, the shuttered general store and gas station, the land under the post office, undeveloped parcels, water rights and infrastructure that includes sidewalks, fire hydrants and a working power station. Tiller Elementary School, a six-classroom building that closed in 2014, is for sale separately for $350,000.
Potential buyers have come forward but are remaining anonymous, and backup offers are still being accepted.
The listing represents a melancholy crossroads for Tiller, a once-bustling logging outpost that sprang up after the turn of the last century deep in what is now the Umpqua National Forest, about 230 miles south of Portland. The post office opened in 1902, and miners, loggers, ranchers and farmers flocked to the community along a pristine river.
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Then, nearly three decades ago, logging on the federal forest lands that encircle Tiller came to a near standstill because of environmental regulations. The timber mill closed, and families moved away. One longtime resident began buying up properties. When he died three years ago, the family owned much of the town.
Then the Tiller Elementary School closed and was up for sale, as well as a small market, and the man’s estate bought those too -- and the potential became clear.
The listing includes more than 256 acres (1 square kilometer) in 29 distinct parcels, water and timber rights, and a variety of zonings, from residential to industrial.
About 235 people still live in the unincorporated area around Tiller and have long relied on the buildings now for sale along historic Highway 227 as a gathering spot and one of the only places to shop for groceries in miles.
“Between the dying economy and the dying owners, Tiller became a new opportunity that had never been available before,” said Richard Caswell, executor of the estate. “I started getting inquiries from all over the world, essentially, ‘What was it? And what could you do with it?’ It’s the buyer and their imagination that’s going to determine what Tiller can become.”
The potential buyers have said through the seller’s broker that they intend to turn the school into some type of campus and create a “permaculture” development that respects the town’s remaining residents and its picturesque setting on a bend in the emerald-tinted South Umpqua River. They want to make reopening the market a priority.
“The buyers understand that they only have one shot at a first impression,” said Garrett Zoller, principal broker for LandandWildlife.com, the seller’s realtor. “They understand that this is a community of people who live here and that it could be a sensitive subject.... They want to address this project with the community in mind.”
Beyond that, Tiller’s future remains shrouded in mystery.
The downtown is a ghost town, but plenty of people still live tucked into the mountains in a region where bears wander onto porches and where picking up a cell phone signal takes a 30-minute drive.
Residents gather at the church for coffee and cinnamon rolls on Fridays and collect their mail at the one-room post office -- when it’s open. Some have a sense of humor: A small, weathered sign affixed to the defunct market reads, “Last one out of Tiller turn out the light.”
Sarah Crume and a few other mothers cling to a sense of community by meeting with their young children for playtime at the church, one of the few places not for sale. She’s raising five daughters here and had to send her younger children to school in the next closest town when Tiller Elementary shut down.
“It is a little scary, especially raising our kids in this place that we love,” Crume said. “I’m just wondering what kind of impact it’s going to have on the people.”
Paula Ellis grew up in Tiller on a ranch and spent her childhood hunting and riding horses here. Her daughters’ beds are decorated with the skins of bears they killed when they were teenagers, and the antlers of the first deer Ellis bagged hangs on a wall near the front door.
She met her husband at the elementary school and recalls the annual end-of-the-year contests for the children that were dubbed the Tiller Olympics.
A giant cross rises over her home from an adjacent hilltop, and Ellis lately has found herself praying.
“If you do choose to live here and raise kids here, it’s a community you fall in love with,” Ellis said, wiping away tears. “And we don’t want to lose that.”
Yet Gary Newman, a retiree who lives 5 miles (8 kilometers) outside town, has a different take.
He has watched Tiller wither over the years in a procession of goodbyes. He hopes the buyers will bring new jobs, and new life, to the community.
“I’ve been here 17 years,” he said, “and I want to spend the rest of my life here.”Seth Casteel / Tandem Stock (with permission) UPDATE: A new set of original film prints of dogs diving under water, from 1997, was recently uncovered by Business Insider.
EARLIER: You think you know what a dog looks like when it dives into a swimming pool to fetch a ball. And then you see these astonishing underwater images by photographer Seth Casteel: It's a startling frenzy of teeth, jowls, eyes and claws.
The near-weightless conditions, coupled with the drag of the water, do odd things to a dog. Lips go flying. Fur and ears lie flat. Eyelids are peeled back.
Most of all, they reveal the intense determination that dogs bring to having fun.
Casteel—a commercial photographer who has worked for dog toy company Kong, JW Pet Co., Animal Planet, and Nintendo—first started shooting dogs underwater about 18 months ago when he was asked to do a portrait of a King Charles spaniel who wouldn't stay out of his owner's pool.
Last week, a selection of the Californian's images went viral (as they say) and now he's getting calls from all over the world to do underwater pet portraits.With the help of Psy and his “cheesy” dance moves, Korean pop music has made its way overseas in a big way. Could the Gangnam guru soon find himself dethroned by a 20-year-old?
Meet Park Chanyeol, the newest international music sensation. Known primarily as the lead vocalist and rapper of the Korean-Chinese boy band Exo, Chanyeol has won over millions of fans with his upbeat attitude and charm. Numerous fan pages and Tumblr accounts have already sprung up so that Chanyeol’s fans can pay tribute to his pearly whites and constantly changing hair. Here are some key things you need to know about the rising star.
He’s Known as the Happy Virus
The self-appointed “happy virus” of Exo, Chanyeol is regularly seen cracking up and goofing around with his bandmates when out on the town. Chanyeol is also known to interact with his fans and is constantly thanking them for their love and support. It’s easy to see how he has earned the title of the happy virus, and the nickname has quickly spread amongst his fans.
He Has a Reverse Voice
Don’t let his looks fool you. Chanyeol may look like the ultimate boy-band member, but he’s actually a talented rapper. He has described his talent as a “reverse voice” because his “deep, manly” vocals contrast with his “pretty look.” He has also named rapper Eminem as one of his musical role models.
He Has Ever-changing Hair
The most consistent thing about Chanyeol is definitely his smile. The least consistent thing? His hair. With a different style almost every week, Chanyeol has rocked more locks than Katy Perry. Hence the many Tumblr accounts completely dedicated to his hair to keep track of all of his different looks.
Tomorrow Is His Birthday!
Chanyeol hits the ripe age of 20 on Nov. 27, so it’s not too late to wish him a happy birthday. The best way to do it? Make a YouTube video, of course.Every morning, I drop my daughters off at school and then drive by the brick wall where I spent countless hours dreaming of becoming a professional tennis player. I gave up on my baseball dreams when I was 13 or 14 years old and realized that I was still afraid of inside fastballs. I bizarrely held on to tennis aspirations much longer.
The wall is on the outside of a supermarket — a Harris Teeter, if you want specifics — and it faces a parking lot that was almost never filled with cars. It’s a huge brick wall, maybe 30 or 40 yards long and 15 or more feet high, and tennis balls bounce off it unpredictably. I saw this as a good thing when I was 15 or 16 and hitting tennis balls against it pretty much every day. It’s almost like that wall is alive.
I think about that wall now because on Thursday — thanks to a glorious wife who knows me in a deeper way than I know myself — I will be playing tennis with (against?) John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pat Cash and, my childhood tennis hero, Ivan Lendl. They are coming to town to play in a senior tennis event and, for my birthday, Margo bought me a chance to play in their prematch clinics. I’m sure it will be me and 50 other people. But that doesn’t matter. I’ll be on the court with them.
I cannot even begin to count how many times I faced that brick wall — whacking tennis balls turned fuzzy from the brick and concrete — and imagined I was facing Mac, Connors or, especially, Ivan Lendl. Well, that’s not exactly right. I never faced Ivan Lendl. That’s because I WAS Ivan Lendl.
The childhood hero stuff is so powerful. The other day, while working on an upcoming story on Stephen Curry, I spent a joyous few minutes talking with Jerry West. What a thrill. I cannot think of a single living athlete who is more iconic than Jerry West. In my years as a sportswriter, I’ve been absurdly lucky enough to spend some extended time with, among many other legends, Oscar Robertson, Jim Brown, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Bart Starr, Bob Feller, Rod Laver and Jerry West, and it is humbling and thrilling and intimidating … but different from what I’m feeling now. I have no memory of seeing them play when I was young. They are just before my time and so my overwhelming admiration of them has passed through a filter.
This is why, deep down, I’ve felt a twinge of nervousness when going to to talk to Buddy Bell or Ozzie Newsome or Austin Carr that I did not feel with those other legends. They are tied more closely to my heart. I once pretended to be them.
And the two people I spent most of childhood pretending to be were former Cleveland indians second baseman Duane Kuiper and the former No. 1 tennis player in the world Ivan Lendl. I’ve told my Kuiper stories countless times and will tell it at length again in April surrounding “Duane Kuiper Bobblehead Day” in San Francisco, an event I still plan to attend. Ivan Lendl is trickier.
When I was entering high school, my Dad got a new job as a mechanic in a sweater factory and our family moved from Cleveland to an apartment complex in Charlotte — the apartment complex I drive through every morning after dropping off my girls at school. Moving just before high school is a rotten thing, and for months I felt pretty rotten about it. But in the center of our complex, there were three tennis courts. I had never played tennis — I can’t even visualize a tennis court in Cleveland — but it looked interesting. I needed something.
There was an old guy in the neighborhood named George who gave tennis lessons for something like five bucks per half hour. When I say George was old, I mean OLD. He might have been 90. He couldn’t move at all, but he was pretty enthusiastic about tennis and, in my memory, he could really volley. I somehow got an $7.99 wood racket from K-Mart and began to take lessons from George. I don’t remember a single thing he told me or lesson he taught me but I still have that vision of him standing across the net, looking more or less mid-coronary, and hitting ball after ball to my forehand and then to my backhand. He must have taught me the basics of the game because I don’t know where else I would have picked them up. As it turned out, I had a decent knack for the game. I hit my first ground stroke not long before I turned 15. By 16, I was better than most people I knew — not that most people I knew liked tennis much — and I was ready to try out for high school tennis team. I was dreaming of turning pro someday.
I was obsessive about hitting tennis balls against that supermarket wall. I would say that up to that point in my life, I had never worked that relentlessly on anything — not school, not baseball, no my various jobs, certainly not reading or writing. Every day, though, I’d hit tennis balls against the wall, sometimes by day, other times under the spotty glow of street lights. In retrospect, I’m not even sure what all those hours cracking worn tennis balls at a wall did for my ACTUAL tennis game; that’s certainly not the best way to develop tennis talents. But I did it anyway, hour after hour, and all the while I would pretend to be Ivan Lendl.
There aren’t many huge Ivan Lendl fans in this world — I’ve only met one. That’s understandable. Lendl was (is?) this morose and colorless guy who was born in Czechoslovakia, relocated to American and played a power baseline tennis that was viewed skeptically by pretty much everybody (though it is now the basis for most of the best players). David Foster Wallace in his classic “Roger Federer As Religious Experience” pretty neatly summed up the way people felt about Lendl’s game.
“Ivan Lendl was the first top pro whose strokes and tactics appeared to be designed around the special capacities of the composite racket. His goal was to win points from the baseline, via either passing shots or outright winners. His weapon was his groundstrokes, especially his forehand, which he could hit with overwhelming pace because of the amount of topspin he put on the ball. … It wasn’t that Ivan Lendl was an immortally great tennis player. He was simply the first top pro to demonstrate what heavy topspin and raw power could achieve from the baseline. And, most important, the achievement was replicable, just like the composite racket.”
I don’t agree with DFW on all this, by the way. I think Lendl’s game was not quite replicable; it had its own individual genius that he never quite got credit for. He reached eight straight U.S. Open finals, came back from two sets down to beat McEnroe at the French and twice reached the final at Wimbledon despite his aversion to the surface (he was literally allergic to grass). I think he didn’t get much acclaim or love because he was so sullen and private and because he was surrounded by all these huge personalities with big and bold tennis games — McEnroe and Connors and Bjorn Borg and Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker at the head of the class. There were numerous stories (I read them all) that insisted Lendl was privately a funny and thoughtful guy who had significantly more charm and enthusiasm for life than the brooding figure who whipped heavy topspin forehands and backhands past rushing volleyers.
I blandly believed those stories and still do but personality had little to do with why I loved Lendl. His game was my North Star. I looped my forehand because he did. I hit a one-handed topspin backhand because he did. For a while I had this ridiculously high toss on my serve because he did. I wanted to carry around sawdust in my pocket the way he did and spread it on the handle of the racket when it became slippery from sweat. Like he did. I used to memorize quotes of his and repeat them in my mind when I was hitting the ball against the wall — and this was somewhat challenging because Lendl didn’t have many memorable quotes. I remember he once had a lesson in Tennis Magazine that had to do lifting the racket after contact on the backhand. I worked on that for days even though i didn’t quite know what he meant.
And, of course, I pretended to be him in matches. On the wall, I could see Johnny Mac coming in on his cutting backhand approach, and to pass him I needed to hit that slightly discolored brick right there. Oh. Missed it. Here comes Mac again. Hit the brick. Oh. Missed it. In my head Ivan Lendl raged. Come on! What is wrong with you? Loop that forehand! Here’s Jimmy Connors hitting that flat two-handed backhand that clears the net by one-tenth of an inch — bend your knees, lift that backhand, get it over the net, hit it deeper, harder …
Looking back on all that... I didn’t become an especially good tennis player. I failed miserably in high school. I can still hit a big serve that will hit triple digits on the radar gun (getting it in is another matter), and I can still hit heavy topspin forehands that eat up players at my level, and I am still so wildly inconsistent that I can lose to more or less anybody. And of course I’m in terrible shape so my best trait as a younger player — my ability to move on the court — is completely gone. If I gained anything out of those days hitting the ball against the wall it is that, if you see me practice against a ball machine or something, you might think I’m a really good player. I’m not. But I practice well.
Thursday morning, I’m going to drive by the wall where I dropped so many dreams and then, a few hours later, I will hit tennis balls against McEnroe and Connors for real along with other dreamers. And I’m nervous, actually nervous, the kind of nervous I never am even when talking to legends like Jerry West. Ivan Lendl is going to be there. I wonder if he will see any of his game in me. I doubt it. But you never know.Judge Roy Moore on Friday personally addressed the allegations from four women who accused him of inappropriate behavior while they were teenagers, including a 14-year-old who said he made sexual advances when Moore was 32.
Here's what he had to say about each accusation on Sean Hannity's radio show.
Leigh Corfman, then 14
Moore emphatically denied ever knowing or having any interaction with Leigh Corfman, who accused him of making sexual advances with her when she was 14 and he was 32.
In the Washington Post report, Corfman said Moore introduced himself to her in 1979 and picked her up days after they met. She said Moore drove her to his home in the woods and kissed her. During a second visit, she said Moore took off her shirt and pants — along with his clothing — and touched over her bra and underpants and guided her hand over his underwear.
"I don't know Ms. Corfman from anybody," Moore said. "I've never talked to her. Never had any contact with her. Allegations of sexual misconduct are completely false. I believe they are politically motivated.
"I have never known this woman or anything," Moore added. "It never happened, and I don't even like hearing it because it never happened."
Related: Roy Moore calls allegations about 14-year-old girl 'completely false and misleading'
Debbie Wesson Gibson, then 17
Debbie Wesson Gibson, whom Moore remembered by her maiden name, said they met when she was 17 and Moore spoke to her high school civics class. She said they went on several dates that did not progress beyond kissing.
Moore said he does not remember speaking to any civics class, but remembered Wesson Gibson and her parents. He also recalled her as a "good girl."
"I do not remember speaking to a civics class," Moore said. "I don't remember that. I do not remember when we — I seem to remember knowing her parents because they were friends. I can't recall specific dates because that's been 40 years, but I remember her as a good girl."
Pressed by Hannity, Moore said he did not recall going on any dates with her, but admitted it was possible they did. He also said she was a "friend."
"I don't remember specific dates. I do not," Moore said. "And I do not remember if it was in that time or later, but I do not remember that, no."
"I know her, but I don't remember going out on dates. I knew her as a friend. If we did go out on dates, then we did," Moore said, "but I do not remember that."
Gloria Thacker Deason, then 18
Moore also remembered Gloria Thacker Deason by her maiden name. According to the Washington Post, Thacker Deason said she was 18 years old and a cheerleader when she met Moore, who took her on dates that included bottles of Mateus Rosé wine, despite the drinking age being 19 at the time.
Moore disputed that he brought wine to dates with her because the county was a dry county at the time. He also said she believed she was 19 or older at the time.
"No, because in this county, it's a dry county. We never would have had liquor," Moore said. "I believe she said that she believed that she was underage. As I can recall, she was 19 or older. That just never happened. I never provided alcohol, beer, or intoxicating liquors to a minor. That'd be against the law, it's against anything I'd have ever done."
"I seem to remember her as a good girl," Moore said. "I seem to remember that I had some sort of knowledge of her mother, very in particular."
Wendy Miller, then 14-16
Moore did not address Miller's comments in the report, although Hannity mentioned her briefly. According to the Washington Post, Moore approached her initially when she was 14, and asked her out on dates when she was 16, which her mother "forbade."Get the biggest Aston Villa 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
Aston Villa are searching for a director of football operations as they continue to revamp the support networks around boss Paul Lambert.
Chief executive Tom Fox has created the role as part of his on-going plan to improve the major departments that surround the manager at Villa Park.
The club are also closing in on the appointments of a chief commercial officer and a new head of media while a massive overhaul of the academy and the scouting system is already underway.
Ideally Villa are aiming to fill the position by the summer to ensure the new man is settled in for the start of next season.
Can you spot yourself in the Villa Park crowd against Liverpool
Lambert is expected to play a part in the eventual appointment and is likely to help identify some of the roles that he will undertake.
That the club are involving him in such talks suggest that both Fox and owner Randy Lerner are still fully behind him despite Villa’s chronic lack of goals and their slide down the Premier League table.
At Bodymoor Heath business is as usual ahead of the fourth round FA Cup clash with Bournemouth on Sunday but there is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes.
The decision to create the director of football operations position is part of Fox’s long-term vision to help the club prosper.
He told the Birmingham Mail last month that he predicts success in three-to-five years time and in the five months he has been at the club there has been plenty of change.
His plan to hire slick, experienced, professionals who have a history of getting results is slowly starting to take shape and in time the results should show.
Having enjoyed a productive period at Arsenal, the savvy American has started to implement some of the success stories that he witnessed in north London.
The chief commercial officer role was the post he held at the Emirates Stadium and Villa should have that position filled in a matter of months.
Yoann Copreaux, the new head of business strategy, was brought in late last year and is said to have made an impressive start to his time in the Midlands.
The changes in the academy also bode well for the future.
Unlike at other clubs the director of football role will not be heavily centred around identifying and purchasing players.
Villa feel that with new director of recruitment Paddy Reilly already doing a decent job at Bodymoor Heath there is little need to add another commanding head to that section.
Instead, Fox is thought to want someone who can look critically at areas such as sports medicine, data analysis and athletic performance to ensure the claret and blues are reaching their maximum potential.
While the exact duties are not yet clear, it’s thought that a new arrival would not come in and under-cut any football responsibilities that the manager is in charge of.
That would mean no interfering with the squad, team selection and game-based issues.
Villa may be struggling on the pitch but they are certainly hiring good people to take care of the backroom matters.
At present the need for an assistant manager is not thought to be a serious concern.
Like our Aston Villa Facebook pageSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid has enough votes to pass President Obama’s plan to extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone’s first $250,000 in income, according to his office … if Republicans agree not to filibuster it.
The development positions Democrats and Obama to attack Senate Republicans for blocking extension of nearly all the Bush tax cuts, unless wealthy Americans get their tax cuts extended as well.Reid’s complicated maneuvers on the Senate floor Wednesday night suggest he’s defied the GOP’s expectations and lined up at least 50 members of his caucus to pass Obama’s plan. Caught by surprise, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was forced to block a parallel opportunity for a majority vote on extending all the Bush tax cuts.
It’s an important milestone for Senate Democrats, many of whose conservative members have been reluctant to vote for Obama’s plan, fearing dubious GOP attacks that anything less than a full extension of the Bush tax cuts amounts to a significant tax increase, particularly on small businesses.
The development unfolded between a series of obscure procedural tactics that spanned the day. McConnell offered Reid a similar vote Wednesday morning — an opportunity Reid declined. Republicans responded, taunting Reid for failing to marshall support for Obama’s plan.
By the end of the day, Reid had put a coalition together. Though the vote did not take place — and may not happen at all, it snuffs out the GOP’s potent argument that even Senate Democrats don’t support his plan.The Joy of Painting is an American half-hour instructional television show hosted by painter Bob Ross which ran from January 11, 1983, until May 17, 1994. In each episode, Ross taught techniques for landscape oil painting, completing a painting in each session. The program followed the same format as its predecessor, The Magic of Oil Painting, hosted by Ross' mentor Bill Alexander. During its run, it won three Emmy Awards. [ citation needed ]
Broadcast by non-commercial public television stations, the show's first season was in 1983, and initially produced by WNVC in Falls Church, Virginia, then by WIPB in Muncie, Indiana, from 1984 until the show ended in 1994, and later by Blue Ridge Public Television in Roanoke, Virginia. Most of the series was distributed by what is now American Public Television. Reruns continued to air in syndication in the United States under the title The Best of The Joy of Painting, featuring a collection of Bob Ross's favorite paintings from past seasons.
Each 30-minute show usually begins with Ross (or a guest) standing in front of a blank canvas against a white or black background. Guests included Ross's long-time friend Dana Jester,[2][3] along with Ross's son Steve,[4] his old instructor John Thamm, and many others.[5] Within the 30-minute program, Ross graphically ran the colors across the screen (this was not done in earlier seasons), as he turned the blank canvas into an imaginary landscape, using the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, in which the painter continues adding paint on top of still-wet paint rather than waiting for each layer of paint to dry. Combining this method with the use of two-inch and other types of brushes, as well as painting knives, allowed him to paint trees, water, clouds, and mountains in a matter of seconds.
Each painting would start with simple strokes that appeared to be nothing more than the smudges of color. As he added more and more strokes, the blotches transformed into intricate landscapes.[6] As he painted, he instructed viewers regarding the techniques he was using, he added comments describing the "happy little clouds" and "happy little trees" that he was creating. He would also have home video footage of himself with a baby squirrel, deer, raccoon, as well as another small animal. Each program was shot in real time with two cameras: a medium shot of Ross and his canvas, and a close-up shot of the canvas or palette. At the end of each episode, Ross was known for saying something akin to, "So from all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting, and God bless, my friend", and then, the credits roll over a shot of the day's painting, with the show's theme song being heard.
Ross created three versions of each painting for each episode of the show. The first, painted prior to taping, sat on an easel, off-camera, and was used by Ross as a template to create the second copy—the one viewers actually watched him paint. After taping the episode, Ross painted a third, more detailed version for inclusion in his instructional books.[7] All three versions were then donated to various PBS stations.[8]New federal regulations cost the economy $112 billion in 2013, according to a newly released tally of government figures from the American Action Forum.
Led by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and health care agencies, the federal government added 157.9 million hours of paperwork for U.S. workers.
American Action Forum, a right-of-center Washington think tank, found in an analysis of Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and Federal Register data released Wednesday that regulators have published $494 billion in net costs in final rules from 2009 through 2013.
Two major proposed rules, relating to emissions standards and efficiency standards for motors, drove the regulatory costs for 2013. Yet, according to AAF, overall regulatory activity was down from previous years in President Obama's tenure. The administration published 77 new major regulations, versus 100, in 2010. Any regulation that results in an annual effect on the economy greater than $100 million is considered major.
The largest new burden in terms of paperwork came from an "obscure" rule relating to affirmative action and nondiscrimination for contractors. It would add 9.9 million hours of paperwork.
AAF also measured the cost of regulations on individual companies by examining their 10-K reports. Among the biggest losers were Bank of America, with $1.7 billion in annual compliance costs, Duke Energy with $5.7 billion, and Pfizer with $1.6 billion.
Regulatory costs are only going to increase in 2014, predicts AAF. Depending on the White House's sensitivity to the politics around regulations and how quickly rules are moved, they could total $143 billion, the think tank estimates.Ironically, Gleick was Chair of the AGU Committee on Ethics.
As a result of this incident, he was asked to resign his Chairmanship of this Committee. But apparently there were no other sanctions from AGU, and I seem to recall that Gleick gave a big invited AGU Union lecture within the next year.
Does ‘others’ in the AGU guidelines include Heartland? It is my understanding that some scientists are involved with Heartland, but I don’t know if any of them are AGU members.
The second case is Michael Mann’s recent congressional testimony that included the following statements:
Bates’ allegations were also published on the blog of climate science denier Judith Curry
That includes the study28 led by Zeke Hausfather of the “Berkeley Earth” project—a project funded in part by the Koch Brothers and including29 as one of its original team members, climate change contrarian Judith Curry. (JC note: footnote 29 is the source watch slime job on me )
So does being called a ‘denier’ in the Congressional Record count as bullying? How about attempting to discredit me via a tortuous link to the ‘evil’ Koch brothers (who I have never had any interactions with and I never received a nickel from Berkeley Earth?) Not to mention linking to the slime job source watch article on me.
Consider Michael Mann’s lawsuit against Tim Ball because of an interview with Ball that was posted on the Frontier Center website. In the interview, according to court documents, Ball responds to an anonymous questioner regarding the “Climategate” scandal by saying “Michael Mann at Penn State should be in the State Pen, not Penn State.”
It’s interesting to compare the nature of Tim Ball’s statement about Mann, with Mann’s statement about me, and different venues in which the statements were made.
I’m sure there are many other cases to discuss, but these three were the first that came to my mind.
JC reflections
So, should the AGU be providing sanctions against scientists for their behavior towards other scientists? It is easy to argue that this is the case at AGU meetings, for AGU officers, and others in appointed positions at AGU (this would clearly put Gleick in the AGU cross hairs). But what about Mann’s behavior (who is an AGU fellow) and Tim Ball’s (assume for the sake of argument that Ball is an AGU member; I simply don’t know).
At the time of ClimateGate, I recall the argument (I think from Gavin) that Sir Isaac Newton was a SOB, and that did not make his science incorrect. Well, in the 21st century, the whole system of peer review for publications and grant proposals, not to mention promotion and awards committees, and research assessment committees (e.g. NAS, IPCC) rely on ethical conduct towards others.
I suspect that this code of conduct towards others emerged from social justice concerns related to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and national origin. I have to say that other than some very subtle discrimination, I don’t think that bullying is a big issue in this context. The bullying that I have seen relates scientific disagreements, with the majority (consensus) opinion being used a rationale for bullying, plus politics and policy preferences regarding the social consequences of the research topic.
Defining bullying when an issue such as race and gender is involved seems fairly straightforward, it is less straightforward when the bullying is related to scientific and/or policy-political disagreements. Where do you draw the line? I would say the line should be drawn when the actions of the bully causes harm to, interferes with, or sabotages scientific activity and careers. Lets take a look at some examples and ponder where this line might be in terms of the bullying behavior of scientist A towards scientist B:
Bullying tweets Bullying blog posts Op-eds published in the mainstream media Statements to journalists in the mainstream media Direct communications to a scientist’s employer FOIA requests (I don’t know of an examples of scientist A making FOIA requests of scientist B?) Statements made in Congressional testimony
Based on my own experience, I would say that #1, #2 doesn’t matter, it’s just noise. Tweets, in particular, are fairly ephemeral and typically spur of the moment.
Bullying op-eds and statements to journalists do matter, these are read by my employer and have shown in up in Georgia Tech’s |
address associated with APT 28/Fancy Bear. Metadata in a file leaked by “Guccifer 2.0” shows it was modified by a user called, in cyrillic, “Felix Edmundovich,” a reference to the founder of a Soviet-era secret police force. Another document contained cyrillic metadata indicating it had been edited on a document with Russian language settings. Peculiarities in a conversation with “Guccifer 2.0” that Motherboard published in June suggests he is not Romanian, as he originally claimed. The DCLeaks.com domain was registered by a person using the same email service as the person who registered a misspelled domain used to send phishing emails to DNC employees. Some of the phishing emails were sent using Yandex, a Moscow-based webmail provider. A bit.ly link believed to have been used by APT 28/Fancy Bear in the past was also used against Podesta.
Biddle then goes into why the information provided above is not enough to prove that the Russians hacked anything at all, much less justification to provoke World War Three in retaliation. He writes,
Viewed as a whole, the above evidence looks strong, and maybe even damning. But view each piece on its own, and it’s hard to feel impressed. For one, a lot of the so-called evidence above is no such thing. CrowdStrike, whose claims of Russian responsibility are perhaps most influential throughout the media, says APT 28/Fancy Bear “is known for its technique of registering domains that closely resemble domains of legitimate organizations they plan to target.” But this isn’t a Russian technique any more than using a computer is a Russian technique — misspelled domains are a cornerstone of phishing attacks all over the world. Is Yandex — the Russian equivalent of Google — some sort of giveaway? Anyone who claimed a hacker must be a CIA agent because they used a Gmail account would be laughed off the internet. We must also acknowledge that just because Guccifer 2.0 pretended to be Romanian, we can’t conclude he works for the Russian government — it just makes him a liar. Next, consider the fact that CrowdStrike describes APT 28 and 29 like this: Their tradecraft is superb, operational security second to none and the extensive usage of “living-off-the-land” techniques enables them to easily bypass many security solutions they encounter. In particular, we identified advanced methods consistent with nation-state level capabilities including deliberate targeting and “access management” tradecraft — both groups were constantly going back into the environment to change out their implants, modify persistent methods, move to new Command & Control channels and perform other tasks to try to stay ahead of being detected. Compare that description to CrowdStrike’s claim it was able to finger APT 28 and 29, described above as digital spies par excellence, because they were so incredibly sloppy. Would a group whose “tradecraft is superb” with “operational security second to none” really leave behind the name of a Soviet spy chief imprinted on a document it sent to American journalists? Would these groups really be dumb enough to leave cyrillic comments on these documents? Would these groups that “constantly [go] back into the environment to change out their implants, modify persistent methods, move to new Command & Control channels” get caught because they precisely didn’t make sure not to use IP addresses they’d been associated before? It’s very hard to buy the argument that the Democrats were hacked by one of the most sophisticated, diabolical foreign intelligence services in history, and that we know this because they screwed up over and over again. But how do we even know these oddly named groups are Russian? CrowdStrike co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch himself describes APT 28 as a “Russian-based threat actor” whose modus operandi “closely mirrors the strategic interests of the Russian government” and “may indicate affiliation [Russia’s] Main Intelligence Department or GRU, Russia’s premier military intelligence service.” Security firm SecureWorks issued a report blaming Russia with “moderate confidence.” What constitutes moderate confidence? SecureWorks said it adopted the “grading system published by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence to indicate confidence in their assessments. … Moderate confidence generally means that the information is credibly sourced and plausible but not of sufficient quality or corroborated sufficiently to warrant a higher level of confidence.” All of this amounts to a very educated guess, at best. Even the claim that APT 28/Fancy Bear itself is a group working for the Kremlin is speculative, a fact that’s been completely erased from this year’s discourse. In its 2014 reveal of the group, the high-profile security firm FireEye couldn’t even blame Russia without a question mark in the headline: “APT28: A Window into Russia’s Cyber Espionage Operations?” The blog post itself is remarkably similar to arguments about the DNC hack: technical but still largely speculative, presenting evidence the company “[believes] indicate a government sponsor based in Moscow.” Believe! Indicate! We should know already this is no smoking gun. FireEye’s argument that the malware used by APT 28 is connected to the Russian government is based on the belief that its “developers are Russian language speakers operating during business hours that are consistent with the time zone of Russia’s major cities.” Download Your First Issue Free! Do You Want to Learn How to Become Financially Independent, Make a Living Without a Traditional Job & Finally Live Free?
Download Your Free Copy of Counter Markets As security researcher Jeffrey Carr pointed out in June, FireEye’s 2014 report on APT 28 is questionable from the start: To my surprise, the report’s authors declared that they deliberately excluded evidence that didn’t support their judgment that the Russian government was responsible for APT28’s activities: “APT28 has targeted a variety of organizations that fall outside of the three themes we highlighted above. However, we are not profiling all of APT28’s targets with the same detail because they are not particularly indicative of a specific sponsor’s interests.” That is the very definition of confirmation bias. Had FireEye published a detailed picture of APT28’s activities including all of their known targets, other theories regarding this group could have emerged; for example, that the malware developers and the operators of that malware were not the same or even necessarily affiliated. The notion that APT 28 has a narrow focus on American political targets is undermined in another SecureWorks paper, which shows that the hackers have a wide variety of interests: 10 percent of their targets are NGOs, 22 percent are journalists, 4 percent are aerospace researchers, and 8 percent are “government supply chain.” SecureWorks says that only 8 percent of APT 28/Fancy Bear’s targets are “government personnel” of any nationality — hardly the focused agenda described by CrowdStrike. Truly, the argument that “Guccifer 2.0” is a Kremlin agent or that GRU breached John Podesta’s email only works if you presume that APT 28/Fancy Bear is a unit of the Russian government, a fact that has never been proven beyond any reasonable doubt. According to Carr, “it’s an old assumption going back years to when any attack against a non-financial target was attributed to a state actor.” Without that premise, all we can truly conclude is that some email accounts at the DNC et al. appear to have been broken into by someone, and perhaps they speak Russian. Left ignored is the mammoth difference between Russians and Russia. Security researcher Claudio Guarnieri put it this way: [Private security firms] can’t produce anything conclusive. What they produce is speculative attribution that is pretty common to make in the threat research field. I do that same speculative attribution myself, but it is just circumstantial. At the very best it can only prove that the actor that perpetrated the attack is very likely located in Russia. As for government involvement, it can only speculate that it is plausible because of context and political motivations, as well as technical connections with previous (or following attacks) that appear to be perpetrated by the same group and that corroborate the analysis that it is a Russian state-sponsored actor (for example, hacking of institutions of other countries Russia has some geopolitical interests in). Finally, one can’t be reminded enough that all of this evidence comes from private companies with a direct financial interest in making the internet seem as scary as possible, just as Lysol depends on making you believe your kitchen is crawling with E. Coli.
Biddle also cited the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence statement that alleged Russian hacking. The statement read,
The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process.
Absent anywhere in this statement, of course, is anything close to proof or even anything a step away from being a mostly baseless accusation.
Note that, in 2014, the Department of Justice released a 56-page indictment of a team of Chinese hackers who were accused of stealing American trade secrets for the People’s Liberation Army. In that case, we had 56 pages of evidence for such a relatively small offense but today there are zero pages of evidence from the entire intelligence community against alleged Russian hackers that supposedly swayed American elections in the direction they wanted. Are we seriously supposed to believe the claims being peddled by the intelligence community who has proven itself to not only be untrustworthy but also incredibly political and deceptive in the past? Are we to take their claims at face value, merely on trust and little to no evidence?
So what would be proof? According to Security researcher, Claudio Guarnieri, “All in all, technical circumstantial attribution is acceptable only so far as it is to explain an attack. It most definitely isn’t for the political repercussions that we’re observing now. For that, only documental evidence that is verifiable or intercepts of Russian officials would be convincing enough, I suspect.” Obviously, that is something that the U.S. government does not have.
WikiLeaks Has Denied That Russia Was The Source of The Information
For its part, WikiLeaks has denied that Russia is the source of the hacks. Founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, stated clearly in an interview with RT that “Hillary Clinton has stated multiple times, falsely, that 17 US intelligence agencies had assessed that Russia was the source of our publications. That’s false. We can say that the Russian government is not the source.”
WikiLeaks Is Not Protecting RussiaAdvertisement
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"Xena: Warrior Princess" stormed TV screens across the world from 1995 to 2001, breaking new grounds for female TV characters. Lucy Lawless embodied this fearless warrior and enchanted a swarm of fans, who continued to be loyal long after the sixth and final season aired. How did this character come about in the nineties, before there was such a thing as a fight for gender equality in Hollywood and a conversation about diversity? We caught up with show writer and producer Steven L. Sears at an Infolist party in Beverly Hills, celebrating the Cannes Film Festival that is in full swing in France.
"It’s hard to say I was inspired, I just thought that’s the way it should be written," says Sears, reflecting on the enduring legacy of his "Xena." "I didn’t realize until much later that writing real female characters reflecting the strong women I knew in my life was unique in the business," he adds.
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Indeed. "Because for the longest time, women were portrayed in film and television as plot devices, contrivances, or they had to do something that made the male character look really good."
One of his favorite characters was "Wonder Woman," portrayed by Lynda Carter. As someone who produces television, he could see the things that they had to do to appeal to the network. For instance, Wonder Woman was very strong, smart and independent, but then she had to become a little feminine and giggle a little, on every episode, trying to apologize for that strength by reassuring the guys that she was still their girl. "We’ve come very far from that," he asserts.
TV in the 90's
"Xena: Warrior Princess" came about in 1995, when teenagers were still longing for Jordan Catalano in "My so-called life," Elaine didn't give a damn in "Seinfeld," and everyone wanted to have Jennifer Aniston's hair in "Friends." There were plenty of female characters to go around, but Steven L.
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Sears thinks most of them had problems.
"A lot of shows were trying to take advantage of the female market by doing characters with two mistakes," he explains. In some cases, they were putting them together incorrectly: if a woman could beat up a guy, she was a strong character. "But it’s much more than physical," the producer argues. "For the people writing female characters, all they were doing was writing guys with breasts. They were not exploring the characters." That's because television back then was based on advertising income, so the shows needed to appease both the network and the advertisers. "The majority of the audience had not yet transitioned into the idea," says Sears, "and women were programmed like that as well. Women accepted that.
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We all did."
The princess lives on
Sixteen years after its final season, "Xena: Warrior Princess" still has a cult following. Xena was an inspiration to many women, not only because of her physical abilities – strong and thick, kicking ass – but also because of her mental strength, with all the flaws that made her a different heroine, and her relationship with Gabrielle (an icon for the lesbian community). The show has been credited with inspiring a slew of other series and characters, such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Beatrix Kiddo in "Kill Bill."
Steven L. Sears knows how powerful fans can be: he says Xena followers still gather, even though the last Xena Con was held in 2015, and together they have raised tens of millions of dollars for charity. "It's amazing."We love a good Rubik’s Cube solver and the mechanical engineering on this one is both elegant and functional.
This is the first time we remember hearing about the FAC system, which is a standard set of parts which can be used to make any number of mechanical systems. [Wilbert Swinkels] must be a master with the system; the layout of the machine appears simple and uncrowded despite the multiple degrees of freedom built into it. Those include an insertion platform for getting the cube in and out, a gantry for three color sensors, and two axes (three grippers in all) for doing the actual solving. If you’ve used FAC before we want to hear what you think of it in the comments.
[Maxim Tsoy] handled the software which runs on a Rapsberry Pi Compute module. You’ll want to watch the demo video below. First you place the randomized cube on the insertion platform which retracts after the cube is in the grasp of the grippers. These work in conjunction with the color sensor gantry to scan every side of the cube. After a brief pause to compute the solution the grippers go to work.
It is possible to build a solver with just two swiveling grippers. Here’s a really fast way to do it.
[via reddit]With all the early entrants to the draft after yet another mediocre year of football, a lot of Longhorn fans are fretting about the future of the team in 2018. Let’s lay this all out and try to guess our way into 2018.
Offense
OL
Some of the biggest question marks lie upfront. With the (expected) departure of Connor Williams, the already shaky line looks a little worse for wear. Texas is going to need an entire line to fill the whole that an All-American at a key position leaves behind. There are a few guys already on campus I could see partially filling in that void:
Patrick Vahe – while he doesn’t have a very high ceiling and had a very rocky 2017 campaign, an offensive lineman with four years of experience is worth his weight in gold. Vahe should be the rock of the offensive line next year if he cleans up some fundamentals over the spring and summer.
Zach Shackelford – Like Vahe, his ceiling is not Sistine, and he had a rough go in 2017. However, he will be in for his 3rd year as a starter and with a full summer of rest and recovery, Shackelford very well could look better in 2018.
Patrick Hudson – Man did he look good in his game action until the unfortunate injury. This guy was highly recruited for a reason and assuming he recovers well I’d expect him to pick up where he left off.
Derek Kerstetter – For expecting to be a redshirt then getting chucked into the fire, Kerstetter seemed to be the guy on the line that had his stuff together for the most part. Whether they move him inside or outside, I expect Kerstetter to take a step forward.
Elijah Rodriguez – He and Kerstetter will play musical chairs on the right side. We’ll see what he looks like in the bowl game 😉
Sam Cosmi – Surprise! Sam Cosmi has been the guy who the coaches have been grooming over the season to replace Connor Williams. Whether that happens or not is up to whatever deity you pray to (I know I’ll be sacrificing a few sheep to Saturn for him to make an immediate impact). When we asked our source about his progress we were told, “He’s got great feet and is going to give immediate help against the pass rush. He’s getting his body right, but he will be good. Definitely going to compete at tackle next season.”
Key word for Cosmi and the offensive line is compete. This line needs internal competition in a bad way; however, the problem is that a team cannot have competition without depth. That is why getting a JUCO or two in this class is so important, whether that be Traore, Hardy, Elbert, Johnson, or whoever. Don’t discount a guy like Reese Moore who is a very athletic and underrated prospect.
My way, way, way too early prediction for next year’s line looks a little something like this:
1st Team: JUCO #1 TBD – Vahe – Shackelford – Kerstetter/Rodriguez – Rodriguez/Kerstetter
With your 6th, 7th, and 8th guys being Hudson, Cosmi, and JUCO #2 TBD.
*whew*
Okay, so offensive line out of the way. Let’s get to the easier stuff.
QB
This will be a four horse race between Buechele, Ehlinger, Rising, and Thompson that should shake out in the spring. I’ll be assuming Ehlinger wins this race and will be the starting QB until the angry mob throws him out for the 3rd true freshman QB in as many years.
RB
Daniel Young will be the starter, sharing a heavy load with Toneil Carter whilst true freshman Keaontay Ingram gets his fair share of snaps. This one seems pretty cut and dry unless Kirk Johnson finds the fountain of youth and soaks his entire body in it for the offseason.
WR
Texas had a pretty stacked receiver room this year. Next year looks even better. Collin Johnson is an upperclassman, Jerrod Heard gets his 3rd year as a WR, and Lil’Jordan Humphries and Reggie Hemphill are proven inside wide receivers. Not to mention all the talent backing them up and coming in the 2018 class. I’m not worried.
TE
Texas will have depth? Texas will have depth! For the first time in what feels like decades, Texas will have some depth at the tight end position. With the (hopeful) return of Andrew Beck, Texas will have Cade Brewer coming off both an awesome freshman season and ACL injury, will be able to take the training wheels off of Reese Leitao, and give incoming Malcolm Epps some time to learn blocking at the next level… Depth.
P/K
Fingers crossed Michael Dickson returns. Cameron Dicker “The Kicker.”
So everything is not lost on the offensive side of the ball. In fact, it doesn’t look bad at all.
Now let’s look at…
Defense
This one is tougher to look positively on. With the departure of Poona Ford, Deshon Elliott, Holton Hill, and (possibly) Malik Jefferson, Texas is losing what my friend Rod Babers refers to as the defense’s central nervous system (S, MLB, DT) and their (should have been All-American) cover corner. Texas is doomed right?
DL
Poona has been an unstoppable force up the middle and while Texas doesn’t have a nose tackle that has the motor of Poona Ford they do have Chris Nelson returning who hasn’t had too shabby of a season despite what his stats sheet says. With him, Gerald Wilbon, Jamari Chisholm, and Taquon Graham fighting it out, I expect Texas to be fine up the middle. On the outside at DE, take you pick of Omenihu, Roach, Graham, and Hager. While depth may be an issue Texas faces, I think the starting guys upfront will be okay.
LB
Let’s assume Malik Jefferson leaves. While Texas would never be able to replace the freak of nature that is Malik Jefferson, they do have another (lesser) freak in Gary Johnson. While he doesn’t have the raw athleticism of Malik, he does possess similar attributes. He’d be the guy I could see immediately getting in and taking over that “Do Everything” Linebacker roll.
At B-Backer Jeffrey McCulloch will step up and replace Naashon Hughes, and has a higher ceiling than Hughes as well. Backing him up should be Marquez Bimage who is a heck of a blitzer, but we’ve heard struggles a bit when asked to drop back.
Up the middle will be Anthony Wheeler. Not a Malik replacement at all, but not a terrible player.
Once again, the linebackers will be alright with depth being a possible issue. Texas is going to need to get someone who can make an immediate impact when they step on campus in either Byron Hobbs, Ayodele Adeoye, Demarvion Overshown, or (hopefully) Dashaun White. This will shake out over the summer and give us a clearer picture.
Nickelbacker will be interesting. While you’d think the obvious choice would be PJ Locke, there is some mumbling that he is being tested at safety and Josh Thompson is playing at Nickle. Either way there a number of ways this could shake out and even John Bonney could get into the mix.
CB
Again, losing Holton Hill hurts a lot. That dude made plays that are astounding and locked down some of the best receivers in the country making DeShon Elliott’s job a dream. However, his departure was expected from the moment Herman set foot in Austin. That’s why your current recruiting class consists of some of the top talent in the nation at defensive back. In fact I think a guy like Caden Sterns could come in and make an immediate impact. Get Anthony Cook in the class and you’re cooking with gas.
However, Texas has a potential replacement in Kris Boyd. While his eye discipline was miss or miss early on in the season, he improved to the point where he made sure the West Virginia WRs and Dylan Cantrell couldn’t get anything going because he’d be right there to break things up. Boyd is exactly the type of player the coaches want. I think with another year under Orlando he’ll become a force. Battling for the other corner will be Davante Davis, Kobe Boyce, Montrell Estell, Josh Thompson, and all the incoming freshmen.
Davante Davis has the size but lacks the confidence.
Kobe Boyce is a sleeper. That guy has so much talent and has torn it up on the scout team. I’m excited about him
Josh Thompson showed he needs to acclimate to the next level, but the game is there for him to take. I think a lot of his problems can be chalked up to “freshmen mistakes.”
So while the secondary won’t really be able to fully recover from losing Holton Hill, I don’t think all is lost. It will be a step down and there will be a lot of unexperienced talent on the depth chart. There will be mistakes, but it should be expected.
S
It’s hard to replace 6 interceptions and a guy who fits runs like a Mack truck. This will be just like the corner situation, a lot of unexperienced talent with a guy or two who have been there done that.
While Brandon Jones has an up and down year like Kris Boyd, experience is the best teacher. We didn’t expect last year’s Deshon Elliot to be what he was this year. In the same way, I think Brandon Jones can grow up, slow the game down, and make better decisions. Brandon Jones will move into the position Elliott held and John Bonney will most likely start off taking Jones’ old spot.
John Bonney is “ole reliable.” Not because he’s reliable, but because you can reliable know what you’re going to get out of him on at his floor, a solid effort with minimal mistakes. I’m not worried with him taking over and think it could be a good step.
If someone is able take over one is able to take over one of these guys’ jobs then Texas is in a good place.
Here are the guys who could do that.
Montell Estell – The coaching staff raves about Montrell. Another guy to expect big things out of.
BJ Foster, Caden Sterns, DeMarvion Overshown – These three incoming freshmen are ones I could see making an immediate impact and fighting for some playing time or even a starting spot. Each has a tremendous skill set and are very exciting prospects.
Let me reiterate, the loss of your four best players will hurt. I hope that surprises no one. While these guys had pretty unbelievable years and are nigh impossible to replace, I believe Texas will be able to fill these spots adequately enough to not fall off the face of the earth like some fans believe. With the coaching acumen of Todd Orlando or (God forbid) even his replacement who will come from the same tree, I trust the coaching staff to get things right on this end.The previously announced deluxe edition of the soundtrack to the 1992 film Singles will now be released in May.
We do now have the revised cover art to the Cameron Crowe movie soundtrack – which boasts a sepia tint – but the vinyl and 2CD deluxe editions are now due on 19 May.
Update: The vinyl edition is actually 2LP+CD – it comes with CD 2 from the two-CD deluxe edition
Singles – Deluxe Edition
CD 1 and 2LP Vinyl
1. Would? – Alice In Chains
2. Breath – Pearl Jam
3. Seasons – Chris Cornell
4. Dyslexic Heart – Paul Westerberg
5. Battle of Evermore – The Lovemongers
6. Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns – Mother Love Bone
7. Birth Ritual – Soundgarden
8. State of Love and Trust – Pearl Jam
9. Overblown – Mudhoney
10. Waiting for Somebody – Paul Westerberg
11. May This Be Love – Jimi Hendrix
12. Nearly Lost You – Screaming Trees
13. Drown – The Smashing PumpkinsLikely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has cut what had been a double-digit lead for Hillary Clinton two months ago down to single digits, according to a poll released Monday.
Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Trump by about 5 percentage points, 45.6 percent to 40.4 percent, according to the USA Today/Suffolk University poll. Rounding would give Mrs. Clinton a 6-point, 46 percent to 40 percent, lead.
That’s about in line with the lead Mrs. Clinton holds in an average of recent national polling. Two months ago, she had led Mr. Trump in the USA Today/Suffolk poll by 11 points, 50 percent to 39 percent.
In the new poll, 61 percent reported feeling alarmed about the election, compared to 23 percent who said they feel excited and 9 percent who said they feel bored.
Mrs. Clinton led among females voters by a 12-point, 50 percent to 38 percent, margin, while Mr. Trump led among men by 2 points, 43 percent to 41 percent.
More than nine in 10 Clinton supporters and more than nine in 10 Trump supporters said they’re firm in their choice.
But majorities still said they have an unfavorable opinion of both Mrs. Clinton (53 percent) and Mr. Trump (60 percent).
Six in 10 Trump supporters, 62 percent, said they think he will actually win the election, compared to 89 percent of Clinton supporters who said they think she will win.
In a four-way race, Mrs. Clinton held a 4-point lead over Mr. Trump, 39 percent to 35 percent, with Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson at 8 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 3 percent.
The national survey of 1,000 registered voters was taken from June 26-29 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.How do you inspect wind turbine blades for damage? With this cool new robot, obviously! At least that’s what it’s developers at at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation are hoping. It’s called the RIWEA and, pulling itself up a rope system, can work on onshore or offshore turbines of any size, climbing up turbines to discover damage too small to be detected by the human eye:
Inspection System Records Infrared, Thermal, Ultrasonic Data
The inspection system consists of three elements: an infrared radiator conducts heat to the surface of the rotor blades and a high-resolution thermal camera records the temperature pattern and thus registers flaws in the material. In addition, an ultrasonic system and a high resolution camera are also on board, thus enabling the robot to also detect damage that would remain hidden to the human eye. (IFF)
Considering that by one account 60% of wind turbines in the US are behind on regular maintenance such as oil changes and gearbox lubrication, let alone inspection of blades for defects, a potential time and money saving device like this could certainly help out.
More: IFF (press release)
via: The BioEnergy Site
images: IFF
Wind Power
60% of US Wind Turbines Behind on Maintenance, Not Enough Technicians To Do The Work
Wind Applications Center at Montana State University Receives Federal Funding
No Recession For Wind Power IndustryPut a smile on with these summer duds
For all of you out there, whether you are a part of #corgination or not, maybe a cuteness fanatic, or some dude that likes to wear nutty tees, you have to get your Three Corgis gear up for summer fun! Who doesn’t love corgi apparel??? NOW, all pieces are 15% off with the CODE #CORGINATION at check out. Yes, this includes EVERYTHING! At least, what is available on the site. Which is fair, don’t you think? For the ladies, we have this awesome piece…the Corgi band tank, in black, white and mauve. I love this because it really does say it all for these guys. Hambone, the dude, Cupcake aloof, and Wolfgang wondering if he needs to pay attention. This is also available for UNISEX, which means it is for men, but can be worn oversized for women. This is available in black, white and light grey. I’ve seen this worn by girls, so don’t be afraid! This corgi apparel is off the chain! That is the latest and greatest, but here is a sample of the rest that are in the SHOP. All of these represent the cutest, in my opinion, in Corgi apparel, so there’s something for everyone. Check them out here!
Fill your corgi apparel needs here…and kinda like NOW!!!
So, all items are on sale for 15% off at the check out. Just use #CORGINATION as the coupon code, and get your zany on for the summer. You know, hanging out by the pool, doing the lawn, shopping for some beers and taking selfies. Check out the Three Corgis swag in the shop. You won’t be disappointed, I hope! Don’t forget to follow us on all the social media sites! On YouTube www.youtube.com/andthreecorgis and Instagram @threecorgis. Follow us on Twitter (until the account gets suspended). Follow us on Google+Photo via Wikicommons
You know that conspiracy theory they threw out in Zeitgeist and on CNN about the US absorbing Canada and Mexico into a North American Union without borders? While it may seem like an unlikely prospect to most, the last couple of weeks have proven how real 21st century manifest destiny might actually be.
First of all, south of the border at an NSA conference supposedly held to quell the privacy shit-storm unleashed by Edward Snowden’s leaked documents, Senator Diane Feinstein lumped Canada and Mexico with the US into one big blue continent called the “homeland.” Then, through an access to information request, the Canadian Press uncovered an internal document from the RCMP that says the US doesn’t want to be subject to Canadian law when their officers operate in Canada.
Wait, you didn’t know US officers working for organizations like the CIA and DEA were allowed to usurp Westphalian sovereignty and just come to Canada with guns and arrest people? Even if you did know, both governments have been really hush-hush about the Beyond the Border agreement that is said to make us more safe.
Since these two “staunch allies, vital economic partners, and steadfast friends” signed the declaration in 2011, the two countries have been taking “baby steps” towards implementing a new superior security team—cue the Orwellian doublespeak—which is seriously called the Next Generation policing project.
The first step was when they beefed up the NEXUS and Fast and Secure Trade (FAST) that allow frequent travelers who subject themselves to full screening to get through border security quicker.
Then they amended Canada’s Criminal Code to allow for the Shiprider program to let US coast guards go through Canadian waters and arrest people as long as an RCMP officer is on board.
The third step was creating Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBET) also known as Border Enforcement Security Teams (BEST) where teams of officers from both countries work together on each other’s land to catch security threats. With that step, they also allowed US customs officers to work in Canada to pre-clear shipments going south.
And now the step that is worrying a lot of people is when these IBET/BEST teams move inland. It was supposed to have started last year, but the reason it hasn’t happened yet is because the US wants to be given diplomatic immunity like they have in Afghanistan.
The problem isn’t with Americans and their terrible human rights record, questionable policing/detainment tactics, history of torture and refusal to sign on to the International Criminal Court…wait no, never mind, that is the problem. How can Canada trust a country that since 9/11 has infringed on the privacy and human rights of so many of their own citizens as well as foreigners in the name of the fight against terrorism?
The US hasn’t even trusted us to try our own homegrown terror suspects. I’m talking about Maher Arar who in 2002 was extradited to Syria and tortured for a year despite having lived in Canada for 15 years prior to being detained. There’s also Omar Khadr who at 15 years old was a Canadian citizen held in Guantanamo Bay for ten years before finally being tried and repatriated to his home country of Canada in 2012.
If Team America World Police is allowed free reign in Canada, how will officers who break Canadian law be treated if they aren’t subject to our laws? Will they just scurry on home without punishment if they do something like shoot a civilian without reasonable cause?
In this April 2012 list of recommendations, Canada does well to emphasize that it will stick to it’s own laws regarding the privacy of its citizens within this partnership. They have also underscored the fact that Canadian information will be held within our borders. But, when it comes down to the nitty gritty, we already know from the NSA scandal that our information goes through American servers. If we do catch US security forces doing something wrong do we actually have the marbles to say anything? I highly doubt it.
Canada’s interest in this whole thing is to encourage the US to keep doing business with us instead of buying their imports from elsewhere, but economically it has always been clear that we need them more than they need us. If a controversial situation arises such as an infringement on our privacy based on US laws not our own, the country that makes the final call is most probably not going to be the country with a population ten times smaller with a fraction of the defense force.
If you’re pissed off about this, hesitate a second before you blame the Conservative government. Talks about a North American Union date back to the Liberal government when Paul Martin took part in the Security and Prosperity Partnership meeting in 2005 to the anger of thousands of protesters in Montebello, Quebec. Similarly, Christy Clark’s Liberal government in British Columbia has commended Harper and Obama for signing the Beyond the Border agreement showing that this isn’t a partisan thing between Canada’s two oldest political parties.
This agreement comes at a time when it’s been really hard to trust our own security and disciplinary forces. With laws like the protestor mask ban and when a guy like officer James Forcillo has yet to be charged for putting nine bullets into 18-year old Sammy Yatim, including six when he was already on the ground, our draconian and questionable legal systems do start looking depressingly similar.
Creep Joel on Twitter @JoelBalsam
More on North American Union Security:
If You Liked ‘1984,’ You’ll Love 2013!
Meet the Native Activist Who the Canadian Government Was Spying On
What Can Canada Do About Homegrown Radicals?Remembering the long-lost amusement parks of Texas
Click through the slideshow to see abandoned amusement parks in Texas. Click through the slideshow to see abandoned amusement parks in Texas. Image 1 of / 50 Caption Close Remembering the long-lost amusement parks of Texas 1 / 50 Back to Gallery
Stomach-hurling, whiplash roller coasters seem to have been a staple of teenage summers since they were invented. And while Six Flags sends fans head-over-heels screaming and boomeranging back for repeat thrills, the heyday for independent, kitschy theme parks was before the dominance of the |
, in Crestview Hills, Kentucky majoring in Criminal Justice, and minoring in psychology. He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Professional career [ edit ]
Atlanta Braves [ edit ]
Justice made his major league debut in May 1989, playing for the Atlanta Braves. The then 23-year-old right fielder earned the starting job after Braves fan favorite Dale Murphy was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Justice promptly went on an offensive tear during the second half of the 1990 season, finishing with 28 home runs, which helped him claim the National League's Rookie of the Year Award. In 1991, the upstart Braves surged to the top of their division and Justice was leading the National League in runs batted in when he was sidelined by a nagging back injury in June. He finished with 87 runs batted in despite the injury and played in his first World Series.
After seeing his production slide slightly in 1992, Justice enjoyed a solid 1993 season. He clubbed 40 home runs and 120 runs batted in (RBIs) with 78 walks, finishing third in MVP voting behind Barry Bonds and Lenny Dykstra. Justice was batting.313 with a.427 on-base percentage and.531 slugging average when the strike ended play in 1994.
When baseball returned in 1995, Justice helped his Braves to the World Series against the Cleveland Indians. He drew attention (and boos) when he criticized Atlanta fans for the level of support they were providing the team.[1] Justice ended up a hero, however, when his crucial home run in Game 6 provided the only run in a 1–0 game that clinched the championship.
In May 1996, a swing and miss in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates caused a season-ending shoulder separation.
Cleveland Indians [ edit ]
Before the 1997 season, the Braves traded Justice along with outfielder Marquis Grissom to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Kenny Lofton and relief pitcher Alan Embree.[2] He hit.329 with a.418 OBP and.596 slugging average in 1997, with 33 home runs, while making another World Series appearance. He posted solid numbers in 1998 and 1999 with the Cleveland Indians. In 2000, he hit a combined.286 with a.377 OBP and.584 slugging average, and slugged 41 home runs with 118 RBIs.
New York Yankees [ edit ]
On June 28, 2000, Yankees GM Brian Cashman finalized a trade with Indians GM John Hart, sending Jake Westbrook, Zach Day and Ricky Ledée to Cleveland for Justice.[3] The Yankees, who were unable to lure Sammy Sosa or Juan Gonzalez from their respective teams, looked to Justice as a legitimate longball threat. In return, Justice caught fire down the stretch and won the 2000 AL Championship Series MVP Award en route to his second world championship. As a result of persistent groin injury, Justice saw his production slide considerably in 2001.
Oakland Athletics [ edit ]
The Yankees traded Justice to the New York Mets on December 7, 2001 for 3B Robin Ventura.[4] Mets GM Steve Phillips then sent him to the Oakland Athletics on December 14 for pitchers Mark Guthrie and Tyler Yates.[5] He played a final season on an Oakland team which reached the playoffs in 2002 and was named the American League Player of the Week for the first week of the season. His addition to Oakland was referred to as an 'experiment' by A's assistant GM Paul DePodesta.[6] The experiment was to evaluate whether hitters retained their ability to get on base as they got older (kept their batter's eye). His.376 OBP and BB/K ratio of greater than 1:1 seemed to prove that correct.
Career totals [ edit ]
Justice finished his career with a.279 batting average, with a.378 OBP and.500 slugging percentage, 305 home runs, 903 walks and 1,017 RBIs in 1,610 games. From 1991 to his last season in 2002, Justice's teams made the postseason every year (with the exception of the strike-shortened 1994 season). Of those times, he made the World Series six times, winning twice. He is in the top ten in a number of career postseason categories, such as at-bats, games played, hits, and home runs.[7]
Honors [ edit ]
On May 9, 1994, Justice was listed in People's "50 Most Beautiful People" issue (Vol. 41 No. 17). The article goes on to state: "'I check my face to make sure there's nothing sticking on it,' he says. 'But I don't make sure every hair's in place.' He needn't worry. He gets the most fan mail on the team and is mobbed when he makes personal appearances on behalf of charities."[8][9]
In March 2007, it was announced that Justice would be inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame. He was the first member of any of the Braves' fourteen consecutive division title teams (1991–2005, excluding the strike-shortened season in 1994) to be inducted in the Braves Hall of Fame. The induction took place on August 17, 2007. Numerous ex-Braves players and coaches were in attendance and tribute videos from Braves legend Hank Aaron and former owner Ted Turner were shown. Prior to that evening's game Justice was presented with a portrait by sports artist Bart Forbes during an on-field ceremony.
Justice was eligible for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008, but he received only one vote, preventing him from being named on future ballots. The timing of the vote may have adversely affected his candidacy, as it was held shortly after the release of the Mitchell Report.
Mitchell Report [ edit ]
In an interview for the Mitchell Report, released December 13, 2007, Justice denied using performance-enhancing substances, but was willing to report the names of individuals he suspected, though he claimed to have no direct knowledge of any other player's steroid use. He also claims to have never been warned of the side effects of steroids or explicitly told steroids were a banned substance.
The Mitchell Report states that in a later interview, former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski claimed to have sold Justice human growth hormone when Justice was with the Yankees after the 2000 World Series. Justice has called the allegation "a bald-faced lie" and says that he has never met Radomski.[10]
Justice has claimed that his only involvement with performance-enhancing drugs was a discussion about HGH in 2000 with Brian McNamee, then the New York Yankees' strength coach. Justice, who had shoulder problems, thought that HGH might aid in his recovery. Justice stated that after the discussion, he went to his locker and found a bag containing HGH and several injection needles; Justice claimed that he was unwilling to inject himself and never used any of it. Justice further stated in the interviews that all claims in the Mitchell Report concerning his alleged purchase and use of any performance-enhancing drugs were false and encouraged all players whose names appear in the report, especially Roger Clemens, to publicly deny any claims made by the Mitchell Report if they are untrue.
Broadcasting career [ edit ]
After his playing career, Justice served as a commentator for ESPN baseball telecasts for two years. He later joined the YES Network of the New York Yankees as a game and studio analyst, and also hosted the network's youth-oriented program Yankees on Deck. Prior to the 2008 season, the YES Network announced that Justice would not appear on air during that season, but would contribute articles to the network's website. Justice stated that this change was not in response to his inclusion in the Mitchell report, but was due to the destruction of his San Diego County home in the 2007 California wildfires and the recent passing of his mother. Justice never returned to the network.
Justice has also appeared on a 1992 episode of The Young and the Restless.[11] He was played by Stephen Bishop in Moneyball, the film adaptation of the best-selling Michael Lewis book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager, Billy Beane.[12]
Personal life [ edit ]
On December 31, 1992, Justice married film actress Halle Berry. The couple resided in Sandy Springs, Georgia. They separated on February 22, 1996,[13] and divorced on June 24, 1997.[13] The marriage ended acrimoniously, with Berry seeking a restraining order against Justice.[14]
He married Rebecca Villalobos on February 8, 2001.[13] Villalobos is CEO of Exotic Spices Calendars.[15] They have two children together: son Dionisio (born June 7, 2002) and daughter Raquel (born 2004). His first son David Jr. from ex-girlfriend Nicole Foster also resides with the family as is a highly recruited high school football player.
See also [ edit ]Gayle Manchin, the wife of Sen. Joe Manchin Joseph (Joe) ManchinThe Hill's Morning Report - Dems appear to have votes to counter Trump on emergency Border rebuke looms for Trump Trump claims Democrats ‘don’t mind executing babies after birth’ after blocked abortion bill MORE (D-W.Va.), spearheaded a 2012 effort to require schools to purchase EpiPens or similar devices to fight life-threatening allergic reactions.
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She pushed the effort while she was the head of the National Association of State Boards of Education, USA Today reports, adding that the effort helped Mylan Specialty, the maker of EpiPens, develop a near monopoly in schools.
The more than 400 percent increase in the price of EpiPens in recent years has drawn anger from members of Congress.
"There is justified outrage from families and schools across the country struggling to afford the high cost of EpiPens,” House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), said in a joint statement last week.
The company is under congressional investigation related to price hikes that it announced last month. The committee will hold a hearing on the issue Wednesday, at which Mylan CEO Heather Bresch will testify.
Bresch is the Manchins' daughter.John Williams will score Indiana Jones 5 & Star Wars Episode VIII
Last night, the American Film Institute held a red carpet event honoring legendary film composer John Williams (Jaws, Harry Potter, Superman) with a lifetime achievement award. The 84-year-old Williams, whose work on all four Indiana Jones films as well as all seven Star Wars Saga films are career-defining, took the opportunity to assure the world he would be back for Lucasfilm‘s next installments of both franchises.
“If I can do it, I certainly will,” Williams confirmed to Variety of his commitment to do the music for Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII, currently in the home stretch of filming. “I told Kathy Kennedy I’m happy to do it, but the real reason is, I didn’t want anybody else writing music for Daisy Ridley.”
Meanwhile, frequent collaborator Steven Spielberg (whose Williams-scored The BFG opens this summer) told Access Hollywood’s Scott Mantz that the man who wrote the instantly recognizable Indiana Jones theme would once again crack the whip on the orchestra for Indiana Jones 5.
So there you have it. As Williams proved with last year’s sweeping, brilliant score for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he is in no danger of slowing down creatively, and now we’ll have at least one more Star Wars score with the hope that he can round out the saga with Episode IX as well, not to mention one more rollicking Indy soundtrack.
Indiana Jones 5 will see both Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg return to the franchise. Screenwriter David Koepp is set to pen the script with the movie set for a July 19, 2019 release date. Franchise veterans Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will produce.
Star Wars: Episode VIII, which is written and directed by Rian Johnson and continues the storylines introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, welcomes back cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Lupita Nyong’o, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. New cast members will include Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, and talented newcomer Kelly Marie Tran.
Produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski, Star Wars: Episode VIII is scheduled for release December 15, 2017.
[Gallery not found]
(Photo Credit: WENN.com)One fun fact about DNA is that everybody’s genetic makeup is about 99.9% similar. And it is only the 0.1% that actually differentiates and makes us unique in our own way. Our DNA is what makes us who we are, and this small percentage is what constitutes our different traits like eyes and hair color, our skins, height, and even diseases. And going for DNA testing is what can help us tell the difference in these traits even where there is a dispute over paternity or ancestry. These are usually the two main reasons why most people take DNA tests. However, there is a lot more to taking a DNA test that you may not yet know about. And these are what this article aims to address today. By helping answer some of the questions, you may have about DNA testing.In a move that is bound to make many Bollywood and south Indian films lovers happy, noted actresses Jaya Prada and Sridevi have finally let go of their infamous rivalry and seemed to have turned over a new (gorgeous) leaf.
According to media reports, Sridevi flew down to Hyderabad from Mumbai to attend Jaya Prada's son Siddarth and his bride Pravallika's wedding reception held on 30 November.
The actresses, who were at the peak of their careers in both Bollywood as well as south Indian cinema throughout the 1980s, were infamous for their reported rivalry, despite having acted in a slew of films together, such as, Tohfa (1984), Naya Kadam (1984), and Akhree Raasta (1986) among others.
Sridevi showed up for the wedding reception in a sparking silver Manish Malhotra sari, accompanied by her husband Boney Kapoor.
An article in SKJ Bollywood News quotes a family friend: “Jaya Pradaji flew down specially from Hyderabad to Mumbai and drove to Boney and Sri’s residence to invite them..."
"At the event, Sridevi looked stunning... She was not quiet and reserved but for once, she moved around in the crowd catching up with old friends in Hyderabad," the source said.
The report also added that politician Amar Singh had facilitated the make-up of the two actresses.
Among other celebrities, actors Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu were also present at the event.
Recently, Sridevi has been in the news after filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma who has dedicated an entire chapter, describing it as a 'love letter' in his autobiography Guns and Thighs.
Also Read: Sridevi Is A 'Goddess Of Beauty', Confesses Ram Gopal Varma[Haskell-cafe] Google Summer of Code 2010.
It is that time of year again; the Google Summer of Code is upon us! *Sign Up Information* If you are a student and want to sign up to make $4,500 for hacking on the code you love over the summer or are willing to help out as a mentor, now is the time to act. Please sign up by adding your name to the list at: http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/summer-of-code/wiki/People2010 I have extracted an initial list of interested mentors from Malcolm's earlier inquiry to the cafe and have submitted our initial application to Google. A strong list of potential mentors and students will help bolster our case. Our main wiki entry for the Summer of Code 2010 is now online: http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/summer-of-code/wiki/Soc2010 If you are interested in applying as a student, here are some guidelines: http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/summer-of-code/wiki/StudApply2010 The official deadline for student applications with Google is April 7th, but if you are interested please add your name to the People2010 page above, as soon as possible. *Interested in helping out, but not sure how? * There are a number of ideas that we've been collecting for projects available through the trac http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/summer-of-code/report/1 and which have been collecting over time in a reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/haskell_proposals/top/ While the reddit is a great place to discuss proposals, we had to choose one mechanism to supply Google with our ideas officially, so please submit proposals <http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/summer-of-code/newticket> to the trac if you can think of something you like to work on, or which would be an appropriately beneficial project for a summer worth of work. *Helping Out Darcs * Haskell.org is going to continue to act as an umbrella organization covering darcs <http://darcs.net/> for the Summer of Code once more. If you are interested in helping them out, they also have a page full of project ideas as well: http://wiki.darcs.net/GoogleSummerOfCode Again, please submit proposals<http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/summer-of-code/newticket>as tickets to the trac if you can think of something you'd like to work on. *More Information* Here are a bunch of relevant links that may be able to answer your questions: Google's Summer of Code Homepage <http://socghop.appspot.com/> Google's Summer of Code 2010 FAQ<http://socghop.appspot.com/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2010/faqs> Google's Summer of Code 2010 Timeline<http://socghop.appspot.com/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2010/timeline> Google's Summer of Code Wiki Knowledge Base<http://code.google.com/p/google-summer-of-code/wiki/WikiStart> Of course, you can always feel free to email me <ekmett at gmail.com> or inquire on irc.freenode.net #haskell-soc or with the darcs folks over on #darcs for more information. If you don't have an IRC client, you can get there from: http://webchat.freenode.net Thank you all very much and we look forward to another successful Summer of Code! -Edward Kmett -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/attachments/20100312/6aeb7d00/attachment.htmlHow can you NOT love a nine post series (so far) on Beer and IoT? There's IoT, devices, visualizations, math, formulas and beer!
Gunnar Peipman as been blogging up a storm on his Beer IoT project. Seriously, if you're into IoT, read his posts...
I have RaspberryPi 2 with Windows 10 IoT Core and I plan to use it for some brewing activities. In this blog post I introduce you how to measure temperature with RaspberryPi using DS18B20 thermal sensors. This post is also example about how easy it is to get started with your IoT stuff using Microsoft tooling. In practice I use this solution to monitor the freezing of eisbock beer. Making 20l of beer freeze takes time. Depending on weather outside it’s 10-18 hours. Using this solution I don’t have to open the bucket after every couple of hours to see if ice is coming and also I can estimate how long it takes for beer to freeze. Electronics I don’t stop here on deep details of my solution. It’s pretty easy if you know at least something about electronics. For electronics part I used blog post Thermal sensor connected via I2C by Tomáš Greňo. It describes all stuff in great detail and if you are using Linux on RaspberryPi then you can find there everything you need to read temperatures.... Wrapping up Windows 10 IoT Core and Visual Studio tooling make it very easy to build IoT solutions. Of course, we don’t away from problems so easy like we did right now as there are no libraries for everything we want to do but still we have very good tooling that makes development way easier. Although we wrote temperature readings to debug window we can go further and send the values to some database or Microsoft Azure service.
In my last beer IoT post we measured out cooling rate of beer. In this post we try to estimate how long it takes for beer to start freezing. It’s actually simple calculation and we add it to our beer IoT background service before we focus on data reporting and persisting questions. NB! In this post we are using code from beer IoT posts Measuring temperature with Windows 10 IoT Core and Raspberry Pi and Measuring cooling rate. Here we are making changes to already existing code. In last post we calculated beer cooling rate that is constant through freezing process. We used the following equation with two temperature measurements: We expect beer surface to start freezing when temperature inside bucket is 1°C. To calculate the estimate we have to do one little dirty trick. We take current beer temperature as initial one (T 0 ) and constant temperature 1°C as T(t). Ambient temperature T a will stay constant....
We are eager to try out our beer cooling solution and we want to see it in action. We want to visualize our data and keep eye on temperature of cooling beer. Before doing anything more complex like building web or mobile app we make a quick shortcut and bring our data to web, desktop and mobile. This post is about Power BI in action. Building beer cooling report Now let’s build beer cooling report. Log in to Power BI through your browser ańd under Datasets section on left select BeerIoT (this must be the name you gave to dataset when you added new output source to Stream Analytics job). Select line chart under visualizations, drag it wider and configure it like shown on the screenshot below. Click on somewhere on empty space near chart to get it out from focus and click on table under visualizations. Configure table like shown on the following screenshot. Now save your report and name it as “Beer cooling” by example. Under reports menu on left select the report you just created. Click on pin button of line chart and add it to Beer IoT dashboard....
Our beer cooling solution is not controllable through IoT Hub and it reports data there. We can control our device through simple command line application but it is not enough for us. In this post we start building Universal Windows Application that helps us monitor temperatures. In this post we focus on mobile application. This far we can visualize cooling process by connecting Excel to SQL Server or by using SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). Excel doesn’t show us real-time data if we don’t refresh data source manually. SSRS is total overkill for our scenario and here we don’t even consider it. As cooling may take hours we want something that we can take with us if we need to go out and mobile application is the perfect match for this need. WARNING! I’m not specialist on XAML and mobile applications and therefore please forgive me if my XAML or coding strategy doesn’t survive any criticism. Of course, please feel free to point out my sad mistakes so I can improve my poor skills. Building mobile application We want our application to be simple to use and we want it to show data. Let’s focus on showing data in this post. We build our application as Windows 10 Universal Application to later support also desktop client. Image on right shows what will be the end result. To focus here on visualizing data we leave out reporting of cooling rate and cooling solution status. Initial and current temperatures we will get through Azure IoT Hub. Our action plan here is simple: Create model for main view. Create main view with data and chart. Connect application to Azure IoT Hub. I think for one post this is more than enough. If we generate more ideas for application then I can always write another post about it....
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Follow @gduncan411CBS news anchor accidentally calls Prince William a 'douche' instead of a duke
A New York news anchor had a slip of the tongue when he was teasing an upcoming segment about Prince William and Kate's visit to Cambridge on Wednesday.
CBS anchor Rob Morrison accidentally called William 'the douche' instead of the Duke of Cambridge.
He was previewing an upcoming segment on the 1pm news when he said: 'Also the reason why the latest royal visit was extra special for the douche- Duke, ha ha, and Duchess of Cambridge.'
Just before: CBS 2 anchor Rob Morrison (left) was teasing the upcoming segment on Prince William when he accidentally called him a different title
Slip: The anchor called him a 'douche' and not a duke
The nervous laughter following the slip, seen in the clip, showed that he clearly realized the mistake quickly and was hoping to blow by it.
HOW DOUCHE BECAME A SLUR
Long known as a feminine hygiene product, douche (the shortened version of the offensive slang word 'douchebag') became commonly used in a derogatory way in the 1960s.
It came to mean an arrogant or obnoxious man who is disrespectful and self-absorbed.
The reason behind said special visit is that it was the first time that William and Kate visited Cambridge since the Queen conferred the Dukedom on the couple on their wedding day in April last year.
Prince William is descended from the son of George III who was created Duke of Cambridge in 1801 through Queen Mary.
The couple made the trip to their namesake city on Wednesday to open a hospital, but it was Kate's new haircut that stole the show.
Spectator Joanne Baldwin, 30, spoke to the Duchess during the couple's walkabout. 'I told her I loved her new hair style,' she said.
'She said: "I'm not sure about it. It's a bit windy today." I said don't worry, it looks lovely.'
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were cheered by members of the public during an appearance on the balcony of the Guildhall in Cambridge
It is the first time the couple have visited their namesake city together
The duchess appeared nervous as she continued to sweep her layers off her face but saw the funny side as even the city's mayor struggled to keep her ceremonial hat in place during her speech.
The couple arrived in the city by train travelling First Class from King's Cross in London where they had stayed overnight, stepping off the scheduled train shortly after 10am.
Kate, 30, in a pale grey MaxMara £980 Belli overcoat and dress with brown suede Aquatalia ankle boots and a chocolate brown clutch by Emmy Scarterfield, had her new fringe on display and within minutes the wintry weather had reduced her glossy locks to a head full of tangles.The challenges and opportunities of Kurdistan independence will be discussed
DUHOK — The conference on 'Independence of Kurdistan: Challenges and Opportunities' kicked off on Thursday, December 15 at the American University of Kurdistan (AUK) - Duhok with the attendance of many local and international politicians and intellectuals to discuss the Kurdistan Region independence.
The Chairman of the Board of AUK University, Masrour Barzani, delivered the opening remarks for the Inaugural Conference on the future independence of Kurdistan.
The conference lasts for two days at which five panels will be held to cast light on the international laws, the right of self-determination for Kurds, the security aspects of the Kurdistan Region in post-independence era and other issues.
Some of the officials, political figures and former diplomats attending the conference include KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani, Masrour Barzani, Chancellor of Kurdistan Region Security Council, Barham Salih, Former KRG PM, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Former diplomat, Bernard Kouchner, French politician and others.Jump Festa isnt the only news source working tonight, the OCG twitter is live and buzzing along too. Join me behind the break for two cards from Maximum Crisis!
MACR-JP008
SR56 Plane / Speedroid Five-Six Plane
Level 5 WIND Machine-Type Effect Monster
1800 ATK
0 DEF
You can only use the (1)st effect of “Speedroid Five-Six Plane” once per turn.
(1) If a monster(s) is Special Summoned to your side of the field: You can activate this effect; you cannot Special Summon monsters for the rest of this turn, except WIND monsters, also Special Summon this card from your hand.
(2) If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; for the rest of this turn, it gains 600 ATK.
Source Tweet
MACR-JP067
Phantom Knights Wrong Magnering / The Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnet Ring
Normal Trap Card
(1) When an opponents monster declares an attack: negate that attack, then Special Summon this card in Attack Position as an Effect Monster (Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 2/0 ATK/0 DEF) with the effect below. (This card is NOT treated as a Trap Card.)
● During either players turn: You can send BOTH this card AND EITHER 1 face-up “The Phantom Knights” monster you control OR 1 face-up “Phantom Knights” Continuous Spell/Trap Card you control to the Graveyard; draw 2 cards.
Source TweetBy Henry A. Giroux, TruthoutThis piece first appeared at Truthout.
Militarism is like a lethal virus that takes as its first victim both historical memory and any sense of moral and social responsibility. In the United States and Israel, at the present moment, it is no longer one strain of ideology that permeates these societies; it is a general condition that gives meaning to almost all aspects of life. Incapable of thinking beyond military solutions to social problems, militarism absolves individuals and governments, if not the general public, of the horror produced by the weapons it builds; moreover, just as it erases the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it suggests that the hundreds of children killed in Gaza is a military necessity.
The apostles of militarism offer jobs to the public that engage in the production of organized violence; they preach war as a cleansing solution, while they sanitize language of any meaning, erasing the suffering, misery, and horror inflicted by their drone missiles, jets, Apache helicopters, and bombs. All that has to be invoked are the words “collateral damage” or “military necessity” and the death-laden actions produced by the new militarists disappear into the dark vocabulary of authoritarian doublespeak. War is no longer a source of alarm, but pride, and it has become an organizing principle of many societies. Informed by a kind of primitive tribalism, militarism enshrines a deadly type of masculinity that mythologizes violence and mimics the very terrorism it claims to be fighting. Militarism and war have not only changed the nature of the political order but the nature and character of American life.
When children are killed by Israeli missiles while playing on a beach in Gaza, the horror and sheer brutality of the murderous act is wiped away by the crude argument that such needless slaughter is a military necessity. There is no defense for killing children, regardless of whether it is done by the Israeli state, the United States, Hamas, or anyone else. We live in a time in which political illiteracy and moral tranquilization work in tandem to produce the authoritarian subject, willing to participate in their own oppression and the oppression of others. Thus, the silence over filling our prisons with poor people of color, treating desperate immigrant children as if they were vermin, and allowing elected officials to replace reason with forms of militant religious fundamentalism. What kind of moral arrangements does a society give up when there is no outrage over the fact that the United States supplies billions of dollars in armaments to other states and thus is complicit in the killing of young children and others through acts of state terrorism?
The militarists come from various political parties and are hooked into a market-driven logic that disdains thinking about social costs or the despair they create. They are unadulterated agents of cruelty and their power serves a corrupt form of casino capitalism that breathes and breeds the ideology and policies of the military-industrial-surveillance complex. In the United States, trillions are spent on wars that were based on and initiated with lies. At the same time, social services are cut, schools abandoned, infrastructures ignored so that the military can build F-35 jets at the cost of $200 million apiece – pieces of junk plagued by mechanical failures and a sober witness to the United States’ unwillingness to use the money of war and violence to build a decent, democratic society in which vulnerability and care become the watchwords rather than violence and war.
The morally reprehensible killing of children in Afghanistan, Gaza and Iraq is part of a larger problem, one that haunts the late modern period, which is the rise of neoliberal totalitarianism, by which I mean an economic and cultural system that is sutured in its allegiance to money, profit, power, inequality, greed, militarism, the punishing state and self-interests. The new global capital societies such as the United States have replaced the social contract with a defense contract. Zombie politics now rules as the living dead function as parasites on their respective societies, engulfing them with the fog of war, corruption and death. How else would one explain bringing Dick Cheney, John Bolton and Bill Kristol back to life on the mainstream airwaves? Like George Romero’s zombies, Cheney and his ilk proliferate like a lethal virus out of control.
But pointing to the new forms of zombie politics awash in the U.S. and other countries is not enough. The question that must be raised is what is it in the United States that produces an inattentiveness to moral outrage, dissent, and mass mobilizations? The failure of conscience and the willingness to stand up against the new authoritarians whether in Israel, England, France, Greece, or the United States promotes a flirtation with modes of irrationality that lie at the heart of the triumph of everyday aggression over the slightest semblance of justice. Under such circumstances, war and the over identification with militarism produces a new kind of national psychosis and collective pathology. We live in the age of killing machines, parading under the poison of exceptionalism and empire.
We are in the midst of something different in the current historical moment. Democracy is losing its appeal, fascists are gaining in popularity around the globe, and millions of men, women and children are now considered excess, disposable, because they are dehumanized, considered other, or fall outside of the blessings of a rabid consumerist society. The new breed of politicians unleashed by the Reagan revolution disdain the government, except when it benefits the rich and celebrates individual solutions to larger public issues, rendering individuals vulnerable, powerless, anxious and disillusioned. Technology rather than ethics and compassion now provide the answers to society’s problem. Data has replaced words, ethics and the hard work, as Marx once observed, of teaching everyone to be able to engage in a “ruthless criticism of everything.”
The current crisis surrounding Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the looting of the public treasury by the rich and financial elite speak to a crisis of individual, social and historical agency. Democratic governance is no longer part of the vocabulary of the militarists because the latter would suggest an understanding of the morally rightful use of power, rule, representation, justice and equality. The death dealing zones of ethical tranquillization called Silicon Valley now provide the new model of the consumer-tech obsessed citizen – a largely illiterate, privatized, overly specialized, asocial being so depoliticized that it becomes difficult for them to even talk on the phone with another person, never mind have actual, corporeal, thinking relationships with others. It also models a society that has no memory, ethics, sense of justice or the future.
Militarism is a new form of illiteracy and psychosis, symptomatic of the failure of civic courage because it demands obedience and punishes people who are critical, capable of questioning authority, and are willing to address important social issues. Edward Snowden and other courageous whistleblowers are considered traitors because they revealed the massive violation of civil liberties by the government and the existence of an authoritarian surveillance society in which the state and corporations fuse in their attempts to squelch dissent and freedom. Bill Gates is considered a hero, though he may be the most powerful force in the United States destroying public education and a grotesque symbol of massive inequality. Illiterate militarists such as Senators John McCain, Lindsay Graham and most of the Republican Party are given endless airtime even though their discourse is immersed in the blight of militarism, war and state violence.
President Obama is defended by liberals in spite of his shredding of civil liberties and his unparalleled and unconscionable support of the financial crooks and policies that caused the great recession in 2007. What Obama has made clear is that liberalism is now the new conservatism and that the two party system is completely in the hands of the rich, corporations, and financial services. The reach of violence and death is everywhere permeating the culture like an endless sandstorm that destroys everything it touches. Major articles and even a movie appear in the militarized state praising Ivy League schools, though they produce the criminogenic environments that gave us the intellectual killers that produced the slaughter in Vietnam, Iraq, and the endless forms of foreign and domestic terrorism that now reside in many of the advanced societies of the world. Some would say we live in troubled times and, that is only partly true, because the times in which we live are more than troubled; they are close to coming to an end as the logic of the bomb expresses itself in the blowing up and ecological destruction of the planet.
Everything we have learned from the dominant ideologies, vocabularies, values and social relations must be re-examined, discarded when necessary, and in its place we need a new political language, a new understanding of governance locally and globally. We need to resurrect a radical notion of what we all have in common, the common good and public values, and think hard about what work has to be done not just to survive, but to thrive in a democratically inspired world. Time has overcome us, outpaced our capacities to slow down and think critically and act courageously. This does not suggest we need to change the world, a cliché used by Gates and other Silicon Valley, Wall-Street agents of conformity. What it does suggests is a notion of social, economic and political change inspired by a vision of a democracy to come, a society in which it is reprehensible to even consider using torture, |
to no good, and pilfered the map from his dad's desk.
Mischief managed, bruh.
7. Harry lost the ability to speak Parseltongue.
Rowling says Potter loses the ability now that he's no longer a Horcrux, and he's "very glad to do so."
8. Voldemort's boggart is his own corpse.
In Harry Potter, a boggart is a shape-shifting thing that takes the form of your worst fear, and Rowling says Voldemort's worst fear was death, so the boggart would be his own dead body.
Really, it probably should've just been a mirror. (Ouch! Can someone get He Who Must Not Be Named some sunscreen? Dude just got burned.)
9. Dumbledore's Army kept their coins.
Rowling says the DA saved the coins, which are now "like badges or medals of honor," but our guess is if these kids went on to wizarding college, the coins probably got traded for some late-night libations.
Neville probably knows what we're talking about.
Wow. I remember my first butterbeer...
10. Most of the characters found love.
The characters found love in a Hogwarts place. Draco Malfoy marries Astoria Greengrass, George Weasley marries Angelina Johnson, Neville Longbottom marries Hannah Abbott and Luna Lovegood marries Rolf Scamander, the grandson of the guy who wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
11. Harry ended up with the flying motorbike.
Mr. Weasley fixed it and then gave it to Harry, because he has such a great track record with flying vehicles.
Wait, never mind.
12. Harry Potter's scar was lightning-shaped because it's cool.
When asked about the lightning shape of Harry's scar, Rowling said, "To be honest, because it's a cool shape. I couldn't have my hero sport a doughnut-shaped scar."
Yup. Harry's scar just looks that way because it's cool. Whether or not you believe in magic, there's no denying the boy who lived has swag.
Happy birthday, Harry Potter!
For more "Harry Potter" facts, check out the transcript from J.K. Rowling's live chat on Bloomsbury.
Also on HuffPost:
PHOTO GALLERY 'Harry Potter': Where Are They Now?Image copyright AP Image caption Nine army officers and one police general were charged in the landmark case
Police in the United States have arrested former Ecuadorean police commander Edgar Vaca, who is accused of human rights abuses.
The interior minister in Quito issued a statement saying that the retired general was arrested in Washington and will be extradited to Ecuador.
Mr Vaca and nine other officers have been accused of kidnapping and torturing three left-wing rebels in 1985.
He denies all the charges.
An international arrest order had been issued for Mr Vaca.
He was detained on Monday at the request of Interpol, but the news was only confirmed by the Ecuadorean government on Wednesday.
The alleged violations were committed under the government of late President Leon Febres Cordero, who was in power from 1984 to 1988.
The three victims - Susana Cajas, Javier Jarrin and Luis Vaca - were detained in November 1985 for alleged links to an underground opposition group, the Eloy Alfaro Popular Armed Forces.
"They were tortured, beaten, and submitted to particularly sadistic forms of torture, including electric shocks to their genitals," said chief prosecutor Galo Chiriboga.
Image copyright AFP Image caption President Rafael Correa set up a truth commission to investigate human rights abuses
In October, they gave details of their ordeal at a landmark trial in Quito, attended by Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino and human rights activists from across Latin America.
Mr Chiriboga requested the arrest of 10 retired police and army officers, including Mr Vaca, who escaped to the US.
The director of the Prosecutor's Office Truth Commission, Fidel Jaramillo, said at the time that crimes against humanity in Ecuador only began to be investigated in 2007, when left-wing President Rafael Correa came into power.Hundreds of cats seized from a major High Springs hoarding case are being shuttled this week to the University of Florida veterinary college to be spayed or neutered, tested and treated in preparation for an adoption event this month.
Hundreds of cats seized from a major High Springs hoarding case are being shuttled this week to the University of Florida veterinary college to be spayed or neutered, tested and treated in preparation for an adoption event this month.
The surgery is being done by about 25 UF veterinary students and a handful of veterinary residents from UF and the University of California at Davis.
"There are over 600 that will need homes," said UF veterinary professor Julie Levy. "We are planning a big adopt-a-thon, so that's why we are having the push now to get them spayed and neutered and healthy."
Alachua County Animal Services, along with national rescue groups, seized 697 cats on June 7 from Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary.
Owners Steve and Pennie Lefkowitz described the sanctuary as a no-kill facility for unwanted felines. The Humane Society of the United States described it as the largest case of cat hoarding in the nation.
Initially the cats, which are being housed in a warehouse, got exams and some treatment but had not been relinquished to Animal Services. Custody was turned over last week, allowing for the surgery — more than 300 need to be spayed or neutered — and more intensive treatment.
More than 60 of the seized cats have been euthanized. Levy said many of the survivors have ringworm, mouth infections and diseases such as feline infectious peritonitis and viral feline leukemia.
Haven Acres cats are being spayed or neutered in the style of Operation Catnip, a sterilization program at UF in which stray and feral cats undergo surgery in assembly line fashion with staff at various stations doing anesthesia, vaccinations, surgery and recovery.
Levy said local veterinarians have been volunteering to provide other treatment.
"We certainly would be happy to have more veterinarians that would be willing to volunteer, especially those who can do dentistry, because those severe mouth infections are very hard to treat," she said. "Some also have tumors that need to be removed — mostly benign tumors like tumors of the ear."
The adopt-a-thon is set for Aug. 26-28 and will be based at the Alachua County Humane Society, 4205 NW 6th St., which is near the warehouse where the cats are now being housed, said Humane Society executive director Eric Van Ness.
Animal Services Director Dave Flagler said he hopes widespread publicity from the Haven Acres case will boost adoptions.An adoption fee has not been set, Flagler said, adding that those interested in adopting a cat will be screened in order to make sure the cat and adopter are a good fit.
"I'm kind of hopeful that a successful event for us would be 200 or 250," he said. "People need to make sound financial decisions. It's easy to listen about the hardships these animals have gone through, and they tug at your heart. If a person is wanting to open up their hearts to a new animal, this is a wonderful event. But make sure your wallet can accommodate that, as well."
Prosecutors should decide by next week whether any charges will be filed against the Lefkowitzes, said Spencer Mann, of the State Attorney's Office.A hosted edition of LibreOffice is planned as a free and open alternative to Office 365 and Google Docs by year's end.
The suite would provide online editing and sharing of documents written using the free, open-source suite.
The Document Foundation said on Wednesday that LibreOffice contributor Collabora is working with collaboration specialist IceWarp to deliver web-based editing in the suite.
An HTML5 version of LibreOffice was first discussed in 2011 and saw development of a new rendering engine to work in properly in the browser.
Documents will be stored and managed in IceWarp server, the basis of that company’s online collaboration platform. IceWarp provides groupware, calendar and document management, IM, video and mobile synchronization via HTML5 web client.
Where the goal of such suites was once to take on Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office on the desktop now its targets are Office 365 and Google's free suite.
Document Foundation chairman Thorsten Behrens claimed in a statement that Libreoffice users would be able to switch seamlessly between desktop, mobile and cloud versions of the open-source suite “without leaving his free software of choice.”
The Foundation promised to deliver something any provider could implement, without restrictions in terms of document formats or the lock-in of vendor-provided cloud.
“The companies [Collabora and IceWarp] aim to restore fair competition to a market dominated by monopoly suppliers, as well as to drive innovation, compatibility and interoperability through open formats, across all platforms for everybody,” the Foundation said. ®Stacy Wakefield’s debut novel, The Sunshine Crust Baking Factory, just out from Akashic Books, brings the reader deep inside New York’s mid-nineties squat scene. Her protagonist, a keenly observant young woman named Sid, arrives in New York City in 1995, at a time when the established squatting community is struggling to maintain a foothold in the face of overwhelming gentrification. Sid makes her way from the overcrowded, besieged squats of the Lower East Side to a Williamsburg that the brunch-eaters of this decade would neither recognize nor rush to call home. I recently had the chance to talk with Wakefield about her novel.
You chose an interesting time to explore in Sunshine Crust Baking Factory. It’s set in the summer of 1995, at a time when the gentrification that crept up steadily for years had fully taken hold, and the squatting community on the Lower East Side was going through a major transition, having lost several long-standing squats on Ea. 13th Street in a massive eviction a few months earlier. What about that time interested you?
I moved to New York myself in 1996 and lived in squats for about a year, so that is the era I know. The characters in the book are fictional, but the buildings are all based on real places I lived. 1995 was a little late in the squatting era, but that works perfectly with the main emotional story that intrigued me: Sid’s struggle to fit into a semi-closed society. That part of Sid’s story is universal—a lot of people feel like they don’t belong where they grew up, are drawn to a big cities and to elite communities they strive to be part of. The fact that the squats were overpopulated in this time period, and that it had become very hard to squat new places, creates extra pressure and drama for that story line.
Can you talk a bit about your own experiences as a squatter?
I learned what squatting was when I moved to Amsterdam, originally as an exchange student. I was studying at Rhode Island School of Design and I was only supposed to spend a semester in Amsterdam. Discovering squatting made me stay, I’d found my people, I was so happy. I lived for five years in the Netherlands in squats. I visited squats in Germany, France, Italy and England when I traveled.
When I graduated from college in 1994 I went with a friend named Grrrt to England and we traveled around doing interviews with squatters for a book that became Not for Rent. That was intended to be a series; we were going to travel all over investigating the squatting cultures in different countries. It was a hit when it came out. There was nothing else like it at the time. It went into a second printing within the year.
Before we did the next book we went on tour with a band from England around America in 1996. I was driver and merch girl, Grrrt was sound engineer and booker. The tour ended in New York. We both knew a few squatters there, Fly for one. I had written her fan letters when I read her zines and comics in the early 90s.
I had to get a job to make some money, and I fell in love with New York and saw a lot of opportunity. I stayed at a few different squats in New York and got a job at the Knitting Factory where practically the whole bar staff lived at 5th Street squat. We all came to work early to use the shower in the VIP dressing room, since no one had running water.
I started doing interviews for a second book that winter. I was talking in depth with women who squatted in New York. But that project got derailed when Fifth Street squat, where I was living at the time, got evicted. I had to start working two jobs to save up money to rent. And I got distracted by other things, work and playing in a band in the growing Williamsburg music scene, among other things. Those interviews I’d done in 1996 were really useful when I started writing this book though. They were full of details I wouldn’t have remembered and really had the tone of that time.
Fly is the woman on the cover of The Sunshine Crust Baking Factory, in a photo taken by Ash Thayer in…I’m guessing 1995 or 1996…in Fly’s squatted space where she still lives today. It’s fascinating to look at that photo and think of all the work she’d already done before it was taken–her apartment had no floors or windows when she started, as there’d been a fire in the building–and to then compare that photo to her apartment as it is now. I’ve sat and had tea in her finished, comfortable apartment in the very spot where the ladder stands in the photo. It’s such a perfect cover for this book, because your protagonist, Sid, is a young woman who, over the course of the novel, grows to be exactly the kind of self-reliant, badass woman who could take a space with no floors or windows and build herself a home.
Sid is a terrific character: complex and flawed and honest. She’s a pleasure to spend time with. I’m wondering, though, about your experience of writing from Sid’s point of view in the first person. So often, particularly if the author is a woman, readers will conflate the character’s identity with the author’s. There’s an assumption that the writing is autobiographical. This is especially true if the book is written in first person. My new novel is written in first person, and I found myself really struggling with that in early drafts. Even though the book is not autobiographical, I felt exposed by that first-person voice. I felt more vulnerable, because I knew many readers would assume I was telling my own story. I had to fight against the urge to protect myself, so I could be as open on the page as I needed to be. Because you and Sid share a history of squatting in the era depicted in the book, it’s going to be a natural leap for many readers to assume that Sid is a stand-in for you. Was that a concern as you wrote the book? And did that affect your choices in any way?
I always wanted to write in the first person. As a reader, I enjoy that vulnerability and exposure you’re talking about! That’s what I want to read. Whether its a memoir or novel first person stories seem more intimate and honest to me.
When I first started trying to write my own stories I got stuck. There are too many threads in real life, I couldn’t figure out where to start or stop or what was important to the story. It was going back to the interviews I’d done in 1996 and inhabiting the voice of an old friend that got me going.
Sid started out based on a woman I lived with at the real Bakery squat and became her own person as I worked. I tried having a character based on me show up in the summer of 1996, when the real me moved into the building. But I was too self-conscious. The “me” character was uptight and humorless and got deleted! Instead I had the characters Raven and Abby, who were based on multiple people I knew, move into the Bakery squat. They created the disruptive feminine energy in the building that I wanted to move the story forward.
Now that I’ve learned more about crafting fiction, I’m writing a more autobiographical novel that is set in Amsterdam. It’s about squatters again. The main character/narrator of this new story is her own person but she’s having a lot of my experiences. Some of it does feel exposing and I struggle with that, too. But still I feel an urgency to tell these stories and I trust that because I love it as a reader.
There are a lot of reasons humans tell each other stories. When I read, I want to learn real things about people and ideas and history and relationships. I don’t want to write or read anything that feels made up.
What’s inspired you to write a second novel about squatters? Is it purely from a personal impulse–to look deeply at that part of your own past? Or is there a more universal story you’re hoping to explore? What resonance does squatting have now, in this moment we find ourselves in culturally and politically?
I think I am writing about squatters because I’m trying to figure out all the reasons that they fascinate me! I loved the outlaw anarchist freedom of it. And in Amsterdam more than New York, the severe cultural strictures within that.
I worried at first that it didn’t make sense to write a second book about squatters, but my writing teacher and mentor, Mermer Blakeslee, said you don’t get to choose what obsesses you, you just have to go with it. I found that helpful.
I’ve also been inspired by reading Elena Ferrante and Karl Ove Knausgaard this past year. In different ways they make obsessively detailed explorations into personal material seem like a great idea.
I totally get that. You can’t discount the power of obsession in creative work.
The Sunshine Crust Baking Factory is your first novel, but not your first published book. Earlier you mentioned Not for Rent, which is a nonfiction collection of interviews. What moved you to switch to fiction, and how was it to approach your topic with that different lens?
Not for Rent is all interviews and we covered a lot of ground fast, from London to Scotland, talking to people about squatted venues and projects. We ended up documenting factual information and details. I’m proud that I wrote that book at age 24, but I had some frustrations with it. It wasn’t the kind of book I would read myself. I loved novels and memoirs, my interviews didn’t go deep enough into personal back stories. The kinds of people who squat are collectivist in general, they don’t tend to want to be the center of attention or to expose themselves. So I felt like we were only scratching the surface. I think fiction is really the best way to do that. Novels can get at much deeper truths about people than really any other art form.
Your novel is set in a very different Williamsburg than the one we know twenty years later in 2015. What do you think your protagonist, Sid, would make of it now? And where do you imagine she might be today?
Sid’s too scrappy for Williamsburg now! She’d hate all the yuppies and NYU students and boutiques. She wouldn’t be able to afford it, of course. But also the sense of space and possibility in Williamsburg is gone, it used to feel very wild and empty and to a certain type, that is inspiring. I think the Sid types have gone elsewhere… to smaller cities, to the country, or further out in Brooklyn.
Stacy Wakefield published her first nonfiction book about squatting, the underground classic Not for Rent, in 1994. Her debut novel is The Sunshine Crust Baking Factory. Wakefield is cocreator of the photo/essay book Please Take Me Off the Guest List with Nick Zinner and Zachary Lipez. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest and lives in Brooklyn and the Catskills with her husband, musician Nick Forte.
Cari Luna is the author of The Revolution of Every Day, which won the 2015 Oregon Book Award for Fiction. Her writing has appeared in Salon, Jacobin, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, PANK, and elsewhere.
Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, our Tumblr, and sign up for our mailing list.Expand Mansoor al-Jamri, chief editor of Al Wasat, an independent daily. © 2003 Reuters
(Beirut) – Bahraini authorities on June 4, 2017, ordered the immediate indefinite suspension of Al Wasat, the country’s only independent newspaper, Human Rights Watch said today. The Bahrain authorities should immediately revoke the order. Al Wasat is one of the very few independent news sites in the entire Gulf region.
Yousif Mohammed Ismail, the media director at the Ministry of Information Affairs, delivered the order to suspend publication verbally in a phone call to the newspaper. A subsequent statement on the government news agency site said Al Wasat had violated the law and would not be published “until further notice.” The statement added that Al Wasat had “created discord and damaged Bahrain’s relations with other countries.” It cited a June 4 opinion article about a rural uprising in al-Hoceima, in northern Morocco, which said that the protesters had legitimate demands.
“A newspaper in Bahrain should be able to comment on and criticize the authorities in Morocco or anywhere in the world,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Shutting down Al Wasat is a prime example of Bahraini authorities’ complete intolerance of any kind of independent expression.”
Bahrain’s suspension of Al Wasat came days after the government dissolved the leading secular opposition society, the National Democratic Action Society (Wa’ad), on May 31, 2017.
Bahraini authorities have suspended Al Wasat on three previous occasions since the paper was founded in 2002, but never for more than three days. In April 2011, authorities suspended Al Wasat for one day, claiming the paper had published “false news.” Bahrain’s Public Prosecutor subsequently charged the Al Wasat editor, Mansoor al-Jamri, and three other editors “with publishing fabricated news and made up stories... that may harm public safety and national interests.” All four received a fine, and al-Jamri briefly stepped down as editor, returning in August 2011.
In August 2015, authorities suspended the paper for two days without giving any reason, and in January 2017, authorities suspended the online edition of the newspaper from publishing for three days, accusing it of “ inciting division, jeopardizing national unity, and disrupting public peace, ” after it published an article about violent unrest in the Bahraini town of A’ali.
Al Wasat’s suspension is a violation of the right to freedom of expression and an attack on media freedom, Human Rights Watch said. It also appears to violate article 28 of Bahrain’s 2002 press law – Decree No. 47 for 2002 – which states that a court order is required to close or suspend a newspaper.
The UN Human Rights Committee, in giving guidance on freedom of expression, has stressed the vital importance of protecting peaceful criticism of state authorities. It has also stressed that it is not permissible to ban or shut down a newspaper because of one article.
Between 160 and 180 staff will lose their jobs if Al Wasat is forced to close.
On June 8, 2017, Bahraini’s Ministry of Interior announced that “as a sovereign right of Bahrain, any show of sympathy or favoritism for the Qatar government or objection to Bahrain’s action on the social media in the form of tweets, posts or any spoken or written word will be considered a crime punishable under the Penal Code and will lead to a jail term of up to five years and fine.”Readdle has been working on bringing its email app called Spark to the Mac for a while now, and this week the company started taking sign-ups for users who want to test the beta version.
Spark for Mac will be an alternative email client to Apple’s built-in Mail app with better support for Gmail and a smart inbox for presenting important messages first.
Spark first debuted on the iPhone and Apple Watch last year with deep integration with third-party services. Spark for iPad followed at the start of this year.
Spark for macOS will complete the suite which is especially critical for Mac users investing fully into Readdle’s email workflow.
Mac users who want to try Spark for macOS can sign up at sparkmailapp.com/beta to join the waiting list. Readdle says over 3500 sign-ups have already been collected as the first beta is expected to go out early next week.
Spark for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch is a universal app that you can download for free on the App Store. Readdle also makes a ton of other productivity tools for the Mac and iOS.Sporting an Alex Bunbury jersey and Barton Street Battalion scarf, James Hutton welcomed a group of approx. 25 people to the Barton Street Battalion meeting at The Pheasant Plucker last week.
Barton Street Battalion is a group of Hamilton soccer supporters. They know the Canadian Premier League (CPL) is coming, and while there has yet to be an official league announcement, the group has secured their identity as the first official supporters group.
Make sure to follow the Barton Street Battalion on twitter @BartonBattalion and we hope to see you at the next pub night.
If you’ve ever been to a Toronto FC game, I’m sure you’ve seen the singing, flag waving, jumping group of supporters located behind the net. They aren’t just regular fans. They’re ultra-passionate fans devoted to the game and devoted to making sure everyone else in the stands knows it. While Toronto boasts five separate groups, the Barton Street Battalion is Hamilton’s first.
Once the CPL starts (it’s projected for 2018), you’ll find the Barton Street Battalion cheering in the stands for their home team. The team is yet to be named – but Hamilton Tiger Cats Football Club Inc. (who will own the soccer team) has trademarked potential team names: Hamilton Steelers and Hamilton United.
Hamilton Steelers was Hamilton’s original team. They were part of the Canadian National Soccer League from 1981 until the league dissolved in 1992.
Motivated by a combination of impatience and passion, Hutton held the first Barton Street Battalion meeting in February 2016.
“When The Spectator started putting out news about Hamilton getting a team and Hamilton being the home base of the league, I immediately wanted to be involved so I started the conversation with my group of friends,” who are all TFC season ticket holders, he says.
Hutton believes the ethnic communities that make up Hamilton will contribute to its success, noting how James Street North was closed down to accommodate Portugal’s most recent Euro Cup win.
“When you come to Hamilton, you understand it has a lot of character and you can see that as you walk through the streets. I think if the team can capture that and if fans can capture that in the stands, then it will be a very unique working class vibe to Canadian soccer.”
The CPL is said to include teams in Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and western Canada. But Hamilton is a key player.
Nick Bontis, member of the Canadian Soccer Association’s board of directors, was also in attendance.
“I won’t say anything about any other city. We are in, guaranteed. We are first,” he says in regard to Hamilton.
That makes us the Ambitious soccer city, too.
Bontis even suggests a family or junior supporter group section for young soccer fans to take part in Barton Street Battalion.
John McGrane, former coach of Hamilton Steelers, professional soccer player, and the only Hamiltonian in the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame, says the supporters club is the lifeblood of the team.
He says grassroots soccer is so important to building Canada’s soccer identity.
“We need to create a career pathway for the young kids in our community to live a dream life. We don’t get a national team without a league.”
Paul Beirne, the CPL’s first hire and the first employee of Toronto FC, also says the top priority of this league is to improve the men’s national team.
“It’s the right time and a right step for us as a nation to become more mature. I have dreams of 30 or 40 teams across the country. It’s doable.”
In the meantime, you can show your support by wearing a Barton Street Battalion scarf to get the ball rolling.
Reflecting on his Bunbury jersey, Hutton notes the contributions Bunbury made to the soccer world: he started off with the Hamilton Steelers in 1987 and moved on to play for the Toronto Blizzard, Montreal Supra, West Ham, Portugal’s Maritimo, and Kansas City Wizards. He was part of the Canadian National Team and was named Canadian International Player of the Year twice.
“Bunbury wouldn’t have had that if he didn’t have Hamilton Steelers to give him that professional start. That’s what this league will be doing for us and doing for local Hamilton players.
We can have great international players like we did in the past. We have to prove that Hamilton is a soccer city and Canada is a soccer country.”Dear Labour,
B.B. (Before Brexit), I started writing constructively critical letters to other progressive parties; the Greens, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats. You can find them here. The reason was frustration about their lack of strategic direction and the structural weaknesses of all of them. And now we get to my own party – Labour. Where to start?
Let’s go with the flow and take the leadership election as the way in – and this opening observation; the answer to Labour’s existential crisis does not lie on the leadership ballot paper. Yes, people will make a least-worst-case choice but neither Owen nor Jeremy will succeed if we define success as a real and lasting shift in power from the few to the many. That isn’t because they don’t mean well or try hard, but because despite their different approaches, neither of them understands how transformative change happens in the 21st century.
the answer to Labour’s existential crisis does not lie on the leadership ballot paper
Let’s start with Owen Smith because the analysis is easier. It seems to me that what Owen and his campaign represent is the desire to turn back the clock to a mythical soft-left moment that never really existed – and probably never will. Put simply, if Ed Miliband couldn’t secure victory in 2015, before Brexit and before the rise of Corbynism and the meltdown of Labour – how on earth do we expect Owen to do it now – a left-wing version of Ed whom most people hadn’t heard of two weeks ago? This is tough I know, but Owen has never said or done anything that suggests that he understands the global crisis of social democracy or the particular meltdown the UK is experiencing. Where are the books, pamphlets, speeches, articles – where are the campaigns and the movement building which would begin to show he is offering something more than merely an echo of previous failures? If you want to lead a party out of an existential crisis then you must have the experience and the plan. The party has to stop pretending that its saviours simply exist within its ranks and that all we have to do is elect the ‘right’ person. It's not that what Owen says isn’t in part attractive, it’s that he has little idea how to make it happen.
Here Labour is hidebound by the ‘1945 Myth’ that all transformation took then was a few good leaders – Clement Attlee and the rest. But 1945 was based on a 100-year conversation between socialists and liberals and on the most incredible rich cultural, intellectual and organizational basis. And it rested more than anything on the strength of the working class, the experience of the war and the presence of the Soviet Union, the fear of which brought employers to the bargaining table and combined to make the post-war settlement within the nation possible. But all that has gone and has been replaced by globalization, financialisation, consumerisation and individualization. How on earth do we expect Owen to deal with all that – without the strategy, forces, ideas, narratives, networks, global alliances and movements that such a moment demands as a minimum?
In the corners of our minds we remember 1997 and some of us still hope against hope that we could at least get back to then. OK it wasn’t exactly perfect but at least the party won elections! But New Labour was a once-only move, made possible by the desperation of 18 years of Tory rule, the absence of any electoral opposition on Labour’s left and an unprecedented 60 consecutive quarters of growth which meant it could paper over the cracks of a failing economy and democracy. The roof was always going to fall in and it did. The social divisions opened up make a return to such a centrist big tent approach simply impossible – both economically and politically. But a soft-left version of such a big tent being offered by Owen is equally misplaced.
After 30 years of neo-liberalism the idea that Labour can simply legislate on high for a new golden era of social democracy is simply fanciful. Owen is swinging to the left to play to the Corbyn gallery – but how will he actually realise these left wing policies – his 20-point plan? Not just how will he persuade the electorate to vote for it, but how will he fend off the national and global forces of neo-liberalism who will look to destroy him at every turn? Again, I ask you to think back to Ed Miliband and what happened to him. Why will this be any different? It is likely to be even worse. Corbynite policies without any wave of support, only dressed up in a smart suit, is simply the politics of wishful thinking. It is Kinnockism in the 21st century and it is doomed.
So what then of Jeremy Corbyn? The first point is that it is exactly the (inevitable) failure of New Labour and then a soft left version of it that paved the way for the Corbynisation of Labour. Against the backdrop of widening inequality and the marginalization of so many people – Corbynism or something like it was always going to happen – either internally within Labour or externally to try and replace it. Unless and until all of Labour understands the deep-rooted economic, social and cultural reasons for Corbynism then there is no hope for the renewal of the party. Yes Jeremy was an accident, but it was an accident waiting to happen. Even if you replace him – you won’t replace the reasons why so many people feel the need for him.
This time last year I said that I had no illusions in Jeremy but what mattered was the wave, I voted for the wave not the surfer. I stand by that view only, of course, I have fewer illusions now. Jeremy is a symbol, an avatar, a projection screen for the hope for something better and the fear of something worse. This is harsh too, but no one with any sense or insight believes he has the leadership skills to craft a majoritarian politics. But that isn’t the point. The point is that if the choice is losing by compromises you don’t believe in or losing by following your heart – then it’s an easy choice for the majority of Labour members. And that choice is likely to prevail. You only beat a wave with a bigger and better wave.
And at least some of the Corbynites have a semblance of a political plan. Against the might of the Tory party, UKIP, the right-wing media, the CBI, the City and the consumer industrial complex that will look to destroy any transformative political project – the only countervailing force they see is a Labour party of one million members – active in every community. And the only person who can help Labour recruit a million members is – yes – Jeremy. It’s a plan for change, it’s not a very good one as we shall see, but at least it’s a plan.
The problem with the plan is that it’s essentially a left wing version of what’s been tried and failed before. This time it is the mobilization of the masses, or at least some of them, in support of a purer PLP that will ensure change happens, largely from above. And to be fair, the Corbynites are interested in some social movements – but they tend to be the clunkier and more instrumental end of the spectrum – campaigns that get people onto the streets to get better legislation – not social movements that of themselves play a key and leading role in the transformation of society i.e., movements in support of left wing politicians with the right answers. Think Stop the War not Transition Towns. It’s the parliamentary road plus a bit of extra–parliamentary activity.
And while I have much sympathy for Jeremy, under constant attack from the media and his own backbenches, and hopelessly unprepared for the job of leader in anything but the carrier of hope (as vital as that is), at some stage you have to break out and offer the possibility of combining power with principle. But there is no sign of either a policy or electoral strategy, no moves to democratise the party and no attempt to build European or global networks for new politics by linking up to the likes of Podemos or the Alternative in Denmark. But there is little point recounting what’s gone wrong in the hope that somehow it will get better. In my now long experience of them, leaders come to office pretty fully formed and Jeremy is more fully formed than most. He will probably win this election, but he will probably not change that much.
Owen wants to take the party back. Jeremy doesn’t know how to take it forward. The party is stuck. Is there a way out? Only if the party can find a way to tap into the zeitgeist of the 21st century and help direct the energy, imagination and creativity of a nation that feels the hope and fear, the anxiety and the autonomy of the moment. It is a zeitgeist formed by institutions that are less and less hierarchical and top down, like they were in 1945, and more and more horizontal and bottom up – and therefore, because they are flatter, more amenable to an ethos that is egalitarian and democratic. Everyone can participate and be part of the transformation – but only if we get the politics right.
So the leap for Labour is cultural more than it is organizational or policy based. The leap is to be relieved from the impossible burden of believing that everything rests on Labour’s shoulders – that only one leader and one party can have all the answers and do everything for everyone. The leap is to be free of the myth that we can command and control our way out of inequality. The leap is from a world of the singular, the centre and the binary to the reality of a world of wonderful and rich complexity that can only be governed by equal complexity, a world in which the future will be negotiated not imposed. The small but telling litmus test to this new politics is this – do you see Caroline Lucas the Green MP as an ally to work with or as enemy to be defeated? Your answer is a clue as to whether Labour is to have a future, or not.
That is why the |
every other week.
“We played in the old city auditorium, the old barn, we called it,” Little said. “They had everything there, the circus, the ice shows, wrestling …We had to put up with a lot of Saturday morning rehearsals when they were taking the wrestling rink down from the night before and throwing beer bottles around.”
Little was married to the ASO’s principal flutist, Warren Little, for 41 years.
“He was this big six-foot-2 tall guy, who played a little flute, and he could carry my bass for me,” she said.
Before the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra was a full-time orchestra, Little traveled across Georgia and its neighboring states to play with additional ensembles to make ends meet.
“The symphony was only 22 weeks out of the year when Sopkin was conducting, so what do you do the other 30 weeks?,” she said. “You go out and beat the bushes.”
Little played with various operas and orchestras in Atlanta; Macon; Columbus; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Augusta; Rome and Savannah. Little also said she had invested in some real estate, just in case the music wasn’t enough.
A permanent home
Little never wanted to leave the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
“From the time I got in, it was always getting better and better,” she said. “I mean when something is in your hometown and everything going up … I’d say we had the perfect situation.”
But when Robert Shaw took over the orchestra in 1967, he re-auditioned all of the members.
“My appointment with him was the day after Christmas, so I told my family, listen, Christmas is going to be on hold this year,” she said.
Little received an official contract and was appointed co-principal under Shaw.
With the orchestra, Little has accompanied some of the great soloists of the 20th and 21st centuries. One standout memory was when famed pianist Arthur Rubinstein was in town to perform a concert.
“He was getting ready to play and all of a sudden, the piano started sliding toward the front of the stage,” said Little. “And everyone was terrified … If that piano had fallen off the stage, it would have taken out a lot of people.”
One of the lights at the front of the stage stopped the piano, and the concert resumed.
An injury set her back from the season opener in September 2015, but when the assistant principal bass emeritus returns for this weekend’s concerts at Symphony Hall, she will begin her 71st season.
“It seems like 100 years,” Little said with a laugh. “It’s hard to remember when I didn’t play in the symphony.”After a devastating fire almost two years ago, a famous restaurant is making its return very soon. The owner of M’s Pub tells 6 News she met with her contractor, and she's certain the restaurant will be open by the end of this month.
“So many people are excited. It just makes my heart glow,” Mellen said. “Every day I come I come in, there's something new, and it's always pretty. The marble, the brass, the mirrors, it's fantastic.”
Ann says she’s looking forward to the big surprise unveiling to the public.
As of today, the front door now has its brass handles, making M's Pub General Manager Marta Keller feel right at home.
“It almost seemed like I was coming to work for the first time in a couple years,” said Keller.
Keller says customers can expect more seating. The patio will be four tables bigger, and new patio heaters will make for a longer patio season.
Keller has been here since 1999. She can't wait for the people to be back.
“They did a great job of creating what was already inside,” Keller added.
Now, just weeks away from re-opening, M's Pub is excited for a happy reunion.
“We were a big family before, and now we're all getting back together,” Mellen said. “It's wonderful.”
M’s Pub has been known for decades as being a downtown restaurant with good food and good service. Bobby Mekiney is back as M’s Executive Chef. He’s says most of all the favorites will be back.
“They're there,” Mekiney said. “For the most part, they're all there.”
Mekiney spent 12 years here before moving to Iowa a couple of years ago. Now, he’s excited as ever for his homecoming.
The kitchen is just one area of the M's Pub that got major attention during re-construction.
They added on into what used to be parking on the side of the building. With a new additional space, Mekiney says this place will have something for everybody.
“There's not really like a type of person. It's not fine dining. It's not-not fine dining. You can get dressed up. You don't have to get dressed up. That's the best thing about M's,” he said.
Ann Mellen says they'll be moving the furniture in for sure next week. The new M’s menu has been posted online. As for reservations, staff is waiting for a specific opening date before they starting taking names.Soldier's Sets
>Davidson Asskicker (NOTE: This loadout suits Multiple Classes)
You dont wanna joke around with this guy..
Cosmetics :
Merc's Mohawk
Macho Mann (-Not Mandatory- Painted Australium gold)
All-father (Style: Thunderstruck, Painted Radigan Conagher Brown)
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>Unknown Exorcist/Slender Man..?
Suspecious and creepy..but yet he can get those ghosts out of your mansion!
Cosmetics :
Executioner (Painted An extraordinary abundance of tinge)
Hero's Hachimaki (Painted An extraordinary abundance of tinge)
Bruiser's Bandanna (Painted An extraordinary abundance of tinge)
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>Bill
Our wise coach from the L4d universe.. rest in peace Bill
Cosmetics :
Bill's Hat (Painted Zephaniah greed)
Mistaken Movember (Painted Aged moustache grey)
Soldier's Stogie
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>Doofus Soldier
MY EYES! (This loadout goes well with either Pyrovision Goggles or Marxman)
Cosmetics :
Battle Bob (Style: without helmet, Painted The bitter taste of defeat and lime)
Pyrovision Goggles OR Marxman (Painted The bitter taste of defeat and lime)
All-father (Painted The bitter taste of defeat and lime)
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>True Spartan
There's no manlier Spartan than him!
Cosmetics :
Defiant Spartan
Hornblower
Viking Braider
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>Teufort's Cowboy (NOTE: This loadout suites Multiple Classes)
The Good, the Bad and the Solly
Cosmetics :
Hat With No Name
Bruiser's Bandanna (Painted Radigan conagher brown)
Teufort Tooth Kicker
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>OverSmoker
This guy is literally smoking 3 Cigares at once
Cosmetics :
Marxman (Style: Yes, Cigar)
Cuban Bristle Crisis
Soldier's Stogie
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>Salty Boat Captain (Inspired by "Kristoff Kringle")
Dominator of the seas! actually 1 sea, and actually not a sea..it's just his backyard's pool..
Cosmetics :
Salty Dog (Painted After Eight)
Hornblower (Painted After Eight)
Mistaken Movember (Painted Peculiarly drab tincture)
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>Zombie Headcrab
"Please god save me..!"
Cosmetics :
Alien Swarm Parasite (Painted Muskelmannbraun)
Voodoo-Cursed Soldier Soul
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>Buzz Lightyear
"To Infinity! and beyond!"
Cosmetics :
Polar Pullover (Painted A Deep Commitment to Purple)
Coldfront Curbstompers (Painted The Bitter Taste of Defeat and Lime)
Patriot's Pouches (Painted The Bitter Taste of Defeat and Lime)
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>Ozzy Osbourne (Inspired by "Plastic Walnut")
"I'm a metal head baby! doing this masterpiece since the 80's"
Cosmetics :Secretary of State John Kerry took a swipe at another U.S. ally this week, this time pointing the finger at the United Kingdom for the Obama administration’s struggle to enforce the “red line” in Syria – a week after he slammed Israel's government over settlements.
At a final press conference in Washington, D.C. Thursday, Kerry tackled the claim that President Obama did not properly enforce his 2012 vow that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would cross a "red line." When Assad used sarin nerve gas in 2013, the administration didn't respond with military force.
Kerry disagreed with the narrative that Obama failed to enforce the red line, however, saying the president did intend to act -- but was steered off course after the British Parliament narrowly voted against bombing Syria in August 2013.
"The president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, did decide to use force. And he announced his decision publicly and said we’re going to act, we’re going to do what we need to do to respond to this blatant violation of international law and of warnings and of the red line he had chosen," he said.
"Now, we were marching towards that time when, lo and behold... before the Friday decision, Prime Minister David Cameron went to Parliament... and he sought a vote of approval for him to join in the action that we were going to engage in. And guess what? The Parliament voted no. They shot him down."
Kerry went on to say that Cameron’s decision to consult Parliament pushed Obama to consult Congress before engaging in airstrikes: "The president decided that he needed to go to Congress because of what had happened in Great Britain and because he needed the approval."
In the interim, Kerry said, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov reached out to him, and they cooperated on a deal to get rid of Assad’s chemical weapons.
“The president never said, ‘I won’t drop a bomb.’ What happened was people interpreted it,” Kerry said, acknowledging that "perception" hurt.
Obama had previously called the U.K. vote “a major factor” in why there was no attack against Assad’s regime, but Kerry's remarks went into more detail.
When asked for comment on Kerry’s remarks, a spokesman for the U.K. Foreign Office did not address the remarks directly, but defended Britain’s record in Syria and said it will “continue to use all of the diplomatic levers at our command to reduce the suffering of the Syrian people by using our voice in the UN Security Council and support efforts to secure a political settlement based on transition away from the Assad regime.”
“Ministers have repeatedly expressed their disappointment that Parliament did not vote in [favor] of using force against Assad in 2013,” the spokesman added.
But critics said the remarks were an attempt by Kerry to gloss over one of the weakest points of Obama’s foreign policy record.
“Kerry is clearly trying to deflect away from the fact that the Obama administration’s Syria policy has been a complete and utter disaster, and this is a rather pathetic attempt to try to blame the British for President Obama’s own failure and lack of judgment,” Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told FoxNews.com.
British media including The Guardian also picked up on Kerry's comments.
Kerry’s remarks come less than a week after the secretary of state upset both the British and Israeli governments by lambasting what he called Israel’s “settler agenda.”
Defending the decision of the U.S. not to veto a U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements, Kerry called the current government the "most right-wing" in Israel's history and claimed its agenda is "driven by the most extreme elements."
The speech sparked fury from the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the speech “skewed” and warning: “Israelis do not need to be lectured about the importance of peace by foreign leaders.”
A spokesman for U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May also said: “We do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally.”
Kerry’s claims about Syria aren’t the first time the administration has needled its British allies. In an interview with The Atlantic in April, Obama blamed Cameron for what he called “a sh-t show” in Libya, saying Cameron had become “distracted by a range of other things.”
Obama also ruffled feathers last year when he said if the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, it would be at the "back of the queue" for trade talks with America. Brits voted to leave anyway.
“[Kerry’s remarks are] a reflection of a broader disdain for Britain that runs through the Obama presidency,” Gardiner said. “Without a doubt the Obama administration has not treated Britain with the kind of respect America’s closest friend and ally deserves to be treated.”Although Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden still feels that NASA treated him unfairly 40 years ago, he says he's now "back on par" with the space agency on this anniversary of his journey to the moon in July 1971.
Many have forgotten the so-called "covers" incident, which prompted many Americans to question the Apollo astronauts’ almost god-like status as national heroes.
"What has happened to the astronauts?" asked a New York Times headline at the time.
Worden, now 79, and his Apollo 15 crewmates David Scott and James Irwin suffered stinging NASA reprimands for bringing with them into space about 400 unauthorized postage-stamped envelopes (called first-day covers) with the intention of selling them later as souvenirs.
"It wasn't as bad as people thought. We didn't violate any regulations, we broke no rules," Worden said Tuesday from his home in Vero Beach, Florida.
An investigation into the incident revealed that previous Apollo astronauts had carried unauthorized memorabilia on board. But Worden and his fellow crew members bore the brunt of the backlash.
NASA "was very quick to throw us under the bus," said Worden. "They made an example of us."
Worden, an Air Force colonel, was dropped from the astronaut corps and reassigned to a NASA desk job - never to fly in space again. NASA's astronaut manager, Deke Slayton, called Worden on the phone to deliver the bad news.
"'The Air Force wants you back, that’s the good news,” Worden remembers Slayton telling him. “'The bad news is, you've got to be out of your office by next Monday.'"
NASA initially refused to return the envelopes to the astronauts, prompting Worden to sue the space agency. The case was settled out of court and the crew members got their envelopes back. "Once we had exposed the fact that they had violated our constitutional rights, then the game was all over at that point," he said. "They took our property and kept it without due process."
Worden and his colleagues changed their minds and chose not to accept thousands of dollars they had agreed to be paid for the souvenirs from a West German stamp dealer. But Worden did sell some of the envelopes years later, he said, to pay for campaign debts he incurred when he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in the '80s.
"There probably are some things I would have done differently," Worden said Tuesday. "I probably wouldn't have been so naive when this whole thing was offered to us."
He said he and the other crew members were told that every Apollo crew had done the same thing.
"As a matter of fact, if you go on auction sites you'll see covers that were carried on Apollo 11 and all the other flights, and nobody ever made a fuss about them."
"I think everybody's forgotten about it... and I'm sort of back on par with everybody." Lately Worden has been active at NASA functions and with the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which funds college educations for science and technology students.
The "covers" controversy overshadowed Apollo 15’s successful and historic moon mission, which accomplished several firsts, including the first lunar rover vehicle and the first walk in deep space. Worden, who took that walk, remembers what it was like being suspended in space a record-setting 196,000 miles from Earth.
"The real difference is the view,” he said. “You can see both the Earth and the moon, which is a pretty unique position."
The crew overcame its share of mission glitches, including a loose umbilical plug between the lunar module and the command module, a water leak inside the astronaut cabin, and a failed parachute during re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.
Worden describes more about going to the moon and his fascinating career in his newly published autobiography, "Falling to Earth."Since the discovery of the mysteriously warm ‘tiger stripe’ crevasses and the remarkable geyser-like plumes of water vapor erupting from Enceladus’s southern regions, this icy moon has gone from an afterthought to a prime target for astrobiology.
During the years of the Cassini mission’s avatar-like presence in the Saturnian system we’ve seen increasingly convincing evidence that Enceladus is a lot more than just a brightly reflective ball of ice. To summarize all of this in simple terms: the moon has a large internal ocean of liquid, salty water.
That water jets out in visible plumes a few hundred miles high through a system of cracks and (we presume) deep plumbing through an icy crust that is probably anywhere from 10 km to 40 km in average thickness. In fact, so much effluvia jets out from Enceladus that it generates Saturn’s vast E-ring – encircling the giant planet at a roughly 200,000 km orbital radius.
Using instruments never designed for precisely this kind of challenge, Cassini has already demonstrated that the water is roughly as salty as Earth’s oceans and also contains silicate nanoparticles. Together these data are strongly suggestive of water that has been in contact with the hot rocks and minerals of some kind of deep-ocean hydrothermal system. It's precisely the kind of environment that we find along the mid-ocean ridges of Earth’s own waters. And precisely the kind of environment that can support, and possibly even generate, living things.
Now, Waite et al. have published findings in the journal Science that provide evidence of something else in the Enceladus plumes; molecular hydrogen. With some skillful and methodical analysis of Cassini’s mass spectrometer data during its most recent Enceladus flyby (with a closest approach of some 49 kilometers), the researchers make a convincing case that molecular hydrogen is being detected that had its origins deep inside the moon.
Specifically, on Earth, as water reacts with rocks containing reduced iron-bearing minerals in hydrothermal systems it produces molecular hydrogen. That simple molecule is terrific food for microorganisms when it floats around in a soup of oxidants – as it does in these systems. A particularly robust example is the metabolic process we call methanogenesis. Hungry microbes react molecular hydrogen with carbon dioxide to generate methane – and extract the biochemical energy they require. As metabolic processes go, this is a big one, and one that has an ancient genetic lineage here on Earth.
But are conditions actually suitable for methanogenic life deep inside Enceladus? Waite et al. argue that they could easily be. In particular, what we know about the likely alkalinity of the Enceladus ocean (around pH 9-11) together with the newly observed mixing ratio of molecular hydrogen to water (about 0.01 in the plumes), points to an environment that would easily span the chemical sweet spot for methanogenesis to be a favorable life-strategy.
It’s not evidence of life in Enceladus, but it’s awfully tempting to imagine what’s going on in that dark abyss. We have actually already seen methane in the plumes, but we don’t know if any is biologically produced – to determine that will require new instruments and a new mission.
What is truly intriguing is what this implies for our search for life across the solar system. Stepping back for a moment, imagine that we’d come across Enceladus and its ocean before we’d really studied Mars in any detail. If that had been the case I’m not sure that we’d have been so interested in the red planet and it’s cold, arid landscape. Mars's best days may be behind it. Now it's a place of what may have once been.
Of course, Mars is still somewhat easier to explore in engineering terms, and it may well harbor subsurface life even today. But Enceladus? Enceladus is like the ripe fruit on the tree, while we keep grasping at the dried-out cores on the ground.A Black-and-white Warbler visits our Toronto backyard
My husband, Bob, while in the process of putting bird food into the feeders, happened to notice a new visitor to our backyard…a Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotilta varia), a type of Wood Warbler.
With camera in hand, I had a hard time locating the little bird on the trunk of our neighbour’s spruce tree as it was foraging for insects in behind some short sprouts of new growth.
The warbler moved quite quickly from one location to another, searching for tidbits in our birch trees, amongst the branches of our apple trees, and in crevices of our fence. It behaved, for all the world, like a nuthatch in its movements and foraging efforts, creeping up and down the tree trunks, hence its old name, Black-and-white Creeper.
No other warblers creep along tree trunks and branches in search of food, but the distinctive white stripe down the middle of the black crown is a definitive way of distinguishing this bird from other black-and-white warblers such as the Black-throated Grey and Blackpoll.
As the warbler crept round the base of the birch tree, it afforded an excellent view of the delicate colouring on the underside of the tail and abdomen. It certainly aids its camouflage on the black and white bark of the tree.
The Black-and-white Warbler seemed to recognize an old chair in my garden as the piece of garden art that it is given the network of cobwebs glistening in the sun. Perhaps it snatched up some insect before it became ensnared in the sticky web.
I believe this Black-and-white Warbler is an adult female given that the white sides show signs of buff-coloured feathers. A male would be more boldly striped above and below, except for the plain white belly.
The Black-and-white Warbler is the only member of the genus Mniotilta, which means “moss plucking”. On each of their feet, these warblers have an unusually long hind toe and claw that enables them to move securely on the surface of tree bark.
We were graced with the presence of this small warbler in our garden for close to a half hour, and it didn’t seem at all to mind the hubbub of activity going on in neighbouring yards. I’m sure from Toronto, it will be making its way south, but I wonder just how far it will have to travel. Black-and-white Warblers winter anywhere between northern Mexico to as far south as Northern Venezuela and Colombia. Travel safe little one!
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Frame To Frame – Bob and Jean
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PrintLONDON (AP) — Authorities in Britain, Belgium and Bulgaria arrested some 25 people early Thursday in overnight raids targeting smugglers who allegedly helped people immigrate illegally.
The U.K. Home Office said the operation involved suspects who allegedly transported migrants, most of them from Syria and Afghanistan, into Britain mainly from eastern Europe.
Investigators arrested 11 people in Britain on suspicion of assisting illegal immigration. Eight more were arrested in Belgium and seven in Bulgaria.
The migrants were often concealed in adapted vehicles. Belgian police said 110 smuggling vehicles were identified and nearly half intercepted. They said the investigation involved about 1,100 migrants.
“People smuggling is a cruel and dangerous trade in which often vulnerable individuals are treated as commodities,” Steve Dann, who directs the British agency that investigates immigration offenses tied to financial gain, said. “Many are passed into the hands of other crime gangs who would seek to exploit them for modern slavery purposes.”
Several other countries, including the Netherlands, France, Greece, Serbia and Germany, were involved in the probe that began in February.
Human trafficking gangs are solely motivated by profit, Chris Hogben of the National Crime Association said.
“We see this through migrants being sent across the channel in unseaworthy small boats or stuffed into the back of cramped lorries, vans and cars,” Hogben said. “This operation is a good example of how we can bring together law enforcement from across Europe to work together to take on that threat and disrupt the organized networks involved in people smuggling.”The twin brothers who sued Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole the concept for Facebook are now billionaires after investing their lawsuit settlement in bitcoin. The cryptocurrency surpassed a record high of $11,700 on Sunday.
According to the Telegraph, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss bought 1 percent of all currently mined bitcoin for a price of $11 million in 2013. Since then, the $11 million crypto-bet has ballooned by almost 10,000 percent, making the twins the first bitcoin billionaires.
Read more
The brothers first gained notoriety in 2006 after launching legal proceedings against Mark Zuckerberg, claiming the Facebook founder was a phony who stole their idea for the now-ubiquitous social media platform. In 2009, the Winklevoss twins received a settlement from Facebook valued at more than $65 million.
The twins used part of their settlement money to invest heavily in bitcoin. In October 2015, the brothers launched Gemini, a bitcoin exchange described by the Financial Times as “one of the first regulated and licensed digital currency exchanges in the developed world.”
“We wanted to build an exchange that was similar to Nasdaq or NYSE for digital currency,” Tyler told the FT in an interview. “We wanted something that both Wall Street and Main Street felt comfortable with.”
The twins describe bitcoin as “better than gold.” The cryptocurrency, which was introduced in 2009 as an alternative to government-controlled fiat, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in value over the last year.
Now up more than 12-fold for the year, one bitcoin was selling at below $1,000 on January 1. It remains to be seen whether Mark Zuckerberg will claim credit for the twins’ wise investment.Most city maps are insufferably hard to read. Street names are never big enough, map keys are too complicated, and neighborhoods are rarely delineated; you could wander into the heart of West Oakland and never know it, if not for the symphony of Glocks going off around the corner.
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A clutch of city maps by the Hewitt, Texas-based cartography firm Axis Maps offers a clever solution. The maps use typography as the sole visual clue. So everything from streets and highways to parks and waterways are labeled with text. The bigger the thoroughfare or the landmark, the bigger the words. So far they have maps of Chicago and Boston; New York, SF, and DC are coming up. Chicago’s shown here: It’s a thoroughly intuitive way to visualize cities. People navigate a new place according to names, not symbols and grids. Neighborhoods get called out, too:
The maps are produced by hand. Per the designers? blog: “There was nothing automated about making these maps, unless you count copying and pasting. Everything was laid out manually, from tracing streets over an OpenStreetMap image, to nudging curved water text, to selectively erasing text to create a woven street pattern.” The maps are sold as poster prints for $30, but — as pretty as they’d look on a wall — we reckon they have broader commercial appeal. Think how useful they could be for tourists as fold-out maps or even smart-phone apps. [Via Infosthetics; Images courtesy of Axis Maps]Also Available: Middle-earth: Shadow of War Here!
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- Photo ModeGrowing up poor in modern Australia: this week Four Corners asks children what it's like being poor in the midst of plenty.
We hear from the adult world all the time about what poverty is and how to fix it, but rarely from the children who experience it. Nobody likes to admit they're poor but children from five families allowed Four Corners into their lives to show us the world from their point of view:
"My parents get paid on Friday right, so during the week they probably have money. Wednesday, Thursday or sometimes Tuesday, you know, what are we supposed to eat?"
At 12, Jessica has a bleak view of her future:
"A good job, like where you get like heaps of money. I'd be like a decent mum, like a husband with no violence and everything, so it could be a happy family, you know, but like that would never happen..."
These are children living in areas of concentrated disadvantage where the adult world can be a scary place:
Hayden: "...my dad, he got bashed, he got sliced with a knife."
Some remain optimistic despite the chaos around them:
Dale: "Anything is possible when you put all your heart into it. Just try your best. I've been saying that a lot haven't I?"
The question arises, why isn't more being done to break the cycle of disadvantage? Will this generation of Australia's children be given more to hope for than their parents?
"Growing Up Poor" - reported by Sarah Ferguson and presented by Kerry O'Brien goes to air on Monday 24th September at 8.30 pm on ABC 1. It is replayed on Tuesday 25th September at 11.35 pm. It can also be seen on ABC News24 at 8.00 pm on Saturdays, on ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners.
Transcript
"GROWING UP POOR" MONDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2012
(Footage of Brooke Corbey from 'Growing Up Poor' plays)
KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: In a nation of plenty poverty has many faces. Brooke Corbey is one of them.
Welcome to Four Corners.
I want to start tonight with some statistics, real ones, each one a person. According to the latest figures, 2.2 million Australian live below the poverty line. More than 600,000 children under 15 live in households where no-one has a job.
So what do we draw from that? I guess, that in one of the wealthiest countries on the face of the earth, with an economy that's largely flying high and unemployment quite low, we still can't crack Australia's significant cycle of poverty.
Over decades we've heard a great deal from politicians and policy makers about what needs to be done. Bob Hawke once actually promised to end child poverty. The people we've heard from least are the innocent voices of poverty, the children.
And for tonight Four Corners has chosen to hear those voices, in words that will wrench your heart, from an outer Sydney community called Claymore that was established 30 years ago. Children who have had no say in the misfortune that is shaping their destinies. They echo a picture that can be found in similar neighbourhoods across Australia.
They describe their lives to Sarah Ferguson.
(Footage of Claymore is shown)
SARAH FERGUSON, REPORTER: As social experiments go, Claymore was a disaster.
In the late 1970s the New South Wales government built this public housing estate on the city's south-western fringe, and filled it with more than 3,000 people from Sydney's poorest families.
The planners had created a welfare ghetto.
Today it's one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in Australia; it also has the highest proportion of young children anywhere in the country.
(Footage of children playing and a school plays)
In less than 1.5 kilometres, there are 1,500 children.
VICKY: There's heaps of fights in Claymore.
SARAH FERGUSON: Why are there so many?
VICKY: Because it's Claymore. This is Claymore.
HAYDEN: Usually the only time cameras come down here is when something bad happens.
SARAH FERGUSON: We came to Claymore to ask the children here about their lives.
JADA: Why is the helicopters surrounding all of Claymore. Is it a police helicopter?
JACOB: People don't want to move in here because they know what kind of people live around here and everything.
CONNOR: We're moving out of here.
SARAH FERGUSON: And what kind, well what kind of people do live around here?
JACOB: Junkies! And they think they're all tough and they yell at ya.
SARAH FERGUSON: And to ask them how they see the adult world?
ALANAH: She wasn't a mother to me or anyone else so I don't think she has a role of being my mother.
DALE: He's broken my heart a bit too many times. Like when I was like really, really young. When you make promises to someone that's really, really young it's hard for them to forget it. And when you break that promise it's kind of like imprinted into their brain forever.
SARAH FERGUSON: Five families allowed us into their lives: this is their story.
(Footage of Jessica Burns painting her nails in the kitchen plays)
JESSICA: You can watch me do this if you want? There we go.
SARAH FERGUSON: Twelve-year-old Jessica Burns has spent the afternoon doing her nails.
JESSICA: I didn't go to school today.
And I didn't go to school yesterday because I hurt my hand.
SARAH FERGUSON: Today Jessica had lost her school bag.
JESSICA: I wasn't going to go to school without my bag, and without books and a pen because I was just going to get in trouble for that.
SARAH FERGUSON: The Burns family have lived in public housing in Claymore for 13 years.
(Footage of the Burns family in their kitchen plays)
HAYDEN: Mum, you (inaudible) are going to be in a movie.
SARAH FERGUSON: Jessica has an older brother and a little sister.
(Jessica goes out into the backyard)
JESSICA: Hayley! Move!
SARAH FERGUSON: Neither of her parents work. Like many families in Claymore their income comes from Centrelink.
(Footage of the Burns family in their backyard)
JESSICA (falling off fence rail): Whoa! Whoa!
SARAH FERGUSON: Caroline Burns sometimes struggles to make ends meet.
(Caroline Burns hanging out washing)
CAROLINE: You know sometimes we have to go the second hand shops but - and I'm not fond of second hand shoes, but you can go to the new section. So and they've got some nice stuff there and it doesn't it doesn't bother me really.
JESSICA: She does have enough money sometimes, but just like, 'cause her pay day's on Friday and if something is in the week and it's like too much money for example, I don't know, like $100 or some s**t, I don't say anything, I don't bother.
SARAH FERGUSON: Sometimes Jessica misses out.
JESSICA: It was a'scursion and I really wanted to go. And then, I was going to ask, but I didn't. Because I thought like maybe they needed the money for something else.
CAROLINE: I hate having to say no. I really hate having to say no.
SARAH FERGUSON: Jessica's brother Hayden is 14. He's having his own troubles at school.
HAYDEN: Heaps, bullying, heaps.
SARAH FERGUSON: Why?
HAYDEN: Well, you know, just the way I look, the way I dress. It's the way I am, who I am. Sometimes I just wanna go up to 'em you know, whack. But I can't, you know, I wish I could.
(Footage of Brett Burns in the garage)
SARAH FERGUSON: There's tension in the family too. The children's father, Brett |
chance of an earthquake will still need to carry out strengthening within 15 years.
Those in the medium category would have 25 years to fix things and those with a low risk would be given 35 years.
Dr Smith said, in drafting the law, the Government used the best available data.
"We don't know whether there won't be a Christchurch-size earthquake in our lifetime. More likely it won't. On the other hand, it could come next week - this is very much a probability and risk management exercise."
The number of buildings requiring assessment has been reduced from 500,000 to 30,000 - and Dr Smith said the law would almost halve the estimated cost of fixing buildings from $1.36 billion to $777 million.
"We don't want to be too soft because that will put future New Zealanders lives at risk, on the other hand if we go too hard for the 1.7 million buildings that New Zealand has the cost for farmers, for apartment owners, for local authorities is enormous."The real estate mogul said he didn't expect the business backlash "to be quite this severe."
Donald Trump is aware that his attempt to seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination is hurting his business interests.
Since the real estate mogul announced his candidacy on June 16 during a speech in which he called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and drug dealers importing crime into the U.S., Univision, NBC and Macy's have all ended their business relationships with him.
Calling in to Fox News' Fox and Friends on Saturday, Trump conceded his campaign is hurting his "brand."
"This isn't good for my brand; I think it's bad for my brand," Trump said in response to critics who've said he's only running for president to bolster his image. "Maybe I'm leading in polls, but this is certainly not good. I lose customers; I lose people. I had one of the top shows on television, The Apprentice, and I decided not to do it because I wanted to do this. I mean who gives up a top, top show. Plus I gave up hundreds of millions of dollars from deals where I'm doing this and then you hear about a NASCAR and you hear about an NBC and you hear about different people that dropped Trump because Trump wants safety in the United States. If you think of it, what am I doing? I say let's make our country safe and people are offended. It's incredible."
NASCAR became one of the latest organizations to distance itself from Trump on Friday, announcing that it would not hold its season-ending awards ceremony at Trump National Doral Miami.
Trump said he was surprised by NASCAR's decision.
"I'm really surprised at NASCAR because I have so many fans in NASCAR," Trump said. "I love the NASCAR people and I'm a little surprised at NASCAR to be honest with you."
He added that although he expected there to be business consequences for his campaign since he heard for years that successful people shouldn't run for office, "I didn't know it was going to be quite this severe."
Watch Trump's full interview below.Starbound - Direction in a Sandbox Game
When I first came across Starbound, I was excited to see how the game would build on Terraria’s design to create a unique experience. Where I had originally found Terraria to be difficult to get into, I had hoped that by adding new mechanics and systems to the formula would engage me in a way that Terraria couldn’t.
You see, my problem with Terraria and other sandbox games such as Minecraft is the lack of a sufficient tutorial to introduce players to all the mechanics to the game. The only resource of information in Terraria is the Guide, which gives you random tips and hints about the game. To some people, searching out information online about these games is part if the fun, which I can agree with to a certain extent, but that is no excuse to not properly introduce players.
However, a proper tutorial for a sandbox game is difficult to make, and in some cases, can go against the core design values of a creating a sandbox. In a game about personal creation and making your own personal goals, it’s hard to give the player goals with the purpose of teaching the games mechanics without silently communicating to the player that there is a “correct” way to do something. The point of a sandbox game is that there is no correct way to do anything.
When I saw Starbound’s new mechanics, I was excited because the new systems I saw seemed like they needed to be explained. I was excited to see how the game would handle its tutorial, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Starbound’s quest system handles it masterfully. These quests don’t just have the player interacting with the mechanics of the game, but they also progress the story of the game.
By having a story in the game and by having the player interact with it using the quest system, the quests can serve a dual purpose; to teach, and to offer a different experience to the player. This helps Starbound to avoid the trap of giving the player goals where they should be creating their own, as the quests progress a different aspect of the game entirely, leaving the player free to still create and pursue their own sandbox type goals.
The quests are also designed to have a lot of space between them. What I mean by space is that it takes a lot of work to accomplish some of the game’s goals, allowing for direction for what the player should do next while still allowing the player to find their own path to that goal, avoiding the problem of inadvertently teaching the player a “correct way” to accomplish a goal.
Because of Starbound’s quest system, I ended up getting invested in the game more than I ever expected to, because through the games goals, I was encouraged to make my own, and when I finally got back around to finishing one the game’s goals, I was making my own goals all over again. Starbound sets the standard for what sandbox games should do to encourage players to get the most of a game where the player almost makes the game as much the developers do.Two F-22 Raptor pilots have said publicly that not only are they afraid to fly the most expensive fighter jets in American history, but the military has attempted to silence them and other F-22 pilots by threatening their careers.
"There have been squadrons that have stood down over concerns. And there's been threat of reprisals," F-22 pilot Josh Wilson told CBS News' "60 Minutes" Sunday. "There's been threat of flying evaluation boards clipping our wings and doing ground jobs. And... in my case, potentially getting booted out of the Air Force.
"So right now there's an example being set of, 'Hey, if you speak up about safety, you're going to be out of the organization,'" Wilson said.
Despite the Air Force's glowing descriptions of the next-generation jet as America's future of air dominance, as an ABC News "Nightline" investigation broadcast last week found, unknown problems with the plane's oxygen system have already contributed to the death of one pilot, the near-death of another and mid-air scares for dozens more.
READ Exclusive: Family Demands Truth in Air Force F-22 Pilot's Death
Wilson and fellow F-22 pilot Jeremy Gordon, both veteran fighter pilots for the Virginia Air National Guard who came forward under whistleblower protection from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R.-Ill.), have asked not to fly the F-22 anymore, according to CBS News, citing their concerns with the oxygen problem.
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Gordon said that two weeks after he requested not to fly the jet, he was called before a board of officers.
"I was asked to make a decision that day whether I wanted to fly or find another line of work," he said.
Several current and former F-22 pilots contacted by ABC News for its investigation either did not respond or quickly declined to comment on the plane and two relatives of flyers told ABC News that the pilots had been instructed not to speak to the media on penalty of potentially losing their post with the F-22 -- a coveted position despite the safety concerns. One pilot, when initially contacted by ABC News for comment, agreed to speak on the record but only after he checked with the Air Force public affairs office. Since then, the pilot has not responded to any of ABC News' attempts to communicate.
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Air Force spokesperson John Dorrian told ABC News he has no information about any pilots being explicitly told not to speak to the media about the Raptor and noted that several F-22 pilots have been made available to the press at Air Force events. Dorrian did say that if a member of the Air Force wishes to speak with the media as a representative of the Air Force, that engagement is conducted through the Air Force public affairs office, but whistleblowers are still protected.
"Corporately, the Air Force position is the Air Force is not going to tolerate any reprisal actions against whistleblowers," Dorrian said.
Since Wilson and Gordon are assigned to the Virginia Air National Guard, Dorrian said he did not have specific information on their case. Officials at the Virginia Air National Guard did not immediately return requests for comment for this report.
Top officials at the Air Force and Lockheed Martin refused to take part in one-on-one interviews with ABC News for its broadcast report, but the Air Force provided a statement last week in which it says the service is committed to "unparalleled dedication to flight safety."
"Flying America's premier fighter aircraft always entails risk but the Air Force has, and always will, take every measure to ensure the safety of our aircrews while delivering air superiority for the nation," the statement said. The Air Force has also stressed that reports of "hypoxia-like symptoms" are exceedingly rare -- more than two dozen compared to the thousands of flights flown without incident.
READ: Air Force's Full Statement in Response to ABC News Investigation
Last week the Air Force officially received the last F-22 Raptor from defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, completing an order of 187 planes that cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $79 billion -- meaning that including research, development and production among other costs, each plane has a price tag of more than $420 million. Despite being the most advanced fighters on the planet, none of the planes have been used on a combat mission since they went combat-ready in late 2005. Critics told ABC News that's because the jet was designed to fight rival, sophisticated fighters – an enemy that doesn't exist right now.by
Enter for the chance to win one of 3 copies of Silent City by G R Matthews.
Book 3 - Three Times The Trouble is to be released soon. The perfect time t
Enter for the chance to win one of 3 copies of Silent City by G R Matthews.
Book 3 - Three Times The Trouble is to be released soon. The perfect time to get started on the story!
In the Corporation owned cities life is tough. All Hayes wants is money and a bar to spend it in. He is about to learn that some jobs in the abyss can be killers. For a man who has lost everything, is life even worth fighting for?
"(A) book that isn't short on action or imagination and the setting is an interesting change of pace, so check it out!" - Mark Lawrence (Author of Prince of Thorns, Prince of Fools)
"Entertaining and exciting: Silent City is the start of a series I'll certainly be following with interest." - Laura M Hughes (Author of Danse Macabre)
"Damn good fun, intriguing as hell, different and exciting, I devoured this book." - Dyrk Ashton (Author of Paternus)This is the prehistoric predator that swam in the waters off Scotland 170 MILLION years ago.
The giant predator - named the Storr Lochs monster - has finally been unveiled by scientists after the fossilised skeleton of the dolphin-like animal was found on the Isle of Skye in 1966.
It had been preserved in National Museums Scotland’s storage facility for 50 years but a partnership between the museum, the University of Edinburgh and energy company SSE has now enabled the fossil to be extracted from the rock, creating a clearer picture of what the dinosaur looked like.
Experts say the fossil is from the ichthyosaurs group and the reptile would have been around four metres in length with a pointed head and hundreds of cone-shaped teeth used to feed on fish and squid.
It is said to be the most complete skeleton of a sea-living reptile from the dinosaurs age that has ever been found in Scotland.
Palaeontologists hope it will help to reveal how ichthyosaurs evolved during the middle Jurassic period.
Roaming ground: The animal roamed the Storr Lochs millions of years ago (Geograph)
Dr Steve Brusatte, from the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, said: “Ichthyosaurs like the Storr Lochs monster ruled the waves while dinosaurs thundered across the land.
"Their bones are exceptionally rare in Scotland, which makes this specimen one of the crown jewels of Scottish fossils.
"It’s all thanks to the keen eye of an amateur collector that this remarkable fossil was ever found in the first place, which goes to show that you don’t need an advanced degree to make huge scientific discoveries.”
The fossil was discovered on a beach near the SSE Storrs Loch power station by the facility’s manager Norrie Gillies, who died in 2011 aged 93.
Once analysis of the fossil is complete, it will go on display at a number of locations, including SSE’s new visitor centre at the Pitlochry dam.
Skye is one of the few places in the world where fossils from the middle Jurassic period can be found and it has been referred to as "Scotland’s dinosaur island”.
Top pic: PAFor an updated 'Grade A' mock from Mel Kiper, click here.
Mel has been doing this so-called "Grade: A" Mock Draft for a few years, so it was only a matter of time before I got roped in. The concept is simple: I play general manager for every team. This isn't me projecting picks; this is me making them, for three full rounds, based on what's best for each team at that slot.
Please read the ground rules:
1. At each slot, I make a pick in the best interest of only the team with the pick. I won't pass on a player at No. 4 just because I like the team better at No. 5.
2. No trades unless they're already done. I try to address team needs, but like the draft, value can supersede need.
3. Again: I'm not projecting. It's more a look at where I see value up and down the board.
There's a team-by-team look below, as well as a pick-by-pick version so you can see how the order of the picks progressed and get an idea of who was off the board when each team selected.
Picks in order, Rounds 1-3
Round 1 (1): Laremy Tunsil, OT, Mississippi
Round 2 (33): Eli Apple, CB, Ohio State
Round 3 (64): Christian Westerman, G, Arizona State
Analysis: When you draft a player like Marcus Mariota with the No. 2 pick last year, you need to do everything in your power to give him help as he develops. To that end, Tunsil would provide the second-year QB with a building-block left tackle who thrives in pass protection. Tunsil and Westerman also would help jump-start the Titans' new-look running game with DeMarco Murray at the helm. Apple's length and range in coverage would be an asset to a defense that finished 29th overall in yards per pass attempt in 2015 (7.87).Forest wildfires rampaging across Russia are being significantly under-reported by authorities, according to analysis of satellite data.
Climate change is making wildfires much more likely in Russia, but regional officials have been reluctant to report the true extent of the problem, and campaigners are warning that the harm to forests, property and human lives could rise.
While the recent forest fires around Fort McMurray, Canada, destroyed more than 580,000 hectares, those in Russia have burned up to 3.5m hectares since the start of 2016, according to Greenpeace Russia. It said at least 1m hectares were in flames at the end of May in the country, which is home to the largest forests in the world.
Greenpeace warned that Russia’s catastrophic fire seasons of 2010 and 2012 could soon be repeated due to the impact of global warming and the lack of firefighting resources. The extreme Russian heatwave of 2010 was made three times more likely by climate change, costing the nation $15bn, and the frequency of forest fires there has increased 30-50% in the last 20-30 years.
But the official statistics paint a far rosier picture. The head of the federal forestry agency told state news agency RIA Novosti last week that only 669,000 hectares have been burned by forest fires in Russia this year, more than last year. That same day, the head of the emergencies ministry told president Vladimir Putin that the burned area was smaller this year.
The forestry agency bulletin for 10 June reported a mere 6,306 hectares of current fires across the entire country.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nasa satellites show wildfires burning in eastern Russia, with red hotspots marking areas of high temperatures. Photograph: Modis/Terra/Nasa
Greenpeace said that although its analysis of publicly available Russian and US satellite photographs could have a margin of error of 20% - clouds and smoke can obscure fires - this does not account for the large discrepancy with official figures.
Alexei Yaroshenko, head of the forestry programme at Greenpeace Russia, blamed chronic underreporting of the size of forest fires by local officials. That in turn leads to firefighting delays and the allocation of less state funding to tackle the problem in the future.
“The truth is needed so they’ll get ready for next season better than they did for this season,” said Yaroshenko.
Alexander Krylov, an expert in the remote sensing of forest fires at the University of Maryland in the US, said 3.5m hectares this year was likely to be accurate. Even the federal forestry agency’s online monitoring system reveals fires across far more territory than reported in its statistics, including large fires in the Kamchatka, Buryatia and Irkutsk regions.
Agency spokesman Svyatoslav Neklyayev said the figures it gives are lower because they include only fires outside “zones of control,” which are areas far from human settlements and infrastructure that regional governments designate as low priority for firefighting. Neither the bulletins or statements mention any such distinction.
The agency did not respond to requests for estimates of the total area burnt by forest fires in 2016.
The discrepancies appear to be part of a larger trend. WWF forestry expert Alexander Bryukhanov said under-reporting meant that the annual extent of forest fires in the US and Canada are regularly double that in Russia, which has twice as much forest. He said differences in monitoring approaches - some areas are observed from the ground, some from the air, and some from space - are compounded by officials’ fear of retribution if they report high forest fire statistics for their region.
“Regions choose the figure that’s comfortable, the smallest one, and this creates a problem, because they don’t do enough to fight the fires until they have grown very large and hard to deal with,” said Bryukhanov.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Local volunteer Andrey Polomoshnov suppresses grass fires in Zabaikalsky region, Siberia, Russia. Photograph: Maria Vasileva/Greenpeace
Regional governments and forestry authorities under-reported forest fire sizes in the Amur region in 2012, the Karelia region in 2013 and the Irkutsk region in 2014. Federal forestry agency deputy head Nikolai Krotov told Kommersant newspaper in May that it was concerned with discrepancies in forest fire reporting in the several regions. “We’re not ruling out that political factors can exist, subjective factors, when information is somehow presented in a different way externally,” he said.
Understating the extent of wildfires delays assistance from other regions and can even lead to human casualties. In April 2015, fires in Zabaikal destroyed villages just outside the regional capital of Chita, as captured in a viral video of cars escaping between erupting columns of flame.
Russia’s national investigative committee later said 11 people had been killed and more than 30 injured in the fires in the region. The natural resources ministry found regional dispatcher services had under-reported the size of the Zabaikal fires by 40,600 hectares.
In addition, forestry reforms in 2006 have led to less funding for fire fighting, Yaroshenko said, arguing that federal forestry funding is a tenth of what is needed. More than 17,000 people have signed Greenpeace’s online petition against the reforms.
The increase in fires also creates more smoke, which can blow into major cities like it did in 2010, causing respiratory illnesses and deaths.The most frequently made inquiries about smoothie making is obvious, “what are the best blenders for making smoothie?”
As the majority of the smoothie recipes includes blending up ingredients, for example, crude veggies oats, nuts and dates it is fundamental that we ought to have a better than average blender as we all like our smoothies SMOOTH.
So we come up with a list of the best from the lot. Some of these blenders aren’t the least expensive, yet they are the best. You unquestionably get what you pay for with blenders and although fast blenders are considerably more costly than the less expensive alternatives in this list, you will see the difference in terms of texture and in the quality of your smoothie. For more info here’s the best blenders for smoothies.
1. Vitamix 750 (professional series) blender
This is essentially the business standard for being the best blender ever. The one who possesses this blender will consider it as genuinely the best buy. You can utilize it numerous times each day and cheap blenders simply don’t come close to it in terms of performance and quality. On the off chance that you make a considerable measure of smoothies, you completely will love purchasing this blender. High speed performance, It can pound basically anything in barely any time. Plus, it is easy to clean.
2. BlendtecWildside
This is the only blender that we can compare genuinely to the Vitamix. Most of the people are amazingly content with their BlendTecs and they will pretty much show off of mixing the most troublesome ingredients as a Vitamix.
· Too rapid, makes the hardest of ingredients smooth.
· Smaller than a Vitamixthis makes it easy to fit under counters.
· The one of a kind configuration implies that a tamper isn’t crucial
· The more extensive base makes it less demanding to get the things out of the blender.
3. OSTER versa (BLSTVB-000-000)
At last, a blender to match Vitamixavailable for a just half of its cost. This can make nut spreads, frozen yogurt, soups and smoothies and has various diverse components and features.
· Incorporates a tamper to push food items towards the sharp edges
· Has pre-customized settings, including pulse to crush nuts
· Variable speed dial
4. Hamilton Beach Power Elite
Cost effective and the basic smoothie maker. In the event that you require a blender that won’t use up every last cent of yours, this one is an incredible item on the off chance that you are simply trying different things with smoothies. Simply beginning with smoothies? The Hamilton is the perfect deal for you.
· It comes up 12 Blending functions
· Its container is dishwasher safe
· It crushes ice in seconds
· Mixes frozen fruit, protein powders and liquids.
5. Omega variable speed (BL630-3HP)
A business quality blender with a capable motor, variable speed and timer feature, and it is programmed close off for over-load protection.
· Its USP is it comes with 10 year guarantee
· Extraordinary for liquid based smoothies and soups
So fellas choose according to your taste and budget and make your smoothies smoooooth!!Week 15 of the NFL season played out as expected -- not a single outright upset. Every underdog lost.
The Atlanta Falcons' 24-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday capped a perfect week for the chalk, as all 14 teams that were favored in Las Vegas to win did so. The Falcons didn't cover the six-point spread.
The point spreads on the Los Angeles Rams-Seattle Seahawks game and Los Angeles Chargers-Kansas City Chiefs game closed at pick 'em at most Las Vegas sportsbooks, meaning there were no favorites at the majority of shops.
According to ESPN Stats and Information, favorites had won every game during an NFL week twice previously since the 1970 merger -- Week 9 of the 2005 season and Week 5 of the 2006 season.
Favorites went 11-0 straight-up and 7-2-2 against the spread Sunday, resulting in a costly football week for some Las Vegas sportsbooks. Parlays and teasers -- many of them filled with favorites -- fueled one of the best Sundays of the NFL season for bettors.
"Teasers were particularly bad," Bob Scucci, sportsbook director for Boyd Gaming books, told ESPN.
If a bettor had used a 14-team money-line parlay of all favorites from the closing lines of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, a $100 bet would have won $12,584.40.
William Hill U.S., Nevada's largest sportsbook, said Sunday was one of its worst of the season.
Las Vegas sportsbook operator CG Technology took multiple five-figure parlays that cashed.
"Too many favorites," Jason Simbal, CG Technology's vice president of risk, said. "A guy bet a $50,000 four-teamer: Eagles, Jaguars, Saints, Vikings money line. There was another $20,000 three-teamer: Eagles, Vikings, Saints. There were a couple of them that had the Ravens thrown in there. Here's an $18,000 two-teamer: Eagles, Saints. We needed to get one of those favorites to lose, and we didn't. And it just crushed us."
Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sports operations for the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, felt fortunate that his losses weren't as bad as they could have been.
"If you would have showed me those scores before the weekend, I would have certainly guessed the worst [Sunday of the season]," Kornegay told ESPN in a text message.
The last-minute, overturned touchdown in New England's 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers caused six-figure swings in favor of bettors at the Westgate, Caesars Palace and CG Technology sportsbooks.Federal biologists used drones to track three endangered orca pods recently, taking thousands of pictures. Some of the orcas appear to be pregnant, and the Center for Whale Research confirmed Saturday that a new orca calf had been spotted in one of the pods.
This is great news for conservationists, as the three southern resident orca pods -- found between Washington state and Alaska -- are listed on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s endangered species list.
The new baby orca was documented in the J Pod and has been designated J-53. It is the sixth orca calf born in the three pods since December last year, bringing their total number to 82.
Another calf was announced Sept. 7 in the L Pod after being spotted in Sooke, British Columbia.
The whale watch community is supposedly referring to the births as the Class of 2015, according to Michael Harris, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association. This follows three years without a successful birth in any of the pods.Target's dangerous policy of allowing men into women's dressing rooms has claimed another innocent victim of sexual voyeurism.
Target's dangerous policy of allowing men into women's dressing rooms has claimed another innocent victim of sexual voyeurism.
Just last week, in The Woodlands, Texas, a woman was sexually violated when a man freely entered the women's dressing room and began videotaping her trying on bathing suits.
Store security cameras clearly show Target employees in the area doing nothing to stop the Peeping Tom. Even after the woman screamed for help, two store employees stood by and allowed it to happen.
According to a KTRK television report, the woman can't get the images out of her head. "I feel really scared right now," she said.
I have written a very scathing and passionate open letter to Target CEO Brian Cornell. I urge you to read it, then sign onto it with me.
TAKE ACTION
Read and sign this open letter to Target CEO Brian Cornell, urging him to reverse the company’s dangerous policy.
Forward this information to friends and family. Invite them to sign the boycott pledge at www.afa.net/target.51 receptions on 68 targets, totaling 664 yards, 6 receiving touchdowns for a 13.0 yd average. Tyler Lockett’s route-running abilities were well documented coming out of college, and he was able use that skill to make an impact on the field almost immediately. However, the deep completions between him and Wilson were something that took until almost mid-season to develop. Lockett showed an uncanny ability to get open deep frequently much before the Seahawks post-bye offensive turn-around. Throughout the season, Wilson struggled in tracking Lockett deep, either under or over-throwing him on deep balls.
By the end of the season, the two appeared to be on the same page with Wilson regularly looking his way for 5-7 targets a game. Lockett scored 5 of his 6 total touchdowns after the Seahawks Week 9 bye, which coincided with Wilson taking a step forward in his game. Despite the obvious increase in offensive numbers, Wilson struggled at times to adjust to Lockett’s speed down the field, resulting in a number of close, but failed completions. These incompletions serve to demonstrate the potential that the Wilson-Lockett connection could produce in the future.
2nd and 6 at CHI 33
(7:09 – 4th) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep right to T.Lockett (K.Fuller)
The Seahawks come out in a heavy-run single-back formation look on 2nd down & 6, signaling run to the defense with 3 TEs on the field. Wilson run’s play-action to Rawls. Graham draws the deep safety towards him and creates space in the middle of the field for Lockett to run a go route. Lockett fakes an outside route and cuts back inside causing the CB to get turned around and put him out of position to stop a possible TD. Wilson is pushed out of the pocket by pressure against his RT and is unable to set his feet and make an accurate on-time throw to Lockett.
1st and 10 at SEA 13
(3:41 – 3rd) R.Wilson pass deep right to T.Lockett pushed ob at CIN 48 for 39 yards (D.Kirkpatrick). Cincinnati challenged the pass completion ruling, and the play was REVERSED. R.Wilson pass incomplete deep right to T.Lockett
The Seahawks are in a 3-WR I-formation set, and run play action to Cottom out of the back-field. Lockett embarrasses his defender’s attempt at press coverage and is open for a deep shot. Lockett is unable to keep his feet in-bounds as Wilson’s pass carries him towards the sideline.
2nd and 15 at SEA 29
(12:24 – OT) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep right to T.Lockett (D.Kirkpatrick, G.Iloka) [W.Gilberry]
The Seahawks are in a 4-WR 1-RB set with everybody out wide, signaling pass to the defense. The Bengals shade two safeties to the (L) side of the field, perhaps anticipating a possible throw to Jimmy Graham who is aligned slot (L) of the formation. Lockett runs right past his defender’s attempt at pressing him and is open for a decisive game-winning TD in OT. Wilson drops-back and appears to be spooked immediately by pressure, perhaps an overreaction to earlier pass-protection issues in the game. The pass is under-thrown and results in an incompletion.
1st and 10 at SEA 23
(11:59 – 2nd) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep middle to T.Lockett
The Seahawks come out in a 2-TE, 2-WR singleback formation and run play-action to Lynch. This play appears as if its going to be a bootleg but Wilson instead drops back deeper to survey down the field. The Seahawks began running this deep drop-back to combat the protection issues they were facing earlier in the season. They pull their center Lewis to block for Wilson on this drop-back for extra protection. Lockett faces no press coverage on the account of the defense suspecting run, and uses his blazing speed to run past Carolina’s secondary. Unfortunately, Wilson is still adjusting to the speed of his WR, and over-throws him down the field.
2nd and 4 at SEA 20
(8:23 – 3rd) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass deep left intended for D.Baldwin INTERCEPTED by T.Mathieu [F.Rucker] at ARZ 40. T.Mathieu to SEA 36 for 24 yards (J.Graham)
The Seahawks are aligned 3-WR trips (L) an 1-TE in-line next to the RT, with Rawls offset (R). Wilson takes a shotgun snap. The ball is thrown high and outside and Baldwin is unable to prevent a leaping intercept by the Cardinals CB Mathieu. A ball thrown more inside to Baldwin would’ve had a higher chance of being completed, or a pass to Lockett who is streaking wide-open down the field as Wilson is about to throw the ball.
3rd and 10 at 50
(7:47 – 4th) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep left to T.Lockett
Lockett fakes a slant route, and as the CB bites on the route he turns on the jets and runs a go route. On SoundFX, this is the play Wilson laments not stepping up in the pocket to buy an extra second and hitting Lockett for the TD here, instead overthrowing the pass.
2nd and 5 at ARI 36
(3:59 – 1st) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep middle to T.Lockett
The Seahawks are in a 2-WR, 2-TE, I-formation that Wilson runs play-action out of, taking another deep-drop and pulling the center once again for added protection. Lockett is aligned as the outside receiver on the (R), and gives Patrick Peterson a quick move at the line of scrimmage before running downfield, creating a yard of separation near the end-zone. Wilson over-throws his WR despite great protection.
2nd and 6 at SEA 41
(12:49 – 3rd) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep right to T.Lockett (T.Waynes)
The Seahawks have two TEs aligned to their RT, and run a play-action bootleg to their RB Michael out of the backfield. The Vikings CB Trae Wayne chooses not to press Lockett here, instead initiating contact down the field to slow him down. Lockett baits him into a corner route before breaking back into the middle of the field creating separation. Wilson just under throws him on the run resulting in an incompletion.
1st and 10 at SEA 34
(15:00 – 4th) (Shotgun) R.Wilson pass incomplete deep right to T.Lockett. MIN-T.Waynes was injured during the play. PENALTY on MIN-C.Munnerlyn, Illegal Contact, 5 yards, enforced at SEA 34 – No Play
The Seahawks are lined up in a shotgun formation with 3 WR, Lockett isolated on the (R) side of the LOS. Wayne again decides not to press Lockett at the LOS, and loses him at the end of the route drawing a flag for illegal contact. Lockett comes agonizingly close to making an amazing one-handed catch along the sideline but the ball is knocked loose on the way to the ground.
Wilson’s understanding of Lockett’s speed is something that will hopefully be worked on this offseason. Lockett’s emergence as a WR and a returner through his first season in the NFL bodes well for the rest of his career. These failed completions are just a taste of what more playing time for Lockett might mean in the upcoming NFL season. It is up to Wilson to develop better understanding of Lockett’s speed, and to continue working on his own timing and understanding of his place within the offense.
AdvertisementsOne of our readers sent us this picture of two men holding hands in their car.
With this following email attached with a subject header “Is it ok to do this?”.
Hi mothership, While on my way home the other day, I chance upon this guy in navy uniform holding another guy hand openly in the public. Regards,
Now, other than the fact that this means no one is safe from being photographed while out public spaces, we didn’t get any other indicator as to why this might be considered anything out of the ordinary.
So we analysed the picture.
As you can see here, their hands are intertwined perfectly, without seemingly any effort put in by either man.
Intertwined hands are usually a sign that the two individuals are in a relationship that is based on trust and love.
The uniform also looks neatly folded, which is always a good look.
The only downside is the watch, which seems a tad blocky for our taste.
Overall, 9/10, good stuff, strong relationship.
Since you’re here why not check this article out:
All the times bank ads don’t say it like it is and make us vomit blood
5 valuable life lessons everyone who went to OBS learnt
Photo courtesy of “Roger”
If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.The 2005 Yiwu Rocket was originally in the July White2Tea club as a sample. I didn’t review it in July as I was more in awe of drinking a giant mushroom pu’er. Then the requests starting coming in – “OMG where’s the Yiwu Rocket review!” Okay, okay, yeah I heard you all – here’s the White2Tea 2005 Rocket Yiwu sheng pu’er review!
So what I love about the White2Tea club is being able to sample new teas they are selling, however it has also gotten me into more trouble. I tried the sample. I then promptly finished my sample and ordered a cake. Then my cake arrived and I’ve been |
For many years, Winnie-the-Pooh was relegated to the bookshelf, while I attached myself, serially, to second-hand copies of a great number of books. The second-hand books were old and tattered, bought off the streets for small sums of money. Most of the books I read then were second hand, or hand-me-downs, or books borrowed from musty libraries, as money was scarce and it was rightly concluded that several second hand books were more edifying than a single new one. When I finally grew into a person whose egoistic and intellectual thirst required—and whose income allowed—the purchase of new books, I realised with a pang that the second hand books were much better. My copy of Alistair MacLean’s The Guns of Navarone was once repaired by some unknown reader with clear tape. It’s so old—and used—that the tape has long since disappeared, leaving only pale rectangles to indicate its transient, translucent existence. The pages are all separate now, making it a pleasure to read, if not to hold. When I went to stay with my aunt for a few days, I asked for a book to read. She gave me a shiny new book, by Roald Dahl, with a gummed spine, that required you to force it open if you wanted the text near the spine to be flat. I did so, with some unhappiness, but not as much as my aunt expressed when she saw that the book now showed signs of wear.
There’s only one joy as good as switching on a reading lamp, settling down in one’s chair and opening a much-loved book, fingers tingling with the anticipation of the effortless magic that the black text on yellow paper plays on your mind, transporting you fluently into another universe, that is now warm and welcoming with frequent custom. And that joy is the small, uncertain steps one takes when reading a new book—a new one of those—one of those that one remembers forever, that changes one forever. At first, one in unsure of what to expect, of what it is about. The construction of a new reality is always difficult, but the spadework a writer puts in the beginning usually pays back several fold with careful handling. Soon, one is entranced: an entirely new, completely different universe has just taken shape around one, where the stars shine with a distinctly new glow, and where one looks up, with wonder.
Living in a gray world within gray walls, listening to gray words uttered in an endless litany at school, I found Beauty in my books. Each tattered volume was a flawless gem, a distillation of the emotion aroused by infinitely complex patterns of light and sound. Unlike a diamond, my books were living: each had a beginning and an end, each was driven by a powerful flow indistinguishable from time. Some stand out, like a book by Giovanni Guareschi that I don’t have the wrapper of, and still don’t know the name of. Of those early books, much of the factual engram has faded, leaving the cloak of emotion it was wrapped in to flutter down on little details, woodcuts, illustrations, irregularities in paper, the shape of the book…
My copy of Gerald Durrell’s My family and Other Animals reminds me of its past owner, an assiduous reader, who had underlined every alternate word and had scrawled synonyms in pencil in the margins. For several years, that was my thesaurus. A whole slew of books evokes no declarative memory but a vague, generic image of yellow, stained, paperback, but is bound to a strong emotional recollection.
As is it is often the case, I found it increasingly difficult to separate the real from the written. I started—unconsciously at first, then deliberately—to speak like the way people I had met in my books spoke. Events unfolded in reality that I had already witnessed in Linotype. I was moved by the force of destiny that propelled heroes to fame and others to tragedy, troubled by the fickleness writers displayed in treating their characters: like they were puppets. Finding the uncaring randomness of the world shaping even my life, I sought to regain control—if not in this world—then in mine.
Like all good things, I realised with sudden panic that something had changed, that something had ended. Books no longer have the power to dissolve the hard walls around me, no longer can they repaint the sky lapis-lazuli and connect my pulse to that of the protagonist. Looking into a mirror one sunny winter morning, I realised it had been months since I had read a book.
The real tragedy wasn’t that infrequent reading had made me so cold and cynical that I had lost the faculty to believe, to immerse myself totally in alternate realities. No, the real tragedy was that it was the other way around.
The last book I read with wonder was Gene Wolfe’s The Fifth Head of Cerebrus. (For sentimental reasons, I consider it sacrosanct to criticism.) The idea that one of the finest books—the story of how I learnt to read, and read—was now at an end, slowly suffused through my life. Like many wonderful books, my story has a beginning and has an end.
Unlike all wonderful books, it can only be read once.
Writing comes with a heavy price: one loses innocence. I had seen fantastic worlds and watched grand tales unfold, and now, having seen the process of creation, the magic had seeped out of it, making a conman of the wizard. Several extremely unpleasant people intruded into my life and taught me to read ‘critically’. They turned me into a machine that deconstructed text, counted commas and winced at clichés. I learnt how Lawrence Durrell also wrote a book about his family’s stay in Corfu. In Lawrence’s book, Gerald Durrell is entirely absent. In Gerald Durrell’s book, Lawrence’s wife—who was with them all the time—is never mentioned.
The powerful flux of time hurtles us all through the leaves of our lives. When we start, we can’t read. We inevitably skip over the funny parts, regretting it when we arrive at the heavy chapters, and have no way to go ahead—or go back. There are pages where the letters are smudged, the text unclear, and where we are confused and indecisive. And from time to time, we come to blank pages, that we need to fill out ourselves if we are to get on with the story. And finally, there are times when the leaves turn yellow, when the changing of the seasons nudges us gently into the glyph-free winter of uninterrupted white, of ceasing to exist. When we come to the epilogue, when there is a great cold distance between the last full stop and the blurb on the dust jacket, we must wish, for lack of ultimate choice, that it was a good book, and look forward to reading it again.BATAVIA, IL—In October, Fermilab scientists joined a growing number of physicists around the world in warning that the Very Large Earth Collider—a $117 billion electromagnetic particle accelerator built to study astronomical phenomena by colliding Earth into various heavenly bodies—could potentially destroy Earth when it sends the planet careening headlong into Mars, Jupiter, or even the sun.
"The Large Earth Collider will surely gain us priceless scientific insight by offering a brief glimpse of the universe at the moment of its destruction," Fermilab director Gordon Josephs said. "But because the Collider achieves this by hurling the Earth into another large celestial object, there are some who feel the risks associated with annihilating our world are too high. All I know for certain is that this rigorous debate will only end when we activate the VLEC, make the Earth collide with another planet, and obtain results through firsthand observation."
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"That's just good science," Josephs added.
Physicists at CERN and Brookhaven National Laboratory, who underwrote the VLEC's construction with donations from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, agree that there are "some troubling variables" whenever attempting to launch Earth through the vacuum of space into a massive body of solid matter. Yet, they insist, the academic benefits of a planetary collision outweigh any risk of annihilating the Earth.
"When we boil the oceans, tear the tectonic plates from the globe, and peel back the layers of the Earth to expose its molten core, we'll be seeing firsthand what end-times researchers have only theorized about," said Greg Giddings, a planetologist at the University of Michigan. "It might be worth the chance—which, if you ask me, is very small—of destroying the Earth in the process just to see that."
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"There will always be Chicken Little types," theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku said. "When the first nuclear reaction was achieved, there were those who said its very existence made it a weapon of unspeakable power, and there is evidence they may have been right. It's probably worth asking if the Very Large Earth Collider may in fact pose some minute danger to the Earth."
While the project remains controversial, physicists agreed in late November to reconvene and evaluate the risk factor of the project after a small-scale field test, during which the Very Large Earth Collider will be turned on at 10 percent capacity, catapulting Earth into the moon at only half the speed of light.The Heraldry Society’s main publication The Coat of Arms has now been in existence for nearly seventy years and contains a wealth of original material on diverse topics. The Heraldry Gazette has gradually evolved from being a simple newsletter to having more illustrated features. Series 1 and Series 2 of the Coat of Arms are available for purchase on CD ROM via this website. Some paper copies are also still available, please contact the Honorary Librarian. It is hoped in the near future to place Series 3 and Series 4 online.
This section has two principal aims: firstly to showcase some of the best of our published material published in our older journals, and secondly, to create an on-line heraldic resource.
The Articles are presented in 19 sections:By George Washington
Bank of America alleged in a court filing this June:
It appears as though many loans and other mortgage-related assets have been double and even triple-pledged to various constituencies
.
Boa Answer to Freddie Objection in Re Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp.
April Charney – a consumer lawyer with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid – and CNBC’s Dennis Kneale noted in February 2009 that courts have found that some mortgages have been sold again and again to different trusts, when they should have only been sold once.
Kneale explained that that is the reason that two different banks sometimes try to simultaneously foreclose on the same home:
And today, Chris Whalen told CNBC’s Larry Kudlow that Bear Stearns will be exposed as having sold the same loan to different investors on numerous occasions (see 6:45 into video):
As I have repeatedly pointed out, the failure of the mortgage originators and banks to prepare and record proper documentation has led to an epidemic of fraud. The pledging of the same mortgage again and again to different trusts related to mortgage backed securities is just one result.
And as long-time foreclosure investigator Nye Lavalle writes:For other uses, see Luke Cage (disambiguation)
"I'm Luke Cage. You can't burn me, you can't blast me, and you definitely can't break me. You wanna test me? Step up. I'm right here. I ain't going nowhere. You know where to find me. I am Harlem, and Harlem is me." ―Luke Cage [src]
Carl Lucas is the son of James Lucas as well as a childhood friend of Willis Stryker who, while he was still serving as a policeman from Savannah, Georgia, was wrongfully convicted for a crime he did not commit and sent into Seagate Prison, where he met and fell in love with therapist Reva Connors who tried to make his time in jail easier. During his time inside prison, Lucas was then subjected to an experiment by Noah Burstein to save his life after Albert Rackham tried to kill him, leaving Lucas physically enhanced with superhuman strength and seemingly unbreakable skin. After he escaped from his prison, he changed his name to Luke Cage and then moved to New York City, marrying Connors who agreed to protect him, opening up a bar named Luke's and living in there until Connors' death seemingly due to a random bus crash.
Months later while he was trying to live quietly, Cage came across the private investigator Jessica Jones during her own investigation and started a new relationship with her. However Cage was then forced to break up their relationship upon discovering that Jones was involved in the murder of his wife due to the influence of Kilgrave. Following his encounter with Jones and Kilgrave, he then moved from Hell's Kitchen into Harlem in order to build a new life away from Jones, working for Pop. However his own life became more complicated due to the actions of Cottonmouth, whose henchman Tone killed Pop in cold blood, which had started a war between the pair which only ended when Cottonmouth was discovered dead.
Blamed for Cottonmouth's murder, Cage was forced to go on the run, hunted by his ally Detective Misty Knight as well as his former friend Willis Stryker, who had returned to tell Cage they were brothers before attempting to kill him. Eventually Cage cleared his name and defeated Stryker but he was still arrested by the police to continue his original sentence at Seagate Prison. Being released early by Foggy Nelson, Cage finally returned back home in Harlem and to Claire Temple, only to then uncover all of the secret criminal activities of the Hand while Cage had been investigating the murder of Sean Miller and encountering the Iron Fist. Together with the aid of Jones and Daredevil, Cage then helped destroy the Hand to protect New York City, while seemingly losing Daredevil.
As Cage's popularity grew within Harlem following the defeat of Cottonmouth and Diamondback, he was forced to deal with the ever rising threat of Mariah Dillard who had taken over the criminal empire from Harlem's Paradise and found herself targeted by Bushmaster, an enhanced criminal willing to kill innocents to destroy Dillard, while Cage also dealt with his struggling relationship with Claire Temple and the return of his father James Lucas. Cage eventually defeated Dillard and Bushmaster, causing Bushmaster to return to Jamaica without killing Dillard, while she was sent to prison. However, when Dillard was poisoned by her own daughter, Tilda Johnson, Cage was given Harlem's Paradise and became the new crime boss of Harlem, with the intention of protecting Harlem from crime by controlling it.
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Biography
Early Life
The Miracle Baby
"For years, my mother couldn't conceive, and then one day, I came along. That's why everybody called me the miracle baby. I hated that spotlight." ―Luke Cage to Claire Temple [src]
Carl Lucas was the son of James and Etta Lucas. James was a highly popular and influential preacher in Savannah, Georgia. Etta was unable to have a child for many years, but miraculously she gave birth to Carl, and he was called a "miracle baby". James had another son Willis Stryker, with his church secretary, and while Lucas and Stryker grew up as best friends, he was unaware they were related by blood. James and Carl were not very close, and later in life Lucas would say that his father "didn't care for him much", but he still treated him like a son, unlike Stryker.[1]
Training with Willis Stryker
"You wouldn't understand. I can't let it slide. I'm a Lucas."
"Daddy ain't signing off on this. You're alone."
"I still got you in my corner?"
"Always."
"Then I'm not alone. I'm ready!" ―Carl Lucas and Willis Stryker [src]
As a teenager Lucas was a skilled athlete and excelled at football. One night he was jumped and beaten up outside a bowling alley by some street punk. Lucas could not let it pass due to personal pride and asked Willis Stryker to teach him how to box. After receiving his training, Lucas fought his attacker and won.[2]
Prison Sentence
"When it came time for sentencing, the preacher convinced the judge to let his golden boy join the Marines." ―Diamondback [src]
Months later, Lucas and Stryker stole a red Chevrolet Corvette for a joyride. While driving they began arguing over musicians Prince and Michael Jackson, soon being caught by a police officer and arrested. Lucas' father, being a man of influence was able to persuade the judge to allow Lucas to join the United States Marine Corps instead of going to jail. Stryker did not get the same treatment and he was sent to jail.[3] After finishing his tour of duty as a Force Reconnaissance Marine, Lucas became a police officer in the Savannah Police Department.[2]
Prison Time
Tortured by Rackham
"You can't trust nobody in a place like this."
"Because you used to be a cop?"
"I ain't the first cop to do time, and I ain't never sent anybody to Seagate so I ain't got that problem. But trust in places like this, sets you up for failure" ―Carl Lucas and Reva Connors [src]
Years later, Lucas was sent into Seagate Penitentiary for a crime that he did not commit. During his first day, he lined up with other prisoners and was scolded by Albert Rackham. Lucas scoffed at Rackham and got hit in the gut, taunting that he was a former sheriff. He sent Lucas, as well as the other prisoners, back to their cells. Lucas spent his first lonely night in his cell weeping in frustration, repeatedly saying his name to remember who he is and to get through prison.
He was sent into an intervention with the other prison mates, where he met Reva Connors, their counselor. She had tried to get as many inmates to change as possible, by having them tell how they ended up in prison in the first place. She started with Squabbles who then detailed his story about how he used to have a job and family, but ever since he wound up in jail, they simply don't care anymore. She turned her attention to Lucas, taking note that he was a former cop while he had worked in Savannah and he agreed, stating despite being a cop, he never put someone in Seagate Prison.
Squabbles then caught up with Lucas, trying to convince him that Connors means no harm. Lucas responded that being reminded of what you once had can turn you mean. Squabbles still kept trying to comfort Lucas, but he just rejected his kind offer of friendship. Later, Rackham, Shades and Comanche were spying on Lucas, who was working out in the courtyard, with Rackham guessing that Lucas had angered someone and was sent here to rot. That day, they decided to keep tabs on Lucas, wanting to see if he is unbreakable.
Later that night, while Lucas was sleeping, he was attacked by both Comanche and Shades. They placed a bag over his head and started punching him, however, Lucas was able to subdue them, flipping Shades over and slamming him with the prison door. Comanche tried to stab him, but Lucas subdued him with ease. Comanche, then, tried to grab him by his back, however, Lucas slammed him out of the cage and against the wall, followed closely by Shades who was also thrown out of Lucas' prison cell; the noise of the fight alerted the guards as they handcuffed Lucas, but Rackham, who was watching the whole time, declared that he found himself a gladiator.
Lucas was locked inside solitary confinement, where he spent hours sitting alone considering why he was being targeted. Once a long period of time had passed, Rackham then visited Lucas in solitary confinement, complimenting his fighting abilities. He made him an offer that if he can fight the other convicts, it will benefit the both of them, promising to bring Lucas some money, extra rations and even conjugal visits. Despite Rackham's promises and the threat of future attacks, Lucas compared the offer to slavery and declined. Rackham just stared and left him in his cell for even longer.[4]
Finding Friends in Prison
"Come out of a time machine Squabs, there's a lot of new honeys out there. You don't know nothing about Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, List Bonet's daughter?"
"She got a daughter?"
"Zoë! Or as I like to call her, the Godfather Part II." ―Carl Lucas and Squabbles [src]
Lucas visited the courtyard, the next day, where he saw Comanche. Enraged from what happened the other night, Lucas took one of the weights from the workout equipment and began to charge at him. However, he was stopped by Squabbles, who told him the best way to survive Seagate is to stay away from trouble. They sat down on the bench and started a friendship. They began bonding, having a conversation about Lisa Bonet and various other attractive women.
Lucas had another intervention with Reva Connors, who continued to get the prisoners to talk about their past, noting that one prisoner was always looking for excuses for his mistakes. Connors told the inmates that they must take responsibility for their own actions, but Lucas decided to ask her the same question. He began to ask her to tell the inmates about herself, but she declined to do so, saying that it wasn't her job. He, then, asked Connors if she was doing this out of guilt because of a family member. With that, she dismissed the session, clearly unnerved by Lucas' comments.
While the inmates began to leave, Connors stopped Lucas, noting this was the most he said in the interventions. She confessed that it was his brother who died in prison that she did this job, feeling guilty that she neglected him while she went to get her masters. Lucas felt guilty, but Connors knew that it was only to avoid her questions, asking what was said sparked in him. He answered that he knows what it's like on the other side; Connors asked if he was innocent, but Lucas said it did not matter. Connors believed his innocence, but Lucas stated that he was guilty of a lot of things.[4]
Bonding with Reva
"You know how I caught that bad break? Talking to people, trusting them."
"So why do you come here?"
"Because you provide hope." ―Carl Lucas and Reva Connors [src]
A third intervention was held, where Reva Connors reassured the inmates that the rumors that were being spread about experiments on the other inmates were false. Squabbles, stated, that an inmate, Jimmy Quinto, would have gotten a reduced sentence if he went through some experiments; the suspicion rises when they take note that Quinto went missing and not reported dead. Connors tried to shut down those rumors, but Lucas took note that Connors works for Seagate Prison and that even if it does exist, she wouldn't admit it. Squabbles then jokingly reassured Lucas that when Connors gives her word, it was obviously serious.
Once the session had been completed, Lucas helped Connors clear up the chairs, apologising for not being a gentleman sooner. She made it a point that Lucas was not like the other prisoners and that he just made a bunch of mistakes. She asked him why he doesn't talk more often, he, then, told her that the reason he got into the prison was because he talked and trusted the wrong people. When Connors asked Lucas why he still goes to the sessions, Lucas responded that it was because she provided hope, which delighted Connors before he began teasing her yet again.
Then, they were interrupted by Albert Rackham, who called Lucas away from her. Rackham took him to the lounge area and offered more benefits in exchange for fighting for him. Again, Lucas declined the offer, but Rackham gave him an alternative. He told Comanche to stab someone and had the blame put on Squabbles, followed by the guards pinning him down. Rackham threatened to tear everything apart if he doesn't fight for him, hitting Lucas in the gut. Lucas finally agreed and Rackham called the guards to go easy on Squabbles; Lucas, then, demanded that Squabbles be by his side.[4]
Fight Club
"What I'm doing, ain't got no questions or answers."
"Are you losing your way?"
"When I think of a way to cut all this shit loose. Get off outside of Rackham, I will." ―Carl Lucas and Squabbles [src]
Back in the Seagate Prison courtyard, Lucas began being trained in boxing by Squabbles. Lucas asked if he ever boxed, but Squabbles stated that he learned to fight by watching Kung-Fu movies and it helped him through self defense. Squabbles admitted that he liked Jet Li, but Lucas was surprised he chose him over Bruce Lee. Lucas continued his own form of training, joking that he would not use Squabbles anymore.
Lucas and Squabbles entered the arena with Comanche, as he detailed the rewards for winning. Lucas made clear that he didn't want any of those prizes; Comanche asked what kind of "nigga" he was and Lucas said he doesn't like to be called that word. As they continued to the ring, where a fight was already happening, Lucas noticed some cameras directed at the ring; Lucas asked if the fights were being handed out and Comanche welcomed him to the internet. Squabbles was worried about how tough the opponents are, but Lucas shrugged it off and brought up Jet Li.
Stepping in the ring and facing his opponent, Lucas began the first fight, with Albert Rackham and Shades watching closely from the sidelines, his first opponent had the upper hand. Squabbles still gave Lucas encouragement, shouting out boxing strategies. After that, he knocked out his opponent with ease, throwing him from the ring; Rackham smiled at this win. Cage would go through the next slew of opponents and would knock all of them out, one by one, proving himself to be easily the best fighter inside Seagate Prison. After the matches, Rackham took money from the other cops, having bet on Lucas; Noah Burstein, all the while, was watching Lucas.
Getting some time to themselves, Lucas and Squabbles when down to the ring on their own and continued their training there. While Lucas was sparring, Squabbles noted that he was changing, due to the fact that he didn't shower nor cut his hair in a long time. Lucas replied that once he finds a way to get out of Rackham's hands, he will take better care of himself, reassuring him that he has never lost his way. The next day, Lucas was watching TV in the lounge area of Seagate Prison and Reva Connors motioned him to meet her in the other room for a quiet talk on their own.
When Lucas entered the room, Connors was shocked by all the bruises and cuts. Lucas admitted that he got into a fight or two. She took note that Lucas has not been to the group in months, but he responded that plans have changed; Connors was heartbroken that Lucas reverted back to the speechless man. Lucas asked about Noah Burstein, who was watching them talk, and Connors asked if their was anything Lucas would like to talk about, but Lucas denied it. Connors then told Lucas that she knows something is wrong because Squabbles would not talk about her.
Lucas simply put that there were things he couldn't say because it would cost more than his life, Connors just left heartbroken, seeing that getting through to him has failed; as he watched her leave, he noticed Shades approaching Connors. Rackham approached behind Lucas and taunted him, causing Lucas to grab him by the scruff of the neck and violently slam his against the fall in a rage. However, Rackham threatened him that he now has another person to bargain with other than Squabbles. Lucas let him go and Rackham left, laughing at the situation which he was controlling.[4]
Exposing Corruption
"The guards established a fight ring and the convicts fight until they're broken. What happens to them after that, I don't know. [...] Contact my lawyer. Tell him I'm ready to talk. I'll use him to get me out of this hellhole, and then I'll take Rackham down myself." ―Carl Lucas to Reva Connors [src]
While Reva Connors was working at her desk, Lucas snuck up to the door and motioned her to come to him. He asked if she has talked to anyone else, but Connors told him that she only speaks to Noah Burstein. Lucas asked what he does, with Connors answering that he only does psych evaluations to his own patients; with that said, she told Lucas to trust her. Lucas exposed to her the fighting arena held by the corrupt cops where inmates fight until they were finally broken; with their bodies are not found, afterwards.
He also warned Connors that Albert Rackham will go after the ones he cares about, her and Squabbles, begging her to leave. Although Reva objected, Lucas gave Connors the address to his lawyer telling her that afterwards, he would take care of Rackham, himself; she agreed and he left. Then, Lucas came up to Squabbles and told him of the plan to expose Rackham and finally bring down the fighting ring within Seagate Prison. Squabbles agreed to the plan, but as Lucas left, Squabbles was approached by two of Rackham's men. Lucas then got himself a haircut since he got into Seagate.
As he went into his cell, Lucas was surprised when he was then approached by Shades, who complimented Lucas on his fighting in the ring, however, Lucas found his appearance suspicious due to it happening just before his plan would go underway. He was, then, approached by Comanche from behind, demanding to know why Lucas wanted out of the fighting arena, admitting that they got the information through Squabbles by force. Admitting that they were not happy that Lucas planned on exposing Seagate, Comanche noted that Rackham wished him to either be killed or locked in solitary, so they then beat him up until he was severely injured.[4]
The Experiment
"I still can't believe I punched through that wall."
"No one's survived Seagate's waters either."
"Did Burstein know that I would get these..."
"These abilities? The bath was only supposed to heal you at a faster rate." ―Carl Lucas and Reva Connors [src]
Lucas was sent to the infirmary, being treated by Noah Burstein, and put under life support. Reva Connors came in to visit him, devastated at the state that Lucas was in. Burstein gave Connors the news that he was dying, she then informed Lucas that Squabbles died trying to keep their information secret. Connors demanded that Burstein put Lucas under the experiment; Burstein objected, stating that he would probably die from the experience, but Connors demanded that he do it for her. Burstein agreed, asking Connors to take a trip home, then went up to Lucas, informing him that this is going to be a different treatment.
Burstein put Lucas in a tank, injected his shoulder with a syringe, and attached two cuffs, a tiara and a breathing tube, telling him that he would likely soon die as a result. He closed the tank and went to his computer, starting the procedure and filling the tank with clear liquid. As he began scanning Lucas, Albert Rackham busted in, demanding the whereabouts of Lucas. Burstein tried to stop him, but Rackham pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill Lucas for ratting him out. He turned up the heat in the tan and overloaded it, causing the lights in the room to burst into sparks as the water quickly boiled.
Submersed inside the boiling liquid, Lucas screamed in agony as his injuries turned purple and then vanished, all healing instantaneously. Rackham's attempt to murder Lucas backfired on him however and the entire tank exploded, consuming Lucas in the flames. Lucas came out of the ruins of the tank and got to his feet, fully healed from all the injuries given to him by Shades and Comanche. He took note of the changes in his body before he moved around and looked at Burstein coughing and the dead body of Rackham, who had been thrown backwards by the blast and had cracked his skull.
The alarms went off, reacting to the explosion, in frustration of no way out of the situation and believing that he would be blamed for everything that had happened, including Rackham's death, Lucas punched the wall, causing it to crack severely without experiencing any harm or discomfort. Lucas discovered that he had been physically enhanced as a result of Burstein's experiment. Desperate to be free at long last, Lucas then repeatedly punched the wall until he broke a hole through it and escaped Seagate Prison, jumping into the sea and swimming back towards the shore before he could be discovered.
Lucas finally reached land and into someone's back yard, where he noticed someone's laundry drying. As Lucas was wearing nothing but the underwear he wore for the experiment, he took the bright yellow shirt and blue pants, while tying a chain to it like a belt, but he had clearly forgotten about the tiara he had around his head. As he walked off, he looked at his reflection, stating that he looked foolish, as he took off the tiara. He went to the nearest phone booth and called the only person he believed could help him, Connors, as they then arranged to meet in a motel to try and figure out what to do next now that Lucas was a criminal on the run from the law.[4]
A New Life
Relationship with Reva Connors
"Thank you for saving my life."
"Thank you for changing mine. You're gonna need a new name." ―Carl Lucas and Reva Connors [src]
Lucas met Reva Connors at the nearest motel, where he began to shave in the bathroom, discovering his enhanced strength made it difficult to use the shaving cream without destroying it. He came out completely clean shaven, leaving only a goatee and his head now bald. Connors deleted any records on Lucas as he asked her about the experiments given by Noah Burstein's experiment. She stated that it was a chemical bath that was meant to heal people at an accelerated rate, meaning that Albert Rackham's tampering with the tank and causing the bath to be overheated must have accidentally caused Lucas' new found abilities.
When Lucas noted that he and Squabbles had previously asked her about the experiments and she had denied them, Connors promised that she would tell him everything that he needs to know, eventually, stating that his records were pulled up because he wasn't always a convict and she was not always Seagate Prison's counselor. Lucas thanked Connors for saving him and she thanked Lucas for changing her before Lucas leaned in and kissed Connors softly. Connors then noted that as he was on the run, Lucas would need to adopt a new name for his new life which he would be starting with her.
She asked him what his new name would be and he responded with his father's favorite bible verse from the book of Luke and his quote that a free man would never be caged, thus, Luke Cage was born.[4] Connors took Cage to Pop's Barber Shop in Harlem where he was introduced to Pop. When Cage explained what he was, Pop found the story very shaky, but he simply ignored it. At one point, Cage came to the shop, asking for a job, and lifted a refrigerator with no effort in front of Pop's eyes. Pop decided to keep the secret between the two of them, as Cage stated that he owed him one.[5]
Losing Reva Connors
Eventually, the two got married, but later on, Reva Connors was tragically killed, seemingly in a bus accident.[6] Believing that there was more to the case than was being revealed to him, Cage dedicated much of his life to learning more about the incident so he could find whoever was responsible. He was even dragged out of the MTA by eight guards when he angrily confronted the administrator there, Serena Grier, to find out more about the crash and she was unable to calm him down. However, he did find a clue that Connors' death was not an accident when he found instructions in an envelope of her's that lead him to a warehouse at the corner where she died to dig up something hidden under the foundation, which he found was empty.[7]
Opening Luke's Bar
Cage opened a bar in New York City called Luke's, named after himself, where he employed Roy Healy as a bartender alongside him, taking great care of the bar and constantly ensuring it was as clean as possible. While working at the bar Cage tried to keep a low profile, avoiding complicated relationships and dealings with the police; he did however begin a sexual relationship with Gina, whom he had previously flirted with in the bar. As Cage looked out of his apartment window at the city one night, Gina walked over to him wearing only underwear and they had sex.[8]
Meeting Jessica Jones
No Flirting Required
"Hard day at the office?"
"They're all hard."
"Pop's always said, if you don't feel good going to work, you should find new work." ―Luke Cage and Jessica Jones [src]
As Cage took the trash out one night, he came across Jessica Jones looking through the bar's window and invited her inside, claiming he would make it ladies night if she agreed. Jones came inside and drank until all the guests and Roy Healy had left; Cage and Jones both avoided questions about their personal lives, although Cage learned that Jones was a private investigator. They both flirted with each other and Jones worked out that the bar was special to Cage.
When Cage asked Jones what she wanted, it did not take long until they were both upstairs in his apartment having sex. Due to his great strength, Cage felt the need to apologize when he feared he had hurt Jones, but she pushed him to continue. Once they were finished, they both lay silently on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Jones got up and went into Cage's bathroom for a while; when she returned, she hastily put on her clothes and left while Cage sat on the edge of the bed, only telling him that she was sorry without explaining why.[8]
Exposed Secrets
"You can put your wedding ring back on."
"So I'm married, I'm just a booty call for you anyway."
"I stay away from complications." ―Luke Cage and Gina [src]
Two police officers came into Luke's to speak to Cage; they revealed photographs taken by Jessica Jones and asked him about her, as she was being investigated about a homicide case. Once they had gone, Jones arrived and tried to explain herself to the angered Cage, claiming she had been hired by the suspicious husband of Gina. Jones admitted that she should not have slept with him and Cage told her to leave.
Cage was later visited by Gina who tried to flirt and have sex with him once again, but Cage refused as he did not wish to get involved with liars. She argued that she had never had a chance to lie to him but Cage explained he did not get involved with married women either |
-rating AAA-rating The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is minuscule.
"Admittedly, the data have been a bit volatile recently, in part due to bank holiday effects," Ms Redwood said.
"Nonetheless, the trend has been worsening for a few months now and the full effect of the recent return to recession on the public finances is probably yet to be seen."
Others pointed to economic growth as the government's main concern.
"The problem for the government is that economic activity is likely to fall short of what it forecast earlier this year, and that in itself is likely to see the deficit rising higher both from extra spending but also from a lack of tax receipts," David Page, economist at Lloyds Bank, told the BBC.
On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the government should slow the pace of budget cuts next year if growth does not recover.
Earlier this week Prime Minister David Cameron admitted that austerity measures may have to last until 2020.Image: University of Southampton
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Bats were clever enough to figure out how to fly without bothering to cover their wings with feathers. Good for them. And good for us too, because bats existing have helped us realize that wings composed of thin membranes work pretty well.
A team of researchers led by Professor Bharathram Ganapathisubramani at the University of Southampton, in England, have been experimenting with adjustable bat-inspired membrane wings that also vibrate as air passes over them. They’ve mounted these wings onto a micro air vehicle that uses them (along with ground effect) to zip across water fast and efficiently.
These membrane wings aren’t just flexible, they’re also controllable. They incorporate electroactive polymers that respond to voltage by changing the wing’s stiffness, allowing you to dynamically adjust the wing shape and “dramatically” altering their performance. Because the wing is a membrane, it also vibrates as air passes over it, which creates more advantages, as the researchers explain:
“Thin and flexible wing design can improve aerodynamic fight performance at low to medium Reynolds numbers. Membrane wings can combine vehicle agility, enlarged maximum stall angle, extended maximum lift and smooth gust reaction. The main source of their benefits is suggested to rely on their inherent membrane oscillations which can energise the weak boundary layer to enforce longer flow attachment. In addition, membrane vibrations are known to enhance leading edge vortex shedding, forming large roll up vortices of low pressure content which can significantly contribute to the total lift enhancement at high incidences.”
If I were to attempt to translate all that, I would guess that the rapid wing wiggles (technical term there) helps air stick to the wing when it would otherwise break away. Air breaking away from a wing is a bad thing, and can lead to a stall or loss of control, so it’s something you don’t want to have happen. The wiggling also helps to preserve lift when the wings are tilted up, like when you’re taking off and landing, which are the bits of flight that airplanes tend to have the most trouble with.
It looks like this initial flight happened back in May of last year, but we just heard about it, so there you go. And anyway, it gives us an excellent excuse to digress on the topic of some of the futuristic vehicles that take advantage of ground effect to “fly” long distances very efficiently while carrying large payloads.
The efficiency of ground effect transportation isn’t limited to robots. In the late 1980s, the Soviets deployed a thing called an ekranoplan, which was a rather bizarre looking flying boat that depended on ground effect-generated lift to fly at up to 550 kilometers per hour over water:
Technically, an ekranoplan is a boat, not an aircraft, because it’s restricted to water. It flies, but not more than a few meters above the surface of the water, since it’s too big and heavy to lift itself out of ground effect.
Boeing also toyed with a similar idea, called the Pelican:
While able to fly at altitudes up to 20,000 feet, the Pelican would have functioned best as a trans-oceanic ground effect aircraft, with a payload of 1,400 tons and a range of 10,000 nautical miles at an altitude of about 20 feet. This is five times the payload of the largest aircraft currently in existence (the AN-225), and the Pelican would of course have to be much larger, with a 500-foot wingspan. As of 2002, Boeing was serious about developing the Pelican, but since we haven’t heard anything in over a decade and I can’t imagine even the most secretive military program would be able to disguise something that size, we have to assume that nothing ever came of this program.
All is not lost, however. The Alekseyev Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau in Russia is planning on selling a bunch of these fancy new A-050 ekranoplans to the Chinese army:
These will be able to carry up to 100 passengers at 450 kilometers per hour, with a range of 5,000 kilometers, looking totally cool and futuristic while doing it.
To bring things back around to robots, we couldn’t forget this video of a ground effect robot from ICRA 2011:
Which may, eventually, lead to a consumer ground effect train that looks something like this:
Read more about that research here.
[ University of Southampton ] via [ Daily Mail ]Rachel Bloom is an American treasure in the making. When I ask to meet the now Golden Globe-winning star of The CW’s musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, she humbly suggests pizza, specifically John’s of Bleecker Street, a casual brick-oven establishment in the West Village. She arrives dressed to the nines anyway, fresh off a fancier appointment, apologizing for how nice she looks and talking as fast as Katharine Hepburn on cocaine. We order a large cheese pizza. It doesn’t survive the interview.
Bloom’s story is a digital-age American dream. Six years ago, she was writing and producing comedy songs on YouTube. Her first viral hit was an explicit tribute to the author of Fahrenheit 451 entitled “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury.” A few years later, Devil Wears Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna clicked on one of her videos, looked her up, co-wrote a pilot with her, and the rest was history, albeit a tortuous one that involved pitching their show to several networks, landing a Showtime deal that fell through, and weathering gloomy ratings at The CW despite widespread critical acclaim.
Now, with a brand new Golden Globe in hand, Bloom’s future is looking bright.
Her television debut is untraditional, but it is quintessentially American, too. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend follows high-powered but depressed New York lawyer Rebecca Bunch (Bloom) on an ill-advised quest to win back her old summer camp flame Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III) in West Covina, California. It is a musical comedy not in the Glee sense, but in the authentic and, as Bloom notes, “patriotic” sense: In true Astaire-and-Rogers style, the characters break out into original song-and-dance numbers when words alone will no longer do. Sure, that genre has roots across the pond but it was perfected on celluloid here before being all but banished back to Broadway.
During our sit-down, which was condensed and edited for space, Bloom waxes passionate about bringing the musical back to the screen, however small, and about so many other things: Her fans, onscreen diversity, the possibility of a second season and, of course, the pizza.
In your acceptance speech, you talked about the rejection you faced shopping Crazy-Ex around to different networks. Was it frustrating to have something so unique and weird on your hands but to have trouble selling it?
It was really frustrating because we knew we had created something good and all of the rejections were different. Some places just say, “It’s not for us,” which, at the end of the day, networks have their own agendas, so it has nothing to do with you. But one place said, “Oh, we thought it’d be edgier.” Now, in the original pilot I give Greg [Santino Fontana] a hand job, I wax my asshole. I don’t know what you mean by fucking “edgier.”
And I think what they meant was that it’s ultimately an optimistic show [leans over my voice recorder]—Oh, wow! A huge pizza just came, just so you remember while you’re listening to this recording. Oh, yes! Oh my God. Give me just one second to bask in the glow of this pizza. Oh, it’s really hot, I’ll let it cool off—so it was frustrating, especially when you hear that it’s not edgy enough or, “Oh, we wish you were younger.”
Younger? Aren’t you 28?
That’s the other thing. I talked about rejection but I’m the most fortunate fucking person in the world. I have my own show at 28 and a Golden Globe. So, yes, I face rejection but I’ve also been very fortunate and understand how fortunate I am.
Many creators of TV musical comedies find a way to repurpose their old material but none of your YouTube songs have shown up in Crazy Ex so far. When did you decide to go all new?
Always. We’ve tried to occasionally repurpose stuff and that rarely works. We’re doing a musical television show—it’s the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to do—where the music is both funny but also really does further the plot and comes from character. The definition of a musical is that the emotion is so strong that you can’t talk anymore, you have to sing. The emotion isn’t strong enough when you’re just like, “Let’s take a second to sing about lamps!”
It has to come from the emotion for our show because Rebecca’s emotional state is so heightened, and there’s so much juicy emotional stuff to mine. It would have to be such an aside. If you were to try it with “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury,” the whole story would have to be about wanting to meet Ray Bradbury.
That being said, do you feel pressure given the way television is promoted online to produce songs that work both in the narrative and as standalone viral videos?
A hundred percent. You know what? That hasn’t worked. “Sexy Getting Ready Song” has gone viral but, short of that, no other song from our show has gone viral. I think our songs are awesome and some of the videos are successful but you can’t really control what goes viral. All I can do is make videos that are funny, and that can also be poignant, but if the goal is to go viral, you’ll go crazy.
You seem to have a really deep commitment to the genre of the musical…
I love musical theater so much. When done right, I think comedy songs can be the most efficient form of joke delivery. Songs can be the most efficient and the best forms of conveying emotion. Music is universal. It’s worldwide.
And a lot of people forget, or don’t know, that the modern musical is an American art form. It started as operetta in Europe but—Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Rodgers and Hammerstein—it’s an American art form and if you support musical theater it’s patriotic.
If I had time to say that in the [Golden Globes] speech, I would have said, “The American musical is alive and well. One of the places it lives is network television.” I have such pride in furthering the American musical and using it as a way to tell story.
The first musical you ever saw?
Guys and Dolls. I saw it when I was 5 in a community theater production. It was amazing.
The thing that strikes me the most about you as a performer is how much energy you have, whether it’s on the show itself or backstage singing an impromptu tune about tweeting at Tony Shalhoub. Where do you get it?
A lot of it stems from fear of death and fear of failure and fear of looking back and being like, “I could have tweeted more. I could have done this more.” I’m having the time of my life. I get to make a musical television show. But ultimately, it’s fear of not using every opportunity, not carpe-ing that diem, not taking advantage of the moment. I also love it. I’m having so much fun. And I’m also devouring this pizza and I’m having so much fun devouring it.
And you have a Golden Globe…
That still hasn’t really hit me.
Did it cross your mind that it could win? You were a favorite to win.
So it was like [shrugs] “Eh” and then, a couple days before, I thought I might win. It crossed my mind. I wrote a speech that I promptly threw away when I actually won. And then Rolling Stone said I was the frontrunner. That’s when my co-creator was like, “Rachel, you might win. What’s your speech about?” And then I started to become the frontrunner at all these other publications literally two days before. That was when I was like, “Oh, fuck. I might, like, fucking win this thing.”
You spent your entire speech thanking people, which is something you’re always doing with fans on social media. Now that you’ve got the Globe, when are you going to start acting untouchable?
When we’re a ratings hit. [laughs] I’m so grateful to fans. I owe my career to fans. It’s hurtful to be making a show that is critically acclaimed but, because we happen to be on a broadcast network, our ratings are under so much scrutiny. You know, it’s hurtful to go on TV By The Numbers and see “Likely To Be Canceled.” I know that’s based on numbers but, like, fuck off. That’s not how The CW makes us feel but when you’re on a network, the ratings are so important. So anyone I meet who says, “I love your show,” I’m like, “Oh my gosh! Thank you!” I get starstruck when I meet fans.
I’m checking those same sites with my fingers crossed…
Here’s the thing: I think this Globe win means our second season. I’d be shocked if we didn’t get a second season.
There’s a huge conversation about diversity and feminism around your show, especially with Josh being Filipino-American. Watching it, though, it just feels real. How much of the conversation around diversity on television is actually about representing…
… things as they are? Josh Chan [Rodriguez III] was always going to be an Asian bro. Always. The reason we picked that wasn’t because “Oh, Asians need to be represented more on TV! How do we help that?” That was a plus! We were thinking “What hasn’t been done before? What’s a new story we can tell? What’s a new type of character?” We’ve seen the Bro. We haven’t seen an Asian Bro.
I really think diversity is simultaneous with telling new stories because, I don’t know, “White People Hanging Out in a Coffee Shop” has been done. Diversity is just more artistically interesting to me because you’re in new territory and the whole purpose of making art, in my head, is to explore topics that haven’t been explored.
I have never seen a show that took place in Southern California and portrayed people the way it is in Southern California. The prom king in my high school was Chinese and the prom queen was Japanese. We just didn’t think about it. It was like, “Oh, yeah, George and Mika? They’re the prom king and queen.” It wasn’t until I realized that every other show is set in some nebulous town on the East Coast or Midwest where everyone is white and Protestant… How boring is that? And that’s not truth. That’s not my truth.
I remember as a kid living in Southern California and every TV show was set in that typical East Coast high school. And I remember seeing a high school near me that looked like that and thinking, “Oh, a real high school!” That’s not feeling marginalized. Now, if I thought about the way my school looked, imagine being a Filipino person who’s like “I’m not a real American because I’m not on TV.” We’re a nation of immigrants. That’s what being an American is.
One of the diverse stories you’re telling is about your character’s struggles with mental illness, which seems like a difficult topic for a comedy to approach…
…which is so funny because every comedian I know is on antidepressants and has a very dark sense of humor. It always takes a while, I think, for TV and film to catch up with what’s already being done in the alternative comedy world. Every friend I know, we all have dark senses of humor about our depression, our anxiety, our family issues. I guess what’s groundbreaking is doing it on network television. But to me, I’ve been joking with my friends about this shit for years. And I think that what it is [new] is truth and it’s honesty and it’s not labeling it as an Other.
It makes for tricky viewing, though, because you want Rebecca to grow as a person but if you relate to her, you also want her to get what she wants, even when it’s not right for her.
It’s funny you say that because it’s the struggle that we have. Look, ultimately, when Rebecca’s cured as a person, the show’s over. The show’s about someone in crisis and if she’s learning, she’s learning very slowly. And if we get a second season she’ll be learning veeeeery slowly, if at all. So it’s that struggle between happiness that can last versus happiness that can go away.
You share initials with Rebecca Bunch. How much of the character is you?
Her life is, on the surface, very different from mine. I would say that it’s emotionally autobiographical, like 70 percent. As far as the actual details of her life: 20 percent. It’s like me if I never pursued theater or art—I’d be miserable.Researchers from Yale University announced last week in the journal Cell their discovery that stem cells from adipose (fat) tissue may be used to stimulate hair follicles as a way to cure adrogenetic alopecia (baldness) in men. While the scientists are searching for cellular signals that are awakening dormant hair follicles, what are the signals that the average Joe can look for to tell him if he may be going bald before there is significant hair loss? According to dermatological research, there is a simple 60-second test men can do on a monthly basis to keep tabs on their hair’s health.
Hair Follicle Life Cycle
At any point in time, approximately 90% of the hair on your head is in its growth phase. The life cycle of a hair follicle consists of three phases. The first phase—called Anagen—is the time of active hair growth, which lasts between 2-6 years. The second phase—called Catragen—is a transitional phase and lasts 2-3 weeks. The third and final phase—called Telogen—is a resting phase that lasts about 2-3 months and is when the hair follicle is shed and replaced by a new growing hair follicle, starting a new cycle of hair growth.
Old Hair Loss Standard
The old standard for monitoring hair loss was that normal hair loss amounted to approximately 100 hairs per day. This was based on a theoretical assumption that the average scalp contains 100,000 hairs, of which 10% are in the telogen phase. That puts 10,000 telogen phase hairs on your head, of which another 10% have reached their roughly 100-day life span and are ready to be shed. This then translates to approximately 100 hairs being shed per day.
However, according to Carina Wasko, MD a researcher at the Department of Dermatology, Baylor College of Medicine, the 100 hairs/day estimate is too large. In a study using sixty healthy, non-balding male subjects with one-half aged 20-40 and a second-half aged 41-60, she and her colleagues devised a research study where the participants would carefully collect lost hair follicles under identical conditions. What they found was that on average only about 10 hairs are lost per day in a normal, healthy male regardless of whether they were young or middle aged. A repeat of the test 6 months later resulted in nearly identical results.
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Based on the success and accuracy of their testing method, the authors of the published study suggest that men concerned about hair loss should make a monthly self-assessment and take the results to their dermatologist should the patient ever undergo acute telogen effluvium (rapid hair loss) and need medical diagnosis.
The 60-Second Hair Test consists of the 4 following steps:
1. Before shampooing, comb your hair starting with the comb at the back top of the head and comb forward to the front of the scalp while leaning over a bed sheet of contrasting color.
2. Count the number of hairs on the comb and the bed sheet and record the results.
3. Repeat the procedure for three consecutive days before shampooing each day.
4. Repeat the entire process on a monthly basis and take the results to your dermatologist for review.
The study is available free online at ama-assn.org.
Source: Standardizing the 60-Second Hair Count Arch Dermatol, Jun 2008; 144: 759 - 762.
Image credit: morguefileHealth Canada is clarifying its rules for licensed medical marijuana producers to allow them to produce and sell cannabis oil, as well as fresh buds and leaves, following a Supreme Court decision that lets patients use pot derivatives.
Health Minister Rona Ambrose had initially said she was outraged by the Supreme Court of Canada decision, which lets patients consume marijuana, not just smoke it. The government had tried to limit medical pot use to dried marijuana only.
But the ruling left a grey area with producers being limited under the law to selling dried forms of marijuana even though patients were allowed to consume other forms.
In a statement Wednesday, Health Canada said the new interpretation was effective immediately and intended to eliminate uncertainty.
Producers are not allowed to sell plant material that could be used to grow pot, the statement said. It also reiterated that compassion clubs and dispensaries are illegal.
'Dragged kicking and screaming'
Ambrose said her department was meeting "the requirements dictated by the Supreme Court of Canada."
"Health Canada is doing so in a manner that respects the rule of law, protects public health and public safety, and reflects the serious health risks with marijuana, especially for youth," Ambrose said in a statement released by her office.
"Canadian courts have once again required government to allow access to marijuana when authorized by a physician.... Marijuana is neither an approved drug nor medicine in Canada and Health Canada does not endorse its use."
Ambrose's statement makes three separate references to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who has called for marijuana to be legalized and regulated. The Conservatives frequently attack Trudeau's position on marijuana, alleging he would make it easier for teens to get pot.
Kirk Tousaw, the lawyer who represented the respondent in the Supreme Court case, said he was surprised Health Canada is taking small steps to progress, but noted the federal department had to be "dragged kicking and screaming" by the court.
Tousaw said he's concerned the licensed producers still aren't allowed to sell products other than oil and fresh bud and leaves — for example, it remains illegal for them to sell brownies, tea or other products that are now legal for medical marijuana patients to consume.
A number of producers hailed the move, saying they were pleased they could serve patients.Medical researchers in the US have weaponized a mutated form of the Zika virus in the hopes of defeating a common, tenacious and highly aggressive form of brain cancer with some highly promising initial results.
“We showed that Zika virus can kill the kind of glioblastoma [brain cancer] cells that tend to be resistant to current treatments and lead to death,” said Michael S. Diamond, Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and the study’s co-senior author.
Glioblastoma is the most common form of brain cancer and is both highly lethal and highly resistant to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy treatments, with a median survival rate of less than two years following diagnosis. Its self-regenerating cells that spread out from the initial site of the tumor are what make it so hard to kill.
In a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine on Tuesday, the joint team from Washington University School of Medicine and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine unveiled its results from tests conducted on adult mice and donated adult human brain cells in the laboratory.
In the tests, conducted on adult mice, the modified Zika virus preferentially infected and killed the cancer stem cells as opposed to the other cells within the tumor or the healthy cells within the test subjects’ brains, unlike the West Nile virus, which is indiscriminate in which cells it attacks.
The weaponized Zika and a saltwater placebo were injected into 18 and 15 mice respectively. The tumors in the Zika-infected mice shrank dramatically and they survived "significantly longer than the ones given saltwater."
Bringing #Zika back: Florida's 1st sexual transmission of virus in 2017 https://t.co/JJyuwhKxDE — RT America (@RT_America) August 2, 2017
While the Zika virus is incredibly damaging to infants in the womb, leading to microcephaly and other brain malformations in some babies, its effects on adult humans are generally far less severe, with cases of meningoencephalitis rare.
Infant brains have far more stem cells, specifically neuroprogenitor cells, than adult brains, which may explain why the treatment is so promising for adult cancer patients.
Approximately 12,000 people are diagnosed with glioblastoma in the US each year, reports the Washington University of Medicine in St. Louis, among them is US Senator John McCain, who was diagnosed in July.
“We’re going to introduce additional mutations to sensitize the virus even more to the innate immune response and prevent the infection from spreading,” Diamond, a professor of molecular microbiology, added.
“Once we add a few more changes, I think it’s going to be impossible for the virus to overcome them and cause disease.”
A controlled infection with a modified version of Zika in combination with chemotherapy-radiation could one day be used in tandem to defeat this particularly aggressive form of cancer.
“We see Zika one day being used in combination with current therapies to eradicate the whole tumor,” said co-author Milan Chheda, an assistant professor of medicine and neurology, as cited by The Washington University School of Medicine.One of the downsides of being special is that you feel out of place wherever you go. I don”t understand half the stuff people like and I suspect they don”t, either. Take cigars, for example:
1. CIGARS
You don”t like cigars, you like the idea of cigars. You like standing on the balcony with the other men after the dinner party and doing something a woman would never do in a million years, but you don”t actually enjoy that cigar hanging out of your mouth. If you did, you”d smoke them when you were alone in the woods, which you never do.
2. FANCY SCOTCH
Having a “Mc” in your last name means every birthday someone buys you a bottle of expensive whiskey. The problem is, whiskey tastes like gasoline. It’s especially bad when they take the extra time to let burnt peat moss smoke through it”then it tastes like gasoline that’s been sitting in an ashtray. I like bourbon because it’s sweet and tastes like cotton candy when you ice it. However, 99% of the reason we enjoy booze is because it gets us drunk. Let’s stop pretending we actually enjoy the taste. If we did, we”d drink nonalcoholic Maker’s Mark at breakfast.
“I watch about two hours of TV a night and I feel the same way about television that prostitutes feel about sex. It’s depressing.”
3. SPORTS
I”m told these games are much more complex than they seem. “It’s like chess,” sports fans always tell me. But all I see is a bunch of transient millionaires playing a game outside. What’s so fun about watching someone else play? What are we”gimps? I guess I understand that watching sports all Sunday is a way to bond with a dad who isn”t great at talking with his kids, but that seems to be the only redeeming thing about it. I didn”t grow up with sports so I see them for what they are: boring. I once spent a day researching the rules to football and learning about the teams involved in a Super Bowl game, and after trying to enjoy the 11 minutes of action a three-hour game provides I stood up and said, “That’s it. I gave it a chance and I can now say, unequivocally, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this sucks.” Besides, don”t you feel kind of queer talking about all these men and their injuries? Oooh, Rodney Jackson sprained his ankle. Let’s read an article about his legs. Sports aren”t chess, they”re gossip for men.
4. LIVE MUSIC
Going to punk shows was fun when I was a kid because we”d jump off the stage and get all our aggression out in the pit. Now it’s just loud. Going to a huge stadium to see your favorite band means watching tiny ants play their hits far worse than you”re used to hearing them at home. That goes double for a small venue. Why did you five dumb guys climb onstage and turn my bar into a practice space? Nobody wants you here. We came here to have a conversation and now we”re just waiting for you to stop so we can go back to it. Oh, thank God, you”re taking off your guitar. Oh, Jesus no, he just said, “We”ll be right back.” They oughta call it “leave” music.
5. THE ROOMBA
My wife convinced me to buy this $400 robotic vacuum cleaner and it’s been sitting in its charger dock ever since. I hate this thing for at least three reasons beyond the insane retail price: 1. It’s so loud, you can”t be at home when it’s doing its thing, which means you have to set it up when you leave and hope it doesn”t get stuck. 2. It always gets stuck, so you end up putting chairs on tables to keep them out of its way, which is about 90% of the job of sweeping. 3. Sweeping hardwood floors takes about five minutes no matter the size of your house. Vacuuming a carpet takes the same amount of time. A Roomba can do it automatically if you clear a space and leave it unfettered for an entire day. Thanks. Let’s invent a robot that can put your socks on for you in under three hours and an automatic lawn mower that takes all summer.
Pay to Play - Put your money where your mouth is and subscribe for an ad-free experience and to join the world famous Takimag comment board.Mobile operators are to blame for the UK’s current lack of a 4G network, according to Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries.
But he told the audience of media big-wigs and pocket-lint at The Future of Entertainment summit in London: “The 4G spectrum is on track for the end of the year,” as he outlined the issues Ofcom has had to address.
Despite what Pocket-lint has heard in the past from Everything Everywhere, Vaizey claimed the legal threats from the mobile service providers as the main reason so far for Ofcom’s hold up in the licensing process for the next-generation infrastructure.
“Just about every mobile service provider has threatened to sue Ofcom if they get it wrong. If you want to look at the delay, don’t look at Ofcom, don’t look at the government, ask your mobile service provider.”
In May the operator, a joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile, told Pocket-lint that it was extremely confident Ofcom would not stand in its way in rolling out 4G before rival operators, despite objections it could lead to a monopoly of the market.
“I would personally find it very strange for our government to stand up and say, no you can’t have the next generation of mobile broadband, when they have been championing the rollout for years,” argued David Salam, head of Network Strategy and Architecture at Everything Everywhere.
We have asked for comment from Vodafone, Everything Everywhere, and O2 on the comments from the Culture Minister.
UPDATE Everything Everywhere has got in touch with Pocket-lint and given the following response:
“Everything Everywhere has no appetite for delaying the spectrum auction, nor any appetite for litigation against Ofcom. We haven’t threatened Ofcom with litigation at any stage in this auction process.
"We strongly believe that we need 4G in Britain as soon as possible, as the UK is already behind 38 other countries with a commercial LTE roll out.
"Everything Everywhere is investing and innovating to bring 4G to the UK as soon as possible, and has requested permission from Ofcom to launch 4G on a small scale this year, using its existing 1800Mhz spectrum.”
- O2 and Vodafone join forces in preparation for 4G roll-out
- What is 4G?In this article we will continue our discussion of authentication and how it helps in securing web applications. You will probably recall from the last article that I mentioned the existence of two methods of authentication and discussed the first one, which is through an HTML form. In this article, the fifth one in an eight-part series, we’ll start with the second method of authentication. We’ll also discuss how attackers may gain access to your system.
More on Authentication
The second method of authentication is called HTTP Authentication. It presents the user with a dialog or password box that requires a username and password to gain access. Some of the benefits of HTTP authentication include:
Very little PHP code required.
The entered username and password are remembered without the need to use PHP to send cookies or establish sessions.
A clean interface that will not interfere with your page design.
I’m also going to give you a list of some of the bad things about HTTP authentication, which may explain why it is not used as much as the method I described in the previous article.
Limited usability
Does not allow you to establish user groups or specify access levels
Does not allow you to set access levels
Authentication: Security Vulnerabilities
A primary cause of access control vulnerabilities is not paying attention to the sections of a web application that are used the least. Administrative features and access control are often an afterthought, and they are written with an authorized user in mind, without considering what an attacker might try to do. We are all guilty of this. An authorized user is trusted more than an anonymous user, but if your administrative features are available via a public URL, they are an inviting target to an attacker. In these cases, negligence is your primary foe.
As with security, access control needs to be integrated into your design. It is not something to be bolted onto an existing application. Although possible, this approach is very error-prone, and errors in your access control are necessarily security vulnerabilities.
So how are these vulnerabilities exploited? There are two very common attacks that are used:
Password Sniffing
Brute force
{mospagebreak title=Password Sniffing}
Although not specific to access control, when an attacker can sniff traffic between your users and your application, being mindful of data exposure becomes increasingly important, particularly regarding authentication credentials. To sniff out a password, an attacker would use a password sniffer to watch traffic between two or more computers. There is a lot of free password sniffer software available on the Internet that will do the job just fine. This is made particularly easy by developers who use plain text when authenticating their users.
So how do you protect your applications from password sniffing?
You do it by using some form of encryption, which will make it difficult for attackers to read passwords. So, using SSL is an effective way to protect the contents of both HTTP requests and their corresponding responses from exposure. Any request for a resource that uses the https scheme is protected against password sniffing. It is a best practice to always use SSL for sending authentication credentials, and you might consider also using SSL for all requests that contain a session identifier, because this helps protect your users against session hijacking.
To protect a user’s authentication credentials from exposure, use an https scheme for the URL in the form’s action attribute as follows:
<form action="https://localhost/login.php" method="POST">
<p>Username: <input type="text" name="username" /></p>
<p>Password: <input type="password" name="password" /></p>
<p><input type="submit" /></p>
</form>
Although this is all that is required to protect a user’s authentication credentials from exposure, you should also protect the HTML form itself with SSL. There is no technical reason to do so, but users feel more comfortable providing authentication credentials when they see that the form is protected with SSL.
{mospagebreak title=Brute Force}
What is a brute force attack? A brute force attack is an attack in which all available options are exhausted with no intelligence regarding which options are more likely. In other words, the attacker tries to enter your site while not knowing what kind of security measures you have in place or even what username or password you are using, so he or she tries anything and everything. This is more commonly known as an enumeration attack; the attack enumerates through all possibilities.
In terms of access control, brute force attacks typically involve an attacker trying to log in with a very large number of attempts. In most cases, known valid usernames are used, and the password is the only thing being guessed. This can go on and on until the attacker gets to the right password for a particular user name. Of course, the most obvious way to stop this kind of attack is to limit the number of times a user can try to log on or to limit the number of failures at login, but it would be even better to distinguish between a legitimate user and a attacker.
A typical login form would look something like this:
<form action="http://localhost/login.php" method="POST">
<p>Username: <input type="text" name="username" /></p>
<p>Password: <input type="password" name="password" /></p>
<p><input type="submit" /></p>
</form>
What this form would do when submitted, would be to send two very important pieces of information over to the login script (http://localhost/login.php), the username and password. We already discussed |
as some have converted apartments and houses into illegal Airbnb hotels?
Samuelson doesn't say how well the tests are going, or provide a timetable for when you could see Electrolux offer a public-facing service. However, it wouldn't be surprising if the company goes forward once it addresses key issues. Electrolux and other appliance makers aren't exactly seeing a surge of demand, and a sharing option might spark interest. After all, you might be more likely to buy a pricey washer/dryer combo if you know that it won't cost you that much in the long run.Teenager jailed for refusing to give police his computer password
Refusal: Oliver Drage was jailed for four months for keeping his password from police investigating child sex exploitation
A teenage takeaway worker has been jailed for four months for refusing to give child protection police the password to his computer.
Oliver Drage was originally arrested in May last year by a team of officers from Blackpool tackling child sexual exploitation.
The 19-year-old's computer was seized but officers could not access material stored on it as it was protected by a sophisticated 50-character encryption password.
Drage, who worked in a fast food shop, was then formally requested to disclose the password, but failed to do so.
He was convicted after a trial last month of failing to disclose an encryption key, an offence covered by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
Yesterday at Preston Crown Court Drage, of Freckleton, Lancs., was sentenced to 16 weeks in a Young Offenders Institution.
Detective Sergeant Neil Fowler, of Lancashire Police, said: 'Drage was previously of good character so the immediate custodial sentence handed down by the judge in this case shows just how seriously the courts take this kind of offence.
'Computer systems are constantly advancing and the legislation used here was specifically brought in to deal with those who are using the internet to commit crime.
'It sends a robust message out to those intent on trying to mask their online criminal activities that they will be taken before the courts with the ultimate sanction, as in this case, being a custodial sentence.'
Police are still trying to crack the code on Drage's computer to find out its contents 17 months after they seized it.
A judge at Preston Crown Court was told Drage was originally arrested in May 2009 after police acting on a tip off during a probe into child exploitation searched his bedroom and suspected he had illegal material on his computer.
He later pleaded not guilty to the offence but at a trial last month a jury took less than 15 minutes to convict him.
'Police are still trying to crack the code on Drage's computer to find out its contents 17 months after they seized it'
The anti encryption laws were drawn up originally in 2006 after senior police officers warned ministers that their investigations into serious crime were being thwarted by safety technology, which conceals data held on computers.
They said terrorists and paedophiles were using devices available on the internet for as little as £20 to keep data on their computers hidden from the authorities.
In 2008 the then Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told the House of Commons the legal provisions for withholding passwords and encryption keys to hard drives came into force on 1 October 2007 and eight notices have been served on PC users - four of which had resulted in prosecutions all relating to terrorism activity.
Last year the first person jailed for not giving police access to encrypted material, was a 33-year old businessman known only as JFL.
He was not judged to be a threat to national security, and the encrypted material in question was not suspected of securing illegal material.
The man who ran a software company in London told a judge he was refusing to disclose the code on principle, on the basis that he should have a right to silence but was jailed for 13 months for refusing to hand over his decryption keys.BOSTON -- Acting manager Torey Lovullo shaved his head to support manager John Farrell who is undergoing chemotherapy for Stage 1 lymphoma.
"I saw him yesterday," Lovullo said. "He had a long day of treatment and he was a little bit tired. He was here and I said goodbye to him before the game started. I just caught word that he got here (today) as I was coming up (to speak with the media). So as a sign of support, I went and did the same thing he did."
Lovullo lifted his Red Sox cap and showed that his head was shaved.
"You'll see him -- he doesn't have much hair right now," Lovullo said. "It's all an adjustment for us. But I made a commitment to him when he told me he was going to go through this process that I'd shave my head when he got to that point. And yesterday was that point. But he's doing good."
Farrell and Lovullo have been very good friends for a long time.
Lovullo, Farrell and Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis all played together on the 1993 California Angels.
Lovullo also was on Farrell's coaching staff in Toronto.
Follow Christopher Smith on Twitter @SmittyOnMLBTweet
H. P. Lovecraft was not the first writer to explore the darkest depths of Horror or Gothic literature, but he understood certain aspects of the imagination that few are willing to acknowledge.
Although tales of the Cthulhu Mythos have gained a substantial following over the years, not all of his writing has been met with the same success. His greatest work, “The Colour Out of Space” is often neglected.
On the surface, the story describes a malevolent alien presence that invades Earth via a small farm in Massachusetts owned by the Gardner family told to the narrator by a witness many years later.
Unseen except for other-worldly colors existing beyond human comprehension, the presence drains the life out of the lonely farm and its inhabitants before seemingly returning to space. It is a dark and brooding story that turns every aspect of nature on its head. However, Lovecraft’s tale is about the imagination and literature as a whole, especially the darker aspects.
Imagination Gone Dark
Throughout Lovecraft’s story, the narrator repeatedly discusses the the use of “imagination.” The imagination is a mental faculty unique to humanity. It is a strength of the mind that allows us to rewrite the natural world and determine a new way to approach life.
The great Samuel Coleridge, in Chapter 13 of Biographia Literaria, explains how the imagination operates:
The Imagination then I consider either as primary, or secondary. The primary Imagination I hold to be the living Power and prime Agent of all human Perception, and as a repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of creation in the infinite I Am. The secondary I consider as an echo of the former, co-existing with the conscious will, yet still as identical with the primary in the kind of its agency, and differing only in degree, and in the mode of its operation. It dissolves, diffuses, dissipates, in order to re-create; or where this process is rendered impossible, yet still at all events it struggles to idealize and to unify. It is essentially vital, even as all objects (as objects) are essentially fixed and dead.
This connection to the infinite, to the creator, is an important aspect of Lovecraft’s use of the term. But the imagination is not properly wielded or controlled by most people, as Coleridge explains in Chapter 17:
The best part of human language, properly so called, is derived from reflection on the acts of the mind itself. It is formed by a voluntary appropriation of fixed symbols to internal acts, to processes and results of imagination, the greater part of which have no place in the consciousness of uneducated man; though in civilized society, by imitation and passive remembrance of what they hear from their religious instructors and other superiors, the most uneducated share in the harvest which they neither sowed nor reaped.
It takes a strong mind to understand the proper use of the imagination, and weak minds can only parrot the words of others. Lovecraft’s Arkham, Massachusetts is a place that preys on the weak minds, and the narrator begins his story with a warning: “The place is not good for imagination, and does not bring restful dreams at night.”
There is something that the human mind cannot, or should not, attempt to grasp. It is a fragile, delicate thing, and there is no “educated man” before it.
There are only secrets, and those secrets should not be approached: “And the secrets of the strange days will be one with the deep’s secrets; one with the hidden lore of old ocean, and all the mystery of primal earth.”
The imagination allows one to connect to the divine, but the divine within Lovecraft’s world is something dark and ominous. Ammi Pierce, who relates the dark events that occurred at the Gardner farm years before, was left maddened by his experience.
His mind was ruined, and his ability to understand the world was destroyed. He was transformed into a state similar to Coleridge’s uneducated man: “Often I had to recall the speaker from ramblings, piece out scientific points which he knew only by a fading parrot memory of professors’ talk, or bridge over gaps, where his sense of logic and continuity broke down.”
The power of the imagination is reversed: instead of aiding the educated to understand complex ideas, allowing them to approach a higher level of thought, the imagination revolts against humanity and destroys the mind.
Even a secondary experience of the events causes distress, as the narrator admits, ” When he was done I did not wonder that his mind had snapped a trifle, or that the folk of Arkham would not speak much of the blasted heath. I hurried back before sunset to my hotel, unwilling to have the stars come out above me in the open.”
Dark Fruits
The universe is a dark place, and the narrator wishes that clouds could serve as a buffer to hide him from it. This is a child-like approach, clouds serving as a metaphorical blanket to hide one from ghosts or demons. But nothing can hide one from the malevolence. The imagination turned against humanity, and there was no going back.
As a metaphor, it lacks a direct object for the darkening of the imagination. Is Lovecraft criticizing some cheap debasement of the mind caused by popular entertainment? Or is he taking on how horror writers pervert and ruin the imagination through their writing? Are religion or the occult the object of his derision? Or is there no metaphor, and Lovecraft is just explaining that the imagination was always a dark force? There are no answers, and Lovecraft sought only to raise the questions.
Without answers, our horror at the various possibilities is compounded, allowing our imagination as readers to turn on us. We are pulled into Lovecraft’s reality, and we are forced to share in its eternal misery.
Although most writers and poets have been described as dreamers, there were those, like John Keats, who warned about imagination run wild. Dreams can take one from reality and steal away the soul, and there are many similarities between the destruction caused by Lovecraft’s unknown monster and Keats’s seductive Lamia.
After the meteor containing the creature arrived, it dissipated and infected all of the surrounding land. It altered reality, growing things rapidly but wrongly. The “fruits” of this action are both literal and metaphorical:
Then fell the time of fruit and harvest. The pears and apples slowly ripened, and Nahum vowed that his orchards were prospering as never before. The fruit was growing to phenomenal size and unwonted gloss, and in such abundance that extra barrels were ordered to handle the future crop. But with the ripening came sore disappointment, for of all that gorgeous array of specious lusciousness not one single jot was fit to eat.
The dark imagination offers a lot at first glance, with its fullness and seductive qualities. It appears to be great, prosperous, and exactly what any farmer would desire, but it is unable to satisfy. However, the unnatural dream is unable to satisfy natural desire, denying the essential sustenance of life.
It is after this moment that a dream seemed to settle on the land and on the minds of the family: “The entire Gardner family developed the habit of stealthy listening, though not for any sound which they could consciously name. The listening was, indeed, rather a product of moments when consciousness seemed half to slip away.”
They are trapped, unable to live and unable to escape. Although the story does not end at this moment, the lives of the Gardner family do.
Everything from this point of the story builds to the ultimate horrific reveal, but we, the readers, already know that the Gardner family is lost. We are in denial at this point, unwilling to admit what is lurking at the back of our conscious thought.
The End of Sanity
Just as the colors were beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend, so too are the horrors that exist within the universe.
It is a truth too dark for us to handle, and we are left with a vital question: what if the universe is uncaring, and what if our very imagination, so fundamental to our humanity, is only a conduit for malevolent forces to destroy us?
The cattle and vegetation at the farm is merely warped and consumed, drained of their essence. The family, however, is driven mad. They begin to see what does not exist, and it is uncertain where reality, horrific pseudo-reality, and insanity differ.
But what if there is no difference between reality and insanity? What if reality is insanity, and the insane are those who have not yet realized the truth?
Lovecraft always refuses to answer his questions because there are no easy answers. We are led down that dark path and abandoned, left, if possible, to find our own way back.Priorities USA, the main outside group supporting the Democratic presidential nominee, has been hammering Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, through a TV campaign in battleground states that should far exceed $100 million by November. It raised $12 million in June.
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The group has also put more than $35 million into digital advertising, a significant and growing amount of which is aimed at motivating Hispanic voters — a group that overwhelmingly opposes Trump.
In a statement released Saturday, Justin Barasky, Priorities USA's communications director, said the group had now banked $110 million in donations and secured an additional $44 million in "commitments" from its donors.
Some of the super-PAC's biggest donors include hedge fund billionaire George Soros and California-based entertainment mogul Haim Saban.
Priorities USA finished July with $38.7 million on hand — money that will be used to continue the group's strategy of portraying Trump as temperamentally unfit to be president and hammering the GOP nominee over his rhetoric about women, minorities and people with disabilities.by Mark Bibbins, Editor
Letter to My Future Child
The way you don’t exist is remarkable
When I have been hotwired, cobbled from
Spongy tubes specifically to birth. At least to bud
Would be preferable, shedding a child
Like petals drooping from a center.
I apologize profusely to you,
But I am content in my selfishness and
My love of this girl I’ve created.
Today I watched the bees graze,
The perfect mix of threat and song and binge,
And I felt I, too, could bob and maneuver.
I guess they reminded me of you:
Your toddling bumble, your absent suckle,
Your mere addition to the swarm.
You would be a plump grub in honeysuckle
Were you to be anything, but you will not
Be. This is something I’ve decided.
There is only so much life to go around; I’ll take
Two rations. The petal and the pistil.
And, hey, the calyx. The ability to share is mythic,
Like you, and who needs another creature,
Another sea monster? I already have the
Swooping vertebrae of my back, I have my bones
Diving above and below my skin
Filled with just the right amount of people:
One. How could I bring a child into this world
When I want it all to myself?
Life is that right and full of love, flowers, et al.
I’m sorry for me, sure. But most of all, Little Bee,
I am sorry for you.
Thursday, September 3, 1987, 9:37 a.m., 9:39 a.m.
In the two minutes before my life begins you are
An empty head, the floppy torso of the domesticated dog-
Feral years absorbed in fetal breeding, the liquid piebald birthcoat,
Chutney blush of autumn. Marigold, pumpkin, cabbage.
Now a distal sister, newly minted, scallion-smooth.
They pluck us apart and place us a duel’s-length away:
Twenty paces of feet frozen in pomegranate arabesque
And eschewing approximate numerically correct toes.
The lactating bed, the barking tongs — my thoughts are still
Color and string, an espadrille, but I recognize
The solemnity of the occasion and cry. We shared our pooled blood
For eight months, we punted plump sprees, we planned glottal blots,
We kicked in semaphore, floating like canned beets.
Now twenty paces and two minutes away, I fumble for
My dual twin who stood with me in that chromosomal toffee
Then watched as I followed him as his slippery encore.
On my first birthday I was the center of the world, on my
First birthday he was the circumference a radius of two minutes
Away at all points, our flat circle heaved into
The mulling world for twenty-two years now.
Doubtless double, you are a scrawny apostle, you
Saw the world in its raw shimmer for two strange minutes,
You were whispered the world in those singular two minutes, you
Are pulling me two minutes ahead into the multidirectional light.
Megan Amram is a recent graduate of Harvard University and comedy writer living in Los Angeles.
The rest of the poems are right here, in The Poetry Section’s archives.. You may contact the editor at poems@theawl.com.Cornell Hospital ity Report • December 2015 • www.chr.cornell.edu • V olume 15, No. 22 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
T
he U.S. restaurant industry has consistently opposed increases in the regular an d tipped minimum
wages on the g rounds that such increases would require restaurants to reduce staffing, raise prices
to offset reduced revenue, or both. Either reaction is thought to reduce customer satisfaction and
demand, along with restaurant profitability and even survival. To the contrary, however, the results
of this study confirm previous findings, namely, that the relatively modest mandated increases in employees’
regular and tipped minimum wages in the past twenty years have not had large or reliable effects on the
number of restaurant establishments or restaurant industry employment levels, although those increases hav e
raised restaurant industry wages overall. Even when restaurants have raised prices in response to wage
increases, those price increases do not appear to have decrease d demand or profitability enough to sizably or
reliably decrease either the number of restaurant establishments or the number of their employe es. Although
minimum wage increases almost certainly necessitate changes in restaurant prices or operations, those
changes do not appear to dramatically affect overall demand or industry size. Furthermore, there is strong
evidence that increases in the minimum wage reduce turnover, and good reason to believe that it may increase
employe e productivity as well. While prospective large increases in minimum wage mandates may have more
noticeable effects, the evidence suggests that the restaurant industry should accept reasonable, modest
increases in the minimum wage.For the second year in a row, we asked you, the readers of Consumerist to nominate and vote on the worst ads airing on American TVs. And after more than 115,000 votes, you have made it quite clear which commercial deserves the dishonor of being labeled the Absolute Worst Ad In America — Luvs Diapers’ “Poop, There It Is!”
The ad, which features an animated baby talent show where the only talent being judged is just how much fecal matter each of the three grunting tots can dump into their diapers, earned slightly more than 32% of the vote, beating out the AT&T ad (23.98%) in which a man’s wife decides to unload what appears to be decades of pent-up anger after he tells her he signed the family up for some sort of unlimited texting plan.
Perhaps that AT&T ad would have gotten more votes had it not been up against another AT&T spot, one starring a screaming arachnophobe who also seems to have trouble discerning a photo of a spider from the real thing. That spot finished in fourth place with 14.32% of the vote, just behind the Summer’s Eve ad (17.5%) that aims to equate female empowerment with douche.
In spite of being obnoxious, loud and too-frequently aired, Geico’s “Using Smartphones for Dumb Things” ad managed to only earn 11.97% of the vote to be the least-reviled of this categorie’s nominees.
THE OTHER WINNERS
Most Grating Performance By a Human
When we first asked for nominations this year, a number of readers told us they hoped this was finally the year that Progressive’s Flo would be recognized for her truly terrifying perkiness. But the eternally peppy insurance shill still has her defenders, meaning it was AT&T’s sad-sack wannabe flash mob dancer whose 32.45% earned the Death Star its one win out of three nominations this year.
Flo did trail very closely with 29.81% of the vote. Following a distant third with 21.2% was Metamucil’s unblinking, many-armed, multitasking exercise-biker. However, the actress in that commercial would eventually get her due when we tallied the votes in the next category…
Group That Ought To Go Its Separate Ways
You may not have been irritated enough by the woman in the Metamucil ads to single her out, but her and her banter-heavy cohorts in the Esurance office were just too much for 32.41% of voters. Sizzap!
The race for second and third in this category was literally a battle of the sexes. The gal pals who can’t stop raving about how the Trojan Triphoria apparently gives them troll-doll hair edged out the Miller Lite manly men who think that you’re not manly if you’re not drinking a light beer out of a bottle with a fancy, swirly neck.
Trend That Needs To Stop Being A Trend
This was definitely the closest race of all the categories, with just an eyelash hair over 2% separating the top three finishers.
But in the end, enough of you (29.24%) decided that ads featuring men who can barely tolerate the women in their lives — like the Klondike spot where a sweaty mess of a man is rewarded for (heaven forbid!) listening to his wife for 5 seconds — really need to stop being so commonplace.
Following an incredibly close second (28.91%) was the trend of playing candid-camera tricks on unsuspecting customers — like the Ford ads where Ford owners are suddenly ushered into a “press conference” full of people dressed like reporters who all want to get the inside scoop on how wonderful Fords are. Journalism!
And then there are the Old Spice ad rip-offs with dulcet-toned, deep-voiced pitch men who ramble on about absolute nonsense like blowing bubbles with kittens inside them. Considering that voting against this trend still scored 27.17% of the vote, we’re going to say that it’s pretty clear that Consumerist readers think all three of these trends need to grind to a halt post-haste.
Most Irritating Animated Actor
In spite of his appeal to Consumerist readers for votes, Blue Tax’s squeaky-voiced, computer-generated spokesperson Max wasn’t even able to crack the top two in this category.
Those slots went to the CarFax CarFox — the winner, with 32.52% — and another early frontrunner that eventually fell to second place, that latest avian newcomer to the AFLAC ad campaign, the rapping “major medical” pigeon (29.42%)
Worst Abuse Of An Existing Song
Two of the most decisive “victories” in this year’s voting came in the two song-related categories.
First, with 42.56% of the vote, Swiffer’s repeated use of Heart’s “What About Love” easily beat out all the other tunes in its category, including Old Navy’s rewrite of “Sister Christian,” which we considered to be an odds-on favorite given the sheer number of readers who nominated it.
Original Jingle That Should Be Junked
Meanwhile, Arby’s “Good Mood Food” jingle didn’t just put people in a bad mood, it had them rushing to change the channel. Its 45.8% was more than double the runner-up in this category.
Celebrity Who Could Probably Use A New Manager
Last year, the tag team of Hulk Hogan and Troy Aikman was only able to score a third-place finish for its Rent-A-Center spots, but the ads’ growing presence in the months since appears to have raised the level of dislike for this inexplicable twosome.
Their commercials for a store that effectively charges upward of 300% interest to customers handily defeated all comers with 44.24% of the vote.
Creepiest Commercial Of The Year
We here at Consumerist HQ had placed our bets (not really… gambling is bad) on Jello’s “Pudding Face” spots winning this category.
But we obviously didn’t factor in the WTF? factor surrounding the ads for a device none of us had heard of before (or at least none of us would admit to hearing of) — the Pos-T-Vac penis vacuum, which… well, the name is both very descriptive and still somewhat mysterious. Thus, the Pudding Face family will be forced to grin their horrifying grins while they accept a nonexistent runner-up prize.
____________________________
So that’s it for the 2011 Worst Ad In America awards. While we have no expectations that the number of bad ads on TV will decrease between now and next year’s nominees, we can at least hope for a different kind of awful.
FULL RESULTS:
Absolute Worst Ad In America
Most Grating Performance By a Human
Group That Ought To Go Its Separate Ways
Most Irritating Animated Actor
Worst Abuse Of An Existing Song
Original Jingle That Should Be Junked
Creepiest Commercial of the Year
Celebrity Who Could Probably Use A New Manager Right Now
Trend That Needs To Stop Being A TrendSeat has unveiled its most powerful model ever ahead of the Frankfurt Motor show. Behold: the Seat Leon Cupra R. You’re looking at 306bhp through the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox, or a lesser powered, 296bhp available with a DSG transmission.
Yup, it’s the car that leapfrogs the Cupra 300 in the power stakes; a car we recently found to be a “well-rounded hot hatch”, but lacking “panache in its delivery”. Perhaps the R can remedy that.
So, along with the additional few horses, the R also gets a few choice camber modifications on the front axle, along with adaptive suspension. There’s also a new exhaust system and the addition of Brembo brakes.
Carbon fibre makes an appearance, as you’d expect, with trinkets on the front and rear spoilers, side skirts and rear diffuser as well as copper wing mirrors and rims. Inside, the Cupra has also had the copper and carbon-fibre treatment, and a steering wheel specially upholstered in Alcantara, of which there are three colours to choose from; black, grey and the exclusive matte grey.
Seat is building just 799 of these limited edition Cupra Rs. We’ll get more performance stats following its unveil at next week’s Frankfurt Motor Show, but for now, why not tell us if this makes it onto your hot hatch shortlist…
Words: Callum Alexander(WSB photo from massive SFD response on January 26th)
Seven months ago, at a jobsite in West Seattle, 36-year-old Harold Felton became the first person killed in a trenching-related incident in our state in seven years. Today, the state Department of Labor and Industries announced it has cited the contractor for whom he was working, and is seeking $51,500 in fines. Here’s the announcement:
A Seattle contractor is facing more than $50,000 in fines for safety violations that led to the death of a construction worker last January. Harold Felton was killed when the dirt walls of the trench he was working in collapsed and buried him. Rescuers were unable to dig him out in time to save his life.
The state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has cited Alki Construction LLC for one willful violation, five serious and one general in connection with the incident last January. The fines total $51,500.
The company had dug trenches next to a Seattle home to replace a sewer line. The trench where the worker died was seven-feet deep and just under two-feet wide. There was no system in place to prevent all sides from caving in.
Excavation and trenching are among the most hazardous construction jobs. Cave-ins on these jobs kill two dozen or more workers each year in the U.S. One cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a car and dirt walls can collapse suddenly without any warning, burying the victims instantly.
Cave-ins are far from rare. On May 3 in Boise, Idaho, two workers were killed in a trench collapse while working on a sewer project. On May 5 in Portland, Ore., a worker was killed while installing a sewer line in an 11-foot trench. There have been similar incidents in other states this summer.
Employers must ensure that adequate protections are in place to prevent cave-ins, and workers should never enter an unprotected trench, even for a quick task.
Alki Construction was cited for a “willful” violation with a penalty of $35,000 for not ensuring that trenches and excavations four-feet deep or more had a protective system in place to prevent the dirt sides from caving in.
The company was also cited for five serious violations:
*Alki Construction did not have a formal accident prevention program tailored to the needs of the operation and the type of hazards involved in trenching and excavation work ($3,500).
*There was no ladder, ramp or other safe means of exiting the excavated trench ($3,500).
*Sidewalks and structures that were undermined were not supported to protect employees from possible collapse ($3,000).
*Excavated dirt and other materials were placed less than two feet from the edge of the unprotected trench, where they could fall into the trench where employees were working ($3,000).
*There were no daily inspections of the excavations to monitor changing soil conditions ($3,500).
One general violation was cited for not ensuring walk-around safety inspections were documented.
A willful violation is one where L&I finds evidence of plain indifference or an intentional disregard to a hazard or rule. A serious violation is one where there is a substantial probability that worker death or serious physical harm could result from a hazardous condition.
As a result of the violations, Alki Construction LLC has been identified as a severe violator and is subject to follow-up inspections to determine if the conditions still exist.
The employer has 15 working days to appeal. Penalty money paid in connection with a citation is placed in the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, helping workers and families of those who have died on the job.
Visit L&I’s Trenching & Excavation topic page to learn more about trenching safety.Nolé Marin (Mark Von Holden/Getty)
"It’s a shame that you have these young individuals who pursue this modeling career as a dream, and individuals like Mr. Marin turn it into a nightmare," lawyer for the plaintiffs Paul Liggieri said.
AIM's website describes it as a "boutique agency" run by "a refined team of well-seasoned, highly qualified agents." The suit paints a different picture, saying Marin operated the firm in part as "a ring to steal money and defraud his models and booking agents."
Allegedly owed the most is Devon White, who according to Liggieri signed an exclusive contract with AIM in late 2014, when he was 19, and went on to become an exclusive model for Yves Saint Laurent shortly thereafter. The suit says White worked 15 events for the high-end fashion line over the last year, including ad campaigns and fashion shows, "often going without sleep in order to perform his end of the contract," but Marin allegedly collected all the payments through the agency, only passing on occasional cash payments of "a few hundred dollars."
got to open the first @ysl show in LA with a fucking killer look. thanks Hedi. A photo posted by devon (@devoniswhite) on Feb 11, 2016 at 10:00am PST
White says that he turned down other work on the promise that he'd get his money and Marin would alter the payment setup, but that neither happened and he's now owed more than $38,000.
The suit claims Marin directed White and his coworkers' money from the company to himself "to sustain a lifestyle above and beyond his means, including through funding other modeling projects, paying off unrelated debt, [and] funding his personal vanity with dinners and trips."
White is pictured with Marin in the right of the photo below:
Few of my Awesome Guys! A photo posted by Nolé Marin / @AimModelsNYC (@nolemarin) on Jul 19, 2015 at 12:22am PDT
Now-former booking agent Darrin Judkins charges that Marin's paychecks to him began bouncing in January of last year, and bounced with increasing frequency starting in the summer. When he asked for his pay, Liggieri wrote that Judkins "was expected to meet Marin at inconvenient times and at inconvenient locations throughout New York City." When he tried to arrange meetings, "Marin was either nowhere to be found or offer fantastical excuses," such as being treated for gout, according to the court filing.
A second model, Lana Khanashevich, speaks Russian as a first language and "was not fluent in English" when she started taking work from Marin in early 2015. The suit says he "took advantage of" her and White's greenness, and that Khanashevich has racked up more than $3,000 in unpaid wages since then.
NYFW A photo posted by @lana.khanashevich on Feb 14, 2016 at 9:27pm PST
Citing an ongoing class action lawsuit by nine former models alleging widespread exploitation among modeling agencies, Liggieri said that the problems his clients allegedly faced are common, and that more disgruntled employees may yet come forward from Marin's firm.
"Agencies have to pay these individuals in a certain amount of time," he said. "Instead, we have submitted, the agency and Mr. Marin have kept the booking agent and the models hanging with little drips and drabs of payment, so much to keep them lured into the agency, but not enough for them to survive financially."
The suit asks for $1.5 million in damages, but Liggieri said the amount is really up to a jury.
Both White and Khanashevich remain under contract to AIM, Liggieri said. White is featured alongside 55 other male models on the company's site. Khanashevich does not appear among the 6 women.
In a cease-and-desist letter sent before this article was published, AIM called the allegations "a complete fabrication" and wrote "these individuals are aware of the falsities of their statements." The letter continued:
Any further harassment, threats, slander, or interference by you and/or the weblog Gothamist with Mr. Marin’s and AIM’s prospective business relations and economic interests will not be tolerated.
After listing Marin's accomplishments, the letter concludes that he and his agency "will be fully vindicated in this insubstantial matter."
Marin has held many roles in the fashion industry, working as a stylist, as a fashion director at ELLE magazine, and appearing as a judge on four seasons of Tyra Banks's fashion reality show. He also discovered male supermodel Sean O'Pry through prom photos on the then-teen's Myspace page. He was reportedly sued in 2010 for allegedly twice promising an aspiring model fame and lucrative deals, then allegedly blacklisting him when he objected to being sexually assaulted. The disposition of that lawsuit is not clear, as no records of it appear in the state Supreme Court system's online docket.
In a 2013 interview, Marin said:
Fashion has transported me into a lifestyle that I only dreamed about. And I dream very big. Till this day, I dream very big. I'm like a cat: I have, you know, nine lives, but I'm gonna go on 18 lives for that.Learn Romanian
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These cover a wide variety of Romanian topics, including the numbers in Romanian, days in Romanian, Romanian greetings and Romanian months. The Romanian phrases have audio recorded by a native speaker.
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Colours Fruit Months Numbers. 1 to 10 Numbers. 1 to 20 Vegetables
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The Romanian language
Romanian is a romance language with around 25 million speakers living in Romania, Moldova and the Ukraine. It is in some ways closer to Latin than the other romance languages, as evidenced by the case distincion in relation to nouns.
The Romanians derive their name from the Romans who conquered their ancestors the Dacians in 105AD, as can be seen:
Learning Romanian
'Romania','Romanians' and'Romanian language'.Romanian |
. In any event, tunneling is a less-than-optimal solution to the transition problem, much better handled by a dual-stack environment, and is likely to only be used as a temporary stopgap at the start of a longer upgrade strategy.
Managing a dual-stack network necessitates that every piece of infrastructure in the data path, including security devices, understands how to speak IPv6. Unfortunately, there's been something of a "chicken and egg" problem to date with some vendors waiting to see customer demand before supporting IPv6 to the same extent as IPv4, while some buyers wait for their suppliers to support the protocol before rolling out their own adoption plans. The depletion of available IPv4 will likely accelerate manufacturer support, but, for a period, enterprises should be aware that they may sometimes find IPv6 functionality and performance below their usual expectations for IPv4. Because there are no industry standards for what constitutes "IPv6 support," security-conscious buyers need to draft their own requirements, based on what they currently expect from IPv4 equipment.
This is perhaps more of a problem in applications than in network devices, which generally have better IPv6 support. Legacy applications hard-coded to expect IP addresses in a 32-bit format may prove to be a more challenging problem to upgrade and/or replace. And while IPv6 was designed with security in mind, there are also risks from insecure implementations. Developers new to the technology stand a greater risk of incorporating problem IPv6 stacks or other vulnerable IPv6 code in their products. This is just as true for code developed in-house. As we often see when a new protocol is released and implemented, a period of testing and strengthening of the security is required.
Attackers may use this window of opportunity to increase their malicious use of IPv6 addresses. For example, it is already anticipated that spammers could take advantage of the large address blocks available to quickly jump between addresses in order to confound IP-based blocklists. IPv6-aware attack tools have been available for several years, but it should be expected that zero-day vulnerability hunters will focus more on attempting to find weaknesses in IPv6 implementations as the technology becomes more broadly deployed.
While these are just a handful of examples of challenges that the transition to IPv6 may create, many organizations will find that they encounter problems specific to their networks that need to be addressed. A solid transition strategy will plan for a gradual transition and the likelihood that IPv4 and IPv6 networks will have to be managed concurrently for the foreseeable future. Organizations need to audit their networks for possible compatibility pain points, ensure the transition plan creates the absolute minimum of disruption, and focus on increasing institutional expertise with IPv6 technology through training, experimentation and hiring.
Ensuring your organization can survive the transition through a mixed v4/v6 environment with minimal business impact should be a C-level or board-level concern, much like the Y2K problem was over a decade ago. Compliance will need to be aligned with business objectives, and these directives need to flow from the top. Just because the Internet as a whole will not experience an IPocalypse, that does not mean you can afford to be complacent about the transition to IPv6. It's coming, and it's coming quickly.
Related Reading: Is IPv6 Part of Your Risk Management Framework?When Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs were crowned NBA champions last June, a previously forgotten about topic suddenly gained steam again: Who is better, Tim Duncan or Kobe Bryant?
Bryant and his fans have always relied on the “championship rings” argument, citing Bryant’s five championships to Duncan’s four as the reason why Bryant is the bigger winner. But with Duncan now on an equal number of rings as Bryant, has the narrative shifted?
The two entered the league one year apart, and have been duelling ever since. Both have been at their respected teams for their entire career thus far, and look to be retiring as one-team players. Both have polarizing personality traits, but are exceptional winners.
It won’t be easy to decide who the better player of the two is, or who has been the league-dominating force of the two.
But it doesn’t mean it won’t be a fun topic.logo. A jack-o'-lantern in the shape of the Wikipedia
A traditional jack-o'-lantern, made from a pumpkin, lit from within by a candle
A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved pumpkin, turnip, or other root vegetable lantern[1] associated with Halloween. Its name comes from the phenomenon of a strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o'-the-wisp or jack-o'-lantern. The name is also tied to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who bargains with Satan and is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.
Jack-o'-lanterns are a yearly Halloween tradition that came to the United States from Irish immigrants. [2]
In a jack-o'-lantern, the top of the pumpkin or turnip is cut off to form a lid, the inside flesh is scooped out, and an image — usually a scary or funny face – is carved out of the rind to expose the hollow interior. To create the lantern effect, a light source, traditionally a flame such as a candle or tea light, is placed within before the lid is closed. However, artificial jack-'o-lanterns with electric lights are also marketed. It is common to see jack-o'-lanterns on doorsteps and otherwise used as decorations prior to and on Halloween.
Etymology [ edit ]
An assortment of carved pumpkins.
The term jack-o'-lantern was originally used to describe the visual phenomenon ignis fatuus (lit., "foolish fire") known as a will-o'-the-wisp in English folklore. Used especially in East England, its earliest known use dates to the 1660s.[3] The term "will-o'-the-wisp" uses "wisp" (a bundle of sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch) and the proper name "Will": thus, "Will-of-the-torch." The term jack o'lantern is of the same construction: "Jack of [the] lantern."
History [ edit ]
Modern carving of a Cornish Jack-o'-Lantern made from a turnip.
Origin [ edit ]
The carving of vegetables has been a common practice in many parts of the world, and gourds were one of the earliest plant species farmed by humans c. 10,000 years ago.[4] For example, gourds were used to carve lanterns by the Māori over 700 years ago;[5] the Māori word for a gourd also describes a lampshade.[6]
It is believed that the custom of making jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween time began in Ireland.[7][8][9] In the 19th century, "turnips or mangel wurzels, hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces," were used on Halloween in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.[10] In these Gaelic-speaking regions, Halloween was also the festival of Samhain and was seen as a time when supernatural beings (the Aos Sí), and the souls of the dead, walked the earth. Jack-o'-lanterns were also made at Halloween time in Somerset (see Punkie Night) during the 19th century.[10]
By those who made them, the lanterns were said to represent either spirits or supernatural beings,[10] or were used to ward off evil spirits.[11] For example, sometimes they were used by Halloween participants to frighten people,[11][12][13] and sometimes they were set on windowsills to keep harmful spirits out of one's home.[12] It has also been suggested that the jack-o'-lanterns originally represented Christian souls in purgatory, as Halloween is the eve of All Saints' Day (1 November)/All Souls' Day (2 November).[14]
On Halloween in 1835, the Dublin Penny Journal wrote a long story on the legend of "Jack-o'-the-Lantern".[15] In 1837, the Limerick Chronicle refers to a local pub holding a carved gourd competition and presenting a prize to "the best crown of Jack McLantern". The term "McLantern" also appears in an 1841 publication of the same paper.[16]
There is also evidence that turnips were used to carve what was called a "Hoberdy's Lantern" in Worcestershire, England, at the end of the 18th century. The folklorist Jabez Allies recalls:
In my juvenile days I remember to have seen peasant boys make, what they called a "Hoberdy's Lantern," by hollowing out a turnip, and cutting eyes, nose, and mouth therein, in the true moon-like style; and having lighted it up by inserting the stump of a candle, they used to place it upon a hedge to frighten unwary travellers in the night.[17]
In North America [ edit ]
Adaptations of Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820) often show the Headless Horseman with a pumpkin or jack-o'-lantern in place of his severed head. (In the original story, a shattered pumpkin is discovered next to Ichabod Crane's abandoned hat on the morning after Crane's supposed encounter with the Horseman.)
The application of the term to carved pumpkins in American English is first seen in 1834.[18] The carved pumpkin lantern's association with Halloween is recorded in the 1 November 1866 edition of the Daily News (Kingston, Ontario):
The old time custom of keeping up Hallowe'en was not forgotten last night by the youngsters of the city. They had their maskings and their merry-makings, and perambulated the streets after dark in a way which was no doubt amusing to themselves. There was a great sacrifice of pumpkins from which to make transparent heads and face, lighted up by the unfailing two inches of tallow candle.[19]
James Fenimore Cooper wrote a nautical novel titled The Jack O'lantern (le Feu-Follet), Or the Privateer (1842). The Jack O'lantern was the name of the ship.[20]
The poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who was born in Massachusetts in 1807, wrote the poem "The Pumpkin" (1850):[21]
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!
Agnes Carr Sage, in the article, Halloween Sports and Customs" (Harper's Young People (1885):[22]
It is an ancient British custom to light great bonfires (Bone-fire to clear before Winter froze the ground) on Hallowe'en, and carry blazing fagots about on long poles; but in place of this, American boys delight in the funny grinning jack-o'-lanterns made of huge yellow pumpkins with a candle inside.
In the United States, the carved pumpkin was first associated with the harvest season in general, long before it became a symbol of Halloween.[23] In 1895, an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended a lit jack-o'-lantern as part of the festivities.[23][24]
Folklore [ edit ]
Pumpkin projected onto the wall.
The story of the jack-o'-lantern comes in many forms and is similar to the story of Will-o'-the-wisp[25] retold in different forms across Western Europe,[26] including, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden.[27] In Switzerland, children will leave bowls of milk or cream out for mythical house spirits called Jack o' the bowl.[28] An old Irish folk tale from the mid-18th century tells of Stingy Jack, a lazy yet shrewd blacksmith who uses a cross to trap Satan. One story says that Jack tricked Satan into climbing an apple tree, and once he was up there, Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that Satan couldn't get down.[29]
Another version[citation needed] of the story says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen. He then met Satan, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting Satan with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told Satan to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (Satan could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin (Satan) disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped.
In both folktales, Jack lets Satan go only after he agrees to never take his soul. Many years later, the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, Jack's life had been too sinful for him to go to heaven; however, Satan had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from hell as well[30]. Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and Satan mockingly tossed him a burning coal, to light his way. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which were his favorite food), put the coal inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place[31]. He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or jack o'lantern.
Cornish folklorist Dr. Thomas Quiller Couch (d. 1884) recorded the use of the term in a rhyme used in Polperro, Cornwall, in conjunction with Joan the Wad, the Cornish version of Will-o'-the-wisp. The people of Polperro regarded them both as pixies. The rhyme goes:[32]
Jack o' the lantern! Joan the wad,
Who tickled the maid and made her mad
Light me home, the weather's bad.
Jack-o-lanterns were also a way of protecting one's home against the undead. Superstitious people[33] used them specifically to ward off vampires. They thought this because it was said that the jack-o-lantern's light was a way of identifying vampires who, once their identity was known, would give up their hunt for you.
Pumpkin craft [ edit ]
A jack-o'-lantern
Sections of the pumpkin or turnip are cut out to make holes, often depicting a face, which may be either cheerful, scary, or comical.[34] Complex carvings (or paintings on the gourds) are becoming more common such as: figures, logos, and symbols. A variety of tools can be used to carve and hollow out the gourd, ranging from simple knives and spoons to specialized instruments, typically sold in holiday sections of North American grocery stores. Printed stencils can be used as a guide for increasingly complex designs. After carving, a light source (such as a flame candle, electric candle, or tea light) is placed inside the gourd, and the top is put back into place. The source is normally inserted to light the design from the inside and add an extra measure of spookiness. Sometimes a chimney is carved, too. It is possible to create surprisingly artistic designs, either simple or intricate in nature.
Picking out and carving pumpkins for Halloween
A Halloween cake topped with a jack-o'-lantern
Pumpkin craft for Halloween, using a commercial carving pattern
World records [ edit ]
Most jack-o'-lanterns carved and lit in one place [ edit ]
For a long time, Keene, New Hampshire, held the world record for most jack-o'-lanterns carved and lit in one place. The Life is Good company teamed up with Camp Sunshine, a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, to break the record. A record was set on October 21, 2006, when 30,128 jack-o'-lanterns were simultaneously lit on Boston Common.[35] Highwood, Illinois, tried to set the record on October 31, 2011, with an unofficial count of 30,919 but did not follow the Guinness regulations, so the achievement did not count.[36]
On October 19, 2013, Keene, New Hampshire, broke the Boston record and reclaimed the world record for most lit jack-o'-lanterns on display (30,581). Keene has now broken the record eight times since the original attempt.[37]
See also [ edit ]Take that video of ants making a daisy chain to pull a millipede that, last week, had scientists scratching their heads. The footage showed a behavior that entomologists hadn’t seen before. And it was shot by an amateur somewhere in Southeast Asia.
But, then, it's not just new species or behaviors that smartphones are documenting. Sometimes a photograph with a geotagged location might be the only record of a species in that location. "I’ve come across blog posts that are making new geographic records, I’ve had tweets that are the first and currently only published records of some species," says Morgan Jackson, an entomologist at the University of Guelph.
These are the kinds of things that citizen science advocates dream of: collaborations between amateurs and trained scientists that produce real, published results. But citizen science projects are really hard to design—they have to be fun, interesting, and not too difficult for participants, while also being robust and scientifically useful. Winterton’s discovery of a new lacewing species is almost a serendipitous citizen science project—one that emerged not by design, but because a human had trawled Flickr and noticed something odd.
But how do you replicate that? There are more than eight million photos on Flickr tagged with the word "insect." Even if you try to drill down to things like "butterfly," "spider," or "beetle," you’re left with a crushing wall of photos, most of which aren’t going to be useful. That’s just Flickr. There is almost certainly a ton of useful data squirreled away in tweets and Facebook albums and YouTube videos all over the place. It’s finding it that’s the problem.
"You know how hard it is to find a certain Tweet—so trying to find one you don’t know exists is nearly impossible," Jackson says.
Here’s an example. This weekend, a strange-looking spider perched itself on the bow of my kayak. When we stopped on the side of the river for a snack, I snapped a photo of my spindly masthead and sent it off to Twitter, asking: "Bug people, what is this thing?" Within a few minutes I was informed that it was a Tetragnathid, also known as a "long-jawed spider." If you search Instagram, there is even a tag for "tetragnathidae," with 28 photos in it.
"Some of those aren’t tetragnathids, but that’s okay," Jackson says. He’s just happy people are tagging bugs more specifically than I did by saying "what is this thing."
Rose Eveleth/Instagram
Jackson thinks that if scientists can teach people just a little bit more about bugs—or any animal or plant, really—users could help filter some of the pictures they are taking. In his ideal world, I would know enough about spiders to be able to identify the "thing" on my kayak to the family level—tetragnathidae, in this case—and tag it for scientists to find.
It’s not just users that have some learning to do to make their photos helpful, though. Scientists also have to think to look to social media for information. "Not many taxonomists that I know would think to look through Facebook or Twitter hashtags," Jackson says, "even though they wouldn’t think twice to fly halfway across the world to sit in a foreign museum for a week to do essentially the exact same thing."INDIANAPOLIS The Hoosier family behind last year's chocolate-covered bacon at the Indiana State Fair is at it again. Their newest offering? A burger served between two Krispy Kremes, known simply as the doughnut burger. FAT & CALORIE BOMBS: Every state has worst-for-you foods RECIPES: Healthier versions of fried chicken Veteran concessionaire Dennis Reas said that if his family wants to survive selling novelty fair food, he must think of new products every year to keep the customers coming back. "You just have to have something new to keep people entertained," said Reas, 53, as fair visitors circled his stands around lunchtime. "Every year we try to come up with something new." And it seems to be working — even if the $6.50 burger and another new offering, deep-fried butter, produced almost as many questions as orders from the first customers of the 17-day fair. Visitors can sample a hog's trough of oddball fair foods: deep-fried sushi, deep-fried dill pickles, deep-fried candy bars, chocolate-covered popcorn balls, root-beer marinated ribs and the garbage burger — a pork patty covered with pulled pork on a bun. But it was the deep-fried butter and doughnut burgers that drew the customers and the "just curious." "That's awesome," said Stacey Hine, 32, after she took the first bite of her burger topped with bacon. "Seriously, that is so good." Her mother, Debbie Hine, 55, and younger sister, Kelly Hine, 28, agreed that the sweetness of the doughnut and the saltiness of the beef made the burger a hit. The Reases, who live in the southern Indiana city of Corydon, had thought about serving the dish for years but started offering it just this winter during the Florida State Fair and other Sunshine State events, where it exploded in popularity. "It was all over YouTube and Facebook," Dennis Reas said. At the deep-fried butter stand, twin sisters Rayanna Bibbs and Rachel Bibbs, 18, and their friend Rachel Endres, 16, all from Indianapolis, quizzed operator Blake Reas about the concoction. He said he picked up the idea from a vendor at the State Fair of Texas last year. "When they say deep-fried butter, you think a butter stick," Rachel Bibbs said. But that's not what it is. Blake Reas freezes the butter and covers it in cinnamon before cutting it into cubes and frying it in something that's been at the fair for years: funnel cake batter. He's also added a secret twist he wouldn't disclose to the original Texas recipe. "It almost comes out tasting like a cinnamon roll," he said. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 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 moreThursday, 14 Aug, 2008 Technology
Click here to see an updated list of most powerful main battle tanks.
Most will agree with the fact that currently the three most powerful nations in the world are the United States, Russia and China. Below you will find some of the most powerful tanks and battle aircrafts developed by each of the three nations. This is of course our choice, so it's completely subjective. If you have any information on the topic that you could share, you are welcome and in the meantime you are free to read, compare and express your opinion.
Tanks
Russian Federation
T-90S
The T-90S represents one of the most advanced Russian tanks from the T-series. It features an improved firepower, mobility and protection. The tank was built at Uralvagonzavod, factory located in Nizhnyi Tagil, Russia. It is worth mentioning that the T-90S officially entered the service with the Russian armed forces in 1992.
The tank is developed for a crew of 3 people, its combat weight is 46.5 tons and it features a 4-stroke V-84ms diesel engine with 849hp. The fuel capacity of this battle machine is 1,600l. The range is 650km on paved roads and 500km on unpaved. The tank reaches a speed of 65 km/h.
The information provided by the American Foreign Policy Center says that Russia is currently working on upgrading its main battle tank to the new T-95 version. The features of the new generation battle tank are specified below:
-Diesel-electric propulsion
-125mm gun
-360° sensors and ECM and network-capability
-pro-active electric reactive armor
-Weight: over 55 tons
-ceramics-n-fiber armor, which would replace the usual steel armor
-virtual reality for the driver and gunner
-2 crew members will man the tank
-autoloader for 3 different types of ammo.
Read more on: Tanksim.com
Unites States
M1A2 Abrams
This MBT was developed by General Dynamics Land Systems, which produced the first M1 tank back in 1978, followed by the M1A1 tank, developed in 1985 and GDLS in 1986 by the M1A2. The latter is considered one of the best tanks in the world. However, it includes only a 120mm M256 smoothbore gun, which was manufactured by the German company Rheinmetall GmbH.
The tank is developed for a crew of 4 people, including driver, commander, gunner and loader. It weights 69.54 tons and its ground clearance is 430 meters. The tank reaches a speed of 67.72 km/h.
Read more on: Army-technology.com
People's Republic of China
Type 99/ZTZ99
This tank was developed by NORINCO and is currently the most advanced MBT in the People's Liberation Army. It entered the PLA service in 2001. The Chinese made a great improvement in the tank's firepower mobility, and protection. Due to the high unit price (about $1.9 million per tank in 1999) there were only about 200 ZTZ99 made.
The tank features a dual-axis stabilized 125mm/50-calibre ZPT98 smoothbore gun. It also carries Russian anti-tank missiles called 9M119 Refleks. These missiles are fired from a 125mm gun. ZTZ99 reaches a top speed of 80km/h and its weight is about 54 tons.
Read more on: Sinodefence.com
Fighting Aircrafts
Russian Federation
Sukhoi Su-37 Terminator
When Su-37 was developed it was instantly shipped to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) air force as a multi-role version of Russia's previous generation Su-35. The aircraft has a number of features that make it different from other air fighters. It can make a preemptive hit at any air target, even those that are hard to spot. Su-37 has a multichannel redundancy and algorithmic security of all data and targeting systems. It can also hit ground targets at standoff range. The aircraft's all stages of flight and combat are automated.
Read more on: Enemyforces.com
United States
F-22 Raptor
This is one of the newest fighting aircrafts in the armed forces of the United States. The F-22 represents a fusion of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and incorporated avionics. It has an upgraded supportability and thus is a great step in warfighting capabilities. Raptor is a powerful weapon in both air-to-air and air-to-ground combats.
It is one of the main weapons of the Global Strike Task Force. F-22 was developed to stop enemy's battle aircrafts from accessing the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
Read more on: Fas.org
People's Republic of China
J-10 Multirole Fighter Aircraft
The J-10 is also called Jianji-10 or Jian-10. It features one engine and represents an all-weather multi-role battle aircraft. It was designed by Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute and built by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC). The Chinese started working on the J-10 project back in the 1980s in order to compete with the fighters from the West (F-16) and Soviet Union MiG-29.
After the end of the Cold War the Chinese moved towards creating a multi-role fighter, which would perform beyond-visual-range air-to-air fight and ground attack. China looked forward to create an air power that could show high defensive and offensive potential.
This aircraft represents one of the highest achievements of China in the aviation industry. During the 1990s the J-10 program included lots of new technologies, such as composite materials, computerized flight-control system dubbed "fly-by-wire", improved radar and cockpit electronics, as well as computer-aided design and many more.
Read more on: Air-attack.com
So there you go, some of the most powerful weapons developed at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century.Charles and David Koch paid good money for that fresh-faced Congress, and now they expect to see some results, stat.
At the National Press Club yesterday, AFP president Tim Phillips and several officers with the group laid out their agenda. The group is calling for legalizing crude oil exports, a repeal of the estate tax, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, blocking any hike in the gas tax, a tax holiday on corporate profits earned overseas, blocking the EPA’s new rules on carbon emissions from coal-burning power plants, and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, along with a specific focus on the medical device tax. The announcement was touted by NPR as a “conservative agenda for Congress.” But it’s also a near mirror image of Koch Industries’ lobbying agenda. Koch Industries — the petrochemical, manufacturing and commodity speculating conglomerate owned by David and Charles — is not only a financier of political campaigns, but leads one of the most active lobbying teams in Washington, a big part of why the company has been such a financial success.
To their credit, the minions are stepping to. We have a Senate vote on the Keystone XL pipeline coming up, and the first Senate hearing on the ACA took place last week. Unfortunately it didn't go well for conservatives, whose own hand-picked witnesses gave testimony doing harm to their own case.
Puzder and Webb were in a tough spot: They were there to talk about how onerous the 30-hour workweek definition was for their enterprises, but what that really meant was having to explain why they were not providing health coverage to so many of their workers. This task was made more difficult by the contrast with the Democrats’ lone witness—Joe Fugere, the owner of a small pizzeria chain in Seattle who has, even before the passage of Obamacare, offered generous benefits to any of his employees working more than 24 hours a week.
Even conservative pundits aren't helping, particularly with the proposal to redefine 'full-time employee' from 30 hours per week to 40 hours per week:
↓ Story continues below ↓ Even worse, perhaps, several prominent conservatives have come out against the revision—notably Yuval Levin, one of the right’s most influential policy wonks, who wrote in National Review that changing to 40 hours would inevitably cause more Americans to lose hours than the 30-hour rule does, because there are far more workers just at or above that threshold than at the 30-hour threshold. “By setting the definition lower, Obamacare’s architects were trying to mitigate the damaging effects of the employer mandate some,” Levin wrote in a burst of intellectual honesty, “and by setting it higher Republicans would be worsening those effects.”
But fear not, little Kochheads, because the United States Supreme Court is about to hear the Most Bogus Challenge Ever to the Affordable Care Act, based on a premise that makes absolutely no sense and has even been contradicted by Orrin Hatch and Scott Walker in columns slamming the ACA. That's right. Both Walker and Hatch used the fact that the federal government would establish exchanges in states that opted out as arguments against the ACA, which is exactly opposite of the argument they're trying to make before the Supreme Court.
It hasn't been a terrific week for the Koch Congress, but they're just getting warmed up.In an interview with ABC News that aired today, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) again refused to say whether he has ever smoked pot, while implicitly acknowledging that he has:
Here is the problem with that question in American politics. If you say that you did, suddenly there are people out there saying it is not a big deal—look at all these successful people who did it. And I don't want my kids to smoke marijuana. And I don't want other people's kids to smoke marijuana. I don't think there is a responsible way to recreationally use marijuana. On the other side of it, if you tell people that you didn't, they won't believe you. So it is just a worthless question.
Rubio has his eyes on the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, and his pot position is reminiscent of the one that George W. Bush took during his first presidential campaign. Here is how Bush put it in a 1998 interview with Newsweek:
If I were you, I wouldn't tell your kids that you smoked pot unless you want 'em to smoke pot. I think it's important for leaders, and parents, not to send mixed signals. I don't want some kid saying, "Well, Governor Bush tried it."
Rubio, like Bush, won't say whether he smoked pot, ostensibly because answering the question would send a bad message to impressionable teenagers. That response is tantamount to admitting that he smoked pot, since otherwise there would be no bad message to worry about. But by claiming to be stonewalling for the children, Rubio can avoid getting into potentially embarrassing details.
The implications of Rubio's argument go beyond his own biography. Judging from the federal government's survey data, a history of pot smoking is normal for men his age (43 as of May 28). In fact, allowing for a bit of under-reporting, these data suggest that most American adults born after World War II have tried marijuana. Those 111 million or so people obviously include many who nevertheless managed to do well in school, raise families, and have successful careers, in some cases marked by extraordinary achievement. Rubio's logic suggests that we should conceal this fact from children for as long as possible, lest they think pot smoking is no big deal. In that light, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is reckless to make such information publicly available. It is hard to convince a teenager that smoking pot will end in disaster when he knows that most people do it at some point.
Rubio's claim that there is no "responsible way to recreationally use marijuana" likewise flies in the face of reality. More than 30 million Americans consume marijuana every year. According to Rubio, every one of them does so irresponsibly, regardless of dose or context. Would he say the same thing about drinkers? If not, why not? There is no logical reason why the same rules that distinguish responsible drinking from irresponsible drinking cannot be applied to cannabis consumption.
Rubio's justification for self-censorship could extend to many subjects aside from marijuana. He told ABC's Jonathan Karl he realized that being candid about your past can be harmful after he wrote a memoir in which he recalled his mediocre performance as a high school student:
Someone came up to me and said, "You know, I enjoyed your book, but I want you to know, my son came up to me and said he doesn't have to get good grades in high school, because 'look at Marco Rubio—he didn't do well in high school, and look how successful he's been.'" And that impacted me.
This sounds like an all-purpose excuse for sanitizing your biography and refusing to answer questions about touchy subjects: I can't tell you whether I was fired for embezzling, because I don't want kids to think it's OK to steal from your employer. I can't tell you whether I was arrested for DUI, because I don't want kids to think that driving when you're drunk is no big deal. And so on.
Oddly, Rubio does not seem to worry about the message his shiftiness sends to the youth of America.If elected president, Sen. Lindsey Graham would be the first bachelor president elected since James Buchanan in 1856.
In “My Story,” a new e-book released Wednesday, the South Carolina Republican running for the White House explains why he never tied the knot, something often pointed out.
“I’ve never married,” Graham acknowledges in the book. “I guess I attribute that to timing, too. The opportunity never presented itself at the right time, or I never found time to meet the right girl, or the right girl was smart enough not to have time for me.”
Graham spends part of his book discussing his childhood in the town of Central, S.C. and how he was left to care for his sister Darline after both parents died.
Speaking of marriage, Graham writes: “I haven’t been lucky that way. But I have a family.”
“I have Darline, and her family. She’s married and the mother of two, and a respected professional, who runs the public information office of the state Department of Vocational Rehabilitation,” he writes. “I’m as proud of her as my parents would have been, and as close to her as ever.”
Graham does reveal several romances while serving overseas in the Air Force.
“I was in my twenties, a kid from a mill town in South Carolina, living in an exciting moment in history, traveling to cities that seemed unbelievably exotic to me,” he said. “I had two serious relationships while I was overseas.”
One, Graham writes, was an Air Force JAG officer working in England named Carol.
“She was a great lawyer and an even better person and we had a blast together,” he said. “But tours of duty end and people move on. Such is life in the military. Carol returned to the States, got married, raised a family, and served on Colin Powell’s staff.”
He also dated a Lufthansa flight attendant named Sylvia, Graham writes.
“The relationship became serious quickly,” he said. “At one point, I thought I would propose, or at least I entertained the idea. It wasn’t to be, though. She was responsible for an aging mother in Vienna, and I was South Carolina boy, who needed to go home.”
Graham explains that he wrote the |
yers' departure from the position opens a powerful committee post and adds to turmoil roiling Capitol Hill. | Getty Conyers allegations put Pelosi in tight spot Democratic colleagues wanted Conyers to leave his high-profile House post but didn't want to be seen as forcing him out.
Rep. John Conyers said Sunday he was stepping down from his post as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee amid accusations of sexual harassment that have put his party's leaders in a bind.
The decision by the Michigan lawmaker — who has held his seat since 1965 and who denies the harassment allegations — followed several days of internal deliberation and pressure from Democratic colleagues, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who wanted Conyers to leave the high-profile post but didn't want to be seen as forcing him out.
Story Continued Below
Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-La.) and assistant Democratic leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) reached out to some CBC members over the Thanksgiving recess to take the temperature of the caucus, according to multiple sources. The group is arguably the most powerful bloc within the House Democratic Caucus and is fiercely protective of its members, particularly Conyers, who was a founding member.
In an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Pelosi seemed to underscore the cautious approach by taking pains to praise Conyers' record and call for "due process," even as she said she believed “he will do the right thing.” She also referred to Conyers as an "icon" for his lengthy service and work "to protect women."
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“John Conyers is an icon in our country. He has done a great deal to protect women,” Pelosi said. “He’s entitled to due process. But women are entitled to due process as well.”
After criticism on social media of her use of the word “icon,” Pelosi quickly endorsed Conyers’ decision to step aside from the committee post.
“No matter how great an individual’s legacy, it is not a license for harassment,” she said in a statement.
Privately, Pelosi has been working behind the scenes with leaders of the CBC and Conyers to figure out his next steps. One senior Democratic aide said she was trying "to lay groundwork for him to step aside gracefully."
Since the allegations first surfaced last week, Conyers has faced mounting internal pressure to relinquish his ranking member post even as Democratic members danced around the topic publicly. Still, Democratic leaders hoped Conyers would step down from the Judiciary panel he has led for more than a decade before lawmakers returned on Tuesday.
“After careful consideration and in light of the attention drawn by recent allegations made against me, I have notified the Democratic Leader of my request to step aside as Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of these matters,” Conyers said in a statement Sunday.
Conyers is accused of sexually harassing two female staffers, including settling a claim with one former aide who said she was fired for not giving in to his sexual advances, an incident first reported by BuzzFeed.
Another former aide, Maria Reddick, who worked as his scheduler, filed a lawsuit against Conyers earlier this year, saying he was a “repeated and habitual offender” who tried several times to get her to go home with him and engaged in unwanted touching, including rubbing her shoulders and kissing her forehead. Reddick dropped her lawsuit after a judge ruled it would not be kept confidential.
More details of the accusations against Conyers may be forthcoming. Lisa Bloom, an attorney for a woman who filed a sexual harassment complaint against Conyers in 2014, said Sunday that her client was "forced to sign a confidentiality agreement" when she initially filed her complaint. She asked the congressional office that handles harassment charges to release her client from her confidentiality agreement "so that she may have a voice to tell her own story."
Bloom also said her client would be freed from her confidentiality obligation if she were subpoenaed by the House Ethics Committee or any other body probing the allegations, and she said her client, who is remaining anonymous for now, would be happy to cooperate with any such investigation.
Separately, a dozen women who previously worked for Conyers released a statement Sunday saying that they did not condone sexual harassment but that, in their experience, the congressman "was a gentleman and never behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner in our presence." The group said they supported the ethics investigation underway.
Multiple Democratic sources said they don’t expect widespread calls for Conyers to resign from the House altogether — at least not yet. Privately, according to aides and lawmakers, there is an effort to preserve Conyers’ legacy on issues ranging from voting rights to the creation of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as much as possible while trying to avoid the appearance of washing their hands of multiple serious sexual harassment accusations.
In the meantime, Conyers’ departure from the judiciary position opens a powerful committee post and adds to turmoil roiling Capitol Hill amid a series of sexual harassment allegations against members and aides. Conyers served as chairman of the panel when Democrats controlled the House from 2007 until 2011. But he has faced increasing questions about how long he would lead the committee given the fact that he is 88 years old.
A group of Democrats tried to force Conyers to step aside last December — spurred by an episode in which he showed up at the Capitol wearing pajamas — but he refused to step down.
Second-ranking Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), another senior member on the committee, have been privately jockeying to succeed Conyers as ranking member since then, assuming he would step down after 2018.
Nadler is widely assumed to become the acting ranking member of the committee now that Conyers has stepped down, but Democratic sources say allies of Lofgren are pushing for her to take over the top spot.
Democratic Caucus rules say the next most senior Democrat, in this case Nadler, automatically assumes the post if a ranking member or chairman is indicted, but they are less clear on what happens in an instance such as this. There is no precedent for a contest to replace a ranking member who steps aside midterm, aides said.
“This is no coronation. Zoe is definitely in the mix,” said a Democratic aide close to Lofgren’s office.
Nadler said in a statement that he would "do everything in my power to continue to press on the important issues facing our committee, including criminal justice reform, workplace equality, and holding the Trump Administration accountable."
"Ranking Member Conyers has a 50 year legacy of advancing the cause of justice, and my job moving forward is to continue that critical work," Nadler added.
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who has become an outspoken advocate for victims of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill, said Sunday that Conyers should step down from Congress if the allegations against him are true — and she has called for an overhaul of the Capitol's harassment reporting process, which she and dozens of others say is stacked against victims.
"The allegations are very serious, and that's why the Ethics Committee needs to move very swiftly, not wait years, but very swiftly," Speier said on ABC's "This Week." "Staff up if necessary to determine whether or not those allegations are accurate. And if they're accurate, I do believe that Congressman Conyers should step down."
"We say zero tolerance, but I don't believe that we put our money where our mouths are," Speier said.So I was a little nervous doing SS this year and I have no idea why but my santa totally blew me out of the water and I don’t think there’s ever been a girl happier to receive plants and a book about one of her favorite subjects. Succulents and 1,000 RECORD COVERS to be exact! As soon as I got the first package I took straight to Snapchat to show my followers the unboxing. I SQUEALED with excitement when I realized they were succulents! (We’re talkin little girl just met her teen boy idol squealing) I was (and still am) SOOOO STOKED! Like talk about one of the coolest gifts ever! I’m going to have to buy some from my husband because he stole some of them from me to set on his desk!! AND THEN... a few days later we were heading out when I saw something else in the mailbox.... of course I went straight back to Snapchat to show everyone I could! I couldn’t wait so I had to open it right then of course. And now I’m super excited to go through the 1,000 record covers and see if I have any of them. I love love loveeeeee these!!! Thank you santa for the totally rad gifts! I hope you are blessed with something just as awesome if not more so than what you gave to me!
Update: I was leaving the house a few days back when I saw something in the mail box.... thinking it was something I had ordered I was super awesomely excited when I realized it was from my Secret santa!!! I’m so excited to dive into this book about pop art in the 1960s, what a time for artists! Thank you so very much for your continued awesomeness in knowing EXACTLY what I love! I hope you have an amazing New Years!!! ♥️♥️♥️CBS has put in development hybrid comedy Totally Laime, inspired by Elizabeth Laime’s popular podcast, from Inside Amy Schumer scribe Tami Sagher and Thruline Entertainment.
Co-written and executive produced by Laime and Sagher inspired by Laime and her husband Andy, Totally Laime focuses on a young couple who document their relationship through a podcast. Thruline’s Willie Mercer and JB Roberts also executive produce. CBS Television Studios is the studio.
Laime got her start onstage at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York with her long-running one woman show, Dear Diary, and as part of the original Maude sketch team, Gunderson. She is a comedy writer and former host of the Totally Laime podcast on the Earwolf Network. She currently hosts the weekly podcasts Totally Married, which features relationship advice, and Totally Mommy. Her podcasts have collectively amassed more than 8 million digital downloads.
The podcasts’ fans included Sagher who met Elizabeth Laime when she appeared on Totally Laime. This is the two of them in a photo taken by Laime’s husband, Andy Rosen.
Former How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock writer-producer Sagher, an alumna of the Second City MainStage in her native Chicago, also served as a co-executive producer on the final season of HBO’s Girls, which recently wrapped production.
Sagher and Laime are repped by Thruline Entertainment and Hansen, Jacob, Teller & Hoberman. Sagher is additionally represented by UTA.Augusta and Adeline Van Buren were 24 and 22 at the time, respectively, when they became one of the first people to cross America by motor vehicle. They were descended from eighth president Martin Van Buren, and trained in the ways of toughness: "The Van Burens flew airplanes, knew how to box, rode horses and raced them, ice skated, and even took part in an annual motorcycle race from New York to Poughkeepsie on New Year's Eve."
And in the months before America entered World War I, they set out to prove that women too could make good motorcycle couriers, braving horrendous conditions and allowing men to focus on fighting. If they could survive two straight months of prewar America's primitive roads, what was a little extra bit of trench warfare?
So, like George Wyman and his journey, the sisters traversed 5,500 miles of danger. They left Brooklyn on July 4th atop a pair of 1000cc Indian motorcycles. They arrived in California on September 8th. The journey must have been easier—or harder, those of you who have siblings may attest—with two people instead of one, but it still wasn't easy. They faced tornadoes, floods, and snowstorms. They ran out of gas multiple times. In the desert 100 miles west of Salt Lake City, they ran out of water and got rescued by miners. They were the first people to reach the top of Pikes Peak by motorcycle. And they wore leather riding pants and military-style garb, which proved to be no small source of consternation among small-town policemen, four years before women were allowed to vote.
Despite all their effort, the Army rejected their application for motorcycle couriers. Newspapers derided them for wearing men's clothing, portrayed them as them housewives on vacation. When they got to San Francisco, unlike Wyman, nobody was there to greet them. Undeterred, the two rode on down to Tijuana.
This year, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the sisters' ride, BMW, Suzuki, and a newly-revitalized Indian Motorcycles are sponsoring a trek across America that closely mirrors the Van Burens' original route. This time, it'll only take three weeks.
The Sisters' Centennial Motorcycle Ride departs today, leaving from Brooklyn and heading briefly north to Springfield, Massachusetts, the ancestral home of Indian. From there, the journey traces the Lincoln Highway—America's first interstate roadway—and hits such notable points as the AMA Hall of Fame in Columbus, Ohio, the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum in Colorado, and Pikes Peak. Proceeds from the event will go to Final Salute, a charity that helps homeless female veterans, and the Women's Coalition of Motorcyclists.
In 2002, the Van Buren sisters were inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame, and a year later, they were inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame.
"If you see some of the pictures of them, they're just so happy. They're having so much fun," said Dan Ruderman, a grandson of Adeline, interviewed by the Associated Press. "And the shock of some of the men. You see guys standing on the side of the road looking at them with their hands on their hips, scowling, 'What is this that I'm seeing?'"
Image via Springfield MuseumsEditor’s Note: IGD has gotten word that the VFW hall has cancaled the event.
At 5:30 PM on March 25, white nationalists from throughout the region will be assembling at the Joppatowne Memorial VFW Post 5838 at 501 Pulaski Highway for a St Patrick’s Day gathering. The 11th annual event was recently announced on hate site Stormfront.org and is being coordinated by Baltimore area far-right record label Label 56. In light of the recent election of Donald Trump and the subsequent emboldening of white nationalism, the potential for this event to draw large numbers of militant white supremacists to recruit, network, and organize is significant.
Jason Tankersley, left, of Maryland State Skinheads, Matthew Heimbach, middle, of Traditionalist Worker Party, and Steve Smith, right, or Keystone Skinheads/United.
Label 56 distributes racist skinhead music CDs, videos, and merchandise. An article from anti-fascist research group One People’s Project indicates that “Label 56 is the music outlet for a violent neo-Nazi gang called Maryland State “Skinheads” (MDS). MDS head Jason Tankersley, while more involved with their Mixed Martial Arts arm has some organizational input over Label 56 as well.” A link for Label 56 appears on the homepages of several other Northeastern racist skinhead groups, including the Keystone State Skinheads, American Thule Society, and the Vinlanders Social Club. Maryland State Skinheads, Keystone United and Supreme White Alliance members are regular attendees.
The guestlist has also included Matthew Heimbach, founder of the controversial White Student Union at Towson State and its successor the Traditionalist Youth Network. In 2015, he gave a speech which urged, “That the time has come for white people of all religions to stand up together to fight that which intends to destroy us and our culture.” Steve Smith, Republican county committeeman for Luzerne County PA and co-founder of Keystone State Skinheads (known as Keystone United since 2009), has also been an attendee.
This event is indicative of the rise of white supremacism and the growing organizational capacity of the far-Right nationally. The Ku Klux Klan, and specifically the East Coast Knights of the True Invisible Empire, have been distributing flyers locally in Ellicott City, Towson, and Bel Air, and as far away as North Carolina. It is important to oppose the increasing Neo-Nazi presence together. Time is of the essence. The Mid-Atlantic General Defense Committee (GDC) is monitoring developments in Maryland and working with at-risk communities to respond as they emerge. The GDC encourages everyone to get involved in taking an active stance now.
Mid-Atlantic General Defense Committee Local 21
Baltimore.gdc.research@gmail.comHezbollah fighters released by HTS in Syria
On its Al Manar website today, Hezbollah announced that it had received five of its fighters that were held captive by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS) in western Syria.
In a video released by Hezbollah’s War Media Center and later re-broadcasted on Al Manar, the five militants are seen conducting a press conference for various Lebanese news organizations. The five are dressed in stoles featuring the Shiite jihadist group’s logo and the face of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. One militant, which was previously featured in HTS media, expressed thanks to various parties for their release.
“We say thank you to Doctor Bashar Hafez al Assad and the Syrian Arab Army who was behind our liberation,” he stated. He continued by saying, “Additionally, we thank the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran who was prominent in this agreement.” He ended the short speech by adding that the prisoners had “no doubt that the Islamic Resistance would liberate us.”
The five Hezbollah members were freed as part of a ceasefire deal with HTS militants (which includes al Qaeda’s branch in Syria) in the Jurud Arsal area of Lebanon. The HTS militants agreed to release the five prisoners, as well as retreat with their families to Idlib in northwestern Syria, in exchange for Hezbollah stopping its offensive. The deal was confirmed by Lebanon’s National News Agency as being brokered by Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s General Security intelligence agency. [See Threat Matrix report, Hezbollah announces ceasefire with Sunni jihadists near Arsal.]
The Shiite jihadists also released a video showing the evacuation of HTS militants and their families from Lebanon today. A large convoy of tour buses was filmed by a Hezbollah drone. Some Sunni militants were also photographed prior to their departure. In addition, a large welcome parade was held for the former prisoners in the Lebanese border town of Al Qaa.
The Hezbollah-led offensive in the Lebanon-Syria border area began late last month. On the Syrian side, Hezbollah was supported by Syrian army troops and airstrikes. While on the Lebanese side, it was supported by Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) mortar strikes. The LAF also protected the nearby town of Arsal during the operation. This role was praised by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in a recent speech. [See Threat Matrix reports, Lebanese military coordinates with Hezbollah, Syrian military in border operation and Hezbollah announces ceasefire with Sunni jihadists near Arsal.]
Parade of the freed prisoners in the Lebanese town of Al Qaa:
Hezbollah video showing the transfer of the Sunni militants and their families to Syria:
Article updated with new information.
Caleb Weiss is a contributor to 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.Louis van Gaal has dismissed recent praise of his team by claiming Manchester United are still nowhere near good enough.
The Dutchman's side laboured to a 2-0 victory against League One Yeovil Town in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon and, despite a decent run in the Premier League, Van Gaal insisted there is significant room for improvement.
The former Barcelona and Ajax coach also revealed that the patience shown by United's supporters during their slow start to the season had caused him to feel guilty.
VIDEO Scroll down to see Louis van Gaal on United's performance over the festive period
Louis van Gaal has dismissed praise of his team by claiming Manchester United are still not good enough
Van Gaal talks to his captain Wayne Rooney during their recent FA Cup Clash with Yeovil Town
United drew 1-1 with Stoke City in their last Premier League outing, they drew against Tottenham before that
'The first feeling I had was especially after 11 matches, when we had 13 points, and I came into the stadium walking and I thought now the fans shall not be pleased,' he told MUTV. 'But they were rising up and clapping their hands when I entered the stadium.
'I felt not so happy myself because I was responsible and guilty for the results so I am very happy we won a number of matches in a row [afterwards].
'I have had the time to know all my players and they are very good. It's an exciting time and it's why I became a manager - because I want to work with young people; it keeps you young, and you can make a team out of it.
'We are still building up a process. I think, as a trainer/coach and manager, that I have to analyse the performances of my players because that is the most important thing and that shows how far we are in the process.
'That is still not good enough, in my opinion, but I hope we shall improve.'
Van Gaal also admitted that he had been surprised with the patience of the supporters early in the season
Ander Herrera netted a superb volley as United beat 2-0 in their FA Cup third round clashIMAGE
Dear readers,
This month celebrates the 10 year anniversary of the classic book the Singularity Is Near written by Ray Kurzweil — published in September 2005.
In the decade since its publication, we’ve witnessed a whirlwind of breakthroughs: like medical regeneration of the human body, autonomous robotics, computing power, renewable energy. Advanced sensor arrays and internet meshes are uniting all people and things within the interconnected environments we live in, and with each other. Today’s massively scaled knowledge, unique innovation and shared human experience are taking us to the future.
— managing editor
bibliography | the Singularity Is Near is the no. 5 book by Ray Kurzweil
no. 1 — year: 1990 • The Age of Intelligent Machines
1990 • The Age of Intelligent Machines no. 2 — year: 1992 • 10% Solution for a Healthy Life — how to eliminate virtually all risk of heart disease + cancer
1992 • 10% Solution for a Healthy Life — how to eliminate virtually all risk of heart disease + cancer no. 3 — year: 1999 • The Age of Spiritual Machines — when computers exceed human intelligence
1999 • The Age of Spiritual Machines — when computers exceed human intelligence no. 4 — year: 2004 • Fantastic Voyage — live long enough to live forever, the science behind radical life extension
2004 • Fantastic Voyage — live long enough to live forever, the science behind radical life extension no. 5 — year: 2005 • The Singularity Is Near — when humans transcend biology
no. 6 — year: 2009 • Transcend — 9 steps to living well forever
no. 7 — year: 2012 • How to Create a Mind — the secret of human thought revealed
For the 10 year anniversary
For the 10 year anniversary Ray Kurzweil hand picked some light reading below. It brings up compelling questions:
How does the human brain work?
What will it take to probe its mysteries?
Why do science + tech breakthroughs seem to come out of nowhere?
How are people caught off guard by change?
We hope you enjoy this set of foundation writings by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, mapping the climb to singularity. (add definition)
— managing editor
IMAGE
about the book | The Singularity Is Near, when humans transcend biology presents the next stage of Ray Kurzweil’s compelling view of the future, the merger of humans and machines. He refers to this period as a singularity, when the pace of technological change is so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life transforms.
Kurzweil explains we’re already in the early stages of this transition, and within a few decades, life as we know it will be completely different.
He says, “The singularity will be a merger of our bodies and minds with our technology. The world will still be human, but transcend our biological roots. There will be no distinction between human and machine, nor between physical and virtual reality.
“If you wonder what will remain unequivocally human, it’s this quality — our species inherently seeks to extend its physical and mental reach beyond current limitations.”
The book has sold 255,000 copies, and is printed in 17 languages — spotlighting a strong, growing mainstream and international interest in humanity’s joint global future.
book | The Singularity Is Near — when humans transcend biology by Ray Kurzweil
light reading collection | 3 classic writings on our technological future
This collection of 3 classic writings by Ray Kurzweil, below, is an eclectic journey through themes presented in The Singularity Is Near — for your interest and deepening curiosity, and to ignite conversation about our accelerating relationship with technology.
— table of contents —
jump to · · · 1. Who am I? What am I?
jump to · · · 2. We are entering the singularity
jump to · · · 3. Exponential technological progress in the 21 century
Who am I? What am I?
by Ray Kurzweil
Perhaps I am this stuff here, that is, the ordered and chaotic collection of molecules that comprise my body and brain.
But there’s a problem. The specific set of particles that comprise my body and brain are completely different from the atoms and molecules than comprised me only a short while — on the order of weeks ago. We know that most of our cells are turned over in a matter of weeks. Even those that persist longer, like neurons, nonetheless change their component molecules in a matter of weeks.
I’m a completely different set of stuff than I was a month ago
So I am a completely different set of stuff than I was a month ago. All that persists is the pattern of organization of that stuff. The pattern changes also, but slowly and in a continuum from my past self. From this perspective I am rather like the pattern that water makes in a stream as it rushes past the rocks in its path. The actual molecules (of water) change every millisecond, but the pattern persists for hours or even years.
So, perhaps we should say I am a pattern of matter and energy that persists in time.
But there is a problem here as well. We will ultimately be able to scan and copy this pattern in a at least sufficient detail to replicate my body and brain to a sufficiently high degree of accuracy such that the copy is indistinguishable from the original — that is, the copy could pass a “Ray Kurzweil” Turing test. I won’t repeat all the arguments for this here, but I describe this scenario in a number of documents including the essay “The Law of Accelerating Returns.”
The copy, therefore, will share my pattern. One might counter that we may not get every detail correct. But if that is true, then such an attempt would not constitute a proper copy. As time goes on, our ability to create a neural and body copy will increase in resolution and accuracy at the same exponential pace that pertains to all information based technologies.
We ultimately will be able to capture and recreate my pattern of salient neural and physical details to any desired degree of accuracy. Although the copy shares my pattern, it would be hard to say that the copy is me — because I would, or could, still be here. You could even scan and copy me while I was sleeping.
If you come to me in the morning and say, “Good news, Ray, we’ve successfully re-instantiated you into a more durable substrate, so we won’t be needing your old body and brain anymore,” I may beg to differ.
If you do the thought experiment, it’s clear that the copy may look and act just like me, but it’s nonetheless not me because I may not even know that he was created. Although he would have all my memories and recall having been me, from the point in time of his creation, Ray 2 would have his own unique experiences and his reality would begin to diverge from mine.
Let’s pursue this train of thought a bit further
Now let’s pursue this train of thought a bit further — and you will see where the dilemma comes in. If we copy me, and then destroy the original, then that’s the end of me because as we concluded above the copy is not me.
Since the copy will do a convincing job of impersonating me, no one may know the difference, but it’s nonetheless the end of me.
However, this scenario is entirely equivalent to one in which I am replaced gradually. In the case of gradual replacement, there is no simultaneous old me and new me.
But at the end of the gradual replacement process, you have the equivalent of the new me, and no old me. So gradual replacement also means the end of me.
However, as I pointed out at the beginning of this question, it is the case that I am in fact being continually replaced. And, by the way, it’s not so gradual, but a rather rapid process. As we concluded, all that persists is my pattern.
But the thought experiment above shows that gradual replacement means the end of me even if my pattern is preserved. So am I constantly being replaced by someone else who just seems a like lot me a few moments earlier?
So, again, who am I? It’s the ultimate ontological question. We often refer to this question as the issue of consciousness. I have consciously (no pun intended) phrased the issue entirely in the first person because that is the nature of the issue. It is not a third person question. So my question is not “Who is John Doe?” although John Doe may ask this question himself.
When people speak of consciousness, they often slip into issues of behavioral and neurological correlates of consciousness — like whether or not an entity can be self-reflective. But these are third person, objective issues, and do not represent what philosopher and cognitive scientist David Chalmers, PhD calls the “hard question” of consciousness. Chalmers specializes in the area of philosophy of mind and philosophy of language.
The question of whether or not an entity is conscious is only apparent to himself. The difference between neurological correlates of consciousness — that is, intelligent behavior — and the ontological reality of consciousness is the difference between objective (third person) and subjective (first person) reality. For this reason, we are unable to propose an objective consciousness detector that does not have philosophical assumptions built into it.
Well, you see the problem
I do say that we humans will come to accept that non-biological entities are conscious because ultimately they will have all the subtle cues that humans currently possess that we associate with emotional and other subjective experiences. But that’s a political and psychological prediction, not an observation that we will be able to scientifically verify. We do assume that other humans are conscious, but this is an assumption, and not something we can objectively demonstrate.
I will acknowledge that people seem conscious to me, but I should not be too quick to accept this impression. Perhaps I am really living in a simulation, and othere people are part of the simulation. Or, perhaps it’s only my memories that exist, and the actual experience never took place. Or maybe I am only now experiencing the sensation of recalling apparent memories of having met a person, but neither the experience nor the memories really exist. Well, you see the problem.
We are entering the singularity
by Ray Kurzweil
My interest in the future really stems from my interest in being an inventor. I had the idea of being an inventor when I was 5 years old, and I quickly realized you had to have a good idea of the future, if you’re going to succeed. It’s like surfing, you have to catch a wave at the right time.
I noticed the world becomes a different place than it was when you started by the time you finally get something done. Most inventors fail not because they can’t get something to work, but because all the market’s enabling forces are not right place, right time.
My interest in the future
So I became a student of technology trends, and have developed mathematical models about how technology evolves in different areas like computers, electronics in general, communication storage devices, biological technologies like genetic scanning, reverse engineering of the human brain, miniaturization, the size of technology, and the pace of paradigm shifts. This helped guide me as an entrepreneur and as a technology creator so that I could catch the wave at the right time.
This interest in technology trends took on a life of its own, and I began to project some of them using what I call the law of accelerating returns, which I believe underlies technology evolution to future periods. I did that in a book I wrote in the 1980s, which had a road map of what the 1990s and the early 2000′s would be like, and that worked out quite well. I’ve now refined these mathematical models, and have begun to really examine what the 21st century would be like.
It allows me to be inventive with the technologies of the 21st century, because I have a conception of what technology, communications, the size of technology, and our knowledge of the human brain will be like in 2010, 2020, or 2030. If I can come up with scenarios using those technologies, I can be inventive with the technologies of the future. I can’t actually create these technologies yet, but I can write about them.
One thing I’d say is that if anything the future will be more remarkable than any of us can imagine, because although any of us can only apply so much imagination, there’ll be thousands or millions of people using their imaginations to create new capabilities with these future technology powers. I’ve come to a view of the future that really doesn’t stem from a preconceived notion, but really falls out of these models, which I believe are valid both for theoretical reasons and because they also match the empirical data of the 20th century.
The pace of change itself has accelerated
One thing that observers don’t fully recognize, and that a lot of otherwise thoughtful people fail to take into consideration adequately, is the fact that the pace of change itself has accelerated. Centuries ago people didn’t think that the world was changing at all. Their grandparents had the same lives that they did, and they expected their grandchildren would do the same, and that expectation was largely fulfilled.
Today it’s an axiom that life is changing and that technology is affecting the nature of society. But what’s not fully understood is that the pace of change is itself accelerating, and the last 20 years are not a good guide to the next 20 years. We’re doubling the paradigm shift rate, the rate of progress, every decade. This will actually match the amount of progress we made in the whole 20th century, because we’ve been accelerating up to this point.
The 20th century was like 25 years of change at today’s rate of change. In the next 25 years we’ll make four times the progress you saw in the 20th century. And we’ll make 20,000 years of progress in the 21st century, which is almost a thousand times more technical change than we saw in the 20th century.
Specifically, computation is growing exponentially. The one exponential trend that people are aware of is called Moore’s law. But Moore’s law itself is just one method for bringing exponential growth to computers. People are aware that we’re doubling the power of computation every 12 months, because we can put twice as many transistors on an integrated circuit every two years. But in fact, they run twice as fast, and double both the capacity and the speed, which means that the power quadruples.
What’s not fully realized is that Moore’s law was not the first but the fifth paradigm to bring exponential growth to computers. We had electro-mechanical calculators, relay based computers, vacuum tubes, and transistors. Every time one paradigm ran out of steam another took over. For a while there were shrinking vacuum tubes, and finally they couldn’t make them any smaller and still keep the vacuum, so a whole different method came along. They weren’t just tiny vacuum tubes, but transistors, which constitute a whole different approach. There’s been a lot of discussion about Moore’s law running out of steam in about 12 years because by that time the transistors will only be a few atoms in width and we won’t be able to shrink them any more. And that’s true, so that particular paradigm will run out of steam.
Computers will be based on biologically inspired models
We’ll then go to the sixth paradigm, which is massively parallel computing in three dimensions. We live in a 3 dimensional world, and our brains organize in three dimensions, so we might as well compute in three dimensions. The brain processes information using an electro-chemical method that’s ten million times slower than electronics. But it makes up for this by being three dimensional. Every intra-neural connection computes simultaneously, so you have a hundred trillion things going on at the same time. And that’s the direction we’re going to go in. Right now, chips, even though they’re very dense, are flat. Fifteen or twenty years from now computers will be massively parallel and will be based on biologically inspired models, which we will devise largely by understanding how the brain works.
We’re already being significantly influenced by it. It’s generally recognized, or at least accepted by a lot of observers, that we’ll have the hardware to manipulate human intelligence within a brief period of time — I’d say about twenty years. A thousand dollars of computation will equal the 20 million billion calculations per second of the human brain. What’s more controversial is whether or not we will have the software. People acknowledge that we’ll have very fast computers that could in theory emulate the human brain, but we don’t really know how the brain works, and we won’t have the software, the methods, or the knowledge to create a human level of intelligence. Without this you just have an extremely fast calculator.
The brain is not of infinite complexity
But our knowledge of how the brain works is also growing exponentially. The brain is not of infinite complexity. We’re not going to achieve a total understanding through one simple breakthrough, but we’re further along in understanding the principles of operation of the human brain than most people realize.
The technology for scanning the human brain is growing exponentially, our ability |
geosynchronous satellites and satellites that have high eccentricities and high apogees; some of those also will have low perigees. The community that uses telescopes and tracks objects optically tends to follow the higher altitude objects, while the community that tracks with radars tends to follow the lower altitude objects. It takes a considerable amount of power to push a radar signal up hundreds of kilometers above Earth and have it strong enough to produce a detectable signal when it is reflected back to the ground. I will have more to say about this Vimpel catalog when I have finished my code to “parse” and crunch some of their information. There is a third “catalog” maintained by the observer community (many are astronomers) that is distributed as a text file, there is not a web page like the one for JSpOC that displays orbital information. People around the world observe satellites and send observations in to an email list, then people update orbital parameters with recent observations. Many observers are motivated by tracking intelligence gathering satellites and determining what their mission might be. When observers are confident with a satellite’s identity they will track the satellite using a satellite number that the JSpOC will not confirm. This list incorporates many of the objects from the Russian list but appears to have numerous other objects that were discovered by observers and are unique to this list. This community is not all easy to deal with, even for people with decades of experience in the space business. However, I have found that some observers are willing to answer questions and look for specific objects if your request is reasonable. This catalog has a number of uncataloged items but they are normally not updated as often as many of those with an “assigned” satellite number. There are more user-friendly catalogs, which apparently incorporate the JSpOC catalog and the observer catalog. One of the most useful is maintained by Jonathan McDowell, which is free for anyone to use. Chris Peat, in Germany, maintains Heavens Above, a useful catalog that has a good web interface. There are other catalogs that mostly duplicate information from JSpOC, but they are much less useful and sometimes incorporate confusing information. By examining these catalogs you can find some interesting satellites and get their orbital parameters. The unknown satellites are frequently very interesting: almost certainly they are satellites for whom the orbital parameters are not released by the JSpOC, but the observer community is not confident with assigning them to a particular cataloged satellite. Of course, there is also the Commercial Space Operations Center (ComSpOC), which has a catalog. As a commercial entity, its information is available to those organizations that pay for it. That seems reasonable since they paid to build and maintain it. Likely this catalog only includes satellites that are at higher altitudes and will not reenter for many years. Satellites of interest There are many satellites that have been routinely tracked by ISON and/or the astronomer community (so we know that they are really there) but are not identified as a cataloged object. Since they are not in the JSpOC or ISON catalogs, they also might be from launches where the objects released were not well communicated to the observer community. They could possibly even include large pieces like structural components and engines that were separated with little notice. Wherever they came from, since they are routinely tracked we can know that they are large. Some of these have low points in their orbits—perigees—that are low enough to cause concern. For instance, the ISS orbits at about 400 kilometers and has to routinely raise its orbit. The ISS often deploys small, normally not dense, cubesats, and they will reenter in about three or four months. Any object whose perigee is significantly lower than about 300 kilometers should be watched. Many satellites who have a low perigee but a much higher apogee can have the perigee increase and decrease over time, due to lunar and solar perturbations. Nonetheless, when a satellite goes down to a perigee of 300 kilometers or less, it should be monitored. From looking at these objects, we know for certain that there are some objects in space that will eventually reenter that will not be included in the normal alert process. Normally, satellites are considered to have entered the atmosphere when they do down to about 80 kilometers, although larger satellites that are traveling faster (because they have larger orbits) will build up a “bow wave” of air even above 100 kilometers. Final orbits on cubesats normally have a perigee of about 160 kilometers. And, of course, the Earth’s atmosphere expands on the sunlit side, so if perigee was in sunlight there would be some additional drag encountered. There are three satellites that I have been watching whose perigees go down to about 300 kilometers or below. The most interesting is ISON 320000, also given satellite number 90113. It has a perigee of 254 kilometers and an apogee of approximately 16,800 kilometers. With an inclination of 25.665 degrees it was certainly launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, and it could impact in many equatorial regions. It has been tracked this year and we can be confident that it is still in orbit. Another one is ISON 060624, known as 90059. It has a low perigee of 310 kilometers but has an apogee of about 35,000 kilometers, giving it a high eccentricity of about 0.72. According to Ted Molczan, this object has a perigee that goes up and down but shows a long-term decrease in apogee. Looking at historical orbital parameters, it has been tracked sporadically since at least 2006. I looked at the historical TLEs and first wanted to make sure that they were really from the same object; if so, some parameters should follow regular trends. So I looked at the right ascension of the ascending node (RAAN), if these TLEs were from the same object the RAAN should show consistent trends. And certainly it does, as the figure below illustrates. RAAN Changes Since 2006 This object has several big gaps where it was not observed, but the consistency in RAAN gives me good confidence that we have one object. The RAAN shows how the orbit steadily precesses to the west, as we would expect (see Fundamentals Of Astrodynamics by Ronald Bate, Donald Mueller, and Jerry White, Dover Publications 1971, p. 156), and when it reaches zero it begins again at 360 degrees. Looking at the apogee for this object, there is definitely a trend as well. Plot of Apogee for 90059 Here the apogee shows some variability, likely due to some TLEs being created with more observations than others. But the trend is very apparent; with a higher apogee, this object only experiences atmospheric drag near perigee. However if we look at perigee the story is not anywhere near so clear. A chart of the perigee over time is much more chaotic. Perigee Does Not Show Clear Trends We tend to want to find patterns in data like this but the only thing we can have some confidence in saying is that the perigee varies from about 270 to 360 kilometers. If some of these orbits did not match the trend in RAAN and in apogee we might even discard them. The object is at least 150 kilometers above the altitude at which we would think that it would be reentering. ISON 130404, or 99208, has a perigee of 311 kilometers and a high apogee of 13,000 kilometers. It will be interesting to follow this object and see how the orbit behaves, but it is also not about to reenter. Objects like this, when approaching or receding from apogee, are affected by lunar and solar forces, and this can cause the perigees to rise and fall. Still, every time the object goes down to below 350 kilometers it will slow down due to friction with the air, taking more off of apogee in the short term. Another interesting object has perigee well below 300 kilometers: 90085, also called Unknown 091017, has a perigee of 224 kilometers. It has a higher eccentricity of 0.65, so it is out of the tenuous atmosphere at apogee. It also probably is an object launched from Cape Canaveral since it has an inclination of 25.14 degrees. It has not been tracked since the middle of 2016, but these objects don’t attract the attention of the objects where we suspect that we know what they are. The observer catalog currently has 19 objects with these low perigees, including these four; the lowest perigee of the 19 objects is 208 kilometers and two have a perigee of about 216 km kilometers For these objects there is no mechanism in place to warn people that they will reenter—though when they reenter people on the reentry track may be alarmed by the sight, at the very least! From looking at these objects, we know for certain that there are some objects in space that will eventually reenter that will not be included in the normal alert process. Some may have been tracked routinely but some will not have. Acknowledgement The author would like to thank two people for helping with this analysis. Brian Chambers is a colleague and a recent graduate of the University of Houston, Clear Lake. He is a Marine combat veteran who deployed to Iraq once and Afghanistan once. He is also far better at writing C++ code than I am! Jason Post is a PhD candidate in Geosciences at Texas Tech University and is very good at analyzing and visually representing data. He has served his community as a volunteer firefighter and swiftwater rescue technician. Also, fish around the world fear him. Homehaikudeck.com
Every day in China, there are thousands of young athletes on the training ground with harsh lesson plans. To become professional athletes who contribute to the country's Olympic gold medal, they must stay away from home, spend years practicing, not having any vacations and, of course, growing up is not the same. like friends of the same age.
livejournal.co
China is a country where promising athletes begin to train from very early ages. Children are monitored for any sign of talent. Here children, some as young as five, battle to complete the demanding routines on bars, rings, and mats.
ap photo
This brutal educational idea began with the first time in the athletics and swimming championship, where the communist regime gifted talented children and trained for the olympics on the grounds that the honor of the country was damaged.
Many of these photos are from the Nanning Gymnasium in Nanning, China, known as one of the most harsh training camps in the country. As harrowing as these pictures are, astonishingly, Chinese parents willingly send their children there to learn how to become Olympic champions
Reuters
For many families, raising a successful athlete is not just a sports goal, it is also an economic goal. China has invested billions of dollars in the generation of Olympic gold medals, and athletes are rewarded for it.
livejournal.co
The Olympic gold medalist can win up to 1 million yuan ($ 156,700) in cash from the government.
Reuters
For ten hours a day, children as young as four years old are put through a grueling training regimen programmed to make them future champions.
livejournal.co
These training photos of Chinese gymnasts are considered a human rights violation.
livejournal.com
In order to be able to "pull the socks", which is important in the gym, children every day go through a lot of circles around the room on bent toes.
Barcroftmedia
They need to hold the legs together. So that the card does not fall down.
livejournal.com
Children in the hall often scream in pain. "We just have to endure," says the coach, "Pain will be every day."
livejournal.com
A girl is tied to her soles...
giaoduc.net.vn
her arm is fractured but still training....
giaoduc.net.vn
Obedience, discipline is something that has always distinguished the Chinese.
livejournal.com
Dinner.
worldpressphoto.org
look at these tiny hands
worldpressphoto.org
Coach exerting force to flex that li'l body
giaoduc.net.vn
Screaming in pain...
livejournal.co
Success in water sports is also not easy.
livejournal.co
livejournal.co
The inscription on the wall read - "Gold".
livejournal.co
To be successful in the future, young athletes have been practicing for decades with harsh regimes.
imgtrend.mynet.com
If you knew you could break the 16-year-old Olympic record, would you send your child to such a training camp?
We'd love to know your comments on thisImage caption The rings would have been on the castle for four months
Olympic rings will not be erected on the side of Edinburgh Castle, the body that runs the historic visitor attraction has confirmed.
The London 2012 organising committee wanted to place the ring symbol on the ramparts for four months next year.
The 8m-high (26ft) aluminium rings would have been visible from several miles away.
Historic Scotland said the plans "would not be suitable for the successful operation" of the castle.
The move follows widespread controversy over a planning application to erect the large structure to promote next summer's Olympics.
'Full support'
A Historic Scotland spokesman said: "Historic Scotland has taken the decision not to permit the Olympic rings to be displayed on the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle.
"Following careful consideration it is clear that the proposal would not be suitable for the successful operation of Scotland's most popular heritage attraction.
"It may well be that there are other more suitable sites in Edinburgh, and the Scottish government and agencies will work with LOCOG (the games organising committee) and Edinburgh City Council to do what we can to assist with the consideration of alternatives.
"We fully support the Olympic Games and we look forward to hosting the Speed of Light event on Arthur's Seat to combine visual art with sporting endeavour and a number of our sites are on the Olympic torch relay route, including Edinburgh."The 2016 election has proved to be the biggest victory for marijuana reform since 2012, with voters in California, Massachusetts, Nevada and Maine approving recreational marijuana initiatives. (Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)
Today the Associated Press finally called Maine's marijuana ballot measure in favor of legalization. The 'yes' votes just squeaked by the 'no' votes with just a couple thousand votes to spare.
In sum, reform of marijuana laws won in eight out of the nine states where it was put on the ballot, the strongest signal to date that the public is ready to embrace change and potentially put the harsh prohibitionist policies of the past behind them.
Notably, advocates of reforming marijuana laws made progress in regions of the country they'd previously had little success in. On the medical marijuana sign, Florida became the first state in the South to approve a robust medical marijuana proposal. Arkansas soon followed suit, a surprising development given the chaotic history of the measure -- two separate proposals were actually on the ballot there, but due to a late court ruling only one could be voted on.
Another surprise in the medical marijuana space was deep-red North Dakota, where nearly two-thirds of voters cast their ballots in favor of medical pot. That contest flew so far under the radar that there wasn't a single poll conducted on the question.
Neighboring Montana had initially approved of a medical marijuana way back in 2004. But since then state lawmakers had steadily chipped away at the measure, eventually passing strict new rules that would have shut down many of the state's dispensaries.
This year, medical marijuana supporters put an item on the ballot to roll back most of those restrictions. Polls seemed to indicate voter skepticism, with 51 percent opposing the ballot measure as recently as October. But in a surprising twist, they ultimately passed the measure by 58-42.
On the recreational marijuana side, one of the biggest surprises was a strong showing in favor of legalization in Massachusetts where voters approved the measure by a strong 54-46 showing. Political and businesses leaders had come out swinging against the proposal earlier in the year. They were bolstered at the last minute by an 11th-hour donation of $850,000 to the opposition campaign from the Archdiocese of Boston. But most voters were unswayed by the arguments against marijuana.
Maine's contest was the closest on the recreational marijuana side. But voters there ultimately passed legalization by just a few thousand votes. With the votes in Massachusetts and Maine, marijuana reformers have won their first major legalization battles on the east coast. Those victories could set the stage for efforts to legalize marijuana in other New England states via state legislatures in the coming years.
On the other side of the country, Nevada voters also approved recreational marijuana by a margin of 54 to 46. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson almost single-handedly funded the opposition to legal pot there, giving a total of $3.35 million to legalization opponents, or about 97 percent of their total fundraising.
Adelson's bet against pot paid off better in neighboring Arizona, where voters shot down a legalization bill by 52 to 48. Adelson gave half a million dollars to the opposition campaign in Arizona, joining forces with a number of local business interests.
But the biggest news of the evening was the decisive 56-44 win for legal marijuana in California, the nation's most populous state and itself one of the largest economies in the world. With the vote in California the use of marijuana will become legal down the entirety of the west coast, from the Mexican border to Canada and up again to Alaska.
The victory for pot in California means that dozens of legislators in the U.S. House will soon represent the interests of a growing California-based marijuana industry, making a congressional push to resolve differences between state and federal marijuana laws all the more likely.
All told, nearly one quarter of U.S. residents will now live in states that allow the recreational use of marijuana. President Obama recently predicted that this situation would make strict federal policies toward marijuana untenable.
"You'll now have a fifth of the country that's operating under one set of laws and four-fifths in another," he told Bill Maher. "The Justice Department, DEA, FBI, for them to try to straddle and figure out how they're supposed to enforce laws in some places and not in others... that is not going to be tenable."Chicago Bears wideout Kevin White suffered a fractured scapula in the team’s Week 1 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and it may need surgery, according to the Bears. White was placed on injured reserve, ending his season.
White, 25, has had horrible injury luck in the beginning of his NFL career. The Bears selected the receiver with the No. 7 pick in 2015, but lost him for his entire rookie season due to a stress fracture in his shin that required surgery. In 2016, he played in only four games before suffering a fractured fibula.
The injury to White this time is an upper body problem, which should allow him to have a better recovery for the 2018 season, but White’s future with the Bears will be in doubt if he’s ruled out for the year and has just five games under his belt after three seasons.
What will the Bears offense look like without White? It was important that White stood out for the Bears in 2017 after losing Alshon Jeffery in free agency. But it appears as though his season could be over after just two receptions for six yards.
The team doesn’t have much depth to work with at the position, but has operated without White for more than two years now. Running back Tarik Cohen led the team in receptions and receiving yards against the Falcons, but it will be on players like Kendall Wright, Deonte Thompson, and Markus Wheaton to step up in White’s absence.
What does this mean for White? With his salary in year four of his rookie contract already guaranteed, the Bears won’t save money by releasing him, so he’ll likely get another chance to prove his worth.
The Bears are unlikely to pick up the fifth-year option on White after he posted a collective 21 receptions in five games over three seasons, though. That means if his season really is over, the pressure will be on the receiver to finally have a healthy season and play well in 2018, which will be the last year of his contract.About
Tack is a lamp designed for modern urbanites. Tack features simple and tool-less installation, adaptability to transform one space into multiple environments and with a petite size, can be easily brought to your next home. By responding to contemporary needs, Tack is an ideal lighting solution for fast-moving city dwellers.
Story
Tack is born out of my frustration with existing lights on the market. Table task lights occupy desk space and do not provide uniform diffused lighting, while ceiling lights cast your shadow on your work unless you positioned yourself towards it. After I failed to find a light that addressed these problems, I went to the shop and made my first prototype. I was very encouraged by the feedback I got for that first version. At the same time I discovered that Tack could address issues that modern urbanites face. The project became more than just a task light and quickly evolved into the Tack Lighting System.
After speaking to local and overseas manufacturers, I became confident that Tack can be produced cost-effectively. I am reaching out to the Kickstarter community to bring Tack to the next level. Together with the Kickstarter community, we will be producing our first production run of Tack, limited to 2000 pieces. Together, we can transform Tack from a prototype into an actual product living in your homes.
Benefits
GET ON WITH LIFE
Setting up and removing Tack is a breeze. Forget tools, Tack uses standard 3M command stickers to install the magnetic mounting strip on any wall surface. The whole process takes only seconds and you're on to your next adventure.
TRANSFORM SMALL LIVING SPACES
With the magnetic wall mount, Tack can be positioned on the wall in different ways to create spaces for work, play or something else altogether. Tack can also live off the wall. Its possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
OPTIMAL LIGHT FOR ANY ACTIVITY
Despite its small size, Tack is 2-3x brighter than existing task lights (1200 lumens). The integrated control is simple - tap to turn it on or off, hold to adjust brightness up or down. Dimming is continuous, ensuring that your space is optimally lit. Tack remembers the brightness you set previously and turns on to that setting.
ALWAYS ON STANDBY
When Tack is turned off, the touch switch glows blue and becomes a nightlight. No more exasperated fumbling in the darkness to switch on the lights. Tack is ready for you when that eureka moment strikes, even during the darkest nights.
MORE ROOM FOR YOU
Space is a luxury for city dwellers. Tack is petite and can live on the wall, freeing up space for your work, activities and the objects that you hold dear.
MADE FOR FREQUENT MOVERS
Modern urbanites frequently move from one home to another. Tack is about the size of a water bottle and can easily be packed into a luggage or even a backpack. Wherever your ambitions take you next, Tack comes along and maintains continuity in the spaces you inhabit.
What's Included & Specifications
Tack Lighting System = 1x Tack Lamp, 1x Magnetic Mounting Strip, 1x Power Supply & 2x 3M Command Adhesive Strips.
TACK LAMP
Housing: Matte Finish Extruded Aluminum in Silver, Gold* or Rose Gold* (*check out "Goals" section below)
Diffuser Lens: Matte Natural (non-colored) Die-cut High Density Polyethylene
Light Output: 1200 lumens
Color Temperature: 4000-4200K Natural White
Power Consumption: 12W
Minimum Expected Life: 15 years (average daily use of 6 hours)
Use Environment: Indoor only
MAGNETIC MOUNTING STRIP
Die-cut 16-gauge Mild Steel with Protective Powder Coat
POWER SUPPLY
Plug: US Two-pin
Color: White Injection Molded Parts with Silver-grey Fabric Braided Cable
Input: AC 100-240V, 50-60Hz, 0.3A
Output: DC 12V, 1A
DIMENSIONS
Goals
I am reaching out to the Kickstarter community to be a part of Tack's first production run, limited to only 2000 pieces. This is to ensure that every Tack that is shipped meets the highest standards and reaches all the backers on time.
MINIMUM GOAL: $60,000
Our minimum funding goal of $60,000 will enable us to pay for tooling and costs for the first production run of approximately 1000 pieces. At this funding level, we can offer only the Matte Silver finish.
STRETCH GOAL 1: $90,000
Our first stretch goal of $90,000 will enable us to produce an additional 400 pieces on top of the minimum goal (total 1400 pieces). At this level we will add a Matte Gold finish.
STRETCH GOAL 2: $115,000
Our second stretch goal of $115,000 will enable us to produce an additional 300 pieces on top of the first stretch goal (total 1700 pieces). At this level we will add a Matte Rose Gold finish.
I am limiting all of the rewards that come with Tack Lighting System(s) to add up to a total of 2000 pieces. This is the maximum quantity we are making for the first production run, so get ‘em while they last!
Rewards
Shipping: After the Kickstarter campaign has been successfully funded, shipping will be paid separately on our partner fulfillment platform, Backerkit. See the rewards options for shipping estimates.
Backerkit: We have decided to partner with Backerkit after speaking to other project creators, who are all ardent fans of the service. Backerkit will help to streamline the fulfillment process, therefore ensuring that everyone gets Tack on time! Additional perks include add-ons and post-campaign flexibility, such as topping up to select from available colors.
International Shipping: Backers from outside of the US are responsible for all applicable taxes, tariffs and custom fees (e.g. VAT, GST, etc).
Fulfillment Schedule
Important Dates for Backers
March 01-15: Backerkit Surveys to pay for shipping and confirm shipment location.
Thank you
Tack is not the work of an individual. I am grateful for everyone who has helped me throughout this entire process.
RISD for providing me all the knowledge and network I needed to make this happen. I am currently a senior in the Industrial Design department and I graduate in June.
Ben and Asher for mentoring me every step of the way.
Justin and everyone at OCTO for giving me a great start.
Lukas, Matt, Micah, Alec and Nikolas for giving me great tips about crowdfunding and Kickstarter.
Adam for teaching me what aluminum extrusions are all about.
Rob, Danielle and the RISD Media Team for the RISD blog feature.
Skye, Molly, Linus, Antonio, Marina, Jim, Minsoo, Jiahong, Emily, Ben, Matthew, Brandon, Mircea, Jane, Sarah, Carly, Ryan and Joe for their advice, support and feedback throughout the design process.
Greycork for letting us to using their awesome space for filming.
Skye, Molly and Emily for starring in the film.
Victor, Emily and Katie for helping me out with the film and being awesome roommates.
Victor for directing and producing a beautiful film, staying up till the wee hours to make sure everything is done right and helping me through thick and thin.
Tack Team for helping me with the Thunderclap and being so supportive during this whole process.
My family for being ever supportive of my endeavors.
Xinying for her constant and unwavering support.
Everyone else who have helped in one way or another. Sorry for not being able to name you, there are just too many!
YOU & The Kickstarter community who will help make this happen. Let's do this!Canada has plenty of oil. The United States needs plenty of oil. Sounds like a natural fit, doesn’t it? Unfortunately it’s not, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Canada’s powerhouse Alberta province exports 1.5 million barrels of crude daily, almost all to the United States. But most of that comes from oil sands, also known as bitumen. And that product is thick as sludge.
Turning it into usable oil requires hefty energy usage and produces plenty of carbon dioxide, thought to be a contributor to global warming. So environmentalists and powerful Democrats have united against importing any more of Alberta’s crude.
Indeed, U.S. government officials are undecided about a proposed expansion of a pipeline that could increase exports from Alberta to the U.S. by 100 percent.
The surge of gasoline prices to $4 a gallon several weeks ago brought currency to the oil-sands debate.
North America's dependence on foreign energy will likely drop over the next 20 years, despite rising consumption, according to a recent study by London-based think tank Chatham House. But that assumes the U.S. continues to suck up oil-sands production.
The gasoline crunch has made strange bedfellows among supporters of the White House’s proposal to increase fuel efficiency requirements to 60 miles per gallon by 2025.
“National security experts, business groups, Republicans and environmentalists all agree that … (goal) is not only achievable, it would provide significant cost-savings to consumer,” according to Automotivediscovery.com.The Amazon Web Services (AWS) team has announced that its Elastic Beanstalk Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution now supports applications written in the Ruby programming language. Amazon had announced Elastic Beanstalk in early 2011. Initially only available to Java developers, the service began to support PHP applications last spring. Since May, it has also been possible to run.NET applications, and recently the developers added Python applications.
Ruby applications that are placed in the PaaS must support Phusion Passenger, a Rails/Rack module for the Apache HTTP and nginx servers. The developers list Rails and Sinatra as the supported Ruby web frameworks, and Amazon has provided deployment instructions for applications created with these frameworks. Applications can be installed from Git or via Elastic Beanstalk's command line tool or management console.
Amazon has also announced that Elastic Beanstalk environments can now operate in Amazon's Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). This allows users to reserve private areas within the AWS cloud where they can define custom network architectures that mostly conform to the conventional networks they know from their own data centres. Users can gain full control of their virtual network environments this way.
(djwm)Wisps of what once were
Horrific fates befell them
Regret… Oh, so sad
Hey everyone. We got here the new page for your enjoyment on time as usual. Time for a small bit of worldbuilding and giving pretense to the larger world I have in mind for this story. No idea of telling how much of all the lore and races and such will make it into And Once Again but I left a lot of room open to tell other stories in this world. There are a lot of themes I’m potentially interested in exploring.
I did not have an amazing day today largely owing to a very stupid doctor’s appointment where my mother had the awful idea to show up an hour early to because we had to do something early anyway. This was a delightful time since the doctor’s office was in the ghetto and I happened to overhear a drug deal while I was sitting there. God that place is stupid. Hurry up and save me from this life, Patreon people!
In all seriousness I don’t have much commentary for this page. I like the top panel. Probably could have defined a lot of the ground’s forms and such better though, and the rock especially. The 3rd Tale is going to push me waaaaay out of my comfort zone and really force me to meet this weakness head on. I guess it’s not a spoiler or anything if I mention that that tale takes place within a cave. That won’t give me any room at all to breath. Monday’s update is the last update of the 1st Tale. I am currently considering not giving an update on Wednesday and waiting until Friday to give the new page, because I could probably use just one free day to give me more of an edge. It’s not something I need by any means, but you know. We’ll see. I’m currently about halfway done drawing the 2nd Tale minus the scroll entries which will be fairly easy to get out of the way when it’s time. Now then, I’ve got to go write a character profile for someone debuting in the 4th Tale.
Like this: Like Loading...Tesla hosted a company-wide party Saturday night at the Avaya Stadium in San Jose, CA to celebrate the company’s most recent blowout third quarter. Billed as simply “Tesla Party”, the celebration welcomed Tesla employees along with their family and friends, to a soccer stadium filled with booze, live entertainment and the overall experience to bond with team members located outside of their immediate regions.
A friend to Teslarati who attended the event tells us that the overall vibe of the Tesla Party was “nothing but energetic”. After an arduous all-hands-on-deck third quarter, one that would see all employees driving towards the same goal of cost reduction while improving processes and increasing overall efficiency, Tesla smashed a home run beating analyst expectations on deliveries, but more importantly closed out its second ever profitable quarter.
Beyond the free food, drinks, foosball, and live aerial acrobatics, everyone in attendance knew they were there to support a much greater cause – one that will eventually change the world as we know it. “There was a unanimous feeling of being blessed to be part of this company”, says our source.
Tesla also rolled in its silver Model 3 prototype which, not surprisingly, turned into the main center of attraction. It was impossible to walk past the vehicle without taking the mandatory selfie. Or ten selfies.
Model 3 was the center piece of attention. That is, until Elon Musk arrived – fashionably late.
Walking out to AC/DC’s Back in Black, Musk addressed the thousands in attendance with a message of gratitude. Among cheers of “Iron Man” and “you rock”, Musk asked the crowd, “Are you guys having a good time?”
The billionaire entrepreneur would go on to thank his entire team. “I just want to say congratulations and amazing job on a good quarter that hardly anyone in the world thought you can do. It’s an honor to work with you. You guys are amazing. Incredible.”
Musk did once say “the one thing Tesla is good at is we throw good parties,” and tonight was no exception. We think changing the world to better humanity is certainly a cause for celebration.I have been impressed to speak about God’s love and God’s commandments. My message is that God’s universal and perfect love is shown in all the blessings of His gospel plan, including the fact that His choicest blessings are reserved for those who obey His laws.1 These are eternal principles that should guide parents in their love and teaching of their children.
I. I begin with four examples which illustrate some mortal confusion between love and law. A young adult in a cohabitation relationship tells grieving parents, “If you really loved me, you would accept me and my partner just like you accept your married children.”
A youth reacts to parental commands or pressure by declaring, “If you really loved me, you wouldn’t force me.” In these examples a person violating commandments asserts that parental love should override the commandments of divine law and the teachings of parents. The next two examples show mortal confusion about the effect of God’s love. A person rejects the doctrine that a couple must be married for eternity to enjoy family relationships in the next life, declaring, “If God really loved us, I can’t believe He would separate husbands and wives in this way.”
Another person says his faith has been destroyed by the suffering God allows to be inflicted on a person or a race, concluding, “If there was a God who loved us, He wouldn’t let this happen.” These persons disbelieve eternal laws which they consider contrary to their concept of the effect of God’s love. Persons who take this position do not understand the nature of God’s love or the purpose of His laws and commandments. The love of God does not supersede His laws and His commandments, and the effect of God’s laws and commandments does not diminish the purpose and effect of His love. The same should be true of parental love and rules.
II. First, consider the love of God, described so meaningfully this morning by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” the Apostle Paul asked. Not tribulation, not persecution, not peril or the sword (see Romans 8:35). “For I am persuaded,” he concluded, “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, … nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God” (verses 38–39). There is no greater evidence of the infinite power and perfection of God’s love than is declared by the Apostle John: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). Another Apostle wrote that God “spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). Think how it must have grieved our Heavenly Father to send His Son to endure incomprehensible suffering for our sins. That is the greatest evidence of His love for each of us! God’s love for His children is an eternal reality, but why does He love us so much, and why do we desire that love? The answer is found in the relationship between God’s love and His laws. Some seem to value God’s love because of their hope that His love is so great and so unconditional that it will mercifully excuse them from obeying His laws. In contrast, those who understand God’s plan for His children know that God’s laws are invariable, which is another great evidence of His love for His children. Mercy cannot rob justice,2 and those who obtain mercy are “they who have kept the covenant and observed the commandment” (D&C 54:6). We read again and again in the Bible and in modern scriptures of God’s anger with the wicked3 and of His acting in His wrath4 against those who violate His laws. How are anger and wrath evidence of His love? Joseph Smith taught that God “institute[d] laws whereby [the spirits that He would send into the world] could have a privilege to advance like himself.”5 God’s love is so perfect that He lovingly requires us to obey His commandments because He knows that only through obedience to His laws can we become perfect, as He is. For this reason, God’s anger and His wrath |
will be received by the White House.
"This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-.NY., said in a statement. “The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren't used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle-class relies on, like medical research, education, and infrastructure.”
The proposed legislation has no funding for Trump's oft-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but does set aside $1.5 billion for border security measures such as additional detention beds. It does give Trump a $12.5 billion down payment on his request to strengthen the military, a figure which could rise to $15 billion should Trump present Congress with a plan for fighting the Islamic State terror group. The proposed $15 billion amounts to half of Trump's original $30 billion request.
It also rejects White House budget director Mick Mulvaney's proposals to cut popular programs such as funding medical research and community development grants.
Among the final issues resolved was a Democratic request to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico with its Medicaid burden, a top priority of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Pelosi and other Democrats came up short of the $500 million or so they had sought but won $295 million for the island, more than Republicans had initially offered.
"From the beginning, Democrats have sought to avert another destructive Republican government shutdown, and we have made significant progress improving the omnibus bill,” Pelosi said in a statement.
The bill also maintains federal money for Planned Parenthood, and Democrats praised a $2 billion funding increase for the National Institutes of Health -- rejecting the steep cuts proposed by Trump -- as well as additional funding to combat opioid abuse, fund Pell Grants for summer school and additional transit funding.
A provision extending health care for 22,000 retired Appalachian coal miners and their families was on track to provide permanent health benefits, a priority of Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Appalachia region lawmakers.
Republicans had pressed for policy wins with so-called riders related to other abortion-related issues and blocking environmental regulations such as Obama's sweeping expansion of the Clean Water Act. They also hoped to chuck new financial rules. But Democrats pushed back, rejecting a whopping 160 items they deemed "poison pills," though House Republicans succeeded in funding another round of private school vouchers for students in Washington, D.C.'s troubled school system.
The measure also taps $68 million to reimburse New York City and other local governments for costs involved in protecting Trump Tower and other properties, a priority of lawmakers such as Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.
Fox News' Chad Pergram and the Associated Press contributed to this report.Everyone knows that we eat too much — we're bombarded with warnings about the obesity epidemic every day. But all those extra calories are not only a threat to our waistlines; they're a threat to global security as well.
Everything that well-off people in the developed world eat — or even worse, throw away — is food that isn't feeding the impoverished and hungry of the developing world. Pope Francis has equated food waste with "stealing from the table of the poor and the hungry."
The Sunday Edition Coming up Nov. 24 on CBC radio's The Sunday Edition, starting at 9 a.m. Eastern: Les Petits Frères: Montreal organization seeks out lonely seniors, pairs them with younger friends.
Margarethe von Trotta: Feminist director honoured with major award.
The Deaf Musician: Peter Stelmacovich relies on technology to stay in band.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Goldman Sachs, But Were Afraid to Ask.
In 2011, 1.3 billion tonnes of food, or about one third of all the food produced globally, was lost or wasted annually, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. In developed countries, the average person wastes about 100 kilograms of food every year.
“Some of the food is lost during the production stage to pests, some is lost during harvesting, some is lost during processing, some is lost in storage. But a considerable amount is lost in people’s homes," explains Tim Benton, a professor of population ecology at the University of Leeds.
"In the U.K., we end up throwing away 20 to 30 per cent of the food that we buy. And when you add it all up, it’s quite frightening," he says. "The waste that we throw away in Europe and North America is about equal to all of the food that sub-Saharan Africa produces.”
Prof. Benton, who also holds the title of U.K. Champion for Global Food Security, discusses the situation in a feature interview with Michael Enright on CBC radio's The Sunday Edition this week.
And he says that food waste is only one problem. Overeating is another.
Research shows that based on average weight gain through adulthood, people are consuming 20 to 30 per cent too many calories. So eating a healthier, more balanced diet would not only help tackle the obesity epidemic, it would also take as much as a third of the caloric demands out of the global food chain.
In 2011, 1.3 billion tonnes of food, or about one third of all the food produced globally, was lost or wasted annually, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. “If everyone in the world chose to live like your average North American, it would require four Earths to produce all the necessary food,” Prof. Benton says.
You might not notice it on your grocery bill, but pressure on the global food chain is having an impact.
Between 2006 and 2008, the average world prices for food skyrocketed, including these staples:
Rice 217 per cent
Wheat 136 per cent
Corn 125 per cent
Soybeans 107 per cent
Food shortages have already caused massive social and political unrest, contributing to revolutions that toppled governments in Haiti and Madagascar in 2008 and 2009, after the global price spikes. And the riots in Tunisia that triggered the Arab Spring were initially dismissed by the government as just another round of protests over the rising cost of bread, which had sporadically hit the country for decades.
The World Food Programme estimates that 870 million people worldwide do not have access to enough food to be healthy.
And with the global population expected to increase 50 per cent, or three billion people, by 2050, Prof. Benton warns that it's only going to get worse.
“We’re going to have all those extra mouths to feed," he says. "We’re going to have less land on which to produce food because of all those extra people, and our ability to produce it will be further hampered by climate change.”
[Listen to The Sunday Edition's full audio documentary about how food waste contributes to global instability. Click the link at the top of this page, or visit the show's website.]A prominent Chinese law professor recently revealed in his microblog on popular Twitter-like site Sina Weibo that the Chinese government has imposed a policy on university professors instructing them not to teach seven subjects, including freedom of the press, past mistakes of the communist party, and citizen rights.
Zhang Xuezhong (張雪忠), who teaches at East China University of Political Science and Law, listed the other taboo subjects in the May 10, 2013 post as universal values, civil society, citizen rights, judicial independence, freedom of the press, past mistakes of the communist party, and the privileged capitalist class.
Zhang's Weibo account was deleted soon after and the term “Seven Speak-Nots” (七不講) has been blocked on major social media in China.
In addition, it was further revealed in a memo on “Concerning the Situation in the Ideological Sphere” (《關於當前意識形態領域情況的通報》) issued by the Central Committee General Office of the Chinese Communist Party on May 13, 2013 that the “Seven Speak-Nots” policy has been incorporated into a policy for online public opinion censorship. The government's latest round of tightening of its control on discourse and ideology has resulted in the shutting down or suspension of the microblog accounts of several prominent liberal intellectuals and political harassment of rights defenders.
Though most of the discussion on the “Seven Speak-Nots” has been deleted, “Silly Talk”（胡言兌）has collected [zh] and resurrected some censored social media posts in Google Plus:
@Stariver：七不讲也没啥阿。不讲普世价值可以讲专制罪恶，不讲新闻自由可以讲道路以目，不讲公民社会可以讲太平天国，不讲公民权利可以讲屁民遭遇，不讲党的历史错误可以讲假的历史功绩，不讲权贵资产阶级可以讲红二代，不讲司法独立可以讲司法黑幕。
@Stariver: Nothing special about the “Seven Speak-Nots”. We don't have to speak about universal value, we can speak about the evil of authoritarianism. If we can't speak about freedom of press, we can speak about communication with our eyes [an ancient Chinese story about freedom of expression under authoritative rule]. If we can't speak about civil society, we can speak about Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. We don't have to speak about citizen rights, we can speak about the experience of fart-izen [citizen deprived of rights]. We don't discuss the mistakes of the Chinese Communist Party but can talk about all the fake historical achievement. If we can't talk about the “privileged capitalist class”, we can talk about “the second generation red”. If judicial independence is banned, we talk about all the dark secrets of our judicial system.
@余喷：五不搞了才惊叫？七不讲了才哗然？我觉得都涉嫌程度不同的装外宾了。早在枪响之后，就该断绝最后一丝的幻想了。枪响是迟钝划线。此后的所有卖萌动作，最多具有策略性的价值。而策略性的东东，难免欺庙堂不着而惑江湖良多。
@Yu Pen: How come we yell about the Five Do-Nots [note: The Five Do-Nots are: do not make a system in which multiple parties govern in turn; do not diversify guiding ideologies; do not “separate the three powers” and create a bicameral system; do not federalize; do not privatize.] and find the “Seven Speak-Nots” surprising? Don't pretend to be outsiders. After the guns fired, we should not have any illusion. We were already too late to draw the line when the guns fired. All gestures after the incident are strategic aiming at cheating people.
@songshinan：#说出党的潜台词#普世价值不要讲，要讲中国特色；新闻自由不要讲，要讲党管媒体不变；公民社会不要讲，要讲社会管理创新；公民权利不要讲，要讲和谐社会；党的历史错误不要讲，要高举毛邓旗帜；权贵资产阶级不要讲，要讲中国梦；司法独立不要讲，要讲政法委办案。
@songshinan: #Spell out the party's hidden agenda# Speak not about universal value, speak about Chinese Character; Speak not about press freedom, speak about never-changing party media; Speak not about civil society, speak about the innovation of social management; Speak not about citizen rights, speak about harmonious society; speak not about the historical mistakes of the communist party, uphold the ideology of Mao and Deng; Speak not about the privileged capitalist class, talk about the China Dream; Speak not about judicial independence, the party's legal committee will handle all the cases.
Some Chinese bloggers have moved to Google Plus to carry on the discussion. Below are some immediate comments from prominent blogger Wen YunChao's post about the policy.
@agan: This is a joke. Young people nowadays do not belong to the old time, they can't be f**king brainwashed.
@Loby Liang: Well… Their conclusion is much better than ours! These are the subjects we have to talk about.
@Star Dung: 要培养彻底的奴隶
@Star Dung: The want to cultivate obedient slaves.
@Jack ANNA: I see the fear deep down in the communist party's heart.
@Shen Hongxing: Haha, [President] Xi Jinping has revealed his true self. He and Bo Xilai are just the same [Bo is a former CCP leader who upholds Maoist ideology].
@Li Guanyang: Our history teacher talked about this today. Our teacher said the content of our course has to be in alignment with international society, but our values can't be.
“Fairy outside the wall” (@墙外仙）carefully reposted [zh] Zhang Xuezhong's opinion to get around censorship on a Sina microblog:
如果一个国家总是顽固地拒绝人类社会通行的普世价值,并且迟迟不肯建立以自由、民主和法治为基础的宪政制度,那绝不是因为这个国家有什么特殊的国情,而是因为这个国家有一个特殊的政府：这个政府本身极其败坏和不得人心，以至于根本无法通过公正的法律和诚实的手段，来维持自己的存续！Since his emergence as a top-tier contender in January, Scott Walker has moved closer and closer to Ted Cruz’s end of the GOP-spectrum, and as he tries to gain traction in Iowa, to throw off the holding pattern created by Trump’s rise, and to break through the scrum, there may be fewer and fewer issues that differentiate the two.
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Take, for example, how the two are approaching the candidacy of Donald Trump. Cruz has lavished praise on The Donald; this morning, Walker told Fox News that his position on immigration is similar to that of Trump’s (the most notable aspect of which, of course, is to build a wall and make the Mexicans pay for it, though I can’t imagine that’s what Walker was referring to). Then, the Wisconsin governor took a page from the Cruz playbook, telling Glenn Beck that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is part of the problem in Washington. “We were told if Republicans got the majority in the United States Senate, there would be a bill on the president’s desk to repeal Obamacare,” Walker said. “It is August. Where is that bill? Where was that vote?”
But Walker made the biggest splash today when he said he is in favor of ending birthright citizenship.
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Walker’s campaign followed up with the following clarification: “We have to enforce the laws, keep people from coming here, enforce e-verify to stop the jobs magnet, and by addressing the root problems we will end the birthright citizenship problem.” That doesn’t do much to clarify what the governor said; in fact, it confuses the issue further.
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I asked the Walker campaign if the governor thinks enforcing the laws and e-verify — addressing the “root problems” — would sufficiently curb illegal immigration and, as a result, that there wouldn’t be many children born to illegals and granted birthright citizenship, or whether the governor meant something different. A spokeswoman for Walker tells me that “by addressing the root problems we will the birthright citizenship problem.”
Walker, of course, is in Iowa today, a state he has to win, or come very close to winning, if he has a path to the nomination. He’s drifted downward in the polls there as a result of Donald Trump’s rise, and, while the particular numbers don’t matter so much, it’s a trend that’s surely worrisome to the campaign. It remains to be seen whether a drift toward Cruz territory will re-ignite the passions of voters in the Hawkeye State.Quote:
Originally Posted by
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**WARNING**
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Use Odin 3.10.6 or Odin 3.10.7 To flash.
Link Pending. Upload in progress.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Martin Patience in Gaza and Bethany Bell in Jerusalem say there have been no reports of rockets since the ceasefire began
Israel has withdrawn its troops from the Gaza Strip to "defensive positions" outside the Palestinian territory.
It says the main aim of its offensive - to destroy militants' tunnels - has been achieved.
A 72-hour truce - brokered by Egyptian mediators late on Monday - came into force at 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT) and appears to be holding.
Gaza officials say the four-week conflict has killed 1,800 Palestinians. Some 67 Israelis have also been killed.
"The Israel Defense Forces will be redeployed in defensive positions outside the Gaza Strip and we will maintain those defensive positions," Israeli military spokesman Lt-Col Peter Lerner said.
Just minutes before the truce came into effect, air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets at central Israel. Israeli forces also staged raids in Gaza shortly before the ceasefire began.
Image copyright AP Image caption Smoke over Gaza where Israeli forces staged raids shortly before the truce began, while militants fired rockets into Israel ahead of the ceasefire
Image copyright EPA Image caption Israel says all its troops have now left the Gaza Strip
Image copyright AFP Image caption Displaced Palestinians have started returning to their homes in Gaza
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Many have discovered scenes of devastation
Israel-Gaza conflict 8 July Israeli offensive began 4,760+ air strikes on Gaza 3,488 rockets fired at Israel
1,973 people killed in Gaza UN estimates +70% of deaths are civilians
3 civilians killed in Israel 64 Israeli soldiers killed AP
Analysis: Survivors but no winners
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July with the stated aim of ending rocket attacks and destroying tunnels used by Palestinian militants.
In a statement just ahead of the withdrawal, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that since then it had eliminated 32 tunnels designed to allow militants to carry out raids into Israel, destroyed 3,000 missiles on the ground and killed about 900 "terrorists".
The IDF estimated that some 3,300 rockets had been fired at Israel during this period, and that Hamas had another 3,000 rockets left for future use.
At the scene: Martin Patience, Gaza City
Ceasefires, truces, lulls in the fighting have all come and gone in Gaza but I think there is one big difference with this ceasefire and that is that Israeli troops have withdrawn. The reason they have been in here is to destroy the cross-border tunnels that have been dug by Hamas - the Israeli media are now reporting that that operation is complete.
In terms of what is happening here in Gaza City, it is quiet. I have just been down to the port and I have seen fishermen heading out to sea. I have been here for more than a week now and that is the first time I have seen that. People here will be taking this opportunity to get out of their homes, stock up on supplies and try to make sense of all the death and destruction here after the last four weeks.
At the scene: Bethany Bell in Jerusalem
Israel says it has withdrawn its troops from Gaza as it has completed its main goal in this operation, the destruction of 32 cross-border tunnels.
However, it is possible that some tunnels may have gone undetected and it is likely that the Israeli army's search along the border will go on. The threat of Gaza militants entering Israel from under the ground has caused great concern in Israel.
There is some suggestion that an Israeli delegation may be preparing to go to Cairo for talks on a more long-term truce. There has been intense international pressure on Israel to try to negotiate an end to the fighting, particularly given the incidents at UN schools in Gaza and the high number of Palestinian civilian casualties.
Israel-Gaza attacks 28 days of airstrikes 19 days of Israeli ground operations Israeli military claims 32 border tunnels collapsed 3,000 missiles destroyed UN estimates up to 485,000 people displaced in Gaza Getty
There have been several truces called during the conflict but few have lasted, with each side accusing the other of violations.
Egypt negotiated a similar truce earlier in the conflict that was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas.
The new agreement proposes that delegations from all sides should attend further talks in Cairo.
The main Palestinian demands remain on the table, notably a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, the end of the blockade of the territory and the opening of border crossings.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel's main goal is to "return quiet and security to the citizens of Israel".
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Lt Col Peter Lerner said that IDF troops had left Gaza on Tuesday morning
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mustafa Barghouti, leader of the Palestinian National Initiative: "We are under a terrible siege that has to stop"
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the ceasefire. He called on both sides to hold talks in Egypt and for them to begin as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki has met prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Speaking after the meeting, he told reporters there was "clear evidence of war crimes committed by Israel amounting to crimes against humanity".It's a shield that sums up the first violent encounters between the British and the Aboriginal people of Sydney in 1770. A bullet hole in the middle is a stark reminder that the Gweagal people of Botany Bay never ceded their land peacefully.
The British Museum. Gweagal shield.
Now the descendants of the Gweagal people from the Tharawal tribe have launched a crowdfunding campaign in a bid to raise money to travel to London and negotiate with the British Museum, where the shield is currently held, to have it returned permanently to Australia. "I’ve given the British Museum a claim of right – I told them that my ancestors own the artefacts and we wish for them to be returned," Rodney Kelly, a descendant of the Gweagal clan, told BuzzFeed News. "We’ve got our own museums [In Australia] and it’s clear the shield was taken from Botany Bay. They didn’t pay for it, it was taken. It’s written in the journals [of Captain Cook]. It clearly doesn't belong to them."
Supplied. Rodney Kelly (L)
Cook's diary explains in detail his first encounters with the Tharawal people.
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich Captain James Cook.
"As we approached the shore they all made off, except two Men, who seemed resolved to oppose our landing," Cook wrote. "I fired a musquet between the two, which had no other effect than to make them retire back, where bundles of their darts lay, and one of them took up a stone and threw at us, which caused my firing a second musquet." Kelly claims that the bark shield belonged to Gweagal warrior Cooma, Kelly's sixth-great-grandfather, who fought Cook and his men at Kurnell in Botany Bay.
In March, Kelly saw the shield for the first time in person as part of the Encounters exhibition at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.
"It was very sad and powerful," Kelly said. "Powerful because we realised we had something in front of us that our ancestors once held, and then sadness because it could be the last time we saw it because it was going back to England."
Gaye Sculthorpe, the British Museum's curator for Oceania and Australia and an Aboriginal woman, sent Kelly an email last month promising him a meeting if he travels to the UK. "Thank you for your email offering to come to London and to meet with the Trustees," Sculthorpe wrote. "If you come to London, Dr Lissant Bolton, head of the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, as well as myself would be pleased to meet with you. We would also expect that Dr Jonathan Williams Deputy Director Collections would meet with you also."
Allan Clarke / BuzzFeed The British Museum.Drew and Jonathan Scott in Galveston Image: Instagram/mrdrewscott
Jonathan and Drew Scott—twins collectively known at the Property Brothers—among the biggest reality television stars on the planet. They are on the cover of People. Their signature show airs in 150 countries. As The New York Times notes, "The Property Brothers Are Fixing to Take Over the World." (Note: Excellent double use of Southernism "fixing to," NYT.) And this year they are bringing some of that star wattage to Galveston.
The HGTV breakout stars shot the fifth season of Brother Vs. Brother in Galveston over six weeks in February and March. For those unfamiliar with the surprisingly addictive show, it pits real estate agent Drew against his twin, construction contractor Jonathan, with each spending their own money—$600,000, in this case—to purchase and renovate their own properties, with older brother J.D. helping out and playing referee behind the scenes. There are weekly challenges, celebrity guest judges, lots of brotherly teasing and, eventually, one overall season winner.
"There's definitely a lot of risk involved because we've never done a beachfront property and this is our money on the line," says Drew in an HGTV promo. "Here it's gonna be tough: you have the heat, you have the humidity, you have waterfront issues you have to look out for." Judging from these straight-from-the-'80s before pictures, the brothers both have their work cut out for them.
The Galveston season of Brother vs Brother premieres May 31 at 8 p.m., and even for those who wouldn't normally go in for a home makeover show, it should be worth checking out for the exciting glimpses of Galveston. An HGTV teaser promises to feature amusement park rides at the Pleasure Pier, penguins at Moody Gardens, and Gulf activities from shrimping to flyboarding.World Diversity Patterns
There are more than 6.5 billion people in the world today. Nearly 2/3 of them are Asians living on less than 1/3 of the land. Only about 5% of the world's people live in North America. GEOGRAPHIC REGION POPULATION PERCENT
OF WORLD Asia 3, 518,000,000 5 6.4 % Africa 839,000,000 1 3.5 % Europe (including nations that
were part of the Soviet Union) 803,000,000 12.9 % Latin America and Caribbean 539,000,000 8. 7 % North America (U.S. and Canada) 320,000,000 5.1% Near East 179,000,000 2. 9 % Oceania (Pacific Islands) 32,000,000.5% Source: Global Population Profile: 2002, U.S. Census Bureau 2004
Just how many different societies, cultures, and ethnic groups make up the world's population is not certain. This is due, in part, to the fact that these social entities are not always distinct enough to clearly warrant their being considered as separate groups. For instance, Canada and the U.S. are separate nations but culturally and linguistically similar almost to the point of not being distinguishable by outsiders (except for French speaking Quebec Province).
Contributing to the problem of counting the number of societies, cultures, and ethnic groups is not only the overlapping nature of many of these groups but the fact that they are now changing rapidly as mass media and relatively inexpensive long distance travel increasingly blur cultural differences. We are experiencing culture change on a scale and at a pace that is unprecedented in human history.
A good indication of cultural survival is the continued use of traditional languages and dialects. People who are unable to readily communicate because of language differences are more likely to maintain cultural differences as well. Linguists estimate that the world's peoples speak 5000-6000 languages. The most common "native" language is Mandarin Chinese. English is a distant third. Spoken as "Native" Language TOTAL
sPEAKERS 1. Mandarin Chinese 874,000,000 2. Hindi (India) 366,000,000 3. English 341,000,000 4. Spanish 322-358,000,000 5. Bengali (India and Bangladesh) 207,000,000 6. Portuguese 176,000,000 7. Russian 167,000,000 8. Japanese 125,000,000 9. German (standard) 100,000,000 10. Korean 78,000,000 Note: If the 15 major variants of Arabic are considered one language, Arabic is the 6th most common language in the world having 198-201,000,000 native speakers.
Source: E thnologue Volume I: Languages of the
World, 14th ed. (2000). These statistics are only
rough approximations in most cases.
While English is not spoken as a native language by the largest number of people, it is the most world wide in its distribution. It has become the second language of choice in most countries. About 1/4 to 1/3 of humanity now understand and speak it to some degree. As English and a few other major languages grow in popularity and as cultural diffusion accelerates, many of the languages of smaller ethnic groups are dying. As many as 1/2 of the languages in the world are no longer spoken by children. This is a major step in the direction of language and cultural extinction. The languages that are becoming extinct are not doing so because they are "primitive" or unable to allow adequate communication. They are dying because their speakers find it more useful to speak other languages. This is largely a result of the growth in influence and power of nation states over their indigenous minority populations and of the increasing globalization of our economies. The culture homogenizing effect of mass media should not be underestimated either. Much of the television programming viewed around the world originated in Western Nations. It is startling to realize that the most popular television shows world wide in recent years have been stereotypical American sitcoms such as "Will and Grace" and "Friends."
The rapid global growth in the importance of the English language and of Western culture (especially American) has not been as straight forward and simple as it initially may seem. Cultural traits have not only diffused from the Western Industrial societies to the rest of the world. They have gone the other way as well. American society, culture, and language have become far more diverse. For instance, English now contains words from more than 240 other languages. In less than a generation, the cultural influences of Asia and Latin America especially have dramatically changed life in the U.S. and Canada. This has been particularly true of the food preferences in urban areas.
Countering these rapid globalization trends in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has been the dramatic resurgence of tribalism. While many small indigenous societies are disappearing into national societies, many larger ethnic groups are violently reasserting their presence and even independence from the nations that they have been integral parts of until now. The breakup of Yugoslavia into ethnically "purified" areas in the 1990's is a prime example. Similar "tribal" reemergences have occurred throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Tribalism also recently has spawned genocidal conflicts in Africa, especially in Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, and Congo. Previous Topic Return to Menu Practice Quiz Next TopicWe’ve all heard that “one man’s trash is another mans treasure”. That saying takes on new meaning when we view the world through the eyes of the artists featured in todays post. These talented individuals see possibility in the things we throw away every day. Instead of heading to the art supply store they just collect common trash and turn it into works of amazing art. Take a look at these 40 terrific works of art made from common trash and be prepared to start looking at your garbage in a whole new way.
Artworks Made From Trash
Ann P. Smith
This awesome owl and bird sculpture was made from reclaimed electronic trash. It reminds me of the mechanical owl in The Clash of the Titans.
This ram looks like anything but trash. Each piece fits perfectly.
These delicate birds and other sculptures by Ann can be bought at her store online.
Belen Hermosa
Got a few thousand CDs lying around? Have a seat.
Lamponi
Lamponi make some really cool lamps from trash. This one was an old steam iron.
An old ice scoop makes a good lampshade.
This old school hair dryer lamp and others are actually available to purchase. Check out the site for more far out creations.
Alex Andromeda
This three-legged beast is made from electronic garbage.
Computer circuit boards make up this work of art that almost looks like a burning man effigy.
It’s hard to believe that this intricate motorcycle was made from random bits of trash. Amazing!
Austinevan
This huge dragon was created using aluminium cans.
Law Kevin
What a stunning sculpture. Notice the computer mouse teeth and the washing machine door eyes.
Sayaka Kajita
Sayaka uses reclaimed plastic material to build her wonderful sculptures. Look closely at these two and you can see plastic spoons.
Another great creation made from common plastic trash.
This dog sculpture has a great pose. How many plastic spoons do you see?
Paul Villinski
This awesome piece was made from old soda cans and a hiking backpack frame. Great concept.
This whimsical butterfly spiral was also made from old soda cans.
David Mach
This huge Gorilla was made from old coat hangers.
Another coat hanger sculpture from David. The protruding hangers make the sculpture almost look kind of blurry. Nice effect.
Robert Bradford
Robert Bradford uses discarded toys to bring his ideas to life. How many of these toys did you play with as a kid?
These sculptures have a nostalgic quality to them that takes you back to more innocent days.
Jeremy Mayer
The artist obviously has a great understanding of the human form. Notice the old typewriter pieces on the lower abdomen.
Actually, both of these pieces from Jeremy were made from old typewriters. Notice the cat’s eyes. Check out his site for more of his awesome work.
iri5
iri5 uses old cassette tapes to create the likenesses of celebrities. This one’s Kurt Cobain.
Michael Jackson released from the tape. I love the super clean lines and the curly hair.
185Queens
This polar bear is made out of used grocery store bags. Is plastic OK?
Brian Jungen
This skull was crafted from old baseball coverings.
That’s the fossil remains of some ancient dinosaur, it’s plastic chairs.
This walk-though sculpture was created from old plastic storage bins. Notice hoe the negative space is in the shape of a person.
Strife
Scrap metal was used to construct this sea horse looking sculpture.
Moonlightbulb
This fantastic mosquito was once just ordinary trash. Now it’s a beautifull work of art.
Christian Fuar
Christian uses crayons as pixels to produce captivating images.
This stunning image almost looks like an old (blurry) photo.
En Pieza
Got some old ball point pens lying around? Make a cool lamp out of them.
Brian Marshall
Brian Marshall creates wonderful bots that are full of personality from discarded materials.
This little guy is ready for battle with his pencil sharpener shield.
I just love this one. Check out the old camera and oil can.
Bernard Pras
Bernard Pras takes trash art to a whole other level. Absolutely stunning rendition of Bruce Lee.
This geisha looks fantastic! Notice the little face to the left of her eye.
Albert Einstein never looked so cool. I love the colors and shapes in this masterpiece.
Further ResourcesBreaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
Sep. 17, 2015, 7:50 PM GMT / Updated Sep. 17, 2015, 7:50 PM GMT By Associated Press
Doritos unveiled bags of rainbow-colored corn chips on Thursday in support of the It Gets Better Project, an organization started to encourage gay and lesbian teenagers who've been bullied.
Bags of "Doritos Rainbows," inspired by the LGBT pride flag, will be mailed to people who donate at least $10 to the organization through a special website.
Doritos Rainbows. Matt Nighswander / Frito Lay
Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo based in Plano, Texas, said all of the donations will go to the It Gets Better Project.
Ram Krishnan, Frito Lay's chief marketing officer, said the chips "show our commitment toward equal rights for the LGBT community and celebrate humanity without exception."
Study Explains Why Your Brain Makes You Snack
The announcement was made just days ahead of this Sunday's Dallas Pride event, which counts Doritos among its corporate sponsors.Former UFC champion Holly Holm doesn't deny the fact that she turned down a fight against Cris Cyborg, which would've gone down at last weekend's (Sat., May 14, 2016) UFC 198 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Curitiba, Brazil.
For "The Preacher's Daughter," the timing of the offer was just off, as she was still set on doing anything in her power to get a rematch against Miesha Tate after "Cupcake" dethroned her from the top of the mountain back at UFC 196.
In fact, Holly recently told 120 Sports that she isn't opposed to going up to 140 pounds to face the current Invicta FC featherweight champion.
"I'm not even stuck on the 135 compared to 140, that's not really a big thing for me. They did call me for the fight, that is definitely true. I was so focused and I really wanted to see if I was going to get that rematch for the belt because that is where my passion was really facing. And that was around the time they asked me for the fight with Cyborg and I was holding out to see if I could get the rematch. To me, I am not against fighting Cyborg, it just didn't really seem like the right time. In boxing, I fought in three weight classes, so I am not opposed to fighting at 140. I actually think Cyborg might make 135 |
at the top of the file. Know that require is cached - This could be a feature or a bug in your code.
- This could be a feature or a bug in your code. Always check for errors - Never throw errors and never skip the error check.
- Never throw errors and never skip the error check. Use try…catch only in sync code - it is useless for async code, plus V8 can’t optimize code in try...catch as well as plain code.
- it is useless for async code, plus V8 can’t optimize code in try...catch as well as plain code. Return callbacks or use if … else - Return a callback to prevent execution from continuing.
- Return a callback to prevent execution from continuing. Listen to the error events - Almost all Node classes/objects extend the event emitter (observer pattern) and emit the error event. Be sure to listen to that.
- Almost all Node classes/objects extend the event emitter (observer pattern) and emit the error event. Be sure to listen to that. Know your npm - Install modules with -S or -D instead of --save or --save-dev
- Install modules with or instead of or Use exact versions in package.json : Never trust semver in your apps, but do so in open-source modules.
: Never trust semver in your apps, but do so in open-source modules. Use different dependencies. The more un-required dependencies you have, the greater the risk of vulnerability.
More details in the article.
In the new episode of The New Stack Makers podcast, Guy Podjarny, CEO of Snyk and Gergely Nemeth, CEO of Trace (the Node.js Debugging Tool) discussed Node.js module security during the latest Node Interactive conference.
Who is ultimately responsible for the security around these third-party modules?
Is it the original module creator? Or, if a project is open source, and since these contributions are created out of sheer goodwill for the betterment of the community, some argue that the burden of ensuring their security falls upon those using them.
Todd Moore, who is the Vice President of Open Technology at IBM and a member of the Node.js Foundation Board of Directors provides his perspective of the Node.js Foundation board and how it compares to others.
Last week we read fantastic articles about Node.js interview questions & answers for 2017, Supercharging Express Microservices with Hydra, Natural Language processing in JavaScript, and more..This is a classic introductory physics problem. Basically, you have a cart on a frictionless track (call this m 1 ) with a string that runs over a pulley to another mass hanging below (call this m 2 ). Here's a diagram.
Now suppose I want to find the acceleration of the cart after it is let go. The string that attaches the two carts does two things. First, the string makes the magnitude of the acceleration for both carts is the same. Second, the magnitude of the tension on cart 1 and cart 2 has the same value (since it's the same string). This means I can draw the following two force diagrams for the two masses.
So, how do you find the acceleration of cart 1? It seems clear, right? You just need to find the tension in the string since that's the only force in the horizontal direction. You could write:
If I know the tension, I can calculate the acceleration. Simple, right? Even simpler, the tension would just be equal to the gravitational force on the hanging mass (m 2 ). WRONG! This is not the correct way to solve this problem — I actually remember making this exact mistake when I was an undergraduate student. But why is it wrong?
Experimentally Measuring the Tension
If I just solved the problem the correct way, it wouldn't be that much fun. Instead, I am going to set up an experiment to show that the tension in the string isn't just the weight of mass 2. You can see the setup in the image above (it's called a half Atwood machine in case you want to google the solution). Basically, I have a mass on a low friction track with a string connected over a pulley to a hanging mass. Both masses have force sensors on them so that I can measure the tension in the string. Also, I can measure the position, velocity and acceleration of the cart using the Vernier motion encoding system. This is basically just series of lines on the track that the cart uses to determine its position (and thus velocity and acceleration).
With a cart mass of 1207 grams (mass 1) and a hanger mass of 145 grams (mass 2), I get the following data.
Here is what you should look at:
First, the forces. Yes, there are two force probes — one on each mass. Both of the force sensors give the same force. This means the tension on mass 1 has the same magnitude as the tension on mass 2.
The first part of the graph shows the two masses at rest (I'm holding it with my hand). In this case, the acceleration is zero m/s 2 (as seen in the graph showing the acceleration) and the tension in the string is just the weight of mass 2 (0.145 kg)*(9.8 N/kg) = 1.421 N.
(as seen in the graph showing the acceleration) and the tension in the string is just the weight of mass 2 (0.145 kg)*(9.8 N/kg) = 1.421 N. The masses accelerate around a time of t = 1.4 seconds. Ok, this is wrong. They actually accelerate before that, but the first acceleration was caused by me pushing the cart away from the pulley. The cart is accelerating the way you would expect from time of 1.4 seconds to 2.6 seconds.
During this acceleration, the tension in the string drops from 1.421 Newtons to just 1.285 Newtons.
But why? Why is the tension not the same as the weight of mass 2? The answer is simple — mass 2 is not in equilibrium but instead it is accelerating downward. Since it's accelerating, the net force is not equal to zero (vector). This means that the tension should be smaller than the weight of mass 2 — which it is.
Solution to the Half-Atwood Machine
The tension in the string depends on the weight of mass 2 as well as the acceleration of mass 2. However, the acceleration of mass 2 is the same as mass 1 — but the acceleration of mass 1 depends on the tension. Does this mean you can't solve the problem? Of course not, it just means that it's slightly more complicated.
Let's say mass 2 is accelerating in the negative y-direction. This means that I can write the following force equation (in the y-direction).
Now I can do a similar thing for mass 1 with its acceleration in the x-direction. Since the magnitudes of these two accelerations are the same, I will use the same variable.
With two equations and two variables (a and T), I can solve for both variables. If I substitute the expression for T for mass 1 into the equation for mass 2, I get:
Instead of completely solving for the acceleration, let me leave it in the form above. Think of the problem like this: suppose you consider the system that consists of both mass 1 and mass 2 and it's accelerating. What force causes this whole system to accelerate? It's just the weight of mass 2. So, that is exactly what this equation shows — there is only one force (m 2 g) and it accelerates the total mass (m 1 + m 2 ). From this I can solve for the acceleration.
Using the values of mass 1 = 1.207 kg and mass 2 = 0.145 kg, I get an acceleration of 1.05 m/s2. This is pretty close to the experimental value (seen above) at 1.109 m/s2. I'm happy.
With the value of the acceleration, I can plug back into the original equation to solve for the tension. With this, I get a tension of 1.267 N. This is fairly close to the experimental value of 1.285 N. Again, I'm happy. It seems physics still works.The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s unruly parliament, voted on April 14 to accept the resignation of Arseniy Yatsenyuk, leader of the People’s Front party. The prime minister, who has been in post since the Euromaidan uprising in February 2014, reluctantly announced on April 10 that he intended to leave office.
President Petro Poroshenko’s eponymous parliamentary bloc narrowly approved the appointment of the current speaker of the parliament, Volodymyr Groysman, who has long been closely associated with the president, as Yatsenyuk’s successor. As horse trading took place in recent days over the ministerial line-up, it was unclear whether Groysman would garner the necessary 226 votes to be confirmed as prime minister, but he was finally approved with 257 votes to 50.
Why Yatsenyuk resigned
Yatsenyuk bitterly complained that he had been forced out of office by venal personal ambition which had generated what he termed an “artificial” political crisis. Yet, while Ukrainian politics is pathologically personalised and conducted with a large measure of cash-fuelled political trickery, the political crisis, as he surely knows, is very real.
Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA
For a time, the undeclared “war” to defend “European values” against Russian-supplied proxies in the Ukrainian Donbas in the east of the country animated the hawkish Yatsenyuk’s People’s Party. It became known as the “war party”. But no amount of patriotic jingoism and cheerleading could disguise the reality that his armed forces had lost militarily on the battlefield, forcing the authorities to accept an unfavourable ceasefire. The pretence otherwise only made it harder to reach a lasting resolution to the conflict.
The Dutch “no” vote in a non-binding referendum on April 6 on whether the Netherlands should ratify a deal between the EU and Ukraine came as a shock to the “Euromaidan” revolutionaries who ousted the former president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. The Dutch rejection of closer ties with Ukraine will puncture those revoutionaries’ idealism about the country’s rosy relations with Europe, but the “no” vote will have little or no material effect on Ukraine-EU relations.
As prime minister, Yatsenyuk had become a lightning rod for popular dissatisfaction. He was disliked both by that part of the electorate impoverished by austerity measures even more extreme than those demanded by the IMF – and among those frustrated by insufficient reform, particularly in the sphere of the rule of law. Declining living standards and a series of corruption scandals reduced Yatsenyuk’s poll rating to almost zero.
His government, although conflicted, appeared to pursue the interests of western capital and investors at the expense of Ukrainian business. The political crisis was triggered by the resignation in February of the Lithuanian-born economy minister, Aivaras Abromavicius who had failed to wrench control over state-owned companies from the state bureaucracy and associated business tycoons in order to free up their privatisation to western investors.
The return of the oligarchs
But even though the much vaunted de-oligarchisation policy was largely rhetorical, the deep economic crisis – GDP fell almost 10% in 2015 – hurt strategic companies owned by influential oligarchs. Despite the fact that the war and austerity-fuelled economic depression may have reached their nadir, the seriously wounded oligarchs have been prompted to protect their interests by re-entering the political fray.
In office, Yatsenyuk shielded Poroshenko from popular criticism, so it was notable that Mustafa Nayyem, the prominent journalist and MP for Poroshenko’s bloc in parliament, blamed the president personally for the Dutch “no” vote last week.
Nevertheless, in the context of a dysfunctional division of constitutional powers, Poroshenko wanted to consolidate power through the formation of a new coalition and government that he can better control. Since the beginning of April, his bloc has persuaded at least ten independent deputies to join its parliamentary faction. His plan was that, in coalition with the People’s Front, they would be able to form a new governing group with at least the necessary 226 votes. In the end an additional 31 deputies voted for Groysman to become prime minister.
However, in choosing to form a new coalition through recruiting individual deputies rather than whole parliamentary factions, as the constitution envisages, Poroshenko is repeating the sleight of hand that the disgraced former president Yanukovych used when he formed a compliant coalition government led by his Party of Regions after his election in 2010.
What to expect from Groysman
The Groysman-led coalition government is the first major political re-alignment since Euromaidan. It represents a push back against austerity, the IMF and America’s Ukraine policy. The foreign-born technocrats have been removed from the key economic ministries and replaced by figures from Ukrainian banking and industry.
Roman Pilipey/EPA
While the government can be expected to comply with the IMF’s basic conditions on fiscal and monetary policy, it will use its western sponsors’ fear of snap elections and the prolonged political instability to manoeuvre room for pro-growth policies intended to stabilise society.
We could see price reform in the energy sector to increase the profitability of key private, domestically owned companies and the privatisation of state-owned shareholdings to existing majority owners rather than foreign investors. Negotiations over who would fill the economy and energy ministerial portfolios were particularly sensitive.
The new government is likely to be more pragmatic and conciliatory than its predecessor. It might even be able to broaden its political base to countenance constitutional reform to resolve the simmering conflict in the Donbas along the lines envisaged in the Minsk II ceasefire agreement. Groysman’s cabinet includes a deputy prime minster responsible for the separatist-held territories. This could repair economic – if not political – relations with Moscow providing a much needed boost to the economy.
Porokshenko under pressure
Porokshenko is already under pressure from the Panama Papers for having used an offshore vehicle to facilitate the sale of his Roshen confectionary company, based in Groysman’s home town of Vinnytsa. He could now be accused of re-establishing the worst elements of Yanukovych’s rule, namely a “party of power” and “crony capitalism”.
It remains to be seen whether Poroshenko will be any more successful than Yanukovych in persuading his impoverished people that their interests coincide with the interests of the country’s rich political and commercial elites. Populist opposition parties, led by former prime minister Yuliya Tymoshenko and her Batkivshchina party, are likely to energetically campaign for early parliamentary elections.
The first sign of the new coalition’s brittleness could be a split in Poroshenko’s eponymous parliamentary faction. Should this occur, the president would be ever-more tempted to more formally ally with the successor to Yanukovych’s Party of Regions – known as the Opposition Bloc – as well as other oligarchic parties to prop up the new government. Opposition Bloc however might prefer snap elections and the chance to return to power.
We may have only witnessed the beginnings of a counter revolution in Kiev.WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is still holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London. (The Associated Press)
Just a few months ago, WikiLeaks stood at the epicenter of the 24/7 news cycle as it dribbled out hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
Since the U.S. presidential election, however, Julian Assange's anti-secrets outfit has fallen back into relative obscurity.
Which, for Assange, is not acceptable. WikiLeaks' 45-year-old Australian founder, holed up for the past six years in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden on a rape charge, loves the spotlight. And he knows that, with the internet reaching a chaotic maturity and President Donald Trump embracing various far-out scenarios, conspiracy theories have never been more popular.
And so WikiLeaks in the past week has been putting out cryptic tweets about a mysterious "Vault 7," which has piqued the interest of both conspiracy theorists and straightforward lovers of mind games. Here are some of the tweets, the most recent of which was posted this morning:
The message is so clear, right? Well, some folks on Reddit and Twitter think so -- or are having a laugh. Here's one theory:
Vault 7, goes this notion, is the "Doomsday Seed Vault" in Norway -- that is, the isolated Svalbard Global Seed Vault whose purpose, writes the international non-profit The Crop Trust, "is to provide insurance against both incremental and catastrophic loss of crop diversity held in traditional seed banks around the world."
WikiLeaks has obtained some documents about, say, mismanagement at the seed vault?
OK, maybe. That would be a meaningful story, if it were true. But it wouldn't exactly be explosive, which Assange considers his stock-in-trade. So some of the more popular theories involve so-called DUMBs -- Deep Underground Military Bases, a favorite of survivalist conspiracy theorists. Below is an 8-minute video that will bring you up to speed.
Then there's this possibility from an anonymous Redditer : Vault 7 represents "traitors," but "not those whom the government labels traitors."
Who are the traitors, then? That's not entirely clear. It has something to do with gold stolen by the Nazis and the Pentagon's "missing" budget and -- the alpha and omega of modern-day conspiracy theories -- the 9/11 terrorist attacks. "In other words," the Redditer writes, "9/11 was an op, and the real motive was what was in this vault. All the other motives -- the insurance payouts, the Iraq war, all that was distraction and/or 'hush' money."
These various theories, as you can see, range from "interesting but unlikely" to "way out there" to "please seek psychiatric help now," but Assange is no doubt enjoying the speculation. He may soon reveal all, though the important thing, for him, may simply be that the internet is talking about WikiLeaks again.
-- Douglas PerryOhio Gov. John Kasich's (R) office has flatly rejected Vice President Pence's claim that nearly 60,000 disabled Ohioans are on waiting lists for Medicaid’s home and community-based services.
Kasich spokesman Jon Keeling told The Washington Post that such an assertion is "not accurate" and that suggesting Medicaid expansion hurt the developmentally disabled system "is false, as it is just the opposite of what actually happened."
Kasich is among a group of GOP governors to oppose the Senate GOP plan to repeal and replace large parts of the Affordable Care Act.
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He issued a statement this week saying that proposed changes to the bill were "still unacceptable" because of their possible effects on Medicaid and the private ObamaCare market.
Now, the Trump administration is pushing Republican governors opposed to the measure to get behind the bill.
“I know Gov. Kasich isn’t with us, but I suspect that he’s very troubled to know that in Ohio alone, nearly 60,000 disabled citizens are stuck on waiting lists, leaving them without the care they need for months or even years,” Pence said in a speech Friday at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Providence, R.I.
According to the Post, waiting lists for such Medicaid services are common and are typically longer in states that did not take ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion than in those that did.
Ohio was among a number of Republican-controlled states that took the ACA's Medicaid expansion, which dramatically expanded the number of people who qualify for the program.
Senate GOP leaders' healthcare bill – the Better Care Reconciliation Act – calls for deep cuts to Medicaid, prompting some more moderate Republican members to voice misgivings about the measure.Steve Anderson of Big Bend Brewing Co. passed last Wednesday November 25 to prostate cancer. Our condolences go to Steve’s family, friends and the crew at Big Bend Brewing Co.
From Amy Fletcher of Big Bend Brewing Co.:
“I work for an amazing company. This past week we lost our brewmaster Steve Anderson, and I took this weekend to reflect on what he meant to others and to the brewing community, which is why I didn’t post about it. My words cannot do justice to his accomplishments, so I have copied the press release from the brewery.”
Big Bend Brewing Co. Press Release:
Steve Anderson, Brewmaster at Big Bend Brewing Co., passed away on Wednesday, November 25th, 2015, at his home in Alpine, Texas, after a valiant fight against cancer. Big Bend Brewing Company lost our Brewmaster; all of Texas lost a true craft beer pioneer and a friend.
Born in 1962 in Dallas, Texas, Steve was on the forefront of many of Texas’s cultural changes of the last five decades. Moving to Austin as soon as he finished high school, Steve was an instrumental part of Austin’s burgeoning punk scene. He was a member of Cry Babies, Screws, Toxic Shock, and was the original singer for Scratch Acid. He was there for the Big Boys shows at Raul’s, which would later turn into his beloved Showdown. He was in the movie Slacker. And he helped create the craft beer phenomenon that Texans enjoy today.
Steve loved beer. He was, in the words of one of his closest friends, “the best man in the world to drink a beer with.” Steve’s entire career was a tribute to beer, friends, and having beers with friends.
In the 1980s, he was homebrewing and working as a bartender for long-time friend Billy Forrester at The Texas Showdown, a legendary Austin beer bar on the Drag. After taking a trip together to the Great American Beer Festival in 1991, Billy and Steve were inspired to open a brewpub. Unfortunately, brewpubs were not legal in Texas at that time, so they made a deal: Steve would attend the Siebel Institute Brewing Program to refine his brewing knowledge, and Billy would lobby the Texas Legislature to change the law. Two years after that trip, with the law successfully changed, they made their dream a reality and opened Waterloo Brewing Co. at 4th & Guadalupe, making Steve the first Brewmaster of the first brewpub in Texas.
Sadly, Waterloo became an early victim of escalating Austin rents in 2001 and the building was torn down. Thankfully, it had already inspired a tidal wave of interest in craft brewing in Austin, launching the amazing craft beer culture that continues in the city today.
After Waterloo closed, Steve became the Head Brewer at Austin’s legendary Live Oak Brewing Co. Steve worked closely with founder Chip McElroy from 2001 to 2012 to build Live Oak to the renowned and long-standing brewery it is today.
As the population exploded in Austin, Steve and his wife Ellen Weed yearned for a slower pace of life. After owning a second home in Sanderson for many years and falling in love with the Big Bend region of Texas, Steve dreamed of opening a brewery out by the National Park. In 2012, he found a team of people who loved Far West Texas and craft beer as much as he did, and he left Austin to start Big Bend Brewing Co. in Alpine, Texas. Over the past three years, Steve and the team grew BBBC from zero to over 5,000 barrels of annual production.
Last spring, Steve transitioned all day-to-day production brewing responsibilities to his apprentice Amy Oxenham, the Brewery Manager Henryk Orlik, and BBBC’s bright team of young brewers. Steve turned his attention to developing our small batch brewing program, purchasing a small brewpub system to brew specialty series, collaborations with other breweries, and exclusive tap room beers. Unfortunately, we collectively ran out of time before Steve could make this vision a reality.
But we will carry on his legacy. To honor Steve, we will be naming the taproom at BBBC “Steve’s Cantina.” We welcome current, future, and aspiring Texans to share great craft beer and memories from one of the originals. There will be only brewers in Steve’s Cantina, no brewmasters: it will only ever have one.
To Steve: Friend, Brewmaster, Legend
Brewmaster:
Waterloo Brewing — 1993 to 2001
Live Oak Brewing — 2001 to 2012
Big Bend Brewing — 2012 to 2015
Steve’s Cantina — 2015 and beyond
A Celebration of Life party will be held at Big Bend Brewing Company at 3pm on Saturday, December 5th. Please bring a dish to share and come have a beer in Steve’s honor. 3401 W. Highway 90, Alpine, Texas. (432) 837-3700. info@bigbendbrewing.com
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Pints for Prostate, an organization created to encourage men to have regular prostate screenings.
http://pintsforprostates.orgEmotions are running high following Charlie’s surrender. Most people voice their disappointment with their voices, but Trinity, being a woman of action, jumps for the mirror so hard she almost breaks it. (Good thing she didn’t: that’s seven episodes of bad luck, and she’ll be eliminated long before that.) What follows is a discussion so predictable that there must be a computer program editing the clips together: “I was thrown under the bus,” “I need to stand out from the crowd,” “some of these girls are too confident,” blah blah blah. Part of the reason this season is falling flat is because we’re wasting time with stock phrases that could be spent on people’s individual personalities. When you have cerebral artists like Sasha and shit starters like Aja and legitimate weirdos like Nina, just let them do their thing. Whatever they come up with will be more interesting than the story arc you’re shoehorning them into, I promise.
The following morning, we’re still missing the video message segment (which is honestly a smart cut, since it always had to be re-explained anyway), but Ru announces the triumphant returns of the mini-challenge and the long-lost Pit Crew. The girls are given an unspecified amount of time to get into quick beach drag, then handed a selfie stick and a side of beefcake and let loose. The person who takes the best group shot with the boys is supposed to win, but instead Ru chooses Alexis. (Seriously, look at the picture she took; it isn’t flattering.) Her victory earns her a generous gift card and the authority to assign roles for the week’s main task: a lip sync performance of a Kardashian-themed musical.
Her choices seem just and well-informed for the most part, but there are notable exceptions. It’s unclear where Cynthia would be a good fit, I guess, but making her the center of attention as Kim had to have been a strategic move to make Cucu say bye-bye. Plenty of people don’t get the character they wanted most, but no one has more to say about it than Nina. She didn’t just want to play Blac Chyna: she needed it. She’s addicted to that solo like heroin, and she will not be satisfied until it is hers. She will wander the Earth in a state of endless hunger, forever cursing Alexis and Shea, the harpies who stole her one true happiness. She will carry this hurt with her until she is nothing more than a rotten, unblended corpse, and even then she will probably haunt the studio.
Aja halfheartedly tries to console Ms. Bo’nina Brown Baxter-Birney, but the already-difficult task of mustering sympathy for such a minor slight is made all the more challenging when Eureka hobbles by on actual crutches. Like, she’s got a physical injury that hampers her ability to carry out more than half of the competition’s demands and she’s been assigned the aggressively stupid role of North West the future space demon and she still has a decently positive outlook. Honestly, this whole situation is dumber than asking Todrick Hall to come on this show AGAIN. It’s dumber than asking the audience to be shocked that someone in rehearsal wasn’t clear on the dance steps, as if that isn’t the entire point of rehearsal. It’s dumber than writing an extended musical number about a family from a reality TV show.
The dumb continues for a little while the next morning, when Team New York marvels at Aja’s magically smaller nose. (I’d love to know what kind of crunches she’s been doing in her hotel room.) But every episode needs a serious moment, and this week’s is a doozy: Eureka’s apology for her crack about eating disorders leads to three revelations: Shea used to be bulimic, Sasha used to be anorexic, and Valentina is currently anorexic. So yeah, that’s a lesson learned regarding jokes about sensitive subjects with people whose histories you don’t know. At least she said she was sorry.
The Kardashian musical isn’t exactly a modern classic, but neither is it a total debacle. Pretty much everyone shows up to do their job (these are, after all, working professionals). Alexis chose her own role shrewdly, and makes a meal of her Kris Jenner moments. Similarly, Peppermint’s Britney is better than some of the actual Britney’s recent live performances, and Shea turns her brief cameo into the evening’s best moment. On the other end of the spectrum, Cynthia does that Cynthia thing where she is on a different plane of reality than everyone else: her mouth isn’t in sync with the lyrics, and her impersonation isn’t really an impersonation. The dark cloud of yesterday’s tantrum still hangs over Nina, and no amount of sparkle on Farrah’s cheek can mask the dullness of her stage presence.
After the faux fur runway, the judges have a more complicated situation on their hands: Peppermint and Alexis rose to the top in the challenge, but sink themselves with pedestrian fashion choices. That leaves Shea to stomp off with the win, even if half of her outfit is a repeat of her entrance ensemble. The bottom three pose a similar challenge: Nina and Farrah both served strong visuals, but neglected to get into the Kardashian spirit when needed. (Cynthia is a charming and wonderful queen, but let’s face it: she failed in the musical and she almost never looks good.) But eliminating Ms. Bo’nina Brown Bader Ginsburg for being in a bad mood seems indefensible even by this show’s ever-shifting standards, so Ru submits Cucu and the Iron Lady to the ultimate indignity: lip syncing to a Meghan Trainor song.
And like Meghan Trainor herself, their showdown doesn’t matter. After watching the valiant (though by no means epic) battle, Ru stops the show to consult with the shadowy cabal of queer illuminati witches that secretly controls the entertainment industry. Their decision, which she relays to the contestants, is that due to her injury, it’s time for Eureka to sashay away. Which is a rude-ass demand, because you can’t sashay on crutches. Here’s how you know that I’m not a member of the secret coven steering this ship: if it had been my call, I would have set the fan base’s hair on fire by following Eureka’s departure with a straight-up double elimination. Seriously, are either Cynthia or Farrah going to win this season? No! Absolutely not! Not in a million years. So let’s streamline things and get down to business. Or, you know, we could do it Ru’s way and keep them both. Whatever.
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AdvertisementsThink about someone you know well—a friend or relative, say. Now list the attributes that make them unique. You could give the physical attributes that would help me find them at the airport—gender and age, height and weight, hair color and style, and so on—but you know much more than that.
You might know how they shake hands and if they like to hug. You might know their favorite music and sports, their favorite foods and food allergies, which TV shows they like and which they hate, their annoying habits, the names of their pets, their medical issues, where they went to school and where they’ve lived, and their past jobs. You may have helped them through a tough patch in life or vice versa.
You recognize their voice and their laugh. You have funny stories you could tell at their retirement party and poignant stories for their funeral—or vice versa.
If you have a “personal relationship with Jesus,” can you say the same thing? Can you list attributes about Jesus? If so, do you imagine that they’re the same as those of other Christians? If not, why call this a relationship?
Christians today only know Jesus from the artwork. But give your Jesus a haircut, a shave, and modern clothes. As Richard Russell (whose essay inspired this post) observed about Jesus, “You couldn’t pick him out of a 1-person lineup.” Jesus is nothing but a costume.
The many flavors of “relationship”
Consider a sequence of relationships, starting with the strongest.
1. Start with the one described above, an intimate, long-term relationship with a family member or close friend.
2. Now we begin to degrade the relationship. Consider a less-intimate relationship with someone you’ve met face to face. This might be neighbor, co-worker, acquaintance from a party, or just the parent of one of your kid’s classmates who you recognize but whose name you’ve forgotten. You have strong evidence that you met someone, though you have few intimate details.
3. This is a voice- or text-only relationship such as a pen pal or online friend. Though these relationships can be intimate, no one would consider them equivalent to a face-to-face relationship. They can be spoofed (I wrote about the unfortunate Manti Teʻo here).
4. Finally, drop even this channel of communication so that there is no objective evidence of any intelligence on the other end of the relationship except a mirror of yourself. You can fool yourself quite easily (and if you’re responding, “No, I can’t!” then you see how unassailable your own flawed ideas can be). Maybe there really is an intelligence that refuses to communicate any way except this one, but this is indistinguishable from an imaginary friend or delusion.
We know what person and relationship mean. We can look them up. “Relationship” #4 is unlike any actual relationship with an actual person. My guess is that we’re seeing what has been called Shermer’s Law : smart Christians using their substantial intellect to defend beliefs they adopted for indefensible reasons. They might be Christians who adopted that worldview from their environment, but as adults, they know that “cuz I was raised that way” is no intellectual justification for their Christian belief. They can’t admit to having an imaginary friend. Instead, they handwave that they have a relationship with an actual person, no less real than their relationship with buddies at the gym or book club.
We see this definition fiddling with other positive words—good, just, and merciful, for example. These are great words to apply to their favorite deity, but, given some of God’s shenanigans, Christians must “improve” the definitions. Sorry—that’s not how words are used.
Perversely, relationship #4 is the one that apologist William Lane Craig insists is the strongest and the least in need of evidence (I’ve written more here). Only in religion, where every day is Opposite Day, could a lack of evidence be heralded as a virtue.
The only reason you keep [claiming
your “deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ”]
is because it’s the slogan of the club
that some con artist or charlatan has suckered you into believing
you really want to be a member of.
— Richard S. Russell
This post was inspired by “That Deep, Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ” by Richard S. Russell.
Image credit: Don AddisBill Gates said his three children understand why he has pledged to leave his £70billion fortune to charity when he dies.
In a revealing insight into his private life, the Microsoft founder, 60, said his children are 'proud' of his decision to dedicate his money to helping the world's poorest.
Gates said that instead of billion-dollar trust funds, his two daughters and son will be given a 'great education' to help kick-start their own careers.
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Revealing insight: Bill Gates, 60, said his three children are 'proud' of his decision to dedicate his money to helping the world's poorest during an interview on This Morning today (pictured)
Private life: Bill and Melinda Gates with their children, Jennifer, now 20, Rory, now 17, and Phoebe, now 14, who will only inherit a small fraction of their parents' £70billion fortune
But the business mogul did say there would still be a financial safety net in place, adding: 'They are never going to be poorly off'.
Speaking on This Morning, Gates said: 'Our kids will receive a great education and some money so they are never going to be poorly off but they'll go out and have their own career.
'It's not a favour to kids to have them have huge sums of wealth. It distorts anything they might do, creating their own path.'
Gates and his wife Melinda, 52, have three children together, Jennifer, 20, Rory, 17, and Phoebe, 14.
Family values: In the interview on this morning the business mogul (pictured) said there would still be a financial safety net in place, adding: 'They are never going to be poorly off'
Greatest gift: Gates, pictured, and his wife Melinda said their children are being given a 'great education' but want them to forge their own paths rather than rely on billion-dollar trust funds
Jennifer is in her second year at prestigious Stanford University, California, where her father donated £5million to the construction of a computer science building in his name. She is also an accomplished equestrian, riding in national competitions.
Rory and Phoebe are believed to at school and live at home with their parents outside Seattle, Washington.
The Gates will only pass on a fraction of their vast wealth to their children.
Business leader: Bill Gates with Chancellor Philip Hammond outside Downing Street today
The rest will go to their charity, the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds health and education projects around the world.
In a rare insight into family life, Gates told This Morning presenters Holly Willoughby and Ben Shephard his children |
such as spillovers from medical marijuana to recreational use of the drug among adults and youth, and changes in the number of traffic fatalities following the implementation of a medical marijuana law, among other topics.
Remarkably, there is no literature that investigates the extent to which marijuana is used medically as a result of implementing medical marijuana laws at the state level. In this article we provide the first, albeit somewhat indirect, evidence on the clinical impact of medical marijuana availability by examining the impact of medical marijuana laws on the use of all FDA-approved prescription drugs paid for by the Medicare Part D program.
Generally, we found that when a medical marijuana law went into effect, prescribing for FDA-approved prescription drugs under Medicare Part D fell substantially. The only exceptions were for spasticity- and glaucoma-related drugs. Ultimately, we estimated that nationally the Medicare program and its enrollees spent around $165.2 million less in 2013 as a result of changed prescribing behaviors induced by seventeen states and the District of Columbia—the jurisdictions that had legalized medical marijuana by then.
Policies surrounding the appropriate use of medical marijuana are the subject of intense and ongoing debate, and the research we have presented here has direct implications for multiple aspects of the evolution of those policies. State reforms to medical marijuana policies are constrained by the current status of marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. That status prohibits any sale of marijuana under federal law because the drug is defined to have a high potential for abuse and no medical benefit; thus, many state laws now contradict federal law. Our findings and existing clinical literature imply that patients respond to medical marijuana legislation as if there are clinical benefits to the drug, which adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that the Schedule I status of marijuana is outdated.
Additionally, at a time when Medicare is under increased fiscal pressure, our research suggests that more widespread state approval of medical marijuana could provide modest budgetary relief. Although some of the savings are likely to be a transfer of costs from the Medicare program to beneficiaries who would have purchased marijuana out of pocket, saving $468.1 million annually is not trivial. As noted above, that would represent about 0.5 percent of total Part D spending for 2013.
Finally, while we did not directly test the impact on governmental programs other than Medicare—most importantly, Medicaid—finding significant cost savings for Medicare suggests that other programs might also enjoy budgetary reductions when medical marijuana laws are implemented. Lowering the costs of Medicare and other programs is not a sufficient justification for approving marijuana for medical use, a decision that is complex and multidimensional. Nonetheless, these savings should be considered when changes in marijuana policy are discussed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank seminar participants at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Texas A&M University for comments on an earlier presentation of this research.
NOTES“This agreement isn't perfect,” Mitch McConnell said. | Getty Congress passes budget deal The agreement will boost domestic and defense spending, while extending the debt limit until March 2017.
The Senate passed on Friday a sweeping two-year budget deal that also extends the debt limit through the end of Barack Obama’s presidency — buying lawmakers some fiscal breathing room after years of bitter budget battles.
Shortly before 1:30 a.m., senators voted 63-35 to advance the accord negotiated between top Hill leaders and the White House — the final legislative accomplishment of now-former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who officially handed the reins of the House to Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday. And just after 3 a.m., senators passed the budget agreement with a 64-35 vote — sending it to Obama to be signed into law.
For Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the agreement achieves his two chief goals: It helps avert a government shutdown and a default on the nation’s debt. And Senate Democrats successfully extracted spending increases for domestic programs, collecting dividends from a risky strategy cooked up this summer to block all appropriations bills to try and force Republicans into budget negotiations.
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“This agreement isn't perfect,” McConnell said Thursday. “But here’s the bottom line. This is a fullyoffset agreement that rejects tax hikes, secures long-term savings through entitlement reforms, and provides increased support for our military — at a time when we confront threats in multiple theaters.”
But it was that sense of compromise that opened McConnell to scathing attacks from fellow Republicans eager to distance themselves from the budget deal — not the least of whom was Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who took to the Senate floor on Thursday night to eviscerate McConnell as the “most effective Democratic leader in modern times.”
Just hours before the scheduled procedural vote on the budget, Cruz — who is running for the GOP presidential nomination — delivered a fiery anti-McConnell speech while dismissing the fiscal deal as a blank credit card from Republicans to Obama that is “encrusted in diamonds and glows in the dark.”
"I've got to say, Leader McConnell has proven to be a very effective Democratic leader. With just 46 Democrats, the outcome is exactly what Harry Reid and the Democrats would want," Cruz said of the budget agreement. "Is this not a curious state of affairs? Why is a Republican majority leader fighting to accomplish the priorities of the Democratic minority.”
Cruz’s remarks overshadowed a speech from yet another GOP presidential contender who chose not to make it so personal: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who for days repeatedly threatened to filibuster the budget agreement even though he had no realistic options for trying to stop the measure from advancing,
“We will be raising the debt ceiling in an unlimited fashion,” Paul said in a speech lasting just less than 20 minutes. “We will be giving President Obama a free pass to borrow as much money as he can borrow in the last year of his office. No limit, no dollar limit. Here you go, President Obama. Spend what you want.
Meanwhile, everybody — but Republicans in particular — seemed to have plenty to dislike about the budget agreement, which would add $80 billion in spending over two years paid for by a hodgepodge of offsets, and an additional $32 billion for each of the next two years through a war contingency fund.
A vocal protest by aggrieved farm-state lawmakers over $3 billion in cuts to crop insurance — one pay-for in the budget agreement — threw last-minute complications into the negotiations.
But congressional leaders assured senators those cuts would be reversed in the omnibus spending bill due in December — a deal that helped move a handful of farm-state votes but irritated fiscal conservatives who complained that the savings in the budget deal were already being undermined.
“Many of the offsets are creative gimmicks,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). “And some of the offsets aren’t even that creative.”In the wake of the horrific terrorist attack against Muslims outside a mosque in North London, the public has been forced to grapple with a number of tough questions. Among them: Who is Darren Osborne, the 47-year-old suspected of driving his van into a crowd of Muslim men? Where was he radicalized? And, in the wake of this obvious act of terrorism against one of the United States’ closest allies, where the hell is President Donald Trump?
While the White House issued an excruciatingly bland statement condemning the London mosque attack (delivered during an off-camera, no-audio-allowed press briefing by press secretary Sean Spicer) president Trump has yet to personally address the incident himself. No tweets, no remarks, nothing.
His silence comes in direct contrast to his comments following the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert Manchester last month—an attack he decried as having been perpetrated by “evil losers.” And it comes in contrast too, to his comments following the terrorist attack on London Bridge earlier this month, to which he tweeted: “WE ARE WITH YOU.”
So why hasn’t the president—who infamously lectured the Muslim community on their supposed responsibilities in the face of global terrorism—responded to this latest act of terror? Does he not know, perhaps, that in the chaotic aftermath of the mosque attack, it was the local imam who rushed to defend the very terrorist who’d targeted them from a furious crowd so that police could detain the man without incident? Or does he simply not care?
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The pattern seems painfully clear: To Trump, terrorism is a one-way street, emanating from the Muslim community and toward everyone else. It is as if he is constitutionally incapable of accepting that people with the same color skin as he has could, in fact, perpetrate the very acts of violence he’s so fond of blaming on “others.”
Why hasn’t Donald Trump personally condemned the London mosque attack? I think we all know the answer to that.Download These Files
MOD EDIT: Sorry, Samsung have requested this link be removed.
MOD EDIT: Sorry, Samsung have requested this link be removed.
If you plan on using the Unikernel to root your g925t or g920t on 5.1.1 use these steps
If you plan on using Aou's Kernel and TWRP to root your G925T on 5.1.1 (DO NOT USE THIS FOR G920T) use the steps below
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU FLASH THE FILES IN THE ORDER THE INSTRUCTIONS TELL YOU TO FLASH THEM!!!
---------- Post added at 11:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:11 PM ----------
Here is how you root g925t and g920t on 5.1.1 without tripping knox. All credit for rooting method go to original developers. I in no way take any credit for their hard work whatsoever.1. Samsung USB Drivers ( Click Here 2. Odin v3.10.6 3. SuperSu v2.49 4. UniKernel 5. Auo's v4 kernel 6. Auo's TWRP v12 1. Install Samsung USB Drivers if necessary.2. Put phone into download mode. Power phone off then press and hold Volume down, home and power keys at same time until you see warning screen then let go and hit volume up one time.3. Plug phone in and wait for drivers to install if necessary.4. Open odin you should now see phone's modem port highlighted in blue.5. Click on BL tab and select correct sboot.bin that you downloaded above. Then click start.6. When phone comes back on power off again and put into download mode.7. Open odin again and this time select AP tab and select UniKernel file and click start.8. That is it!!! When it comes back on phone will be rooted. To verify that knox has not been tripped go back to download mode and it should still say KNOX WARRANTY: 0 (0X0000)1. Install Samsung USB drivers if necessary.2. Copy and Paste SuperSU v2.49 on the root folder of your phone's internal memory.3. Put phone into download mode. Power phone off then press and hold Volume down, home and power keys at same time until you see warning screen then let go and hit volume up one time.4. Plug phone into computer and let drivers install if necessary.5. Open odin and click on BL tab and select sboot.bin file for g925t and click start.6. When phone is back on put back into download mode again.7. Open odin again and this time select AP tab and flash Aou's TWRP file and hit start.8. When phone is back on put phone into download mode one last time.9. Open odin and select AP tab and select Aou's v4 kernel and click start.10. When phone is back on unplug it and power it off and put into recovery mode (Volume up, home and power keys)11. When TWRP recovery is open click on install tab and select supersu file and swipe to flash it. then reboot phone to system.12. That is it!!! When it comes back on phone will be rooted. To verify that knox has not been tripped go back to download mode and it should still say KNOX WARRANTY: 0 (0X0000)If for some reason after you flash UniKernel and phone screen turns white after on main screen for few seconds Just flash Aou's v4 kernel. That will fix that issue if it happens and you will still be rooted.Overview (3)
Mini Bio (1)
Matt Dillon's successful film career has spanned over three decades and has showcased his wide range of dramatic and comedic talents. Dillon displayed his versatility with an arresting performance co-starring as a racist cop in the critically acclaimed Paul Haggis film Crash. This role earned him nominations for an Academy award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics Choice Award, BAFTA Award and won him an Independent Spirit Award. In addition, the film earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics Choice Award for Best Ensemble. As the New York Times' Film Critic A.O. Scott put it, "He seems to be getting better with every film."
He starred opposite Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson in Universal Pictures' comedy, You, Me and Dupree and in Factotum for which he received glowing reviews for portraying Charles Bukowski's alter ego when the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. From his breakthrough performance in The Outsiders to his hilarious turn as an obsessed private investigator in There's Something About Mary, he has proven himself to be one of the most diverse actors of his generation.
In 1990 Dillon won an IFP Spirit Award for his gritty performance as a drug addict in Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy. From there he went on to star in such films as Ted Demme's Beautiful Girls opposite Uma Thurman and Natalie Portman, Cameron Crowe's Singles, In & Out with Kevin Kline, Kevin Spacey's Albino Alligator, Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, Garry Marshall's Flamingo Kid, Van Sant's To Die For with Nicole Kidman, and John McNaughton's Wild Things. He starred in Nothing But The Truth, opposite Kate Beckinsale and Vera Farmiga, Disney's Old Dogs, opposite John Travolta, Robin Williams and Kelly Preston, and the Screen Gems films Armored and Takers.
Aside from being an accomplished actor, Dillon wrote, and made his feature film directorial debut with City of Ghosts, in which he also starred with Gérard Depardieu, Stellan Skarsgård, and James Caan. Prior to City of Ghosts, Dillon made his television directorial debut in 1997 with an episode of HBO's gritty prison drama Oz.
Dillon's achievements continued with television appearances in an HBO adaptation of Irwin Shaw's Return To Kansas City and a part co-narrating the documentary Dear America: Letters From Home.
Dillon's multi-talents have also landed him on stage starring on Broadway in The Boys In Winter as well as the PBS/American Playhouse production of The Great American Fourth Of July And Other Disasters.
His recent film credits include the comedy Girl Most Likely opposite Annette Bening and Kristen Wiig; the drama Sunlight, Jr. opposite Naomi Watts, and the heist comedy The Art Of The Steal opposite Kurt Russell. Dillon most recently starred in M. Night Shyamalan's hit television event series Wayward Pines for FOX.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Polaris PR
Trade Mark (3)
Deep baritone voice
Dark brown hair
Low, thick eyebrows
Trivia (35)
His grandmother, Bea Dillon, is the sister of two famous artists: Alex Raymond and Jim Raymond. Alex Raymond was the creator of the cartoon strip, Flash Gordon; and also Jungle Jim and Rip Kirby. Jim Raymond drew Blondie for Chic Young for about 40 years.
Cites Gene Hackman as a major idol and influence on his work, especially after working with him in Target (1985).
Was in a relationship with Cameron Diaz (January 1996-December 1998).
Original choice for Frank Sangster role in Novocaine (2001).
Original choice for "Butch Coolidge" in Pulp Fiction (1994).
Was the original choice for the role of Richard in The Blue Lagoon (1980), but turned the role down because of the nudity.
He is the second child of six. His brothers and sisters are: Paul (born 1962), Kevin (born 1965), Katy (born 1966), Timothy (born 1969) and Brian (born 1972).
His parents are Mary Ellen and Paul Dillon
Enjoys frequenting flea markets.
Has a large vinyl record collection.
Is a big fan of Cuban music.
Has traveled extensively in Southeast Asia.
Is a New York Mets baseball fan and collects Mookie Wilson baseball cards.
"Matt Dillon" is also the fictional name of the hero of Gunsmoke (1955), television's longest-running ever western series (20 years from 1955 to 1975). The hero, a U.S. Marshal for Dodge City, was played by James Arness
Is a runner, and regularly runs through Central Park in New York, where he lives. Usually he is not recognized.
He is of almost entirely Irish descent, with a small amount of German and Scottish, ancestry.
Spent New Year 2005 in Brazil.
Quit smoking cigarettes in 1996.
He traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to work with Amani Global Works, which aims to provide better health care to the most impoverished, forgotten areas of Africa. [2012]
Attended the San Sebastian Film Festival 2006 in Spain. [September 2006]
Attended the She Hate Me special screening and dinner party in Rome, Italy on Oct. 10th. [October 2004]
Attended The Orange British Academy Film Awards 2006 in London, England. [February 2006]
Attended the Deauville Film Festival 2002 in France to promote City of Ghosts. [September 2002]
Attended the The Irish Film & Television Awards in Dublin, Ireland. [February 2010]
Attended the 10th Annual Marrakech Film Festival in Marrakech, Morocco. [January 2010]
Attended the The 3rd Annual amfAR Cinema Against AIDS in Dubai, UAE. [December 2009]
Attended the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in France. [May 2005]
Attended the Cannes Film Festival in France. [May 1998]
Attended The Orange British Academy Film Awards 2010 in London, England. [February 2010]
Attended the Ischia Global Film & Music Fest 2008 in Italy. [July 2008]
Not a relation with Melinda Dillon
Personal Quotes (27)
There were certain perceptions that people had of me, you know...'He's dumb,' or 'he's just got a pretty face,' or 'he's a thug,' or 'he can only do one thing.' I'm not so concerned with that now. Longevity's what it's about.
New York is a vibrant city. There is so much to do here. It's so diverse. But in L.A., the whole town seems to revolve around the industry. That's a good thing when you need to go for work and stuff like that, and I have a lot of friends out there -- a lot of longtime friends -- but I don't want to live there. I just don't like it. In L.A. you can spend days without seeing another person. You see other people in your car, but without really making contact with them. I mean you really exist that way!
A lot of people say I've missed out on a lot because I started acting at such a young age. What's so obvious to me is that I actually was really lucky. I gained a lot and I got a head start in what I wanted to do in life. A lot of people in their late 20s, early 30s are just beginning to figure out where they want to go.
To be honest with you, there's nothing that bores me more than sitting around with a bunch of actors talking shop. I love actors and I've got friends that are actors. They're interesting people. But for some reason, usually when it comes round to talking shop, there's a part of me that doesn't like it.
"You can't get a place more conflicted than Cambodia. You come up with ideas as you go. Film ideas come into your head. Sometimes you write them down. Sometimes they just pass you by. This one goes back to '93 when I went to Phnom Penh. It was an extended vacation and I knew very little of Cambodia. What I knew of it was "The Killing Fields". What really opened my eyes and surprised me was how beautiful the country was. Phnom Penh was this partially destroyed city but a lot of it had been preserved. The royal palace is there and all the pagodas along the Mekong River. It was a real contrast from say, Bangkok. There was also this palpable sense of danger. There were a number of ex-pats I met, too, and these people were as interesting as the places. Guys that had opened bars and felt like they couldn't go back. About a year later, I read an article in the Tribune that Cambodia was being used as a fugitive haven. It sort of presented itself to me as an opportunity to do something really interesting" - On what inspired Dillon to base City of Ghosts (2002) in Cambodia.
I think more in terms of the work. I don't think about being a celebrity. I don't preoccupy myself too much with being famous. I don't try to hold on to some kind of image. I remember sometimes thinking people thought of me this way or that. But I did not want to be considered a star. I always just wanted to be considered an actor. That is what I do and that is what I pride myself on--my work. That is what counts.
Some jobs, while you are making them, you find yourself living the part. You dream about them. You wake up thinking about it. That is a good sign. That was Drugstore Cowboy (1989). It was cool. It was fun to make. It was a small crew. The actors were great. It worked. It was one of those things where, if it worked, it would be one of those things that was different and unique. And it turned out that way. Gus Van Sant was great. He thought more like an artist than just a straight-headed filmmaker. It is great to work with someone like that.
I do a movie and I hope everybody gets to see it. I'm not somebody who only makes cult movies. Sometimes they become cult movies and that's fine, but that's not why I make movies. I would love to do a really good audience picture, but sometimes it just doesn't get offered to you and that's just the way the ball bounces. I want to do big movies. I like big escapist films, certain action films, like The Fugitive (1993).
There's a lot more that I am capable of doing than I have done. There's a lot more that I have to offer people. Some people would be surprised. If you really look at my body of work, it's not nearly as typecast as one might think. I have done a lot of roles and not just played brooding, angry young men.
There is something about Cuba. There's no doubt. There's something romantic about the place, even now with everything going on. Just look at the music, among other things. Some of the greatest music ever came out of Cuba in the '50s, '40s and '30s.
I won an Indie Spirit Award a few years ago for Drugstore Cowboy (1989), but you never think about awards when you're doing a movie.
Comedy is the hardest thing for me.
I don't worry about whether a character is likable, as long as the character is believable.
You learn tolerance and patience when you become famous or you get in a lot of trouble. I work on my self-destructive behaviors. I try to get past them. There've been times when I'm very prone toward anger. And if I look at my anger, there's usually fear behind it. Some sort of fear of something.
Yeah, I was a little wild and on a course for misspent youth, you know what I mean? But my parents made it very clear what was unacceptable, and that saved me. I have to be honest. I got out lucky.
I'm not particularly interested in my past. I'm interested in my life now. I'm into the future. I mean, I feel like every time I do one of these things [interview], everyone's always like, 'What was it like to be discovered?' When, sort of, like, really, at this point in time, I'm just here with you.
[on working with Gene Hackman on Target (1985)] Gene Hackman's good to work with. We really work together, y'know? He gives a lot and likes it when you give. It's hard to find actors you actually deal with, and he deals with you.
I like to travel and I love absorbing other cultures.
(On what inspired him to base City of Ghosts (2002) in Cambodia) Because, when I traveled there, I would see foreigners and westerners who interest me as much as the place itself. These were people that had some kind of history and some kind of past that whom I felt were running from something. They were Americans, Europeans, and Australians who tended to be very secretive about what they were doing, where they were and there was this air of mystery about them; these sorts of people interested me and I found the end of the line kind of thing was something that I wanted to explore. These people, the guy that's on the run, existed and was not something I came up with because I had seen an old movie.
(On making Armored (2009)) It's a pretty good job being an actor, but it's work sometimes. And when I say work, I mean it's a job. You're going to a job. But this one, I was excited to go to work every day. I really love the cast, and you can feel it. If the director's committed, the actors will commit as well. If the director's going to be really committed and excited and determined to make something good, then it's contagious, and the actors jump right on board. And that's the way it was on that film. We had fun on that set. And when I went to the screening, I had fun. '(Laurence) Fishburne' and I were talking about it. "Hey man, it's a blast". If you had fun making it, then the audience will have fun watching it.
(On making There's Something About Mary (1998)) Well, that was probably the funnest time I ever had on a set. It was like a big party, in a way. It was the first time I'd ever worked with two directors, brothers, and it was really great. They're both so creative. A lot of what you see is stuff that came up on the spot. And I love to improvise. I like to get on a roll and have some fun, and they're really into that too, but they're also ad-libbing as they're going. So the camera would be rolling, and Bobby [Farrelly] would come up to me and throw a line at me, and then I'd have to get it together and stop laughing, and then do my part again with this new line. So it kind of kept things very alive. They're constantly creating. It was a great experience, and I remember it was like the shortest hours I've ever worked. I never remember ever working where we'd get done so early in the day.
(On Singles (1992)) Cameron Crowe came to me for that maybe eight months before he first had the film set up, and he talked to me about doing the role that Campbell Scott played. But, in the end, I couldn't do it, for a number of reasons. So, then, he came back to me later for "Cliff", the rocker. And I said, "Okay, Cameron, I'd love to work with you, but I don't even remember that guy in your script". And he goes, "Oh, don't worry about it, we're working on it". And, sure enough, the character was a nice, interesting character that weaved through the story.
(On making Over the Edge (1979)) There were five of us they brought out from New York. Only two of the young actors in the movie were actually professionals: Vincent Spano and Pamela Ludwig. The other three guys, Michael Eric Kramer Tom Fergus, and myself, we were just guys they found. We auditioned and we got the job. It was great. We shot in Colorado, and I might as well have been on Mars. It was a whole different world out there for me, coming from back East. I just remembered thinking, "Oh God!" Looking back on that film, I think it really reflected the times in terms of attitudes toward drugs and youth. A lot of the kids that were extras in that film were out of juvenile hall, and there were drugs, everywhere. It was crazy. It was the '70s. I can really remember the '70s through that movie.
I don't hide out. If you build a wall around yourself it draws people to invade it. Fear is the enemy.
I like vintage clothing, because it puts me in mind of another generation. You read things like "pleats are out." They're out? No way. They looked great in the forties-on Mitchum, Garfield, those guys. So why should it be different now? I've got a closet full of old suits, gabardine pants, hats.R.Zubrin: Radiation Hucksters Strike Again
Radiation Hucksters Strike Again
By Dr. Robert Zubrin, Mars Society President, 06.08.17
According to a publicity campaign launched on behalf of a paper authored by University of Nevada Las Vegas Professor Frank Cucinotta, new findings show "collateral damage from cosmic rays increases cancer risks for Mars astronauts."
However an examination of the paper itself shows no discussion of experimental methods or results, because no experiments were done and no data was taken. Rather the much-ballyhooed paper is a discussion of a computer model that Prof. Cucinotta has created that claims to have the power to predict radiation-induced cancer occurrences. In short, there’s no real news. Furthermore, to the extent that the model in question has any empirical foundation, it is based on irrelevant prior experiments done in which researchers subjected mice to radiation dose rates millions of times greater than astronauts would receive on their way to Mars.
For example in one such illustrative piece of nonsense entitled “What happens to your brain on the way to Mars” published on May 2, 2015 in the open-access journal Science Advances, a group of radiation researchers claimed that their recent work causing memory loss to mice by administering very large doses of galactic cosmic ray (GCR)-like high energy radiation has serious implications for human Mars exploration. According to the authors, similar effects might severely impact astronauts going to Mars, thereby placing the feasibility of such enterprises in serious question.
However, in this typical mouse experiment, the victims were given a dose of 30 rads (0.3 Gray) at a rate of 100 rads per minute. On a Mars mission, astronauts would receive a dose of 1 rad per month during the 6 month outbound and return transfers, and about 0.5 rad per month during 18 months on Mars, for a total of 21 Rads. ( 1 Gray = 100 rads = 100 cGray. For GCR 1 Gray =6 Sieverts = 600 rem. Space dose rates can be found in “The Cosmic Ray Radiation Dose in Interplanetary Space – Present Day and Worst-Case Evaluations” R.A. Mewaldt, et al, 2005.
The 4-million fold difference in dose rate between such lab studies and spaceflight is of critical importance. It is a well-known finding of both chemical and radiation toxicology that the effects of large doses of toxins delivered suddenly is entirely different from the effect of the same amount of toxin delivered in very small amounts over a long period of time. The difference is that the body’s self-repair systems cannot deal with a sudden dose, that they can easily manage if received over an extended period. For example, if an individual were to drink one shot of vodka per second for 100 seconds, he would die. But if the same person drank one shot of vodka a month for 100 months, he would experience no ill effects at all. This is about the same ratio of dose rates as that which separates the invalid work reported in the “What happens to your brain on the way to Mars” paper (1.6 rad per second) from that which would be experienced by astronauts in space (1 rad per month).
It should also be added that mouse studies are not an accurate predictor of cancer occurrence in humans. It is possible to induce tumors in mice by rubbing their stomachs. Such treatment is not known to be a hazard to people.
It is true that small amounts of toxins received over a long period can statistically increase a person’s risk of ill effects – at least according to the hyper-conservative Linear-No Threshold (LNT) model of toxicology. However, we already have data that shows that the accumulation of slow rates of cosmic ray radiation received during long duration spaceflight is not a show stopper for human Mars exploration. GCR dose rates in low Earth orbit are about half those in interplanetary space. Thus there are a dozen cosmonauts and astronauts who have already received Mars mission equivalent GCR doses (Padalka, Malenchenko Avdeyev, Polyakov, Solovyov, Krikalyov, Titov, Manarov, Foale, Fincke, Pettit, Walz, Kelly, Whitson) during extended space missions without any radiological casualties. Furthermore, since the International Space Station (ISS) is continually manned, while Mars missions are only in space about 40 percent of their mission time, the total GCR dose (measured in person-rems) that the ISS program crews will receive over the next ten years of planned operations is about the same as would be received by a series of five crews of five people each if they were launched to Mars every other year over the same period. Thus, in fact the ISS program has already accepted the same level of GCR risk for its crews as would be faced by an ongoing human Mars exploration program.
Galactic cosmic radiation is not a show stopper for human Mars exploration and should not be used as an excuse for delay. The space program costs many billions of dollars, which are spent at a real cost to meeting human needs elsewhere. That fact imposes a moral obligation on the program to move forward as quickly and efficiently as possible. It is understandable that radiation researchers should want to justify their funding, but they should not spread misinformation to promote themselves at such extraordinary expense to the public.Donald Trump could do to the 2016 general election exactly what Ross Perot did a generation ago – with a Clinton pulling away from a Bush and a wealthy business mogul drawing a surprisingly large share of the vote.
A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds Hillary Clinton leading every potential Republican rival one on one. And while her lead has narrowed over several, it expands greatly in a race against Jeb Bush if Trump decides to jump in as a third-party candidate, as he has suggested is possible.
The poll projects a virtual rerun of 1992. That year, husband Bill Clinton won the White House with 43 percent of the popular vote. President George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush’s father, came in second with 37.5 percent. Perot, running as an independent, got 19 percent.
This time, Hillary Clinton gets 44 percent, Bush gets 29 percent and Trump gets 20 percent, according to the poll.
The results come as the Republicans prepare for their first debate, Thursday in Cleveland, with Trump leading national polls of GOP voters. Should he fall short of winning the Republican nomination, which party insiders expect, Trump has opened the door to a third-party bid.
How Hillary stacks up against the GOP A new McClatchy-Marist poll looks at how Hillary Clinton would fare against Republican candidates if the presidential election were held today. While most of the top candidates polled within 10 points of Clinton, if the Republicans divide the field her lead grows substantially. A six-point lead in a straight Clinton and Jeb Bush race would increase to a 44 percent to 29 percent victory for Clinton with Donald Trump taking another fifth of the vote. Select a candidate below to see how he or she would fare against Clinton. July 2015 Hillary Clinton vs SOURCE: McClatchy-Marist poll of 964 registered voters, July 22 to 28, 2015; margin of error: +/-2.8 percentage points
Trump would badly wound Bush, according to the nationwide McClatchy-Marist survey conducted July 22-28.
He would siphon votes from Republicans and independents, but not from Democrats. He’d get 28 percent of the Republican vote, while Bush would sink to 63 percent support from his own party. Meanwhile, Clinton would hold 86 percent of the Democrats.
If I’m treated fairly and I get a good, fair shot at this, and I’m not, you know, being sabotaged with all sorts of nonsense and a lot of phony ads... I would have no interest in doing that whatsoever. Donald Trump to Fox News on a third-party bid
Trump backers appreciate his candor, calling him a welcome alternative to veteran politicians.
“Everybody else has been in politics. He hasn’t,” said John Hyleman of Gastonia, N.C. “He’s telling everyone to kiss his butt if you don’t like it, and I like that.”
Trump also proves to be a polarizing figure.
“I don’t think he should be in there ’cause he’s racist,” said John Hogan of Sherman, Texas, who’s undecided. Trump has been critical of undocumented Mexican immigrants, calling them rapists and criminals.
Without Trump in the general election race, Bush would get more than nine of 10 Republicans and would trail Clinton by 6 percentage points.
A Trump general election candidacy would be a huge boost for Clinton, whose support has ebbed somewhat in recent months as she’s had to defend her email use while secretary of state and has been criticized for a tightly scripted campaign style.
“This suggests it’s going to be a very competitive election,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, which conducts the poll.
Here’s how Clinton fares against the entire GOP field one on one:
– Leads Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky by 5 percentage points, 48 percent to 43 percent.
– Leads Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida by 5, 47 to 42.
– Leads Bush by 6, 49 to 43.
– Leads Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin by 7, 48 to 41.
– Leads former |
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Among those believed to have perished on the flight to Medellin are dozens of sports journalists and well-known football commentators making their way to report on Chapecoense's history-making game.
They include a six-strong team from FOX Sports, three reporters from Brazil's main Globo TV channel, among a total of 21 members of the media.
Among the team from FOX, which was broadcasting the game, were famous commentators Devair Pascovicci and Mario Sergio, as well as respected football journalist Victorino Chermont.
It also emerged Anderson Paixao, the trainer of both Chapecoense and the Brazilian national side, is among those not accounted for.
THE AVRO RJ85 PLANE THAT FIRST FLEW IN 1999 The plane that crashed was an Avro RJ85, produced by a company that is now part of UK's BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace). Its registration is CP-2933 and records show the plane first flew in March 1999. From 1999 to 2007, it was owned by Mesaba Aviation in the US before it was transferred. It was then in the hands of CityJet, before being taken over by Bolivian airline LAMIA in October 2013. In 2014, part of a wing on a RJ85 aircraft became partially detached as it left from London City Airport to Florence. After climbing to 3,000 feet, the aircraft returned to London City and a new plane was readied. Production of the RJ series ended in 2002 with 170 planes built in total. Pictured is the plane that crashed in Colombia on Monday night after reportedly suffering power failures The RJ85 can hold up to 112 people, but the more typical seating arrangement was for 85 passengers. According to data from Flightradar, it had flown around 1848 miles from the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. The RJ85's range is around 1842 miles when equipped with standard fuel tanks, according to Airliners.net. Alfredo Bocanegra, the head of Colombia's civil aviation agency, said communication with Bolivian aviation officials suggested the plane was experiencing electrical problems. However, he added that investigators would have to look into reported testimony from a female flight attendant who said the plane had run out of fuel. It has also been revealed the Argentinian national team, which included Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero, used the same aircraft to travel to their World Cup qualifier against Brazil a fortnight ago, which they lost 3-0.
Anderson had first been called up to train Brazil stars such as Neymar and David Luiz last year for the Copa America in Chile.
His colleague, Chapecoense's physio Rafael Gobbato is also believed to be among the dead.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the new mayor-elect of Chapeco escaped the doomed flight - despite being on the list of those on board. Luciano Bulligon had planned to join his town's team for their crucial match but changed his mind at the last minute, saying his schedule was too full.
And Chapecoence player Alejandro Martinuccio has revealed how an injury is likely to have saved his life.
The Argentine forward wasn't able to play in the scheduled match in Colombia, so he wasn't on the team plane that crashed Monday night in Colombia, killing most of those aboard. He told Argentina's La Red radio that 'I was saved because I got injured.'
'I feel profound sadness,' he said. 'The only thing I can ask is prayers for the companions who were on the flight.'
Wreckage: A plane carrying 72 passengers including the top flight Brazilian football team Chapecoense has crashed in Colombia
Rescuers have faced difficulty reaching the remote crash sites with stretchers being carried down to waiting ambulances
Shocking images showed passengers being rescued from the scene of the crash including Brazilian journalist Rafael Henze
Defender Alan Ruschel (pictured on a stretcher) and goalkeeper Danilo Padilha from the top Brazilian side Chapecoense posed for a short video on board a passenger plane as Ruschel, 27, told fans: 'We're coming Colombia.'
Ambulances ferrying survivors to hospital can only get to within 30 minutes walk of the spot where the plane has crashed near the town of La Unión, it has emerged
Images from the site reveal the mangled wreckage of the plane and what appears to be a muddied outfit with the emblem of the Chapecoense football team
Rescue teams faced tricky conditions and had to suspend their operation when heavy rain started to fall
Nearby hospitals have been placed on'maximum alert' and are preparing for injured passengers to be treated
The plane was flying from Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and should have landed at Jose Maria Cordova in Colombia
The 28-year-old has played for Spain's Villarreal, Penarol of Uruguay and Brazilian clubs Coritiba, Ponte Preta, Cruzeiro and Fluminense.
Meanwhile the son of coach Caio Junior who perished in the crash has told how he only didn't board the doomed aircraft after forgetting his passport.
Some of the lorries are getting stuck in mud which is making the rescue more difficult. Witnesses said they have seen five people rescued so far.
FOOTBALLERS, JOURNALISTS AND CREW: THE VICTIMS OF THE COLOMBIA AIR CRASH Doctors at several hospitals are working to stabilise the six survivors of the plane crash that killed 75 people near Medellin, Colombia. All the injured suffered severe trauma injuries. Hospital officials say Chapecoense player Alan Ruschel appears to be in the most delicate condition. He's suffered a spinal fracture. Ruschel was stabilised at the San Juan de Dios hospital and transferred by ambulance to the intensive care unit of better-equipped facility, where he's awaiting surgery. San Juan de Dios medical director Guillermo Leon says defender Helio Zampier arrived shortly after dawn and is in stable condition with skull and chest injuries. A third player, Jakson Follmann, is at another facility and being evaluated for multiple unspecified injuries. Journalist Rafael Valmorbida is recovering from surgery for chest injuries. Bolivian crew members Ximena Suarez and Erwin Tumiri are listed in stable condition and recovering. Other players listed as being on the flight included: Ananias, a 27-year-old striker; Arthur Maia, a 24-year-old midfielder; Bruno Rangel, a 34-year-old striker; Ailton Canela, a 21-year-old striker; Cleber Santana, a 35-year-old midfielder; Dener, a 25-year-old defender; Filipe Machado, a 32-year-old defender; Gil, a 29-year-old midfielder; Gimenez, a 21-year-old defender; Danilo Padilha, a 31-year-old goalkeeper; Kempes, a 34-year-old striker; Lucas Gomes, a 26-year-old striker; Matheus Biteco, a 21-year-old midfielder; Sergio Manoel, a 27-year-old midfielder; William Thiago, a 30-year-old defender; Tiaguinho, a 22-year-old striker; Josimar, a 30-year-old midfielder; Marcelo Augusto, a 25-year-old defender; Mateus Caramelo, a 22-year-old defender. There were just six survivors from the Colombia air crash, including players Alan Ruschel, Jacson Follmann and Helio Hermito Zampier Neto (second from right in the back row) There were more than 20 media professionals travelling with the footballers from news organisations including Fox, Globo and Radio FM. They included the journalist Victorino Chermont (pictured) Around 20 other passengers were members of the Chapecoense tour group. The included the manager Caio Junior and four other members of his coaching team including an assistant manager, a personal trainer, a kinesiologist and a masseur who is said to be among the survivors. The club's president and vice-president were also on board along with other club managers. There were more than 20 media professionals travelling with the footballers from news organisations including Fox, Globo and Radio FM. They included the journalist Victorino Chermont. Crew members who died in the crash included Miguel Quiroga, Ovar Goytia, Sisy Arias, Romel Vacaflores, Alex Quispe, Gustavo Encinaand Angel Lugo
Hypothermia is another concern for those who have survived, because it is only five degrees Celsius. Nearby hospitals have been placed on'maximum alert' and are preparing for injured passengers to be treated.
Video shared on Twitter claimed to have captured the exact moment the hort-haul plane, operated by a charter airline named LaMia, dropped from the radar. Shocking images also show the mangled wreckage of the plane's wing.
Flight tracking service Flightradar24 said on Twitter the last tracking signal from flight 2933 had been received when it was at 15,500 feet, about 19 miles from its destination, which sits at an altitude of 7,000 feet.
Grief: Supporters of Chapcoense FC gathered at the club in Chapeco, Brazil today as news emerged of the devastating crash
Mourning: Fans of Chapecoense soccer team are pictured in front of the Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco, Brazil
Supporters gathered outside the club in Brazil as they awaited news on the crash in Colombia earlier today
A boy sits alone on the stands during a tribute to the players of Brazilian team Chapecoense who were killed in a plane accident
Rescue teams recover the bodies of victims of the LAMIA airlines charter that crashed in the mountains of Cerro Gordo
A rescue worker in a helicopter hovers over the site of the plane crash as emergency crews continued to sift through the wreckage
Local farmers observe the scene of the plane crash. 75 people died when the aircraft crashed with 81 people on board, including players of the Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense
Brazil's Chapecoense player Helio Neto is helped by paramedics in La Union. He is one of three players to have survived
The Avro RJ85 was produced by a company that is now part of UK's BAE Systems. A civilian aviation database website says that the plane that it made its first flight on March 1999.
Statistics from planespotters.net show that the regional plane has had several owners since.
From 1999 to 2007, it was owned by Mesaba Aviation in the U.S. before it was transferred. The plane has been in the hands of Bolivian airline LAMIA since October 2013.
British Aerospace, which is now known as BAE Systems, says that the first 146 plane took off in 1981 and that just under 400 - including its successor Avro RJ - were built in total in the U.K. through November 2003.
It says around 220 of are still in service in a variety of roles, including aerial firefighting and overnight freight services.
There are reports that the plane was 17 years old and that the team had taken the charter flight out of Bolivia when Brazilian aviation authorities barred the club from chartering a Bolivian plane direct from Sau Paulo to Medellin.
A post on the Instagram account of player Filipe Machado (left) showed a picture of an aircraft and a message saying: 'Already in Bolivia, now we're going direct to Medellin, Colombia'
Hypothermia is another concern for those who have survived, beacuse it is only five degrees Celsius
The commander of the Fire Department of La Union reported that five people were being treated at the scene, while the Medellin airport said there were just five survivors
A local mayor in Colombia says that at least three passengers have been rescued alive from the crash site after a plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team went down near Medellin
The chartered aircraft with 81 people on board, including Brazilian first division soccer team Chapecoense which was heading to Colombia for a regional tournament final, crashed on its way to Medellin's international airport
Instead they had to take a commercial flight to Santa Cruz de La Sierra in Bolivia, where they got the plane that crashed, reports in Brazil have claimed.
Hugo Botero Lopez, mayor of La Union, told Colombian newspaper El Tiempo: 'There are firemen from La Union, Rionegro, El Carmen de Vibroal, La Ceja, there are more than 90 lifeguards, but it is not easy to get people who are alive.'
'It's a tragedy of huge proportions,' Medellin's Mayor Federico Gutierrez told Blu Radio on his way to the site in a mountainous area outside the city where the chartered aircraft is believed to have crashed shortly before midnight local time.
HOW CHAPECOENSE WERE DENIED PERMISSION TO FLY DIRECT TO COLOMBIA Chapecoense had wanted to fly direct from Sao Paulo to Medellin but were barred from doing so because only a Brazilian or Colombian company was allowed to operate the requested route, it has emerged. The pilot of the doomed flight, Mick Quiroga, asked Luciano Buligon, mayor of the club's city, Chapeco, whether he could intervene to allow the direct route to go ahead rather than having to stop off in Bolivia. The mayor checked with the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) who confirmed that this route had been denied. The pilot of the doomed flight, Mick Quiroga (pictured), asked Luciano Buligon, mayor of the club's city, Chapeco, whether he could intervene to allow the direct route to go ahead rather than having to stop off in Bolivia Instead, the team took a commercial flight from Sao Paulo to Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia to pick up the LaMia flight which was being piloted by Quiroga. In the conversation Quiroga said: 'I have hired a Bolivian air plane to take us from Sao Paulo Guarulhos to Santa Cruz. I'll be waiting here in Santa Cruz. This flight leaves 15:00 local time in São Paulo, but what about the process for the other application to leave from Sao Paulo, because we had approval before to enter through Foz do Iguacu and go to Chapeco (on a previous trip). Please mayor gives us some help here for us to enter.' Chapecoense flew the first leg of their journey with BoA a Bolivian operator. When they reached, Bolivia, the passengers changed to the LaMia aircraft.
'Tonight it was reported that a plane coming from Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, which should have landed at Jose Maria Cordova, airport had gone off course,' a Colombian rescue official, Mauricio Parodi, told reporters.
Meanwhile, UK air accident investigators are being sent to Colombia to help the inquiry into the plane crash.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) dispatched a small team to South America because the aircraft was manufactured in the UK.
The British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by charter airline LaMia, declared an emergency at 10pm local time on Monday because of an electrical failure
Remote: Rescuers had to trek 30 minutes in order to reach the crash site which was in a mountainous region of Colombia
Emergency crews arrived to find bodies lying on the ground among the wreckage of the aircraft, which was carrying 81 people
Heavy rain hampered rescue attempts and some emergency vehicles had to be pushed through the mud
Rescue teams, from firefighters to disaster management officials, have been pressed into the search for survivors, added Parodi, the director of disaster managment for the province of Antioquia.
Poor weather conditions made the crash site accessible only by road, airport authorities at Medellin, where the plane was scheduled to land, said on social network Twitter.
Chapecoense were set to play Colombian team Atletico Nacional in the South American club tournament's final on Wednesday, with the return fixture in Brazil on December 7.
It was the first time the small club from Chapeco had ever reached the final of a major South American club competition but they were underdogs against a club going for a rare double after winning the Copa Libertadores in July.
Chapecoense were the 21st biggest club in Brazil in terms of revenue, bringing in 46 million reais ($13.5 million) in 2015, according to an annual rich list compiled by Brazilian bank Itau BBA.
Local radio said the team were due to stay at the four-star Hotel San Fernando, an elegant hotel near Medellin's Botanical Garden.
HOW CHAPECOENSE PLAYERS WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FAIRY TALE SEASON Why were Chapecoense heading to Colombia? Chapecoense were due to play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday, which is South America's secondary club competition - an equivalent to the Europa League in Europe. They were going to face Colombian side Atletico Nacional in the first match of the two-legged final. A video was uploaded by the club to social media showing the players heading on to the flight. Chapecoense edged Argentinian side San Lorenzo 1-1 on away goals in the semi-final to become the first Brazilian club to reach a major final in South America since 2013. After the victory, they were described as 'an unglamorous but growing club' by ESPN. When were Chapecoense formed? Chapecoense are a relatively young club, formed in 1973 in the city of Chapeco, in south Brazil. Their stadium, Arena Conda in Santa Catarina, holds 22,600. Chapecoense would have had to have played the second leg of the Copa Sudamericana final at an alternative venue because CONMEBOL, South America's equivalent to UEFA, state the final must be played at a venue holding at least 40,000 spectators. They are managed by Caio Junior, who has played and coached extensively across Brazil. The team joined Brazil's first division in 2014 for the first time since the 1970s and made it last week to the Copa Sudamericana finals - the equivalent of the UEFA Europa League tournament - after defeating Argentina's San Lorenzo How long have they been in Brazil's top division, Serie A? They have competed in the first division for three seasons, having made the top tier in 2014. As recently as 2009, they were in the fourth tier of Brazilian football and their run to a continental final this season was rightly heralded as a significant achievement. Who are their most notable players? Ananias, who is on loan at the club from Cruzeiro, netted the decisive away goal against San Lorenzo that got them to the final. Another loanee at the club is 21-year-old defensive midfielder Matheus Biteco, from German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim. Goalkeeper Marcelo Boeck spent five years at Sporting Lisbon from 2011-2016, where he was a team-mate of current Leicester striker Islam Slimani. Boeck reportedly got in trouble with Slimani after they won the Potruguese Super Cup in August 2015 and spraying him with champagne. As a Muslim, Slimani is not allowed to touch alcohol. Another of their well-known players was Cleber Santana, a midfielder whose best years were spent in Spain with Atletico Madrid and Mallorca. What is the reaction to the tragedy in South America? Chapecoense said on the club's Facebook page it'reserves the right to wait for the official announcement of the Colombian air authority to issue any official statement about the accident. God be with our athletes, officials, journalists and other guests who are with the delegation.' Atletico Nacional said it 'deeply regrets and sympathizes with @chapecoensereal on the accident and expects information from authorities.' CONMEBOL has suspended all activities until further notice.
The club's vice president said that the Brazilian city where the team is from is in tears. Ivan Tozzo said that Chapeco, a city of 200,000 residents in southern Brazil, is in mourning.
Tozzo told cable channel SporTV that 'we are very sad, gathered here in the locker room of our stadium. We are still waiting for news. All our board is there, our players. We have nothing concrete on their state.'
He said that 'There are a lot of people crying in our city, we could never imagine this. Chapecoense is the biggest reason for joy here. We hope there are many survivors, at least that most of them are OK.'
The South American soccer federation has cancelled all activities until further notice.
The CONMEBOL federation said in a statement that its president, Alejandro Dominguez, is on his way to Medellin.
Atletico Nacional had said on Twitter: 'National deeply regret and sympathise with @ChapecoenseReal for the accident which has happened and await information from authorities.'
A plane carrying 72 passengers including a Brazilian football team has crashed in Colombia (pictured, Medellin Airport, where the team were travelling to)
Footballers around the world paid tribute to the team today with England captain Wayne Rooney among those taking to Twitter
Former Real Madrid star Luis Figo was among the many footballers to pay tribute this morning in the wake of the crash
Chapecoense's head coach Caio Junior was among the 71 people who died when the aircraft crashed down in Colombia
Footballers around the world paid tribute to the team today with England captain Wayne Rooney among those taking to Twitter.
He said: 'Sad news to wake up to today. Thoughts with @ChapecoenseReal and their family and friends.'
Brazilian legend Pele captured the mood of many when he said on Twitter: 'Brazilian football is in mourning.'
'Sad day for football,' Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi said in a Twitter post. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Chapecoense players and others who died. RIP.'
Former Real Madrid star Luis Figo added: 'Thoughts and prayers go out to all the players families and everyone associated with @ChapecoenseReal football club.'
Brazilian striker Neymar simply tweeted the club badge and Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas said 'Good luck and stay strong!'
Former Germany captain Michael Ballack tweeted: 'Very sad to read #RIP #Chapecoense Remember we are never safe and anything can happen, so make sure to tell your loved ones that you care.'
Manchester United, who lost eight players in February 1958 as their plane crashed on take off from Munich airport wrote on Twitter: '#ForçaChapecoense - The thoughts of everyone at Manchester United are with @ChapecoenseReal & all those affected by the tragedy in Colombia.'
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said it was a'very, very sad day for football'.
HOW COLOMBIA CRASH HAS CHILLING ECHOES OF 1958 MUNICH AIR DISASTER On 6 February 1958 British European Airways flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany. On the plane was the Manchester United team, nicknamed the 'Busby Babes', along with supporters and journalists. Sir Bobby Charlton and Matt Busby survived. Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor, Liam 'Billy' Whelan all died. Duncan Edwards survived the crash, but died in hospital 15 days later. On 6 February 1958 British European Airways flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany The squad were returning from a European game in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) when they stopped to refuel in Germany. In total 20 of the 44 on the aircraft died. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich where three more died, resulting in 23 fatalities with 21 survivors. The pilot James Thain was blamed for the crash but it was later established that slush on the runway caused the accident. The following are other air disasters which have involved football teams: 1949: The plane carrying Italian club side Torino back from a match against Benfica in Lisbon crashed into the Superga hill during its approach to Turin airport. All 31 on board were killed including the 18-strong squad, devastating the finest team in the club's history. Shortly afterwards, Torino went on to win a fifth Serie A title in a row, although they have only it once since then, in 1975/76. 1960: Eight Danish footballers, on their way to a trial to select the Denmark team for the Rome Olympic Games soccer tournament, were killed when their plane crashed into the Oresund strait after takeoff from Copenhagen. Denmark went on to win the silver medal. 1969: Players from Bolivian team The Strongest were among 78 people killed when the flight carrying them from the lowland city of Santa Cruz crashed at Viloco, near La Paz. 1979: Seventeen players and coaching officials from Pakhtakor Tashkent were among 178 killed when the flight taking them to a Soviet league match at Dinamo Minsk was involved in a mid-air collision over what is now Ukraine. Pakhtakor were the only team from present day Uzbekistan to play in the top flight of the Soviet league. 1987: Sixteen players from Peruvian league leaders Alianza Lima, plus officials and coaching stuff, were among 43 killed when a flight bringing them back from a championship match in Pucallpa crashed on approach to Lima airport. Only the captain survived. 1989: Fourteen Dutch footballers of Surinamese heritage were among 176 people killed when Surinam Airways flight 764 crashed on its approach to Paramaribo after a flight from Amsterdam. The footballers played for different professional teams in the Netherlands and had formed a team called 'The Colourful 11' to play exhibition matches against local side in the South American country. 1993: All 30 people on board a chartered Zambian Air Force flight, including 18 players from the country's national team, were killed when it crashed into the sea off the coast of Gabon shortly after taking off following a refuelling stop. The team was on its way to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier. Kalusha Bwalya, the team captain and now president of the Zambia football federation, was not on board as he was travelling to the game separately. In 2012, Zambia won the African Nations Cup for the only time, beating Ivory Coast on penalties in a final played at in Libreville just a few kilometres from the crash site.
This afternoon, there were reports that Chapecoense will be crowned Copa Sudamerica champions 'in the next few days'.
According to Brazilian sports journalist Thiago Suman Colombia side Atletico Nacional is believed to be preparing to concede the title to the dead players of Chapecoense in an extraordinary gesture.
The two teams should have been competing for the trophy in Medellin tomorrow night.
Mr Suram, who is also a football commentator on Brazil's Radio Grenal FM, told MailOnline: 'The information at the moment is that Atletico nacional will send a request of [governing body] Conmebol for them to declare Chapecoense the legitimate winners of the Cup.
'The gesture would be similar to what happened in 1949, when the Torino team were also killed in a plane crash when it collided with the Superga Basilica in Italy, killing all 31 on board.On Monday, 4 January 2016 at 07:09:30 UTC, Minas Mina wrote: > On Sunday, 3 January 2016 at 19:29:05 UTC, Martin Nowak wrote: >> >> There is a bug. >> >> You should never do this b/c of iterator/range invalidation. >> >> foreach (key; aa.keys) >> aa.remove(key); > > The reference states that keys: "Returns dynamic array, the elements of which are the keys in the associative array". > > Isn't the array newly allocated? Hi, You are right: > void main() > { > import std.stdio; > int[int] aa; > foreach (i; 0..9) > aa[i] = i * 10; > writeln(aa); // [0:0, 6:60, 7:70, 2:20, 3:30, 1:10, 8:80, 5:50, 4:40] > > foreach (key; aa.keys) > aa.remove(key); > writeln(aa); // [] > } This would be a bug (segfault on my machine): > foreach (key; aa.byKey) > aa.remove(key); Note that, in this example, there is no need to remove every element separately, you can also just do > void main() > { > import std.stdio; > int[int] aa; > foreach (i; 0..9) > aa[i] = i * 10; > writeln(aa); // [0:0, 6:60, 7:70, 2:20, 3:30, 1:10, 8:80, 5:50, 4:40] > > aa = null; > writeln(aa); // [] > } Bastiaan.For decades, it has been rumored the United States government was secretly sponsoring the smuggling of cocaine into the country. Federal officials have long denied such speculation, pointing out the billions of dollars spent intercepting drugs. Newly released documents, and testimony from Justice Department and DEA officials now show the stories of government running cocaine are true.
NextNewsNetwork
Full transcript:
An investigation conducted in Mexico found the American government allowed that country’s largest drug cartel, Sinaloa, to operate without fear of persecution. That groups is estimated to be responsible for 80 percent of the cocaine coming into the country through Chicago. In exchange, the leaders of Sinaloa provided the DEA information on rival gangs.
The drug cartel working with the federal government is run by. He is considered to be the world’s most powerful drug trafficker. In addition to Chicago, his group also maintains cocaine operations in several major cities around the country.
Written statements were provided to a U.S. District Court in Chicago, confirming the alliance between the DEA and Mexico’s largest cocaine cartel. The written testimony, combined with other evidence, shows DEA officials met with leaders of the Sinaloa cartel more than 50 times between 2000 and 2012. This would mean DEA-authorized drug smuggling goes back to at least the beginning of the George W. Bush administration, and continued for year under Barack Obama.
One of the groups leaders, Vincente Zambada-Niebla, claims the American government also sent military-grade weapons to Sinoloa. According to the latest revelations, it was these weapons which were part of the Fast-and-Furious scandal. Automatic firearms which disappeared during that operation, led by Eric Holder, were used to kill U.S. Border agents.
This latest evidence and testimony points toward a massive scandal, involving both Republican and Democratic administrations. At the very least, this provides the best evidence so far that the Federal government was sponsoring the smuggling of billions of dollars of cocaine into the United States. Worse still, weapons purchased for the U.S. military may have been sent to the cartel, and used to kill American agents.
Those actions transcend any partisan politics.Collapse
Characteristics of the following German vehicles changed:
Jagdpanther:
Vehicle’s model is now in HD, collision model improved.
VK 36.01 (H):
Repair cost reduced by 24%.
Characteristics of the following British vehicles changed:
FV304:
Traverse speed for FV304 suspension changed from 22 to 20.
Crossing capacity for FV304 suspension on medium terrain reduced by 7%.
Traverse speed for FV304 Mk. II suspension changed from 24 to 22.
Dispersion on the move and during hull traverse for FV304 Mk. II suspension increased by 6%.
Crossing capacity for FV304 Mk. II suspension on medium terrain reduced by 8%.
Aiming time for Q.F. 25-Pr. Gun/How. changed from 4.5 s to 4.8 s.
Reload time for Q.F. 25-Pr. Gun/How. changed from 8.6 s to 8.9 s.
Dispersion after shot for Q.F. 25-Pr. Gun/How. increased by 20%.
Dispersion for Q.F. 25-Pr. Gun/How. on gun traverse increased by 17%.
Aiming time for Q.F. 4.5-in. Howitzer changed from 4.5 s to 4.8 s.
Reload time for Q.F. 4.5-in. Howitzer changed from 12 s to 13.5 s.
Characteristics of the following American vehicles changed:
M18 Hellcat:
Dispersion on the move and hull traverse for M18 T67 suspension increased by 60%.
Crossing capacity for M18 T67 suspension on solid terrain reduced by 9%.
Crossing capacity for M18 T67 suspension on medium terrain reduced my 14%.
Crossing capacity for M18 T67 suspension on soft terrain reduced by 9%.
Dispersion on the move and during hull traverse for M18 T69 suspension increased by 57%.
Crossing capacity for M18 T69 suspension on solid terrain reduced by 10%.
Crossing capacity for M18 T69 suspension on medium terrain reduced by 17%.
Crossing capacity for M18 T69 suspension on soft terrain reduced by 10%.
Top reverse speed reduced from 20 km/h to 12 km/h.
Dispersion for 76 mm AT Gun M1A2 on turret traverse increased by 12%.
Reload time for 90 mm AT Gun M3 for M18 M1 turret changed from 8 s to 8.5 s.
Dispersion for 90 mm AT Gun M3 on turret traverse increased by 25%.
M24 Chaffee:
Vehicle’s model is now in HD quality.
Maximum battle level reduced to Tier VIII
Traverse speed for T24 suspension changed from 42 to 40.
Dispersion on the move for T24 suspension increased by 25%.
Dispersion on hull traverse for T24 suspension increased by 25%.
Crossing capacity for T24 suspension on solid terrain increased by 10%.
Crossing capacity for T24 suspension on medium terrain increased by 8%.
Crossing capacity for T24 suspension on soft terrain increased by 10%.
Research cost for M24 suspension changed from 4,670 to 2,050.
Traverse speed for M24 suspension changed from 46 to 42.
Dispersion on the move for M24 suspension increased by 80%.
Dispersion on hull traverse for M24 suspension increased by 80%.
Crossing capacity for M24 suspension on solid terrain increased by 11%.
Engine Twin Cadillac, Series 44T4—296 h.p. added.
Engine Wright Continental R-975C4—460 h.p. added.
Engine 2x 44E24 V-8 Cadillac—300 h.p. removed.
Engine Continental AOS-895-1—500 h.p. removed.
Engine Wright Continental R-975C1—400 h.p. removed.
Vehicle’s cost changed from 687,550 to 405,000.
Repair cost reduced by 61%.
Top forward speed changed from 56 km/h to 77.2 km/h.
Depression angle for 75 mm Gun M6 changed from -10 degrees to -7 degrees.
Reload time for 75 mm Gun M6 for T24 turret changed from 4.0 s to 3.8 s.
Dispersion for 75 mm Gun M6 changed from 0.4 m to 0.39 m.
Traverse speed for T24 turret changed from 40 deg/s to 44 deg/s.
View range for M24 turret changed from 400 m to 390 m.
Aiming speed from 75 mm Gun M6 for M24 turret changed from 1.5 s to 2 s.
Ammunition capacity for 75 mm Gun M6 changed from 60 to 48 shells.
75 mm Gun M17 added.
76 mm Gun T94 removed.
Level for M24 turret changed from VI to V.
Cost of M24 turret changed from 15,500 to 12,100.
Traverse speed for M24 turret changed from 39 deg/s to 44 deg/s.
Durability with T24 turret changed from 530 to 400 HP.
Durability with M24 turret changed from 580 to 440 HP.
M5 Stuart:
Vehicle’s model is now in HD quality.
Crossing capacity for VVSS T16E3 suspension on solid terrain increased by 9%.
Crossing capacity for VVSS T16E3 suspension on medium terrain increased by 15%.
Crossing capacity for VVSS T16E3 suspension on soft terrain increased by 13%.
Traverse speed for VVSS T36E8 suspension changed from 45 to 42.
Crossing capacity for VVSS T36E8 suspension on solid terrain reduced by 12%.
Crossing capacity for VVSS T36E8 suspension on medium terrain reduced by 11%.
Top forward speed changed from 58 km/h to 64.4 km/h.
View range for M5 turret changed from 330 m to 340 m.
Depression angle for 37 mm Gun M6 changed from 5 degrees to 3 degrees when the turret is traversed to the rear (60 degrees).
Ammunition capacity for 37 mm Gun M6 changed from 147 to 123 shells.
Dispersion on turret traverse for 37 mm Gun M6 increased by 20%.
37 mm Gun T16 added.
20 mm Hispano-Suiza Birkigt Gun removed.
Traverse speed for M5 turret changed from 40 deg/s to 44 deg/s.
View range for M5A1 turret changed from 370 m to 360 m.
75 mm Howitzer M3 gun removed.
Durability with M5 turret changed from 290 to 320 HP.
T18:
Traverse speed for T18E1 suspension changed from 28 to 18.
Crossing capacity for T18E1 suspension on solid terrain reduced by 43%.
Crossing capacity for T18E1 suspension on medium terrain reduced by 29%.
Crossing capacity for T18E1 suspension on soft terrain reduced by 7%.
Traverse speed for T18E2 suspension changed from 30 to 22.
Crossing capacity for T18E2 suspension on solid terrain reduced by 46%.
Crossing capacity for T18E2 suspension on medium terrain reduced by 40%.
Crossing capacity for T18E2 suspension on soft terrain reduced by 12%.
Top reverse speed changed |
create some animations. In Angular 2, we can define animations in the component’s metadata (inside its decorator), and link those animations to elements in our template. Before we can make use of the Web Animations API in Angular 2, we will need to import a few more classes from the Angular 2 library.
Modify your imports in home.ts to reflect the following:
import { Component, trigger, state, style, transition, animate, keyframes } from '@angular/core' ; import { NavController } from 'ionic-angular' ;
We will be making use of all of these in just a moment. I think it will be easiest to explain how the animations work if we have an example to look at, so let’s go ahead and define all of our animations right now.
Modify the decorator in home.ts to reflect the following:
@ Component ( { selector : 'page-home', templateUrl : 'home.html', animations : [ trigger ( 'flip', [ state ( 'flipped', style ( { transform : 'rotate(180deg)', backgroundColor : '#f50e80' } ) ), transition ( '* > flipped', animate ( '400ms ease' ) ) ] ), trigger ( 'flyInOut', [ state ( 'in', style ( { transform : 'translate3d(0, 0, 0)' } ) ), state ( 'out', style ( { transform : 'translate3d(150%, 0, 0)' } ) ), transition ( 'in > out', animate ( '200ms ease-in' ) ), transition ( 'out > in', animate ( '200ms ease-out' ) ) ] ), trigger ( 'fade', [ state ( 'visible', style ( { opacity : 1 } ) ), state ( 'invisible', style ( { opacity : 0.1 } ) ), transition ( 'visible <> invisible', animate ( '200ms linear' ) ) ] ), trigger ( 'bounce', [ state ( 'bouncing', style ( { transform : 'translate3d(0,0,0)' } ) ), transition ( '* > bouncing', [ animate ( '300ms ease-in', keyframes ( [ style ( { transform : 'translate3d(0,0,0)', offset : 0 } ), style ( { transform : 'translate3d(0,-10px,0)', offset : 0.5 } ), style ( { transform : 'translate3d(0,0,0)', offset : 1 } ) ] ) ) ] ) ] ) ] } )
We’ve added an animations array to the metadata now, which defines four different animations using trigger : flip, flyInOut, fade, and bounce.
The trigger is what we will use to link the animation to an element. In the case of the flip animation, we would attach a @flip="state" to the element in our template that we want to use this animation on. The state in the code above defines a set of properties for the element, and these states are what we will be animating to and from. So in the case of the flip animation we have a flipped state that will rotate the element 180 degrees and also change its background color. If we quickly take a look at the eventual syntax in our template:
< button @flip = " flipState " light (click) = " toggleFlip() " > Flip! </ button >
you will see that @flip is referencing a flipState value. This flipState will be defined in home.ts and it is what sets the state of the animation. So since we have a state of flipped defined inside of the flip animation trigger, if we set the flipState variable to flipped it will activate the animation. If we change flipState to anything else the animation won’t be triggered.
In the metadata, after we define a state (or states), we define the transition – this defines how the animation should occur. The first parameter:
'* > flipped'
defines when the animation should occur. Here we are saying that the animation should occur “when flipState changes from any value ( * ) to flipped". When that happens, we use animate to define that it should animate over 400ms and use the ease timing function. We don't have any animation defined for when the state changes from flipped` to something else, i.e:
'flipped > *'
so if we change flipState to flipped we will see the animation occur, but if we change flipState back to something else, it will immediately go back to its original values instead of animating back:
Now that we have a general understanding of the functions being used here, let’s more briefly go through the rest. The next animation flyInOut defines two states, an in where the element will be in its original position, and an out where it will be 150% to the right. We also define two transitions, one from in to out and one from out to in. By defining both of these transitions, the element will animate both when its state is changed to in and out. Notice that one transition uses the ease-in function, and the other uses ease-out.
The fade animation is similar, except that it animates the opacity of the element with a visible and invisible state instead (although, the invisible state is still technically a little bit visible). In this case though, we are using the same transition both ways, 200ms with the linear function, so we can use some shorthand for defining the transition:
transition('visible <> invisible', animate('200ms linear'))
this is equivalent to:
transition('visible > invisible', animate('200ms linear')), transition('invisible > visible', animate('200ms linear'))
or
transition('visible > invisible, 'invisible > visible', animate('200ms linear'))
Our last animation, bounce, is a little trickier. We are moving the position of the element to create a bounce effect, but there are multiple states to the animation. Just like we use percentage based keyframes in the CSS animation we looked at earlier, we also use keyframes here, except we define the style at certain points throughout the animation using offset instead. Let’s take another look at the transition we are defining:
transition ( '* > bouncing', [ animate ( '300ms ease-in', keyframes ( [ style ( { transform : 'translate3d(0,0,0)', offset : 0 } ), style ( { transform : 'translate3d(0,-10px,0)', offset : 0.5 } ), style ( { transform : 'translate3d(0,0,0)', offset : 1 } ) ] ) ) ] )
We have three keyframes here, which have an offset of, 0.5, and 1 – these are equivalent to 0%, 50%, and 100% in the CSS keyframe animation. So at the beginning of the animation, the element will be in its starting position, halfway through it will be 10px above its starting position, and at the end of the animation it will be back to its starting position again.
Now that we have all of our animations defined and explained, let’s finish off the rest of the application.
Modify home.html to reflect the following:
< ion-header > < ion-navbar color = " danger " > < ion-title > Animations! </ ion-title > </ ion-navbar > </ ion-header > < ion-content > < button [@flip] = " flipState " ion-button color = " light " (click) = " toggleFlip() " > Flip! </ button > < button [@flyInOut] = " flyInOutState " ion-button color = " light " (click) = " toggleFlyInOut() " > Fly Out! </ button > < button [@fade] = " fadeState " ion-button color = " light " (click) = " toggleFade() " > Fade! </ button > < button [@bounce] = " bounceState " ion-button color = " light " (click) = " toggleBounce() " > Bounce! </ button > </ ion-content >
Now we’re using that @trigger syntax to attach all of our animations to different buttons. We will also be able to control what state, and thus which animation, is applied to each element with flipState, flyInOutState, fadeState, and bounceState. We will need to define these in home.ts, as well as the functions that will handle toggling them.
Modify the class in home.ts to reflect the following:
export class HomePage { flipState : String = 'notFlipped' ; flyInOutState : String = 'in' ; fadeState : String = 'visible' ; bounceState : String = 'noBounce' ; constructor ( public navCtrl : NavController ) { } toggleFlip ( ) { this. flipState = ( this. flipState == 'notFlipped' )? 'flipped' : 'notFlipped' ; } toggleFlyInOut ( ) { this. flyInOutState = 'out' ; setInterval ( ( ) > { this. flyInOutState = 'in' ; }, 2000 ) ; } toggleFade ( ) { this. fadeState = ( this. fadeState == 'visible' )? 'invisible' : 'visible' ; } toggleBounce ( ) { this. bounceState = ( this. bounceState == 'noBounce' )? 'bouncing' : 'noBounce' ; } }
Initially, we have our states set to:
notFlipped
in
visible
noBounce
So all of the buttons will be in their “normal” state. Both in and visible are actually states with styles that we have defined in our animations, so they will take on those styles by default (not that it is noticeable), but we don’t have any animation states for notFlipped and noBounce so they will just display however they normally would by default.
The toggle functions we have defined here simply handle switching the state variables from one thing to another. If you activate the toggleFlip function for example, flipState will be changed from notFlipped to flipped so the flipped state in the flip animation will trigger (that was a mouthful).
Both toggleFade and toggleBounce behave similarly, but toggleFlyInOut is a little different. Since we are animating the element off screen, we add a setInterval to change the elements state back to in after 2 seconds so that it comes back on screen again.
If everything has gone to plan, you should now have something that looks like this:
Summary
There’s more to animation in Angular 2 that I haven’t covered here, so please check out this great resource for more information.
I haven’t had a lot of time to play around with Angular 2 animations yet, so I’m not sure on the limitations and how far it has to go to be completed, but the initial impression is great. I love the concept of the Web Animations API so it’s great that we can make use of that, and I find the method for defining animations to be very well structured and organised.
In a future tutorial, I plan on using these Angular 2 animations to create a more “real world” animations example (a pretty login screen with nice animations perhaps).It was November 27, 2016 and Juventus travelled to Genoa, expecting another victory in their aim to retain the Serie A title. Dani Alves, five months after choosing Turin over continuing his legacy at Barcelona, where he became the second-most decorated defender of all-time, was settling in well in a strong Juve team.
Dani Alves: The Full-Back Defying His Age
The match, however, did not go to plan. The Old Lady were badly off the pace, losing 3-1. Yet what was perhaps more concerning was the fate that Alves would suffer.
Charging into a challenge with Lucas Ocampos, Alves’s left leg was kicked badly by the winger from Argentina. Despite the challenge from Ocampos being accidental, Alves quickly went down in extreme pain, pulling the face of a man who knew he had done some serious damage. So it was little surprise when Juventus revealed after the match that Alves had broken his left fibula and would be out for months.
It was a hammer blow and, at 33, there were fears that it would be the end of his career. Alves thought different, however, and was determined to come back stronger.
Recovery and Return
“I will be back soon as always, living my profession with the dedication that has led me to achieve a solid career and many successes,” he posted on Instagram on the eve of his injury.
Indeed, the Brazilian was back three months later, ready to roll back the years and produce the kind of displays that earned him the reputation as one of the great modern full-backs.
Yet even by Alves’s high standards, not even he would have expected the stellar performance he delivered on Wednesday evening against Monaco. And amongst a plethora of Alves masterclasses over the years, this was a display that would undoubtedly sit as one of the best in his career.
Champions League
Before the first-leg of the intriguing Champions League semi-final tie, there were many exciting sub-plots. Could the red-hot teenager Kylian Mbappe find a way past the impregnable Juventus defence? How would Monaco cope under real pressure, given that they have been underdogs for most of the campaign? And could Juventus’s talented attack test a Monaco defence that is perhaps overshadowed by their devastating forwards?
All of those questions were answered fairly emphatically, yet not many would have expected Alves to cause the problems he did down the right flank. And there was no better example than the first Juventus goal. The move began with a few passes around the defence, but came to life thanks to a stunning flick from Paulo Dybala, who set Alves on his way. The right-back then played a one-two with Gonzalo Higuain before an outrageous backheel from Alves set up Higuain, who finished clinically into the bottom corner. It was truly a thing of beauty.
Alves’s second assist of the night was different in style, but equal in quality. After Dybala nicked the ball off Monaco’s Tiemoué Bakayoko in midfield, he gave the ball to Alves, who controlled the ball onto his right foot and nonchalantly floated in a pin-perfect cross for Higuain to poke in. It was the goal that virtually booked Juventus’s place in the final.
Inside the Numbers
And it capped off a vintage Alves display, too. Not only did the former Barcelona man complete 100% of his take-ons, but he created three chances and made an equal number of crosses. Such is his form down the right wing, Alves now has the joint-most assists by a defender in the Champions League (4), along with Dani Carvajal. What’s more, since 2014-15, Alves has 11 assists in the competition – more than Lionel Messi (8), Luis Suarez (8), Gareth Bale (4) and Mesut Ozil (4).
In another stat that underlines Alves’s excellence in attack, no player has created more chances in the Champions League this season than the Brazilian (27). “Dani Alves was excellent with his assists. He had some injury problems at the start,” said a delighted Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri after the victory in Monaco.
Understandably, Allegri is a huge fan of Alves. After his side’s 2-0 first-leg victory at FC Porto in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, the Italian hailed his full-back as a “champion” in his team. “He is a guy with a great will and enthusiasm who won a lot”, continued Allegri in Porto. “He is also an example and a very professional player.”
The Modern Full-Back
In many ways, Alves epitomises the modern full-back. He is virtually always an option down the flank when his team needs him to be, in order to join in attacks. His terrific work-rate down the right not only provides extra support, but offers defensive help also. “He needed time to get to know the environment and the tactical systems,” said Allegri, yet Alves showed on Wednesday night how he fits perfectly into Juventus’s 3-5-2 system.
He negated the threat of Djibril Sidibé down Monaco’s left flank, showing relentless energy and pace, especially when working back. In addition to having 72 touches of the ball, Alves won three tackles, made ten ball recoveries and six clearances. His defensive awareness, as a result, was hard not to admire. Perhaps those are the results of playing in a team with such an outstanding defensive record. It has now been 621 minutes since Juventus last conceded a goal in the Champions League.
Fitting into Juventus Strong Back-Line
It was yet another masterful Juventus performance. Allegri’s men combined supreme defensive solidarity, led by the outstanding Giorgio Chiellini, with ruthless attacking play. Miralem Pjanic and Claudio Marchisio controlled the midfield, Dybala provided the attacking flair and Higuain finished the two opportunities with the ease that gave him the reputation as one of Europe’s leading strikers. The display now sees Juventus on the brink of a second Champions League final in three years, most likely against Real Madrid at the Millennium Stadium.
Yet that may not have been possible without Dani Alves, in a performance that defied that of someone coming towards the end of a career.
That dark day in Genoa is now behind him and a fourth Champions League medal would be a fitting way to reward a player with not only superb technical and physical skills, but also immense mental fortitude to come back from such a threatening injury.
Main Photo:Hyosung (a South Korean Company), one of the largest ATM manufacturers in Asia, has integrated Bitcoin into its international ATM models.
The company also has its headquarters in Texas – USA.
Hyosung will add Bitcoin support with the aid of Just Cash.
The bitcoin ATM will operate very similarly to a conventional transaction. Instead of withdrawing fiat currency, digital currency will be despatched to the recipient’s wallet using a QR scan.
It is very likely that other coins along with Bitcoin will be added in the next period.
According to bitcoin.news, Hyosung are one of South Korea’s largest industrial companies, boasting over 25,000 employees and revenue of U.S. $17 billion in 2015.
ATM manufacture is just a small part of their operations, the company also dabble in construction and chemicals among other things. Within South Korea however they are best known for their ATMs which can be found up and down the country.
The inclusion of bitcoin in the ATM circuit will certainly lead to large-scale adoption.
And the rise in demand for the currency of the moment will certainly lead to price increases.Star Wars: Rogue One writers Chris Weitz and Gary Whitta need to grow the fuck up – and at minimum, should not be allowed near twitter. The two motley fools decided to go rogue and let Trump supporters know what pieces of shit they are, unleashing a barrage of anti-Trump tweets right after the election – which were promptly deleted. If Disney’s goal was to makes less money by having their writers pop off against Trump, mission accomplished. For a film that’s going to determine the direction of the franchise, perhaps comparing Trump to Hitler, or Trump’s administration to the Empire (a white supremacist (human) organization), was ill conceived. Apologies were given, but it appears to be too little too late.
Reports have also surfaced (which have been denied) that the producers re-shot parts of the movie after the election in order to insert anti-Trump rhetoric. The same rumor mill has it that Disney is behind the #TrumpIsVader hashtag.
In response, Trump supporters have created the hashtag #DumpStarWars, and have initiated a boycott of Rogue One:
Liberals think we boycott #DumpStarWars b/c this film offended us… No, we just don't want our children getting brainwashed! — MADAME (@MagicRoyalty) December 9, 2016
If a movie writer started virtue signaling and cost me millions of dollars, I’d be pretty angry. #DumpStarWars pic.twitter.com/RqqFyqIAgJ — Stefan Molyneux (@StefanMolyneux) December 9, 2016
Boycott Star Wars people! #DumpStarWars — Malik Obama (@ObamaMalik) December 8, 2016
Love it. Voting with your wallet is the best way to send a message – as opposed to acting like fucking degenerates.
If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on TwitterGroupe Renault is acquiring a 25% stake in Jedlix, a Dutch start-up specialized in smart charging.
Renault is launching a new smartphone app, Z.E. Smart Charge, in partnership with Jedlix.
Boulogne Billancourt, October 10, 2017 – Groupe Renault, the electric-vehicle leader in Europe, announced this morning that it is acquiring a 25% share in Jedlix, a Dutch start-up launched by Eneco Group and specialized in the smart and sustainable charging of electric vehicles. The alliance marks a key step forward in Renault's ambition to become a major player in the ecosystem of the electric vehicle.
Partners since 2015, Groupe Renault and Jedlix are strengthening their collaborative efforts. Together, the two companies develop new offers for the electric vehicle users, based on Jedlix's expertise in smart charging and its in-depth knowledge of the energy sector, along with the electric vehicle experience and skills of Renault.
"Pioneer in the electric vehicle, Renault confirms its leadership position by developing innovative partnerships. With Jedlix, we will provide new services to make charging – and thus the use of electric vehicles – even more easy and affordable," explains Gilles Normand, Senior Vice President, Electric Vehicle, Renault.
“Our partnership with Groupe Renault will help us to create the best possible smart charging service and to offer its benefits to a large and diverse customer base throughout Europe”, says Ruben Benders, managing director of Jedlix.
Z.E. Smart Charge, the app that earns users money
In the first achievement of the partnership with Jedlix, Renault is launching Z.E. Smart Charge, a new smartphone app. The app optimizes the management of vehicle charges to benefit as much as possible from renewable energy and the lowest prices. Users indicate the charge level they need and the departure time of their car. After supplying the minimum charge requested by the user, the app manages the rest of the charge in smart charging mode.
In addition, Z.E. Smart Charge rewards users financially for being flexible about their charges. Every month, the user receives an amount, which could be equivalent of up to a complete charge.
Z.E. Smart Charge will be available in the Netherlands before the end of the year and will be rolled-out in other European countries in 2018. It can be used on all types of smartphones or tablets with iOS or Android operating systems.
About smart charging
Smart charging adjusts the vehicle charge to the needs of users and the available electricity supply on the grid. The vehicle charges when the electricity supply exceeds demand, notably during renewable energy production surpluses and during time slots when electricity is at its lowest price. It thus favors lower-carbon and less expensive energy.
About Groupe Renault
Groupe Renault has been making cars since 1898. Today it is an international multi-brand group, selling close to 3.5 million vehicles in 127 countries in 2016, with 36 manufacturing sites, 12,700 points of sales and employing more than 120,000 people. To meet the major technological challenges of the future and continue its strategy of profitable growth, the Group is harnessing its international growth and the complementary fit of its five brands, Renault, Dacia and Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine and LADA, together with electric vehicles and the unique Alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi. With a new team in Formula 1 and a strong commitment to Formula E, Renault sees motorsport as a vector of innovation and brand awareness.
About Jedlix
Since 2015 Jedlix makes it possible to better use the supply of renewable energy with electric vehicles. Jedlix launched their smart charging app for iOS and Android early 2016, connecting over 1,000 public charging stations for all full electric and plugin-hybrid cars. Its partners include Groupe Renault, BMW and Tesla.
Jedlix won the Dutch ICT Environmental Award 2016 and the E-World Energy App Award 2017 and is currently nominated for an Accenture Innovation Award 2017.
Jedlix, named after Anyos Jedlik, the inventor of the electric motor, is part of Eneco Group, a Dutch-based group of companies operating in the field of sustainable energy and innovation.It seems Cal is making progress off the field, as well.
The university plans to hire an outside consulting firm to assess the athletic department’s budget situation and “develop recommendations for a long-term sustainability model given the stadium debt service and the ever-escalating costs of intercollegiate athletics,” according to the Request For Proposal (RFP).
The deadline for agencies to submit bids was last week.
This step, essential to the department’s fiscal health, came at the recommendation of the Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics, which met numerous times over the course of 10 months.
Its final report, delivered in June, made no specific recommendations but called for an independent review of the department’s financial controls. Get Pac-12 Conference news in your inbox. Sign up for the Pac-12 Hotline newsletter.
At the time, there were no guarantees the university would follow through. But chancellor Carol Christ, who assumed office in July — she is described by sources as tough but fair in navigating the campus-wide budget mess — signed off on the third-party review.
Without an outside review, the university can’t make the most informed decisions on the future model for the athletic department, which currently supports 30 intercollegiate sports — more than any public school in the Pac-12.
And without tough decisions made and a sustainable model in place, Cal won’t have an optimal pool of candidates to fill the athletic director vacancy.
Athletic director Mike Williams, who announced last month that he is stepping down, is under contract until May.
The RFP, obtained by the Hotline, is heavy on the procedural matters for the consultant positions, but it includes two pages of information on Cal’s current situation.
Nuggets that might be of interest:
*** The campus-wide deficit has been trimmed from $150 million to $110 million and is expected to be half that total by the end of the 2018 fiscal year.
(Primary reason for the deficit, according to the RFP: “The state currently provides only 12% of Berkeley’s budget, down from 33% a decade ago.”)
*** The athletic department is projected to have an operating loss of $16 million when the books officially close on FY17. That figure includes $3.9 million in support from central campus.
(Important reminder: The Bears send $5 million back to campus as part of Cal’s internal taxation system.)
*** That $16 million loss includes a debt service payment of $18 million on the Memorial Stadium renovation/Simpson Training Center project. Related Articles College Hotline: Pac-12 financial breakdown for each school in FY17 (i.e., which are bleeding cash, and which are flush?)
College Hotline: Pac-12 athletic departments project massive FY17 debt service payments (we’re talking nine figures, folks)
Pac-12 Networks: Analyzing ratings for football, Olympic sports (Yep, the Hotline has the numbers)
Cal football: Overlooked but vital line on Justin Wilcox’s resume: Wisconsin, 2016
*** Athletic department revenue in FY17 is projected to be $95 million, a year-over-year increase of 10.4 percent.
*** The Endowed Seating Program produced $8.9 million in FY16.
You’ll recall that ESP sales were at the heart of the original plan to service $460 million in debt.
By my estimates, it has generated $85 million thus far. The original long-term goal was $270 million.
*** Athletic department expenses in FY17 are expected to reach the $110 million mark (approx), a slight uptick from FY16.
Worth noting: Since FY10, benefit costs have increased by an average of 14 percent annually.
*** The section of the RFP that gave me pause addressed something as seemingly innocuous as maintenance:
“Like other parts of campus, (athletics) has significant deferred maintenance needs without any maintenance or capital reserve.
“Current anticipated capital maintenance costs are estimated at more than $50m over the next five years.”
Oh, boy. For more Pac-12 coverage
follow Pac-12 Hotline on Flipboard.
*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com
*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline
*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.Find Your Cruise
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2 years and Fathi to six years imprisonment on charges linked to their open expression of their Christian faith."It's important they they are not forgotten," Khandjani stressed.He and other Christians also asked prayers for the health situation of jailed Pastor Behnam Irani, who previously led a Church of Iran congregation in the city of Karaj in Alborz Province.Iranian Christians have told BosNewsLife that the 41-year-old is unable to walk and was previously beaten by fellow inmates and guards of the Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj city, also among the toughest jails in the country, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the nation's capital Tehran.Christians say he may not survive the remaining five years of his prison term on what they call trumped-up charges" of “crimes against national security”.Additionally Iran has been targeting Americans, including Pastor Saeed Abedini, who is held in one of Iran's most notorious prisons on charges linked to his Christian faith.Abedini, who was born in Iran, said last month that authorities use physical and psychological torture to pressure him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ."My eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky,” he wrote in a letter smuggled out of Evin Prison in Tehran and seen by BosNewsLife."They are only waiting for one thing…for me to deny Christ," he added, referring to alleged death threats and mistreatment. "But they will never get this [abandoning of Christ] from me," Abedini wrote his wife and supporters.He was detained after returning to Iran to meet family and believers. Last month the 32-year-old married father of two was sentenced in Tehran by Judge Pir-Abassi to eight years imprisonment for "threatening the national security of Iran" through his leadership in Christian house churches.Western rights groups have warned the detentions are part of an apparent renewed crackdown on Christians in Iran.“Once again Iranian Christians face charges couched in political terms that in reality stem from their choice of faith and desire to exercise the right to worship in community with others," said Andrew Johnston, the advocacy director of Britain-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).Johnston noted that Iran had signed article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which guarantees these religious and other rights."Furthermore, the men from the Church of Iran face an additional accusation of allegedly indulging in subversive internet activity, despite having been arrested at a prayer gathering," he said."Bearing in mind that the shackling of prisoners is illegal under Iranian law, and that Iran is a signatory of the ICCPR, CSW urges the Iranian authorities to uphold the rule of law and to respect the right to freedom of religion or belief in its entirety, including the right of all of its citizens to manifest their belief in community with others."Iran has denied wrongdoing and its leadership claims it upholds Islamic values in the strict Islamic nation. Officials have expressed concern about the spread of Christianity, where mission groups claim there may be at least an estimated 100,000 devoted Christians.Help BosNewsLife to be the voice of the voiceless. Click here for a subscriptionThe final figures are not likely in but the numbers have stabilized and we can now probably put a number to the human toll of this storm that will not change dramatically in the future, at least in terms of orders of magnitude. The current “official” death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan is 6,009 with 1,779 missing and 27,022 injured, with the largest concentration of casualties in Eastern Visayas. This comes from a December 13th report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which you can (probably) download here. If you do download it expect to see slightly different numbers as the report seems to be updated dynamically. Wikipedia, which references the same report, gives slightly different numbers (higher for dead and injured, same for missing). Regardless of these smaller changes, we can say that the total casualty number for this typhoon is well over 30,000 with over 6,000 dead. With so many people missing we may guess that the number dead is somewhat over 7,000.
___________________________________________
A few days ago a major typhoon struck the Philippines and then Vietnam, with another smaller storm heading in roughly the same direction. At about the same time, a tropical cyclone hit Somalia and killed at least 100 people there. The United States is not unaffected by the impacts of large tropical storms. There is reason to believe that tragedies like these may become more common or more severe with climate change. We must first address the urgent needs of the people in the affected areas, but it is also true that events like these and the voices of the victims must drive our continued commitment to address climate change preemptively.
Yeb Saño, the Philippines’ negotiator at the UN Climate Talks, found himself in the position of addressing an international body about the damaging effects of climate change while his own family was living in the affected area. We should take our lead from him. When he gave his address to the gathered representatives from around the world, he announced a hunger strike on behalf of his people which he would continue until the UN group completed the job they had convened to do. Saño’s brother, along with his fellow citizens, was occupied with recovering the dead and helping the survivors while Saño himself sought international recognition of the climate crisis; he was moved to say, “The climate crisis is madness.”
The exact nature of future storms is uncertain, but there are four lines of scientific evidence that hurricanes will be more of a problem in the future than they were in the past.
First, sea levels continue to rise, so the same storm ten years from now vs. ten years ago will have significantly greater impact. Sea level rise was a significant factor with Superstorm Sandy and Katrina, and was likely a factor in the high death toll and extensive damage caused by Haiyan.
Second, large storms are likely to produce more rain over a broader area because a warmer atmosphere contains more moisture; large storms will bring increased inland flooding, a major cause of damage, injury, and death in tropical storms and cyclones.
Third, increased sea temperatures may generate more intense storms. This seems to have happened with Katrina and Haiyan; the sea surface temperature drives the storm’s formation, but in these two storms the sea was unusually warm at a greater depth, several meters, causing those storms to become much stronger than they otherwise might have been. Recent studies have shown a strong association between sea surface temperatures in the Pacific and the cumulative strength of the storms that happen in a given year.
Fourth, and less certain, is the possibility that there will be more hurricanes and typhoons. One of the best models for predicting past hurricane frequency predicts that this will happen in the future, and by the way, that model predicted the current relatively anemic Atlantic storm season with good accuracy. Major tropical storms occur with highly varying frequency from year to year, so it is difficult to identify any trend over just a few decades for which there are good records, but the climate models are increasingly accurate and they suggest that globally we can expect an uptick in frequency.
It is often said that it is impossible to link a given weather event with climate change. This is no longer true, if it ever was. The typical climate for a region or a season tells us what weather is “normal.” Climate change is pushing us into a new normal; the climate has warmed, there is more energy in the atmosphere, the jet streams have changed their configuration and are thus more likely to stall weather patterns as happened this year in Calgary and Colorado. This is the new climate, and thus, there is a new normal for the weather in any given region or season. It appears that the new normal is now, and will increasingly be in the future, one with a significantly greater threat of damage, injury, and death from major tropical storms and other severe weather events.
There are many approaches to addressing this problem, but most of them start with one initial step: stop denying the importance and reality of the accepted science of climate change. This is something individuals must do, the media must do, and politicians and policy makers must do. This is something that must start now, and really, should have started years ago.
Bad storms have always happened. But, to ignore the fact that humans are making them worse is certainly, as Saño put it, “climate madness.”Ancient History Sourcebook:
Diogenes Laërtius:
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers:
Book VII: The Stoics Contents LIFE OF ZENO LIFE OF ARISTON LIFE OF HERILLUS LIFE OF DIONYSIUS LIFE OF CLEANTHES LIFE OF SPHAERUS LIFE OF CHRYSIPPUS LIFE OF ZENO. [259>] I. ZENO was the son of Innaseas, or Demeas, and a native of Citium, in Cyprus, which is a Grecian city, partly occupied by a Phoenician colony, II. He had his head naturally bent on one side, as Timotheus, the Athenian, tells us, in his work on Lives. And Apollonius, the Tyrian, says that he was thin, very tall, of a dark complexion; in reference to which some one once called him an Egyptian Clematis, as Chrysippus relates in the first yolume of his Proverbs: he had fat, flabby, weak legs, on which account Persaeus, in his Convivial Reminiscences, says that he used to refuse many invitations to supper; and he was very fond, as it is said, of figs both fresh and dried in the sun. III. He was a pupil, as has been already stated, of Crates. After that, they say that he became a pupil of Stilpon and of Xenocrates, for ten years, as Timocrates relates in his Life of Dion. He is also said to have been a pupil of Polemo. But Hecaton, and Apollonius, of Tyre, in the first book of his essay on Zeno, say that when he consulted the oracle, as to what he ought to do to live in the most excellent manner, the God answered him that he ought to become of the same complexion as the dead, on which he inferred that ho ought to apply himself to the reading of the books of the ancients. Accordingly, he attached himself to Crates in the following manner. Having purchased a quantity of purple from Phoenicia, he was shipwrecked close to the Piraeus; and when he had made his way from the coast as far as Athens, he sat down by a booksellers stall, being now about thirty years of age. And as he took up the second book of Xenophons Memorabilia and began to read it, he was delighted with it, and asked where such men as were described in that book lived; and as Crates happened very seasonably to pass at the moment, the book-seller pointed him out, and said, "Follow that man." From [260>]that time forth he became a pupil of Crates; but though hea was in other respects very energetic in his application to philosophy, still he was too modest for the shamelessness of the Cynics. On which account, Crates, wishing to cure him of this false shame, gave him a jar of lentil porridge to carry through the Ceramicns; and when he saw that he was ashamed, and that he endeavored to hide it, he struck the jar with his staff, and broke it; and, as Zeno fled away, and the lentil porridge ran all down his legs, Crates called after him, "Why do you run away, my little Phnician, you have done no harm?" For some time then he continued a pupil of Crates, and when he wrote his treatise entitled the Republic, some said, jokingly, that he bad written it upon the tail of the dog. IV. And besides his Republic, he was the author also of the following works a treatise on a Life according to Nature; one on Appetite, or the Nature of Man; one on Passions; one on the Becoming [rather: on Duty]; one on Law; one on the usual Education of the Greeks; one on Sight; one on the Whole; one on Signs; one on the Doctrines of the Pythagoreans; one on Things in General; one on Styles; five essays on Problems relating to Homer; one on the Bearing [rather: Reading] of the Poets. There is also an essay on Art by him, and two books of Solutions and Jests [rather: Refutations], and Reminiscences, and one called the Ethics of Crates. These are the books of which he was the author. V. But at last he left Crates, and became the pupil of the philosophers whom I have mentioned before, and continued with them for twenty years. So that it is related that be said, "I now find that I made a prosperous voyage when I was wrecked." But some affirm that he made this speech in reference to Crates. Others say, that while he was staying at Athens he heard of a shipwreck, and said, "Fortune does well in having driven us on philosophy." But as some relate the affair, he was not wrecked at all, but sold all his cargo at Athens, and then turned to philosophy. VI. And he used to walk up and down in the beautiful colonnade which is called the Priscanactium, and which is also called poikilê, from the paintings of Polygnotus, and there he delivered his discourses, wishing to make that spot tranquil; for in the time of the thirty, nearly fourteen hundred of the citizens had been murdered there by them. [261>] VII. Accordingly, for the future, men came thither to hear him, and from this his pupils were called Stoics, and so were his successors also, who had been at first called Zenonians, as Epicurus tells us in his Epistles. And before this time, the poets who frequented this colonnade (stoa) had been called Stoics, as we are informed by Eratosthenes, in the eighth book of his treatise on the Old Comedy; but now Zenos pupils made the name more notorious. Now the Athenians had a great respect for Zeno, so that they gave him the keys of their walls, and they also honoured him with a golden crown, and a brazen statue; and this was also done by his own countrymen, who thought the statue of such a man an honour to their city. And the Cittiaeans, in the district of Sidon, also claimed him as their countryman. VIII. He was also much respected by Antigonus, who, whenever he came to Athens, used to attend his lectures, and was constantly inviting him to come to him. But he begged off himself, and sent Persaeus, one of his intimate friends, who was the son of Demetrius, and a Cittiaean by birth, and who flourished about the hundred and thirtieth olympiad, when Zeno was an old man. The letter of Antigonus to Zeno was as follows, and it is reported by Apollonius, the Syrian, in his essay on Zeno. KING ANTIGONUS TO ZENO THE PHILOSOPHER, GREETING. "I think that in good fortune and glory I have the advantage of you; but in reason and education I am inferior to you, also in that perfect happiness which you have attained to. On which account I have thought it good to address you, and invite you to come to me, being convinced that you will not refuse what is asked of you. Endeavour, therefore, by all means to come to me, considering this fact, that you will not be the instructor of me alone, but of all the Macedonians together. For he who instructs the ruler of the Macedonians and who leads him in the path of virtue, evidently marshals all his subjects on the road to happiness. For as the ruler is, so is it natural that his subjects for the most part should be also." And Zeno wrote him hack the following answer. [262>] ZENO TO KING ANTIGONUS, GREETING. "I admire your desire for learning, as being a true object for the wishes of mankind, and one too that tends to their advantage. And the man who aims at the study of philosophy has a proper disregard for the popular kind of instruction which tends only to the corruption of the morals. And you, passing by the pleasure which is so much spoken of, which makes the minds of some young men effeminate, show plainly that you are inclined to noble pursuits, not merely by your nature, but also by your own deliberate choice. And a noble nature, when it has received even a slight degree of training, and which also meets with those who will teach it abundantly, proceeds without difficulty to a perfect attainment of virtue. But I now find my bodily health impaired by old age, for I am eighty years old: on which account I am unable to come to you. But I send you some of those who have studied with me, who in that learning which has reference to the soul, are in no respect inferior to me, and in their bodily vigour are greatly my superiors. And if you associate with them you will want nothing that can bear upon perfect happiness." So he sent him Persaeus and Philonides, the Theban, both of whom are mentioned by Epicurus, in his letter to his brother Aristobulus, as being companions of Antigonus. IX. And I have thought it worth while also to set down the decree of the Athenians concerning him; and it is couched in the following language. "In the archonship of Arrhenides, in the fifth presidency of the tribe Acamantis, on the twenty-first day of the month Maimacterion, on the twenty-third day of the aforesaid presidency, in a duly convened assembly, Hippo, the son of Cratistoteles, of the borough of Xypetion, being one of the presidents, and the rest of the presidents, his colleagues, put the following decree to the vote. And the decree was proposed by Thrason, of Anacaea, the son of Thrason. "Since Zeno the son of Innaseas, the Cittitaean, has passed many years in the city, in the study of philosophy, being in all other respects a good man, and also exhorting all the young men who have sought his company to the practice of virtue, and encouraging them in the practice of temperance making his own life a model to all men of the greatest [263>] excellence, since it has in every respect corresponded to the doctrines which he has taught; it has been determined by the people (and may the determination be fortunate), to praise Zeno, the son of Innaseas, the Cittiaean, and to present him with a golden crown in accordance with the law, on account of his virtue and temperance, and to build him a tomb in the Ceramicus, at the public expense. And the people has appointed by its vote five men from among the citizens of Athens, who shall see to the making of the crown and the building of the tomb. And the scribe of the borough shall enrol the decree and engrave it on two pillars, and he shall be permitted to place one pillar in the Academy, and one in the Lyceum. And he who is appointed to superintend the work shall divide the expense that the pillars amount to, in such a way that every one may understand that the whole people of Athens honours good men both while they are living and after they are dead. And Thrason of Anacaea, Philocles of the Piaeus, Phaedrus of Anaphlystos, Medon of Acharnaes, Mecythus of Sypalyttas, and Dion of Paeania, are hereby appointed to superintend the building of the tomb." These then are the terms of the decree. X. But Antigonus, of Carystos, says, that Zeno himself never denied that he was a native of Cittium. For that when on one occasion, there was a citizen of that town who had contributed to the building of some baths, and was having his name engraved on the pillar, as the countryman of Zeno the philosopher, he bade them add, "Of Cittium." XI. And at another time, when he had had a hollow covering made for some vessel, he carried it about for some money, in order to procure present telief for some difficulties which were distressing Crates his aster. And they say that he, when he first arrived in Greece, had more than a thousand talents, which he lent out at nautical usury. XII. And he used to eat little loaves and honey, and to drink a small quantity of sweet smelling wine. XIII. He had very few youthful acquaintances of the male sex, and he did not cultivate them much, lest be should be thought to be a misogynist. And he dwelt in the same house with Persaeus; and once, when he brought in a female flute-player to him, he hastened to bring her back to him. XIV. And he was, it is said, of a very accommodating [264>] temper; so much so, that Antigonus, the king, often came to dine with him, and often carried him off to dine with hirn, at the house of Aristocles the harp-player; but when he was there, he would presently steal away. XV. It is also said that he avoided a crowd with great care, so that he used to sit at the end of a bench, in order at events to avoid being incommoded on one side. And he never used to walk with more than two or three companions. An he used at times to exact a piece of money from all who came to bear him, with a view of not being distressed by numbers; and this story is told by Cleanthes, in his treatise on Brazen Money. And when he was surrounded by any great crowd, would point to a balustrade of wood at the end of the colonnade which surrounded an altar, and say, "That was once in the middle of this place, but it was placed apart because it was in peoples way; and now, if you will only withdraw from the middle here, you too will incommode me much less." And when Demochares, the son of Laches, embraced him once, and said that he would tell Antigonus, or write to him of everything which he wanted, as he always did everything for him, Zeno, when he had heard him say this, avoided his company for the future. And it is said, that after the death of Zeno, Antigonus said, "What a spectacle have I lost." On which account he employed Thrason, their ambassador, to entreat of the Athenians to allow him to be buried in the Ceramicus. And when he was asked why he had such an admiration for him, he replied, "Because, though I gave him a great many important presents, he was never elated, and never humbled." He was a man of a very investigating spirit, and one who inquired very minutely into everything; in reference to which, Timon, in his Silli, speaks thus: I saw an aged woman of Phoenicia,
Hungry and covetous, in a proud obscurity,
Longing for everything. She had a basket
So full of holes that it retained nothing.
Likewise her mind was less than a simdapsus [W sort of guitar or violin.]" He used to study very carefully with Philo, the dialectician, and to argue with him at their mutual leisure; on which [265>] account he excited the wonder of the younger Zeno, no less than Diodorus his master. XVIII. There were also a lot of dirty beggars always about him, as Timon tells us, where he says Till he collected a vast cloud of beggars,
Who were of all men in the world the poorest,
And the most worthless citizens of Athens. And he himself was a man of a morose and bitter countenance, with a constantly frowning expression. He was very economical, and descended even to the meanness of the barbarians, under the pretence of economy. XIX. If he reproved any one, he did it with brevity and without exaggeration, and as it were, at a distance. I allude, for instance, to the way in which he spoke of a man who took exceeding pains in setting himself off, for as he was crossing a gutter with great hesitation, he said, "He is right to look down upon the mud, for he cannot see himself in it." And when some Cynic one day said that he had no oil in his cruise, and asked him for some, he refused to give him any, but bade him go away and consider which of the two was the more impudent. He was very much in love with Chremonides; and once, when he and Cleanthes were both sitting by him, he got up; and as Cleanthes wondered at this, he said, "I hear from skilful physicians that the best thing for some tumours is rest." Once, when two people were sitting above him at table at a banquet, and the one next him kept kicking the other with his foot, he himself kicked him with his knee; and when he turned round upon him for doing so, he said, "Why then do you think that your other neighbour is to be treated in this way by you?" On one occasion he said to a man who was very fond of young boys, that "Schoolmasters who were always associating with boys had no more intellect than the boys themselves." He used also to say that the discourses of those men who were careful to avoid solecisms, and to adhere to the strictest rules of composition, were like Alexandrine money, they were pleasing to the eye and well-formed like the coni, but were nothing the better for that; but those who were not so particular he likened to the Attic tessedrachmas, which were struck at random and without any great nicety, and so he said that their [266>] discourses often outweighed the more polished styles of the others. And when Ariston, his disciple, had been holding forth a good deal without much wit, but still in some points with a good deal of readiness and confidence, he said to him, "It would be impossible for you to speak thus, if your father had not been drunk when he begat you;" and for the same reason he nicknamed him the chatterer, as he himself was very concise in his speeches. Once, when he was in company with an epicure who usually left nothing for his messmates, and when a large fish was set before him, he took it all as if he could eat the whole of it; and when the others looked at him with astonishment, he said, "What then do you think that your companions feel every day, if you cannot bear with my gluttony for one day?" On one occasion, when a youth was asking him questions with a pertinacity unsuited to his age, he led him to a looking-glass and bade him look at himself, and then asked him whether such questions appeared suitable to the face he saw there. And when a man said before him once, that in most points he did not agree with the doctrines of Antisthenes, he quoted to him an apophthegm of Sophocles, and asked him whether he thought there was much sense in that, and when he said that he did not know, "Are you not then ashamed," said he, "to pick out and recollect anything bad which may have been said by Antisthenes, but not to regard or remember what. ever is said that is good?" A man once said, that the sayings of the philosophers appeared to him very trivial; "You say true," replied Zeno, "and their syllables too ought to be short, if that is possible." When some one spoke to him of Polemo, and said that he proposed one question for discussion and then argued another, he became angry, and said, "At what value did he estimate the subject that had been proposed?" And he said that a man who was to discuss a question ought to have a loud voice and great energy, like the actors, but not to open his mouth too wide, which those who speak a great deal but only talk nonsense usually do. And he used to say that there was no need for those who argued well to leave their hearers room to look about them, as good workmen do who want to have their work seen; but that, on the contrary, those who are listening to them ought to be so attentive to all that is said as to have no leisure to take notes. [267>] Once when a young man was talking a great deal, he said, "Your ears have run down into your tongue." On one occasion a very handsome man was saying that a wise man did not appear to him likely to fall in love; "Then," said he, "I cannot imagine anything that will be more miserable than you good-looking fellows." He also used often to say that most philosophers were wise in great things, but ignorant of petty subjects and chance details; and he used to cite the saying of Caphesius, who, when one of his pupils was labouring hard to be able to blow very powerfully, gave him a slap, and said, that excellence did not depend upon greatness, but greatness on excellence. Once, when a young man was arguing very confidently, he said, "I should not like to say, O youth, all that occurs to me." And once, when a handsome and wealthy Rhodian, but one who had no other qualification, was pressing him to take him as a pupil, he, as he was not inclined to receive him, first of all made him sit on the dusty seats that he might dirt his cloak, then he put him down in the place of the poor that he might rub against their rags, and at last the young man went away. One of his sayings used to be, that vanity was the most unbecoming of all things, and especially so in the young. Another was, that one ought not to try and recollect the exact words and expressions of a discourse, but to fix all ones attention on the arrangement of the arguments, instead of treating it as if it were a piece of boiled meat, or some delicate eatable. He used also to say that young men ought to maintain the most scrupulous reserve in their walking, their gait, and their dress; and he was constantly quoting the lines of Euripides on Capaneus, that His wealth was ample.
But yet no pride did mingle with his state,
Nor had he haughty thought, or arrogance
More than the poorest man. And one of his sayings used to be, that nothing was more unfriendly to the comprehension of the accurate sciences than poetry; and that there was nothing that we stood in so much need of as time. When he was asked what a friend was, he replied, "Another I." They say that he was once scourging a slave whom he had detected in theft; and when he said to him, "It was fated that I should steal ;" he rejoined, "Yes, and that you should be beaten." He used to call beauty the [268>] flower of the voice; but some report this as if he had said that the voice is the flower of beauty. On one occasion, when he saw a slave belonging to one of his friends severely bruised, he said to his friend, "I see the footsteps of your anger." He once accosted a man who was all over unguents and perfumes, "Who is this who smells like a woman?" When Dionysius Metathemenus asked him why he was the only person whom he did not correct, he replied, "Because I have no confidence in you." A young man was talking a great deal of nonsense, and he said to him, "This is the reason why we have two ears and only one mouth, that we may hear more and speak less." Once, when he was at an entertainment and remained wholly silent, he was asked what the reason was; and so he bade the person who found fault with him tell the king that there was a man in the room who knew how to hold his tongue; now the people who asked him this were ambassadors who had come from Ptolemy, and who wished to know what report they were to make of him to the king. He was once asked how he felt when people abused him, and he said, "As an ambassador feels when he is sent away without an answer." Apollonius of Tyre tells us, that when Crates dragged him by the cloak away from Stilpo, he said. "O Crates, the proper way to take hold of philosophers is by the ears; so now do you convince me and drag me by them; but if you use force towards me, my body may be with you, but my mind with Stilpo." XX. He used to devote a good deal of time to Diodorus, as we learn from Hippobotus; and he studied dialectics under him. And when he had made a good deal of progress he attached himself to Polemo because of his freedom from arrogance, so that it is reported that he said to him, "I am not ignorant, O Zeno, that you slip into the garden-door and steal my doctrines, and then clothe them in a Phoenician dress." When a dialectician once showed him seven species of dialectic argument in the mowing argument [The Greek is, en tôi therizonti logô, a species species of argument so called, because he who used it mowed or knocked down his adversaries Aldob.], he asked him how much he charged for them, and when he said "A hundred drachmea,""he gave him two hundred, so exceedingly devoted was he to learning. They say too, that he was the first who ever em- [269>] ployed the word duty (kathêkon), and who wrote a treatise on the subject. And that he altered the lines of Hesiod thus: He is the best of all men who submits
To follow good advice; he too is good,
Who of himself perceives whateer is fit. [The Greek text is: Keinos men panaristos hos eu eiponti pithêtai
Esthlos d' au kakeinos hos autos panta noêsêi. The lines in Hesiod are: Keinos men panaristos hos autos panta noêsêi
Esthlos d' au kakeinos hos eu eiponti pithêtai Works & Days, 293. That man is best, whose unassisted with
Perceives at once what in each case is fit.
And next to him, he is surely most wise,
Who willingly submits to good advice.] For he said that that man who had the capacity to give a proper hearing to what was said, and to avail himself of it, was superior to him who comprehended everything by his own intellect; for that the one had only comprehension, but the one who took good advice had action also. XXII. When he was asked why he, who was generally austere, relaxed at a dinner party, he said, "Lupins too are bitter, but when they are soaked they become sweet." And Hecaton, in the second book of his Apophthegms, says, that in entertainments of that kind, he used to indulge himself freely. And he used to say that it was better to trip with the feet, than with the tongue. And that goodness was attained by little and little, but was not itself a small thing. Some authors, however, attribute this saying to Socrates. XXIII. He was a person of great powers of abstinence and endurance; and of very simple habits, living on food which required no fire to dress it, and wearing a thin cloak, so that it was said of him: The cold of winter, and the ceaseless rain,
Come powerless against him; weak is the dart
Of the fierce summer sun, or fell disease,
To bend that iron frame. He stands apart,
In nought resembling the vast common crowd;
But, patient and unwearied, night and day,
Clings to his studies and philosophy. [270>] XXIV. And the comic poets, without intending it, praise him in their very attempts to turn him into ridicule. Philemon speaks thus of him in his play entitled the Philosophers : This man adopts a new philosophy,
He teaches to be hungry; nevertheless,
He gets disciples. Bread his only food,
His best desert dried figs; water his drink. But some attribute these lines to Posidippus. And they have become almost a proverb. Accordingly it used to be said of him, "More temperate than Zeno the philosopher." Posidippus also writes thus in his Men Transported : So that for ten whole days he did appear
More temperate than Zenos self. XXV. For in reality he did surpass all men in this description of virtue, and in dignity of demeanour, and, by Jove, in happiness. For he lived ninety-eight years, and then died, without any disease, and continuing in good health to the last. But Persaes, in his Ethical School, states that he died at the age of seventy-two, and that he came to Athens when he was twenty-two years old. But Apollonius says that he presided over his school for forty-eight years. XXVI. And he died in the following manner. When he was going out of his school, he tripped, and broke one of his toes; and striking the ground with his hand, he repeated the line out of the Niobe: I come: why call me so? And immediately he strangled himself, and so he died. But the Athenians buried him in the Ceramicus, and honoured him with the decrees which I have mentioned before, bearing witness to his virtue. And Antipater, the Sidonian, wrote an inscription for him, which runs thus : Here Cittiums pride, wise Zeno, lies, who climbd
The summits of Olympus; but unmoved
By wicked thoughts neer strove to raise on Ossa
The pine-clad Pelion; nor did he emulate
Th immortal toils of Hercules; but found |
care about one another like family and take pride in their community.
Alma and Randy McNeely, who Sabrina calls Maw and Paw, reside at their home near Twin Branch in Hensley, WV along with their 11 dogs. Paw is 51 and Maw is 50. They are raising one of their grandchildren, Emalee Short, who is 16 and aspires to be a marine biologist or veterinarian. Maw and Paw have strongly encouraged Emalee to gain the highest education she can and always follow her dreams, even if that means she has to leave McDowell County and come back later. Emalee’s three younger siblings are raised by her other set of grandparents. The number of grandparents raising grandchildren in McDowell County is well above the national average. Sixty percent of grandparents are responsible for raising their grandchildren compared to fewer than 40 percent nationally. It is not uncommon for grandparents to be in their 30s or 40s. Teen pregnancy rates are among the highest in the country.
A cave tunnel marks the entrance to Twin Branch Hollow.
Nearly one in ten teenage girls in McDowell County will have a baby.
Sabrina’s best childhood friend Heather Wingate, age 29, shared vegetables from her garden. As she tended to her two small children, she described the substance abuse issues that plague McDowell County. McDowell has the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in West Virginia. She said it is difficult to maintain friendships because so many in the community are involved with drugs and the lack of available addiction treatment options poses serious challenges for those who are motivated to recover. Although, there are many challenges for people who live in McDowell County, the residents are passionate and talented. Heather’s craft is taking old and broken pieces of wood and turning them into masterpieces. She hopes to develop a successful business where she can create functional art pieces.
Sabrina Shrader (middle) wraps her arms around Randy (left) and Alma McNeely (right), in front of their home in Hensley, West Virginia.
Access to primary medical and dental care is also extremely limited. Nearly 40 percent of McDowell County residents report that they have fair or poor health making it the county in the state with the poorest self-reported health. Rates of smoking, obesity, and physical activity in McDowell are among the worst 10 percent of all counties nationally.
Fortunately, West Virginia is one of the 27 states that has currently expanded its Medicaid program. More than half of McDowell County residents have public health insurance coverage compared to three in ten people nationally (U.S. Census American Community Survey). While the expansion of health insurance in West Virginia will help to improve access to care for low income residents in the state, and may ultimately improve health and longevity, there remains a severe shortage of health professionals including nurses, doctors, and behavioral health providers in communities like McDowell County that may challenge efforts to improve the health of the population. Moreover, researchers recognize that other factors, such as education and income, which are often determined by where a person lives, also play a critical role in determining the quality of life and how long a person will live.
Until we recognize and address the social and health-related factors that contribute to life expectancy and strengthen the safety net, places like McDowell County will continue to fall behind. While it has long been assumed that life expectancy will increase and that future generations will live longer and healthier lives than their parents and grandparents, between 1985 and 2010, the life expectancy in McDowell County decreased by 1.7 years for women and 1.4 years for men. While no one gets to choose where they are born, and many Americans do not have the luxury of picking up and moving to a community with better schools or jobs, where you live matters for your health and life expectancy, perhaps more than anything else and more than ever before. At a time when the rich are doing phenomenally well and life expectancy overall appears to be on the rise, we must not forget places like McDowell County.Sikkim stand- off: Indian army should learn from 'historical lessons', says China
International
oi-IANS
By Ians
Beijing, June 29 : China on Thursday warned India it will escalate the current border row if it did not withdraw troops from Chinese territory and said this was a precondition for a meaningful dialogue to settle the boundary issue, warning that the Indian Army should learn 'historical lessons', in an oblique reference to the 1962 war.
Beijing said it had pictures of Indian troops trespassing the Chinese border.
Talking to the media, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang displayed the photos from the lectern for a few seconds. The pictures were not clear from a distance.
Lu said these will be put up on the Foreign Ministry website after the press briefing.
"We again urge the Indian side to abide by historical boundary convention, respect Chinese territorial sovereignty and withdraw the troops to the Indian side of the boundary to avoid further escalation.
"This is the precondition for the settlement of the incident and also the basis for us to conduct a meaningful dialogue."
By Chinese territory, Lu meant Donglong or Doklam, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan where troops from the People's Liberation Army and the India Army had scuffled.
Following the face-off, China has suspended the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet where Indians travel via Nathu La Pass, which is shut now.
Lu said the fact of Indian troops crossing into Chinese territory was undeniable.
"It is violating our historical boundary conventions as well as promised Indian government. I can show you the pictures and photos concerning borders trespassed by Indian troops."
China also brushed aside Bhutan's protest against Beijing building a road towards a Bhutanese Army camp in Zomplri area of Doklam or Donglong, calling the construction just and lawful in Chinese territory".
Bhutan has issued a demarche to the Chinese Embassy over the incident in New Delhi since both countries have no diplomatic ties.
"Donglong has been Chinese territory since ancient time. This is an indisputable territory and we have adequate legal basis concerning this," Lu said.
"And this is just a sovereign action by China to conduct the road construction in its territory. This is totally justifiable and lawful."
Barring India and Bhutan, China has settled its land border dispute with its remaining 12 neighbours.
IANSVermont at Cutting Edge on Broadband
WASHINGTON, July 17 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that a region in southeastern Vermont is getting the fastest consumer connection to the Internet anywhere in the United States.
Springfield, Vt., and 13 neighboring towns – Saxtons River, Chester, North Springfield, Grafton, Bridgewater, Cuttingsville, Wallingford, Hartland, Killington, Pawlet, Danby, Mt. Holly and Middletown Springs – are in the process of getting state-of-the-art Internet access at speeds 100 times faster than average and faster than anywhere else in the United States except a Kansas City, Mo., pilot project by Google.
“Vermont may be on the verge of reaping enormous dividends from this historic investment in our future,” Sanders said of the new fiber optic service. “The ultra-fast Internet offers the chance to dramatically change how we think about education, health care and business,” Sanders added.
“The goal now is to use this resource to attract business and create good-paying jobs,” Sanders said of the region that once was a national hub for the tool-and-die industry but lost thousands of good-paying jobs as manufacturers shut down.
The cutting-edge development is a result of a federal, state and local government partnership with private business to significantly upgrade the Internet infrastructure in the Springfield area and in other parts of Vermont. The Springfield project is being built by Springfield-based Vermont Telephone Co. VTel received federal funds to build the fiber network that will provide affordable broadband access throughout its 14-town service area. VTel's monthly price for the high-speed Internet access is only about $35.
About 1,500 homes and business in the Springfield area already have the new fiber-optic connection, a number which VTel expects to double by the end of December. By the end of 2013, VTel says the framework of the fiber work, which includes running the fiber through 14 towns and into neighborhoods, will be complete. During the remainder of this year and throughout 2014, homes will continue to be linked to that network.
The growing list of companies already wired include Black River Meats, Lucas Industries, One Credit Union and Vermont Timberworks. “It does save us time, and time is money,” said Doug Friant, the owner of the company which specializes in designing timber frames and buildings.
Adam Trojanowski, a 38-year-old software developer for IBM who lives in Chester, Vt., was one of the first to sign up for the state-of-the art fiber connection. “I work with people in different sites and now I’m on a par with them,” he said. “When I told the people I work with who live in New York that I was getting this fiber they were envious. I don’t think anywhere in the world has anything faster for consumers.”
Bob Flint, executive director of the Springfield Regional Development Corp., said the Internet service will lure businesses to southeastern Vermont. “This is a huge asset, a huge arrow in the quiver,” Flint said of the arrival the fiber optic connections to Springfield.Unrefined and Kludgy design for a 5x5 horizontal piston door. All pistons are sticky.
The designs for the piston extenders are from the internet/other people I have met.
I don't actually know how to use redstone, only how to apply it.
Images, from top to bottom:
1) Door Closed
2) Door Open
3) Door Open without top layer of obsidian, so you can see the shapes of what's being pushed.
4) Perfectly Generic double extender
5) Perfectly Generic triple extender
6) How signal is fed into the triple extender. The torch in the middle is how signal is input. It used to be a lever when I got it from the internet.
I wanted a 5x5 door because I wanted to build a missile silo, and all the horizontal piston doors I found were 3x3. There were literally no 5x5, so I made my own.Hawking’s prediction would need an accelerator bigger than Earth to test, but scientists are excited by the theoretical implications (Discovery Channel)
THE Higgs boson, once hailed as the God particle, may actually have the potential to destroy the universe, Professor Stephen Hawking has warned.
He suggests that, at very high energy levels, the Higgs could suddenly become unstable, causing a “catastrophic vacuum decay” that would cause time and space to collapse.
Such a disaster is, he stresses, very unlikely — and the fact that such a possibility even exists is exciting because it suggests a whole new realm of physics.
Hawking’s comments are contained in his preface to a new book, Starmus, out next month, containing lectures by renowned cosmologists and astronomers first given at a scientific conference of the same name.
In his preface, he says: “The Higgs potential has the worrisome feature that it…At first glance, Orioles reliever Darren O’Day is just another fortunate jock who played top-shelf college baseball, married the beautiful blond, cruised to the majors and is now a millionaire. Yawn. Get to know O’Day, though, and the clichés spin away like the submariner’s slider to a befuddled batter. That blessed right arm? He swings it around to the plate at about knee-level, prompting ribbing from teammates that he’s a glorified softball pitcher. Throughout his career, his fastball has averaged just 86 mph. That collegiate baseball career? He went to the University of Florida on an academic scholarship and was cut from the baseball team as a freshman walk-on. He tried again his sophomore year — after developing a funky side-armed delivery refined in a summer beer league — and eventually became the Gators’ closer. That major league career? He was signed as a fifth-year senior, luring him away from plans to be a plastic surgeon or a veterinarian. He has been waived by three organizations. And he’s had to overcome a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder in 2008, a torn labrum in his hip in 2011 and, most recently, soreness and tingling in his fingers that cost him most of this month before cortisone injections last week helped him return to the mound Thursday. Oh, and that beautiful blond wife? That’s Fox News reporter Elizabeth Prann, whose career may be more high profile and hectic than her husband’s. In some circles — like when she introduced him to the country’s former first couple, George W. and Laura Bush — he’s Mr. Elizabeth Prann. Dust off the baseball stereotypes and there’s so much more to O’Day — from that unconventional pitching motion to his fans joyously chanting a surname that, technically, isn’t even his. To paraphrase a popular beer commercial, O’Day may be the most interesting man in the baseball world. At the least, he’s one of its brightest dudes with one of its most refreshing stories. “He is different than everybody because he is smarter than everybody,” says fellow Orioles reliever Tommy Hunter. “I think I can honestly say that. He is just flat-out smarter than everybody else. That’s what makes him so unique.” “A fake Irish-Polish man” Start with the name: Darren Christopher O’Day. A good Irish boy from Florida. The name is on his birth certificate. It’s the melodious ole-rhyming surname fans chant — “O’Dayyyyy, O’Day, O’Day, O’Dayyyyy” — whenever he enters a game. But his family name is not O’Day. It’s Odachowski. It was changed decades ago. “[My dad] thought that 40 years down the road, when I came into a tie game in the eighth, it would be really hard for fans to chant, ‘’Odachowski, Odachowski, Odachowski,’” O’Day deadpanned. The real story is a little more complicated. O’Day’s grandfather, a World War II veteran who suffered from an undiagnosed case of post-traumatic stress disorder, died in a car accident. His wife then single-handedly raised her three sons, including O’Day’s father, Ralph, who was 13 when his father was killed. At her work, Mrs. Odachowski shortened her name to Odach — with the ‘ch’ silent in Chicago’s Polish community — to make it easier to pronounce. As a tribute to their mother, who worked tirelessly so all of her sons could go to college, O’Day’s father and one of his uncles legally changed their names after they were married. “And it came out O’Day,” the pitcher said. “So that’s why I am a fake; a fake Irish-Polish man.” He honors his family history in a subtle way. Stitched on the side of his game glove is “D. Odachowski.” That story sums up O’Day’s life. What you see isn’t necessarily what you get. There always seems to be a little more. Or a twist you weren’t expecting. “Beer league” standout Now 6-feet-4, 220 pounds, O’Day was always into sports, including hockey, basketball and cross country. He loved baseball the most and considered playing at a smaller college but instead chose Florida for academic reasons. When he was cut from the Gators’ baseball team as a freshman, O’Day embraced regular college life. He played intramural softball and flag football and concentrated on his schoolwork, majoring in animal biology. What it did is it set me up for a good academic career,” he said. After his freshman year, a friend asked him to pitch in an over-18 adult league in Jacksonville. He agreed, and he had been messing around throwing sidearm while playing catch with his older brother on vacation, so he figured he’d try it in games, too. “I came out and I still threw overhand, but I also threw sidearm. I wasn’t bent over like I am now,” O’Day said. “We had tryouts, but there were guys smoking heaters [cigarettes] in the dugout, having some cold pops during the games.” His father, Ralph, attended many of those “beer league” games and was convinced that his son should give the Florida tryouts one more chance as a sidearmer. “And I was like, ‘What do I have to lose?’” O’Day said. “I guess, you could be that guy that tries out every year and gets cut every year and be the butt of jokes.” Because he had spent the previous year lifting weights, he was stronger and threw harder than he had from a conventional delivery. O’Day struck out every walk-on hitter he faced. “I made the team and pitched four years and got a scholarship and all that stuff.” As a fifth-year senior who could sign before the annual amateur draft, he drew interest from several clubs. Los Angeles Angels scout Tom Kotchman, the father of big league first baseman Casey Kotchman, was most interested after watching O’Day mow down batters at rival Florida State. “He turned it up a notch I didn’t know he had. He hit 90, 91 [mph]. It was like, ‘Oh boy,’” said Kotchman, now with the Boston Red Sox. “Certain guys just rise to the occasion.” The Angels offered O’Day $20,000 to sign — topping all other suitors. And they had another perk: Kotchman would be O’Day’s rookie-league manager and promised to make him his closer and move him quickly to the next level if he had early success.
“You throw a guy like that with that kind of stuff in at that level and he can make [hitters] look stupid,” Kotchman said. “And he did.” Med school on hold O’Day, however, had a decision to make. If he didn’t make the majors, would it be worth it to put his promising academic future on hold? He had taken his medical school entrance exams, scored well and had enjoyed shadowing a Gainesville plastic surgeon. That surgeon, by pure coincidence, was Dr. John Poser, a former All-Big Ten pitcher at Wisconsin. Poser’s father, Bob, also a doctor, pitched briefly in the majors in the 1930s for the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns. When Poser was leaving Wisconsin in the late 1960s his father advised him to give up pitching for medicine. The reasoning was simple: Poser could make a lot more money and have a much more stable life as a doctor. By the time Poser met O’Day, baseball salaries had exploded. “I was telling Darren what my dad said, only in reverse,” Poser said. “You’re only young once and now the business opportunities are in your favor. He was a lock for med school, not a lock for the majors. But I saw 6-foot4, 220 [pounds], good-looking, smart. I just had a feeling he could make it work.” Before finalizing his decision, O’Day discussed it with Prann, then his girlfriend. Professional baseball was a lottery ticket, so they had never discussed it as a serious future option. “It was a $20,000 bonus. I was like, ‘You have to go. That is crazy,’” said Prann, who has worked her way up from local TV to a gig at Fox News in Washington covering politics among other assignments. “I mean, I was making $2.50 an hour. I did get a good job out of school, but [at the time] we were both broke.” O’Day decided that he would try pro baseball for two years. If it didn’t work out, his medical scores would still be valid and he’d go back to school, likely in whichever town Prann had begun her journalism career. That was in May 2006. A lesson taken from tragedy By April 2008, O’Day had made the Angels’ Opening Day roster. He pitched in 30 games in three stints with the Angels that year but was diagnosed with the shoulder tear that September. While he was rehabilitating, the club removed him from its 40-man roster. “I think the one time that he did get down was the first time when the Angels put him on waivers, because the Angels gave him his first opportunity,” Ralph O’Day said. “He thought maybe this is the end.” In December that year, O’Day was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the New York Mets. He pitched in four games that April before being designated for assignment. He was in limbo again — and this time with a heavy heart. One of O’Day’s best friends during his minor league climb was Nick Adenhart, the Angels’ top pitching prospect from Williamsport, Md., who was killed by a drunk driver on April 9, 2009, hours after pitching his best game in the majors. The following afternoon O’Day made his Mets debut. “It was tough on him,” O’Day’s mother, Michal, said. “He finds out about Nick and then three hours later he has to pitch. That’s tough to handle.” The Mets told O’Day he could go to the funeral in Maryland, but O’Day didn’t want to leave with his job situation so tenuous. He was taken off the Mets’ roster days later anyway. That next week was one of the strangest periods of O’Day’s twisting and turning life story. He was claimed by the Texas Rangers and flew to Toronto to meet his new team. When he arrived at Rogers Centre, the Rangers and Blue Jays were locked in an extra-inning game. O’Day learned he may be needed in the bullpen immediately, but, as always, there was a twist. The Rangers didn’t have a uniform for O’Day. So he had to wear one reserved for left-handed minor leaguer Kason Gabbard. In the bottom of the 11th inning, with two on and one out, O’Day was summoned into the game wearing the jersey of a guy he didn’t know. When he took the mound, he had to introduce himself to Rangers manager Ron Washington. O’Day gave up a walkoff single to former Oriole Kevin Millar, the only batter he faced. The Rangers then boarded a plane for their next road series in Baltimore. The following day O’Day rented a car and drove roughly 90 minutes to a Williamsport cemetery, near Hagerstown, to visit Adenhart’s grave. “It was poetic, in retrospect,” O’Day said. “Drove around for an hour trying to find some flowers. I went and visited him, made my peace with it. Talked to him, came back, and they put me in a game here.” O’Day retired Ty Wigginton one night and Adam Jones the next. “That kind of gave me the confidence. It’s crazy to think that all happened in Baltimore,” said O’Day, who still writes Adenhart’s initials on the inside brim of his game hats. “It played a big role in my transition from being OK to good, because I saw the game taken away from him without his choice. That, with the combination that I was on my third team in one year of major league service, I was like, ‘What am I doing? I’m spending all of my time out here worrying about if I’m good enough to be here instead of really finding out if I am. I’ve shared that story with various teammates in hopes that they can find something that motivates them, too” For the next two seasons, O’Day became one of the best set-up relievers in baseball, posting a 1.99 ERA and pitching in the 2010 World Series. The next year he dealt with injuries and the Rangers attempted to slip him through waivers in October. The Orioles claimed him even though they were in between general managers and didn’t have an official front office leader (Dan Duquette was hired a week later). In 2012, O’Day became the Orioles’ most trusted set-up man, and he has continued to thrive in a late-inning role — compiling a 2.35 ERA in 132 career appearances as an Oriole. His superb 2012 season landed him a two-year, $5.8 million contract that includes an option for 2015.On April 13, a Czech politician named Vit Jedlicka staked a flag in a piece of no-man’s land on the Danube River and declared himself the President of Liberland. His new country has a motto: Live and Let Live — but no actual population, or any infrastructure, or official recognition from any country in the world.
Going into July, it’s hard to know how seriously to take Jedlicka; his budget relies on donations from the sale of things like “Sex, Drugs & Liberland” T-shirts, and his email address includes the word president, except spelled with a ''z."
Yet if he’s playing the straight man then he is seriously committed. When I reached him by Skype, he was at the G7 meeting in Germany, he said, to get more contacts to diplomats, as well as media, “to push idea of Liberland forward.”
Pushing that idea forward includes a bold economic foundation for his micro-state: voluntary taxation. “People will just be able to put their money where they think it is necessary,” Jedlicka says.
When he announced his new nation on a patch of land between Serbia and Croatia, about double the size of New York’s Central Park, libertarians of the world rejoiced. But that was two months ago, and the hype has died down a bit. So what’s the state of the new micro-nation? Is there an actual settlement in Liberland yet?
“There was one,” Jedlicka tells me, “but it was sort of taken apart by Croatia police.”
While Serbia seems pretty chill about the whole thing (the embassy in Washington told me they don’t consider this piece of land to be within Serbia), Croatia is not amused. In June, four Liberlandians took a small motorboat out there and were arrested by Croatian police.
But Jedlicka remains optimistic. He tells me that he thinks Croatians will come around once they realize that Liberland is “mainly about love and freedom.”
I floated Jedlicka’s “love and freedom” hypothesis to the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they replied with a statement: “Virtual quips, no matter how interesting they occasionally sound, remain what they are — virtual quips, and for them we do not have any official comment.”
But ultimately, there may be strength in numbers. Jedlicka says hundreds of thousands of people have expressed interest in becoming Liberlandians, which entails filling out an online form and uploading a CV. The fledgling — or wannabe — nation has more than 160,000 Facebook followers.
Jedlicka has only awarded citizenship to 100 people so far, including Eric J. Lyman, a Rome-based freelancer who wrote about Liberland for USA Today. Journalists will do anything for a story, even become a citizen of an imaginary country, but Lyman sounds sincere about his hopes for Liberland.
“I think that something like this ought to be allowed to happen,” he says. “It seems to me that if you identify a piece of unclaimed land, you out to be able to develop it. So I had my objective point of view as a journalist, but in a way I’m kind of cheering for them as well.
This isn’t Lyman’s first experience with a micro-nation. He grew up in South Florida where in 1982, the US Border Patrol set up a checkpoint on the highway leading to the Florida Keys, in search of drugs and illegal immigrants. As a kind of satiric protest, the mayor of Key West declared the Florida Keys the “Conch Republic.”
“Jimmy Buffett was the poet laureate and they made their own currency. And the airport in Key West said, ‘Welcome to the Conch Republic.’”
Lyman wasn’t able to actually stake a welcome sign on Liberlandian soil due to the vigilance of Croatian officials, but he did get to gaze at it from across the Danube. “It is beautiful. In a way it reminds me sort of the rolling hills of the Appalachians, you know?”
While this is totally undeveloped land — no water, no sewage, no buildings — Lyman says that some of the people involved told him you can get 4G cellular service on Liberland.
Depending on your priorities that might enough. It’s definitely enough for Jedlicka. “My dream … is we will be able to reach the land and start building there by the sixth of September, that is my birthday,” he says.
What if he gets his birthday wish? Who knows — would the regime of Vit Jedlicka be any worse than what’s in place in North Korea and Turkmenistan? Or are we too cynical to believe a new nation fueled by love and liberty would ever succeed?
While you sift for an answer, here's a related fact: There are more unclaimed parcels of land elsewhere, including Antarctica.Recently, the ability of polyphenols to reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has attracted a great deal of interest. In the present study, we investigated the attenuating effects of oligomerised lychee fruit-derived polyphenol (OLFP, also called Oligonol) on early cognitive impairment. Male senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice (4 months old) were given OLFP (100 mg/kg per d) for 2 months, and then conditioned fear memory testing was conducted. Contextual fear memory, which is considered hippocampus-dependent memory, was significantly impaired in SAMP8 mice compared with non-senescence-accelerated mice. OLFP attenuated cognitive impairment in SAMP8 mice. Moreover, the results of real-time PCR analysis that followed DNA array analysis in the hippocampus revealed that, compared with SAMP8 mice, the mRNA expression of Wolfram syndrome 1 (Wfs1) was significantly higher in SAMP8 mice administered with OLFP. Wfs1 reportedly helps to protect against endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which is thought to be one of the causes for AD. The expression of Wfs1 was significantly up-regulated in NG108-15 neuronal cells by the treatment with OLFP, and the up-regulation was inhibited by the treatment of the cells with a c-Jun N-terminal kinase-specific inhibitor rather than with an extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor. Moreover, OLFP significantly attenuated the tunicamycin-induced expression of the ER stress marker BiP (immunoglobulin heavy chain-binding protein) in the cells. These results suggest that OLFP has an attenuating effect on early cognitive impairment in SAMP8 mice, and diminishes ER stress in neuronal cells.The authors present the case of a professional football player with an immediate and sustained cutaneous reaction (“burn”) at the site of lower extremity tattoos that occurred during magnetic resonance imaging of the pelvis. The burn was attributed to an electromagnetic reaction due to the ferromagnetic metallic compounds found in tattoo pigments, especially iron oxide—a reaction that has the potential to distort the field of image. These compounds can theoretically create an electric current that increases the local skin temperature, enough to cause a cutaneous burn. “At risk” tattoos are those with black pigment or any other pigments containing iron oxide, as well as those with a design that displays loops, large circular objects, or multiple adjacent points. Patients who develop this reaction may be treated prophylactically or symptomatically with a cold compress to assist with completion of the examination. Alternatively, a towel or cloth may be placed between the cutaneous body parts in those patients who experience the typical reaction resulting from an electrical arc between 2 separate cutaneous tattoos. This is likely an underreported issue that merits mention in the sports medicine literature given the frequent occurrence of cosmetic tattoos in athletes requiring magnetic resonance imaging to diagnose a musculoskeletal injury. As in the present patient, no permanent sequelae have been noted in the literature. Therefore, patients who develop this reaction should be reassured that the reaction is only temporary.
We present the case of a patient with an immediate and sustained cutaneous reaction at the site of lower extremity tattoos that occurred during MRI. This appears to be an emerging issue given the expanding frequency of tattoos seen in amateur, as well as professional, athletes. The patient was informed that the case would be submitted for publication, and he consented to the submission.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a frequently used imaging modality for the analysis of soft tissue injuries and is generally considered a safe procedure. Nearly 70% of American football players presenting to the 2010 National Football League National Invitational Camp (ie, NFL Scouting Combine) reported that they previously underwent MRI for a variety of musculoskeletal injuries. Unfortunately, there is confusion in regard to the safety of an individual with a tattoo who must undergo this imaging modality, because of the presence of ferrous compounds present in the tattoo ink. Considering that MRI uses magnetic energy to generate its images, the potential exists for an electromagnetic reaction to occur in the cutaneous area containing a tattoo. There have been documented case reports of tattoos causing not only imaging artifacts but also minor cutaneous reactions. 3, 11, 12
Traditional and cosmetic tattoos have been performed for thousands of years both in the United States and around the world. The Food and Drug Administration considers the inks used in intradermal tattoos, including permanent makeup, to be cosmetics, and it considers the pigments used in the inks to be color additives requiring premarket approval under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 10 The administration, however, has not exercised its authority over tattoo inks or pigments because of other public health priorities and a previous lack of evidence of safety concerns. The actual practice of tattooing is regulated by local jurisdictions.
Given the recurrent nature of the injury, the patient was referred for repeat MRI of the pelvis and thigh. He underwent preprocedural medical evaluation and preparation according to the facility’s standard protocol. He was positioned supine in the 1.5-T MRI system feet first. MRI of the pelvis was performed using a body-phased array coil, with coronal images (large field of view, short repetition time, short echo time, and inversion recovery) as well as transverse sequences (short repetition time, short echo time, and fast spin echo, and inversion recovery). Approximately 5 minutes after initiation of the study, the patient began to experience a sudden burning pain over the suprapatellar regions of both knees in the area of his tattoos. This sensation was localized to the knees and not experienced in the areas of the other tattoos. The patient notified the technician immediately, and the examination was interrupted so that his knees could be inspected by the radiologist. A wet towel was placed over and between both knees, and the study was completed. The sensation continued; however, it was present at a lower level that was tolerable. After completion of the study, the patient noted mild swelling and erythema surrounding the tattoos over both knees. This superficial reaction resolved within 12 hours without any evidence of permanent sequelae. Of note, the patient underwent 4 previous MRIs without any symptoms.
Physical examination revealed normal neurologic and vascular findings in the lower extremity. His gait was antalgic, with the tendency to limit right knee flexion during the swing phase. He had tenderness to palpation over the proximal origin of the hamstrings without any appreciable defect. He demonstrated pain with resisted knee flexion at 30°. The popliteal angle was 45° on the affected side, compared with 10° on the normal, contralateral limb. He had no other areas of tenderness and full, nontender range of motion of the right hip. No dermatologic abnormalities or ecchymosis were noted; however, black-colored cosmetic tattoos were noted over the suprapatellar region of both knees ( ). Upon further inspection and questioning, it was revealed that he had multiple tattoos in various locations over his body that were obtained at different times throughout his life. Tattoos covering the posterior upper arms were obtained in 2004 (left) and 2005 (right). The tattoos over the suprapatellar regions of both knees were obtained in 2008. His final tattoo, over the right flank, was obtained in 2009. All of his tattoos were drawn by professional tattoo artists.
A 24-year-old white male professional American football player in otherwise good general health, standing at 185.4 cm and weighing 108.4 kg, presented with discomfort in the right proximal hamstring. The patient was an outside linebacker who sustained a grade I proximal hamstring strain 2 months previously for which he underwent MRI without any complications. He reaggravated this injury after a hyperextension force to the right lower extremity.
Discussion
The first report of an MRI-induced reaction to a patient’s skin containing a tattoo was described by Kredstein et al in 1997.3 The patient in that report experienced sudden burning pain in the area of an abdominal tattoo, simply in the presence of a static magnetic field upon entrance into the MRI suite. She ultimately underwent excision of the tattooed skin with primary closure of the site to permit completion of the MRI. The authors further confirmed a ferromagnetic property of the tattoo pigment by documenting migration of the ellipsed skin toward a standard horseshoe magnet. They further studied the ferromagnetic properties of common tattoo pigments and showed that iron oxide–based pigments (most commonly black and brown) were displaced by a magnetic field, whereas carbon-, titanium-, and copper-based pigments were unaffected. Kanal and Shellock2 responded to this report by recommending that physicians consider placing an ice pack or a cold compress on the tattoo before magnetic resonance examination and to leave it in place until completion. They also recommended a pressure dressing to prevent any tissue distortion. Of course, these conservative measures should be tried before any invasive intervention, such as resection of the tattoo-containing skin.
Following the initial report described above, 2 other cases of cutaneous burns sustained by MRI were described in 2000.11,12 One patient had a large tattoo (20 × 10 cm) of a dragon with “vivid colors and several loops of the tail and neck.” It has been proposed that tattoos containing electrically conductive material that are applied to the dermis in a loop pattern are those most at risk for a cutaneous reaction. These particular tattoos have the potential to induce an electric current and thus burn the skin following the radiofrequency pulse of the MRI process.3 Perhaps the combination of the size, ferromagnetic pigment, and loops of the tattoo caused the first-degree burn noted in this reported patient. The second patient sustained a second-degree burn in the right deltoid, |
the 20th century. Malieh Mehdiabadi, who was project manager for the effort, described a photogrammetric process by which two-dimensional photos were taken of the inscriptions using two cameras and later transmuted into 3-D images.
In recent years, Iranian archaeologists have been undertaking conservation works. The site became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. In 2012, the Bisotun Cultural Heritage Center organized an international effort to re-examine the inscription.
The site covers an area of 116 hectares. Archeological evidence indicates that this region became a human shelter 40,000 years ago. There are 18 historical monuments other than the inscription of Darius the Great in the Behistun complex that have been registered in the Iranian national list of historical sites.
Sources: Tasnim News | Photos, Wikipedia | Behistun InscriptionUCI vice-president and Oceania president Tracey Gaudry believes the benefits of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race being awarded WorldTour status from 2017 outweighs any negatives and will ensure Australia remains a crucial player on the world scene. The elevation of the Victorian one-day race to the top tier of the sport in its third year removes it from the Oceania Tour calendar but Gaudry believes opportunities will be created for the Continental teams who are no longer eligible to enter the race. Related Articles Tracey Gaudry Q&A: Half-way point review of the Women's WorldTour
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"The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has been a massive success in terms of the position of the event in the global calendar and it was established as a 1.1 event only two years ago," Gaudry told Cyclingnews of the January 29 race which is now one of 37 WorldTour events. "This year it achieved HC status and its quality and caliber and of the elements that are assessed by the UCI enabled it to be promoted to WorldTour status from next year onwards.
"What that does is cement Australia, with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and Santos Tour Down Under, as the start proper of the WorldTour season. That is an exceptional result for the positioning of cycling in the world and positioning of Australia as a powerhouse in cycling. One of the consequences of being promoted to WorldTour status is that the teams eligible are WorldTour teams, the national team of the country and Pro-Continental. The impact of that means that Continental teams are not eligible to take part and for a region like Oceania where there are a small number of Continental tour events on the calendar, it is important that we look at a regeneration of Continental level events."
As one of ten new WorldTour events in 2017, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race is obliged to invite all 18 WorldTour teams to participate with a minimum of ten teams on the start line. The UCI are yet to announce the points structure for the new WorldTour events with teams to pick and choose which new races they add their programmes for 2017 alongside lower rated HC and.1 events. With its place on the calendar as the first new WorldTour race and just one week after Australia's first WorldTour race, Tour Down Under, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race could be a more attractive proposal for the WorldTour teams than races later in the season that will clash with other WorldTour events for example.
In the US, the elevation of the Tour of California to WorldTour status in American has created uncertainty for Continental teams and in a similar predicament to the Australian domestic teams
Outlining the process of introducing the new races onto the WorldTour calendar, Gaudry explained that she doesn't believe the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race will have an advantage over other new WorldTour events, adding the Australian summer conditions are likely to be of equal consideration for teams planning their race programmes.
"One thing that we were very careful of, one of many things that we have been careful of in the Cahier des charges for WorldTour events and WorldTour teams is that all WorldTour events are obliged to invite all WorldTour teams to give every team the opportunity to participate," she said. "For the WorldTour teams, we are very careful not to overload the teams with all new events on the WorldTour and to ensure that they have the choice to participate or not in the new events but that each new WorldTour event is obliged to secure ten WorldTour teams to demonstrate its appeal to WorldTour teams.
"I think each new WorldTour event stands in its own right and it really comes down to the attractiveness to the WorldTour teams, what they are looking for in the build up in the early season, what works for their team and their athletes' early-season training competition regime and what events are right for those teams to help them peak at the right time of the season. Australia represents a great place for European teams to come out to in the early season to get out of the winter."
Held alongside the men's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race once again is the women's race, sponsored by Deakin University. For 2017, the race has retained its status as a UCI 1.2 event with ten confirmed UCI teams in attendance and live free-to-air broadcast. For future editions of the race, Gaudry explained she would like to see the race also elevated to the top tier of the women's calendar.
"We are striving for the Women's WorldTour to be a global WorldTour so we will be looking at events like this race very, very closely like we are at other events around the world for the WorldTour," she said.
Listed on the UCI 2017 calendar is an Australian Day (January 26) Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race Albert Park Grand Prix men and women's criterium. Whether this race is a consolation of sorts for the Australian Continental and domestic teams who can no longer race the WorldTour event remains to be see.
Future of the Oceania Tour and Continental elections
In its first two editions, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race was a welcome addition to the Oceania Tour. Just as the Tour Down Under was removed from the continental circuit when it moved up to the WorldTour, the race is off the calendar from 2017 and as a consequence the Oceania Tour has lost an event.
As it currently stands, the 2017 Oceania Tour will comprise of the 2.2 New Zealand Cycle Classic, 2.1 Herald Sun Tour, 1.2 The REV Classic, and Oceania Championships. When Gaudry was elected as president by member federations New Zealand, Fiji, Guam and Australia, her and her administration "set out to rebuild the Oceania Tour" which had severally shrunk in size compared to the mid 2000s.
"Very quickly we built up a mass of events which gave an opportunity to the Continental teams in the region and it is one of the unintended consequences of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race being so successful, is that it is no longer eligible for Continental teams," she said.
"It is very important that Oceania cycling works very closely with Cycling Australia, and Cycling New Zealand, and the UCI for the next few years to find opportunities for events, perhaps at National Road Series (NRS) level, to be elevated to point two events and look at that early part of the summer season to provide another Continental race."
As recently as the 2007-08 Oceania Tour, the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic was registered as a 1.2 event and featured on the calendar. Since then, it has been raced at the NRS level but would be a possible candidate to be elevated back into the Oceania Tour.
The "reality around the size and scale" hinders the Oceania Tour and compared to America and Europe, it cannot "have the same amount of races purely because of the number of races in the country and opportunity" according to Gaudry. A merger of the Oceania and Asia Tours has been mooted in the past but it's a complex adventure for Gaudry who notes that to so "also has an impact on the continent and constitution and the way the continents are structured" and complicated by the number of cycling disciplines beyond road.
In the first four months of 2017, all five Continental Confederations are up for elections with Gaudry keen to continue in her current position at the UCI and Oceania. Should she be elected for a second term, significant changes to the Oceania Tour could well be on on their way.
"When you look at the work we have been doing at the UCI level and Continental level, there is a lot of progress over the last four years," she added.Hoani Wiremu Korewha, 15, was killed in a crash in Masterton's main street last Sunday.
Mobs of youths continue to terrorise the home of of a Featherston girl they blame for the deaths of two 15-year-old boys in a Masterton crash last Sunday.
Police have charged a 16-year-old with disorderly behaviour, with the teenager to appear in the Masterton Youth Court on Thursday, One News reported on Sunday.
It was the fourth such incident since a Sunday night vigil in Featherston for Hoani Korewha and Pacer Willacy-Scott, both 15, who were killed on the morning of January 31 when the stolen car they were in crashed.
Stephen Longshaw told One News about 30 people came to his house on Friday.
READ MORE: Featherston on edge after teens blame girl for crash that killed two in Masterton
"They're all yelling 'Your daughter shouldn't have given them the keys'. She killed Hoani and Pacer and she's to blame and they want her dead."
Friday's attack follows initial intimidation on the night of the crash, when a group of about 20 teenagers woke solo dad Longshaw by throwing rocks on the roof and yelling threats to beat up his 15-year-old daughter, he said.
"They were upset about what happened and trying to blame my daughter for playing a part in this tragedy," Longshaw said.
His daughter had earlier taken the keys to a Honda Civic belonging to Featherston volunteer firefighter and baker Martin Grice, and given them to some of the boys involved in the fatal crash, Longshaw said.
Hoani, Pacer and two other boys later drove the car to Masterton and crashed after a police patrol recognised the car and briefly pursued it, abandoning the chase when it became apparent the boys were driving dangerously.
Pacer and Hoani died soon after in Wairarapa Hospital.Freedom Caucus Members Push To Hold Hillary and the FBI Accountable During Powerful Press Conference
Yesterday, during an interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends”, Congressmen Matt Gaetz declared: “We have got to find out what’s going to be done to clean up the deep state that’s discrediting the rule of law in this country, giving special treatment to liberal Democrats like Hillary Clinton, and then having just this merciless prosecution of the president.”
Today, During a morning press conference organized by Congressmen Matt Gaetz, Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows, and others expressed their frustration in the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s criminal activity.
Mr. Gaetz, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, has been fighting for a comprehensive investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s emails ever since 2016, found the investigation (or lack thereof) “deeply troubling.”
Standing in front of the Capitol, the representatives called upon FBI Director Christopher Wray to now address their concerns surrounding Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Hice of George stood strong against the bungled investigation into failed presidential candidate Clinton: “It is clear that Hillary Clinton’s received break after break after break from the FBI…. Everyone ought to be treated equally under the law, regardless of who they are.” He called for “an investigation into the FBI’s process and procedures.”
Following, Rep. Perry of Pennsylvania made it clear that if we allow the corruption that leads to Clinton being “let off” to continue, we may wind up in a “police state”: “Is this now a Justice Department that prosecutes individuals? Folks, this is how police states are started. This is how it begins. And it has to stop.”
In a question to Newsweek, Rep Gaetz shot down the notion that Clinton shouldn’t be investigated because she didn’t win: “We don’t want to live in a country where losing an election is a de facto immunity deal,” he said. “People have to be accountable for their actions whether they win or lose.” He also took issue with the special counsel probe, saying, “How can any evidence developed and presented by the Mueller probe be viewed as anything but the fruit of a poisonous tree?”
The underlying message of the press conference goes beyond the FBI’s farce of an investigation into Hillary Clinton, it is about Washington insiders being able to pull political favors that result in guilty politicians and criminals being able to walk away from their crimes, so long as they are part of a certain political party. As Rep Meadows said, “We cannot allow the highest law enforcement agency in the land to actually be in a situation where they allow partisanship to determine.”This post is a reminder for either myself or other people wanting to use Common Lisp applications in Docker containers.
The end goal
At the end of this post, there will be:
2 Docker containers: web and postgres
The db container will run a postgresql instance
container will run a postgresql instance The web container will run a Hunchentoot web server
container will run a Hunchentoot web server The web container will run a swank server
The 2 last points mean that:
Going to http://localhost:4242 will hit Hunchentoot
Running M-x slime-connect 127.0.0.1 5555 will connect to the container’s swank server
The required Lisp code
To have a Hunchentoot instance as well as a swank server, the following Lisp code is needed, somewhere in the application:
(defun main (&rest args) (declare (ignore args)) (hunchentoot:start (make-instance 'hunchentoot:easy-acceptor :port 4242 :address "localhost")) (setf swank::*loopback-interface* "0.0.0.0") (swank-loader:init) (swank:create-server :port 4005 :style swank:*communication-style* :dont-close t))
Note that the swank server’s loopback interface must be 0.0.0.0. This is required so that the host can connect to the container. 127.0.0.1 wouldn’t work and building an ssh tunnel is more complicated than it’s worth. This is not a security issue, since the container will be on a network shared between the host and the container only.
This code can be compiled to a binary using something similar to this:
$ buildapp --load-system foo --entry foo::main
The containers
Since 2 containers will be needed, their specification is needed.
The db container will just be the official postgres image with a persistent folder. (So that the data in the databases are persisted between each container’s restart.)
container will just be the official image with a persistent folder. (So that the data in the databases are persisted between each container’s restart.) The web container will be based on a custom Docker image.
The db container
Here is the command to create the db container:
$ sudo docker run \ --volume=/var/lib/postgresql/data \ --env="POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password" \ --name=db postgres
This will create a container named db, based on the postgres image. The image will be downloaded from dockerhub if you don’t have it locally. The POSTGRES_PASSWORD environment variable allows you to define the password for the postgres database, usable by the postgres user in the container.
To start and stop the container later on, the following commands can be used:
$ sudo docker start db $ sudo docker stop db
As simple as that!
The web container
This container needs a special image. For that, a Dockerfile is needed. Before this, a simple Makefile should be used to simplify life.
Here is a sample Makefile (let’s assume the project name is foo ):
all: buildapp --load-system foo --entry foo::main --output foo.bin
With this done, here is a sample Dockerfile :
# This image is available on dockerhub, automatically downloaded FROM dparnell/sbcl-1.2.5 # 4242 is for hunchentoot, 4005 is for swank EXPOSE 4242 4005 # Going to this folder means ASDF automatically picks up the project WORKDIR /root/common-lisp/foo # The command to run every time the container is started CMD make &&./foo.bin
To build this custom image:
$ sudo docker build -t my/foo.
Now that the custom image (named my/foo ) is ready, let’s create a container:
$ sudo docker run \ --volume="$PWD:/root/common-lisp/foo --link="db:dbhost" --publish="4242:4242" --publish="5555:4005" --name="web" my/foo
Here is what each argument means:
The --volume argument defines a folder mapping between the host and the container.
argument defines a folder mapping between the host and the container. The --link argument adds a link between 2 containers. Here, the db container’s IP will be added to the web container’s /etc/hosts, under the name dbhost. This will let you connect to the database using the following parameters: username: postgres password: password database: postgres host: dbhost
argument adds a link between 2 containers. Here, the container’s IP will be added to the container’s, under the name. This will let you connect to the database using the following parameters: The --publish argument defines a port forwarding between the host and the container. In this case, host:4242 forwards to container:4242, and host:5555 forwards to container:4005.
argument defines a port forwarding between the host and the container. In this case, forwards to, and forwards to. The --name argument gives a name to the container.
argument gives a name to the container. The last argument is the image that the container is based on.
Same as earlier, to start/stop the container:
$ sudo docker start web $ sudo docker stop web
Conclusion
So, there it is. There now is 2 containers, and they:
Run a postgresql instance
Run a hunchentoot instance
Run a swank-server instance
Which means:For five minutes, the vortex will be home. It’s the retreat from the outside world, where the wind roars in from three different directions, where the salted ground passes inches below, at 150 mph, and a type of immortality beckons.
Three feet in front of her, the Range Rover SVR will hurtle forward, displacing air currents and sending them backward, driver Shea Holbrook watching both the mirror and the fabled salt flats of Bonneville, Utah, as Denise Mueller attempts to claim territory no woman has ever set foot upon: the world bicycle speed record.
That record is 167.944 mph, set in 1995 by Fred Rompelberg, a 49-year-old Dutchman. It previously was held by Mueller’s coach, John Howard. In the small but intensely competitive world of Southern California bike racing, Mueller and Howard have known each other for the best part of 30 years.
Both live in the vast exurbia of northern San Diego County—Howard as a cycling coach, Mueller running her family’s home and business security company, and the household where two of her three sons still live.
Mueller, 43, is a former junior cycling prodigy, seeking what she describes as vindication for the lost years of her athletic career, and the emotional foibles that derailed it. Not that motherhood, divorce, and running a successful business count as time misspent. Rather, it’s the story of a female athlete who, with a little help, looked within and decided it was time to connect the dots of her former life.
The record attempts will be staged between September 10-13 under the handle of Project Speed.
Mueller has long, curly, tawny-blond hair, high cheekbones, and a disarming way of dropping significant biographical facts into ordinary conversation.
Her racing uniform is 12 pounds of tailored, double-ply leather, with Kevlar flex points at the knees and elbows. Red with black inserts across the shoulders, and embossed with sponsors’ names.
The shopworn regulars at Bonneville Speed Week certainly thought so, as Mueller and Holbrook took in the scene there in mid-August. The Project Speed pit was the destination for a constant procession of grizzled, curious, and smitten guys, Howard recalled. “They’re two very attractive women,” he said.
Howard, for his part, fell in love with the history of the record, including the story of the Frenchman Alfred Letourneur’s successful stealth attempt on a state highway near Bakersfield, Calif., of 108.92 mph behind a quarter-midget race car in 1941.
The crashes and broken bones, the science, the speed, the place in history. All of those attracted Howard, and were part of his sales pitch to Mueller over lunch at an establishment called Healthy Creations in Encinitas, Calif., in October 2012.
Mueller had not ridden for 22 years. She played racquetball and ran occasionally, graduating to marathons and then the Ironman triathlon, a progression suggestive of an unfulfilled personality trapped inside a body of limitless physical potential.
In 1991, during her teens, Mueller had shared the ranking of No. 1 U.S. junior with George Hincapie, the disgraced lieutenant of Lance Armstrong in his seven Tour de France victories. She was also an accomplished downhill mountain bike racer. Her more recent pastimes include 24 hour endurance races in a 1962 Mini.
“How long have you been going fast?” Howard asked her, then continued, before she could answer.
“How long have you been racing cars?
“How long have you been drafting cars?
“How long have you been riding your bike?”
“Where’s this going?,” Mueller wondered.
“You know you’re being led to a cliff,” she says, “But you’re not sure what the cliff’s about.”
The cliff was a leap of faith, an attempt at the world speed record on a bicycle, with the sweetener that there was no women’s record.
Mueller and her husband were in the process of divorcing. She told Howard of her plans, “just so you don’t hear it from the boys.”
He looked at her, Mueller said, and then began tallying with his fingers.
“Are you counting the years until I die?,” she asked.
No, he responded, just trying to work out where in school their youngest would be when the attempt was made.
Initially, it was supposed to be 2015. That was pushed back a year. Daniel, 16, the youngest of Mueller’s three sons, began his senior year of high school on the day of this interview, 10 days before the opening of the window at Bonneville for the record attempt.
The Attempt
The record attempt—the moment when Mueller will attach a spring-loaded, three-foot line to her bicycle handlebars from a coupling fitted to the rear of a 2016 Range Rover SVR and gradually be pulled from zero to 90 mph—is the tiniest funnel through which a blizzard of paperwork, physical preparation, scientific calculation, and a lifetime of knowledge are being poured.
The handling and stability of the Range Rover at 150 mph has been the subject of discussions with Dave Warner, the lead engineer for concept vehicles with Jaguar Range Rover in the UK.
[It] was a leap of faith, an attempt at the world speed record on a bicycle, with the sweetener that there was no women's record.
The design, dimensions, and makeup of the cowling that will partially shield Mueller and her bike behind the vehicle at top speed—“the pocket in the wind,” Howard calls it—were coordinated with aerospace engineer Doug Malewicki, president and chief scientist for AeroVisions Inc., and inventor of, among other things, the car-crushing, fire-breathing Robosaurus.
The odds against Mueller are not just history, or numbers like heart rate, cadence, and wattage to measure maintenance of a pair of all-out efforts over two miles (it will take at least a mile to reach the desired, record-breaking speed), clocked about two hours apart, with the average of both times taken as the record attempt.
The endeavor takes place in the most pristine environment possible, with Bonneville’s 12-mile, absolutely level-straight, 80-foot-wide and relatively smooth salt-laden surface. But speeds of this order bring their own problems, from cyclonic, multi-directional winds, to the minute margins of error in balancing, placing, and keeping the bike an otherwise insane distance of three feet behind a large SUV running at the limit of its engine capacity. (Malewicki points out that the Range Rover's top speed of 175 mph was recorded on a fast oval track; now it will be running on a surface with greatly increased rolling resistance.)
Any or all of these variables could do the attempt in, and Mueller with it.
Mueller’s bike looks a little like an upright, compressed chopper, as though a remake of Easy Rider was filmed with Peter Dinklage in the starring role. It has a lower, longer carbon-fiber frame stretched along a 27-inch wheelbase, with motorcycle wheels for stability and durability, and a two-wheel drive train to propel its massive single gear.
Tandem bike designer Todd Schusterman of Denver built the drive train, and believes Mueller’s cadence at the point of the release of the cable between the bike and the vehicle, at 90 mph, will be around 64 revolutions per minute. At 160 mph, that cadence would be around 120 rpm, he said.
Once Mueller is free of the cable, the car will accelerate at a rate as close as possible to her own rate of acceleration. She and Holbrook will be communicating from helmet to helmet, with Mueller indicating when to pick up speed, and Holbrook able to report how fast they are going and whether they are in reach of the record.
All of this revolves around what is humanly, mechanically and engineeringly possible.
In the latter sense, Doug Malewicki, who also helped Howard with his record rides in 1985, hopes that the team has set aside the “PR bullshit” of breaking Rompelberg’s 168 mph record, and will instead set its sights on a more manageable 140 mph.
Even so, he said, there was much about Mueller’s attempt that was trailblazing, in the absolute literal sense of the expression.
“It’s a lot of ‘by guess and by golly,’” Malewicki said, “Pretty much daredevil stuff. She’s like one of those early aviation pilots.”
By way of a cautionary note, Malewicki sent Mueller a still of the Bugs Bunny cartoon character Elmer Fudd, with his trademark warning: “Be vewy, vewy careful.”
The Record
Howard represented the United States in the 1968, ‘72 and ‘76 Olympics, and later won the Hawaiian Ironman, turning his back on a professional career (back when there was a distinction between Olympians and pros) for fear of entanglement in the burgeoning performance-enhancing drug culture that had permeated road and track cycling. His world record was 152.23 mph.
That he is alive to provoke, inspire, and guide Mueller is remarkable in itself.
His record was set on the second of three passes at Bonneville in August 1985. After the second run, bike and rider were back in the pits for refurbishment and recovery. A mechanic neglected to re-screw a rubber valve cap on to the back wheel as the vehicle was re-assembled.
At 150 mph, centrifugal force depressed the spring in the back wheel valve, releasing its air instantaneously. The bike’s brakes were next-to-useless, Howard remembered.
“You don’t have a windshield, so the wind will want to take you off the bike at that speed,” Howard said. “The sensation was of this 150 mph wind in my face.”
His first thought was to escape the pocket and begin the slowing process. This he achieved with careful, serpentine curves through the salt, a bravura and lifesaving piece of bike handling.
“If we were to put it all in the hourglass and let it float down,” Howard said of the whole record-breaking thing, “there are two words that would be there: exhilaration and terror.”
The Motive
“I don’t know why you need to do this,” 16 year-old Daniel told his mother, recently.
“Why not?,” she said in a recent interview, adding, “[that reason] sounds so clichéd.”
Turns out, it’s not.
In Howard’s recollection, Mueller suffered from performance anxiety, an attack of nerves afflicting many athletes—indeed, anyone who takes to a stage, to a greater or lesser extent. He knew of Mueller when she was 14 years old and was able to catch up to and then stay behind him on a long ride in San Diego County. Howard suggested to Mueller’s parents that she showed much potential as a cyclist, and he went on to coach her.
Mueller was a senior in high school with her world falling apart. Her parents were divorcing, and she could feel herself fighting a losing battle with anxiety. She also had undiagnosed ADHD, a piece of the puzzle that would not present itself until her sons were diagnosed with it many years later.
The best female junior cyclist in the country was on a training ride in March 1992 when she decided enough was enough. She rode to her coach’s house, sobbing, and told him, “I’m done with this.”
Mueller’s eldest son was born two years later. A month after her 21st birthday, her second son arrived. She gave birth to the third in 1999.
Their diagnoses of ADHD could also be seen as a turning point for Mueller, in that it allowed her to better understand herself.
Howard calls her “a brilliant multitasker,” but Mueller’s self image is less kind, and more knowing.
“My brain is going in a lot of different directions at any given time,” she said. In the worst moments, in her junior racing years, she says, “My brain overtook my feeling and my instinct.”
Ensuring that her return to bike racing, in which she has won two national criterium (street racing) championships, was not a coda to her teenage years, but a reprise, necessitated acquiring “the ability to shut the thinking part off and let the instincts take over, and not let my thoughts take off.”
“It’s a beautiful thing,” in that moment, Mueller said. “The faster I go, the slower I’m going. I get in a zone that I don’t feel anywhere else in life. When it’s life and death, that’s when I’m so focused.”
She loved being first, being the best, Mueller said, but didn’t like “the process” of having to beat other people to do it.
“I like to follow someone,” she said. “I always thought, ‘If they can do it, I can do it.’”
The faster I go, the slower I’m going. I get in a zone that I don’t feel anywhere else in life.
Mueller has thought about it ever since that lunch at Healthy Creations, nearly four years ago, thought about it so much, and run through the process so often, that the realities of that process no longer scare her.
Her cadence will be somewhere between 110-120 rotations a minute. Her pulse rate will be approaching 170. Her speed will be around 150 miles per hour.
And amidst all that—the body, the bike, the car, all redlining—will Denise Mueller be at peace, in the vortex?
“Oh yeah,” she said.
“It’s nirvana. It’s that calm. It’s chasing that calm, and the faster I go, the slower things are going, because they become a lot clearer.”
Everyone else’s blur is Denise Mueller’s pointillist painting.
And that blur could wind up being record breaking.
Update: Mueller has set the women’s paced bike land speed record this weekend at Bonneville. She still is chasing the men’s record. According to her Facebook posts, a mechanical problem with her Range Rover pace vehicle stymied further attempts Sunday. A replacement vehicle was sent from a Range Rover dealer in Salt Lake City and another record attempt was set to be made Monday.
Photos by Jeff SwingerYarr and ahoy mateys as on the 10th annual International Talk Like A Pirate Day here's some chocolate and sunshiny news.
What do you get when you mix technology with candy bars? In a cool yet creepy marketing campaign, Nestle plans to stalk UK consumers. The company kicked off a unique promotion called "We will find you" that involves GPS trackers embedded in chocolate bars. When a winning consumer opens the wrapper, it activates and notifies the prize team who promises to track them down within 24 hours to deliver a check for £10,000.
According to York Press, "Inside six lucky packs, there will be a GPS enabled bar which, when the winner pulls the tab, notifies the prize team who will leap into action locating the winner within 24 hours." A Nestle spokesman added that "inside their wrappers, the GPS-enabled bars looked just like normal chocolate bars."
In an additional chocolate-mixed-with-technology promotion, Nestle is tapping the NFC-enabled mobile phone market. An outdoor campaign involves 3,000 posters with NFC and QR codes. Smartphone users scan the code and then are directed to a mobile landing page where people can enter an online competition with 2,000 x £10 prizes. Also on the mobile site will be information about how many of the six GPS-fitted bars are still to be found.
The grand prizes for Nestle's We Will Find You promotion, involve these four chocolate products: KitKat 4 Finger, KitKat Chunky, Aero Peppermint Medium and Yorkie Milk. PSFK said the promotion is "like a real-world Willy Wonka competition," but Branding worth spreading is disappointed that the Nestle promotion has no back story and no magic. "Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory made us dream, while Nestle is simply doing an average promotion using GPS technology that aims to build short-term sales, but doesn't do much for the brand long term."
JWT London showed off this video of Nestle using "cutting edge geolocation technology to track down six lucky winners across the UK and Ireland."
Graham Walker, Nestlé UK's trade communications manager, said, "We believe this promotion will particularly appeal to men, attracting them to the chocolate singles category and thus driving incremental sales." Walker added, "Nestlé Confectionery is delighted to be first to market with this highly innovative GPS based promotion."
While I've not heard of such GPS stalking via candy bars, and I'm sorry to rain on Nestle's chocolate and sunshine parade, this is not the first marketing gone wild via GPS-based promotion. During August 2010, Brazil was the first to take GPS, drop it into a product to stalk you, and take marketing promotions to a whole new creepy yet innovative level.
A company called Unilever added a GPS device to its two-pound box of Omo laundry soap. Then a promotion agency stalked 50 "lucky" shoppers to their front doors. It was further explained in an article titled Is Your Detergent Stalking You?
Fernando Figueiredo, Bullet's president, said the GPS device is activated when a shopper removes the detergent carton from the supermarket shelf. Fifty Omo boxes implanted with GPS devices have been scattered around Brazil, and Mr. Figueiredo has teams in 35 Brazilian cities ready to leap into action when a box is activated. The nearest team can reach the shopper's home "within hours or days," and if they're really close by, "they may get to your house as soon as you do," he said. Of course, Brazil has a high crime rate, and not everyone is going to open the door to strangers who claim to have been sent by her detergent brand to offer a free video camera. Bullet has thought of that. If the team tracks a consumer to her home but she won't let them in, they can remotely activate a buzzer in the detergent box so that it starts beeping. And if the team takes too long to arrive, and the consumer has already opened the box to see if she's a winner or just do laundry, she'll find, along with the GPS device and less detergent than expected, a note explaining the promotion and a phone number to call.
Instead of six customers winning £10,000 like in the Nestle campaign, 50 Omo winning consumers were awarded a video camera. Omo might not have been as cool since it couldn't be compared to Willie Wonka; but it might have been even more creepy on the privacy invasion scale since winners with GPS-enabled detergent boxes had their pictures as well as a map pinpointing their homes put up on the "Try Something New" website.A student from Hillsdale High School in San Mateo has earned a chance to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Michaela Nachtigall has been chosen for the 2011 American High School Honors Performance Series at the world-famous venue. She will play the violin as part of the Honors Orchestra, which is limited to the highest rated high school performers across North America.
Nachtigall auditioned this fall for the series and was accepted after a review by a committee.
Nachtigall, a member of the Hillsdale High and Peninsula Youth orchestras, will join other top young musicians in New York in February. They will study under master conductors and perform Feb. 19.
For more information about the program, go to www.honorsperformance.org.
Math educators win grants
San Mateo County educators have won $5,000 in grants to help students hone their math and science skills.
The county Board of Supervisors gave seven Math and Science Innovation Fund awards to individual or teams of educators to fund hands-on projects that delve into space exploration, the principles of flight and other topics.
“It is important to give youth the opportunity to discover how relevant and exciting math and science exploration can be,” Supervisor Mark Church said in a news release. “Experiential learning can motivate and inspire students to become creative designers of global technology. This year we have expanded this grant to include sixth-grade middle school teachers.”
Since the grant program started in 2005, it has benefited about |
United States. Accusations have been circulating from as high up as the CIA that Russian professionals were strategically creating false stories and publishing them on websites that mimic the design of news outlets, allegedly to swing the election for Trump.
With Germany facing a general election in 2017, Berlin has concerns that similar foul play could affect the German vote.
Facebook, for its part, has stepped-up its hunt for the "worst of the worst" offenders of false reports masquerading as real news, hiring outside fact-checkers and allowing users to report suspicious posts.As we've noted before, Defined Benefit Pension Plans are, almost by definition, a ponzi scheme. Current assets are used to pay current claims in full in spite of insufficient funding to pay future liabilities: classic Ponzi. But unlike wall street and corporate ponzi schemes no one goes to jail here because the establishment is complicit. Everyone from government officials to union bosses are incentivized to maintain the status quo - public employees get to sleep better at night thinking they have a "retirement plan," public legislators get to be re-elected by union membership while pretending their states are solvent and union bosses get to keep their jobs while hiding the truth from employees.
That said, certain states are better at the ponzi game than others and the great state of Illinois, we must say, is one of the best. As we noted a few months ago, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner even admitted to being a willing participant in his state's pension ponzi warning that should his largest public pension fund do what it should have done long ago, it would put a big dent in the state's already fragile finances and lead to "crippling" pension payment hikes. But, if you ignore the problem then surely it will just go away...good plan.
And, while the pension ponzi can likely outlast Rauner's term as governor, eventually funding for current claims can only be borrowed from future generations for so long before finally running out of cash. As the latest "Special Pension Briefing" report from Illinois' Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) points out, that time may be getting very near.
Per the latest actuarial valuations, the 5 largest publicly-funded Illinois pensions are now $130BN underwater and only 37.6% funded.
As a guide, here is a recap of the acronyms used by CGFA:
TRS = Teachers' Retirement System SERS = The State Employees’ Retirement System SURS = State Universities Retirement System GARS = General Assembly Retirement System JRS = Judges’ Retirement System
Illinois' unfunded liabilities really started to surge in 2008 due a combination of lower returns on assets and lower corporate bond yields which drive down discount rates used by actuaries resulting in substantial increases in the present value of liability streams. As we've pointed out in the past, given the long duration of pension liabilities, even small swings in discounts can have a material impact on underfunding levels.
Meanwhile, even though Illinois has taken the prudent step of reducing their assumed returns on assets...
...they apparently didn't reduce them enough as only 1 of the 5 largest pension funds managed to actually generate a positive return in FY 2016. That said, we're sure a lot of hedge funds were still able to collect very nice fees for generating these negative returns.
But, don't worry, there is hope for Illinois pensioners yet. As CGFA points out, all the state has to do is funnel $10-$20 billion of taxpayer money into these pension funds each year and earn a consistent 7% annual return on assets and in a matter of just 28 years the funds should be 90% funded! That seems like a very reasonable plan.
But don't worry teachers of Illinois, just keep electing politicians who tell you that everything is fine and we're sure this problem will just go away.Madeleine Chapman watches Sidewalk Karaoke, the new homespun singing competition by Māori TV.
Sidewalk Karaoke, the latest release on Māori TV, is exactly what you would expect: karaoke sung on the sidewalk. Think Singstar on wheels. Think cracking highs when sober. Think shopping mall talent quest outside the mall.
The budget is shamelessly sparse – no judges, just a machine – which is right in line with the show’s premise. Sing a song, receive a score of over 70 from the machine, and win $100. Sing another song, score over 80, and by gosh you get $200. Pick a random singing partner from the crowd that has gathered, sing a duet that scores over 80, and I’ll be damned if you don’t take home a crisp $1000.
Host Te Hamua Nikora keeps it simple. He looks like he just loves karaoke and knows all the words to every song, even when the contestants don’t. He rolls the ‘r’ in “karaoke” and pronounces it with flair so it becomes “Kah-rah-aw-keh”.
The contestants’ backstories only go as far back as what they were doing when they saw the Sidewalk Karaoke setup. One was out with her kids, one had gotten a text from a friend, and one was a fire dancer apparently looking to profit from his new business competitor.
The first contestant in Sidewalk Karaoke history was Natasha Baldwin, who chose to sing ‘Take It Easy’ by The Eagles. Give her the grand prize for her song choice alone, I say. She scored a 75 and was so stoked about winning $100 that once again I say just give her the grand. Instead she wisely chose to take the money and buy a feed for her kids. You go, Natasha, and don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.
Fire dancer Rory performed his dance worryingly close to a lot of electrical equipment before announcing that he had never sung karaoke before. As it turned out, he wasn’t great but hey, you can’t knock the hustle.
The big winner of the premiere show was Roland Williams, a storeman and 2009 winner of Homai te Pakipaki. His first song choice was ‘Dance With My Father’ by Luther Vandross. THEY ALL DESERVE A THOUSAND DOLLARS AND A JOB AT THE BREEZE. Unsurprisingly he nailed it, then nailed the second song, then found a duet partner in 10 seconds and nailed the final song. Ten hundred dollar bills to Roland and one bloody good show for all the viewers.
Sidewalk Karaoke is so simple it’s genius. There’s no nastiness or focus on those contestants who don’t win – and there are a lot. Instead it’s a goodnatured show that leaves you wanting everyone to win a thousand dollars. I can already see the very same idea being used on The Tonight Show and watched millions of times on Youtube. Except Jimmy Fallon will pronounce “Karaoke” as “Carry-okey” so it won’t have that same spark.
Sidewalk Karaoke airs on Māori TV, Thursdays at 8.30pm. Click here to watch it on demand.
This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the excellent folk at Lightbox. Do us and yourself a favour by clicking here to start a FREE 30 day trial of this truly wonderful service.Back in 2012, some guy with too much time on his hands logged on to Twitter and sent out this viral bit of trolling:
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
People laughed. They mocked. They retweeted. But four years later, that guy is actually going to be president of the United States — with vast power over climate change policy. So today, China felt the need to clarify.
At the ongoing United Nations climate conference in Morocco, China’s vice foreign minister, Liu Zhenmin, told assembled reporters that, uh, nope, global warming isn’t a Chinese hoax. It couldn’t possibly be. Because it was the United States that started this whole idea of global cooperation on climate change in the first place.
“If you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and senior Bush administration during the late 1980s,” Liu told reporters, according to Bloomberg (which points out that this history is, in fact, correct).
The more serious backdrop here is that Trump is threatening to pull the United States out of the Paris climate deal, undermining the fragile progress that the world has been making over the past year on tackling global warming. China, for one, has been warning Trump not to do this — and putting itself in position to dominate the talks if the US leaves.
It’s also a remarkable shift, when you step back and think about it. Ten years ago, China was seen as the main obstacle to global climate talks. But in the years since, the country has made huge investments in clean energy, pushed to curtail its once insatiable appetite for coal (coal consumption has fallen for three years in a row in China), and taken a much more proactive role in helping lead international climate talks.
And now, apparently, debunking nonsense tweets from the next American president.Welcome to the Card Chronicle basketball recruiting Big Board!
Below we categorize the Cardinals current commitments, along with some of the more highly targeted prospects that U of L is going after, by year. All of the rankings listed are from the 247 Sports Composite Rankings, which takes in to account any particular recruits ranking from all of the major recruiting services. We’ll update this and try to keep it as accurate as possible, but with recruiting, nothing is really ever that accurate.
All targets listed are those that have legitimate interest in Louisville. As recruits gain/lose interest in the program, they will filter in and out of the Big Board.
2018:
Who is committed:
Offers: Louisville, Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, LSU, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Tennessee Tech, Texas A&M, UCF, USF, Virginia Tech.
Schools showing interest: UConn, Florida State, Miami, Tennessee, UCLA, West Virginia.
Campus Visit: Took an unofficial visit on 06/23/2016 and 11/12/2016. Followed those up with an official visit on 01/28/2017.
Primary recruiter: Mike Balado.
Anfernee kicked off the Cardinals 2018 class to a strong start when he committed back in November.
Offers: Louisville, Texas, Arkansas, Iowa State, Jacksonville State, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Rhode Island, Saint Louis, UNLV, and Southern Cal.
Schools showing interest: Kansas, Auburn, Creighton, Florida, Marquette, and Northwestern.
Campus visit: Took an unofficial to campus on 10/12/2016 and 12/21/2016.
Ramey followed up Anfernee’s lead in joining the Cardinals for the 2018 class by committing to Louisville in February. Ramey took unofficial visits to Marquette, Creighton, Northwestern, Texas, Iowa State, Kansas, and Illinois. He took two unofficial visits to the Cards. He released a top-8 in mid-January, but decided to end his recruitment a couple of weeks later by joining Louisville’s 2018 class.
Louisville lands a big one in five-star Courtney Ramey - Scout https://t.co/vRTPuJm5PC — Louisville watch (@Louisvillewatch) February 5, 2017
Targets:
Offers: Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, IUPUI, Purdue, UCLA, and Vanderbilt.
Schools showing interest: Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.
Visited Campus: Langford took two unofficial visits to campus (02/20/2016 and 09/17/2016).
Langford is a name most Louisville fans are aware of as the composite 5-star guard plays right across the river from Louisville in New Albany. He has offers from all of the national powers that you would expect, but has a top 5 of Louisville, Kentucky, Duke, Indiana, and Kansas. Despite playing so close to U of L, Duke is the presumed favorite at this point. The Cards top recruiter, Kenny Johnson, is working on keeping this talented product to stay home for college.
He is in no hurry to make a decision on where he’ll play.
Offers: Louisville, Maryland, Florida, Kansas, and LSU.
Schools showing interest: Kentucky, Georgia, and Syracuse.
Visited Campus: No.
The Cardinals stand a real shot at landing this top prospect from Florida, as it is currently a battle between U of L and Maryland. It should be noted that the Wildcats are showing interest in De Sousa as well, which is never a good obstacle to be facing when trying to recruit the top talent. Pitino visited Silvio back in September, with Kentucky making a visit after that in October. The Jayhawks are his most recent offer.
Offers: Duke, Louisville, Indiana, Ohio State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Kansas, and Memphis.
Schools showing interest: Kentucky and UCLA.
Visited Campus: Unofficial visit on 08/02/2015.
It looks like Louisville is on the outside looking in on the recruitment of Garland. As it stands, Duke is the clear favorite in landing the services of this talented guard. He did take an unofficial visit to Louisville’s campus, but that was over a year ago and he landed an offer from Duke while on his unofficial visit to Durham. Indiana has been in the mix a bit lately, and even Calipari visited Darius recently. Despite the push from these two programs, the Crystal Ball projection predicts that Duke has an 89% chance to land Garland.
Blessed to receive an Offer from University of Louisville #GoCards pic.twitter.com/bxs0WOLwDW — Darius Garland (@dariusgarland22) July 14, 2015
Offers: Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Auburn, Cincinnati, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma State, North Florida, Pitt, Stanford, Stetson, UCF, Virginia, and Virginia Tech.
Schools showing interest: Duke, Connecticut, George Washington, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio State, Richmond, Texas, SMU, UCLA, Southern Cal, and Wake Forest.
Campus visit: Took an unofficial visit on 10/15/2016.
Recruited by: Mike Balado.
Despite the numerous programs showing interest and sending out offers to Nassir, it looks like the three primary schools that Little is interested in are Louisville, Florida, and Florida State, with the battle coming down between the Cards and Gators.
Offers: Maryland, Louisville, Miami, Syracuse, Temple, Southern Cal, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.
Schools showing interest: Connecticut, Georgetown, Kentucky, and Villanova.
Campus Visit: Took an unofficial visit on 12/09/2015.
Recruited by: Kenny Johnson.
Despite the number of offers, this is coming down to a race between Maryland and Louisville, but it looks like Maryland has the slight lead right now. Slater’s first recruiting visit was an unofficial visit to Louisville back in 2015, where he landed an offer during his time on campus.
Coach Farello just told me that Louisville has offered me! Thanks Coach Pitino and Coach Johnson! #GoCards #L1C4 ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/LgtVqnQiTQ — Brandon Slater (@CleanSlaaate_) December 21, 2015
Offers: Louisville, Villanova, Boston College, Cincinnati, Clemson, FIU, Florida, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, LSU, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, Missouri, N.C. State, Nebraska, USF, Virginia, and Wake Forest.
Schools showing interest: Duke, Florida State, Georgetown, Kansas, Notre Dame, UCLA, and Southern Cal.
Campus Visit: Took an unofficial visit on 06/25/2016 and an official visit on 01/28/2017.
Recruited by: Mike Balado.
As it stands, Weaver is primarily interested in Villanova and Louisville. The Crystal Ball projection predicts Villanova to have a 71% chance of landing Weaver. Weaver took an unofficial visit to both schools, but took an official visit on 01/28/2017 to come to Louisville. Despite what the Crystal Ball is predicting, it’s a very good sign that Weaver is using one of his OV’s to come back to campus.
Offers: Louisville, Oregon, Baylor, Florida, UNLV, and Missouri.
Schools showing interest: Arizona State.
Campus visit: Took an unofficial visit on 10/22/2016 and 12/21/2016.
Recruited by: Mike Balado.
Always a good sign when a recruit will visit campus twice on his own dime, especially when the distance is as far as Florida. From the looks of things, it’s just a matter of time until he commits to the Cardinals.
Bless to receive a D1 offer from Louisville ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/lSTKsPGGrc — Luguentz Dort (@luguentz) April 29, 2016
Offers: Connecticut, Louisville, Boston College, Fairfield, UMass, Providence, Rhode Island, Rutgers, Temple, VCU, Syracuse, Villanova, and Virginia Tech.
Schools showing interest: Maryland, Virginia, Northwestern, and Xavier.
Campus visit: None.
Recruited by: Kenny Johnson.
This is basically UConn’s recruitment to lose. The Huskies were the first to offer him, and he’s taken two unofficial visits to their campus. Worth noting that he has taken three unofficial visits to Providence, but it really just comes down to Connecticut.
2019
Commits
No one is currently committed in the 2019 class thus far.
Targets
Offers: Kansas, Louisville, Minnesota, North Carolina, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Xavier.
Schools showing interest: Duke and Kentucky.
Campus Visit: None.
One of the top targets in the 2019 class has quite the impressive list of offers for still being just 16 years old. It’s still incredibly early in his recruitment to really get a good grasp on which way he is leaning. He’s visited Minnesota four times since September of 2016, but that probably has more to do with the proximity of the school than any real interest. Or Richard could be working on landing the biggest recruit of his short head coaching career thus far.Samsung's been teasing its flexible, full-color display technology since 2011 when it acquired Liquavista, but it never actually shipped in a consumer product. One of the few companies that still has a viable e-reader business, Amazon today confirmed to CNET that it had purchased the company from Samsung, following early reports from The Digital Reader. With tablets, e-readers, and rumored plans to get into the phone game, Amazon should be able to take advantage of Liquavista's electrowetting displays (EWD) that enable flexible, full-color, low-powered touchscreens.
Amazon told CNET that it bought Liquavista with an eye toward putting their technology into future products. "It's still early days, but we're excited about the possibilities." In March, Bloomberg reported that Samsung was looking to unload Liquavista for less than $100 million. While Samsung hasn't given up on flexible displays — it showed off a prototype handset with a flexible OLED display at CES this year — the company seems to be leaving e-readers behind. Rumors of an Amazon color E Ink reader floated around last February, and this acquisition brings a long-lasting, color flexible reader closer to reality.YOLO COUNTY, Calif. — Sheriff's detectives have released new video of a woman just moments before she was found in Yolo County on Thanksgiving, CBS Sacramento reports.
The grainy video shows Sherri Papini running past the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Yolo. Detectives say she was dropped off in the area by one of her captors.
"She's seen going southbound on [Highway] 99 west towards Interstate 5 where she goes out of view to the right, the direction of the ramp to northbound Interstate 5," said Shasta County Sgt. Brian Jackson in a phone interview on Tuesday.
That was at 4:15 a.m. on Nov. 24. About seven minutes later, detectives say Papini made her way to the northbound I-5 onramp, where they say she flagged down a trucker who called for help.
Papini was found with hose clamps on both of her ankles. Her left wrist was zip-tied to a chain around her waist.
Detectives say they were able to make out some of those details in the video which led them to believe it was in fact, Sherri Papini.
"I don't think you can put a sticker or hallmark stamp on how much has gone into it, there's been a lot of work that we have exhausted, all legal investigative avenues," said Jackson.
Last month, Papini described her captors to detectives as two Hispanic women, whose sketches were released by the FBI a few weeks ago.
Papini alleges her release followed an argument between the two suspects, in which the younger suspect drove her to a rural area near I-5 and set her free.
Detectives say they found a man and a woman's DNA on Papini's clothing, neither of which have been identified.
Almost a year later, there are still twists and turns in this bizarre case, leaving law enforcement with more questions than answers.
"We are working on several leads currently that we have not been able to rule out or discount, so leads we are actively looking at, and we are moving forward in hopes of catching the captors," added Jackson.
Shasta County sheriff's detectives say they haven't yet identified a person of interest in this case.Sony has found its Miles Morales and its villain for their animated Spider-Man movie!
It’s been a while since we’ve heard any updates on Sony’s upcoming animated Spider-Man film. Since it was confirmed that Miles Morales would be the focus of the movie, fans have wondered who would be voicing him. Now, not only do we know who’s voicing Miles, but also who will be voicing the villain.
In an exclusive report, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that actor Shameik Moore will be voicing Miles Morales in the movie. The trade also reports that actor Liev Schreiber will join the cast as the antagonist.
Moore rose to prominence for his role in Dope (2015), and is currently starring in the hit Netflix series, The Get Down. Schreiber, on the other hand, is best known for his role in Ray Donovan as the title character. Comic book fans may also remember that he portrayed Victor Creed (Sabertooth) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).
These are two castings that should sit well with fans. Moore has a natural charm and wit that is very similar to that of Miles Morales. Meanwhile, Schreiber has an imposing presence that can make him very intimidating.
The character of Miles Morales was originally introduced in Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man in 2011. Morales took up the mantle of Spider-Man following the death of the Ultimate Universe’s Peter Parker.
So far, the two actors are the only cast members that are reportedly attached to the project. The film will be co-directed by Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey from a script by comedy duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Lord and Miller will also executive produce the movie.
Sony’s animated Spider-Man flick is set to hit theaters on December 21, 2018.Japan (TGW) – Scientists at Kyushu University in Japan have come up with a solution to Japan’s energy and food problems: massive floating generators.
200,000 hexagonal photovoltaic generators and wind turbines on the floating “eco-rigs”, which measure 1.2 miles by 0.5 miles, would produce about 300 megawatt hours of power.
Some of that power would be lost in transporting the power back to shore, but by strapping three of the rigs together, the effect would be the same as a standard nuclear power plant.
Some of the energy from the solar cells and wind generators would be diverted to power LEDs on the bottom of the rigs.
The lights would turn the platform into a nursery for a specially selected type of seaweed that absorbs carbon dioxide and feeds fish and plankton.
The eco-rigs will be unmanned and automatic.
The first rigs are expected to be ready three years from now.
Via :: Times Online• Special courts could be set up to deal with drinkers • Alcohol served only at elite hotels in the Gulf state
Qatar may create special courts during the 2022 World Cup to deal quickly and “very gently” with alcohol-consuming fans who break the law in a conservative Muslim state where public drunkenness is prohibited.
Qatari officials have said that the 500,000 football fans expected to descend on their country during the World Cup will be allowed to consume alcohol in designated zones, but how to best balance the country’s cultural values with Fifa’s requirements for the tournament remains contentious.
“I know in South Africa there were specific courts established during the World Cup for this kind of thing, and that is something we were discussing with Fifa,” the head of the Gulf state’s 2022 committee, Hassan Al Thawadi, said at a sports conference in Doha.
During its 2010 World Cup, South Africa set up 56 special courts to accelerate cases involving foreign fans so they could be dealt with before either suspects or witnesses left the country.
In South Africa, most court proceedings ended with fines for those found guilty. The same might apply in Qatar, though drug offences often carry jail terms.
Although not dry like neighbouring countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, in the Gulf State alcohol is served only at elite hotels. Public drunkenness is prohibited, as is bringing alcohol to Qatar from abroad.
“In relation to drunk fans it will be as it is anywhere else. Anyone who is rowdy, anyone who breaches the law, will be very gently – depending on how they react – taken care of in a manner to make sure that people are not disrupting the public order,” said Thawadi. “Everyone will be able to have fun and be exposed to Qatari culture.”
Consumption of alcohol is likely to be largely ignored by Qatar’s predominantly young population, as it is swept away with the euphoria of hosting the competition, Thawadi said.
“We welcome everyone in the world. We’ve hosted many people, from many places and [drinking] was never an issue. This will be a fun World Cup. It will be one of the best cups out there.”
Fifa has said it will defend the commercial rights of its sponsors, including Anheuser-Busch InBev, which will sponsor the 2022 tournament. Brazil initially refused to sell alcohol during the matches of the 2014 World Cup, but eventually relented after pressure from Fifa.One day in May of 1840, a young scientist in London did something that will sound strange to any new parent: He deliberately startled his 4-month-old son, provoking piercing squalls from the baby and probably a baleful glare from his wife. Then he did it again.
Darwin remains best known for his world-shaking theories on plant and animal evolution. But people were never far from his mind.
The scientist was Charles Darwin, and the experiment on his son Willy turned out to be an often-overlooked landmark in the history of science. Darwin, then just 31 years old, had become a convert to the field of “transmutation,” as evolution was called then, and had experienced an epiphany when he discovered its driver, which he dubbed natural selection. The former theology student immediately grasped the implications of this theory, declaring that the theological interpretation of the natural world had been undone by scientific evidence — “The fabric falls!” as he put it in a notebook. And while Darwin remains best known for his world-shaking theories on plant and animal evolution, as put forward in the 1859 book “On the Origin of Species,” people and society were never far from his mind.
Convinced of the evolutionary unity of life, Darwin naturally saw humans as part of the tapestry: They were animals too, after all. (Carl Linnaeus may have been deliberately provocative when, in 1758, he derived the taxonomic name “primates” from the Latin for “prime” or “first rank,” to refer not only to humans but to monkeys and apes; it also happened to be the term applied to bishops.) The standard view of the time was that, despite superficial similarities, there was no true relationship between humans and other primates, let alone other animals. Weren’t we humans clearly endowed with a soul and mental qualities that set us apart from and above the animal kingdom? But Darwin saw deeper significance in the family relationship, one of continuity, common descent. To him, there was no real gap between people and primates — differences, yes, but of degree and not kind. “Origin of man now proved,” he declared in 1838. “He who understands baboon would do more towards metaphysics than Locke.”
But it wasn’t enough to base that argument on anatomy alone. So in the same spirit that he applied to other pinnacles of evolutionary perfection — notably vertebrate eyes and bees’ cells — Darwin resolved to search for evidence of the animal origins of our very emotions and mental endowments. He saw that just as the study of anatomical stages can give insight into the origin and evolution of specialized structure, so too can the study of mental development reveal pathways for highly developed cognitive abilities. Both, too, can inform species relationships. In an 1838 notebook, “Metaphysics on morals and speculations on expression,” Darwin posed questions to himself, scrawled on the inside back cover under the heading “Natural History of Babies”: `
Do babies start, (i.e. useless sudden movement of muscle) very early in life? Do they wink, when anything placed before their eyes, very young, before experience can have taught them to avoid danger? Do they know frown, when they first see it?
His idea was twofold: to document how, in terms of muscle contraction patterns, certain emotions or sensations are expressed in comparison with other species; and to trace when — at what stage of development — emotions and feelings (deception and jealousy, for example) are manifested. Like so many of Darwin’s ideas, baby natural history was quite original, born of a particular evolutionary perspective that perhaps he alone possessed at that time.
A “prodigy of beauty & intellect”: Charles Darwin with his son William Erasmus in 1841 or 1842. Visual: Wikimedia Commons
But where to find babies to observe? A cousin (and later brother-in-law), Hensleigh Wedgwood, and his wife, Fanny, were, conveniently, brand-new parents: Little Ernest Hensleigh Wedgwood was born that same year, 1838. Darwin pumped his cousin for information about infant behaviors that could be considered instinctive, seeking those telltale links between emotional expression and its significance in human communication:
Hensleigh. W. says that babies know a frown very early in life. … (I think I have seen same thing before they could understand, what frowning means) if so this is precisely analogous or identical, with bird knowing a cat, the first it sees it — it is frightened without knowing why — the child dislikes the frown without knowing why. …
Or, later, in the notebook:
Seeing a Baby (like Hensleigh’s) smile and frown, who can doubt these are instinctive — child does not sneer, because no young animal has canine teeth.
Darwin commissioned a multitude of photographs of adults and children expressing different emotional states.
Visual courtesy of John van Wyhe
Soon his own home became a baby-watching field site. Darwin married Hensleigh’s sister Emma on January 29, 1839, and before the year was out he had his own baby to observe: William Erasmus Darwin arrived on December 27, the first of the Darwins’ 10 children. Willy, or Doddy, was the apple of their eye — and the subject of a dedicated notebook. Reading from it, imagine an Attenborough-style narration as a camera pans and zooms in on Willy:
During first week, yawned, streatched [sic] himself just like old person — chiefly upper extremities — hiccupped — sneezes sucked, Surface of warm hand placed to face, seemed immediately to give wish of sucking, either instinctive or associated knowledge of warm smooth surface of bosom.
“In crying, frowns and contracts whole forehead and wrinkles skin about eyes, just like older child.”
So reads the very first entry. In the ensuing days, Darwin carefully recorded frowns (“If frowning has any relation to vision, it must now be quite instinctive”), smiles (“Six weeks and 4 days, smiled repeatedly, and I think chiefly when suddenly seeing face, of mother and mine”), suckling (“Long before 5 weeks old, it was curious to observe expression of eye during sucking change, into vacancy and then into a swimming expression, with half closed eyelid, like drunken person”), and of course crying (“In crying, frowns and contracts whole forehead and wrinkles skin about eyes, just like older child — opens its mouth wide, and utters crys [sic] in reiterating or sobbing manner.”)
It was in this notebook that Darwin recorded his observations and “experiments” on crying:
NB. I find bad crying, chiefly connected with resperative [sic] function — convulsive movements of chest? Is sobbing abortive crying and shouting? — It is very singular movement of muscle of face which accompany real crying, coming before formation of tears.”
And:
May 10. 4 1/2 months old. I made loud snoring noise, near his face, which made him look grave and afraid and then suddenly burst out crying. This is curious, considering the wondrous number of strange noises, and stranger grimaces I have made at him, and which he has always taken as good joke. I repeated the experiment.”
A single experimental trial just would not do.
Darwin did not view his son altogether dispassionately — like any parents, he and Emma marveled and celebrated every milestone of their “prodigy of beauty and intellect” — but after all, his pride and joy had much to teach him about primatology. An entry made just after Willy turned a year old reveals another facet to Darwin’s investigations. Presented with a mirror, Willy kissed and pressed his face against his image, “very like Ouran Outang [sic],” his dad noted. Darwin had been visiting a young orangutan named Jenny in the London zoo, struck by how she pouted, threw tantrums, displayed affection, and solved problems in uncannily childlike ways. It isn’t surprising that Darwin’s observations of Willy, and later his other children, are peppered with references to orangutans, puppies, even hatchling crocodiles: They all share common ancestry, he was sure, and so all aspects of human emotional expression and even cognition could thus be traced to the animal kingdom.
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Darwin, and Emma too, continued recording observations of Willy and his later siblings over the next 15 or more years, and his investigation into the natural history of babies became a key line of inquiry aimed at understanding human evolution. But of course, this was but one line among several, as the multitasking “experimentiser” juggled diverse topics bearing on his overarching theory of evolution by natural selection. Dispersal, orchids, sundews, domestication, climbing plants … all were of a piece, but there were only so many hours in a day. When “On the Origin of Species” came out in late 1859, the question of humans was conspicuous by its absence, with only the cryptic promise that “Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.” The ensuing debates over the “Origin” inevitably centered on the status of humans, however, and if Darwin was reluctant to open that can of worms, others were not. Just a few years later, in 1863, not one but two books on the subject came out: Charles Lyell’s “Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man” and Thomas Henry Huxley’s “Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature.”
Darwin may have been energized by his friends entering the fray, but perhaps a bit alarmed too, to let the argument get too far ahead of him. He had his own ideas about human origins, so even while he struggled to finish his domestication volumes in the 1860s, he renewed his efforts on people, including the natural history of babies. In an early instance of crowdsourcing, in 1867, he produced a 17-question survey on facial expression and gestures in peoples of varied races and cultures. Intended for friends and correspondents from far-flung corners of the world, these “Queries About Expression” aimed to establish cross-cultural and cross-racial (but ultimately cross-animal) commonalities in the most elemental forms of human communication:
1. Is astonishment expressed by the eyes and mouth being opened wide, and by the eyebrows being raised? 2. Does shame excite a blush when the color of the skin allows it to be visible? And especially how low down the body does the blush extend? 3. When a man is indignant or defiant does he frown, hold his body and head erect, square his shoulders and clench his fists? 4. When considering deeply on any subject, or trying to understand any puzzle, does he frown, or wrinkle the skin beneath the lower eyelids?
“A chimpanzee disappointed and sulky.” From Darwin’s “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.”
Visual courtesy of John van Wyhe
And on and on, about expression of contempt, happiness, sadness, puzzlement, disgust, resignation, and more. Which muscles are involved in these expressions, and why? When Darwin’s American friend Asa Gray, the Harvard botanist, and his wife, Jane, visited en route to Italy and Egypt, they were given a copy of the questionnaire and asked to observe the peoples they encountered on their trip. The Grays obliged with detailed notes, and got so wrapped up in Darwin’s project that Jane couldn’t help reporting on the fabulous artwork too: “I thought you would have been interested in seeing an old picture here of Fra Angelico’s of the deposition from the cross,” she wrote Darwin from Florence. “The Madonna has the distress muscles very carefully painted.” This may have prompted Darwin to undertake his later study of facial expressions in painting and sculpture.
Darwin’s forays into the natural history of babies helped launch the field of child developmental psychology.
His |
identally special horns are one and the same, but there's not really enough evidence to say so conclusively. Either way, both horns are highly sought after, with many searching for them or claiming to have one.
But the Horn of Winter could be an important asset in the upcoming battle against the White Walkers. While its ability to bring down the Wall may make it seem like it's only here to benefit the army of the dead, it could actually be instrumental in defeating them. It was said that Joramun was integral in defeating the Night King many, many thousands of years ago — which he could have done with the help of his handy horn.
Mance Rayder claimed to have found the Horn of Joramun, but it didn't seem like he actually had the real one because it was burned along with him. Like Euron's assertion that he owned Dragonbinder, Mance's declaration could be all smoke and no fire. It doesn't seem like the Horn of Joramun has truly been found at all, meaning its eventual discovery could be a real game-changer. It could be a destructive force that does more harm than good, or it could have unseen advantages.The fall breeze gives a chill to the air. Leaves sing the song of change as they tumble through the yard. The autumn colors are finishing their final transition from bright hues to brown as leaves fall to the ground marking the cycle of seasons. At some point, I know I will have to get out the yard tools and get to work cleaning up this year’s harvest of change. The yearly cycle of growth has reached its twilight and the darkness of winter has started.
Sitting on my patio, I look out across the yard. I pull my jacket tighter around me to fight the chill in the breeze. Though the temperature is getting cooler, the sun still shines brightly, causing me to shelter my eyes. It occurs to me that so much has changed since I moved into this house over thirteen years ago. The very patio where I now sit did not exist when I first took up residence here. The yard has subtly changed in ways that went mostly unnoticed by everyone. If one is observant, the slow changes mark the endless passage of time. I have lived in my current home longer than any other place in my life. This is not just a house it is a home. My home became my foundation, my reflection of the joy in life, and my sanctuary against the pressures of life. With a newfound perspective, I look across the expanse of my yard and smile. My eyes fall on this year’s new addition to the landscape of my home and I think back on the events that brought it into being.
Over the past year, my wife and I made a few changes to the landscape. A few of our older trees, infected by disease, required removal leaving our house exposed to the elements. As the years passed, trees were lost, either from disease or from required “improvements,” leaving our yard vacant of shade and color. I was becoming a little distraught over the lack of trees around our home. Growing up in a rural area and having many trees around was a fond memory of home for me. Understanding my feelings about the trees, my wife devised a plan. While on a weekend getaway earlier this spring, my wife presented me with a gift that I had not expected. She gave me a voucher for a tree as an early anniversary gift. She told me that as our love has grown over the years, this tree too would grow and flourish. The tree became a symbol of our relationship.
The newly planted tree grew throughout the summer. We would take evening walks out to admire the new growth. We watered it as often as the dry summer required. It became the focus of our evening conversation. Once, we saw birds built a nest in our new tree. We sat on the patio and watched, as the robins would fly back and forth with building material. No matter what stress the day brought, this little tree had a calming effect. Moreover, like all relationships, the tree has cycles.
As the season changed, the leaves began to turn a deep red. Sitting on my chair, enjoying the fall breeze, I watch the leaves falling and covering the ground. I ask myself if this change is symbolic of relationships as well. Marriages have points where they are full of life and renewal. As the marriage grows, it develops of a rhythm similar to the seasons. Marriage contains moments of understanding and caring that flourish, wilt, and are reborn. Like the tree, our relationship goes through cycles. It starts as a vibrant sapling with rapid growth, settles into the slow dependability spreading its roots as it reaches for the warmth becoming a strong foundation for new seeds to spread on the wind. The real strength of couples seems to be that they recognize these cycles. Couples need to take the time to understand the seasonal changes and look forward to the revival that comes in the next cycle. Relationships like trees require nurturing, discovery, and appreciation. For successful couples it seems important to take moments away from the stressful days and just marvel at their growth. At times, relationships like trees in winter will lay dormant without what appears to be growth. As winter gives the foliage a time to recover and prepare for the next spring, this too is the case with relationships as relationships need the time to renew and become revitalized.
Smiling to myself, I walk out to the tree, silently thanking it for its wisdom. This surprising gift has become a symbol, a reminder of the cycles of relationships. Like the tree, a marriage begins fragile and requires constant attention to protect and nurture. As it grows, roots give stability yet, through it still go through cycles. Situations, like the seasons, influence the growth and health and successful couples weather the storms. Though the cold of winter will be upon my little tree soon, it will stand tall, waiting for spring to bring the next cycle.
Until next time…
Jerry b.
©2013Scottish politics, the Queen joked this week, is not for the "meek, the passive or the faint-hearted". But the infamous tribalism north of the border is nothing compared with the extraordinary battle expected in the next decade between devolved assemblies demanding greater independence, and a wounded English political class – and their electorate – who fear they are getting an ever rawer deal.
Devolution was New Labour's great idea. In 2000, Tony Blair said it would "empower the people of Scotland" and create better government, while ensuring an "evolved and stronger" union. Oh, and it would also keep Labour permanently in power, thanks to a proportional voting system that would make an outright majority all but impossible to achieve. Labour in power in every corner of the land from here to eternity... oh, dear.
A decade on, and Alex Salmond's Scottish Nationalists have outright control, and differing policies on everything from tuition fees to social care are becoming a source of growing discontent. Speaking at the opening of the Holyrood Parliament on Friday, the Queen said the devolved government had "truly come of age", adding: "In its second decade, the Scottish Parliament is firmly established as an integral part of Scottish public life."
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Now throw in the lethal combination of spending cuts, leading to even greater disparity, and Mr Salmond's promised referendum on Scottish independence, and it means the relationship between London and Edinburgh could define domestic British politics for a generation.
Finance
In the end, it always comes down to money. The Byzantine workings of the Barnett formula, which adjusts spending for different parts of the country, are an increasingly sore point for the 51 million people in England. In 2009/10, £8,559 was spent per head in England, compared with £10,083 in Scotland. Wales received £9,587 and Northern Ireland £10,662.
Some Scots claim that for years they missed out on the revenues from the oil off their coastline, and the increased funding is payback. Trouble flared again in March when George Osborne announced a windfall tax on North Sea oil producers to pay for a 1p cut in fuel duty. Nationalists believe independence would give them control of the tax from oil sales, but critics say such a small country would struggle to stand alone.
Social care
Top of the political agenda in England and one of the most contentious issues: the Dilnot commission report on how to pay for looking after an ageing population is published tomorrow. The Independent on Sunday has learned that Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers are to hold talks with Labour this summer to thrash out a cross-party deal ahead of a White Paper due to be published in the autumn. John Healey, Labour's health spokesman, has said: "As politicians, we can and must do better by our older people by solving this problem together. We're serious, if David Cameron shows he's serious, and that means setting a bold timetable for reform."
The economist Andrew Dilnot will propose that no one will be charged more than £35,000 for care, allowing insurance companies to offer cover against the fees. It should prevent people having to sell their homes to pay for care. But he has ruled out recommending that the state should pay for all personal care, as happens in Scotland, where pensioners receive £150 per week for personal care and almost £70 per week for nursing care. It can be claimed even if living in a care home. The policy costs £377m a year.
Health
In England, patients pay £17 for a check-up with the dentist. In Scotland? No charge. In England, an eye test typically costs around £20. In Scotland? No charge. And while prescriptions in England have gradually crept up to £7.40 an item, in Scotland they have been going in the opposite direction – until a decision in April that there would be, you guessed it, no charge. The policy costs the taxpayer £57m. But English patients, even those living close to the border, will qualify for free prescriptions in Scotland only if they are registered with a Scottish GP.
Free hospital car-parking
In England, trusts make around £100m a year from parking fees, and ministers maintain that this brings in extra money to cover patient care. But in Scotland, no charge.
Tuition fees
More than 20,000 English students head north to Scotland's 15 universities every year. But it is no cheap option – unless you're Scottish (or from elsewhere in the EU), in which case you pay no tuition fees. English students at Scottish universities are already liable for fees of £1,800 a year and, last week, ministers in Edinburgh revealed that the bill for undergraduates from England, Wales and Northern Ireland will soar to as much as £9,000 a year. The great irony is that it was the Liberal Democrats – when in coalition with Labour in Edinburgh in 1999 – who demanded fees be scrapped. Eleven years later, in government with the Tories, their pre-election pledge to oppose any increase in fees was dumped before they backed charges of up to £9,000.
Students
It isn't just Scottish undergraduates who have more money. The education maintenance allowance (EMA), worth up to £30 a week, was once available to every 16- to 19-year-old in the UK, as long as they were students or undertaking unpaid work-based learning. Since January, English teenagers have had to manage without, as the EMA fell victim to Mr Osborne's austerity measures.
Tolls
The £600m Mersey Gateway project has received just £80m from the Treasury, and the rest must be raised from tolls once the bridge is built. By contrast, the new £2.3bn Forth Bridge is funded by a combination of Barnett funding and increased borrowing powers for Holyrood. So, no tolls. David Mowat, a Tory MP, asked last month: "How can the Government justify that difference in the same country?"
Buses
In Scotland and Wales, older and disabled people can travel for free on any bus throughout the day. In England, the free travel applies only between 9.30am and 11pm weekdays, and all day at weekends. Eligible people in Northern Ireland can apply for a pass that gives them free travel on public transport throughout Ireland.
Voting
The referendum earlier this year on changing how MPs are elected was dominated by claims that the alternative vote – where candidates are ranked in order of preference – was too complicated. Not so for Scottish voters, who use four different systems at the polling station: first past the post remains for electing MPs for Westminster; but elections to the Scottish Parliament use the proportional additional member system; the single transferable vote, another proportional system, is used for local council elections; and the party list system is used for European Parliament elections. A big tension is the West Lothian question, named after the former constituency MP Tam Dalyell, who first raised the issue of Scottish MPs voting on English laws when English MPs have no say on the same subjects in Scotland. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, is now said to be "considering" the issue.
Politics
All the main parties have separate leaders in the devolved nations. So the Scottish Labour Party is distinct from their colleagues in, say, Wales. But in England there is no separation. The Labour MP Jon Cruddas told The IoS last week there should be an "English Labour... or else England and patriotism will simply be a right-wing politics of loss and sourness". Mr Salmond even raised his dream of Scottish independence in front of the Queen on Friday, suggesting she could remain "Queen of Scots" if the country went it alone. Mr Cameron is playing it softly softly, insisting he will not make threats of Scotland losing funding or claim "small countries cannot make it". The Tory PM has ruled out giving the whole of the UK a vote on Scottish independence, but will campaign hard for a no vote in Scotland. "I want us to make an uplifting and optimistic case for why we are better off together."
Additional reporting by Alexandra Rucki and Simon Murphy
Borderline experiences: How the costs of living compare
Adrian Smith, 21, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Has just graduated with a degree in politics from Newcastle University. If he had been born 50 miles further north, across the border, he would have had his fees paid for him; instead, he has incurred £23,000 of debt
"Living near the border of Scotland, it does make me think that I could have been much better off financially, and not have to worry about spending my first 20 professional years paying off the debts I incurred trying to make something of myself. I'm not sure it can be called totally unfair, as it's a devolved matter, but I do believe our government needs to have another look at its priorities. A geographical lottery has had a heavy impact on my life chances. My parents pay tax into the same fund that Scottish people in the same situation do, yet we get vastly different outcomes."
Harriet Manning, 23, Forest Row, East Sussex
The student starts the fourth year of her modern history course at St Andrews in September
"As an English person, I was ready to pay fees and work hard, but the Scots at my university get their education free, so they sometimes take it for granted. In fact, coming to Scotland, I got a good deal because I only pay half fees. But the bursaries have always annoyed me: I'm not eligible for any of them because I'm not a Scot. Once you've lived in Scotland for three years you become a resident, so I get my fourth year free. I guess you could say it's worked out OK."
Terry Adcock, 73, Wimborne, Dorset
The retired RAF pilot has had to negotiate the care system because his wife, Trish, has had Parkinson's for the past 11 years
"At first, we used care in the home and respite homes. Then, last year, I decided to put her in a nursing home, after making decisions about her well-being. There was no familiar face to the care at home, which is not good for a person with Parkinson's. I don't think the system in England is that bad, although it was difficult getting the primary care trust to believe my wife needed continual care – they just kept saying no. The biggest problem is the bureaucracy trying to put old people to one side because of issues of waiting lists and money."
Margaret Wilson, 81, Elgin, Scotland
A grandmother who lives in her own home and still drives, though she makes use of the bus for long journeys. A keen bowls player, she keeps fit and active but says the Scottish care system gives her peace of mind
"I am very fortunate because I don't really require anything at the moment. One of my friends at one time had several carers come in, and the care here is really excellent. I think it is pretty reassuring to know it is there. I have heard that if you have to go into a home you can quickly use up all of your savings and probably have to sell your house.
"I make use of the bus because you have a free bus service here. I can go anywhere in Scotland for free, which is excellent. And there are free prescriptions. We have got a very good health service. I have never had to go without my medication. I think we do very well in Scotland."
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Subscribe now.Australian man reportedly blew himself up in suicide bombing at Syrian military airport
Updated
An Australian jihadist fighting in Syria has reportedly blown himself up in a suicide bombing near a military airport in the country's east.
For some time now concerns have been growing among the Australian intelligence community about the involvement of Australian jihadists who have travelled to fight in the Syrian conflict.
At least four Australians are known to have been killed in the fighting, but the news of the first Australian to become a suicide bomber is seen as a significant and troubling development.
According to various jihadi websites, at 5:45am on Wednesday the Australian known as Abu Asma al Australi drove a truck loaded with 12 tonnes of explosives into a checkpoint close to the Deir Al Zour military airport.
The website reports say the checkpoint, considered to be the first line of defence for the airport, was completely destroyed and 35 soldiers from the Assad regime were killed.
Abu Asma is described on one website as "our immigrant Lion".
Suicide bombing 'a different level of commitment'
Rodger Shanahan is a former Army officer and an expert in middle eastern terrorism with the Lowy institute.
He says the advent of the first Australian suicide bomber presents a qualitative step up in the level of commitment yet shown by home grown jihadists.
"There's different level of commitment you would think if you've undertaken a suicide attack and... if there's one there could be more Australian citizens who are that motivated to take their lives in that manner," he said.
Australian intelligence agencies are thought to be tracking about 100 Australians who are currently active in the Syrian conflict, and it is believed that number is growing.
The concern is that some of those individuals will be further radicalised by their experiences overseas and that they could potentially use that experience and training to conduct terrorist operations once they return to Australia.
As Mr Shanahan points out that anyone actively involved in the conflict would have come into contact with terrorist groups.
Australian links to Jabu al Nusra
It is thought that some of the Australians who have been killed have been fighting with Jabu al Nusra, a group with direct links to Al Qaeda.
The area in the north west of Syria where the suicide attack occurred has been a hotspot of jihadist activity.
"There'd be little to no doubt that at least some of these Australian citizens have been coming into contact with hard core jihadists in Syria." Mr Shanahan said.
In its report to Parliament last year ASIO went as far as to warn that Australians fighting in Syria may return to "engage in terrorism".
"Australians who are currently training or fighting overseas may also return to Australia to engage in terrorism, use their knowledge of Australia to help others plan an attack or engage in terrorism overseas," the report said.
Most of the Australians currently involved in the Syrian conflict are thought to be working with the forces opposing the Assad regime.
Although some are actively engaged in the fighting, others are working as volunteers for humanitarian agencies and other Islamic groups.
Gauging who among them could potentially pose a threat on their return to Australia is the big challenge now facing the nation's intelligence agencies.
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, syrian-arab-republic
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Turkish club Fenerbahce this week took the unusual step of banning all adult MALES from their Sukru Saracoglu stadium.
The Super Liga leaders refused to allow men in for one match after they came under fire for swearing in what is one of Europe's most hostile arenas.
However, the absence of testosterone from the stands didn't affect the home side.
Roared on by women and children, they ran out comfortable 4-0 winners against Akhisar Belediye on Friday.
And curiously, this isn't the first time they have gone down such a route. Back in 2011, Fener hosted Manisaspor and handed free tickets to women and children after the Turkish FA banned men following a pre-season match against Shakhtar Donetsk.Bloomberg via Getty Images Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) thinks the gold standard is a great idea, even though it caused the Great Depression.
Is Sen. Ted Cruz the palatable presidential alternative to Donald Trump? Sure, the Texan senator’s not exactly the Republican Party establishment’s first or even second choice, but the Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio ships have sailed and sunk.
Many in the GOP hold similar sentiments to the Republican lobbyist Ed Rogers, who told CNN in December that "compared to Trump, he's OK."
But if you run a business, are employed by one, care about the stability of the financial system, or would prefer that the U.S. economy not be needlessly thrown into disarray -- a group that seems like a pretty broad coalition of voters -- Cruz’s economic policy is not OK.
He told CNBC on Friday that he wants to push America back to the gold standard. This is a hare-brained policy that no other country uses and not a single surveyed economist thinks is a good idea. Under the gold standard, a dollar is worth a certain amount of gold.
That’s great, you might think: the value of the dollar will be stable. But the exact opposite is true; gold is a commodity and its price, driven by supply and demand and speculation, swings wildly. Under the gold standard, a central bank like the Federal Reserve would have to raise and cut interest rates not based on how well the economy is doing, but what’s going on in the gold market. It’s a good way to run a modern economy into the ground. (The inflexibility of the gold standard caused the Great Depression.)
And yet Cruz thinks the gold standard is a great policy.
The Cruz campaign did not respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
He expressed support for this very dangerous idea at Republican debates in October and November, too. “We had it for about 170 years of our nation’s history, and enjoyed booming economic growth and lower inflation than we have had with the Fed now," Cruz said. "We need to get back to sound money.”
But that’s not really true. As Matt O’Brien wrote in the Atlantic, it “was a time of more frequent recessions, more protracted recessions, and more severe recessions. In other words, the bad old days.”Salman Butt has accepted the finding of the ICC tribunal on his involvement in spot-fixing © AFP
Salman Butt, the banned former Pakistan captain, has publicly admitted to his part in spot-fixing for the first time and issued an apology. He has also indicated his willingness to participate in PCB and ICC rehabilitation programmes and said he still retains ambitions of returning to international cricket.
Butt was given a five-year ban, with another five suspended, from all cricket by the ICC for his part in a scam during the Lord's Test in August 2010. He also served time in prison in England.
In April, Butt and his former team-mate Mohammad Asif lost their appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for the suspensions to be reduced and Dave Richardson, the ICC's chief executive, called on them to admit their wrongdoing and cooperate with the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU).
"I admit the decision of the ICC tribunal," Butt said in a brief statement to the media in Lahore. "I said it before and am saying again, that to all those who have been disappointed by my actions I do apologise for them. Also, the [negative] effect it had on cricket's integrity, I would like to apologise for that.
"I want to insist, to all those playing and wanting to play cricket, they must stay away from such wrongdoings because it negatively effects them and the game of cricket."
There will be no immediate implication in the wake of the apology. Butt will have to serve the five-year ban, compulsory under the ACSU code. The remaining five years of his 10-year ban is suspended. After the apology he has to start rehabilitation. In addition to doing that, he has to tell the whole truth to the ACSU and PCB. If he can do all that then he could resume playing, provided he has satisfied ACSU and agrees to further monitoring.
Butt also made another request for a softening of his ICC ban, so that he could play domestic cricket before a possible return for Pakistan. Zaka Asraf, the currently suspended PCB chairman, had previously indicated that there could be a route back for Butt and Asif, once their suspensions had been lifted.
"I want to give my availability for any PCB rehab programme and from the ICC," Butt said. "Since I have only two years left of my ban, I request the ICC to allows me to play in domestic cricket. So by the time my ban ends, I can be available for national selection."
Mohammad Amir, the third Pakistan player found guilty of conspiring to bowl deliberate no-balls at Lord's, also served a custodial sentence in England and received a five-year ban from the ICC. The PCB's interim chairman, Najam Sethi, said earlier in the week that he would request that the ICC consider reducing the suspension. Amir is still only 21, while Butt is 28 and Asif 30.
Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent. He tweets here
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.Posted on 15th May 2017 | Freek Van der Herten
Laravel's tinker command allows to run any code you want as if you are inside your Laravel app. But if you want to run a single line of code if can be a bit bothersome. You must start up tinker, type the code, press enter, and quit tinker.
Our new spatie/laravel-artisan-dd package contains an Artisan command to dd anything from the commandline. No need to start and quit tinker anymore.
Here's a simple example of how you can use it:
You can dd anything you want. Of course the output will be pretty printed. Here's an example where an Eloquent model is dumped.
Multiple pieces of code can be dumped in one go:
php artisan dd "bcrypt('secret')" "bcrypt('another-secret')";
The dd artisan command using PHP's eval to run arbitrary code. Be aware that this can be potentially dangerous. By default the command will only run in a local environment. You can make it run in other environments by setting an ALLOW_DD_COMMAND enviroment variable to true.
If you like this package go check it out on GitHub. This isn't the first package our team has made. Go check out this big list of Laravel packages on our company website to learn if we've made anything that could be of use to you.Das Keyboard launches new line of radio frequency blocking bags. HackShield Backpack and HackShield Messenger Bag empower professionals on-the-go and privacy-minded citizens with a new level of protection against physical and digital intrusion. (Photo: Business Wire)
Das Keyboard launches new line of radio frequency blocking bags. HackShield Backpack and HackShield Messenger Bag empower professionals on-the-go and privacy-minded citizens with a new level of protection against physical and digital intrusion. (Photo: Business Wire)
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Das Keyboard, the Austin, Texas-based company known for its high-performance mechanical keyboards that help people type faster and increase productivity, has taken its innovation to a new level, announcing today its expansion into a new product category with the launch of highly secure, radio frequency blocking bags. Known as Das Keyboard HackShield bags, the company’s one-of-a-kind backpack and messenger bags empower professionals on-the-go with a new level of protection against physical and digital intrusion.
“The idea for our new bags came about after an experience I encountered on a very busy Fifth Avenue in New York City during the holiday shopping season,” said Daniel Guermeur, creator of the Das Keyboard and CEO of Metadot Corporation. “Within an hour, I realized someone had attempted to break into my backpack two separate times while I was making my way through the crowds. I also realized my digital information wasn’t as secure as I thought because my laptop had been communicating with the cloud, even though it was in sleep mode.”
Guermeur’s Fifth Avenue experience set off a personal quest for Das Keyboard to build the perfect backpack—one that would better protect an individual’s electronic devices against physical theft, as well as provide a new layer of security against illegitimate location tracking and digital pick-pockets roaming for meta data and other private information.
An Impenetrable Fortress
Sporting a European-inspired urban design, Das Keyboard’s HackShield backpack and messenger bags are built for the modern professional and privacy-conscious citizens to address both physical and digital security concerns. There are no exterior pockets, and the main compartment for each bag is protected with Fidlock® fasteners for anti-theft access security.
The bags’ internal pockets are lined with HackShield RF blocking material, which works like a force field around electronic devices to protect against potential hacking attempts. HackShield technology also blocks electronics from transmitting data to and from the cloud, such as an individual’s geographical location, without the user’s knowledge. Each Das Keyboard bag has enough HackShield-protected pockets to fit a laptop, tablet and smartphone comfortably inside.
Added Guermeur, “Many people don’t realize the electronic devices they carry around can send valuable personal data to the cloud, in some cases even when their devices are closed or asleep. In today’s hi-tech world, most people are concerned with more than just protecting their digital life from hackers, but also with preventing their electronic devices from sharing personal information without their knowledge. With HackShield RF blocking technology, it’s not possible for radio signals to get in or out of Das Keyboard’s carrying bags, which provides an entirely new level of digital security.”
In addition to the company’s new RF blocking bags, Das Keyboard also has introduced its new HackShield Wallet, which uses the same radio frequency blocking material to help keep personal information safe and secure. With HackShield-lined internal pockets, Das Keyboard’s wallet helps guard credit cards, debit cards or any other cards containing RFID chips from thieves who may be scanning for ID information from unsuspecting individuals.
“Das Keyboard’s new HackShield RF blocking bags and wallet will appeal to professionals who desire a better way to keep their personal information safe,” said Guermeur. “We also believe such gear will become a growing trend among concerned individuals in today’s digital age as our electronic lives and privacy increasingly come under attack.”
Das Keyboard’s HackShield backpack and messenger bags are available online, each for $179. The company’s HackShield wallet will be available in late August and retails for $49.
About Das Keyboard
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The commander of Iran’s air defense says that his country is ready to defend Syria’s airspace if called upon by Damascus.
Brigadier General of the Iranian air force Farzad Ismaili said on Sunday that Iran opposes to foreign military intervention in Syria and “any presence there without the cooperation of the Syrian government will fail,”
Brig. Gen Ismaili said this in light of recent reports that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are planning a joint air campaign inside Syria to help rebel groups against the advances of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
“Syria has a legitimate government and without working with it any presence there will only bring humiliation,” said the Iranian commander in an interview with Tasnim news agency.
Iran is believed to have thousands of volunteer soldiers and official military advisors in Syria helping government forces on the ground as they are backed by Russian fighter jets.Sharon Stone wants to know how much acid Bernie Sanders has taken.
During an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the 58-year-old actress — who is supporting Hillary Clinton — said Sanders seems “pretty old in general.” (RELATED: Danny DeVito Stumps For Bernie Sanders: ‘I’m Feelin’ The Bern’)
“Some of his ideas are a little bit old,” Stone said. “He’s not young doing this, and he didn’t really work until he was 40 so I wonder, like, how much acid has this guy taken? I really do, that’s not a joke.”
“We were so aggressive asking people, ‘Did you smoke pot?’ But in reality, how much acid has Bernie Sanders taken? Because there’s a certain edge to his personality and way about his behavior that makes me wonder, ‘How much LSD have you taken?'”
Sanders is six years older than Clinton. (RELATED: Danny Glover Introduces Bernie Sanders At Campaign Rally)
While Stone said he was “adorable,” she said that Clinton is more qualified to be president than he is.
“She showed such grit and grace as Secretary of State, such steely calm and humor in those hearings,” Stone added.
“That’s what it actually takes to be president. It takes a lot of friggin’ mettle. It doesn’t take a lot of flamboyancy or that George W. Bush let’s-go-out-for-a-beer personality.” (RELATED: Rosario Dawson, Who Supports Bernie Sanders, Was Just Arrested On Capitol Hill)
“She could go retire somewhere great, write a book, relax a little. It’s not like she needs the $200,000 or whatever you make being president. She just cares about our country.”Nippon Ichi Software released a new teaser trailer for a previously unannounced, upcoming game. A teaser website for the title launched with the URL containing the word “Hakoniwa,” meaning “miniature garden” (not to be confused with the upcoming visual novel) in Japanese.
The teaser trailer depicts three-dimensional models of pixelated, retro styled characters as they are building a home. Not long after, the group is attacked by enemies from the sky, resulting in an over the top battle between the groups, involving weapons ranging from swords to large projectile missiles. No gameplay was shown but it is expected that the title will be a Minecraft styled sandbox game with added RPG mechanics.
A recent title that functioned similarly to this was Dragon Quest Builders, a game that blended the gameplay mechanics of Minecraft with the Popular Japanese Dragon Quest series, along with its own unique features. Dragon Quest Builders released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2016, surpassing one million sales worldwide. The game managed to differentiate itself from other games inspired by Minecraft, focusing more on telling a story and making use of the deeper RPG mechanics found in the long running Dragon Quest franchise.
Nippon Ichi Software previously announced earlier this year that the company has a number of new titles planned for 2017 and that the company will be taking on various challenges, likely in the form of developing titles that make use of genres other than the turn based strategy games Nippon Ichi Software is known for.
A few months ago, the company announced Exile Election, a horror-themed visual novel planned for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita about a group of people trapped in an amusement park, forced to elect who from among the group will be exiled until only two people remain.
Other known upcoming Nippon Ichi Software titles are Disgaea 5 Complete, a Switch port of Disgaea 5 that will include all DLC content from the original will launch on May 23, 2017, and Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku!, a feudal era sequel to Nippon Ichi’s pixel art styled dungeon crawling RPG series, Cladun which is set to release on PlayStation 4, digitally on PlayStation Vita and on PC via Steam onJune 6, 2017.Get the biggest daily 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
A BRAVEHEART impersonator has launched a stinging attack on randy tourists – after revealing they put their hands up his kilt.
Adam Watters – who performs as William Wallace for tourists’ pictures on the capital’s Royal Mile – has blasted the female tourists who cheekily attempt to check if he is a ‘true Scotsman’.
Adam, from Prestonpans, East Lothian, said: “When a man looks at a woman any longer than a few seconds, he’s a perv. But when a woman drools at a man in a kilt, that’s OK?
"And when a man puts his hand on a woman [there is] hell to pay, but when a woman walks up in the street and grabs your kilt [there is] no respect for you, your costume or your cause.”
Check out 25 funny Scottish jokes in our gallery below:
Adam’s outburst has been backed by fellow kilt wearers.
Marti Morrison said: “A woman lifted my kilt in a pub and grabbed my erse (sic) so her pals could chuckle.
"She exposed me to the pub and I went mad, but every woman there told me I was overreacting.”
Try your hand at our news quizA 6-month-old baby died in Dallas after his baby sitter's repeated calls to 911 went unanswered. (Reuters)
Since November of last year, Dallas officials and cellphone provider T-Mobile have known that a mysterious technology glitch was wreaking havoc on the efficiency of the |
Center Status Update
March 13th, 2011 – 2000 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 13th, 2011 – 2200 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 14th, 2011 – 0430 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 14th, 2011 – 0600 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 14th, 2011 – 1330 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 14th, 2011 – 2200 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 13th, 2011 – 2230 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 15th, 2011 – 0600 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 15th, 2011 – 0730 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 15th, 2011 – 1330 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 15th, 2011 – 1930 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 16th, 2011 – 0630 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 16th, 2011 – 1400 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 16th, 2011 – 1900 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 17th, 2011 – 0600 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 17th, 2011 – 0700 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 17th, 2011 – 1700 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 18th, 2011 – 0600 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 18th, 2011 – 1800 EDT – USNRC Emergency Operations Center Status Update
March 22nd, 2011 – UPDATE from 2000 Telecon on Fukushima Daiichi Events
March 23rd, 2011 – UPDATE from 2000 Telecon on Fukushima Daiichi Events
March 26th, 2011 – UPDATE from 0830 Telecon on Fukushima Daiichi Events
March 27th, 2011 – UPDATE from 2000 Telecon on Fukushima Daiichi Events
FOIA’s Related to Reactor Research/Data
Entombment requires removal of RPV head – could introduce more problems than it solves
NRC likely never postulated H2 explosions size & destructive force at Fukushima
Fukushima Disaster March 11th – March 21st NRC ET Chronology Descending – Pages From C142487-03X
March 11th, 2011 – Premonitions of North Anna EQ – Why does the NRC have confidence that an eq greater than DB cannot occur in the US
March 13th, 2011 – Dams and ocean cooled plants – Imagine a sustained SBO at a PWR!
March 13th, 2011 – Certified designs of new reactors in the US are based on PGA of 0.3g
March 13th, 2011 – Talking Points on Implications of Fukushima Accident to U.S. Nuclear Plants
March 14th, 2011 – Containment Failure Values – Long term SBO, Loss of Decay Heat Removal
March 14th, 2011 – This is the TBW sequence we’ve all dreaded – Japan still very secretive
March 14th, 2011 – Any inconsistencies or statements that undermine will have lasting effects
March 14th, 2011 – SPAR Hazard Models – LOOPPWR:40-10
March 14th, 2011 – Seismic PRAs do not consider damage from earthquake aftershocks – Station Blackout Write-Up
March 14th, 2011 – OpE Nuclear Power Plant Design for Natural Phenomena
March 14th, 2011 – A good qualitative idea of the types of doses such releases can be expected to deliver
March 14th, 2011 – Is our [U.S.] battery backup power less effective than the Japanese?
March 14th, 2011 – GI-199 Questions – Due to uncertainties in the data NRC sending letter to US Plants
March 14th, 2011 – Modelling Seismic Event Sequences like the one that happened to Fukushima
March 14th, 2011 – What a licensee needs to determine to ensure not exceeding licensed limits
March 15th, 2011 – The Conditions in Japan appear to have degraded
March 15th, 2011 – NUREG-0651- Torus (Suppression Chamber) Portion of the Mark I Containment
March 15th, 2011 – Significant corrosion of the Oyster Creek torus in 1980s
March 15th, 2011 – Don’t know if Japan added hardened vent but I’m sure they are well aware of it
March 15th, 2011 – TEPCO fail on info-sharing / No N-crisis HQ for 4 days after tsunami disabled reactor cooling system
March 15th, 2011 – Don’t know if Japan added hardened vent but I’m sure they are well aware of it
March 15th, 2011 – TEPCO fail on info-sharing / No N-crisis HQ for 4 days after tsunami disabled reactor cooling system
March 15th 2011 – Table of BWR’s Mark I
March 16th, 2011 – Tsunami documents from RES – ML072920474 – ML082960196
March 16th, 2011 – Assessing SFP Damage – SOARCA – Uncovered Spent Fuel Reports – Leak at Unit 4 SFP
March 16th 2011 – NRC Admits Zirc Fire Is Possible – But Won’t Release All the Research Data
March 16th, 2011 – Classified as OUO documents – BWR zirc fire data
March 16th, 2011 – Tried dropping water from helicopters but only hit the target once
March 17th, 2011 – MACCS calculations capable of 8,000 miles – Usually run to 1,000 miles
March 18th, 2011 – Design Basis Floods Determined from Area-Discharge Envelopes – Not comfortable with level of conservatism
March 18th, 2011 – National Weather Service Reports used to estimate precipitation are 30-40 years old
March 18th 2011 – It might be good to know the effects of salt deposition on cooling of BWR fuel assemblies
March 18th, 2011 – Tohoku-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake Effects On Japanese Nuclear Power Plants
March 18th, 2011- Handy Fact Sheets
March 18th, 2011 – Station Blackout Rule – 44 Units rely on battery power
March 21st, 2011 – Clarification and assessment of potential radiological release source terms for Fukushima Units 3&4 spent fuel pools
March 21st, 2011 – Probability of NPP Ground Motions Exceeding DB high as 6%
March 21st, 2011 – Chemistry of emissions – Difference between zirc & hydrocarbons fire
March 21st, 2011 – Some questions have come up regarding the integrity of the SFP liner
March 22nd 2011 – Rundown of NISA Requests – Residual H2 in containments
March 22nd, 2011 – Radiological Consequences and SBO – External Panels
March 23rd, 2011 – Questions on Boric Acid Solubility in Seawater
March 23, 2011 – NRC Decides 20 and 30 Year Old Predictions of Stress Corrosion Cracking and Crack Growth Rate Need Careful Examination
March 23rd, 2011 – SES needs to make decision on concerns related to NPSH Credit for BWR Mark 1′s
March 23rd, 2011 – The EPA took RADNet down because they were getting data from ‘other’ sources
March 23rd, 2011 – What impact on license renewal? I’m thinking older plants a hard sell
March 23rd, 2011 – Licensing Activities Subject to Enhanced Handling Measures Post-Fukushima
March 23rd, 2011 – Regarding the NRC “Screening Process” – Never hurts to reinforce what’s already been stated
March 24th, 2011 – Core Damage Frequencies – GI-199 – Staff will re-examine some or all
March 24th, 2011 – Jack Grobe wants “all Generic Communications associated with Chernobyl”
March 25th, 2011 – Probability of Containment Failure – NUREG/CR 6920 – 1150
March 25th, 2011 – Can we predict a tsunami wave height? – Are the models valid?
March 25th, 2011 – Japanese Methods for Tsunami Analysis – Guidance Documents
March 25th, 2011- Issues with seawater in a BWR – Crack growth rate found to be 30 times higher than KAPL paper
March 25th, 2011 – Probability of Containment Failure – NUREG/CR 6920 – 1150
March 25th, 2011 – Paradigm shift as large as permanent lateral displacement of Japan
March 25th, 2011 – NISA – TEPCO – Understanding Core Condition (Ex-Vessel or not)
March 26th, 2011 – Mark 1 hydrogen explosion damaging torus/suppression pool
March 26th, 2011 – Mark 1 containment vulnerable to melt through – SBO
March 26th, 2011 – Fuel Coolant Interaction Analysis – Worse Case Melt Scenario
March 26th, 2011 – Mark 1 liner failure during severe accidents – Some made changes
March 26th, 2011 – Melt that relocates to lower head will be mixed with a lot of sea salt
March 26th, 2011 – Decommissioning Type Information –
March 27th, 2011 – Salt effects on molten core materials – Effects on energetics
March 27th, 2011 – NRC, GE, EPRI, INPO, Naval Reactors, and DOE Fukushima Severe Accident Management Measures
March 29th, 2011 – The SAMGs are specially designed for this situation, why are people trying to seem like no clear direction?
March 29th, 2011 – NRC shares Summary of TMI-2 fuel removal/cleanup with NISA
March 29th, 2011- Isotopic make up of spent fuel 5% enrichment
March 30th, 2011 – Nuclear Reactor Accidents: Three Mile Island and Fukushima – MIT ANES Symposium
March 30th, 2011 – Please fix the 18 year leaking saftety mechanisms at Indian Point ASAP.
March 30th, 2011 – Using Catawba and Browns Ferry MOX safety evaluation reports
March 31st, 2011 – Working on high priority spent fuel pool safety questions
Official Notice by Edano on April 11 on New Kinds of Evacuation Areas Pages From ML12123A059
DOEChallenges in Determining the Fukushima Isotopic Mix_Shanks
INPO Support in Japan as Soon as Possible – Pages From Pages From ML12123A057 -397 Pages 3 11 2011-11
Japan Nuclear Threat- Time Sensitive – NASA Humanoid Robot With Durable Base Pages From ML12123A057 – 397 Pages 3 11 2011
Don Helton – SFP Risk Assessment Thoughts – Pages From C142449-02LX-2
Revised to Add Utilities – ADM Costs Incurred for Support Activities in Japan – Pages From Pages From ML12123A057 -397 Pages 3 11 2011-10
NRC Went Ahead and Passed on to US Industry a Request for Installers and Operators – Pages From Pages From ML12123A057 -397 Pages 3 11 2011-9
Official Notice by Edano on April 11 on New Kinds of Evacuation Areas Pages From ML12123A059
GEH Assessment of the Existence of a Vessel Breach on Fukushima U2 – Pages From C142449-02LX-5
Fire Breaks Out Again at Fukushima’s No. 4 Reactor – Pages From Pages From ML12123A057 -397 Pages 3 11 2011-8
Dennis Rathbun Merrill Lynch Conversation – Pages From C142383-03B-2
Research on the Vulnerability of NPPBorssele in Situations Comparable to TheFukushima Accident
Ops Center Costs in Support of the Japan Event, – Pages From ML12123A057 – 397 Pages 3 11 2011-3
Standardization of Reactor Designs and International Safety Framework
External Hazards, New Insights Into Old Issues
Staff for Japan – Pages From ML12123A057 – 397 Pages 3 11 2011-5
Reoccurring Daily Calls Rev 6 – Pages From ML12123A057 – 397 Pages 3 11 2011-6
EPA Request for Measurements From US Plants – Pages From ML12123A057 – 397 Pages 3 11 2011-7
FOIA’s Related to Earthquake and Tsunami Details
March 11th, 2011 – Japanese utility execs at NRC HQ responding to the quake – Topic off-limits
FOIA’s Related to Radiation Levels
March 13th, 2011 – We live in Western (Redacted) I’ve called around and can’t secure KI
March 15th, 2011 – RASCAL Re-Run of 0251AM – Used in 03162011 NRC Press Release
March 15th, 2011 – RASCAL Run of 0251AM – Used in 03162011 NRC Press Release
March 15th, 2011 Deflect any questions about scary numbers with the “we’ll review for scientific validity”
March 16th, 2011 – Situation getting worse and NRC response continuing to increase
March 16th, 2011 – Might consider completing a worse case dose map
March 16th, 2011 – Japan reports 5 persons have received lethal radiation doses
March 16th, 2011 – Tried dropping water from helicopters but only hit the target once
March 16th, 2011 – A public meeting and our key messages must be couched accordingly
March 16th, 2011 – Prairie Island Confirmation of Radiation from Japan
March 16 – Fukushima Units 1,2,3 have fuel damage – Lost secondary containment integrity
March 17th, 2011 – Fukushima Daiichi Dose Models – RASCAL Runs justifying U.S. PARs
March 18th, 2011 – Accident progression at Fukushima Reactor 4 SFP MELCOR Request
March 18th and 19th Radiation levels and other Fukushima Plant Data – Japanese
March 20th, 2011 – Navy Vice Admiral reports 150 millirem/hr Thyroid Dose in area south of Tokyo
March 22nd, 2011 – Sandia not likely to assist Oak Ridge with actual Fukushima data
US simulations failed to reproduce Fukushima-like scenarios – Something was missing
NRC Transcripts – On-site radiation levels imply nuclear fuel in the environment
Radiation spread over Japan and was detected over 100 miles from reactors within days of Fukushima nuclear disaster
NRC worried about US National Labs “chomping at the bit” to help with Fukushima Radiation analysis – Call lab directors and say “Knock it off”
USS Ronald Reagan measured 0.6 mR/hr direct gamma shine from clouds 130 miles from Fukushima Daiichi
Helicopter landed on Japanese command ship after Fukushima disaster people came back with elevated counts on feet and clothing
Ronald Reagan helicopter crews found contaminated 10,000 uCi/cm3 – Airborne plume levels at 100 nautical miles far above expected – 10 hours would put citizen in PAG
4 out of 40 GE workers assisting with refueling at Fukushima in March 2011 were contaminated after Reactor 1 explosion
Japan embassy sent hand-translated government food radioactivity reports to NRC
RSMC Tokyo(JP), Obninsk(RU) and Beijing(CN) – Eastern Japan Deposition
United States was well aware of high radiation and contamination from Fukushima – Official Docs
I-131 and Cs levels Up to 54,100 Bq/kg in open field produce 100 km from FukushimaBill Graveland, The Canadian Press
PINCHER CREEK, Alta. - There are three things one can be assured of in the Pincher Creek area of southwestern Alberta - death, taxes and the wind will blow.
Windswept is the word often used to describe the region with its rolling hills, cattle ranches, farms and the Rocky Mountains to the west.
And it is the wind that's eliciting some optimism at a time when Canada is seeking to reduce its carbon footprint and turn to alternative energy sources.
With their giant 80-metre-high turbines stretching as far as the eye can see and 45-metre-long blades turning gracefully in the breeze, wind farms are potentially a big beneficiary of changes promised by both the Alberta and federal governments.
"The wind is always blowing in southern Alberta it seems. For the locals who have grown up around the wind from childhood, it's just another day for them," said Wayne Oliver, TransAlta's operations supervisor for the region, which includes Fort Macleod.
TransAlta, Canada's largest publicly traded power generator and marketer of electricity and renewable energy, has 460 wind turbines in the area. Some of the older models are being decommissioned and the pricetag for new ones isn't cheap, running between $2 million and $5 million, depending on the output, which can be as much as three million watts of electricity per hour.
But Oliver said 100 megawatts of energy will supply the needs of about 120,000 homes.
He also said most people don't understand where their electricity comes from.
"The general public just wants to know that when they hit the switch the lights will come on and they can cook supper when they get home from work."
With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promising to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and Alberta's plan to impose a broad carbon tax and eventually end coal-fired electricity generation, wind energy is getting increased attention.
"We have a long-term, viable resource in the quantity of wind that blows through southern Alberta," Oliver said.
"Until we get to the point that we'd have large-scale battery storage of wind energy, wind is always going to be supplemental to a base power load structure," he added.
"In Alberta we have coal and natural gas, we have some hydro. These are our baseload generators and wind can nicely supplement that for the time being."
TransAlta said last month that plans to invest in hydroelectric, wind, solar and natural gas co-generation facilities in Alberta were "on hold" until the details of the province's climate change plans are known.
Alberta's resource-based economy makes up a third of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions and the province's energy minister said a climate implementation team is currently looking at how big a role wind, solar and hydro can play in the future.
Marg McCuaig-Boyd said right now only about 11 per cent of Alberta's electricity is provided from renewable energy.
"It's going to play a role just like solar and hydro and thermal - we're going to look at a mix," McCuaig-Boyd told The Canadian Press.
"At the end of the day we're still going to have the bulk of our generation from natural gas but there will be around a 30 per cent mix. Wind will certainly play a key role."Tottenham defenders Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson have everything to prove if they are to convince Mauricio Pochettino they're the men for the job.
It's best not to read too much into preseason results, but they do give an insight into the current strengths and weaknesses of a team.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham side have looked good going forward so far this summer, attacking with much more pace and movement than last season. The midfield are now looking to move the ball forward quickly, and there has been a noticeable increase in the amount of one- and two-touch passing -- though this might just be a byproduct of Mousa Dembele and Paulinho not playing.
Further forward, the movement of the attacking midfield three bodes well for the future. The trio have license to roam, as evidenced by Erik Lamela's two goals against Toronto FC. Starting on the right, Lamela had freedom to drift toward the middle of the field and scored both of his goals from a position on the left.
Spurs have scored three goals in each of their preseason games, but the fact that they have conceded a total of five demonstrates where the problem lies. Against Seattle the team defended abysmally, with keeper Brad Friedel having to pull off a passable impression of Tim Howard against Belgium to keep the score line decent.
- WhoScored: Vorm's move to Spurs makes sense
Tottenham may be linked with players such as Morgan Schneiderlin and Antoine Griezmann, but it would be no disaster if they went into the new season without reinforcements in the midfield and attack.
The defence is a different matter, with more work needing to be done. The club have gone some way to addressing the issues at the back. Ben Davies was brought in to solve the long-running problem at left-back, and Michel Vorm was recruited to provide suitable cover for keeper Hugo Lloris.
Michael Dawson's performances have been woefully off pace, but things aren't as simple as merely replacing him with a younger model. Younes Kaboul also has to prove he can get back to his best because on last season's form, he too is past it. In contrast, Zeki Fryers probably needs more experience before he's ready for more action at Spurs and would benefit from a loan move.
As if that wasn't enough, it is rumoured that Vlad Chiriches could be joining Roma. Though his form declined as last season went on, Chiriches was impressive in his early months at the club. Surely he can't be allowed to leave while Dawson and Kaboul are still there?
You'd think not, but Steven Caulker was sold when it made more sense to offload someone else. Plenty of Tottenham fans don't rate him, yet it's undeniable that he would have seen plenty of first-team action last season. Caulker might never turn out to be a world-beater, but he was available at a relatively modest price this summer. He has potential and, at this stage of his career, is better than Dawson (and most probably Kaboul).
He's also arguably a better bet than Ron Vlaar. The Aston Villa defender had an incredible World Cup and Spurs are currently linked with a move for him. It's an odd link as Vlaar is far too slow to play in Pochettino's system.
Some better options have fallen by the wayside. Dejan Lovren was too expensive and Hector Moreno broke his leg during the World Cup. More candidates must be found fast, because the question is not whether Spurs need to sign a new central defender, but if one will be enough.According to MIT CSAIL, Foundry can import objects designed with traditional CAD programs like SolidWorks and then assign specific materials or properties to different parts of the object. While creating a multi-material object in the past might have required days of work and multiple 3D printers to create (assuming it was possible with existing technology at all), CSAIL says these sorts of designs can now be created in mere minutes. Rather than manufacturing a separate piece for each material in the finished product, the entire object can now be printed in one fell swoop.
"It's like Photoshop for 3D materials," said Kiril Vidimče, the PhD Student who is also the lead author of a new paper on Foundry, "allowing you to design objects made of new composite materials that have the optimal mechanical, thermal, and conductive properties that you need for a given task. You are only constrained by your creativity and your ideas on how to combine materials in novel ways."
To show off their work, the CSAIL team built skis with retro-reflective surfaces, a ping pong paddle and an artificial bone they believe could one day be used for planning out surgeries. But for a real test of the software, the team spent an hour teaching the Foundry system to non-designers and then tasked them to build three multi-material objects -- an artificial bone, an integrated tire and wheel, and a teddy bear. The Foundry newbies were able to build the three objects in 56, 48 and 26 minutes respectively.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.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, working in coordination with the Jerusalem Municipality, approved on Tuesday 454 Jewish-owned housing units in the capital’s contested Ramot Shlomo neighborhood, located beyond the 1949 Armistice (Green) Line.
The move, which sets the stage for 1,000 additional homes to be built there, follows a two year de facto freeze following a diplomatic row with the United States.
Netanyahu gave the go-ahead to market 436 homes in Ramot Shlomo and another 18 in Ramot, according to a government official who asked not to be identified.Another government official said building in the two Jerusalem neighborhoods in no way impacts the possibility of eventually reaching an agreement with the Palestinians.“Anyone who has been to Ramot Shlomo knows that in any possible peace agreement, even peace plans put forward by the Palestinians, this neighborhood will stay a part of Israel, and in no way does this [construction] hinder the possibility of moving forward in peace,” the official said.The official added that the move was merely the implementation of a decision made in 2012.After the municipality’s Local Committee on Planning and Building canceled a meeting to approve the project two weeks ago, numerous reports surfaced claiming that a new construction freeze order had been applied unilaterally to Palestinian and Jewish homes.At the time, Netanyahu was in the United States to meet with President Barack Obama in an effort to repair badly frayed ties after Netanyahu’s vociferous condemnation of the Iran nuclear deal.An official would not confirm reports that the decision was delayed, so as not to cast a pall on Netanyahu’s visit to Washington.Despite the reports, the municipality claimed that construction would continue unabated throughout the capital, and Netanyahu approved the move soon after his return.Although the Prime Minister’s Office is theoretically not involved in construction decisions of the local level, after the brouhaha when US Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel in 2010, a mechanism was put into play whereby the prime minister would have to sign off on building issues beyond the Green Line.During Biden’s visit, the Municipality’s Finance Committee made an initial announcement granting funding for the project, leading to a protracted diplomatic crisis with Washington.At the time, the plan was also condemned by governments and organizations around the world as a destabilizing factor for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. To ease tensions at the time, Netanyahu told Washington that construction in Ramot Shlomo would not begin for at least two years.When the Interior Ministry’s Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee ratified the plan in June 2012, city councilman Yair Gabai, a member of the panel, praised the project as “the first in a series of essential developments that will add to the prosperity of Jerusalem, help curb emigration from the capital, and strengthen Israeli sovereignty in all parts of the city.”At the same time, Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of national economy, denounced the move, calling it a “resumption of settlement activity.”When the NIS 62.4 million infrastructure budget for the neighborhood was finally approved in 2013, Jerusalem Deputy Mayor and Finance Committee head David Hadari lauded the funding, deeming it “Jerusalem’s vaccination shot against those who think about dividing it somehow.”In a 2013 statement, the Jerusalem Municipality noted there had been no changes in its construction policy over the past four decades, adding that it would continue to “build in all of the city’s neighborhoods according to statutory plans” for both Jews and Arabs.On Tuesday morning, Meir Turgeman, chairman of Jerusalem’s Local Committee for Planning and Building, told Army Radio that he was working behind the scenes to garner approval for the additional 1,000 units.“I decided to appeal to all parties in the Housing Ministry and the Israel Lands Administration to ask for another 1,000 housing units for development,” Turgeman said.In a joint statement, MKs Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Bezalel Smotrich (Bayit Yehudi) lauded Tuesday’s approval as a positive harbinger of things to come in the capital.“We believe that this is the beginning of a change in government policy regarding the rights to build in the land of our forefathers,” they wrote.Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki condemned the plan, saying he’d file a complaint with the International Criminal Court.“We don’t only condemn settlement building which is illegal and carried out by the Israeli occupation authority through systematic settlement building, we also submit complaints to the parties concerned,” said Maliki. “Now we have added a new aspect to the parties we deal with, which is the International Criminal Court.“We will follow-up with the office of the general prosecutor on this new escalation in settlement building. We are also working on documenting and sending what is required regarding the latest developments and Israeli escalation, which affects the land and the Palestinian people in various ways.”MK Omer Bar-Lev (Zionist Union) dismissed the announcement as a cynical and exploitative attempt by Netanyahu to avert international condemnation while the world is preoccupied with the terrorist attacks in Paris.“As always, [Netanyahu] uses cynicism... to pass the housing units under the radar,” he said in a statement. “Why thaw the construction in Ramot Shlomo? Because all the world powers are too busy with the murderous attacks in France to pay attention and denounce the move.”Bar-Lev contended that Netanyahu’s pledge to renew peace talks with the PA was hollow.“A few days after declaring to Obama that he is interested in the existence of unilateral steps, we learn exactly which type of action he meant,” he added.Herb Keinon and Reuters contributed to this report.
Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>A Marilyn Monroe season runs at BFI Southbank throughout June 2015.
The breathy voice, the windswept white dress, and the endless litany of falsely attributed Pinterest quotes: since her death of a drug overdose in 1962, Marilyn Monroe has been so relentlessly mythologised that she often seems to exist more as commemorative poster art than as a film star. Born Norma Jeane Baker to a mentally unstable single mother and raised in a number of foster homes, she struggled out of a difficult and possibly abusive childhood and into a contract with 20th Century-Fox.
Marilyn – as we know her – was constructed sometime in 1946, after her divorce from a husband she’d married at 16. By 1950, with a platinum dye job, the incarnation was complete. The immediate persona – deemed ‘vulgar’ by numerous critics and commentators – was that of a well-meaning dumb blonde; all baby talk and male fantasy made flesh. That she was apparently ill-at-ease with this image has long passed into common lore about Monroe.
In spite of early attempts at breaking into more serious dramatic roles – as with Don’t Bother to Knock in 1952 – sexist condescension was never far behind. Archer Winston, a critic at the New York Post remarked: “[…] they’ve thrown MM into the deep dramatic waters, sink or swim. And while she doesn’t really do either, you might say that she floats. With that figure, what else can she do?”
Estranged from her sex goddess image and striving for artistic validity, Marilyn went on to study at the Actors Studio, hiring Paula Strasberg as her acting coach. Strasberg was Marilyn’s constant companion on set, to the fury of numerous directors.
Nonetheless, each director Marilyn worked with – from Billy Wilder to George Cukor – helped to piece together a part of her persona. There is the exaggerated, almost burlesque femininity of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953); the wounded and childlike vulnerability of her role in The Misfits (1961); and the less-discussed, duplicitous femme fatales of her early career, as in Niagara (1953).
Marilyn’s relationships – and her notorious battles – with some of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers of the age came to uniquely shape her onscreen roles. Here are 10 of her key collaborations.
Marilyn vs Billy Wilder
The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959)
In both of Wilder’s collaborations with Monroe, her role is preposterously and joyfully innocent – although that sexy naiveté is much better personified by musician Sugar Kane in Some Like It Hot. Her sweetly genuine performance is pitched perfectly against the rambunctiousness of Lemmon and Curtis. The innocence gag works less well in The Seven Year Itch, where she is charmingly indifferent to the lecherous desires of the married Tom Ewell.
Perhaps the on-set atmosphere while working with Marilyn is best described by that rumoured Tony Curtis remark – kissing her was “like kissing Hitler”. She was notoriously forgetful, at one point driving Wilder to write her lines on a card and put it inside an open drawer for her while shooting. Her flakiness and emotional temperament caused headaches all around, but Wilder turned out to be forgiving in retrospect. “All I can tell you is if Marilyn was around today, I’d be on my knees, saying ‘please let’s do it again!’”
Marilyn vs Otto Preminger
River of No Return (1954)
In a television interview from 1977, Otto Preminger was asked about choosing to cast Marilyn in his 1954 western, River of No Return. In his typically forbidding German baritone, Preminger states authoritatively: “She had no talent as an actress, but she had one thing that the camera gets. She was a born star.” Preminger, known for his string of classic film noirs (Laura, Fallen Angel, Where the Sidewalk Ends) and his brisk, severe on-set manner, never got on well with her. Co-star Robert Mitchum, playing referee between the two, seemed more sensitive to Marilyn’s insecurities, and the pair – as a cowboy and saloon girl – have a memorable chemistry in spite of an unevenly plotted film.
Marilyn vs John Huston
The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and The Misfits (1961)
A mutual respect marked the relationship between Monroe and John Huston – an unlikely pairing, perhaps, given Huston’s propensity for rugged, masculine dramas. But she felt that he took her seriously as a dramatic actor; he confidently cast her as an unknown in The Asphalt Jungle back in 1950. He worked with her again over a decade later, with their two collaborations serving as bookends to her career.
The Misfits, perhaps Monroe’s greatest film, served as a swan song for the careers of two other iconic actors in the twilight of their lives: Clark Gable, who died two days after wrapping the shoot, and Montgomery Clift, who would, like Marilyn, be dead of an overdose within five years. The director himself was hardly a teetotaler, making for a chaotic, boozy set where one or more of the key players were often unable to perform. Production was even halted for two weeks while Marilyn entered rehab.
Even without this knowledge, it’s a boldly sorrowful piece of work, focusing on the romance between Gable’s lonely old Reno cowboy and a neurotic, beautiful divorcee. For Marilyn, it’s a role which seems close to home – she’s a reflective surface for men and their desires and a frail child of a broken home. Since her husband Arthur Miller wrote the screenplay – and their marriage fell apart throughout the making of the film – it’s hard not to assume that we’re seeing something like the real thing in her performance.
Marilyn vs Laurence Olivier
The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)
When Olivier cast Monroe as the romantic lead opposite himself in his Pinewood-shot comedy, a disastrously strained working relationship was to follow. Monroe arrived dishevelled and was routinely unprofessional – needing numerous takes, missing her marks, forgetting lines, and generally making a mess of things. Olivier, for his part, looked down his nose at her attempts at method acting and her insistence on confiding in her acting coach Paula Strasberg. Although Olivier ultimately claimed he was happy with her performance, he was well known for sniping about his co-stars – to the point where contemporaries like Alec Guinness referred to him as “unpleasant”.
For Marilyn, the breaking point was when Olivier offered her a flippant direction along the lines of “Try to be sexy”. Given that she had come all the way to Britain to avoid glitzy Hollywood stereotyping, it was a hurtful remark – and she apparently never forgave him for it. The film was poorly received and it marked the end of the actors’ incompatible working relationship.
Marilyn vs George Cukor
Let’s Make Love (1960) and her unfinished final film Something’s Got to Give
After working with Billy Wilder and Howard Hawks, Marilyn had proven one of her greatest strengths was in the role of a comedian; she had a bubbly, natural rapport with light-hearted material. A collaboration with George Cukor, who had long been known as a ‘women’s director’ with a light-fingered comic touch, seemed like a logical choice. The result was Let’s Make Love, a musical comedy met with near- |
-pity.
I started up again, however. I brought the 2 lb. dumbbells back out. I didn’t want to give up. Besides, I could always try surgery if I had to; I could get a third, fourth opinion.
I found a new physical therapist, Mike. He’s awesome. He’s not afraid. He didn’t tell me I needed surgery after 2 months of rehab, like a prior specialist told me. On our first session, I showed him the exercises I had been doing. He quickly told me I was not even close to ready for those. I needed to start from the bottom. From the beginning.
I made no progress after 3 months of every-other-day PT exercises. Literally nothing. But I kept seeing Mike, once or twice a week. I built up the energy to get on the elliptical. Twenty minutes interval training during lunch, without using my shoulders. And you know what? I got a sweat for the first time in months. I got a taste of the carrot and it tasted f’ing amazing. I felt like if I’m doing PT, I might as well try the cardio again. I started to build momentum.
After doing the elliptical for some time, I started up spin, despite some foot pain. It didn’t feel amazing for the rest of my body either and put some pressure on my shoulders. But at that point, it was exactly what I needed. The foot pain intensified. I found Kiambu, a body work specialist, who after one session got rid of 80% of my foot pain. Amazing.
PT can be demoralizing. It takes time and doesn’t give you the gratification like a good cardio workout. Spin provided me with motivation and helped showed me what I was doing PT for: getting physically fit, playing basketball, and being active.
After those initial slow months, starting after the New Year, I started making progress on my shoulders. I could actually feel muscle developing and maybe even the pain was lessening. Since then, over the past few months, it’s been semi-linear progress. Lately, week over week, I seem to be improving. Well, maybe not every week or even every two weeks. I’ve fallen into plenty of ruts, but if I’m listening to myself those can be instructive and I’m more patient now. Progress is addicting. I’m tossing medicine balls. I’m lifting heavy weights. Dr. Dooley has me doing the crooked arm bar and the getup. I’m getting stronger.
Back to the basketball gym at 6:30 AM. I felt okay! Nearly a year and a half after the snowboarding fall, I took my first right-handed jump shot. I’ve never taken a jump shot so cautiously in my life. I took a handful of shots within the key that day. I didn’t dare take a 3-point shot. I was gingerly and totally fine with that. It’s so easy to be patient when you feel optimistic.
Two weeks later, last Wednesday, I played 2 on 2 ball. I’m still in shock. I have a long way to go before my goals, but damn progress feels good.
Thank you for reading and good luck!
This post is part of a series on come back from injury.
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Here are the specialists who have helped me in NYC. I have no idea what I would do without them.
* Michael Zazzali
* Kiambu Dickerson
* Dr. Kathy Dooley
These are general tips I have for those recovering from an injury:
Get help
Find someone you like and trust. Be honest with yourself. Don’t feel bad if you need to see many different people. Don’t feel embarrassed. You are not alone.
Life Stability
Having a stable routine for the past year has been crucial. If you are constantly traveling around or changing jobs or cities, it’s hard to stick with a plan.
Patience
As cliche as it is, this is crucial
You have to apply yourself each day to becoming a little better. By becoming a little better each and every day, over a period of time, you will become a lot better. -John Wooden
Progress is not linear. I’ve talked to others about this. As much as we want it be…
Form
Dr. Dooley showed me this quote which I love: “More is not better. Better is better”
Especially if you have instability, using the right form is key
Posture. Holy crap, practicing good posture has been crazy helpful with shoulder pain. Hey you! Stop sticking your head out and drooping your shoulders down
Cardio/Do Something You EnjoyAll of these numbers add up to more cyclists on the streets of Austin, not to mention some serious waste stream diversion! We couldn’t do this without your generous support – whether you purchased a refurbished bike, donated one, volunteered your time, or made a financial contribution- Thank you!
Your continued support will help us provide more bicycles and commuting accessories to Austinites that are in the most in need of reliable transportation and continue to keep the doors wide open for our inclusive, educational, and empowering community workshops where folks are able to get greasy, learn, earn and volunteer!
As we approach 2019, we ask you to consider making a donation to Austin’s Yellow Bike Project so we may continue to grow and make an even greater impact in the community. You can make a one-time donation or sign up to become a sustaining donor, and help us meet our goals. Thank YOU!Six on-campus locations were tagged with pro-Texas A&M graffiti over the weekend — the latest in a string of Aggie-related graffiti incidents dating back to 2011, according to police officials.
University Operations spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said a UT staff member reported the graffiti to UTPD around 4:45 a.m. Sunday. The graffiti included various promotional A&M phrases and slogans, such as “Gig em’ Aggies” and “Saw ‘Em Off.” Officers checked the campus for suspects and other signs of criminal activity, but did not find anything. Facilities Services crews began to remove the graffiti the following morning.
According to a list provided by UTPD spokeswoman Cindy Posey, the east and north walls of the Performing Arts Center, west side of the LBJ Library, east side of the Thompson Conference Center and west side of the E. William Doty Fine Arts Building were vandalized. Tony Smith’s 1965 sculpture “Amaryllis” — situated outside the fine arts building — was also tagged.
Weldon said the Texas Memorial Museum statue and a public art installation on loan from The Metropolitan Museum of Art were also damaged.
Despite the fact that Texas A&M left the Big 12 football conference in 2011, and no longer plays UT in an annual game, incidents of Aggie-related graffiti have persisted every October for the last two years.
On Oct. 23, 2011, unknown perpetrators tagged the north-side wall of the Weaver Power Plant Annex and the bridge connecting the Winship Drama Building to San Jacinto Boulevard. In addition, crosshairs were sprayed on an east-side wall of the drama building, and a phallic depiction was painted next to Donald Lipski’s East Mall monument “The West.”
Prominent UT landmarks were also defaced in October 2012. They included the wall perimeter of the UT Tower, the windows of the Flawn Academic Center and the statues of Jefferson Davis and Woodrow Wilson in front of the Tower. Lipski’s sculpture was tagged for the second time.
UTPD Capt. Julie Gillespie said A&M graffiti is nothing new, especially around football season. Although the rivalry is over, Gillespie said UTPD will treat these incidents as a trend moving forward and will continue to work closely with A&M’s police department to catch the vandals.
“We work very closely with the Texas A&M police department,” Gillespie said. “We’ll send all of our reports to A&M, and hopefully they can yield a result over there.”
Gillespie said tagging buildings or monuments with graffiti is a state jail felony. According to the police report, the damage estimate for Sunday’s vandalism is roughly $525.
Gillespie said prior to every A&M-UT football game in years past, UTPD would initiate an “Aggie Watch” to monitor for football-fueled pranks.
The department has only issued one citation for criminal mischief related to A&M graffiti since 2011, Gillespie said. A Texas A&M student was cited on April 14 for scrawling A&M-related graffiti around the campus in chalk. According to a police report from the incident, the student allegedly committed the vandalism as part of a scavenger hunt organized by the Texas A&M chapter of the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity.World-renowned jazz drummer and percussionist Frankie Dunlop has passed away at the age of 85. Having battled a prolonged illness for the past several decades, Dunlop leaves behind a legacy of musical greatness that has garnered the esteem of fellow musicians and jazz fans alike.
After turning professional at the ripe young age of 16, Dunlop’s career spanned close to half a century working with jazz giants including Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus and Lionel Hampton, just to name a few. Dunlop most often subsisted in the role of sideman, but departs us with an indelible mark on jazz history.
Predeceased by his sister Helen, and brother & jazz pianist Boyd Lee Dunlop, Frankie Dunlop is survived by a host of family, friends and fans.
A memorial-celebration of Frankie Dunlop’s life is being held on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 7pm, Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York.Lawyers and Law Schools in Brazil
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Rebeca Duran Staff Writer
The Brazil Business
Brazil has many lawyers, but this is only possible thanks to the enormous number of law schools that have been established in the country. Find out more about Brazilian law schools in the article.
The Country of Lawyers
In 2010, Brazil was ranked as the third country with largest number of lawyers in the world. The second place was occupied by the United States, with more than 1 million professional lawyers, followed by India that has almost 1 million lawyers as well. But how did that happen?
Obviously Brazilians don’t simply love law and all of them don't just want to become lawyers. What really explains this enormous amount of lawyers in the country is the number of law schools on it. The country has more law schools than all of the world's countries' put together.
There are 1,240 graduation courses of Law working in Brazilian lands, while the amount of courses in the world is totaled as 1,100 law schools. The data was announced by the National Council of Justice (CNJ) in 2010.
More Doesn’t Mean Better
The number of registered lawyers in the country - approved by the Brazilian Bar Examination - is 800 thousand, but according to some statistics, if all law students of Brazil were approved in the Examination, the country would account an approximate amount of 3 million professionals.
But all this high data, doesn’t actually mean that all courses developed in Brazil are good, by the contrary, it shows that the country's law courses are getting too big and too many, and some of them aren’t recommendable. Many of them are under Ministry of Education (MEC) supervision because, for last couple of years, there had been unsatisfactory grades in the National Exam of Student Performance (ENADE) and in the Difference Indicator of Expected and Observed Performance (IDD).
When an Educational Institution receives unsatisfactory grades, a Commission of Educational Specialist visited the place and settled on an agreement with the institution in order to promote improvements. The improvements must aim the regularization of the course, according to MEC standards.
If improvements occur: the course is regulated.
the course is regulated. If the improvements are partially realized: the course must diminishes the number of student vacancies offered by the Educational Institution.
the course must diminishes the number of student vacancies offered by the Educational Institution. If the improvements aren’t at all performed: a lawsuit starts aiming to close the course in question.
The Search for Quality
The year of 2014 has just started and the Minister of Education, Aloizio Mercadante, just announced that Ministry will perform inspections in all law courses offered by Universities in Brazil in order to analyze if all of them are properly organized and conducted in accordance with the basic standars of law education.
The measure also aims to diminish the number of law students that aren’t approved by the end of their graduation in the Brazilian Bar Examination. According to the Minister, that happens because many courses aren’t good enough and their students end up graduating without the necessary qualifications required by the Brazilian Bar.
The last Bar Examination ended up with only 14% of candidates approved among the total amount that realized the test. That’s a very serious problem, since, in Brazil, the only way to develop the lawyer profession is by having the Exam approval.
Best Brazilian Law Schools
If on one-hand some national courses are closing doors by the lack of quality, the other institutions have been gaining more visibility as the best law courses of Brazil. The 2013 University Rank of Folha de São Paulo (RUF 2013), elected the top ten Brazilian law schools. The universities were evaluated according to the quality of their education.Though the odd-even scheme of the Delhi government seemed to be a hit on Friday, several commuters were stuck arguing with auto-rickshaw drivers for overcharging and refusal.
“To ply from Saket to Kasturba Gandhi Marg one of the auto drivers asked me for Rs 200. It normally costs Rs 130 by the meter. Most of the drivers refused to charge by the meter,” said Monica Chettri, a resident of Saket.
According to Delhi Traffic Police, over 66 complaints were received by angry commuters.
“There are so many people travelling in autos, they know that they can increase the prices. Bargaining with auto drivers is always tiring, but today has been especially unbearable. Three auto drivers asked for Rs 50 from Kalkaji to Nehru Place. It takes Rs 30 normally. When I refused, he told me to ‘try and lower the price with another auto driver if you can’,” said Kunal Ahuja, a resident of Kalkaji D Block.
Many complained that the drivers took full advantage of the lack of options on the road by blatantly harassing desperate customers. However, many drivers did not shy away from admitting that these days would be used to make some earnings.
“I can promise to you this rule won’t last, and like everyone I have a family to feed. I will make use of it while I can. If I ask for Rs 70 instead of Rs 40, I don’t see how that is harming anyone. What happens to the initiative is not my concern. I have no faith in it,” said an auto driver, who did not want to be named.
First Published: Jan 02, 2016 00:41 ISTHeads are starting to tumble in China as the tainted dairy products scandal deepens.
Li Changjiang has stepped down as head of the agency responsible for the safety of the country's food supply chain. The Party boss in the city when the company at the center of the scandal is headquartered has been sacked.
So, too, have the city's mayor, his deputy and three other city officials. They are blamed for lax supervision and delays in reporting the problems when they first appeared.
Li is the first central government official to be brought down by the scandal, in which melamine, a chemical banned in the food industry, has been found in a wide range of dairy products, starting with powdered baby milk (see: "China's Tainted Baby Formula Scandal Widens").
The problems first appeared in batches of formula made by Sanlu Group, one of China's leading dairies and which is based in northern Hebei Province. Tests have since showed dairy products from 22 companies to contain melamine, which, officials say is illegally added to raw milk to boost its apparent protein content. Ten percent of the tested samples contained the banned chemical.
Li's agency, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ), had designated Sanlu and three other large dairies whose products have been found to contain melamine, Mengniu, Yili and Guangming, as "Famous Brands", and thus exempt from safety inspections.
The numbers of babies sickened as a result of consuming, has been rising by leaps and bounds. Health ministry officials now say more than 53,000 have fallen ill and 13,000 hospitalized, of whom 104 are in serious condition. Four infants have died.
At least one child in Hong Kong has been hospitalized since consuming dairy products exported from China. Hong Kong supermarkets have pulled Chinese dairy products off their shelves. Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan have also banned or recalled Chinese dairy exports.
China's product safety reputation is again at risk after more than a year spent trying to restore confidence in the counry's products following the discovery of a number of tainted or unsafe exports list year including, toys, tires, seafood, toothpaste and pet food.
With today's dismissals, along with the resignation last week of the governor of Shanxi, Meng Xuenong, following a deadly landslide of illegally dumped mining waste that engulfed a village, Beijing is sending a strong signal that officials will be held accountable for product quality and health and safety standards.
The rules by which Chinese officials are held accountable were introduced following the SARS health crisis in 2003. That resulted in more than 1,000 officials including then Health Minister Zhang Wenkang being fired for attempting to cover up the epidemic or incompetence in dealing with it, including the ill-starred Meng, who was mayor of Beijing at the time.Natural gas prices continue their recovery. Cold weather has caused high levels of space heating that have resulted in reduced gas storage inventories. Henry Hub spot prices have recovered from their September $2.18 low to an average price of $5.56/MMbtu in the week ending January 22, 2010 (Figure 1). The average daily spot price for 2009 was $3.95/MMbtu. Average wellhead gas prices increased in December 2009 to $4.31/MMbtu from a September low of $2.84 (Figure 2). The average wellhead price for 2009 was $3.61/MMBtu.
Natural gas futures contracts suggest that gas prices will remain in the $5.50-6.00/MMBtu range through Q3 2010, and then increase toward $7.00 in Q4 2010 (Figure 3). The contract for February 2010 delivery closed this week at $5.82/MMBtu.
The gas-directed U.S. rig count increased by 22 during the week ending January 22, and is 168 more than the low of 665 rigs in mid-July 2009 (Figure 4). Most of the increase is due to shale gas drilling in the Louisiana Haynesville and Texas Eagle Ford Shale plays. Current levels of gas-directed drilling do not seem warranted by either gas prices or storage inventories, and are likely to contribute to relatively low natural gas prices through 2010, which will probably average $6.30/MMBtu (Bodell, personal communication).
Gas storage for the week ending January 15 was 2,607 Bcf following a withdrawal of 245 Bcf compared to a 176 withdrawal during this week a year ago. Withdrawals have been generally higher for 2010 than for 2009 during the past two months (Figure 5).
Gas storage inventories are 22 Bcf higher than a year ago, and 6 Bcf less than the 5-year average for this week (Figure 6). The 245 Bcf withdrawal was 69 Bcf more than that of a year ago, and 80 Bcf more than the 5-year average (Figure 7).
It is likely that depletion of gas storage inventories will continue through the winter, and supply will probably be at parity with recent years by the end of the first half of 2010 or sooner. This would ordinarily result in a price increase, and still may, but continued drilling of high initial-rate shale gas wells, and depressed industrial demand because of the recession will probably keep gas prices near their current level through the winter heating season. Additionally, gas prices are now high enough to cause switching from gas to coal for some electrical power generation plants, which will further lessen demand.
At the same time, the long period of declining gas-directed drilling from September 2008 to July 2009 should result in decreased supply, which may cause gas prices to increase. This dynamic balance continues to puzzle analysts, and results in average 2010 price forecasts that range from $5.25 to $9.00/MMBtu.
The wild card, of course, is the economy. Apparent improvements in the U.S. and other leading world economies are probably related in part to massive government spending and support programs that are now slowing or ending. Investors and consumers are worried and skeptical. This week, China indicated that it will decrease lending and increase interest rates. President Obama’s intention to limit investment banks’ ability to use federally insured funds for speculation dampened U.S. and other markets. Finally, concern about the solvency of Greece, Spain and Dubai threatens economic recovery. One analyst stated that now that the college BCS (bowl championship series) is over, we have the economic BCS to live with: banks, China and sovereign funds.
U.S. crude oil demand has been a useful gauge of economic direction for some time, and current trends suggest that the improvements of the past 5 or 6 weeks have reversed at least for now (Figure 8). Crude oil demand is currently 2.3 MMbopd less that levels in January 2008, and is almost 1 MMbopd below levels in January 2009. This suggests that, while the economy is improving, it has a long way to go before re-establishing pre-recession levels. Recoveries are like that.MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (JTA) — Everyone knows that Jews and Miami Beach go together like horseradish and gefilte fish. Matzah balls and chicken soup. Corned beef and rye. Chopped liver and … you get the picture.
But having not been to the Miami area for more than 30 years, I was still in for a bit of a shock when I arrived on the shore of this sunny isle in winter. Sure, I expected some Jews, a synagogue here or there, a kosher restaurant or two.
What I did not expect was to see stocking-wearing Holocaust survivors hobbling on the boardwalk amid bikini-clad joggers and tattooed men in too-short shorts. Or a hotel with a daily minyan populated largely by hasidic Jews with long black coats and sidecurls.
Fortunately, I was also lucky enough to get what I expected when I booked my ticket to Florida for January: Warm weather, sunny skies and sandy beaches.
There’s a reason Miami Beach has become a mecca — er, Jerusalem — for Orthodox vacationers. First, there are the elements that appeal to all pleasure seekers: sand, surf and sun.
But because there’s also a vibrant local Orthodox community here, there also are a dozen or so kosher eateries — from a hot dogs and beer place called House of Dog to Chinese restaurants, pizza shops, sushi bars, Mideast grills and steakhouses. Beachside hotels accommodate Sabbath observers with physical keys in place of electronic key cards. And there are a plethora of synagogues within walking distance.
The eruv enclosure, which enables Sabbath observers to push strollers and carry keys on Shabbat, runs far enough east to include the boardwalk along the beach (though not the beach itself).
The strip feels almost like Tel Aviv — except with more synagogues, more kosher food and more observant Jews.
What distinguishes Florida from Israel is the live-and-let-live spirit that reigns here. In Miami Beach, haredi Orthodox Jewish women lounge by the pool alongside Spanish tourists dressed in Speedo bathing suits. That kind of coexistence is hard to come by in Israel.
It wasn’t always like this.
Until Spain traded Florida to Britain in exchange for Havana in 1763, Florida was subject to the laws of the Spanish Inquisition and Jewish residents were forbidden. When Jews began settling in the area in the 19th century, landlords and business owners routinely posted “Gentiles Only” signs on their properties. Such discrimination persisted into the 1950s.
“Always a view, never a Jew,” read one hotel advertisement from the 1930s. Another, from the Coronado Hotel, read: “Air-conditioned rooms available. Oceanfront luxury at low cost. Gentile clientele.” Others made do with the somewhat more subtle “Restricted Clientele.”
The first synagogue in Miami Beach, Beth Jacob, was built in 1929 on Washington Avenue between 3rd and 4th streets because at the time Jews were not allowed to live north of 5th. The building, which operated as a synagogue until 1986, has since been turned into the Jewish Museum of Florida. It’s worth a visit just to see the beautiful sanctuary where Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky used to pray, but the real treasures are the exhibits offering a fascinating glimpse into the history of this uniquely American Jewish community. Plus the museum is in the heart of South Beach, the storied neighborhood worth a trip for its nightlife, beaches and art deco architecture.
Perhaps the saddest event in the city’s Jewish history came in 1939, when the S.S. St. Louis, after being turned away from Cuba, dropped anchor in the ocean close enough to Miami Beach that the ship, filled with German Jewish refugees, was within view of the synagogue. But President Franklin Roosevelt refused entry to the hundreds of passengers trying to flee the Nazi onslaught and the ship sailed back to Europe. About half its passengers would die during the Holocaust.
Today, Miami Beach doesn’t just welcome Jews, it seeks them out.
The Eden Roc Miami Beach, an art deco gem located on Collins Avenue in the 46th Street area, is one of two Miami Beach hotels with an inhouse kosher kitchen. The idea behind the $1 million kitchen — which opens for bar mitzvahs, weddings and, of course, Passover — isn’t just to offer better food but to send a message.
“We want you to know that kosher or not, your food and your experience is valuable to us,” said David Siguaw, Eden Roc’s director of sales and marketing.
The food isn’t the only reason to stay at the Eden Roc (the hotel hosted my visit). The 631-room hotel underwent a $240 million renovation in 2009 that added a new tower and gave a fresh feel to its expansive rooms, multiple pools and hot tubs, spa, and bars and restaurants. The prize, however, is the view. From the wicker lounge chairs on your balcony, you can take in the azure water, the golden beach and the hotel towers that line the island.
Both the Eden Roc and its next-door neighbor, the Fontainebleau, were designed by architect Morris Lapidus, the Russian Jewish immigrant perhaps most associated with the Miami Beach hotels that went up in the 1950s.
The Fontainebleau, which underwent its own $1 billion renovation in 2008, is like a flotilla of cruise ships. Spread out over 22 acres — the largest single property in Miami Beach — the landmark hotel has 1,504 rooms in four towers; six restaurants, including its own butchery, pastry shop, fishery and chocolatier; a dozen pools and hot tubs, the biggest of which has 325,000 gallons of water in the hotel’s signature bow-tie shape; and one of Florida’s most popular nightclubs, Liv, which on Christmas Eve hosts Miami Beach’s popular “Matzo Ball.”
On Passover, the Fontainebleau is about two-thirds kosher, with 1,200-1,500 kosher-observing guests. Joseph Gerbino, the hotel’s public relations director, says part of what makes the holiday at the hotel unique is seeing tattooed non-Jewish guests sharing poolside lounges with visibly Orthodox Jews.
Staying at the hotels does not come cheap. In winter it’s tough to find rooms for less than $300 a night at either the Eden Roc or the Fontainebleau. But there are plenty of acceptable alternatives up and down the strip, some in the $200 range (not including exorbitant overnight parking fees of $30 or more).
Or you can just stay on the pullout couch at your Uncle Morty’s condo in Boca.The first photo of the baby girl who survived being ripped from her mother's womb after she was allegedly murdered by her neighbours.
The first photo of the baby girl who survived being ripped from her mother's womb after she was allegedly murdered by her neighbours.
First photo of newborn who survived after she was allegedly ripped from mother's womb by neighbours
Savanna Lafontaine-Greywind (22) was eight months pregnant when she went missing from her home in North Dakota, US on August 19.
Little Haisley Jo. Photo: Ash Worth / Facebook
Her boyfriend of seven years, Ashton Metheny, and her parents called the police after she failed to return home following a visit to her neighbours' house.
Neighbours reported hearing the cries of a baby coming from the house of her neighbours', Brooke Lynn Crews (38) and William Henry Hoehn (32).
Police searched the apartment and then arrested Crews and Hoehn when they found the couple with a newborn baby, who they believed to be the child of missing Savanna.
Days later, kayakers found Ms Lafontaine-Greywind body wrapped in plastic, floating along the river on a log in Fargo, North Dakota, according to Forum News.
Tragic Savanna Lafontaine-Greywind. Photo: Savanna Lafontaine-Greywind / Facebook
Crews and Cohen were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and giving false information to police, PEOPLE reports.
The baby's father Ashton has shared photos on Facebook of his daughter, Haisley Jo, after they were reunited.
Savanna's longtime boyfriend Ashton Worth. Photo: Facebook
Savanna's mother, Norberta Greywind, said that her granddaughter is healthy and that they have not heard when she will be released from Sanford Health Hospital.
Norbeta told PEOPLE that her daughter "loved everyone, she loved kids, her family - she would have been a wonderful mom."
Savanna's mother Noberta Greywind speaks to the press. Photo: Facebook
William Henry Hoehn Photo: Fargo Police Department
Brooke Lynne Crews Photo: Fargo Police Department
Online EditorsNo jab, no pay: Labor cautious about Government proposal to link more obligations to welfare
Updated
Labor is yet to confirm whether it will back the Government's proposed extension of the mutual obligation concept used in the "no jab, no pay" policy to other areas of welfare, despite warning the Coalition against funding cuts.
Key points: Social Services Minister says policy of mutual obligation is "utterly outstanding"
St Vincent de Paul Society CEO says it is an "old, tried and tired measure"
Shorten warns against "going after the poorest in our community"
Social Services Minister Christian Porter told the National Press Club yesterday the policy of mutual obligation was "utterly outstanding" and an expansion was worth exploring.
Mr Porter floated the idea of linking school attendance to welfare payments, something which St Vincent de Paul Society chief executive John Falzon criticised.
Dr Falzon told the ABC that it was an "old, tried and tired measure".
"It's just another iteration of taking a stick to the backs of people who have been pushed to the edges," he said.
"It's very disappointing to see this being dressed up as something new and innovative … It's very disappointing that the starting point for this so-called welfare revolution is to cut out a level of social expenditure."
Questioned about the issue today, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters Labor would examine any proposals to extend the concept "carefully and constructively".
He warned against cutting payments for recipients.
"We're up for a discussion about how you break the cycle of poverty," he said.
"But some of the ways in which you break the cycle of poverty don't involve going after the poorest in our community and cutting their funding," he said.
In his address to the National Press Club, Mr Porter said the mutual obligation idea rule could be extended to:
Refraining from excessive alcohol or from illicit drug use, where evidence clearly shows it creates barriers to employment;
Turning up to key work appointments in a timely manner;
Paying debts owed to the taxpayer; and
Ensuring children attend school.
"The reason why the no jab, no pay policy worked so well was because it was designed to within an inch of its life — it was really, really thoroughly assessed," Mr Porter said.
"What I am proposing simply is that there are other areas where if you had the same stringency of design, it's quite possible that you could have also very good results."
Topics: welfare, federal-government, australia
First posted0:36 Intro. Kling podcast: thanks for feedback. Timely stuff: slim operation, taping in advance, editing, changing. Clay Shirky. Role of technology and allowing spontaneous organizations to emerge. Why do they emerge and what stops them? Famous observation, Coase, 1930s: organizations exist to lower transactions costs. If markets are such a good idea, why do we have firms? If everything were a market, the cost of discovering opportunity and writing a contract for every little thing would swamp the ability of the organization to get anything done. Pencils for desk. Markets exist where level of transaction is large enough and complexity of interacting actors large enough that you can't have an organized firm. Communism. Internet mobile phones applications: finding things easier because of search engines; transactions easier. Easier to find people interested in what you are interested in or who have skills complementary to yours. Sharing, collaboration, social tools. What we didn't notice: In additional to nominal Coasian ceiling, also a Coasian floor. There is a set of transactions that no one engages in because you have to be organized to engage in them but no organization is willing to eat the costs. Transactions costs are too high. Middle management is the requirement.
4:45 Overhead of maintaining an institution that can lower those costs itself entails costs. Example: 2005, Coney Island, run-down amusement park, Mermaid Parade. On Flickr, photo-sharing, thousands of pictures of the Mermaid Parade. Flickr had added tagging. Automatically got this aggregate view. Cost of doing this institutionally would have included advertising and doing something to coordinate and extract those people's motives. No profit motive; no one would stand up on floor of House of Representatives. What Flickr did was something no institution could do: side-effect. Gap between a bunch of people want to look at this a little bit and bunch of people are willing to pay a lot of money to look at this. There is value there, but not enough to overcome the transactions costs of putting that produce together. Completely unintended. Beyond Flickr's staff's capabilities. Beta program that allows people to aggregate photos and create a 3-D image. Photosynth. Need multiple exposures of a single space to knit together. Average city block, need amateurs involved. Aggregating step is the missing piece. Coasian floor has dropped. Words becoming less important, images becoming more important. Flickr, over 3 billion images; Facebook over 5 million. Most totally uninteresting. Big change here is the fusing of the old pattern of a broadcast network and a communications network. TV different from phone. Now all coming into the same box. Cognitive dissonance. Photo of someone else's niece is totally uninteresting; but the people who do care are very interested. Things are in public but not for the public. Something doesn't have to be interesting to more than two people to be worth putting up on line. Creates incentive to create more pictures. Plus, looking at pictures of other people's families teaches how to take better pictures, greater interest in photography. Old model: had to join a photo club, subscribe to a magazine--high threshold. Gap is now a spectrum.
14:28 Economics of organizations: birthday paradox, choosing a movie. What happens to social complexity as the size of the network goes up? Standing in line with 35 other people. Guy next to you says "I'll bet you $100 bucks that 2 people in the line have the same birthday." Most people won't take it because they think there's only a 1 in 10 chance. They are thinking about the wrong thing. Doesn't count individuals. Counts pairs. For three people, three pairs of birthdays; four people, six pairs of birthdays; five, 10 pairs of birthdays. Number of pairs rises with the square of the number of participants, not at the same rate as the number of participants. By the time you get 36 people, over 80% chance that two share a birthday. Nodes. Large organizations are qualitatively different from small ones. Big city is not just a small city on steroids. If you and a friend want to go to a movie, relatively easy. Try to get 10 friends to agree on a movie: 45 comparisons. Soon get to a point where there has to be some formal mechanism like voting, or governance, like "I'm going to this movie." Requirement for unilateralism isn't like it's politically evil; it's the only way to organize large groups in an institutional setting. Different on the web because web privileges strategies of effectiveness over efficiency. Wikipedia: roughly 2 million contributors in English, something like 5 million across multiple languages. Managerial group is tiny by comparison. Much smaller relative to newspaper writers vs. managerial staff. Registering every user, even if it cost only a nickel, would cost a million dollars. Would bankrupt the organization. Wisdom of crowds, Hayek. Sounds more Age of Aquarius: when we see organized behavior we assume someone is organizing it; not old way hierarchies, new way networks.
20:40 10-person example: collective action is difficult because of our differences, different preferences, different costs. Democracy: high transaction cost, inefficient? Two kinds of democracy: direct and representative. Direct: Swiss canton system, town meetings, specifically limited by scale. Certain sizes of cantonships that are not allowed to have direct democracy. Ditto in Massachusetts. Sometimes a family has trouble; often done autocratically. Can you do a better job of representing people's preferences in such a way that relies less on representatives. New York City: council may vote to overturn term limits although public has voted for term limits, Mayor wants to run another term and also offering another term to council members. Bug in representative system. Email, mobile phones are a possibility now. Gory action film versus romantic comedy as movie choices, vote produces |
30,000 budget to expand their efforts. Weinberg took his role as a government cooperator seriously and, following an initial run of success, floated the idea to open a bogus business run by a phony Arab sheik with plenty of cash to spend on just about anything. "Mel said, 'Let's have them come to us,'" Good recalled. Weinberg then spread the word about the sheik and his firm, Abdul Enterprises. Abscam was born.
Taking bribes
New Jersey had just approved gambling for Atlantic City, and Weinberg sent out word that they were looking to pay bribes to anyone who could help win a casino license. Suddenly, the phone at Abdul Enterprises' office, in Hauppauge, N.Y, was ringing nonstop, and it wasn't the usual flotsam of hardcore swindlers who were calling. In December 1978, Angelo Errichetti, the mayor of Camden, introduced himself. (In "American Hustle," the Errichetti-like character is played by Renner.) Charming to a fault, Errichetti said he was seeking a gaming license with a group of partners and needed $400,000 of the sheik’s money. (Three different FBI agents would portray the sheik during Abscam). The money, Errichetti said, would be used to bribe politicians and New Jersey state officials to ensure the success of the casino application. Soon after, he received $25,000 to pass along to a gaming official. Amoroso, a New Yorker from the Bronx who was working stolen goods cases in Miami, joined the investigation not long after. Weinberg and Amoroso hit it off immediately. Soon, Sen. Harrison Williams of New Jersey was in their sights after he promised, among other things, to help the sheik gain permanent residence in the U.S. No member of the United States Senate had been convicted of a crime since World War I, a fact that wasn’t lost on Good. Weinberg recommended holding a party and introducing Williams, Errichetti and others to the sheik. Amoroso suggested using a yacht the U.S. Customs Service found floating crewless in the Caribbean Sea, loaded with four tons of marijuana. In July 1979 the yacht, wired with surveillance cameras, sailed through Biscayne Harbor, at the southern tip of Florida, filled with politicians and lawyers, plus Weinberg, Amoroso and the "sheik." (The same boat was later used in the FBI's so-called Donne Brasco Mafia investigation, which was also headed by Good.) They all took pictures with the sheik (at that time, FBI agent Richard Farhart, who was of Lebanese descent) and talked up deals.
This wasn't the way the government was supposed to work. I didn't realize it was this bad. Sometimes when you catch a murderer, for example, you are elated. This was different. I wished it wasn’t happening. There were tears in the room Francis 'Bud' Mullen former FBI assisant director
On Aug. 8, FBI surveillance tapes showing the yacht party and prior clandestine payoffs were played for senior bureau officials, including then Director William Webster and his assistant director, Francis "Bud" Mullen. Mullen, long retired and living in Virginia, praises the investigation and says he thought it was "ingenious" to enlist Weinberg. But he says Webster, knowing the probe would entangle Congress, was uncomfortable with what the bureau was getting itself into. Even so, he allowed the agents to continue their probe. After watching the video tapes of politicians stuffing their pockets with cash, FBI officials were shocked. "This wasn't the way the government was supposed to work," says Mullen. "I didn't realize it was this bad. Sometimes when you catch a murderer, for example, you are elated. This was different. I wished it wasn’t happening. There were tears in the room." In addition to politicians, the investigation was about to target one of the most notorious figures in mob history: Meyer Lansky. Lansky's representatives sought substantial funds from Abdul Enterprises to buy real estate in Miami and interests in planned Atlantic City casinos, which would have given him full control of the burgeoning gambling mecca. But Good's supervisors in Washington, D.C., pulled the Abscam agents off the Lansky trail in order to focus on politicians. There was also a deepening turf battle with the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey that demanded their full attention. According to a confidential FBI report prepared for Webster for his testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee in 1982, New Jersey's U.S. attorney, Robert Del Tufo and his office had been "embarrassed" by the "cesspool of corruption" uncovered in their own backyard and tried to derail the Abscam probe, even refusing to convene a grand jury for several participants, including Errichetti. Del Tufo was also believed to be tipping off political targets in New Jersey, including Williams. Del Tufo, who would later become state attorney general in 1989 under Governor James Florio (another Abscam target, though never charged), has maintained that Abscam was a rogue investigation that went way beyond the boundaries of Justice Department guidelines.
I naively thought Congress wanted to get rid of the bad apples. Boy, was I wrong. I thought we were doing a good thing here, but it turned out Congress didn't agree with that. They were angry Francis 'Bud' Mullen former FBI assistant director
By the end of 1979, the FBI was ready to call it quits on Abscam. Good and his team, which at times included some 50 agents, had promised tens of thousands in bribes they knew they couldn't deliver. Thomas Puccio, the mercurial but brilliant U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, who headed the strike force overseeing Abscam, had drawn up his official report identifying the members of Congress who would be charged and their alleged crimes. Two months later, with Puccio's "prosecution memo" circulating among a small group within the FBI, Good says he received a call from Neil Welch, head of the Manhattan office. Welch had an odd request, according to Good: He wanted to leak the investigation to the press. "He wanted me to do an interview with a 'New York Times' reporter," said Good. "I couldn't believe it. I gave (Puccio's) memo to him out of courtesy, but now he wants to give it to the press so he could take credit for the whole thing. I told him to put the request in writing." Welch ignored his instructions and sent the reporter, Leslie Maitland, to Brooklyn to see Puccio, who Good says threw Maitland out of his office. "The next thing we know, it's all on the front page of 'The New York Times,'" Good remembers. The FBI conducted a massive internal investigation. The leaker was never identified, though Welch refused to take a polygraph test and resigned soon after, according to Good. Welch declined to comment for this story. By September 1980, with the investigation out in the open, the charges filed and the first trial, involving Democratic Rep. Michael "Ozzie" Myers of Pennsylvania and Errichetti, about to begin, the three television networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — successfully petitioned a federal court judge to mandate the release of the videotapes. Initially, public sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the FBI's actions. But Congress was seething. "I was new in Washington, not part of the political process," says Mullen. "I naively thought Congress wanted to get rid of the bad apples. Boy, was I wrong. I thought we were doing a good thing here, but it turned out Congress didn’t agree with that. They were angry." The Senate and House both held hearings amid a growing national debate over whether it was appropriate for the FBI to rely on a convicted swindler. Things got even dicier when Weinberg’s wife, Marie, committed suicide after alleging on national television that her husband had extorted gifts and money from some of the investigation’s middlemen. "None of that was true," says Good. "We had a very tight squeeze on Mel and knew everything he was doing." But public sentiment began to change amid assertions that the FBI had used Weinberg to entrap politicians. Congress took out its anger on senior FBI officials. When Mullen was nominated to be director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in 1981, his confirmation hearings turned into an raucous debate over Abscam that lasted some 19 months. Webster, a brilliant attorney long considered a candidate for appointment to the Supreme Court, would never receive a nomination. Good and Amoroso did not go unscathed either. After testifying before Congress and in the Abscam trials, both men sought transfers overseas — Good to London and Amoroso to Rome. "They were open positions, no one wanted them, but we were denied," says Good.
Money plays a much bigger and more important role in Congress than in those days. It's become so egregiously escalated since Abscam that we are ripe for another scandal. Craig Holman government-affairs lobbyist for Public CitizenBryan Hamade (Picture: Imgur)
An international hunt for a hacker thought to be behind dozens of leaked naked photos of celebrities has closed in on a 4chan user called Bryan Hamade.
Hamade, who goes by the online username BluntMastermind, was forced to issue a denial today after Reddit users began posting alleged ‘evidence’ of his part in the mass hack.
‘Evidence’ included screenshots of his computer, which were said to reveal his hard drive and network drive details. These were then allegedly ‘linked’ back to the PC name attached to the original 4chan naked photo file release.
The 27-year-old American from Lawrenceville, Georgia, drew attention to himself after trying to sell photographs of Jennifer Lawrence in the nude for $100 bitcoins on Reddit.
But Hamade later denied being the source of the hack, which allegedly saw 101 celebrities’ photographs stolen, calling himself an ‘idiot’ for the attempted sale.
He told Buzzfeed today: ‘I am not behind this. It was so stupid — I saw a lot of people posting the actual leaks and bitcoin addresses and I’ve read a lot about bitcoin and how they are valuable and I thought, oh cool I’ll get free bitcoins.
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‘I am just an idiot who tried to pull one over on 4chan and lost big time and stupidly left this identifying information. They took my proof and back traced it — it isn’t remotely true. I am not a hacker. I have no idea how the hell someone could hack into all those accounts’.
Some of the ‘evidence’ presented by users on Reddit claiming it shows how Hamade was behind the hack (Picture: Imgur)
His denial comes as a new message was posted to the hacker’s 4chan account claiming he was on the run.
The user, called ‘OriginalGuy’ on the site, also claimed it was a group of hackers behind the leak and he was the ringleader.
He confirmed the hack had taken them several months to complete.
He wrote: ‘Guys, just to let you know I didn’t do this by myself.
‘There are several other people who were in on it and I needed to count on to make this happened (sic).
‘This is the result of several months of long and hard work by all involved. We appreciate your donations and applaud your excitement.
‘I will soon be moving to another location from which I will continue to post.’
The FBI has said it is investigating.I have introduced and discussed the Garbage First Garbage Collector here on InfoQ in a couple of previous articles - G1: One Garbage Collector To Rule Them All and Tips for Tuning the Garbage First Garbage Collector.
Today I would like to discuss JEP 248, the proposal to make G1 the default GC, targeted for OpenJDK 9. As of OpenJDK 8, the throughput GC (also known as Parallel GC), and more recently - ParallelOld GC (ParallelOld means that both -XX:+UseParallelGC and -XX:+UseParallelOldGC are enabled) has been the default GC for OpenJDK. Anyone wanting to use a different garbage collection algorithm, would have to explicitly enable it on the command line. For example, if you wanted to employ G1 GC, you would need to select it on the command line using -XX:+UseG1GC.
The proposal to set G1 GC as a default GC for OpenJDK 9 has been a major source of community concern, which has given rise to a few amazing discussions, and has eventually led to the updating of the original proposal in order to incorporate a clause to provide the ability to revert back to using Parallel GC as the default.
So, Why G1 GC?
You may be familiar with the software optimization tradeoff: Software can be optimized for latency, throughput or footprint. The same is true for GC optimizations, and is reflected in the various popular GCs. You could also focus on two of those three, but trying to optimize for all three is enormously difficult. OpenJDK HotSpot GC algorithms are geared towards optimizing one of the three - for example, Serial GC is optimized to have minimal footprint, Parallel GC is optimized for throughput and (mostly) Concurrent Mark and Sweep GC (commonly known as CMS) is optimized for minimizing GC induced latencies and providing improved response times. So, why do we need G1?
G1 GC comes in as a long term replacement for CMS. CMS in its current state has a pathological issue that will lead it to concurrent mode failures, eventually leading to a full heap compacting collection. You can tune CMS to postpone the currently single threaded full heap compacting collection, but ultimately it can’t be avoided. You can tune CMS to postpone the currently single threaded full heap compacting fallback collection, but ultimately it can’t be avoided. In the future, the fallback collection could be improved to employ multiple GC threads for faster execution; but again, a full compacting collection can’t be avoided.
Another important point is that even for the well seasoned GC engineer, maintenance of CMS has proven to be very challenging; one of the goals for the active HotSpot GC maintainers has been to keep CMS stable.
Also, CMS GC, Parallel GC and G1 GC all are implemented with different GC frameworks. The cost of maintaining three different GCs, each using its own distinct GC framework is high. It seems to me that G1 GC’s regionalized heap framework, where the unit of collection is a region and various such regions can make up the generations within the contiguous Java heap, is where the future is heading - IBM has their Balanced GC, Azul has C4, and most recently there is the OpenJDK proposal called Shenandoah. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a similar regionalized heap-based implementation of a throughput GC, which could offer the throughput and adaptive sizing benefits of Parallel GC. So potentially the number of GC frameworks used in HotSpot could be reduced, thereby reducing the cost of maintenance, which in turn enables more rapid development of new GC features and capabilities.
G1 GC became fully supported in OpenJDK 7 update 4, and since then it’s been getting better and more robust with massive help from the OpenJDK community. To learn more about G1, I highly recommend the earlier mentioned InfoQ articles, but let me summarize a few key takeaways:
G1 GC provides a regionalized heap framework. This helps provide immense tunability to the generations, since now the unit of collection (a region) is smaller than the generation itself. And increasing/ decreasing the generation size is as simple as adding/removing a region from the free regions list. Note: Even though the entire heap is contiguous; the regions in a particular generation don’t have to be contiguous.
G1 GC is designed on the principle of collecting the most garbage first. G1 has distinct collection sets (CSet) for young and mixed collections (for more information please refer to this article). For mixed collections, the collection set is comprised of all the young regions and a few candidate old regions. The concurrent marking cycle helps identify these candidate old regions, and they are effectively added to the mixed collection set. The tuning switches available for the old generation in G1 GC are more direct, many more in number, and provide more control than the limited size tuneables offered in Parallel GC or the size and 'initiation of marking' threshold settings offered in CMS. The future that I envision here is an adaptive G1 GC that can predictively optimize the collection set and the marking threshold based on the stats gathered during the marking and collection cycles. An evacuation failure in G1 GC is also (so-to-speak) a “tunable”. Unlike CMS, fragmentation in G1 is not something that accumulates over time and which leads to expensive collection(s) and concurrent mode failures. In G1, the fragmentation is minimal and controlled by tunables. Some fragmentation is also introduced by very large objects that that don't follow the normal allocation path. These very large objects (also known as 'humongous objects') are allocated directly out of the old generation into regions known as 'humongous regions'. (Note: To learn more about humongous objects and humongous allocations please refer to this article). But when these humongous objects die, they are collected and thus the fragmentation dies with them. In the current state, it can still at times be a bit of a heap region and heap occupancy tuning nightmare, especially when you are trying to work with restricted resources; but again, making the G1 algorithm more adaptive would lead to the end user not encountering any failures.
G1 GC is scalable! The G1 GC algorithm is designed with scalability in mind. Compare this with ParallelGC and you have something that scales with your heap size and load without much of a compromise in your application’s throughput.
Why Now?
The proposal is targeted for OpenJDK 9. OpenJDK 9 general availability is targeted for September of 2016, which is still a year away. The hope is that the OpenJDK community members that choose to work with early access builds and release candidates are the ones that can test the feasibility of G1 GC as the default GC and also help with providing timely feedback and even provide code changes.
Also, the only end users that are impacted are those who do not set an explicit GC today; those that set an explicit GC on the command line, are not impacted by this change. The ones who do not set a GC explicitly will be using G1 GC instead of Parallel GC, and if they want to continue to use Parallel GC, they merely have to set -XX:+UseParallelGC (the current default that enables parallel GC threads for young collection) on their JVM command line. Note: With the introduction of -XX:+UseParallelOldGC in JDK 5 update 6; for all recent builds, you will find that if you set -XX:+UseParallelGC on the JVM command line, -XX:+UseParallelOldGC will also be enabled, hence parallel GC threads will also be employed for full collections. Hence, if you are working with >JDK 6 builds, setting either of these command line options will offer the same GC behavior as you had previously.
When Would You Choose G1 GC over Parallel GC?
As mentioned in this article, Parallel GC doesn’t do incremental collection, hence it ends up sacrificing latency for throughput. For larger heaps as the load increases, the GC pause times will often increase as well, possibly compromising your latency related system level agreements (SLAs).
G1 may help deliver your response time SLAs with a smaller heap footprint, since G1’s mixed collection pauses should be considerably shorter than the full collections in Parallel GC.
When Would You Choose G1 GC over CMS GC?
In its current state, a tuned G1 can and will meet the latency SLAs that a CMS GC can’t due to fragmentation and concurrent mode failures. Worst case pause times with mixed collections are expected to be better than the worst case full compaction pauses that CMS will encounter. As mentioned earlier, one can postpone but not prevent the fragmentation of a CMS heap. Some developers working with CMS have come up with workarounds to combat the fragmentation issue by allocating objects in similar sized chunks. But those are workarounds that are built around CMS; the inherent nature of CMS is that it is prone to fragmentation and will need a full compacting collection. I am also aware of companies like Google who build and run their own private JDK built from OpenJDK sources with specific source code changes to help their needs. For example in an effort to reduce fragmentation, a Google engineer has mentioned that they have added a form of incremental compaction to their (private) CMS GC’s remark phase and have also made their CMS GC more stable (see: http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/hotspot-dev/2015-July/019534.html).
Note: Incremental compaction comes with its own costs. Google probably added incremental compaction after weighing the benefits to their specific use-case.
Why Did The JEP Become Such A Hot Topic?
Many OpenJDK community members have voiced their concern over whether G1 is ready for prime time. Members have provided their observations on their experience with G1 in the field. Ever since G1 was fully supported, it has been touted as a CMS replacement. But the community has concerns that with this JEP it now feels like G1 is in fact replacing Parallel GC, not CMS. Hence, it is widely believed that while there may be data comparing CMS to G1 (due to businesses migrating from CMS to G1) there is not sufficient data comparing Parallel GC (the current default) to G1 (the proposed default). Also, field data seems to indicate that most businesses are still using the default GC, and so will definitely observe a change in behavior when G1 becomes the default GC.
There have also been observations that G1 has showcased some important (albeit very hard to reproduce) issues of index corruption and such issues need to be studied and rectified before G1 is made the default.
There are also others that ask whether we still need a single default GC that is not based on “ergonomics”. (For example, since Java 5, if your system identified as a “server-class” system, the default JVM would change to server VM instead of client VM (ref: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/technotes/guides/vm/server-class.html)).
Summary
After much back and forth, finally Charlie Hunt, Performance Architect at Oracle summarized and proposed the following plan moving forward (Note: The excerpt below is referenced from here: http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/hotspot-dev/2015-June/018804.html):
“Make G1 the default collector in JDK 9, continue to evaluate G1 and enhance G1 in JDK 9
Mitigate risk by reverting back to Parallel GC before JDK 9 goes “Generally Available” (Sept 22, 2016 [1]) if warranted by continuing to monitor observations and experiences with G1 in both JDK 9 pre-releases and latest JDK 8 update releases.
Address enhancing ergonomics for selecting a default GC as a separate JEP if future observations suggests it’s needed.”
Also, Staffan Friberg of Java SE Performance team at Oracle urged the community to help gather data points for key metrics. I have paraphrased Staffan’s message for conciseness:
the startup time: to ensure that the G1 infrastructural complexity doesn’t introduce much delay at the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) initialization;
the throughput: G1 is going head to head with the throughput GC. G1 also has pre and post write barriers. The throughput metric is the key in understanding how much of an overload can the barriers impose on the application.
the footprint: G1 has remembered sets and collection set that do increase the footprint. Data gathered from the field should provide enough information to understand the impact of increased footprint.
the out-of-box performance: businesses that go with the default GC, many-a-times also go with the out-of-box performance provided by that GC. Hence it is important to understand the out-of-box performance of G1. Here the GC ergonomics and adaptiveness plays an important part.
Staffan also helped identify the business applications that currently employ the default GC algorithm will be the ones impacted by the change in the default GC. Similarly scripts that don’t specify a GC or interfaces that specify just the Java heap and generation sizes on the command line with be impacted by the change in the default GC algorithm.
Acknowledgement
I would like to extend my gratitude to Charlie Hunt for his review of this article.
About the Author
Monica Beckwith is a Java Performance Consultant. Her past experiences include working with Oracle/Sun and AMD; optimizing the JVM for server class systems. Monica was voted a Rock Star speaker @JavaOne 2013 and was the performance lead for Garbage First Garbage Collector (G1 GC). You can follow Monica on twitter @mon_beckLeague of Legends European Challenger Team Huma has found a buyer, and the squad is rebranding to Paris Saint-Germain. This follows Riot Games forcing Huma's owner to sell the team for failing to compensate players.
French football club Paris Saint-Germain recently partnered with media company Webedia and subsidiary Bang Bang Management with the goal of creating an esports team with PSG branding, Le Figaro reported. While PSG did not directly purchase Team Huma — Webedia did — the Huma players and organization will be able to use the PSG brand.
Team Huma's previous owner Behda Jaafarian was forced to sell the team by League developer Riot Games after it discovered the team failed to pay players on time. Jaafarian and the Huma franchise were banned from owning teams in any Riot-affiliated competitions.
Team Huma sold for roughly $70,000.
Before the shake up, Team Huma placed third/fourth in the European Challenger Series Summer Playoffs and placed first in the Spring Playoffs in 2016. The team will continue to compete as a Challenger team as Paris Saint-Germain.
Paris Saint-Germain is part of a larger trend of traditional sports merging with esports. Before the Sixers purchased Dignitas and Apex, Echo Fox was founded by former NBA player Rick Fox, NRG Esports was formed by the co-owners of the Sacramento Kings with investments from Shaquille O'Neal and multiple soccer organizations own FIFA esports players.
These investments in esports don't come as a surprise — the esports industry was recently valued at almost $900 million, and organizations are interested in what they can get out of that.This special collection of seven of Walt Simonson’s issues of The Mighty Thor represents some of the finest artwork and storytelling the series has ever seen.
Have you ever been in the presence of sheer wonder?
I hope I haven’t over-dramatized my point, but this special collection of seven of Simonson’s issues of The Mighty Thor (Issues # 337 to #340 and #360 to 362) represents some of the finest artwork and storytelling the series has ever seen.
Like any comic-collecting kid in the 70’s and 80’s I was aware of Marvel’s The Mighty Thor, but I dismissed the title as frivolous. I was a bit of a mythology fanatic at the time and I wasn’t able to reconcile Stan Lee’s Thor with the Teutonic god. To me, if you were going to do a comic book about a legend, then you needed some of the hallmarks of that legendary character, something more pronounced than just the names.
Then along came Walt Simonson.
Simonson’s art reinvented the whole comic for me. Not only did he incorporate the background legends, and the Anglo-Saxon/Nordic customs and traditions into his stories, he even changed the architecture of Asgard from techno-spotted, monorail-ridden spires into lofty stone towers punctuated with dragon heads and runic motifs.
Simonson converted me to the Church of Thor.
With the re-invention and new graphic representation of Thor, Simonson also re-ignited my passion for mythology. So much so that when given the opportunity at my University, I studied Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon poetry, recognizing and delighting in the familiar inspirations of one of my most revered comic artists. Simonson’s work had a huge influence on my education. Consequently, in my current role as a teacher of English and History, I am able to pass on that influence to my students in turn.
This is why I am completely blown away and overwhelmed by the Second Printing of Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor:Artist’s Edition.
If you haven’t seen an Artist’s Edition before, the books are oversized, to provide space for the finely detailed copies of the original galley pages. Complete with white-out marks, taped-over dialogue and smudge marks, you are that much closer to seeing the art as it was first created.. Due to size, it’s a physically unwieldy book to read, but this affords the reader the ability to truly indulge in t he artwork. At close-up range, you are able to appreciate the detail of Simonson’s work – his expressive characters, the intricate working parts of the jewellery, the filigree on the weapons and armour. (I am compelled to mention that Simonson’s skill in reproducing a beard is legendary – I don’t know any other artist who can draw facial hair like this guy!) Of course, the hirsute Vikings add yet another dimension of historical veracity into this Thor; one more exquisite detail that places the Thunder God back into the realm of Nordic pre-history.
Just as compelling as the art are the story lines chosen for this re-issued edition. Issues #337 to #340 introduced Beta-Ray Bill – one of the only beings worthy enough to not only bear Mjolnir, but also to wrest it away from Thor in combat. Bill was to become a beloved character in the series, as well as a staunch ally to Thor – one he called brother. Even though the alien Bill was hardly the stuff of ancient Viking mead-halls, he was still a hero. One I could accept because of his innate worthiness and sense of duty to his people. After all, if the heroes and lords of Asgard could welcome him into their ranks, couldn’t I as well? It is in moments like these that we see that Simonson’s skill as an artist is matched by his talent as a storyteller. To be able to introduce such an alien element as Beta Ray Bill into this tapestry of human culture and actually make him work is something no less than masterful.
Simonson’s stories recall the tales of the ancient Skalds. They are rich, epic, endearing tales of bravery, loss, and sacrifice. In the arc of issues #360-363 Thor leads an army of heroes into Hel to recover unjustly imprisoned souls. There he is savagely scarred in his battle with Hela, Queen of Hel, and Skurge the Executioner – one of Thor’s oldest enemies – reveals a side of heroism one would not have expected. Thor rides into battle on his chariot pulled by his two goats (true to Norse myth) after summoning powerful spirits through rune stones – pure legendary magic. Simonson then introduces a modern twist as Thor’s army equip themselves with modern M-16 rifles and various other small arms in addition to their axes and swords. Only Simonson could have fused these two starkly contrasting and incongruous elements together and make it work so well.
I was very fortunate to have met this exceptional talent (and his lovely wife Louise), and to thank him personally for his incredibly positive influence on my life and education. This amazing special edition is made possible because of Walt’s ownership of his original art, and I highly recommend it.
For Asgard!The working class’s role in Trump’s election
Caroline Freund
Many analysts have argued that Trump’s promises to bring back US manufacturing paved the way for his election victory. This column compares electoral data from 2016 with previous elections and argues that education and race were far bigger factors than a county’s share of manufacturing jobs in determining the change in its voting from the 2012 election. In addition, relatively low voting rates among Democratic voters were a bigger contributor to the results than high voting rates among Republicans. Trump did not win the white working class, Clinton lost it.
President Donald Trump’s election victory last year was driven in part by support he got in the traditionally Democratic parts of the industrial Northeast and Midwest of the US. Many analysts have argued that Trump’s promises to bring back US manufacturing hollowed out by trade and technology changes paved the way for his achievement.
Recent empirical evidence shows that trade shocks can influence voting patterns. Autor et al. (2016) find that import competition from China is associated with increased political polarisation in US congressional elections, as measured by the number of moderate incumbents who lost their seats. Using data on voting patterns in six presidential elections, Jensen et al. (2016) extend this analysis to include trade in services and exports, and find that while rising imports are associated with more polarisation, rising exports are associated with more support for the incumbent. Che et al. (2016) find that greater import competition from China is correlated with increases in election turnout and the share of votes for a Democrat in congressional elections.
Evidence that the decline in manufacturing was not the real reason for Trump’s success
The data show that this bit of conventional wisdom might be misplaced. Education and race were far bigger factors in determining the change in voting results from the 2012 election. These two factors alone explain more than 70% of the variation in the Republican vote share across counties, as compared with the last election, and more than 80% in the swing states.
And within manufacturing, race mattered greatly: only the predominantly white manufacturing counties were drawn to Trump’s message. Racially diverse manufacturing counties rejected it. These twin factors roughly cancelled each other out. In the end, whether or not manufacturing was part of a county’s economic base did not have much of an effect on its change in voting behaviour.
In a new paper, Dario Sidhu and I examine electoral data from the 2016 compared with previous presidential elections (Freund and Sidhu 2017). The county-by-county breakdown in the data shows that on aggregate, manufacturing jobs did not play a significant role in the election results.
When economics, identity, and demographic variables were considered together, the share of employees in manufacturing was not significantly associated with increased support for Donald Trump, versus Mitt Romney in 2012. Even more striking, counties where manufacturing declined since 2000 – many of which received special attention during the campaign – also did not have an increase in their vote share for Trump from four years before.
None of this is to say manufacturing as an economic foundation for a county did not matter at all in the election. But it boosted Trump only in counties that were predominately white.
In mostly white manufacturing counties, there was a significant increase in the Republican vote share since 2012. In more racially and ethnically diverse manufacturing counties (above average share of black and Hispanic residents), there was a significant decline in the share of votes going to the Republican candidate. On aggregate, these effects roughly offset each other, with the net result that the presence of manufacturing in a county (or the extent of job loss) was not associated with the result. To the extent manufacturing played a role, it was through the ethnic makeup of counties. The impact of this effect was magnified in crucial swing states, where counties are on average less diverse than the nation as a whole.
Figure 1 Republican vote share change from 2012 to 2016 and manufacturing employment
Notes: Standardized coefficients. Additional controls, median wage, unemployment, labour force participation, age, religion, county size.
Source: Freund and Sidhu (2017).
Why are counties polarised within manufacturing by race?
There are two potential explanations for why predominantly white manufacturing counties became more Republican and diverse manufacturing counties voted more Democratic in this election.
The first is that economic shocks were different across white and diverse counties. Perhaps white manufacturing towns specialise in products more prone to technological change or facing pronounced import competition; alternatively, white manufacturing towns may have been largely one company towns with few alternative employment opportunities.
The second is that the two groups reacted differently to economic changes that have occurred over time. It is possible that white manufacturing towns rejected existing policies, such as openness to trade and increased income redistribution (for example, through the Affordable Care Act); while diverse manufacturing towns rejected the message that economic conditions in the US were deteriorating.
The analysis shows that the second explanation – different reactions to economic change – is more consistent with the data. Perhaps most telling, comparing the 2016 election results with the county’s share of employment in manufacturing from 1986 – when manufacturing employment was near its peak and one in four manufacturing workers was in a union – the same polarisation is evident. Historical manufacturing counties that are mostly white voted more Republican, but historical manufacturing towns that are relatively diverse voted more Democratic, as compared with 2012.
Does this mean the population is becoming more polarised?
Morris Fiorina, a political scientist at Stanford University, has shown that polarisation can be driven by the electorate or the candidates (Fiorina 2004). While a polarised population – with a large group on the right and a large group on the left – produces a split electorate, polarising candidates can yield a similar outcome, even if most of the population has centrist political views. The difference is that with an increasingly polarised electorate, voter participation should logically increase, as each group is tied to its candidate and opposed to the alternate. In contrast, with polarising candidates, the middle of the distribution is unsatisfied, so voter participation should in theory decrease.
When other factors are eliminated, the data show that the rise in the Republican share of votes in white manufacturing counties was largely due to a drop in Democratic votes; while the rise in the Democratic share in non-white manufacturing counties was driven by a relatively higher drop in Republican votes. In addition, on average across counties, as compared with 2012, relatively low voting rates among Democratic voters was a bigger contributor to the results than high voting rates among Republicans. Put differently, Trump did not win the white working class, Clinton lost it.
The 2016 election outcome is thus more consistent with Fiorina’s example of polarising candidates than a polarised electorate. The good news is that Americans are probably far less divided then they appear. The bad news is that the US desperately needs a more centrist and less partisan government to unify and lead, but that seems unlikely anytime soon.
References
Autor, D, D Dorn, G Hanson, and K Majlesi (2016), “Importing Political Polarization? The Electoral Consequences of Rising Trade Exposure”, NBER Working Paper No. 22637.
Che, Y, Y Lu, J R Pierce, P K Schott and Z Tao (2016), “Does Trade Liberalization with China Influence US Elections?”, NBER Working Paper No. 22178.
Fiorina, M (2004), Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America, Stanford University Press.
Freund, C and D Sidhu (2017), “Manufacturing and the 2016 Election: An Analysis of US Presidential Election Data”, PIIE Working |
% for 32 c and 36 c). Finally, almost 100% of lookups took 24 c.
Overall, it seems that both insertions and lookups in Robin Hood linear probing can be consistently faster than with quadratic probing.
4 Conclusion
I started looking at better hash tables some time ago (more than two years), and, finally, I think there’s something that’s simple and elegant, while providing exciting performance guarantees. Robin Hood linear probing preserves the nice access patterns of linear probing, on both lookups and insertions, but also avoids clustering issues; in fact, it seems to offer constant time lookups and inserts with a good probability, with logarithmic (probabilistic) worst case, even with a load factor of 75%. Also, interestingly, the layout of the table is completely independent of the order in which entries were inserted.
The theoretical performance isn’t as good as that of 2-left or cuckoo hashing. However, these two hashing schemes do not fare very well on modern commercial processors: two uncorrelated accesses can be more expensive than a surprisingly long linear search. In the end, even the worst case for Robin Hood linear probing is pretty good (logarithmic) and comparable to that of useful dictionaries like balanced search trees... and practical performance advantages like sequential access patterns look like they more than compensate the difference.
There’s one thing that I would like to see fixed with Robin Hood linear probing: it seems much harder to allow lock-free concurrent writes to it than with regular “First-come, first-served” linear probing.
Finally, there’s only one very stupid microbenchmark in this post. If you try to implement Robin Hood linear probing (after all, it’s only a couple lines of code added to a regular linear probing), I’d love to see follow-ups or even just short emails on its practical performance.OTTAWA – Upon hearing that a lab technician was possibly exposed to the Ebola virus, Canadians were relieved to hear that the exposure only occurred in Winnipeg.
“Oh, thank God,” explained Diane Sinclair of Regina. “I panicked when I heard it could be here, like in Canada. But I sighed relief when my friend told me the virus was only in some forgotten Manitoba town.”
Health Minister Jane Philpott explained that having the National Microbiology Lab strategically located in an isolated frozen hellscape will help prevent the spread of other infectious diseases.
“Winnipeg is the most ideal place to stack samples of smallpox, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, anthrax, and really anything else that will wipe out a good portion of humanity,” explained the Health Minister. “We’ve also thrown in some chemical weapons and a leaky nuclear reactor for further study.”
As an added safeguard, an elderly commissionaire is stationed at the front desk at Canada’s only Level 4 Laboratory armed with a clipboard and a pen to record the names of the people who want to sign in.Flawed Intelligence In The 'War Of Our Time'
Michael Morell, former CIA deputy director, talks to NPR's Rachel Martin about his new book, The Great War of Our Time. They discuss flawed CIA intelligence on Iraq and the rise of ISIS.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We're now going to hear from someone who has been involved in every major national security threat this country has faced since 9/11, and there have been many. His name is Michael Morell. And if you don't recognize the name, he won't be offended. Morell spent more than 30 years at the CIA, most of it out of the public eye, but right in the middle of crisis after crisis. He was with George W. Bush on 9/11 as the CIA daily briefer. Years later, he served twice as the acting head of the Central Intelligence Agency. Morell has written a new book. It is called "The Great War Of Our Time: The CIA's Fight Against Terrorism From Al Qa'ida To ISIS." Michael Morell joins me in our studios here in Washington. Thanks so much for coming in.
MICHAEL MORELL: It's great to be here.
MARTIN: You use this book to give your take on several of the most significant national security issues of the past, really, 15 years or so. I'd like to ask you about a few of them.
MORELL: Sure.
MARTIN: Starting with a big one - the flawed intelligence about Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program that led to the Iraq War. You write in the book that groupthink was part of the problem; others in government have suggested as much. Can you walk us through how that happens, especially in an agency that prides itself on being independent thinkers?
MORELL: In the sense of groupthink that I talked about, it was everyone who looked at this issue came to the same conclusion - that he had chemical weapons, that he had a biological weapons production capability and that he was restarting his nuclear weapons program, which we all knew that he once had and stopped. So everybody thought it. There were no outliers. There was nobody to raise a question, right. And that's where the groupthink really comes in.
MARTIN: But you yourself even had questions in the process. Small details, sentences in reports that you thought I don't think that's right, but I'm not going to say anything.
MORELL: Right. And that was at the end of the process really. That was when we were prepping Secretary Powell to go out and really tell this story to the American people and to the world that data points we used in the argument didn't seem to be holding up under the pretty intense questioning by the secretary. But I didn't say anything because I thought there was a, you know, a larger set of data there to support it. Looking back, you know, I wish I had made a different decision.
MARTIN: You write in the book an explicit apology to Colin Powell, the secretary of state at the time, who made the case for war in front of the United Nations. Why did you feel compelled to apologize?
MORELL: Because obviously the work of the agency did not meet our high standards, did not meet the standards that the president sets for us, that the American people expect of us. Secretary Powell, in particular, put his own reputation on the line. And it was a reputation that was well-earned over decades of public service. And so I thought it particularly important that I say something to him directly.
MARTIN: Have you ever issued that apology in person, perchance or on the phone?
MORELL: I did not issue it in person. I did give the secretary an advance copy of that chapter. He read it. He called me, and he thanked me for the apology.
MARTIN: It was interesting in the book, you wrote that Secretary Powell was so apprehensive about the intelligence that he actually drafted his remarks to the UN in the CIA at headquarters. And this was a big deal. This was notable. In fact, one high-level CIA analyst recused herself from the issue because she thought that the politics had seeped too far inside the intelligence committee.
MORELL: Yeah, what she thought as - and it's absolutely true is there's a very sharp line in our business between intelligence and policy. Intelligence officers are supposed to put the facts on the table and really walk away from the policy discussion. So when a policy maker comes to the agency to draft what is in essence a policy argument, she thought that was going too far. From the secretary's perspective, he thought it very important that the agency be seen as being behind the words that he was going to speak at the UN. That was very, very important to him.
MARTIN: Did the CIA face political pressure in finding evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass description?
MORELL: No. That is a myth. All you have to do is go back to the fact that the analysts believe this about Saddam Hussein long before George Bush ever came to office. So nobody had to push us. We were already there on the question of weapons of mass distruction.
MARTIN: I want to move on to the NSA surveillance program.
MORELL: Yes.
MARTIN: This was not a CIA program, but you were brought into this because President Obama asked you to be part of the review program. You write in the book that Edward Snowden contributed to the rise of ISIS. What evidence do you have to show that?
MORELL: So I can't get into specifics, but I'll tell you that there was a program that he disclosed that was vital to the United States' ability to see what terrorists are doing. And they all changed their communication habits because of that disclosure - al-Qaida in Pakistan, al-Qaida in Yemen and al-Qaida in Iraq, which morphed into ISIS. So there is no doubt in my mind that that change in behavior on the part of al-Qaida in Iraq and ISIS contributed to ISIS's rise. I'm not the only one to believe that. Nonpartisan senior kind of terrorism officials in our government have testified to Congress that they share that view.
MARTIN: That is also a convenient argument because, I mean, this was the worst intelligence leak in history, as you point out. And to then blame this man, Edward Snowden, on the rise of ISIS, in some way frees the CIA and perhaps other parts of the U.S. intelligence community from predicting the rise of ISIS. Does the CIA bear some responsibility in that, in not seeing that?
MORELL: So a very fair question, a very fair question. And I don't mean to imply it was the only factor, right, behind ISIS's rise. There were many, many factors behind ISIS's rise - the U.S. leaving Iraq and not leaving a stay-behind force, former Prime Minister Maliki's misbehavior with regard to the Sunnis, his disenfranchisement of them, the Civil War in Syria, right and all of the weapons that were available led to the rise of ISIS. So a lot of things led to the rise of ISIS.
Now, with regard to the intelligence community's performance on ISIS, I can really only tell you what I know up to the point that I left government, right, which was we were talking about the growing strength of ISIS. What I don't know is whether we actually called the blitzkrieg, right, did we see the blitzkrieg across Iraq coming? I just don't know the answer to that question.
MARTIN: The book is called "The Great War Of Our Time: The CIA's Fight Against Terrorism - From Al-Qa-ida To ISIS." It is written by the former deputy director of the CIA, Michael Morell. He joined us in our studios here in Washington. Thanks so much for talking with us.
MORELL: Great to be with you.
Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
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× Expand Revival Vikings Food photos by Caitlin Abrams
Revival
Petit Fried Chicken Sandwich
Spiced Cheese Pork Rinds
Miniature Banana Cream Pie
Steph March: Thumbs up. Fried hot-chicken sandwiches and personal banana cream pies are the stuff that championships are made of.
Drew Wood: Thumbs up. Obviously, Thomas Boemer's fried chicken, and by extension that sandwich, is second to none, but don't sleep on those Hot Cheetos-style pork rinds. NEXT LEVEL, PEOPLE.
× Expand Tattersall Vikings
Tattersall
Cocktails
SM & DW: Minneapolis-made Tattersall spirits will be in your drinks in the stadium. And, while they weren't actually cracking any of those seals during the media tasting, their bottles during the media tasting we give them a thumbs-up on their track record alone. Gimlet FTW!
612 Burger Kitchen
612 Burger: Black Angus burger with Sriracha mayo and sharp American cheese on toasted potato roll
SM: Thumbs up. Keeping a slider simple and well executed is the key to mini-burgers that you can chain-smoke.
DW: Thumbs up. Soft buttery bun, tender burger, and super chilled-out, creamy Sriracha mayo. Solid stuff.
Andrew Zimmern’s Canteen/Hoagies
Italian Porchetta Sandwich
SM: Thumbs up. I liked this sandwich a bunch, the fresh bite of the broccolini gave it a nice kick. AZ has chef JP Samuelson running his concessions biz and he's spent some time being schooled at stadiums and ballparks across the country, learning what works and what flops. This has a high potential for successful repllication.
DW: Thumbs up. I'm not a huge porchetta guy, but was still squarely into this sammie.
Be Graceful Bakery and Catering
Roast Turkey Sandwich, on wild rice cranberry bread with maple bacon jam.
SM: Thumbs sideways. I have a personal issue with cranberries in my savory sandwiches, so this isn't really my thing. But all the rest of the ingredients were good.
DW: Thumbs up. Be Graceful's one of the totally-new-to-me local vendors that the stadium's featuring, which made the pleasant complexity of this seemingly simple sandwich even more surprising.
Cinnie Smiths
Gourmet Miniature Cinnamon Rolls
SM: Thumbs up. Like buttah.
DW: Thumbs sideways. Definitely a melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon roll, but I'm not positive a cinnamon roll is what I'm looking for at a Viking's game.
Curds & Cakes
Fresh-made Cheese Curds
SM: Thumbs up. Even cold-ish and served no where near a fryer, these were yum city. The beer-battered crust was sturdy and substantial, not like some of those weak curds that fall out of their skin.
DW: Thumbs up. Among the best cheese curds I've ever had (and I've had A LOT OF CHEESE CURDS). These suckers are Blue Moon-battered and have bacon mixed in, and yet avoid being greasy; like, at all. They are crispy, round, consistent, and, most of all, awesomely savory Elsworth cheese-filled curds.
Ike’s Food & Cocktails
Hand-carved Turkey Sandwich
SM: Thumbs up. A solid carved turkey sandwich with no cranberries anywhere.
DW: Thumbs sideways. A tasty-enough turkey sandwich that skews towards the dry side.
Kramarczuk’s
German Bratwurst
Andouille Sausage with Grilled Onions and Peppers
with Grilled Onions and Peppers Cheddar Bratwurst
SM: Thumbs up. The cheddar brat is the king of sausages. Let's just call it Abe Froman and get on with it.
DW: Thumbs up. DUH.
Lola’s Café
Dry Rubbed Chicken Wings
Sweet Chicken Wings
SM: Thumbs up. I love Lola, I love her wings. She was my favorite thing about yesterday, and I have to SING it out that someone will be serving whole wings. Can't wait to try the dry rub version. Also: that sweet bun, tho.
DW: Thumbs up. Lola is just starting 9th grade...9th! And yet she cooly presented her none-too-shabby wings to Steph and I like an old pro, right down to regaling us with the story of how they got started vending out of Jim Lupient Water Park in Northeast.
Prairie Dogs
Brunch Dog: topped with crispy pork belly, morning fried potatoes, Sriracha aioli, hollandaise sauce, and chives
topped with crispy pork belly, morning fried potatoes, Sriracha aioli, hollandaise sauce, and chives The Prairie Dog: served classic Chicago-style with all the trimmings
SM: Thumbs up. I feel like Prairie Dogs is the sausage pick you're going to make when you feel like you need an extra bit of zshoosh, like a rally cap for football. Do they have those?
DW: Thumbs up. I know, I know; I've dropped a lot of thumbs up already, but dammit if there hasn't been some good stadium food already. In the case of Prairie Dogs, something I knew I loved before this tasting, I'm not going to have a real decision to make for my gameday sausage/hot dog: Kramarczuk's or Prairie Dogs. Truly a Sophie's choice of gameday wiener perfection.
R Taco
Fried Chicken Taco: crispy chicken with jalapeno ranch, slaw, and cilantro
crispy chicken with jalapeno ranch, slaw, and cilantro R Taco: Achiote pork with pineapple, onion, and cilantro
SM: Thumbs sideways. These were fine. Tacos are fine.
DW: Thumbs sideways. The fried chix taco by the artist formerly known as Rusty wasn't too shabby. A tad unruly as a taco, but not shabby.
Icehouse MPLS (at Twin Cities Foodie)
Smoky Chicken Nachos
SM: Thumbs up. Sleeper hit for me. Here I was thinking nachos was nachos, but with this smoky chicken and crisp tostadas just lolling under crema and peppers, I'm all in. I'm sure there will be the neon cheese version somewhere else.
DW: Thumbs up. All hail Chef Bickford from Icehouse from taking something as tired as football game nachos and making them spectacular by making them some sort of un-nachos (come gameday they won't be using chips, they'll be using stacked tostadas). Worth it for the crema alone.
Smalley’s Caribbean BBQ (at Twin Cities Foodie)
Jerk Bacon Sammie
SM: Thumbs up. That bacon is a jerk.
DW: Thumbs up. Did you really think Tim McKee/Shawn Smalley's time-tested Stilwater BBQ joint could possibly go wrong with a jerk bacon sandwich?
Rainbow Restaurant (at Twin Cities Foodie)
Lemongrass Meatballs
SM: Thumbs up. I could have stood there all day jamming those sticks in my face. I loved the chicken meatballs for their lightness and also their flavor, especially when dragged through the tamarind sauce.
DW: Thumbs up. Even though I don't think lemongrass meatballs are ever going to be my regular Viking's game jam, you can never, ever go wrong with Rainbow Chinese. And, oh man, that tamarind dip. Yowza.
Foods that will be available only in clubs, suites, and for catering:
Murray's
Short Rib Sandwich with spicy slaw
SM: Thumbs sideways. This one was just hard to eat, the bite didn't pull easily so it all came apart on me, but I would totally nix it for that.
DW: Thumbs sideways. Mainly because I won't be able to get my hands on one unless I make fast friends with the suite-sters.
Just Truffles
Assorted, hand-dipped truffles
SM: Thumbs sideways. Super tasty for you truffley game-day people who are not me.
DW: Thumbs sideways. Pretty good truffles, but just not my thing at a football game.
A Peace of Cake
Sweet Sumac Popcorn
Spicy Pad Thai Almonds
SM: Thumbs up. There is NO REASON this sumac popcorn shouldn't be available to everyone (do you hear me Wilf?) It was one of my happier bites, sprinkled with sumac seasoning which gave it the slightest earthy bite.
DW: Thumbs up. Every time I eat regular popcorn whilst sitting in the normal people seats in Vikingville, I'll be silently cursing the fact that I know somewhere else in the stadium some lucky sap is encountering the unexpected and profound joy of oh-so-savory sumac popcorn.
Thomasina's Cashew Brittle
Cashew Brittle
SM: Thumbs sideways. This box is still in my purse.
DW: Thumbs sideways. Not a big brittle guy, but I hear Dara really digs this stuff; so there you go.
T-Rex Cookie
Fresh-baked, half-pound Cookies
SM: Thumbs up. You can use one of these cookies as a seat cushion if you can't make it through. Or pass it down your seat row for bites and see how far it gets around the stadium until it's gone.
DW: Thumbs up. They gave me a half pound sugar cookie to take home, and not only was scrumptious; it was so big that both of my daughters, who've never not eaten all the cookies, tapped out before it was gone.
Chappy's Street Eats
Gluten Free Caribbean Jerk Chicken Wings
Gluten Free Buffalo Baked Chicken Wings
SM: Thumbs sideways. I'm going to blame the room for this poor execution, this guy was no where near a kitchen so who knows how long those wings had been sitting there. I would give them another chance as a straight up order, because GF'ers need wings too.
DW: Thumbs down. Just alright wings. The buffalo sauce had good flavor, though.
Chocolat Celeste
Handcrafted, artisan chocolates
SM: Thumbs up. I love these chocolates and I get that they will have someone's corporate logo on them and I'll only taste them if I'm lucky enought to be invited to a suite some day. Hint hint.
DW: Thumbs sideways. Even really good chocolates are in the same boat as truffles for me at a football game.
Gramsky's Sandwiches
Italian Grinder Sandwich, with sausage, red sauce, peppers, and mozzarella cheese
SM: Thumbs down. The sausage mix didn't really do it for me, nor the abundance of green/red peppers on top.
DW: Thumbs sideways. The grinders were pretty cold by the time we finally got over to Gramsky's spread, so it's pretty hard to pass judgement on them, though they were a tad peppery.
Closing Thought:
An overall thumbs up for the day. The team is playing it smart and not trying to go crazy with pizza-stuffed-nachos-in-a-burger kind of things; and that's a good thing. Leave Frankenfoods to the State Fair. Dare we say it's going to be a--wait for it--touchdown for football facestuffers?!Containers enable users to log in to multiple accounts on the same site simultaneously, and give users the ability to segregate site data for improved privacy and security. At Firefox, we have been working on Containers for quite some time.
We started with platform work in the browser itself and added a basic user interface, then we moved on to a Test Pilot experiment, in which we expanded the feature in an extension. Now we are graduating from Test Pilot and moving our extension, Firefox Multi-Account Containers to addons.mozilla.org.
In addition, we have updated the Firefox platform so that Containers can be managed by extensions. This means that developers have access to the necessary APIs to create new Container extensions. You can build new extensions on top of Container APIs to meet your needs and use cases! This already happening, with a number of new extensions popping up on addons.mozilla.org.
This post introduces the contextualIdentities API, and walks through an example Container add-on with developers in mind.
What are Containers?
Containers work by giving users the ability to place barriers on the flow of data across sites by isolating cookies, indexedDB, localStorage, and caches within discrete browsing contexts. For instance, the browser storage associated with a user’s Personal Container is separated from the user’s Work Container. In this way, users can take on different identities depending on the context they are in – we refer to this as contextual identity.
The Cookie Store is a key WebExtension API concept that represents storage isolation in the browser. In other browsers, the Cookie Store is used to differentiate private windows from regular windows. In Firefox, the Cookie Store will now also differentiate containers from each other.
Containers are unique to Firefox. These new APIs empower all developers to create new Privacy, Security and Tab management experiences that aren’t available in other browsers today.
Setting up your manifest
To use the contextualIdentities API, add the “contextualIdentities” and “cookies” permissions to your manifest.json so your extension can create Container Tabs associated with a Cookie Store.
"permissions": [ "cookies", "contextualIdentities" ]
Managing Container Tabs
The cookies permission provides access to the cookieStoreId property needed for container tab management. The contexualIdentities API methods return the cookieStoreId that can be used for methods like tab.create.
const containers = await browser.contextualIdentities.query({}); browser.tabs.create({ cookieStoreId: container[0].cookieStoreId, url: "https://example.com" });
This code creates a new tab that requests https://example.com using the cookieStoreId associated with the user’s first container.
We can also use the cookieStoreId to find all open Container Tabs associated with it:
browser.tabs.query({cookieStoreId});
Monitoring for changes
Firefox and Container add-ons have the ability to create, update and remove containers. Extensions can now monitor these changes, alerting them to update their layout or management interfaces when the list of containers has changed.
To monitor for changes an extension can use the onCreated, onUpdated and onRemoved listeners that are passed the modified container object.
const rebuildEvent = () => { this.rebuildMenu(); }; browser.contextualIdentities.onRemoved.addListener((container) => { this.removeContainer(container.cookieStoreId); rebuildEvent(); }); browser.contextualIdentities.onUpdated.addListener(rebuildEvent); browser.contextualIdentities.onCreated.addListener(rebuildEvent); this.rebuildMenu();
Ensure that you use the onRemoved listener to monitor for containers being removed by the user or by other extensions. This is especially important if your extension programmatically creates Container Tabs. For example, an extension may be configured to open a Shopping tab at 5pm every Friday to order beer from the local pub. But, if the user had previously deleted the Shopping tab, then their extension would likely be broken if it did not monitor for the remove event. A sad outcome.
Keeping a consistent UI with colors & icons
We noticed that some Container add-ons uploaded to addons.mozilla.org were using different icons and looked very different than Firefox. In order to make life a little easier for extension developers, and more harmonious for users, we are now exposing the color code and an icon URL you can use to keep the colors you choose consistent with our palette. We think it’s a win-win.
On Firefox and across our Container extensions, we’ve optimized our color palette. Firefox designers have worked hard to choose colors that are visible within dark and light themes for accessibility reasons. When developers use CSS color keywords like “pink” and “blue” the result looks very different from the native colors Firefox provides.
Our updated APIs provide a public icon URL and Hex color code for the container’s color. Please use the “colorCode” property within your extension, since in the future we may update the color codes to match changes in Firefox.
Consistency across Firefox and Container extensions is important to prevent bugs and provide a pleasing user experience. So, as with the color palette, we also provide URLs for our icons in the iconUrl property. We encourage you to work with our assets to provide an easy-to-navigate user interface as we build together with Containers. And we thank you in advance.
In an extension, you can query for the current active containers like this:
const containers = await browser.contextualIdentities.query({}); containers.forEach((container) => { console.log(container); /* Object { name: "Personal", icon: "fingerprint", iconUrl: "resource://usercontext-content/fingerprint.svg", color: "blue", colorCode: "#37adff", cookieStoreId: "firefox-container-1" } */ });
Building an example Container add-on
To demonstrate how the Web Extension APIs for Containers can be used, I’ll now walk you through a Container extension I made. This add-on gives the user the option to automatically redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS based on a per container preference.
A user may decide to turn on HTTPS for the Banking Container, as seen above. Then when the user is in a Banking tab and visits http://example-bank.com, they will see that their tab actually ends up visiting the HTTPS page instead: https://example-bank.com
In the extension I wrote, I have the following functions:
createIcon(container) { const icon = document.createElement("div"); icon.classList.add("icon"); const iconUrl = container.iconUrl || "img/blank-tab.svg"; icon.style.mask = `url(${iconUrl}) top left / contain`; icon.style.background = container.colorCode || "#000"; return icon; } async createRow(container) { const li = document.createElement("li"); li.appendChild(this.createIcon(container));... } async rebuildMenu() { const containers = await browser.contextualIdentities.query({});... containers.unshift({ cookieStoreId: "firefox-default", name: "Default" }); const rowPromises = []; containers.forEach((container) => { rowPromises.push(this.createRow(container)); });... }
In my rebuildMenu function I query for all the containers the user has. Then I add an item for default Firefox tabs. When the code calls createIcon with a container object, the iconUrl and colorCode properties can be used to get the associated icon. I use the icon as an SVG mask in CSS for the div, which results in the background color being used for the icon color, as it does in native Firefox menus.
Making Container APIs reliable
Containers is a platform feature that has been disabled by default in Firefox Beta and general release. Until now, extension developers have had to inform the user to enable Containers in about:preferences in order to use the Container APIs. This changes with the release of Firefox Quantum (now in Developer Edition). In Firefox Quantum, if you are a developer creating a Containers extension, your extension enables Containers. So now, when the user installs your extension, they don’t have that additional step. If they try to disable Containers, they will need to first disable your extension.
This provides an assurance to extension developers that the Containers APIs will work when the extension is installed. In the past, users could disable Containers at any point and break all Container-dependent extensions. Now they must disable the extension itself first, in order to disable Container Tabs.
We also made changes to the existing “query”, “get”, “update” and “remove” methods to be more “promise friendly”. Rather than resolving the promise with null or false values, we now reject promises when there are errors. In a situation where a container can’t be found or there is some internal error, we reject the promise of the API, so wrapping API calls in try...catch blocks allows your code to handle these errors:
async getContainer(cookieStoreId) { let container; try { container = await browser.contextualIdentities.get(cookieStoreId); } catch (e) { /* Containers may be disabled, the API might have failed or the container has been deleted. */ this.warnUser(e); } return container; }
Adding containers to existing extensions
Extensions often implement options for their users that aren’t ideal for all browsing activities. Specific extensions may provide privacy, security, or other user interface benefits and enhancements. Maybe the extension is a simple timer to track how often you look at cat gifs in social media during your work day. You might not need it after you’re done with your Work Container. Most extensions require the user to initiate an interaction, and it’s probably not necessary or beneficial for your extension to be “always on.”
Using Containers instead as an indicator of “context” simplifies the user experience of your extension. Extensions that add new features when a specific container is open, are more likely to be actively used because they hook into existing containers. For instance, HTTPS Everywhere’s “always https” option breaks many websites, but it’s always relevant and in context if it’s implemented by default when you’re in the Banking Container.
Whilst extensions can already change their behaviour based on URL, we feel that the security and privacy benefits of containers create new incentive for users to configure settings.
Ideas for new Container extensions
We’re excited about the possibilities of Container extensions for providing context-based enhancements to browsing. When a user wants to be in a Work tab, an extension might be configured to block not safe for work pages. When a user doesn’t want to be reminded of work while at home, an extension may be configured to auto-delete a user’s Work history, but remember the Personal history.
For instance, extensions could:
Autoload social pages into a Social tab
Remove cookies on tab close when in a Work tab
Block key logging scripts when in a Shopping tab
Create unique containers for pinned tabs
Load multiple versions of a website for QA testing, whilst still providing history and development tools embedded in the browser (instead of headless browser testing).
For example, we have already seen a number of Container extensions created:
Containers on the go – gives users a temporary container that lasts for the lifetime of a tab. The temporary container simulates a private tab as containers are isolated from each other. As soon as the tab is thrown away, the container is deleted, which removes the cookies and other storage associated with it.
Cookie AutoDelete – has been modified to be progressively enhanced when containers are enabled, giving users the ability to change cookie deletion settings per container.
Conex – a containers implementation of the panorama extension
And many more
The Container WebExtension APIs allow developers to rewrite containers themselves. Developers can fork our extension and build improvements on top of it. If you’re looking for ideas, we have a large list of open enhancement requests that extension developers could solve in their own extension using the provided APIs.
As you can see from all these changes and updates, we truly have embraced the use of containers for tab management.
Where next for Container extensions
We have a few more enhancements to make to our APIs. Here’s what’s in the queue:
Publishing your extension
Terminology
When creating a container extension, we would recommend using “Container Tabs” as a term to explain the add-on instead of using the API name contextualIdentities.
Privacy best practices
If you’ve built an extension that uses Containers, but does so in a way that compromises user privacy, please disclose this. Let users know that your extension doesn’t meet the isolation criteria designed for Containers. For example, moving tabs between containers introduces the risk of exposing the user to additional trackers.
Fixing issues with existing extensions
For your browser extensions to work in Firefox, please remember to check for the cookieStoreId when creating and querying tabs. Some of the reported extension breakage that we’ve seen is due to extensions that copy tab urls and reopen them later without considering the cookieStoreId the tab pertains to. Here’s an example of the issue as reported on Github
I want to thank the countless users, testers, coders and staff that have worked on Containers.
Hit us up with feedback: containers@mozilla.com or on Discourse.Li Sixun (李思訓, 651-716) was a Chinese painter who was later seen as the chief exponent of a decoratively colored landscape style of the Tang dynasty and as the founder of the so-called Northern school of professional painters.
Li Sixun was related to the Tang imperial family, led an active political life including exile and restoration, and was given the rank of general. His son, Li Zhaodao (李昭道), was also a famous painter, and thus the father is sometimes called Big General Li and the son Little General Li. While no genuine works survive, both Li Sixun and Li Zhaodao are known to have painted in a highly decorative and meticulous fashion, employing the precise line technique derived from earlier artists such as Gu Kaizhi (顧愷之, 348-409) and Zhan Ziqian (展子虔, ca.550-604), especially adding the decorative mineral colors blue and green, often together with white and gold. Chinese theoretician Dong Qichang (董其昌, 1555-1636) spoke of a stylistic division between the decorative tradition among Northern painters begun by Li Sixun and the scholarly tradition among Southern school painters begun by Wang Wei (王維, 701-761).SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A landslide in southern China that killed two people and left more than 70 people missing was caused by breaches of construction safety rules and was not a natural disaster, a government website quoted local authorities as saying.
An investigation by a team in Shenzhen directed by China’s cabinet found the Dec. 20 disaster stemmed from waste construction material in a landfill site rather than a natural geological movement, a statement posted late Friday on the cabinet’s website said.
“Those held accountable will be seriously punished in accordance with the law,” the statement said.
The man-made disaster, which buried 33 buildings in an industrial park, has raised questions about China’s industrial safety standards and lack of oversight that has led to fatal accidents, a by-product of the country’s rapid growth.
At the Shenzhen industrial park, there is still some risk of more landslides at three separate places and professionals have been brought in to deal with the issue, Xinhua news agency on Friday quoted a Shenzhen official as saying.
“There are also dangerous chemical items that need to be identified and treated,” Yang Shengjun, head of the Shenzhen Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, was quoted as saying.
Yang said no air or water contamination has been detected yet, according to Xinhua.
The company managing the dump site, Shenzhen Yixianglong, was urged to stop work four days before the disaster, an executive with a government-appointed monitoring agency said on Thursday.
Xinhua earlier reported that the dump was being used 10 months after it was supposed to have stopped taking waste, earning Yixianglong some 7.5 |
allocation of resources, and convinced that the pace at Houma was “lackadaisical,” he teamed up with the parishes and created his own booming plan. Like Nungesser, Jindal was determined not to let oil enter the Mississippi Delta. His plan for Louisiana called for five million feet of containment boom, and an aide told Stanton that the state wanted it within a week. “The number was just astonishing to me,” Stanton recalled. “When I got back from that meeting, I remember very clearly telling BP, ‘You have got to provide this boom.’ I said, ‘You need to begin ramping up your shoreline strategy. Whatever you think you need, I need you to multiply it times three.’ It got to the point where we had exhausted every single boom source in the continental United States.” Eventually, three hundred thousand feet of boom were being made for the response every week, and more was shipped in from fourteen countries. “We had to work at these end-of-the-road communities where there is not enough dirt to hold millions of feet of boom,” Jim Black, a BP manager who served as Houma’s operations chief, told me. “They didn’t have infrastructure—hotels in the range of a few hundred rooms. And yet it is also their community. We are the interlopers responding to our emergency in their back yards.” Still, complaints about the distribution of boom persisted. Garret Graves, Louisiana’s head of coastal restoration, told me that Jindal deployed National Guardsmen to track boom from one staging area to another. “We never could figure out where it went. We don’t know if it went to the Bermuda Triangle, or what,” he said. “There was this mystery five miles of high-seas boom floating around. A month later, we found it was still in a staging area.” In late May, the state decided to demonstrate some of these issues to Stanton by flying him over areas that needed boom, and staging areas where it sat, apparently unused. “We said, ‘Let’s get him out here,’ ” Graves told me. “He came back, and blood vessels were popping out of his neck and head. He was yelling on the phone.” Stanton by then had grown frustrated with the Unified Command, an officer told me; he wanted it to think bigger. Shortly after he arrived at Houma, he had asked for six thousand National Guardsmen, to be deployed throughout the coast, but was denied. (The guardsmen had just returned from overseas, and Allen had agreed not to deploy them unless it was absolutely necessary. Eventually, eleven hundred soldiers assisted the response in Louisiana.) Following his flight with the Governor, Stanton held a press conference at a staging area. “I’m gonna go right back to tell BP to hire more boats, hire more people, get more boom, and put it out,” he said, and conceded, “We did have a problem of getting boom down here to begin with. It’s my job to direct this response in Louisiana, absolutely.” A reporter asked why more boom had not already been brought in. Stanton looked exhausted. By then, the response had deployed more equipment than had been used for the Exxon Valdez. “Well, the ‘why’—is that really important?” he said. “Yes, sir,” the reporter said. “All right,” Stanton said. “Well, I guess I am just slow and dumb.” “Now boarding—all the people who pushed their way in front of the people supposed to be boarding.” The next day, Stanton was relieved as Incident Commander. “The training for Coast Guard public affairs has to start including political acumen,” a public-affairs officer assigned to the response from Washington told me. But many responders were sympathetic. “Ed Stanton is a very practical man,” a Coast Guard officer told me. “But how do you deal with a very impractical community?” Stanton was replaced by a friend and protégé, Roger Laferriere, the captain of the Port of Los Angeles. Laferriere, who is forty-eight years old, and has brown eyes and close-cropped hair, is one of the Coast Guard’s leading experts on oil-pollution response. When he arrived in Louisiana, he went straight to Houma. “I said to Ed Levine, ‘I need to go out there and look at the source,’ ” he told me. “It was surreal. The oil that was out there went for miles and miles.” Laferriere spoke urgently about the oil, sometimes referring to it as a sentient enemy, which he called Grendel. He regarded spill response as a kind of military campaign, with hostile popular sentiment a constant concern. “When you win any war, you need to integrate the locals,” he told me. “So one of the things that I set out to do is figure out where that disconnect is between us and the locals, and see how we could mend it.” He brought to Houma a staff of officers to manage operations while he met with politicians and community members, and carried a “hot folder” containing urgent requests from people he met. He took Ed Owens and Ed Levine to town-hall meetings, hoping that they could speak convincingly about the environmental science. “We were conducting a major educational campaign in the middle of an operation,” he told me. “I think Billy Nungesser really wanted to see an army of folks out there cleaning up the oil as soon as possible,” he added. “Our No. 1 goal isn’t necessarily rapid response. It is doing what is in the best interests of the environment. We would say, ‘O.K., Billy, when this oil comes to shore, we need to take a look at it.’ What’s there? Are there birds there? Are there fish? And sometimes, believe it or not, leaving it alone is the best option.” After the Amoco Cadiz spill, some marshes were so damaged by the cleanup that, a decade later, as much as forty per cent of the vegetation had not recovered. Still, Laferriere said, “The people of Louisiana are extremely passionate about their marsh, and they viewed the oil almost as nuclear waste: ‘We want it picked up and removed now!’ ” Laferriere learned that the local strike teams were laying hundreds of thousands of feet of boom, in addition to the work being done from Houma. In some cases, they were attempting to lay down boom in double layers; in others, their boom trapped oil in the marsh, rather than keeping it out. Levine told me, “You could throw out marshmallows and it would be as effective.” So Laferriere campaigned to explain that there was a science to boom deployment—if done wrong, it could cause more harm than good, by crushing and killing grass, hastening erosion, or trampling oil into root systems. He also emphasized the need to hold boom in reserve. “I kept on telling people, ‘Remember your history in World War II? Remember the Maginot Line in France?’ ” he told me. “That failed miserably. The oil was not going to hit the coastline in a single massive wave. It comes as large ribbons, what we called ‘streamers,’ and, if we can get them before they come ashore, that’s what we wanted to do.” V. WALLS OF SAND
By the end of May, the oil was surfacing above the wellhead in countless pieces, which moved unpredictably through the Gulf. “We were dealing with hundreds of thousands of patches of oil,” Admiral Allen told me. “We didn’t have a large, monolithic spill.” One long patch slid around Plaquemines Parish, but then suddenly retracted without really hitting the shore. Responders at Houma called it the Devil’s Tail. “The oil was very dynamic,” Laferriere recalled. “When you flew out to the source, what you saw was plumes—it was almost like a ballet of oil plumes coming up to the surface.” But, outside Houma, it was hard to convey this. Graphic imagery, produced by NOAA or BP and circulated on the news, gave an impression of a single sheath of crude covering the sea. “Computer graphics really gave a false image of the problem,” Ed Owens told me. “You may have oil on the water’s surface that’s ten-per-cent coverage in a square mile, yet on a map it’s all colored in.” Oil likes to spread—a drop of it can expand until it is one molecule thick. Sheen is thinner than hair, and easily evaporates. The maps gave the impression that an armada of oceangoing skimmers could suck up the oil in one place. This was never possible. In May, the oil finally made its way to the shore, and some of it made landfall at Pass a Loutre, a large opening in the marsh, in a protected wildlife area at the tip of Plaquemines Parish. The responders at Houma informed the Governor’s office, and a couple of days later Jindal flew over the site. For weeks, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries had been monitoring the pass, and fifty-five thousand feet of boom had been deployed in the area. The oil—black and viscous, and therefore anomalous for this spill—gathered into a patch of shoreline a mile or so in length. To both sides were miles of unblemished marshland, and the water extending into the Gulf, except for some sheen, was clear. Nearby, there was a long slice of marsh that had been carved out to serve as a canal for the oil industry. This kind of channelling, conducted for decades throughout South Louisiana with the state’s encouragement, in all likelihood has caused more severe and lasting damage to the marsh ecology than any oil spill. On May 26th, Nungesser, Jindal, and James Carville, the political strategist (a Louisiana native), went to Pass a Loutre to draw media attention to the landfall. By then, oil had been at the pass for about three weeks. The SCAT teams were focussing their surveys on other heavily oiled areas, and on nearby rookeries, some of which were oiled while birds were nesting. Anderson Cooper joined the politicians, and his footage of the trip gave the impression of an ecological apocalypse. “In Pass a Loutre, the marshes are covered in crude,” he said. “The sight is sickening. So is the smell. There’s little sound, no sign of life.” Photographs of the trip, framed around the oil, showed the Governor trying to scoop up crude with a net. Nungesser spoke as if he were in a wasteland. “Usually, you would pull in here, the fish, the minnows—a trout would be running behind a minnow,” he said. “Action all over. It’s dead. Look, there’s not a bug. There’s not a squirrel. There’s not a fly. There’s nothing. And there is no one cleaning it up.” Across the Gulf, the response had documented fewer than seven hundred animal deaths. But the Governor’s trip to Pass a Loutre quickly became an emblem of the spill, and images of it were repeated on CNN throughout the summer. The trip occurred two days before the President’s second visit to the Gulf, and appeared calculated to illustrate that the Unified Command was not doing enough. Inside Houma, some responders couldn’t understand the outrage over the oil at Pass a Loutre. One of them acknowledged, “We were probably a little too slow to respond to that area.” But weeks before the spill a Chevron pipeline had ruptured nearby, releasing at least seven hundred and fifty thousand gallons of crude into the marsh, and local politicians had never spoken about it. “He’s not begging.” By the time Nungesser went to Pass a Loutre, he had become fixed on a plan: the construction of a network of artificial sand dunes, or berms, to block the oil. Shortly before the BP well blew out, his office had been in touch with a Dutch company, Van Oord, that was seeking a contract to dredge sediment from the coastal seabed and pile it on barrier islands that were rapidly eroding. After the spill, the plan was reformulated as an oil-response measure. The proposal envisaged a sand barrier that would span a hundred and twenty miles, virtually encircling the Mississippi Delta. It promised to circumvent the need for a cleanup while, theoretically, restoring the coastal ecology. “We’re doing this to stop the oil,” Nungesser told an aide. At the time, the Unified Command had been considering many nonstandard ideas; a special unit sifted through more than a hundred and twenty thousand of them, which arrived by letter, e-mail, and fax. Some, like detonating a nuclear bomb on the seabed, were quickly dismissed. Others—Kevin Costner’s centrifuge technology, for instance, or the A Whale, a Taiwanese tanker that was redesigned as a massive oil skimmer—received publicity but were impractical for this spill. The berm project was not part of this process, because the Governor proposed it directly to the federal government. The Interior Department reacted to the plan with skepticism, and NOAA’s scientists were concerned that the proposal might even “lead to increased environmental injury.” They wondered if the berms would alter currents, or harm the animals that they were intended to protect. Federal officials were apprehensive about oil mixing inextricably into the clouds of sediment that the dredging would cause. After two weeks of deliberation—an unprecedentedly short period for such a project—the Army Corps of Engineers decided to grant approval for forty miles of berms, divided into six discrete segments. One federal scientist told me that everyone agreed that the six berms would at least do no ecological harm. The Army Corps estimated that, with the available dredges, it would take between fourteen and twenty-one months to construct the longest of them, and that the shortest berm would take at least three months. The over-all cost could be more than a billion dollars. Nungesser and Jindal expected BP to fund the project, whatever the amount. Allen approved the building of one berm, as a prototype, but refused to compel BP to pay for all six. Two other admirals called Nungesser to explain that they did not think the berms would be effective, and that forcing BP to pay for them would create rifts within the response which could distract from meaningful work. “You have given me excuse after excuse after excuse,” Nungesser responded. “I’m going to hang up now, because you are not giving me anything useful to save my parish.”
On May 28th, Obama travelled to Louisiana for a second visit, this time to Grand Isle, to meet with an assembly of politicians from the Gulf states. Nungesser, who had met with the President a few weeks before, was not invited. Undeterred, he chartered a boat and made his way past local officials who were patrolling the bayous. When he arrived, an official turned him away. “I said, ‘You call the White House and see if I can be put on the list, while I call Anderson Cooper,’ ” Nungesser recalled. “She went into the guardhouse, came back in five minutes, and said, ‘The White House said to let y’all in. Have a good day.’ ” That week, Nungesser had announced that he might commandeer a flotilla of boats and construction equipment and risk arrest to begin work on the rest of the berms. He told ABC News, “There was no response early. Now, whether that’s BP, the Coast Guard—I don’t think the President knew what was going on.” Inside the Coast Guard station, he ran into Admiral Landry. She told him, “Could you tone it down? You are kicking every Coast Guard officer who is working out there in the stomach.” Members of the Coast Guard had worked themselves to exhaustion; she pointed out that there were responders who had been struck by lightning, and others who had suffered heatstroke. At the conference table, Nungesser took a chair next to Obama’s designated seat, and Jindal sat next to him. Nungesser told me that when the President entered he said, “Billy, I thought we were on the same team.” “Mr. President, we are,” Nungesser said. “Thad Allen is the one not doing his job.” Obama sat down, and Nungesser erupted. “Mr. President, without these berms, we don’t have a chance,” he said. A Coast Guard official who was there told me that Jindal kept saying, “Make BP pay for the berms.” “Well, a lot of people don’t think they are necessary,” Obama said, and explained that the government was legally obligated to determine that the berms were viable before it could compel BP to pay for them. “We need validation that it is appropriate, and won’t cause more damage,” he said. Nungesser had brought with him a binder filled with facts and figures. “All the documents are in there—and that’s not something I dreamed up overnight,” he said. Obama turned to Allen, and said, “Well, what’s the problem?” Allen explained that scientists working for the Army Corps had estimated that berms could take more than a year to build, making them useless against the oil. Nungesser interrupted him. “This is bullshit!” he yelled. “That’s not true!” (Under the table, Jindal tugged Nungesser’s shirt.) Nungesser insisted that if the President mobilized every dredge in the world the project could be completed within two months. Obama said, “If the engineers and scientists believe it is the right thing to do, then we’ll do it. If they don’t, then we’re not. We are going to make our decisions based on facts, not hope.” He concluded, “I tell you what—Thad, I want to get a panel together, and get a roundtable discussion, and then I want to be briefed on the answer, and I want it done in the next few days.” As the meeting ended, Obama told the politicians, “I have given you full access to the White House, and I have been pretty forthright. I don’t want to hear on the news that the federal government is incompetent, and then you get on the phone and tell me that everything is O.K.” A Coast Guard official who was there told me, “They all kind of shook their heads, ‘Yes, sir,’ ‘Yes, sir.’ And I was, like, Wow, the President just told them to knock it off.” Nungesser told me that Obama addressed him specifically about his appearances on CNN. “If you can’t get it done through the chain of command, you pick up the phone and call the White House,” the President told him. “If you can’t get me on the phone, then you can go call Anderson Cooper.” The two men shook hands. The next evening, Nungesser joined Cooper on the air and told him what the President had said. “He didn’t actually say that,” Cooper said. “Yes, sir,” Nungesser said. “Yes, he did—” “Wait,” Cooper said. “He said call—he said—that’s funny!” But Nungesser said, “I truly believe that he cares.” He added, “We’re behind the cleanup now.”
Nungesser did not keep himself away from CNN for long, and soon his criticism returned in force. By June, he was telling people, “Thad Allen is a fucking idiot, to put it mildly.” But Allen was quietly bringing greater command and control to the massive effort. He had convened a group of specialists to measure the oil coming out of the wellhead. (They estimated that the rate was as high as sixty-two thousand barrels per day.) He tripled the number of Coast Guard officers deployed throughout the Gulf—a decision that put a strain on the service. He reorganized Vessels of Opportunity, a program that hired local boats to help with the response, which had grown to more than ten thousand craft—“everything from a canoe to a professionally licensed offshore vessel,” the officer who oversaw it told me. The response enlisted the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to track boom, using technology that the military employs for battle-damage assessments. Furthermore, Allen told the President that he wanted to take control over the Gulf airspace. “We had eight near-midair collisions,” Allen told me. “There were planes flying out for logistics, spotter planes, planes spraying dispersants. There were Air National Guard planes flying. NASA was flying planes.” He adopted the system used during the Haitian earthquake; the Air Force lent him the personnel, and began coördinating the hundreds of daily flights from Tyndall Air Force Base, in Florida. On June 1st, Allen held the roundtable discussion on the question of the berms. “We were put in a pretty bad spot,” he told me. “We were having a meeting based on a proposal that was made to the President, regarding a project that was approaching four hundred million dollars, and we had to get this thing resolved in four or five days—the case that built up in the media was so extraordinary that it required some resolution. That’s not the best way to run operations.” At first, only scientists and technical experts had a chance to speak, and throughout the discussion Nungesser fidgeted. During a break, he recalled, he confronted Allen. “I said, ‘Admiral Allen, this is bullshit. This is a dog-and-pony show. I am calling the President.’ ” Then he stormed out and spoke with TV reporters in the hallway. “I’m sick to my stomach,” he said. “We ought to have some of the dead animals in there.” When Nungesser came back, Allen said, “We’re going to let the parish presidents and the Governor speak five minutes each.” The local officials clapped, and when Jindal spoke Nungesser wept. The next day, Allen informed Jindal that BP had agreed to spend three hundred and sixty million dollars on the project. When an official at the Interior Department suspended the dredging for one berm until it could be conducted with fewer environmental risks, Nungesser threatened to mail her an oiled pelican carcass. The fight over the berms obscured real improvements. Many of the logistical problems that had hampered the earliest phase of the response were being resolved. BP began to acquire matériel on a vast scale. Every week, responders were using roughly three million hazmat suits, far more than the world’s supply, so Logistics teams scoured the globe for stockpiles and alternatives to make up for the shortfall. When the manufacturer of the dispersants, Nalco, could not make the chemical fast enough, BP helped with its supply chain. The company spent money liberally. “Supply and demand kind of goes out the window,” one BP responder told me. “We understood and tolerated and even smiled when we paid ten, twenty, thirty per cent above market.” By midsummer, more than eight hundred skimmers had been mobilized by the shore and around the wellhead. “This was the largest offshore-skimming operation in the history of spill response,” Laferriere told me. The burning operations were removing millions of gallons of oil. About as much oil was incinerated in the Gulf as had spilled from the Exxon Valdez. Louisiana officials, meanwhile, opened barriers restraining the Mississippi River; the water’s outward force appears to have greatly prevented the oil from penetrating too deeply into certain bayous. By June, most of the thick crude had been removed from Pass a Loutre. Still, the threat of the oil lingered. In late June, NOAA predicted gusts of wind surging from sea toward land, prompting dread that masses of crude would assault the Louisiana shoreline. Laferriere, frustrated by allegations that Houma was not acting with enough urgency, and wanting to keep the morale of his officers buoyed, sent an e-mail to all of his responders. “Now we will be fully tested,” he told them. “Despite our best efforts, oil may go beyond our defenses. We must not be discouraged, but fall back to those areas of impact, and attack the oil, quickly and aggressively, and ensure the oil is removed from these shores and marshes with uncommon quickness. We are not unlike the three hundred warriors that stood at the Hot Gates of the Battle of Thermopylae, under King Leonidas, who faced tens of thousands of Persians. They were outnumbered, but they didn’t give up. They fought till the end, as we will. They fought for a way of life, and we are fighting for a way of life.” VI. THE CHEMICALS
Even as Laferriere tried to motivate his responders for an all-out assault upon the coastline, he recognized that the principal fight against the oil was offshore, to be conducted with a weapon—dispersants—that many people thought was more harmful than the spill itself. “How do you view the various technologies and their ability to fight oil?” he said. “There are really two components to that. One is: How much oil do they take out of the environment? How much oil can be skimmed or burned or dispersed? Then, there is another factor that is equally important: What is the ‘encounter rate’ of the technology? Remember, the oil on the water is about a millimetre thick. Its area is huge. So if you can only go about a knot, which is the average skimming capacity, and less than a knot when you are burning, it is not possible, physically, even with all the vessels in the world, to keep up with the spreading of the oil.” Skimming is virtually impossible with waves of more than six feet, and burning is difficult with three-foot waves. Dispersants, on the other hand, make use of chaotic seas; the ocean’s natural energy helps the oil break up and dissolve. “A dispersant plane can go a hundred and forty knots,” Laferriere continued. “It can cover a huge area. There was a huge slick off the Chandeleur Islands. It got away from our skimmers; it got away from the burning vessels. What’s the option? We could disperse it, or let it hit the islands.” It was commonly reported that BP was making decisions—often in secret—about where to spray dispersants. Rolling Stone claimed that “BP decided to wage chemical warfare in the Gulf.” In fact, the Unified Command made the decisions jointly. “It’s a team effort,” Laferriere told me. “But I am also the police officer right there.” Scientists like Ed Levine helped plan the sorties, and Coast Guard officers monitored them. Charlie Huber, an independent contractor who managed the spraying, told me, “BP was not coming down and saying, ‘Spray here, and spray there.’ ” There were echoes of the Boom Wars in the debate over dispersants. Alarmist criticism easily earned credibility. At a hearing about the spill, Representative Jerrold Nadler, from New York, argued that lives were being endangered. “There is no scientific evidence that dispersants can be effective in oil spills of this magnitude,” he claimed, inaccurately. “But these chemicals make it harder to track how much oil is there, and where it’s going, and thus to determine liability.” He said that the dispersants reminded him of Agent Orange, and expressed concern that responders were conducting “an uncontrolled experiment that could result in thousands and thousands of people getting sick or dying as a result of the cleanup”—he emphasized, jabbing a pointed finger—“not of the original disaster.” Scientists and activists spoke of the dispersants as if they had been concocted in a weapons lab. “Goes right through skin,” Susan Shaw, a marine toxicologist, asserted on CNN, adding that the chemicals had caused one shrimper to start “bleeding from the rectum.” Some locals wondered if the chemicals had spawned a disease. “It is commonly being called the Blue Flu, because the alleged symptoms include blue lips and skin, and it’s scaring the hell out of people,” one blogger wrote. A television reporter in Alabama did a segment in which a chemist speculated, without giving any evidence, that dispersants in seawater by a marina may have caused a sample to unexpectedly combust. A common rumor held that BP had been spraying dispersants at night to sink the oil—even though there were no nighttime sorties. “Why don’t we stop spreading the dispersants, let it come to the surface, and let’s fight it where we can see it?” Nungesser told Anderson Cooper one night. “Let’s get every ship from around the country, around the world—put ’em out there.” For the people who live in the Gulf, the fear of dispersants often blended with rage and frustration of a broader type: concerns about unpaid bills, restrictions on fishing, the demise of a way of life. Late in the spill, at a town-hall meeting on Grand Isle, a BP representative named Jason French sat behind a folding table at the front of a room full of locals. During the meeting, a thickset seafood supplier named Dean Blanchard stood and spoke about his hardships. “Y’all didn’t give me enough money to pay my bills,” he said, adding, “How do you expect a man to live on less than ten per cent of what he was projected to make?” After speaking for several minutes, Blanchard sat down. “Y’all not trying to pick up that oil!” he yelled. “Come on, man. It’s a joke.” French attempted to allay everyone’s concerns. “Our task forces are looking for oil each day,” he said. “I understand the anger, and I understand the frustration.” He tapped the table nervously with his finger. “But someone’s gonna have to explain to me why BP doesn’t want to clean up this oil. This was not—” Many locals complained that the government was ceding control of operations to BP. Admiral Thad Allen said, “Reality had no place in portions of this response.” Photograph by Benjamin Lowy / Getty Images “Because it’s more cost-effective for y’all to come at night and sink the son of a bitch!” Blanchard shouted. “Y’all send the planes, and y’all fucking sink it!” He sat back down. “What do you think, we’re stupid?” The room went silent, and his voice had grown hoarse. “Y’all are putting the oil on the bottom of our fishing grounds!” he screamed. “Y’all are messing me up for the rest of my life. I ain’t gonna live long enough to buy any more shrimp!”
The fear of using chemicals to clean up large marine oil spills is nearly as old as the spills themselves. When the Torrey Canyon ran aground, in 1967, the response team dumped an industrial detergent called BP1002 into the slick. British Petroleum, as the company was known at the time, had designed the chemical to degrease and clean its equipment, and the hope was that it would cause the spilled oil to break up into manageable amounts. At the time, no one knew how dangerous the detergent was, or even how to apply it; the chemical was dribbled from hoses and dumped in barrels from cliff tops. Seven hundred thousand gallons of BP1002 were used during the spill, and scientists later concluded that this had done more harm than good. Shortly after the Torrey Canyon incident, chemists began to search for less toxic and more effective alternatives, and, in 1968, a scientist named Gerard Canevari, with Esso, created the original formula for Corexit, the dispersant that was used in the BP spill. Early experiments showed that half a gallon of it could break up fifty gallons of oil into tiny droplets; toxicity tests that the company had commissioned were encouraging. Canevari, who is now retired, spent most of his professional life refining Corexit’s various formulas. He told me that he based some of the dispersant’s ingredients on food-grade additives that had F.D.A. approval. “You have ingested some of the components of it,” he said. The formula used most widely in the Gulf, Corexit 9500, has seven main ingredients, each of which can be found in products that Americans handle regularly, including Klondike bars, Lubriderm, and ibuprofen. Sorbitan monooleate, for instance, is in juices and shampoos, and hydrotreated light-petroleum distillates can be found in air fresheners. At one point during the spill, a blogger wrote on the San Francisco Chronicle Web site, “I was disturbed to get another anonymous tip that Corexit 9500 also has dihydrogen monoxide, but I can’t confirm this because Nalco will not reveal if dihydrogen monoxide is in fact a secret ingredient in Corexit 9500.” The blogger explained that the chemical was “really bad and nasty stuff,” used in explosives and poisonous compounds. “It mutates DNA, denatures proteins, disrupts cell membranes, and chemically alters critical neurotransmitters.” Dihydrogen monoxide—better known by its chemical symbol, H2O—is plain water. Dispersants don’t remove oil from the sea, but they are designed to help nature do so. “We often lose faith when considering the power of Mother Nature to remove oil or pollutants from the environment,” Laferriere told me. Ocean-borne bacteria consume floating hydrocarbon molecules that are common in certain parts of the sea. When the oil is dispersed, its over-all surface area is increased, and this allows more bacteria to consume it at once, speeding up the process. (Imagine a cake the size of a house, and a hundred thousand people trying to wolf it down at once; then imagine that cake cut into slices and passed around to the same crowd.) After the microorganisms eat the oil, it is essentially purged from the ecosystem. It’s difficult to predict whether Corexit will advance this process in every circumstance. In some experiments, microorganisms appear to eat only portions of the oil, leaving the rest behind. In others, they consume all of it, or none of it. In the Gulf of Mexico, where there are so many natural oil seeps, and so many forms of bacteria that feed on them, there was every reason to think that the chemicals would work as intended. The decision to use dispersants was made on April 21st, while the rig was still aflame. Right away, a specially equipped C-130 from Arizona was sent to Houma, and a smaller King Air BE-90 aircraft in Mississippi was put at the ready. The use of dispersants is standard practice in the U.S. The E.P.A. maintains a list of them that are approved for spraying in oil spills, and Corexit had already been used at least seven times in the Gulf. In 1979, a rig called Ixtoc-I blew out in Bahia de Campeche, in Mexico, causing a massive spill, and two and a half million gallons of Corexit were deployed to fight it—considerably more than was used in the BP spill. On April 22nd, David Fritz told me, “a member of the strike team walked in at around two in the morning and asked what our dispersant plan was. We were, like, ‘Here are the approval forms,’ and he was, like, ‘No, I want to see your plans.’ So we cobbled something together.” That day, the first sortie released about eighteen hundred gallons of dispersant into the water. The forms made it clear that the chemicals could be used off the coast of Louisiana if they were sprayed more than three miles from the shoreline, but did not say how much could be used. In a matter of days, with no regulatory limit, the sorties were spraying as much as forty thousand gallons a day over the Gulf. BP had an obvious interest in maintaining the spraying, and the responders at Houma believed that fears about the chemicals should be addressed by patient explanation. But the E.P.A.’s leadership believed that the response would be fundamentally unsuccessful if it did not accommodate itself more directly to public anxieties. The rifts threatened to cripple the Unified Command. “Just as I could not have BP walk out, I could not have the E.P.A. walk out,” Admiral Landry, the federal on-scene coördinator for the early part of the response, told me. These tensions were not expressed publicly, but they shaped the way the response added 1.8 million gallons of Corexit to the sea. VII. HURRICANE BP
The administrator of the E.P.A., Lisa Jackson, is a chemical engineer with degrees from Tulane and Princeton. She grew up in New Orleans, in the Lower Ninth Ward. Her education at Tulane was funded by a Shell Oil Company scholarship, and in the summers she interned at the company. She is a proponent of environmental justice—the notion that minorities and the poor, who suffer from pollution disproportionately, should have a say in policy. “I believe that those who are often impacted by environmental problems have the least voice, the least political power, ability, or even knowledge, to get into the process, and one of my priorities at the E.P.A. is to expand the conversation on environmentalism,” she told me. During tours of the state, she listened to Louisianans affected by the spill, and sometimes even gave them her phone number. Jackson believed that the response could not escape local history. It is hard to hear the word “Katrina” and not think of the Superdome in a desperate state, of people stranded, seemingly ignored, while the President told the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, “You’re doing a heckuva job.” Katrina destroyed Jackson’s mother’s home, and Jackson drove her mother and relatives to safety. Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon caught fire, Jackson flew to the Gulf, and from her plane she wrote a blog post, which she never published, titled “Hurricane BP.” She determined that the E.P.A. would demonstrate to Louisiana that the federal government was listening. Her decisions on dispersants, she told me, would have to be “driven in many ways by public concerns,” because “the issue, whether rightly or wrongly, was one that was very much in the front of many people’s minds down there.” During one meeting with Obama, she spoke almost apologetically about her position. “Mr. President, with regard to dispersants, I am probably going to be the skunk at the picnic,” she said. “Sir, I am going to be out there asking very hard questions.” Obama told her, “That’s exactly what I expect you to do.” “Think outside the office.” At first, Jackson knew little about dispersants, so she called a former professor at Tulane who had researched them, and he introduced her to other academics. “We all reach back to people who know a lot more than we do,” she told me. When spills occur in water, the primary responsibility for the cleanup falls to the Coast Guard, and the E.P.A. plays a secondary role—for instance, monitoring air pollution, overseeing waste management, and deciding which dispersants may be used. Early in the response, she told reporters that using Corexit was permissible. “If it’s on the list and they want to use it, then |
polished off a monster Australian tour with Amity in February, Crocker also reveals that Antagonist A.D. is sitting on more than just one plan to tour Australia again this year! “We will be over at least twice this year touring the album,” he says. Expect the first tour to be announced shortly.
Haunt Me As I Roam is due out on March 27th, but eager punters can lodge a pre-order now via 24Hundred or iTunes. Check out Haunt Me As I Roam ft. Ahren Stringer below.
Listen: Antagonist A.D – Haunt Me As I RoamA Burnaby RCMP officer has been reprimanded and docked one day's pay in connection with an incident in which a woman sat dying in her house for four days despite a call to police.
Cpl. Mike White, now stationed in Burnaby, was the officer who responded in September 2008 to a 911 call reporting that six shots had been fired in a house in the Fraser Valley community of Mission.
White arrived at the scene but saw nothing unusual and didn't get out of his car to investigate. If he had, he might have found that two people in the house had been shot in an apparent targetted hit.
One of the victims, Lisa Dudley, was discovered by a neighbour four days later, tied to a chair and bleeding, but still clinging to life.
Dudley, 37, died while being transported to hospital. The other victim, her boyfriend,Guthrie Jolan McKay, 33, had died at the scene.
Dudley's mother, Rosemarie Surakka, was in tears as she left the RCMP disciplinary hearing Friday.
"She was worth one day's pay," Surakka said, hold up her daughter's picture. "What is that? $250? That was what her life was worth."
RCMP Insp. Tim Shields said the entire force had learned from the incident.
It is now RCMP policy not to leave the scene of a reported shooting without first talking to the person who made the 911 call, said Shields.
No charges have been laid in connection with the deaths and the investigation is ongoing.
Neither Dudley nor McKay were known to police and there was no obvious motive for the shooting, police said at the time.This year’s men’s Wimbledon final was predictable. Marin Cilic, the 6-foot-6 Croatian with one of the biggest serves in the game, faced long odds before he ever took the court; Roger Federer had easily dismissed two similar 6-foot-5 challengers in his previous two matches. Back in 2016, a big serve and a little luck may have been enough to down Federer. This year, it quickly became apparent that a usurper would need far more versatility and guile.
Federer is an anticipatory genius under average conditions, and entered Sunday having just seen and defeated several of the tour’s fastest serves. Cilic, meanwhile, had no new tricks in his bag, and was hampered by a foot injury that forced him to call his trainer at multiple times during the match. The result was lopsided: Federer feasted in return games, and won service games in blinks. The final ended in an hour and 41 minutes, with three sets (6–3, 6–1, 6–4) featuring zero drama.
This wasn’t a show of force like Rafael Nadal’s triumph on the final Sunday of the French Open. Cilic wasn’t capable of pushing Federer to produce notable feats of Federer-ness, and Sunday’s top highlights didn’t come from moments of brilliance, but rather from seeing Federer operate at ease in his kingdom. He glided across the court, gashed the air with his forehand, and completed points with his reinvented, stinging backhand. He made it clear that tennis is a game of vision. Federer’s eyes locked onto Cilic’s service tosses from the beginning, and without steady confidence in his serve, Cilic was rendered helpless. This was a gross mismatch, certainly after taking note of the Croatian’s ailments, if not before.
The win, of course, will be reduced to a number. Federer captured his 19th major championship and his eighth Wimbledon crown. He now has more singles titles than any man in the history of the tournament, surpassing Pete Sampras’s Open-era mark. Federer delivered a record-setting victory, yet it felt preordained. This run didn’t contain the element of surprise that his 2017 Australian Open win did, an event the history books will likely pinpoint as the most pivotal in his late-career renaissance. Especially with Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray all eliminated by other players, this Federer title will presumably fade into the background.
After the last point of the final, Federer didn’t fall to the turf as he did after winning previous Wimbledon championships. Instead, he raised his arms and walked to the net, closing the afternoon with a whimper.
It’s hard to tell what this means for Federer in 2017. Since January he’s won more titles than anybody else on tour, and despite skipping the clay season is a close second in this year’s race for the top ranking. He won Wimbledon without dropping a set, becoming just the second man in the Open era to do so after Bjorn Borg did it in 1976. Federer might be playing his best tennis in years, or he might just be rolling over suddenly charitable competition. Either way, he’s earning titles at a prime-level clip after five years of struggling to string runs together at all.
There are surface-level changes that can help explain this recent surge. Coverage of nearly every Federer match has highlighted the main bullet points: He’s grown used to his bigger racket and its more forgiving sweet spot; he opts for a flat backhand drive instead of the slice he preferred in the past, allowing him to play a more effective offensive game; and his decision to skip the entire clay season, including Roland Garros, clearly aided his effort to stay healthy more than it caused him to accumulate rust. Most importantly, Djokovic and Murray are not playing anywhere near the level they maintained over the past few seasons.
To that end, while this year’s Wimbledon may not have provided one of the more exciting editions of the tournament in recent memory, that’s only because Federer’s stronghold on being the favorite was never in doubt. It’s extraordinary enough that Federer was able to keep that status for more than a decade earlier in the 2000s; it’s astonishing that he’s climbed back to that perch — not only the best, but unassailable.
In April, after Federer beat Nadal to win the Miami Open, I wrote that he was being rewarded for persevering through a stretch of exceptional, but diminished results. He’d repeatedly lost to Djokovic and Nadal as both enjoyed their primes, ceding his aura of invincibility in the process. To many athletes, this would have been a signal to retire, or at least would’ve resulted in mental lapses and a spotty match record. To Federer, it was nothing more than a test of patience, as he believed in his own abilities and felt he could keep beating the field until his rivals fell back to earth. Putting aside the modern notion that only a fellow Big Four member can ever truly compete with Federer, his draw at Wimbledon was filled with grass-court power players. That it looked like a cakewalk on paper is a testament to the expectations Federer established throughout his career; that it unfolded so simply in reality is a testament to the level at which he’s playing now.
Federer appears a step quicker than he used to be. His competition appears two steps slower. Only six months after returning from an injury-spurred break from competitive tennis, he’s sitting atop the tour once again. In a span of just six months, Federer has gone from a dead man walking to the type of rare player whose dominance we take for granted.
To be both great and unexciting, an athlete needs total, uncompromising control over a sport. There can be no whiff of competition, no realistic threat of a challenge. No accomplishment, however significant, can feel novel. This was the case with Federer at his peak, when he was untroubled by injuries and the question wasn’t so much whether he would win a tournament; it was how. Federer’s most remarkable achievement of the past two weeks is returning to that vaunted air. He’s back to being a given, having converted the tennis world back into true believers after a period of vulnerability in which he won just one of 25 majors.
The courts at the rest of the year’s relevant tournaments are fast. Federer has eaten well during former North American hard-court swings, and if he chooses to play the indoor season, he’ll do so in favorable conditions. As the tour is currently constituted, Federer will head into the U.S. Open as the unmistakable favorite, and he’ll retain that distinction into the future. Somehow, again, it’s not a question of whether Federer will win more tournaments; it’s a question of how many.15 SHARES Share Tweet
Its quite evident that Perl Scripts runs super fast when it comes to handling regular expressions and text processing. Programmer usually argue over which programming language is fastest or better or supports more features but we need proofs and evidences to support any sort of claims. Lets try to determine why Perl Scripts runs extremely fast?
We can use Perl Benchmarking Module which let us test the speed of a Perl script.
Calculating differences in script execution time
Ideally we test speed by start time (When the script starts) and end time (When the script finished) and take the difference between the two values. This will become our script execution time. In Perl these time values are obtained with the built-in time() function:
#!/usr/bin/perl # declare array my @data; # start timer $start = time(); # perform a math operation 200000 times for ($x=0; $x<=200000; $x++) { $data[$x] = $x/($x+2); } # end timer $end = time(); # report print "Time taken was ", ($end - $start), " seconds"; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 #!/usr/bin/perl # declare array my @ data ; # start timer $start = time ( ) ; # perform a math operation 200000 times for ( $x = 0 ; $x <= 200000 ; $x ++ ) { $data [ $x ] = $x / ( $x + 2 ) ; } # end timer $end = time ( ) ; # report print "Time taken was ", ( $end - $start ), " seconds" ;
While this is fine for basic use, it becomes complicated if what you really want is to compare the times of different scripts, or run arbitrary pieces of code for fixed time intervals. For these uses, the Benchmark module is more appropriate. This module comes bundled with Perl, and can be imported into your Perl script through the “use” command. Take a look at the next example, which rewrites the previous one to use Benchmark instead of time().
#!/usr/bin/perl use Benchmark; # declare array my @data; # start timer $start = new Benchmark; # perform a math operation 200000 times for ($x=0; $x<=200000; $x++) { $data[$x] = $x/($x+2); } # end timer $end = new Benchmark; # calculate difference $diff = timediff($end, $start) # report print "Time taken was ", timestr($diff, 'all'), " seconds"; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 #!/usr/bin/perl use Benchmark ; # declare array my @ data ; # start timer $start = new Benchmark ; # perform a math operation 200000 times for ( $x = 0 ; $x <= 200000 ; $x ++ ) { $data [ $x ] = $x / ( $x + 2 ) ; } # end timer $end = new Benchmark ; # calculate difference $diff = timediff ( $end, $start ) # report print "Time taken was ", timestr ( $diff, 'all' ), " seconds" ;
Every time you create a new Benchmark object with new(), the current time is returned. The difference between the start and end times is calculated with the Benchmark module’s timediff() function, and the result is formatted for display with the timestr() function. Here’s the sample output of the script above:
Time taken was 2 wallclock secs ( 2.14 usr 0.00 sys + 0.00 cusr
0.00 csys = 2.14 CPU) seconds
As you can see, Benchmark returns a little more detail than the time() function.
Timing multiple runs of a script
Of course, a sample size of one is not necessarily representative of how fast your script is, especially on Web servers that are subject to varying loads. Therefore, what you really need is a way to run this script many times, and calculate the average time taken after compiling the data from each run. Luckily, Benchmark comes with a function to do this too. It’s called timethis(), and it’s demonstrated in the following example:
#!/usr/bin/perl use Benchmark; # run code 100000 times and display result timethis(100000,'for ($x=0; $x<=200; $x++) { sin($x/($x+2)); } '); 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 #!/usr/bin/perl use Benchmark ; # run code 100000 times and display result timethis ( 100000,'for ($x=0; $x<=200; $x++) { sin($x/($x+2)); }') ;
The timethis() function accepts two arguments: the number of times to run the code block, and the code block itself. This code block must be provided to timethis() in a format suitable to the eval() function.
Once the benchmark is complete, timethis() displays a report like this:
timethis 100000: 210 wallclock secs (209.37 usr + 0.00 sys = 209.37
CPU) @ 477.62/s (n=100000)
There are two pieces of useful data here: the number of CPU seconds, which tells you how long Perl takes to run the code N times, and the per-second data, which tells you how many runs take place per second. Obviously, the higher the second value, the faster your code is. Instead of a fixed number of iterations, now let’s see how to have timethis() run the code for a fixed period of time.
Hide Counting how often a script runs in a predefined time window
Instead of timing how long a piece of code takes to execute a fixed number of iterations, you can flip things around and have timethis() run the code for a fixed period of time to see how many iterations it completes in that time. You do this by using a negative value as the first argument. Consider the following example, which makes timethis() run the code for a minimum of 10 seconds:
#!/usr/bin/perl use Benchmark; # run code for 10 seconds and display result timethis(-10,'for ($x=0; $x<=200; $x++) { sin($x/($x+2)); } '); 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 #!/usr/bin/perl use Benchmark ; # run code for 10 seconds and display result timethis ( - 10,'for ($x=0; $x<=200; $x++) { sin($x/($x+2)); }') ;
The output will look something like this:
timethis for 10: 11 wallclock secs (10.93 usr + 0.00 sys = 10.93 CPU) @ 700.82/s (n=7660)
So in 11 seconds (well, 10.93 if you want to be difficult), Perl was able to execute the code 7660 times, or approximately 700 times per second. You can even create an interactive benchmarking tool with timethis(), by having the user enter the code and the number of iterations at the prompt:
#!/usr/bin/perl # use Benchmark module use Benchmark; # ask for count print "Enter number of iterations:
"; $count = <STDIN>; chomp ($code); # alter the input record separator # so as to allow multi-line code blocks $/ = "END"; # ask for code print "Enter your Perl code (end with END):
"; $code = <STDIN>; print "
Processing...
"; # run code and display result timethis($count, $code); 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 #!/usr/bin/perl # use Benchmark module use Benchmark ; # ask for count print "Enter number of iterations:
" ; $count = < STDIN > ; chomp ( $code ) ; # alter the input record separator # so as to allow multi-line code blocks $ / = "END" ; # ask for code print "Enter your Perl code (end with END):
" ; $code = < STDIN > ; print "
Processing...
" ; # run code and display result timethis ( $count, $code ) ;
Most of this is pretty simple, and should be clear to you if you understood the previous examples. The only item of note here is the alteration of the Perl input separator to the code END, so that the user can enter multi-line code blocks and terminate them with the statement END (the default separator is a carriage return, which would make Perl jump to the next statement as soon as the user pressed [Enter]).
Here’s an example of this script in action (lines beginning with a ‘>’ indicate output from the program, the rest are lines input by the user):
> Enter number of iterations:
500
> Enter your Perl code (end with END):
for ($a=1; $a<1001; $a++) { $value = $a ** 10; } END > Processing…
> timethis 500: 6 wallclock secs ( 5.72 usr + 0.00 sys = 5.72 CPU) @ 87.41/s (n=500)
Timing and comparing different techniques
If you’re the kind of Perl programmer who likes experimenting with different ways of accomplishing the same thing, you’re going to just love the next tool in Benchmark’s arsenal. The timethese() function allows you to time more than one code fragment at a time:
#!/usr/bin/perl # use Benchmark module use Benchmark; # time 3 different versions of the same code timethese (1000, { 'huey' => '$x=1; while ($x <= 5000) { sin ($x/($x+2)); $x++; }', 'dewey' => 'for ($x=1; $x<=5000; $x++) { sin ($x/($x+2)); }', 'louie' => 'foreach $x (1...5000) { sin($x/($x+2)); }' }); 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 #!/usr/bin/perl # use Benchmark module use Benchmark ; # time 3 different versions of the same code timethese ( 1000, { 'huey' = > '$x=1; while ($x <= 5000) { sin ($x/($x+2)); $x++; }', 'dewey' = > 'for ($x=1; $x<=5000; $x++) { sin ($x/($x+2)); }', 'louie' = > 'foreach $x (1...5000) { sin($x/($x+2)); }' } ) ;
This example tries to calculate the sine of 5,000 numbers, using three different approaches. The first, named “huey”, uses a while() loop; “dewey” uses a for() loop; and “louie” uses a foreach() loop. Each of these code snippets is placed inside a single call to the timethese() function, which accepts two arguments: the number of iterations and a hash whose values are the code snippets to be tested (the keys of the hash contain the unique names for the code fragments). The timethese() function then internally calls timethis() for each hash element and returns the time taken for each option. Here’s a sample of the output:
Benchmark: timing 1000 iterations of dewey, huey, louie…
dewey: 92 wallclock secs (91.72 usr + 0.00 sys = 91.72 CPU) @ 10.90/s (n=1000)
huey: 160 wallclock secs (159.56 usr + 0.00 sys = 159.56 CPU) @ 6.27/s (n=1000)
louie: 45 wallclock secs (44.98 usr + 0.00 sys = 44.98 CPU) @ 22.23/s (n=1000)
It is clear from the output that the foreach() loop is the most efficient of the three alternatives, at least for this particular scenario. Another way to run this test is with the cmpthese() function, which internally calls timethese(), and accepts the same arguments as timethese(). The main advantage is that it formats the result better for comparison purposes:
#!/usr/bin/perl # use Benchmark module use Benchmark qw (:all); # time 3 different versions of the same code cmpthese (100, { 'huey' => '$x=1; while ($x <= 5000) { sin ($x/($x+2)); $x++; }', 'dewey' =>'for ($x=1; $x<=5000; $x++) { sin ($x/($x+2)); }', 'louie' =>'foreach $x (1...5000) { sin($x/($x+2)); }' }); 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 #!/usr/bin/perl # use Benchmark module use Benchmark qw ( : all ) ; # time 3 different versions of the same code cmpthese (100, { 'huey' = > '$x=1; while ($x <= 5000) { sin ($x/($x+2)); $x++; }', 'dewey' = >'for ($x=1; $x<=5000; $x++) { sin ($x/($x+2)); }', 'louie' = >'foreach $x (1...5000) { sin($x/($x+2)); }' } ) ;
Note the use of “use Benchmark qw (:all)” instead of just “use Benchmark.” This ensures all the methods in the Benchmark object get exported. The output of cmpthese() is a table which compares the speed of each option against the speed of its competition. Since this table contains summary percentage values, it is somewhat easier to understand than the output of timethese():
Rate louie huey dewey
louie 14.1/s — -50% -54%
huey 28.5/s 102% — -8%
Leave me a comment and let me hear your opinion. If you’ve got any thoughts, comments or suggestions for things we could add, leave a comment! Also please Subscribe to our RSS for latest tips, tricks and examples on cutting edge stuff.PlayStation 4 gamers will be interested to learn that in an interview with GamesTM, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Lead Designer, Ricky Cambier revealed that he finds it hard to believe that PlayStation 4 graphics will improve in the same way that the PlayStation 3 did.
“There were a few new titles – like Killzone: Shadow Fall, that were pretty damn impressive looking for a launch title. The Order: 1886 is one of the best looking games I’ve seen on any system ever, too. But what’s exciting is that we’re still early days [with the PS4]; if you look at the first Uncharted and how that looked versus how The Last Of Us looked… I have difficulty fathoming that we’ll have that kind of graphical leap in the next several years. The reality is, we probably will as we learn the systems better, so it’s all up from here, and that’s exciting.”
It does feel like graphics really are beginning to reach their peak, but who knows, in a few years time we may look at games like The Last of Us and Infamous: Second Son and giggle at how quaint their graphics are.HUNTINGTON, Ind. — These are the Indiana workers whose jobs President Trump didn’t save.
After assembling circuit boards for Carrier furnaces at a factory here for 21 years, Jim Sholle, 56, walked out of the plant for the final time last month. But he still finds himself waking up every morning at 4:30, ready to work the 6 a.m.-to-2 p.m. shift.
“I’m a routine guy, and I’m not boohooing,” he said. “But I feel used up.”
Pat Saylors, 57, is still employed, but her days here are numbered, as they are for more than 700 other blue-collar workers. Production is set to end by late December at the plant, this town’s largest private employer, and each month several dozen of them are being let go.
“I loved my job,” said Ms. Saylors, who earns $17.31 an hour as a materials specialist, readying parts for the workers on the assembly line. She joined the company 40 years ago, when the plant was in tiny Converse, Ind., and then followed her job to Huntington when the factory here opened in 1990.
Ms. Saylors is typical of the factory’s work force, which is mostly female, with an average age around 50. She joined a few months after graduating from high school, as did her daughter Amanda, who is now 33.Media playback is not supported on this device Coe celebrates Worlds bid victory
The World Athletics Championships will be held in the United Kingdom for the first time after London was selected ahead of Doha to host the 2017 event.
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack said London won the vote 16-10.
The English capital, which failed with bids to host the 2001 and 2015 Worlds, will use the 2012 Olympic Stadium.
Bid leader Sebastian Coe said: "This bid has been developed by athletes and athletics, for athletes and athletics."
LONDON BID KEY POINTS The Olympic Stadium (capacity 60,000) has been built and the running track is part of its 99-year lease
The proposed date of late July or early August avoids clashes with European and American football
The stadium is likely to be sold out for every session
London's cultural diversity
He added: "We believe 2017 will cement the clear, unambiguous vision we offered the world in 2005 [when London was awarded the 2012 Olympics], a vision that promised a real legacy through unprecedented levels of investment in our new national stadium.
"This is the natural continuation of the work being done on 2012."
UK Athletics boss and bid chairman Ed Warner revealed that the budget for the championships would now cover the £5m prize fund as Doha offered to do.
Warner said: "I'm not a veteran of bids but people tell me always keep a late reveal.
"We planned it for some time. There was no knee-jerk reaction."
World youth champion sprinter Jodie Williams, 18, and Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis made the final presentations to the IAAF.
Williams, who will be 23 in 2017, stressed her "ultimate dream" is to compete for a senior world title in front of a home crowd.
A message of support from Prime Minister David Cameron was also played to the council.
British athletes and politicians have welcomed the decision, with World, European and Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene admitting he "had a huge smile" on his face.
Media playback is not supported on this device Boris Johnson hailed the decision at a news conference in which he answered one question in French
London had been set to host the 2005 championships after they were originally awarded to the city.
However, after plans to build a 43,000-capacity stadium at Picketts Lock in the north of the city were abandoned as too expensive, a UK Athletics suggestion that the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield be used instead was rejected by the IAAF.
The championships were awarded to Helsinki, which hosted the first event in 1983.AN artificial intelligence has been created to entice the attention of paedophiles lurking in online chatrooms frequented by children.
Spanish researchers created the software named "Negobot" which convincingly poses as a 14-year-old girl in an effort to police social networks.
And she may already her first job: The Basque Country police force has shown interest in adopting the "robot" predator detector.
The project was initiated by the University of Deusto amid concerns about the growing online presence of vulnerable children and the limited success of more traditional means of tracking down offenders.
Known as a "conversational agent", the software uses a process known as game theory to simulate the behaviour of a young girl.
It even remembers what has been discussed previously, and when, in order to convince suspects that "she" is real.
Negobot uses "typos", childish contractions and deliberate language errors to enhance the believability of its 14-year-old "Lolita" persona.
"Chatbots tend to be very predictable," Carlos Laorden, researcher at DeustoTech said.
"Their behaviour and interest in a conversation are flat, which is a problem when attempting to detect untrustworthy targets like paedophiles.
"We have managed to produce a bot that varies its behaviour over time and the course of the conversation."
Negobot is something of a split personality, with seven different programmed conversational "intelligences" having their own particular way of behaving.
The different levels of behaviour are triggered as conversations become more intimate or suggestive.
Negobot starts out as a fairly passive and neutral participant in general online chatter on a forum where a predator is suspected to be lurking.
Depending on the "grooming" techniques being applied by the predator, the software will choose tactics - such as appearing offended or insistent - in order to attract attention.
If the suspect attempts to get personal information from Negobot, the robot will, in turn, attempt to find out more about them.
"The most dangerous paedophiles are very careful about giving out information," Laorden said. "These days it is sufficient to obtain a social network profile, mobile number or email address, information that is provided to authorities in order to open an investigation."
The artificial intelligence software does still need monitoring, however.
While it has strong and broad conversational abilities, it is unable to detect distinctly human quirks such as irony.
Originally published as 'Robo-Lolita' lures sex predatorsSelect Vehicle Year 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 Model Select
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SOCOM recently launched a new website to promote its vision of elite commandos outfitted in futuristic, battle suits like those depicted in Hollywood blockbusters such as Marvel’s Iron Man series.
The Tactical Assault Light Operators Suit effort, known as TALOS, would provide operators with full-body ballistic protection and increased physical performance. It would also feature embedded antennas and computers designed to give operators increased situation awareness. It’s even supposed to keep the wearer cool in hot weather and warm in cold climates.
Despite “aggressive marketing efforts by USSOCOM,” members of the House Armed Services Committee want to know more about the program before funding is approved.
“The committee understands that present efforts are being used to survey current technologies and to better inform future requirements documents, and that USSOCOM intends to deliver a fully functional prototype assault suit by August 2018,” according to language in the Fiscal 2015 National Defense Authorization Bill released by the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
“The committee is concerned that these requirements are not being properly coordinated with related or complementary efforts at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Command.”
The bill’s language includes guidelines to go with SOCOM’S $17.5 million budget request to support TALOS.
“The committee directs the Secretary of Defense to brief the congressional defense committees by August 1, 2014, on the TALOS project and similar efforts to include:
-- The overall TALOS requirement for U.S. Special Operations Forces, including requirements validation;
-- A list of funded activities for fiscal years 2013-14, as well as planned activities for fiscal year 2015 and beyond, including efforts through DARPA, Natick Soldier Systems Command, the other military services, the Rapid Innovation Fund, and industry;
-- Coordination efforts undertaken with USSOCOM, DARPA, Natick Soldier Systems Command and other similar ongoing research and development activities;
-- Project timelines including the development of prototypes and anticipated funding;
-- Any other developmental efforts underway that could satisfy USSOCOM TALOS-like requirements;
-- Any other items the Secretary of Defense deems appropriate.”
The TALOS team plans on partnering with industry and academia to help overcome some of the huge, financial hurdles involved with developing such complex, multi-component technology.
USSOCOM intends to funnel $80 million into research and development for the four-year effort.
Defense industry officials maintain that the program will likely cost hundreds of millions more to perfect the sophisticated technology.
The U.S. Army $500 million over 10 years on Land Warrior, the first generation of wearable, computerized command-and-control technology, before the system’s reliability problems with solved in 2006.
“While USSOCOM is the proper authority to define Special Operations Forces peculiar requirements, it may not be the appropriate entity to lead such developmental technology efforts, like TALOS,” the bill’s language states.
“While the committee understands that Natick Soldier Systems Command is currently developing and partially funding one of the two Generation-I prototypes for USSOCOM, the committee is concerned that USSOCOM is also funding outside private sector research, and that overall efforts lack proper coordination and oversight, systems integration and collaboration, and prototype evaluation.”Unit testing Agda code with elisp [Feb. 4th, 2011|02:11 pm] pozorvlak
On Monday I went to the first day of Conor McBride's course Introduction to Dependently-Typed programming in Agda. "What's dependently-typed programming?" you ask. Well, when a compiler type-checks your program, it's actually (in a sense which can be made precise) proving theorems about your code. Assignments of types to expressions correspond to proofs of statements in a formal logical language; the precise logical language in which these statements are expressed is determined by your type system (union types correspond to "or", function types correspond to "if... then", that kind of thing). This correspondence goes by the fancy name of "the Curry-Howard isomorphism" in functional programming and type-theory circles. In traditional statically-typed languages these theorems are mostly pretty uninteresting, but by extending your type system so it corresponds to a richer logical language you can start to state and prove some more interesting theorems by expressing them as types, guaranteeing deep properties of your program statically. This is the idea behind dependent typing. A nice corollary of their approach is that types in dependently-typed languages (such as Agda, the language of the course) can be parametrised by values (and not just by other types, as in Haskell), so you can play many of the same type-level metaprogramming games as in C++ and Ada, but in a hopefully less crack-fuelled way. I spent a bit of time last year playing around with Edwin Brady's dependently-typed systems language Idris, but found the dependent-typing paradigm hard to wrap my head around. So I was very pleased when Conor's course was announced.
The course is 50% lab-based, and in these lab sessions I realised something important: fancy type-system or no, I need to test my code, particularly when I'm working in such an unfamiliar language. Dependent typing may be all about |
8 - and today his images of the conflict are some of the most famous in Japan.10
Sheltering from a fire-fight, an American adviser talks into a radio through his bloodied mouth. Young GI’s surround an enemy prisoner - looking as scared and confused as their captive. A soldier with an M-60 machine gun lies in a field of grass reading a book - a rare moment of tranquility in the chaos of combat. Ishikawa’s affinity with his subjects comes across in many of his images of young Americans.
“Because these U.S. soldiers had been stationed on Okinawa, I felt a connection with them. In Vietnam, we used to talk about Okinawa’s neighbourhoods and the bars where we drank. We had a lot in common,” explains Ishikawa. 11
Ishikawa Bunyo
So strong was Ishikawa’s feelings for the GI’s that, after the war, he traveled to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington to search for the names of those he’d photographed among the granite lists of the dead.
During the war, many Okinawans shared Ishikawa’s compassion towards U.S. troops. Despite residents’ anger with the Pentagon for burdening their island with so many bases, many people befriended - and married - service members. In particular, there was solidarity for those who had been involuntarily-conscripted and African-Americans who, many Okinawans felt, suffered discrimination from the U.S. authorities which mirrored their own.
Equally powerful as Ishikawa’s images of combat in Vietnam are those which he took on Okinawa during the war. He photographed the shot-up trucks returned via Naha Port, war games in the NTA and fresh recruits preparing to go to Vietnam.
“Seeing U.S. troops heading to the war gave me very complicated feelings. On one hand, I didn’t want them to go and kill Vietnamese people but at the same time, I wanted them to come back safely to Okinawa,” Ishikawa says. However, when some of these soldiers did return to Okinawa, they brought the violence of the war back with them.
One of Ishikawa’s most powerful images is called Otto ga korosareta (My husband was killed), which shows the widow of a taxi driver murdered by a GI in October 1971.
Between 1965 and 1975, at least 17 Okinawans were killed by Americans - and many more were robbed, raped or assaulted. Most at risk were those whose work brought them into daily contact with U.S. service members - including maids, taxi drivers and bar workers.12
As well as such violence, Okinawans bore the brunt of military accidents - including hit-and-run auto accidnets and aircraft crashes. For instance, in June 1965, a trailer dropped by parachute from a plane over Yomitan crushed an 11-year old girl to death and in November 1967, a 4-year old girl was run over and killed by a military crane.
During the Vietnam War, many Okinawans threw their support behind the reversion movement which sought to return their island to Japanese rule of law. Especially, they hoped that Japan’s peace constitution would reduce the number of U.S. bases on Okinawa and curtail their usage for the conflict in Southeast Asia.
Protest against US base, before Kadena Air Base, March 1971.
On mainland Japan - as on Okinawa - the majority of people were against the war. Surveys revealed overwhelming opposition to the conflict and, in the late 1960s, millions of mainlanders participated in demonstrations to express their anger at the war. Beheiren (Japan Peace for Vietnam Committee), the umbrella movement of loosely-affiliated anti-war groups, included such well-known luminaries as artist Okamoto Taro and novelist Oe Kenzaburo, who today remains active in the anti-nuclear movement. 13
Douglas Lummis, a former U.S. marine, became involved in the anti-war movement in Tokyo in the late 1960s. According to Lummis, what won Beheiren most attention was the help it afforded U.S. deserters. 14
“Beheiren used to hand out flyers near the U.S. bases around Tokyo and Kanagawa encouraging GIs to desert. The first four deserters that Beheiren handled… were at first hidden in a love hotel - one of the few places the police couldn’t search.”
According to Lummis, Beheiren put the deserters on the “underground railroad” - first traveling by ferry to Hokkaido and then across to the USSR and eventually to Sweden. However, after being infiltrated, they began hiding the Americans in Japanese people’s homes.”
In 1971, Lummis traveled to Okinawa where he helped to interpret during meetings between members of the Okinawan base worker unions and GI black power groups. “The war crystallized many people’s feelings against the United States,” explains Lummis.
Although the majority of mainland Japanese opposed the war, unlike on Okinawa, the conflict did not directly affect their lives. As political scientist Royama Michio explained in his famous analogy, “Vietnam was a big fire, but it was a fire on the other side of the river.”15
Richard Nixon and Sato Eisaku, 1972.
In contrast, the Japanese government tacitly backed the war - in 1965 PM Sato Eisaku declared his “moral support” for the conflict - and Japanese corporations, who provided base-building materials and supplies for U.S. troops, pocketed around $1 billion a year from the fighting.16
Against this backdrop, as the Vietnam War raged from the ‘60s into the ‘70s, the Japanese government entered into negotiations with the U.S. for the return of Okinawa. At the time, Tokyo pledged to island residents that reversion would take place under hondo nami - i.e. the number of U.S. bases on Okinawa would be reduced to a similar level as the mainland.17
Okinawa finally reverted to Japanese control on May 15 1972. But Okinawans soon realized the promise had been broken.
“Although reversion looked like a favour by the U.S., actually it was a great deal for the Pentagon - it could keep using the bases without needing to pay for them,” says Sato Manabu, professor of political science at Okinawa International University. “From then on, Japanese taxpayers footed the bill while the U.S. could continue to use them for the war with impunity.”
Today, many Okinawans still feel they are suffering the consequences of that Vietnam War era betrayal. The island still hosts more than half of U.S. forces in Japan but their economic contribution to the island has plummeted from more than 20% during the war to less than 5%, according to official prefectural estimates. While curfews and cultural awareness training have dramatically reduced the number of military crimes committed against residents (for example 2014 saw a record low of reported crimes),18 last year Okinawans were given a frightening reminder of the Vietnam War when barrels containing suspected military defoliants were uncovered from land which had previously been part of Kadena Air Base.19
These ongoing problems might explain why the Pentagon’s website to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War - vietnamwar50th.com - contains zero references to Okinawa. Likewise a request for comment from USMC on Okinawa resulted in a stock response which made no mention of the island. 20
Such reluctance to recognise the role of Okinawa in the Vietnam war is best understood by a visit to two of the installations central to Pentagon war efforts: the Northern Training Area (NTA), where Okinawans were paid a dollar a day for war games, and Camp Schwab, former storage site for nuclear warheads and, according to many seriously-ill U.S. veterans, Agent Orange.21
Despite overwhelming public opposition, today there are plans to expand both bases.
Alongside the NTA, for the past eight years, local residents have been demonstrating against the construction of Pentagon helipads which, they argue, threaten the safety of their community. Meanwhile near Camp Schwab, Okinawans have been engaged in an 18-year struggle against a new U.S. base. This base plan was conceived by Washington in the mid-1960s, but later it was shelved due to the cost; now it has been resurrected as a mega-base replete with twin 1800m runways and a deep-sea port - all built atop one of Japan’s sole-surviving coral reefs.22
Camp Schwab
Unlike the previous bases used in the Vietnam War, these new projects are being constructed by Tokyo with Japanese tax money; further proof, according to many Okinawans, that the hondo nami promise of reversion was indeed betrayed.
Today many of those opposing the new bases can recall firsthand how Okinawa was used during the Vietnam War - and they vow not to let their island be exploited in such a way again.
One of these is Shimabukuro Fumiko - one of the participants in the current sit-in outside Camp Schwab. During the 1960s, Shimabukuro worked as a maid on the installation - but the Pentagon’s aggression in Southeast Asia filled her with such a sense of complicity that she quit.
Photographer Ishikawa is an equally adamant opponent of the planned installation.
“If the new base is built, it will be used for future wars. Nothing has really changed since the Vietnam War - Okinawa is still being used by the U.S. military,” says Ishikawa.
Former Marine Lummis, now a resident of Okinawa, believes it is vital now more than ever to remember the lessons of the war.
“Today many young people don’t know there even was a war in Vietnam - and those that do remember haven’t grasped that the U.S. lost that war - and almost every war since. The Japanese government insists that Japan should stick with the U.S. for its defense - but we need to rethink what power really is.”
“Ishikawa Bunyo Photography Exhibit ‘The Vietnam War and Okinawa’s Bases,’” Okinawa Times (in Japanese).
* * *
This is a revised and expanded article which originally appeared in The Japan Times on March 7 under the title, “Battle scars: Okinawa and the Vietnam War”.
Welsh journalist, Jon Mitchell, is the author of Tsuiseki: Okinawa no Karehazai (Chasing Agent Orange on Okinawa) (Koubunken 2014) and a visiting researcher at the International Peace Research Institute of Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo. Mitchell is an Asia-Pacific Journal contributing editor.
Related Articles
Jon Mitchell, “Military Contamination on Okinawa: PCBs and Agent Orange at Kadena Air Base”
Jon Mitchell, “Okinawa - The Pentagon’s Toxic Junk Heap of the Pacific”
Gavan McCormack, “‘All Japan’ versus ‘All Okinawa’ - Abe Shinzo’s Military-Firstism”
Linda Hoaglund, “Protest Art in 1950s Japan: The Forgotten Reportage Painters”
Recommended citation: Jon Mitchell, "Vietnam: Okinawa's Forgotten War", The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 15, No. 1, April 20, 2015.
Notes
1. One of the best primers on the U.S. involvement in Vietnam is Nick Turse, Kill Anything that Moves, (New York : Metropolitan Books 2013)
2. Quoted in Thomas R. H. Havens, Fire Across the Sea: The Vietnam War and Japan 1965-1975 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), 193.
3. Some of the best discussions (in English) of Okinawa’s 1945~1972 period appear in Gavan McCormack and Satoko Norimatsu, Resistant Islands: Okinawa Confronts Japan and the United States (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc. 2012)
4. See, for example, Jon Mitchell, Tsuiseki: Okinawa no Karehazai (Tokyo: Koubunken, 2014)
5. Ibid., 60
6. Quoted in Havens, 85.
7. Okinawa Times, Kichi de Hataraku: Gunsagyouin no Sengo (Naha, Okinawa: Okinawa Times Co, 2013)
8. Ibid., Chapter 2.
9. Ibid., 262-3.
10. Sadly, there are no English versions of Ishikawa’s work. However, some of his most iconic images appear in Ishikawa Bunyo, Okinawa: Waga Furusato (Tokyo: Look Publishing, 1998) and Ishikawa Bunyo, Okinawa: Betonamu Houdou 35 Nen (Tokyo: Look Publishing, 1998)
11. From interview with author conducted on 28 January 2015.
12. For a comprehensive, English list of U.S.-military crimes and accidents (1948 ~ 19995), see here: http://www.uchinanchu.org/history/list_of_crimes.html
The list was originally compiled by The Okinawa Times.
13. Havens, 54-7.
14. From interview with author conducted on 30 January 2015.
15. Quoted in Havens, 52.
16. Ibid., 96
17. Miyume Tanji, Myth, Protest and Struggle in Okinawa (Oxon: Routledge, 2006), 109.
18. Stars and Stripes, “Number of SOFA Personnel Accused of Crimes on Okinawa Drops” March 3, 2015 Available here.
19. See Jon Mitchell, "Okinawa Dumpsite Offers Proof of Agent Orange: Experts Say," The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 38, No. 1, September 23, 2013. Available here.
20. February 3 email from Michael Ard, Director, MCIPAC Public Affairs Office. Ard did not respond to a further request for comment on February 23.
21. See for example the 2012 documentary about Agent Orange on Okinawa, “Defoliated Island” (Ryukyu Asahi Housou) available here.
22. See McCormack and Norimatsu 91~113The Islamic State reportedly released its first message targeting President Trump Tuesday, saying the U.S. has “drowned” and the country is “being run by an idiot.”
"America you have drowned and there is no savior, and you have become prey for the soldiers of the caliphate in every part of the earth, you are bankrupt and the signs of your demise are evident to every eye,” Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer, a spokesman for the terror group, purportedly said in a recording released on the messaging app Telegram, Reuters reported.
"There is no more evidence than the fact that you are being run by an idiot who does not know what Syria or Iraq or Islam is,” he added.
Trump said during his presidential campaign that defeating ISIS was a priority. He signed a memorandum days into his presidency focusing on strengthening efforts to defeat the terror group.
The U.S.-led coalition is fighting to retake Mosul from the Islamic State in Iraq and Raqqa, the terror group’s de facto capital, in Syria. Both losses would deal a major blow to the militant group.
U.S. and Iraqi officials are preparing for smaller skirmishes around Mosul as coalition forces attempt to recapture the city.
Click for more from Reuters.This post will show why the “No True Scotsman” fallacy isn’t a fallacy. Wikipedia describes the alleged fallacy as follows:
No true Scotsman is an informal fallacy, an ad hoc attempt to retain an unreasoned assertion. When faced with a counterexample to a universal claim (“no Scotsman would do such a thing”), rather than denying the counterexample or rejecting the original universal claim, this fallacy modifies the subject of the assertion to exclude the specific case or others like it by rhetoric, without reference to any specific objective rule (“no true Scotsman would do such a thing”).
Origin
The introduction of the term is attributed to British philosopher Antony Flew, who in his 1975 book, Thinking About Thinking, wrote:[2]
Imagine Hamish McDonald, a Scotsman, sitting down with his Glasgow Morning Herald and seeing an article about how the “Brighton (England) Sex Maniac Strikes Again”. Hamish is shocked and declares that “No Scotsman would do such a thing”. The next day he sits down to read his Glasgow Morning Herald again; and, this time, finds an article about an Aberdeen (Scotland) man whose brutal actions make the Brighton sex maniac seem almost gentlemanly. This fact shows that Hamish was wrong in his opinion, but is he going to admit this? Not likely. This time he says: “No true Scotsman would do such a thing”.
To understand why it is not a fallacy I need to explain the difference between classes and kinds. (see Millikan’s Language: A Biological Model, p. 107). A class is a group of individuals who possess some property or set of properties in common. An example would be something like blue objects on Main St. This class could include houses, bicycles, cars, toys, shirts, signs, chairs, and so on. The members of this class don’t need to be like each other for any reason. Because of this we don’t learn about classes by experience; there is no way to predict anything about the next member of this class we may encounter on our walk down Main St other than that the object will be blue and will be on Main St. We don’t even have to ever set foot on Main St. to know that. The next object in this class we encounter could be a balloon, or a bird, or a truck, and nothing we have learned on our walk would be useful to us in our dealings with this object.
As opposed to classes, the members of a kind have properties in common because there are natural forces that have produced similarities among members. Because of this, knowledge of kinds is useful in making predictions. Knowledge I gain on one occasion about, say, lions is useful in predicting the future. If I know that one lion is a dangerous predator this information will be useful to me in predicting the behavior of the next lion I encounter. The reason why lions are dangerous predators is not because the word “lion” means “dangerous predator”; lions are dangerous predators because of the natural forces that produced lions.
For one, lion genes are copies of one another. The copying of genes that happens in sexual reproduction guarantees similarities between generations. Secondly, lions must remain sufficiently alike genetically so that when their genes are combined in sexual reproduction it will produce viable offspring that have a chance of survival. This need for sufficient genetic similarity between the parents keeps the nature of lions relatively stable across time. Finally, the environment itself guarantees that lions remain similar in that any extreme deviations from the well-established lion form will not survive in its environment. Because of the working of these forces, the knowledge I gain on one encounter with lions is useful, though fallible, for encounters on other occasions.
Millikan calls these kinds that are alike because of these historical forces that work to ensure similarity “historical kinds.” Ethnic groups, like the Scots, are historical kinds (On Clear and Confused Ideas, p. 22). Picture historical kinds as groups of properties that tend to clump together and stay together over time because of the working of these forces. Things like wearing argyle, playing the bagpipes, drinking Scottish whiskey, eating haggis (this is just an example for argument’s sake; today, I assume, very few Scotsmen actually do these things as the homogenizing process of modernism has flattened many historical ethnic groups). These behaviors, characteristics, and properties tended to clump together in Scottish people for historical reasons. If you plotted all the people in the world on a massively multidimensional graph that had dimensions like frequency of eating haggis, frequency of wearing argyle, frequency of listening to bagpipes, etc., you would find a clump on this graph which denotes the Scots. Other dimensions like speaks German, eats sauerkraut, wears lederhosen, celebrates Octoberfest, etc. would form a German clump (again, for sake of argument).
Now, switch your vision, as it were, and look out on this landscape of clumps kinda like how a geologist looks at a landscape. What forces formed these clumps? Why are there these valleys between clumps? Why are some clumps closer to others? Why are the Scottish and English clumps closer together in this space (whether they like it tor not) than the Scottish and Somalian? Why are some big and others small? Why are Angus and Bonnie close together in this clump centered on Scotland, and Toshiro and Mikayo close together in this clump centered on Japan? Like a geologist, the answer to these questions will be that natural historical forces produced these clump and explain their features.
So the pro-fallacy side is arguing that to the anti-fallacy side, “Scotsman” is a class that means something like “lives in Scotland and isn’t a sex maniac” (to again use the Anthony Flew example). But–aha!—the pro-fallacy side proclaims, here is someone who lives in Scotland and IS a sex maniac. Therefore, your definition of the class is false.
But this is itself a fallacy in that it attacks a strawman; to the anti-fallacy side “Scotsman” isn’t a class, it is a kind. The anti-fallacy side is asserting that the word “Scotsman” is ambiguous; there exists the kind “Scotsman” and the class “Scotsman.” A true Scotsman is one who upholds the historical traditions of Scots, and being a sex maniac ain’t it. So no fallacy is committed.
Saying that x is no true Scotsman is not to make a claim about kind membership. It is to claim that a certain trait is central to being Scottish–that it is part of the Scottish clump of properties–and that x has violated this trait. Compare with the claim that a dog with three legs is not a well-formed instance of dog-kind. If some poor dog has lost its leg you are not claiming that this animal is no longer a dog. You are claiming that some characteristic historical feature of dogs is missing. The same goes for the “no true Scotsman is a sex maniac” example.
So why does this matter? Always pay attention to how terms are being used and whether they are referring to a class or a kind. Terms like Scottish, German, Polish, and American used to refer to kinds but liberals have succeeded in turning them into classes. These terms now simply mean, at best, “is a citizen of Scotland” (or Germany, or Poland, etc) and at worse merely “lives in Scotland,” or “lives in Germany,” or “lives in America.” The idea that Germans, or Russians, or Poles might be historical kinds denoting a common history or tradition is verboten. There was an article not long ago about how a gang of “Swedes” had raped a woman on a ferry. See here. It turned out these Swedes weren’t even Swedish citizens, they just happened to be living in Sweden at the time. I remember after 9/11 there was an ad on television called “I am an American.” It showed a wide variety of the class “American” proclaiming that they were American. See here. Even if they were members of the class “American” they weren’t members of the kind-formerly-known-as-American. I suppose “European-American” is now the name of that kind. These kinds of word games are always politically motivated to claim that there is no difference between true Swedes and nominal Swedes, and attempt to manipulate the affections people naturally have for their kind, and extend it to a class.
What’s worse is that the Left will not allow the kind “European-American” to exist. The Left seems to tolerate Irish American cultural centers (or German, or Italian, or Polish, cultural centers), but any attempt to create a European-American cultural center would be met with protests. European-Americans are definitely a distinct kind; European-Americans are not Germans, or Irish, or English, or Italian. We have our own history, our own traditions, our own style, and so on. But you can just imagine the reaction if European-Americans tried to have European-American celebrations, festivals, parades, or holidays.
I don’t give a damn about the class “American.” Why should I? (This is not to say that members of this class aren’t entitled to basic human respect). You can be a member of the class American and care nothing for baseball, hotdogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet (to use the slogan from an old commercial). You don’t need to celebrate the 4th of July, give a damn about the “land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims’ pride,” or the Civil War, or World War 2. You don’t even need to care about the Constitution, or life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be a member of the American class. My patriotism, affection, or loyalty contributes nothing to a class. One’s affection for their people means you love something and want it to endure and be passed on, to be inherited. I do feel a loyalty to my kind because loyalty helps your kind to survive and endure.
AdvertisementsA transgender scripted history by winning civic polls in Raigarh, after defeating nearest rival from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Independent candidate Madhu, won the mayor election of the Raigarh Municipal Corporation by 4,537 votes against BJP's Mahaveer Guruji.
Madhu, 35, belonging to Dalit community, is the first transgender person to get elected as mayor in the state.
After winning, Madhu said people had shown faith in her and will put best efforts to accomplish their dreams.
"I have seen that the roads of this city are in deplorable condition. There are many poor people also who don't have a place to live. I want to fulfill their demands. I would make sure that people of my community don't do anything that causes shame to us and I would like to give them some opportunities so that they become economically independent," said Madhu.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh wished the winning candidates.
"I congratulate all the mayors and councillors who won. I hope they will fulfill their responsibilities and will cooperate with the government for the state's development," said Singh.Chapter 13 > In which there is a chill "Then come the wild weather, come sleet or come snow, we will stand by each other, however it blow."
“Stop right there!” a guardspony at the gate Tilled had driven up to shouted. He was covered hoof to eartips in wrappings and clothes, wearing a pair of ski goggles similar to my own. He had a rifle slung into a battle saddle, and was obviously ready to use it should the need arise. “Please step out of the vehicle and declare your intent within the city of Auction House!”
“Alright Tilled, this is where we need to get off, you included.” I said.
Tilled Earth grimaced. “I don’t like leaving the ol’ girl behind, but if it’s what I have to do… I’ll park ‘er off to the side.” The old earth pony stopped the large transport at the side of the road in front of the gate, the rumble of the engine dying out as he removed something from the controls in front of him. It looked like a key of some sort.
We all got off the Earther, and stepped up to the guard, whose expression was hidden behind his goggles and a scarf. “State your business.” he repeated, sounding a little more relaxed now that we were down on his level.
“I’m Coin Slot, a slaver who works with the city.” I introduced myself. “These ponies are my slaves, except for him. He’s a customer visiting the city for the first time.” I pointed at Tilled Earth, who gave a polite bow to the guard.
“I see… who owns the vehicle?” the guard asked, getting out a small clipboard and pencil. “And have you explained the rules of the city to him?”
“The Earther is mine, and yes, she did an exemplary job tellin’ me what this here place is all about.” Tilled said, stepping forward.
“Alright… here’s your receipt.” The guard said, giving him a piece of paper that he had just finished writing on. “Keep it and track all your purchases on it, then show it to me or another guard when you leave, and things will be nice and smooth.”
“Thank ya kindly.” Tilled Earth said, then shivered. “Geeze, it’s cold out here, let’s hurry and find some warmth, how’s that sound to y’all?”
“Sounds good to me, we can probably find a place to rent out or something for our stay here.” I said, nodding to the guard as he opened the gate for us, letting us into the city proper.
I took a look around. Things had changed since I was last here. There were more solidly built buildings and less shacks and tents, and the streets looked cleaner, though that might have been the blanket of snow that was covering everything. There were maybe two or three other ponies wandering around, wearing thick clothing and obviously out on important business… I guessed that anypony who didn’t have a reason to be outside was staying in out of the cold.
“Wow. Biggest city I’ve been to in… like… ever.” Matchstick said, a sizzling sound constantly coming from the area around her as she melted a crater into the snow around her. She was wide-eyed, looking at the two and three story buildings that lined the streets here like they were old-world skyscrapers. The fact that these buildings were made out of rubble, spare parts and whatever the architects could get their hooves on was of no consequence. Each one was unique and told a story about how the city was built. There were even a few true-blue wooden buildings made out of planks and logs… scavengers must have run into a source of lumber at some point. “Besides the old ruined ones, I mean.” Matchstick clarified.
I looked back at her, everypony had gotten closer to the flaming mare, probably subconsciously seeking warmth. Because of this, we were all crowded in a small area… and we really needed to get moving and find a place to set up shop. “Alright, first order of business is to find somewhere to stay for the night.” I said. “Then I’d like to see what the markets are selling, and see if we can offer something that isn't already being provided by somepony, or if it is, something we can do better.”
“Heh, focused on caps much?” Shimmercoat said, grinning.
“Well, caps make the world go round.” I replied, grinning back. “But actually, I want to get out of this cold. Let’s head over to the market area and see if anypony has rooms for rent.”
“I could use directions to the marketplace too, so I’ll follow ya’ll.” Tilled said. I nodded, and started making my way through the snow towards the area of the city where ponies sold everything from food to ammo to slaves. The snow was cold against my legs, and I wasn’t feeling so good all of the sudden. It felt like I was starting to get a headache… which is always just peachy.
We passed by a pair of ponies on our way to the market. They were dressed like us for the most part, in other words they also were not prepared for the unseasonably cold weather. They also looked pretty irritable. One of them stumbled on something under the snow.
“Hey, watch where you’re putting your tail! I almost tripped on it!” he practically shouted at the mare walking next to him.
“Huh? How is that my fault? Watch where you put your hooves! My tail isn’t even long enough to reach the ground, what are you going on about?” she retorted, her voice nasally and mildly annoying to listen to.
“Nothing’s ever your fault, is it?! What about that time you gave us away to that swarm of robots, hmm? I wouldn’t be surprised if your stupid fucking ass did it on purpose!” the stallion said, getting in the mare’s face. She looked mortified by that comment. We had stopped, as they were causing quite a commotion, and I was wondering if I should intervene. It was none of my business, though, so I kept my mouth shut and just watched.
“T-that’s… how dare you! Riddles was killed by those robots!” she shouted back, tears forming in her eyes.
“Maybe that was the whole idea! Awful convenient for your gun to ‘misfire’ when we were sneaking past them and Riddles was right in their line of sight!”
“RIDDILES WAS MY… HOW DARE YOU!!” the mare screamed, tackling the stallion, her expression pained and enraged at what he was implying.
The two of them started to fight, throwing punches and kicks, biting each other’s ears… it looked like they were trying to kill each other.
“Shimmercoat, go break that up.” I ordered. “I don’t know what’s gotten into those ponies, but they’re breaking the rules right now.” I frowned. My headache was starting to get worse, and there weren’t any guards around to keep fights like this from happening. There usually would be… but the weird weather was keeping the guards in their guardshacks.
“I’ll help ya, sonny.” Tilled Fields said, and the two stallions approached the big ball of violence in the middle of the snowy street. “Hey there! Break it up, you two!” he shouted.
The fighting ponies ignored the old stallion, right up until Shimmercoat grabbed the stallion and Tilled pulled the mare off of him, she almost bit his ear off while he was doing so.
“Hey!” the stallion said, struggling against Shimmercoat’s grip. “What’s the big idea?”
“Get off me!” the mare shouted at Tilled. He let go, and she dusted herself off, snorting angrily. “You ponies should mind your own business!”
“Just trying to keep the peace, ma’am.” Tilled said. “Why don’t you two go take a walk and cool your heels.”
Shimmercoat let go of the stallion as well. They both trotted off in opposite directions, still clearly pissed off at each other, but not willing to confront strangers over whatever it was they were fighting over. “That was strange…” I said.
“How so?” Crescent asked.
“Well, usually the market is packed full of ponies, first of all.” I said, looking around. Lights were on in the heavy canvass tents and small tin shacks that made up most of the market sector of Auction House, but doors and tent flaps were closed, to keep the heat in. Nopony was really open for business, and there weren’t any customers wandering around in the snow either. “And secondly, those ponies sounded like they had been traveling together from what we overheard. I dunno…”
“Hey, sometimes traveling partners fight, you and I should know that.” Shimmercoat said, walking back over with Tilled, his breath causing his glasses to fog over. He frowned and took them off to wipe on his coat.
“Well, tension is the norm for slaves and slavers, not the exception. Though they could have been a slave and master… again, that whole thing just sounded weird to me. Whatever, not our concern.” I said, not wanting to give too much thought to the plights of strangers, though I felt mildly ticked that they had broken the rules by fighting within the bounds of Auction House. “Lets find someplace to get out of the cold and work out our next move.”
“Agreed, Sergeant!” MG-MS11 said loudly, like he says everything. “What about that big building over there, that looks like it would be ample shelter for our squad from these low temperatures! We need to get everypony in the warm before hypothermia sets in! One of us already has what appears to be a terminal and chronic fever, though I still think my sensors must be on the fritz for her!”
“Har dee har har.” Matchstick said. “I’m actually feeling the cold too, by the way. My fire doesn’t exactly keep me warm and cozy, though I doubt I could actually have hypothermia.”
“Well…” I said, looking at everypony. We weren’t dressed for this, everypony was shivering and standing close to Matchstick, who was looking more and more pissed off by the second. “That big building won’t work for shelter, because that’s the auction house, where the Head Auctioneers meet and where the big auctions take place. Only the Head Auctioneers and their families live there.” I referred to the old courthouse that MG-MS11 pointed out.
“Didn’t you say that we might be able to find somepony renting rooms around here?” Tilled Earth asked. He was putting on an act, I realized. The old pony sounded just fine, but his legs were shaking and his lips turning an unhealthy shade of blue. The cold was really getting to him, whether he was letting it show or not.
“Theoretically… I hope they aren’t all full.” I said. There was one inn I knew about, the one I stayed at when I had first come to Auction House as a filly… that was a long time ago, though. Hopefully it hasn’t turned into something else since I last stayed there.
“Some new memories are bubbling to the surface of thy brain.” Mezzer said. “I would like to review them at some point, if that is alright with thou.”
“Thanks for asking, but now isn’t the time. Maybe later.” I told him. At least he was learning to ask before poking around my head. Finally. “Come on, everypony, there’s an inn this way, I think…” I said, and headed for the end of the street that was lined with tents that normally sold farm fresh veggies.
“I don’t like this place, one wrong step and all these tents go up in smoke.” Matchstick said, looking nervously around and sticking to the center of the street.
I hadn’t thought of that. “Um, yeah… be careful.” I said |
PRSC.
At the heart of the project is Steve Furber, a professor of computer engineering at the University of Manchester. One of his central interests is how it is that brains manage to continue to function when parts of it fail–a phenomenon known as plasticity—while the same is not true of computers. “We don’t know how to design things with that resilience,” he told ZDNet UK. His team will use the chips as part of its SpiNNaker project (a stylistically spelled “abbreviation” of Spiking Neural Network architecture), which, according to the project’s site, uses “massive parallelism and redundancy” to mimic the brain’s structure, which after all operates by conscripting billions of neurons to work in tandem.
The idea is that once the SpiNNaker project is fully operational, researchers from around the world could use it to test theories about how the human brain works. (A colorful recent example of research like this came when scientists at Yale and the University of Texas essentially gave a computer schizophrenia.) ZDNet UK poses the question that naturally arises from such research, though: Will we ever get to the point of building a fully digital brain–one with the same number of connections as the human one? Some thinkers say the answer is yes, among them the scientist Henry Markram, who recently predicted that we should be able to get there by 2023. Interestingly, both Markram and Furber underline academic funding models as one of the chief limitations to attaining such a goal.
In the meantime, at least, we’ll have researchers simulating parts of the brain—like these Stanford academics who recently developed a nanoelectric device that mimics human synapses. Taking a cue from evolution itself, perhaps we’ll finally arrive at a full digital brain only by building several different modules at once, and then cobbling them all together.Female corporate directors make better decisions on complex issues than men, raising questions about whether boards are doing a disservice to investors when they include no women, a new study argues.
A review of decision-making processes used by 624 Canadian corporate directors found women scored higher on average on sophisticated "complex moral reasoning" skills, which suggests they make better decisions on complicated matters.
The findings mean boards "may actually be shortchanging their investors" if they have no women around the table, says study co-author Chris Bart, a business professor at McMaster University in Hamilton.
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"There's no good reason why women shouldn't be represented on a board at the same level [as men]," Prof. Bart said in an interview.
"You may in fact be derelict in your duties as directors by depriving your shareholders of board members who innately appear to have superior decision-making capabilities. So what reason would you have for keeping female representation at such a low level?"
Women account for 10 per cent of directors on boards of publicly traded Canadian companies, according to women's advocacy group Catalyst, and that percentage has barely shifted for years. Catalyst and other groups have done research in recent years arguing companies with more women on their boards have better financial results, although the researchers say it is hard to know whether female directors cause the better returns.
Prof. Bart says his research suggests there could be a logical connection to better corporate performance if women make better decisions on complex matters.
Despite their ability, he argues the ongoing shortage of women on boards is not due to a shortage of women in top ranks, but is actually caused by a reluctance by some men to hire women because they have a more challenging decision-making style and are less deferential to tradition or defined power structures.
"Men are pack animals and they are highly deferential to power structures.... A woman comes on a board, and she says 'I understand tradition and the way you've always done things, but let's look at it differently, and why are we doing it the same way we've always done it for 50 years,'" he suggests.
Prof. Bart and research partner Gregory McQueen of A.T. Stills University in Arizona examined test results from directors who participated in the Directors College training course for corporate directors in Canada and completed a decades-old standardized test known as the Defined Issues Test, which measures how people make decisions on complex matters.
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The good news for investors is that both male and female directors did well on the test, which means directors on average are good decision-makers. But women proved better on average at applying "complex moral reasoning" factors in decision-making, which involves considering viewpoints of multiple groups, using co-operative and consensus-building approaches and applying decisions in a consistent and non-arbitrary fashion.
A greater proportion of men, by comparison, relied more on making decisions based on rules, regulations, or traditional ways of doing business or getting along, according to the findings, which have been published in the International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics.
Prof. Bart suggests the differences may be "genetically driven," and women may simply be wired to have better social co-operation and consensus-building skills.
"That skill is inbred in women much more so than it is in men. When it comes to making decisions at the board level, you need this level of inquisitiveness, you need this ability to see more possibilities and alternatives to make a decision that's judged to be more fair and consistent over time. And women seem to have this innate ability."A widow has no recollection of the nine hours before she found her naked husband lying with a head wound on the stairs of the family home.
A widow has no recollection of the nine hours before she found her naked husband lying with a head wound on the stairs of the family home.
Widow has 'no recollection' of nine hours before she discovered naked husband injured on stairs - inquest hears
Phyllis Goonan was giving evidence in the inquest of her late husband James Goonan (51) who died at home on Hawthorn Drive, Crinkle, Birr, Co Offaly, in March 2002.
Mrs Goonan was speaking on the second day of the inquest which Offaly Coroner Brian Mahon believes is "one of the longest-running inquests in the State".
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy gave evidence on the opening day of the inquest.
She carried out a post mortem following the death and concluded that Mr Goonan had died from a haemorrhage and shock as a result of a laceration to the head.
Dr Cassidy also cited evidence of a previous heart attack and acute alcohol intoxication as contributory factors.
Inspector John Lawless read out Phyllis Goonan's deposition at the inquest on Tuesday.
In it, she stated that herself and James had gone for a drink and meal in Dooly's Hotel in Birr on March 10.
After the meal, Mr Goonan bought a bottle of whiskey and some cans and they went home at around 3pm. They were later joined by Mr Goonan's mother Sheila and they all played cards until Sheila left at around 5 or 6pm.
At around 3am she went to go to bed and found her husband lying on the stairs.
Mrs Goonan says she then covered him with a duvet and lay down beside him to sleep.
At around 6.30am, she recalled, "I put my hand on Jim's mouth and noticed he wasn't breathing."
Mr Mahon asked Mrs Goonan what happened after her mother-in-law left.
"I presume I was asleep until around 3 o'clock when I went to go to bed and found his body," she remarked.
"I thought he was just drunk, I didn't know".
When asked if she appreciated the seriousness of Mr Goonan's condition at the time, she replied, "no, because I was very drunk too".
Counsel for Mr Goonan's brother Cyril, Johnnie McCoy B.L., told Mrs Goonan that Dr Cassidy had suggested her husband might have survived had he received timely medical treatment.
Mrs Goonan has denied telling Sgt John Gibbons, who visited the house that morning, that her husband had fallen against a fireplace.
She also struggled to recall being interviewed by two uniformed Garda members on the morning of March 11.
Mrs Goonan recalled her brother taking her to hospital in Tullamore later that day to have a cast on her leg tended to.
She said she was later transferred to hospital in Portlaoise.
Earlier on Tuesday, forensic scientist Dr Jennifer Ryan recalled viewing a number of photos of bloodstains taken upstairs at the house by Cyril Goonan.
Using information from the State Pathologist's report and the photographs she interpreted the scene.
Dr Ryan said a likely possible scenario was that Mr Goonan fell and hit his head on a bedside locker before slipping down beside the locker. She believes he may have made contact with the bed clothes and pillow, before deciding to move downstairs, where he later collapsed on the stairs.
Retired Sgt John Gibbons gave evidence of attending at Hawthorn Drive on March 11.
He saw James Goonan undressed and face down on the stairs with the lower part of his body covered by a duvet.
Although Phyllis appeared to be "affected by alcohol", Sgt Gibbons said "she stated that he (James) must have hit his head off the fireplace".
She had blood on her clothes, glasses and under her finger nails, he added.
Mrs Goonan is due to resume giving evidence at the inquest today.
Irish IndependentWritten by Covenant Theological | Tuesday, August 21, 2012
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri – August 20, 2012 – Covenant Theological Seminary has never taught, and in no way affirms, that the female body is capable of preventing pregnancy caused by rape.
Covenant Theological Seminary affirms that rape, in all its forms, is wicked. In regard to rape against women, men, and children, we believe that the Gospel calls us to show love, compassion, and support for the victims and their families. In all circumstances surrounding the trauma, we must name the evil, seek justice, and care for those affected by such horrendous acts. In instances of rape against women that result in pregnancy, this includes caring for the unborn child as well.
Media Contact
Allison Dowlen, Director of Communications
Covenant Theological Seminary
[email protected]
314.434.4044It’s an old party trick—sucking helium from balloons so you can sing like a Wizard of Oz munchkin. When gibbons inhale this non-toxic gas, researchers can detect much more sophisticated impersonations. It turns out that gibbon vocalization techniques mirror those of highly trained soprano opera singers.
“We’ve shown how the gibbons’ distinctive song uses the same vocal mechanics as soprano singers, revealing a fundamental similarity with humans,” explains Takeshi Nishimura, an associate professor with the Primate Research Institute at Japan’s Kyoto University.
Scientists had previously believed that human speech was possible, in part, due to suspected evolutionary changes in the larynx, tongue, and vocal tract. But Nishimura’s new findings suggest that humans may not have vocal anatomy and ability as unique as previously thought.
Listen to a gibbon call:
And to a gibbon on helium:
We share voice-box physiology with gibbons, and likely other primates, but we also share the way we manipulate sound, Nishimura explains. With both humans and gibbons, the origin of the sound—the larynx—is independent from the vocal tools (or training) used to tailor audible messages.
Nishimura and his colleagues studied a young female white-handed gibbon at the Fukuchiyama City Zoo in Kyoto, where they exposed her to helium-rich air. Helium, which shifts gibbon sounds to a resonance that is easier to assess with acoustic equipment, is common in animal vocalization research.
This graceful primate normally makes intense, pure-tone—or single-frequency—calls that can travel more than a mile through dense tropical forests in their native Southeast Asia.
It was probably the need to communicate with distant neighbors in such bustling habitats that produced the unique gibbon song. “Such ecological and social requirements forced gibbons, using a soprano technique, to produce their pure-tone and loud voices,” Nishimura said.
Human soprano opera singers learn to shift their vocal range to make their high-pitched sounds the most powerful ones, he explained.
“[Gibbons] use human professional singing techniques with little effort,” he added.
While gibbons won’t be mimicking human conversation any time soon, says Nishimura, “this gives us a new appreciation of the evolution of speech in gibbons while revealing that the physiological foundation in human speech is not so unique.”
The findings were published in the most recent edition of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.Urgent action needed to clear up streets in Glasgow area as vermin breed among piles of rubbish.
Govanhill: Residents are demanding improvements to living conditions.
Residents have demanded improvements to living conditions in the Govanhill area of Glasgow as a charity said it was "unbelievable" Scotland still had such poor housing.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the MSP for the area, was confronted by angry residents last weekend who invited her to see the squalid conditions of some of their streets.
The Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council have ploughed £10m into a fund to improve properties in Govanhill but locals say conditions are still unbearable.
Residents told STV the area needed urgent action to clear up back streets, with rats and other vermin breeding among the piles of rubbish.
Local householder Joe Beaver said: "We're only five minutes away from Hampden. Is this really Glasgow in the 21st century?"
After being shown some of the conditions, Graeme Brown, director of housing charity Shelter Scotland, said it was clear far more needed to be done.
He said: "It's unbelievable that we still have housing that bad. Scotland has done a great deal to improve its housing but clearly we have more still to be done."
The First Minister said she had been working with Glasgow City Council to improve the situation.
She said: "I take the view that it is less productive to talk about who's responsible and more productive to talk about how me as an MSP, the local councillors, the Scottish Government, the police work together to resolve these problems.
"These are issues I have been working on for a long time as MSP and will continue to do so. We recently passed legislation to give Glasgow City Council extra powers for enforcement."The Wall of Separation Between Church and State is a hot topic in this year’s midterm elections. From witch-hunting evangelicals to Christian nationalists, from violence to gross injustices, our show will touch on instances of extremism and their interplay with politics. The panel includes:of Talk2Action.org exposed how Hawaii’s politics have been influenced by Christian extremists. In May 2008, Wilson posted a video widely credited in the media with precipitating then-GOP presidential candidate John McCain's decision to reject his long-sought endorsement from evangelist John Hagee.is a publicist with an impressive clientele. Ilene will tell the shocking story of how a crime was manufactured against John McTiernan, director of the films, and... and how any American can face the same type of injustice., author ofand blogger at The Huffington Post, will reveal why Glenn Beck might be ousted as a radio personality on Armed Services Radio. Chris is Senior Research Director for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation., consultant to the California Council of Churches, board member of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and author of the forthcoming book, Palin’s America: God, Guns & Greed, was a victim of the type of violence that Lauren Valle received from Rand Paul supporters. After leaving a meeting in which she had shared her views about Sarah Palin’s religious views, Leah was “curbed," resulting in a shattered cheekbone that required surgery and a metal plate.Please visitIntel, the chip giant, has committed $50 million and engineering resources as part of a 10-year partnership with a Dutch university to advance research in quantum computing. The partnership with Delft University of Technology and TNO, the Dutch Organization for Applied Research, will involve research and materials at Intel and at the university.
Intel (INTC) is not the only big name company involved with quantum computing. Google (GOOG) has a quantum computing lab it operates with NASA and has experimented with a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems, a Canadian startup. Lockheed Martin has also purchased a D-wave machine, while IBM (IBM) has invested significant amounts in basic quantum computing research in its labs.
Perhaps Intel is ready to publicly admit that Moore’s Law is on its last legs and that it’s time to start seeking other ways of moving computing forward. The chip giant’s co-founder Gordon Moore coined the law, which posits that the number of transistors on a chip would double every two years, and Intel has reaped the benefits of making ever smaller chips crammed with more and more transistors. The entire computing industry has profited in the form of faster, cheaper, and smaller computers.
Now that model is coming to an end as physics make it more challenging and expensive keep up with Moore’s Law, which means researchers are looking elsewhere. Quantum computing, which is completely unlike traditional transistor-based computing, is one avenue of research. Quantum computers could solve problems other computers can’t, such as simulations of large-scale financial analysis and molecules that could lead to drug development.
Rather than working with binary ones and zeros as transistors do, quantum computing is more probabilistic. It uses quantum entanglement to allow a combination of zeros and ones to simultaneously answer many questions with quantum bits of information. These quantum bits of information are called qubits, and they generally only hold their state when they are kept very, very cold.
Mike Mayberry, Intel vice president and managing director of Intel Labs, explained in a press release that Intel could help make quantum computing a reality, not with quantum theory so much as the specialized electronics that connect the qubits: “While qubit development has been the focus of quantum computing research to date, low-temperature electronics will be required to connect, control, and measure multiple qubits, and this is where we can contribute.”
It’s an exciting area of research, although one that has always been about a dozen years out since I started covering computing 14 ago. Yet, in the last five years, several big-name companies have started putting more engineering muscle and money behind quantum computing. So maybe Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich was correct when he wrote in a blog on this investment:
Intel can help advance progress in this field through our leading manufacturing, electronics and architectural expertise. We can help with scaling this technology. Why am I so confident? Because this is what we do best. This research is on the cutting edge of silicon, architecture and software. Intel’s entire history has been built on driving innovations in the very leading edge of all three of these.
Maybe this time around we really will see quantum computing a dozen years from now.
For more on Intel and its efforts to boost diversity—in hiring, not computing architectures—see this Fortune video:
Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.The Michigan Five Fluke Freshmen is the name given to five members (Raymond Clevenger, Billie Farnum, John Mackie, Paul Todd, and Wes Vivian) of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan that were elected in the Democratic landslide of 1964 and subsequently defeated just two years later by a Republican resurgence. All of the five were one-term congressmen. It was the last time that a state would have five freshmen members of Congress defeated for reelection.
1964: LBJ landslide [ edit ]
With President Lyndon B. Johnson taking over 67% of the vote in Michigan, the Democrats were able to win five districts and change the delegation from 12 to 7 Republican to 12 to 7 Democratic. The Democratic gains took place in District 2 (based in the Ann Arbor area), District 3 (set around Kalamazoo and Battle Creek), District 7 (Flint and its surrounding region), District 11 (northern lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula), and District 19 (suburban Detroit). Nationally Democrats gained 36 seats from the Republicans in the House.
1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 2 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 3 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 7 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 11 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 19 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1966: Republican Resurgence [ edit ]
The unpopularity of President Johnson's Great Society, rising crime, radical campus protests, and racial riots coupled with the coattail effect of popular Governor George W. Romney at the top of the state ticket all led to a downturn for the Democratic Party. The Republicans succeeded in recapturing the five districts they lost in 1964 and returned the delegation to a 12 to 7 Republican majority. Nationally the Republicans gained 47 seats from the Democrats in the House.
1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 2 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 3 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 7 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 11 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 19 Election. Party Candidate Votes %
References [ edit ]Thank you for your contribution. Your support is critical to helping me to get things done. I've turned the page from campaigning to doing what the voters of Minnesota elected me to do -- fight for the best interests of the people in our state and across America. After spending two years talking about what I planned to do if elected, it's an incredible feeling to be here and start getting things done. My first piece of legislation was the Service Dogs for Veterans Act -- which established a program withing the U.S. Department of Veteran Affiars that pairs disabled veterans with service dogs...
In these days where bipartisanship has become a concept imbued with cynicism and mockery, this was, amazingly enough, truly a bipartisan bill. Co-sponsors included Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-G.A.), Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-L.A.), Sen. Mark Begich (D-A.K.), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-O.H.).
How like Al to craft legislation that is both compassionate and smart. Here's how he described it:
"There’s a huge return on investment here. Service dogs can do amazing things, and there is evidence to suggest that increasing their numbers would reduce the alarming suicide rate among veterans, decrease the number of hospitalizations, and lower the cost of medications and human care.
"I believe it is enough simply to improve the lives of those of whom we asked so much. But this program isn't just the right thing to do. It's the smart thing to do. This small investment will pay dividends for these veterans for years to come."
I also offered an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill that would stop funding defense contractors who deny victims of sexual assault their day in court.
Yes, he did. An amendment that was, not incidentally, opposed by the Defense Department. If you missed Franken's masterful performance in dismantling the KBR attorney who was attempting to defend mandatory, binding arbitration for rape cases, it was a thing of beauty. But first, he displayed exemplary respect and admiration for Jamie Leigh Jones, the courageous young woman who was brutally gang-raped by KBR employees in Iraq. Watch:
I've learned that a senator has the incredible privilege of doing things that make a real difference to real people. That's a privilege I will continue to cherish.
And it's a privilege that he wasted no time in putting into practice. Senator Al is capable of working magic with people, by the simple act of patient listening, by saying in response to challenges, "That's a great question", and then giving replies that are respectful, considerate, detailed and exactly on topic. He does this even with angry people, people who have been incited to believe that people like Al Franken are socialists and health care reform is an evil plot. Every politician should be required to watch this, and learn:
Thank you for your continuing support. Sincerely,
Al Franken
Thank you, Al, for setting such a wonderful example, even as a freshman senator. There is little doubt that you will prove to be a worthy successor to Paul Wellstone. Happy Holidays to you and Franni.The “traditional” values that have shaped our understanding of love, sex, and marriage are losing their hold on our culture. The last half century, in particular, has seen dramatic changes in attitudes about sex and in marital relationships, especially in terms of the division of labor, gender roles, the distribution of social and economic power, and transformations of legal rights and obligations. It’s not surprising that these changes are greeted both with anxiety and with exuberance. They are both celebrated as liberating (by progressives) and bemoaned as undermining the very foundations of our civilization (by conservatives).
There is one ideal, however, to which most conservatives and progressives alike adhere: the ideal of monogamy. In popular culture, the monogamous loving couple is celebrated; the philanderer is demonized. Despite counter-cultural experiments with alternative arrangements (polygamy, polyandry, open relationships, and so on), despite historically unprecedented rates of divorce, despite widespread incidence of infidelity, the dream of a loving, life-long, monogamous relationship still commands widespread respect. And so, our culture remains, if not exactly committed to monogamy, largely “monogamish”.
But what is the ideal? Despite, or perhaps because of, its status as a self-evident good, there is surprisingly little consensus or even rigorous thought about what the ideal amounts to and what it entails. What does it really mean to be monogamous? What does a successful monogamous relationship involve? How should it deal with the inevitable changes that all human relationships undergo – for instance, from the passion of first love to the day to day demands of everyday domestic life? Or, the way children change the dynamic of personal relationships? How ought partners in a monogamous relationship deal with temptations? Can a monogamous relationship preserve passion in a satisfying way? Or does it offer a different kind of satisfaction to compensate for the loss of passion? What about alternatives to monogamy? Are they viable given the strength of the monogamous ideal in our culture?
In this film, we will explore such questions by talking to psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers, artists, and people living within and outside of monogamous relationships.A “leak” has appeared online outlining the DLC plans for Battlefield 5 along with revealing that the game will be officially announced EA two days before E3 in June.
We know Battlefield 5 is coming but what we don’t know is where the game will be set. There have been rumours circulating that the game was going to take place during World War One however the only evidence to back up that claim was a listing from a German retailer that was quickly removed. However DLC plans for Battlefield 5 have been “leaked” and if they turn out to be true, it will mean that unfortunately Battlefield 5 won’t be set in World War One.
Instead, judging by the images posted by Reddit user KoXin it seems that Battlefield 5 will focus on a futuristic World War involving all the major superpowers. The images posted by KoXin say that Battlefield 5 will be revealed on June 12, two days before E3 officially kicks off which is on June 14. In addition, five pieces of DLC are shown with the first arriving on December 6, 2016. If that is the case, it means that Battlefield 5 will likely release several weeks before.
Of course, there is no way to confirm this rumour. It would seem like a great length to go to just to mislead gamers but there have been a number of hoaxes recently so we advice taking this with a pinch of salt. There’s every chance that it could be the work of someone with a lot of spare time on their hands, only time will tell.Stephen Harper defended himself against attacks on his economic record Canadian political leaders have accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of not having a plan to deal with effects of US financial crisis on the economy. The five leaders were taking part in the second of two TV debates ahead of a general election on 14 October. Opposition leaders said Mr Harper was keeping voters in the dark by failing to come up with an economic plan. However, the Conservative leader played down fears, saying Canada was on a better economic footing than the US. During the debate, Mr Harper also said for the first time that he had been wrong to support the US invasion of Iraq while leader of the opposition. Polls have consistently given Mr Harper a 10 percentage point lead over his nearest rival, Stephane Dion of the Liberal Party. What crisis? The longest part of the debate focused on the economy. "We are not in the kind of economic crisis we have in the US," Mr Harper said. Where's your platform? Yours is the only party that hasn't put forward any platform in this election
Elizabeth May
Green Party "Overall, we're being successful. We're keeping the economy on course and we're not going into recession," he said. "What Canadians are worried about... is they see the stock market problems," he said. However, the head of the leftist New Democratic Party (NDP), Jack Layton, challenged Mr Harper's position, saying: "The economy is not fine." "Either you don't care or you're incompetent, which is it?" he asked. Mr Dion shot back that Mr Harper had "no idea what to do" about the crisis. Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe likened Mr Harper's approach to the economy to the laissez-faire policies of the Bush administration. "It's like 'don't worry, be happy'," he said. Elizabeth May, the first Green Party leader to participate in the leaders' debate, called on Mr Harper to release an economic plan. "You offered nothing up and again tonight you've spent your time attacking the policies of others. Where's your platform? Yours is the only party that hasn't put forward any platform in this election," she said. Green tax Mr Harper turned on Mr Dion, accusing him of panicking under pressure by unveiling an economic plan during the previous night's debate in French. During Wednesday's debate, which also focused heavily on the economy, Mr Dion promised to consult financial regulators and provincial governments within 30 days of winning the election to develop measures to stimulate the economy. It's obviously clear the evaluation of weapons of mass destruction proved not to be correct
Stephen Harper
Prime Minister For the first time in the campaign, Mr Layton turned on Mr Dion - in some parts of the country, the NDP has supplanted the Liberals as the most serious challenger to the Conservatives. Mr Layton criticised Mr Dion for backing Mr Harper in confidence motions in parliament. "If you can't do your job as leader of the opposition, I don't know what you're doing running for prime minister," he said. Mr Layton joined Mr Harper in attacking the Liberals' Green Shift plan, which would pair income-tax cuts with a new tax on greenhouse gas emissions, saying it did not "add up". Plagiarism claim On Iraq, Mr Harper said the invasion "was absolutely an error", reversing his past support for the US-led war. "It's obviously clear the evaluation of weapons of mass destruction proved not to be correct," he said. A senior staffer in the Conservative Party resigned on Tuesday after admitting he plagiarised parts of a speech by Australia's then PM John Howard, urging support for the war. Mr Harper's Conservatives were elected in 2006 but without a majority. His move to call a snap poll is seen as a bid to capitalise on favourable opinion polls and win an overall majority in parliament this time round, correspondents say.
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StumbleUpon What are these?In recent years, work has become infinitely more complex.
Technological innovations have led to round-the-clock work schedules and mounting expectations. Our assignments have grown more collaborative, requiring more coordination, conference calls, and meetings. We now face an endless barrage of distractions, from the vibrations and alerts on our smartphones to the breaking news stories and viral videos awaiting us at our desks.
Now, more than ever, we need strategies for being productive. But where do we start?
Earlier this year, as part of an online summit taking place in January 2016, I invited 26 bestselling science and productivity writers to share their insights for achieving top performance. Here are nine overarching themes that encapsulate their advice for navigating a rapidly accelerating informational landscape and achieving peak performance at work.
1. Own your time. Our most satisfying work comes about when we’re playing offense, working on projects that we ourselves initiate. Many of us know this intuitively yet continue allowing ourselves to spend the vast majority of our days playing defense, responding to other people’s requests.
Many of the experts I interviewed believe that top performers take steps to ensure a favorable offense-to-defense ratio. Tom Rath, author of Are You Fully Charged?, recommends blocking out time to work away from email, programming your phone to only ring for select colleagues, and resisting emails first thing in the morning until you’ve achieved at least one important task.
2. Recognize busyness as a lack of focus. There’s a satisfying rush we experience when there’s too much on our plate: we feel needed, challenged, even productive. And yet that pleasurable experience is an illusion. It robs us of our focus and prevents us from making progress on the work that matters most.
Sociologist Christine Carter, Ph.D., an expert at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, put it this way: “Busyness is not a marker of intelligence, importance, or success. Taken to an extreme, it is much more likely a marker of conformity or powerlessness or fear.” Instead of viewing busyness as a sign of significance, top performers interpret busyness as an indication of wasted energy.
3. Challenge the myth of the “ideal worker.” Far too many of us continue to believe that an “ideal worker” is one who works constantly, often at great expense to their personal life, but there’s overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Being productive requires recognizing that you can’t work for extended periods of time and maintain a high level of performance. As humans, we have a limited capacity for focused attention. And yet, as Brigid Schulte, journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller Overwhelmed, points out, we have been seduced into thinking that if only we try harder and work longer, we can achieve anything.
Top performers take a different approach. They recognize and honor their physical limitations by getting plenty of exercise and sleep, cycling between 90-minute bursts of focused work and short restorative breaks, and taking time to disconnect from email for some portion of their off-hours.
4. Intentionally leave important tasks incomplete. We often race to finish assignments quickly so that we can move on to the next item on our list. But Wharton professor and psychologist Adam Grant believes resisting this urge can actually make us more productive.
“I used to sit down to write and not want to get up until I was done with a chapter or an argument,” Grant told me. “Now I will deliberately leave sentences just hanging in the middle and get up and go do something else. What I find when I come back is that I don’t have to do a lot of work to finish the sentence, and now I also have a bunch of new ideas for where the writing should go next.” (Note: Hemingway followed the same strategy.)
What both Grant and Hemingway are leveraging is the human tendency to ruminate over unfinished tasks, otherwise known as the Zeigarnick Effect. If you start a project and leave it unfinished, you’re bound to think about it more frequently than after it’s done.
Instead of aiming to complete important tasks in one sitting, try leaving them incomplete. Doing so will encourage you to continue thinking about your work in different settings and, in the process, position you to uncover creative solutions.
5. Make a habit of stepping back. In a knowledge economy, productivity requires more than perseverance — it requires insight and problem-solving. Research indicates quite clearly that we are more likely to find breakthrough ideas when we temporarily remove ourselves from the daily grind. This is why the best solutions reveal themselves when we step into the shower, go for a run, or take a vacation. Top performers view time off not as stalled productivity but as an investment in their future performance.
6. Help others strategically. High achievers, Grant argues in his 2013 book Give and Take, tend to be Givers — those who enjoy helping others without strings attached. While giving can certainly help you succeed, Grant’s data also reveals that helping everyone with everything is a recipe for failure.
So how do you do it right? Top performers, Grant argues, avoid saying yes to every helping opportunity. Instead, they specialize in one or two forms of helping that they genuinely enjoy and excel at uniquely.
7. Have a plan for saying no. The more commitments we agree to take on, the more likely we are to experience what author and consultant Rory Vaden calls “priority dilution.” This is when the sheer number of obligations we’ve committed to prevent us from doing the work that matters most.
One method of counteracting priority dilution involves having a strategy in place for saying no in advance, so that you don’t have to stop and think about how to phrase your response each time you need to turn someone down. Create an email template, or write out a script that you can use when doing it in person.
When dealing with a manager who is asking you to take on more than is reasonable, think outside the yes/no paradigm. Consultant and writer Greg McKeown recommends having a conversation with your manager and listing all the projects you’re currently working on. Indicate which items you think are priorities and invite your supervisor to share his or her opinion. It’s a way of illuminating the constraints you’re under without ever saying the word “no.”
8. Make important behaviors measurable. To make progress toward any goal, it helps to track our behaviors. Bestselling author Gretchen Rubin, an expert on happiness and habits, sees monitoring as one of the keys to behavior changes, saying, “If you want to eat more healthily, keep a food journal. If you want to get more exercise, use a step counter. If you want to stick to a budget, track your spending.”
Marshall Goldsmith, the well-known CEO coach, agrees. Every evening, he reviews a 40-item spreadsheet consisting of every important behavior he hopes to achieve. Among the items: the number of words he wrote, the distance he walked, and the number of nice things he said to his wife, daughter, and grandchildren.
9. Do things today that make more time tomorrow. A final theme |
ents say casualties among Afghan security forces are rising as they take over during the transition process.
Herat has experienced sporadic outbreaks of violence although militant attacks have been concentrated mainly in the south and east of Afghanistan.
Nato handed security control of the city of Herat to Afghan forces in July 2011.When the Miles Davis Quintet headed to Europe in spring 1960, John Coltrane had already submitted his resignation. If he felt the common dread of leaving something big behind, it didn’t show: Throughout this tour, Coltrane hit on a kind of unvarnished intensity and seemed to be playing almost in spite of the rhythm section. His career had reached full adulthood, and he was adjusting to a new set of powers.
Recordings from those 1960 concerts have trickled out over the years via small European labels, culled from radio broadcasts or private bootlegs. “All of You: The Last Tour 1960,” a new four-CD box of remasters released on Britain’s Acrobat imprint, is the mother lode, the fullest composite available. The eight performances included here show an artist apart, drifting into himself.
“He was in stark transition, and he was under-recorded during that time,” said Andrew White, a Washington saxophonist and scholar who has transcribed more than 800 Coltrane solos. “He was especially fertile on that tour with Miles. There are strong shades of it on the ‘Kind of Blue’ record in ’59, but it was on that tour that he shocked everybody.”
The band moves snugly, speaking in its familiar, crowd-pleasing musical jargon. Coltrane, meanwhile, spends long passages squeezing brittle split tones from the saxophone, or spinning circular, warbling phrases beyond exhaustion.
“I think he plays on that tour differently from how he plays on any other recording,” said the saxophonist Simon Spillett, who assembled the collection. “You can hear the seeds of where he’s heading. He’s pushing the saxophone and its context to its limits. Already in his head he was hearing a very different accompaniment from what [pianist] Wynton Kelly and [drummer] Jimmy Cobb were giving him.”
In the late 1950s, the iconic version of Davis’s quintet turned the trumpeter into jazz’s leading man and crowned Coltrane as the tenor saxophonist to watch. This worked partly by way of contrast: Davis was the slick, pretty-faced enigma while Trane the ungainly, sweater-wearing intellect.
But after five years, Coltrane’s concept was too big and implacable to play the foil’s role. In January 1960 he’d released “Giant Steps,” a game-changing album of swiftly restructuring harmonies and fast, staggering solos. The next year, he ran just as hard in the opposite direction, releasing “My Favorite Things” and “Africa/Brass,” stern and formidable records where the chords hardly moved at all. By the time he established his so-called classic quartet in 1962, he was focused on building resolute foundations. The band drew on free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman’s influence, plus Coltrane’s own studies of Indian and West African classical musics, and helped redefine the jazz combo as a breathing, unified body.
But in March 1960, Davis could find no suitable replacement for him, so Coltrane agreed to make one final trip. On the first night of the tour, at the Paris Olympia, startled boos mingled with applause during Coltrane’s solos. That show was left off the “All of You” box because of rights claims, but even in front of northern Europe’s more cordial audiences, a sense of restlessness is easy to detect. As his solo on “So What” peaks into ungraspable flurries, or his off-scale playing on “All of You” pulls Cobb off his accents, listeners must be wondering — is this the guy we’ve been listening to on “Kind of Blue”?
“All of You” catches Coltrane at the beginning of what can be called his eruptive period, full of rapid-fire innovations. The music went inward, but distilled much of what was going on around him: nuclear testing; the fiery launch of the first American space probe; grenades tossed in the marshes of Vietnam; conflagrations of entreaty, ignited in American slums.
This era began with Coltrane’s decision to reorient Davis’s conception of “modal jazz” — that is, pieces that stay on a single chord for an entire section — to his own ends. On Davis’s “Kind of Blue,” jazz’s most famous modal album, Coltrane and the other soloists glide above the rhythm section, chasing melodies into air. On “All of You,” Coltrane’s improvised patterns are rough — units of rhythm more than anything else, that slice the band’s sense of continuity.
He’d always built his solos around small motifs, but the wide-open harmonic system of modal music was new: It seemed to give him full control over how and when he made the motifs, while raising the improviser’s stakes. Throughout “All of You” he centers on one melodic idea, approaches it from various angles, exhausts it, then moves on to another.
“I start from one point and go as far as possible. But, unfortunately, I never lose my way,” Coltrane told an interviewer in January 1962. “I ‘localize,’ which is to say that I think always in a given space. I rarely think of the whole of a solo, and only very briefly. I always return to the small part of the solo that I was in the process of playing. The harmonies have become for me a kind of obsession.”
On albums such as “Blue Train” and “Giant Steps,” Coltrane had gone to an extreme, making tunes that changed not only their chords but their entire keys every few beats. When he embraced modal composition starting in 1960, the common wisdom was that he had exhausted the potential of chord movement — there was just nothing else left to do.
But there are always new means of assembly, especially for a scientifically minded creative inventor like Coltrane. In questioning the need for complex structures, he was working toward a kind of interrogative beauty that engulfed as well as challenged. On “All of You,” his repeated motifs and incantatory helixes of melody are exercises, aimed at perfecting a method of inclusive prayer. By 1963, when he made “Live at Birdland” — including a burning, 13-minute rendition of “Afro Blue” and a tears-and-sweat take on the ballad “I Want to Talk About You,” ending in three minutes of unaccompanied saxophone — he had condensed his powers: He could evoke that feeling of communion in just a single swipe of notes.
The next year, when he recorded the modal and driving “A Love Supreme,” he could bottle the effect into concise, three- or four-note “cells.” At a November 1966 performance in Philadelphia, dug up and released this year as “Offering: Live at Temple University” (Impulse!/Resonance), he occasionally sneaks these cells into resolutely freeform playing, hitting one of his career’s stunning highs. (Less than a year after the Temple concert, Coltrane died at age 40.)
“When you remove the template, you’re now the one creating the structure. In his playing, that’s completely deep,” said the saxophonist Logan Richardson, 34. “We could talk about the harmonic structures and the chords and the architecture of how he was able to put everything together while also being the heavyweight champion, able to peak and peak and peak. But I think just the constant search and the hunt — that in itself is the focus with him.”
It’s a concept of critical importance to Richardson’s generation, which is adjusting to a new kind of modal playing now that funk and hip-hop sampling have redefined jazz. Today, jazz drumming centers on the bass drum and snare, not the cymbals; harmonic motion is slower, more viscous. The jazz solo never fully moved on from Coltrane’s influence, but with a new movement afoot the question becomes more clear: Will anyone achieve the transcendental jazz solo in the post-hip-hop age, as Coltrane did when global and avant-garde influences infiltrated the music in the early 1960s?
The drummer Chris Dave seemed to be hinting at the idea on his 2013 mixtape, Chris Dave and the Drumhedz. On the opening track he included a reworked, sample-like version of Coltrane’s famous incantation from “A Love Supreme,” intoned over a loose hip-hop beat. But the problem of Coltrane’s legacy, which becomes perhaps the main problem of jazz in the past 50 years, is that he was building a personal (though openhanded) system of divination, not an easily-replicated strategy. Those looking to take it forward will have to inquire within.
Russonello is a freelance writer.BRITISH election campaigns are usually carefully choreographed affairs. They are short and sharp: just a few weeks of formal campaigning compared with America’s year or so. And they are divided into two parts: before and after the publication of the party manifestos. Before the publication politicians fend off pesky interviewers by saying, “You’ll have to wait until we publish the manifestos.” After the publication they fend off pesky interviewers by saying, “It’s all spelt out in detail in the manifesto.”
The campaign this year has certainly conformed to the first part of the dance. By calling a snap election against most people’s expectations Theresa May crammed everything into just six weeks—not just the campaigning itself but also the selection of candidates. Late on May 10th the second part of the dance turned into chaos. Drafts of the Labour Party’s manifesto were leaked to several newspapers. Thursday morning news programmes were dominated by tit-bits from the manifesto and Labour hacks desperately trying to think on their feet.
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The most obvious difference between this manifesto and the 1983 one, which Gerald Kauffman, a Labour moderate, christened “the longest suicide note in history”, is that it’s longer: 20,000 words about renationalising the railways, bus companies and the Royal Mail, taking one energy company in every region into public ownership, scrapping tuition fees for students and increasing the powers of trade unions. The manifesto shows how far the economy has changed since 1983. The Labour Party is setting itself the task of reversing economic changes (such as the privatisation of utilities and the marginalisation of trade unions) that have now become rooted in British life. It also shows how much the culture of the left has changed since Labour was dominated by working-class men. The manifesto contains commitments to improving diversity in the performing arts, ending the culling of badgers and, on the subject of physical and mental disabilities, asserts that it is “society that disables people”.
This is mostly politics as “narrowcasting”. The manifesto is designed to appeal to Jeremy Corbyn’s core constituencies: trade union members such as the members of the one-million-strong Unite union which has done so much to keep Mr Corbyn in power; and Britain’s large armies of public-sector workers who soaked themselves in Marx and Foucault at university and now make their living dispensing state services. A better-executed manifesto could have been much more than this. There is widespread frustration with Britain’s public services. Britain’s trains in particular are overcrowded and expensive. Labour had a genuine chance to reverse some of the basic tenets of the Thatcher revolution by calling for public ownership. But by appealing so relentlessly to “producers” rather than “consumers” they have missed the moment.
Even more of a problem for the party than the content of the manifesto is the fact that it was leaked in the first place. The leak undermines the party’s message: Labour claims that it can take all sorts of industries back into public ownership and run them better than their current bosses. Yet it cannot even manage the successful launch of a party-political document. The leak also reveals the chaos within the party itself.
Labour is not so much an organised political party as a blood-soaked battleground between two warring factions: the far-left faction, led by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, and including acolytes such as Dianne Abbot and Emily Thornberry, and “moderate” Labour. “Moderate” Labour consists of the bulk of their MPs, including Yvette Cooper, the moderate wing’s current leader and wife of Gordon Brown’s right-hand man, Ed Balls, Stephen Kinnock, the son of the party’s former leader, Neil Kinnock and Hillary Benn, the son of the left’s former champion, Tony Benn, as well as the majority of traditional Labour voters. The Corbynistas consist of hard-left activists, many of them former members of Marxist groupuscles, who joined the party in huge numbers in the past couple of years. The manifesto is pure Corbynism. The leak is clearly an attempt by the anti-Corbyn faction to embarrass Mr Corbyn and derail his launch.
The battle between the two factions is becoming more vicious by the day. A month or so ago the moderates had assumed that Mr Corbyn would resign after the inevitable election defeat in June and the moderates would be able to resume control of the party. Yvette Cooper, who shadowed Mrs May for a while when she was home secretary, and has a talent for getting under her skin, would lead the party and the likes of Mr Kinnock and Mr Benn would act as able lieutenants. Rebuilding the party would take many years after the Corbyn disaster but it would nevertheless be on the road to recovery. But recently the Corbyn faction have been signalling that they have no intention of giving up gracefully. Interviewed on the Andrew Marr show on May 7th Mr McDonnell refused to confirm that he and Mr Corbyn would resign after a defeat. The Corbynistas have been busy moving the goal posts—arguing that they should be judged by whether they can keep Ed Miliband’s share of the vote rather than how many seats they lose. The Corbynistas are desperate to hold onto power until the Labour Party conference in late September when they want to change the rules for selecting a leader. Under current rules a leadership candidate needs to be nominated by 15% of MPs and MEPs to get onto the ballot. The Corbynistas want to reduce the 15% to 5% to make sure there will always be a hard-left candidate on the final ballot.
The battle over the 5% explains Mr Corbyn’s election strategy: his enthusiasm for campaigning in safe Labour seats where Corbynistas are thick on the ground and his indifference to the marginal seats that the party needs to keep if it is to avoid a Tory landslide. The reason for this is electoral maths: pro-Corbyn MPs are overwhelmingly concentrated in the safest seats. A big defeat for the Labour Party might actually help Mr Corbyn’s long-term plans. Because more moderates would lose their seats than hard-liners the Corbynites would be a higher proportion of a diminished party. Paradoxically, a bad defeat for Labour will increase Mr Corbyn’s chances of holding onto the leadership and pushing through his changes to the Labour Party constitution.
Mrs May’s decision to call an election on June 8th was in fact a huge distraction from Mr Corbyn’s point of view. Mr Corbyn was in the process of changing the nature of the Labour Party—from a party focused on Parliament and dominated by its MPs to a party focused on the struggle more broadly and dominated by its activists. Changing the 15% rule was part of a much more general process: giving party members more power to select and deselect MPs, giving them the ability to originate policies, and generally making it easier for members of the broader Labour movement to organise strikes, walk-outs and the rest of it. Given Mr Corbyn’s determination to stay on and the power of his faction in the grass-roots a growing number of Labour MPs have concluded that they will have no option, after the election, but to break away and form a new party.
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A draft of Labour’s manifesto confirms the party’s leftward shiftIn her first public speech since stepping down as secretary of State, Hillary Clinton outlined priorities for her work through the Clinton Global Initiative. She said she will work to promote early childhood education, women’s issues, and economic development. (Natalie Jennings/The Washington Post)
In her first public speech since stepping down as secretary of State, Hillary Clinton outlined priorities for her work through the Clinton Global Initiative. She said she will work to promote early childhood education, women’s issues, and economic development. (Natalie Jennings/The Washington Post)
Hillary Rodham Clinton, making her first major public appearance since stepping down as secretary of state, embraced key pillars of President Obama’s domestic agenda here Thursday and said she would strive to act as an envoy between businesses, nonprofit groups and the government.
Speaking at a charitable conference convened by her husband, the potential 2016 presidential candidate announced that she had joined her family’s foundation and said she would spend the coming months championing early-
childhood development, economic development and opportunities for women and girls.
The speech, centered on educational and economic empowerment, echoed many of the Obama administration’s top priorities and suggested some of the possible themes that Clinton could use in a presidential campaign, should she decide to run.
“This can’t just be a conversation about Washington; we all need to do our part,” Clinton said at the meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative America. “We have to prove again to ourselves, as well as to the rest of the world, that our public and private sectors can work together to find common ground for the common good.”
Clinton voiced praise for many of the issues high on Obama’s agenda, including expansion of pre-kindergarten programs and equal pay for women. The remarks signaled that she intends to remain aligned with her former boss and rival from the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries.
1 of 51 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Hillary Rodham Clinton: A political life View Photos. Looking back at Clinton’s career. Caption Looking at the career of the former secretary of state, senator and first lady. June 1969 Hillary Rodham was photographed by Life magazine in Park Ridge, Ill., shortly after her graduation from Wellesley College. She was one of five graduating seniors — from five universities — featured in a Life article titled “The Class of ’69.” This picture was not published at the time and was released by Life.com in March 2014. Lee Balterman/Life Picture Collection via Getty Images Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
But Clinton also struck a gloomy note on some economic issues, seemingly at odds with the preferred White House message. She decried high unemployment among young people, the decaying state of cities, and pockets of economic and educational inequality in areas such as rural West Virginia.
“In too many places in our own country, community institutions are crumbling, social and public-health indicators are cratering, and jobs are coming apart,” Clinton said.
Clinton also spoke of “overcoming the lines that divide us — whether it’s partisan, cultural, geographic.” She said one of the lessons she learned traveling the world is that, regardless of where she went, “what people wanted was a good job.”
Although Clinton made no direct reference to her political future, one comment she made drew knowing applause from several hundred conference attendees. Calling opportunities for women and girls “the great unfinished business of this century,” Clinton said, “When women participate in politics, the effects ripple out across society.”
The issues Clinton said she would work on are hardly new to her agenda; she has focused on childhood development, girls’ and women’s empowerment and economic development throughout her time in public life, beginning as first lady of Arkansas.
“It’s been her life’s work,” said Jill Alper, a longtime Democratic strategist. “These have always been core concerns.”
Yet by dedicating the next period in her life to the issues, Clinton is suggesting that she sees unfinished business from the presidencies of her husband and Obama.
Steve Elmendorf, another Democratic strategist, said Clinton is smart to focus her energies on those issues rather than rejoining Washington political debates.
“Her great strength when she was first lady, senator and secretary of state is that she’s viewed as a real policy leader,” Elmendorf said. “Whatever she does next — and if she wants to preserve the option of running for president — she’s got to spend these couple of years not being political but talking about issues and substance that matter to the American people.”
Clinton opened a busy day at the CGI America conference, a domestic offshoot of Bill Clinton’s global charitable gathering every September in New York. The Chicago meeting will conclude Friday afternoon with an hour-long “conversation on leadership” between the 42nd president and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a potential opponent of Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The Clinton Foundation has been renamed the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, signifying the growing role of Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, in the philanthropic organization founded a decade ago.
“This is truly a labor of love for our entire family,” Hillary Clinton said. “We are so excited and thrilled to have this be a full partnership among the three of us.”
Her speech punctuated a coming-out week of sorts for Clinton, who largely had stayed out of the public eye since leaving as head of the State Department in February.
On Monday, Clinton debuted on Twitter to much fanfare. She has been working on a book chronicling her tenure at State, as well as delivering paid speeches to business groups, many of which are closed to the news media.
She also said Thursday that she is working to recover from four busy years as secretary of state.
“After visiting 112 nations over four years,” she quipped, “I’m still jet-lagged.”
The gala, here in the city where Clinton was born and which Obama calls home, served to symbolize the warming relations between the once-hostile Clinton and Obama camps. Clinton was scheduled to be honored Thursday night at a benefit gala for CURE, the epilepsy charity run by David Axelrod, Obama’s former chief political strategist, and his wife, Susan.
In her 26-minute speech, Clinton said she would work from outside the administration to help expand pre-kindergarten programs and family medical leave benefits, as well as make equal pay for women a reality. She also aims to encourage more girls to pursue careers in such male-dominated fields as science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“Women are the world’s most underused resource,” Clinton said.Mickie James headed to GFW’s first-ever TV tapings in Las Vegas
The news broke on Karen Jarrett’s twitter account. Former WWE Women’s Champion, former WWE Divas Champion, and former TNA Knockouts Champion Mickie James is headed to Las Vegas for the first-ever Global Force Wrestling TV tapings!
Mickie now has her sights set on the GFW Women’s Championship! Be there live for the inaugural GFW TV tapings!
July 24 #GFWVegas the GFW Women’s Championship tournament kicks off & @MickieJames has her sights set another title! pic.twitter.com/svAlWNOmx8 — Karen Jarrett (@karenjarrett) July 7, 2015
Other names headed to Las Vegas include: Sonjay Dutt, Seiya Sanada, Chris Mordetzky (formerly Chris Masters in WWE), Nick Aldis (formerly Magnus in TNA), PJ Black (formerly Justin Gabriel in WWE), Lei’D Tapa, Jigsaw, Chris Sabin, Bobby Roode, and expert commentator Chael Sonnen. There will be more announcements coming on GlobalForceWrestling.com!
Tickets are available now. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS!
AdvertisementI have to say that this is one of the most gorgeous looking sets the Technic design team has ever put up. The set is clearly a rendition of Le Mans Prototype racers we see in magazines and TVs and the actual event itself so when I first heard Lego is making one I knew I needed to have one, the wait and money is well worth it too. Pros - First ever Le Mans car from Technic, and Lego has executed the design very well, I'm not a big fan of the actual race but I know the LMP (Le Mans Prototype) racers are very cool, low slung, wide, long with large rear wings and this set has all those details. - A welcome design to any Lego fan, we normally see Lego come up with truck, crane, wrecker, sports car, F1, even hot rod but never with a Le Mans-themed car. - Color choice, the light green is exclusive to this set, I have the lime green Formula Off-Roader but this one is over the top cool, blended with white as the secondary color and complemented by an assortment of different colored parts from the Lego pallet, you end up with a car that is go fast green. - I'm not a big fan of stickers but this time, the stickers actually help make it look more interesting as cars of this class usually display decals from the automaker and its sponsors so that's a plus for me. - Mechanicals of the set, a fairly simple approach using RWD mid-engine set-up and the suspension system also takes the same approach too, simple and low slung, like the real thing this set is only meant to be played in a bump-free surface. It doesn't use any linear actuators, just beams and gears. I love the new transmission pieces, they are sturdier. - Staying true to the actual car, the designer also made it sure that this set's underbody is as flat and clean as it can and the set has a good steering mechanism too. Cons: - The smooth surface is interrupted by a single 13M beam at the engine cover, I made some modifications to make it look smoother. - Corrugated pipe that simulates the engine pipe is very hard to connect with the blue friction pin, I suggest using a 2M red cross axle or 3M grey cross axle instead. It could've used another pair of the pipes to simulate a more powerful looking engine. - The set looks better with 6-spoke wheel design so inverted mine and it looks like an LMP ready to go racing in the streets! - the mounting point for the PF motor is so tight only an M-motor will fit perfectly without touching the transmission lever, I wish it was quite bigger so I can put an L-Motor; PF parts are quite hard to integrate with the set, as such I think an adult's supervision will be required is a younger kid will be playing this set. I still recommend getting this set because its not everyday that you get a Le Mans-inspired Lego Technic set. If Lego will make another one, I'm sure to buy that but until that happens this is the real deal! I can just spend hours looking at it with how an LMP is immaculately transformed into a Lego.You may not be an online gamer, but you may be a Star Wars fan. So from the highly successful massive multiplayer online game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, here’s the Sideshow Collectibles Darth Malgus Sixth Scale Figure. This 1/6th scale figure is based on Darth Malgus’ image straight out of the PC game.
The Sith Commander is crafted on a fully articulated Sideshow Prometheus body, outfitted with some fully detailed Sith Raider armor, a fabric cape and even a posable hood.
Mr. Malgus also has a removable respirator mask, 4 pairs of interchangeable hands, and his distinctive lightsaber. The great thing about his lightsaber is that you display it lit or unlit.
As always there are 2 different versions of this figure, the regular version and the Sideshow exclusive version. The Sideshow exclusive version has to come with something extra right? Correct. He comes with an additional unscarred swap out head. Both the regular and exclusive versions of this figure are priced at $184.99.
(badass lighting effects not included)
You can currently pre-order both the Regular and Sideshow Exclusive versions of this figure from Sideshow Collectibles now!The radiation level in the containment vessel of reactor 2 at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has reached a maximum of 530 sieverts per hour, the highest since the triple core meltdown in March 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. said.
Tepco said on Thursday that the blazing radiation reading was taken near the entrance to the space just below the pressure vessel, which contains the reactor core.
The high figure indicates that some of the melted fuel that escaped the pressure vessel is nearby.
At 530 sieverts, a person could die from even brief exposure, highlighting the difficulties ahead as the government and Tepco grope their way toward dismantling all three reactors crippled by the March 2011 disaster.
Tepco also announced that, based on its analysis of images taken by a remote-controlled camera, that there is a 2-meter hole in the metal grating under the pressure vessel in the reactor’s primary containment vessel. It also thinks part of the grating is warped.
The hole could have been caused when the fuel escaped the pressure vessel after the mega-quake and massive tsunami triggered a station blackout that crippled the plant’s ability to cool the reactors.
The searing radiation level, described by some experts as “unimaginable,” far exceeds the previous high of 73 sieverts per hour at the reactor.
Tepco said it calculated the figure by analyzing the electronic noise in the camera images caused by the radiation. This estimation method has a margin of error of plus or minus 30 percent, it said.
An official of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences said medical professionals have never considered dealing with this level of radiation in their work.
According to the institute, 4 sieverts of radiation exposure would kill 1 in 2 people.
Experts say 1,000 millisieverts, or 1 sievert, could lead to infertility, loss of hair and cataracts, while exposure to doses above 100 millisieverts increases the risk of cancer.
According to Tepco, readings of surface radiation on parts used inside a normally operating pressure vessel can reach several thousands sieverts per hour.
The discovery spells difficulty of removing the fuel debris to decommission at the plant. The government and Tepco hope to locate the fuel and start removing it in 2021.
In the coming weeks, the utility plans to deploy a remote-controlled robot to check conditions inside the containment vessel, but the utility is likely to have to change its plan.
For one thing, it will have to reconsider the route the robot takes into the interior because of the hole in the grating.
Also, given the extraordinary level of radiation, the robot would only be able to operate for less than two hours before it is destroyed.
That is because it is designed to withstand exposure of up to 1,000 sieverts. Based on the calculation of 73 sieverts per hour, the robot could run for more than 10 hours, but 530 sieverts per hour means it would be rendered inoperable in less than two hours.
Tepco has been probing reactor 2’s containment vessel since last week.
On Monday, it found a black mass deposited on the grating directly under the pressure vessel. The images, captured using a camera attached to a telescopic arm the same day, showed part of the grating was missing. Further analysis found the 2-meter hole in an area beyond the missing section on the structure.
If the deposits are confirmed to be melted fuel, it would be the first time the utility has found any of it at the three reactors that suffered core meltdowns.
The world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986 triggered core meltdowns in reactors 1 through 3. Portions of the core in each reactor are believed to have melted through their pressure vessels and pooled at the bottom of their containment vessels.
The actual condition of the melted fuel remains unknown because the radiation is too high to check it.
Meanwhile, a nuclear research organization unveiled on Friday a robot that will be tasked with surveying reactor 1 at the complex.
Tepco plans to send the robot into reactor 1 in March, while its survey plan for reactor 2 remains unclear because of the high radiation levels.
The stick-like robot is 70 cm long and equipped with a camera, according to the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning.
During a robotic survey in April 2015, the operator found no major obstacles in the path planned in reactor 1 but found water accumulating in the basement.
In the upcoming survey, it hopes to examine the water by deploying a camera and a radiation sensor.
“Confirming the conditions inside the reactor is a first step toward decommissioning,” Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko said in a news conference Friday.
“While difficult tasks and unexpected matters may arise, we will mobilize all of Japan’s technological capabilities to steadily implement decommissioning work and rebuild Fukushima,” he added.President-elect Donald Trump has listed a series of changes he will impose by executive action on his first day in office as he attempts to create momentum for his fledgling administration.
Trump released a recorded video on YouTube Monday evening outlining unilateral actions he plans to take on his first day as president. These amounted to policy shifts he has announced before, such as issuing a notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. He argues that the agreement, negotiated by aides to President Barack Obama, hurts the United States. He says he will instead negotiate bilateral trade deals that "bring jobs and industry" back to the U.S.
Trump also pledged to "cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy -- including shale energy and clean coal." And he said he would formulate a rule which says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be removed.
"Whether it's producing steel, building cars or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, on our great homeland, America -- creating wealth and jobs for American workers," Trump said.My climbing partner and I (ages 33 and 30) arrived at Eldo early on March 29, intending to climb Swanson’s Arête, a multi-pitch 5.5. We got to the base around 10 a.m. There was a very inexperienced party starting the first pitch of an adjacent route when we arrived. They were knocking down lots of rocks, so we waited for them before starting up the West Chimney approach pitch. My partner led the first pitch, and then a free soloist asked me if he could climb through, which I allowed. Due to all these delays, we were not both on the ledge from which the actual route starts until sometime after noon.
I had climbed other 5.5 routes in Eldorado Canyon, but Swanson’s Arête felt significantly more difficult, which led to delays. We made it to the summit of Lumpe Tower around 7 p.m. In late March the sun was just beginning to dip behind the mountains, and the impending darkness created a sense of urgency. We reached a notch below the summit block and discussed our options. My partner had seen another party get ropes stuck on the Dirty Deeds rappel route, the closest descent path, earlier in the day. Because we had left the car so early in the day, I had not brought a headlamp, and we decided to avoid the Dirty Deeds rappel out of concern about getting a rope stuck with only one headlamp between us.
We decided to follow a mostly easy gully off the back of the peak. We assumed we would find the standard East Slabs descent from Redgarden Wall, and that we could belay each other if a downclimb looked questionable. (Editor’s note: The East Slabs descent route is difficult to follow the first time one does it, even in daylight, and has extensive and exposed 3rd- and 4th-class downclimbing.) The gully took us to a clearing, and by this point it was night. We found cairns and continued to walk downhill until we cliffed out. We walked back up to the clearing and assessed our options. Two other directions cliffed out. The remaining side had a cairn that led us to a number of slings tied around a constriction, with rappel rings. We assumed this was a proper descent and made the rappel.
The mystery rappel placed us into a fairly flat, heavily vegetated area with steep walls on three sides. We explored this area in every direction and eventually skirted an exposed walkway to a similar but larger area. We continued downhill until finding extremely dense brush. In the dark of night, we could not tell if the brush was hiding a cliff. After exhausting all other directions, we settled into an open section, back uphill, and admitted that we were completely lost. We called for a rescue sometime around 11:30 p.m., giving GPS coordinates from our phone.
The search and rescue team arrived impressively quickly, told us we were in a “no man’s land” section of Eldorado, and guided us through the descent, which involved some bushwhacking, a lower, a long rappel, more hiking, and a short rappel.
ANALYSIS
This incident was clearly the result of poor decision-making. First, I should not have left my headlamp behind. While lack of light was never an issue (the moon was bright, and we had one headlamp and cell phone lights), the fact that I did not carry my headlamp contributed to the decisions we made.
Second, when we were at the top of the second pitch, we realized we were behind on time. At this point we should have considered calling it a day and descending.
We made our biggest mistake upon reaching the summit. The guidebook listed three descent options, but made all of them sound tricky. We blindly followed the path of least resistance, assuming it would take us to the East Slabs.
We did do some things right. We both had down jackets and plenty of water. We were not in imminent danger. We also brought walkie-talkies, which made communicating with SAR easy once they arrived in the area. We were able to contact SAR and send them our exact location because we had a cell phone with us. (Despite seeing our location on Google Maps, we could not glean any useful information to aid in our descent.) Many online critics have second-guessed our decision to call SAR, but I still believe this was the right choice. I’ve always read that the best thing to do when you’re lost in the backcountry is to stay put and wait for help. That’s what we did. Had we continued to search for a way down on questionable terrain, it may have lead to a real accident with serious consequences. (Source: Anonymous report from one of the climbers.)The Stack Archive
Nasdaq completes ‘successful’ blockchain e-voting trial
Mon 23 Jan 2017
U.S. stock exchange Nasdaq has released the findings of a recent blockchain e-voting trial, declaring the proof of concept system a ‘success’.
The test was conducted across the Tallinn exchange in Estonia in |
problems when searching. For instance, if a search field doesn’t have auto-completion, young kids (and non-native speakers) have a very difficult time searching properly. If they are searching by themselves (with no one nearby to help), then success is even harder to come by. In her article “Children’s Roles Using Keyword Search Interfaces at Home” (PDF), Druin states:
Young people struggle with complex motor and visual interactions between mouse, keyboard, and screen. Children must also decide what to search for, type it (while spelling it reasonably accurately), and then read and make decisions about the utility of the results delivered.
This scenario illustrates very clearly the struggle kids face when searching. Therefore, make search functions simple, offer auto-completion and make the search results simple in structure (perhaps even supported by visual results). Generally, the study showed that young kids (7) are often unmotivated when searching and have a hard time searching via keywords, whereas older kids (11) use more complex search patterns.
Design for Social
More than 30% of the kids in the study primarily used a computer or tablet together with other kids. But social behavior doesn’t necessarily have to occur when people are physically in the same room. I did a study on a group of 8-year-olds in a school setting. They showed, without a doubt, that they all use computers in a social way; they play together and watch each other play.
But a social setting could also mean uploading videos to YouTube or playing Minecraft on a server. For older kids, rating and commenting are important, which is clear on the website DIY, where kids can share their DIY projects and have others comment on and rate their projects. So, think about interactive and social elements when you’re making web stuff for kids.
DIY is a great website where kids can share their DIY projects. (View large version)
Provide Information and Instructions “Just in Time” and “On Demand”
Young kids (up to 8) won’t wait for instructions. (Honestly, no one wants to read instructions!) They have a “learning by exploration” behavior, but they will leave if they are not immediately successful. So, they will benefit from “on-demand” instructions (just remember the voiceover support). Older kids, on the other hand, benefit from post-failure messages, and they won’t be discouraged in the same way if they make mistakes.
In BrainPOP’s learning game about the food chain, young kids benefit from instructions on demand (“Players, pick your animal”). (View large version)
Wonderville learning game Fossil Master is for slightly older kids. It offers very little instruction — but a good post-failure message. (View large version)
Design for Playfulness: Gamify!
More than anything, kids like playing games. They turn pretty much everything into games and competitions. Use quizzes and reward systems and other game features to move kids forward through the information you’re communicating to them.
The Fossil Master game (see previous guideline) is a good example of the implementation of game-like features such as a quiz. Levels and points would be a good addition as well. So, if you want to excite kids, gamify!
Test! Test! Test!
This final guideline is not really a guideline but important nonetheless. As with any project, testing is essential. But with kids, testing is a very different thing. You can’t expect them to follow your instructions.
Responsibility
I’d like to end with a note about responsibility. Kids are easily tricked into doing things that are not necessarily good for them. They are easy to take advantage of. And they cannot predict the consequences of their actions. We as designers and developers have a big responsibility. We are basically creating things for them that they didn’t ask for. We have to make stuff that will improve their lives, help them become smarter, not make their lives more difficult.
We also have an obligation to reject clients who want us to make crap, to make money off of innocent kids. We should be the ones who make sure that the kinds of things that go on in apps like Talking Tom and The Smurfs’ Village don’t become the norm. Designing with respect should be our norm.
Further ResourcesThe Trump administration scored a victory against Mexico this week in a longstanding trade battle.
The U.S. and Mexico have been locked in a dispute over how tuna is fished in Mexico. The U.S. claims that Mexican fishermen allow dolphins to be netted and killed when they fish for tuna. Therefore, U.S. officials say that Mexican tuna fish can't be labeled "dolphin safe."
Mexican leaders deny that the country's fishing industry isn't in compliance with rules imposed by the World Trade Organization and they demand their tuna get the "dolphin-safe" labeling. If it doesn't get that label, several major U.S. supermarkets, like Walmart, won't sell it, even though it can still legally cross the border.
In April, the WTO said Mexico had the right to impose tariffs on up to $163 million of U.S. exports, arguing that the U.S. labeling requirements for "dolphin safe" unfairly discriminated against Mexican tuna.
The WTO said $163 million was an amount equal to what Mexico had lost as a result of not having the U.S. label.
But in a separate proceeding this week, the WTO said that the U.S. labeling is now in compliance with its standards after a unit of the U.S. Commerce Department tweaked its tuna-labeling laws last year.
In other words, the ruling from Thursday means the U.S. labeling doesn't discriminate against Mexican tuna.
This week's ruling all but dismisses the retaliation decision in April, though it hasn't been officially thrown out. Mexico actually never decided to impose tariffs on U.S. exports.
Related: NAFTA Round 4 ends on a gloomy note
"I am pleased that WTO panels have finally agreed with the overwhelming evidence that U.S. dolphin-safe labeling requirements are accurate and fair," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement.
Mexico's economy ministry said it would appeal the WTO's ruling this week.
The ruling comes at a critical time for trade relations between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Leaders from all three countries are renegotiating NAFTA, the free trade pact.
Negotiators ended the latest round of talks last week with a gloomy tone, with Mexico and Canada openly criticizing U.S. proposals. Lighthizer fired back at the same press conference, lambasting Canada and Mexico for what he called an unwillingness to compromise.
President Trump routinely threatens to pull out of NAFTA, and he's blamed it for the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs lost to Mexico. NAFTA became law in 1994.
As for tuna, Mexican tuna exports to the United States have averaged about $15 million a year over the last five years, according to USTR. That makes up almost 3% of all tuna imports to the United States.Two members of Congress want more information about a report that NASA says validates the scientific and exploration benefits of its Asteroid Redirect Mission.
WASHINGTON — Two leading members of the House Science Committee called on NASA Nov. 29 to provide more details about a recent report from a science group that appeared to endorse the agency's controversial Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM).
The letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, from Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Brian Babin (R-Texas), chairman of the full House Science Committee and its space subcommittee respectively, cautioned that the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump deserved more information and to be "unencumbered" by decisions made at the end of the current administration about ARM.
The letter specifically raised questions about a report released by NASA Nov. 16 that was prepared by a "special action team" of its Small Bodies Advisory Group (SBAG). It examined how the combination of the robotic spacecraft that would grab a boulder off a near Earth asteroid to bring it into cislunar space and the later crewed mission to that captured boulder could close "strategic knowledge gaps" (SKGs) previously identified by NASA as areas where the agency needs experience or new technologies to meet its exploration goals. [NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission in Pictures]
That report concluded there were five SKGs that the baseline ARM mission could help close, from round-trip mission limits due to radiation exposure to knowledge on how to collect material from near Earth objects for analysis. An additional eight SKGs could be addressed if ARM included additional payloads or post-mission studies. Those SKGs come from a list of 27 identified by NASA for missions to small bodies, excluding those specific to the moons of Mars.
The report also noted that ARM could support scientific objectives for asteroid missions identified in the planetary science decadal survey report, an assessment of scientific goals and prioritization of proposed planetary missions. The baseline ARM mission could help answer two "important questions" from the decadal survey, involving impact histories of asteroids and study of secondary physical processes. Adding instruments to the mission or returning samples could address about a dozen additional scientific questions.
NASA used that 15-page report to conclude that there were scientific and exploration benefits to flying ARM. "This report is an important step in identifying ways that ARM will be more scientifically relevant as we continue mission formulation for the robotic and the crew segments," said Michele Gates, program director for ARM, in a Nov. 16 statement.
The letter from Smith and Babin took issue with that sweeping conclusion. They noted that SBAG itself has been critical of ARM in the past, questioning its scientific benefit. The report stated that these latest findings "should not be seen as contradicting or superseding findings by SBAG in 2013–2016, or at a later date."
The congressmen also argued that NASA set a "bizarrely low bar" for the report by asking it to examine any roles ARM could play in closing SKGs or resolving scientific questions. NASA, they wrote, did not ask SBAG "to evaluate the optimal missions to accomplish the scientific objectives contained in the recent decadal, or how ARM would be prioritized against those alternatives."
The SBAG report and the response from Congress come as NASA prepares to make key decisions about ARM. The agency expects to award a contract in March or April to build the bus for the robotic ARM spacecraft. Gates, in the Nov. 16 statement, said selections of instruments and other payloads for the robotic spacecraft were also scheduled to be announced in the spring.
ARM, though, has long faced congressional criticism, including threats to its funding. At a Nov. 14 meeting of a NASA Advisory Council committee in Houston, Greg Williams, deputy associate administrator for policy and plans in NASA's human exploration and operations mission directorate, acknowledged the opposition ARM faced in Congress, including language in a House version of an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017 that would prevent NASA from spending any money on ARM.
"What that was was a signal to us that we need to come talk with them and tell them why this fits and why it makes sense," Williams said of the House language. "We've had a lot of good dialogue on both the House and Senate sides as well as with the external science community." He added that he believed NASA was "making some headway" with Congress and scientists about the value of ARM.
The next administration is likely to scrutinize ARM as well. Smith and Babin said in their letter that one reason they want NASA to provide more information about the SBAG report is to ensure that new agency leadership has "honest assessments" about the value of ARM, not "farcical studies scoped to produce a predetermined outcome."
"The next Administration may find merit in some, if not all, of the components of ARM, and continue the program; however, that decision should be made after a full and fair review based on the merits of the program and in the context of a larger exploration and science strategy," they wrote.
In a Nov. 29 interview, NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot said he was confident that ARM provided value to the agency's larger exploration plans. "The teams are making great progress" on various aspects of ARM, he said, despite the presidential transition and the congressional threats to its funding. "We haven't slowed down at all."
"I'm confident that the next administration will make a decision" about ARM, he added, "but I'm also confident that we've got a good story to show them in term of why these technologies are important for us moving forward."
This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.As the population and industrial infrastructure of the United States continue to grow, the demand for water and the need to forecast water resources accurately are intensifying. Hence, the National Weather Service maintains a set of conceptual, continuous, hydrologic simulation models used to generate extended streamflow predictions, water supply outlooks and flood forecasts that are the basis for major water management and disaster emergency services decisions for the United States. A vital component of the hydrologic simulation models is a snow accumulation and ablation model that uses observed temperature and precipitation data to simulate snow cover conditions. The simulated model states are updated throughout the snow season using snow water equivalent estimates obtained from airborne and ground‐based snow water equivalent data. The National Weather Service has developed a spatial model to obtain integrated snow water equivalent estimates for updating the snow model; however, it is designed to incorporate only ground‐based data. In this research, we describe the spatial model and show how to modify it to include data of two different supports (the airborne and ground‐based data) so that more precise integrated snow water equivalent estimates can be obtained. The results are illustrated on snow data collected in the Upper Colorado River basin.An Islamic cleric who defends domestic violence is among a string of extremist speakers touring British universities unchallenged, the Mail Investigations Unit can reveal.
Egyptian cleric Fadel Soliman spoke at five such events last year, using them to refer Muslim students to an online lecture series in which he speaks in favour of hitting women and outlines the Islamic case for sex slavery and polygamy.
Mr Soliman told students at Sheffield University that watching his lectures could be ‘a turning point’ in their lives.
In his extraordinary videos, he advises physical punishment for wives who have displeased their husbands, saying ‘the hitting must be done with a small stick’.
Egyptian cleric Fadel Soliman (pictured) spoke at five such events last year, using them to refer Muslim students to an online lecture series in which he speaks in favour of hitting women and outlines the Islamic case for sex slavery and polygamy
Explaining why it is necessary, he says that when a husband is unhappy with the behaviour of his wife, ‘after passing through two stages of non-physical interaction, the next stage must involve something physical, in order to escalate the intensity of the warning’.
The preacher is one of several extremists being permitted to espouse their views unchallenged at Britain’s universities – in a possible breach of the Government’s counter-extremism strategy, Prevent. Since September, universities and colleges are legally required to have policies to stop extremists radicalising students on campus. This includes an obligation to ‘ensure those espousing extremist views do not go unchallenged’.
The Mail revealed yesterday how CAGE – the notorious organisation which called Islamic State killer Jihadi John ‘a beautiful young man’ – has participated in at least 13 university events since September, calling on students to sabotage Prevent.
The true implication of the spanking is to sound an alarm that the husband has passed to a new stage of serious displeasure. Egyptian cleric Fadel Soliman
Another group, MEND, an Islamist organisation whose director has condoned the killing of British troops, appeared in at least ten events on campuses across the country last term.
And a speaker from an organisation which mocked last year’s Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris spoke at a student event despite having being refused permission, using the platform to tell students the State was ‘fundamentally racist’ and they should oppose Prevent.
Home Secretary Theresa May said the revelations show universities need to do more to stop ‘damaging, extremist rhetoric’ going unchallenged on campuses.
Up to 19 universities where the Mail identified extremist-linked speakers or events could now face an inquiry by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, it is understood.
Lord Carlile, one of Britain’s top legal experts, said last night that universities that allowed Mr Soliman to speak unchallenged had ‘failed in their duty of care’. He said: ‘This is a person who has given at least tacit approval to what sounds like criminal behaviour. Universities really should not be permitting people like this on to their campuses.’
Mr Soliman is thought to have spoken at Nottingham, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield universities. He urged young Muslims to watch his disturbing 30-part video series endorsing violent and extreme practices.
In one, he suggests it is acceptable for a man to hit his wife, if she repeatedly ‘goes out and refuses to say where she’s going’. He says: ‘The hitting must be done with a small stick’ and ‘should not be painful’, adding: ‘The true implication of the spanking is to sound an alarm that the husband has passed to a new stage of serious displeasure.’
The preacher is one of several extremists being permitted to espouse their views unchallenged at Britain’s universities – in a possible breach of the Government’s counter-extremism strategy, Prevent. Mr Soliman explained the hitting of wives should be carried out with a small stick (pictured)
WHAT IS MUSLIM ENGAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (MEND)? It is the extremist-linked organisation known for its links with radical Islamists - including one who said ‘every Muslim should be a terrorist’. And now Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) is turning its attention towards universities. The controversial group has taken part in no fewer than ten university events this term, the Mail can reveal. MEND, previously called iEngage, was removed as administrative support to the all-party parliamentary group on Islamophobia in 2011, due to concerns that it was linked to extremism. It has defended several extremists, including in 2010, radical preacher, Zakir Naik, who stated that ‘every Muslim should be a terrorist’. The group’s then chief executive, Mohammed Asif, wrote to Theresa May, to protest against her ban on Naik. And its outreach director Azad Ali has repeatedly drawn criticism for his extreme views, suggesting the killing of British troops is justified, questioning whether the Mumbai attacks were ‘terrorism’, and that ‘democracy, if it means at the expense of not implementing the Sharia - of course nobody agrees with that’. At one MEND-linked event called Muslim Women in the West at SOAS on 25 November, speaker Zara Huda Faris told young women that Islamophobia is so bad in the UK it is comparable to the plight of Jews in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. Also speaking was Sahar Al Faifi who suggested Islamic State is a creation of ‘power structures’ in the West ‘who it’s within their interest to fuel Islamophobia’. MEND also took part in other university events in the North of England and the Midlands. Last night MEND said there had ‘never been any substantiated links’ between its organisation and extremism ‘and all allegations to the contrary are false.’ The organisation denied it had any role in organising the ‘Muslim in the West’ event at SOAS. The spokesman added: ‘Universities are required to comply with the Prevent statutory duty. If you consider that a breach of this duty may have occurred, we suggest you put these concerns to the university directly.’ A SOAS spokesperson said: ‘As a university, we provide a forum for speakers who speak on a variety of subjects and represent different viewpoints. These events were legal and no concerns were raised with us by local police or Prevent officers.’
In another video he says it is forbidden for men and women to ‘engage in frivolous talk’, that ‘men and women should lower their gaze and avoid unnecessary eye contact, especially with lust’. He says Muslims should avoid interacting with members of the opposite sex, even at work, and women should not wear perfume as it ‘arouses men’. In other videos, he outlines the Islamic case for sex slavery and polygamy.
At an event at the University of Sheffield on December 3, Mr Soliman urged 120 Muslim students: ‘Put these videos on your Facebook pages, share it with people.’ He was also allowed to speak at the University of Manchester last month, despite concerns being raised by university staff. At the event, the cleric said: ‘They told me not to say anything controversial.’
Mr Soliman denies he supports domestic violence. He said: ‘I have provided the Mail with a detailed response to the allegations which are published in this article and informed them in detail why I am not guilty of the things which they allege against me. Once the paper is published, I will respond to the allegations on my own website.’
It’s within their interest to fuel Islamophobia. It’s within their interest to sell more weapons. It’s within their interest to make the Middle East unstable. Speaker Sahar Al Faifi
He has a strong following among young female students. The Sheffield event – which was not formally segregated but at which men and women sat on opposite sides of the hall – had an audience of more than 100 students, mostly female.
Beforehand, groups of young women could be heard discussing how much they ‘love’ Mr Soliman – even making swooning gestures and fanning themselves. One woman in her early 20s, who travelled from London, told others how excited she was to see the cleric in person.
Debora Green, Head of Student Support and Wellbeing at the University of Sheffield, said: 'External speakers play a central role in university life and allow students to be exposed to a range of different beliefs, challenge other people’s views and develop their own opinions.
'Like all universities, the University of Sheffield adheres to UUK guidelines and we have our own protocols and procedures that have to be satisfied before external speakers are given the green light to speak at campus events. This event was no exception.
'The University takes its role in preventing people being drawn into terrorism extremely seriously and is committed to protecting the safety of our staff and students. We are actively involved in the Government's Prevent strategy and have had strong partnerships with the police and security services for a number of years.'
Another organisation allowed to speak unchallenged at recent university events is MEND – a radical Islamist group that has been associated with a number of extremist statements. MEND’s head of community development, Azad Ali, has suggested the killing of British troops can be justified.
He has also said that the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which a gang of Islamist militants slaughtered more than 160, were ‘not terrorism’ and that implementing Sharia law was more important than democracy.
Last year MEND supported hardline Indian preacher Zakir Naik – who claims that ‘every Muslim should be a terrorist’ – calling on the Government to revoke a ban on him travelling to the UK. Despite this, it was permitted to host ten university events last term.
SUPPORTERS OF THE NOTORIOUS BLIND SHEIKH: WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION? The so-called Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is best known for when - in an extraordinary insult to those murdered by terrorists - it bestowed ‘Islamophobes of the Year’ awards to the murdered staff of Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo. But speakers from this controversial organisation were repeatedly welcomed onto university campuses last term, with no opposition presented to their views. Like Cage and Mend, the IHRC has been involved in the Students not Suspects university movement, which campaigns against the government’s counter-extremism policy, PREVENT. The group had speakers at two of such events and on both occasions their claims went unchallenged. Lena Mohamed, an IHRC advocate, chaired a SOAS talk called ‘Preventing Prevent’ on 29 September, where she encouraged students to sabotage PREVENT. At a similar event at the University of Manchester, Mrs Mohamed spoke on the panel even though she had been refused permission to do so. She denied extremism was an issue at universities, and also described ‘the state’ as ‘fundamentally racist’. The university said they had refused her permission to speak because they were not provided enough notice to make the necessary checks. At the end of the event, when an audience member asked what can be done about extremism in universities, she appears to deny extremism is a problem on campuses. She says: ‘Islamic extremism…it’s pretty much stayed level for a number of years now. There has, however... exponential rise in far-right extremism.’ She adds: ‘I admire this idea that there is a problem with extremism, especially as the government defines it.’ The IHRC, claims to be a non-profit organisation, ‘working with different organisations from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds, to campaign for justice for all peoples’. However, their main focus appears to be supporting Islamic extremists. Individuals they have supported include the ‘Blind Sheikh’, Omar Abdel Rahman, who is currently serving a life sentence in the US for his part in the first blowing-up of the World Trade Centre in 1993. The IHRC also provides a ‘resource’ page on its website directed at encouraging students – and even schoolchildren - to disrupt anti-extremism measures at schools and at university campuses. The page provides a link to a ‘model motion’ for students’ unions to use to campaign against Prevent. Under a section titled ‘How to fight back’, the web page states: ‘If you have been approached by a PREVENT officer or feel that you will be referred to one based on questions asked by your teacher / lecturer/ GP / social worker etc contact us for advice and support. ‘We can help you respond to their Islamophobic questions, explain your rights and explore options to challenge them if they try to refer you to Channel.’ A spokesman for the IHRC said: ‘Our opinion on the racism of the British state and the various institutions, including the media, can be found in various articles on our website. ‘Likewise, our opposition to PREVENT is well documented and our views are shared by many individuals and organisations, from unions, teachers, lecturers, students, lawyers and academics to some politicians,’ the spokesman added. ‘As a human rights organisation we support everyone’s rights, regardless of whether we agree with them.’ He said the resource page was ‘for organisations to share materials ideas and resources.’ They denied they had been involved in organising any of the events. A SOAS spokesperson said: ‘As a university, we provide a forum for speakers who speak on a variety of subjects and represent different viewpoints. These events were legal and no concerns were raised with us by local police or Prevent officers.’ A University of Manchester spokesman said Lena Mohamed ‘was told she would not be able to join the panel at the Students not Suspects event because the request was made far too late.’ The spokesman added: ‘Our due diligence procedures cannot be completed in such a short space of time. ‘The University of Manchester is committed to Free speech within the law.’
At one MEND-linked event, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, speakers suggested the treatment of Muslims was akin to Jews under the Nazis. They also suggested IS had been created by ‘power structures’ in the West. One speaker, Sahar Al Faifi, said: ‘It’s within their interest to fuel Islamophobia. It’s within their interest to sell more weapons. It’s within their interest to make the Middle East unstable.’ These views went unchallenged at the event, entitled Muslim Women In The West.
Another group given platforms at student events is the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC). It is notorious for bestowing an ‘Islamophobes of the Year’ award on the murdered staff of Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Like CAGE and MEND, IHRC has been involved in the Students Not Suspects university movement, which campaigns against Prevent. An advocate of IHRC, Lena Mohamed, was invited to lead a talk at SOAS in September, where she encouraged students to sabotage counter-extremism measures at universities.
At an event in Manchester, Mrs Mohamed denied extremism was an issue at universities and said the State was ‘fundamentally racist’. Yesterday a SOAS spokesman said the school was confident it upheld its duties under Prevent, adding: ‘We provide a forum for speakers who... represent different viewpoints. We encourage open debate and aim to create an atmosphere where all perspectives can be aired and challenged.’
MEND said there had ‘never been any substantiated links’ between it and extremism ‘and all allegations to the contrary are false’. It denied it had any role in organising the Muslim Women In The West event at SOAS.
IHRC said: ‘Our opposition to Prevent is well documented and our views are shared by many individuals and organisations, from unions, teachers, lecturers, students, lawyers and academics to some politicians. As a human rights organisation, we support everyone’s rights, regardless of whether we agree with them.’
Students are at greater risk of being radicalised by Islamic State as a result of CAGE’s campus campaign, warned former reviewer of UK terror legislation Lord Carlile (pictured)
Mail is praised for exposing how our students are at risk
Students are at greater risk of being radicalised by Islamic State as a result of CAGE’s campus campaign, a former reviewer of UK terror legislation warned last night.
Lord Carlile said universities, including King’s College London, SOAS, Manchester and Birmingham, that allowed representatives from the controversial group to speak unopposed at student events last term had been irresponsible.
CAGE is ‘helping the propaganda’ put out by IS by misleading students into believing they were being spied on and victimised, he said.
He led a furious reaction yesterday to the Mail’s revelation that extremists have been allowed to spout their views unchallenged at UK universities. Students attending the talks would be more vulnerable to being radicalised as a result of such messages and CAGE was unwittingly helping the IS cause, Lord Carlile said.
‘Somebody convinced by CAGE that the West has it in for Muslims, and that it treats them in a seriously discriminatory and unjust way, will be low-hanging fruit when it comes to Islamist recruitment. Apologists for what happened in Paris – for example on the basis that no children were killed – are misleading students.’
He called on the universities involved to investigate the events concerned. ‘The universities revealed in the Daily Mail investigation are extremely reputable… I would expect them all to re-examine their policies as to what is permissible on their campuses,’ he said.
Other experts also criticised universities for not doing more to hold extremist views to account.
Terror expert Professor Anthony Glees said CAGE were ‘craven apologists for terrorism’ and exactly the kind of ‘non-violent extremists’ the new Prevent rules for universities were supposed to crack down on.
‘This is very disturbing. Universities are providing a safe space for CAGE to brainwash young people,’ he said.
‘I hope that the outcome will be the exclusion of CAGE from our campuses and particularly from Islamic student societies.
The universities revealed in the Daily Mail investigation are extremely reputable… I would expect them all to re-examine their policies as to what is permissible on their campuses. Lord Carlile
‘The Mail is doing us a huge national service by exposing the activities of CAGE in such detail.’ Rupert Sutton, director of Student Rights – run by the Henry Jackson Society think-tank – said: ‘Extremism on university campuses remains a serious issue.
‘The sheer number of events logged last term where extreme or intolerant speakers spoke without challenge suggests too many universities are not properly enforcing their own speaker policies.
‘Groups like CAGE have sought to undermine counter-extremism work for years, so it is no surprise to see them now targeting students.
‘The toxic message of persecution and oppression spread at these events risks driving anger and misplaced grievance in students, while urging those best-placed to notice the signs of radicalisation in vulnerable individuals to boycott policies designed to ensure those people get help is disgraceful.’
Last night Birmingham University said CAGE ‘had not been referenced’ on the application or the promotional material for the event it hosted, adding it ‘takes the threat of extremism on campus very seriously’.
King’s College London said it had not been aware of all the speakers in advance of a CAGE event held there but added that it did not consider they had incited hatred or violence.There was no repeat of 1968 Wembley euphoria for Manchester United in their bid to lift a fourth European Cup, just an unwelcome reminder of how it felt to be outplayed in 2009. Once again, United could not get enough of the ball to do themselves justice, once again their most experienced players were unable to impose themselves and for a second time in three seasons, Barcelona did almost exactly as they pleased.
It is supposed to be United who do what they want, but they were even more comprehensively taken apart than was the case two years ago. With Lionel Messi dazzling once again, United only had Wayne Rooney's aggression with which to counter some scintillating passing and movement, and only some erratic, almost casual finishing from the Spanish side prevented the score reflecting what a mismatch this really was. Barcelona could easily have been three goals to the good by half-time, and must have been in double figures for scoring opportunities in the second half by the time David Villa scored a third to kill off any faint United hopes of recovery.
Barcelona had been unable to name quite their strongest team too, with their influential captain, Carles Puyol, only fit enough for a place on the bench and Javier Mascherano having to continue as emergency centre-half. The United line-up was the one everyone had guessed in advance, though Sir Alex Ferguson too sprang a surprise among the substitutes, with Michael Owen's selection nudging Dimitar Berbatov out of the entire squad. In the end, Puyol came on for the last couple of minutes, with Barcelona in celebratory mode well before the end. Owen stayed in his seat.
United began like a team with a well-drilled plan, with Park Ji-sung quickly closing down Dani Alves, and Rooney enjoying some success in the air against Mascherano. For almost 10 minutes, Barcelona were penned in their own half, though not uncomfortably so. The closest United came to an early breakthrough was a raking pass from Ryan Giggs that almost found Javier Hernández in space, but Gerard Piqué just got away with a risky interception.
Messi had been content in the early stages to alternate between positioning himself high up the pitch and dropping back into his own half in search of the ball, and United sensibly declined to get dragged out of position by following him. He did not remain isolated or idle for long, and by the midpoint of the first half, Barcelona were building up attacks in the familiar waves around the edge of United's penalty area, with Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Villa always involved but Messi never far from the ball or the point of danger. Rio Ferdinand was obliged to block a shot from Villa after Messi's pass had created the opening, Pedro Rodríguez missed the game's first clear opportunity in front of goal, Villa put a shot narrowly wide and Nemanja Vidic pulled off a superbly timed tackle to stop Messi in full flight in the area before the United fans had a chance to catch their breath.
When mistakes from Antonio Valencia and Giggs offered Messi a chance that he was surprisingly slow to accept, allowing Ferdinand to dispossess him, Ferguson's furious reaction showed the strain United were being put under. A couple of minutes later, almost inevitably, the first goal arrived. Xavi ghosted across the edge of the United area, biding his time, keeping the defence guessing, until releasing Pedro on the right with a flick of the outside of his boot. United realised a fraction too late that here was an option they did not have covered, and Edwin van der Sar was beaten by a low shot into his bottom left corner.
What United had to do now was find a better reaction than they managed in Rome two years ago, when their self-belief and organisation began to wilt as soon as Barcelona took the lead, and remarkably they found it within seven minutes. When Michael Carrick and Fábio won the ball following a Barcelona throw on the right, Rooney set off on a determined diagonal run, exchanged passes with Giggs and hit a confident drive beyond Victor Valdés as soon as he had a clear sight of goal. Encouraged as United were by the equaliser, they could still have been a goal down at the interval. Messi carved them open once more, yet somehow failed to apply the finishing touch when Villa declined to shoot and rolled the ball invitingly across the face of goal. It was a bit like Arsenal; over-elaboration when a more direct approach might have paid off, but not so much like Arsenal that United could kid themselves their opponents would fall to pieces in the second half.
Nor did they. From the moment Mascherano began the second half with a buccaneering run from his own half into the United penalty area, to the 54th-minute shot from Messi that restored Barcelona's lead, United were hardly able to get a touch of the ball. Barcelona were not stroking it around in their own half either, or moving sideways and backwards in the way they sometimes do. They were creating clear openings and, if anything, wasting them through being overambitious. Alves had already hit a post and Patrice Evra cleared off his line before Messi claimed his first goal in England. By that stage, he could reasonably have had a hat-trick, but perhaps tired of overcomplication, he settled for banging the ball past a possibly unsighted Van der Sar after Iniesta had found him on the edge of the area.
With the game being played at one end to an almost embarrassing degree, Barcelona were queueing up to take shots at Van der Sar before Villa scored the third. The goalkeeper made notable stops from Messi, then Xavi, then Iniesta, but had no chance with Villa's exquisite curler, after Nani had come on for Fábio and was immediately let down by his first touch. He probably should not reproach himself too much. Standing next to Messi, almost anyone in the world would look clumsy. The same seems to apply to any side unlucky enough to encounter Barcelona in a Champions League final.How Owning Genetic Materials Drives Farmers Into Bankruptcy and Suicide
A fascinating interview with Vandana Shiva by Lohan discusses how companies like Monsanto, through their ownership of agricultural seeds, drove Indian farmers into bankruptcy and caused mass suicides. In a decade, about 200,000 farmers have commited suicide in India. Why?
“In 1998, the World Bank’s structural-adjustment policies forced India to open up its seed sector to global corporations like Cargill, Monsanto and Syngenta,” Shiva wrote. “The global corporations changed the input economy overnight. Farm-saved seeds were replaced by corporate seeds, which need fertilizers and pesticides and cannot be saved. … … When Monsanto’s Bt cotton was introduced, the seed costs jumped from 7 rupees per kilo to 17,000 rupees per kilo. Our survey shows a thirteenfold increase in pesticide use in cotton in Vidharbha. Meantime, the $4 billion subsidy given to U.S. agribusiness for cotton has led to dumping and depression of international prices. Squeezed between high costs and negative incomes, farmers commit suicide when their land is being appropriated by the money lenders |
the open circuit voltage (OCV) after the battery has rested for a few hours is a better indicator. As with all batteries, temperature affects the OCV, so does the active material of Li-ion. SoC of smartphones, laptops and other devices is estimated by coulomb counting. (See BU-903: How to Measure State-of-charge.)
Li-ion cannot absorb overcharge. When fully charged, the charge current must be cut off. A continuous trickle charge would cause plating of metallic lithium and compromise safety. To minimize stress, keep the lithium-ion battery at the peak cut-off as short as possible.
Once the charge is terminated, the battery voltage begins to drop. This eases the voltage stress. Over time, the open circuit voltage will settle to between 3.70V and 3.90V/cell. Note that a Li-ion battery that has received a fully saturated charge will keep the voltage elevated for a longer than one that has not received a saturation charge.
When lithium-ion batteries must be left in the charger for operational readiness, some chargers apply a brief topping charge to compensate for the small self-discharge the battery and its protective circuit consume. The charger may kick in when the open circuit voltage drops to 4.05V/cell and turn off again at 4.20V/cell. Chargers made for operational readiness, or standby mode, often let the battery voltage drop to 4.00V/cell and recharge to only 4.05V/cell instead of the full 4.20V/cell. This reduces voltage-related stress and prolongs battery life.
Some portable devices sit in a charge cradle in the ON position. The current drawn through the device is called the parasitic load and can distort the charge cycle. Battery manufacturers advise against parasitic loads while charging because they induce mini-cycles. This cannot always be avoided and a laptop connected to the AC main is such a case. The battery might be charged to 4.20V/cell and then discharged by the device. The stress level on the battery is high because the cycles occur at the high-voltage threshold, often also at elevated temperature.
A portable device should be turned off during charge. This allows the battery to reach the set voltage threshold and current saturation point unhindered. A parasitic load confuses the charger by depressing the battery voltage and preventing the current in the saturation stage to drop low enough by drawing a leakage current. A battery may be fully charged, but the prevailing conditions will prompt a continued charge, causing stress.
Charging Non-cobalt-blended Li-ion
While the traditional lithium-ion has a nominal cell voltage of 3.60V, Li-phosphate (LiFePO) makes an exception with a nominal cell voltage of 3.20V and charging to 3.65V. Relatively new is the Li-titanate (LTO) with a nominal cell voltage of 2.40V and charging to 2.85V. (See BU-205: Types of Lithium-ion.)
Chargers for these non cobalt-blended Li-ions are not compatible with regular 3.60-volt Li-ion. Provision must be made to identify the systems and provide the correct voltage charging. A 3.60-volt lithium battery in a charger designed for Li-phosphate would not receive sufficient charge; a Li-phosphate in a regular charger would cause overcharge.
Overcharging Lithium-ion
Lithium-ion operates safely within the designated operating voltages; however, the battery becomes unstable if inadvertently charged to a higher than specified voltage. Prolonged charging above 4.30V on a Li-ion designed for 4.20V/cell will plate metallic lithium on the anode. The cathode material becomes an oxidizing agent, loses stability and produces carbon dioxide (CO2). The cell pressure rises and if the charge is allowed to continue, the current interrupt device (CID) responsible for cell safety disconnects at 1,000–1,380kPa (145–200psi). Should the pressure rise further, the safety membrane on some Li-ion bursts open at about 3,450kPa (500psi) and the cell might eventually vent with flame. (See BU-304b: Making Lithium-ion Safe.)
Venting with flame is connected with elevated temperature. A fully charged battery has a lower thermal runaway temperature and will vent sooner than one that is partially charged. All lithium-based batteries are safer at a lower charge, and this is why authorities will mandate air shipment of Li-ion at 30 percent state-of-charge rather than at full charge. (See BU-704a: Shipping Lithium-based Batteries by Air.).
The threshold for Li-cobalt at full charge is 130–150ºC (266–302ºF); nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) is 170–180ºC (338–356ºF) and Li-manganese is about 250ºC (482ºF). Li-phosphate enjoys similar and better temperature stabilities than manganese. (See also BU-304a: Safety Concerns with Li-ion and BU-304b: Making Lithium-ion Safe.)
Lithium-ion is not the only battery that poses a safety hazard if overcharged. Lead- and nickel-based batteries are also known to melt down and cause fire if improperly handled. Properly designed charging equipment is paramount for all battery systems and temperature sensing is a reliable watchman.
Summary
Charging lithium-ion batteries is simpler than nickel-based systems. The charge circuit is straight forward; voltage and current limitations are easier to accommodate than analyzing complex voltage signatures, which change as the battery ages. The charge process can be intermittent, and Li-ion does not need saturation as is the case with lead acid. This offers a major advantage for renewable energy storage such as a solar panel and wind turbine, which cannot always fully charge the battery. The absence of trickle charge further simplifies the charger. Equalizing charger, as is required with lead acid, is not necessary with Li-ion.
Consumer and most industrial Li-ion chargers charge the battery fully. They do not offer adjustable end-of-charge voltages that would prolong the service life of Li-ion by lowering the end charge voltage and accepting a shorter runtime. Device manufacturers fear that such an option would complicate the charger. Exceptions are electric vehicles and satellites that avoid full charge to achieve long service life.
Simple Guidelines for Charging Lithium-based Batteries
Turn off the device or disconnect the load on charge to allow the current to drop unhindered during saturation. A parasitic load confuses the charger.
Charge at a moderate temperature. Do not charge at freezing temperature. (See BU-410: Charging at High and Low Temperatures)
Lithium-ion does not need to be fully charged; a partial charge is better.
Not all chargers apply a full topping charge and the battery may not be fully charged when the “ready” signal appears; a 100 percent charge on a fuel gauge may be a lie.
Discontinue using charger and/or battery if the battery gets excessively warm.
Apply some charge to an empty battery before storing (40–50 percent SoC is ideal). (See BU-702: How to Store Batteries.)
Last updated 2018-04-24
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If you have a suggestion or would like to report an error, please use the "contact us" form or email us at: BatteryU@cadex.com. We like to hear from you but we cannot answer all inquiries. We recommend posting your question in the comment sections for the Battery University Group (BUG) to share.A new company that sorts and resells recyclable materials announced its plans this week to locate in Haywood County, adding a minimum of 30 jobs to the local economy and as many as 70 at full build out.
Sorting is done by advanced automated machinery. The technology comes from Europe, where there are rigorous and stringent rules governing what can be thrown away and what must be recycled.
“Everything is recycled in some fashion or another,” said Ken Allison, the entrepreneur behind Regional Recycling Solutions.
The recycling facility is a new business venture for Allison, who is from the Hendersonville area. He believes there is an unmet demand for an operation that can efficiently capture and commoditize recyclables in the larger region.
While most of us think about the bag of tin cans, glass jars and milk jugs under our sink when we here recycling, Allison’s operating on a much larger scale.
He plans to procure scraps from commercial and industrial sources — like the plastic, metal and rubber trimmings that come from the BMW plant in Greenville, South Carolina. Allison doesn’t anticipate household recyclables accounting for much of his volume.
The sorting operation would be housed at the Beaverdam Industrial Park inside a long, rectangular warehouse-style building, with a multi-step system of chutes and funnels and bins and forklifts zipping about. The footprint of the metal building would be about 1.5 acres. If the company succeeds, he plans to expand with two more buildings.
Allison has been in the research and development phase of the venture for a couple of years.
“A lot of thought and time has been put into this,” Allison said.
The company has one operation on the ground in Virginia. Allison envisions Regional Recycling Solutions growing to include a dozen or more facilities, with Haywood County serving as the corporate headquarters.
“We are really impressed with the site. It is absolutely beautiful,” Allison said of the 55-acre tract he plans to buy in the county’s industrial park near Canton along Interstate 40.
He predicts recycling will become a robust industry as the landfill model becomes passé and no longer practical. Allison wants to be on the ground floor of the movement to capture and commoditize those recyclables.
The business model is similar to a clearinghouse. He acquires waste that’s got little monetary value on its face, but after sorting it and accumulating a critical mass, it becomes a commodity that another factory somewhere else could actually use.
“All we do in this facility is separate materials and send them on,” Allison said.
While the operation doesn’t include a production or manufacturing side, industries that use recycled materials could be drawn to the area to be close to the source of their raw material.
“When you attract one resource, it is not unusual to attract another business to the county that uses that resource so they don’t have to ship,” County Manager Ira Dove said.
That’s the kind of spin-off county leaders believe is possible, a theory backed by some number crunching by a Western Carolina University economics professor who assessed the proposed operation’s economic impact for the county.
“Industries gravitate toward resources and supplies,” Commissioner Mark Swanger said.
Allison is a Western North Carolina native, from the Etowah community on the Henderson-Transylvania county line. He operates a family-owned commercial nursery and owns the Transylvania County Airport.
Allison had initially proposed the recycling facility in the Hominy area of Buncombe County. But Allison faced stout opposition from neighbors who feared it would ruin the character of their community, and it was denied a development permit under Buncombe County zoning rules this summer.
Haywood County has no zoning rules, however, a throwback to the private property rights mantra that anyone can build anything they want, anywhere they want.
The tract where Allison plans to locate is in the Beaverdam Industrial Park, specifically designated for industrial use dating back to its creation in the 1990s.
Haywood leaders offer deal on land in the name of jobs
Haywood County plans to give Regional Recycling Solutions a deal on a 55-acre tract in the Beaverdam Industrial Park off Interstate 40 near Canton in exchange for promised job creation.
The county is willing to sell the tract for $450,000 — about $330,000 less than it’s actually worth — in hopes of spurring economic development.
In exchange for the land discount, the company pledges to create 70 jobs in three phases over the next 5 to 7 years, totaling $24 million in capital investment.
If the company fails to produce the jobs or capital investment as promised, the reduced price on the land would be voided. The company would be obligated to pay off the $330,000 discount it previously got, according to “claw back” terms in the agreement.
The county spent $700,000 grading a portion of the tract in 2007 to make it shovel-ready in hopes of enticing industry.
The deal with Regional Recycling Solutions isn’t a huge coup given what the county put into the site — 70 jobs, and only 30 of those upfront with the rest contingent on expansion should the start-up company prove successful.
But it’s honestly the best the county can hope for in the industrial sector anymore, according to Mark Clasby, economic development director for the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce and county.
“Could you hold out? It is unlikely we could get a company with 500 jobs,” Clasby said.
And while 10 acres of the 55-acre tract had been graded, the rest of it is hilly. Clasby said its contour makes it nearly unmarketable.
“In today’s world, if you don’t have a shovel-ready site, you aren’t in the game,” Clasby said, adding it would cost a “fortune” to grade the rest of the site.
The county isn’t likely to undertake costly site grading on speculation of attracting industry again, so the site was destined to languish indefinitely, Clasby said.
So Regional Recycling Solutions seemed like the best chance the county had.
“The land has been sitting there, and we have been marketing it, to no avail,” Commissioner Mark Swanger said.
Swanger actually set the ball in motion to bring the company to Haywood County. The start-up company was initially trying to locate in Buncombe County, but it faced zoning hurdles due to opposition from the surrounding community.
Swanger had followed the story on the news and suggested cold-calling the owner.
“I said, ‘Let’s call him up and talk to him.’ At the time, we didn’t know if they were suitable or a good fit for Haywood County, but once we researched it, it is a good fit,” Swanger said.
Commissioner Kevin Ensley pointed to an intangible economic benefit the county may reap as well: the ability to market itself as a hotspot for green industry.
“We are going to be on the cutting edge,” Ensley said.
County Manager Ira Dove said the operation would help with the long-standing goal of diversifying the economy, and could open doors for more in the same vein.
“We are hoping for a broader economic impact being one of the first ones to have a facility with this type of new technology,” Dove said.
The company will initially build one facility and hire 30 employees, with average salaries of $29,000 plus benefits, with a handful of higher-paid managers. If successful, it would expand with two more facilities on site and hire another 40 people.
Clasby also pointed out the county will get around $100,000 a year in property taxes from the company should all three phases come to fruition.
As a designated industrial park tract, it has legal deed restrictions in place that prevent it from being used for retail or residential purposes, so Regional Recycling Solutions would not be permitted to carve off the part it doesn’t want for a shopping or housing development.
Coming next week
Some residents are concerned about the impact Regional Recycling Solutions’ new facility could have on the Beaverdam community. Read more about the concerns and the owner’s response to those concerns in next week’s edition.
Learn more
A public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, at the historic courthouse in Waynesville on the incentive the county is offering — namely the discounted land price.EODM (Eagles Of Death Metal) is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998 by best friends Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Despite their band name, EODM is not a death metal band. The story goes that a friend was introducing Josh Homme to the death metal genre. When he played a song by the Polish band Vader and made a claim that the song was within the death metal genre, Homme then referred to Vader as “The Eagles of Death Metal”. After hearing this phrase, he wondered what a cross between the Eagles and a death metal band would sound like. With that, the band was born.
Following Peace Love Death Metal (2004), Death By Sexy (2006) and Heart On (2008), the brand new album Zipper Down is the band’s first for Caroline and we strongly believe could be one of the biggest rock records of 2015.
"Josh Homme and Jesse Hughes return with 11 tracks of rock 'n' roll glory" - Consequence of Sound
"Zipper Down is made up of the sort of nasty, grizzled, hook-heavy, libidinous rock music that we barely ever hear anymore" - Stereogum
Tracklisting
1. Complexity
2. Silverlake (K.S.O.F.M.)
3. Got A Woman
4. I Love You All The Time
5. Oh Girl
6. Got The Power
7. Skin-Tight Boogie
8. Got A Woman (slight return)
9. The Deuce
10. Save A Prayer
11. The ReverendSome local toques start small while dreaming big, tirelessly working their way from modest venture to name brand via fits and starts of epicurean inspiration.
Award-winning chef Ris Lacoste has successfully scaled that ladder (and then some).
Which is why it’s so refreshing to find her ratcheting things back a bit so we can all explore the building blocks of fine cooking she’s created at the new Ris at Union Market.
The upstart food stand debuted at the cosmopolitan farmer’s market late last fall, as a seasonal pop-up just before Thanksgiving. That limited run was obviously intended to whet customers’ appetites for Lacoste’s interpretation of fast food.
The compact carte ranges from exotic ready-to-eat stews and carry-out centerpieces (braised lamb shank, duck leg confit) to tempting homemade sweets. There are also a few crave-worthy culinary cheats some folks have apparently been wanting to get their hands on.
“Oh my God! Veal stock. And fish stock!” a first-time visitor gasped while perusing the rows and rows of classic meal starters.
According to market manager Allison Cortese, customers have been snatching up ready-made selections and pantry staples in almost equal quantities so far.
“Sales are split between items to eat at the market and items to take home. It really depends on the day as to which will sell more,” she said.
Certain items are, by design, not intended for those seeking immediate gratification.
The braised lamb shanks, though precooked, require more love than the typical office microwave can adequately provide.
“We don’t do that by the pound, just by the shank,” a server explained of the hefty, bone-in hunks of meat parked in front of the display case. The market aide recommended slowly simmering the knobby shanks in the complementary lamb sauce for around 30 minutes to really get the natural juices flowing again.
Those searching for a quick fix would be wise to snack around.
A personal-size quiche stuffed with wild mushrooms and leeks left us satiated but lacked oomph. Hearty French-Canadian meat pies fit that bill, offering up mouthfuls of succulent potatoes, sweet onion and sweet-and-savory crumbled pork — a Lacoste specialty spiked with cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg — wrapped in buttery dough.
Curried goat stew weaved together sumptuous meat, chewy black beans and crunchy crushed nuts. A posole bowl proved more enticing; the ravishing brew featured finely shredded pork, tender hominy, crispy radish slices and fiery jalapenos, all cooled by a mound of rich sour cream.
The chicken pot pie — one of the top sellers — fared perfectly well after a half-hour date with the office toaster oven, set to 375 degrees. The flaky crust emerged evenly browned, while the interior yielded forkfuls of caramelized onions, whole peas, mushrooms, cubed carrots and coarsely chopped chicken breast swimming in flour-thickened chicken stock.
A tray of ready-made meatballs (the second-most-popular seller) seemed to take the office cooking treatment equally well. A quick spin through the microwave conjured up steaming orbs of unctuous meat threaded with green onion and smothered in dulcet, chunky-style marinara.
Dessert lovers should be well taken care of at Ris at Union Market, given the shop’s affinity for ornate fruit pies (we spied lattice-topped cherry, apple and blueberry creations), cookies and pudding cups.
Our current favorite is the derby pie. The Southern treat comes courtesy of renowned pastry chef Beverly Bates, who folds together crushed walnuts and mouth-watering chunks of milk chocolate into a sugary, blondie-like center.
“It’s basically a candy bar baked into a pie,” the server suggested/warned as we eyed the intoxicating closer.
She lied. It was better than any candy bar we’ve ever munched on.
Food Court is an ongoing series of semi-regular spot checks of new and evolving eateries with ties to Capitol Hill.
Ris at Union Market:
1309 Fifth St. NE; 202-320-7802; unionmarketdc.com
Average entree: under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday.This post has been updated with additional information from naval analysyts.
China has launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier in a ceremony at a northern Chinese shipyard on Wednesday.
The 50,000-ton Type-001A carrier was launched in a flurry of ticker tape and confetti from its dry dock at the Dalian Shipyard just after 9 A.M. local time on Wednesday (9 P.M. EDT, Tuesday).
“A bottle of champagne was broken on the aircraft carrier as a customary way of blessing the ship,” read a statement from the Chinese National Ministry of Defense.
“After that, the new aircraft carrier was slowly towed out of the dockyard and transferred to the wharf.”
The Type-001A is based on the Kuznetsov-class Russian carrier Liaoning, the incomplete aircraft carrier Beijing bought in 1998, refurbished and commissioned in 2012.
According to imagery released by the People’s Liberation Army Navy, like Liaoning, the new carrier will rely on a Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) system of launching aircraft with fighters launching from a so-called skip-ramp at the bow of the ship.
The new carrier was modified from the original design to include a new S-band radar system, a smaller island to maximize the number of aircraft aboard and changes to the ski-ramp launching system.
Reports from the PLA say the new carrier would field an unspecified number of Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark – an unlicensed copy of the Russian Sukhoi Su-33 fighter.
The Chinese quietly began construction of the Type-001A in 2013 at the same shipyard the Liaoning was with analysts guessing the nature of the construction through photos posted on the Chinese language internet.
In late 2015, after almost two years of speculation, Chinese officials confirmed the construction of the Type-001A in an unexpected press conference.
“After taking into account a range of factors, the relevant authorities launched work on developing a second aircraft carrier, and we are now undertaking our own indigenous design and construction,” Col. Yang Yuju, according to a translation of a Chinese language transcript of the Dec. 31 press conference.
“We have a long coastline and a broad maritime jurisdiction… Defending national maritime security, and safeguarding sovereignty over territorial seas and over maritime rights and interests, are sacred duties of China’s armed forces.”
China’s Aircraft Carrier Future
China is thought to have already begun construction on its second domestic carrier – Type-002 — at the Jiangnan Changxingdao shipyard near Shanghai.
Unlike the new Type-001A and Liaoning, the new carrier is expected to field a catapult launching system allowing a wider variety of aircraft to operate from the carrier. Satellite images of the nearby Huangdicun Airbase in Liaoning Province show what appears to be electromagnetic and steam catapult launching test systems.
“Developing its own CATOBAR system, and fitting it on China’s future aircraft carriers will enable the PLAN to operate a well-rounded carrier air wing that includes force multipliers such as Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, which tend to be heavier and use less-powerful, but more efficient engines,” wrote USNI News contributor Mike Yeo in September.
Still, what China intends to do with the carriers is less than clear.
“China wants to sail a gradually increasing number of aircraft carriers into the center of growing blue water operations. The evidence is growing in Chinese shipyards and ports across the Indian Ocean and beyond,” Andrew Erickson, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) and author of a recent book on Chinese naval shipbuilding, told USNI News on Wednesday.
Beijing has flirted with transparency in expressing its aircraft carrier goals. Government documents and officials have said China was set to pursue a four-carrier force over the last eight years.
Buried in its 2010 Ocean Development Report, China declared it would pursue development of its own domestic carrier program. It took six months for the detail to make it into the Western press.
“In 2009, China put forward an idea and plan for building aircraft carriers. These indicate China has entered the historical era of building a maritime superpower,” read a translation of the report.
Three years ago, a Chinese party official declared Beijing was set to build four carriers in a state report, but the government quickly deleted the instance.
A four-carrier force would mimic traditional carrier deployment patterns in which there are three carriers in maintenance or workups for every carrier deployed.
“This is likely just the beginning of China’s fledgling naval aviation capabilities as their maritime forces build towards a large well-balanced fleet capable of protecting and projecting Chinese interests in the Pacific and potentially around the world,” Eric Wertheim, author of U.S. Naval Institute’s Combat Fleets, told USNI News on Wednesday.
The following is the complete April 26, 2017 release from the Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China.
DALIAN, April 26 (ChinaMil) — The launching ceremony of China’s second aircraft carrier was held at the Dalian Shipyard of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation(CSIC) on the morning of April 26, 2017. Gen. Fan Changlong, member of the political bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) attended the ceremony and delivered a speech.
The ceremony was kicked off in magnificent national anthem at 9:00 and a bottle of champagne was broken on the aircraft carrier as a customary way of blessing the ship. After that, the new aircraft carrier was slowly towed out of the dockyard and transferred to the wharf.
The second aircraft carrier is domestically built by China. China started building it in November, 2013. At present, the main hull of this aircraft carrier has been completed and the main system devices including power supply have been installed in place.
Undocking and launching is one of the important nodes of a new aircraft carrier construction, marking that China has made significant phased achievements in designing and building an aircraft carrier independently. Next, the aircraft carrier will debug its system devices and conduct fitting-out as planned, and start mooring tests in an all-round way.
The PLA Navy Commander Shen Jinlong，PLA Navy Political Commissar Miao Hua, and CSIC President Hu Wenming also attended the ceremony.Car number 62 has started 308 races and has 1 win, 0 poles, 12 top 5s, 54 top 10s, and 141 DNFs in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Curtis “Crawfish” Crider started 135 race in #62 from 1961-1964, the majority of his 232 career races. Crider was a bootlegger, and was one of the early independent drivers in NASCAR, making his first career start in 1959. Crider earned the name “Crawfish” after crashing his car into Daytona’s Lake Lloyd.
Steve Christman started #62 a total of 20 times in the 1987 season., the only Cup series starts that Christman ever made.
Rick Wilson began his NASCAR Career in 1980 driving the #62 in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Wilson made a handful of starts ever year until 1983 for a total of 20 starts. After not racing in 1984, Wilson returned in 1985 full time to drive the Morgan McClure #4.
Brad’s Uncle Ron Keselowski made 18 starts in #62 from 1970-1971.
Frankie Schneider made 9 starts in #62. He won a race at Old Dominion Speedway in 1958. It is the only victory for both Schneider and #62. Schneider was the only New Jersey native to win in the Cup series until Martin Truex Jr. won the Autism Speaks 400 in Dover on June 4, 2007.
In 2015 Brendan Gaughan started 8 of the 16 race he attempted with Premium Racing. After the July Daytona race Gaughan left the team citing disagreements with the team. Presumably, Gaughan did not want to start-&-park.
Gaughan has become synonymous with the #62 for his racing in other series. In 2000 & 2001 Gaughan ran a total of 5 Truck Series races for Billy McAnally. Starting in 2002, Gaughan began running full time in the truck series piloting the #62 Napa truck for Orleans Racing. He would win 2 races in 2002, and 6 more in 2003.
In 2003 Gaughan lead the Truck series points going into the season finale at Homestead, but would finish a dissapointing 4th in points after a controversial wreck. An extra Jim Smith racing Truck was entered in the race, the #10 of Marty Houston. Smith also owned the #1 truck of Ted Musgrave. When the #10 crashed the #62 it seemed to hand the championship to Musgrave, but Musgrave would be black flagged late in the race for passing a truck before the restart line. Travis Kvapil would ultimately be crowned the champion.
After a breif stint driving the #77 Jasper car in the Cup series, Gaughan would bounce between the Trucks and XFINITY series for next several years. In 2009 & 2010, Gaughan would drive the #62 Toyotas and Chevy’s for Rusty Wallace Racing.
In 2011 Gaughan would leave RWR to return to the truck series, driving the #62 for Germain Racing.
Gaughan was supposedly unhappy with the performance of the Germain team, and joined Richard Childress Racing in 2012. The year he did not run in any series for points, but drove the RCR #33 in all 3 premier series. 2013 would see Gaughan drive the #62 full time in the Truck series with occasional Nationwide (XFINITY) starts in #21. Gaughan did not win a truck race that year, but finished they year with an impressive 10 top-5 finishes.
For 2014 Gaughan moved up to the Nationwide Series full time with RCR, earning 2 wins at Road America and Kenutcky. He returned to the team in 2015, but was unable to repeat his victories.
Following the 2017 season, RCR downsized it’s XFINITY Series operation, removing Gaughan from their driver roster. Gaughan announced he was retiring from racing full time, but left the door open for occasional starts in the future.
Other notable names in #62 Buddy Arrington, 12 starts Bobby Wadell, 4 start Timmy Hill, 7 starts Bill Amick, 1 start Dave Marcis, 1 start Reed Sorrenson, 1 start Austin Cameron, 1 start
AdvertisementsThe Southern Athletic Association (SAA) is a college athletic conference in NCAA Division III that began play in the 2012–13 school year. It was formed in 2011 by seven former members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and independent Berry College.[1]
Member schools [ edit ]
Full members [ edit ]
Affiliate members [ edit ]
Two schools, the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), announced their intention to become affiliate members of the conference for football, effective in 2015. Both are members of the University Athletic Association (UAA), which at the time had a football scheduling alliance with the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). However, after the 2012 season, the NCAC adopted a full round-robin football schedule, making it impossible for that conference to fill in all of its non-conference dates with the four UAA members that sponsor the sport.
Over the summer of 2015, Chicago and WUSTL announced that they would leave the SAA after two seasons of competition in order to join more geographically-convenient conferences.[2] WUSTL will maintain its football affiliation with the UAA for the 2017 season before joining the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in 2018 as a football-only member. For nearly a year, Chicago did not announce a future league affiliation, but it announced in May 2016 that it would become a football-only member of the Midwest Conference in 2017.[3]
On November 18, 2015, Trinity University (Texas) and Austin College announced [4] they would affiliate with the SAA for football, renewing a relationship that was lost when the SAA split from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. As a result, the SCAC will no longer offer football as a sport from 2017.
Membership timeline [ edit ]
Blue = Full member, Green = Full member except football, Red = Associate member for footballPortrait by David A. Johnson
While researching for We Wuz Pushed: On Joanna Russ and Radical Truth-Telling, I developed a passionate engagement with Russ’s astounding, provocative body of work—and I had intended, at the time, to write her a letter upon completion of the project to thank her for her contributions to feminism, science fiction, and queer scholarship. Unfortunately, on April 29th 2011, Joanna Russ passed away; I had not written or sent that letter.
So, I go back to that initial desire now, to celebrate Russ’s birthday and the imprint her writings left on me, the SF genre, and the wider community of scholars and critics in which she participated.
Dear Joanna Russ,
I wanted to offer my admiration and respect for the contributions you have made to all of the fields in which I—and so many others—read, work, and create. Reading the span of your bibliography, from poetry to fiction to nonfiction and back, has been a gift that I will treasure; you were one of the finest, the most visceral and honest, voices I have ever had the pleasure to encounter. You have left your mark on all of the fields in which you worked, and have forged paths between them that to this day are useful and provocative. The connections between queer feminism and SF, between the academy and feminism, between SF and the academy: these are all roads that you helped to pave.
From the late ’50s to the late ’90s, you cast your immense shadow over every genre in which you wrote. Your inimitable mix of talent, insight, intensity, and craft made you impossible to ignore. Even today, though your name has faded from conversation in some quarters, the challenges you issued, the changes you wrought, and the ideas that you laid to paper continue to resonate. The impact of the New Wave movement alone, of which you were a key figure, is hard to quantify—let alone the concurrent and continuing effects of feminism on the science fiction field.
As a scholar, your incisive wit and brilliant scope brought together one of the most cogent and coherent criticisms of misogynist, heteronormative hegemony in the arts (How to Suppress Women’s Writing). Your critical attention to the field of science fiction, too, with its queer feminist slant, offers to this day a vocabulary and genealogy of the genre’s didactic and productive functions. When asked in the academy why I focus on speculative fiction—and asked, I am, so often; that hasn’t changed much—I still reflect back to your arguments for the primacy and power of the question, “what if?”
Your nonfiction works—To Write Like a Woman, What Are We Fighting For?, and assorted essays and reviews—have given me the tools to begin my own projects, to envision what is possible. Generations of critics in the genre (and outside) have looked to you as an inspiration and a model for how to do the job of a critic right. The balance of sharpness, humor, and insight that you brought to your critical work is something I envy with real delight and strive to emulate. I would not be the critic that I am without your example—and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say I’m hardly the only one.
Of course, this barely touches on the astounding contributions you made to the field of science fiction itself with your own stories and novels. We Who Are About to… is haunting and harsh; The Female Man dispenses rage and wisdom and clarity; The Two of Them is like a punch to the gut. I’ve written extensively about your books and your stories, and yet I always feel there’s more to be said, more packed into your lean and powerful prose, more left unremarked but lingering, ghostly, in the mind. You had the drive; you made of it further and further gifts that survive you, that continue to speak your fury and your knowledge.
While I regret not writing this and sending it to you in good time, late is better than never. Thank you for your determination, your grit, your anger, and your skill: without your work, the world would have been a shallower and less vital place. As you have said, “One moves incurably into the future but there is no future; it has to be created.” And this future, the future that I inhabit, that I write in, that I think in—the one where I do, despite the odds, have a place—is one that you have helped to create.
Sincerely, your admirer,
—Brit Mandelo
This article was originally published February 22, 2013
Brit Mandelo is a writer, critic, and editor whose primary fields of interest are speculative fiction and queer literature, especially when the two coincide. She can be found on Twitter or her website.A woman was found dead inside a vehicle on the side of the eastbound I-10 freeway in El Monte, causing an hours-long closure during the |
ATP was infinitely greater than the sum of its parts. The music, the vistas, the people, the atmosphere: for all those lucky enough to attend the inaugural Australian ATP, this was an event to cherish forever." - The Australian
"Convivial, well-behaved harmony...the bill has tantalised." - WA Today
"Holy shit, best festival ever!.. atmosphere was totally relaxed. The crowd was devoid of dickheads...one of the greatest festival line-ups ever." - Beat Magazine
"A magical weekend of fine music and breathtaking vistas...Not just another one of those painfully overcrowded festivals with dreadful facilities." - Inpress Magazine
"ATP was pretty much our favourite Australian festival experience: for comfort, facilities, vibe, scenery and, of course, line-up...an outstanding event." - The Age
"A big hit...chilled-out." - Sunday Telegraph
"To file under: let's do this again" - Sydney Morning Herald
"A musical, cinematic, and visual arts feast...I love ATP." - Triple J
"What a magnificent day...the vibe of the crowed, the fantastic music on offer...it was truly a great day and one of the best festivals I have experienced." - Doubtful Sounds
Artwork:
The amazing artwork for IBYM Melbourne is by acclaimed artist Camille Rose Garcia.
Camille Rose Garcia was born in 1970 in Los Angeles, California, The child of a Mexican activist filmmaker father and a muralist/painter mother, she apprenticed at age 14 working on murals with her mother while growing up in the generic suburbs of Orange County, visiting Disneyland and going to punk shows with the other disenchanted youth of that era. Garcia’s layered, broken narrative paintings of wasteland fairy tales are influenced by William Burroughs’ cut-up writings and surrealist film, as well as vintage Disney and Fleischer cartoons, acting as critical commentaries on the failures of capitalist utopias, blending nostalgic pop culture references with a satirical slant on modern society. Her work has been displayed internationally and featured in numerous magazines including Juxtapoz, Rolling Stone, and Modern Painter, and is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum as well as the San Jose Museum of Art, which held a retrospective of her work, Tragic Kingdom, in 2007.
http://camillerosegarcia.com/
More About All Tomorrow's Parties:
All Tomorrow's Parties has been promoting festivals and concerts throughout the world for over ten years. It was founded in the wake of Belle and Sebastian’s Bowlie Weekender, with Mogwai curating in the unusual setting of Pontins Holiday Camp, Camber Sands, UK. Since then the festival has appeared every year and has expanded across the globe continuing to set itself apart from large scale corporate festivals by staying intimate and fan-friendly. The line-ups are chosen by significant bands or artists which results in eclectic events that combine performances by legendary and influential acts with appearances by the latest crop of experimental artists from any (and every) musical genre. The festival has become more successful with every passing year, and ATP events have taken place in the UK, USA, Europe and Australia, with past curators including Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Mike Patton, My Bloody Valentine, Portishead, Sonic Youth, Slint, and Tortoise. In 2011 ATP launched a new series of curated city-based events called I'll Be Your Mirror, with events so far taking place in Tokyo, London and Asbury Park, New Jersey. ATP has set itself apart from other festivals by embracing seemingly disparate artistic genres, with events featuring art exhibitions, cinema programmes, spoken word performances and stand up comedy. It's been called 'Unforgettable' by Spin and 'the most enjoyable festival experience of our reporter's life' by Pitchfork. It has spawned an acclaimed concert series (Don't Look Back), a record label (ATP Recordings), and the release of a feature length documentary about the festivals from Warp Films, titled All Tomorrow’s Parties, out now on DVD.If you think you’re hearing the word “empathy” everywhere, you’re right. It’s now on the lips of scientists and business leaders, education experts and political activists. But there is a vital question that few people ask: How can I expand my own empathic potential? Empathy is not just a way to extend the boundaries of your moral universe. According to new research, it’s a habit we can cultivate to improve the quality of our own lives.
But what is empathy? It’s the ability to step into the shoes of another person, aiming to understand their feelings and perspectives, and to use that understanding to guide our actions. That makes it different from kindness or pity. And don’t confuse it with the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” As George Bernard Shaw pointed out, “Do not do unto others as you would have them do unto you—they might have different tastes.” Empathy is about discovering those tastes.
The big buzz about empathy stems from a revolutionary shift in the science of how we understand human nature. The old view that we are essentially self-interested creatures is being nudged firmly to one side by evidence that we are also homo empathicus, wired for empathy, social cooperation, and mutual aid.
How empathic are you? Take the quiz!
Over the last decade, neuroscientists have identified a 10-section “empathy circuit” in our brains which, if damaged, can curtail our ability to understand what other people are feeling. Evolutionary biologists like Frans de Waal have shown that we are social animals who have naturally evolved to care for each other, just like our primate cousins. And psychologists have revealed that we are primed for empathy by strong attachment relationships in the first two years of life.
But empathy doesn’t stop developing in childhood. We can nurture its growth throughout our lives—and we can use it as a radical force for social transformation. Research in sociology, psychology, history—and my own studies of empathic personalities over the past 10 years—reveals how we can make empathy an attitude and a part of our daily lives, and thus improve the lives of everyone around us. Here are the Six Habits of Highly Empathic People!
Habit 1: Cultivate curiosity about strangers
Highly empathic people (HEPs) have an insatiable curiosity about strangers. They will talk to the person sitting next to them on the bus, having retained that natural inquisitiveness we all had as children, but which society is so good at beating out of us. They find other people more interesting than themselves but are not out to interrogate them, respecting the advice of the oral historian Studs Terkel: “Don’t be an examiner, be the interested inquirer.”
Curiosity expands our empathy when we talk to people outside our usual social circle, encountering lives and worldviews very different from our own. Curiosity is good for us too: Happiness guru Martin Seligman identifies it as a key character strength that can enhance life satisfaction. And it is a useful cure for the chronic loneliness afflicting around one in three Americans.
Cultivating curiosity requires more than having a brief chat about the weather. Crucially, it tries to understand the world inside the head of the other person. We are confronted by strangers every day, like the heavily tattooed woman who delivers your mail or the new employee who always eats his lunch alone. Set yourself the challenge of having a conversation with one stranger every week. All it requires is courage.
Habit 2: Challenge prejudices and discover commonalities
We all have assumptions about others and use collective labels—e.g., “Muslim fundamentalist,” “welfare mom”—that prevent us from appeciating their individuality. HEPs challenge their own preconceptions and prejudices by searching for what they share with people rather than what divides them. An episode from the history of US race relations illustrates how this can happen.
Claiborne Paul Ellis was born into a poor white family in Durham, North Carolina, in 1927. Finding it hard to make ends meet working in a garage and believing African Americans were the cause of all his troubles, he followed his father’s footsteps and joined the Ku Klux Klan, eventually rising to the top position of Exalted Cyclops of his local KKK branch.
In 1971 he was invited—as a prominent local citizen—to a 10-day community meeting to tackle racial tensions in schools, and was chosen to head a steering committee with Ann Atwater, a black activist he despised. But working with her exploded his prejudices about African Americans. He saw that she shared the same problems of poverty as his own. “I was beginning to look at a black person, shake hands with him, and see him as a human being,” he recalled of his experience on the committee. “It was almost like bein’ born again.” On the final night of the meeting, he stood in front of a thousand people and tore up his Klan membership card.
Ellis later became a labor organiser for a union whose membership was 70 percent African American. He and Ann remained friends for the rest of their lives. There may be no better example of the power of empathy to overcome hatred and change our minds.
Habit 3: Try another person’s life
So you think ice climbing and hang-gliding are extreme sports? Then you need to try experiential empathy, the most challenging—and potentially rewarding—of them all. HEPs expand their empathy by gaining direct experience of other people’s lives, putting into practice the Native American proverb, “Walk a mile in another man’s moccasins before you criticize him.”
George Orwell is an inspiring model. After several years as a colonial police officer in British Burma in the 1920s, Orwell returned to Britain determined to discover what life was like for those living on the social margins. “I wanted to submerge myself, to get right down among the oppressed,” he wrote. So he dressed up as a tramp with shabby shoes and coat, and lived on the streets of East London with beggars and vagabonds. The result, recorded in his book Down and Out in Paris and London, was a radical change in his beliefs, priorities, and relationships. He not only realized that homeless people are not “drunken scoundrels”—Orwell developed new friendships, shifted his views on inequality, and gathered some superb literary material. It was the greatest travel experience of his life. He realised that empathy doesn’t just make you good—it’s good for you, too.
We can each conduct our own experiments. If you are religiously observant, try a “God Swap,” attending the services of faiths different from your own, including a meeting of Humanists. Or if you’re an atheist, try attending different churches! Spend your next vacation living and volunteering in a village in a developing country. Take the path favored by philosopher John Dewey, who said, “All genuine education comes about through experience.”
Habit 4: Listen hard—and open up
There are two traits required for being an empathic conversationalist.
One is to master the art of radical listening. “What is essential,” says Marshall Rosenberg, psychologist and founder of Non-Violent Communication (NVC), “is our ability to be present to what’s really going on within—to the unique feelings and needs a person is experiencing in that very moment.” HEPs listen hard to others and do all they can to grasp their emotional state and needs, whether it is a friend who has just been diagnosed with cancer or a spouse who is upset at them for working late yet again.
But listening is never enough. The second trait is to make ourselves vulnerable. Removing our masks and revealing our feelings to someone is vital for creating a strong empathic bond. Empathy is a two-way street that, at its best, is built upon mutual understanding—an exchange of our most important beliefs and experiences.
Organizations such as the Israeli-Palestinian Parents Circle put it all into practice by bringing together bereaved families from both sides of the conflict to meet, listen, and talk. Sharing stories about how their loved ones died enables families to realize that they share the same pain and the same blood, despite being on opposite sides of a political fence, and has helped to create one of the world’s most powerful grassroots peace-building movements.
Habit 5: Inspire mass action and social change
We typically assume empathy happens at the level of individuals, but HEPs understand that empathy can also be a mass phenomenon that brings about fundamental social change.
Just think of the movements against slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries on both sides of the Atlantic. As journalist Adam Hochschild reminds us, “The abolitionists placed their hope not in sacred texts but human empathy,” doing all they could to get people to understand the very real suffering on the plantations and slave ships. Equally, the international trade union movement grew out of empathy between industrial workers united by their shared exploitation. The overwhelming public response to the Asian tsunami of 2004 emerged from a sense of empathic concern for the victims, whose plight was dramatically beamed into our homes on shaky video footage.
Empathy will most likely flower on a collective scale if its seeds are planted in our children. That’s why HEPs support efforts such as Canada’s pioneering Roots of Empathy, the world’s most effective empathy teaching program, which has benefited over half a million school kids. Its unique curriculum centers on an infant, whose development children observe over time in order to learn emotional intelligence—and its results include significant declines in playground bullying and higher levels of academic achievement.
Beyond education, the big challenge is figuring out how social networking technology can harness the power of empathy to create mass political action. Twitter may have gotten people onto the streets for Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring, but can it convince us to care deeply about the suffering of distant strangers, whether they are drought-stricken farmers in Africa or future generations who will bear the brunt of our carbon-junkie lifestyles? This will only happen if social networks learn to spread not just information, but empathic connection.
Habit 6: Develop an ambitious imagination
A final trait of HEPs is that they do far more than empathize with the usual suspects. We tend to believe empathy should be reserved for those living on the social margins or who are suffering. This is necessary, but it is hardly enough.
We also need to empathize with people whose beliefs we don’t share or who may be “enemies” in some way. If you are a campaigner on global warming, for instance, it may be worth trying to step into the shoes of oil company executives—understanding their thinking and motivations—if you want to devise effective strategies to shift them towards developing renewable energy. A little of this “instrumental empathy” (sometimes known as “impact anthropology”) can go a long way.
Empathizing with adversaries is also a route to social tolerance. That was Gandhi’s thinking during the conflicts between Muslims and Hindus leading up to Indian independence in 1947, when he declared, “I am a Muslim! And a Hindu, and a Christian and a Jew.”
Organizations, too, should be ambitious with their empathic thinking. Bill Drayton, the renowned “father of social entrepreneurship,” believes that in an era of rapid technological change, mastering empathy is the key business survival skill because it underpins successful teamwork and leadership. His influential Ashoka Foundation has launched the Start Empathy initiative, which is taking its ideas to business leaders, politicians and educators worldwide.
The 20th century was the Age of Introspection, when self-help and therapy culture encouraged us to believe that the best way to understand who we are and how to live was to look inside ourselves. But it left us gazing at our own navels. The 21st century should become the Age of Empathy, when we discover ourselves not simply through self-reflection, but by becoming interested in the lives of others. We need empathy to create a new kind of revolution. Not an old-fashioned revolution built on new laws, institutions, or policies, but a radical revolution in human relationships.January 28, 2016
The flurry of criticism against Bernie Sanders as he rises in the opinion polls is rooted in the age-old complaint that left-wing proposals and policies just aren't "realistic."
AFTER SEEING Bernie Sanders surge in public opinion polls with the first contests of the Democratic presidential primaries weeks away, supporters of the frontrunner and establishment choice Hillary Clinton have decided that they've seen enough.
Over January, Clinton campaign officials fed articles to the New York Times and Washington Post to signal their displeasure with Sanders, whose left-wing populism was tolerated in the early months of the campaign--but who now shows alarming signs that he might be more than an also-ran.
At about the same time, political commentators from across the spectrum uncorked their anti-Sanders criticism. On the conservative side, the Wall Street Journal editorial board raised the alarm about this "true-blue man of the left," warning its conservative followers that, at a time of deep anger over inequality, Sanders wouldn't be as weak a candidate in the general election as they might think.
From liberal pundits, the tone of the headlines was more condescending: "Bernie Sanders Doesn't Get How Politics Works," according to Boston Globe columnist Michael Cohen, while Politco ran a piece by American Prospect co-editor Paul Starr titled "I Get Sanders' Appeal. But He's Not a Credible President."
Hillary Clinton speaking on the campaign trail (Gage Skidmore)
Many liberals whose stated beliefs are much closer to Sanders than the reliably centrist and conventional Clinton nevertheless went after the self-identified socialist from Vermont. The common element among them was a curious outbreak of selective criticism.
Liberal economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, for example, complained that Sanders' plan to break up monopolistic banks didn't go far enough, while saying nothing about the empty rhetoric and tame-at-best proposals from Hillary "I represented Wall Street" Clinton.
Well-known anti-racist author Ta-Nehisi Coates took Sanders to task in the Atlantic for not supporting slavery reparations for African Americans. Coates was right about that, but he didn't mention that Clinton rejects reparations, too, or that her record on racism is far worse than Sanders. What should have been an important discussion degenerated into another partisan hit job.
There was also a wave of complaints about Sanders' idea of bringing American health care into the mid-20th century with a single-payer plan.
Hillary Clinton herself and her daughter Chelsea falsely implied that Sanders would leave people with no insurance by undoing Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA), while leading liberal voices Ezra Klein and Matt Yglesias denounced Sanders' plan for its simplicity.
Really? Anyone who has to actually deal with the still-dysfunctional American health care system is sure to appreciate Sanders' case that simplicity would be a major benefit of removing the profit motive from health care--as opposed to the ACA, whose 1,000 pages are riddled with loopholes and corporate giveaways that give the privatized system the ability to continue screwing ordinary people.
BUT THOSE were the surface policy criticisms. More important was the underlying theme shared by politicians and pundits alike: Bernie Sanders just isn't the "realistic" choice.
"Here in the heartland, we like our politicians in the mainstream," lectured Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a promoter of traditional American values like deploying troops to face off against Black protesters angry about police violence. "[Sanders] is not--he's a socialist."
Nixon's fellow Missourian, Sen. Claire McCaskill, added: "The Republicans won't touch him because they can't wait to run an ad with a hammer and sickle."
The problem with the claim that Sanders' ideas are off on the left fringe is that they are clearly not. That's the meaning of the opinion polls showing that more and more people are embracing his message.
The reason we're hearing Clinton backers denounce Sanders is not because he's turning off voters--but because he's attracting them in larger and larger numbers.
As for the "socialist" label, far from it being a negative, Sanders' identification with socialism seems to have prompted many more people to decide that they're one, too--including in the "heartland." The Washington Post reports that in Iowa, "a remarkable 43 percent of likely Democratic caucus participants describe themselves as socialists, including 58 percent of Sanders's supporters and about a third of Clinton's."
Sanders' success in drawing support is based on a continuing move to the left among millions of people who typically make up the Democratic Party's voting base--and they've become increasingly sick of their party's pro-corporate agenda, a similar trend to the polarization that has taken place across Europe in recent years.
But when you read the "stay away from Sanders" articles carefully, you find that their authors aren't worried about Sanders alienating voters, but candidates, consultants and especially donors--i.e., alienating the Democratic Party power structure itself.
Democratic Rep. Steve Israel told the Washington Post that among his colleagues, there is an "elevated concern expressed in the cloakroom and members-only elevators" about the effect of a Sanders victory on their congressional races this fall.
There's no doubt that Republicans would try to use Sanders' identification with socialism against him in a general election--although some polls show Sanders doing better than Hillary Clinton against various Republican candidates.
But that's not actually the problem. Democrats like Israel and Nixon are less worried that they they'll be damaged by Sanders' left-wing platform than that they'll be exposed by it.
"Whether or not he wins," wrote the Washington Post, "Sanders' rise has created challenges for party leaders by highlighting policy differences between the Democratic establishment and the party's support base. Many Sanders proposals--Medicare for all, free college and breaking up big banks--go beyond congressional Democrats' agenda but are embraced by an ascendant wing of the party."
In other words, it's not even socialism that party officials are declaring to be beyond the pale, but positions and policies that used to be basic elements of liberalism and Democratic Party politics.
THIS IS the essence of the con game at the heart of the "pragmatic politics" long practiced by the liberal wing of American oligarchy. They tell supporters that radical change is unrealistic because the people will never go for it--while they do everything in their powers to prevent radical change from ever being a legitimate option for people to choose.
It's the very opposite of the combative and independent politics promoted by the Socialist Party leader and five-time presidential candidate Eugene Debs, who used to say that he'd rather "vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don't want and get it."
Sanders' success up to this point is poking a big hole in the national myth that the U.S. is a conservative country at heart. But how far Sanders can take his campaign is limited by the fact that he's running for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party--a party that is showing it will undermine him every step of the way.
Sanders himself and many of his supporters believe that the limits of the two-party system make working inside the Democrats the only realistic path for progressive politics. And it's true that Sanders is probably getting far more attention than he would as an independent, third-party candidate--since those figures are outright shunned by the media and political establishment.
But it's also true--whether or not Sanders is willing to face it--that the Democratic Party will never allow itself to be taken over by its left wing. So by staying within the Democratic Party, Sanders is dooming some of his "pragmatic critics" to be correct.
Sanders' insistence on talking about health care is a breath of fresh air in the post-ACA political climate. But it is, in fact, unrealistic to propose a single-payer health care system as a candidate of a party that is just as much in the pockets of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries as the Republicans. Were Sanders ever to find himself in a position of trying to achieve single-payer, his own party would stab him in the back.
Michael Cohen is, in fact, right when he says that Sanders is too simplistic in only blaming Wall Street money for our broken political system. "It's not just about money; it's also about a political system constructed and reinforced to block the kind of massive reform Sanders is advocating," Cohen wrote. "Money is important, but it's not even close to the whole story."
Of course, the lesson drawn by Cohen and other "realistic" liberals is that we need to elect moderate candidates who will work for incremental change. We know the result of that strategy--from the long trail of broken promises left behind by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, to cite two examples.
Sanders supporters should take the opposite message from Cohen: In order to fix a broken system, we need a real and thorough political revolution--not just against corporate influence in Washington, but against the two-party oligarchy as a whole.
THE POPULARITY of the Sanders campaign shows that such a political revolution is possible. So do the protest movements of the recent past that have achieved marriage equality; the beginnings of an improvement in the minimum wage; greater awareness of racist police violence and the indictments of some killer cops--and the lessons of history show us achievements on an even greater scale.
We are constantly told that it's far-fetched to talk about building a party to the left of the Democrats. But if in 2016, a self-identified socialist can poll as well as any declared candidate for the presidency, then why can't we build a party that goes behind the Democrats' lame rhetoric and proven record of betrayal? Why can't we bring together the spirit of Occupy, Black Lives Matter and other movements that have laid the basis for Sanders' success?
Right now, most Sanders supporters are excited about what will happen in the early primary contests. Their candidate is almost certain to win in New Hampshire, has a good shot in Iowa and could rack up other successes well into the primary season.
But the odds are still overwhelming that at some point in the months to come, Bernie Sanders will concede that he won't win the Democratic presidential nomination and--as he has promised all along--call on his supporters to vote for whoever the nominee is, no matter how far from his beliefs they may be.
For decades on end, the independent and socialist Sanders has supported a string of disappointing Democrats for the presidency over genuine independents like Ralph Nader or the Green Party's likely 2016 candidate Jill Stein.
Socialists need to challenge that version of political "realism," just as much as the current variety. And the time to start preparing to do so is now. Understanding what it will take to make the Sanders promise a reality and break with his pragmatism will deepen the understanding of what the socialist project is all about--real self-emancipation through self-organization.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was created, in large part, to inspect nuclear facilities for safety and security. Over time, succumbing to a bad case of mission creep, it became a de facto detective agency stuck with the job of determining whether states such as Iran were developing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, other bodies verify compliance with the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and would perform the same service for the prospective Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
But another entity, one that’s neither party to any treaties nor reports back to the UN Security Council like the IAEA, may also be monitoring nuclear facilities. While it has enforcement capabilities the IAEA can only dream of, it has yet to be inclined to use them.
In 2010 an eye-opening book titled UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record was published with the surprising support of John Podesta and the Center for American Progress. It was written by Leslie Kean, a founder of the Coalition for Freedom of Information, launched in 2001 to obtain documents from the United States government about UFOs through the Freedom of Information Act.
UFOs serves two purposes. First, it’s the authoritative record of ironclad sightings as witnessed or assembled by those enumerated in the subtitle, who narrate their stories in their own chapters. Second, author Kean analyzes the U.S. government policy of reflexively debunking UFO sightings, which has the insidious effect of filtering down to all serious commentators. Writing about UFOs has become almost as lethal to a writer’s credibility as if he or she lent credence to those who subscribe to alternate histories of 9/11.
Before continuing, allow me to mention the reason — ostensible, anyway — that the United States debunks UFO sightings. In the early 1950s, Kean writes:
Authorities were … saturated by hundreds of UFO reports. … Even though the UFOs had demonstrated no threat to national security, false alarms could be dangerous. … Officials were concerned that the Soviets might take advantage of this situation by simulating or staging a UFO wave, and then attack.
How the United States government deals with UFO reports stands in stark contrast to how they’re handled in other countries, notably Britain, France, and Belgium, as well as those of South America. As one of the sub-authors writes,
… the 1989-90 UFO wave in Belgium was handled rationally, openly, and responsibly by the government. The Belgian Air Force was called into action immediately, and other agencies, such as the Gendarmerie Nationale (a combination of police and army) and the Belgian equivalent of our FAA, also cooperated in the mobilization to identify the objects.
In other words, stigmatizing those investigating UFO sightings is a distinctly American phenomenon.
Returning to the auxiliary monitoring agency alluded to above, Kean writes about Jean-Jacques Velasco, an engineer in satellite development for CNES, the French equivalent of NASA, who later served as head of the French government’s UFO agency for over 20 years. In his section, Velasco reminds us of a famous incident in 1967 when UFOs were spotted by military personnel near Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana when, simultaneously, the launch capacity of almost 20 nuclear missiles was shut down. One of the few officials to actually hypothesize about why extraterrestrials seem to be visiting us, Velasco writes.
I would like to propose an intriguing hypothesis that. … has required some research … into the United States. I believe that there is a connection between strategic nuclear power [by which he means] the atomic bomb, and the presence of unidentified artificial objects in the sky. This is suggested by data collected over several decade.
During the Cold War, he continues, “Air Force intelligence noted that many sightings occurred over ‘sensitive installations.'”
Most explicit was part of a report by George E. Valley, MIT physicist and radiation. (Emphasis added.) Such a civilization [as might visit the earth] might observe that on Earth we now have atomic bombs and are fast developing rockets. In view of the past history of mankind, they should be alarmed. We should, therefore, expect at this time above all to behold such visitations. Since the acts of mankind most easily observed from a distance are A-bomb explosions, we should expect some relation to obtain between the time of A-bomb explosions, the time at which the space ships are seen, and the time required for such ships to arrive from and return to the home base.
Velasco further writes:
We have on record the number of explosions worldwide and tests … a total of just over 2,400 explosions. … By comparing nuclear tests to some 150 visual/radar UFO cases collected since 1947, we note that the curves are practically superimposed in time and they coincide, with not more than a few months appearing between the number of explosions and one of the UFO appearances. … We can see on a graph the relationship between atomic explosions and visual/radar sightings. … This similarity in the two curves would suggest that the proven presence of UFOs is related to the nuclear strategic activity in the world.
Those inclined to attribute benevolence to extraterrestrials might think they monitor our nuclear weapons to keep us from harming ourselves. But they would be advised not to hold their breath waiting for extraterrestrials to become disarmament advocates of last resort who will decommission nuclear stockpiles on earth via electromagnetic pulse or something. This kind of thinking is just as much a symptom of our earth-centricity as the failure to perceive that what we do on earth spills over the borders of the planet. We’ve demonstrated little inclination to make sure that what happens on earth stays on earth.
In fact, extraterrestrials’ main concern may be how nuclear weapons on earth affect them. More likely, though, since recent developments in science suggest life elsewhere is untold light years away, extraterrestrials are too far from us to be directly affected by radiation emanating from earth. Instead, their overarching concern might be the ecology of the universe, if you can believe not only that, in its immensity, the universe needs tending like a planet but that extraterrestrials actually care enough to see to its well-being.
Whether they’re concerned about themselves or the state of the universe, it’s certainly a measure of how dangerous nuclear weapons are that beings from points unimaginably far distant are monitoring them out of apparent concern that, if used, they’d spill over the borders of the earth and into the universe commons.The Toronto FC Twitterverse was already abuzz over the mutual termination of Damien Perquis' contract on Tuesday night, when Marcus Haber sent out a cryptic tweet. "In Columbus" the tweet read, followed by a city skyline emoji. It didn't take long for Toronto FC fans to start to put two and two together.
Toronto FC, after all, had been looking for a striker since Jozy Altidore suffered a hamstring injury in May. Haber, a Canadian international, was a free agent after his contract expired with Crewe Alexandra in England. Toronto FC was travelling to Columbus for a game against the Crew, and there was speculation that Haber would be joining them there.
In Columbus — Marcus Haber (@MarcusHaber) July 13, 2016
Today, however, it was confirmed that Haber was in fact in Columbus to talk to the home team in last night's clash, the Columbus Crew. SB Nation colleague Patrick Murphy of the Massive Report, confirmed on Twitter today that Crew manager Greg Berhalter met with Haber, but few other details were offered.
Berhalter confirmed today that he met with forward Marcus Haber. Said he’s a free agent so it made sense. Wouldn’t say more. #CrewSC — Patrick Murphy (@_Pat_Murphy) July 14, 2016
The Crew are currently looking for a striker to backup Ola Kamara, and Haber fits the bill. He is a strong target man who has good finishing both in the air and with his feet. A big problem for the Crew this season has been their lack of a presence in the air to finish off their crosses, and at 6 foot 3 Haber would certainly be a good target.
Haber scored 16 league goals in 76 appearances with Crewe, and his best season came last year on a team who were relegated to League Two in England. Haber has also been a fixture for the Canadian Men's National team under Benito Floro, and has two senior goals for his country. His commitment to the national team is one of the reasons he had difficulty finding another job in England, as Crewe weren't happy with him consistently leaving to represent Canada.
Columbus has plenty of money to spend after the Kei Kamara trade, and are expected to be one of busiest MLS teams in the transfer market this summer. Currently sitting last in the league after last night's 1-1 draw with Toronto FC, they have plenty of work to do if they want to make a playoff push in the second half.
For those thinking it was Toronto who were interested in Haber, that was a deal that never really made much sense. With Jozy Altidore set to return, and Jordan Hamilton scoring his third MLS goal last night, the need for strikers in Toronto is dwindling. Plus, fellow Canadian international Tosaint Ricketts is still a major possibility to be signed.There's a new attitude about Rice sports. It started with the baseball team several years ago. And it's spreading with the football team. It's no longer enough to be competitive. It's no longer enough to get the moral victory. No more of the perpetual rebuilding process. Rice sports teams are now expected to win games. Even the men's basketball team.
Mike Rhoades doesn't want to hear about rebuilding plans. The new basketball coach of the Owls expects his team to win, and he expects his team to win now. The team's undersized, and it's undermanned. The guys aren't as talented as many of the players on opposing teams, and they're not quite skilled enough to play the type of game that Rhoades eventually hopes the Owls can play -- an uptempo, pressing game -- but he's not willing to listen to excuses.
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The Owls are 6-12 on the season (3-4 in conference play) and lost to Louisiana Tech by a 58-45 score on Saturday night. It was an ugly, sloppy game. Neither team shot better than 45-percent. The Owls hit only 32.6-percent of its shots for the night (an ugly 5-of-19 from behind the three point line). Toss in 18 Rice turnovers and seven missed free throws, and there was almost zero chance the Owls would the game. Louisiana Tech is 15-5 on the season (6-1 in conference) is one of the best teams in Conference USA, so Rice hanging in and staying close could be seen as a victory. But that's not how Rhoades looks at it. His team was sloppy and being close just isn't good enough.
"Tonight is an example," he said after the game. "We had to play better to beat a team like this. Were we capable of playing better today? Absolutely. If we played phenomenal and did everything right and had under 12 turnovers, then we didn't win the game, then I'd live with that forever. Today, I love our effort. Guys are trying to do the right thing. But we put ourselves on our heels. We can't play that way."
The Owls ran the offense the way he wanted the offense ran. Dumping the ball down deep and then tossing it back out to the shooter as the defense collapsed on the big man. The shots didn't fall for the Owls, but the shots were the shots Rhoades wanted, the ones the players should be taking in the flow of the offense. The Owls might not win if they make those shots, but the only chance the team has of winning is making those shots. "It wasn't lack of effort," he said about the loss. "I thought our guys did a great job of just being composed and keep[ing] fighting. We didn't shoot the ball well today. We had a lot of open threes. Now [Louisiana Tech's] length and their athleticism had something do with it...We just didn't make enough shots."
The season's about halfway over for the Owls. There have been many nights when not enough shots were made, and there'll be many more nights this season when not enough shots are made. But the Owls aren't rebuilding. They |
match. You guys rock. <3
Aug 2012
In attempt to keep the team managed I posted on Reddit for volunteers who may be interested in helping. But because I figured no one was going spend as much time as Pesh, Solo and I did, I tried to get more people. Sadly, as the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the soup. I ended up with getting perhaps too many people with not enough time to accomplish what they were assigned to do. And with more people to keep track of, it was harder work for the general managers and so… things got delayed time and time again.
Sept 2012
Depression
I reach a horrible point in my depression (it didn't go away after all) and the pressure from feeling like a failure got me super suicidal.
I felt like I'd spent all my life failing and I was making no contributions to society whatsoever. It was so bad I considered quitting photography. And I thought if I quit photography, what else could I be good at? If I couldn't contribute to society in any way, then what was I alive for? Might as well save resources for the planet and be gone.
It felt like nothing I did ever went right in the big picture. I was terrible with relationships, family, friends, boyfriends; I couldn't seem to hold on to anyone.
I tried so hard for air rifle for 6 years. I broke a record at Commonwealth Shooting Championships against an Olympics contender in Melbourne in 2005. Yet I couldn't stay on the team in the end because I wasn't strong enough for the shit that were happening.
I quit school twice. It made for good editorial stories/interviews, but people judged and there were times, not that i felt inadequate for the lack of education, but I felt that really, I was just a loser and quitter who was just looking for the easy way out instead of combating something I couldn't overcome.
I loathed myself.
I tried hard for iS, I really did, I felt like it was my heart and soul and I hoped it was possible to see people I worked hard with reach the top one day as my mum was able to do for me as a shooter, it didn't happen.
Players quit when they got tired, when they met setbacks, when they lost interest, it was out of my control. They didn't grow up with the sort of discipline and dream and training I had and I was wrong to assume we might be motivated and self-driven the same way, or that I could possibly inspire this in others.
I couldn't lead as good leaders could, I tried and I don't know if the only thing that was missing was simply enough money to sign pro players who would be diligent in their own training and professionalism and didn't need the nagging for more practice or to play in qualifiers; or was it perhaps simply bad luck, or a combination, I don't know, I wish I knew/know what I could have done better.
It hurt to see Edge leave, hurt to see CrazymoviNG, Noctis, Time, jEcho, Insur, one by one stop playing.
It's a reminder of how I was failing each and every time, a reminder of how just like CrazymoviNG, I couldn't carry on in air rifle even though I was doing so well. A reminder of my weakness, my inability to overcome obstacles, my cowardice each time I did well at something and I quit, my failures.
The team had a story because of the players. We went through so so much together. It was the first time I experienced something akin to what I'd imagine family is like in my life.
It hurt, it hurt in so many different ways in so many different places. It cut and cut like walking across broken glass.
But in the end, because I am, ironically, an optimist, I decided to give one last shot at seeing a psychiatrist to see if someone could help me before I really, well, killed myself or something.
It helped.
Long story short I suffered traumatic stress from air rifle days amongst a couple other things from the way I grew up. It was obscenely expensive but I figured hey, if that's the price of my sanity, the charity donations after my death can be increased and wait a few years.
I eventually felt better.
But during this whole period of therapy, and before and after, I'd stayed away from SC2 so much that the team was run almost completely by our new managers Anele and Katie alone. They did as much as they could, but with the changes brought forth by WCS and diminished number of LAN tournaments, players lost motivation, morale fell. It was hard to recruit too, what good NA players had were more or less on teams and it was hard negotiating contracts if it came up without me around. Plus I hadn't worked much in a long while, so I wasn't exactly in a spot to spend more money than before on untested players either. It wasn't going anywhere.
We last met up together in Anaheim 2013. It's like coming a full circle, 2011 to now, back at Anaheim.
It was so much fun hanging out with the guys together, seeing everyone, bonding over Korean BBQ. But SC2 was in a small corner now, you could feel the change. What did it was probably the cancellation of SC2 at Columbus. It's out of our control, it was what it was. We had been hovering and breaking apart bit by bit for a long while now…
But now that I'm better, mentally and emotionally, I think maybe, I could see it less as a waste of time and a 2-year detour I took in my life and appreciate it more as a invaluable experience.
I still wish I could've been better, could've been stronger, could've done less wrongs, more rights. But it's what it is, part of my growing up, becoming stronger, becoming better.
To My Team
To all the players, thank you for being with iS. To all the staff, your help and time and support are so so much appreciated.
There were happiness and joy, tears and frustration, and I appreciate each and every one of you, all of you. Thank you for being a part of the family.
People in SC2
I met so many cool and awesome people in SC2, some I can even call friends!
Thank you Chris, Greg and Dario for being my sounding board for so many things. You guys can be pretty cool (haha kidding, you totally are). I'm glad to have met you.
Thank you Sean/Day9 for being my Oprah. I'd have broken down countless times if not for your supportive words and funny anecdotes and solutions to my 10000 dilemmas while I attempted to live through the harshness of New York City.
Victor for your early support in iS, you totally rock. <3
Friends of iS, who checked in pretty often and helped out and cheered us on, I super appreciate that you cared about the team. Thank you. (Shoutout to HwangSin, Sung, ShAKieL, AresEffort, Brad, Jeff, Won Tae, thank you!!)
Thank you Alex Garfield, ESFI and Sean (again!) for having me do some photography in eSports. I am happy we had a chance to work together.
The TL guys for writing about us now and then, nicely.
And EG guys for generally being pretty awesome all round, and the steaks.
Gunrun and Eleine for sorting out all the stream stuff whenever the players needed help. You guys work hard! Thank you.
And of course Nick and Alex for being such great roommates, I'm so sorry you guys are going to have to leave. We should've had more house parties and board game nights but we all worked too much.
Last but not least the iS supporters and fans! You guys are the best. Thank you for tuning in to our streams and cheering us on. Words can't express how awesome it is every time I see or hear about someone sporting an iS jersey in support of the team. Thank you guys for all the love. <3 <3 <3
And that's about it, I think.
My memory's kind of spotty probably due to hitting my head as a kid.
Nevertheless, I wanted to make it as short as possible, and even then I guess it's still a bit longish so umm, if anyone actually read the whole thing, damn, thank you. =D
And and thank you Blizzard for making such an awesome game! Cinematics team, you'll always be my favourite!! :D :D :D
Oh and one last thing I guess, what will happen to iS now: the team will cease and we will return back to a clan of sort, players and staff who want to keep to the tag have been welcomed to, and we'll still hang out and chat like we did. It will always be family.
Yours truly and sincerely,
Jingna
TL;DR: I had a clan, I made it a team. We had a good run but I could keep it together due to numerous reasons. I wish I could've done better. Writing this for catharsis, and to thank everyone, and to have a proper closure of sort. Thank you for reading. :D
PS: Holy crap 3500 words. That's like the longest thing I've ever written. o_o
Infinity Seven:
For a long time I've contemplated writing something like this, but I've thought maybe it's better to let everything go quietly, maybe it's a better idea to not talk about it at all, maybe no one cares, maybe… a lot of things.But it keeps gnawing at me, when I saw Temp0 talk about how he's been on iS for a year, I felt so so terrible. He's been so awesome at repping us this whole time and we've only slowly gone inactive, my cowardice didn't let me put a proper closure on things.So here it is. A little bit of everything, from how and why I started iS, highlights, memories, experiences, my failures, and goodbyes.Fair warning for length and fragmented thoughts but I'll do my best.I'm a little embarrassed to talk about how iS came about in the very beginning, but I need to lay that out in order to explain how I got into SC2 at all, so... Long story short, I picked up the game because of an ex. After we broke up, I stayed in Toronto alone for a few months and was epically depressed for three month. During this time I didn't want to think about work or anything that made me think about my loser life, so I spent all my time on SC2 -- chatting with random people when the chat channels were newly introduced, learning how to play the game, doing team games, etc.Slowly I made some friends, and with some of the guys I hung out with regularly (Adam and Ted!!), we decided to start a clan because we were (I was/am) competitive and it seemed like it would be fun to do clan wars.To give a little background, I was a competitive air rifle shooter for 6 years in Singapore. Both my parents were and are still in sports, I grew up knowing people who'd won medals at the Olympics. To me, maybe it was that upbringing, maybe it's just me being Asian, it's sort of ingrained in me that if I were to do something, anything, I should aspire to be the best.I'm not going to go on a spiel about my time in air rifle or my feelings for it, but Olympics was once my dream, and even if that, painfully, didn't fly, I didn't stop dreaming when I worked on other things.Initially, we stayed casual and sometimes played clan wars vs others. But even then we wanted to try recruit the best people we could at that level. So I posted for tryouts on my Facebook/Twitter etc, friends of the clan spread word about it, and sometimes players grabbed people from ladder.Wolf came along after seeing my FB post and casted for us for a while, we had some people join in the clan chat via his stream.One of the guys was Pesh (Detox), who'd managed some amateur and semi-pro teams in WC3. After talking for some time I asked him join us as a manager.He brought along his ex-teammate owmygroin (our first GM player!), and went on to scout for us for the next two years, before leaving for med school.At that time Pesh was working on a team league called SGL (Starcraft II Gaming League) and roped us into playing in it as well.I wasn't sure we were ready to compete even on an amateur, much less semi-pro level. But everyone starts somewhere right? So we named ourselves Infinity Seven and played in a few amateur/semi-pro team leagues like SGL and ESEA. And god, that was so much fun.For context, I've pretty much never fit in at school past the age of 12. Never really been part of prolonged group activities. In air rifle I was isolated because my mum was my coach, and in school I was asleep half the time because training daily was tiring. So this, spending time with the team in SC2, as much as people I worked with would judge me for, was absolutely precious to me.Our first event with almost the full team was MLG Anaheim, June 2011, with Edge, daisuki, owmygroin and Noctis. jEcho was supposed to be there too but his flight was cancelled and cancelled again, in the end he couldn't make it and that made us all super sad. But that aside, it was my first live event and everything else together chalked it up to an incredible experience.Staff taking care of the players, being on the floor and watching the them play, cheering them on… worrying about matchups and technical issues. Just… it was such an amazing feeling to be part of something that felt like family.At Anaheim I also met up with Kim Rom who was then at SteelSeries and gave us a sponsorship. Kim, thank you for taking a chance with us when we were literally nobody at all.And of course deviantART and ScienceWerk too, who gave us their support. Thank you! <3I also took my Day9 for president photo there! Which, a picture I'm proud of and happy that people like. =DIn September we signed CrazymoviNG and Mentalist. CrazymoviNG was introduced by our friends Sung and ShAKieL, and Mentalist was recommended by the super nice HwangSin. Most of the team's activities still focused on team leagues since pragmatically speaking, we definitely weren't good enough to be winning offline tournaments, besides, I think we all enjoyed the bonding and fun with clan wars.But regardless, we bugged and encouraged the players to play in the online cups and qualifiers and had so much fun watching streams together and cheering them on.Mid-October, Edge made IEM New York which was the first time we made it into a major tournament's main bracket. He didn't make it out of Ro16, but it was still a huge break for us and meant a great deal to me.End October CrazymoviNG and Mentalist attempted to qualify for GSL Code A November. CrazymoviNG made it.I was in LA at that time and I remember staying up through the night to get text updates on the live results from the both of them and jesus, it was terrifying like waiting for my own school admission results.I was so devastated when I read that Mentalist was knocked out by InCa in the final round of his qualifiers. He was the sweetest guy ever and so fucking hardworking, and then losing 2-1 after being being so so close… it was absolutely heartbreaking.Then, word came that CrazymoviNG made it, and I just… that roller-coaster of feelings, oh my god, I don't think words can express what and how I felt. I'd probably liken it to how I'd feel if I got to shoot for Vogue or something. Just. What qualifying for GSL meant to a player… Insane. No words can express the hugeness of it.CrazymoviNG drew HerO who had just been picked up by Liquid for his first round in Code A, probably one of the most formidable opponents he could've had. And for a player who only played a few games a day, watching him practice the hardest ever in those weeks leading up to the match was nothing short of touching.The day came, he started off with a quick and beautifully played win in game 1, HerO remained in the game till his supply was zero. Game 2 had a great opening and he'd pretty much had it, but nerves, probably, and one bad move, it cost the game. He couldn't come back in game 3.It meant so much to him and was so devastated that he couldn't play in his lower bracket finals in NASL S2 Open later that day. To make it worse, though we were told scheduling would be flexible, the organisers wouldn't reschedule -- so he passed up the possibility of a chance to play in the NASL2 finals. Which, I know the GSL loss hurt, but I wished he could have played.I've won and lost myself as a shooter, too. It's hard, really fucking hard. And I wish the language barrier was less, I wish I could have done more, but there was only so much I could convey and so much I could say. I wish he could've stood up from where he fell.After Code A, I sent money for CrazymoviNG to get a new computer so he could stream. Partially in hopes of helping his income eventually if he could build up a regular following, partially in hopes of him playing more and being encouraged if he could feel the support of his fans regularly.I spoke to Victor (Nazgul) about featuring his stream on TL, and the guys were super kind as to approve it. The rules were pretty strict about it back then, top major tournament placements or major teams, we were neither really, and I was and still am super grateful of the chance they gave us.I always considered Edge our first ace player. He'd also been with us the longest at that point. There were a lot of memories, and a pity (as it always is) to see a wonderful player go.CrazymoviNG finished top 20 at MLC Columbus. For the first time I saw one of our players on the main stage (2-0 SaSe) and… pride… feelings. Man, words were not enough to express them.._.We picked up Axslav early March and sadly watched Mentalist depart. With army service looming ahead, Mentalist wanted to have a chance to play more tournaments in Korea (the KSL team league was around then and he could rep ZeNEX), so we let him go.At this point (earlier or later, I can't pinpoint the exact time, it happened gradually), I had finally picked myself up from being super depressed (or so I thought, more on that later). I moved back to Singapore and after not focusing very much on my photography career for a whole year, I decided it was time to start doing something about it again.But timing was an issue. Already, with SC2, it was like working a full-time job with lots of overtime and stress and bad sleep schedule.Adding photography as a focus back into my life demanded even more time and attention, I did it slowly, and I don't think I could've survived the transition without then co-manager Solo (tuxedomask). So thank you Solo! You're awesome.For a while things carried on the same way with Solo doing the bulk of the work in managing, and we continued to go more events and I did my best to try make time for the team.I was glad to have been able to attend WCS USA and NA Finals to see Insur take 3rd and 5th respectively. But with the added time difference of me being back in Singapore once live events were over, it was almost impossible to spend time with and on the team if I wanted to go back to photography.Solo managed the team for quite a while more in my frequent absence before finally having to leave due to family.We came 1st place in ESEA with an undefeated record of 20-0. So fucking proud of everyone, the roster included Axslav, CrazymoviNG, Insur, jEcho, Pyre and Sanddbox, and even Solo played a match. You guys rock. <3In attempt to keep the team managed I posted on Reddit for volunteers who may be interested in helping. But because I figured no one was going spend as much time as Pesh, Solo and I did, I tried to get more people. Sadly, as the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the soup. I ended up with getting perhaps too many people with not enough time to accomplish what they were assigned to do. And with more people to keep track of, it was harder work for the general managers and so… things got delayed time and time again.I reach a horrible point in my depression (it didn't go away after all) and the pressure from feeling like a failure got me super suicidal.I felt like I'd spent all my life failing and I was making no contributions to society whatsoever. It was so bad I considered quitting photography. And I thought if I quit photography, what else could I be good at? If I couldn't contribute to society in any way, then what was I alive for? Might as well save resources for the planet and be gone.It felt like nothing I did ever went right in the big picture. I was terrible with relationships, family, friends, boyfriends; I couldn't seem to hold on to anyone.I tried so hard for air rifle for 6 years. I broke a record at Commonwealth Shooting Championships against an Olympics contender in Melbourne in 2005. Yet I couldn't stay on the team in the end because I wasn't strong enough for the shit that were happening.I quit school twice. It made for good editorial stories/interviews, but people judged and there were times, not that i felt inadequate for the lack of education, but I felt that really, I was just a loser and quitter who was just looking for the easy way out instead of combating something I couldn't overcome.I loathed myself.I tried hard for iS, I really did, I felt like it was my heart and soul and I hoped it was possible to see people I worked hard with reach the top one day as my mum was able to do for me as a shooter, it didn't happen.Players quit when they got tired, when they met setbacks, when they lost interest, it was out of my control. They didn't grow up with the sort of discipline and dream and training I had and I was wrong to assume we might be motivated and self-driven the same way, or that I could possibly inspire this in others.I couldn't lead as good leaders could, I tried and I don't know if the only thing that was missing was simply enough money to sign pro players who would be diligent in their own training and professionalism and didn't need the nagging for more practice or to play in qualifiers; or was it perhaps simply bad luck, or a combination, I don't know, I wish I knew/know what I could have done better.It hurt to see Edge leave, hurt to see CrazymoviNG, Noctis, Time, jEcho, Insur, one by one stop playing.It's a reminder of how I was failing each and every time, a reminder of how just like CrazymoviNG, I couldn't carry on in air rifle even though I was doing so well. A reminder of my weakness, my inability to overcome obstacles, my cowardice each time I did well at something and I quit, my failures.The team had a story because of the players. We went through so so much together. It was the first time I experienced something akin to what I'd imagine family is like in my life.It hurt, it hurt in so many different ways in so many different places. It cut and cut like walking across broken glass.But in the end, because I am, ironically, an optimist, I decided to give one last shot at seeing a psychiatrist to see if someone could help me before I really, well, killed myself or something.It helped.Long story short I suffered traumatic stress from air rifle days amongst a couple other things from the way I grew up. It was obscenely expensive but I figured hey, if that's the price of my sanity, the charity donations after my death can be increased and wait a few years.I eventually felt better.But during this whole period of therapy, and before and after, I'd stayed away from SC2 so much that the team was run almost completely by our new managers Anele and Katie alone. They did as much as they could, but with the changes brought forth by WCS and diminished number of LAN tournaments, players lost motivation, morale fell. It was hard to recruit too, what good NA players had were more or less on teams and it was hard negotiating contracts if it came up without me around. Plus I hadn't worked much in a long while, so I wasn't exactly in a spot to spend more money than before on untested players either. It wasn't going anywhere.We last met up together in Anaheim 2013. It's like coming a full circle, 2011 to now, back at Anaheim.It was so much fun hanging out with the guys together, seeing everyone, bonding over Korean BBQ. But SC2 was in a small corner now, you could feel the change. What did it was probably the cancellation of SC2 at Columbus. It's out of our control, it was what it was. We had been hovering and breaking apart bit by bit for a long while now…But now that I'm better, mentally and emotionally, I think maybe, I could see it less as a waste of time and a 2-year detour I took in my life and appreciate it more as a invaluable experience.I still wish I could've been better, could've been stronger, could've done less wrongs, more rights. But it's what it is, part of my growing up, becoming stronger, becoming better.To all the players, thank you for being with iS. To all the staff, your help and time and support are so so much appreciated.There were happiness and joy, tears and frustration, and I appreciate each and every one of you, all of you. Thank you for being a part of the family.I met so many cool and awesome people in SC2, some I can even call friends!Thank you Chris, Greg and Dario for being my sounding board for so many things. You guys can be pretty cool (haha kidding, you totally are). I'm glad to have met you.Thank you Sean/Day9 for being my Oprah. I'd have broken down countless times if not for your supportive words and funny anecdotes and solutions to my 10000 dilemmas while I attempted to live through the harshness of New York City.Victor for your early support in iS, you totally rock. <3Friends of iS, who checked in pretty often and helped out and cheered us on, I super appreciate that you cared about the team. Thank you. (Shoutout to HwangSin, Sung, ShAKieL, AresEffort, Brad, Jeff, Won Tae, thank you!!)Thank you Alex Garfield, ESFI and Sean (again!) for having me do some photography in eSports. I am happy we had a chance to work together.The TL guys for writing about us now and then, nicely.And EG guys for generally being pretty awesome all round, and the steaks.Gunrun and Eleine for sorting out all the stream stuff whenever the players needed help. You guys work hard! Thank you.And of course Nick and Alex for being such great roommates, I'm so sorry you guys are going to have to leave. We should've had more house parties and board game nights but we all worked too much.Last but not least the iS supporters and fans! You guys are the best. Thank you for tuning in to our streams and cheering us on. Words can't express how awesome it is every time I see or hear about someone sporting an iS jersey in support of the team. Thank you guys for all the love. <3 <3 <3And that's about it, I think.My memory's kind of spotty probably due to hitting my head as a kid.Nevertheless, I wanted to make it as short as possible, and even then I guess it's still a bit longish so umm, if anyone actually read the whole thing, damn, thank you. =DAnd and thank you Blizzard for making such an awesome game! Cinematics team, you'll always be my favourite!! :D :D :DOh and one last thing I guess, what will happen to iS now: the team will cease and we will return back to a clan of sort, players and staff who want to keep to the tag have been welcomed to, and we'll still hang out and chat like we did. It will always be family.Yours truly and sincerely,Jingna: I had a clan, I made it a team. We had a good run but I could keep it together due to numerous reasons. I wish I could've done better. Writing this for catharsis, and to thank everyone, and to have a proper closure of sort. Thank you for reading. :DPS: Holy crap 3500 words. That's like the longest thing I've ever written. o_o Players:
Axslav, BBQplox, Binski, CrazymoviNG, daisuki, Edge, HonoR, Insur, jEcho, KoMA, Maker, Mentalist, Mike, owmygroin, Pyre, Sanddbox, Taurent, Tbeezy, Time, TriMaster, TubbyTheFat
Staff:
Alpesh, Anele, Brad, Boudi, Katie, Marshall, Nic, Thundertoss, Solo, Torte de Lini, Yankun, Zoia, and me!
Sponsors:
deviantART, SteelSeries, GGWP Apparel, ScienceWerk
Thank you everyone.
instagram.com/zemotion | fb.com/zemotion | twitter.com/zemotionWhen Bitreserve's CEO Halsey Minor made a blog post comparing Bitcoin to Netscape, it made a lot of people upset. Why, many thought, would the CEO of a Bitcoin company compare Bitcoin to the long defunct web browser? Does he not believe in Bitcoin? If that is the case, what is he doing in the industry?
Predictably, Bitreserve backed off from the comments and edited the post in an attempt to squash the rising outrage by clarifying what Minor meant. But editing posts can only go so far. There is an invisible line where clarifying becomes changing, and changing things while a public debate is going on can seem dishonest, or even cowardly.
But, they never did feel like the true essence of what Minor was trying to say was properly conveyed. I reached out to Bitreserve in hopes of speaking to Halsey Minor again and getting a chance to better understand what he meant when he compared Bitcoin and Netscape.
Instead, I was offered an interview with the head of their product division, Byrne Reese. He has been with the company for a year and whose resume includes the likes of Livejournal, Typepad and Snap.com. He certainly has the qualifications to speak on Bitreserve's behalf, but I was disappointed that I didn't get to speak to the man that wrote the post himself.
That being said, the conversation with Byrne was illuminating and helped clarify the controversial comparison.
Byrne told me that TCP/IP would have been a more apt comparison than Netscape. The primary intention of the post wasn't that Bitcoin would go away, but that the term “Bitcoin” would fade into the background, like TCP/IP and HTTP and HTML did as the internet grew. Both TCP/IP and Bitcoin are protocols. Everyone who uses the internet uses TCP/IP, but the vast majority of internet users have no idea what that means, and that may have fueled Halsey's decision to use Netscape as an example instead. The average user might not know about the protocols that run the internet, but Netscape was very visible and like bitcoin the currency is now with Bitcoin the protocol, was almost synonymous with the Internet for a time.
That is one of the primary differences between the Netscape comparison and the TCP/IP one. Early adopters of the internet, even those without technical knowledge, remember Netscape. They also remember the impact that a user-friendly browser like Netscape had. That could have something to do with his decision to choose it over TCP/IP. The average internet user doesn't remember TCP/IP, but if cryptocurrencies take over the world, they will remember Bitcoin. The term, in Bitreserve's version of the future, might be used less over time, but people will remember it, just like they remember Netscape.
Like many Bitcoin enthusiasts, Bitreserve sees more in Bitcoin the protocol's future than simply transferring monetary value. They see a future where copyright, DNS ownership and things of that nature are held and transferred on the blockchain.
Bitreserve does believe Bitcoin needs to hold significant monetary value in order to succeed. Byrne said it would be difficult “to assert the opposite” but thinks that applications beyond money need to be brought to the blockchain before we will see more adoption. If the blockchain is the protocol's circulatory system, then Bitcoin is its “blood” he says.
There is, as Byrne aptly points out, a big difference between Bitcoin (capital B) and bitcoin (lowercase b). It is the difference between talking about bitcoin as a currency and Bitcoin as a protocol, and that difference can completely change the meaning of a sentence.
If, in ten years, everyone is sending “dollars” through the “Bitcoin” network and our grandmas don't even know that bitcoin is a currency unto itself as well, does that make Halsey's Netscape comparison more apt? Netscape does live on as Firefox after all, but most users of Firefox don't think about that every time they browse the web. As Byrne argues “Netscape didn't disappear. It evolved.”
If the only people that worry about the price of bitcoin are a few hardcore enthusiasts and speculative investors, but everyone from banks to your grandmother are using it with a few layers of software on top and they use that to do everything from circumvent ACH fees to trade stocks to record website ownership, does the idea that many of them may have never heard of Bitcoin make the change any less significant?
Bitreserve does believe Bitcoin will be the primary cryptocurrency in the foreseeable future. But, Byrne stressed that he feels that smart investors are best served by taking off “the blinders” and not sticking to any sort of “strict dogma.” Meaning, they are open to altcoins in the future if the landscape changes, but they don't expect any of them to become the Internet Explorer to Bitcoin's Netscape anytime soon.
Bitreserve believes Bitcoin's success is tied to adoption, and they believe the best way to do that is to add functions to the blockchain, just like functions were added to the Internet. Back in 1994, very few people imagined YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or everything else that makes the Internet of today more popular and useful than the Internet of yesteryear. Byrne explains:
“[Minor wasn't trying to] make a literal comparison between Netscape and Bitcoin. The allegory he was trying to create was with these early internet products [and bitcoin]. Bitcoin the currency is sort of the first use case and in many respects, the first product of Bitcoin the technology.”
When looking back over the (now edited) post and the comments, it seems the controversy was the result of readers taking a comparison too literally and the author not realizing what kind of knee-jerk reactions would come from invoking the Netscape name. The allegation that Minor doesn't believe in Bitcoin's long-term viability simply wouldn't make sense. Why would he invest time and money into something he is sure is set to fail? It is no secret that Bitreserve is Minor's attempt to rise from the financial ashes. If it fails, he will find it much more difficult to find investors willing to bet on him again.
Of course Bitreserve believes in Bitcoin. To suggest otherwise implies that Minor is intentionally sabotaging himself. It also means that people like Byrne, who have proven very capable in their own right, would be willing to go down with that ship, and for what? The post, despite the unfortunate Netscape comparison, was ultimately meant to be a positive one.
“I think what Halsey was trying to imply, was that these technologies are so fundamental, that like the founding technologies of the internet, they become invisible to the rest of the world, integral but invisible. Not obsolete, but not necessary for people to wrap their heads around.”
That of course, doesn't quite match up with the Netscape comparison. Netscape isn't integral anymore and furthermore, it utilized the integral parts of the internet so that end users wouldn't have to on an individual level. But not everything has to match up perfectly for a comparison to be apt. If you are thinking about bitcoin the currency as a product, then there are lots of parallels between Bitcoin and Netscape. Netscape was a lot of people's first experience with the internet, just as bitcoin the currency is most people's first experience with blockchain technologies today.
Part of the controversy, I believe, has to do with the “gotcha” culture of the internet. There are a few design decisions that make Bitreserve unpopular among some in the community. The primary complaint, the cardinal sin that is unforgivable for a certain segment of the community, is that it is centralized. Never mind that virtually every popular bitcoin service, from exchanges to forums to stores to casinos to lending/investing services are, for the most part, centralized. Never mind that the few decentralized services that do exist, other than the Dark Wallet and Bitcoin itself, are hardly used at all. And never mind that their “reserve ledger” gives them more transparency than most centralized companies – Bitcoin based or not. Bitreserve is centralized and so it must, in those critic's minds, be opposed to decentralization and everything that progresses that. So, when Bitreserve's CEO made a comment connecting Bitcoin to Netscape, it was an easy opportunity to attack the “centralized” Bitreserve.
Does anyone really think that Halsey Minor, the founder of the first non-pornographic internet content company to turn a profit, doesn't know the difference between a protocol and software? Yet there they were, in the comments, gleefully attacking him for not understanding something he clearly does. I suppose it was an opportunity to take a shot at a visible person; of course the internet will have someone ready to oblige.
But expecting every organization to be 100 % decentralized is an absurd standard to hold companies to. Without a doubt, everyone has a right to never put their bitcoins in anything centralized. The safest thing you can do is to depend on no one but yourself. One of great things about Bitcoin is that it allows us to accomplish that with our money for the first time. However, that doesn't mean there isn |
back Marshawn Lynch treated Super Bowl media day like he does opposing defenders, creating brief contact before eluding his pursuers. Lynch shifted into "Least Mode" Tuesday as he ducked out of his mandatory interview session with reporters after 6 minutes and 21 seconds.
The seventh-year power back known for his tackle-breaking "Beast Mode" running style says he'll feel more comfortable in the title game spotlight when his NFC champions face the Denver Broncos on Sunday than he was talking to a throng of reporters who packed the Prudential Center. Asked whether he enjoys media attention, Lynch didn't hesitate.
"Nope, I'm just about action," he said. "You say 'hut,' and there's action. All the unnecessary talk, it don't do nothing for me.
BLEEP: Lynch lets swear slip during interview with Sanders
SKITTLES: RB does land endorsement deal with his favorite candy
COMPLETE COVERAGE: SUPER BOWL XLVIII
"I appreciate that people want to hear from me, but I just go to work and do my thing. You feel me?"
Question is, will the league fine Lynch? The running back was docked $50,000 by the NFL after he failed to speak to the media during the regular season. That fine was held in abeyance pending Lynch living up to his postseason obligations, which he had done during the playoffs.
But since every other Seattle and Denver Broncos player, coach and executive stayed for their entire hour-long media day block, did Lynch, who spent much of the Seahawks' session watching from a tunnel without speaking, actually fulfill his league-mandated requirement?
"Players are required to participate and he participated," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail to USA TODAY Sports. "We will continue to monitor the situation."
That could be an indication that Lynch will be required to stick around for the full Q&A periods the league has scheduled for both teams Wednesday and Thursday or risk a fine.
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Lynch, who did a brief interview with NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders, is apparently a different guy when reporters are not around.
"He's talking — all the time," Seattle running backs coach Sherman Smith told USA TODAY Sports. "Marshawn doesn't dislike the media. He just doesn't like doing this stuff. So it's nothing personal with media — he just doesn't enjoy it.
"I've talked to him about it a couple of times. He just said, 'Sherm, I just don't enjoy it,' particularly if he feels he's being forced to do it."
Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll made light of Lynch's media phobia.
"I thought he did six great minutes from what I heard," Carroll said. "Some comedians make a career on that."
Later, Carroll was more expansive.
"He's got strong feelings about it," Carroll said. "We try to help him as much as we can, so that it fits together.... He's quiet and to himself in public settings, and I think he feels way more comfortable not being involved very much.
"He's much more outgoing and gregarious when he's with the team."
Lynch was asked if he understands that media exposure helps him connect with fans.
"I understand that," he replied. "My fans love me regardless. They love the Seahawks.... They aren't worried about what I've got to say. They just want to make sure I show up to perform."
Later, he added: "I won't be satisfied with this until it's all over. When we win, that's when I'll be satisfied. Until then, I've got work. But I appreciate all this. Y'all have a good day."
All his coaches and teammates seem concerned with is that Lynch's game speaks loudly Sunday night.
***
Follow Jim Corbett on Twitter @ByJimCorbett
PHOTOS: Super Bowl XLVIII media dayI can still remember the exact spot I was sitting when I knew the Book of Mormon was true. I was in a beach chair on my balcony in Corona Del Mar, California waiting to go surfing. I had just recently started a serious investigation of the Church when I first began reading the Book of Mormon. As I began my study…I realized that the most important thing I could do is find out whether or not the Book of Mormon was true. People that oppose the Church hate when someone says, “I know the Book of Mormon is true”…but I don’t know how else to say it. I know the Book of Mormon is true. (Begin jeering at the cliche’) I’m not going to leave it at that though…I’ll tell you how I know it’s true.
This wasn’t something that I figured out over night. For me…I wanted some evidence and it wasn’t enough for someone else to tell me it was true. The existence of the Book of Mormon had to be logical to me. It had to make sense. When I started looking around, it seemed like there were people everywhere saying that the Book of Mormon was a fraud. Since I knew that “validity draws fire”, it made me want to read it more and dig deeper into the topic. I noticed that most of the people that condemned the Book of Mormon the loudest, had never even read the book. They were taking the word of their pastor, or mom, or friend and writing off the book for good. It might be the funniest thing in the world to me when someone tells me with absolute certainty that the Book of Mormon isn’t true after having admitted never actually reading the book themselves.
Is The Book of Mormon A Fraud
Here is the bottom line. If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet. If Joseph Smith was a prophet, then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the same Church that Christ established while He was on the earth. It’s as simple as that. So the question of all questions deals with the truthfulness of Book of Mormon. All of the other things that come up are only worth talking about if the Book of Mormon is true which is why I can’t figure out why so many people spend so much time criticizing all of the other aspects or doctrines of the Church.
If you’re going to attack something…lets get to the core of it and attack the Book of Mormon. Cut off the head and the body will die right? Knock down the keystone and the structure comes tumbling down.
One of my friends and a convert to the Church from in his twenties said something I’ll never forget. In no way did he mean any disrespect to the Book of Mormon when he said it. He was talking about different times in his life when his faith had been challenged and the role that the Book of Mormon played in his life. He said with a smile on his face, “If you were to drop a nuclear bomb on my testimony, the Book of Mormon would be like the little cockroach that climbs its way to the surface from beneath all the rubble.” One cannot deny the existence of that book. It is there for all to read and it survives any and every attack.
If you’re ever having doubts about the restoration or about Joseph Smith, just read the Book of Mormon and ask your self these 11 questions:
Could an uneducated boy come up with 531 pages of ancient scripture on his own that was historically accurate and prophetic in nature? Would it be possible for that boy to understand and include ancient Hebrew literary writing styles such as idioms and Chiasmus, some of which weren’t even discovered until long after Joseph Smith was gone? How would Joseph Smith have been able to know so much about the Middle East, especially the Arabian Peninsula where Lehi and his family traveled? The book includes findings in that region that no one had discovered yet. How could Joseph Smith come up with roughly 200 new names in the Book of Mormon and then have them turn out to be Semitic in nature? If you think Joseph Smith couldn’t have written this book, then where did it come from? If one says the devil put him up to it…then why would Satan want to publish another testament of Jesus Christ and a book that does nothing but promote righteousness. Jesus said that a house divided against itself would fall. Who were the “other sheep” that would hear Jesus’s voice in John 10:16? Why are there volumes of books written by non-LDS authors stating that Christ came and visited the America’s a couple thousand years ago just like it says in 3rd Nephi? (See Example “He Walked The America’s”) How would Joseph Smith have known this when at the time no one even considered it? If we have the stick of Judah (record of the Jews or the Bible), then where is the stick of Joseph that is referenced in Ezekiel 37:15-20? The Book of Mormon is the only explanation for this scripture. Lehi was a descendant of Joseph. Think Joseph Smith could have gotten that right by sheer chance? How could there be so many witnesses of the Book of Mormon and the plates and not one of them deny their testimony even when some of them became bitter toward Joseph Smith? With so many people involved…a hoax of this magnitude could never go uncovered. How could the Book of Mormon never contradict itself while being an extremely complex book? After all these years…someone would have found something…but no.
And the most important question to ask yourself is “How do I feel while I read the Book of Mormon?”
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t trust your feelings. We are spiritual beings, and if we can’t trust our feelings, then what do we have? Over and over again in the Old and New Testament we’re told that we can trust that “still small voice” to guide us in our decisions. (1 Kings 19:12) I can write evidence after evidence to back up the Book of Mormon but each of those evidences I found were only secondary to the whispering of the Spirit I felt that day before I began waxing up my surf board.
If you’ve never read the book, then read it. If it’s what it purports to be…then it might just be the most important book you ever read. In my mind, it would be more of a stretch to believe that Joseph Smith could pull this thing off without divine help than to believe that God preserved a record to come forth in the last days. In fact, it would just be flat out impossible because of the many things he got right that had never even been discovered. You just don’t pull that off without assistance form above.
There is no doubt those plates existed. Too many people felt them with their own hands and saw them with their own eyes. Even the people that were trying to steal them from Joseph knew that he had something special. They existed, and now you can hold it in your hand and find out for yourself if its true.
I want my witness to be that of Elder Holland’s. “I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world … that the Book of Mormon is true.” (Safety for the Soul)A new, 10-unit row house complex that passed with community support at public hearing Monday has one councillor hoping Edmonton has turned a corner on the infill debate.
“I truly believe three years ago we wouldn’t have even had a conversation to begin with,” said Coun. Andrew Knack, who watched neighbours in West Jasper Place negotiate with the developer and win several concessions before giving their support. “The community didn’t come to the table and say, ‘No, we don’t want this at all.’”
The row houses by Caliber Master Builder will replace three single-family homes on 153 Street, just north of 95 Avenue. Five two-storey, three-bedroom units will face the street. The avenue will have one storey of small shops and a café with five more units of row housing on top.
Even small increases in density in Edmonton’s mature neighbourhoods have met with stiff opposition across the city, often over parking concerns.
“There will be parking issues, I’m sure, but we won’t be the only ones in Edmonton with those issues,” said Nathan Van Driel, the project’s next-door neighbour, who took time off work to show support for the builder. After negotiation, Caliber agreed to vary the roof lines and stagger the fronts of each unit on the street to give the project more “personality,” Van Driel said. It also upgraded the finishing from vinyl siding to stucco, stone, brick and wrought iron.
“They worked with our desire for a really nice esthetic for the neighbourhood instead of just a flat, boxy apartment complex, which probably would have been my worst-case scenario.”
Residents of West Jasper Place have been vocal opponents of many infill projects, worried about increased density in a neighbourhood with lower than average hectares of park space. Plans for the west LRT line prompted city officials to recommend a full area redevelopment plan, a city initiative that let residents work with city planners to agree on where higher density should go. Knack said he watched that process change attitudes. In the end, the community supported higher density on this particular block because it’s close to Sherwood School.
“They recognized there were some opportunities to bring in a variety of different housing options. It’s really encouraging to see this,” Knack said.
Ilia Kogan, general manager for Caliber, said he will write condo bylaws to prevent payday loan-type stores or adult stores from going into the commercial bays. That should address the neighbourhood’s remaining concerns. Instead, Kogan said he’s hoping attract after-school care or tutoring to support families attending the school.
estolte@postmedia.com
twitter.com/estolteJim Foster, left, Republican candidate for Bethlehem supervisor, shakes hands with John Clarkson, who was reelected supervisor following a count of absentee ballots at the Albany County Board of Elections on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, in Albany, N.Y. Clarkson has announced he won't run for reelection in fall 2017, and Foster continues to criticize the Democratic administration. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less Jim Foster, left, Republican candidate for Bethlehem supervisor, shakes hands with John Clarkson, who was reelected supervisor following a count of absentee ballots at the Albany County Board of Elections on... more Buy photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Bethlehem politics heated ahead of fall elections 1 / 3 Back to Gallery
Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified a former Republican candidate for Bethlehem Town Supervisor. His name is Jim Foster.
Bethlehem
Debate and confusion over a town plan to collect data on all residential properties is likely a preview for what will be a contentious campaign for supervisor and town board seats come November.
After a story ran in the local Spotlight newspaper on March 29 that said there was a discussion at a Town Board meeting about appraisers entering people's homes and taking photographs, a former GOP candidate for town supervisor and the administrators of a conservative Bethlehem Facebook page ripped into the town's plan, calling it a veiled reassessment of people's property.
The Spotlight then printed another story in which Bethlehem Assessor Laurie Lambertsen said she gave the wrong impression at the March 22 Town Board meeting, and that appraisers will knock on doors to speak to residents — but will not request to go inside their homes.
Town officials have said a more accurate inventory of residences is needed because one hasn't been done in 25 years and it will be necessary when revaluation is mandated by the state in the coming years.
A Facebook page called Bethlehem Resident News, a site that has supported town GOP candidates in the past, put up a March 30 post titled "Hold on To Your Wallets!," and said the town wants to document residents' new furnishings, carpeting and other home improvements to raise assessments.
Former GOP Supervisor candidate Jim Foster, who lost the election in 2015 by only a handful of votes to incumbent Democrat John Clarkson, posted the same day expressing similar sentiments. Foster said on Facebook that appraisers will seek "entry into your bedrooms, basements, studies, and other private spaces for the purpose of taking photographs and recording other information."
This unleashed a social media response from Town Board member Democrat David VanLuven, who is one of the presumed Democratic successors to Clarkson, who announced this past week he is not seeking re-election after serving the last six years.
"Fear mongering is one of the things that I most hate in politics. It makes people afraid, it leads to bad decisions, and it can tear apart communities," wrote VanLuven on the page called "Friends for David VanLuven." He said the data collection is an inventory, not a reassessment and that "... mistakes are being used to sow fear and dissent." VanLuven couldn't be reached Sunday for further comment.
The Bethlehem Resident News page, which has more than 1,200 followers, has existed for at least the last four years. The page has served as a critical soapbox against town Democrats and provided support for a campaign led by the Bethlehem police union to unseat Clarkson in 2015.
As of late the page has been called out by readers as being purposely incendiary. For example, the new paved rail trail in Bethlehem was called the "Ho Chi Min Trail" and the town's move to declare itself a sanctuary community was described as a step toward letting a criminal element into Bethlehem.
"For those who think that this blog is one that broadcasts negative news about our town, you don't have to look at it, you don't have to read it," the page administrators said last Thursday. The administrators of the page keep themselves anonymous.
Foster would not say Sunday if he is running again for supervisor, only that he wants to remain engaged in the community. He did, however, say he is not affiliated with the Bethlehem Resident News page and "I would agree that it goes a bit too far at times."
"The biggest thing for me, I want to make sure we're informing the public," Foster said.
The Town Board is scheduled to discuss the property inventory matter further at a meeting Wednesday.
lstanforth@timesunion.com • 518-454-5697A bill that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in Maryland passed the state Senate Tuesday by a nearly two-to-one margin. The vote was 30-16.
Sponsored by Sens. Bobbi Zirken (D-Baltimore County) and Allan Kittleman (R-Carroll County), Senate Bill 297, would make possession of 10 grams (about a third of an ounce) or less a civil offense punishable by no more than a $100 fine. Under current state law, possession of 10 grams or less is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.A state legislative fiscal and policy analysis of the bill estimated that it would result in small losses in fine revenues, small savings from decreases in the number of jail days, and would significantly reduce caseloads in the Office of the Public Defender.The bill now proceeds to the House, where it has been assigned to the Judiciary Committee. If it successfully passes out of committee, it would have to get a House floor vote, and pass it, before being sent to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).Telepathy – Won’t It Be Great When We Get That?
Wow I can’t wait! How about you?
Well let me tell you this secret.
Everyone has it. It’s the way you communicate when you aren’t attached to a physical body. You couldn’t loose it if you wanted to. But why can’t I communicate with others? You can but they don’t believe you can so they can’t. Start experimenting with this. You may want to start with your pets.
Society would have you push it off as being your imagination. It’s not your imagination although that is part of what you write off as imagination. You don’t have to learn it. You use it every night that you sleep. Whether you remember your dreams or not, your spirit does carry on while your body sleeps. Dreams that you remember are ones that were fun for you or there is a lesson embedded in it for you. Those times you don’t remember are times it was deemed best by your HigherSelf not to remember. Likely you were off doing some mission, project, meeting or being a spiritual guide for someone or even yourself.
Don’t just limit your telepathic communication to people or animals. This is a big reality and consciousness is everywhere.
One last thing, it doesn’t happen through your brain. Remember, it’s the way your spirit communicates so you brain isn’t the interface that enables telepathy.
So let that sink in and please don’t try to reason this with your brain. That poor thing is so overworked in this amazing world of transition. Stay safe and don’t follow any more than one rabbit a week down any of their rabbit holes.
Advertisements"The brief we got [to create the Batmobile Tumbler] was for a vehicle that could do 60mph; we thought we'd give them a little bit more than that so we boosted it to 100mph, as we obviously wanted it to do some amazing things."
There's very little that doesn't sound incredible when talking to John Holmes, senior special effects technician on the team involved in creating the most recent iteration of the Batmobile. The Tumbler is one of the most iconic designs in cinematic history – no mean feat when it was replacing the original 'kitsch' Batmobile.
But what you don't know is that while you were seeing the Tumbler being thrown around Gotham City on the big screen, it was actually designed, built and mostly used in Britain, thanks to the 20-strong team working on the project.
It was conceived by Nathan Crowley and his team originally, but the difficulty in the project came from taking the Styrofoam model from a concept to actual reality – and required a lot of ingenuity when it came to the actual mechanics of making the Batmobile, according to Holmes:
"It's actually a bespoke vehicle, there's nothing on this that's already been seen [on another car] – people say 'oh, it's based on a Hummer, it's based on a Mercedes', but no, it's all bespoke. It is a Batmobile, there's no other made vehicle part on it."
That's true of most of the unit – although the tyres were off-the-shelf to a degree… if you can call super swamp tyres on the rear and racing boots on the front such a thing.
Even these were customised, with Holmes telling us that the team had to shave down the tyres to make sure the handling of the Tumbler was exact.
In terms of raw grunt, it's no surprise that the engine was a 5.7-litre Chevrolet unit, 350 cubic inches pumping out 400bhp to allow the Batmobile to roar around. Although there wasn't just the one car – there were multiple versions to allow for various scene set-ups.
That's not to say that each didn't drive, but each had a purpose. For instance, the interior of the 'race ready' Tumblers was just a steel frame with very little visibility; for filming a static, more luxurious interior was created to allow for cameras.
In fact, there were a number of versions that came together to create the cinematic effect of the new Batmobile. A smaller, 20 per cent size Tumbler was used to accurately film the flying scenes, but the jumps and speeds were all possible with the full-size version.
As Holmes tells us, the request was for "a car that could jump off a six foot ramp, travel 60 feet, land and drive off without cutting; [Director Christopher] Nolan didn't want another car needed, he wanted to use the one that does the jump."
The jet-engined version of the Tumbler was also real: multiple propane tanks were bolted into the vehicle to give the real jet effect, rather than adding it in post-processing.
Making the insane real
But how hard was it to take the Batmobile concept through to reality?
"[The Tumbler] has a very odd suspension," admitted Holmes. "It's a tubular space frame chassis, with a 15mm section, with the front suspension being the trickiest part.
"The wheels actually go inward, where normally they would go outwards; in the same way the stub axles, instead of going outwards, they go inwards.
"That was a little bit tricky to create, so we had to make it all very beefy. If you think that the anti-roll bar on your car is very thin, the one on [the Tumbler] is like a girder."There is no home-course advantage for Donald Trump in this election.
A look at where the GOP’s courses are presents a sobering and very real scenario for the golf enthusiast: Trump may not win a single state where he has a golf course.
Trump has proudly put his name on eighteen different golf properties around the world, twelve of which are in the United States and can be found mainly along the East Coast, along one course located in southern California.
Clinton leads in key battleground states at Labor Day mark
Trump’s twelve courses can be found in six states - New York (3), New Jersey (3), Virginia (1), North Carolina (1), Florida (3) and California (1) - all of which the Republican nominee currently trails Hillary Clinton in the polls.
Several states like New York, New Jersey and California are not even in play this cycle and haven’t been for the Republican Party for a long time. In New York, for example, the latest reliable polling was done at the end of May where Clinton had a lead between fifteen and twenty-six points over Trump, depending on the survey.
As for California and New Jersey, there is no recent general election polling, likely because it would be a waste of money.
As it stands, with less than 70 days left in the campaign, Trump is relatively more competitive in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, all states that are considered battlegrounds and critical for Trump to win.
The latest CBS News Battleground Tracker in North Carolina shows a tight race with Clinton holding a slight lead over Trump 46 percent to 42 percent - still within the margin of error.
A deeper look at precisely where Trump’s clubs are in these states draws an even greater contrast between the voters who live close to his properties and Trump’s politics.
CBS News
All of these properties are situated near large cities - New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Charlotte, Miami and Los Angeles - and are in counties that voted overwhelmingly for President Obama over Mitt Romney in 2012. Looking back even further, most these areas have a long history of supporting Democratic candidates in presidential elections.
Three of Trump’s courses are in Bronx County, NY, Los Angeles County, CA, and Miami-Dade County, FL -- all extremely heavily Democratic areas where Obama won by 83 percent, 42 percent and 24 percent in 2012, respectively.
CBS News poll shows Trump trailing Clinton in key states
Several other locations -- like Somerset County in New Jersey and Loudoun County in Virginia -- were closer in 2012 but still favored Obama, while two counties, Iredell in North Carolina outside Charlotte and Monmouth just south of New York City, favored Romney.
Rick Wilson, GOP Strategist and frequent critic of Trump, put it this way: “Even in places where Trump has properties, he’s in the political rough”.
Many presidents have enjoyed playing golf. President Obama, for example, has played over 300 rounds during his eight years in office -- and his detractors do not let him forget it. Trump, meanwhile, has the potential to be the first president who would actually own the courses that he could play on.
In June, Trump traveled to Scotland to celebrate the reopening of his course at Turnberry. With the press following him around the course in carts he talked about the similarities between fixing golf courses and fixing the country.
Trump was also asked about his neighbors who live around his various courses. At Turnberry, some had put up Mexican flags before Trump arrived, and back at several of his courses in the U.S. Trump has had well documented legal fights due to construction and zoning.
“I have most neighbors – just so you understand – most neighbors love us. I have one or two that are a little contentious which is fine because they lost. It’s like some of the people I beat in the primaries. They’re not exactly in love with me. Well, I have one or two neighbors that we beat, and they’re not exactly in love with me. that’s okay. But most of the neighbors really like me,” Trump told reporters.
Asked for comment on this specific story about Trump’s courses in the U.S., spokesperson Hope Hicks told CBS News, “Mr. Trump owns and operates some of the most beautiful and iconic properties in the world. He is incredibly proud of the developments all over the country and grateful for the tremendous support he has received.”For most people, the ramen habit starts with cheap instant noodles in a dorm room and grows steadily into an appreciation of the good stuff--warm bowls of rich, porky broth; fresh, slippery noodles; perfectly soft-boiled eggs. Soon, ramen becomes not a meal but an addiction, a source of spirited debates and of pride--you can't be a real food lover unless you have strong opinions on ramen, right? Right.
Unless you're gluten free.
The soy sauce in ramen broth--not to mention the wheat in the noodles--has long prevented GF folks from hopping on the ramen train. But today, we give them their ticket. Here's a three-step guide to making gluten-free ramen that's just as addictive as the original.
Step 1: Select your noodle alternative
There are several gluten-free noodles out there, most of which can be found in Asian supermarkets, health food stores, or nicer grocery chains. Rice noodles or brown rice noodles are a good option, and they come in various thicknesses and widths. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat, so they also are usually gluten-free (check the label, though--some soba brands mix buckwheat with regular flour). Bean threads, also called glass or cellophane noodles, are made from GF mung bean starch, and tapioca noodles, made from tapicoa starch, are especially great for soups because they are chewy. For a crunchy option, use a vegetable peeler or spiralizer to turn zucchini into zucchini noodles.
Step 2: Construct your broth (without soy sauce)
A traditional ramen broth takes days to prepare and relies heavily on soy sauce to achieve its signature flavor. But for GF folks (and/or anybody who wants to make ramen quickly), there are some excellent shortcuts. You can doctor up a good store-bought chicken broth with instant dashi (available at Asian supermarkets), gluten-free soy sauce and/or tamari, which contains little to no wheat. For miso ramen, bring your stock to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in a tablespoon or two of miso paste. Add a tablespoon of GF chili paste, too, if you like things spicy.
Step 3: Garnish like a pro
Toppings and garnishes are arguably the best part of ramen, and the usual suspects are all gluten-free. So go crazy with the traditional sliced pork, thinly sliced scallions, drizzles of chili oil, soft-boiled eggs, bamboo shoots, and crumbled nori sheets. This is the stuff that'll make your GF ramen as addictive as the rest.Two-in-one: The dazzling Pac-Man Nebula powered by an open cluster of stars
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This incredible cosmic image shows a nebula with an open cluster of stars inside it.
Described by Nasa as 'a busy workshop of star formation', NGC 281 is better known as the Pac-Man Nebula due to its distinctive shape.
It is powered by IC 1590, the open star cluster at its very centre.
Pac-Man Nebula: Described by Nasa as 'a busy workshop of star formation', NGC 281 is powered by an open cluster of stars at its centre
These young stars, which generate the nebula's glow, have only formed in the last few million years.
The red shapes in this composite image are sculpted columns and dense dust globules seen in silhouette and eroded by strong, energetic winds and radiation from the hot cluster stars.
The brightest member of IC 1590 is actually a multiple-star system shining light that helps ionise the nebula's gas, causing the red glow visible throughout.It's Thursday: broadcast tonight!
VanCaspel
I hope you’re all looking forward to tonight’s broadcast! At 20:00h MythOdin & Weiman will entertain and amaze us with brilliant games from the Individual League, make sure to tune in. The brackets will be updated after the broadcast to reflect the latest results, so keep an eye out if you’re wondering how your favorite players are holding up :). Also: don’t forget to buy a seat reservation for the finals! Access to the event is free, but there’s a limited amount of seats in the main auditorium. So if you want to make sure you’ll have a seat during the grand finals reserve one now! It’s only €5 and in getting it you’ll not only help yourself but also the Dutch StarCraft League. Do it for e-sports! Inviting your friends to the event on Facebook also really helps – together we can fill that room!Lara (née Lara Lor-Van) is a fictional character who appears in Superman comics published by DC Comics. Lara is the biological mother of Superman, and the wife of scientist Jor-El. Lara Lor-Van is Lara's full maiden name, as "Lor-Van" is the name of Lara's father.[1][2] Most depictions of Kryptonian culture show that Kryptonian women use their father's full name as their last names before marriage. After marriage, they usually are known simply by their first names, though various versions show they use their husband's full name or last name as their married last name.[3][4]
Lara's role in the Superman mythos has varied over the years, with her treatment and emphasis often depending on the decade she was written in. Golden Age and early Silver Age stories treated Lara in a lesser role compared to her husband. However, stories from the 1970s onwards depict Lara in more prominent roles; one such example is the 2004 miniseries Superman: Birthright.
After constructing his Fortress of Solitude, Superman honored his deceased biological parents with a statue of Jor-El and Lara holding up a globe of their native planet Krypton.[5]
Publication history [ edit ]
Lara first appeared in the Superman comic strip and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Fictional character biography [ edit ]
Golden and Silver Age versions [ edit ]
Lara first appeared in the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939, where she was first named "Lora." Her first comic book appearance (after being mentioned in the 1942 text novel The Adventures of Superman by George Lowther, where she was named "Lara" for the first time) was in More Fun Comics #101 in January–February 1945. A 1948 retelling of Superman's origin story[6] subsequently delved into detail about Lara, though her more familiar Silver Age aspects became more firmly established starting in the late 1950s and over the course of the next several decades.
After the establishment of DC's multiverse in the early 1960s, the Golden Age version of Superman's mother was stated as having been named "Lora", and lived on the Krypton of the Earth-Two universe.[7][8] The Silver Age Lara, meanwhile, lived on the Krypton of the Earth-One universe.
A definitive synopsis of the Silver Age Lara's life (summarizing the various stories revealing her history) came in the 1979 miniseries The World of Krypton (not to be confused with the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths late 1980s comic special of the same name).
As summarized in The World of Krypton (and in various other stories), Lara was a promising astronaut in Krypton's space program.[1] However, Krypton's space program was soon permanently grounded after Jax-Ur blew up one of Krypton's inhabited moons.[9] Eventually, Lara met scientist Jor-El, with the two having several adventures together before getting married,[3] such as a time-traveling Lois Lane attempting to seduce Jor-El after failing to marry their son in the future.[10] Some time later, Lara gave birth to the couple's only child, Kal-El.
Early in Jor-El and Lara's marriage, the couple are briefly watched by the Guardians of the Universe, who note that Lara (or her husband) would have made an excellent Green Lantern.[11]
Lara and her husband Jor-El were shown to be practitioners of the Kryptonian martial art of "klurkor".[12]
When Krypton was about to explode, Lara and Jor-El placed their infant son into an escape rocket built by Jor-El. In most retellings, Jor-El wanted Lara to accompany their son to Earth, but Lara refused, saying their son would have a better chance of reaching Earth without her extra weight.[13] Kal-El's spaceship then took off, leaving Lara and Jor-El to perish.
Modern Age versions [ edit ]
After the 1985-1986 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths and John Byrne's 1986 miniseries The Man of Steel rewrote Superman's origins, details about Lara's background and character were changed. Under Byrne's version, Lara inhabited a cold, emotionally sterile Krypton where even bodily contact was forbidden. Lara's grandmother, Lady Nara, and Seyg-El, Jor-El's father, were the ones who arranged the union between them – so that they might have a child who would fill an opening in the planet's Register of Citizens when another Kryptonian died a rare and untimely death. Jor-El, however, was considered a "throwback" for actually expressing emotions toward his wife Lara, and for his favoring the less sterilized days of past Kryptonian eras. In this version of the mythos, Lara was a librarian and historian of high rank and thought it horrifying that Kal-El would be sent to a "primitive" planet such as Earth. In one story, the adult Kal (now Superman) is transported to the past and encounters his parents moments before Krypton's destruction. Lara is disgusted by what she sees and tells Kal not to approach her, finding him "repellent", even as she is ashamed of her feelings.
In the 2004 Superman miniseries Superman: Birthright, Lara, along with Krypton and Jor-El, more or less again became their Silver Age versions, though with updated touches. In this version, Lara is treated as a fully equal partner to Jor-El in constructing Kal-El's spacecraft and in designing various key components.
In the 2009 series Superman: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns, Superman is first introduced to his birth mother in his teens by the spaceship that brought him to the Earth as a baby. She is introduced to Kal-El by a hologram of Jor-El as his mother. This moment shocks Superman and brings tears to Martha Kent's eyes.
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, slammed into a tree, and burst into flames.
Watch video below:
With reporting by David Edwards
[Note: Updated with Rolling Stone’s statement and video]A group of activists from Greenpeace on Thursday scaled the Shard, the tapered 310m glass tower next to London Bridge station, as a protest against oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.
In an action that was perhaps inevitable at some point after the completion last year of western Europe's tallest building, visible across much of central London, the six climbers began their ascent in the early hours of the morning. The activists reached the top of the building at around 7.10pm.
The Twitter feed for Greenpeace UK carried a photograph of the activists, all women, in their climbing gear before they began the protest, naming them as Wiola Smul (23) from Poland, Ali Garrigan (27) from the UK, Sabine Huyghe (33) from Belgium, Sandra Lamborn (29) from Sweden, Victoria Henry (32) from Canada and Liesbeth Deddens (31) from the Netherlands. Police said all six had been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.
The organisaton also carried a blog post from one of the climbers, Henry, explaining her motivation: "I'm training [the post was written before the climb] for something that I hope will help stop one of the most heartbreaking acts of wanton environmental destruction – drilling for oil in the Arctic. I'm over the moon that I can play any part in the mass resistance to this horrifying practice," she wrote.
Another tweet read: "Look up London. We're attempting to scale the Shard, Europe's tallest skyscraper."
Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) BREAKING: Look up London. We’re attempting to scale the Shard, Europe's tallest skyscraper. More soon on #iceclimb pic.twitter.com/WCzFlIPd6t
A picture with that tweet appeared to show the group using ladders to gain access to the bottom of the 72-storey office and residential block from the roof of London Bridge station. A live webcam was following their progress up the tower.
In a later statement, Greenpeace said the Shard was chosen because it was in sight of the three London bases of the energy giant Shell, which is involved in offshore drilling in the Arctic. When the climbers reached the top of the building they aimed to "hang a huge work of art that captures the beauty of the Arctic", it added.
Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) Ali (blue helmet) hangs on while Sandra (black helmet) does... what is she doing? #iceclimb pic.twitter.com/ckY0ojwfU9
The statement continued: "Shell is leading the oil companies' drive into the Arctic, investing billions in its Alaskan and Russian drilling programmes. A worldwide movement of millions has sprung up to stop them, but Shell is refusing to abandon its plans."
Shell released a statement that said it respected the right of Greenpeace to engage in an "exchange of views" about their operations. It said oil and gas production in the Arctic was not new.
"If responsibly developed, Arctic energy resources can help offset supply constraints and maintain energy security for consumers throughout the world," said Shell. "We work extensively with global Arctic stakeholders to research and develop standards and best practice on biodiversity, ecology, marine sound, oil spill prevention and response, safety and health."
A Metropolitan police spokesman said: "We were called at 4.20am today to a group of protesters attempting to climb up the Shard. We are in attendance and monitoring the situation along with British transport police."
Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) Sabine & @victohenry clinging on as they attempt #iceclimb << pls keep your support coming. pic.twitter.com/m9R1asDKD1
A spokesman for the building, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, said: "The Shard is being used by protesters as part of a campaign. Our primary focus is on the safety of the protesters and the workers and visitors to the building. We are working with the relevant authorities to try to ensure the safety of those concerned."
Greenpeace said the climbers used a combination of traditional mountain climbing techniques, rope access techniques used by commercial building climbers and some free climbing. The building has an external metal frame providing handholds and crossbeams all the way to the top.
Each stage of the climb would require the lead climber to free-climb a section of the building. Once they reached a secure position, they would fix a rope to the external skeleton of the building and the rest of the group would follow using the rope. All the climbers were wearing harnesses, meaning they would not fall more than six metres if they slipped.
The British Mountaineering Council training officer Jon Garside said there was a "rich history of people climbing buildings both for recreation and for protests". He said the climbers appeared to have standard kit used by workers on tall buildings around the world and that what they were doing, while inherently risky, was fairly common practice. "Any Londoner will see all the time access workers abseiling down large buildings like the Shard to clean the windows," he said.The reason you don’t piss into the wind is because the piss would immediately gust back onto your body. But what if the wind you were pissing into wouldn’t gust back all at once? What if instead the piss came back at you slowly, little particles of your own urine hitting you day after day? If such a wind existed it wouldn’t be until many years later when you were just walking around, a much older person, perhaps in a retirement village, when it would suddenly occur to you. You’ve got piss all over yourself. Would you piss into the wind then?
Watching this last two weeks of the Australian parliament generated the time and bitterness necessary for me to craft the above metaphor. It’s about our current approach to climate change. If you don’t like it: good. I hope it makes you as angry as parliament is frustrating.
I’ve also got a simile for you (it’s been a long fortnight.) Watching the back and forth in the Australian parliament these past weeks has been like watching blindfolded children box each other in molasses. There’s a lot of confusion, some temper tantrums, and it leaves you wondering—why is this happening and where are the adults? Isn’t anyone going to put a stop to this shit?
After weeks of death rattles the climate tax is actually dead. Australia has the questionable honour of being the first country to abolish a carbon pricing system. If you trust the majority of scientists it’s cause for dismay because there’s no way in hell we should be scaling back any legislation designed to mitigate the worst outcomes of climate change.
The argument most often put forward for why the repeal was appropriate was the mandate Abbott won in the last election (it was even put forward by US president Barack Obama). It was the will of the Australian people, we were told.
But is it so clear-cut? We have a bicameral parliamentary system; a clear democratic mandate would’ve presented itself as an overwhelming victory for the Coalition in both the senate and the house of reps. How many seats did the Coalition win in the Senate? None, it lost one.
What’s happened to delay the abolition of the carbon tax? The minor parties, who are the only parties to have won senate seats in the last election, waylaid the legislative agenda of the government. That would appear to be a clear demonstration of the will of the people - an expression of their dissatisfaction with Australian politics.
If you haven’t been following the news (I really, really don’t blame you if you haven’t) this lack of a majority in the senate has required the Coalition to negotiate with the minor parties and, due to ideological similarities and their numbers in the senate, the Palmer United Party has been the chief negotiating partner.
Clive Palmer is quite the man to negotiate with. The primary reason his party delayed passing the carbon tax repeal bill was a concern that the savings made would not be passed onto consumers. It’s questionable whether his amendments achieved that goal but the manner in which he operated seems to suggest that he is a manifestation of both the Australian public’s dissatisfaction with major party politics, and Australian political disarray.
He’s gone back and forth on whether he believes in man-made climate change. He’s accused the Coalition of “pulling a swifty” on him, proposed last-minute amendments that were unconstitutional, and when he was told that by a senate clerk he bullied her.
His party’s own climate plan, an Emissions Trading scheme that lies dormant and only begins operating once the Climate Change Authority deems major emitting nations around the world have similar programs in place, was already rickety. But recent changes have turned it from a vote about a dormant scheme into a dormant vote about a dormant scheme. It’s an ETS that would have to be passed twice. Once now and again when the Climate Change Authority makes it call on our biggest trading partners.
Not to mention his ETS, which requires the existence of the Climate Change Authority, is a proposed amendment to the Climate Change Authority repeal bill. That bill’s title is not misleading, it was originally designed to eliminate the Authority. How’s that for disarray?
Anyway enough about the parliamentary headaches. Was the carbon tax effective? Did it cut emissions? Yes, it looks like it. It also appears it might’ve been more effective if the power companies had believed it would be permanent. Will the Coalition’s direct action plan, assuming they can get it through the unruly senate, be just as effective? Not according to economist Ross Garnaut, who has said of plans that don’t put a price on carbon, “(they) are more expensive, more difficult, and less certain to deliver good results.”
Climate change is an odd thing for us to wrap our heads around; the ultimate repercussions of our actions may not be felt in our lifetimes. Perhaps you believe mainstream science is wrong, or is overstating the facts. But even if you do, taking into account the consequences of getting this wrong, abolishing carbon pricing and replacing it with carbon-reduction incentives seems like a flimsy gambit.
Australia is taking that punters path; we’re going to piss into the strange wind. Hopefully it won’t hit our kids in the face.
Follow Girard on Twitter: @GirardDorneyIncense smoke wafts through the cold air of the centuries-old Buddhist temple as a priest chants a sutra, praying for the peaceful transition of the souls of the departed.
Some Japanese owners of robot dog AIBO believe their 'pet' have souls
It is a funeral like any other in Japan. Except that those being honoured are robot dogs, lined up on the altar, each wearing a tag to show where they came from and which family they belonged to.
The devices are 'AIBOs', the world's first home-use entertainment robot equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and capable of developing its own personality.
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Hideko Mori (L) and her sister Yasuko watch their robot pet AIBO playing at Hideko's home in Tokyo ©Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP)
Google's Boston Dynamics released a video designed to show off a smaller, lighter version of its robotic dog, dubbed Spot. During the footage, employees are seen kicking Spot to prove how stable the machine is on its feet, but this has been dubbed 'cruel', 'wrong' and has raised concerns about ethics
Is it cruel to kick a robot dog? This video raises Qs about the future of robotics & ethics: http://t.co/4M07mPJmio pic.twitter.com/9GIaChUtef — CNN (@CNN) February 13, 2015
Spot the dog has kickstarted a legit ethical debate over robot rights. http://t.co/3vqvHiRHSN pic.twitter.com/8DMv2fkcKK — ѕтєνє (@Steve_Law) February 16, 2015
'I believe owners feel they have souls as long as they are with them,' said Nobuyuki Narimatsu, 59, who heads an electronics repair company specialising in fixing vintage products.
Sony rolled out the first-generation AIBO in June 1999, with the initial batch of 3,000 selling out in just 20 minutes, despite the hefty 250,000 yen (more than $2,000) price tag.
Over the following years, more than 150,000 units were sold, in numerous iterations, ranging from gleaning metallic-silver versions to round-faced cub-like models.
The dog came with an array of sensors, a camera and microphone. The final generation could even talk.
By 2006, Sony was in trouble; its business model was broken and it was facing fierce competition from rivals in all fields. The AIBO, an expensive and somewhat frivolous luxury, had to go.
The company kept its 'AIBO Clinic' open until March 2014, but then -- politely -- told dedicated and loving owners that they were on their own.
Robot dog AIBO is seen next to 'Kuma', a Shiba Inu breed, outside the Kofuku-ji temple in Isumi, Japan's Chiba prefecture ©Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP)
Kofuku-ji temple chief priest Bungen Oi (R) offers a prayer during the funeral for 19 Sony's pet robot AIBOs, in Isumi, Japan's Chiba prefecture ©Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP)
A-Fun supervisor Hiroshi Funabashi (L) puts the Sony's pet robot AIBOs on the altar, prior to the robots' funeral at the Kofuku-ji temple in Isumi, Japan's Chiba prefecture ©Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP)
WILL KILLING ROBOTS BE UNETHICAL IN THE FUTURE? In a recent paper by Dr Anders Sandberg from the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, he posed the question: 'In the future it's possible we will be able to create artificially human brains that emulate a real human - but what are the ethicalities and moralities of doing this?.' In particular, in his 'Ethics of brain emulations' research, Dr Sandberg considers a future in which AI may be commonplace in so-called 'lesser beings'. If brain emulation becomes possible we could in theory clone animals to create, for example, virtual laboratory rats. There is much opposition to performing scientific experiments on rats and other animals in the modern day - but Dr Sandberg questions whether people will have similar objections to experimenting on an animal that was artificially created. Dr Sandberg likened the scenario to abortion in the modern day and the battle between people who are pro-choice and those who are pro-life. If an emulation was run for just a millisecond of time before being deactivated, some might argue that this would constitute a'murder' of sorts, destroying a life as it had been created.
For Hideko Mori, 70, that nearly spelled disaster.
Mori has had her AIBO for around eight years. She enjoys the conversations she has with it, and thinks it far more convenient than a real puppy.
'He doesn't require feeding and he doesn't pee... actually he does pee by cocking his leg, making an indescribably beautiful tinkling sound.' But, she said, nothing actually comes out.
'I never thought there was a limit to his life.'
But in May last year her beloved AIBO, whose name is simply 'Aibo', became immobile.
'I e-mailed a former Sony worker (on behalf of the dog), saying: 'Do I have no choice but to die like this because I can't walk?',' she said.
The engineer introduced her to A FUN, a company that employs former Sony engineers, who fixed her machine in two months.
'I was so happy to see him back to health and at home,' she said.
Hiroshi Funabashi, 61, who supervises repairs at A FUN, said troubled AIBO owners think of him more as a doctor than an engineer.
'The word'repair' doesn't fit here,' he told AFP at his home in Kasama, north of Tokyo. Scattered around him are dozens of AIBOs sent in with problems owners typically describe as 'aching joints'.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD SPELL THE END OF THE HUMAN RACE Earlier this year, Elon Musk (pictured) similarly likened artificial intelligence to'summoning the demon'.The Tesla and Space X founder previously warned that the technology could someday be more harmful than nuclear weapons Earlier this year, Elon Musk likened artificial intelligence to'summoning the demon'. The Tesla and Space X founder previously warned that the technology could someday be more harmful than nuclear weapons. And speaking at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) AeroAstro Centennial Symposium in October, Musk described artificial intelligence as our 'biggest existential threat'. He said: 'I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably that. So we need to be very careful with artificial intelligence. 'I'm increasingly inclined to think that there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure that we don't do something very foolish. 'With artificial intelligence we're summoning the demon. You know those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram, and the holy water, and … he's sure he can control the demon? Doesn't work out.' In August, he warned that AI could to do more harm than nuclear weapons. Tweeting a recommendation for a book by Nick Bostrom called Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies that looks at a robot uprising, he wrote: 'We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.' In a later tweet, Musk wrote: 'Hope we're not just the biological boot loader for digital superintelligence. Unfortunately, that is increasingly probable.' Mr Musk has previously claimed that a horrific 'Terminator-like' scenario could be created from research into artificial intelligence. The 42-year-old is so worried, he is investing in AI companies, not to make money, but to keep an eye on the technology in case it gets out of hand. In March, Mr Musk made an investment San Francisco-based AI group Vicarious, along with Mark Zuckerberg and actor Ashton Kutcher. In October 2013, the company announced it had developed an algorithm that'reliably' solves modern Captchas - the world's most widely used test of a machine's ability to act human.
'For those who keep AIBOs, they are nothing like home appliances. It's obvious they think their (robotic pet) is a family member,' he said.
Funabashi says he does not enhance the functions of aged AIBOs, but tries to restore them to health.
The problem is that repairs can take weeks or even months because of a shortage of spare parts. Dozens of AIBOs are now 'hospitalised', with more than 180 on the waiting list.
The only source of genuine parts are 'dead' robots, who become donors for organ transplantation, but only once the proper respects have been paid.
Bungen Oi, a priest at the 450-year-old Kofukuji temple in Isumi, east of Tokyo, says the AIBO service last month was an occasion on which the robots' souls could pass from their bodies.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: WHAT IS THE TURING TEST? A super computer has become the first in history to pass the Turing Test, a benchmark of artificial intelligence set by codebreaker Alan Turing (pictured) The Turing Test was introduced by Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing in 1950 as part of his paper Computing Machinery And Intelligence in which he predicted that computers would one day be programmed to acquire abilities rivalling human intelligence. He proposed a test called The Imitation Game, which would identify whether a computer is capable of thought. A person, called the interrogator, engages in a text based conversation with another person and a computer - and must determine which is which.
If they are unable to do so the computer is deemed to have passed. In 2014, a super computer was created which can simulate human conversation so well that it convinced people it is a teenage boy. The computer programme called Eugene, developed to simulate a 13-year-old boy, has now managed to convince 33 per cent of judges that it is human. Professor Kevin Warwick, from the University of Reading which organised the test, said: ‘In the field of artificial intelligence there is no more iconic and controversial milestone than the Turing Test.'
'I was thrilled over the interesting mismatch of giving cutting-edge technology a memorial service in a very conventional manner,' he said.
It is a mismatch that humans will probably become more used to over the coming years and decades, as robots with 'personalities' become ever more part of our lives.
Later this year, Japanese telecoms giant Softbank says it is going to start selling the humanoid Pepper to the public.
Despite the $2,000 cost, Pepper will be useless for housework, but developers say it will learn to imitate and intuit human emotions over time.
This blurring of lines means more people could feel the kind of attachment that AIBO owners know so well, said A FUN's Funabashi.Male model Andrej Pejic, famous for his androgynous good looks and his ability to work a runway in men's wear or a Gaultier wedding dress, has landed his first job actually modeling lingerie. The Dutch chain Hema hired the Australian to advertise its line of push-up bras. Which obviously seem to work as intended (though we strongly suspect some chicken cutlets came out of the stylist's bag of tricks, too). Pejic, whose cover of art mag Dossier had to be sold in opaque plastic bags after Barnes & Noble complained about his nude torso, has said in interviews that he doesn't necessarily prefer being styled as a woman or as a man, but that he appreciates the variety of work available to him. "To me, it doesn't really matter. I don't really have that sort of strong gender identity — I identify as what I am." This morning, he Tweeted, "Did I ever think I had enough booty to advertise a push-up bra? No. But am I working it or what??" [Mirror, @Andrej_Pejic]
Approximately three zillion fashion designers have been reportedly considered for the top job at Christian Dior, which fired its longtime creative director John Galliano ten months ago after he was arrested for hurling racist and anti-Semitic invective at a couple in a Paris café. Marc Jacobs was said to be very close to taking the job, but then word came that negotiations had broken down. Riccardo Tisci was also supposedly a front-runner. Even Alexander Wang's name was thrown into the ring, despite his lack of experience with couture. Today, Women's Wear Daily ran a story saying that Raf Simons — who currently designs for Jil Sander — is very close to taking the job. Simons started his career as an industrial and furniture designer, and launched his men's wear collection in 1995. He began designing women's wear in 2005. [WWD]
Cathy Horyn, one of the many critics who have praised Simons' collections for Jil Sander, is on board with this idea. "If judged solely as a minimalist, Mr. Simons might seem an odd fit for romantic Dior, but his Jil Sander collections are actually proof of a nimble mind that seeks a broader aesthetic expression. And Dior is much more than the crinoline narratives that its former designer, John Galliano, adored." [On The Runway]
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Nail polish: as you probably know, it's kind of having a moment. As previously reported, nail polish sales rose by 59% during the year through October, compared with the same period of 2010. According to Gallup, 64% of American women use nail polish once a week or more. Three thousand Wal-Mart stores sold out of Justin Bieber's OPI collection on the day it went on sale. Fashionista summarizes the year in nails, in numbers. Our DIY post on the '30s-style "Moon" manicure, meanwhile, is among the most-read DIYs of 2011. [Fashionista]
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Taiwanese Elle put Hello Kitty on a cover. Actually, two. [Fashionista]
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Two additional new face models, both 15, have been confirmed for Balenciaga's spring campaign, and one of them has eyebrows that are just so wrong for her face. Oh honey, no! Those don't do you justice. Eyebrows: always so important. [The Cut]The revelations came as International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge commemorated the dead with a minute's silence on Monday when he visited the London 2012 Olympic Village.
Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic delegation were killed during the attack on September 5, along with a German policeman. Of the eight Palestinian terrorists, five were killed.
Just two days later a civil servant at the foreign ministry laid out the line to be taken by the government regarding the disaster. “Blaming each other must be avoided. As must self-criticism,” his note said, according to Der Spiegel.
Thus was born the myth of a perfectly-organised terrorist group, and official documentation of the federal government as well as the Bavarian state authorities talk of the precision with which the group had operated.
But the magazine said they all knew that the group were chaotic and had experienced difficulties with the most basic tasks such as getting hotel rooms in Munich.
An analysis conducted by the Munich criminal police explicitly stated that the attackers had “not conducted any precise reconnaissance before the attack.” But the public never discovered this.
The fact that the Munich public prosecutor at the time launched an investigation against the head of police Manfred Schreiber and his team leader for suspected negligent manslaughter was also hidden from the public.
And there were clues and warnings which the magazine described as “so concrete, that it is barely comprehensible why they were ignored.”
The German embassy in Beirut sent a message on August 14 saying that a source had heard the Palestinians were planning to stage something during Games. Four days later the warning was sent by the foreign ministry to the domestic intelligence service, along with the recommendation that “every possibly security measure be taken.”
The security forces seemed to ignore things that were written in the press at time, the magazine continued. Three days before the attack, Italian magazine Gente said that terrorists were planning a “spectacular act at the Olympic Games.” Two days after the bloodbath, this warning was put on files by Hamburg police.
Attempts to hide the extent of the authorities' failure continued, with policeman confiscating the work of Munich police psychologist Georg Sieber, who had written up 26 potential crisis scenarios for the Games – including an attack on the Olympic Village by a group of Palestinian terrorists.
The Local/hcToronto police are turning up the heat on the so-called "Mummy Bandit," a suspect alleged to have robbed nine banks in the downtown core over an eight-month period.
On April 15, police had released a picture of the bank robbery suspect, in a bid to identify him. At that time, Staff Inspector Mike Earl said that the suspect had used either a knife or a gun in "approximately" seven robberies since October 2013.
Earl said the suspect had worn disguises, including an occasion in which he wore a scarf "tightly wrapped around his face," leaving only his eyes visible. On another occasion, he wore makeup on his arms and face that gave him an appearance similar to the Joker — the comic book adversary of Batman.
Today, police released further images and a video of the suspect, which can be viewed at the top of this page, alleging that he has robbed an additional two banks since last month’s news conference.
Toronto police released new images of the so-called "Mummy Bandit" bank robbery suspect on May 26, 2014. (Toronto Police Services)
One of those robberies occurred on April 22, at a bank in the Fort York Boulevard and Spadina Avenue area. Police allege the suspect went behind the counter, before producing a handgun and waving it around. He grabbed some money and fled.
On May 14, police allege the suspect robbed a bank in the College Street and Bathurst Street area. In this case, it is alleged that the suspect brandished a gun, went behind the counter and "threatened the victims" while demanding money. He fled the bank after receiving money.
The suspect is described as a 20-to-30-year-old white male, who is between 5'6" and 5'10".
Toronto police allege that a suspect they have dubbed the "Mummy Bandit" has robbed nine banks in the downtown core since October 2013. (Toronto Police Service)
In one surveillance image police have obtained, the suspect is wearing a "prominent ring" on his right hand.
Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 416-808-7350. Information can also be passed on anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.
Over the past decade or so, bank robberies have been on a steep decline in Canada, including in the Greater Toronto Area.
Statistics from the Canadian Bankers Association indicate that there were 236 bank robberies in the GTA in 2000, while just 116 in 2012.
Earlier this year, Earl, the head of the hold-up squad, said that police have tended to solve 85 to 93 per cent of all annual Toronto bank robberies, in recent years.Earlier this year, in promoting its fiscal year 2016 budget resolution, the Republican majority on the House Budget Committee pronounced, “It is fundamentally unfair to our kids and grandkids for today’s policymakers to be so undisciplined and to ignore difficult decisions. Inaction is only making the hill we will eventually have to climb that much higher.” Was this an impassioned call for action on climate change, echoing the pope’s recent encyclical urging nations to act “so that future generations will not have to suffer the effects of our ill-advised delays?”
Sadly, it was not. Instead, the House Budget Committee majority is arguing that we cannot afford to fully fund the government services that the American people count on to meet basic needs and hold powerful industries in check. To do so, it cynically argues, would put an unfair economic burden on future generations. As a result, the budgets it has proposed would slash government spending on a range of critical social and environmental programs, including investments to understand, prepare for, and mitigate climate change.
The ongoing dispute over climate change will come to a head in the coming weeks, when Congress will again face a government funding crisis. Federal government funding expires on September 30 and Congress has yet to send a single spending bill to the president’s desk. As summer ends, brinksmanship is back—and this time, the administration’s efforts to fight climate change hang in the balance.
Consider Congress’ handling of the Environmental Protection Agency’s, or EPA’s, spending bill. While the House of Representatives brought this bill to the chamber’s floor for consideration in June, it was pulled from the floor as unfinished business in early July. The legislation proposes to slash the EPA’s operating budget by $474 million, or 13 percent, compared with the FY 2016 budget request. According to the administration, this level of cut would “significantly undermine implementation of the Clean Power Plan,” the president’s landmark rule to limit carbon pollution from new and existing power plants.
But the House does not seem to want to leave anything to chance. The bill also includes anti-environmental policy riders that would guarantee inaction on climate change. The bill includes a provision to stop the Clean Power Plan outright by prohibiting the use of funds to implement or enforce carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel-fired electric generating units, the largest source of carbon pollution in the United States. Another rider, if enacted, would prevent any federal agency from fully accounting for the adverse effects of carbon pollution when analyzing the costs and benefits of new rules. This amounts to putting a thumb on the scale so that the federal government has no choice but to pretend that carbon pollution is not so bad after all. The bill also contains a provision to prevent the EPA from prohibiting uses of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs—climate super pollutants used for refrigeration and other purposes that the world is quickly uniting against.
Taken together, the House EPA spending bill slashes funding for the agency, prevents it from properly assessing the threat posed by carbon pollution, stops the most significant domestic action on carbon pollution, and undermines a promising area of international cooperation to cut pollution.
The Senate’s approach—which has not even made it to the Senate floor—is not much better. It proposes reducing the EPA’s operating budget by $372 million, or 10 percent, compared with the president’s budget. It includes an anti-environmental rider to block the Clean Power Plan as well.
The attack on addressing climate change does not stop with the EPA spending bills. Unfortunately, it extends throughout the congressional spending proposals.
In the Energy and Water Development spending bills, both chambers of Congress are going after the nation’s clean energy investments. The House is proposing to cut the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE, by more than $1 billion relative to the FY 2016 budget request. The administration has warned that “the bill reduces funding for renewable energy by 49 percent, sustainable transportation by 35 percent, and energy efficiency by 40 percent” relative to the president’s budget. The bill cuts solar energy investments by 55 percent. The Senate Energy and Water Development spending bill proposes to reduce investments in the EERE by nearly $790 million, or 29 percent, compared with the president’s budget. The bill proposes to cut the Energy Department’s Wind Energy program by 68 percent from the president’s budget and to cut funding for other activities—such as grid integration and atmospheric modeling—necessary to advance both onshore and offshore wind development. These cuts, if enacted, would severely slow the pace of the nation’s progress in developing and deploying clean energy technology, harming this sector’s global competitiveness.
In the State and Foreign Operations appropriation bill, the House proposes not to fund multilateral and clean energy efforts. These multilateral efforts are a critical element in achieving an effective global response to climate change. The White House offers this dire warning: “Failing to lead in building a strong global response to climate change will have far-reaching national security implications as climate change will exacerbate poverty and contribute to environmental degradation, particularly in developing economies, potentially resulting in resources shortages, political instability, and conflict.” For its part, the Senate proposes to underfund our multilateral commitments such as the Climate Investment Funds to such a degree that the White House believes it would “disadvantage U.S. companies and jeopardize national security.”
Both the House and the Senate have included an anti-environmental rider in their respective State and Foreign Operations appropriation bills to prohibit the use of funds to carry out administration policies that limit funding of high-carbon power projects abroad unless pollution controls are installed. These policies should not be blocked because as the United States works to reduce its emissions through domestic efforts such as the Clean Power Plan, it makes no sense for taxpayer dollars to be used abroad for projects that exacerbate climate change.
These proposed spending bills are unambiguous in their assault on climate action. And the assault is couched as a moral argument. For the sake of our children, they implicitly argue, we cannot afford to act on climate. But this is a fringe view—out of step with leading moral leaders and with scientific evidence and public opinion. The serious and irreversible effects of climate change force the opposite conclusion: We simply cannot afford not to act on climate change. The world’s leading scientists have concluded with “high confidence” that continued, unmitigated warming “will lead to high to very high risk of severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts globally,” including heat waves, species extinction, sea level rise, and global food insecurity. The pope will have the opportunity to remind Congress of his view that there is a strong moral duty to act on climate change when he addresses Congress on September 24. Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and other faith leaders and communities from many religious traditions have called consistently for action on climate change as a moral duty. Polling has shown time and time again that the public strongly supports action to cut carbon pollution from power plants. Eight out of 10 Americans say that “if nothing is done to reduce global warming in the future,” climate change will be a serious problem.
The president has summarized the situation clearly:
If we were to abandon our course of action, if we stop trying to build a clean-energy economy and reduce carbon pollution, if we do nothing to keep the glaciers from melting faster, and oceans from rising faster, and forests from burning faster, and storms from growing stronger, we will condemn our children to a planet beyond their capacity to repair: Submerged countries. Abandoned cities. Fields no longer growing. Indigenous peoples who can’t carry out traditions that stretch back millennia. Entire industries of people who can’t practice their livelihoods. Desperate refugees seeking the sanctuary of nations not their own. Political disruptions that could trigger multiple conflicts around the globe.
In the coming weeks, Congress may pass a short-term funding bill to kick the can down the road until December. If so, this debate will continue to hang unresolved over the Capitol. Ultimately, however, the question has been asked, and we will learn whether Congress can successfully ignore science, public opinion, and moral duty in a misguided effort to thwart action to address climate change. For the sake of our kids and grandkids, let’s hope this approach is soundly rejected.
Greg Dotson is the Vice President for Energy Policy at the Center for American Progress.Efforts by the law firm Carter-Ruck to stop reporting of a Commons question have outraged MPs on all sides
MPs from all parties protested at Westminster this afternoon at attempts by lawyers acting for the oil trader Trafigura to stop reports of parliamentary proceedings.
The Labour MP Paul Farrelly told the speaker, John Bercow, attempts by lawyers Carter-Ruck to gag the media could be a "potential contempt of parliament".
The Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris said there was a need to "control the habit of law firms" of obtaining secrecy injunctions, and his colleague David Heath told the Commons a "fundamental principle" was being threatened: that MPs should be able to speak freely and have their words reported freely.
On the Conservative side, David Davies criticised the rising use of "super-injunctions", in which the fact of the injunction is itself kept secret. He said courts should not be allowed to grant injunctions forbidding the reporting of parliament.
Bercow said the issue could be raised formally as a matter of privilege, but he understood the injunction had now been lifted.
Farrelly, who tabled a parliamentary question yesterday that the Guardian had been forbidden from reporting, told the Commons: "I want to raise a point of order regarding a chain of events which may be of concern to the House.
"Today, the Guardian reported that it had been prevented from reporting a written question tabled by a member of parliament. This morning, I telephoned the Guardian to |
being developed across various local and county governments?
Accessing the data:
Data Set 2: Metropolitan Council Lake Monitoring Data
1980–2014
332 Lakes
Key Attributes: Seasonal Lake Grade Physical Condition Recreational Suitability Secchi Depth Total Phosphorus
Potential questions for consideration:
What lakes tend to have the best / worst water quality? Are the lakes with the best / worst water quality consistent over time?
What watersheds tend to have the best / worst water quality? Are the watersheds with the best / worst water quality consistent over time?
One may anticipate that the water quality attributes of lakes within a watershed depend on each other. Does this data support this notation? How does time influence this dependence structure?
Accessing the data:
Data Set 3: Social Data Science Water Proximity Data
Cross reference of Regional Tax Parcel & Lake Monitoring Data sets
Key Attributes: Distance of Tax Parcel to nearest Lake Distance to nearest Lake Monitoring Station
Potential questions for consideration:
Property that is contiguous to a lake, i.e. lake front property, is likely to influence its value. What is the relationship between proximity to water and property value? What effect does location have on this relationship? Does time influence this relationship?
What relationships exist between various property characteristics (i.e. dwelling type, ownership type, etc.) and proximity to water? Have these relationships changed over time? Do the policies / regulations of local or county governments appear to influence these relationships?
Does proximity to water appear to influence how land is being developed over time? Does the amount of influence vary across local or county governments?
Accessing the data:
BigQuery Tutorials:
If you are having issues accessing the data or descriptions, please contact jackson@minneanalytics.org.Front
Rear Click to enlarge
Web Interface - Status
Web Interface - Disks Click to enlarge
Simple interface
Decent performance
Quiet
No RAID/Data protection
No Redundant Power or NIC
No SMB features like DHCP Server, Print Server, AD integration, Alerts, etc.
The LaCie Ethernet Disk 1TB is a different type of NAS product. It is targeted at SMB/SOHO as a secondary storage device for holding backups and sharing temporary data. It is power by an 800Mhz VIA C3 processor running Windows XP Embedded, 256MB RAM, four USB 2.0 ports, one VGA port, two PS/2 ports, and one 10/100/1000 Network port. All drives are internal to the unit which cannot be opened. Features include FTP and HTTP accessible shares, onboard firewall, and backup scheduler. Client support includes Windows, Linux, Mac, and UNIX up to 25 users. Protocol support includes CIFS/SMB, AppleTalk/AFP, FTP, and HTTP.Additional research revealed that there are four 250GB IDE hard drives configured using Windows Dynamic Volume in a span of all four drives. This gives you roughly 930GB of usable space, but with. Additional storage space can be added through the USB 2.0 ports in the back of the unit.Some of you may be wondering why we included it in this NAS review. Technically speaking it is a NAS device; it just doesn't have any redundancy built into. From a backup perspective, it will work just fine, providing you use it as a secondary storage device. It gives you with a lot of space, performs fairly well, and fits nicely in a rack. There really are a lot of scenarios you can use it in, but it would have been nice if we had the option to reconfigure the drives into a RAID 1 or RAID 5 since Dynamic Volumes supports this via software.The unit is closed in a standard 19" 1U chassis with front mounting brackets only. Dimensions measure 430mm (W) x 45mm (H) x 430mm (D), and it weighs 9.3Kg. The front includes an illuminated power button as well as two LEDs indicating current disk/network activity. The rear includes connections for the power supply, PS/2 keyboard and mouse, video, serial, four USB 2.0 ports, and Gigabit networking. It also has what looks like audio jacks, but we were unable to verify their function.The management interface for the LaCie is primarily web based, with most of the supported features and options available through a browser. However, LaCie also included the ability to use Remote Desktop to log into the unit and run additional tasks such as backup and restore, firewall configuration, and additional diagnostics."In the face of the tragic acts in Paris, we do not see the political possibilities to implement this."
WARSAW, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Poland cannot accept migrants under European Union (EU) quotas after Friday's attacks in Paris, Poland's European affairs minister designate Konrad Szymanski said on Saturday.
In a commentary published in the right-leaning news portal wPolityce.pl, Szymanski said his incoming government did not agree with Poland's commitment to accept its share of an EU-wide relocation of immigrants, and now, "in the face of the tragic acts in Paris, we do not see the political possibilities to implement (this)."
Szymanski will take up his position on Monday as part of a government formed by the last month's election winner, the conservative and eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party. (Reporting by Adrian Krajewski; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.German researchers develop a new facial recognition tool that can work in dark
Face detection or recognition is one of the vital technologies that help the law enforcement and security services to catch hold of the criminals.
The new face recognition system that is being used currently would work at its best in case the photos are clean and clicked in proper light. This indicates that when the object has been clicked in poor lighting or in darkness, these technologies would not serve its purpose.
Two scientists from the German university have developed a new face recognition system which works by analyzing the thermal signature of an individual rather than the traditional methods.
Saquib Sarfraz and Rainer Stiefelhagen, these two computer scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, have actually created a new system which first analyzes the mid or far infrared images and then matches these with the standard photographs.
During a regular photo session, the light reflected from the face is captured, which we can see in the form of a standard colored photograph. However, the infrared images which is captured on the basis of thermal signatures emitted by human face is entirely different. Thus matching these two totally non linear entities is definitely a big challenge for the computer system.
In addition, the thermal emissions would also vary depending on the external environment such as weather and over all temperature. It would also vary depending on the skin’s temperature, change in the expression of the individual and the overall physical activity of that particular person.
Also, when an image has been taken by an infrared camera it possesses a lower resolution when compared to a normal photograph. Well, these are some of the most important hurdles which are confronted when one tries to match these two types of images.
The scientists found out a way to overcome this difficulty by making use of a system called as ‘Deep Neural Network’.
The ‘Deep Neural Network System‘ is able to process the pictures and even recognize people in bad light or darkness. Deep Neural Network System: This technology has been designed in such a way that it imitates the function of a human brain. Thus it has the capacity to connect the two different types of images and also recognize people from a a complex set of factors.
The only requirement for the system to give apt results is that it requires a huge database. So scientists had to provide a vast data that comprised of both infrared and visible light images so that the smart system could learn to make the comparisons.
During their study, the duo researchers used the University of Notre Dame set which contained a vast details of both types of images and it also included the images that were shot with different facial expressions and under different lighting conditions. The enormous data also comprised of multiple images of the same person over a certain time period time which helped to provide the photos clicked under different environmental and emotional conditions.
It seems the data used for the study contained around 4,585 of the infrared and visible light images of about 82 individuals.
Further, the scientists divided the entire set into two halves, the two types of images of 41 people were used as “Control” or “System training” purpose and the other set of 41 people was used to “Test” the system.
The experiments proved that the new facial recognition system is much better when compared to the existing facial recognition systems.
MIT Technology Review quotes that Sarfraz and Stiefelhagen say: “The presented approach improves the state-of-the-art by more than 10 percent.”
The beauty of this new face recognition system is that it can match the images and recognize a face in mere 35 milliseconds. The researchers hence say: “This is therefore, very fast and capable of running in real-time at about 28 fps.”
The technology has not been rolled out for commercial use yet. Sarfraz says: “There are no plans to roll it out.”
While speaking to BBC, Sarfraz said: “We have been doing research on face recognition already for several years and have a scientific interest in the problem. Our present work on face recognition in thermal images is currently not used outside the research lab.”
Sarfraz feels that currently this technology has a 80% success rate and it has given an accuracy of 55% with one image. Hence he believes that the system requires some more training data as well as much more powerful architecture to give better results.
For now, Dr Tom Heseltine, head of research for UK face recognition company Aurora, seems to be quite impressed with the system. While speaking to BBC he said: “Although the ability to recognize faces in the dark is not new, the ability to use thermal infrared and match against a standard colour photograph could open up some new specific applications areas. Questions may be raised about how susceptible the technology is to variations in body temperature. Their biggest advantage comes in that they could potentially operate in the dark without the need for active infrared illumination.”
On the other hand, Daniel Nesbitt, research director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, told the BBC: “All facial recognition technology has the potential to be very invasive of an individual’s privacy if done the wrong way. This new research makes it even more vital that facial recognition is properly covered by legislation and that strong safeguards are put in place to protect people from misuse. It is important that a serious and wide-ranging debate about all new technology of this type takes place. Our privacy cannot be forgotten no matter how innovative a new piece of technology may seem.”
The researchers, though, feel that the system can be one of the best boons to law enforcement and security officials which will enable them to identity and catch the criminals with some ease.
Readers can check the details of the study which has been published here(PDF).Trial of the Pyx in the Livery Hall at Goldsmiths' Hall
The Trial of the Pyx () is the procedure in the United Kingdom for ensuring that newly minted coins conform to the required standards. These trials have been held from the twelfth century to the present day, normally once per calendar year.
The form of the ceremony has been essentially the same since 1282 AD. These events are trials in the full judicial sense, presided over by a judge with an expert jury of metallurgical assayers. Given modern production methods, it is unlikely that coins would not conform, but this has been a problem in the past—it was tempting for the Master of the Mint to steal the coins' precious metals.
Trials are now held at the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths; formerly, they took place at the Palace of Westminster. There is also a Pyx Chapel (or Pyx Chamber) in Westminster Abbey, which was once used as secure storage for the Pyx and related articles.
The term "pyx" refers to the boxwood chest (in Greek, πυξίς, pyxis) in which coins were placed for presentation to the jury.
Background [ edit ]
In medieval times the Master of the Mint was ordered to save for trial one coin for every ten pounds of silver minted. A trial was normally conducted every three months.
The presiding judge is the Queen's Remembrancer (or King's Remembrancer when the sitting monarch is male), the Senior Master of the Queen's Bench. It is his or her responsibility to ensure that the trial be held in accordance with the law and to deliver the jury's final verdict to Her Majesty's Treasury. Where and when a trial is to take place is at the Treasury's discretion, though there must be a trial in any year during which the Royal Mint issues coins.
Coins to be tested are drawn from the regular production of the Royal Mint. The Deputy Master of the Mint must, throughout the year, randomly select several thousand sample coins and place them aside for the Trial. These must be in a certain fixed proportion to the number of coins produced. For example, for every 5,000 bimetallic coins issued, one must be set aside, whereas for silver Maundy money the proportion is one in 150.
The jury is composed of at least six assayers from the Company of Goldsmiths. They have two months to test the provided coins, and decide whether they have been properly minted. Criteria are given for diameter, chemical composition and weight for each class of coinage.
Statutory basis for the Trial of the Pyx is given by the Coinage Act 1971, the latest in a long series of similarly named Acts of Parliament. Specific procedures are established by Order in Council, the most recent being the Trial of the Pyx Order 1998,[1] which was amended in 2005,[2] 2012[3] and 2016.[4] It is not required for a new Order to be issued for each Trial: this is mandated (to occur) only with regulatory revision.
See also [ edit ]
Halsbury's Laws of England
United States Assay Commission, which performed a similar function in that country
References [ edit ]This is one of those depressing notes where an organization has to say it’s shutting down its website.
The reason simply is that YouTube and Google have stopped supporting websites like ours, which use Flash for their interface. To fix this would cost a huge amount of money, and WorldTV has not been a profit making enterprise for some time.
We have kept WorldTV operational far longer than really made sense, but did this because of a pride we took in the site we built, and because of our passionate (albeit, steadily dwindling...) user base. With the GDPR coming into effect this day, and major repairs needed to the site, this was the final straw.
We started WorldTV 12 years ago with a mission to create a new way of sharing videos in the form of a personal TV channel. Times have moved on, but we’re proud of what we built, and hope you enjoyed using it as long as it lasted.
Thank you for being a part of it...
Alx Klive, Founder
WorldTV.com
Friday May 25th 2018
P.S. You can find us now over at 360 Designs, where we run a live VR production company and live VR guide for consumers“Well, someone tell me, when is it my turn?
Don't I get a dream for myself?
Starting now it's gonna be my turn.
Gangway, world, get off of my runway!
Starting now I bat a thousand!”
— Rose’s Turn, Gypsy
It's the 2013 League of Legends Pro League Spring Split. The region's most dominant team, Team WE, were starting to cool-off. Gao “WeiXiao” Xuecheng still carried the title of the world's best AD carry, but both he and WE began to stumble. Meanwhile, OMG had shrugged off their self-imposed laning phase constraints and Zhu “NaMei” Jiawen’s name grew from a hushed whisper to a household name.
2013 represented one of the steepest periods in League of Legends history for the LPL's AD carry competition. As WeiXiao lingered in the conversation, Jian “Uzi” Zihao's raw skill was impossible to ignore with Royal Club Huang Zu’s “Raise the puppy” strategy, and NaMei’s rise has its own story.
RELATED: The Varus that took out Invictus: Part 1 of 3 in an assessment of NaMei's career
Any Chinese AD carry who craved notoriety would struggle to make himself stand out that year. One player in particular flew under the radar, in part because he primarily played for bottom tier teams, but also because he seemed to lack a certain spark that that the others had. Rather than become the fourth name to stud the LPL AD carry crown, Yu “Peco” Rui would find a near-permanent position in Uzi’s shadow.
Peco has gone by many different names throughout his time in the LPL and the League of Legends Secondary Pro League, including F1sh, Avenger, Quiet, ASHE, Sins, Mes, and, more recently, TnT. “It’s just a name,” Peco said, “so I don’t care very much about it.”
Constant name changes make Peco resonate less with casual esports fans, and makes it seems as if he's actively avoided the limelight. It’s only come to him reluctantly, if at all, as his playstyle has often allowed him to serve as a solid carry threat without pulling peel or attention. Peco’s first LPL team, LiveMore, were, by all accounts, mediocre. From their Nike knockoff “Love Players Hate Blockers” jerseys to their sixth place finish, they never managed to make a splash in the scene. In fact, their only noteworthy win was against a collapsing Team WE.
Tian Ci saw enough talent in LiveMore to purchase the team alongside fifth place LPL team, Royal Club. He consolidated existing rosters into LMQ Tian Ci while improving the players around Uzi on the main Royal Club team. Peco and top laner Yao “Dreams” Yuan were the only two players from LiveMore to start for the majority of LMQ’s LPL games in the 2013 LPL Summer Season.
Young Peco in 2013 LPL Spring
Peco’s career started down a path that would intertwine him with Uzi’s trajectory. Both LiveMore and Royal Club finished in sixth and fifth respectively in the 2013 Spring Split, but Royal Club Huang Zu distanced themselves from their sister team in the summer season. Royal Club tied for second place with Positive Energy and Team WE, finishing with a 13-8 record that literally mirrored LMQ’s 8-13.
Uzi took center stage for Royal Club, gobbling resources and actively seeking to stand out in aggressive trades — he wanted to be the star. Top laner Xiao “GoDlike” Wang recalled that playing scrims against Cloud9 at the World Championship convinced Uzi that switching to jungle was ideal for carrying his team. Uzi wanted to be the star, he had the talent needed to be a star, and so he was one.
By contrast, despite contributing heavily to LMQ’s bare minimum success with careful teamfight positioning, Peco lacked the same gravitas and demanding playstyle. Mid laner Yu “XiaoWeiXiao” Xian excelled in the farm game but lacked overall pressure while Peco seemed to carry in the team phase. Yet within the context of his sixth place team, Peco didn’t stand out to the extent that Uzi did on Royal Club Huang Zu.
Following the World Championship, both Royal Club and LMQ underwent radical changes. Three of the Royal Club's five members chose to retire, and Uzi seemed bent on transitioning away from the AD carry role, which created an opening on the main squad. As a team, LMQ decided to make the trip to Los Angeles in an attempt to qualify for the North American League of Legends Championship Series.
Peco made a choice that would put him on the same team as Uzi for the first time. He became Royal Club’s AD carry while Uzi transitioned, first to the jungle, and then to the mid lane role.
“First,” Peco said, “I didn’t have the best relationship with NoName, LMQ’s jungler. Second, I felt the players on LMQ weren’t that strong, and since LMQ at the time was Royal Club’s B Team, I thought I had a better chance of doing well on the main team.”
Craving a chance to place in the top half of League of Legends Pro League, Peco remained in China. He played with Royal Club for the first time at the World Cyber Games 2013 qualifier, and despite sweeping their group and defeating Rising Stars in the quarterfinals, the makeshift Royal team lost to Team WE in the semifinals.
Top laner GoDlike reflected on his time playing with Uzi in the jungle and Peco at AD carry and remembered a moment where Peco made a “flashy play” in scrims and attempted to draw the team’s attention to it verbally. When his excitement was met with silence from the rest of the team, Peco said, “Oh, I guess you've seen too many flashy plays from Uzi.”
Perhaps that in and of itself has always been Peco’s greatest flaw in the eyes of the fan community. Resource dependent players willing to pull off flashy plays will always get more recognition than the unsung heroes that understand the value of careful teamfight positioning. Uzi’s habit of going for the outplay makes him an easy favorite.
Peco’s stint on Royal didn’t take. Rather than continuing to compete in the LPL in 2014, Peco found himself in the first split of the League of Legends Secondary Pro League as the AD carry for Vici Gaming.
“Royal Club didn’t have a lot of money to pay my salary at the time,” Peco said, “so I requested a transfer and went to Vici Gaming.”
Even within the LSPL, Peco couldn’t claim the title of undisputed best. In joining Vici Gaming, Peco replaced AD carry Han “S1mlz” Jin, who had left for WE’s LSPL team, WE Academy. WE Academy’s players excelled in the laning phase, granting them an easy first place in the LSPL, where team fighting and strategic nuances are often lost. S1mlz had high expectations and the reputation as “WeiXiao’s hand-picked disciple.”
On Vici Gaming, mid laner Wei “We1less” Zhen’s style of playing “too hero” made him the team's standout member and earned him a position on an LPL team before the end of the year. The fact that Peco didn't demand resources allowed attention to gravitate toward Vici's flashy mid laner. Not only did Peco once again find himself in another player's shadow for the entirety of 2014, but he even spent time riding the bench in the LSPL's summer season.
Ironically, Li “Vasilii” Weijun, LMQ’s substitute AD carry, enjoyed a period of success and recognition as a Tristana player in North America. He and LMQ made the trip to the World Championship as NA’s third seed team where they split 1-1 with third seed Chinese team, Oh My God. Uzi advanced to his second consecutive World Championship final.
That’s when Li “LinkO” Linke, QG Reapers’ manager, took interest in Peco. In splitting off from Stand Point Gaming as a result of the new rule that restricted the amount of LSPL teams that could be owned by the same organization, the new team then known as Qiao Gu began with Peco as their foundational team member.
Peco and Mor at QG's 2015 gaming house
Finally, Peco would have a team built around him. His first action was in choosing his own support, QG’s Zhang “Mor” Hongwei.
“I tried to convince [Mor] to come with me to Royal Club when LMQ went to NA, but he decided to leave," Peco said. "When he returned to China, I contacted him immediately.”
Anyone who has seen a QG game knows that the team doesn’t play around Peco. Korean jungler Baek “Swift” Daehoon’s aggressive team fighting style characterizes QG. If Swift goes in, so does mid laner Kim “Doinb” Taesang. Mor has admitted to prioritizing the rest of the team before his AD carry. Swift earned the most MVP points in last summer’s LPL season, and Doinb is QG’s MVP point leader this spring. Once again, Peco is nearly forgotten.
Yet that’s exactly how Peco has stood out. The verdict on Peco under the moniker of TnT in 2015 is decidedly mixed. QG didn’t make the World Championship. They didn’t attend the Mid-Season Invitational. Peco’s first and only international event was Intel Extreme Masters Cologne where QG managed to conquer Team Dignitas and a newly formed Fnatic before losing to a Korean Challenger team in the final — a Korean Challenger team that managed to defeat SK Telecom T1, but a Korean Challenger team nonetheless.
Beyond results, there are two characteristics that defined Peco during the 2015 summer season: self-sufficient teamfight positioning and a poor laning phase with Mor. Peco frequently fell behind in creeps to opposing laners, but his ability to navigate teamfights and impact them from behind allowed QG to play well around Swift without incident.
Even without peel resources, Peco managed to take care of himself, averaging the second fewest deaths on the team and finding ways to output damage and take out targets. It may surprise spectators to learn that Peco quietly secured the most kills of any player in the LPL last summer and was among the Top 5 AD carries for percentage of team gold earned, dispelling the improper “low econ carry” label.
Some have characterized QG as inconsistent. They’ve placed second in nearly every event in which they have participated, except the 2015 LPL Regional. Even with a risky playstyle, that's almost as near to the definition of consistency as an LPL team can achieve. Peco is a huge part of that. "As the team improves," Peco said during the 2015 LPL summer split, "I will seek to improve to fit the team as it changes."
Learning to play from behind and look after himself has characterized Peco in a unique way that makes him stand out, but only if you watch him carefully. His ability to look after himself in a fight allows teams to run multiple carry threats that demand more peel.
Yes, Peco struggled in lane, but the way he impacted other phases made him look like a true contender for title of “best AD carry in the LPL” for the first time in his career. Still, many fans were unimpressed, and rallied behind Uzi despite OMG’s plummeting spot in the standings. Not to mention that their favorite AD carry would occasionally find himself benched with no significant difference in win rates between when Uzi played and when he didn't.
Calls to free Uzi from the bench grew louder, and most of this past offseason's speculation fixated on which LPL team would win the Uzi sweepstakes. Even after a successful year with QG, Peco firmly remained in Uzi's shadow.
So it’s only natural that Uzi would sign with the QG Reapers.
Fans greeted the news with excitement, as QG were already a strong team, and some expected that Uzi would only make them stronger. Initial reception pitted Uzi as an upgrade over Peco in every way, especially noting Peco’s near-constant laning phase deficits and Uzi's noted 2v2 prowess.
Excitement came to a grinding halt when Manager LinkO told journalists that Uzi would likely not play for QG immediately. The team would begin working Uzi into the lineup in scrims only, and QG would start 2016 with their 2015 roster.
QG played their first match in of the new split against LGD Gaming, but it didn’t seem at all like the same team initially. Swift’s insistence on finding a gank, though punishable, propelled QG into a dominating position. The team continued to play decisively, developing a unique lane swap style.
Eventually, hints of the old QG emerged. They began losing early in objectives, but it wasn’t exactly the same. QG’s ward coverage improved, and even if they lost objectives, QG's players managed to stay even. Peco has averaged a CS lead of two minions at 10 minutes in each of the 12 games he's played, which places him in the Top 5 of LPL AD carries for CS differences at 10 minutes.
Peco’s self-sufficient positioning in teamfights has also remained immaculate, as QG managed to close down a 28-27 kill slug fest against Team OMG with Peco only dying once. His final score line was 12/1/14, and his KDA in three games for the entire week was 53.
Uzi has played three games for QG. The team’s drafting has continued to force the comparison between the two, but Peco has won out for once. Since Uzi has begun to rotate into the lineup with Peco, both carries have begun to play Ezreal exclusively. In the first two games, Uzi seemed to play as much more of a footnote to Doinb’s dominating Viktor and Swift, Doinb, and Mor’s signature diving Nidalee/Kassadin/Alistar diving composition.
QG’s first loss of the season occurred when Uzi played his third game for the team and after watching the disastrous early game, no one would dare blame Uzi for the loss. Swift ganked the 2v2 lane awkwardly, giving up a free kill, and the other two lanes all seemed to die in unison. Yet the game provided an opportunity for an audience to get a taste of Uzi when he’s put into Peco’s shoes for the first time instead of the other way around.
On Royal, Peco was put into a position to assume more of Uzi’s demanding carry role. QG have played for more than a year with a peel-intensive jungler and a self-sufficient AD carry. Uzi lacked the angle of approach in team fights that characterizes Peco’s playstyle. In the same position, Uzi found himself locked down and killed more easily. While it was only one game, the comparison finally swung into Peco’s favor.
When asked why the team valued Ezreal so highly when picks like Kalista are available for earlier rotation, Peco said, “I like [Kalista], but… Many teams pick it first, so I can't play it, and I have to use Ezreal.” QG not only value peeling for Swift, but seem to value securing strong picks for the rest of the team before their AD carry, whereas OMG last year would often first pick Kalista for Uzi, even when it wasn't overwhelmingly popular, or see it banned against them.
The real kicker? Uzi averages a CS disadvantage of six creeps at 10 minutes in the three games he’s played — the lowest of any AD carry in the LPL so far.
From the perspective of fan pressure, it’s better for QG that they lose their first game with Uzi. The roster with Uzi shows signs of less synergy, as Uzi is simply assuming Peco’s position, a position that doesn’t successfully highlight Uzi’s strengths as a player and instead only serves to illustrate ways in which Peco has developed a playstyle of his own decidedly different from Uzi’s. No one would think to blame Uzi for the loss or suggest he ride the bench on a more permanent basis at this point.
If the team had lost their first game with Peco, however, Uzi’s following may immediately suggest that the team should begin playing with their other AD carry exclusively. In the past, it was hard to see the value Peco provided that Uzi didn’t.
In Uzi’s own words at the start of the season, “I think [Peco] is also very strong, and I told him we should rotate on the team. We will progress together, hoping to achieve good results as a team.”
After this weekend, Peco leads the KDA rankings at 18.22, overcoming both Ming “clearlove” Kai, the usual KDA king, and Uzi. Though QG play around Swift, they were built around Peco. If they want Uzi to slot into the team more fluidly, they will have to change their approach.
When asked how he rated himself among LPL AD carries in August, Peco jokingly answered, “The worst.”
It's baffling to realize that some fans concurred with the sentiment based on CS deficits in laning phase. Now, two of the major contenders for "best AD carry in the LPL" share the same team.
Where comparisons to Uzi have usually damaged Peco's ability to shine, this week they made him stand out. Peco is stepping outside Uzi’s shadow. Whether he wants it or not, it’s finally his turn.
Kelsey Moser is a staff writer for theScore eSports. You can follow her on Twitter.Prof Hawking has cancelled an appearance in the US
Leading scientist Stephen Hawking's condition has "improved" after being admitted to hospital with chest problems, Cambridge University says.
His employers said Professor Hawking was undergoing tests on Monday at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.
A university spokesman said the 67-year-old, who has motor neurone disease, was now "comfortable".
Prof Hawking, author of A Brief History of Time, has worked at Cambridge University for more than 30 years.
The world-famous physicist, who uses a wheelchair and speaks with the aid of a voice synthesiser, had flown to the US at the end of February to the California Institute of Technology where he is a visiting scholar.
But he had not been well for some weeks and called off an appearance at Arizona State University on 6 April because of his illness.
He was flown back to the UK on Saturday and was admitted to Addenbrooke's on Monday after being seen by a doctor.
Disease conditions
Prof Peter Haynes, head of the University's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, where Prof Hawking works, said: "Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague.
"We all hope he will be amongst us again soon."
Prof Hawking developed symptoms of motor neurone disease while studying in the 1960s and is one of the world's longest-surviving sufferers.
The scientist has three children and one grandchild. He became a CBE in 1982 and a Companion of Honour in 1989.
Last year, it was announced he would be stepping down as the university's Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the end of this academic year.
It is policy for holders of the title to retire at 67.
However, Prof Hawking said he intended to continue working as Emeritus Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.Pakistani troops today opened fire from automatic weapons and shelled mortars at forward posts and villages along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district. The Indian Army is retaliating effectively and the firing is still on, a Defence Spokesman said.
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“Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0845 hours in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC)”, the spokesman said.
Yesterday, an Army jawan was killed when Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch. Naik Mahendra Chemjung, who was grievously injured in the Pakistani shelling, succumbed to injuries in Poonch.
On October two, two minors were killed and 12 civilians injured in cross-border shelling by Pakistan along the LoC in Poonch district. Five children were among the injured, the youngest being five-year-old Zobia Kousar.Image copyright Reuters Image caption The UN has warned that an estimated 70,000 civilians are trapped inside IS-held Manbij
At least 56 civilians have died in US-led coalition air strikes near the Islamic State stronghold of Manbij in north Syria, opposition monitors say.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said residents had been fleeing the village of Tokhar when they were hit.
An opposition activist network said 90 had died in Tokhar and nearby Hoshriya.
There was no immediate comment from the coalition, which has been providing air support for the Kurdish-led offensive to drive IS militants out of Manbij.
On Monday, the Syrian Observatory and another monitoring group, the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), both said coalition air strikes in the Tokhar area had caused 15 deaths.
The Syrian Observatory said 11 children were among those killed as people fled the village, which is about 14km (9 miles) north of Manbij, at dawn on Tuesday.
The UK-based monitoring group's director, Rami Abdul Rahman, told AFP news agency that the strikes appeared to have been carried out in error, with the civilians mistaken for IS militants.
The LCC said "vacuum missiles" had been fired at Tokhar and Hoshriya, an apparent reference to fuel-air explosive munitions.
The opposition activist network put the death toll in the two areas at 90 and said it included whole families.
An alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters called the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) began an operation to capture Manbij and cut critical supply routes to the IS-held city of Raqqa at the end of May.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption IS 'torture cells' found in abandoned prison
Under the cover of US-led coalition air strikes, they succeeded in encircling Manbij within days and entered the town's outskirts in late June.
However, the SDF's advance has been slowed in recent weeks by landmines planted by IS and suicide bomb attacks.
On Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein warned that the situation in Manbij, where an estimated 70,000 civilians were trapped, was believed to be deteriorating dramatically.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The advance into Manbij by Syrian Democratic Forces fighters has slowed in recent weeks
Mr Zeid said his office had received reports of a number of civilians, including women and children, being killed and injured by air and ground strikes, as well as by landmines.
"Civilians have also reportedly been killed if they leave their homes or attempt to flee," he added.
"Families are unable to access local cemeteries to bury their relatives... and are burying them in their gardens or keeping the corpses in bunkers."
"The town has no electricity or water at present, and no medical facilities are known to be operating," the UN official added. "As the SDF closes in on the city, [IS] has not permitted civilians to leave the area |
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“Certainly, that’s a factor, but … as we’ve said now a few times, it was not any one thing that prompted this,” Harf said at a daily briefing dominated by questions about the email issue dogging Clinton as she prepares to launch a presidential bid. “It would be grossly simplistic to say that any one thing prompted us to send this letter.”
Earlier this week, Harf and other state department officials said the decision to approach the former secretaries about searching their personal email accounts stemmed solely from a broad effort to update the State Department’s electronic recordkeeping efforts.
“When in the process of updating our records management — this is something that’s sort of ongoing given technology and the changes — we reached out to all of the former secretaries of state to ask them to provide any records they had,” she said Tuesday.
Asked that day if there was any link between Benghazi-related document requests and the missive to Clinton and other secretaries, Harf replied, “It went in October of 2014 – that was before we had gotten a request from the [Benghazi select] committee – as part of our records maintenance upgrading and the process we go through. So that was what drove that.”
A State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said Tuesday that the request for Clinton’s records was “independent” of and unrelated to the Benghazi probe.
POLITICO reported Friday that White House officials became aware in August that documents sought in the House Benghazi investigation contained Clinton’s private email address. The White House flagged the issue to the State Department and Clinton aides, but the former secretary’s staff decided to take no action at that point.
The issue remained under wraps until earlier this week when The New York Times reported that Clinton relied solely on a private email account during her service as America’s top diplomat.
Late Friday, a senior State official emphasized that only a fraction of the Clinton e-mails provided to State pertained to Benghazi.
“An October letter went out to all former Secretaries in an effort to ensure the preservation of official records, particularly given recent [National Archives] guidance and the increasing reliance on email. Like other agencies across the government, we are also in the process of updating our processes to manage and preserve records in an electronic format,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “While a small percentage of Secretary Clinton’s emails were responsive to the Select Committee’s November request, the vast majority were unrelated and it would be oversimplified and inaccurate to draw the conclusion that the preservation of her records was done for one purpose.”
Developments in the email saga and other controversies that have caused headaches for Clinton’s yet-to-be-launched presidential bid continued to unfold Friday.
A top adviser to President Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, suggested that Clinton’s reliance on private email for official work went against clearly established White House directives.
“I do know that obviously the president has a very firm policy that email should be kept on government systems. He believes in transparency,” Jarrett said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “I know that the State Department is currently working with the National Archives to make sure that all of Secretary Clinton’s emails are captured.”
Jarrett declined to say directly whether Clinton violated policy, saying such a determination was for State to make. “We established the policy here, but then we leave it up to every single agency to determine how to adhere to that policy,” the Obama adviser said.
But a potential Republican rival to Clinton in the presidential race, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, seemed to suggest that Clinton’s use of a personal email server jeopardized sensitive State Department information. He described her use of a personal email server as “baffling.”
“For security purposes, you need to be behind a firewall that recognizes the world for what it is and it’s a dangerous world and security would mean that you couldn’t have a private server,” Bush told Radio Iowa. “It’s a little baffling, to be honest with you, that didn’t come up in Secretary Clinton’s thought process.”
Bush also had his own private web domain and e-mail account as governor. Some of those messages were requested and disclosed under state public records laws while the former governor was in office from 1999 to 2007.
Bush apparently took the archive with him when he left, but sent a subset of 250,000 of those emails to a state archive last year. The former governor also released them to the public last month on a website designed to bolster his presidential hopes.
Some of Clinton’s records are expected to be made public by the State Department, but that could take months.
Meanwhile, another venture that has caused negative headlines for Clinton in recent weeks, the Clinton Foundation, is going to be put under the management of a longtime Clinton loyalist: former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
The foundation came under fire last month for resuming fundraising from foreign governments after Hillary Clinton stepped down as secretary of state in 2013.
Shalala, who resigned last year as president of the University of Miami, is expected to move to New York soon to become chief executive officer of the foundation.
Eric Braverman stepped down from that post in January in what POLITICO reported was a power struggle between veteran Clinton backers and skilled outsiders brought in to professionalize the foundation.
Clinton loyalists insist that none of the current controversies will register with voters. But with questions swirling about whether the private email arrangement was intended to prevent access to her records and whether it complied with federal laws and regulations, Clinton called Wednesday for the State Department to make the 55,000 pages of emails public.
“I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible,” Clinton tweeted.
Harf indicated Friday that State’s review of the documents is still getting underway. “That will start soon,” she said, cautioning that it is likely to take several months.
The State spokeswoman said the review process will use normal standards for Freedom of Information Act requests. Those rules require deletion of classified national security information, personal information and business secrets, and allow for deletion of information about internal decision-making processes and legal advice.
Harf denied a report in The Washington Post that State was reviewing Clinton’s email in a search for potential security violations. “An initial press report that we are doing an investigation of her email for security reasons is not correct,” she said.
At the briefing Friday, Hart tangled with reporters who said State Department regulations, a cable sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts in 2011 and a State Department inspector general report from 2012 all made clear that State employees should not routinely use personal email for official business.
“I think you’re oversimplifying,” she said, insisting that the warnings applied only to use of personal email for information considered “sensitive but unclassified.”
“It was not a general policy or guidance about email use in general. It refers to one specific kind of email use,” Harf added.
POLITICO reported Thursday that a provision in State’s Foreign Affairs Manual states: “It is the Department’s general policy that normal day-to-day operations be conducted on an authorized [State Department computer system], which has the proper level of security control …”
While the provision appears to make a general statement about agency policy, Harf noted that the section of the manual in which the language appears is devoted to “sensitive but unclassified” information.
Harf said the 2011 cable urging State staff to “avoid conducting official Department business from your personal email accounts” was simply advice prompted by hacking incidents Google announced publicly at the time.
“It’s helpful tips for people … some helpful tips when you’re using personal email,” she said.
Harf flatly denied that political pressure from the White House, Clinton aides or Clinton supporters was affecting the State Department’s handling of the email situation or would impact the review. However, the spokeswoman continued to have no response to questions about whether anyone at the department specifically authorized Clinton’s use of the personal account as her sole email or whether anyone discouraged her from using such an account due to the dangers of hacking.
Harf provided a bit more detail about the 55,000 pages of email records, saying they arrived from Clinton’s aides in paper form and span the entirety of her time as secretary. The spokeswoman confirmed that the department relies on Clinton’s camp to decide which email were work-related, a practice Harf said is consistent with each government employee’s duty to preserve official records.
“It wasn’t spreadsheets for [Clinton’s] daughter’s wedding, but it was anything related to official business,” Harf said.
“Each individual employee has a responsibility under the federal regulations to preserve their own records. With a State Department account or a personal account, when you walk out the door, it is your responsibility to provide those,” Harf said.
“When you walk out?” a reporter asked, alluding to the fact that Clinton did not provide her records when she departed, but some 23 months later.
“There was no time [requirement.] That was colloquial,” Harf replied. “Thank you for fact-checking me live and instantaneously during my press briefing. You should come more often. I like it.”
Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of the university at which Shalala served as president and to clarify the accessibility of e-mails Bush sent and received on a private account as governor.This is an opinion piece from MLive.com reporter Kyle Meinke.
CHICAGO -- Against the run, the Detroit Lions were gashed for 200 yards again. Against the pass, Teez Tabor led them in quarterback pressures. And they won the game 27-24.
How in the hell does that happen?
I've been sitting up here in the press box at Soldier Field, staring at this stat from ProFootballFocus. It's incredible. Tabor is a rookie cornerback who has barely touched the field this season. He played just 13 snaps against the Bears. He only tried rushing Mitchell Trubisky twice.
He got pressure both times.
And that was somehow enough to lead the defense. In a win. On the road.
Matthew Stafford deserves credit, and will get it of course. He led yet another fourth-quarter comeback, something he did eight times last year and has now done 31 times in nine years. One is an NFL record, the other is one off an NFL record.
And we've heard so much about it.
Less so, though, about Matt Prater.
Did you know he's teed up 10 potentially game-tying or game-winning field goals in the final four minutes for Detroit? And he has made all of them? Including four from beyond 45 yards, like the one Connor Barth missed Sunday? And a 58-yarder as time expired in Minnesota last year? That's still the second-longest field goal in team history.
He kicked six game-tying or game-winning field goals in the final minutes last season. He made all of them. And the Lions wound up needing basically every single one of them to scrape into the postseason.
Prater is so good, so clutch, and criminally underrated for his role in finishing off Stafford's comebacks the last couple years.
But perhaps nothing he's done in Detroit was more impressive than that 52-yarder he beat Chicago with on Sunday.
The announced temperature at kickoff was 36 degrees, although the wind made it feel so much colder on the field. And it was swirling. Prater spent warmups trying to figure out what exactly was going on, and didn't having much success doing it.
He couldn't hit squat from beyond 45 yards.
"Extra point," Prater would say after the game, when asked at what range he felt comfortable. "And that was about it."
But the Lions found themselves locked in a 24-24 tie with 1:35 left, and needing 52 yards to preserve their fragile title hopes for another week. Jim Caldwell knew that was well beyond Prater's range for the day, but he didn't have much choice either. So he sent Prater out there.
And Prater delivered again, pounding that thing right down the middle of the uprights.
"That dude has ice in his veins man," defensive tackle Akeem Spence said. "That's what I told him. I'm like, 'Bro, you got ice in your veins. It's windy as hell out here in Chicago, and you come up here and bang a 52-yard field goal like it's nothing? Right down the pipe?'
"That's Prater, man."
With three field goals of 55 yards in 2017, Prater has already set an NFL record. With 11 field goals of at least 55 yards for his career, Prater already is the greatest long-distance shooter in Lions history. Only Sebastian Janikowski has more in NFL history.
After just 53 games, Detroit's longest field-goal list now reads like this: Matt Prater (59 yards), Matt Prater (58 yards), Matt Prater (58 yards) and Matt Prater (57 yards). And the Lions have had some pretty good kickers over the years.
The numbers are staggering, but not many were harder or more badly needed than this one. And it came with the coach who gave up on him, John Fox, standing on the other sideline.
"It was pretty difficult, with the winds gusty," Prater said. "I couldn't really tell what it was doing. Good thing I had Sam (Martin) kind of caddying me. He said, 'Play it at the left upright.' He was jumping on me. I kind of lost it. I started yelling at Coach Fox, maybe. It was fun."
Prater's blast gives Detroit a win it needed to preserve its fragile title hopes. It now returns to Ford Field to face Minnesota in a showdown of the last two teams with a realistic chance to win the NFC North.
The Vikings have won six straight, and would have taken a commanding three-game lead with six to go had the Lions lost. But the Lions won, which means they have chance to pull within just one game with a victory on Thanksgiving.
This was one big kick.
"He's incredible," Caldwell said. "You even look through the years, we've come from beyond in a bunch of different games, and had to win them at the end, and and he's been a huge part of that."
The Lions are flawed, in some places deeply so. Their run defense is bad, their run offense is somehow worse, and their red-zone offense comes and goes as it pleases. They're playing without their best defensive tackle and their best defensive end. A rookie corner just led their pass rush with two QB pressures.
But they continue to win.
Playing like this, that won't last long. But 11 weeks into the season, they're still not out of it. And with just one winning team left on the schedule, they remain very much in it thanks to that big right leg of Matt Prater.
"He's got ice in his veins, man," Spence said. "He's a dog."I definitely do agree with you: rock is more influential and positive to the listener.
However, it depends on where you're looking. If he's citing those rappers, then he's wrong - those guy aren't positive at all. But there is some oldschool and underground rap that is a lot deeper. Although the mentality still seems to be that you have to rap about "sex, money, drugs, and fame" to a certain degree. It's like a quota you have to fill or something. I'm not sure, I used to be a big oldschool rap fan when I was a kid. ANYWAY. I do believe rock is more influential to the listener, and certainly more positive. How many kids learn instruments after hearing "Moving Pictures" by Rush, versus how many kids start rapping after hearing "The Black Album" by Jay-Z? I know Rush made me learn drums, but Jay-Z never influenced me to rap. As per positivity, I think rock musicians usually at least try to write deep songs. They don't always succeed, but I mean, writing meaningful things is sort of expected of a rock musician, it's a goal. If you don't, you're ridiculed. When rock musicians try and sing about how much drugs they take, or how many girls they score, they're usually labelled as extremely try hard. Nickleback's "Dark Horse" album is a wonderful example here.
"Now, I'm not a fan of rap. For me, rap is just bragging, isn't it? It's just, 'I got a big *** house, I got a big *** car, I got a big *** woman.' Alright mate, stop showing off. Why don't you just read off your shopping receipt and lace it with misogyny? That's all I can hear!" - Russell Howard on rap.
Psychedalek · 6 years ago 1 Thumbs up 0 Thumbs down Report AbuseRichard Axel (born July 2, 1946) is an American molecular biologist and university professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His work on the olfactory system won him and Linda Buck, a former postdoctoral research scientist in his group, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004.
Education and early life [ edit ]
Born in New York City, New York, Axel graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1963,[2] received his A.B. in 1967 from Columbia University, and his M.D. in 1971 from Johns Hopkins University. He returned to Columbia later that year and became a full professor in 1978.
Research and career [ edit ]
Richard Axel circa 2008
During the late 1970s, Axel, along with microbiologist Saul J. Silverstein and geneticist Michael H. Wigler, discovered a technique of cotransformation via transfection, a process which allows foreign DNA to be inserted into a host cell to produce certain proteins.[3][4][5][6][7][8] A family of patents, now colloquially referred to as the "Axel patents", covering this technique were filed for February 1980 and were issued in August 1983.[9] As a fundamental process in recombinant DNA research as performed at pharmaceutical and biotech companies, this patent proved quite lucrative for Columbia University, earning it almost $100 million a year at one time, and a top spot on the list of top universities by licensing revenue.[9] The Axel patents expired in August 2000.
In their landmark paper published in 1991,[10] Buck and Axel cloned olfactory receptors, showing that they belong to the family of G protein coupled receptors. By analyzing rat DNA, they estimated that there were approximately one thousand different genes for olfactory receptors in the mammalian genome. This research opened the door to the genetic and molecular analysis of the mechanisms of olfaction. In their later work, Buck and Axel have shown that each olfactory receptor neuron remarkably only expresses one kind of olfactory receptor protein and that the input from all neurons expressing the same receptor is collected by a single dedicated glomerulus of the olfactory bulb.[11]
Axel's primary research interest is on how the brain interprets the sense of smell, specifically mapping the parts of the brain that are sensitive to specific olfactory receptors. He holds the titles of University Professor at Columbia University, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and of Pathology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In addition to contributions to neurobiology, Axel has also made seminal discoveries in immunology, and his lab was one of the first to identify the link between HIV infection and immunoreceptor CD4.
In addition to making contributions as a scientist, Axel has also mentored many leading scientists in the field of neurobiology. Seven of his trainees have become members of the National Academy of Sciences, and currently six of his trainees are affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's investigator and early scientist award programs.
Awards and honors [ edit ]
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Axel has won numerous awards and honors. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences [12] in 1983.[13] Axel was awarded the Double Helix Medal in 2007. CSHL Double Helix Medal Honoree and was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2014. His nomination reads:
“ Richard Axel is a distinguished molecular biologist and neuroscientist. He developed gene transfer techniques that permit the introduction of virtually any gene into any cell permitting the production of a large number of clinically important proteins and leading to the isolation of a gene for CD4, the cellular receptor for the AIDS virus, HIV. He then applied molecular biology to neuroscience revealing over a thousand genes involved in the recognition of odours, a discovery for which he shared the Nobel Prize in 2004. He currently explores how odour recognition is translated into internal representations in the brain.[1] ”
Personal life [ edit ]
Axel is married to fellow scientist and olfaction pioneer Cornelia Bargmann.[14] Previously, he had been married to Ann Axel, who is a social worker at Columbia University Medical Center. Owing to his tall stature, Axel played basketball during high school.[15]The leaders of the Green party and Ukip have forged an unlikely political union in order to call for a fairer electoral system, after their parties gained 16.4% of the vote in the general election but emerged with just 0.31% of the seats in the House of Commons.
Natalie Bennett, the Green party leader, appeared alongside the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, and the party’s only MP, Douglas Carswell, on Monday to call for an electoral overhaul, in an event organised by the Electoral Reform Society and Unlock Democracy.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ukip leader Nigel Farage on Monday. Photograph: EPA
They were joined by representatives from the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National party, and Plaid Cymru, all of whom signed a 477,000-signature petition at Westminster’s Old Palace Yard, before handing it in to 10 Downing Street.
A Green party spokesperson said the Greens and Ukip were the most prominent parties in the campaign because they had been the most unfairly treated by the system.
Despite receiving 12.6% of the vote in the general election – making them the third-biggest party in terms of votes – Ukip won only one seat in parliament under the first-past-the-post system. The Greens received 3.8% of the vote and only one seat, while the Liberal Democrats won 7.9% of the vote and only eight seats.
The SNP did comparatively well out of the current electoral system, having won 4.7% of the vote but 56 MPs. Plaid Cymru, which received only 0.6% of the vote, has three seats.
If the election had been conducted with a system of proportional representation, Ukip would have been the third-biggest party, after the Conservatives and Labour, with about 82 seats. The Liberal Democrats would have won about 51 seats and the Greens about 24 seats. The SNP would have picked up only about 31 seats.
Farage condemned the fact that 5m votes (those of Ukip and the Greens combined) and the views of 5 million people, were represented by only two MPs. “It cannot go on like this. It is important to be here with the Electoral Reform Society supporting its campaign to make votes match seats.”
We haven’t seen significant reform at Westminster since women got the vote Natalie Bennett
Bennett said the election had demonstrated the need to change the constitution. “We haven’t seen significant reform at Westminster since women got the vote, and that was 1918 – we shouldn’t get to the centenary of that without getting a fair voting system,” she said.
“The SNP has done well under first past the post this time, but we have always supported proportional representation and will continue to do so,” said the SNP’s Westminster leader, Angus Robertson MP. “From an unrepresentative voting system to the unelected House of Lords, SNP MPs will be a strong voice in the coming years for the change we need to see.”
After a week in which competing factions within Ukip were embroiled in a public row over Farage’s future as leader, he seemed keen to demonstrate a united front with Carswell. “I’m also delighted to be joining with Douglas Carswell, who has campaigned for political reform for years and is leading the Ukip charge for this in the House of Commons,” he said.
Carswell’s interest in electoral change dates to before he defected from the Conservative party in August 2014. In 2010, while a Tory backbencher, Carswell teamed with the Green party’s only MP, Caroline Lucas, to campaign for proportional representation to be included as an option on the ballot paper during the referendum on the possible change to the alternative vote electoral system.8 HTML Elements You’re Not Using (and Should Be)
In today's web, the word semantic gets thrown around a lot. But what does semantic mean? Why is it important?
Semantic HTML expresses the meaning of the document. It's less about how the text looks and more about what it is. Good semantic markup helps both people and machines understand the content and its context.
Semantic markup is much more accessible and easier for screen readers to interpret. It's SEO friendly. It works better with modern browsers. It reduces the amount of code needed to express the content and increases the clarity of the code for other people that have to read it.
Okay, so semantic content is great, but how do you use it? One of the best ways to start writing better markup is to replace generic tags with more expressive elements. Let's take a look at eight that you can use to step up your game.
<q>
Like it's blockier cousin <blockquote>, the <q> tag is used for quoted text.
Why not just use quotation marks? Quotation marks don't always imply a quote. Sometimes they're used for emphasis, irony, or to identify the name of something. In those cases, using quotation marks directly in the content is perfectly valid. However, if you're quoting someone, <q> explicitly shows your meaning.
<i> and <b>
Back in the good old days, <i> and <b> were used to identify italic and bold text. When the idea of separating semantic content from presentation started to gain traction, using <i> and <b> became frowned upon because they represented how the text was displayed, instead of what it meant. They were replaced by <em> and <strong>, which indicates emphasized and strongly emphasized text.
With HTML5, <i> and <b> now have shiny new semantic meanings. The <i> tag is used for text that is in a separate tone or mood. This is useful for things like thoughts and technical terms. The <b> tag identifies text that is stylistically different than normal text, but doesn't have any semantically different meaning. How is this different than using <span>? The key is that <b> communicates a lack of semantic meaning.
<abbr>
<abbr>'s are used for abbreviations! This can be really handy in documents with several short abbreviations. <abbr>'s have an optional title attribute that contains the unabbreviated version of the text.
<abbr title="laugh out loud">lol</abbr> <abbr title="I don't know">idk</abbr> <abbr title="got to go">g2g</abbr> <abbr title="talk to you later">ttyl</abbr>
<time>
Let's take a look at a classic localization problem: dates. In the United States, October 5th, 2013 is represented by 10/05/13. In the United Kingdom, it's 05/10/13. In the Netherlands, October 5th would be written 05-10-13; in South Africa it would be 2013/10/05 and in Russia it's 05.10.13. With all of these possibilities, it's difficult for a machine to correctly read dates in all of these locales.
The <time> tag allows you to represent time and dates in a machine-readable format. The above example could be written as <time datetime="2013-10-05">10/05/13</time>. A HTML parser can use this to determine the exact time we meant, regardless of how it is formatted. The <time> tag also allows an optional 24-hour formatted time to be appended to the date: <time datetime="2013-10-05 22:00">10/05/13 at 10 PM</time> ;
<mark>
Ever do something like this?
<p> Three hundred pages of boring, useless text. <span class="highlight">The one thing you need to know and will never be able to find again if you don't highlight it.</span> More boring stuff… </p>
Well, now you don't need to. HTML5 introduced the <mark> element, which represents highlighted text that is, text that's marked for referential purposes due to its relevance in another context.
<input>
Yes, <input>. You've probably used <input type="text">, <input type="submit"> and maybe even <input type="hidden"> at some point, but have you used any of the other types? With HTML5, <input>'s can now be used with a range of types, including:
email
tel
number
range
date
time
search
color
These are great, but make sure they meet your browser requirements before you use them. Some types still aren't supported by all major browsers.
<menu>
Have you ever marked up a menu with an unordered list?
<ul class="menu-toolbar"> <li class="new">New</li> <li class="open">Open</li> <li class="save">Save</li> <li class="quit">Quit</li> </ul>
Well stop! menu is designed for this purpose. The <menu> element represents an unordered list of commands. It has a type attribute, which can be set to popup or toolbar.
<menu type="toolbar"> <li class="new">New</li> <li class="open">Open</li> <li class="save">Save</li> <li class="quit">Quit</li> </menu>
Bonus
Most front end developers have used when writing HTML, but many don't know the real meaning of the character. A non-breaking space will not break on a new line. This means that if you have two words separated by a non-breaking space, then both words will stick together at the end of a sentence. This is handy when breaking the words might be disruptive. Some great examples are:
Units: 12 m/s
Time: 8 PM
Proper nouns: Dairy Queen
Also, be sure to check out the non-breaking hyphen ( ‑ ), which lets you use a hyphen character that won't break.
Wrapping up
HTML is growing more semantic by the day. Using these elements is a great start to writing cleaner, more accessible markup. For a more complete look at all of the available options, check out the Periodic Table of the Elements, the Mozilla Developer Network documentation or, if you're feeling bold, the W3C's HTML specification. Have fun!Theodore Wright III (far right) and Raymond Fosdick (second from right) with Coast Guard officers after their 2012 ditching of a Beech Baron in the Gulf of Mexico.
A plea deal has brought a swift conclusion to the legal case against Theodore R. Wright III and three of his accomplices, who were charged in July with a massive insurance fraud scheme involving airplanes, a $100,000 sports car and a luxury boat.
The highest profile crime involved the 2012 ditching of a Beech Baron in the Gulf of Mexico, the aftermath of which Wright filmed on his iPad while floating in the water before being rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. He later recounted a story about smoke in the cockpit and the harrowing ditching in an interview on the Today show.
Wright received an $85,000 insurance payment for the plane, more than twice what he paid for it. Similar schemes involved a Citation business jet that was set on fire, a Lamborghini that Wright crashed into a water-filled ditch and the intentional sinking of a sailboat at a marina in Hawaii, authorities charged.
Wright, who had become a minor Facebook and Instagram celebrity for videos and photos portraying him living a lavish aviation-infused lifestyle, now faces up to 40 years in federal prison. Before he was charged with the fraud-related crimes, Wright posted photos of himself flying his Learjet, shooting military style guns from a helicopter and performing aerobatics in his L-39 jet in a tuxedo.Utilities Cut Coal Use Amid Clean Power Plan Fight
Critics of the Obama administration’s most sweeping climate policy hailed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in February to temporarily block it, saying the ruling on the Clean Power Plan could breathe new life into the flagging coal industry.
But even as those critics await further rulings on whether the plan is constitutional, utilities are already looking far beyond coal — the nation’s largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change — and pressing ahead with investments in cleaner forms of energy, including renewable, natural gas and even nuclear power.
Solar power is growing faster in the U.S. than natural gas and wind in 2016.
Credit: Sandia Labs/flickr
“You don’t simply put the genie back in the bottle when it comes to major strategic investments that the captains of industry are making,” Quin Shea, vice president of environment for the utility trade group Edison Electric Institute, said after the court’s decision. Any potential legal reprieve for coal will have no bearing on the industry’s long-term goal to reduce carbon emissions in the electric power sector, he said.
No new coal-fired power plants are planned for the near future in the U.S. That’s because before the Clean Power Plan took effect last year, aiming to cut carbon emissions from coal-fired power, natural gas prices fell, encouraging utilities to focus on building new natural gas-fired power plants.
Many states also had their own emissions goals and renewables standards encouraging utilities to look beyond coal, said Jackson Morris, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s eastern energy program and a former director of the Pace University Energy and Climate Center. Oregon, for example, passed a bill this week that would eliminate the state’s use of coal for electricity by 2030.
“You also had utilities seeing the writing on the wall and making decisions in the best interest of their shareholders. They’re not going to change because the stay was issued,” Morris said of the court’s ruling. “The Clean Power Plan is really locking in a transformation that’s already in motion.”
The coal industry and the 24 states suing to stop the Clean Power Plan say that the Obama administration is trying to “regulate the coal industry out of existence,” costing coal-dependent states such as West Virginia and Kentucky jobs. And, they say, the plan would force utilities to retire or upgrade existing power plants, high costs that will trickle down to residents, raising their monthly light bills.
“The decision adds to the growing recognition – by Congress and by more than half the states that are challenging EPA in court – that the Clean Power Plan is already creating economic havoc in the nation’s power grid,” National Mining Association President Hal Quinn said in a statement. “The costs it imposes will ultimately be paid by households, businesses and industries across the country.”
Jason Hayes, spokesman for the American Coal Council, said the group expects at least 30 percent of electricity in the U.S. to come from coal through 2040.
“There’s that old quote: ‘The story of my demise is somewhat overstated,’ ” Hayes said, referring to the coal industry.
But many utilities say that their momentum is clearly toward natural gas and renewables, and federal data reflect that.
Click Image to Enlarge Credit: EIA
Forty-one coal-fired power plants are expected to be retired this year in the U.S., representing 88 percent — more than 5.3 gigawatts — of the 5.97 gigawatts of electric power generating capacity being taken offline this year, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. Most of the rest are tiny plants that run on crude oil or landfill gas.
The coal-fired power plants being shuttered are mostly being replaced by solar, natural gas and wind power plants. Of the 26 gigawatts of new power plants coming online nationwide in 2016, the largest share comes from solar — 9.5 gigawatts, or 36.5 percent. Natural gas comes in second, followed by wind and nuclear, according to the EIA.
Dawn Santoianni, spokeswoman for Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy, the world’s largest utility based on market value, said that the company is committed to reducing emissions regardless of the legal outcome for the Clean Power Plan.
In the next five years, Duke plans to retire an additional 2.2 gigawatts of coal capacity, invest $4 billion in new natural gas facilities, and invest $3 billion in renewables, she said.
Tom Schmitz, spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric, one of the West’s largest utilities and a major supporter of the Clean Power Plan, said California’s many environmental and climate regulations and emissions reduction mandates have been driving the company’s investments in renewables and natural gas for years.
“We have achieved a carbon dioxide emissions rate that is roughly two-thirds cleaner than the national average for electric utilities,” Schmitz said. “More than 50 percent of the electricity PG&E delivers to its customers comes from renewable or carbon dioxide-free sources.”
A power plant in New York City.
Credit: m01229/flickr
He said PG&E is on course to meet the California’s renewables goal of generating 33 percent of its power from renewables — excluding hydropower because the state does not consider hydro renewable — by 2020 and 50 percent by 2030.
Atlanta-based Southern Company, the country’s fourth-largest electric power utility, has reduced its coal power generation from 70 percent to 35 percent in recent years. The company is among those investing in what it calls “21st Century Coal,” which includes coal gasification plants and carbon capture and storage research, spokeswoman Meredith Leigh Knight said.
The company is building a coal gasificiation plant in Mississippi, which will transform coal into gas that generates electricity. The company says the $6.5 billion plant will reduce carbon emissions by 65 percent compared to a typical coal-fired power plant, but its critics say it could be one of the most expensive power plants ever built.
“As we have shifted from coal to gas, we have maintained the flexibility of our generating fleet,” Knight said. “Without federal mandates, the Southern Company system achieved greenhouse gas emission reductions almost 20 percent below 2005 levels.”
Increasingly, utilities see those greenhouse gas reductions as sound business decisions, with low natural gas prices and other market forces giving energy companies less incentive to make further investments in coal, said Morris, of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Just from a business case, I don’t know how you can stand before your shareholder and say that |
Returning
20 x 60 (Fall 2015)
STEVEN AND CHRIS Returning
130 x 60 (Fall 2015)
Further information about the 2015-16 season will be announced at a later date. For a full schedule of CBC’s winter programming, visit CBC.ca/Television.Hewlett-Packard is scheduled to hold its third quarter earnings call later this afternoon, but if a report from Bloomberg is to be believed, dollars will be the least interesting topic of the call. Bloomberg reports that multiple sources are indicating that HP will spin off its PC business to focus on enterprise services. As part of that change in focus, it will be acquiring the Cambridge, UK-based data analysis company Autonomy for about $10 billion, a healthy premium over the company's current market cap.
Right now, HP has more than enough cash and short-term assets for the deal to go ahead. And Autonomy is a good fit for its increased focus on enterprise services. Among other products and services, the company sells software that analyzes documents and media files to extract information and make it available via a search function. This allows companies to identify which documents contain relevant material, even if that document happens to be a voice memo.
Although HP's shift toward a service and consulting focus has been going on for years (we joked that it already looked a bit like IBM West a year ago), the decision to spin off its PC business is a bit of a surprise. After a rocky merger with Compaq, HP had grown to dominate global PC sales, and its purchase of Palm and WebOS had indicated it was at least trying to pursue options that could help keep it relevant as sales of compact touchscreen devices soared.
Nevertheless, the margins of the PC business have remained very narrow, and most of HP's competition is either suffering or attempting to go upmarket (Dell being the primary example of the latter). For HP, the Personal Systems group (responsible for PC sales, among other things) brought in the most revenue in its last quarter (roughly $10 billion), but that only resulted in $500 million in earnings. Enterprise Services, Servers and Storage, and Imaging and Printing all brought in substantially more, even though none of them had as much starting revenue. PCs clearly aren't a drag on HP—they still make it money—but they're not where its growth is going to come from.
If its PC business is spun off, it will still be a major player, much as IBM's former hardware division has remained significant under Lenovo's guidance. But the spinoff would be a further indication that the PC business as most of us understood it—the driver of technology innovations and profits—is a thing of the past. And now that PCs are mostly commodities, there is little about them that is appealing to many of the current technology giants.Get the biggest business 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
Welsh firms and entrepreneurs looking to do business in Pakistan will find the reality much different to any negative perceptions, with a business friendly culture, the country’s high commissioner to the UK Syed Ibne Abbas said.
On his first official visit to Wales, where he met with AMs and members of the Pakistani community in Wales, Mr Abbas revealed he is keen for a memorandum of understanding to be signed between the two countries to help deepen ties both economically and culturally – as well as confirming that establishing a consular presence in Wales is currently under consideration.
With China and Pakistan creating closer economic and trading ties - through Pakistan China Economic-Corridor (CEPC) projects running into tens of billions of dollars - he said this offered opportunities for Welsh firms in energy and infrastructure.
And he said there were also trading opportunities in agriculture, as well as in the country’s emerging consumer insurance market.
Last month Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif stepped down as the country’s Prime Minister after the Supreme Court disqualified him from elected office. The decision is linked to revelations in the Panama Papers alleging that three of his children used shell companies to buy properties in London. He denies any wrongdoing.
Speaking before the decision at the executive lounge of the Hilton Hotel in the centre of Cardiff, Mr Abbas: “Pakistan is open for business and there are opportunities galore, so come and look at us and don’t get carried away by the perceptions, as there is the reality and perception.
“So my message to the Welsh businesses and entrepreneurs is seeing is believing and come and see for yourself and explore, and don’t try and judge us through the blinkers of others.”
But what does he believe are those perception?
He said: “Everything is on fire or there is terrorism all around. That is a perception, but the reality is that life is very normal, but of course things happen here and there, but barring some pockets,it is absolutely normal.
“And this is not me saying it, but the Washington Post, Bloomberg and the World Bank who are saying there is improving law and order and an improved climate for business. Our growth rate has gone up to 5.4% [World Bank’s projection for 2018] which is good, but still we are working to improve it further.
“And we have recently been upgraded by MSCI [a global investment index] from a frontier market to an emerging market. And our Stock Exchange is one of the best performing in the region, so these are good indicators”.
Opportunities for Welsh firms in Pakistan
He said that were trading and investment opportunities for Welsh firms in Pakistan’s key agriculture sector, as well as its emerging consumer insurance industry.
He also highlighted opportunities for the Welsh higher education sector in Pakistan. Swansea University is currently exploring establishing a campus at the expanding Lahore Knowledge Park.
The high commissioner was interested to discover that Cardiff is home to one of the UK’s biggest car insurance firms in Admiral. Car insurance in Pakistan is mandatory but is looking to expand its offer and number of providers. Mr Abbas also expects to see competition opening up in the household insurance market, where he believes it will also become mandatory at some stage.
On agricultural ties Mr Abbas said: “We are an agrarian economy and agriculture seems to be a forte of the Welsh economy. So there is huge opportunities here between our two countries and I am going to intently work on this.
"I have already expressed my interest during discussions within AMs and told them we want to work closely with you because we are 200 million people. We are an agrarian economy and if you have expertise and skills we would very much like to benefit from that.”
He said that dairy sector in Pakistan in particular could benefit from western expertise.
He added: “Pakistan is the fourth or fifth largest producer of milk in the world, but unfortunately, by not having real infrastructure, most of that gets wasted. So that is one ready sector one could look at. We would like to have an MOU with the Welsh Government. I have talked to AMs, but not formally conveyed that [to the Welsh Government], but that is my intention.
On educational ties he said: “There are huge opportunities like in Lahore. If Swansea University is looking at this [campus], this is a great opportunity and let me assure you we are welcoming to foreign universities to have a footprint in Pakistan.”
How Pakistan views Brexit
The high commissioner said that Brexit was a matter for the UK, but believes it could create opportunities after the UK leaves the EU.
In Wales the Pakistani diaspora community is put at around 20,000.
Mr Abbas said: “So we have to make it work [Brexit] to our advantage and there are lots of opportunities, because after Brexit the UK will be looking beyond Europe and markets which were not looked at so intently in the past.
“And we have historic and strong relationships [with UK] and a shared past and history, so we are quite upbeat that post-Brexit we really will be able to have useful relations.”
However, he said that from a higher education perspective, due to visa related restrictions, the UK is no longer seen as the favoured place to go to study outside of Pakistan.
He said: “Previously everyone one looked up to the UK for education and opportunities. So when somebody thought of going abroad for education the first destination that would come to mind was the UK, because of our history, shared past, shared language the Commonwealth... you name it.
"But of late, and I would say for a few years, because of some of these restrictions, students have started looking elsewhere and to my dismay they have already thought of other destinations such as Canada Australia and New Zealand.
“The authorities are aware of that and I am sure in due course a correction will take place.”
Islamic extremism
On the radicalisation of young Muslims he said: “My message is loud and clear to all people and that is stand up and be counted and be part of the mainstream, this is the message I always give.
“On extremism in young British Muslims, irrespective of ethnicity, there is also responsibility on the British Government in the sense that they have to find out way it is happening.
“Previously we use to say these are the fringe groups who are in poverty, but of late we have seen people who are highly educated from well groomed families [involved in acts of terror]. This is something that seriously needs to be looked at here.
“From my point of view if you look at the British Pakistani community, I say to them that this is your country and you have to be the best law abiding citizens you can be, because this country has opened its hearts and arms and everything for you.”
Relationship with India
On Pakistan’s complex relations with India he concurred that he would like to see greater trade - although tension remains between the two neighbouring states.
“Absolute and we would like to see trade happening in the region.” said Mr Abbas. He added: The south asia region itself is the most disconnected [trading perspective] region. That is a sad commentary and we would certainly like more trade with all the countries, particular India as it is one of the major economies in the region.
“But we cannot focus on just one area, as politics and economics go hand in hand. So we would very much like to have trade relations, but we cannot have any diktats from people saying you must do this and that and then come and talk’.”
“The best way is to talk to each other and not at each other. And that is what is going on at the moment.”
Test match cricket
On a return on test cricket to Pakistan, following the terrorism attack on the Sri Lanka team in 2009, he said “I would love to see come back tomorrow.”
“We are doing a step by step approach and a couple of years ago we brought Zimbabwe here.
“And more games from the PSL (Pakistan super League) will be played this year, after one last year. It’s an incremental approach and we are confidence that if ‘yes everything is alright and we can do that’ it will give a positive message to the other countries [cricket playing].”Eight years in the making, Guillermo del Toro’s highly anticipated animated series, Trollhunters, is finally set to debut on Netflix in December, and EW has your first look at the series.
The show follows 15-year-old Jim (Anton Yelchin), who is transformed into the Trollhunter, defender of the good trolls, after stumbling upon a magical amulet. While fighting alongside his best friend Toby (Charlie Saxton) and the wise four-armed troll Blinky (Kelsey Grammer), he also must juggle play rehearsal and homework.
“I wanted that juxtaposition that Jim could be bad at gym class but fantastic at fighting in the troll arena,” says the Pacific Rim director, who was inspired by 1980s Amblin movies like The Goonies.
After a wide search, Yelchin proved the perfect voice for the “warm, accessible quality” that del Toro imagined for Jim: “That simple goodness and beautiful soul came through every time [Yelchin read].”
To read more on Trollhunters and other stories, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now – and subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.
Yelchin died tragically in June at 27, but not before completing most of his work on the first season. “We went through great pains to ensure that his voice is preserved for the series,” says del Toro poignantly. “He was so passionate about it, and he had so much fun doing this.”
Trollhunters also features the voices of Ron Perlman, Jonathan Hyde, Lexi Medrano, Amy Landecker, Fred Tatasciore, and Steven Yeun. See more exclusive images from the show below.
Dreamworks Animation/Netflix
Dreamworks Animation/NetflixQ. Are any microbes hardy enough to survive in outer space?
A. Experiments have found that many microbes survive and even thrive in a space-vessel environment. But most do much worse when exposed to some of the actual conditions of outer space, either in the laboratory or in space, according to an extensive review of space microbiology, published in 2010 in the journal Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.
Of all the organisms tested, only some lichens, Rhizocarpon geographicum and Xanthoria elegans, were fully viable after two weeks in outer space, with its radiation, vacuum, temperature extremes and low gravity. The most harmful factor, the reviewed studies concluded, was the high level of solar ultraviolet radiation found beyond the ozone layer.
However, if spores of Bacillus subtilis, a common bacterium, were shielded against the radiation, they did survive in space for up to six years, especially if they were embedded in clay or in artificial meteorites made of meteorite powder.
These findings support the possibility of interplanetary transfer of microorganisms within meteorites, the review concluded.Imagine, being able to ride your bike from Niles to Mishawaka without having to risk your life on a busy road. Soon, that may be a reality thanks to the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail.
When it's complete, there will be 34 miles of off-road bike and pedestrian trails connecting the two cities.
Much of the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail is complete, like Mishawaka and South Bend's river walks and the paved trail that runs through Niles. But work is still being done to connect all those trails to form the River Valley Trail.
And while it will be years before the entire trail is completed, work is being done right now.
Just west of M-51 in Niles Township, among trees and brush, construction crews are hard at work. Blacktop is being laid and leveled, a cross walk is being installed along US-12, landscaping is being planted and what will soon be the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail is taking shape.
"So they are building about 3 miles of trail in Niles Township," says Marcy Colclough of the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission.
The trail she is referring to is being laid from US-12 to the Indiana state line. It will connect the paths in Niles to the LaSalle Trail in St. Joseph County which is also still in the works.
Ultimately, the entire trail system will lead bikers and pedestrians through Niles, South Bend and Mishawaka. There are off shoots that run through Notre Dame, past the St. Joseph River and by area parks and schools.
"This trail system is just really important for the communities along it. It is really going to bring attention to this area as a cool place to be. People want to live, work, near places that have trails and recreational opportunities," says Colclough.
There are other areas along the planned route that are still in the planning and fundraising stages. Still, the people who have been working to make the River Valley Trail possible are optimistic about what this will mean in the years to come.
"And the end product is hopefully is that this region gets known for its pedestrian friendly facilities," says Harry Thibault of the Niles Township Park Commission.
The portion being built right now on Niles Township is expected to be completed by end of July or early August.
Visit them on facebook and find out about fundraising and how you can help: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheIMRVTrailSubramanian Swamy, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader and grand poobah of Virat Hindus everywhere (mostly in New Jersey), is a hard man to parody. That’s because he often falls afoul of what is known on the internet as Poe’s law. Named after Nathan Poe, the law suggests that “unless you add a smiley or a blatant display of humour, it is impossible to create a parody of extremism or fundamentalism that someone won’t mistake for the real thing.”Meet Subramaniam Swamy. The only difference between this Swamy and the original is that his first name ends with an ‘m’ not an ‘n.’ Oh, and he’s also a parody, although far too often it’s hard to tell the difference.Sample this recent post from the parody Facebook account:
And this post from the Swamy facebook account that has been endorsed by the man himself, although it’s actually run by the ShankhNaad team.
Desperate Congi&Aaptards seeing the huge knock out response of PTs have resorted to parody accounts.Facebook must act or face legal notice
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) December 14, 2014
This perfect depiction of Poe’s law, with lots of people who stumble upon the parody account actually thinking that it is the real deal, and it’s easy to see why. Unfortunately for the person who runs the parody, Swamy happens to have found out, and he’s not happy.On his Twitter account, which he runs himself, Swamy said that the parody was a reaction to the power of his Patriot Tweeple army, commonly referred to as PTs. The BJP rabble-rouser threatened to take legal action against those using his carefully built brand in the name of humour.This has prompted some fun reactions from the parody itself, most memorably through an always useful reference to Andaz Apna Apna.
But the page might not be up for long. Facebook doesn’t take too kindly to parody accounts, insisting that everyone has to use their real, authentic names. Its policy, as explained on this page, makes it clear: “Pretending to be anything or anyone is not allowed.” Which means one of the better internet parody accounts could disappear at any given time, and it won't be around afterwards."Many people have suggested that we change the name so that we can at least run the page," said the creator of the page, a software developer from Bangalore who asked to remain unidentified. "I'm not worried if it is taken down by Facebook, but until it is there, it will remain Subramaniam Swamy."The creator of the account said he started it in June, after noticing just how blindly people would follow the posts put up by Swamy and the ShankNaad team, which made it seem as if the whole world was out to attack Hindus. He, in fact, got a chance to prove this blind loyalty when some joke posts of his own ended up not only being shared by the original Swamy's fans but also being defended by them.
"It was quite disturbing to see people just blindly follow him. So I thought this would be a fun way to counter that. And what has happened is that many people who are his own supporters end up reposting and sharing this page, and even defending things we've written, like the Monalisa Shah post or the one about Australia [above]," he said. "It's also funny, some of his biggest supporters block the page when they realise what it is, but also people who hate him block the page, because they think it is him."Suraiya, or @iranikanjari as she's known on Twitter, became a social media sensation over the festive break after posting a few casual snaps of herself, wearing a T-shirt and pants, showing her stomach and thighs and natural body hair, with the caption, "walmart underwear vibes".
walmart underwear vibes pic.twitter.com/wo66OQGIdo — pakola papi (@iranikanjari) December 24, 2015
The 18 year old student from Dallas, Texas, who is of Iranian, Indian and Pakistani heritage, had posted body positive selfies before, but nothing that generated such an explosive, and international reaction. Despite receiving a lot of negative and ignorant comments from Twitter trolls, Suraiya was supported by feminists praising her radical action and women around the world thanking her for showing them that their body is beautiful too, just the way it is.
Not only did Suraiya keep the picture online, she engaged with many of the haters, answering calls for her to "buy a razor" with tweets that ranged from a simple and sassy, "No," to longer, more detailed dissections of beauty expectations, sparking a wider conversation about sexism, whitewashing, cultural appropriation and the power of social media activism. i-D caught up with Suraiya to get her take from the eye of a social media storm...
What made you post the "Walmart underwear vibes" selfies?
I was really just feeling cute and was loving my body shape. I know I've got body hair and I know I usually get hate for this stuff, but the photos were among the least provocative I've posted. So the reason really was: "I'm feelin' myself".
Did you have any idea when you posted them how controversial they would be?
No way. When I checked the activity on it and saw that after fighting all those absurd men it was hitting 1,000+ faves, I screamed. I haven't stop screaming, none of this was planned.
There has been a huge, global reaction online. How has it differed across genders, cultures or other groups?
Oh God. I mean the hate was usually from men, and sadly men of colour. But I'm used to hate from men in my community, like anyone from the Southeast Asian diaspora, I'm used to that, but men from any other community commenting shocked me. So yah, it was a breadth of men who were commenting absurd things, and that made it even more crazy. Any woman who commented [negatively] was generally of western origin. There were some brown girls here and there, but it was predominantly women who have just never had the genetic issue, so it must have shocked them? I can't think of another explanation besides the beauty industry being geared towards western standards. Anyone who accepts those standards assumed I'm gross. The majority of my support came from brown girls who saw me and related. Which is amazing. I have never been supported in such a way. The outpouring of love was beyond my capacity to grasp if I'm being honest. Like, here are these girls… girls just like me, idolising me. It made all the hate worth it.
Your family didn't take your new found social media fame too well, but you said you convinced your mum that you were empowering women --what did you say?
[My mum] had an emotional reaction at first, screaming in Hindi that I took the family honour away, and then I just sat down and was like, "We're talking like adults," and I explained, 1) I'm more clothed than I would be on the beach, and 2) this is all to help women like me and her. And she got it, and we're fine. Dad... doesn't know. And that's cool. Like, dads are dads and they often live in ignorance about daughters. I think he wouldn't care though. I was scared that if he did know his reaction would be more emotional and he would try to ship me back home. The thing about parents -- brown parents in particular -- is that the switch-up is polar: one second they can be fine with you and the next they're literally threatening to move you back to Mumbai. So I just didn't know how that would have gone. It never came to that. So I guess everything is fine. They are my parents after all.
Why do you think body hair is such a contentious point in the drive for body positivity, even amongst feminists?
Rhetorically speaking, I feel hair and hair growth function as incredible creative material. It's a topic that can be understood and translated beyond linguistic barriers. There is so much you can do with the 'idea' of hair in a literary sense, and that's what makes it an amazing rallying cry. My 7th grade English teacher told me, "The winner of the argument is the one who defines the terms," and I live by that. So when people started defining hair as gross, I redefined the terms for myself: I am not hairy, I see myself as a garden, as a forest, as the geography of my homeland. What those men see as appalling, I redefined to be a garden so beautiful Epicurus dare enter it -- something to put Eden and Babylon to shame. Because of this, their comments really do mean nothing.
You've been vocal about white culture's love (appropriation) of brown culture, but not brown bodies. What needs to change?
When you come at my body hair and call me Chewbacca -- you aren't just making fun of me. You're making fun of your eyebrow lady, the woman you hire to do your henna, the women who stitch your Forever 21 tunics, your Uber driver, the dude who's homework you copy, the man who makes the chicken tikka at your favourite Indian restaurant, your doctor, the engineer who built the highway you take to work. When you make fun of me you make fun of ALL of us. You invalidate ALL of us. You invalidate people from the Arabian Peninsula to Myanmar -- and that is repulsive. Brown people will not look like you. They should not be expected to look like you. And the fact that this has to be said is beyond me. If you even want a seat at the table of our culture -- if you want to even begin to argue you deserve to participate in anything we do, you better accept quick that we will not fit your standard of beauty. We do not need to: we have our own. There are too many people out there who are willing to steal the bindi off my head so they can wear it -- all while throwing a razor in my face to shave. What needs to change is simple: people outside our diaspora need to realise that positive convergence only occurs through honest conversation. The honest conversation here is that we were never meant to fit the western mold. I'm very proud to say we don't need to fit that mold. And there are millions of brown girls out there who are fighting to break it -- and we won't lose.
Is social media helping to break down problematic body expectations?
I believe so. The process is slow and messy, but in March I will have been on Twitter for three years, and I can honestly say I have seen opinions take a 180 turn. Social media activism does work. The only bone to pick for me, is that often there are so many issues to discuss we get bogged down in how to do so while keeping everyone in a safe space. Of course, social media itself is an organism that remains in flux. But it works. It definitely works.
Who are your favourite body positive social media stars?
I have to give a shout out to Dounia (@douniatee) and Minahil (@baedotdoe) for being my body posi moms on the site. Two intellectual, beautiful and unapologetic women of colour who inspire me daily. Also Dark Matter (who I follow on Facebook) has been really influential in how I fit my body positivity into other fields of social awareness. But really all my friends on Twitter have been beyond beautiful and helpful. Every single person who supported me out there -- thank you, a thousand times thank you.
@iranikanjariTom Mulcair says he will leave the helm of the federal New Democratic Party confident that he helped secure a permanent base for the party in his home province of Quebec.
Mulcair — dressed in a suit, orange tie and cowboy boots ("It's the most comfortable footwear there is") — sat down with CBC Radio's The House this week as the NDP prepares to release the first-ballot results in the race to succeed him following the party's disappointing third-place finish in the 2015 election.
Four candidates, Niki Ashton, Charlie Angus, Guy Caron and Jagmeet Singh, are on the ballot.
As he often does, Mulcair spoke fondly of being recruited to run in Quebec by former leader Jack Layton, and being given the task of helping to make the NDP a political player in a province that had only once elected a New Democrat to the House of Commons.
"When Jack tapped me, he said, 'You can help us break through.' He knew about the progressive side of Quebec politics, he was convinced we could break through, and that's what we accomplished."
Mulcair won a byelection in Outremont in 2007. Four years later the party won 58 seats in the province, surprising all the pundits, as the so-called Orange Crush propelled the NDP to 103 seats nationally and to the Official Opposition for the first time in its history.
Those were heady days. But the euphoria didn't last. Layton succumbed to cancer a few months later, and the support from 2011 didn't carry over under Mulcair in 2015.
Even so, he believes the party's presence in Quebec is his most important contribution.
'Beyond our wildest dreams'
"Now, 2011 was beyond our wildest dreams with the numbers that we got. But today, in 2017, we have 16 strong members of Parliament for the NDP in the province of Quebec," Mulcair says.
"You could not claim to be a national party, you could not hope to be one, without that breakthrough in Quebec. And that's what Jack and I both understood intimately. For us to have that presence today, I think that's the best heritage we can be leaving to our next leader, and I'm very proud of that."
Mulcair worked with late leader Jack Layton to lay the groundwork for a breakthrough in Quebec that saw 59 New Democrats elected in 2011. That number has since fallen to 16, but Mulcair says the party's strong presence in Quebec is a solid legacy. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)
Mulcair brushes aside polls that suggest the NDP remains a distant third among decided voters, and that support for the party has weakened in Quebec.
"The arrival of a new leader always produces a bump in those same polls. There will be a lot of interest around that new leader, whomever she or he might happen to be, and we will all rally around that leader."
He's similarly unconcerned that Quebec represents only four per cent of the 124,000 paid-up party members across the country, because it's the only province without a provincial wing of the party.
The outgoing leader of the NDP talks about the state of the party as he gets ready to hand the reins over to somebody else. 17:45
What's next for NDP and Mulcair?
If Mulcair is still stinging from the rebuke of losing a leadership review a year and a half ago, he isn't showing it.
He says the new leader will inherit a well-run caucus and political office staffed by workers who just signed a new collective agreement as the only unionized political staff on the Hill.
He believes the party has performed solidly in the House, challenging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's progressive credentials over trade negotiations, income equality and, most of all, climate change.
For a politician tagged with the moniker Angry Tom for his occasional outbursts at political foes, he's now sanguine, if still a bit reluctant to discuss his legacy as leader.
"I believe firmly, profoundly, that the NDP offer is unique in Canada," he says, taking the blame for the NDP's failure to "close the deal" with voters in the last election despite taking an early lead in the unusually long campaign.
Mulcair, known as a strong performer in question period, now faces another decision: to seek opportunities beyond the House of Commons or serve out his term as MP for Outremont. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
"I think the Canadian public is looking at the NDP again and saying, 'Maybe they can do it.' And if enough people who have progressive views get disappointed that the Liberals aren't delivering, maybe we can close [an election win]."
The NDP is using a ranked preferential ballot to choose the next leader. If there's no clear winner this weekend, members can change their rankings and vote again. The results of the second ballot will be released Thanksgiving weekend.
As for his own future, Mulcair says he's weighing offers from universities, but plans to remain in the Commons until at least Christmas. He wants to help his successor, without getting in the way.
But he also wants to honour his commitment to voters in Outremont, to serve out his term as MP.
Of all the decisions he's faced, it seems choosing when to leave will be the toughest.Sony is currently investigating problems causing users to experience difficulties logging in, according to a tweet from PlayStation's official Twitter account.
We're aware that some users are having issues logging into PSN - engineers are investigating — PlayStation (@PlayStation) December 25, 2014
Further details, including a time frame to fix this problem, were not provided. According to PlayStation's support page, PSN is currently online. The network was experiencing issues last night as well, though an update promised the company would continue to monitor its status.
For almost a month, two groups of self-described hackers have been fighting over a threat to take down both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live on Christmas Day. Lizard Squad, a group that claims responsibility for previous network outages and diverting Sony Online Entertainment head John Smedley's flight in August, also promised to launch the Christmas Day attack. The Finest Squad — the group opposing such threats — says it will be working against those attacks.
The current problems on PSN have not been linked with either group so far.
At the time of this post, Xbox Live appears to be functioning normally in its core services; apps such as IGN, Maxim and MLG.TV are noted as having limited service. In a comment given to Polygon previously, Microsoft said it takes "the security of our customers' data very seriously" and has professionals monitoring and managing the security of its services.
Update: It appears Xbox Live is currently experiencing outages as well.
"Unable to sign in to Xbox Live?" the support page reads. "We're already hard at work trying to reach a solution as soon as possible. Thanks for hanging in there in the meantime."
Update 2: On Twitter, Lizard Squad is claiming credit for the downtime on both PSN and Xbox Live. Sony and Microsoft have not confirmed or commented on these claims.Did American voters expect something else?
By Dan K. Thomasson
Tribune News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The minute the electoral vote was tallied and the winner of the presidential election was decided, the stage was set for the bizarre events that now jeopardize the integrity of that office.
Americans, through a system that seems utterly outdated in the modern world, had managed to choose a chief executive who not only isn’t suited for the job but who has no concept of its limits. Untrained in nearly every aspect or understanding of democracy, the new occupant of the Oval Office, the most important space in the nation, obviously seems himself as a monarch with an all-powerful position.
Donald Trump, who ran a company in which he had the last word on every decision, has carried an imperial view with him as he seeks to change the face of government in almost revolutionary fashion. Accomplishing the extreme promises of his campaign would require obedience from every corner of the republic. Who said the government has three branches?
For Trump, “loyalty” is the key word when it comes to success. Apparently someone forgot to tell James Comey, the former FBI head fired by Trump.
Comey, in congressional testimony this past week, said Trump suggested he end an investigation into Trump’s friend and former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over his contacts with Russian diplomats. It doesn’t take a legal scholar to understand the inappropriateness of such a request. It was a clear effort to interfere with an official investigation and, at the very least, bordered on obstruction of justice.
Critics of Comey — I’ve been vocal over his mishandling of the Hillary Clinton email case — have rightly contended that rather than stare silently at the president after he made his audacious ask, Comey should have laid down the law and reminded Trump that the FBI is a wholly independent entity. Reminding the president that Richard Nixon’s White House stay ended because of obstruction would not have been out of line.
Instead, Comey said, he quickly asked his immediate boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to be a buffer between him and Trump and to notify the White House counsel there was a potential problem.
Sessions later recused himself from the Russian investigation. Comey also said his conversation with the president so bothered him that he left the White House and immediately made notes about the incident.
That’s fine, but his failure to immediately halt the conversation is evidence of the same bad judgment he showed in the Clinton matter, which clearly impacted the election.
There’s little doubt that Trump fails to grasp the balance of power and the sanctity of the legal process. His narcissistic tendencies asserted themselves dramatically in this instance, the most important aspect of which is Comey’s firing.
Though the president’s spokespeople initially said Comey got axed because he had lost the confidence of his agents and was damaging the bureau, Trump himself has said the firing happened because of the Russia probe.
And while the president, being the president, has certain latitude to discuss or comment on things other officials cannot, the commander in chief cannot make requests aimed at impeding an investigation. Such acts could be considered corruption and could well lead to impeachment.
Trump firing Comey immediately after demanding his loyalty and directing him to go easy on “good guy” Flynn comes awfully close to fitting the description of a criminal act.
It’s now up to the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller to determine this and other facts in this scandalous affair.
Dan Thomasson is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service and a former vice president of Scripps Howard Newspapers. Readers may send him email at: thomassondan@aol.com.CLOSE USA TODAY Sports' Tom Pelissero looks at what we learned in Week 16 of the NFL season, and what it means moving forward. USA TODAY Sports
Texans QB Brandon Weeden. (Photo11: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Quarterback Brandon Weeden remained largely silent on the subject of his release by the Dallas Cowboys earlier this season.
That changed Monday as Weeden, who has helped guide the Houston Texans to back-to-back wins to put the franchise on the cusp of a playoff berth, took a shot at Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones on an Oklahoma City sports talk station.
"Yeah, absolutely,” Weeden said when asked by a KRXO-FM host about if he was satisfied with the Cowboys’ listless situation compared to that of the Texans. “We get to play extra football and he'll be watching on his |
an incurable gossip", "in a unique position to observe the Executive Branch", and a man "whose fight had been worn out in too many battles".
Woodward claimed that he would signal to "Deep Throat" that he desired a meeting by moving a flowerpot with a red flag on the balcony of his apartment. When Deep Throat wanted a meeting he would make special marks on page 20 of Woodward's copy of The New York Times; he would circle the page number and draw clock hands to indicate the hour. They often met "on the bottom level of an underground garage just over the Key Bridge in Rosslyn", at 2:00 a.m. The garage is located at 1401 Wilson Boulevard and has an historical marker that was erected in 2011. In 2014, the garage was scheduled to be demolished, though the county decided to save the historical marker, and the landowner promised to design a memorial commemorating the Watergate scandal.[3] As of 2017, the garage had not been demolished.[4]
Many were skeptical of these cloak and dagger methods. Adrian Havill investigated these claims for his 1993 biography of Woodward and Bernstein, and found them to be factually impossible. He noted that Woodward's apartment 617 at 1718 P Street, Northwest, in Washington faced an interior courtyard and was not visible from the street. Havill said anyone regularly checking the balcony, as "Deep Throat" was said to have done daily, would have been spotted. Havill also said that copies of The New York Times were not delivered to individual apartments but delivered in an unaddressed stack at the building's reception desk. There would have been no way to know which copy was intended for Woodward. Woodward, however, has stated that in the early 1970s the interior courtyard was an alleyway and had not yet been bricked off, and that his balcony was visible from street level to passing pedestrians. It was also visible, Woodward conjectured, to anyone from the FBI in surveillance of nearby embassies. Also revealed was the fact that Woodward's copy of The New York Times had his apartment number indicated on it. Former neighbor Herman Knippenberg stated that Woodward would sometimes come to his door looking for his marked copy of the Times, claiming, "I like to have it in mint condition and I like to have my own copy."[5]
Further, while Woodward stressed these precautions in his book, he also admits to having called "Deep Throat" on the telephone at his home.
Controversy over motives [ edit ]
In public statements following the disclosure of his identity, Felt's family called him an "American hero", stating that he leaked information about the Watergate scandal to The Washington Post for moral and patriotic reasons. Other commentators, however, have speculated that Felt may have had more personal reasons for leaking information to Woodward.
In his book The Secret Man, Woodward describes Felt as a loyalist and admirer of J. Edgar Hoover. After Hoover's death, Felt became angry and disgusted when L. Patrick Gray, a career naval officer and lawyer from the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, with no prior law enforcement experience, was appointed Director of the FBI over Felt, a 30-year veteran of the FBI. Felt was particularly unhappy with Gray's management style at the FBI, which was markedly different from Hoover's. Felt selected Woodward because he knew Woodward and Bernstein were assigned to investigate the burglary. Instead of seeking out prosecutors at the Justice Department, or the House Judiciary Committee charged with investigating presidential wrongdoing, he methodically leaked information to Woodward to guide their investigation while keeping his own identity and involvement safely concealed.
Some conservatives who worked for Nixon, such as Pat Buchanan and G. Gordon Liddy, castigated Felt and asserted their belief that Nixon was unfairly hounded from office.[6]
Revelation of identity [ edit ]
Although confirmation of Deep Throat's identity remained elusive for over 30 years, there were suspicions that Felt was indeed the reporters' mysterious source long before the public acknowledgment in 2005.
Joan, who was caring for her father, told Kessler that her father had greeted Woodward like an old friend. Their meeting appeared to be more of a celebration than an interview. "Woodward just showed up at the door and said he was in the area," Joan Felt was quoted as saying in Kessler's book, which was published in 2002. "He came in a white limousine, which parked at a schoolyard about ten blocks away. He walked to the house. He asked if it was okay to have a martini with my father at lunch, and I said it would be fine."[15] Kessler said in his book that the measures Woodward took to conceal his meeting with Felt lent "credence" to the notion that Felt was Deep Throat. "There are plenty of people claiming they knew Deep Throat was actually former FBI man Mark Felt... On May 3, 2002, PAGE SIX reported that Ronald Kessler, author of The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI, says that all the evidence points to former top FBI official W. Mark Felt."
In February 2005, Nixon's former White House Counsel, news columnist John Dean, reported that Woodward had recently informed Bradlee that "Deep Throat" was ailing and that Bradlee had written Deep Throat's obituary. Both Woodward and the then-current editor of The Washington Post, Leonard Downie, denied these claims. Felt was something of a suspect, especially after the mysterious meeting that occurred between Woodward and Felt in the summer of 1999. But others had received more attention over the years, such as Pat Buchanan, Henry Kissinger, then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist, General Alexander Haig, and before it was revealed that "Deep Throat" was definitely not female, Diane Sawyer.
On May 31, 2005, Vanity Fair reported that Felt, then aged 91, claimed to be the man once known as "Deep Throat".[16] Later that day, Woodward, Bernstein, and Bradlee released a statement through The Washington Post confirming that the story was true.
On June 2, 2005, The Washington Post ran a lengthy front-page column[17] by Woodward in which he detailed his friendship with Felt in the years before Watergate. Woodward wrote that he first met Felt by chance in 1970, when Woodward was a Navy lieutenant in his mid-20s who was dispatched to deliver a package to the White House's West Wing. Felt arrived soon after, for a separate appointment and sat next to Woodward in the waiting room. Woodward struck up a conversation, eventually learning of Felt's position in the upper echelon of the FBI. Woodward, who was about to get out of the Navy at the time and was unsure about his future direction in life, became determined to use Felt as a mentor and career advisor, and so he got Felt's phone number and kept in touch with him.
After deciding to try a career as a reporter, Woodward eventually joined The Washington Post in August 1971. Felt, who Woodward writes had long had a dim view of the Nixon administration, began passing pieces of information to Woodward, although he insisted that Woodward keep the FBI and Justice Department out of anything he wrote based on the information. The first time Woodward used information from Felt in a Washington Post story was in mid-May 1972, a month before the Watergate burglary, when Woodward was reporting on Arthur Bremer, who had attempted to assassinate presidential candidate George C. Wallace; Nixon had put Felt in charge of investigating the would-be assassin. A month later, just days after the Watergate break-in, Woodward would call Felt at his office, marking the first time Woodward spoke with Felt about Watergate.
Commenting on Felt's motivations for serving as his Deep Throat source, Woodward wrote, "Felt believed he was protecting the bureau by finding a way, clandestine as it was, to push some of the information from the FBI interviews and files out to the public, to help build public and political pressure to make Nixon and his people answerable. He had nothing but contempt for the Nixon White House and their efforts to manipulate the Bureau for political reasons."
In 1980, Felt himself was convicted of ordering illegal break-ins at the homes of Weathermen suspects and their families. Richard Nixon testified on his behalf. President Ronald Reagan pardoned Felt and the conviction was subsequently expunged from the record.
Composite character theory [ edit ]
Prior to Felt's revelation and Woodward's confirmation, part of the reason historians and other scholars had so much difficulty in identifying the real Deep Throat is because no single person seemed to truly fit the character described in All the President's Men. This had caused some scholars and commentators to come to the conclusion that Deep Throat could not possibly be a single person, and must be a composite of several sources. Woodward and Bernstein consistently denied the theory.[18]
From a literary business perspective, this theory was further supported by David Obst, the agent who originally marketed the draft for All the President's Men, who stated that the initial typescript of the book contained absolutely no reference to Deep Throat.[18] Obst believed that Deep Throat was invented by Woodward and Bernstein for dramatic purposes.[18] It also led to speculation that the authors played at condensing history in the same way Hollywood scriptwriters do.[18]
Ed Gray, the son of L. Patrick Gray III, stated in In Nixon's Web: A Year in the Crosshairs of Watergate that his examination of Woodward's interview notes pertaining to Deep Throat at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin provided "convincing evidence that 'Deep Throat' was indeed a fabrication".[19] According to Gray, the file contained notes regarding four interviews that were attributed to either Felt, "X", or "my friend", and a fifth interview dated March 24, 1973, that was unattributed.[19] He said he discovered that he had already seen the paper in 2006 after Woodward released interview files with people who were not Deep Throat.[19] Gray wrote that he contacted Stephen Mielke, the archivist who oversees the Woodward-Bernstein collection at the University of Texas, who said that a carbon copy of the paper contained a note in Woodward's handwriting attributing the interview to Donald Santarelli, an official with the Department of Justice during the Watergate era.[19] Gray wrote that he contacted Santarelli who confirmed that the March 24 meeting was with him.[19] Other interview notes attributed to "X" were interpreted by Gray as containing content that could not have been known by Felt.[19]
Regarding Gray's allegations, Woodward wrote that the March 24 notes were obviously not from an interview with Felt because Felt is referred to by name twice in quotes from the source, and that he never stated or wrote that he met with Deep Throat on that date.[20] According to Woodward, Mielke said the page was likely misfiled under Felt due to a lack of source.[20]
Fred Fielding [ edit ]
Another leading candidate was White House Associate Counsel Fred F. Fielding. In April 2003 Fielding was presented as a potential candidate as a result of a detailed review of source material by William Gaines and his journalism students, as part of a class at the University of Illinois journalism school.[21][22] Fielding was the assistant to John Dean and as such had access to the files relating to the affair. Gaines felt that statements by Woodward ruled out Deep Throat's being in the FBI and that Deep Throat often had information before the FBI did. H. R. Haldeman himself suspected Fielding as being Deep Throat.
Dean had been one of the most dedicated hunters of Deep Throat. Both he and Leonard Garment dismissed Fielding as a possibility, reporting that he had been cleared by Woodward in 1980 when Fielding was applying for an important position in the Reagan administration. However this assertion, which comes from Fielding, has not been corroborated.
One reason that many experts believed that Deep Throat was Fielding and not Felt was due to Woodward's apparent denial in an interview that "Deep Throat" worked in the intelligence community:
LUKAS: Do you resent the implication by some critics that your sources on Watergate—among them the fabled Deep Throat—may have been people in the intelligence community?
WOODWARD: I resent it because it's untrue.[23]
Any candidate who died before the Felt admission ceased to fit Woodward's criteria at that time, since Woodward had stated that he was free to reveal his identity when "Deep Throat" died.
Fictional portrayals [ edit ]
Audio dramas [ edit ]
3Sol used the name Deep Throat to lure Tyler Steele to his attempted assassination in Big Finish's Torchwood: Aliens Among Us 1.
Films [ edit ]
Games [ edit ]
Literature [ edit ]
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel The Truth (2000), in a reference to or parody of Deep Throat, the talking dog Gaspode takes on the role of Deep Bone, acting as an informant to the novel's protagonist William de Worde regarding the attempted framing of Patrician Vetinari.
Television [ edit ]Bakari Sellers is a former Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and a CNN commentator. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.
(CNN) Since the election of President Donald Trump, Democrats have been obsessed with the disaffected Trump voter. I hate to break it to Democrats, but these voters just aren't that into you. Want proof? Look no further than Tuesday's shocker in Alabama.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are two notable Democrats with presidential aspirations who have been preoccupied with winning back the trust of disaffected Trump voters. So, after Tuesday, are we going to coddle voters who enthusiastically supported Moore, or are we going to prioritize our party's most loyal voting bloc?
If Democrats expect to be competitive in 2018 and 2020, the answer is simple: Engage black voters.
For a playbook on what effective black voter engagement looks like, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin's campaign offers a strong example.
Woodfin's task was no easy one. He was up against an older, more established black elected official, William Bell, who was universally known. And even though someone black was going to win anyway -- because of the choices -- it's worth paying attention to who came out to vote for Woodfin.
JUST WATCHED Activist: Long time since black Alabama vote mattered Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Activist: Long time since black Alabama vote mattered 11:56
Over 35% of Birmingham's registered voters cast their ballots in the October mayoral runoff election. And while over 11,000 voters had never voted in a municipal election, 1,500 of those voters were between the age of 18 and 24.
Woodfin and his consultants from Pine Street Strategies, a D.C. lobbying firm, were able to cultivate grass-roots excitement because they spoke to African-Americans like "persuasion voters" -- or voters who you have to persuade to turn out to vote -- instead of assuming black voters will show up, as campaigns often do.
Moreover, the Woodfin campaign engaged local black media around their policy platform and discussed issues with families across the city, and they responded accordingly at the polls. Voters in African-American strongholds like Ensley and Collegeville could tell you exactly what a Woodfin vote meant for their family and community.
This is how you engage black voters in 2018, and it's a stark departure from the traditional Democratic playbook of fish fries, photo ops, and last-minute ads.
Real engagement also includes hiring diverse senior-level campaign consultants who do more than just African-American outreach. Our perspective has to be reflected in both black outreach and overall campaign strategy and messaging. For instance, I find it hard to believe that the now-infamous Jones Confederate campaign ad would have seen the light of day if there were more African-Americans included in the development of that ad. In a different race against a different candidate, that ad could have cost him the election.
Lastly, engagement with black voters must start when the campaign starts -- not during the last 30-day sprint to the finish line. Failing to prioritize African-Americans will ultimately leave valuable votes on the table, preventing Democrats from gaining back ground in state legislature and congressional seats that they have lost in the last decade.
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But engaging black voters also does not stop when you win. For Jones, this means fighting to ensure cities like Birmingham, Selma and Montgomery, as well as Alabama's Black Belt counties are not afterthoughts during appropriations season. It means engaging our radio and press outlets the same way you do mainstream outlets instead of simply buying ads during an election. It means coming to our churches -- and clapping on beat -- even when there is not an election.
Disaffected Trump voters showed us who they were during the presidential election and they reminded us of who they were on Tuesday in Alabama. It is time for Democrats to believe them and move on.Among the 3,672 reasons you’ve read and heard for David Brat’s victory over Eric Cantor, here’s one you haven’t seen. This explanation doesn’t have anything to do with Cantor palling around with lobbyists, or with Laura Ingraham’s one-liners. It’s about ideology, and it’s pretty straightforward: Self-identified conservatives in 2014 are really conservative, and they increasingly think that Republicans in Congress—Republicans in Congress, mind you—are a bunch of namby-pambies.
You want numbers? I got numbers. Last month, the centrist Democratic group Third Way released a study called “The State of the Center.” The report is not just another poll. It’s a really comprehensive and unique piece of work that yields more illuminating results than any poll. It has many elements, but here’s the part of interest to us. The group asked 1,500 Americans to identify themselves on an ideological scale of 1 to 9, 1 being the most liberal and 9 being the most conservative. Then these respondents were asked where they would place Democrats in Congress, Republicans in Congress, Barack Obama, and their ideal president. The answers are fascinating and jaw-dropping in that way that these kinds of findings about conservatives are, alas, no longer jaw-dropping.
Let’s start on the left side of the spectrum. Liberals put themselves at 3.88 on the ideology scale—that is, considerably closer to the middle (5) than to the far left (1). They put Obama at 4.23, just a little nearer the center than they placed themselves. And they put Democrats in Congress at 4.3 and their ideal president at the same spot. Takeaway: Liberals see themselves as being pretty close to where they see their political leaders, and that place isn’t all that far from the center.
Moderates saw themselves as slightly right-of-center collectively, at 5.37. Interestingly, they see Democrats in Congress at 4.08, or.92 ticks away from the dead political center of 5. But they put Republicans in Congress at 6.63, almost twice as far away from the center as they put Democrats. They placed Obama, incidentally, at 3.88—a little to the left of where they put the Democrats in Congress, but still a good.51 closer to the center than they put congressional Republicans.
Before we get to conservatives, permit me this brief methodological digression. This rating system, explains Third Way’s Jim Kessler, is a little like a Richter scale. That is, just as the difference between 7 and 8 on a Richter scale is much greater than the difference between 3 and 4 (because it’s a “logarithmic scale”), so too here it’s reasonable to think of the increments as more pronounced the farther they emanate out from the center. This is because far more people want to think of themselves as reasonable and kind of moderate than as extremist. So that.51 difference I cite in the paragraph above in moderates’ views of Democrats and Republicans in Congress respectively is bigger than it may sound.
All right. Now. Conservatives put themselves at 7.4 on the 1-to-9 scale—that is, closer to the extremist edge than to the center by almost a whole point (.8). They also put themselves more than twice as far away from the center as liberals did. They put Obama at 2.93 and Democrats in Congress at 3.42.
But here’s the most important number. Self-identified conservatives put Republicans in Congress at 5.76. In other words: Conservatives see congressional Republicans as basically on the center-right! Two years ago, when Third Way first asked these questions, self-identified conservatives put themselves at the same 7.4, but they put Republicans in Congress at 5.81. Now, the difference between 5.81 and 5.76 isn’t large, but it does mean that if anything, conservatives see congressional Republicans as a little more moderate than they did two years ago.
What does this have to do with Cantor and Brat? A lot. Conservatives—who, by the way, made up a whopping 79 percent of Republicans in the survey, while liberals made up just 39 percent of Democrats—see a moderate-ish congressional party that is selling out their core principles. And this reflects, in turn, Brat’s biggest and most fundamental criticism of Cantor, that the majority leader was a sell-out on immigration. What most of the post-outcome anecdotal analysis has been telling us is backed up precisely by these depressing and all-too-not-surprising numbers.
The upshot? Expect to see more David Brats. Yes, it’s hard to beat an incumbent. The incumbent has to screw up in some of the ways Cantor did, and most of his fellow incumbents will have taken note and cut back on the Beltway gallivanting. But the logic of these things is that the tea party doesn’t have to win many races to gain leverage. Up to Brat, the tea partiers lost five or six in a row. Now, they’ve won just one, and every Republican on Capitol Hill is so terrified that they won’t deviate an inch from the tea-party agenda. Someday, this extremism will come crashing down on them. But we’re for some rough water until then.Depleted uranium should, perhaps, be the ammunition of choice for duck hunters. That's the conclusion of a study called Response of American Black Ducks to Dietary Uranium: A Proposed Substitute for Lead Shot.
The recommendation, published in 1983 in the Journal of Wildlife Management, has not been much disputed. The study's authors, biologists Susan Haseltine and Louis Sileo, were based at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre in Laurel, Maryland.
Lead shot is dangerous for ducks, especially if it hits them. When it doesn't hit a duck (or another hunter, as sometimes happens), the shot falls into the wetlands. The lead leaches into the muck, slowly poisoning any ducks that have managed to avoid being shot.
In many hunting areas, lead shot is verboten. At the time of the study, steel was being touted as the best alternative to lead. But Haseltine and Sileo pointed out its drawbacks. "Steel shot shells are more expensive than lead shot shells when purchased in a retail outlet," they wrote. "They cannot be used in all guns and have not been well received by some hunters, who question their performance on ducks and geese."
Haseltine and Sileo credit the idea of substituting uranium for steel to the metallurgist Dr Carl A Zapffe of Baltimore, Maryland. Zapffe was no slouch about steel: witness his 1948 study Evaluation of Pickling Inhibitors from the Standpoint of Hydrogen Embrittlement: Acid Pickling of Stainless Steel. Zapffe also wrote a book disputing Einstein's theory of special relativity, but that is a separate matter.
Haseltine and Sileo listed what they call the "attractive characteristics" of depleted uranium as a raw material for making birdshot.
"In its pure form," they wrote, "it is denser than lead and, in alloys, might be made to produce shot patterns and velocities attractive to hunters and within the effective range for waterfowl. Depleted uranium can be alloyed with many other metals and its softness and corrosiveness can be altered over a wide range."
But nothing is perfect. "Negative aspects for potential uranium shot include pyrophoricity [proneness to spontaneously burst into flames] problems with pure depleted uranium, which can be altered by alloying, and the expense of separating depleted uranium from other nuclear waste products."
Their main argument was that uranium may not be very poisonous even to a duck that, of its own accord, swallows some in pellet form. That is what Haseltine and Sileo sought to verify.
They fed 40 ducks a diet of commercial duck mash salted with powdered depleted uranium. None of the ducks died of it, or got sick, or even lost weight. Moreover, the researchers reported, the ducks "were in fair to excellent flesh" when slaughtered.
And so they enthused that "further examination of this metal as a substitute for lead in shot is justified".
However, no one has yet followed up on this in a big way for hunting anything other than people.
(Thanks to Ewald Schnug and Silvia Haneklaus for bringing this to my attention.)
· Marc Abrahams is editor of the bimonthly Annals of Improbable Research and organiser of the Ig Nobel prizeSen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann WarrenWoman to undecided Biden: 'Just say yes' to 2020 bid Raising taxes on the wealthy is 'extremely popular,' says Dem pollster 64 percent say Democratic Party supports socialism, says poll MORE (D-Mass.) criticized members of her own party Wednesday for backing economic policies she says only benefit the rich, during an impassioned speech to the country's largest labor federation.
Though she did not name them, Warren’s remarks to an AFL-CIO conference in Washington, D.C., could be interpreted as thinly veiled criticism of the Clintons, whom liberals have criticized for being too cozy with Wall Street.
"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 in her prepared remarks. "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.”
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She offered praise for former President George H.W. Bush, but criticized former President Reagan."George Bush Sr. called it voodoo economics," she said. "He was right, and let's call it out for what it is: Trickle-down was nothing more than the politics of helping the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful, and it cut the legs out from under America's middle class.""The trickle-down experiment that began in the Reagan years failed America's middle class," she said.Warren made no specific mention of either former Presidentor presumed 2016 Democratic presidential candidateduring her well-received speech to the labor group.Nor did Warren discuss her potential presidential ambitions. She has insisted that she's not running for president, despite a growing number of grassroots organizations urging her to get into the race.While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a dominant lead in early 2016 polling, many progressives are hoping that a Warren candidacy would move Clinton to the left on economic issues.The speech itself was classic Warren: She touted the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which she framed in biblical terms as "David versus Goliath." Warren fought for the creation of the agency, which was formed under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, before she was elected to office.But she's since added a personal portion to her Washington stump speech, drawing on anecdotes from her childhood that she detailed in her book A Fighting Chance."This is personal for me," she said. "When I was 12, my big brothers were all off in the military. My mother was 50 years old, a stay-at-home mom. My daddy had a heart attack, and it turned our little family upside down. The bills piled up. We lost the family station wagon, and we nearly lost our home.""I remember the day my mother, scared to death and crying the whole time, pulled her best dress out of the closet, put on her high heels and walked to the Sears to get a minimum wage job. Unlike today, a minimum wage job back then paid enough to support a family of three. That minimum wage job saved our home — and saved our family."In our first Ryzen 5 review, we found the AMD Ryzen 5 1400 to be lacking in value. The AMD Ryzen 5 1600 we think offers a unique value proposition and we think that it is worthy of your consideration. The AMD Ryzen 5 1600 is a 6 core, 12 thread CPU with a full compliment of 16MB L3 cache. Like the AMD Ryzen 7 1700, it has a 65W TDP but boasts slightly higher all core clock speeds (3.2GHz base 3.6GHz turbo.) MSRP on the CPU is $219 and includes a cooler.
Test Configuration
For our Ubuntu 14.04 with kernel 4.10.1 benchmarks we standardized on a very simple platform.
The AMD Ryzen 5 1600 sits just between the point where one may look to the lower end of the more expensive X370 motherboard line to get a better feature set or save $60 and optimize on cost with a B350 motherboard. Although our review platform is B350 based, we did test it in the ASUS Prime X370-Pro as well. The one item we wish the ASUS Prime B350-Plus had was an Intel 1GbE NIC to make OS installations easier a nice feature of the X370-Pro.
In our test configuration, we utilized the stock Wraith Spire cooler. For the 65W TDP chip this is plenty. If you want more performance, you a better off moving up to an 8-core unit versus overclocking.
One point we wanted to note here is that the AMD Wrath Spire is both taller and has a copper base. While the bundle is $50 more, you are getting 50% more cores, more L3 cache, and a significantly better cooler. The Wraith Spire included with the Ryzen 5 1600 (and 1500X) is not the RGB version that starts with the Ryzen 7 1700 SKU.
We recommend using Ryzen only with Linux kernels 4.10 and later. We did want to point to our guide on installing Linux kernel 4.10.1 for Ubuntu. Ubuntu 17.04 will utilize a Linux 4.10 kernel but it is not an LTS release so many of our readers will want to follow our upgrade instructions for the LTS versions. If you are running Debian, RHEL, or CentOS 7 you will need to upgrade to a newer kernel ASAP. Here is the guide to stop the crashes in CentOS 7 by upgrading the kernel to 4.10.1 there.
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Linux Benchmarks
For our testing, we are using Linux-Bench scripts which help us see cross platform “least common denominator” results. We are using gcc due to its ubiquity as a default compiler. One can see details of each benchmark here. We are likely going to update the Linux-Bench in the near future with a few new tests as well as an even simpler to use/ faster revision, but for now, we are using the legacy version that now has over 100,000 test runs under its belt.
The item to remember here is that any benchmark we are publishing has had at least 10,000 profiling runs on a multitude of different architectures to ensure we get consistent results before we add it to our repertoire. Normally we go one step further and heat soak every machine at 100% load for 24 hours. On multi-node systems, we even use a “sandwich” and controlled temperature and humidity to ensure systems are as close to real-world temperatures as possible. Due to the desktop nature of Ryzen chips, we are going to present our Linux kernel 4.10.1 based results all with 24-hour heat soak but with no adjoining systems.
Python Linux 4.4.2 Kernel Compile Benchmark
This is one of the most requested benchmarks for STH over the past few years. The task was simple, we have a standard configuration file, the Linux 4.4.2 kernel from kernel.org, and make with every thread in the system. We are expressing results in terms of complies per hour to make the results easier to read.
We wanted to point out that there are a few differences between our Ryzen 7 1700X results we published on launch day and the additional results here. Namely, we are using a different kernel that has many of the necessary patches required to make everything run smoothly.
If you are a software developer thinking of a local compile machine, this should pique your interest. First off, it is a much lower platform than buying a used dual CPU system from the Sandy Bridge-EP or Westmere-EP generation. Second, the payback period versus an AWS m4.4xlarge or c4.4xlarge instance and a ~$800 system with the Ryzen 5 1600 is only around 100 hours. We know many software developers constantly running build so this equates to a month or less of use. Talk about an awesome payback project enabled by the AMD Ryzen 5 1600.
c-ray 1.1 Performance
We have been using c-ray for our performance testing for years now. It is a ray tracing benchmark that is extremely popular to show differences in processors under multi-threaded workloads.
The AMD Ryzen 5 1600 performs well in this test. Again, c-ray is a benchmark that runs extremely well on Ryzen. One area you should keep a lookout for is the difference between the Ryzen 5 1600 and the Ryzen 7 1700. We think those two chips are the best in the Ryzen lineups thus far.
7-zip Compression Performance
7-zip is a widely used compression/ decompression program that works cross platform. We started using the program during our early days with Windows testing. It is now part of Linux-Bench.
This is a good example where having more cores simply helps the Ryzen 5 1600 to crush lower core count/ clock speed competition.
NAMD Performance
NAMD is a molecular modeling benchmark developed by the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. More information on the benchmark can be found here.
As you can see, having six cores/ 12 threads and higher clock speeds does push the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 towards the top of the pack. In general, NAMD and similar applications favor larger CPUs so the competition here is largely the Ryzen 7 1700 since one can realize a perceptible benefit for only a small additional cost.
Sysbench CPU test
Sysbench is another one of those widely used Linux benchmarks. We specifically are using the CPU test, not the OLTP test that we use for some storage testing.
This is one of the more interesting charts. One can see that the lower core count Ryzen 5 1500X benefits from higher clock speeds and therefore performs a few ticks better. Overall, Ryzen performs very well in this benchmark, much like c-ray.
OpenSSL Performance
OpenSSL is widely used to secure communications between servers. This is an important protocol in many server stacks. We first look at our sign tests:
Perhaps the interesting comparison here is with the Ryzen 5 1600X.
While there is certainly a difference in performance, the Ryzen 5 1600X costs significantly more to the tune of $30 plus the cost of a cooler for the same core and cache structure.
UnixBench Dhrystone 2 and Whetstone Benchmarks
One of our longest running tests is the venerable UnixBench 5.1.3 Dhrystone 2 and Whetstone results. They are certainly aging, however, we constantly get requests for them, and many angry notes when we leave them out. For example on our original AMD Ryzen 7 1700X review where UnixBench was crashing due to the kernel version, we were using we left the results out and received many e-mails asking about them. UnixBench is widely used so it is a good comparison point.
This is a good example where the Ryzen 5 1600 does well just by sheer core count.
Again, if the Ryzen 7 1700 is within your price range, it is probably the better bet. The 6 core / 12 threads of the Ryzen 5 1600 does offer a substantial benefit over 4-core / 8 thread CPUs.
Final Words
In the Ryzen 5 line-up, this is the one to get. It has 6 cores and the larger Wraith Spire cooler all for only $50 more than the Ryzen 5 1400. While $50 may seem like a lot in nominal dollars, by the time a complete system is built, it is a few percentage cost wise difference. For $50 adding 50% more cores (and getting a better cooler to boot) is worth it. Likewise, if you look to competitive offerings from Intel, the six cores and larger L3 cache have some areas where they offer a major improvement over the 4-core/ 8-thread models.
Compared to the Ryzen 5 1600X the 5 1600 provides substantial savings. Foregoing 400MHz (~12.5% clock speed) saves you $30 plus the cost of a cooler ~$45. On a theoretical $750 system that means that you are saving about the performance impact. If you were to overclock the chips it is likely you would find the difference to be even less.
If you are going Ryzen 5, we like this model paired with a B350 motherboard for cost or a lower-end X370 motherboard ($160- $190 range). The longer-term home of this chip in our infrastructure is likely a pairing with the ASUS Prime X370-Pro which has significant feature upgrades over the B350 based motherboards.Penelope Gown is rated 4.8 out of 5 by 107.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Anonymous from Perfect beach gown! I bought my dress about a year prior to my Cancun beach wedding. I could not have asked for a more perfect flowing, ethereal gown! It was a very windy day, and my tulle skirt was just gorgeous in all of our pictures. The lace added just a bit of romance to our chill-out beach vibe we were going for. The only disappointment of the gown was that the tulle wasn't really able to be bustled for the reception. As a result, I had to hold it all the time. We didn't have dancing, but even sitting at the table or walking to the bar become a bit of |
, an amount that could easily command three times as much in a much larger city.
But the heroin Bachicha said she bought from Vargas wasn't heroin at all. In that case and others, the detectives hadn't taken any drugs off the street. Instead, they had cornered the market on some of the world's priciest baking soda.
For weeks, Griffin stewed over the mystery of how people who'd been in jail at the time got named in the drug sting. Clearly, Bachicha hadn't bought drugs from them -- not even fake drugs. So how did they become suspects? What was the mechanism for targeting them?
The answer began to emerge at one of the first preliminary hearings in the drug prosecutions. Informant Hernandez mentioned that the detectives had showed her a kind of photo album and asked her if she recognized anybody in the book and believed she could buy drugs from them. Some of the pictures had notations at the bottom, indicating the subject's alleged involvement in selling meth, heroin or pills. At one point when Hernandez was flipping through the book, she saw a picture of her own mother-in-law. The next time she looked at the book, she testified, that picture had been removed.
The defense soon learned that the police department had been using and adding to the book for years, drawing from it for the last several drug stings. Yet no such book had been mentioned in any of the arrest affidavits. No book had been turned over in discovery in any of the 2013 arrests or in previous years. From a defense perspective, failure to disclose the book amounted to a "material omission," particularly since the book had been used to cue the informants on possible targets. After the buys, the informants had gone through a ritual of identifying the suspects in a photo lineup -- a tainted exercise if the informants had already seen photos of the suspects before the buy.
News of the book's existence sent a tremor through the town. People began to wonder if they were in the book. But when Griffin tried to learn more by questioning Detective Martin at a subsequent hearing, he came up against another bizarre twist. Martin said the book had contained the photos of around a hundred people, but it no longer existed. "I was clearing out my office and I shredded it," the detective testified.
Griffin quizzed Martin repeatedly about the book at subsequent hearings. No, he didn't recall why he'd shredded it. Yes, the book was one source of possible targets for the investigation. No, he wasn't sure which of the defendants were in the book and which ones weren't.
Then the book suddenly resurfaced. Martin testified that a copy had been found, after many weeks of searching, in a colleague's office. But the version he produced had only 51 photos and varied in other ways from what the detective had described earlier. Informant Hernandez had testified that she saw three distinctly different books; Martin insisted they were all identical. Griffin called the book "fabricated evidence" and filed a motion to dismiss "due to law enforcement's willful destruction of exculpatory evidence."
District judge Leslie Gerbracht decided that the reconstituted photo book was problematic enough that due-process rights had been violated. "It does not seem logical to this Court that a 'drug book' that had been used for years and continued to be added to would be destroyed," she wrote.
Gerbracht declined to dismiss all charges, but she did rule that sanctions were in order. The prosecution wouldn't be allowed to use the book or any photo lineups in any of the pending trials.
Curiously, only eight of the forty defendants had their photos in the book Martin eventually produced. Others appeared to have become enmeshed in the sting because Bachicha knew them -- and, in some cases, possibly had a grudge against them. According to Felicia Valdez, she and Bachicha have a complicated history of conflicts as romantic rivals, having dated some of the same people. Valdez has no prior drug record, and it seems unlikely that she would engage in a drug transaction with someone she has long considered an enemy.
"My life has revolved around my children," she says. "If I wasn't at a school function, I was at home. I was nowhere around her or selling any drugs."
Bachicha also claimed to have been handed meth by Bobbie Jo Vigil one evening on Main Street. In 2008, Vigil's car had been perforated with gunshots from another car as she drove through downtown Trinidad; Bachicha was one of four defendants implicated in the drive-by, though all charges against her in the case, including attempted murder, were eventually dismissed. She also reportedly told the detectives she could score from a woman who'd been a passenger in Vigil's car that night. But how likely was it that she could buy drugs from people who had accused her of trying to kill them?
The possibility that Bachicha was setting up old rivals and crime victims didn't seem to trouble the detectives. Yet they had other signs that Bachicha was anything but a "reliable" informant; they even had reason to suspect she wasn't exactly drug-free. On October 20, 2013, right in the middle of the operation, Bachicha was arrested in Raton. According to the police report, she was trying to fill what appeared to be a forged prescription for painkillers at a local pharmacy. Bachicha was charged with two felonies, each of which represented a serious breach of her contract to work as a police informant. But the charges were dismissed less than a month later, presumably to preserve the undercover operation.
"The police had every reason in the world to question what she was up to, and they never did," Griffin says.
The cases involving the other informant, Hernandez, didn't smell as bad as the Bachicha buys. But that didn't mean they weren't deeply flawed, too. After one preliminary hearing at which Hernandez testified, she called Griffin in a panic and admitted to lying on the stand. An investigator for the public defender's office joined in the call and recorded it. "She told us that she had lied in court earlier that day and that she felt extremely pressured to be doing this work," Griffin says. "She didn't want to testify, but they were making all kinds of threats to her if she didn't. She was admitting to perjury."
Dariel Weaver, another attorney in the office who was defending the drug cases, also participated in the call. After they hung up, she told Griffin that it was beginning to look like the police's informants needed attorneys appointed to represent them, too.
Following her arrest, Danika Gonzales was put in a holding cell for fifteen hours while the roundup continued. She was finally allowed to bond out late that evening. She went to the courthouse the next morning to read the paperwork in her case and try to figure out what was going on.
Gonzales didn't know of any reason that Bachicha, her former probation client, would have any enmity toward her; it had been a fairly routine case. But she knew she hadn't sold heroin and meth, as Bachicha claimed. And who would sell drugs in the courthouse, anyway? The idea was ridiculous. It would take a particularly dumb, brazen or desperate person to sling dope in one of the most secure areas in town, where video cameras in the hallways and sign-in procedures documented arrivals and departures.
She urged her attorney to file a motion to preserve the video footage from the days of the alleged buys. She knew that the first video would show that Bachicha had, indeed, visited the courthouse that day, and that Gonzales had handed her a sheet of paper -- and nothing else.
"The first alleged buy, she called me and asked me to write her a letter," Gonzales explains. "She said she was going to get her record expunged. She was very persistent. I saw her walking down the hallway, and I grabbed the letter and handed it to her in the hall. I read it to her. She took it and stepped away."
According to the arrest affidavit, the audio recording of the alleged buy caught Gonzales saying something about when Bachicha "started" -- which is consistent with information contained in the letter about completing her probation. Gonzales says the video from the time of the second alleged buy shows Bachicha walking past the probation office, but no encounter with Gonzales whatsoever. (Bachicha claimed the deal was done in a bathroom.) Police investigators didn't request the video until eleven days after Gonzales was arrested -- nearly two months after the supposed buys.
"Once the video came out, I was certain they were going to dismiss the charges," Gonzales says. "But they didn't."
Many of the cases dragged on for months, through a slog of delays and -- for those who could afford to hire private attorneys -- mounting legal expense. After testifying at one preliminary hearing in March, Bachicha was a no-show for three subsequent subpoenas, prompting a judge to issue a warrant for her arrest. The police department had to provide the ten dollars for her bond. When she reappeared on the stand in May, it was clear there had been a rupture in her relationship with the prosecution.
Under questioning by Ruybalid, Bachicha claimed to have no memory of working as an informant. She'd met with the police to try to get her brother out of prison, she said, and as a result she'd been harassed and assaulted. "Bricks have flown through my windows, hit my two-year-old daughter in the head," she reported. "My vehicle has been damaged numerous times. We've got our house broken into. I've been stabbed."
"Why do you think people are harassing you?" the district attorney asked.
"Because you threw my name out to America...saying that I snitched on everybody and their grandpas and dead grandmothers," she replied.
Bachicha denied having any involvement in many of the cases in which she was alleged to have bought drugs. She claimed the contract to work as an informant that she'd signed had been altered. She also suggested that "most of my harassments and assaults" were coming from the prosecution and the police.
"I never saw drugs," she insisted. "I never saw nothing. I mean, where is the drugs that you guys supposedly got? Where is it? I never saw them."
In the wake of such a devastating series of denials, Ruybalid had no choice but to dismiss every case in which Bachicha had been involved. "The credibility of the confidential informant is so lacking that it would be a waste of time and resources to proceed further with any criminal prosecutions based on her work," he wrote. The district attorney then filed felony charges against Bachicha -- accusing her not of duping the police or framing innocent people, but of perjury in her court testimony.
A few weeks later, Ruybalid moved to dismiss the drug cases involving informant Carla Hernandez, too. Hernandez's account of the photo book of suspects she'd been shown varied from the official police version, and that was a problem. So was her claim that police had corrected her when she picked the wrong suspect out of a photo lineup, urging her to try again. So was her failure to admit on the stand that the DA's office was paying her for every court appearance, on top of what the police were paying her. It's likely that at least some of the forty defendants had actually been caught selling drugs, but because Ruybalid believed that there was "insufficient independent evidence to enhance the credibility" of the informants, all of the cases were being flushed away.
Dismissing cases has become an increasingly common phenomenon in Ruybalid's office. Local judges have blasted the district attorney for ignoring court orders, failing to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense, failing to properly train and supervise inexperienced prosecutors and generally screwing up, forcing cases to get thrown out. The situation has prompted a thick ethics complaint filed against Ruybalid by the Colorado Supreme Court's Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. The evolving investigation of the DA, set for a disciplinary hearing next March, lists twenty different prosecutions he's overseen -- from murder, assault and theft to domestic violence and some of the 2012 drug stings involving Travis Murphy -- that encompass multiple alleged violations of the rules of professional conduct.
Ruybalid has denied any wrongdoing and blamed many of the dismissals on being short-staffed. It's difficult to attract and retain qualified attorneys in economically troubled southern Colorado, and the county commissioners slashed the DA's budget by 19 percent this year, an $85,000 cut that forced him to lay off three administrative assistants and leave one part-time prosecutor position vacant. For a few weeks this fall, he was the only prosecutor available for the entire Third Judicial District, shuttling between Walsenburg and Trinidad and juggling a caseload that's been rising steadily for years.
Whatever other factors might have been involved, the dismissal of all the drug cases couldn't undo the damage the sting had inflicted in the first place. Many of the defendants had gone through a kind of public shaming that left them unemployed, financially depleted and traumatized. For Gonzales, the experience also demolished her enthusiasm for law enforcement and the justice system. She couldn't understand how the police could believe an informant's accusations against a veteran probation officer and not even check the video record available before charging her and ruining her career.
"I loved my job," she says. "I truly enjoyed helping people and getting them back to some kind of normal life. I worked so hard to get where I was, and this was utter humiliation for me."
Gonzales is uncertain of her future plans, but working as a probation officer isn't part of the picture. "I don't intend to go back to working for the state," she says. "I now have a distrust for the system that I worked for and believed in so much."
Vicki Vargas lost both her motel jobs long before her case was dismissed. One boss said it would be bad for business to keep an accused dope dealer on the payroll. Her second boss stood by her, but the other employees shunned her and made the job unbearable. She has relocated from Raton to Denver, even though rents are higher and the jobs she has found so far pay less than what she was making in New Mexico. "I was scared to be in my house," she says. "I was scared to be in Raton. If they could come up with these bullshit charges and arrest me for it, then they could come up with something else."
Felicia Valdez lost her job and her apartment. The housing project where she lived with her four children doesn't tolerate drug arrests, even if the person is never convicted of anything. "If you're arrested on any kind of drug charges, you get evicted," she says. Valdez has since moved to Pueblo: "Trinidad is a small community, and you're always getting judged. I had a lot of people judge me. I wasn't able to find work. Nobody wanted to hire me."
The ACLU's Silverstein describes Valdez, Vargas and Gonzales as "innocent civilian casualties" in the drug war. "The case law is filled with accounts of informers lying to even a score or, for other personal reasons, falsely implicating people," he says. "Here we have people dragged into court where the key material fact is based entirely on the uncorroborated word of the informant."
Several years ago, after a series of scandals involving informant misconduct, Texas lawmakers passed legislation requiring tighter restrictions -- and independent corroboration -- on criminal cases that rely on informant testimony. Silverstein believes a similar law is needed in Colorado, given that many small law enforcement agencies, like Trinidad's police department, have no written policy regarding the handling of informants. "It looks like they operate on blind trust of someone who's provided no evidence of trustworthiness," he says.
Two weeks ago, Crystal Bachicha accepted a plea arrangement, pleading guilty to one count of perjury. She has not yet been sentenced. (Bachicha's attorney didn't respond to interview requests from Westword.) But Silverstein notes that the informant is hardly the only one responsible for the wayward drug operation. "There was red flag after red flag that should have alerted the detectives that the informer was possibly lying to them," he says. "The clues were there. And the prosecutor has a responsibility to say, 'This shouldn't be taken to a judge.' The arrest warrants were so lacking in probable cause in these cases that the arrests shouldn't have happened."
But they did. And Valdez still has questions about how things went so wrong.
"I want to know why," she says. "Why a single mother, living in public housing with her children, going to work every day, never missing a day, enjoying every minute of every day with her kids -- I would like to know why I would be targeted. It's not right. "I don't go to Trinidad now unless I have to. It's hard for me to teach my children to turn to the police for help. I want to tell the world that I haven't done wrong and I'm not who they made me out to be." Have a tip? Send it to alan.prendergast@westword.comMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Scotland is braced for Storm Barbara
The Met Office has updated a warning of bad weather for the weekend, during and after Storm Barbara.
An amber "be prepared" warning for the worst of the high winds now covers Friday only, while previously it included up to 06:00 on Christmas Eve.
The Met Office said the most damaging winds were now forecast for the north of Scotland and not such a wide area as previously expected.
However, areas affected could experience winds gusting to 90mph.
Ahead of the arrival of the expected storm, snow has been falling over large areas of the Highlands.
Some of the heaviest snowfalls have been in the Cairngorms, the scene of an accident on the A9 in which three people were injured and taken to hospital in Inverness for treatment.
Image copyright Peter Jolly/Northpix Image caption There have been heavy snow falls in parts of the Highlands
Image copyright PETER JOLLY/NORTHPIX Image caption Snow covered parts of the A9 south of Inverness
Check out the latest travel news for Scotland
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For the latest on the roads visit the BBC's travel news page and keep up to date with incidents and roadworks on the motorways here.
Around the country you can check for updates from:
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In times of severe disruption you can also follow the BBC Scotland severe weather Twitter list of key sources.
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Image copyright Peter Jolly/Northpix Image caption A wintry scene in the Highlands on Thursday
Image copyright Peter Jolly/Northpix Image caption A driver negotiates a covering of snow on a road near the A9 at Tomatin south of Inverness
Image copyright Peter Jolly/Northpix Image caption A snow plough operating just south of Inverness
Places covered by the amber warning include the Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland and the far north and north west coasts of the Highlands.
A yellow "be aware" warning is in place for the rest of Scotland and large parts of the rest of the UK on Friday.
The winds are expected to ease for most places on Saturday but a yellow "be aware" warning of strong winds is in place for the far north, Lewis, Orkney and Shetland.
A more wider covering yellow warning is in place for Christmas Day and Monday morning.The Florida Panthers heard the chuckling in late February when they re-signed 38-year-old forward Shawn Thornton for another season.
Thornton played less than nine minutes nightly in the regular season, scored one goal in 50 games and turns 39 this summer. But the Panthers, led by data-driven ownership from the world of Wall Street, place a high premium on “glue guys” like Thornton.
“He may play 30 games next year,” Panthers co-owner Doug Cifu said in an interview, “but he’s a guy, if he played five games, I’d want him on the road every night with our guys. If he played no games I’d want him on the road.
“I know the analytics guys probably chuckled when we signed him because I’m sure his Corsi and adjusted Corsi and all that stuff is not particularly favourable. But it’s kind of like having a big brother in the locker-room who really can help mentor these young guys and teach them how to be professionals and teach them what it means to win and to sacrifice and to build a great team.”
Cifu and Panthers principal owner Vincent Viola come from a world where data is king, They’re leaders at Virtu Financial, a global electronic trading firm based in New York.
Understanding and employing data is central to their business as is computer-driven technology, which has mostly replaced those wildly gesticulating human traders on Wall St.
But even Virtu, where Cifu serves as CEO, sees value in “cultural glue,” people who buy into and advance a team-first mentality.
Vitru is small compared to competitors, with about 150 employees. Cifu said the firm is able to compete by employing people who understand the “mission” and know their role within the operation.
Panthers ownership, which purchased the team in 2013, has tried to implement a similar vision, one though that still places heavy value on data.
Florida has an analytics team and believes strongly in employing numbers that reveal things the eye can’t see. Ownership lives that world every day.
The Panthers are also well aware that their success in recent years is owed strongly to the rapid advancement of young players like Aaron Ekblad, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov.
Glue guys like Thornton play only a small role, but a role no less.
“I don’t think we’d be at this point if we didn’t have the older guys that have been in playoff runs and had successful seasons and won Stanley Cups,” 23-year-old forward Nick Bjugstad said in a recent conversation. “I think that’s one of the most important parts, keeping us focused because we’re young kids a lot of us.
“You’ve got to get a slap on the wrist every once in a while.”
Other veteran influences like Jaromir Jagr, Jussi Jokinen and Brian Campbell, have made a significant difference on the ice for Florida, which set franchise records for wins and points in regular season.
Thornton’s chief value to the Panthers has little to do with that.
Florida values him instead as a selfless leader who looks out for and advises young players, making them accountable when need be.
“You need Aleksander Barkov,” Cifu said. “(But) you can have a guy or two on your team that maybe isn’t as skilled, but that’s been around the block and gets how important it is to think about the team-first concept. And this is a sport where if all 20 guys are not on the same page it really doesn’t work.”
Cifu describes Thornton, who has only two goals and 10 points in 96 games with Florida, as one of the club’s best recent free agent signings. Bjugstad says Thornton and others like fellow 38-year-old Willie Mitchell bring a “winning mentality” that’s trickled down to the younger players.
The Panthers hope Thornton will stick around in some sort of capacity when his career is over.
“If he was on Wall St. I would hire him to work at Virtu,” Cifu said. “He’s that kind of guy. He’s got great character. He cares a lot about the people around him.”London's Metropolitan Police has sold one of its disused stations to an organisation run by a hardline Islamic scholar with what her critics call a "medieval view of human rights and women's place in society".
Dr Farhat Hashmi, who has PhD in Hadith Sciences from the University of Glasgow, founded and runs Al-Huda International, which operates Islamic education programmes for young Muslim women across the world.
Hashmi and her organisation say they are progressive feminists who empower Muslim women by helping them to understand and interpret the Quran in order to use it to assert their rights under the Islamic faith.
But those who have experienced classes taught by her organisation, from Canada to Pakistan to the UK, claim she advocates an outdated and oppressive form of Islam that incorporates the likes of jihad, polygamy and subservience to husbands.
Boris Johnson, under the auspices of The Mayor of London Office for Police and Crime (Mopac) has sold a former police station in Chadwell Heath, Redbridge, northeast London, for £1m to Al-Huda Welfare Foundation, the UK branch of Hashmi's global organisation, which it said will be used for "education/community" purposes.
When the claims were put to a representative of Al-Huda, they told IBTimes UK that Hashmi's critics have misinterpreted her teachings.
Shazia Nawaz, a regional coordinator at Al-Huda, said Hashmi is not using the definition of jihad ‒that of religious warfare ‒ commonly understood in the West.
"If she talks about jihad, it's mainly in context of struggling against evil, which lies within ourselves to become a good human, a disciplined person, a civilised citizen and to struggle to revive the humanitarian spirit in people and community around us," Nawaz said.
And in the past Hashmi has denied promoting polygamy per se. Instead she said she teaches the word of the Quran, which is that if "a man has relations with a woman outside of marriage, the Quran orders him to marry her".
Mopac had not replied to IBTimes UK's request for comment on why it had sold off a public asset to the controversial Al-Huda.
"My gripe with Hashmi is that she is spreading a very retrograde and obscurantist brand of Islam," said Farzana Hassan, a columnist for the Toronto Star in Canada.
Hassan is also a former president of the Muslim Canadian Congress, an organisation that had previously raised concerns about the influential scholar, and she has also attended some of Hashmi's lectures.
"Women gravitate towards her because they are either disillusioned with their life in the West, or they want their daughters to be protected from what they perceive to be the moral laxity of the West," Hassan said.
"Her network is large and growing because her graduates then go out and spread the word to other recruits. I am very upset because many Muslim women here are defending a medieval view of human rights and women's place in society."
Graduates of the one-year Al-Huda diploma are encouraged to go out into the world and set up their own hubs and spread the organisation's reach. Founded in Hashmi's Pakistan home in 1994, it now operates in around 200 sites.
Hashmi insists that she just teaches what it says in the Quran and allows her students to draw their own conclusions without any coercion.
Too liberal
Hashmi pitches herself as a progressive Islamic scholar and a feminist. Her supporters say she gives female Muslims the power to understand and interpret the Quran in order to use it to assert certain rights under their religion.
But her own interpretation of the Quran is criticised as ultra-conservative. For example, she believes that women Muslims must cover their hair and upper bodies entirely – such as with a hijab or a burqa – because they must hide their beauty from men.
So the rights assumed by her students can only work within the strict and traditionalist Quranic framework Hashmi advocates, which forbids many of the women's rights taken for granted across Western liberal democracies.
Hashmi has, however, faced criticism from both sides of the debate.
As a woman who has been educated through university rather than the madrassas – Pakistani Islamic schools from which students graduate as clerics – she is criticised by traditional male Muslim scholars for her background. They attack her interpretation of the Quran for being too liberal.
"She teaches peace, self-grooming, building strong family ties and strengthening of bond with spouse and children based on love mercy and compassion," said Al-Huda's Nawaz.
"Her teaching has given women empowerment to stand for herself, know her rights and fulfil them properly and tactfully with wisdom. She believes and teaches balance approach in families, like myself since me and my husband started listening to her lectures.
"Our married life became more stable and compassionate. We don't have kids but my husband is never interested in getting married again."
Hashmi has also defended herself in the past.
"I don't force anyone to do anything," she told Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail in 2005, when its reporter confronted her with the criticism of her teachings. "They don't have to listen to me if they don't want to."
According to a report in Canadian magazine Maclean's, Hashmi focuses on "young Westernised women from moneyed families who had hitherto preferred a pair of jeans to the hijab" and she "became famous [for] converting them to a stricter form of Islam".
'Old-fashioned Islamic traditions'
A former student of Hashmi, who studied at Al-Huda schools in Canada and Pakistan, told IBTimes UK that the Islamic scholar's pupils often became "obsessive" about her.
"I don't like the school at all. I never liked Farhat Hashmi. I didn't find her to be a sincere woman. She's arrogant," said Laylah, who lives in the UK and wanted to remain anonymous.
"In Pakistan, I've spoken to girls who have walked into their own houses and she's come around for tea and they're rubbing her feet.
"She does have very old-fashioned Islamic traditions and they do teach it all over London."
In one of Hashmi's books, Laylah said the theologian recounts some advice she had given to a Muslim woman with a marital problem.
The lady's husband would not let her look after her unwell parents and she wanted Hashmi's advice on how to handle the situation. Hashmi said she had to obey her husband's wishes.
On her personal website, there is a page that lists "Tips on how to be a successful wife". One of those is for wives to "Remember that your husband is the head of the family and as long as obedience to him does not entail any sin, it is your duty to obey him".
"She's really controversial in Pakistan. She is a traditionalist, so anything that comes underneath the tradition of Islam," Laylah said.
"The only difference between her and the male scholars is that she allows the female students to be able to teach it and to be able to interpret it to their own will. She is very masculine, if that makes sense. She is very patriarchal."
'Immoral activities'
Hashmi's teachings, issued in lectures beamed to classes all over the world, have created controversy before.
A 2005 article in The Globe and Mail reported comments made by Hashmi about a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir that cost the lives of 100,000 people.
"The people in the area where the earthquake hit were involved in immoral activities, and God has said that he will punish those who do not follow his path," Hashmi said during a lecture in Toronto, at which a reporter was present.
A recording of a separate lecture by Amina Elahi of Al-Huda, which is carried on Hashmi's personal website, echoes this worldview.
According to Elahi, Allah is the earth's landlord and the "only rent he asks for is that we thank him. That we acknowledge him. That we worship and obey him."
"When we fail to do this, when we turn our backs on him, when we forget him and thus forget ourselves, what happens is that we open ourselves up to calamity," she says.
"What's happening in the world today, environmentally, look at the global warming, look at the increase in hurricanes, increase in earthquakes, floods, and all these natural disasters.
"And what does this denote? That mankind was busy gobbling up the resources of the earth without thanking the landlord is now paying the price for this neglect.
"And Allah is showing us that if you don't want to pay the rent, then I don't need to maintain this accommodation. Wake up people."
Jihad
In one online interview with Hashmi from 2001, she says the husband has the right to chastise his wife – even physically – if she has been unfaithful.
In the same interview, she also claims she has "no agenda to take away women's rights".
But she adds: "Peace in the home depends on the woman and that aspect should not be ignored at the cost of working outside the home. A woman's role as a home-maker should not be sacrificed at the altar of ambition."
And she said she does not propagate jihad to her students, though the reason is ostensibly because they are female and the time is not right.
"I have even been called a kafir [unbeliever] because I do not propagate jihad," Hashmi said.
"I teach women – are they going to go and fight? Anyway, there are many things that need to be done before thinking of jihad."Alberto Contador has responded to the personal attack made against him by his former boss Oleg Tinkov, calling the Russian out for a lack of respect and arguing that the Tinkoff team went downhill after he fired general manager Bjarne Riis. Related Articles Oleg Tinkov: The final interview
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Referring to Tinkov’s grievance in a farewell interview with Cycingnews in October that the Spaniard is a "sad person" who "never really wants to drink champagne", Contador, speaking on Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, said: "I drink champagne with my friends – not with him."
Shortly after the turn of the year, Contador posted a video on social media in which he ripped of his shirt to reveal his new Trek-Segafredo kit for the first time, and toasted his new team with a glass of fizz. In the Cadena Ser interview he insisted it wasn’t a light-hearted dig at his former boss, and joked that in any case it was cava - not champagne.
Tinkov closed his team at the end of last season, arguing that the structure and business model of the sport was a "mess" in his interview with Cyclingnews, in which he also came out with the hard-hitting comments on Contador.
"I don't have a relationship with him," he said. "I respect him as a rider for his past but as a person he's never really appealed to me. I don't like him... Personally I think Alberto should stop riding because he's not as strong anymore. I think he's going to be like a limping duck. He's going to look stupid."
More on this story:
"The guys who are always serious are always boring," he added, making the champagne complaint. "They can fuck off. They're boring guys, they have a terrible life."
Contador said he didn’t want to be drawn into a war of words with Tinkov but did nevertheless stick up for himself and stand his ground with a calm but impactful response.
"This type of thing, if it came from someone who you feel something for or you care about, then maybe it affects you. In my case, it didn’t affect me at all," he said of Tinkov’s comments.
"At the end of the day, I was taught a set of values, one of them being respect, which is something we always owe to other people. There are those who don’t see it that way, but that’s how I see it."
Contador explained that his problems with Tinkov began when he fired team manager Bjarne Riis in 2015.
Riis had been one of the founders of the team back in 1999 but Tinkov, having invested in the team in 2012 and then purchased it from Riis in 2013, removed the Dane during the 2015 season.
"The main problem started when I signed my contract renewal, and soon after they got rid of Bjarne Riis – they guy who founded the team and was the reason I came to the team in the first place," said Contador.
"I knew that with him leaving everything would change, and that’s how it turned out. There was no leader, no one who new how to manage a group of 70 people. You can come along with lots of money but you need to have a set of skills to manage well – Riis had that, Tinkov didn’t."
Contador revealed he hasn’t heard from Tinkov since they parted ways, and is now focused on his future with Trek-Segafredo.
"It was a part of my sporting career - fortunately it’s over now and that’s it. Now I have new challenges ahead, and I’m not going to waste energy responding to him. We haven’t seen each other since. He’s someone who doesn’t inspire fondness, or anything at all really, in me. He is someone who has a lot of money and he was able to buy a team, but he didn't know how to run it."ES Lifestyle Newsletter 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
I’m sitting in a bar in West Hollywood with RuPaul Andre Charles, the world’s most famous drag queen, and he’s started to cry. ‘That part in The Wizard of Oz when they go into the poppy fields. Sorry, I choke up when I think about this… the Lion and Dorothy and Toto fall asleep and the Tin Man, who’s immune to the poppy — which is heroin — says, “Wake up! Wake up! You’re falling asleep!” ’ He dabs tears from light brown cheekbones dusted with a sprinkling of natural freckles (no pancake today, the 53-year-old is working preppy realness in the form of a £2,000 Isaia check suit) and in a voice containing the softness of Michael Jackson and the child-like intensity of Dorothy herself concludes: ‘You need those friends who are going to shake you up and look out for you, you know?’
It could be a scene straight out of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the gossipy, smart, big-hearted reality TV show, which debuted quietly in 2009 on the US cable channel Logo and has gone on to become a juggernaut on Netflix. It’s Project Runway meets Priscilla Queen of the Desert as a group of spicy drag queens compete through photo shoots and performances to see who has the ‘C.U.N.T’ factor (charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent), guided by the gently authoritative father/mother figure of RuPaul.
Transvestites had a sleazy image in America before RuPaul came along (they were the New York club kids of Paris is Burning, or John Waters’ big, brash and trashy Divine), but if Diana Ross made it OK for African American R&B acts to find mainstream success in the States |
. Treasuries, which Senate Democrats claimed was too uncertain and with a cap of 8.5 percent, could push rates even higher than 6.8 percent.
Mitchell Weiss, a student debt expert and contributor to Credit.com, has been following the issue closely.
"The increase impacts the subsidized Stafford rates, which will now double to 6.8% — equal to that of the unsubsidized Stafford loans," Weiss says. "Although the population of subsidized borrowers is smaller and the House can certainly act to remedy the situation retroactively, I'm actually more concerned about the series of House and Senate proposals that would index all student loan interest to the wrong Treasury note while subjecting the ensuing rate to an unreasonably high mark-up that's intended to cover administrative costs that have yet to be vetted."
Other Plans for Student Loan Rates
President Obama called for a similar plan to the Smarter Solutions Act in his budget proposal in April, tying interest rates to yields on 10-year Treasuries, plus 0.93 percent for low-income students, 2.93 percent for other undergraduates, and 3.93 percent for graduate students and parent PLUS loans. Though both proposals promise lower interest linked to current market rates, many warn that families will pay more in the long run due to market fluctuations.
In contrast, Senators Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) introduced an alternative that extends the current 3.4% rate for one year, offsetting this cost by closing tax loopholes on both inherited retirement funds and oil companies. A similar bill proposing a two-year delay failed under a Senate Republican filibuster earlier this month.
An additional, bipartisan deal introduced Thursday by Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and four others proposed setting interest rates at the Treasury 10-year note plus 1.85 percent. Under this plan, graduate loans would be market rates plus 3.4 percent, and parent PLUS interest at market rates plus 4.4 percent, with all loans at interest rates fixed for the life of the loan.
The Senate will vote upon reconvening on July 10, and can change student loan rates retroactively depending on their final agreement.
More from Credit.comWASHINGTON — Michael Jordan, the basketball star, was famous for being able to jump 48 inches into the air, putting the top of his head 10 and a half feet off the ground, well above the basket’s rim.
If the Secret Service has its way, the new security fence around the White House will be about three and a half feet higher than that.
Nearly two years after an armed man climbed over the existing seven-foot fence around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and ran through the front door of the White House, the Secret Service is moving aggressively to design and build a taller, stronger security perimeter. Visitors to Washington could soon see a 14-foot barrier ringing the president’s home.
Pressure to move quickly is intense; fence jumping at the White House has become a regular occurrence. Two people jumped the barrier last month, including one who had stolen a woman’s purse and was hoping for a clean getaway. There was a jumper the day after Thanksgiving last year. And in 2014, officers tackled a man who had scaled the fence and run onto the North Lawn.The National Small Business Association’s economic report finds, “The growing national debt is the number one thing small businesses thin[k] Congress and the administration should address.” Small businesses employ the majority of American workers and are vital to the innovation that grows the American economy.
After a severe recession, the fiscal cliff, and higher tax rates, small business owners have faced many challenges over the past few years. Despite all of these challenges, reducing the national debt ranked at the top of the list. High national debt poses a risk to all small businesses because it increases the likelihood of higher future taxes, higher interest rates, and a weaker economy.
Growing government debt creates added uncertainty for small business. The National Federation of Independent Business’s (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index finds that few owners are expanding or hiring. According to NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg, “the pall of uncertainty over economic policy continues to depress investment spending and growth.” When and how Washington will deal with the nation’s growing debt challenges adds to already existing policy uncertainty from higher taxes, Obamacare, and the Dodd–Frank financial regulation bill.
When asked which deficit-reduction proposals small businesses would support, entitlement reform topped the list. Nearly two-thirds of small business owners support reforming and reducing entitlement spending. The small business community recognizes that the debt problem is driven by entitlement spending. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are growing rapidly due to retiring baby boomers. The Heritage Foundation’s Alison Fraser writes:
Costs will balloon as retiring baby boomers file into these programs. In just 13 years, when today’s kindergarteners enter college, these programs plus interest on the debt will devour all tax revenues. Entitlement reform is necessary, urgent, and inevitable.
Just weeks after the fiscal cliff raised taxes on many small business owners, the Obama Administration is talking about raising taxes even higher, presumably to address the growing debt. White House senior advisor David Plouffe said, “We’ve dealt with the tax rate issue, now it’s about loopholes.” If closing loopholes is not paired with lower marginal tax rates, closing loopholes is just another way to raise taxes.
Our debt problem isn’t the result of too little tax revenue. It is the result of too much spending. And tax hikes, whether through higher rates or loophole closing, cannot raise enough revenue to put a dent in deficits and debt. Tax hikes are a way for Washington to avoid the hard work of cutting spending while pretending to do something about our impending debt crisis.
A growing national debt threatens to raise interest rates for small businesses and restrict access to capital. Today, due in part to the Federal Reserve’s expansionary monetary policy, America enjoys historically low interest rates, with the 10-year Treasury notes paying less than 2 percent interest. As the national debt increases, borrowing costs for the government may rise, too. Greece, whose national debt has exploded, is currently paying over 10 percent interest on their 10-year bonds after that interest rate hit a 48.6 percent high in March 2012.
Higher interest rates for government bonds also bring about higher interest rates for small business borrowing to run and expand their businesses. Dodd–Frank, with its countless new rules and regulations, is already making it more difficult for individuals and businesses to borrow money. A growing national debt threatens to raise borrowing costs, which would further restrict small businesses’ access to capital. Heritage expert Romina Boccia warns:
Higher interest rates have a real and pronounced impact on the lives of ordinary citizens and translate into less investment and thus slow growth in the rest of the economy. For many Americans, the dream of starting a business would no longer be in reach.
Additionally, budget deficits pose the risk of crowding out private investment, which reduces savings that can be invested in small businesses. This also slows economic growth. Lastly, a weaker economy also means that consumers will be less able to purchase the goods and services that small businesses provide.
Congress should devise a budget that balances in 10 years without raising taxes further and without sacrificing our national security. If instead Washington follows Greece’s example and fails to address our growing debt, severe austerity measures, which would harm all Americans—including small business owners—become more likely.
M. Christian McNally is currently a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please visit: http://www.heritage.org/about/departments/ylp.cfm.The San Francisco 49ers lost Arik Armstead to a broken hand in Week 6, and that resulted in an up-tick in playing time for rookie Solomon Thomas. It’s safe to say he took advantage of his opportunity. Thomas finished the game with a team-high nine tackles (two for a loss) and one sack.
The performance has earned Thomas his third nomination for the fan-voted Pepsi Rookie of the Week award. His competition this week includes DeShaun Watson, Leonard Fournette, Marshon Lattimore, and Myles Garrett. Watson, Fournette, and Lattimore all seem like the strongest candidates to win, and my guess is it ends up one of the two offensive players.
Thomas had a season high snap percentage following Armstead’s departure. And with Armstead and Aaron Lynch both expected to miss Week 7, Thomas will continue to be a workhorse. Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked on Monday about Thomas’ production in Week 6, and how to evaluate his progression.
“I hope he keeps coming. You know, I think he's had, no one just gets better each week. He goes for it every week. I thought he took a little bit of a step back versus Indy and I thought he took a step forward this week. I thought he played relentlessly and he played very hard, kept working, got that sack opportunity and I think he had a number of tackles. I don't know the exact number, if it was nine or 10 or something and that's because of how hard he was working. He was doing some good things and he definitely had an effect on that game versus a very good O-Line.”
The 49ers invested the No. 3 overall pick in Thomas, and heading into the season it looked like Reuben Foster would be the more productive of the two first round picks. Foster will be back soon, but Thomas has been able to establish himself as a regularly productive piece of the defense. The focus has been on Foster, but Thomas has emerged as a key piece of the defense.World Cup referees taking shots over blown calls
Controversies over the officiating are causing as much noise as the plastic horns that are blown with uninterrupted vigor by fans at all the stadiums. The U.S. team has been among the victims.
FIFA, the sport's international governing body, has resisted the introduction of such technological aids as goal-line cameras and instant replay, arguing that those devices would rob the sport of its human element and interrupt the game's continuity. And it won't be until the next World Cup — Brazil 2014 —when five pairs of officials' eyes will be employed instead of the current three.
Yet the sport's rulers and rule-makers have been slow and stubborn when it comes to helping.
On Sunday, teams from England and Mexico both were victims of bad calls that influenced the outcome of the games. The U.S. also was hurt by poor officiating.
"I think it's been one of the worst-refereed World Cups that we've seen over the last four or five," said Marcelo Balboa, who played 127 games for the U.S., including three World Cups, and now is a commentator for Futbol de Primera, the U.S.-based Spanish-language radio network.
Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa — Controversies over the officiating at soccer's World Cup are causing as much noise as the plastic horns that are blown with uninterrupted vigor by fans at all the stadiums.
It would "not make sense to stop play every two minutes to review a decision as this would go against the natural dynamism of the game," Joseph "Sepp" Blatter, FIFA's 74-year-old president, said in April, shortly after the idea of using technology was firmly voted down.
Proponents of change aren't giving up. On Monday, Guus Hiddink, who has coached two World Cup semifinalists and is one of the world's most respected soccer authorities, said that Blatter should resign immediately if he wasn't willing to implement video replay.
Hiddink's comments came one day after England's match against Germany in Bloemfontein, in which British midfielder Frank Lampard fired a shot that banged into the German crossbar and bounced down, clearly a foot or two over the line and into the goal.
A goal would have tied the score, but it was never officially counted — even though British bookmaker William Hill paid those who had bet on Lampard scoring at the World Cup — and Germany went on to win, 4-1, knocking England out of the 32-team tournament.
Blatter, watching the game at Free State Stadium, had no comment. But plenty of others acknowledged the mistake.
After watching the game on television while attending an economic summit in Toronto, Germany's leader, Angela Merkel, reportedly told David Cameron, Britain's prime minister, that the goal should have counted.
"The referee made mistakes; this is football," said England's Italian coach, Fabio Capello, who angrily questioned why FIFA was so reluctant to embrace technology as other sports such as tennis, cricket and rugby have successfully done.
Said Lampard: "I don't know whether goal-line technology will change things, but technology would have made it 2-all today and given us big belief and confidence that we could beat the Germans."
Later on Sunday, Mexico played Argentina in Johannesburg. Midway through the first half, Lionel Messi, FIFA's reigning world player of the year, clipped the ball to Argentine teammate Carlos Tevez, who headed it into the net.
The goal was allowed, even though Tevez was a yard or more offside — in other words, behind the final defender — as television replays and the huge in-stadium video screen at Soccer City Stadium again clearly showed.
"We knew we had to worry about Messi for this game, but we didn't count on also having to worry about the officials," Mexico forward Adolfo Bautista said. "We lost our concentration after that, and it hurt us."Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)
Dear Ms Sandvik,
Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2012060001582
I respond in connection with your request for information which was
received by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 13/06/2012. I note
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I hereby request all guidelines, presentations, policy statements, legal
opinions, memoranda, briefs, training manuals, emails, records and any
other documents including communications and procurements relating to
"Bitcoin" and "Silk Road", created and/or modified between June 2011 and
June 2012.
Silk Road is an anonymous market place for items such as drugs, drug
paraphernalia, forged documents, digital goods, and computer equipment.
Bitcoin, a decentralized virtual currency, is used as the transaction
mechanism for all purchases.
The market place can be found on http://silkroadvb5piz3r.onion/
(previous location was http://ianxz6zefk72ulzz.onion/), a site that can
only be accessed by using Tor from https://www.torproject.org/.
Gawker wrote about Silk Road and Bitcoin in June 2011:
http://gawker.com/5805928/the-undergroun...
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At 11 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, I was scheduled to be one of thousands reaching up to Kanye West as he performed atop a suspended platform, mere feet above our heads. This unfortunately did not come to fruition, as last month Kanye canceled the remainder of his “Saint Pablo Tour” due to exhaustion — days later he was checked into UCLA Medical Center for severe paranoia and psychosis, but he has since been released. Instead of staying in to mope, local Ye fans Jackie De Couto, Cesar Fernandez and Matthew Ventura teamed with Spacebar and Talk Yo Shit DJ FIONA to, as the Facebook event stated, “celebrate the artist and his vision with a themed listening party, while honoring the same date all of us have already set aside.”The faithful arrived in droves, decked in Kanye merchandise new and old, for a bittersweet night celebrating their messiah’s career. Deep cuts (“We Don’t Care”) were met with the same enthusiasm as Kanye’s Top 40 hits (“Heartless”). If anything, those tracks were more celebrated on the dancefloor as they made the evening feel more legitimate (even the often dismissed skits from his early albums received praise). In between tracks spanningto, Kanye-produced tracks like Jay Z’s “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” gave the full scope of his sonic genius. The Spacebar itself was illuminated in the same orange glow as the “Saint Pablo Tour” set design, and a mock stage flashed above FIONA.In a surreal turn of events, the night ended prematurely after a car accident occurred right outside Spacebar and sent party-goers spilling into the streets. Ending aside, We STILL Love Kanye proved to be exactly what Orlando Kanye supporters needed, a commemorative proxy that left all wishing a full recovery for the singular artist.Photo courtesy of Missouri House of Representatives website
ST. LOUIS (RNS) A family should have the same right as a small business to opt out of birth control coverage in its health care plan, the lawyer for a Missouri legislator argued Monday (Sept. 8) before a federal appeals court.
Rep. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, and his wife, Teresa, say the contraceptive benefit required by the Affordable Care Act violates their religious beliefs as Catholics and parents of three daughters.
In what may be the first court challenge of its type, they want to opt out of that coverage without giving up their state health insurance altogether and incurring a penalty under the federal law, commonly called Obamacare.
Their attorney, from the Thomas More Society, a public interest law firm based in Chicago, insisted to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a family is no different from a small business whose owners have religious objections to subsidizing contraception for employees.
Last spring, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of such business owners in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.
RNS photo by Heather Adams
“If the corporations don’t have to do this for their employees, certainly Mom and Dad don’t have to do it for their daughters,” Timothy Belz, a Clayton attorney serving as special counsel with the Thomas More Society, said after court Monday.
In court, he put it another way: “The government is holding a gun to our head and saying this: ‘Either you give up your conscience or you give us your money.’”
Belz equated it to sending children to a college where the only available cable TV package includes pornography.
The Affordable Care Act requires most employers with more than 50 full-time workers to provide insurance coverage that includes access to contraception.
The Wielands qualify for the Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan through his legislative service. They are seeking an injunction to release them and their insurer from adhering to the mandate, after suing unsuccessfully last year in the U.S. district court in St. Louis.
Gretchen Borchelt, senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, which has tracked legal issues involving the contraception requirement, said she knows of no other claims of this type. She said there are other challenges by employers, as in the Hobby Lobby case.
Alisa Klein, representing the federal government, said in court that the Wielands did not, in their initial claim, argue the case based on the financial penalties they would incur if they decide to go uninsured — the issue that gives them standing to sue.
She noted that the Wielands still belong to the state health plan and are asking for coverage tailored to their specific beliefs. There is no case law, she said, that provides for that type of exception.
She also said it would be impractical. “Here we have 100,000 beneficiaries in the Missouri group health care plan and there is no precedent for having the employer design the plan 100,000 ways,” she said.
She referred repeatedly to an earlier federal court decision in St. Louis in which U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig ruled that federal law pre-empts what was then state law allowing employers or employees to opt out for reasons of conscience.
The three-judge appellate panel that heard the arguments Monday took the Wielands’ case under advisement. There is no set timetable for a decision.
After filing the suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Labor and Treasury departments in August 2013, Paul Wieland told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I see abortion-inducing drugs as intrinsically evil, and I cannot in good conscience preach one thing to my kids and then just go with the flow on our insurance.”
U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton granted defense motions to dismiss the case Oct. 16, based on issues of standing. On Oct. 29, she rejected an emergency injunction that would have prohibited enforcement of the contraceptive mandate while Wieland appealed.
Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the plaintiffs’ standing is clearer here than in the Hobby Lobby case, said Malcolm Harkins, a professor at St. Louis University Law School.
“The statute turns on infringement quote, unquote, of a person’s exercise of religion,” he said. “The question before the court (in Hobby Lobby) was more complicated: Does it apply to a corporate person?”
The key questions in both, he said, are basic: Does the contraceptive mandate infringe on their ability to exercise their religion, is it the least compelling restriction, and is there a compelling government interest?
What complicates things though, is the role of personal choice. For example, he said, “If I have a plan that provides for euthanasia, if I don’t engage in it, then it’s still my choice.”
(Jennifer S. Mann writes for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)
MG END MANNSince it was first revealed to a friendly group of reporters in January, HoloLens has enjoyed a great wave of positive comments, but depending on one’s own experience with Augmented Reality (AR), each person will have a different take on it.
I always had a huge interest for things related to 3D real-time graphics. A long time ago, I started coding 3D as a hobby in the demoscene, before making it a professional activity for many years. It was pretty awesome. I’ve seen quite a bit of VR and AR contraptions, so I think that I came into this with reasonable expectations based on what I thought is possible with the current technology. Here’s my take on HoloLens.
What’s the HoloLens experience like?
Let’s cut to the chase — you want to know how it feels to use HoloLens, and if the hype is warranted. Well, the short story is: HoloLens is amazing and well executed – but much more can be done. If you aren’t familiar with VR/AR devices, let me explain a bit more:
The biggest difference with regular modern AR experiences which run on phones and tablets is that your hands are free, and that the display is translucent, so truly feel like the 3D objects are present in the room. And that is a huge difference when compared to a tablet AR experience, which feels more like looking through a window.
HoloLens projects objects into your environment because Microsoft has managed to create a display that is truly frameless and provide a near-perfect match between real-world and 3D objects."NEAR-PERFECT MATCH BETWEEN REAL-WORLD AND 3D OBJECTS"
The tracking of the user movements is also flawless. That was one of the more impressive feat of the demo. When you use Virtual Reality, you are completely disconnected from the “real world”, so even when tracking is not perfect, it doesn’t show as much. With HoloLens the tracking has to be perfect, and I was impressed that Microsoft pulled it off the way it did. The whole thing feels very natural.
Finally, there was no sickness induced by HoloLens. I am not particularly sensitive to VR sickness, but I could always tell that something was slightly off. That’s because there is always a little difference/lag between what your body expects and what the eyes are seeing in VR 3D. Since HoloLens lets you see the real-world, the match is perfect, and I suppose that this is the reason behind the lack of sickness (at least, for me).
HoloLens brings true added-value from Day 1
Obviously, when we’re talking about new technologies, some ideas about how to apply them are great, while others aren’t. I personally do not think that virtual paintings, or Skype calls with a virtual screen with HoloLens bring a true value beyond novelty. These need a lot more work.
"SUCCESS METRIC: DO IT 10X BETTER THAN A 2D DISPLAY"But things like helping someone with instructions for repairs, or working on architecture and design projects with AR could truly benefit from something like HoloLens. You can imagine all kinds of scenario, but my metric for success is: if I can do it 10X better with HoloLens than with existing display technologies, then it’s a win.
The construction/architecture demo that I played with was probably the one with the most formidable added-value: if you look at how that industry works today, it’s quite painful: modifications and details are often discussed using text and, 2D plans at best, and everyone has to figure out what that means for the actual construction. Here’s Microsoft’s pitch for this demo:
With HoloLens, it is possible to take a virtual walk into the construction space, look at the virtual building and go over proposed changes. It is also possible to overlay information such as pipes, electric cables and other layers. Proposed changes can be visualized and it makes a lot more sense than discussing it on “paper”. HoloLens truly gives you a sense of “seeing with your own eyes”.
There are many scenarios to be tested and invented, but with the proper set of data, HoloLens can give users the equivalent of X-Ray vision and the ability to put oneself in a real setting. Because Microsoft tuned the field of vision and the overall integration of Geometry well, the integration of 3D over reality works very well.
Image quality (good)
The image quality was good. I’m not sure what kind of resolution it uses, but it (perceptibly) felt as if I was looking at 720p 3D rendering. You don’t have that feeling of being so close that you can see individual sub-pixels, which is quite common with VR headsets.
None of the demos featured advanced shading (think “PC gaming”), but that’s probably because the rendering seems to be done on the device itself, so graphics processing (GPU) power would be limited. In the current demos, the graphic rendering was relatively simple (see the videos).
Conceptually, it may be possible to render on PC and stream to HoloLens, but that’s another story…
Eye comfort (very good)
As I said before, Microsoft made HoloLens sync near-perfectly with one’s field of vision. The design of the projectors also makes it very comfortable because it’s a little bit farther from the eyes. This is really important because “comfort” translates into how long, and how productive, you can be with it.
A nascent technology
As it is, the HoloLens hardware could help many types of users from Day 1. However, there are a few things that should (and probably will) evolve going forward.
Limited field of vision
First of all, the field of vision isn’t as wide as you may think when you look at the device. The design is slick and it seems as if the whole visor was the display, but no. The current technology doesn’t allow projecting an image over the whole visor.
Instead, it’s like walking around with a transparent 30” monitor placed 30” away from your eyes (I’m “guesstimating” it). The 3D content will be clipped at the edges of that rectangle, so you have to turn your head to look at something large in its entirety.
I don’t think that one can do much better with current projection technology (assuming a reasonable price), so I would consider the current implementation to be top-notch.
If the field of vision was extended, the experience would feel more and more natural. They don’t need to cover the entire field of vision (the human field of vision is quite large – almost 180 degrees, including the peripheral vision), but I would be extremely happy with -45 to +45 degrees.
Better rendering needed
Yes, today’s HoloLens rendering may be simple, but given how fast graphics performance evolves, it’s certain that in coming years, things will look more and more real, which will add even more value to HoloLens.
I’m speculating, it is probably possible to use the on-board cameras to capture shots of the surrounding area to create basic Light Probes. It’s a technique used to better integrate 3D objects in real-world scenes.
Sooner or later, image-based lighting developed long ago by the movie industry (PDF link to ILM’s work) will be used with devices such as |
ona Khandhar, secretary, the animal husbandry department, said, “Scientifically selected bull semen is being imported from Brazil for artificial insemination to increase the number of native breeds namely Gir and Kankrej. The government has also granted Rs 50 lakh for this project.“ Ironically, the move has not gone down well with the state's own Gau Seva Ayog (Cow Welfare Commission) that suspects Gir cows and bulls of Brazil may no longer be a pure breed.Dr Vallabh Kathiriya, chairman, Gau Seva Ayog, claimed that Gujarat has enough good quality Gir bulls.“We have started giving a bull to every village panchayat in an effort to increase the number of Gir cows. There is no need to import semen from Brazil,“ he said.Other experts, however, believe that there is no risk in importing semen from Brazil.Dr K B Kathiriya, head of research department, Anand Agriculture University, said the chances of increasing the population of Gir breed cows through artificial insemination is close to 90%.The Shore temple is located on the beach. If you want to catch a great photograph of the temple then head there for the sunrise. The gates open at 6 am sharp. There is hardly anyone at the temple and you can get some amazing angles without the crowds. It is also a lovely place to sit and enjoy the scenery.
An interesting fact about the Shore temple revolves around the tsunami of 2004. It was at this time that the Shore temple was discovered as a pile of collapsed rocks. The Archeological Survey of India has built a break water wall in order to protect the Shore temple from further damage by the sea. The Shore temple is one of the places that you must visit in Mahabalipuram and it belongs to a group of Monuments that has been declared as UNESCO Heritage sites.Android N Preview 3 & Android Wear 2.0 Preview Now Available!
It’s Google I/O Christmas, everybody! And with it comes a new Android Developer preview version for your Nexus device, as well as an Android Wear 2.0 preview for Android Wear!
First up, the latest beta update for the N Preview comes with various fixes, better performance and stability and a handful of new features. The listed changes can be found in this page, and you can find the download here, or get the OTA through the program if you sign up or already updated that way. Notable changes include:
VR Mode for Android: Android N adds platform support and optimizations for a new VR Mode to let developers build high quality mobile VR experiences for users.
Android N adds platform support and optimizations for a new VR Mode to let developers build high quality mobile VR experiences for users. Sustained Performance Mode: Android N includes optional support for sustained performance mode, enabling OEMs to provide hints on device performance capabilities for long running applications. Only on Nexus 6P at the moment.
Android N includes optional support for sustained performance mode, enabling OEMs to provide hints on device performance capabilities for long running applications. Only on Nexus 6P at the moment. Multiprocess WebView: Starting with version 51 in Android N, WebView will run web content in a separate sandboxed process when the developer option “Multiprocess WebView” is enabled.
This is, of course, still a preview and Google notes stability issues with the camera, audio in some applications, connectivity and multi-window. That being said, if you enjoyed the latest preview, this should be a similar (or better) experience.
Then we also have the Android Wear 2.0 Preview coming our way, with images currently available for a handful of watches including the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition and the Huawei Watch. You can find more information on the official overview of the program. Notable features include support for stand-alone Wear devices and apps, both of which can fully enjoy connectivity to wi-fi, bluetooth and cellular without the need for a connected phone. You will also find enhanced user interaction and better glance able experiences. Be sure to check out the video tour to learn more!Up until now, New York Giants’ defensive end Jason Pierre Paul has been very secretive about his mangled scar to which is his right hand now, and you can’t blame him.
In the past Paul wouldn’t show his team his hand following the incident and recently Pierre-Paul actually went ad far as to pursue a suit filed against the hospital that treated him for taking and releasing pictures of his hand without his permission.
He did eventually post that same pic to his Instagram account.
July 5th I remember when I was down and out. Just get back up and keep going no matter what. A photo posted by Jason Pierre-Paul (@iamjasonpierrepaul) on Jan 25, 2016 at 10:04am PST
Saturday, Pierre-Paul changed his Twitter icon to a pic of his X-Ray take post surgery, with the numerous screws visible. (Click images to enlarge)
He also made a picture of his scarred hand as his banner photo, clearly showing he’s not afraid of how it looks anymore or who he is. Props.For many years, Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) key advantage over other retailers came from not having stores.
The lack of physical locations allowed the company to have a lower cost of operating than its bricks-and-mortar rivals. This let the pure-digital retailer charge less because it did not have to price items to pay for expensive retail locations in high-priced, well-trafficked areas.
It was an advantage that allowed Amazon to grow quickly and win business from key low-cost rival Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). Now, it appears that the online retailer may be set to make its move into opening at least one store. If the rumors are true, it's a move that's overdue even if it means giving up what had been a competitive advantage.
What is Amazon doing?
The online retailer, which has opened pop-up stores and retail kiosks previously for limited periods of time, appears to be readying a full, permanent retail store in Seattle, according to a report on GeekWire. The technology site could not fully confirm the pending existence of the store, but it presented credible evidence of a shop that would "combine elements of an Apple store and a Barnes & Noble, with areas for browsing books and checking out and buying new devices."
Why is this a good idea?
Few would argue against Amazon opening a flagship store in its home market. The creation of such an outlet would allow the company to get hands-on consumer feedback on its electronic devices in a retail setting and it would serve as a destination for people visiting the area.
I believe however that a Seattle location should serve as a prototype for the company to roll out retail stores in select markets around the country. While this was a bad idea just a few years ago, Amazon has built the infrastructure in the United States to support this offering and it has the customer data to make the shops uniquely efficient.
Over the past few years Amazon has opened up warehouses and distribution centers all around the country. These could easily serve as a supply hub for the stores with little added extra cost.
In addition, Amazon has also pioneered the use of predictive technology to allow those warehouses to pack certain orders before they are even placed. That technology, along with the company's extensive knowledge about what people buy when would allow it to stock stores hyper-efficiently.
But isn't it expensive?
Amazon should not follow Wal-Mart's model and blanket the country with stores. Instead, it should open a few hundred, making each one an event and a destination. In addition to showcasing Kindle, Kindle Fire, Fire TV, Echo, and Amazon Prime, the stores could also offer the Amazon Basics line of cables and accessories.
More importantly perhaps, the stores would serve as a customer service hub -- a place where the company can launch its own version of the Genius Bar -- to tighten its connection with its customer base.
Amazon has the ability to create stores filled with a selection of merchandise it more or less knows will sell. It also has a product line -- especially the high-end Kindle Fire tablets, Echo and the associated home-automation products that could work with it -- that would sell better if people could interact with them.
Yes, opening stores will cost money, but if the locations are kept special they should be able to produce huge returns. Amazon should not open on every street corner. It doesn't really need stores to serve as return locations or as delivery spots. It has however become a powerful enough brand that a small number of gleaming, modern Amazon shops would pay off, adding to the brand's value by building on its strengths in a new environment.GETTY US President Barack Obama at the year-end press conference
In their own ways each demonstrated just why the day cannot come too soon when this most overrated and inept president disappears from public office. In Hawaii the soon-to-be former president took part in a ceremony at Pearl Harbor alongside Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. According to President Obama, Mr Abe’s visit was a “historic gesture”. But there was not a word of apology from the Japanese leader for the outrage committed by his country in 1941.
Vladimir Putin in pictures Tue, December 13, 2016 Russin President Vladimir Putin in pictures Play slideshow 1 of 56
Now the US is widely regarded as spineless – a damning and, for anyone who cares about freedom and the values the US has always defended, deeply worrying indictment. That is one reason why President-elect Trump’s campaign slogan, Make America Great Again, resonated so well. He wasn’t just talking to the millions of Americans who felt let down by President Obama’s domestic failures. He was able to tap in to their worries that the US was no longer a serious player on the global stage. It’s certainly a worry that the President-elect appears to believe that Russia has every reason to be in the Crimea and that his idea of resetting relations with the Russians is giving them a free hand. But in other areas he does seem to grasp what needs to come. He has said he will unravel the Iran deal and he is clear that Israel must be treated like an ally, not an enemy. Above all, if he is serious about making America great again, it will mark a much needed departure from the past eight years.
It was pure gesture politics – an empty shell of warm words and nothingness and as such entirely appropriate to the past eight years of the Obama presidency, which has placed meaningless gestures above serious action.
He is an overrated and inept leader
Meanwhile in Washington DC, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, was again demonstrating the unique blend of incompetence, arrogance and pomposity that has repeatedly confirmed him as the most disastrously useless holder of that great office of state in recent memory. For his final act as Secretary of State he chose to invite the world’s media to the State Department while he spent over an hour attacking Israel, the US’s staunchest ally in the Middle East. In a region of despots and butchers, Israel is a democracy that observes the rule of law and all Western norms of human rights. WILL WORLD WAR 3 BREAK OUT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE US?
REUTERS Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and US President Barack Obama
Three hundred miles from the Israeli border lie the victims of Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad’s massacres. But while Mr Kerry and President Obama have responded to the murder and displacement of millions in Syria by standing by, their reaction to Israel building some houses in disputed land in East Jerusalem has been to launch the most ferocious verbal attack of the entire Obama presidency. But betraying allies and standing by and watching while the enemies of freedom do their worst has been the hallmark of President Obama’s administration. Infamously in 2012 President Obama declared that should the Syrian leader use chemical weapons it would cross a “red line” and the US would act. That is exactly what Assad did. President Obama’s response was to do nothing – confirming that under his leadership, even when the US talked tough it acted weak. In global politics such weakness has real consequences. When Russia invaded and took control of a large chunk of a sovereign European nation – Ukraine – in 2014, the US simply stood by, betraying assurances given to the Ukrainians in 1994 that if they gave up their nuclear weapons the US would guarantee the country’s “existing borders”. Not only did he refuse to honour that guarantee, President Obama refused to supply the Ukrainians with arms to defend themselves against the Russian invaders. President Putin invaded Ukraine because he knew that the US was unwilling to defend its allies.
GETTY US President Barack Obama with Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and John Kerry
Barack Obama in pictures Thu, November 24, 2016 Barack Obama, President of the United States in pictures Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 130 U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama serve Thanksgiving dinner to residents of AFRH in Washington
That knowledge has led to a resurgent Russia which is now, for the first time since the 1970s and the days of the Soviet Union, the most influential nation in the Middle East. It is striking that while President Obama has consistently betrayed and attacked the US’s long-standing allies he has prostrated himself before the US’s long-term enemies. In that context, perhaps the most dangerous in a litany of disastrous mistakes has been the Obama administration’s determination to lift sanctions against Iran and allow the world’s leading sponsor of terror to wriggle free of the pressure being successfully exerted on the regime – making an Iranian nuclear weapon far more likely. Soon after taking office in 2009, President Obama shamefully betrayed the hopes of the Iranian protesters of the wouldbe Green Revolution when he pointedly refused to back their demonstrations. With the stark clarity of his silence he made it obvious to the mullahs that the US would have no issue should they choose to crack down on the protesters. Today Iran sits alongside Russia as a power in the region with its influence growing ever greater in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Whatever one thinks of his successor it’s impossible not to regard President Obama as an utterly disastrous custodian of the US’s foreign policy.
GETTY President Putin invaded Ukraine because he knew that the US was unwilling to defend its allies
Vladimir Putin in pictures Tue, December 13, 2016 Russin President Vladimir Putin in pictures Play slideshow 1 of 56Families of British troops killed following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq have threatened to take a legal action unless a long-delayed inquiry into the war publishes its report by the year's end.
Lawyers representing 29 families say they would move to the London High Court if the Chilcot inquiry fails to give a publication deadline in two weeks. "There have been outrageous delays to date and it seems as though those delays would simply be interminable," Matthew Jury, a lawyer representing the families said.
Tony Blair giving evidence to the Iraq war inquiry (File photo)
The inquiry which was set up by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009 and led by former civil servant John Chilcot initially expected to submit its report within a year. But, Chilcot has, time and again, cited complexities involved in the process.
The five-member panel held its last hearings in 2011. It is looking into the decisions made in the run-up to the start of the Iraq war and how the then Prime Minister Tony Blair decided to support the US-led invasion.
A total of 179 British soldiers were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2010.
Dead British soldiers being airlifted from Iraq (File photo)
The Chilcot inquiry has given chances to many individuals including Blair to respond to criticism of them in the report. However, the delay has caused tensions both at political level as well as among families who lost their loved.
In June, Prime Minister David Cameron criticized the delay to the probe and said he wanted to see the real timetable for the final report. In response to a letter from Chilcot, Cameron said he is "fast losing patience" with the inquiry.
Chilcot insisted last month that his probe is making "significant progress" but could not give a timetable for publication.
Anti-war activists hold rally against delay in the Iraq war inquiry (File photo)
Some bereaved families suspect the probe is being skewed in favor of establishment figures.
"What Sir John doesn't understand is the strength of feeling amongst the bereaved. We want closure on this, it has to be done fair, it has to be done right but he's had time enough now," said Reg Keys who lost his son in Iraq in 2003.
Blair has been at the center of controversy with many accuse him of dragging Britain into the war under false pretexts. He has also faced criticism from his own party colleagues.
The front-runner Labour Party leadership candidate, Jeremy Corbyn said he believed the conflict was illegal and Blair should be tried for war crimes if it was shown he had broken international law.As many as 11 million passwords were posted online more than four months after hackers penetrated the defenses of Gamigo, a free gaming website based in Germany, according to published reports.
The list of passwords, which were scrambled using a one-way cryptographic hash algorithm, were published earlier this month to a forum on the password-cracking website Inside Pro, according to an article published Monday by Forbes. The list also contained 8.2 million unique e-mail addresses, including 3 million accounts from the US, 2.4 million accounts from Germany, and 1.3 million accounts from France.
Gamigo warned users in early March that an "attack on the Gamigo database" had exposed hashed passwords and usernames and possibly other, unspecified "additional personal data." The site required users to change their account passwords. The 11 million-password leak four months later raises the possibility that users who chose the same passwords to secure other site accounts may remain at risk, since the dump contained e-mail addresses from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, IBM, Siemens, ExxonMobil, and Allianz, to name a few.
Even after removing duplicates, the number of passwords in this latest dump is among the largest seen in a public breach this year. In June, more than 6.4 million hashed passwords belonging to members of business networking website LinkedIn were posted online, and more than 1 million more passwords for eHarmony users were also exposed. While the lists were hashed, the availability of free cracking programs such as John the Ripper and Hashcat make it possible to retrieve a large percentage of most dumps in a matter of minutes or hours.
One of the largest known password leaks came in 2009, with the publication of more than 32 million plaintext passwords retrieved from online game service RockYou. Even with duplicates removed, the list included more than 14 million passwords. That list now serves as one of the key sources many crackers use to guess passwords.Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Bloomberg politics show, With All Due Respect, will end daily broadcasts on December 2. Halperin used his platform on Bloomberg, which was re-broadcast daily by MSNBC, to defend then-candidate Donald Trump.
The Huffington Post reports that a staff memo announced the show’s cancellation on December 2, but the two will host a four-hour special previewing Trump’s Inauguration on January 20. Both co-hosts are reportedly in discussions to “play a role at Bloomberg” as contributors and columnists.
Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s afternoon politics show on Bloomberg TV, “With All Due Respect,” will end following coverage of Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to a staff memo. Halperin and Heilemann, who joined in May 2014 and served as co-managing editors of Bloomberg Politics, will continue to host the show daily until Dec. 2. Bloomberg will produce four hourlong specials previewing Trump’s presidency and then cover the event on Jan. 20. The two journalists will cease day-to-day roles with the company, but according to the memo are in discussions to “play a role at Bloomberg as contributors and columnists.”
Halperin joined Bloomberg in May 2014 for reportedly $1 million and has come under intense scrutiny throughout the 2016 election cycle for his role as a bonafide Trump apologist. Halperin’s embarrassing shilling for Trump included his insistence that Trump’s racist attacks on the American judge of Mexican descent weren’t actually racist because “Mexico isn’t a race,” criticizing The New York Times for responding to Trump’s threat to take legal action against them, and brushing off Trump’s reluctance to accept the election results as a concern of “elites.” Halperin even praised the “impressive resume” of Trump adviser and white nationalist ally Stephen Bannon. Heilemann and Halperin also conducted an interview with Trump on a Zamboni where they asked him how much bacon he eats and whether or not he knows how to skate and during a campaign trip to Iowa, Halperin received helicopter ride from Trump:
More recently, Halperin failed to live up to the standards he had set for other journalists by giving Trump a shameless softball interview in which he failed to ask him about his hidden tax returns – an issue that Halperin had previously said journalists were “obligated” to ask Trump about every chance they got. The interview, described as “truly laughable,” looked even worse in hindsight when several days later Halperin challenged the press “to do a lot of soul-searching about its failure to pursue a lot of these Trump stories.”
In 2006, Halperin claimed that the best economic model to ensure a TV show’s survival is to follow the Fox News model and “make sure conservatives find your product appealing.” That model seems to be working for Halperin who despite losing his show, has received movie deals, book deals, and continues to be one of the most visible political commentators in America.Last night I told my husband that I wanted to bake something I've never made before today while he was out playing cricket and I had the house to myself and the cats. But I couldn't decide just what to make...Little did I know that when I picked up my mail this morning, I would be presented with the answer:
CHALLAH!
My Santa sent me a lovely book about the best bread known to mankind all the way from Israel. In her note, she mentions that her husband is a pastry chef (jealous!) and they both love being exposed to new cultures through the culinary arts.
I knew then and there I had to make one of the delicious recipes in it that afternoon. I think I have to work on my braiding skills a bit but I can't wait for it to cool fully and be able to cut into it.
I'm so glad you shared this lovely book with me, Kerenk, as Israel is somewhere I've never been but would love to visit someday. And this just brings me a little bit closer.
(While I tried to shoo Edie away from the loaves, Diego wanted to eat the wrapping paper...silly kittens)This a chronological list of the last surviving veterans of military insurgencies, conflicts and wars around the world. The listed wars span from the 13th century BC to the beginning of World War II. Most last survivors of particular campaigns or wars were junior officers or soldiers/naval ratings of non-commissioned rank in the early years of their service careers at the time.
Classical antiquity [ edit ]
Middle Ages [ edit ]
Abu al-Yusr Ka'b ibn Amr (599–675) – Muslim. Last soldier to serve under Muhammad at the Battle of Badr.[3]
Early modern period [ edit ]
These cases, particularly with respect to the ages claimed by the veterans, cannot be verified as it was common in pre-industrialised societies for elders to exaggerate their age.
17th century [ edit ]
18th century [ edit ]
Ambrose Bennett (or Tennant) (1693/94-1800) – Great Britain. Served at the Battle of Malplaquet and reputedly died at the age of 106.[28][29]
William Kinsella (1775–1870) – Irish rebel. Fought at Castlecomer.[46]
19th century [ edit ]
Hiram Cronk (1800–1905) – United States. Served in a New York Infantry Regiment. [59]
Sir Provo Wallis (1791–1892) – United Kingdom. Served in the Royal Navy. Also a Napoleonic Wars veteran.[54]
Jacob C. Marsh (c. 1818–1917) – United States. Last participant of the Second Seminole War.[60]
John W. Stainer (1808–1907) – United Kingdom. Served in the Royal Navy and was the last survivor of the Battle of Navarino.[61]
Henry L. Riggs (1812–1911) – United States.[70]
Owen Thomas Edgar (1831–1929) – United States. Served in the Navy. [77]
Antonio Rincón Gallardo (c. 1833–1928) – Mexico. Enlisted at 13 years old and served at Churubusco in 1847.[78]
József Fischl (1827–1929) — Hungary. Served at Isaszeg and Segesvár. [79]
István Lebo (1826–1928) — Hungary. Last resident of the Hungarian Veterans Home. [79]
Artúr Görgey (1818–1916) — Hungary. Last Hungarian General.
Jørgen Jørgensen Birkholm (1829–1931) — Denmark. [81]
Detlef Marxen (1826–1930) — Germany.[82][83]
Charles Palmer (1847–1940) — British Empire. Nine-year-old boy who participated in the Siege of Lucknow.
George Chrystie (1841–1939) — British Empire. Last British Army veteran.[89][90]
Thomas Baker (1853–1948) — British Empire. Served in the Armed Constabulary. [91]
Te Huia Raureti (c.1840–1935) — Māori. Kīngitanga Warrior. Served under Chief Rewi Maniapoto in the defence of Ōrākau Pā.[92][93]
Union [ edit ]
Confederacy [ edit ]
Name Claimed birth date Believed birth date Death date Status Pleasant Crump 23 December 1847 31 December 1951 Verified Felix M. Witkoski 5 January 1850 October 1854 3 February 1952 Dubious Thomas Edwin Ross 19 July 1850 27 March 1952 Possible Richard William Cumpston 23 May 1841 5 September 1952 Unknown William Murphy Loudermilk[100] 23 October 1847[101] April 1851[102] 18 September 1952 Possible William Joshua Uncle Josh Bush[103][104] 10 July 1845 July 1846 11 November 1952 Verified[105] Arnold Murray[106] 10 June 1846 1842/1855[107] 26 November 1952 Possible[108] William Daniel Uncle Eli Townsend[103][109] 12 April 1846 22 February 1953 Verified[110] William Albert Kinney 10 February 1843/1846[111] 10 February 1861[112] 23 June 1953 Probable[113] Thomas Evans Riddle 16 April 1846[114] 1862[115] 2 April 1954 Possible[116]
Most cases are questionable, though it should be remembered that many Confederate records were destroyed or lost to history. Unlike the U.S. military archives, the Confederate records had no official archive system after the war. However, for most of the cases investigated, the ages of the claimants alone were enough to prove their claim was false. Walter Williams was generally acknowledged as the "last Confederate veteran" in 1950s newspapers. However, in September 1959 an exposé by The New York Times revealed that he was in fact born in 1854 in Itawamba County, Mississippi, and not 1842 as claimed. Still, since Salling and all the other claimants were dead, Williams was celebrated as the last Confederate veteran after his death on 20 December 1959.[117]
Salling's own status is disputed. In 1991, William Marvel examined the claims of Salling and several other "last Civil War veterans" for a piece in the Civil War history magazine Blue & Gray. Marvel found census data that indicated Salling was born in 1858, not 1846. Although in 1900 Salling supplied a birthdate of March 1858, he appears to have been born around 1856, still too late to have served in the Confederate Army. The 1860 census lists him as 4 years old, and the 1870 census as 14.[118] William Lundy is listed as 1 year old on the 1860 census, and from 1870 until 1930 he gave census marshals ages that reflected birthdates as early as 1853 and as late as 1860. He did not push his birthdate back to the 1840s until he applied for a Confederate pension from the state of Florida. In the same piece, Marvel confirmed Woolson's claim to be the last surviving Union veteran and asserted that Woolson was the last genuine Civil War veteran on either side. However, Marvel did not present research establishing who, among the several other Confederate claims from the 1950s, some of which appear to be genuine, was the real last Confederate veteran.
Feliks Bartczuk (1846–1946) – Poland.[121]
Ove Henning Jacobsen (1841–1941) – Denmark.[122]
Seraphin Pruvost (1849–1955) – France. [45]
Karl Glöckner (1845–1953) – Germany.[45]
Adrien Lejeune (1847–1942) – Communards. Last Communard. [124] [45]
Antonin Desfarges (1851–1941) – Communards. Last député. [45]
Eugène François Louis Liné (1850–1940) – France.[125]
Alfred Hawker (1858–1962) – British Empire. Served in the British Army.[128]
Harry Figg (1855–1953) – British Empire.
Charles Wallace Warden (c.1854–1953) – British Empire. Transferred to First Foot in 1874. [129]
Frank Bourne (1854–1945) – British Empire. Last survivor of Rorke's Drift.
Albert Canning (1861–1960) – British Empire. Served in the 19th Hussars. Also served in the Mahdist War and World War I.[134]
James Richard Miles (1879–1977) – British Empire. Last British Army veteran of the Battle of Omdurman.[135]
Sir Reginald Wingate (1861–1953) – British Empire. Last British officer, later General in World War I.
20th century [ edit ]
Ivan Beshoff (1885–1987) – Potemkin rebels. Fled to Ireland in 1913.[146]
Christos Papantoniou (1890–1995) – Greece.[149]
Michele Traini (1892–c.1996) – Italy. Sent to Libya in 1912. Returned home following WWI. [158] [159]
Luigi Gilardi (1892–1993) – Italy. Fought at the Battle of Sciara Sciatt. Also served in WWI and WWII.[160]
Lăcătușu Dumitrașcu (1891–1999) – Romania. Served in the 11th Siret Regiment in 1913. Also served in WWI and WWII [161]
Christos Papantoniou (1890–1995) – Greece. Also served in WWI and WWII. [149]
Hristo Getov-Obbov (1893–1994) – Bulgaria. Joined the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps in 1912. Also served in WWI. [162]
Hüseyin Kaçmaz (1884–1994) – Ottoman Empire. Also served in WWI. [163] [164]
Danilo Dajković (1895–1993) – Montenegro. Also served in WWI.[165]
Russian participants:
Veterans of Allied Intervention:
Helmut Fink (1901–2009) – Weimar Republic. Served in the Freikorps.[185]
Arnolds Hofmanis (1900–2006) – Latvia. Died in Tukums, Latvia. [193]
Arvīds Lauris (1901–2003) – Latvia. Last surviving Order of Lāčplēsis recipient awarded during war.[194]
Česlovas Januškevičius (1900–2001) – Lithuania.[198]
Veysel Turan (1901–2007) – Turkey.
Napoleon Patricios (1899–2006) – Greece. Served on board the destroyer Ierax.[207]
Juan Daniel Macías Villegas (1912–2016) – Cristeros.[216]
Huang Shengyong (1905–2017) – Republic of China. Penultimate veteran of the 19th Route Army.[219][220]
See also [ edit ]Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
ASSOCIATED PRESS — The Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics were expected to be the main contenders in the Eastern Conference this season.
The Raptors have lived up to expectations; the Celtics have not.
Boston visits Toronto on Tuesday night mired in fifth place in the East after losing four of its past six games. The Raptors, meanwhile, sit No. 2 in the East and still have the first-place Milwaukee Bucks in their sights.
Both teams are coming off losses. The Celtics lost 126-116 Saturday night on the road to the Chicago Bulls. The Raptors, without Kawhi Leonard, lost Sunday at home 113-98 to the Orlando Magic.
Celtics guard Marcus Smart termed the game in Chicago as “embarrassing.”
“Each and every game becomes closer and closer to the end for us and we haven’t been playing to the best of our ability,” Smart said. “It’s frustrating because we know the potential that we have.”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens holds himself accountable.
“I’ve said this before,” Stevens said. “I’m disappointed in myself.”
All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, however, feels the Celtics will be better in the postseason.
“In the playoffs, when we can plan for a team, prepare for a team, I still don’t see anybody beating us in seven games,” he said.
Center Aron Baynes has been out since Feb. 4 with a bruised left foot, and the Celtics are 4-4 in his absence. He is not expected to play Tuesday.
“I feel great,” he said. “Everything is progressing well. It’s just a matter of them holding me back. But it’s for the benefit of myself. So I can’t really complain.”
The Raptors’ loss to the Magic ended their seven-game winning streak. Leonard was given what was termed a “load management” day off and is expected to return Tuesday.
The Celtics have a 2-1 edge over the Raptors in their season series, with both of their wins in Boston. The Raptors have won seven straight home games against the Celtics since 2016. The last time the Celtics defeated the Raptors in Toronto was April 4, 2015, in overtime.
Leonard is averaging 31.7 points and 9.7 rebounds through three games against Boston this season.
The Raptors were within three points of the Magic at halftime Sunday but let the game get away in the second half.
“Not that we didn’t play hard enough, we just didn’t execute.” said Toronto guard Kyle Lowry, who had 19 points and 10 assists. “They made a lot of shots; we took the ball out of the basket a whole lot. They played well.”
The Raptors, who have been breaking in recently acquired Marc Gasol and Jeremy Lin, have added another player. They signed Jodie Meeks last week, and he scored 10 points — all in the second quarter — in his debut with his new team Sunday.
“That guy hasn’t played in an NBA game for 10 months and gets 10 points in what was — four minutes, maybe five minutes, five and a half minutes? — probably a little longer than that,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
“He finds the opens spaces on the weak side, sliding to the right areas, relocating to the right areas, comes off of the screens and gets into the paint.”After the pair divorced Rick went on to marry the girl and father a son
Of all the stories about adulterous rock stars, it must rank as one of the worst. When Franka Wright heard her husband, Pink Floyd keyboard player Rick, had returned to Athens, she rushed to see him on board his boat – only to find him entertaining a young blonde.
‘She was wearing his shirt,’ Franka recalls. ‘I asked her how long their affair had been going on for and she stared at me, then slowly unbuttoned the shirt to show me her slightly rounded stomach. She was clearly pregnant. I was devastated.’
The blow would have been heartbreaking for any wife, but it was all the more crushing given Franka, who by then had been with Rick for more than a decade, was recovering from her fourth miscarriage.
In the past Franka had forgiven Rick’s affairs. It was, she says, one of the hazards of being married to a member of the world’s greatest rock band. But fathering another woman’s baby was the final straw
The year was 1992 and Pink Floyd were at the height of their international fame after a phenomenally successful two-year world tour.
In the past Franka had forgiven Rick’s affairs. It was, she says, one of the hazards of being married to a member of the world’s greatest rock band. But fathering another woman’s baby was the final straw.
Before the betrayal, and subsequent acrimonious divorce, their marriage had been an astonishing ride through the best years of a group at the pinnacle of its powers.
This week, Pink Floyd’s contribution to rock music will be honoured by the sale of ten commemorative Royal Mail stamps marking their 50th anniversary. That the Beatles are the only other band to have been celebrated in this way is indicative of their phenomenal impact.
The band has sold more than 250 million albums, and one in 12 people is said to own a copy of their 1973 hit Dark Side Of The Moon.
Their latest accolade, however, has stirred bittersweet memories for Franka and compelled her to speak out. In her first interview, she tells her remarkable account of life on the road with one of the most successful British bands of all time.
From the |
HR of 100 favoring North America.
19- Mars crosses the Beehive Cluster M44.
28- Asteroid 16 Psyche occults a +6.4 magnitude star at ~9:49 UT for Bolivia and Peru.
29- Supermoon 1 of 3 for 2015: The Moon reaches Full at 18:38 UT, 20 hours from perigee.
September
01- Neptune reaches opposition at ~3:00 UT.
03- Asteroid 112 Iphigenia occults a +3rd magnitude star for Mexico and Miami at ~9:20 UT. This is the brightest star occulted by an asteroid in 2015 for North America.
02- Geostationary satellite and SDO eclipse season begins as we approach the September equinox.
04- Mercury reaches its greatest elongation for 2015, at 27 degrees east of the Sun at 8:00 UT in the dusk skies.
05- The Moon occults Aldebaran for northeastern North America at ~5:38 UT.
13- “Shallow point” (also known as the minor lunar standstill) occurs over the next lunation, as the Moon’s orbit reaches a shallow minimum of 18.1 degrees inclination with respect to the celestial equator… the path of the Moon now begins to widen towards 2025.
13- A partial solar eclipse occurs, centered on 6:55 UT crossing Africa and the Indian Ocean.
23- The September southward equinox occurs at 8:20 UT.
25- Mars passes 0.8 degrees from Regulus at ~4:00 UT.
28- A total lunar eclipse occurs centered on 2:48 UT, visible from the Pacific, the Americas and eastern Europe.
28- Supermoon 2 of 3 for 2015: The Moon reaches Full at 2:52 UT, approximately an hour from perigee. This marks the closest Full Moon of the year.
October
01- Comet C/2013 US10 Catalina may reach naked eye visibility.
02- The Moon occults Aldebaran for the northern Pacific at 13:14 UT.
02- Io and Callisto both cast shadows on Jupiter from 12:26 to 13:35 UT.
08- The Moon occults Venus for Australia at ~20:32 UT.
11- The Moon occults Mercury for Chile at ~12:00 UT.
12- Uranus reaches opposition at ~3:00 UT.
16- Mercury reaches greatest elongation (morning) 18.1 degrees west of the Sun at 10:00 UT.
17- Mars passes 0.4 degrees from Jupiter at 22:00 UT.
18- Io and Ganymede both cast shadows on Jupiter from 10:45 to 12:10 UT.
21- The Orionid meteors peak (time variable) with a projected ZHR of 15.
25- Venus passes 1 degree from Jupiter ~19:00 UT.
25- Io and Ganymede both cast shadows on Jupiter from 12:37 to 14:51 UT.
27- Supermoon 3 of 3 for 2015: The Moon reaches Full at 12:06 UT, 23 hours from perigee.
29- The Moon occults Aldebaran for Europe at ~23:07 UT.
November
01- Io and Ganymede both cast shadows on Jupiter from 17:36 to 17:47 UT.
02- Venus passes 0.7 degrees south of Mars at 00:30 UT.
12- Will the 7 year “Taurid fireball meteor shower” produce?
18- The Leonid meteor shower peaks at 04:00 UT, with an estimated ZHR of 15 favoring Europe.
22- Are we in for a once per decade Alpha Monocerotids outburst? The 2015 peak arrives at 4:25 UT, favoring Europe… with a max ZHR = 400+ possible.
26- The Moon occults Aldebaran for North America at ~9:56 UT.
29- Comet C/2013 X1 PanSTARRS may reach binocular visibility.
December
01- The International Space Station reaches full illumination as the December solstice nears, resulting in multiple nightly passes favoring the southern hemisphere.
04- Mercury occults the +3.3 magnitude star Theta Ophiuchi for South Africa at 16:16 UT prior to dusk.
06- The Moon occults Mars for central Africa at ~2:42 UT.
07- The Moon occults Venus in the daytime for North America at ~16:55 UT.
14- The Geminid meteor shower peaks at 18:00 UT, with a ZHR=120 favoring NE Asia.
22- The December southward solstice occurs at 4:48 UT.
23- The Ursid meteor shower peaks at 2:30 UT with a ZHR variable from 10-50 favoring Europe and the Middle East.
23- The Moon occults Aldebaran for Europe and central Asia at ~19:32 UT.
29- Mercury reaches greatest evening elongation at 19.7 degrees east of the Sun at 00:01 UT.
Didn’t see your favorite event on the list? Let us know, and be sure to send in any images of these fine events to Universe Today’s Flickr forum.
Enjoy another exciting year of space and astronomy… we’ll be expounding on these events and more as 2015 unfolds.
Sources:
– Occult 4.0
-Kevin McGill’s outstanding astronomical simulations.
-Greatest Elongations of Mercury and Venus.
–Stellarium
–Starry Night Pro
–Orbitron
-Steve Preston’s asteroid occultation predictions for 2015.
-The USNO forecast of phenomena for 2015.
-Seiichi Yoshida’s Weekly Information About Bright Comets.
-Fred Espenak’s NASA Eclipse web page.
-The American Meteor Society’s 2015 predictions.
-The International Meteor Organization’s 2015 page.
-Fourmilab’s lunar perigee and apogee calculator.MEDIA RELEASE
Big Island detectives are investigating a fatal firearms related incident that occurred Friday (March 25) in Puna.
On Friday at 8:09 a.m., police and Hawaiʻi Fire Department medics responded to a report of a male juvenile who sustained an injury from a BB gun.
Upon their arrival at a residence off of Oshiro Road in Mountain View, medics learned that the victim sustained an actual gunshot wound. The victim was transported to the Hilo Medical Center in critical condition.
On Saturday (March 26) the victim was pronounced dead after being removed from life support.
Detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigation Section have initiated a coroner’s inquest and an autopsy is scheduled on Tuesday to determine the exact cause of death.
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PocketSenator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma had a scheduling conflict that evening, but he has been one of the few Republicans in Congress to have an open channel to the president, a relationship that began when Mr. Obama was a senator. Mr. Coburn, in an interview recently but before the president’s latest outreach, said that such legislative engagement was counter to Mr. Obama’s “personality type.”
“What he doesn’t realize is if he tried a different style, he’d get a whole lot more cooperation,” Mr. Coburn said, adding: “He’s really a neat guy. People don’t know that about him.”
But Mr. Obama insists that he tries.
“I promise you, we invite folks from Congress over here all the time,” Mr. Obama said at a White House news conference in January, when challenged about criticism of his infrequent outreach. He added, “Sometimes they don’t choose to come, and that has to do with the fact that I think they don’t consider the optics useful for them politically.”
Mr. Obama cited the example of Charlie Crist, the former Republican governor of Florida. In early 2009, Mr. Crist literally embraced the new president and his $800 billion two-year economic stimulus package when Mr. Obama visited Florida, thereby poisoning his candidacy for his party’s Senate nomination; it went to Marco Rubio, who then won the general election.
“It was the death knell for me as a Republican,” said Mr. Crist, who is now a Democrat.
Mr. Rubio, he recalled, put a photograph of the Crist-Obama embrace on his political literature and, at one rally, an angry Republican voter heckled, “Why don’t you just go hug Obama?” (These days it is Mr. Rubio, widely considered a potential 2016 presidential candidate, who has been trying to walk a hazardous line between getting legislative results — in his case a bipartisan immigration bill that Mr. Obama will sign — and not appearing too close to the president.)
More recently Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, another Republican seen as a presidential contender, enraged conservative activists with his warm reception of Mr. Obama as he toured the state after Hurricane Sandy, just before the November election.
Mr. Crist said his immediate thought was: “First Crist, now Christie. Look out buddy.” Before long came news of Mr. Christie’s snub by organizers of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference: He is not invited to this week’s conclave, which for years has served as a showplace for ambitious Republicans.For the whitish buildup on oil paint known as "wax bloom", see efflorescence
Epicuticular wax is a coating of wax covering the outer surface of the plant cuticle in land plants. It may form a whitish film or bloom on leaves, fruits and other plant organs. Chemically, it consists of hydrophobic organic compounds, mainly straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons with a variety of substituted functional groups. The main functions of the epicuticular wax are to decrease surface wetting and moisture loss. Other functions include reflection of ultraviolet light, assisting in the formation of an ultrahydrophobic and self-cleaning surface and acting as an anti-climb surface.
Chemical composition [ edit ]
Common constituents of epicuticular wax are predominantly straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons that may be saturated or unsaturated and contain a variety of functional groups. Paraffins occur in leaves of peas and cabbages, alkyl esters in leaves of carnauba palm and banana, the asymmetrical secondary alcohol 10-nonacosanol in most gymnosperms such as Ginkgo biloba and Sitka spruce, many of the Ranunculaceae, Papaveraceae and Rosaceae and some mosses, symmetrical secondary alcohols in Brassicaceae including Arabidopsis thaliana, primary alcohols (mostly octacosan-1-ol) in most grasses Poaceae, Eucalyptus and legumes among many other plant groups, β-diketones in many grasses, Eucalyptus, box Buxus and the Ericaceae, aldehydes in young beech leaves, sugarcane culms and lemon fruit and triterpenes in fruit waxes of apple, plum and grape[1][2] Aromatic compounds have been recorded in epicuticular waxes but are generally minor constituents.
Physical properties [ edit ]
Epicuticular wax crystals surrounding a stomatal aperture on the lower surface of a rose leaf.
These compounds are mostly solids at ambient temperature, with melting points above about 40 C (104 F). They are soluble in organic solvents such as chloroform and hexane, making them accessible for chemical analysis, but in some species esterification of acids and alcohols into estolides or the polymerization of aldehydes may give rise to insoluble compounds. Solvent extracts of cuticle waxes contain both epicuticular and cuticular waxes, often contaminated with cell membrane lipids of underlying cells. Epicuticular wax can now also be isolated by mechanical methods[3] that distinguish the epicuticular wax outside the plant cuticle from the cuticular wax embedded in the cuticle polymer. As a consequence, these two are now known to be chemically distinct,[4] although the mechanism that segregates the molecular species into the two layers is unknown. Recent scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and neutron reflectometry studies [5] on reconstituted wax films have found wheat epicuticular waxes; made up of surface epicuticular crystals and an underlying, porous background film layer to undergo swelling when in contact with water, indicating the background film is permeable and susceptible to the transport of water.
Epicuticular wax can reflect UV light, such as the white, chalky, wax coating of Dudleya brittonii, which has the highest ultraviolet light (UV) reflectivity of any known naturally occurring biological substance.[6]
Epicuticular wax crystals [ edit ]
Epicuticular wax forms crystalline projections from the plant surface, which enhance their water repellency,[7] create a self-cleaning property known as the lotus effect[8] and reflect UV radiation. The shapes of the crystals are dependent on the wax compounds present in them. Asymmetrical secondary alcohols and β-diketones form hollow wax nanotubes, while primary alcohols and symmetrical secondary alcohols form flat plates[9][10] Although these have been observed using the transmission electron microscope[9][11] and scanning electron microscope[12][13] the process of growth of the crystals had never been observed directly until Koch and coworkers[14][15] studied growing wax crystals on leaves of snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) and other species using the atomic force microscope. These studies show that the crystals grow by extension from their tips, raising interesting questions about the mechanism of transport of the molecules.
References [ edit ]
^ Baker, EA (1982) Chemistry and morphology of plant epicuticular waxes. In: The Plant Cuticle(eds DJ Cutler, KL Alvin, and CE Price), Academic Press, London, pp. 139-165 ^ Holloway, PJ and Jeffree, CE (2005) Epicuticular waxes, Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, 3, pp. 1190-1204 ^ Ensikat, HJ, Neinhuis, C, & Barthlott, W. (2000) Direct access to plant epicuticular wax crystals by a new mechanical isolation method. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 161, 143-148 ^ Jetter, R, Schäffer, S, and Riederer, M (2000) Leaf cuticular waxes are arranged in chemically and mechanically distinct layers: evidence from Prunus laurocerasus L. Plant, Cell and Environment, 23, 619-628 ^ Pambou E, Li Z, Campana M, Hughes A, Clifton L, Gutfreund P, Foundling J, Bell G, Lu JR. 2016 Structural features of reconstituted wheat wax films. J. R. Soc. Interface 13: 20160396. https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.0396 ^ Mulroy, Thomas W. (1979). "Spectral properties of heavily glaucous and non-glaucous leaves of a succulent rosette-plant". Oecologia. 38 (3): 349–357. doi:10.1007/BF00345193. PMID 28309493. ^ Holloway, PJ (1969) The effects of superficial wax on leaf wettability, Annals of Applied Biology, 63, 145-153 ^ Barthlott, W & Neinhuis, C (1997) Purity of the sacred lotus, or escape from contamination in biological surfaces. Planta 202, 1-8 a b Hallam, ND (1967) An electron microscope study of the leaf waxes of the genus Eucalyptus L'Heritier, PhD thesis, University of Melbourne ^ Jeffree, CE, Baker, EA, and Holloway, PJ (1975) Ultrastructure and recrystallisation of plant epicuticular waxes. New Phytologist, 75, 539–549. ^ Juniper, BE & Bradley, DE (1958) The carbon replica technique in the study of the ultrastructure of leaf surfaces, Journal of Ultrastructure Research, 2, 16–27 ^ Jeffree, CE (2006) The fine structure of the Plant Cuticle. Chapter 2 In: Riederer, M & Müller, C, eds (2006) Biology of the Plant Cuticle. Blackwell Publishing. pp 11–125. ^ Riederer, M & Müller, C, eds. (2006) Biology of the Plant Cuticle. Blackwell Publishing ^ Koch, K, Neinhuis, C, Ensikat, HJ, and Barthlott, W (2004) Self assembly of epicuticular waxes on living plant surfaces imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Journal of Experimental Botany, 55, 711–718 ^ Koch, K, Barthlott, W, Koch, S, Hommes, A, Wandelt, K, Mamdouh, H, De-Feyter, S and Broekmann P (2005) Structural analysis of wheat wax (Triticum aestivum, c.v. 'Naturastar' L.): from the molecular level to three dimensional crystals Planta, 223, 258–270
Further reading [ edit ]“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”
-Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics
You are about to enter a battle of wits with the greatest enemy you have ever faced.
Sure, you’ve slayed dragons in World of Warcraft, you’ve crushed tests in school after pulling an all-nighter, and you survived an encounter with your miserable boss that made you want to set the building on fire like Milton from Office Space.
This enemy is different. It knows you better than you know yourself. It’s been studying every move you make since the day you were born. It’s been whispering subversive messages in your ear every minute of every day. It’s like playing chess against a computer that has tracked every move you’ve ever made.
Ruh roh.
Luke Skywalker knows what I’m talking about. He couldn’t defeat Vader and the Emperor until he confronted this very same enemy in the swamps of Dagobah.
It’s hard to even SEE this enemy. Fortunately, there’s usually one place you can look…
Is Your Ego Keeping You From Starting?
Have you ever been afraid of trying something for fear of looking stupid? I DEFINITELY have.
Have you ever been in a gym, afraid to try an exercise because the person next to you is lifting 3-4x the amount you are going to attempt?
If you’re a guy, would you be comfortable lifting next to Staci as she pulls 425 lbs (193 kilos)?
If you’re overweight, do you worry everybody is looking at you the whole time as you walk on the treadmill?
This is your Ego telling you “I’m too fragile for this. Let’s get out of here and go back to our safe zone.” I know I constantly struggle with feeling inferior around people in the gym, and I’ve been doing this stuff for a decade. It’s not just the gym either. I once sat in a car for 20 minutes before taking my first Swing Dance lesson, trying to work up the courage to go inside, because my ego wouldn’t let me get started.
You’re not alone. Our egos are fragile creatures, and their feelings get hurt very easily! And damnit we don’t want to feel like crap when we’re looking to better ourselves. If we’re not careful, this can result in us throwing in the towel and giving up on something worthwhile.
Your ego says: “We’ll look foolish and this isn’t for us and look at these other people who are stronger and more fit than we are. They’ll probably make fun of us, so don’t even give them the satisfaction of trying.”
In short: “Screw you guys, I’m going home.”
The reality: Everybody started at level 1. The most popular rap song in history is a rags to riches story. Even our Canadian friend Drake started from THE BOTTOM and now he is HERE.
When you play World of Warcraft you need to pay your dues and go through the crappy levels killing spiders before you can slay dragons. You’re new. Be proud to be new. Be proud to be you.
Henry Rollins loves the church of the Iron, because it never lies to you. Your ego is often times full of shit and can make you feel better or worse than you really are, but the iron never lies – it’s the great equalizer.
200 pounds is always 200 pounds.
So go pick up that bar if you can. If it’s the best you can do, then it’s the best you can do. Let everybody else around you battle themselves for a personal best while you do the same. Headphones in, hardhat on (figuratively, and do work!).
It won’t be easy. Your entitled ego will expect fast results or tell you to quit when things get tough. Your ego will expect you to be rewarded and advance quickly. You might, you might not.
But you have to step in the arena. You can acknowledge your ego, and then pick up that rusty sword and fight.
Your Ego Keeps You From Stopping Something that isn’t working
Your ego is one stubborn son of a biscuit.
I know. I have been dragged into many arguments because I let my ego get the best of me: in relationships, with family members, with coworkers, and with myself. I let my ego get in the way, stubbornly sticking to a losing battle because I was too afraid to admit something wasn’t working (or wasn’t worth it).
Whether it’s continuing even further down a career path that no longer satisfies you (because it was your college major), staying on a team you’re no longer happy with, or being in a relationship everybody else loves, your ego keeps you around longer than you should be there.
This manifests itself in a few ways. We get hooked on the accolades and achievements we’ve collected. Our egos tell us that our parents and friends are proud of what we’ve done and changing that up would be weird… and disappoint them.
We throw good money after bad, chasing dead ends because we’re too embarrassed to admit we were wrong in the first place. When a diet doesn’t work we blame it on our genetics rather than realizing maybe it wasn’t the right strategy for us. Because our egos fool us, we confuse “the strategy didn’t work” for “I’m a failure if this doesn’t work”, and we stick with it instead of searching for a better solution.
Don’t even get me started on relationships! It might be us, or we might know somebody in a relationship which stopped being healthy 6+ months ago… and yet, they stay in it! Our egos say “If we break it off, our mother will say ‘I told you so.’” Or our egos tell us, “Hey, it’s better than being alone. Only losers are alone!” Which we know isn’t true. No wonder half of all marriages end in divorce – many people don’t want to ruffle any feathers and end up waiting years too long to have the tough conversation.
It works for Nerd Stuff too! We read a whole book or play a game in its entirety that we don’t actually like because our ego tells us we need to finish everything because we already bought it. Our egos tell us “you bought it, you have to use it or you’re wasting money,” not understanding the concept of a ‘sunk cost’ fallacy: once you’ve bought it, it doesn’t matter!
In fact, you’re worse off if you spend a single minute more on something you don’t enjoy just because you bought it. That’s a minute you could have spent on something else that you’ll never get back!
If something really isn’t for you, STOP DOING IT. If you have a shitty job and there’s another path you’ve always wanted to pursue, QUIT. If you are in a bad relationship, make the hard choice and move on.
Your ego is making this wayyyy more complicated than you need it to be. Your friends will support you, your family will still love you, nobody freaking cares about your job status or financial worth other than people who are trapped by their own egos.
Your ego won’t let you ask for help
There’s a cliche that often felt true in my life: guys don’t like to ask for help. Or directions.
We’re afraid to ask for help in the gym on how to do an exercise because we want to look knowledgeable and strong. We’re afraid to ask for help on a project at work because we want to prove we can do it ourselves.
We’re afraid to ask for directions because we don’t want to admit that we made a wrong turn 20 minutes ago when we should have gone left at Albuquerque instead of right.
In probably a far more important example, we see mental challenges like anxiety or depression as a battle we must face alone, because admitting that we are having problems is to admit that we’re broken or weird. And our egos don’t allow that. If this sounds like you, PLEASE read this.
Fun fact: I’ve seen different therapists in the past seven or so years (as I’ve moved around the country), not including the hundreds of hours I’ve talked to my friend Lindsay (you’ve read her articles) who has served as my relationship/life therapist and good friend throughout. I remember first talking to Lindsay about this 8 years ago and she said something that forever changed my thoughts on it:
“Steve, people that are in shape go to the gym to work on things and get better. Talking through things with somebody is the same: you can work on mental things and improve.”
I really struggled with my ego to accept the fact that I needed help on some things that I just couldn’t wrap my brain around, and speaking with a qualified therapist and arming myself with exercises and mental models to work through those struggles was so freaking helpful.
Your ego tells you that asking for help is stupid and to keep doing what you’re doing. To hide your struggles because you need to get over them yourself.
Reality shows us that asking for help is no big deal. Sometimes it’s the fastest way to get results and get back on the right track!
Your fragile ego needs a wake up call.
Last month, I had an opportunity to go see best selling author Ryan Holiday speak at Google HQ about his newest book, Ego is the Enemy.
I made it through the book in a single day, and felt compelled to immediately write this post after. It’s also the only time I wrote a review for a book on Amazon, because I felt compelled to spread the word.
It perfectly illustrated how:e
Our egos can keep us from starting something.
Our egos can keep us from STOPPING something that isn’t working.
Our egos can keep us from asking for help when we desperately need it.
If we fail to see our egos for what they are, they can consume us and force us against our will to make unhealthy or time-wasting decisions.
Whether people are talking shit about me (hey, it’s the internet), or saying nice things (hey, it’s the internet), my ego seems like it’s got a mind of its own. The worst part is, sometimes I start to believe my ego! It’s quite loud, it’s needy, and it never goes away.
So I have to acknowledge my ego in certain situations, and then act how I would if it wasn’t there. It makes me feel like Westley in The Princess Bride, tasked with defeating Vizzini in a mental battle. By understanding how my ego works, I can beat him at his own game:
I want to hear from you!
Leave a comment with how you’re battling your ego and I’ll pick 3 people at random and send them a signed copy of Ryan’s book, Ego is the Enemy.
-Steve
PS: I have no affiliation with Ryan other than the fact that I liked his book and it inspired me to live differently!
###
Photo: Alex Eylar: Lego Mirror, Eduardo il Magnifico: Blue Lego MirrorA man and his cat were rescued from the second floor of a commercial building in the city's northwest as a two-alarm fire ripped through a business there early Thursday morning.
Firefighters were called to Carrier Drive and Albion Road shortly before 6 a.m. for a fire on the roof of a building.
When they arrived, smoke and flames were visible from the roof, Toronto Fire Services told CBC Toronto.
Toronto fire initially said they rescued one person from the blaze, but later confirmed a man and his cat were pulled from the building. Neither was injured.
Update - no injuries to adult male & his cat who were rescued at Carrier Dr morning 2 Alarm fire <a href="https://t.co/bYVYkwe6cE">pic.twitter.com/bYVYkwe6cE</a> —@Toronto_Fire
The fire was out before 7 a.m.
Police closed a portion of Carrier Drive north of Albion Road, but reopened the roadway around 8 a.m.A proposed change to how hospital-owned ambulatory surgery centers are paid could further suppress the appetite of hospitals to own these capital-intensive outpatient facilities.
Specialties like orthopedics and plastic surgery once represented high-margin service lines for hospitals. But changing payment models have been slowly chipping away at some of that return.
The latest federal budget bill, passed by Congress last week, reduces Medicare rates for off-campus outpatient centers owned by hospitals. The measure eliminates hospitals' ability to charge a facility fee and creates more parity in payment between hospital-owned and free-standing outpatient centers.
The cut would only apply to new off-campus outpatient centers, not those currently owned and operated by hospitals. It also excludes stand-alone emergency departments.
As a result, looser alliances between health systems and ambulatory surgery centers will look more appealing. “It makes you look more closely at what are the benefits of owning” an ASC, said Joan Dentler, CEO of Avanza Healthcare Strategies, a consulting firm on outpatient and population- health strategies. “The hospital doesn't even care about having ownership, but (about) having the ambulatory surgery center in their network.”
Before the rule change, payers and patients, especially those in high deductible plans, paid more after hospitals purchased an ASC. “Nothing changed but the name on the door,” said Greg Maddrey, accountable care solutions director at the Chartis Group, a consulting firm.
The higher facility fee allowed a hospital to earn an immediate return on its investment in an outpatient center by charging higher rates. The new payment model, however, takes away that benefit.
Moreover, facility fees are being de-emphasized under the CMS' bundled-payment initiative. The CMS in July proposed rolling out a mandatory Medicare bundled payment for hip and knee replacements in 75 markets, which will hold hospitals accountable for outcomes up to 90 days post-discharge.
“The landscape is going to change very dramatically,” said Dr. Tom Graf, national leader for population health management at the Chartis Group. “The only thing that's really relevant is how much it costs you to provide the service.”
The bundled-payment program also sets explicit legal protections allowing doctors and hospitals to share savings, Graf noted. “That really changes the dynamic,” he said. “The focus is on the care rather than the site of care.”
Health systems, of course, still need to have an ambulatory surgery strategy as more procedures are performed on an outpatient basis. And they still must align their cost structure with payment models.
Eliminating the facility fee may encourage more hospitals to develop ASCs as joint ventures with one of the many investor-owned companies in the sector, such as AmSurg, Surgical Care Affiliates and United Surgical Partners International, now owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp.White Spirits Market Overview :
Global White Spirits Market is estimated to reach $9 billion by 2024; growing at a CAGR of 6.6% between 2016 and 2024. White spirit is a mixture of straight and branched chain paraffins, naphthene and alkyl aromatic hydrocarbons, majorly used for cleaning paint and degreasing machine tools and parts. It is also used by individuals in their household to clean used paint brushes, and to remove adhesive from surfaces. White spirit is a light grade of kerosene and can also be used as substitute for kerosene in stoves.
Unassuming jet kerosene prices, steady demand from the paints and coatings industry, changing demographics, improving global economic conditions, and the increasing demand for these spirits as a turpentine substitute are the major factors driving the global white spirits market. However, high cost of white spirits may hamper the market growth. Shifting focus towards low aromatic white spirits would provide several growth opportunities for the market in coming years.
The global white spirits market is bifurcated by application and grades. The segmentations by application include paint thinner, cleaning solvent, degreasing solvent, fuel, disinfectant, and others. Regular flash grade, high flash grade, and low flash grade are the various classifications of white spirits by grades. The paint thinner segment dominated the application segment with the largest market share in 2016. Regular flash grade was the maximum revenue generating segment by grades.
Based on geography, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world (RoW). The U.S., Mexico and Canada are covered under North America wherein Europe covers France, Germany, UK and others. Asia-Pacific covers China, India, Japan and others. Rest of the world (RoW) covers South America, Middle East and Africa.
Major companies operating in this market are ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total S.A., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., CEPSA, and Neste Oyj among others.
The key takeaways from the report
The report will provide detailed analysis of White Spirits Market with respect to major segments such as application and grade
The report will include the qualitative and quantitative analysis with market estimation over 2015-2024 and compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2016 and 2024
Comprehensive analysis of market dynamics including factors and opportunities is included in the report
An exhaustive regional analysis of White Spirits Market will be provided in the report
Profile of the key players in the White Spirits Market will be provided, which include key financials, product & services, new developments and business strategies
Scope of white spirits Market
Application Segment
Paint thinner
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Grade SegmentWho Won the Las Vegas GOP Debate? Twitter Reacts
Trump Slams Jeb's 'Failed' Campaign: 'It's Been a Total Disaster'
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has plenty of admirers, and you can apparently count Russian President Vladimir Putin among them.
Putin praised Trump as "very talented," describing him as the "absolute leader" in the Republican race for the White House.
"He is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no doubt about that," Putin told journalists after a press conference in Moscow. "But this is not up to us to decide if he is worthy. It is up to the voters in the United States. He is an absolute leader of the presidential race, as we see it today."
Carl Cameron said on "Shepard Smith Reporting" that every presidential candidate has condemned Putin, except Trump.
Cameron pointed out that Trump has often said along the campaign trail that he believes he could get along well with the Russian president.
"I will get along - I think - with Putin, and I will get along with others, and we will have a much more stable - stable world," Trump said in September. "I would talk to him. I would get along with him."
Cameron said that Putin's "endorsement" of Trump is likely to surface in attack ads, either from his fellow Republican candidates or, if he wins the GOP nomination, from Democrats as Election Day nears.
Watch more above.
WATCH: Rubio and Cruz Clash on Military Spending
Frank Luntz Focus Group Picks Their Big Winners of the GOP Debate
Priebus: There Was No 'Secret Meeting' to Oust Donald Trump
Trump Says He Won't Run as Independent: 'Totally Committed to the Republican Party'First cancer compo deal for firefighters
Updated
Sorry, this video has expired Video: Volunteer fire fighters compensated (7pm TV News TAS)
Tasmanian firefighters have welcomed a groundbreaking scheme compensating them if they contract cancer.
Tasmania is set to become the first Australian state to directly compensate career and volunteer firefighters who contract cancer at work.
Workplace Relations Minister, David O'Byrne, has tabled a bill covering 12 types of cancer caused by exposure to toxic chemicals on the job.
If it passes, the bill will give firefighters access to medical support, leave and compensation.
"Firefighters run towards the danger and through their activities they are exposed to carcinogens and environments that no worker really should be confronted with," Mr O'Byrne said.
It will also mean firefighters will not have to go through what is considered an almost impossible process of proving which chemicals caused their cancer.
Peter Marshall from the United Firefighters Union says the legislation sends a powerful message.
"Unfortunately it's an unavoidable risk being exposed to cancer-causing toxins," he said.
"This legislation will make sure they're protected in the event that they suffer cancer."
Firefighter Daniel Redpath contracted prostate cancer in 2011.
He will not be eligible for compensation under the changes, but says it is important legislation for his colleagues.
"Well it's there now to say hey if you got affected by some chemicals or whatever down the track it's there now to say I need some workers compensation for it," he said.
"It will help everyone else."
Tasmania has about 300 career firefighters and 5000 volunteer firefighters.
Topics: workplace, occupational-health-and-safety, fires, tas, hobart-7000, launceston-7250
First posted"Brian Leetch?" the New York Rangers rookie defenseman said with surprise and excitement in his voice following practice Tuesday.
It's one thing for Skjei to hear praise for his play from coaches, teammates and peers. It's another to hear it from the best defenseman in Rangers history.
Leetch has a lot of praise for Skjei as he and the Rangers prepare to start their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Ottawa Senators. Game 1 is at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; CNBC, CBC, TVA Sports).
[RELATED: Complete Senators vs. Rangers series coverage]
[RELATED: Brian Leetch: 100 Greatest NHL Players]
"It is sometimes a different ballgame in the playoffs and some guys that have a good first year aren't able to carry it |
, this was great news, given that some 300 million pounds of the chemical were used on U.S. crops in 2012, the most recent year measured, and endocrine disruption has been linked to a range of serious health effects, including cancer, infertility, and diabetes. Monsanto, which sells glyphosate under the name Roundup, certainly felt good about it. “I was happy to see that the safety profile of one of our products was upheld by an independent regulatory agency,” wrote Steve Levine on Monsanto’s blog.
But the EPA’s exoneration — which means that the agency will not require additional tests of the chemical’s effects on the hormonal system — is undercut by the fact that the decision was based almost entirely on pesticide industry studies. Only five independently funded studies were considered in the review of whether glyphosate interferes with the endocrine system. Twenty-seven out of 32 studies that looked at glyphosate’s effect on hormones and were cited in the June review — most of which are not publicly available and were obtained by The Intercept through a Freedom of Information Act request — were either conducted or funded by industry. Most of the studies were sponsored by Monsanto or an industry group called the Joint Glyphosate Task Force. One study was by Syngenta, which sells its own glyphosate-containing herbicide, Touchdown.
Findings of Harm Were Dismissed
Who pays for studies matters, according to The Intercept’s review of the evidence used in the EPA’s decision. Of the small minority of independently funded studies that the agency considered in determining whether the chemical poses a danger to the endocrine system, three of five found that it did. One, for instance, found that exposure to glyphosate-Roundup “may induce significant adverse effects on the reproductive system of male Wistar rats at puberty and during adulthood.” Another concluded that “low and environmentally relevant concentrations of glyphosate possessed estrogenic activity.” And a review of the literature turns up many more peer-reviewed studies finding glyphosate can interfere with hormones, affecting such things as hormonal activity in human liver cells, functioning of rat sperm, and the sex ratio of exposed tadpoles.
Yet, of the 27 industry studies, none concluded that glyphosate caused harm. Only one admitted that the pesticide might have had a role in causing the health problems observed in lab animals exposed to it. Some rats that consumed it were more likely to have to have soft stools, reduced body weight, and smaller litters. But because that evidence didn’t meet a test of statistical significance, the authors of the Monsanto study deemed it “equivocal.”
Indeed, many of the industry-funded studies contained data that suggested that exposure to glyphosate had serious effects, including a decrease in the number of viable fetuses and fetal body weight in rats; inflammation of hormone-producing cells in the pancreas of rats; and increases in the number of pancreatic cancers in rats. Each is an endocrine-related outcome. Yet in each case, sometimes even after animals died, the scientists found reasons to discount the findings — or to simply dismiss them.
When rats exposed to glyphosate had a decreased number of pregnancies that implanted, for instance, the authors of a 1980 Monsanto-sponsored study explained that “since ovulation and implantation occurred prior to treatment, the decreases … were not considered to be treatment related.” Although they noted that the decrease in implantations and viable fetuses was “statistically significant,” the authors nonetheless concluded that the decrease in implantations was a random occurrence.
While recent research has shown that very low doses of endocrine disruptors can not only have health effects but effects that are more dramatic than those caused by higher doses, some of the studies dismiss clear examples of harm because they occur in animals given relatively low doses of the substance. A study prepared by Monsanto in 1990, for instance, noted a statistically significant increase in pancreatic cancers among rats exposed to a relatively low dose of Roundup. The rats had a 14 percent chance of cancer, compared to a 2 percent chance in the control group. But since some rats exposed to higher amounts of the chemical had lower cancer rates, the scientists concluded the elevation was “unrelated to glyphosate administration.”
A Flawed System
Independent scientists may come up with different results than industry-funded ones for a variety of reasons, including how a study is designed or carried out. But Michelle Boone, a biologist who served on an EPA panel that evaluated the safety of atrazine, another pesticide, told The Intercept that analysis of those results is an area particularly ripe for bias. “Once you have industry intimately involved in interpreting the data and how it’s written up, it’s problematic.”
Having companies fund and perform studies that affect them financially would seem to be an obvious conflict of interest, but that’s the standard practice at EPA. The glyphosate review, which was completed in June, was one of 52 reporting on the endocrine disrupting potential of pesticides, all of which relied heavily on industry-funded research and most of which concluded, as the one of glyphosate did, that there was no cause for further testing. (Though marketed as a weed killer, or herbicide, glyphosate is considered to be a pesticide by the EPA.)
Asking chemical companies to do their own testing makes financial — if not scientific — sense for the cash-strapped federal agency. Monsanto, which had more than $15.8 billion in net sales last year (roughly twice the EPA’s annual budget), can easily foot the research bill. Companies like Monsanto, Syngenta, or Dow can either do the research themselves or hire contract research labs, such as Wildlife International or CeeTox, Inc., which supplied much of the research for the glyphosate review.
But the fact that these labs depend upon the large corporations that employ them as evaluators can’t help but skew their findings, according to critics of the system. “They know who’s buttering their toast,” said Doug Gurian Sherman, a senior scientist at the Center for Food Safety and former staff scientist at the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs. “It’s not that people are going to necessarily do something clearly fraudulent. It’s more that it puts a pressure to shave things in a direction to whoever’s paying the bills.”
The process can be distorted beginning with the very first step, when a company chooses which lab will perform its tests. “Industry is very aware of companies they can hire that have never found an estrogen positive chemical,” said Laura Vandenberg, a professor of biology at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who specializes in endocrine disruption and hazard assessment. “Just like you know which mechanic in your neighborhood is more likely to be dishonest. They know who is more likely to give them a favorable finding.”
The EPA defended its process in a statement. “We want to make clear that EPA maintains a transparent, public process for assessing potential risks to human health when evaluating pesticide products,” it began. The agency statement also pointed out that the law requires pesticide companies to provide studies supporting their products. “Once studies are submitted to the agency, EPA scientists analyze the data to ensure that the design of the study is appropriate and that the data have been collected and analyzed accurately.”
Syngenta responded in a statement that pointed out that pesticide companies have to provide data to the EPA: “The law requires manufacturers do extensive scientific studies to prove a new compound is safe. EPA controls and documents the studies’ strict adherence to its guidelines. This provides the highest level of transparency to the agency, fellow scientists and the public.”
A spokesperson for Monsanto wrote in an email that “the government requires many, many studies to make sure herbicides can be used safely. While some of these studies are required to come from us, many of these studies are conducted by third-party scientists and labs. The EPA looked at 11 different validated assays assessing the potential for effect of glyphosate on endocrine pathways in humans and wildlife. Based on its review of the data, EPA concluded ‘there was no convincing evidence of potential interaction with the estrogen, androgen or thyroid pathways’ and this conclusion is consistent with the results from other safety studies conducted in accordance with international and assessment guidelines.” Dow, Wildlife International, and CeeTox, Inc. did not respond to The Intercept’s requests for comment.
A False Sense of Security
The dependence on industry is just one of several limitations of the EPA’s effort to screen pesticides for their potential to interfere with the way androgen, estrogen, and thyroid hormones work. The effort has also been dogged by delays. Congress mandated that the agency begin screening to see whether pesticides were endocrine disruptors back in 1996. Yet the screenings of the 52 pesticides in June were the first to emerge from the program in almost 20 years since the testing was required.
In the intervening time, our knowledge about endocrine disruptors has exploded, leaving many of the tests on them out of date. Indeed, many of the studies submitted for the glyphosate review dated back to the 1970s. One was 40 years old. In all, 15 of the 27 industry studies predated the term “endocrine disruption,” which was coined in 1991.
Perhaps the most important discovery in the area of endocrine research in the decades since those studies were performed is that even small amounts of hormonally active chemicals can have powerful effects. Yet the cutoffs used in the EPA’s screening program were far higher than the lowest levels shown to have effects in the latest research.
“We see effects at levels that are 1,000 times lower” than the cutoff EPA uses, said Vandenberg, who warned of the false sense of security given by such insensitive screenings. “It’s like putting your deaf grandfather in front of a TV and asking him if he can hear it and when he says no, you conclude the TV is off.”
Almost as problematic as the industry-provided data, some critics say, is the research the agency doesn’t consider. “They exclude studies that others in the field would consider to be perfectly good,” said Sherman, of the Center for Food Safety. Or, as was the case in the glyphosate review, findings of harm by independently conducted studies may be considered but discounted.
While independent scientists have complained about the role of the pesticide industry in its own regulation for years — and suggested ways to fix it, including discounting any studies that have a conflict of interest — there’s little progress on that front.
In fact, having cleared this review, glyphosate is now about to face another regulatory hurdle that, while bigger, is similarly flawed. Every 15 years, the EPA must review pesticides on the market in light of the latest science. Glyphosate’s review, which will include research on its health effects on humans and is expected to be completed in the next few months, is the first to come after the International Agency for Research on Cancer labeled glyphosate a probable carcinogen in March. If the EPA doesn’t reregister glyphosate, it could be essentially banned, as it already is in France and Sri Lanka.
Monsanto seems optimistic its product will survive the coming EPA review, noting in the blog post about the recent EPA review that “glyphosate’s safety is supported by one of the most extensive worldwide human health databases ever compiled on an agricultural product.”
Unfortunately, Monsanto has supplied most of that data.There is at least one Canadian among the Islamic militants who took 132 foreign hostages at a gas plant in Algeria this week, according to a Mauritanian news agency.
The information comes from Agence Nouakchott d'Information, which quoted an unnamed source within the al-Mua'qi'oon Biddam.
Also known as "Those Who Sign with Blood," al-Mua'qi'oon Biddam is the new al-Qaeda affiliate that has claimed responsibility for the attack on the In Amenas complex in the Sahara desert.
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The source told ANI that the kidnappers included militants from Algeria, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Egypt and Canada.
No further details were provided.
Reached in Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, ANI website editor Sidi El Mokhtar Sidi said the agency had been receiving calls from the kidnappers.
Mr. Sidi said the militant spokesman had listed the nationalities of the hostage takers but did not specify how many came from each country.
Al-Mua'qi'oon Biddam is a splinter group from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM. The new militia reportedly broke off from AQIM last month and is led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the suspect in the 2008 kidnapping of two Canadian diplomats.
The RCMP declined to comment when contacted Friday.
A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs and International Affairs Canada said her department was aware of the report.
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"We are pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information and are in close contact with Algerian authorities," department spokeswoman Chrystiane Roy said in an e-mail.
There have been previous cases of Canadians joining Jihadist groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia but this appears to be the first public mention of a Canadian getting involved with al-Qaeda's North African movement.
Senegal-based security analyst Andrew Lebovich said he has not previously heard of a Canadian being part of AQIM.
AQIM recruits come mostly from African countries and it is only in the last year that there have been cases of Westerners trying to join, Mr. Lebovich said.
"The number of [European] recruits still seem relatively small but there has been a noticeable shift in recruiting patterns, at least in the last six months to a year," Mr. Lebovich said in an interview from Dakar.
He said he had also heard of Americans AQIM recruits but has not been able to confirm that information.
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The prospect of Europeans working for AQIM has been a source of worries in France in recent months. French authorities are currently investigating four cases, according to an interview the anti-terrorism judge Marc Trévidic gave this week to Le Parisien.
Aaron Zelin, a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy who monitors Jihadi websites, said ANI is a "pretty reliable" source on AQIM because the movement often uses the Mauritanian news agency as an outlet for its communiqués.
Appearing last fall before the Senate's Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, Canadian security officials were asked if they knew of Canadians travelling to Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan or Yemen to join terrorist organizations.
"We are seeing a consistent volume of individuals being radicalized and looking to travel abroad to either participate, train or conduct terrorist acts," RCMP Assistant Commissioner James Malizia testified.
"... It is a serious concern for us for the fact that individuals who do depart Canada right now, if we're not in a position to prevent them from leaving and they do end up in areas of the world where we might lose track of them, then the questions is once they've received training, what harm will come to either our allies or if they decide to return to Canada? That is definitely a continuing concern for us."
With a report from Colin FreezeIsrael’s Foreign Ministry on Monday said far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen “contradicted historical truth” when she said that her country was not responsible for the rounding up of Jews during the Holocaust.
The response came a day after Le Pen, who leads the National Front party, said that it was the wartime Vichy government that was to blame for the capture and deportation to Nazi death camps of thousands of Jews, and not France as a whole.
Former French president Jacques Chirac and current leader Francois Hollande have both apologized for the role French police played in the round-up of more than 13,000 Jews at the Vel d’Hiv cycling track, which was ordered by Nazi officers in 1942.
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“We condemn the comments from Marine Le Pen that France was not responsible for the expulsion of Jews from its territory during the Holocaust,” the ministry said in a statement. “That announcement contradicts the historical truth, that is given expression in the declarations by French presidents who have recognized the responsibility of the state for the fate of French Jews who died in the Holocaust.
“Recognition that rests on the marking of memorial days for the expulsion of Jews from France, and teaching about the Holocaust in the education system, are important elements in the campaign against anti-Semitism, which to our regret raises its head today,” the ministry added.
On Sunday, Le Pen told the LCI television channel: “I don’t think France is responsible for the Vel d’Hiv.”
She added: “I think that generally speaking if there are people responsible, it’s those who were in power at the time. It’s not France.”
The National Front leader said France had “taught our children that they have all the reasons to criticize (the country), and to only see, perhaps, the darkest aspects of our history. So, I want them to be proud of being French again,” she said.
Ahead of the first round of France’s highly unpredictable presidential election on April 23, Le Pen’s centrist rival Emmanuel Macron said her comments were “a serious mistake.”
“Some had forgotten that Marine Le Pen is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen,” Macron told BFMTV.
Le Pen senior, who founded the FN in 1972 and is estranged from his daughter, has been convicted repeatedly for anti-Semitic and racist comments such as calling the Holocaust a “detail of history.”
“We must not be complacent or minimize what the National Front is today,” Macron said.
The CRIF umbrella grouping of French Jewish organizations and the Jewish students’ union (UEJF) both blasted Le Pen for the comments, describing them as “revisionist.”
“These remarks are an insult to France, which honored itself in 1995 by recognizing its responsibility in the deportation of France’s Jews and facing its history without a selective memory,” the CRIF said.
Chirac’s Socialist predecessor Francois Mitterand had refused to acknowledge responsibility for the deportations, saying in 1994: “The republic had nothing to do with that. France is not responsible.”
Le Pen defended her broadcast comments in a statement issued late Sunday.
“I consider that France and the Republic were based in London during the (Nazi) occupation,” she said.
The British capital was where Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French forces, lived in exile during World War II while France’s Vichy regime collaborated with Nazi Germany.
“The Vichy regime was not France,” Le Pen said in her statement, describing the wartime authority as “illegal.”
She added that this in no way exonerated those who participated in “the vile roundup of Vel d’Hiv and all the atrocities committed during that period.”Arrow S3x13 “The Canaries” Share:
WARNING! SPOILERS!
After the slightly disappointing episode of last week’s Midnight City, it’s clear that Season 3 hasn’t been Arrow’s finest. However, with Canaries, the team behind the show was able to deliver one of the finer episodes of the season as several major revelations happened this week that really worked.
Let’s start with the big one. Thea now knows that Oliver is the Arrow, and her reaction was superb. She wasn’t bitter and resentful at him and that showed how much her character has grown over the course of the series, because Season 2 Thea would have turned her back on him pretty much instantly. However, what she’s been through since then has changed her, and the training from Malcolm has helped. So it looks like with Malcolm now supporting Oliver, things are getting really interesting indeed with lots of potential for some great story developments. One of things that I loved about this episode was that they got rid of the pointless DJ/Assassin Chase, and showed that once again, the series is going in the right direction for sure.
As well as the reveal concerning Thea, the other major part of this week’s episode was Laurel’s storyline. It continued to impress and be one of the stronger moments of the show this season, which again, has really turned around from the last two seasons where she was, like with Thea, among the weakest links in the show. This time round, we got to see Vertigo-induced versions of both Sara and her father fight against her in what proved to be a series of fantastic scenes. It was a great way to bring Caity Lotz back without actually bringing the character back from the dead, and it was handled pretty well indeed. However, what was more important was that Laurel’s dad (who, like Roy, knew that she was Laurel and not Sara under the mask) found out that Sara was dead, at last. It packed a pretty hefty punch and it was good to see that the cat is now finally out of the bag even if the after-effects are still yet to be dealt with properly.
The inclusion of the good Vertigo this week was fantastic to see as well. Werner Zytle really left an intimidating presence as the crime boss continued to make himself known as a reliably entertaining villain, and with this being his second outing following his role in the season 3 premiere The Calm, it was great to see him have another chance to impress with Peter Stormare delivering a pretty solid job. Once again, it’s great to see that there’s still room for his character to return in the future, which would be awesome.
It’s also worth noting the Hong Kong flashbacks this week which finally improved, especially towards the end, which seem to move the action away from that setting. Oliver still isn’t freed from Amanda Waller’s clutches just yet, and with the ending scene showing a return to Starling, there’s lots of room for this to develop going forward, especially as it brings Oliver so close to reuniting with his family. Although, as we know from the present day storyline, he won’t presumably be able to meet them.
And speaking of people reuniting, next week’s episode will feature the return of Slade Wilson, with Thea and Oliver returning to the Island. It’ll be great to see Manu Bennett back on the show in The Return, and hopefully he’ll be once again playing a major role in the season to come. That could certainly be what the series needs to return to the form that it has seemed to have lost lately. I certainly can’t wait to see what happens, and based on what we’ve seen in The Canaries, I’m optimistic that the second half of Season 3 should be very exciting indeed.Last month’s 118 fatalities – more than one in six of whom were unarmed – reversed a downward trend over the previous four months
July was the deadliest month of 2015 so far for killings by police after registering 118 fatalities, according to the Guardian’s ongoing investigation The Counted, which now projects that US law enforcement is on course to kill more than 1,150 people this year.
The July figure brought an end to a steady decline in totals over the previous four months. After 113 people were killed in March, 101 died in April, 87 fatalities were recorded in May and 78 in June.
At least 20 people killed in July – more than one in six – were unarmed, including Samuel DuBose, who was shot by University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing in a 19 July traffic stop that has become the latest flashpoint in protests over the police’s use of deadly force.
Of the 118 people, 106 died from gunfire, making July also the first month of 2015 in which that number has exceeded 100. Two people died after officers shocked them with Tasers, two died being struck by police vehicles, and eight died after altercations in police custody.
The Counted is recording every killing by police in the US this year because the federal government does not currently publish a comprehensive database. Instead the FBI runs a voluntary program in which agencies may submit numbers of “justifiable homicides”.
Tensing had claimed DuBose dragged him with his car, but footage recorded by Tensing’s body camera refuted his account. The officer was charged with murder on Wednesday, when at a press conference the Cincinnati prosecutor Joe Deters called the shooting “senseless” and said Tensing “should never have been a police officer”.
Tensing, who turned himself in on Wednesday, was arraigned on Thursday and has been released on bail. On Friday it was announced by Deters’s office that two officers who appeared to reinforce Tensing’s false account will not be charged with any crimes.
As in the DuBose case, police in Seneca, South Carolina, who fatally shot 19-year-old Zachary Hammond said he tried to use his vehicle as a weapon. The officer who shot Hammond was assisting an undercover drugs investigation and said Hammond drove his car at the officer to evade a stop. An attorney for Hammond’s family has since rejected this claim, citing autopsy results that he said indicated Hammond was shot from behind and his car was not moving.
In Mississippi, investigators said 39-year-old Jonathan Sanders died from “manual asphyxiation” after an altercation with Stonewall police officer Kevin Herrington. According to the Sanders family’s attorneys, Sanders repeatedly told Herrington “I can’t breathe” while the officer applied a chokehold that witnesses said lasted more than 20 minutes. An earlier suggestion by Sanders’s own attorney that the officer used a flashlight to execute the hold, was denied by Stonewall’s police chief, who described the incident as “a fight”.
Across the state, in Olive Branch, Mississippi, 30-year-old Troy Goode died after being “hogtied” by Southaven police when he started “acting strange” while returning from a concert in Memphis. It is believed Goode was under the influence of LSD, authorities said. An attorney for Goode’s family told the Guardian that when they called the hospital to try to visit Goode, authorities told them they would be arrested if they arrived.
The Guardian’s total does not include a number of other deaths in police custody that have been increasingly discussed following the death of 28-year-old Sandra Bland at a jail in Waller County, Texas. The Counted does not record deaths in custody without clear evidence or official accounting of a physical altercation or other direct action of law enforcement that could reasonably be seen to have caused the death.
In July, at least eight women, five of whom were black, died in US jails. Despite the increased attention on the issue, the phenomenon does not appear to be on the rise. The Bureau of Justice Statistics said that according to data collected from 2000 to 2012, about 10 women die in the custody of local jails every month.The Justice Department's threat Monday to pull funding from local and state governments that refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement laws drew a defiant response from big-city mayors.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions took the podium at the White House press briefing to fire the broadside at cities that refuse to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they have illegal immigrants in custody. Judging from the response from mayors of the nation's biggest cities, the Trump administration has a fight on its hands.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio downplayed the significance of Sessions’ message and said in his weekly television segment Sessions was more “saber-rattling.”
“If they actually act to take away our money, we’ll see them in court,” vowed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said taking federal funding from the city would be “unconstitutional.”
“We will fight to protect the safety and dignity of all Angelenos,” Garcetti said. “We will work closely with our representatives in Congress to make sure that Los Angeles does not go without federal resources that help protect millions of people every day.”
We won’t back down from protecting New Yorkers from terror – or from an overzealous administration fixated on xenophobia and division. https://t.co/HITtsr52xm — Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 27, 2017
Members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, including the chief executives of Los Angeles, Dallas, New Orleans and more than a dozen other mayors and police chiefs from around the country willl meet Wednesday with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Gen. John Kelly to hear first-hand how the Trump administration intends to enforce an order barring sanctuary policies.
While not a technical term, "sanctuary cities" are seen as communities that have refused to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after detaining illegal immigrants. By federal law, they are required to inform the feds when they have an illegal immigrant in custody, even if he or she has not been convicted of a crime.
Since 2000, immigrants were responsible for 96% of Philly’s Main Street small biz growth. Get the facts: https://t.co/5Igw5ytfZM https://t.co/wDP8u0rybw — Jim Kenney (@PhillyMayor) March 27, 2017
Sessions not only warned of “withholding grants, termination of grants, and disbarment or ineligibility for future grants,” he said the Trump administration could even "claw back" money that has already been disbursed to sanctuary cities.
As Sessions threatens to pull DOJ grants from Welcoming Cities, we stand resolute. Trump's immigration policy is based in bigotry not safety pic.twitter.com/i7Sra0fHNV — Ed Murray (@MayorEdMurray) March 27, 2017
“I strongly urge our nation’s states and cities and counties to consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws and to rethink these policies," he said. "Such policies make their cities and states less safe, public safety as well as national security are at stake, and put them at the risk of losing federal dollars.”
#SF knows that #SanctuaryCities are safer, more productive, healthier places to live. We work for all our residents. #SFStandsAsOne pic.twitter.com/768sO981Q4 — Mayor Ed Lee (@mayoredlee) March 27, 2017
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Obama during his first term, has been consistently outspoken on this issue, said that Chicago will continue to welcome immigrants in the face of changes directed by the administration, also calling the denial of federal funds “unconstitutional.”
And Boston Mayor Marty Walsh called the threat ‘destructive’ and ‘irresponsible’. Walsh has said that he would shelter immigrants in City Hall if needed, with the support of Boston Police Commissioner William Evans who said officers would not arrest immigrants living in the U.S. illegally unless they are accused of committing violent crimes.
Sessions cited a report released last week by the Department of Homeland Security underscoring the message. In one recent 7-day span, there were more than 200 instances of jurisdictions refusing to honor Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests with respect to individuals charged or convicted of a crime.
“The American people are not happy with these results,” Sessions said on Monday. “They know that when cities and states refuse to help enforce immigration laws, our nation is less safe.”
But a recent Fox News Poll taken this month showed that 53 percent of voters opposed the administration’s plan to penalize cities by cutting their federal funding.
Sessions called the response in opposition from mayors in these cities “disheartening.”
“The American people want and deserve a lawful system of immigration that keeps us safe, and one that serves national interests,” Sessions said. “This expectation is reasonable, just, and our government has the duty to meet it and we will meet it.”Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017 Associated Press/Manuel Balce Ceneta Two senators on Tuesday urged Congress to move quickly on bipartisan legislation that would provide legal status to the hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States since they were children, and now face losing protection from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.
The latest call for action on the DREAM Act, issued by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, came just hours after the Trump administration said it would phase out DACA over the next six months.
"Today this announcement that was handed down, first by Attorney General Sessions and then by the president, tells us that the clock is ticking," Durbin told media.
"We are now in a countdown toward deportation for 780,000 protected by DACA today. For those young men and women across America, I can tell you this is a moment of great concern, great fear, and great anxiety about what's going to happen to their lives."
The most recent version of the DREAM Act, introduced in July, would offer legal permanent residence — and eventually a pathway to citizenship — to young immigrants if they arrived in the US as children, obtained a high school degree or GED, and are enrolled in higher education, employed, or serve in the military.
Immigrants would also have to undergo background checks, demonstrate English-language proficiency, and have a criminal record clear of felonies or other "serious crimes."
Durbin has introduced the DREAM Act in various iterations throughout the last 16 years and received minor victories, although none of the bills managed to pass both the House and Senate at the same time. Durbin and Graham both expressed hope that the latest version of the legislation would be passed by the end of September.
"I am committed to fixing this problem once and for all," Graham said at the news conference. "This is a defining moment … we are the party of a constitutional process. We believe in doing it right. But 'right' means taking care of these kids."
Graham praised Trump's decision to rescind DACA and pass the issue over to Congress, but noted that some of his Republican colleagues will likely be reluctant to offer young undocumented immigrants legal status, lest the move encourage more illegal immigration.
"I think most Republicans believe you have to have a secure border or you'll have 11 million more [undocumented immigrants] in the future," he said, adding that his solution is to work on subsequent legislation that would address border security, after the DREAM Act is passed.
Passing DREAM in the near future will be difficult. Congress is gearing up for a busy month packed with must-pass legislation, including bills to raise the debt ceiling, fund the government, overhaul the tax code, and stabilize the individual health-insurance exchanges.It’s been a big week for YouTube news. On Wednesday, the company launched a new HTML5-based mobile site, as well as the slick-looking YouTube Leanback. Today, during a keynote at VidCon, the site made a few more announcements: YouTube is adding support for video shot in the 4K video format — a very high resolution that clocks in at 4096 x 3072). And it’s also creating a new $5 million Partner Grants program that’s meant to help spur the creation of original content on YouTube by funding promising video ventures.
In a blog post, YouTube writes that the goal of the Grants program “is to act as a catalyst by infusing additional funds into the production budgets of a small group of YouTube partners who are at the forefront of innovation” and says that these funds will be serving as “an advance against the partner’s future revenue share”.
Here how the program works:
YouTube is identifying eligible partners based on factors such as video views, subscribers, growth rate, audience engagement and production expertise
Selected partners are contacted by YouTube and invited to submit a Grant proposal
Proposals are evaluated by YouTube based on signals which include projected performance, distribution plan, marketing plan, cost requirements and appeal to advertisers
If approved, funds are transferred to the partner so they can get started on their project
As for the 4K video resolution support, it’s really big: YouTube says that the ideal screen size for 4K video is 25 feet. Not to mention that the cameras needed to record in 4K resolution are quite expensive. So yes, this might be a little overkill for your average consumer recording, but it’s clear that it could definitely have professional applications. YouTube also notes that if you want to watch a video shot at 4K you’ll need a very fast broadband connection.
All of this is clearly meant to help YouTube boost the amount of original, high-quality content on the site (in other words, it is growing beyond the 10 minute clips of cats on Roombas that are its bread-and-butter). According to a report in AdAge, YouTube “envisions someone directing the money toward a short film or to increase their current level of production on YouTube”. It sounds like the only restriction is that the primary mode of distribution for these videos has to be YouTube.The boom in U.S. shale oil production has pushed down oil prices worldwide, from $96 a barrel just six months ago, but Maduro’s comments say more about the pressure on his government domestically and Venezuela’s crucial relationship with Russia than about the global oil market.
"Did you know there's an oil war?” Maduro asked the leaders of Venezuela’s state-run businesses in a speech Monday in which he accused the United States of trying to flood the market with shale oil. “And the war has an objective: to destroy Russia. It's a strategically planned war... also aimed at Venezuela, to try and destroy our revolution and cause an economic collapse," Maduro added.
Venezuela relies on oil revenue for 96 percent of its hard currency reserves, so the plunging price of oil — which has dropped by half in the past six months to $48 a barrel — threatens to destabilize its economy. President Nicolas Maduro has a theory about what’s behind the sudden drop.
Even before oil started slipping, Venezuela was suffering an economic slowdown. Venezuelans have been suffering from shortages of basic goods including cooking oil, detergent and diapers amid an economic slowdown, the highest inflation in the Americas and restrictions on foreign currency for businesses. Venezuela’s most famous ice-cream store, Coromoto, which holds a Guinness world record for its 863 different ice-cream flavors, reported over the holidays that it had closed due to lack of milk. The Tourism Ministry denied that shortages caused the closure.
Maduro’s opponents have turned Coromoto into a symbol of Venezuela’s larger economic failure. They blame 15 years of socialist policies and the trampling of rights, which they charge began under Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, for the country’s economic woes.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said his country was facing a "disaster in slow motion" in a letter published in the Wall Street Journal on Friday. He wrote from his jail cell, where he was imprisoned on counts of inciting riots for his role in anti-Maduro protests following Chavez's death in 2013.
"My country, Venezuela, is on the brink of social and economic collapse," Lopez said in the letter. The Harvard-educated leader of the Popular Will Party said the current situation could not be blamed solely on falling oil prices, arguing that the downward spiral began as a result of an authoritarian government hostile to human rights and the rule of law.
Analysts have said that Maduro's actions since taking power, including the jailing of Lopez and other opposition leaders, are rooted in desperation to control dissent. While seeking election, Maduro promised to reform an economy plagued by persistent power outages, aging infrastructure, goods shortages and high crime rates. But since taking office, Maduro has struggled to make any significant changes.
Investment analysts who follow Venezuela have recommended reforms including unification of the three-tier currency controls and an increase in Venezuelan gasoline prices, the cheapest in the world. Maduro |
2015 declined to the lowest level since April 2010. The tracked sectors of the economy remain relatively soft with most expanding at the lower end of the range seen since the end of the Great Recession. Our economic index has been in a long term decline since late 2014.
The ECRI WLI growth index is now in positive territory but still indicates the economy will have little growth 6 months from today.
Current ECRI WLI Growth Index
The market was expecting the weekly initial unemployment claims at 265,000 to 278,000 (consensus 275,000) vs the 275,000 reported. The more important (because of the volatility in the weekly reported claims and seasonality errors in adjusting the data) 4 week moving average moved from 275,250 (reported last week as 275,500) to 275,750. The rolling averages generally have been equal to or under 300,000 since August 2014.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims - 4 Week Average - Seasonally Adjusted - 2011 (red line), 2012 (green line), 2013 (blue line), 2014 (orange line), 2015 (violet line)
Bankruptcies this Week: Quiksilver
[click on scorecard below to view page with active hyperlinks]Activists took to the streets of downtown Cairo on Wednesday, in objection to the possibility of Egypt taking out a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The march was called for by the Mina Danial Movement, named after a young activist killed during last year’s Maspero massacre. It also included activists from the revolutionary Socialists, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Communist Party of Egypt, and the Egyptian Socialist Party, as well as other groups. It started on Wednesday afternoon, when activists met in front of the stock market building and marched to the Cabinet building where Prime Minister Hisham Qandil was holding negotiations with a delegation from the IMF, according to a statement by the Mina Danial Movement.
The statement added that the fight against this loan is not temporary and that it is a matter of life and death. The group added “we reject the loan through all peaceful methods as we are a generation that refuses having Americans and foreigners dictate conditions and policies to us.”
The group added that policies of accepting international loans, have left people in Egypt impoverished and deprived of basic rights like housing, education, employment, and medical care in the past, and this in turn is what led people to revolt.
The aim of Wednesday’s march, the group added, is not only to reject the loan, but also to demand the creation of a committee, which includes economic experts, that can find an alternative to current borrowing policies in Egypt and a way to restructure the economy.
This protest comes on the heels of the IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde’s visit to Cairo, earlier this month, in which she met with President Mohamed Morsy and top officials.
According to the IMF’s website, Egypt requested a $ 4.8 billion loan. Lagarde said “we are responding quickly to this request,” adding that the IMF is willing to help Egypt. A technical team is set to arrive in Egypt next month to hold more talks on the possibility of offering support to the financially challenged country.
Lagarde added in the statement that Egypt is facing several challenges, including the need to create job opportunities, support small and medium-sized enterprises, and overcome budget deficits.BJ Penn’s days in an Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon are not over yet.
The UFC announced Wednesday that Penn will face familiar foe Frankie Edgar next year in the 145-pound featherweight class. Both men will also coach against each other in the nineteenth season of the popular television series “The Ultimate Fighter,” which airs on Fox Sports 1.
Via Twitter, “UFC Tonight,” a UFC news and information show that airs on Fox Sports 1, gave information on Penn’s return.
Penn has not been victorious since his 21-second knockout of Matt Hughes at UFC 123 on Nov. 20, 2012. Since that win, he battled to a draw against Jon Fitch in the main event of UFC 127, lost by decision to Nick Diaz in the headlining bout of UFC 137, and lost by unanimous decision to Rory MacDonald at UFC on Fox 5 last December.
Penn retired after his loss to Diaz, but came back in response to a challenge from MacDonald. After his last loss, Penn didn’t signal an end to his career, but UFC boss Dana White called for his retirement, saying in the post-match press conference that “he has nothing left to prove to anybody, and everybody loves him. You heard the arena here tonight. I’d like to see BJ retire.”
Edgar, who currently holds a 16-4 record, has had Penn’s number. The New Jersey native defeated “The Prodigy” twice by unanimous decision in a span of four and a half months in 2010. Both of those bouts were contested in the lightweight division.
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Penn has fought in several different weight classes, including the lightweight, welterweight, and middleweight divisions. The Hilo native will turn 35 in December and compete at the featherweight level for the first time.
UFC says that taping for “The Ultimate Fighter” will begin later this year. The show will begin airing in April of next year, according to “UFC Tonight.”
The bout between both coaches will happen at a date yet to be determined.In a historic move, United Egg Producers (UEP)—the representative body for egg industry companies—has agreed to eliminate chick culling by 2020. After negotiations with animal-rights organization The Humane League (THL), UAP agreed to rely on in-ovo egg sexing technology, which determines the sex of chicks before birth instead of continuing the standard practice of grinding newborn male chicks alive as they do not serve a purpose in the egg-laying industry. UEP President and CEO Chad Gregory revealed that the union will implement the new practice “as soon as it is commercially available and economically feasible” industry-wide. “We are proud to have played such a pivotal role in doing away with this barbaric convention and to help pave the way to a more humane future,” THL’s Executive Director David Coman-Hidy said. “It is clear that chick culling will soon be a thing of the past in the United States.”
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Get our award-winning magazine! SubscribeContraflow on I-16 will begin Saturday morning, according to a news release from the Governor’s office.
It says it will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, September 9.
Normally I-16 carries traffic in both directions between Macon and Savannah, but on Saturday, the drop gate barricades will be lowered.
Laurens County EMA Director Don Bryant says the purpose of that is to keep traffic off the interstate that would be headed to areas under a mandatory evacuation.
Bryant says traffic will be very heavy so he gave us some tips for anyone planning to evacuate.
Fill up your gas tank Carry cash on you Don't forget your medications Bring water and non-perishable foods
But Bryant says there's one piece of advice that stands above the rest.
"First of all have a plan, don't wait until you get on the road to think about where you are going have a plan before you ever get that call that you have to evacuate. I can't say enough about how people need to leave early, be patient there's going to be traffic," he says.This article is over 2 years old
Every village will get two point-of-sale machines, promises finance minister in bid to ease anger at sudden removal of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes
Tens of thousands of Indian villages will soon be equipped with card-swiping machines to boost cashless payments, the finance minister promised on Thursday, a month after the government banned high-value banknotes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparked chaos with his shock announcement last month that all 500- and 1,000-rupee notes – which make up 85% of bills in circulation – would cease to be legal tender.
The move triggered a chronic shortage of cash with people queuing for hours outside banks across the country to get rid of their old notes.
Cash for queues: people paid to stand in line amid India's bank note crisis Read more
Cash accounts for 90% of transactions in India where millions rely heavily on notes for their daily purchases. People living in rural areas and individuals without bank accounts have been particularly hard hit.
To ease frustrations and speed up the switch to cashless spending, finance minister Arun Jaitley announced measures to promote the so-called demonetisation drive, including card-swiping machines for villages.
“There will be two point-of-sale machines provided to every village which has a population up to 10,000, and 100,000 villages will be selected for this purpose,” Jaitley said at a media conference. “This will benefit farmers covering a total population of nearly 750 million,” he said.
The sweeping abolition was meant to bring billions in so-called “black”, or undeclared, money back into the formal system.
Many have been left without enough cash to buy food or daily essentials, while farmers have been unable to buy seeds and small traders say business has fallen off a cliff.
Nonetheless, Modi has repeatedly defended the scheme, accusing its detractors of being tax evaders and repeatedly urging all Indians to switch to non-cash payment methods.The pro-life campaign billboard, seen here outside the Dáil on June 20
The pro-life campaign billboard, seen here outside the Dáil on June 20
AN ADVERTISING COMPANY has discontinued their contract with Youth Defence after an anti-abortion billboard was seen parked opposite the Dublin Rape Crisis centre.
AdMobile, a Dublin-based mobile advertising company, had been contracted by Youth Defence to carry the pro-life campaign billboard on a route around town. However, the truck was seen parked opposite the Leeson Street offices of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, sparking outrage online.
The company now says that they have taken the decision not to carry advertising for Youth Defence any longer.
“We have taken the decision, at a cost to ourselves, to discontinue our relationship with the client,” said a company spokesperson.
“We’re a business like any other and have to pay bills, but judging by the sentiment to this incident, we’ve taken this decision at a loss to ourselves.”
The spokesperson went on to say that any company that advertises on one of the company’s billboards did not represent the company’s views, but added that today’s incident was a “genuine and innocent error”.
“Leeson Street would have been on a route that was set out by the company and the client.
The driver has to take a picture of his truck on the route to prove to the client that the ad was carried out. He was taking that picture today and genuinely did not know what office was opposite him.
“It was an unfortunate incident and we apologise if anyone took offence, particularly because it is such an emotive issue, but it was a genuine, innocent error.”
Youth Defence, meanwhile, said that they had not instructed the driver to park on Leeson Street.
“Youth Defence did not instruct the mobile ad to park anywhere on Leeson Street or on any other street for that matter,” said Clare Molloy who added that the furore was a “horrible and exploitative effort by abortion campaigners to use rape victims to attack the pro-life message”.
- Additional reporting by Ellen CoyneCar plows into crowd at scene of fatal shooting
One man died and another was wounded Wednesday afternoon when gunfire erupted at an apartment complex in southeast Houston.
The shooting occurred about 12:30 p.m. at 6060 Belarbor near South Wayside, according to the Houston Police Department. But the scene
Police said initial reports indicate the gunfire may have been connected to a fight, but no motive has yet been determined. Also, no information was available about a possible suspect.
Homicide investigators were dispatched to the scene.
After the shooting, at about 4:30 p.m., a silver car drove into a crowd of people at the scene as local TV news cameras rolled. The scary scene was caught on video (watch it above).
When the car stopped, officers took the driver into custody. A female passenger was also inside.
At this time, there is no further information on the driver and passenger, or why the driver apparently tried to run over people. It's unclear if anyone was injured.This king of the jungle is superstrong, a little scatterbrained, and absolutely nuts about bananas. His adventures usually start with people stealing his hoard of them. As his physique suggests, this Kong is a powerhouse, but he’s got speed to match too! His famous red necktie is adorned with his initials, DK.
Section 1: Character Overview
In the past, nobody paid much attention to Donkey Kong’s amiibo, writing him off as “hopeless” and “a waste of time”. Fortunately, a few dedicated trainers gave him a second chance and were able to discover his true potential, and this significantly expanded his position on the amiibo tier list. Donkey Kong’s biggest strength is actually his grab game – it bypasses Improved escapability, the most common bonus effect in the game, and serves as an excellent damage-racking tool. He has a great jab that can be used repeatedly to great effect, as well as a good set of tilts that perfectly mix power and speed. His smash attacks are among the most powerful in the game, dealing incredible damage with proper timing and spacing. Donkey Kong is also a heavyweight fighter, meaning his in-game resilience is higher relative to the rest of the cast.
Even with his many promising advantages, Donkey Kong isn’t without his flaws. Donkey Kong has a few odd AI tendencies. He has a bad habit of overusing his forward aerial and tends to use uncharged Giant Punch attacks at random. Donkey Kong’s smash attacks may be strong, but this power comes at a price – they’re very slow and leave DK vulnerable if he misses.
The Verdict
Donkey Kong has really come far since the beginning of the amiibo metagame: he used to be seen as a terrible character, but now he has his niche. He may have his fair share of disadvantages, but his pros definitely outweigh his cons.
Section 2: Recommended Equipment
Stats & Bonuses
For more information on equipment – including instructions on how to farm for custom parts – please read our amiibo equipment guide.
Most amiibo tournaments allow and encourage equipment. In fact, over ninety percent of competitions do – but if you’d prefer to forgo custom gear and leave your amiibo ‘vanilla’, you can skip this section. Otherwise, you will need to equip your amiibo with a viable setup of stats and bonuses. The following build has been extensively tested and proven effective:
+100 Attack / +100 Defense / -80 Speed
Custom Moves
Lightning Punch: This is a custom move version of Donkey Kong’s neutral special. It isn’t as powerful as the default, but is much faster. Donkey Kong’s amiibo likes to randomly use uncharged neutral specials – Lightning Punch’s enhanced speed will minimize the time he is left vulnerable.
This is a custom move version of Donkey Kong’s neutral special. It isn’t as powerful as the default, but is much faster. Donkey Kong’s amiibo likes to randomly use uncharged neutral specials – Lightning Punch’s enhanced speed will minimize the time he is left vulnerable. Stubborn Headbutt: This custom move version is slower than the default, but deals more damage and has super armor. It can catch other amiibo off-guard, and is even capable of breaking a full shield in one hit!
This custom move version is slower than the default, but deals more damage and has super armor. It can catch other amiibo off-guard, and is even capable of breaking a full shield in one hit! Hot Slap: Hot Slap is a custom move version of Donkey Kong’s down special. It deals fire-based damage and comes out quicker. It shouldn’t necessarily be focused on during training, it’s a good idea to give DK this custom move in case he does decide to use it.
Once your amiibo’s stats, bonuses, and custom moves are refined and ready to go, your training will officially begin! If you encountered a problem while equipping your amiibo, feel free to join our Discord server to ask for help.
Section 3: Training Your Amiibo
Amiibo training is a very specific task, and for the best possible result, you will need to approach it with caution. You can’t just go all-out using combos and aerials: both are seen as “newbie tactics” by competitive trainers. Instead, you should remain grounded at all times, making sure to punish your amiibo for every aerial attack it uses against you. This is true regardless of whether or not your amiibo was fed equipment.
To help your amiibo properly utilize its moveset, you will mirror match it from Level 1 all the way to Level 50. Playing timed matches on Ω-form stages is highly recommended.
Training Tips (Equipment & Vanilla)
Neutral options: jab, up tilt, and grab. Donkey Kong’s jab is quite fast and can easily rack up damage on opponents with proper timing. You might notice during training that your DK only uses its cargo throw – this is a good thing, because it’s specifically its cargo throw that bypasses Improved escapability. When grabbing your amiibo, use a cargo down throw when close to the edge, and a cargo up throw when closer to the center of the stage.
Donkey Kong’s jab is quite fast and can easily rack up damage on opponents with proper timing. You might notice during training that your DK only uses its cargo throw – this is a good thing, because it’s specifically its cargo throw that bypasses Improved escapability. When grabbing your amiibo, use a cargo down throw when close to the edge, and a cargo up throw when closer to the center of the stage. Main KO moves: forward smash, up smash and down smash. Donkey Kong’s smash attacks are slow and can get him punished, but are immensely powerful when used at the right time. Forward smash is best used when an opponent is about a character-length away from DK, up smash is most effective as an aerial punish, and down smash hits on both sides and can catch opponents by surprise. Make sure that you only use these attacks as KO moves: they’re too slow to function as neutral options.
Donkey Kong’s smash attacks are slow and can get him punished, but are immensely powerful when used at the right time. Forward smash is best used when an opponent is about a character-length away from DK, up smash is most effective as an aerial punish, and down smash hits on both sides and can catch opponents by surprise. Make sure that you only use these attacks as KO moves: they’re too slow to function as neutral options. Moves to avoid: neutral special and down special. Although we did make a note to give your Donkey Kong amiibo these two custom moves, you should not use them during training. The reason we gave DK these moves is because he likes to randomly throw out attacks – and these two customs reduce the amount of time he is left vulnerable after using them.
Although we did make a note to give your Donkey Kong amiibo these two custom moves, you should not use them during training. The reason we gave DK these moves is because he likes to randomly throw out attacks – and these two customs reduce the amount of time he is left vulnerable after using them. Situational moves: Stubborn Headbutt. This move serves as an excellent shield-breaking move, but if an opponent dodges in time, Donkey Kong is left open to punishment.
When your amiibo finally reaches Level 50, its training will truly begin. Just like a real player, amiibo need match experience and practice against different characters. For more information on training your amiibo past Level 50, follow this link.
Section 4: Conclusion & Credits
Thank you so much for reading! Although the guide may be coming to an end, your training most certainly isn’t: there’s always a way to make an amiibo stronger, and yours is no exception. If you need additional help, check out the Amiibo Mechanics & Metagame Guide. If you want to ask specific questions, you can also stop by our Discord server.
If your desire to read amiibo training guides and articles hasn’t been entirely fulfilled, there are more posts here that you might like. Amiibo Training Analysis analyzes a specific aspect of the metagame in great detail. Meanwhile, the official amiibo tier list ranks each amiibo’s potential. The FAQ is another good resource worth checking out. Alternatively, you can head back to the master list of guides for even more amiibo training methods!
Thanks to Blue for compiling Donkey Kong’s information. Images are courtesy of SmashWiki and the official Super Smash Bros. website.
AdvertisementsAny way you look at it, Florida is the state of weird IT’S DIFFERENT HERE: Part of an occasional series about what makes Central Florida unique
When it comes to calling attention to itself, there is no place like Florida in the past 30 years. It has become so obvious that this week even a New Yorker blogger noticed.
Florida has long eclipsed California as the place where the bizarre, unusual and outlandish have become commonplace. Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen has made a career of repackaging Florida weird as fiction.
We live in the center of weird. Weird is the state of Florida.
Charlie Carlson is the author of the book 'Weird Florida'… (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda,…)
We qualify as our own tabloid. Sinkhole Swallows Man. Killer Amoebas in Central Florida Lakes. Giant Pythons Amok in the Everglades. Nude Man Found Dead on Killer Whale's Back. Miami Heiress Leaves $3 Million to Her Chihuahua.
Maybe it's the heat. Or something in the water. Or maybe it's that we are the southernmost state on the easternmost edge of the United States, and stuff just naturally flows downhill.
Let's ask the expert on weird: "Weird Florida" author Charlie Carlson.
"Florida has always been a carnival midway of sorts," said Carlson, a Seminole County native and historian.
He's not speaking metaphorically. Roadside attractions used oddities and weirdness to lure the first tourists to stop for a glass of orange juice or a bag of fruit. Carnies and circus people wintered in Gibsonton, creating a town of professional freaks in Hillsborough County.
Add to those all the scoundrels, eccentrics and crazies drawn to Florida, and you get alchemy of weirdness.
"Florida is a population of escapees," Carlson said. "If you are nuts or crazy, you could come down here and find safe haven."
Rollins College professor Socky O'Sullivan thinks geography has something to do with it — how the restlessness of Americans pushes them to the extremes of California and Florida, where there's no escape.
"So we end up with the most restless, the most disenchanted, the most footloose people around," said O'Sullivan, who teaches Florida Studies. "You bring all those people together, and it creates an interesting mixture."
Historian Gary Mormino suggests it's a combination of the state's large population — which attracts all kinds of people — and the tensions among all those different kinds of people.
"You have all the pressure points. It's North versus South, tourists versus natives, natives versus newcomers, Florida State versus Florida," said Mormino, author of "Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida."
The axis of weird started tilting away from California to Florida in the late 1970s with the national fascination over serial killer Ted Bundy, Mormino said.
That was followed by the tug of war over Elián González (Google him), pulling the plug on Terri Schiavo (and her), the presidential elections, the Quran-burning pastor and pill mills as a growth industry.In a marriage of retro style and modern convenience, one Youtuber has taken an old 1978 tube television set and rigged it up to stream video and audio content through Chromecast. The original tubes are intact, meaning the set takes an agonizing 15-seconds to boot up, but this old school piece of tech is pretty all-around badass.
When the creator, Youtube handle “Dr. Moddnstine,” found the old television set, it was in a dumpster ready to be hauled away and crushed. Since he had so many memories of watching cartoons on an old set like this as a child, he decided to rescue the thing and see if he could turn it into something useful. The result is pretty spectacular. Although we imagine the set is pretty heavy, the lack of any exterior wires beyond the power cable and the fully-integrated nature of the Chromecast device and audio jack make this a pretty portable entertainment system.
What’s particularly interesting is that Dr. Moddnstine has built a unique automated system that gives the television full remote control via Chromecast. When a video is cast to “Red TV,” the set automatically kicks on, and when you stop streaming, it automatically shuts itself down. However, since the tubes make warming the set up a bit of a hassle, Moddnstine has concocted a 5-minute delay timer that keeps the set alive after streaming so that you’re not constantly enduring that 15-second startup every time there’s a gap between video choices.
This is a pretty cool mod that demonstrates just what is possible with a modicum of ingenuity and modern technology. Now what we really hope is that this guy shows up on Shark Tank or something and goes into full-scale production. I want one of these in my bedroom. How about you? Let us know what you think in the comments below!Crowdstrike also concluded that the attacks had been carried out independently of each other — meaning the FSB and GRU had essentially been each other’s rivals. But Crowdstrike founder Dmitry Alperovich didn’t answer the Bell’s question how his company was able to distinguish between hackers working for the FSB and those employed by the GRU.
The Bell doesn’t know whether Mikhailov could have helped Alperovich reach that conclusion. But according to a source close to one of the defendants, Mikhailov passed on the information to Crowdstrike through an intermediary. The Bell could not confirm this claim.
Аs part of his job, Mikhailov had direct contact with foreign intelligence agencies and private cyber-security companies. Unlike many other law enforcement and intelligence services officials known in Russian as siloviki, he had been free to participate in various cyber-security conferences and events, two of his acquaintances said.
Two of Mikhailov’s acquaintances say he shared information about Russian financially motivated hackers with his foreign counterparts. One source claims that Mikhailov did so on as many as 10 separate occasions — with Stoyanov, an old friend, often acting as an intermediary.
Many Russian hackers follow an unspoken rule not to engage in criminal activity “at home” in order to not give Russian authorities a pretext to detain them. At the same time, Russia is generally unwilling to extradite hackers. Mikhailov and Stoyanov would help foreign intelligence agencies with information in precisely such cases, the sources said.
Some cases of such cooperation are known: for example FSB’s TsIB department, where Mikhailov worked, and the FBI worked together on the case against Roman Seleznev, the son of a State Duma deputy who is now serving a 27-year sentence in the U.S. for hacking into bank accounts. This is recorded in court documents in the case against Seleznev.
А tail was put on Mikhailov and his group by Russian intelligence around April, one of the sources close to them said. Another source close to a highly placed U.S. intelligence official confirmed that claim.
According to the Crowdstrike report, a second attack on the DNC took place in March. Eight months later, Mikhailov and his group were detained. And several weeks after that, right before the New Year, the outgoing Barack Obama administration leveled new sanctions against Russia. This time, they weren’t connected to Russian meddling in Ukraine.Who's laughing now?
AOL has long been considered a has-been in the tech world, getting surpassed by hot young things like Groupon, Zynga and Facebook.
But, if you had a chance to buy a share in any one of these companies at the start of the year, your best investment would have been AOL. And, as you can see in this chart, it's not even close.
Year to date, AOL is up 82%. Zynga is down 44%. Groupon is down 48%. Facebook is down 28%.
This is the great thing about being a public company. You can't hide. The market sees what you're doing and it renders a judgement.
Amazingly, in 2012, the market thinks AOL is a better company than Facebook, Zynga, or Groupon.
Via: Eric Jackson
UPDATE: A few commenters are saying that AOL's hot stock is all because of the fact that it sold patents for $1 billion and juiced the stock price. To that, we say, "so what?" That's the point. AOL's management made a smart decision. Zynga made a big deal this year, buying OMGPOP. Investors didn't like that move! AOL's management has done a good job navigating the choppy public waters. These young whippersnappers should take notes.The reflex can be prompted by a faminelike diet, known as caloric restriction, which extends the life of laboratory rodents by up to 30 percent but is far too hard for most people to keep to and in any case has not been proven to work in humans.
Research started nearly 20 years ago by Dr. Leonard Guarente of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed recently that the famine-induced switch to tissue preservation might be triggered by activating the body’s sirtuins. Dr. Sinclair, a former student of Dr. Guarente, then found in 2003 that sirtuins could be activated by some natural compounds, including resveratrol, previously known as just an ingredient of certain red wines.
Dr. Sinclair’s finding led in several directions. He and others have tested resveratrol’s effects in mice, mostly at doses far higher than the minuscule amounts in red wine. One of the more spectacular results was obtained last year by Dr. John Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France. He showed that resveratrol could turn plain vanilla, couch-potato mice into champion athletes, making them run twice as far on a treadmill before collapsing.
The company Sirtris, meanwhile, has been testing resveratrol and other drugs that activate sirtuin. These drugs are small molecules, more stable than resveratrol, and can be given in smaller doses. In April, Sirtris reported that its formulation of resveratrol, called SRT501, reduced glucose levels in diabetic patients.
The company plans to start clinical trials of its resveratrol mimic soon. Sirtris’s value to GlaxoSmithKline is presumably that its sirtuin-activating drugs could be used to treat a spectrum of degenerative diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer’s, if the underlying theory is correct.
Separately from Sirtris’s investigations, a research team led by Tomas A. Prolla and Richard Weindruch, of the University of Wisconsin, reports in the journal PLoS One on Wednesday that resveratrol may be effective in mice and people in much lower doses than previously thought necessary. In earlier studies, like Dr. Auwerx’s of mice on treadmills, the animals were fed such large amounts of resveratrol that to gain equivalent dosages people would have to drink more than 100 bottles of red wine a day.
The Wisconsin scientists used a dose on mice equivalent to just 35 bottles a day. But red wine contains many other resveratrol-like compounds that may also be beneficial. Taking these into account, as well as mice’s higher metabolic rate, a mere four, five-ounce glasses of wine “starts getting close” to the amount of resveratrol they found effective, Dr. Weindruch said.
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Resveratrol can also be obtained in the form of capsules marketed by several companies. Those made by one company, Longevinex, include extracts of red wine and of a Chinese plant called giant knotweed. The Wisconsin researchers conclude that resveratrol can mimic many of the effects of a caloric-restricted diet “at doses that can readily be achieved in humans.”
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The effectiveness of the low doses was not tested directly, however, but with a DNA chip that measures changes in the activity of genes. The Wisconsin team first defined the pattern of gene activity established in mice on caloric restriction, and then showed that very low doses of resveratrol produced just the same pattern.
Dr. Auwerx, who used doses almost 100 times greater in his treadmill experiments, expressed reservations about the new result. “I would be really cautious, as we never saw significant effects with such low amounts,” he said Tuesday in an e-mail message.
Another researcher in the sirtuin field, Dr. Matthew Kaeberlein of the University of Washington in Seattle, said, “There’s no way of knowing from this data, or from the prior work, if something similar would happen in humans at either low or high doses.”
A critical link in establishing whether or not caloric restriction works the same wonders in people as it does in mice rests on the outcome of two monkey trials. Since rhesus monkeys live for up to 40 years, the trials have taken a long time to show results. Experts said that one of the two trials, being conducted by Dr. Weindruch, was at last showing clear evidence that calorically restricted monkeys were outliving the control animals.
But no such effect is apparent in the other trial, being conducted at the National Institutes of Health.
The Wisconsin report underlined another unresolved link in the theory, that of whether resveratrol actually works by activating sirtuins. The issue is clouded because resveratrol is a powerful drug that has many different effects in the cell. The Wisconsin researchers report that they saw no change in the mouse equivalent of sirtuin during caloric restriction, a finding that if true could undercut Sirtris’s strategy of looking for drugs that activate sirtuin.
Dr. Guarente, a scientific adviser to Sirtris, said the Wisconsin team only measured the amount of sirtuin present in mouse tissues, and not the more important factor of whether it had been activated.
Dr. Sinclair said the definitive answer would emerge from experiments, now under way, with mice whose sirtuin genes had been knocked out. “The question of how resveratrol is working is an ongoing debate and it will take more studies to get the answer,” he said.
Dr. Robert E. Hughes of the Buck Institute for Age Research said there could be no guarantee of success given that most new drug projects fail. But, he said, testing the therapeutic uses of drugs that mimic caloric restriction is a good idea, based on substantial evidence.Millwall Football Club is delighted to confirm the permanent signing of Jake Cooper.
The defender, who spent the second-half of 2016/17 on loan with The Lions, has put pen-to-paper on a three-year deal and joins Millwall for an undisclosed fee.
Cooper, 22, rose through The Royals' Academy set-up and leaves the Berkshire club after 54 appearances. He featured 18 times for Millwall during the aforementioned loan spell last season, scoring twice, as The Lions won promotion to the Championship via the League One Play-Offs.
The giant centre-half, who has played for England's U20 side, successfully completed a medical at Millwall's Calmont Road training base on Friday and could be involved in the squad to face Granada at The Den this Saturday.
Cooper told millwallfc.co.uk: "I'm really pleased to be back here at Millwall and to have secured my long-term future.
"We've had to be patient to get the deal done and I'm relieved everything is now complete and I can focus on my football.
"It was an incredible experience to be a part of what we achieved at Wembley and I can't wait to get stuck in again as part of what is a great group of lads.
"Thankfully I've been training and playing in pre-season games since the start of the summer so I'm fit and raring to go."
Lions boss Neil Harris added: "I'm delighted that we have been able to bring Jake back to the club on a permanent basis.
"I've made no secret of my appreciation and respect for how he performed last season and how we've been so keen to sign him this summer.
"He has signed a long-term contract so he can realise his potential here at Millwall. Jake has a strong personality and is a player who is capable of strong performances. I'm very confident that he can go on to become a top, top centre-half for this club.
"I'd once again like to thank the chairman and the rest of the board for their support in getting this deal over the line."
Cooper will wear the club's number 35 shirt.Tyga took to his Twitter account today to express his frustrations with his current label situation under Young Money. In the series of tweets, which you can see below, Tyga said that his album, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty, has been completed for awhile, and the label is holding him hostage so he can't release anything. He then said that he might just leak the entire project himself so the fans can enjoy it and the label can't make any money off of it.
In a separate tweet, a fan asked Tyga if he was still with Young Money, and he simply replied, "Not for long." The album is currently slated to be released in late November, but it's not unclear if that is still the case. We will continue to update this story as more details emerge.
UPDATE: Young Money President Mack Maine has has responded to Tyga, taking a shot at him in the process.
Don't forget about puttin limes in coconuts!!! What you "rep" didn't make you or build you!! — Mack Maine (@mackmaine) October 10, 2014
@mackmaine its about growth not maintaining — T-Raww (@ |
1989
—1989 Lamb Chop in the Land of No Manners —1989
—1989 Lamb Chop in the Land of No Numbers —1993
—1993 Lamb Chop in the Haunted Studio —1994
—1994 Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah —1995
—1995 Shari's Passover Surprise—1996
Episodic TV appearances [ edit ]
Partial discography [ edit ]In addition to discussing North Korea's belligerent behavior, lawmakers are also likely to question the Trump administration on its response. | Getty Senators to attend North Korea briefing at White House
Top Trump administration officials will brief all 100 senators next week about North Korea's provocative behavior, according to guidance sent to lawmakers Friday.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats will meet with senators at the White House on Wednesday to bring them up to speed on North Korea and U.S. policy toward the isolated nation.
Story Continued Below
The briefing had been originally scheduled to occur at the Senate, but instead senators must go to the White House, according to a notice sent to Capitol Hill.
No congressional staffers will be allowed in the members' briefing.
In addition to discussing North Korea's belligerent behavior, lawmakers are also likely to question the administration on its response.
White House officials had said earlier this month that the United States was quickly sending an aircraft carrier to the region after a North Korean missile test, but later backtracked after the carrier was spotted thousands of miles away from its expected location near North Korea.Priyanka Vadra and Varun Gandhi Priyanka Vadra and Varun Gandhi
The battle between the Gandhi cousins - Varun and Priyanka Vadra - intensified with both of them making fresh attacks on each other on Tuesday.
Responding to BJP leader Varun Gandhi's remark, Priyanka called it an "ideological war" with her estranged 34-year-old cousin as she also accused him of betraying her family. Smriti Irani asks Priyanka Gandhi: Should Varun follow path of Cong's scams?
Priyanka, 42, was talking to media on her arrival in Fursatganj, which falls in the constituency of her mother Sonia Gandhi, Rae Bareli.
"This is not a family tea party, this is an ideological war... It is a betrayal with my family," Priyanka said when asked about Varun's latest statement that he gave after filing his nomination as a BJP candidate from Sultanpur.
"My father died for the unity of this country", Priyanka said. Maneka hits out at Priyanka for remarks against Varun
Earlier, Varun hit back at Priyanka, alleging that she had crossed the "Lakshman Rekha of decency" with her remarks that he has gone "astray" and said that his "decency and large-heartedness" should not be construed as a weakness by anyone.
Priyanka had attacked Varun in her speech in Amethi last week and suggested that he should be defeated and shown the right path. Priyanka says she never wanted to contest against Narendra Modi
"He is definitely from my family, he is my brother. But he has gone astray. When a young one in the family chooses the wrong path, then the elders show them the right path, the right way. I urge all of you to show my brother the right path," she had said.
Priyanka's remarks had invited immediate response from Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi who had said, "If he has gone astray while serving the country, the country will decide."Plans to drop to featherweight were dashed a few years back after former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis suffered a knee injury, one that cancelled his much-anticipated "super fight" against current division champion, Jose Aldo.
But that doesn't mean "Showtime" has given up on big-money bouts at 145 pounds.
Aside from wanting to settle his business with Aldo, Pettis recently told GNP1.de via (Bloody Elbow) that a potential showdown against Conor McGregor is intriguing, as well. He also has a message for "Notorious" after the scrappy Irishman claimed he was going to move up to lightweight and clean house.
"It's all talk until it happens, man. He talks well, he's doing a great job for his weight class. I mean, there would be no big money fights in featherweight, besides... that's why I was gonna move down there. Me and Aldo was gonna be a big money fight for Aldo, but now with Conor McGregor in there, talking himself up, making himself marketable. Good for him doing that, but lightweight is a whole different place. It's not featherweight. Featherweight is... I mean, besides Aldo, there's not much..., I mean, there is talent, Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes, (but) lightweight is the deepest division in the UFC, it's a totally different story. For him to say, he's gonna come up there and walk through everybody, it's crazy. He's only beat Chad Mendes, one guy in the featherweight class that's top five. I mean, featherweight has always been an option. I want my belt back, that's my main goal. You know, I'm doing well financially, I'm not hurting at all. So for me, the goal right now is getting my belt back. What happens after that fight, we'll see. People wanna see McGregor, I fight McGregor, people wanna see Aldo, I fight Aldo, that's what it's all about."
First things first, as Pettis is on a quest to regain his strap after coughing it up to Rafael dos Anjos earlier this year.
And it begins on Jan. 17, 2015, when "Showtime" takes on Eddie Alvarez at the UFC Fight Night 81 event on FOX Sports 1 in Boston, Massachusetts. A bout in which Pettis is the clear fan favorite, says Alvarez.
"For me, it's just a comeback fight. I want to compete and get my belt back. I was on top of the world, had a bad performance. That wasn't me in that fight, you know? I feel like, if that fight would have happened ten times, nine out of ten I would have beat him. It was just that one day that I was off, I wasn't myself. I think Eddie's tough, he has great hands, he's been around for a long time, he's been in five-round fights, so we know, he has the gas tank, the ability to compete at the highest level."
Anyone care to see the former 155-pound champion tango with the best combatants the 145-pound division has to offer?Why did the president blink on the Susan Rice nomination but not on Hagel? History, personal friendship, bipartisanship, and trust are major factors.
Reuters
Back at the 2004 Republican convention, when then-Senator Chuck Hagel was weighing whether to run for president in 2008, he paid a call on the Iowa delegation. His obligatory joke about his devotion to ethanol went over well. But then, to the puzzlement of some in the room, he started talking to his conservative breakfast audience about the United Nations and the need for multilateralism in tackling world problems.
Needless to say, that wasn't quite what we were hearing from the convention stage, or for that matter from anyone else in the GOP. Hagel didn't run for president. But as it turns out, his remarks ended up laying groundwork for a different kind of future -- as a potential defense secretary in the Obama Administration.
There are well known controversies associated with Hagel's expected nomination, involving everything fromclimate change and gay rights to Israel, Iraq, and Iran. But unlike the case of U.N. ambassador Susan Rice, who withdrew as a potential secretary of state nominee amid criticism from Republicans, President Obama is pressing forward with Hagel.ATLANTA -- At February's trade deadline, Dan Gilbert mulled a $32 million decision as his general manager waited for an answer.
The night before, the Cavs had agreed to trade Anderson Varejao to the Portland Trail Blazers, a move that had been under discussion for weeks. It was a costly deal from an asset standpoint, requiring the Cavs to give away a popular player plus a first-round draft pick.
It was a straight money deal, it was going to save the Cavs' owner around $50 million this season alone because his Cleveland Cavaliers are so deep into the luxury tax that every dollar they were spending was costing them $4 in tax. Varejao was an extremely popular player but there was a push to get off the contract, which became a problem after Varejao tore his Achilles in 2014.
The Cavs could've stopped right there, deal Varejao and call it a deadline. It was an option on the table. An option that made major sense. They were in first place. They were deep at every position. They were still facing paying $27 million in luxury tax, still far and away the most in the league.
Channing Frye first visited the Cavs in 2009 when the team was desperate to add shooting as LeBron James was headed to the final year of his contract. The front office then was convinced he was a great fit with James. But Frye longed to play in Phoenix, where he had dreamed of playing with Steve Nash since he was in college at Arizona, and he signed there instead.
Channing Frye led all scorers with 27 points in Game 3, making seven of the Cavaliers' 21 3-pointers in Cleveland's comeback road victory. Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
In 2014, Frye was a free agent again. David Griffin, who helped recruit him to Phoenix over Cleveland five years earlier, was the new GM in Cleveland and trying to do it again. He sold Frye on playing with Kyrie Irving and told him about plans to sign free agent Gordon Hayward. They swapped numbers and approached a deal. Then James' agent called about his return to Cleveland and the breaks were slammed. Frye ended up in Orlando.
Now it was 2016, and Frye and the Cavs were moving into alignment again. Griffin was competing with the Los Angeles Clippers to get Frye from the Magic. Griffin could get him for a second-round pick -- the Magic preferred the Cavs' deal -- but the catch was the Cavs had to swallow Frye's contract.
Since Gilbert bought the Cavs in 2005, he'd spent a total of $50 million in luxury tax. There are 20 other teams who haven't paid a total of $28 million in tax (Frye was also owed the balance of his salary that got the total investment to that $32 million number) this deal was going to cost in their franchise histories.
Would Frye, who averaged five points and three rebounds for the Magic, really make a difference?
The answer came Friday night when he scored 27 points off the bench as the Cavs took a 3-0 series lead on the Atlanta Hawks. Mike Budenholzer, the Hawks' outstanding coach, tried a strategy change to double team the Cavs' guards and stifle their 3-point shooting barrage they'd been leveling Atlanta with early in the series.
As the Cavs struggled with the traps, their main antidote, Kevin Love, got into foul trouble. Their offense got stuck and the Hawks took an 11-point second-half lead. Then coach Ty Lue went to Frye, the option that became available with the February trade.
"I think every night I just know I need to go out there and do my job," Frye said. "I kind of figured I'm 7-foot so they're not going to block it, so I shot it."
Frye didn't even play in Game 1 of the Hawks series. There might be other playoff games in which he doesn't play. But on Friday he went 7-of-9 from beyond the arc.
"That's what we brought him here for," James said. "We brought him here to shoot. And shoot and shoot and shoot. He did exactly that."
Having a player like Frye is indeed a luxury, the definition of the system in question. Gilbert, who attended the game, saw exactly where his money went.
When the Cavs announced the Frye deal, it was presented as a three-team trade with the Blazers and Magic. By moving Varejao and Jared Cunningham, a side player in the deal, and taking on Frye, the Cavs announced they'd saved $15 million in salary and tax this season.
This was true and a point of pride for Griffin, who perhaps felt the need to justify why he'd used a first-round pick to facilitate the deal. A trade that saved money and added a potentially useful player? That's a good trade deadline day indeed.
But those inside the Cavs knew it was actually two separate deals, and Gilbert had to be willing to green light. That includes James.
For all his past issues with Gilbert -- there are scars both men will forever carry and their trust level will always probably tenuous -- he knows he'll spend. It was one of the reasons James came back to Cleveland, because Gilbert will spend.
Frye knows it, too.
"When I got traded here I knew there was responsibility to come at the level these guys are playing at," Frye said. "[Magic coach] Scott Skiles told me, 'Hey Channing man, you're a great player, you're going to help them win a game in a series, you know. You're going to help them win a game and do some bigger things.' I always think about that."Ever had one of those long days at the office (or school, or whatever), then you get home and just want to blow off some steam? Sure, some people like to hit the gym, eat a nice dinner, or just lounge in front of the boob-tube. But I guarantee you that nothing will lift your spirits more than firing a supersonic projectile through an X-rayed sack of nuts. Yup, like the title of this article suggests, shooting the gonads off a Nazi soldier is entirely possible in Sniper Elite V2, and that's by far the coolest thing you can do in the game. But enough about Nazis and balls; Sniper Elite V2 is totally a game that you should play.
With all of the shooters out on the market, it wouldn't surprise if you said that you've never heard of Rebellion's Sniper Elite V2. So here's the deal: It's World War II, and you're an American sniper on a solo mission behind enemy lines, assigned to eliminate the German scientists behind the creation of the V2 rockets. Sniper Elite doesn't deliver the same cover-to-cover, third-person shooting you'd expect from others in the genre. This game is more deliberate, planned, and careful.
You're a sniper, so you're going to have to act like a sniper. You're also all by your lonesome, meaning there's no backup, you're outnumbered, and you'll have to play smart if you want to stay alive. Luckily, you have more than just a sniper rifle in hand to stick it to the Nazis. You've got access to silenced pistols, machine guns, explosive traps, sticks of TNT, and your own wits. When combined, these items let you do things like scout out a nice spot overlooking a guard post, lay a few tripwire grenades on the path leading to your lookout, cap a few skulls through the scope, and watch your pursuers fall into all those deadly traps.
The act of sniping itself is a joy. Pulling off ridiculously difficult shots is rewarded with a slow-mo camera following the bullet from muzzle to flesh. If you get a particularly lethal bulls-eye, you're treated to a full, X-ray vision perspective of the bullet passing through the skin, bone, and organs of your target. Nothing's more satisfying than carefully lining up a long-range shot and watching your bullet swirl through the air to hit its target--especially since you have to compensate for outside ballistics factors like bullet drop, weapon sway, wind speed, and travel time. You feel a genuine sense of accomplishment with every successful trigger pull.
The challenge of getting to your perfect sniper nest is also half the fun. Sniper Elite V2 forces you to take it slow, observe your surroundings, and be patient--not the typical requirements of a shooter. Not only will there be camouflaged enemy snipers waiting in bombed-out buildings and on rooftops; sometimes you have to listen to the environment's background noise to get off a stealth shot. Some areas have a church bell ringing in the distance, or there are artillery shells landing nearby. Timing your shots with the explosion (or bell toll) conceals the sound of gunfire from enemy soldiers, making for one of the more unique ways to sneak through a level.
Sniper Elite V2 is no Call of Duty. You're not going to be running through sinking ships, staggering through a burning building, or breaking down doors with machine guns blazing. V2 is the shooter to play when you want to get away from all those overused genre cliches. If you're looking for something different in a shooter, Sniper Elite V2 has all of the awesomeness you could ever want in a WWII game. Or, you can just use the game as a Nazi testical vaporization simulator.
Want to make some memories? Real memories? Play Rock Band.
Looking for stuff to play outside of the stuff we already tell you to play on a daily basis? You're in luck! Every Saturday we'll recommend a game for you to check out, complete with a story on how we found the game and why we recommend you play it. - See more at:Dyskolos Dyskolos Terracotta figurine discovered at Myrina and dated to circa 300 BCE, believed to represent Knemon, the titular character of Menander's Written by Menander Chorus Worshippers of Pan Characters Pan
Sostratos
Kallippides
Sostratos' Mother
Chaireas
Pyrrhias
Getas
Knemon
Myrrhine
Girl
Gorgias
Daos
Simiche
Sikon Mute Gorgias' mother
Donax, a slave
Other slaves, female relatives, friends of Sostratos' mother Date premiered c. 317–316 BCE Place premiered Lenaia Festival, Athens Original language Ancient Greek Genre New Comedy Setting A country road in Phyle outside Athens near several farmsteads and a shrine of Pan.
Dyskolos (Greek: Δύσκολος, pronounced [dýskolos], translated as The Grouch, The Misanthrope, The Curmudgeon, The Bad-tempered Man or Old Cantankerous) is an Ancient Greek comedy by Menander, the only one of his plays, and of the whole New Comedy, that has survived in (almost) complete form.[1] It was first presented at the Lenaian festival in 317–316 BCE, where it won Menander the first-place prize. It was long known only through fragmentary quotations; but a papyrus manuscript of the nearly complete Dyskolos, dating to the 3rd century, was recovered in Egypt in 1952 and forms part of the Bodmer Papyri and Oxyrhynchus Papyri. The play was published in 1958 by Victor Martin.[2]
Plot [ edit ]
The play begins with Pan, the god who acts as the driving force behind the play's main actions. Setting the scene, he tells the audience about the farm belonging to Knemon, "the grouch" of the play, a bad-tempered and irritable old man, living with his daughter, Girl and his servant, Simiche. He tells about the old man's past, and about Knemon's wife, who had a son with and was widowed by her first husband. She had given birth to their daughter and not long after, she left Knemon because he treated her poorly. She went to live with her son, Gorgias, leaving Knemon with their daughter and Simiche. Pan, who feels a fondness for Girl, makes Sostratos fall in love with Girl at first sight of her.
The play continues with Sostratos telling Chaireas, about how he saw and fell in love with Girl. He had sent Pyrrhias to talk with Knemon, who hits him in the head with a farming tool and chases him away for being on his property. Sostratos instructs Daos to get Getas and explain what has happened, but instead Daos tells Gorgias about Sostratos as he is weary of Sostratos' intentions.
Gorgias meets Sostratos, warning him to stay away and not mistreat his sister because of their class differences. Sostratos convinces Gorgias that he is in love with his sister and will do anything necessary to marry her. It is divulged that Knemon will only allow his daughter to marry someone exactly like him, presenting a problem for Sostratos. To help make his case, Sostratos puts on a rough, sheepskin coat and goes to work in the fields under Gorgias guidance.
Knemon's servant cries out that her master has fallen in a well to fetch a bucket she mistakenly dropped down there earlier. Gorgias jumps in to save Knemon while Sostratos comforts and admires Girl as she cries about her father's misfortune. Sostratos pulls the rope up to bring Knemon and Gorgias out of the well. After being faced with the possibility of death, Knemon tells Gorgias to find Girl a husband, as he knows that no one will please him enough to find one for her himself. Gorgias betroths his sister to Sostratos and introduces him to Knemon, who is indifferent about the marriage.
Sostratos excitedly tells his father, Kallippides, about the marriage to Gorgias' sister. He also suggests a marriage between his own sister and Gorgias. While Kallippides was content with Sostratos marrying Girl, he is not readily accepting of his daughter marrying Gorgias, to have two "beggars" in the family. Sostratos convinces him that money is an "unstable business" and it could be taken from him at any moment. Kallippides agrees with Sostratos that his money "belongs to luck" and it is better to have "a visible friend than invisible wealth which you keep buried away;" he, in turn, supports both marriages.
During the weddings, Sikon and Getas go to Knemon's house to torment him when he wakes from his rest. They tease and trick him into joining the rest of the wedding party celebrations.
Character descriptions [ edit ]
The characters within the play each display a stage of philanthropy. At the first level, an excess of friendliness, is represented in some of the more minor characters within the play. The second and, arguably, best level, friendliness or philanthropy, is exhibited by Gorgias and Sostratos. While Sostratos has a pleasant character and is the perfect host, Gorgias illustrates the moral basis of the virtue. Gorgias runs the risk of becoming cynical, like Knemon, if his economic situation would remain as hard as it is. Through each of these stages, Menander offers the audience a picture of man's transformation within the play. Below are the characters which serve as vessels to depict this idea:
Pan controls elements of the play, acting as a driving force by putting the play in motion. He is the god of garden fertility and the countryside, where the play takes place.
Sostratos an Athenian man who is hunting in the forest. He falls in love with Girl due to Pan's interference.
Kallippides Sostratos' father, a wealthy Athenian man.
Sostratos' Mother not named in the play.
Chaireas best described as a "parasite" or "the gofer" for Sostratos.
Pyrrhias a slave for Sostratos and his family. He resides mainly in the family's townhouse.
Getas a slave of Sostratos and his family. He resides mainly in the family's countryhouse.
Knemon "the grouch" of which the play is named. He is Girl's father and Gorgias' stepfather.
Knemon's Wife Knemon's estranged wife and Gorgias' mother. She has gone to live with Gorgias to flee her husbands bad temper.
Myrrhine Knemon's daughter with whom Sostratos falls in love with.
Gorgias Girl's half-brother who helps Sostratos in his plans to win over Knemon in order to marry his sister.
Daos a slave of Gorgias.
Simiche an older woman who is a slave of Knemon.
Sikon a cook hired by Sostratos' family.
Menander writes his slave characters as intelligent, independent individuals who act based on their own wants and goals, as well as considering the fortunes of their masters. These characters impacted the story lines of other upper class characters, while not directly changing them. The play as a whole demonstrates and examines the social class system of the time and provides multiple perspectives through each character.[3]
Manuscripts [ edit ]
Dyskolos is the only one of Menander's texts that has survived nearly completely intact.[4] Other plays, such as Samia, Aspis, Heros, Epitrepontes, Perikeiromene have survived in fragments.[5] Fragments of the Dyskolos currently exist in the Vatican Library in Vatican City[6] and the Bibliothèque Bodmer (Bodmer Library) in Cologny, Switzerland[7] However, the discovery of the original papyrus manuscript provides the most accurate version on the play how Menander intended it to be read.[8]
Lenaia [ edit ]
The Lenaia was a dramatic writing competition, as well as a celebratory festival of Dionysus, wine, culture. The Lenaia initially held their dramatic writing competition for comedic plays only – although, as time passed, tragedies were introduced into the competition to general approval.[9] The name "Lenaia" was derived from the word lenos, meaning "wine-press", and lenai, which was the name for the female worshippers of Dionysus, who were also called “Maenads”.[10]
Approximately fifty vases were painted during the Lenaia festival and dramatic writing competition. The vases illustrate Dionysian women, either drinking wine or making bloody sacrifices to Dionysus (much like events described in The Bacchae by Euripides). The images on the vase suggest that the Lenaia may have had ritualistic undertones to it. A scholarly article gives evidence that there was a Delphic women's cult that celebrated the Lenaia, and that the vases were placed upon tombs in Ancient Greece.[11]
Modern performance [ edit ]
The first modern major performance of Dyskolos was in Sydney, Australia. On 4 July 1959, the University of Sydney Classical Society, at Wallace Theatre, Sydney University, performed Dyskolos.[12]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]Things are afoot. As part of these things, we have had to do a few things that we have been putting off for awhile now here at Gaslamp HQ. One of these things is fixing pathing so people do not walk through each other; the other, which is what I have been working on, is a thorough shakedown of the building code.
As long-time readers are no doubt aware, one of our interesting pieces of technology is the code for procedural buildings. In Clockwork Empires, you designate a building footprint, feed it some style information (“brick walls and gabled roofs, please!”) and the engine churns out a building to your specification. There is significant Technical Devilry in our building code to do this, as it is a fairly hard problem to take somebody’s blueprint and get a building out of it.
As part of upcoming Things, one of the things we have been working on is a rewrite of our code for procedural buildings. The new code has a few key features that were requested by our art department:
1. It should not explode. (See this picture, arranged by David Baumgart and sent to me, of roofs exploding, set against a backdrop of early 2013 art.)
2. Support for other roof types. (Roofs come in a number of different styles, and we should not blow up when we handle them.)
3. Less fragility when handling cuts in buildings (for things like modules, doors, windows.)
4. “Good” edge beveling for roof flashing. What this means is that when a roof faces the player, and has complex geometry, we should bevel it appropriately.
5. A litany of other, minor artist complaints.
Accomplishing all of these things requires a certain amount of very tricky programming, and some very skilled debugging. How do you debug an exploding roof?
Our building generation code is based on a 2011 paper by Thomas Kelly and Peter Wonka called Interactive Architectural Modeling with Procedural Extrusions (a copy can be found here) The original version by Kelly and Wonka does not include support for texturing, or some of our nicer features like happily punching doors in things; it also does a bunch of stuff we don’t need, and don’t want. Over the course of the past two years, I’ve modified things quite a lot.
Kelly and Wonka’s paper works by what computer scientists call “wavefront propagation”. Imagine that the top of a roof is a coastline – a closed, roof-shaped coastline – and we allow water to flow from the coastline in waves, merging it as we go. What this produces is called the straight skeleton of a polygon – by adding weights to it, so that some edges move faster than others, this produces what is called the weighted straight skeleton.
What is missing from the original paper is a description of how to generate geometry from it. This is noted as “simple enough”, or words to that effect. The original version of the code did various clever things to try and build geometry as the wavefront propagated. I decided that the first thing to do was to throw that out – we would compute the entire wavefront propagation, and then create a triangular mesh from the path that the wave took. The general approach to doing this turned out to be fairly hard (see this SIGGRAPH Asia paper: http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~zoum/projects/CycleDisc/), so I ended up taking advantage of the fact that – well, I know it’s a building – to make this work a little better. However, now I was faced with a mystery. In implementing a new geometry extractor, how could I figure out which exploding buildings were caused by the wavefront propagation code and which exploding buildings were caused by new bugs?
The answer turned out to be to dump every step of the Wavefront Propagation algorithm to an SVG file.
The SVG file format turns out to be a very easy thing to dump two-dimensional vector graphics to. In this case, I could dump every edge of the previous stage of the wavefront propagation, the current stage of the wavefront propagation, and all of the connectivity information. Any time something blew up, I could then track through it and figure out *why* it blew up.
Internally, the Kelly/Wonka SVG algorithm works by looking at the actions of ‘chains’ of edges as the wavefront propagates down to nothing. We are interested in two types of things: edge collapses and edge splits. An edge collapse occurs when three edges collapse down to two edges (edge 2 on the blue line above does this, for instance); an edge split occurs when two edges push forward and in doing so cause their point of connectivity to intersect with something on the other side of the blueprint (here, for instance, edges 13 and 14 are going to eventually collide with edge 6.) We track collapses and splits when they occur, and update our geometry accordingly. We also introduce something called an ‘edge move’, which happens when some shuffle moves an edge to another part of the data structure; for instance, after doing an edge split the edge known as edge 4 in the blueprint above is now known as edge 22.
The key to having a happy, non-exploding building is to make sure all the logic for a building collapse to work correctly – i.e. making sure that you get the number of the edge that you split correct, and that you handle cases such as splitting an edge that is later split by something else. Every time something in the code didn’t handle, er, an “edge case” correctly, you would get an exploded blueprint:
For instance, what the heck happened here? Well, something went completely wrong and linked something to the wrong thing. Sometimes the problem lies a few steps back, and is not obvious (for instance, this was caused by a failure to check for newly-formed colinear edges after an edge split. Colinear edges cause undefined behaviour, and we deal with them by screening for them at every turn.) As an added bonus, I added a debug routine which dumped out Every. Single. Thing. In. The. Algorithm every time I ran it.
After about seven rounds of this sort of debugging process – “find an exploded building, look at the logs, analyze its behaviour, understand the problem, fix the bug” – we got buildings with decent wavefronts that didn’t explode. We then extract what is known as a half-edge data structure from this. In non-technical speak, a half-edge is simply an edge with an orientation; two half-edges make an edge, each with an orientation going in a different direction.
We extract polygons from our half-edges, classify then by what plane they lie on, and convert them to closed loops. We can then do a few useful things with these closed loops: first, since they’re planar, any time we want to punch a hole in something (i.e. a window) we can simply project the thing that we want to do the hole-punching onto the thing we want to punch (i.e. a wall) to find the shape of the hole, and feed all such holes into the routine that does the triangulation. Second, we can bevel complex pieces to give them nice edging. How do we do that? Well, what we actually do is we run another wavefront propagation on just the surfaces we wish to bevel, making sure that we shut it off before it gets too far.
With all of this debugging done, our buildings now explode a lot less. At this point, I now send the entire mess over to David and he gets the interesting job of making it look pretty. Perhaps he will post about this in a future blog post… only time will tell.
My thanks to Dr. Alla Sheffer and Chongyang Ma at UBC for their assistance in coming up with ideas to track this stuff down.Production & Shipping Times
Please remember that all of our products are made-to-order. This means every order is made uniquely just for you as soon as you order it. Since we don’t mass produce our shiz in a desolate slave-wage compound in a coastal Chinese city, it does mean that production times will take a few days. Yes, even though we live in the instant gratification Amazon Prime era, we promise you’ll be seriously happy with what you receive!
USA & Canada
International
Returns & Exchanges
We care a lot of about our products and customers! You can return or exchange your order for any reason within 14 days of receiving it. If you received a damaged, defective, or incorrect item and would like to return it, we will refund you 100% of your order or we will exchange it at no extra cost to you. See our full Return & Exchange policy here.I’ve been wanting to write another blog post on the series on DSELs I’ve been planning, but I’ve been really swamped with work lately. So once more I’ll post a video or two on something I’ve been working on. It’s the 4blocks game again, this time playing on its own with an AI I’ve written for it. Here are the videos:
On the whole these were two good runs. I’ve had much better and much worse runs of course.
The AI is by no means perfect but it uses the DSEL techniques in Haskell. I have two languages acting here:
1. A Tetris DSEL
2. Haskell acting as a meta-language over the Tetris DSEL.
What is happening is that for every new brick the game state is queried by Haskell for certain information such as occupied blocks or number of lines. Using this information, by means of Haskell’s case statement I simply trigger one of a possible number of strategies. These strategies acquire certain information from the game state and generate a DSEL script. This script is then carried out by a DSEL script interpreter.
There are numerous problems with the AI and its mostly because I haven’t had time to write more strategies or a more intelligent way to select what according to the selected strategy is the best final brick destination.
That’s about it for now. Let me know what you think.
AdvertisementsNEW YORK — Tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets of New York on Sunday to mark the 51st annual Celebrate Israel Parade.
American and Israeli politicians joined 30,000 other people who marched up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in a show of solidarity with Israel for the all-day event marking Israel’s 67th birthday.
A number of Knesset members, including Minister without portfolio Ofir Akunis, Minister of Science, Technology and Space Danny Danon (Likud), Avraham Naguise (Likud), Yoav Ben Tzur (Shas) and Revital Swid and Ksenia Svetlova (Zionist Union) represented the Israeli parliament at the parade.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up
New York Mayor Bill De Blasio also attended the event.
Some 35 organizations including the Israeli government, Nefesh B’Nefesh and the UJA Federation of New York, sponsored this year’s parade entitled “Israel Imagines Peace.”
Close to 100 soon-to-be immigrants to Israel from the Tri-State area participated in the march, according to Nefesh B’Nefesh.
Separately, the Israel-American Council (IAC) partnered with the Consulate General of Israel in New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, JCRC-NY to host a festival celebrating Israeli food and culture.
“The day is a marathon of celebration. We want people to march at the festival and dance at the parade,” said Yehudit Feinstein-Mentesh, IAC’s Regional Director for New York. “As Israelis living in New York, we know very well just how rich and layered Israeli culture truly is. For one magical afternoon, we’re thrilled to bring all that richness to New York, and paint the Big Apple blue-and-white for a day.”
For the afternoon, |
you via my television. I'm sure you are not nearly as bad as I think you are.
Let me tell you this girlfriend, I'm all that. Exercise sucks. Being uncomfortable sucks. Being shitty at things sucks. The journey is a bitch. If you can't have a couple of yucks along the way, then there is no way you're gonna stay. I'm not 24 hour moopy goofy crazy whacky, but I'm pretty damn happy and fired up most of the time.
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Tony, you and your brother Tim Horton have taken very divergent paths in life. What are family get togethers like?
Tim - that sad, fat, pathetic family outcast! Donuts be damned. I will destroy him. He kills, I give you life.
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Hi Tony,
What type of soup do you have in Karen's world famous pot stirrer today?
I have a Halloween Pumpkin Pie soup with elk.
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Hi Tony. I have a question regarding the yoga; as much as I enjoy it now (I HATED it initially) I still find myself struggling with flexibility. Are we supposed to "push through the pain" or should we back off and allow the flexibility to come more gradually? My wonky shoulder thanks you.
The more you do, the better you get. The more you do, the better you get. The more you do, the better you get. The more I say this, the more it will sink in. Yoga is the perfect practice because you're working on strength, core, flexibility, balance, and mindfulness all at the same time. There is no other form of fitness that does that. None. Zilch. Nada. Yoga! YOGA! Side tip - think less during your practice, breath more. The inhalations and the exhalations when they're full will allow those muscles, ligaments, and tendons to open up to a place that you haven't seen since 1984, or the lifetime before.
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Do you think you telling people to "Get [their] butt in the air" during P90X led to the advent of twerking?
Real question, what do you think about people who simply follow the fitness routine but ignore the diet recommendations?
Hey "Azn" - There is no question in my mind that I inadvertently discovered/invented twerking and I want to apologize right here on Reddit.
Exercise = fitness. Food = health. There are some fairly fit people who aren't as healthy as they could be and that is where the diet comes in. The food fuels the fitness, especially as you get older.
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Good afternoon, Mr Horton. My question pertains to proper eating. Do you have suggestions for someone on a fixed/limited income? I know that a proper diet is just as important as proper exercise, but can you shed some light on ways to achieve this on the cheap? Thank you for talking with us today. Stay awesome.
Great question. I was a very poor man for a very long time. But, I understood that I had to eat better. When I ordered pizza I got it with super low cheese and loaded with vegetables. When I went grocery shopping I bought lots of frozen vegetables. I got off the soda pop and sports drinks and drank more water. I figured out how to make an omelette and when I ate restaurants for poor people (me), I would get the chicken, brown rice, and the veggies, and stay away from dessert. Anybody at any income level can do that.
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How was it working with Jack Douglass?
I LOVE THAT GUY. Not in a I wanna make love to that guy way. Not that there is anything wrong with that. He's just a sweet, authentic, present new-thinker. He deserves all the success in the world. I am so thrilled that he and his girl Erin committed to a 90-day P90 test group. He lost 400 lbs in his face alone. As smart and as talented and as funny as he was - look out world, post P90, he'll be all that and more.
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I had a roommate who did that. (I called it Peanutty X. No reason, just always sounded like peanutty X whenever I heard her mention it.)
Anyway, whenever she did it, it sounded like she was having sex; how does it feel knowing that you brought that weirdness into my life?
If it ain't weird, it ain't worth doing Mantis. I'm thrilled you found some freaky in P90X.
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Tony, first off I want to say thank you. I have chronic lung disease and used to spend countless days at home sick and even in the hospital receiving IV antibiotics 6 times before I was 19 years old. Since starting P90X a few years back (then X2, X3), I haven't been to the hospital at all. SO THANK YOU! I hope to meet you one day and shake your hand! You've changed my life. Question: when should I use R&R formula? After cardio routine or strength routine? Or both?
3 cheers Billy! I'm going to post that story on my fan page today because that's what these programs are about. We train far too often with the hope that some body part that we are unhappy with today in the hopes that it will look different today. The real magic comes from a story like yours... sick, having to go to the hospital to survive and then using my programs so that you can thrive and kick ass. REDONKULOUS! Results & Recovery should be taken after any and all workouts, whether it be cardio, resistance, MMX, where you feel depleted, wasted, crushed. You have an hour window where the ingredients in results & recovery help your body heal. You never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to drink it before... or as a mid-day treat. R&R is post ass-kicking only!
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Huge fan. How do you really feel about okra?
I'm a huge fan. I like it. I'm also a fan of quinoa, kale, and carrots.
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Hey, Tony. I need some motivation. I'm not it horrible shape, but I don't work out either. I know once I get started it will be easier to keep going. Can you offer some nuggets of wisdom to help push me off the cliff, as it were? Help light a fire under my ass.
Here's the fire, "What". Life is filled with choices dude. You can move and get better or do nothing, "which is were you are" and stay the same. Look in the mirror and ask how that feels. The answer is probably shitty. So do you want to survive or thrive? Just like with brushing of your teeth, eating of your food, sleeping of your sleep, working of your work -- you need to train to make all of it easier, better, and awesome. I made P90X3 a half hour. I made it easy. I made P90 doable for excuse killers like you. So step up, shut up, and get busy, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
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Hey there Tony, I have a buddy who did P90X and another buddy who started a lifting program during that same time and they were huge influences on my deciding to start lifting so even tangentially the P90 program is doing some good things. My question is this: What do you think the most important issue in modern fitness is?
Anyone who writes tangentially is alright with me. Awesome question. I am deeply in love with this question. I wanna marry this question. If I could I would have sex with this question. And why I am so enthralled tangentially with this question is because the planet should know that the key to overall fitness success comes from 3 things: Speed, Balance, and Flexibility. Not to say that power and strength and cardiovascular fitness are not important, it's just that I believe the fountain of youth comes from those three.
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Hey, Tony. Your motivation is contagious. Seeing your attitude and your drive makes me want to give up unhealthy food forever and exercise religiously. But with that said, do you ever just take the occasional day where you sit on your couch and surf the net and eat Kit-Kats (or whatever)?
I do have the occasional day where I'm just chilling. But, because my healthy diet is consistent and I work out 5-7 days per week, my energy levels are always pretty high. So, it feels weird to not want to be productive. At 56 years old, I've discovered that this ride called life is shockingly short, so I try to stick to the program so that most days rock. If you aren't exercising and you're eating garbage than there is a greater desire to wanna loaf. But, when you do the two things you and and only you can control 1) What you put in your food hole and 2) What you do with your ass - you won't want to surf the internet, you'll want to surf the North Shore on the Big Island so you can say that you lived a life that mattered.
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What percentage of a year do you spend shirtless?
At 56, I'm not as shirtless as I was at 26. But, typically after a chest/back routine I strip down and go into a pose down for about 35 minutes, lol.
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Tony, huge fan I'm a p90x and x2 grad, I'm in the uk, you have a long inspiring reach to get across the pond! Anyway, I lost about 8 stone in 2012, Mainly due to your workouts and calorie control, have put on another 3 this year, busy new job blah blah, all the excuses you probably normally hear, how can I get motivated to get it going again?, I travel allot now and have a smaller workout space is adapting your workouts the key?
Not Tony, but a big fan of Beachbody programs...
I think it is important to change things up constantly, so you don't get bored, so I've done P90x, P90x2, P90x3, Insanity, Insanity: Asylum I, and Insanity: Asylum II, which has provided a nice variety of workouts to keep my body and myself from plateauing.
Doing hybrids of the programs provide something less repetitive too, and can lead to new gains in certain areas.
Insanity is high intensity interval training, and the asylum programs have a bit more strength work built in. If you can survive the higher cardio workouts, I would strongly recommend these to those who travel quite a bit, as they don't require much (easier to travel with the gear needed) other than space (Insanity, especially). I've even done these workouts on cruises, and other vacations.
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Tony, what's your favorite story of someone changing their life due to one of your fitness programs?
Also, P90X is great - thanks so much for all the effort you and the crew put into the program!
You're welcome Paper. My most recent favorite story has nothing to do with my programs, but my book, "The Big Picture". I was doing a Tony Horton Fitness video on YouTube (have you subscribed yet? if not, why? http://youtube.com/tonyhortonfitness). The dude I was collaborating with told me that his Mother read my book and went cold turkey on booze, which kind of blew me away.
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Tony, I am a huge fan of P90X3 and have also done P90X as well. My question is would you suggest adding a cardio workout (running, biking, etc) every week to go along with P90X3 or do you feel its unnecessary really with your workouts if my goal is to attain your fitness level?
If you want to attain my fitness level? You go buy P90X2. P90X3 is the perfect program for anyone that can't finish X and X2 - and that's a lot of people. We've had a greater success rate with X3 than anything and it got people in kooky awesome shape. But, if you want to be a badass, buy X2.
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What do you eat on an average day? And what's your overall favorite food?
I try to eat five meals a day and I would say two of them are shakes. Most mornings start with lots of eggs and lots of veggies. I use to be vegan, but no more. Now, it's chicken or fish, or free range critters for lunch and dinner. The least processed, the better. I try to eat like my great, great, great, great grandparents.
Favorite food nutrition wise: Kale Favorite food taste wise: Blackberries
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Why is your head always photoshopped on my body when you do photoshoots?
Because I know you dig it.
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Hey Tony,
Me and my roommates did P90x for like months before springbreak a couple years back to try to pick up chicks on the beach. Didn't go so well. Any tips for picking up chicks?
Hey apg - Get a personality. That's where the money is, brotha. It ain't how you look. Be smart, be thoughtful, be patient, be funny, be purposeful. Stop caring about what other people think of you and focus on your purpose, on your "raison d'etré".
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Mr. Tony Horton,
Huge fan. When are we going to see Tony Horton Kitchen on the shelves of 7-Elevens in Texas?
If you live near the San Fernando Valley, right now on my Facebook fan page and on Instagram (@TonyHorton) you can win a signed P90, P90X, or P90X3 if you take some weird photo of you purchasing two Tony Horton Kitchens. Now, you may be asking yourself, "Well, Tony, I live in Texas? How does that help me get THK?" We are having this contest in our first test market so that we can spread the word, get people excited, and start selling THK in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Which would be the next area of the country to get THK. Get on your pals in Southern California to help promote healthy food in a convenient way so that you can too, sooner rather than later.
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Hi Tony, just started P90X3 and am loving it so far. My question for you is what sparked your interest in fitness enough to make a career out of it?
I was lame. I was a loser. I was sad. I was depressed. I looked like poop and I didn't like any of those things and fitness fixed it.
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Tony, just wanted to say thanks for cracking a funny joke when I need it to get through a workout. I'm a 2 time x3 grad.
What does "that's the grotton" mean from ab ripper x?
Hey BJ - I have no flipping idea. Here is some inside baseball for you: In the moment of shooting stuff just comes out of my face hole and it disappears into the wind. Of all the P90X3 workouts, I've only seen 4, and of the P90 workouts, I haven't seen one. When you work on something for a year to make it just right after it's done, it's weird to watch myself.
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Hi Tony.
I'm a grad of the previous version of P90. What are the differences between the new version of it and the previous one?
The original "Power 90" was based on good old-fashioned circuit training that was popular at the time. It worked then, it works now. But, the new "P90" still has some of the basics of the original, but the main difference is that we've modernized it with 3 phases, 3 ab rippers, and a Saturday special routine that churns and burns. The original had 4 workouts, this one has 10. Each and every workout is brand new.
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Tony, do you think Arnold could do P90X? I've tried it, and it's one helluva workout!
Arnold was more of a bodybuilder. X, X2, X3 are fitness programs. There are aspects of all my programs where Arnold would excel, but the variety of my programs would probably rock his world.
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Tony! Just about made it through P90X (the first one) but the workouts were too long for a busy schedule. Thinking about P90X3, is that what you would recommend?
Also, I could fill in as your replacement if ever needed. I have all the Tony lines memorized. Favorite - "AB Ripper X, I hate it... but I love it."
Thanks for making it fun!
Here's the deal. If you get yourself in ridiculous shape, you can take my gig and I'll move to Jackson Hole, strip off all my clothes, lay in a field and stare at the snow. But, to do that I would say X3 or P90 is the way to go. X3 is P90X short, but fast. P90 is broken up into 3 ramping phases from month 1 to month 3. The goal is to finish the race. X3 and P90 are designed to make that happen. Hurry up because I can't wait to lay in that field.
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Hi Tony. I saw you at the Santa Monica promenade not too long ago giving a bunch of money to a street artist performing there. Who was that? And why were you giving her fat stacks?? Thanks for being awesome.
Why didn't you come over and hug me? If you see me in the promenade again, come shake my hand and tell me a story. It was actually a YouTube collaboration (Tony Horton Fitness on YouTube) video we were shooting and the female performer had no idea it was going to happen. We just picked her out of the blue and gave her about 80 bucks. It was fun to see her reaction.
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I just started p90x 3 and I have trouble doing all the pull ups. Should I lift weights during the time left in the segment? Just read your book btw it was fantastic!
Thanks for reading "The Big Picture" VeganChik. That's the book I always wanted to write. I think those 11 laws will help even more folks understand how to get the most of their life, too. I would keep a bench/chair/box under your pull-up bar and after you run out of gas then just tip-toe one foot on that bench/chair/box and crank out as many as you can.
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Tony,
I did the first Chest & Back day and I went for it as hard as I could and I was able to complete it just fine. I've done a few weeks of P90x in the past and I'm still in (reasonably) good shape. Unfortunately, I noticed I got ridiculously sore this time and I lost my motivation to keep going. I woke up in the middle of the night because I'd roll over onto my arm and it hurt so bad. I'm pretty sure I just tweaked something, but I don't know: I haven't really had anyone to ask about it. That shouldn't have happened, right? It was the first time I did it on my own. It's better now, and I'm pretty sure it was just soreness, but I have to say a response from you would probably change my life.
Also: You're the man.
Deus - why did you try to build Rome in a day? With 10s of thousands of Romans it took many years to build the coliseum, but you wanted to be Hercules in an hour. It's best sometimes when first starting out to train at 75-80% for the first 30 days. This way you feel energized and not pulverized. I don't want to sound all pluggy, that's not what Reddit is about, but that is the exact reason why I created P90. The first 30 days are just getting you going, and it builds. By the time you get to day 90 of P90, you can jump right into P90X and not hurt your arm while sleeping. It's about patience, dude. I hurt my shoulder and I made myself do P90 type workouts, which allowed me to stay fit and stay strong and not aggravate the injury. Now, I'm back to my P90X and X2 routines.
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I just want to give you a big thank you for everything you've done for the fitness community and myself. Back in 2009, I'd never so far as picked up a weight or done jump squat.
Then I did p90x and it literally revolutionized my life - I did 3 rounds of p90x, 2 rounds of x2, and a bit of X+. Today, I still incorporate lots of p90x type moves into my workouts, and I consider it the foundation to my fitness. About once or twice a week, I'll still pop in plyocide, interval X, or a killer cardio work.
Thanks Tony.
Now for my question:
Have you ever done any kind of olympic style weightlifting? It's very technique driven, but I'd love to hear your opinion on it.
Transparent Bicycle - there is nothing transparent about your awesomeness. You are my new favorite story to tell. To hear that you truly went from a zero to a hero through my programs brings a twinkle to my heart. So proud of you!!! A story like that is the reason why I love my job. When I am in Jackson Hole, there is a facility called Mountain Athlete/Warrior Athlete. When I was there last time we went through a complex called Quadzillas. BRUTAL! At Warrior Athlete and most Crossfit gyms across the country, they incorporate Olympic style lifting. With the right coach and the right techniques and at the right time, for the right people, it's a phenomenal tool to get you in some pretty sick shape. With the wrong coach, poor technique, too much ego for the wrong people, it can be a disaster. The first time I walked into a Mountain Fitness, looked a trainer straight in the eye 5 seconds after walking in the room and said, "Your job is to train me, not hurt me." After a long pause, he looked at me and said, "Okay, got it." I got my ass whipped, but I didn't get hurt. That's how it should be every time you train. Great question.
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Hey tony, thanks for doing the ama I've been doing X3 for a a month now and it's kicking my ass haha. Just wanted to know what your inspiration for creating tony Horton kitchen? And if your venture in food is a success is a possible cookbook on the horizon?
Some of you may or may not know that Tony Horton Kitchen started out as a fresh food home delivery service. The meals averaged between $9 and $14. If you had a little extra income that is affordable. But, for a lot of folks $14/meal was steep. It sure would have been for me back in the day. We had limited results, but the home delivery service ended up being a stepping stone to the relationship established with 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven convenience are smack dab in the middle of food deserts all over the country. It was a huge risk for them. They do very well with hot dogs wrapped in bacon, donuts, and slurpees. But, some of their young guns in the company realize that things are changing. They saw my success at Beachbody with P90X, X2, X3, 10-Minute Trainer, and now P90, and thought, "Hey, let's see if we can part of the solution." Kudos to them for having the balls to do the right thing. With that said, I am in early discussions with Harper-Collins about a THK cook book. Keep your fingers crossed.
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What is your current stance on Gluten-free foods as well as foods that are whole grain?
My current stance on whole-grain and gluten-free foods is to eat them, that is if you're not gluten intolerant or have Celiac Disease. There is a lot of hubbub about gluten. Advocates of gluten-free foods have eliminated a myriad of health issues. Others think it's a big hoax. I love when people have opinions about other people they've never met who have issues they don't have. Good luck with that keeping your stress down for the rest of your life. FLASH. If you don't have issues with gluten, you can still enjoy gluten-free products. Other folks who do have Celiac Disease really do have to avoid wheat products. I was in Montana last Winter looking for something to eat while skiing. I ran into this cookie called The Hunger Buster in the local health food store. It's made by a small family owned company called Gluten Free Prairie. High in fiber, zero gluten, crazy yummy and better than 99.4% of factory food bars. I can eat all the wheat I want, I just eat this thing and many of their other products because they taste good. Long answer, hope it helps.
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If you could only do one bodyweight exercise for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would never do that. Because it serves no purpose. But, I know you want your question answered so it would be pull-ups.
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TONY YOU ARE A FITNESS GOD!!!!!
Now that I have your attention hopefully, I wanted to ask what you recommend for someone who had a C-section and has hardened ligaments. I made it through one month of X3 but then fell off because I was a sad loser. But even after that month, my ligaments were still popping, particularly during YogaX.
Any recommendations for getting my core strength back?
Also, I am a Behavior Analyst by career, but I can't figure out how to self-manage my own behavior. How do you develop discipline when your a 30-year old? Isn't it too late???!
About that God thing, you are so right :-) Isn't it funny that we often have to learn what we teach? I'm not your doctor, you need to go see one first, but from me to you through a screen via the internet... back off, back down, slow down, chill out. Start easy. There is no question in my mind whatsoever that you are not the perfect P90 candidate. I hate sounding like the guy is trying to sell his stuff on Reddit. The thought of that makes me throw up in my own mouth. But, if you want an answer to your question that will work, I don't know what else to tell you. So behavioral therapist, find a purpose, make a plan, surround yourself with like-minded badasses or create some from scratch and go finish this thing. BTW, did I mention it's important to do your best and forget the horse hockey inside of your brain preventing you from being awesome?!?
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What is some advice you have for people really out of shape who tried p90x and said screw this? Something to keep people from bring demotivated if they felt p90x was too difficult.
The obvious answer is Zumba. The second most obvious answer is anything and everything that takes up less time and is less of a butt kicking. Gosh, I wonder why my last two programs were exactly that. I got the message, you loved P90X, but some of us can't finish it. X3 and P90 were designed to give you the confidence to keep going so you could get the results you couldn't being inconsistent with P90X.
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Tony!! I'm a big fan!!
In one of your videos you said that we shouldn't say we couldn't do something but that we currently struggle with that something.
What is something you initially struggled with that you can now do? (Could be exercise related or not.)
There are dozens of things where I struggled early on. My whole life was a struggle early on. I couldn't speak in a straight sentence without stuttering or stammering. I had the aerobic capacity of a 90-year old cigarette smoking grandmother. There was no way on God's earth I could get up in front of a bunch of people and give a presentation. I was like a lot of people today who are still just limping along. I took a weight lifting class in college my sophomore year that changed everything for me. I'm talking above and beyond the physical changes. Every single one of us on this Earth are productive based on a couple of things:
Confidence and energy. Regular fitness and proper fuel automatically change your attitude about what you're doing and where you're going. It gives you the CONFIDENCE to problem solve in your life. If you're exhausted because of a lack of exercise and poor diet, there is no way you'll have the energy to get it done, to move forward, to be productive, to solve problems, to get ahead. You can get that in a 25-minute P90 workout.
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Tony,
Thanks for including a mom of 6 kids in X3, this has single-handedly inspired my wife to join me in these workouts. She can now do 3 unassisted pullups!
Have any of your cast members gone on to be full-time fitness instructors?
WOW! Congrats to those 3 pullups for your wife, brother. When a woman can do just 1 pullup, it's extremely impressive. Men have 40x the testosterone that women do, so they have to work 40x harder. They earn every single pullups. Some of my cast members were full-time fitness instructors from the get go, but as far as I know these were lawyers, nurses, dental assistants, salesmans, moms and dads, many in the original test groups pulled off the street who got fit, stuck with their gig and just kept going.
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Hi Tony.
First, thanks for making P90X. I've been using it off and on for a few years now (along with X3).
Second, as a native-born Rhode Islander, I'm curious, how often do you get back there? And what do you like to do when you go?
Third, when you're working out, do you like to cycle through different versions of P90X (2, 3) or do you prefer one over the others? Or do you do something even more intense?
Go Rhody! I try to get back every 4th of July and what a shock, I spend a lot of days training and heading down to Misquamicut Beach. For me, it's a mixed bag. A little X2, a little X3, and some original P90X. But, I never do any of them the way you would. In 15 years I've worked out to myself maybe twice so I follow the basic formats, but instead of pullups I'll use a lat pull machine, or instead of push ups I'll use a bench press, instead of tricep kickbacks, I'll get on my dip bar. I'm always integrating brand new movements that force me to work on a weakness. I like, scratch that, I love, being bad at things.
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Tony, do you have any plans to put together a book / video targeting health for folks who over 40 / 50 or so who are working out...and what do you think is a big difference for someone over 40 to keep in mind improving fitness?
Bidet - Awesome username dude. Cause you gotta be a dude. Are you a plant? Do you work at Beachbody? Cause if that doesn't sound like a planted question to get me to plug P90, I don't know what does. If I could think of 400 answers that weren't P90, I'd give you one. Alright, person who doesn't work at Beachbody, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, you're over 40. I'm 56. What do we want? We want to feel like we're 26 and 36. Is that impossible? No. When you're young all your parts are new. When you're old(er), all you're parts need assistance in staying younger. So if you train your power and your strength and your flexibility and your quickness and your balance regularly (5-6x a week) then you can have what folks have who have new parts. I make fitness programs. I make fitness programs based on what people need and want. Your job is to figure out which one is appropriate for you and to do it no matter what. NO MATTER WHAT. No matter how bad the traffic is, no matter how tired you are, no matter how much your family is giving you shit. No matter what crazy noise inside of your head wants you to do nothing, you just do it. P90, for example, PHASE A - cardio on one day, resistance on the other. PHASE B - same thing, only a little longer. PHASE C - last month, more of the same, but a little longer. 3 Ab Rippers. That's right, 3, not 1. And of course, Saturday Special. Feel free to do that on a Thursday or any other damn day that works into your schedule. Do it. It works. Don't bitch more. Now go get it! Peace, love, and harmony. Yippee Yi A, Kiate, Mother Lover. OUT.
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Extracted by your pal Redditor /u/p666x :)COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted on Wednesday advised election officials to "carefully analyze" new voter registrations being submitted by The Strategy Network, which is collecting signatures for pro-marijuana legalization group ResponsibleOhio.
County boards of elections have reported an increase in errors and registrations that appear to be fraudulent turned in by the group, Husted said.
"As the state's chief elections officer, I have a duty to work with our local boards of elections to ensure fairness at the ballot box and a primary component of that responsibility is to maintain clean voter rolls and establish safeguards against fraud," Husted said in a news release. "ResponsibleOhio's suspicious voter registration efforts seem to be simply another step in a growing trend of irresponsible behavior."
According to Husted's office, counties have reported:
Registrants who report non-existent addresses;
Signatures that are illegible or do not match the signature on file for the applicant in the voter's existing registration record;
Multiple applications submitted on the same day for a single applicant at different addresses;
Applicants who are underage and will not turn 18 before the next general election; and
Multiple registration forms that appear to be completed in the same handwriting.
ResponsibleOhio announced last week it had collected more than 550,000 signatures and about 10 percent of those also completed new voter registration forms. ResponsibleOhio Executive Director Ian James also owns The Strategy Network, a well-known Columbus consulting firm that specializes in collecting signatures for ballot issue campaigns.
James said Husted's letter was the first the campaign had heard of problems with its voter registrations. James said petition circulators follow the law for voter registrations, which allow them to complete portions of the registration form.
"[My company] has collected 5.6 million signatures and we're registering tens of thousands of people to vote. We take the responsibility of compliance with Ohio election law very seriously," James said.
James said Husted's warning is the latest move by elected politicians to thwart ResponsibleOhio's effort. State lawmakers are considering their own constitutional amendment targeted at ResponsibleOhio that would nullify amendments that benefit an economic interest.
"There is somewhat of a concern that we're going to qualify for the ballot, that voters are going to be able to vote for the issue that they overwhelmingly support, that voters are going to legalize marijuana in Ohio," James said. "And there are some who don't want to have that happen and are pulling all the stops to try to stop voters from having their say on this matter."
ResponsibleOhio wants to legalize marijuana for personal and recreational use for adults over age 21 and limit commercial growing to 10 sites promised to campaign investors. The group must collect more than 305,591 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters by July 1 to qualify for the November ballot.
Signatures are sent to county boards of election for verification, and groups often register signers to vote in Ohio in hopes of increasing validity.
In at least two counties, Husted wrote in a letter to James, registrations were turned in for 16-year-old applicants. One of those applicants told the county elections board director he was advised to complete the form even after explaining he was not old enough to vote.
Husted spokesman Joshua Eck said the office didn't have a total number of irregularities but boards in Cuyahoga County and 12 others have reported suspicious registrations: Butler, Clermont, Delaware, Erie, Fairfield, Franklin, Hamilton, Meigs, Paulding, Ross and Scioto counties.
Earlier this year, Husted joined fellow Republican statewide elected officials in denouncing the amendment. At that time, Husted said it was offensive to ask Ohioans to give a constitutional monopoly to the marijuana industry and he would "vigorously" ask voters to defeat it.Japan must do more to justify whaling plans: IWC By By Kesavan Unnikrishnan Jun 19, 2015 in Environment International Whaling Commission has demanded more information to review Japan's proposal to kill 3,996 whales in Southern Ocean for " scientific research." Last year, the International Court of Justice ruled that Japan should stop hunting whales in Southern ocean prompting the country to submit a revised proposal. Japan, with its new The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and several other marine biologists have long demanded an end to annual "research" hunt in the Antarctic by Japanese vessels. Japan has killed over 10,000 whales since 1987 simply by issuing scientific research permits to whale hunters. There is no reason to be killing whales today for science. We know it, the world knows it, and now even the International Court of Justice has recognized that Japan’s programme was not science. We hope that the Scientific Committee will do the right thing and state that there is no way Japan can go whaling again and continue to call it science. Meanwhile, Japanese Officials said then that whaling would resume in the 2015- 2016 season and they expected a positive decision from IWC. The International Whaling Commission under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling placed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982. However, member countries are allowed to issue permits to themselves to kill whales for scientific research.Last year, the International Court of Justice ruled that Japan should stop hunting whales in Southern ocean prompting the country to submit a revised proposal.Japan, with its new program, NEWREP-A (New Scientific Whale Research Program in the Antarctic Ocean), proposed killing up to 333 minke whales each year until 2027 starting from December 2015. IWC's Scientific Committee, in its meeting on Friday, said it wasn't able to make a decision as the proposal contained insufficient information and asked Japan to give additional details.The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and several other marine biologists have long demanded an end to annual "research" hunt in the Antarctic by Japanese vessels. Japan has killed over 10,000 whales since 1987 simply by issuing scientific research permits to whale hunters. WWF spokesperson Aimee Leslee says:Meanwhile, Japanese Officials said then that whaling would resume in |
That's also a reminder that not only Awlaki, but at least two other still-unknown Americans, have been placed on Obama's kill list). Priest then added that the cause of Awlaki's being placed on the kill list were his "academic" discussions with Nidal Hasan: exactly what the NYT's Obama-official-sources now say are protected free speech that could not be used to legally justify his killing:
"Intelligence officials say the New Mexico-born imam also has been linked to the Army psychiatrist who is accused of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian at Fort Hood, Tex., although his communications with Maj. Nidal M. Hasan were largely academic in nature. Authorities say that Aulaqi is the most important native, English-speaking al-Qaeda figure and that he was in contact with the Nigerian accused of attempting to bomb a US airlner on Christmas Day."
Whatever else is true, there is a serious potential contradiction between the self-justifying claims of the NYT's sources (we waited until late January, 2010 when we acquired evidence of Awlaki's involvement in plots before trying to kill him) and Priest's reporting (the Obama administration began trying to kill Awlaki in 2009, before it had evidence that he had done anything beyond "inspiring" plots with his sermons). The reason this matters so much regardless of your views of Awlaki is obvious, and is certainly on the mind of the NYT's government sources: it would be purely tyrannical, not to mention unconstitutional and criminal (murder), for the US government to try to kill one of its own citizens in order to stop his critical speech.
It's possible that there is a distinction in this reporting between being targeted for killing by JSOC versus the CIA, although the NYT's government sources are clear that any government targeted killing of Awlaki without proof of involvement in terrorist plots - based solely on his sermons - would be legally dubious, at best (indeed, on Democracy Now this morning, the NYT's Scott Shane said: "they had in fact decided they could not target [US citizen] Samir Khan, because he was a propagandist, and not an actual plotter, but he was killed anyway"); when I asked Savage about this, he told me this morning via email that "the exact date that Awlaki went on 'the list' is one of several issues that we dug into at length, and while we were able to mosaic together some answers to some previously outstanding questions this one remains murky"). It's also possible that Priest's reporting was wrong and efforts to kill Awlaki only began in 2010 once the government acquired what it claims is evidence of his involvement in Terrorist plots. It's also possible that the NYT's sources are simply wrong, or worse, when claiming that abundant evidence exists to prove Awlaki's involvement in such plots.
But all of this only underscores why governments of civilized nations don't first execute people without charges or due process and seek after the fact to prosecute and convict them in a one-sided, non-adversarial process of newspaper leaks; these are exactly the kinds of questions that are resolved by adversarial judicial procedures, precisely the procedures the Obama administration made sure could never take place. It also underscores why responsible media outlets should do more than print these unverified government accusations as truth, especially about a matter as consequential as the government's assassination of its own citizens. That the Obama administration and the New York Times did neither of those things in this case is quite revealing about the function they perform.
UPDATE
I linked above the email response given to me by Savage, which is here. At his request, I've added a second email he sent which elaborates on one of the points he made. I'm content to have the reader compare the above facts which Priest reported and make up your own mind about what you think happened here.You dream of seven-star vacations, but not in the same way architect Jean-Michel Gathy does. He gets paid for his dreams. And for making those dreams a reality. As the principal at his design firm, Denniston, he’s the man that the world’s most discerning hoteliers — Mandarin Oriental, Aman, St. Regis, Cheval Blanc, and so on — turn to before breaking ground on a new hotel or resort.
Born in Belgium, Gathy settled in Kuala Lumpur more than two decades ago, drawn by the country’s rich, multi-ethnic history and its inherent friendliness. He is now based there full time — that is, when he isn’t travelling.
Imagine any luxury hotel and you are no doubt imagining his work.
He’s currently at work on a dozen projects around the globe. He’s already put his stamp on exotic locations as far afield as Venice, Abu Dhabi and Bora Bora. That distinctive stamp includes signatures like reflecting pools, spa-like bathrooms and camping tents (the kind with 20-foot ceilings that come with a butler), and seas of soft, candle-like lighting against soaring high ceilings and a symmetrical, vaguely Asian-inflected geometry.
Imagine any luxury hotel and you are no doubt imagining his work. He’s the world’s foremost architect of The Good Life. And he lives it, too. He speaks to us from under a palm tree, resting beside a 450-foot pool at his newest project, the Park Hyatt Sunny Bay, in Sanya, China.Game of Thrones fever came to Dubrovnik last week when the cast and crew descended on the city for three days of filming.
Three main actors in the HBO serial, Lena Headey, or Cersei Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, or Jamie Lannister, and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, better known as Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane, were only in Dubrovnik for one day but there were two more days of filming in various locations in the historic Old City of Dubrovnik, including the stone steps of the Dominican Monastery, interestingly just a few hundred metres away from the new Robin Hood set.
The Dubrovnik Times brought you exclusive photos of the stars of the serial, the most popular serial of all time, and now we have a few more shots of the sets, the location on the Pile Gate into the Old City and the Dominican steps.
Photos by The Dubrovnik Times and Tonci PlazibatState-run news agency says 11 dead and dozens wounded in attack blamed on Kurdish militants in Cizre near Syrian border
An attack with an explosives-laden truck on a police checkpoint in south-east Turkey has killed at least 11 police officers and wounded 78 other people.
The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that Kurdish militants were responsible for the attack on a checkpoint about 50 metres from a police station near the town of Cizre, in the mainly-Kurdish Şırnak province that borders Syria.
Television footage showed black smoke rising from the mangled truck, while the three-story police station was gutted from the powerful explosion. The health ministry said it had sent 12 ambulances and two helicopters to the site.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which was the latest in a string of bombings targeting police or military vehicles and installations. Authorities have blamed the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) for those attacks.
Violence between the PKK and the security forces resumed last year, after the collapse of a fragile two-year peace process between the government and the militant group. Hundreds of security force members have been killed since.
Turkey and US unite to oust Isis and curb Kurds Read more
Turkey has also seen a rise of deadly attacks that have been blamed on Islamic State militants, including a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding in south-east Turkey last week that killed 54 people and an attack on Istanbul’s main airport in June, which killed 44.
Turkey sent tanks across the Syrian border this week to help Syrian rebels retake a key Isis-held town.
Since hostilities with the PKK resumed last summer, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to the Anadolu Agency. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed.
The PKK is considered a terror organisation by Turkey and its allies.
The attacks on police came as the country was still reeling from a violent coup attempt on 15 July that killed at least 270 people. The government has blamed the failed coup on the supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen and has embarked on a sweeping crackdown on his followers.
On Thursday, Kurdish rebels opened fire at security forces protecting a convoy of vehicles carrying Turkey’s main opposition party leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in the north-east, killing a soldier and wounding two others, officials said.Volcanic activity at the Pacific coast of Japan, a few hundred miles south of Tokyo has merged the tiny island with a new neighbor to give birth to the world's newest island, Niijima. The volcano was previously predicted by experts as dormant.
But going exactly opposite to what was expected by the experts, the Niijima kept growing as lava was continuously produced and emerging from the volcano.
The volcano first broke the surface of the Pacific Ocean on November 20, 2013. It then joined the Ogasawara chain of islands in Japanese waters. But the time it reached the end of 2013, the little island had sought increase in its original size by eight times. This chain of islands is also called as the Bonin Islands, located along the western rim of the Pacific 'Ring of Fire'. It is actually a fault line marked by frequent volcanic and seismic activity.
An area little over 1,100 meters across has now been marked together by the conjoined islands. They rise at their highest point some 60 meters above sea level. Lava is still flowing at the southern part of the new land mass and the ash clouds are being continuously emitted by the active volcanic cone.
Fluffy puffs of clouds have also been showed by satellite images taken of the site. Some experts are of the view that these could be signs of an eruption in near future.
Previously, it was believed that the formation of new land mass by underwater volcanoes takes million of years, but formation of Niijima took only few months. It has reminded us that our planet of a dynamic, changing planet.
The merger of the islands started in December and the high activity of the volcano Niiji is still allowing the expansion of the association, said Japanese scientists.Ki Sung-yueng was on loan at Sunderland from Swansea in 2013-14
Swansea's Ki Sung-yueng will miss Sunday's Premier League finale against Manchester City to take part in military service in South Korea.
South Koreans must complete two years' compulsory military service before the age of 29 or face being exiled.
After winning bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, Ki, 27, and his team-mates' service was reduced to four weeks.
Swansea manager Francesco Guidolin said: "We want him to have more time for his holiday."
After helping South Korea's Olympic efforts, Ki left Celtic for the Liberty Stadium for a then club record fee of £5.5m.
Ki is expected to return for pre-2016-17 training in early July.
Meanwhile, Guidolin could turn midfielder Leroy Fer's loan stay from QPR into a permanent deal this summer.
The Dutchman made 10 league appearances after joining Swansea in January.
"Leroy has been a good surprise," said Guidolin.
"I didn't know him before, but he has helped the team in the last part of the season. He is a good player and it is possible he stays here.
"I don't know if he wants to stay. I think so, but he could be a good option to stay."LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- India faces the ultimate sanction of expulsion from the Olympics unless it keeps corruption-tainted officials out of its ranks, IOC President Thomas Bach said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Bach said the IOC is prepared to withdraw recognition of the Indian Olympic Association if it fails to comply with ''rules of good governance'' by Tuesday, a punishment that would leave the world's second-most populous nation out of all Olympic competitions.
''It's about the principles,'' Bach said. ''Good governance for the IOC is a key issue. We need to be strict and to make sure the rules of good governance are being applied.''
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If India is thrown out, it would be the first time a country has been kicked out of the Olympic movement since South Africa was expelled for its racial segregation policies more than 40 years ago.
The Indian Olympic body is scheduled to meet Sunday in New Delhi to consider amending its constitution to meet the IOC's directive. If there is no breakthrough, the International Olympic Committee executive board is set to recommend ''de-recognition'' of the Indian committee at its meeting on Tuesday in Lausanne.
'''We will see if there is any last-moment movement,'' Bach said. ''If not, then we have to consider to take the next step.''
The IOC suspended the Indian body a year ago because of government interference in its election process. While many of the issues have been resolved since then, the Indians have yet to agree to the IOC demand to bar officials who have been charged with a criminal offense - an impasse that has led to the final ultimatum.
''The (Olympic) charter is clear,'' Bach said. ''If the suspension leads to no solution, then further steps could be withdrawal of recognition.''
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It would be the first major ruling of the IOC board under Bach, who was elected president on Sept. 10, succeeding Jacques Rogge. Bach is the former president of Germany's national Olympic committee.
The IOC executive board could take a preliminary decision on withdrawing recognition of India. A final ruling would go to the full IOC, which next meets in early February in Sochi, Russia, on the eve of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
''Withdrawal of recognition would mean there is no NOC (National Olympic Committee) any more in India,'' Bach said. ''That means no participation, no subsidies.''
Under the current suspension, the Indian body has stopped receiving IOC funding and its officials have been banned from attending Olympic meetings and events. India's athletes are barred from competing in Olympic events under their national flag.
Stripping India completely of IOC recognition would leave the country without any Olympic involvement. It would keep Indian athletes out of the Olympics and related events such as the Asian Games. Other international federations could also follow suit.
The IOC has given athletes from suspended nations the chance to compete as individuals under the Olympic flag. It's unclear what options could be open to Indian athletes if their Olympic body is expelled.
''In the Olympics we would have to see whether we would find individual solutions, but they could in no way represent India,'' Bach said. ''We always want to protect the interest of the athletes. We have to consider a way. I cannot tell you what the result will be.''
The IOC said India has three athletes, including two skiers and a luger, who have qualified for the Sochi Games. Sanctions would hurt more for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. India's participation could be affected for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
The IOC has been involved in discussions with India for months. The main issue stems from last year's election of IOA secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, who had been jailed for 10 months in a corruption case related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
The IOC has told the Indian body that anyone charged with an offense by Indian police should be barred from holding office. The Indians have proposed that the directive be limited to barring only those found guilty and sentenced to a jail term of two or more years by a court.
''This is the only remaining point,'' Bach said. ''It's about good governance and nothing else at this moment. All the other issues have been solved in cooperation with the NOC, with the government.''
The IOC formally expelled South Africa from the Olympics in 1970. The country, which had last competed at the 1960 Olympics, returned to the fold at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
In recent years, the IOC suspended the national Olympic bodies of Kuwait, Ghana and Panama for political interference, but all were eventually reinstated.The concept of universal suffrage, also known as general suffrage or common suffrage, consists of the right to vote of all adult citizens, regardless of property ownership, income, race, or ethnicity, subject only to minor exceptions.[1][2] In its original 19th-century usage by political reformers, universal suffrage was understood to mean only universal manhood suffrage; the vote was extended to women later, during the women's suffrage movement.[3][4]
There are variations among countries in terms of specifics of the right to vote; the minimum age is usually between 18 and 25 years (see age of majority) and "the insane, certain classes of convicted criminals, and those punished for certain electoral offenses" sometimes lack the right to vote.[2]
In the United States, the term "suffrage" is often associated specifically with women's suffrage; a movement to extend the franchise to women began in the mid-nineteenth century and culminated in 1920, when the United States ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing the right of women to vote.
The first female MPs in the world were elected in Finland in 1907.
In most countries, universal suffrage (the right to vote but not necessarily the right to be a candidate) followed about a generation after universal male suffrage. Notable exceptions in Europe were France, where women could not vote until 1944, Greece (1952), and Switzerland (1971).
In the first modern democracies, governments restricted the vote to those with property and wealth, which almost always meant a minority of the male population. In some jurisdictions, other restrictions existed, such as requiring voters to practice a given religion. In all modern democracies, the number of people who could vote has increased progressively with time. In the 19th century in Europe, Great Britain and North America, there were movements advocating "universal [male] suffrage".
Expanding suffrage [ edit ]
Voting is an important part of the formal democratic process
The European Parliament is the only supranational organ elected with universal suffrage (since 1979).
France, under the 1793 Jacobin constitution, was the first major country to enact suffrage for all adult males, though it was never formally enacted in practice (the subsequent election occurring after the fall of the Jacobin government). The Second French Republic did institute adult male suffrage after the revolution of 1848.
Following the French revolutions, the first movements in the Western world toward universal suffrage occurred in the early 19th century, and focused on removing property requirements for voting. In 1867, Germany (the North German Confederation) enacted suffrage for all adult males. In the United States following the American Civil War, slaves were freed and granted rights of citizens, including suffrage for adult males (although several states established restrictions largely, though not completely, diminishing these rights). In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the focus of the universal suffrage movement came to include the extension of the right to vote to women, as happened from the post-Civil War era in several Western states and the 1890s in a number of British colonies.
In 1906, the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, which became the republic of Finland, was the first country in the world to implement full universal suffrage, as women could stand as candidates, unlike in New Zealand, and ethnic exclusion was not implemented, unlike in Australia. It also elected the world's first female members of parliament the following year.[5][6]
The First French Republic was the second nation that adopted universal male suffrage, doing so in 1792; it was one of the first national systems that abolished all property requirements as a prerequisite for allowing men to register and vote. Greece recognized full male suffrage in 1830. Spain recognized it in the Constitution of 1869 and France and Switzerland have continuously done so since the 1848 Revolution (for resident male citizens). Upon independence in the 19th century, several Latin American countries and Liberia in Africa initially extended suffrage to all adult males, but subsequently restricted it based on property requirements. The German Empire implemented full male suffrage in 1871.[citation needed]
In the United States, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1870 during the Reconstruction era, provided that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This amendment was intended to guarantee the right to vote to African Americans, many of whom had been enslaved in the South prior to the end of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Despite the amendment, however, blacks were disfranchised in the former Confederate states after 1877; Southern officials ignored the amendment and blocked black citizens from voting through a variety of devices, including poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses;[7] violence and terrorism were used to intimidate those who attempted to vote.[8] Southern blacks did not effectively receive the right to vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.[7]
In 1893, the self-governing colony New Zealand became the first country in the world (except for the short-lived 18th century Corsican Republic) to grant active universal suffrage by giving women the right to vote. It did not grant universal full suffrage (the right to both vote and be a candidate, or both active and passive suffrage) until 1919.[9]
In 1902, Australia become the first country to grant full suffrage for women, i.e. the first country in the world to give women both the right to vote and to run for office.[10] However, universal suffrage was not implemented, as aboriginals did not get the right to vote until 1962.
Several European nations that had enacted universal suffrage had their normal legal process, or their status as an independent nation, interrupted during and after the First World War.
Many societies in the past have denied or abridged political representation on the basis of race or ethnicity, related to discriminatory ideas about citizenship. For example, in apartheid-era South Africa, non-white people could generally not vote in national elections until the first multi-party elections in 1994 (except under the Cape Qualified Franchise, which was replaced by a number of separate MPs in 1936 (Blacks) and 1958 (Coloureds), later by the Tricameral Parliament). Rhodesia enacted a similar statute in its proclaimed independence, which however allowed a smaller number of representatives for the considerably larger Black majority (under its 1961 constitution, the voting classes had been based on socio-economic standards, which marginalized most Black and a few White voters to a separate set of constituencies, under the principle of weighted voting; this replaced in 1969 by an openly racial franchise, with delegated all Blacks to the 'B' voters roll).
Disfranchisement [ edit ]
All US states, with the exceptions of Maine and Vermont, disfranchise some felons from voting depending on their current incarceration, parole or probation status; a number of US states permanently disfranchise some felons, even after their release from prison.[11] Many states within the U.S. previously disfranchised paupers, persons who either paid no direct taxes, or received public assistance.[12]
Nations have differing degrees of legal recognition of non-resident citizens: non-resident Danes cannot vote after two years;[13] non-resident Italians may vote for representatives at-large in the Italian parliament; non-resident British citizens cannot vote for their national parliament unless they have lived in the UK within the last fifteen years.[14] A few nations also restrict those who are part of the military or police forces, e.g. Kuwait.[15]
Many democratic countries, for example the United Kingdom and France, have had colonies with citizens living outside of the mother country and have generally not been entitled to vote for the national legislature. A peculiarly complex case is that of Algeria under the Third French Republic: Algeria was legally an integral part of France, but citizenship was restricted (as in other French colonies proper) by legal status, not by race or ethnicity. Any Muslim Algerian could become a French citizen by choosing to live like one. As this required the person to resign jurisdiction under Islamic law in favour of French civic law, very few did. Among Muslims, such a change was considered apostasy from Islam, which was the dominant religion in Algeria. Colonists in America declared Independence from Great Britain citing "No Taxation Without Representation" as one of their main grievances. However, the newly established country did not extend voting rights in the United States beyond white adult male property owners (about 6% of the population),[16] and did not grant its overseas citizens the right to vote in elections either, until the passage of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act in 1986.
Citizens of an EU Member State are allowed to vote in EU parliamentary elections, as well as some local elections. For example, a British person living in Graz, Austria, would be entitled to vote for the European Parliament as a resident of the "electoral district" of Austria, and to vote in Graz municipal elections. He would, however, not be entitled to vote in Austrian (federal) elections, or Styrian (state) elections. Similarly, all locally resident EU citizens in the UK are allowed to vote for representatives of the local council, and those resident in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may vote for the devolved parliaments or assemblies. But, only British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens are allowed to vote for the British House of Commons.[17] However, not all British citizens are allowed to vote, since non-resident British citizens lose their franchise after 15 years. In fact the British government is planning to reinstate universal suffrage soon.[18]
States have granted and revoked universal suffrage at various times. This list can be organised in three ways:
Universal There are no distinctions between voters over a certain age in any part of its territories due to gender, literacy, wealth, social status, language, religion, race, or ethnicity.
There are no distinctions between voters over a certain age in any part of its territories due to gender, literacy, wealth, social status, language, religion, race, or ethnicity. Male is for all males over a certain age irrespective of literacy, wealth, or social status.
is for all males over a certain age irrespective of literacy, wealth, or social status. Female is for all women over a certain age irrespective of literacy, wealth, or social status.
is for all women over a certain age irrespective of literacy, wealth, or social status. Ethnicity is for all eligible voters over a certain age irrespective of language, religion, race, or ethnicity.
Note: The table can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icons.
Women's suffrage [ edit ]
In Sweden-Finland, women's suffrage was granted during the Age of Liberty from 1718 until 1772.[66]
In Corsica, women's suffrage was granted in 1755 and lasted until 1769.[67]
Women's suffrage (with the same property qualifications as for men) was granted in New Jersey in 1776 (the word "inhabitants" was used instead of "men" in the 1776 Constitution) and rescinded in 1807.
The Pitcairn Islands granted restricted women's suffrage in 1838. Various other countries and states granted restricted women's suffrage in the later half of the nineteenth century, starting with South Australia in 1861.
The first unrestricted women's suffrage in a major country was granted in New Zealand in 1893.[9] The women's suffrage bill was adopted mere weeks before the general election of 1893. Māori men had been granted suffrage in 1867, white men in 1879. The Freedom in the World index lists New Zealand as the only free country in the world in 1893.[67]
South Australia first granted women suffrage and allowed them to stand for parliament in 1894.
The autonomous Grand Principality of Finland, a decade before becoming the republic of Finland, was the first country in the world to implement full universal suffrage, by giving women full political rights, i.e. both the right to vote and to run for office, and was the second in the world and the first in Europe to give women the right to vote.[5][6] The world's first female members of parliament were elected in Finland the following year.
In 1931, the Second Spanish Republic allowed women the right of passive suffrage with three women being elected.
During a discussion on extending women's right to active suffrage, the Radical Socialist Victoria Kent confronted the Radical Clara Campoamor. Kent argued that Spanish women were not yet prepared to vote and, since they were too influenced by the Catholic Church, they would vote for right-wing candidates. Campoamor however pleaded for women's rights regardless of political orientation. Her point finally prevailed and, in the election of 1933, the political right won with the vote of citizens of any sex over 23. Both Campoamor and Kent lost their seats.
Youth suffrage, children's suffrage, and suffrage in school [ edit ]
Democratic schools practice and support universal suffrage in school, which allows a vote to every member of the school, including students and staff. Such schools hold that this feature is essential for students to be ready to move into society at large.[68][69]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]In Ireland, they are finally seeing sense and closing this loophole. Unfortunately, Australia is going in the opposite direction. While other countries are their closing their tax minimisation loopholes, the Abbott government has spent the past year opening them up. One of Treasurer Joe Hockey's first acts in office was to roll back Labor's measures to tackle profit shifting and improving tax transparency - effectively handing back $1.1 billion to big global firms. That's money that could have gone to helping struggling families with cost of living pressures, or improving our schools and hospitals.
But Mr Hockey wasn't finished. He then pushed back the start date for Australia's implementation of key global tax transparency measures that were recently negotiated through the G20. Transparency is one of the key weapons against multinational tax avoidance, and while the rest of the world's major economies start sharing important information on company tax in 2017, Australia will sit on the sidelines. To rub salt in the wound, the Treasurer has slashed nearly $200 million from the Australian Tax Office's budget - sacking thousands of people who are on the frontline in making sure wealthy individuals and companies are pulling their weight when it comes to tax. That the Abbott government is running a protection racket for corporate tax avoiders is bad enough, but it's particularly galling at a time when average Australians are being slugged with higher taxes - such as the new GP tax, the sneaky new petrol tax and the mooted increase in the GST. It's no wonder so many people think the Prime Minister's first budget is so unfair.
It isn't fair that the local newsagent is paying more tax in Australia than some huge multinational companies. And it isn't fair that while ordinary Australians and small businesses are paying more tax, a few big firms doing the wrong thing are getting off scot-free. As we've seen recently in the pages of the Herald, corporate tax loopholes are substantially eroding Australia's company tax base and placing an unfair burden on people and businesses doing the right thing. As the party of fairness, Labor believes in cracking down on multinational profit-shifting. Not for the sake of it, but to make sure everyone is doing their bit. If big businesses are benefiting from Australian workers, Australian consumers and Australian services, they should make their contribution to Australia's taxation.
We believe that if a small business owner can pay her fair share of tax, so can the biggest companies in the world. In government, Labor introduced tax integrity measures that would have kept billions of dollars of revenue in Australia, and as a constructive federal opposition, committed to policy solutions, Labor is working on new ways to tackle tax avoidance. We are convening a round table of tax experts from across the country to discuss the next steps Australia can take on multinational profit shifting. Bringing together some of the country's best accountants, tax lawyers and policy thinkers will help us work out what loopholes remain and how Australia's tax laws can be strengthened. We understand that in a fast-moving international business environment, Australia's tax rules need to adapt and change to keep pace with corporate tax strategies.
But we'll always be guided by what is fair - for big firms, for small businesses and for ordinary workers. We want to tackle corporate tax avoidance so that local and international businesses can compete on a level playing field - and so all Australians are getting a fair deal. So while Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey keep working to open corporate tax loopholes, Labor will keep working to shut them down. Bill Shorten is the Leader of the Opposition and Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer.Coming Soon
TRESE
When the cops are stumped, Alexandra Trese is there to protect Manila from threats of the supernatural kind. Based on the award-winning Filipino comic.
Music Teacher
Burned by his past, an emotionally troubled, small-town music teacher risks everything he has to reconnect with a now-famous former student.
Followers
After an aspiring actress hits it big thanks to a candid Instagram, her life intersects with many other Tokyo women as they follow their dreams.
The Eddy (Working Title)
A jazz club in the heart of multicultural Paris faces danger in this musical drama series from "La La Land" director Damien Chazelle.
Quicksand
After a tragedy at a Stockholm prep school, high school student Maja finds herself on trial for murder. Based on the best-selling novel.
The Order
Out to avenge his mother's death, a college student pledges a secret order and lands in a war between werewolves and practitioners of dark magic.
Jinn
When a girl accidentally releases a jinn in the form of a teenage boy, they learn they've also unleashed an ancient darkness that threatens the world.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
Drivers, managers and team owners live life in the fast lane -- both on and off the track -- during one cutthroat season of Formula 1 racing.A magnitude 6.6 earthquake has struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea's New Britain island, but there were no immediate reports of damage, according to the US Geological Survey.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said on Friday that there was no tsunami threat from the quake. The earthquake, which hit a depth of 69km, was initially reported at 6.9 magnitude before being revised lower.
The undersea quake struck in a narrow strait between New Britain's south coast and the north coast of Papua New Guinea's main island, the US Geological Survey said.
"It would have been very widely felt," seismologist Emma Mathews from Geoscience Australia, was quoted as saying by the Australian newspaper.
Mathews said while the threshold for a local tsunami was any quake within a depth of 100km, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that based on all the available data there was no threat of a destructive wave.
Ring of Fire
Geoscience Australia said the tremor could have been felt by people up to 836km away from its epicentre off the sparsely populated west coast of the island of New Britain, while damage could have been caused within a 67km radius.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
In April a powerful 7.1-magnitude tremor struck off Papua New Guinea off the town of Panguna on the remote and volcanic Bougainville island.
It was followed by a 6.7-magnitude quake a little further from the town.
In 2013 the neighbouring Solomons Island were hit by a devastating tsunami after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake rattled the region. That tsunami left at least 10 people dead, destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands of people homeless.Raffaello Follieri Blames Anne Hathaway's Lifestyle
It is understandable for convicted felonwho is looking at spending 4 years in the the pen for embezzling millions, to place the blame on someone other than himself. And who better to blame than ex-girlfriend and actressFollieri claims he was merely attempting to keep up with her glamorous lifestyle.
Raffaello's attorney was quoted saying the following about his client:
"Surrounded by movie stars and celebrities and this young man, who neither drinks nor smokes, became intoxicated with it all."
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
And he added:Well, we wonder if Follieri is wishing he would have picked a different lawyer. Most of us would love to live a more glamorous lifestyle but common sense keeps us from stealing LARGE sums of money because of that whole prison thing.
The con man will be sentenced on October 23rd. They are trying to get a reduced sentence of three years. Check out the letter that Raffaello's legal team wrote to the judge on his behalf.
Photo: WENNBristling trends and the hirsute pursuit
Posted
It's a phenomenon that's had social media bristling... ABC News 24 presenter (and dedicated pogonotomist) Nick Grimm reflects on the rapid growth of facial hair around the world.
We can thank the ancient Greeks for giving it a name, and I'm not referring to democracy. Pogonotrophy, derived from the Greek word for beard, pogon, is the art/craft/habit of beard-cultivation.
The related term pogonotomy refers to those of us who are in the routine of dragging razor-sharp blades across our cheeks, chins and throats, with sometimes bloody results.
The bearded newsreader
When my ABC News 24 colleague Joe O'Brien recently returned from holiday leave, he reappeared on Australia's television screens sporting a splendidly-trimmed beard.
As one viewer tweeted:
Joe O'Brien's beard is terrible. Scruffy with grey bits. And I'm not against beards. My OH has one.
(The OH was presumably her "Other Half", though "Old Hairball" might also fit.) Other commentators have been far more generous about Joe's new hirsute look, with the ABC's @triplejmornings tweeting:
"Loving the beard Joe O'Brien is rockin' on @ABCNews24."
"A few people said 'get a razor'," Joe O'Brien says himself, "but there's been no full-on sledging. It's all been in good humour. A lot of people love it too."
In recent years, facial hair has been enjoying something of a renaissance (if not exactly a "rebirth", then certainly a "reg |
for the exploitation of a federal program. By banning doctors from prescribing "dangerous drugs like heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and LSD," effective immediately, Ms. Ambrose made good on a vow of two weeks earlier, when her department first authorized the applications: to ensure it never happened again.
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"This is turning me into a yo-yo," Mr. Lidstrom said. "It's playing with people's lives."
The Pivot Legal Society, which is representing Mr. Lidstrom and others in his position, will be exploring legal options that could include a constitutional challenge, said lawyer Scott Bernstein.
While illicit injection drug use in Vancouver has declined over the past 15 years, it remains a hot-button issue, largely due to the longstanding epidemics in the Downtown Eastside and politically charged harm-reduction measures such as Insite, the supervised injection site that recently marked its 10th anniversary.
The issue was again thrown into sharp focus mid-week with the release of a B.C. coroners report into the death of actor Cory Monteith, confirming he died in a Vancouver hotel room from a combination of injected heroin and alcohol. Ms. Ambrose invoked his name in her announcement. – "to make the point it touches on all aspects of our community," she said.
Prescription heroin has been proven in numerous clinical trials worldwide to be a safe and effective second-line treatment for people like Mr. Lidstrom, who have failed to benefit from conventional treatments such as methadone. Switzerland became the first country to offer supervised, injectable heroin treatment in 1994. Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have since followed suit.
In 2005, researchers at Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia launched a three-year heroin study of their own (NAOMI), finding entrenched addicts who received prescription heroin in a supervised, medical setting experienced more physical and mental-health improvements and were more likely to stay in treatment and reduce illegal drug use and criminal activity than those on methadone. Employment satisfaction and social reintegration also improved.
Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes, a UBC professor and principal author of an article on the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said prescription heroin is a crucial option for the small subsection of addicts who don't respond to anything else – about 10 per cent of all people in substitution treatment, according to European figures.
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"Heroin assistance treatment has a very small, but very important, role in the addiction treatment system," she said. "It is not meant as a first-line treatment; it is meant to continue the care of people we cannot reach with what is available."
An unexpected result of the NAOMI study was that a small group given hydromorphone – a powerful but legal painkiller – yielded the same benefits as from prescription heroin, and users could not discern which drug they were given. This prompted the researchers in 2011 to launch SALOME, an ongoing followup study to determine whether hydromorphone is as effective as prescription heroin in treating severe heroin addiction.
With both trials, doctors were concerned about the lack of an exit strategy for participants. As they cycled out, doctors could either prescribe methadone – which participants had failed with an average of 11 times – or hydromorphone, whose safety and effectiveness won't be known until the trial concludes and results are analyzed late next year. For this reason, they submitted applications to Health Canada's special access program, which allows doctors to access non-marketed or otherwise unapproved drugs for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions.
"Opioid dependence is a serious illness with significant morbidity and mortality," said Scott MacDonald, physician lead at the Providence Crosstown Clinic, where SALOME continues. "Conservatively, [it has] a mortality [rate] of 2 to 4 per cent a year, and if you add in the complicating factors of this neighbourhood, it may be as high as 10 per cent. That's significant mortality, and that is the mandate of the SAP. And I think the SAP office agrees, because they approved the applications."
Larry Love, a SALOME participant and addict for nearly 48 years, said he has seen a marked change in participants, with most gaining weight and spending their money on food and clothing rather than drugs.
"I've been looking at everybody that goes in there and everyone has gone up the ladder, not down. Everybody has benefitted – every single person," the 62-year-old said. "[Before,] I was always broke. I was in a state of depression. I was living downtown, in a single room. Life was hell. Since being in SALOME, I've managed to move out of the downtown core. I never go without a meal. I always have a dollar in my pocket."
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Before coming to its decision, Health Canada sought the advice of Michael Lester, an independent expert who has specialized in opioid dependence treatment for nearly 20 years. In a 2013 report prepared for Health Canada, obtained by The Globe and Mail, Dr. Lester called prescription heroin "a promising treatment of last resort" for this population, noting there is no other "next step" for people who have failed multiple treatment attempts with methadone.
It "decreases the harm to the individual and their communities by allowing [heroin addicts] to obtain and use a legal supply of diacetylmorphine that minimizes the medical risks and social costs of diacetylmorphine dependence," he wrote.
Heroin-assisted treatment at Vancouver's Crosstown Clinic works like this: Patients visit two or three times a day, at set times, and sign in. Nurses ensure they are in a safe condition – those who are drunk are turned away, for example – then provide a measured dose of pharmaceutical-grade heroin and sterilized supplies with which to inject it. The patient sits at a table along the mirror-lined injection room and administers the drug himself. He then sits in a lounge-like area for 20 minutes – this is mandatory – so nurses can monitor him in the event of any adverse effects.
During these visits, Mr. Lidstrom also consults with social workers, counsellors and doctors. This is the first time he has been able to develop a relationship with a doctor, he says, and be honest about his addiction. The daily structure has restored some stability in his life and made his relationship with his children and grandchildren "a lot more comfortable."
At a provincial health ministers meeting in Toronto on Friday, B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake said the B.C. government is reluctant to close the door on innovative thinking when it comes to tackling the challenging issue of severe drug addiction. He called prescription heroin a "compassionate use of a medication" to help people in an exceptional circumstance.
"We have to think outside of the box sometimes," he said. "I know that the thought of using heroin as a treatment is scary, but I think we have to take the emotion out of it and let science inform the discussion."Created with the inkpad app for iPad.
mlp:fim (c) Lauren and Hasbro,
art by me.
__________________________________________
Alright alright guys, no shipping to see up here, move along!
It's been awhile since rainbow dash and fluttershy shined together in one of my comics. Why not let them celebrate Christmas together.
This is by far my most my complicated comic ever. It was so difficult yet fun to make. I had to use so many layers (unbelievable) also it took so much time but thanks to a Christmas miracle it's done....it's a miracle wohoooo!!!!
dat sneaky tower of pimps dat sneaky tower of pimps
to everyone who reads this: "a Merry Christmas"," Vrolijk Kerstfeest","Feliz Navidad","Feliz Natal","Fröhliche Weihnachten","Buone Feste Natalizie"," Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun", or whatever language you speak, I wish you best wishes and enjoy the holidays.
Master Brohoof!!!Mark Teixeira and Tim Kurkjian break down how Madison Bumgarner's six-to-eight week absence could open the door for the Rockies and Diamondbacks in the NL West. (1:50)
It's a tight race at the top of this week's rankings, with the Houston Astros, Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles all getting first-place votes. Houston just edged past Washington, keeping the top spot for the second week in a row. That pushed the defending champion Chicago Cubs down to No. 4.
Editor's Picks Vote: Cubs Confidence Meter Do fans feel there's a dynasty in the works at Wrigley? Or is there an outbreak of agita on the North Side? Vote now!
Joining those four in the top five are the New York Yankees, who moved past the Boston Red Sox, setting up the first meeting between the two rivals this season starting Tuesday in Boston. Chris Sale will get his first taste of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry on Wednesday night (ESPN, 7 p.m.).
At the other end of the rankings, the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants continue to head in the wrong direction. After opening the season at No. 10, the reeling Blue Jays find themselves with baseball's worst record through three weeks. The Giants haven't been much better on the field (swept by the Rockies this weekend) or off it, with Madison Bumgarner suffering injuries to his ribs and throwing shoulder in a dirt bike accident. With Bumgarner possibly out for two months, the Giants could end up in a hole they can't get out of. San Francisco has dropped from a preseason ranking of No. 7 all the way to No. 27.
This week's voters are Jim Bowden, Eric Karabell, Tim Kurkjian, David Schoenfield and Jayson Stark.
Week 2 rankings | Week 1 | Preseason
Record: 13-6
Week 2 ranking: No. 1
Carlos Correa's home run on Sunday to right field was not only his first since homering off Felix Hernandez on Opening Day, it was his first extra-base hit since that home run. That's right: He doesn't have a double (or triple) all season. His fly ball rate is actually a little higher than last year, he's not just hitting the ball with any authority, with an average exit velocity just below the MLB average.-- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com
Record: 13-5
Week 2 ranking: No. 5
The resurgence of Ryan Zimmerman has been impressive. He has shown much better plate coverage this year, with more extra-base hits against outer-third pitches than he had all of last season. "I didn't see the real Zim [in 2016]. Nobody saw the real Zim," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. "He's not chasing as much. And he's hitting that ball to right-center field. I'm glad for Zim -- he was my pick to click when the year started." -- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 12-5
Week 2 ranking: No. 3
The Orioles may have the best record in the league, but they've scored just 68 runs this year. Every team that has scored fewer than that has a losing record. So how are the O's ruling the roost? Well, they're best in the American League with runners in scoring position and they're 5-1 in one-run games. -- Sarah Langs, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 10-8
Week 2 ranking: No. 2
The Cubs went on an offensive tear in Milwaukee and Cincinnati as their lineup continues to shake off early-season cobwebs. One highlight? Jason Heyward's much-discussed swing changes helped him homer in consecutive games for the first time as a Cub. But after going a week without a quality start, the Cubs could use a rebound from their front five on the mound. -- Paul Hembekides, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 11-7
Week 2 ranking: No. 10
The early-season loss of Gary Sanchez has proved to be no issue for the rejuvenated Bronx Bombers. At plus-30, the Yankees have the best run differential in the majors. Defying expectations all around, their three best hitters are Starlin Castro, Chase Headley and Jacoby Ellsbury. Aaron Judge can't stop hitting the cover off the ball. And CC Sabathia's renaissance continues as he leads a staff whose worst starter ERA belongs to Masahiro Tanaka -- who finished seventh in Cy Young voting last year. -- Sarah Langs, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 10-8
Week 2 ranking: No. 11
After a bumpy start to the season, the Indians look like they're back on track thanks to some fantastic pitching. But don't leave the lineup out of it: Francisco Lindor already looks like an MVP candidate, and both Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley are hitting over.300. Plus big winter acquisition Edwin Encarnacion is starting to show signs of life at the plate, and Jason Kipnis is back from the DL. If things keep cooking, they may not give up their share of the AL Central lead for the rest of the season. -- Michael Bonzagni, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 13-6
Week 2 ranking: No. 12
That was an impressive sweep over the Giants: A one-run victory on Friday, a 12-3 blowout and then an 8-0 shutout behind seven innings from Kyle Freeland. The big surprise continues to be Freeland's fellow rookie Antonio Senzatela, who is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA and has gone seven his past three outings -- and two of those came at Coors Field. -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com
Record: 12-8
Week 2 ranking: No. 9
They scored 24 runs in taking the first two games of the weekend series against the Dodgers and now lead the majors with 5.25 runs per game. A key contributor has been Yasmany Tomas, once a laughingstock of the Dave Stewart/Tony La Russa era. Tomas isn't going to make any web gems and he doesn't walk enough, but he's hitting.290/.323/.597 and hit two home runs on Saturday. Keep an eye on Shelby Miller, who was removed Sunday with right forearm tightness. -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com
Record: 11-8
Week 2 ranking: No. 7
They captured the final game of testy three-game series with the Orioles, a win that included Matt Barnes getting ejected after throwing one behind Manny Machado's head. Stay tuned. They remain last in the majors with just 11 home runs, but are first in batting average, second in on-base percentage and... 19th in runs per game. They're actually hitting better with runners in scoring position (.302/.388/.453), so more power from the Killer B's -- Betts, Bradley and Benintendi have combined for just four home runs -- would certainly be nice. -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com
Record: 10-8
Week 2 ranking: No. 8
It was a rough week for the Tigers. The Indians took back the AL Central lead and slugger Miguel Cabrera had to go on the 10-day DL with a groin injury. Manager Brad Ausmus is optimistic Miggy will be ready when the 10 days are up, which is as close to good news as it gets for a team that will need all the help it can get to keep pace with the surging Indians. -- Michael Bonzagni, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 9-10
Week 2 ranking: No. 6
After a hot start, Yasiel Puig is on a 4-for-29 string with just one extra-base hit. He has just four strikeouts in that span, however, so look for him to break out soon. Also looking to break out is Julio Urias with his season debut. With Kenta Maeda struggling, the Dodgers may push his start back to Friday and start Urias on Thursday against the Giants. -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com
Record: 8-11
Week 2 ranking: No. 4
The Mets are injury depleted and overworked at a level that's usually the norm for them... in June or July. Without Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda, an offense reliant on home runs is inevitably going to struggle. In the bullpen, they already have four relievers -- Addison Reed, Fernando Salas, Jerry Blevins and Hansel Robles -- on pace to pitch at least 80 games. Quality reinforcements are needed. -- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 10-8
Week 2 ranking: No. 14
The return of third baseman Martin Prado as the every-day third baseman should provide a boost. On Saturday night he made a pair of great defensive plays, including a game-saver with two outs in the 10th to preserve a tie. Prado isn't Arenado-like, but he's very good, ranking among the top third basemen in the range and double-play components of defensive runs saved from 2014 to 2016.-- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 10-10
Week 2 ranking: No. 16
After dropping three of four games in Fenway last weekend, the Rays got back on track by sweeping the Tigers at home. Steven Souza Jr. has been on fire, leading the team in average, OPS and RBIs. But if the Rays want to challenge the AL East's big dogs, they'll need more from their starters behind ace Chris Archer; both Jake Odorizzi and Alex Cobb have ERAs over 4.00. -- Michael Bonzagni, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 10-9
Week 2 ranking: No. 13
The Reds are reeling after a 7-2 start, and their inability to throw strikes is a big reason. Cincinnati has issued the most walks in the majors, a side effect of having one of the league's youngest pitching staffs. On the flip side, third baseman Eugenio Suarez and shortstop Zack Cozart have been baseball's most productive offensive combination from the left side of the infield.-- Paul Hembekides, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 9-10
Week 2 ranking: No. 23
The Cardinals got off to a horrible start, but nobody should have expected that to last, especially with series against the Cubs, Nationals and Yankees in the first two weeks. They swept the Pirates behind great pitching, and then took three of four from the Brewers behind some timely hitting from their previously slumping infielders. Their upcoming stretch against the Blue Jays, Reds, Braves and Marlins could help them make a move in the standings. -- John Fisher, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 10-9
Week 2 ranking: No. 25
The pitching was great during a five-game winning streak. The Athletics got good starts from Sean Manaea, Andrew Triggs, Jesse Hahn and Jharel Cotton and stellar relief work from Ryan Madson, Ryan Dull and Santiago Casilla. This is a team that hits home runs (24 so far) and doesn't allow them (13). As long as the A's keep doing that, the wins should keep coming. -- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 9-11
Week 2 ranking: No. 22
The Brew Crew is still mashing, leading the majors in slugging and home runs, and it's not just thanks to Eric Thames. Travis Shaw isn't hitting for a high average but almost all of his hits go for extra bases, and Ryan Braun is putting up numbers on par with his MVP season. But they need a starting pitcher (or two or three) to step up and support Chase Anderson so that they can few win a few more of their slugfests.-- John Fisher, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 9-10
Week 2 ranking: No. 19
Is Joey Gallo figuring things out? That's a very good thing for baseball, because this kid will hit some monster home runs. His home run on Friday was clocked as the hardest-hit home run of the season at 116.1 mph and it cleared the popcorn wagon in the right-field concourse -- an estimated 462 feet. He added a homer on Sunday to give him four for the week and he's suddenly slugging.590 with six home runs. -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com
Record: 8-10
Week 2 ranking: No. 15
Ervin Santana's 0.64 ERA over four starts is the second best in baseball. If he can keep that ERA below 1.00 entering May, he would be first Twins player with an ERA under 1.00 in at least four starts in March/April since Francisco Liriano in 2010 (0.93). He'd also become just the fourth player to do it in franchise history, joining Liriano, Walter Johnson (twice) and Bill Krueger. -- Sarah Langs, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 8-10
Week 2 ranking: No. 18
The Starling Marte suspension will be a big blow for the rest of the first half, and the Pirates already were struggling to score runs, ranking in the bottom half of the league in batting with runners in scoring position. But there are a few silver linings: Josh Bell and Andrew McCutchen have ditched their early slumps, and Ivan Nova looks like their latest rebound on the mound, courtesy of pitching coach Ray Searage. -- John Fisher, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 9-9
Week 2 ranking: No. 28
The Phillies have gotten improved pitching lately, especially from their bullpen, helping them earn a couple of extra-inning wins last week. And Aaron Altherr has played well in place of Howie Kendrick. They have three games against the Marlins to finish an 18-game stretch against division opponents, then head out for a tough seven-game road trip to face the Dodgers and Cubs. -- John Fisher, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 8-12
Week 2 ranking: No. 17
When it rains in Anaheim, it must pour, because last week there was the announcement that staff ace Garrett Richards would be transferred to the 60-day DL for his injured biceps while closer Cam Bedrosian hit the 10-day DL for a groin injury. Don't expect the Halos' lineup to pick up the slack -- since April 12, they're averaging just 3.55 runs per game (25th in MLB), though Mike Trout has raised his batting average from.294 to.351 over that span. -- Paul Hembekides, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 7-11
Week 2 ranking: No. 21
The Royals were 6-6 after sweeping the Angels last weekend, but they've tumbled since, going back under.500 despite their starters leading the majors in ERA. How does that happen? Scoring the fewest runs in the majors makes it hard to win games no matter how well your starters are pitching. This team needs to start hitting, or GM Dayton Moore might have to start moving his future free agents in that already unproductive lineup. -- Michael Bonzagni, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 8-12
Week 2 ranking: No. 24
The first casualty of Seattle's slow start was Leonys Martin, designated for assignment after hitting.111 with one extra-base hit in 54 at-bats. Look for Jarrod Dyson to slide over to center and Guillermo Heredia and Taylor Motter -- who has five home runs, including a grand slam on Sunday, filling in for Jean Segura at shortstop -- to share time in left. Dan Vogelbach also was called up and started Sunday at first base for the struggling Danny Valencia. -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com
Record: 8-9
Week 2 ranking: No. 26
The White Sox lost to Masahiro Tanaka, Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco in consecutive games last week and mustered just one run total between them. Avisail Garcia and Matt Davidson have cooled down after their early-season exploits, but Chicago's ship stays ruddered by its bullpen's performance (1.79 ERA, second in MLB). -- Paul Hembekides, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 6-13
Week 2 ranking: No. 20
The dirt bike in Denver put a damper on the Giants' hopes in a season that was already not going according to plan. Madison Bumgarner had a 3.00 ERA in four starts, but the Giants lost all four games. The rest of their starters have combined for a 5.65 ERA. That would rank as MLB's worst in the majors by more than a half-run, but the Giants' rotation ERA is already the worst even with Bumgarner factored in. -- Sarah Langs, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 6-12
Week 2 ranking: No. 30
Dansby Swanson hit.302 in a 38-game stint last season, but word got around about one weakness he hasn't yet fixed. Swanson's biggest issue is with the outside pitch. He can't do anything with it, be it a fastball or an off-speed pitch, and the percentage of outside pitches he has seen as a result has increased by more than 10 percentage points from 2016. It's a flaw in need of a fix if Swanson is going to become a star. -- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Information
Record: 8-12
Week 2 ranking: No. 29
Manuel Margot continues to impress, hitting.286/.329/.494 after reeling off three straight two-hit games against the Marlins. He also has played a superb center field, ranking second in the majors among center fielders with plus-4 defensive runs saved entering Sunday (Lorenzo Cain leads with plus-5). -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com
Record: 5-13
Week 2 ranking: No. 27
Here's who led the Blue Jays in RBIs last season: Edwin Encarnacion (127), Josh Donaldson (99) and Troy Tulowitzki (79). Here are those players' current statuses: on the Indians (Encarnacion) or the 10-day DL (Donaldson and Tulo). It should come as no surprise then that things aren't quite going the Jays' way. Through 18 games, the team is off to its worst start in franchise history. -- Sarah Langs, ESPN Stats & InformationThe Beijing-based artist and beekeeper Ren Ri is a focused man. His new three-part series -- titled "Yuansu" in reference to the Chinese word for "element" -- turns bees into his collaborators. Yuansu II features sculptures made by bees, of beeswax.
Courtesy Ren Ri
In an interview with CoolHunting, Ren explains the "special" properties that make beeswax such an interesting material:
“It’s unstable and can change shape with temperature. The structure of wax cells is orthohexagonal, which is an inconceivable feature in the natural world and it’s a peculiarity of honeybees."
Courtesy Ren Ri
The sculptures are housed in transparent plastic polyhedrons. At the center of each is the queen bee, positioned thusly so as to enable the worker bees to build around her. They build symmetrically, due to the even planes of the polyhedrons. Every seventh day, Ren changes the gravity of the structure by rotating the box onto a different side. The act is in reference to the biblical concept of creation, but introduces a random element. Ren determines how to shift the box by the roll of a dice. Each time, there's no telling how the bees will react to their new environment.
Courtesy Ren Ri
Ren is concerned with the ways of nature. He's also interested in cutting out human intervention. One of the purposes of Yuansu II is to "eliminate the subjectivity of the artist" via "the mediation of bees," Ren explains in the interview.
Courtesy Ren RiDescription of the Win7 "Remote" Win32k.sys/Webkit Exploit a guest Dec 22nd, 2011 7,740 Never a guest7,740Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 3.91 KB The bug happens due to a NineGrid request coming through GdiDrawStream sent on behalf of the UX Theme DLL which handles Windows Themes starting in XP and later. Webkit browsers (along with IE8 -- but not IE9, it would seem) attempt to render HTML elements on the page using the native skin of the OS. In this case, in the drawControl function (see http://www.opensource.apple.com/source/WebCore/WebCore-658.28/rendering/RenderThemeWin.cpp), DrawThemeBackground is called, which handles skinning of OS controls. A 96 (0x60) byte buffer is sent (parameter 2 and 3 of GdiDrawStream are the size and buffer address, parameter 1 is the HDC). Draw Steam buffers begin with a magic value, followed by a series of commands identified by a 32-byte market. Here is the stream sent with the special iframe when viewed in Safari: 44727753 = 'DrwS' = DrawStream Magic Command Buffers: #0: 00000000 <SET TARGET> 3b01017a // Destination DC (hdc) *** Must match HDC in GdiDrawStream argument 1 *** // Destination Clip (ERECTL): 0000011b // Left 00000011 // Top 0000012c // Right 0089f580 // Bottom *** Multiply by 2, and you get the "magic" value used in the iframe PoC *** #1: 00000001 <SET SOURCE> 058506a3 // Source Surface (pso) *** Dumped the surface from kernel mode, got a 13x5 32BPP bitmap which is the Luna/Aero scrollbar slider control *** #2: 00000009 <NINEGRID> // Destination Clip (ERECTL): *** Should match the Destination Clip of the Target 0000011b // Left 00000011 // Top 0000012c // Right 0089f580 // Bottom // Source Clip (ERECTL): *** Should be within the bounds of the surface (which is 13x5 in this case) 00000000 // Left 00000000 // Top 0000000e // Right 00000001 // Bottom // NINEGRID_BITMAP_INFO *** Documented in RDP docs. Should fit within the surface and destination. 00000001 // Flags (DSDNG_STRETCH) 0000000a // Left Width 00000003 // Right Width 00000000 // Top Height 00000000 // Bottom Height 00000000 // Transparent Here is the raw dump: 0: kd> dds @r8 l18 00000000`003be664 44727753 00000000`003be668 00000000 00000000`003be66c 2b0108d5 // HDC, this will change from dump to dump 00000000`003be670 0000011b 00000000`003be674 00000011 00000000`003be678 0000012c 00000000`003be67c 0089f580 00000000`003be680 00000001 00000000`003be684 018503c2 // Bitmap Surface, this will change from dump to dump 00000000`003be688 00000009 00000000`003be68c 0000011b 00000000`003be690 00000011 00000000`003be694 0000012c 00000000`003be698 0089f580 00000000`003be69c 00000000 00000000`003be6a0 00000000 00000000`003be6a4 0000000e 00000000`003be6a8 00000001 00000000`003be6ac 00000001 00000000`003be6b0 0000000a 00000000`003be6b4 00000003 00000000`003be6b8 00000000 00000000`003be6bc 00000000 00000000`003be6c0 00000000 What are you essentially seeing is an iframe that has a particularly interesting height, that when the scrollbar is being drawn and themed, a math error in the NineGrid transform causes an out-of-bounds write. This PoC would work in IE 8, but IE 8 has a well known CSS bug where it has a maximum pixel limit (around 1342177), which is why it doesn't immediately manifest itself. *OTHER HEIGHTS ARE EXPLOITABLE*, and some may be small enough such that even IE 8 hits the NineGrid height corner case. IE9 does not seem to theme controls using UxTheme at all, and its scrollbar behavior is different from IE 8, so even though the pixel limit is no longer there, the PoC did not work. Firefox was not tested. *NOT ONLY IFRAMES ARE VULNERABLE*. Testing with an HTML <button> of the same height resulted in a crash in Safari as well. What this means is that *any* client, local or remote, that does skinning of the controls (i.e.: almost all of them -- even a button on a flash PDF) could result in a NineGrid transform that hits this bug. It's not at all specific to WebKit.
RAW Paste Data
The bug happens due to a NineGrid request coming through GdiDrawStream sent on behalf of the UX Theme DLL which handles Windows Themes starting in XP and later. Webkit browsers (along with IE8 -- but not IE9, it would seem) attempt to render HTML elements on the page using the native skin of the OS. In this case, in the drawControl function (see http://www.opensource.apple.com/source/WebCore/WebCore-658.28/rendering/RenderThemeWin.cpp), DrawThemeBackground is called, which handles skinning of OS controls. A 96 (0x60) byte buffer is sent (parameter 2 and 3 of GdiDrawStream are the size and buffer address, parameter 1 is the HDC). Draw Steam buffers begin with a magic value, followed by a series of commands identified by a 32-byte market. Here is the stream sent with the special iframe when viewed in Safari: 44727753 = 'DrwS' = DrawStream Magic Command Buffers: #0: 00000000 <SET TARGET> 3b01017a // Destination DC (hdc) *** Must match HDC in GdiDrawStream argument 1 *** // Destination Clip (ERECTL): 0000011b // Left 00000011 // Top 0000012c // Right 0089f580 // Bottom *** Multiply by 2, and you get the "magic" value used in the iframe PoC *** #1: 00000001 <SET SOURCE> 058506a3 // Source Surface (pso) *** Dumped the surface from kernel mode, got a 13x5 32BPP bitmap which is the Luna/Aero scrollbar slider control *** #2: 00000009 <NINEGRID> // Destination Clip (ERECTL): *** Should match the Destination Clip of the Target 0000011b // Left 00000011 // Top 0000012c // Right 0089f580 // Bottom // Source Clip (ERECTL): *** Should be within the bounds of the surface (which is 13x5 in this case) 00000000 // Left 00000000 // Top 0000000e // Right 00000001 // Bottom // NINEGRID_BITMAP_INFO *** Documented in RDP docs. Should fit within the surface and destination. 00000001 // Flags (DSDNG_STRETCH) 0000000a // Left Width 00000003 // Right Width 00000000 // Top Height 00000000 // Bottom Height 00000000 // Transparent Here is the raw dump: 0: kd> dds @r8 l18 00000000`003be664 44727753 00000000`003be668 00000000 00000000`003be66c 2b0108d5 // HDC, this will change from dump to dump 00000000`003be670 0000011b 00000000`003be674 00000011 00000000`003be678 0000012c 00000000`003be67c 0089f580 00000000`003be680 00000001 00000000`003be684 018503c2 // Bitmap Surface, this will change from dump to dump 00000000`003be688 00000009 00000000`003be68c 0000011b 00000000`003be690 00000011 00000000`003be694 0000012c 00000000`003be698 0089f580 00000000`003be69c 00000000 00000000`003be6a0 00000000 00000000`003be6a4 0000000e 00000000`003be6a8 00000001 00000000`003be6ac 00000001 00000000`003be6b0 0000000a 00000000`003be6b4 00000003 00000000`003be6b8 00000000 00000000`003be6bc 00000000 00000000`003be6c0 00000000 What are you essentially seeing is an iframe that has a particularly interesting height, that when the scrollbar is being drawn and themed, a math error in the NineGrid transform causes an out-of-bounds write. This PoC would work in IE 8, but IE 8 has a well known CSS bug where it has a maximum pixel limit (around 1342177), which is why it doesn't immediately manifest itself. *OTHER HEIGHTS ARE EXPLOITABLE*, and some may be small enough such that even IE 8 hits the NineGrid height corner case. IE9 does not seem |
much time covering his campaign, the Constitution, liberty and Americanism. Here is the text of the interview:
Jeremy: I just wanted to start out saying thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview.
Austin: Absolutely.
Jeremy: I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions. I'd like to know a little bit about your background and how you became a conservative.
Austin: Well, I've always believed in the principles of liberty; I've always been a fiscal conservative. On the side of the social issues, I wish the government would just stay out of it, like it should be neutral. And to me I think that if government is to exist, its sole purpose is to protect our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, and so for me, minimal government has always been something that I've been a champion for, and hard work, traditionalism, and the Constitution of the United States is something that I believe outlines a very conservative vision for the future of the United States, one that I think we've gotten away from and I'd like to help restore.
Jeremy: Sounds amazing and most of America agrees with you. Based on your answers, it's fitting that you announced your candidacy on July 4.
Austin: (laughs) Well, you know it's funny because we did get a little bit of pushback from people who thought that that was a little bit militant and I'm like, is there no revolutionary spirit whatsoever? I mean, is it completely gone here in the United States? Because it seems to me as if we've abandoned our heritage, and yes, Thomas Jefferson said we should have a revolution every 20 years, and maybe that's a little bit much, but if you think about it we have a cultural revolution every 10 years — why can't we have a revolution in government?
I think we need to get back to first principles; we need to talk about the reasons why we separated from Great Britain in the first place. And many of the reasons why we separated are those brave patriots who fought against the most powerful empire in the world at the time. Many of those reasons you could say our own government is now enacting on our own people. At least we have representation with this taxation, but it's certainly much higher than back then.
Jeremy: Absolutely, but considering that somebody thought it was militant, you could say the same thing about the Founders, that the Independence Day that they declared their — call it “candidacy” — that's when they declared their independence from their own country and the parallels are extremely similar.
Austin: Right, and there were some lesser known clauses in the Declaration that people don't discuss very often about some of the reasons that compelled them to separation, and one of them was that you could be conscripted into the British military; that was actually one of the main reasons why India sought independence as well. They finally tore themselves away from British rule because as subjects of the British Crown, we could be pressed into military service. It took the United States quite a while to get away from conscription, and of course the 1970s and the War of Vietnam, but that was a big issue — that the citizens of the United States at the time did not want to be pressed into service.
Another main issue of course, a big issue, was immigration. The king had forbidden the colonists from migrating west of the mountain and they saw that as their right — to be able to have the right to travel. And King George essentially said, "Here's your wall!" And the citizens said no, we're going to travel west and we're going to settle west of the mountains here. That was a big issue. Immigration, taxes — taxation without representation and the question of military conscription.
Jeremy: Exactly and it seems like the issues aren't exactly the same but we're seeing soft tyranny even now.
Austin: Absolutely.
Jeremy: It's pretty much just like this.
Austin: Absolutely. I completely agree.
Jeremy: I want to just ask you another question. I remember that last year you ran for president as a Libertarian if I remember correctly.
Austin: That's correct.
Jeremy: My candidate was Ted Cruz, and after he dropped out I was not happy, so I was looking around and I had never heard of you before that, but then I heard you interviewed on the Glenn Beck show a week or so later and I thought, “This guy's my guy.” And then I saw the Libertarians decided to go with Gary Johnson who I didn't see as Libertarian in any policy at all except for maybe his opposition to the war on drugs. Why do you think that they went with him?
Austin: It's fairly simple. It was just a question of they thought the resume was going to be important last year. They didn't quite read the tea leaves properly because the winds of change were showing that it was a conservative victory here last year, and they sort of thought that the play was going to be from the Left. Which doesn't make sense because in the end they said their stated goal was just to stop Donald Trump. Well, you don't stop Donald Trump by going after Hillary voters or Bernie voters. You stop Donald Trump by going after Trump voters. So the strategy didn't really make much sense but that's sort of why I ran against them, because I felt that they didn't have their stuff together.
Jeremy: Did that have anything to do with why you joined the GOP?
Austin: Not really, I actually did want to run as a Libertarian. We sat down and we looked at the feasibility of it and I spoke to some former officials from the Libertarian Party of Missouri. They said that best-case scenario, I would get 11% and they had zero resources to offer me to help my campaign.
You know, the point of a political party is to help get people elected. And it's really about my supporters. My supporters are the ones who donate their time, their money, their energy, they put all their hopes and dreams in a campaign and I sat down with them. I made over 4,000 phone calls and spoke to them all directly and personally and asked them all the same question: Should I run? 100% said yes. I said which party should I run under? And 98% or more said run as a Republican because they don't want liberty in our lifetime like many people say... they want liberty by sunset. They want it now. And I understand that there may be a limitation, maybe that's because many of us are young people. I think now is the time, now is the opportunity. Claire McCaskill is one of the most beatable Democrats in the entire country. The Missouri Republican Party has yet to field a sort of establishment candidate, some big rich millionaire candidate that's going to come in, I'm sure, and give me a very big challenge. But for now, until they get their things together, my candidacy is gaining steam. We have a very robust fundraising operation; we have a digital strategy, a PR strategy and we're off to the races. I heard they had been calling me a lesser-known Republican for some time, but I saw today that the local news finally said Austin is a top Republican candidate against Claire in the Missouri race. I'd say that's definitely an upgrade.
Jeremy: Yes, for sure. She's clearly vulnerable and everyone expected her to lose in 2012 until her challenger [Todd Akin] made his claim about “legitimate rape.” He got all his fundraising pulled and then she won. She was the first to endorse Hillary in a very red state. I'm looking at her score on Conservative Review — it's 8%; that's lower than Bernie Sanders. She's been in office since 2007, which is basically the takeover from George W. Bush. That's the same wave of Nancy Pelosi becoming House Speaker in the first place. This is someone who needs to go.
What about you specifically makes you the ideal candidate to defeat her?
Austin: Well, one of my supporters here in Missouri actually articulated it very well today. Her name is Catherine Drayer. She's a wonderful lady; she decided to pick me over several of the other candidates. She said that she thinks I can win and she said that she thinks it's because I can pull from lots of different constituencies here in Missouri. Someone who showed up to my barbeque, a local Republican, said he was voting for me because he thinks I can win. And of course when that plays in my favor I love it; when it plays against me I'm not a fan. He said that he thinks I can win because he said that there's something in my message for every single voter in Missouri. I think the liberty message absolutely unites us as Americans. We can all identify with the principles of liberty in some respect — we may not all be full-blown Libertarians but I think that everyone has that little bit of a spark in them.
So I think that what makes me the candidate is that not only can I win the Republican votes, not only can I win a lot of independent votes because of my third-party background, not only can I win conservatives and "true liberals," but I think I can win some Democrat votes as well. The reason why is because Claire is a moderate Democrat and someone who doesn't appeal much to her base, to the base of the Democratic Party. Missouri is a strange state in that even the Democrats here are conservative. They believe in gun rights and they're pro-life. Claire McCaskill is definitely not. She is endorsed by Planned Parenthood and so I think that is what gives me that broad appeal. A more traditional conservative Republican might have a harder time because there's no appeal to get any Democratic votes and perhaps fewer Independent votes, because some candidate that would be picked by the machine (which I'm sure we will face soon) will be a turn off because it will be a plain old Left-Right battle. I'll turn the narrative on its head by making it not an issue of party but rather an issue of principle, rather an issue of ideas. I'm a candidate that's about ideas and no matter what letter is after my name, nothing changes about what I believe or who I am. So I think that's what makes me the candidate to beat.
Jeremy: I fully agree. I think people are very sick of the binary choice idolatry and that whatever side you're on, you're wearing a team jersey and no one on that team can be wrong and everyone on the other team can never be right.
Austin: Right, it's very hard of course. It's very difficult because the people on your team are saying, "How dare you go and agree with someone on the other side." Well you know we're all human beings and we're all Americans. Just because you have a certain letter after your last name doesn't mean that I agree with you all the time. It's just not how it is. That may hurt me in the primary but I think it'll definitely help me in the general.
Jeremy: I think it will too, and honestly I think they will bring in an establishment guy with lots of money but it seems like you got your start really early; people know your name especially from the Libertarian side and it seems that the trend is that the establishment guys are not resonating. I mean, the best example is Trump.
Austin: In Missouri, it's a little different. Missouri is a Trump state. Missouri has a very anti-establishment vibe, though. This is a very interesting little fact—the voters overwhelmingly voted for Trump over Hillary: 19 points. if you look at the Senate Republican who was elected, Roy Blunt, Roy won by a very slight margin—it wasn't just a partisan thing. People seemed to be willing to go a little against the grain, they're very anti-establishment. If Trump dominates it shows the extreme dislike of Hillary but if Blunt gets a smaller percentage of the vote then Trump, he doesn't dominate like Trump does, that shows that Missouri has a very anti-establishment streak to it, a streak which I think is a very good thing for me because you really don't get much more anti-establishment then a liberty Republican.
Jeremy: Absolutely, which makes you the ideal candidate to me, especially in my generation. People talk about millennials as very pro-socialist but millennials that really look into issues want to be free; they want liberty but they tend to be more libertarian in the sense they want to be left alone and live and let live. And I think that that is the message that will resonate a lot.
Austin: Yes it is. Social conservatism in its heyday in the 1980's really was a powerful force and it feels as if because of how the culture wars have gone throughout the ‘90s, that social conservatives are very much more willing to make peace than before. Whereas before it seemed as if social conservatism was about using the government to enforce a narrow version of morality for whichever sect of social conservative group they came from.
But now it seems more likely they are very much ascribing to libertarian principles, where they have the government now shoving the opposite. We now have social liberalism shoved down our throats, we now have Democrats in power and you see these social justice warriors on campuses with their viral ideology and their cultural Marxism and they say now that any government that's big enough to give us anything we've wanted is big enough to take away everything we have. And so I see very much the social conservatives becoming allies—not always, there are social conservatives who absolutely will not support anyone who doesn't share their defined values, and I guess I have to respect that because again those are their principles and those their values. I certainly wouldn't want to compromise mine but for the most part, and I have a lot of social conservatives who support me, for the most part social conservatives are saying, ”Well, you know what? On social issues the government should stay out of it because that way they don't have something like the Obergefell decision. I may agree with the Obergefell Proposition because of the situation as it lies but I agree that most people want the government out of people's personal lives. I think that because of the pressing issues like the national debt and jobs and spending and taxes, social issues really do take a backseat.
Jeremy: Which is a good segue to my next question because I wanted to move more onto policy, to the topic of religious freedom. For example, the Obergefell decision. So now, we have these cases all over the country in the last couple of years where, for example, the bakery in Oregon didn't want to bake a cake for a gay couple's wedding and they sued based on discrimination. They were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm wondering where you would stand on an issue like that.
Austin: There really haven't been more high profile people out there in the last couple of years than I; I have been fighting very hard on this issue because I believe so deeply in religious liberty. I think that that is an egregious assault on religious liberty and it's an assault on private property rights. That's really what the issue here is, is that because of some historic problems that we've had in this country with issues of racism as we've had, all of this stems from the turmoil of the 1960's and the Civil Rights Act. We now have gotten the camel’s nose on its head as such that as we continue to add protected classes to the list. It allows us to encroach more and more on people's private property or their desire to serve or not to serve whom they wish and choose.
Think about this: should we force Muslims to serve pork? Nobody goes into Muslim bakeries and demands that Muslims serve for gay weddings. They wouldn't do it and any lawsuit against them would fail miserably. But it's because there's a special enmity towards Christians in this country that I see that it's able to be gotten away with. I think that people should have the right to refuse service for any reason because it's their private property but we've gotten away from that; the problem lies in the historic controversy regarding our nation's very dark past with the question of civil rights. I mean I do believe in civil rights and certainly I think the Civil Rights Act at the time was absolutely necessary. You see now how even the legislation with the best intentions intended for the best outcomes down the line can have negative unintended consequences.
Jeremy: I 100% agree. I believe that it was just a bakery in Colorado now that was taken up by Supreme Court that they're going to hear it out and I hope it ends up the same way.
Austin: What's happening now with these religious freedom laws, that's what's being passed, we have federal laws and then we have state laws there to allow people of faith to engage in private property rights. So that's really what's an issue; I sparred with Gary Johnson on this issue. The Libertarian Party should not be in the business of allowing discrimination. And I said everyone discriminates—you discriminate by whom you marry; you choose all the time. Discrimination is freedom. People don't like it because it has a negative connotation and that's the thing, if someone chooses to be bigoted against blacks and they're not going to allow blacks in their store, you can bet that people are gonna go and organize a boycott. That's my free speech right. If I don't agree with you because you're a business owner who doesn't want to serve African-Americans, then that's my right to go out there and protest against you. And now we believe that because racism is universally accepted as a great evil, it certainly is, it is a great moral evil, we now say that the government must stamp out bigotry and the government must enforce our morality. In some ways it really is similar to any social conservative to force their version of government. The Democrats, the Left, and the social justice warriors want to enforce their version of morality. And they always have the best intentions, but there are always unintended consequences.
Jeremy: Absolutely. I mean, I think part of it is by design, that they have these protected classes and the one that’s hated is Christianity because that’s what the country is based on, and the Left wants to, in the words of Barack Obama, “fundamentally transform” the country.
Austin: Of course. I mean, by any definition, you know, in terms of the population, the United States is a Christian nation. The question is, is it founded on Christian law, and that’s a toss-up. If you ask one Founding Father you’d get one answer, if you ask another Founding Father you’d get a different answer. But in terms of historic principle, if you’re talking about the Old vs. the New Testament, that is a long discussion for another day.
Jeremy: Right, exactly, I meant not as a theocracy, since I’m actually Jewish, but the morality and ethics are very similar. They call them Judeo-Christian values and they really apply to the country’s founding.
Austin: Right. I know that you’re interviewing me, but just out of curiosity, and I’m sure you’re listeners will appreciate this, what was your take on the Ten Commandments, being Jewish, the Ten Commandments being placed on the state courthouse in Arkansas? What would you say to that?
Jeremy: I absolutely think that it’s their right to do, and since that is what the courts, the country and the Constitution are based on, whether it be the Pentateuch, the New Testament or the Bible in general, and that it’s based on Natural Law, God’s Law, I think that it’s a good reminder, especially for judges, that they aren’t kings.
For example, you have the [2012 case of National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius], the case of Obamacare and [Chief Justice] John Roberts; he completely rewrote the statute to make the case that [Obamacare] was legal and that [the penalty for not buying insurance] was a tax, even though they [the Obama administration] said under oath that it was not a tax. So, they see themselves as having complete supremacy, while if they have a reminder of the Ten Commandments, it’s a reminder of humility.
Austin: Agreed. All right, next topic.
Jeremy: So regarding what’s been going on in the news right now with, I don’t even want to call it an attempt to repeal Obamacare, it seems to me that it’s just a phony repeal, and that it’s just going to collapse the system faster since they are keeping all the regulations in. Rumor also has it that [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell showed it to K Street before he showed it to Congress, which is just sinister in my opinion.
That being said, what would you do? Would you take it as is or would you be for just a clean repeal? What is your position on this?
Austin: As a victim of this legislation, having had my premiums quadrupled and my deductibles sextupled for more services that I don’t actually use and fewer services that I actually use, I want a clean repeal of that bill. Right now, the only guy who’s actually standing up to keep his promises that he campaigned on is Rand Paul. So I would stand with Rand Paul. I would stand with the true conservatives in Congress and say, “We will do what we said we were going to do.” So yeah, repeal this legislation.
People say, it was worse before and that healthcare needed reform, sure, but it couldn’t have been that bad because everybody’s premiums have gone up. So you can’t say it was worse before—it may have been bad before but it’s definitely not as bad as it was before Obamacare, because everybody is suffering right now. We’re seeing a consolidation; we’re seeing many of these healthcare providers are pulling out because they can’t afford to offer coverage with the rates that Obamacare is paying, and because of the way that the mandate works, you’ve got way too many people who are sick getting into these pools and far fewer people who are healthy that are paying into the system because now we’ve got so much shuffling around with the mandate. And President Trump, bless him for it, demanded that the regulatory agencies take it easy on the American people when it comes to enforcing the mandate.
So, let’s go the whole way. Let’s repeal the bill, get it out of the way and we can talk about reform later on down the line. But all this is right now is, from what I’m reading, is a pork barrel project, earmarks, tax breaks for millionaires. Don’t get me wrong; I think everyone ought to get a tax break, but they’re never looking after the middle class. The American people are getting screwed with this bill, and so I would absolutely campaign for a full repeal. That’s what I’m campaigning on; that’s why I’m running.
Jeremy: That’s wonderful, and I’m in full agreement with you. To his credit, two weeks ago, Trump tweeted that if they cant come up with a bill that people like and that’s a good bill, they should just do clean repeal, and McConnell immediately said no.
Austin: And that’s how you know that they’re slimy. They’re slimy because they voted 50 times to repeal that bill when Obama was the president. So what has changed?
Jeremy: They still have that bill. They don’t have to do anything; they can just send it.
Austin: Yeah, they have that bill, just send it up, and done.
Jeremy: I just don’t understand; what do they have to gain from this? It’s clearly a bad bill. They won’t show it to anyone so they know it’s a bad bill, and they put their names on it, so they can possibly kiss their majority good-bye.
Austin: They’re spineless. And I’ll tell you what, I know I’ve only been campaigning for a week and a half, but some people who do see me as a credible candidate come up to me and say things like, “You know, Austin, you’re gonna have to bring home the bacon.” “You might want to tone down some of these things, you don’t want to anger people.” But in the end of the day, and there are insidious forces at work, you gotta remember too, that a lot of American citizens who are on Obamacare are showing up to these townhall meetings and saying, “Oh, you’re going to take away my healthcare.” “How can you take away people’s healthcare? People are going to die!”
But screw all the people who, three years ago, lost their healthcare; I had my healthcare taken away. Nobody remembers us. We’re always fighting the short-term battle, nobody’s thinking about the long-term, and the problem too is that the American people, in some sense, are complicit because they’re not paying attention or, in some sense, they’re arguing for it. They’re like “No, we need Obamacare, we’ve gotta keep it.”
It’s so hard, right? Ronald Reagan perfectly stated it, that “there’s nothing so permanent as a temporary government program.”
So when you get a program in place, it’s very hard to take it away because of the person getting that benefit—when you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul. So it’s difficult. You have to have legislators who actually have a spine. But what happens is, when these people get elected; they get captured by, like you said, K Street, and so many of these moneyed interests.
And somebody actually today, as I’m working on fundraising right now, we’ve raised about $100,000 all from the grassroots, said, “Hey, Austin, you may want to talk to this corporation, maybe they have some legislation that they would like to see passed, and maybe they would support you financially.” And I had to say flat-out, “Okay, just so you know, the only way any legislation favorable that I could support involves regulatory reform or tax reform, but if it’s a subsidy, I’m sorry but I’m not their guy. You’re going to have to go to Claire McCaskill or whomever the Republican Party is going to throw out from the establishment side.” And they will, because the big moneyed interests support the candidates whom they know are going to support their legislation. And when you have a Senate Majority Leader like Mitch McConnell, his job is to pass the bill. A lot of the time, it doesn’t matter what’s in it. You know they don’t read it; they don’t have time to read it; thousands of pages frequently, it’s impossible for them to govern appropriately, because the system is broken and it really leads into corruption. Because if the system was reformed, if we could put proper checks and balances into play, then many times, the legislators would not be incentivized to be corrupt. But because of the millions of dollars that are at stake, you have too much power in too few hands, and returning power to the people is so hard. I need to raise $1.4 million at least by the end of next Fall. Where am I going to get it from? I will work as hard as I can, if I have to call 1.5 million people and ask for a dollar I’ll do it, but that’s the problem. The people aren’t connected. I don’t know if it’s because they feel burned by the system, but I’m trying to invigorate peoples’ interest in government so that we can have a true movement of the people so that I can be the people’s legislator and do the people’s business and avoid the corrupting influence of these power players who are the real brokers of what happens in these elections.
I hope that your listeners will hear this and reach out to me, and get involved in my campaign, because I’m trying to do what’s best, and they say power corrupts, but the people can incentivize their legislators by saying “Hey, you don’t have to go to these guys, we’ll support your campaign, we’ll do this.”
And for all the crap we can give Bernie Sanders for being an ardent socialist with three houses, I would argue that his campaign was about and for the people. His average donation was $3 coming from average citizens who want change. In some sense, that’s the model we want. Not the policies, but the model of citizen legislators. We don’t want politicians; we want statesmen. And the people have to get involved to put up those type of candidates and support those type of candidates. When people like me come along, or people like Eric Brakey, a state Senator from Maine who’s running for Senate, when people like him come along, you don’t get those kind of opportunities very often. I will fight from now until the end of November of next year to give people an option, but the people have to step up too. It’s incumbent on the people.
For all of George W. Bush’s famous faults and foibles, he said that the Constitution is just a piece of paper. And he’s right. It’s up to us, the people, to make sure it’s enforced and upheld.
Jeremy: I agree fully. My final question, to wrap up, I want to give you my personal endorsement, I thought this was a great conversation.
Austin: Thank you.
Jeremy: My pleasure. How can people seeing this contribute to you or help your campaign in any way?
Austin: You can type in AustinforSenate.com. If you’re feeling cheeky, you can type in Fireclaire.net. Otherwise, AustinPetersen.com or AustinforSenate.com, any of those websites will take you to the portal so that you can please donate or volunteer, and we’ll have an online store very soon with t-shirts and merchandise, which you can use to get the word out as well. But AustinforSenate.com is the simplest.
Jeremy: Great. Thank you so much for your time. I will do my best to spread the word, especially to our readers at the Daily Wire, and everywhere else I possibly can, and I wish you great luck on the campaign trail.
Austin: Thanks very much! Tell Ben Shapiro I say hi and loved the Game of Thrones parody. That was hilarious.
Jeremy: Oh, yeah, it was amazing. I might be the only person in the world who doesn’t watch Game of Thrones, but it was really good.
Austin: I really appreciate it and very grateful for the coverage. Thank you.
Jeremy: Absolutely. Take care.
Follow Jeremy on Twitter and Facebook.An Israeli man stabbed a fellow Jew by mistake, in apparent revenge for the recent spate of Palestinian-on-Israeli stabbings. The specter of increasingly violent nationalism has steadily been rising on both sides.
The stabbing occurred in the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Ata on Tuesday, according to Haaretz. The attacker allegedly thought his victim was an Arab. When it became clear what had transpired, he sought to flee the scene. A security guard shot at him, grazing a bystander’s arm in the process.
The suspect was apprehended and is now being questioned by police. He is a local, aged 36. His victim is 23 and is from the same town. The injured man’s condition has been described by doctors as moderate. He sustained several stab wounds to the back.
According to police, a civilian tried to stop the escaping perpetrator, but failed.
The attacker tried to make it to his car, but stopped in his tracks after hearing the gunshots, allowing the approaching officers to detain him.
Later, from his hospital bed, the victim recounted the ordeal.
READ MORE: ‘No fences, bullets, knives can stop Israeli-Palestinian violence’
“We are all human beings, we are all equal,” store worker Uri Rezken told the Guardian. “It does not matter if an Arab stabbed me or a Jew stabbed me, a religious, Orthodox or secular person. I have no words to describe this hate crime.”
Rezken described feeling four stabs to his back, before hearing his attacker say “You deserve it, you deserve it. You are bastard Arabs.”
Rezken tried to protect himself with a shopping trolley, shouting in the process: “I am a Jew, I am a Jew.” But the attacker did not stop. “He tried to stab me again, so I fought him again with my trolley.”
READ MORE: ‘Scum must be isolated’: Israeli kindergarten parent demands Arab girl’s expulsion in racist rant
This is the third incident in a week that a Jew tried to attack an Arab in apparent revenge for the more than dozen cases of stabbings that have been carried out at random by Muslims in Israel. Last Friday, a 17-year-old from Dimona stabbed four Palestinians.
Police are working overtime and new security measures are being put in place by Israel, as it struggles to cope with the rising incidence of knife attacks. Police presence is now ubiquitous at every crowded public place, including shopping malls, transport hubs and so on.
LISTEN MORE:By R.L. Stollar, HA Community Coordinator
Growing up evangelical, I listened to a lot of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). I never understood the whole “rock music causes demons to eat your brain” mentality. But I did understand — to some extent — their point that Christian rock music was just normal rock music with “Jesus” pasted on top. To my friends and I, that wasn’t actually an intelligent critique. It was more a joke, something we all laughed about.
Fact is, my peers and I often thought it was funny that many CCM songs appeared to be sexy romance songs where the “you” was just capitalized so it suddenly was about Jesus rather than a hot piece of man-flesh. And some CCM bands — Skillet, most of all — have lyrics that are so spiritually kinky, even actual kinksters might blush.
So to honor this humorous memory of CCM’s steamy lyricism, I decided to create a quiz where you must identify whether certain phrases are lines from the bestselling erotic BDSM novel 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James or lyrics from Contemporary Christian Music songs. So pull out a pen and paper and keep track of your answers; an answer key is provided after the quiz.
Make sure you don’t cheat. God is watching you. As Phil Joel says about God, “He’s gonna keep the night light on. He’s waiting there to receive you.”
Or was that something Anastasia Steele wrote in her diary about Christian Grey?
*****
1. Which of the following is a lyric from a Newsboys song?
a. Giving it over, I was flat on my back.
b. I come instantly.
2. Which use of “hand” is from 50 Shades of Grey and not a CCM song?
a. You gentle your hand…
b. Gushing with surrender in your hands…
c. My hands are open, so take what you see…
3. Three of the following four lines are from Skillet songs. Which one is from 50 Shades of Grey?
a. Stretch me bigger….
b. An empty vessel to be filled at your whim…
c. I’m exploding like chemicals. I’m going crazy — can’t get enough!
d. It’s so urgent. It’s so desperate I can feel it in my bones.
4. One of these four is dirty talk. The other three are DC Talk. Which one is dirty?
a. You consume me like a burning flame.
b. Anytime, anyplace.
c. I am calling out your name.
d. Oh, you know that I surrender.
5. Which “you” is from a Sonicflood praise song? (The other two are about sex.)
a. God, I want you
b. I want to touch you.
c. I am in awe of you.
6. Can you figure out which is neither Rebecca St. James nor Audio Adrenaline?
a. Here I am. I will do as you say.
b. You’re pinning me to the wall.
c. I’m enslaved to what you say.
7. Different people handle pain differently. Which one is the 50 Shades of Grey way?
a. How can I scream when the pain is such a release?
b. The pain is such that I refuse to acknowledge it.
c. I do not deserve to be set free.
8. Once you experience something you really like, you usually want more. Which wanting more is not about God?
a. We’re going all the way.
b. I’ve never wanted more, until I met you.
c. I’ll be chasing you.
d. I wanna do it soon.
9. Which romantic exclamation is not about Jesus?
a. When I’m in your arms is when I feel the best.
b. My heart beats for you.
c. I want my world to start and end with you.
d. I can feel your power surging through the whole of me.
10. One of these is about a BDSM master/slave relationship. The other three are from Christian music.
a. Capture me, make me a slave.
b. I’m struggling to resist, but I’m drawn.
c. If I could only be your master.
d. You can have everything I am.
******
Answer Key
******
1. Which of the following is a lyric from a Newsboys song?
a. Giving it over, I was flat on my back. – Newsboys, “Giving It Over”
b. I come instantly. – 50 Shades of Grey
2. Which use of “hand” is from 50 Shades of Grey and not a CCM song?
a. You gentle your hand… – 50 Shades of Grey
b. Gushing with surrender in your hands… – Skillet, “Suspended In You”
c. My hands are open, so take what you see… – Smalltown Poets, “I’ll Give”
3. Three of the following four lines are from Skillet songs. Which one is from 50 Shades of Grey?
a. Stretch me bigger…. – Skillet, “Suspended In You”
b. An empty vessel to be filled at your whim… – 50 Shades of Grey
c. I’m exploding like chemicals. I’m going crazy — can’t get enough! – Skillet, “My Obsession”
d. It’s so urgent. It’s so desperate I can feel it in my bones. – Skillet, “Kill Me Heal Me”
4. One of these four is dirty talk. The other three are DC Talk. Which one isn’t DC?
a. You consume me like a burning flame. – DC Talk, “Consume Me”
b. Anytime, anyplace. – DC Talk, “Consume Me”
c. I am calling out your name. – 50 Shades of Grey
d. Oh, you know that I surrender. – DC Talk, “Consume Me”
5. Which “you” is from a Sonicflood praise song? The other two are about sex.
a. God, I want you – 50 Shades of Grey
b. I want to touch you. – Sonicflood, “I Want To Know You”
c. I am in awe of you. – 50 Shades of Grey
6. Can you figure out which is neither Rebecca St. James nor Audio Adrenaline?
a. Here I am. I will do as you say. – Rebecca St. James, “Here I Am”
b. You’re pin |
but it's not right at this moment."
Player departures also have hurt the Big Ten, including the two quarterbacks who played in the inaugural league title game in December -- Wisconsin's Russell Wilson, now starting for the Seattle Seahawks, and Michigan State's Kirk Cousins, backing up Robert Griffin III with the Washington Redskins. Key defenders like Michigan's Mike Martin and Nebraska's Lavonte David are gone, and Penn State saw its roster reduced after the NCAA imposed severe sanctions, as stars like running back Silas Redd transferred.
Former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce thinks the Big Ten's struggles can be traced to the most important position on the field.
"The thing I noticed most is a lack of great quarterbacks in the league," said Bruce, who coached the Buckeyes from 1979-87 and served as an Ohio State assistant from 1966-71. "A team can't get cut short at that position. When I was [in the Big Ten], everybody had a great quarterback. That makes the league a little tougher.
"I don't know whether the evaluation of the quarterbacks has been wrong, or they had injuries or whatever, but the quarterback position is down in the Big Ten. There's no doubt about that."
The Big Ten has only one starting quarterback, Nebraska's Taylor Martinez, rated among the nation's top 30 passers. The league hasn't had a quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL draft since Penn State's Kerry Collins in 1995. There have been no second-rounders since Michigan's Chad Henne in 2008.
The lack of talent at the QB position across the league this season has been highlighted by the loss of Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson. Cliff Welch/Icon SMI
Two of the NFL's top signal callers came from the Big Ten in the New England Patriots' Tom Brady (Michigan) and the New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees (Purdue). Not surprisingly, both came to Big Ten schools from far-flung states (Brady from California, Brees from Texas). Even Wilson, who turned in a record-setting 2011 season for Wisconsin, transferred into the league from an ACC program (NC State) and grew up in Virginia.
"It all starts," Tiller said, "with the recruiting issue."
The Big Ten's recruiting issue is a decreasing number of star prep players living close to its campuses. There are other factors -- population shifts to the south and the fact that southern high schools play spring football while their northern counterparts don't -- all of which increase the challenges for Big Ten programs.
"That's a theory," Delany said. "You've got to look at the results, and you've got to attribute it to something, but I'm not a demographer, nor am I a football coach."
Tiller was, for years, and he had to adjust to the changes, including mining the state of Texas for talent during his time at Purdue.
"As a young person growing up in Ohio, the Pennsylvania-Ohio ability to provide a lot of players for a lot of different teams was there," Tiller said. "Penn State, I don't think, ever had to leave the state, and if they did, they went into [New] Jersey. I can remember when Bo [Schembechler] and Woody [Hayes] were slugging it out, and Bo would come down to Ohio and get half a dozen really good players, and they'd go up to Michigan and be stars right away. I just don't know if that's true anymore.
"For a guy from the Midwest, it's painful. It's painfully obvious that they're not up to speed."
Can the Big Ten get back on course? Tiller isn't holding his breath.
"It's going to be a problem for a while," he said. "I don't think this is something you turn around quickly. Perception is reality, really."
Several Big Ten coaches have talked about the cyclical nature of the sport, how leagues rise and fall and rise again. Delany doesn't subscribe to the theory, noting that each season is unique, each team can be beat and factors like schedule difficulty change over time.
The Big Ten still has the entire conference slate to play before a chance for redemption arrives during bowl season, which has been unkind lately. Despite a treacherous postseason lineup of games that are, for all intents and purposes, road games, Delany scoffed at the suggestion the Big Ten would be better off with only one team in a BCS game (the league has had two in each of the past seven seasons and gone 5-8 with one vacated win).
"You want the opportunities to play the best," he said. "That's why the Big Ten plays who we play. If we get invited, we'll be excited to go and play the best we can play. If we win, we'll take the pat on the back, and if we lose, we'll accept that, too.
"We've been doing it for 117 years, we've had good decades and bad decades. Where we are, who we have, the resources, I'm confident that we'll have our day."Story highlights "He is demonstrating on a daily basis that he [is] totally unfit for the office he serves in," Yarmuth said.
"I'm not sure of his mental state, but I know that he doesn't portray someone who is in control of his facilities," he added.
(CNN) Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth said Monday that he is unsure of Donald Trump's mental state -- but added that the President doesn't appear to be in control of himself.
"He is demonstrating on a daily basis that he [is] totally unfit for the office he serves in," Yarmuth, from Kentucky, said in a speech to a local chapter of the NAACP posted on YouTube this week. "He is, in my opinion, a dangerous president. I'm not sure of his mental state, but I know that he doesn't portray someone who is in control of his facilities."
Yarmuth said he found it "really disturbing" from his perspective that Trump didn't think of the consequences of his actions and that the people around him that he listens to don't have any sense of what's going on.
"He doesn't seem to care what happens once the applause stops, he seems to be in it totally for the applause, and that's what somebody with his ego and narcissism would be," Yarmuth said, adding that "leaders from around the world are totally freaked out."
However, Yarmuth added that Trump has yet to commit an impeachable offense.
Read MorePat Flynn
Coach
Kettlebells, Bodyweight Exercise, Strength and Conditioning
Pat Flynn is a fitness minimalist and believes any exercise program will improve in direct ratio to the number of things you can leave out of it that shouldn’t be there.
He is the founder of The Chronicles of Strength and chief contributor to the Chronicles Of Strength Inner Circle - a monthly newsletter dedicated to helping you reach your goals through fitness minimalism (or doing the least amount of exercise needed to get the job done).
Pat is also the author of Paleo Workouts for Dummies and Fast Diets for Dummies.
Pat is good at third person bios, because he has the unrivaled capacity to think hard about himself for hours on end - and when at last he is exhausted of the matter, he is then in a condition to watch Matlock.CLEVELAND, Ohio - A local builder aims to start construction in the spring on two tiny houses on Cleveland's west side, in a project that might offer a template for modest - and relatively affordable - new homes in popular city neighborhoods.
Sutton Development Group will build the houses, each 583 square feet. Construction is scheduled to wrap up by mid-June. The houses could be listed for sale at $125,000 to $150,000 each.
A collaboration between a neighborhood nonprofit, Citizens Bank and Sutton, the houses will be the first such freestanding, permanent, pint-sized dwellings built in the city at a time when TV shows like "Tiny House Hunters" have helped create a cult following for smaller-than-average living.
The nonprofit Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization announced last year that it had teamed up with Citizens on a tiny-house experiment. The bank donated $140,000 for marketing, design work and construction of a single house, which Detroit Shoreway will own, show off and eventually sell.
Keith Sutton, who has built more traditional homes in Cleveland for years, signed on to construct the Citizens house and a second one next door. He's getting the land from Detroit Shoreway, but he'll try to finance, build and sell that second house like he would any other.
If the model works, he's hoping to replicate it elsewhere in the neighborhood. And he's already contemplating at least one tiny-house project in Tremont, where lots are hard to find and rising prices have shut some buyers out of the market.
"The whole idea of tiny houses is something that I'm seriously, seriously smitten with," said Sutton, who is selling off his final townhouses at the Bergen Village and Starkweather Place developments in Tremont.
Sutton, Citizens and the Detroit Shoreway group have scheduled an open house for Wednesday evening to show off designs for the homes. The event will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Urban Community School on Lorain Avenue.
Though it's possible to find old shotgun houses and bitty bungalows in the city, Cleveland's zoning code sets the minimum size of a new single-family home at 950 square feet. The city's Board of Zoning Appeals approved a handful of variances, related to house size, lot size and parking configuration, for the West 58th Street site.
Any builder considering a tiny-house project would have to jump through similar hoops, unless the city makes broader changes to its code. City planners are talking about modernizing the zoning code to encourage growth and redevelopment.
The houses that Sutton and Detroit Shoreway have in mind aren't the roving residences on wheels that you see on television. Designed by City Architecture, they will sit on permanent foundations, tied into the sewer system and utilities. That's one reason the pricing might sound high to frequent viewers of HGTV.
Each of the Cleveland houses will include a loft, two first-floor bedrooms, one bathroom, built-in furniture and a kitchen with regular-size appliances and granite countertops. The small lots each have space for a parking pad, a shed and a yard.
"We're not skimping," said Adam Davenport, project and operations manager for the Detroit Shoreway nonprofit group. "You're getting a normal house. You're just getting it shrunk down."
Both houses will meet green-building standards, which the city requires in exchange for granting 15 years of property-tax abatement on new construction. The annual heating-and-cooling bills could be less than $400, Sutton predicted. A buyer with a $10,000 down payment might be facing a $700 monthly mortgage payment.
"The tiny house experiment follows a growing movement across the nation in which people are downsizing to smaller, simplified, sustainable living, often at a fraction of what typical homes can cost to own and maintain," Joe DiRocco, the Ohio president for Rhode Island-based Citizens, said in a written statement.
Cleveland Councilman Matt Zone also highlighted the energy-saving features of the houses, which will be located in an area known as the EcoVillage.
"Not everyone needs a big house," Zone said in a written statement. "I am confident there will be a market for tiny homes in Cleveland."
So far, Davenport has heard from young professionals, aging baby boomers, contractors and other builders who are intrigued by the concept.
Sutton, who had visions of building tiny houses in Tremont before the housing bust, clearly is sold. If the Detroit Shoreway project is successful, he hopes banks will be open to financing more tiny-house deals for both builders and buyers.
"A lot of unsuitable lots for traditional construction would be well-suited to this type of home," Sutton said. "This house lends itself really well to infill housing, which is a really important concept for what the city needs.... Any time there's a new home being built in any neighborhood. I think it elevates the neighborhood. It's an investment in Cleveland. We've had enough people move out. We need to bring people back."Stretching Out WHAT NEXT?
Have a suggestion for an activity you think I should try? Call me at 216-999-4632 or send me an e-mail. Previously
WaterRower simulates rowing experience more realistically
All columns
Riding a bike need not be a pain in the butt. To relieve those cheeks, just hop on a recumbent.
No way will I give up my mountain or road bikes. I may, however, expand my cycling arsenal after riding 20 miles in the equivalent of an easy-chair.
Plenty are way ahead of me, it seems. No longer is my recumbent pal in Columbus an odd sight. These days, I spot a laid-back rider almost every outing.
The appeal is understandable. Rather than hunched over on a saddle, recumbent riders recline on a padded seat, pedaling with legs outstretched and gripping handlebars at chest level.
It’s a pressure-free stance that puts zero strain on the knees, back, wrists or neck. The model I borrowed not only accommodated my 6’6” frame but actually offered room to spare.
Had I taken the time to tinker with it, I could have adjusted the bike to suit my size perfectly, and a heavier person would have had no trouble whatsoever. One of the glories of recumbent bikes is that they make cycling more enjoyable for all body types.
But even hardened racers ought to pay attention. The recumbent position is remarkably aerodynamic. Like sports cars, recumbent bikes hug the ground and present a small surface for resistance. No wonder the speed record for a human-powered vehicle was set by a recumbent.
Indeed, on the older model Sun-brand recumbent I rented for one day from Fridrich Bicycle in Cleveland ($25, fridrichs.com), riding into the wind was noticeably easier than it is on any of my other machines. On flat roads, I could have ridden forever. Even more fun was riding downhill. I felt like a cannonball, a force of surging momentum.
There were downsides, of course. Climbing, for instance, was a major challenge. Bridges in the Cleveland Metroparks, over which I soar on my road bikes, became long slogs in a low gear.
Also, the model I rode was wobbly. With a large rear wheel and smaller front wheel, tipping or over-turning were ever-present risks, and re-starting from a stop took longer than usual, especially on the gravelly Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail.
Then again, I was probably safer on the recumbent than any other bike. Had I tipped, I only would have fallen a foot, and the chance of flying out of my seat over the handlebars was nil.
There were physical side-effects as well. The overall experience may have been pain-free, but that doesn’t mean I felt nothing. On the contrary, unaccustomed to riding a recumbent, I ached in all sorts of new places.
After 20 miles of riding, my rear-end and shoulders were far happier than they normally are, and I had a good sweat going, same as I get on other bikes, but my calves and shins, the driving forces on climbs, throbbed for days. Weirder was the burn in my biceps, the result of so much pulling on the handlebars.
These, though, are novice sensations, effects certain to fade with time and experience. After a while, I’m told, long rides would be no more taxing, in terms of strain, than short ones.
The only real drawback is cost. Recumbent bikes are significantly more expensive than standard bikes, and to lug them around, you have to own a large vehicle, purchase a specialized rack, or do some dismantling and reassembling every trip.
Still, it’s almost certainly a good investment. You’ll save tons on saddle-sore cream, and if it gets you off the couch, the benefits will be priceless.It finally happened – a church has claimed that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over it because of its “religious freedom” rights.
This was inevitable. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, which said secular, for-profit corporations have the right to make highly personal medical decisions for their employees based purely on religious dogma, corporations are trying to see just how much freedom they’ve acquired. Given these sweeping new rights granted by – perhaps ironically – a federal court, it was only a matter of time before religious groups would get in on the act and test the limits of the Hobby Lobby decision for themselves.
This rather startling claim that courts don’t have any jurisdiction over a church grew out of a case brought by a former Catholic school teacher who was fired for trying in-vitro fertilization. In 2012, Emily Herx, then an English teacher at St. Vincent de Paul School in Fort Wayne, Ind., was terminated just two weeks after she requested time off for the procedure. (A monsignor reportedly called Herx a “grave, immoral sinner.”)
Herx sued the school and the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, claiming gender discrimination. Mother Jones noted that religious organizations are exempt from most anti-discrimination laws when it comes to hiring and firing, but gender discrimination is not protected – even for houses of worship.
Herx’s attorneys even provided evidence that the school has never fired a male teacher for using infertility treatment, so she may have a good case – even though the diocese countered that it would fire a man who used such treatments.
But seemingly just to cover all its bases, the diocese came up with a brazen and radical argument: its representatives should not even have to show up in court because courts can’t uphold “religious freedom” if they have the right to tell religious organizations what to do!
“[If] the diocese is required to go through a trial,” it would “irrevocably” deny the diocese religious protections, the church’s attorneys argued.
Ah, the old “persecution” defense. An employment discrimination lawsuit is hardly persecution, and this matter is not a justification for a church to essentially claim that no one has the right to challenge anything it does.
The irony is, the church can probably win this case without even going down this road. Courts have generally allowed religious schools to hire and fire as they see fit. It’s one thing to ask a court to uphold that right; it’s quite another to assert that an aggrieved party should have no power to take you to court and make his or her best case.
“What the diocese is saying is, ‘We can fire anybody, and we have absolute immunity from even going to trial, as long as we think they’re violating our religion,’” Brian Hauss, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told Mother Jones. “And to have civil authorities even look into what we’re doing is a violation.’…It’s astonishing.”
Another ACLU attorney suggested that the church is wandering down a dangerous road.
“It’s an unusual and extreme argument, to be saying the court doesn’t even have the legal authority to ask whether this was, in fact, sex discrimination,” said Louise Melling, a deputy legal director at the ACLU. “I can’t imagine they would prevail on that. It’s too extreme.”
If a court were to accept the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese’s argument, it would open the door to the idea that religious organizations are immune from prosecution and most laws. They would be able to act with near impunity under the guise that “religious freedom” can only be preserved if religious organizations are totally free from any legal limitations or outside interference.
That is, of course, complete nonsense. It’s also an incredibly frightening possibility. It seems unlikely that a court would ever agree with the diocese’s argument, but should a court rule in the church’s favor, Hobby Lobby could one day seem like a fond memory.DayZ is an online open-world survival game where you escape zombies and fight for your lives. The game has been in Early Access since 2013 and is finally ready to enter its Beta state the upcoming year. Along with a Beta version for PC, the game has been planned for consoles as well.
The game has been in Early Access for almost 4 years now, and that’s remarkably a long period. The developers wanted to offer a game that they could themselves call “flawless”. After innumerable tweaks, patches, bug-hunting, additional of new features, modes and viable content, DayZ is finally set for a Beta release in 2018.
Developer Bohemia Interactive’s next focus after the PC Beta will be an Xbox version of the game, where a large community is waiting for a truly hardcore online survival game. In short (as mentioned in their official press release), DayZ will be out of Early Access next year, and we’ll also finally deliver it to console players in 2018.Email Interview with Stephen Sakulsky of Amaro Angeleno
Kapu: What inspired the creation of a new Amaro based on the ecology of California?
A few things inspired us. One my family has been in Los Angeles Since the early 1900’s. I am a true Angeleno, love this city and state. I grew up surfing up and down the coast, skiing in the mountains. and hiking in the hills. Southern California is truly the greatest place to be. It is so vast with different landscapes and cultures. Secondly, my biz-partner Wes and I have been in hospitality for over a decade and myself personally involved in the running of Italian restaurants here in Los Angeles. A little over 3 years ago I met Wes at an Italian restaurant and we started growing the amari selection. We grabbed at it all, including any domestic amaro that came our way.
Stephen: However when it came to the domestic we thought something was missing. When you look at amari in Italy from the mountains you have dark and strong Alpine amari and as you move down and get to Sicily you're getting lighter sweeter amari that have high citrus notes etc. Each and every Amaro are very representative of the land, culture and people where they are made. They are all Of Place.
When we, at Amaro Angeleno, started looking at the American Amaro market we were not seeing anything that were "of place.” We just saw these "gentian bombs" trying to mimic what the Italians do. With that said, we made a true Southern California Amaro. An Amaro of Place. It's high citrus because LA/OC were all citrus orchards at one time. It's light because we're by the ocean and it represents our southern Californian lifestyle. It's approachable and drinkable. Which makes it able to be enjoyed by a large diverse population, such as Los Angeles.
Kapu: The wine and orange invoke the agricultural heritage of the state. What other environments informed that flavor profile?
Stephen: Yep, the big notes are the citrus and vinous quality. When in R&D we made sure that all the ingredients were either native to or grown here in SoCal or relevant to our culture. I can’t say what all of them are (State Secret) but they are all readily grown here. However we had some ingredients that we had to replace due to their classification by the FDA. Also, as I mentioned above, we wanted it to be versatile so everyone can enjoy it. Not just the bartenders and industry folk but my 75 year old mother and people who don’t necessarily like bitter. We wanted it to be able to be enjoyed/used by all people and cultures.
Kapu: How long was Angeleno in development?
Stephen: We were in R&D for over 2 years. We did a test batch and “aged” it. However we didn't want to be sitting on a lot of product for a year of aging so the main thing was to figure out a way around the aging process or at least to speed it up. We figured it out and cut down the year to 2 weeks…
Kapu: How did the you arrive at brandy as a base spirit? Did you distill your own during R&D? Which grape varietal?
Stephen: In the beginning, we started with store bought bottles of cheap high proof vodka and vermouth. But once we got to the distillery, we all agreed that we could cut out some phases and costs if we bought bulk wine and distilled it. We not only use brandy but fortified wine as well. (we make both) That was the first thing we did. I personally drove 18 tons of pinot grigio down from Paso Robles to the Distillery. We almost died because the truck was over loaded by 2 tons and going down the SLO incline the truck had to be put into neutral and we just had to barrel down the hill, because the brakes were burning up and the truck was red-lining. Once we got the brandy and fortified wine made we really got to work in developing the final flavors and ingredient ratios. We had to start from scratch with the brandy and fortified wine. We wanted to makes sure we could keep producing the same amaro every time. Wes has a degree in chemistry so he came up with all the math and ratios to make it so we can get the same product time after time no matter how much we’re producing, 1,000 bottles or 10,000 it is all the same.
Kapu: Are the verbena, thyme, and gentian mentioned in the tech sheetall the native varieties?
Stephen: The verbena and thyme and rue are grown and picked at a local farm in Los Angeles. The gentian is grown here but getting our hands on the true native gentian species is tough and costly.
Kapu: Is honey used as the sweeter? If so, is it California honey too?
Stephen: No, honey and really not that much sugar at all. The only sweetness is coming from the fortified wine (pure cane sugar) and the orange peels.Mitt Romney's poll numbers have fallen for five straight days leading up to Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, and his lead is now down to just 13 points, according to the latest Suffolk University daily tracking poll.
Romney fell 2 more points overnight to 33 percent.
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Ron Paul is in second place at 20 percent, followed by Jon Huntsman at 13 percent, Newt Gingrich at 11 percent, and Rick Santorum at 10 percent. Buddy Roemer and Rick Perry combined for 3 percent, while 12 percent of likely GOP primary voters said they were undecided.
“Mitt Romney’s biggest asset is the large number of candidates in this group that are dividing up the remainder of the vote,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. “With just a 33 percent stake, he can control his destiny, so long as the others in his group continue to battle each other. So the more people in the group the merrier for Romney.”
Still, a number of polls show that many voters remain uncommitted to their first choice, and Paul and Huntsman have slowly gained on the front-runner, who has fallen 10 points in the last week.
Paul has gained five points since Jan. 1, and Huntsman, who has committed the bulk of his resources and essentially staked his campaign on a strong showing in New Hampshire, has gained 4 points in the same time frame.
Voters in the Granite State got a good look at the candidates in two debates over the weekend. On Sunday in particular, the field of candidates went after Romney for his time as an executive at Bain Capital. That firm specializes in taking over distressed companies, which in some cases means massive layoffs.
Romney contends that the companies Bain turned around more than make up for the layoffs, and that he helped create more than 100,000 jobs during his time there.on •
Written by Mike Loew
There are many power chords in the epic symphony that is the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. There’s the foundation of classic Appendix N fantasy literature, the inspirational reading list of Gary Gygax. The 1970s heavy-metal airbrushed-wizard-mural-on-a-van aesthetic. A simple but infinitely rewarding magic system. Old-school rules with clever new mechanics that constantly deliver memorable moments and wild plot twists. But I would claim that it’s the enthusiastic community of DCC players and judges that makes the game soar. It takes a dungeon to raise a grizzled adventurer, and you couldn’t ask for a nicer group of folks to throw bloodthirsty monsters and untold treasures at you.
DCC, You, and Me
Your starting tavern is the DCCRPG community on Google+, where you’ll find the writers and artists of DCC interacting and collaborating with its fans. The barrier between creators and fans is as transparent as a gelatinous cube, jiggling with new ideas, rules, and game material. Many of these ideas coalesced into The Gongfarmer’s Almanac, a zine created by the G+ community (stretching across six volumes!) kicked off by DCC author Harley Stroh that was free at Gen Con 2015 and is now available online. You can read “The Dryad’s Tree,” an excerpt from my DCC novel, in Volume 4.
There are also numerous third-party publishers you’ll meet on G+ that release DCC content with the approval of Joseph Goodman, the game’s creator.
Along with these products are several ongoing zines that illuminate new settings for the game. One of the brightest lights in this galaxy of content is the sci-fi zine Crawljammer, a blast of DCC spacefaring adventure by Tim Callahan. One day, Tim’s post on G+ hit me between the eyes like a laser-lance driven home by a charging mecha-mammoth:
“Just getting a sense of the interest… If I run a Crawljammer/DCC one-shot in Brooklyn on October 11th, is anyone there interested in attending and/or does anyone know a place where I could run such a game? I will be in town that weekend for the New York Comic Con, and want to get a game on!”
How could I pass this up? I responded to Tim quickly: “Dude, cruise over to my place. This crawl shall be jammed.”
Eruption of Larvae
I tractor-beamed three space-pirates (players in my own DCC campaign) and for the first time in forever, sat myself on the other side of the dungeon master’s screen. That’s actually just a metaphor, as Crawljammin’ Tim Callahan don’t need no screen. Tim rolled into Brooklyn with his friend Ben Marra (a creator of excellent comic books) and a stack of character sheets, and the game was on!
The party was assembled: Ulysses Zanzibar the Technomancer; Gillardo Zan the Lizardman Mercenary; Bartimus Rex the Psychic Knight; Poltarth Wopthar the Space-Halfling; and myself, Chongar of Venus, the Riftrunner, a celestial monk who could unleash chaotic fire magic and punch through walls with his phlogiston fists.
We lived, we loved, we laughed, we cried. We defended a pyramid from a horde of bestial humanoids. We sampled the delights of a mushroom forest. We explored a subterranean complex and were buried by an avalanche of radioactive larvae. Only wee Poltarth Wopthar survived, running away alone beneath the weirdling sun. We had a blast.
Cabin of Chaos
Sadly Tim had to return to his home planet (and go on to publish his first DCC adventure, “Advent of the Avalanche Lords”). Before long, I too faced a long journey of my own. After living in New York City for fifteen years, my wife and I moved to Seattle this past summer. It was hard to say goodbye to so many friends, but the DCC community surrounds us, it penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together. Here in my new town lives one of the most penetrating talents of Dungeon Crawl Classics, Jobe Bittman.
Jobe is the author of several DCC books including the adventure modules “The One Who Watches From Below” and “The 998th Conclave of Wizards,” as well as a compendium of flavor for fiends, “The Monster Alphabet.” I had gotten to know Jobe as one of the hosts of Spellburn, a podcast that covers all aspects of DCC, and subsequently through the G+ community.
Soon I was on a ferry heading out from Seattle to an island of rugged pines, where Jobe picked me up in his bad-ass 1968 Ford truck and drove me to his friend’s cabin in the forest. While fat raccoons frolicked in the stream flowing behind the cabin, five of us picked up the dice and delved into Jobe’s deadly dungeon. Feeling inspired, I used class rules from Crawl! (another DCC zine) to play a bard. That’s how supportive this community can be—at the age of 42, I finally explored my inner bard.
The enchanted forest of the Pacific Northwest was a big change in setting from my apartment in Brooklyn, but the important things were the same—a crew of smart, funny, creative people around the table having a great time crafting a narrative together. And also setting each other on fire if they’re a chaotic wizard.
Heed the Call
DCC is a gem of a game, but the rules also invite you to create your own. It’s rewarding and inspiring just to see all of the creativity shown in the G+ community, and if you want to share your writing, art, and game design, it’s hard to imagine a more friendly and supportive scene. (Except for Doug Kovacs, the visual architect and master artist of DCC, who will bite your ass off. It’s fine, though, because he’s the coolest.)
And ideally, the people you meet online can get together around a real table somewhere and roll some funky dice, from Brooklyn to Seattle and everywhere else! Or you can play online with those people too, hey, whatever works, dungeoneers. DCC attracts a fine crowd of enthusiastic, intelligent, talented gamers—worthy adventuring comrades all. The kind of folks who will stand by your side, until you are slain by pterodactyls and they loot your corpse.
Links Discussed:
DCCRPG Community on Google+
The Gongfarmer’s Almanac: Volumes 1-5, Volume 6
Crawljammer by Tim Callahan
Spellburn podcast
“The Monster Alphabet” by Jobe Bittman
Dungeon Crawl Classics from Goodman Games, including “Advent of the Avalanche Lords” by Tim Callahan; “The One Who Watches From Below” and “The 998th Conclave of Wizards” by Jobe Bittman; and DCC cover art by Doug Kovacs.
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Categories: FeaturesLet's get started :
Spoiler
First of all : The game will be much harder than ranged at the beginning of your maps (which I don't think is a bad thing, game is supposed to be hard, imo ranged is too easy why melee is great ;) ) until you get hold of some good tanking gear, the good part about this build is you only need attack speed on your gloves and then you can take 100% pure tanking gear (no damage required) so it's not THAT hard to gear yourself, the most annoying part is getting a 5L, but you can grab a cheap one and it'll do the trick just fine. There, just setting your expectations here, don't expect to rape like I do when you start off ;).
How it looks like :
Spoiler
Here is a video of my build in a map, where I clear a sewer in less than 6 minutes (this is before 1.0.0) :
Here is a video of my build in a map, where I clear a sewer in less than 6 minutes (this is before 1.0.0) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=api_dJDJtks&feature=youtu.be
How to level :
Spoiler
Just level as a cleaver, physical or elemental W/E you go near the same nodes, respec to dominating blow when you get a good 2H weapon at around level 50 (I recommand Kaom's Primacy to start up). It's pretty straight-forward to level, and I'm sure there is a billion Cleave guides out there ;)
Passive tree :
Spoiler
This is the final tree you wanna aim for :
If you only have a 4-link, expect your damage to be bad
This is the final tree you wanna aim for : http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAAdwB5wJxBLMFLRLhFCAUTRZvFy8Y2xkuGYUaOBv6HRQhYCSqJd8n7SmlLdIyCTboNuk62ECgR35KfU4qUEdQUFRJVcZV1lcNWGNYr1nzW69fP2BLYSFk52VNZp5noGxGbmlybHKpdO108XgNeu98u3zZgKSE2YTvh3aMz49GkAqQVZHOmSueuZ7NogCkGacwp4SpaKluq8Wsqrndu-29gb6KvqfAGsWKxtjPZdDQ0iHUj9lh3Q3i6uNq51LsOO8O8B_yL_Pd9kj3vvrS_MU= If you only have a 4-link, expect your damage to be bad
Bandits rewards :
Spoiler
Normal : Help Oak (Health)
Cruel : Help Kraitryn (Attack speed)
Merciless : Help Oak (Endurance charge)
Links-Gear required :
Spoiler
Here is my current gear for reference :
Spoiler
To gear yourself : Get attack speed on your gloves, then stack HP and resist and get a good 2H weapon. I highly recommand getting a Kaom's Primacy (http://en.pathofexilewiki.com/wiki/Kaom%27s_Primacy) because it's very effective and cheap (I saw one go for 2 chaos on Onslaught), and allows you to get minions out quicker when you dps is lower because of the culling. Also you'll keep it after to make a weapon swap with rarity/quantity :).
4-link : Dominating blow + Blood magic + Melee splash + Melee physical damage
5-link : Add Multristrike
Run Grace + Determination + purity on |
one at a time:
( <! ( timeout 1000 )) ( while ( seq @ view-model ) ( swap! view-model rest ) ( <! ( timeout 500 )))
Now delay for another second to keep the suspense, and finally restore our headers table to calm down the user:
( <! ( timeout 1000 )) ( reset! view-model headers )
Pure Clojure data manipulation code, yet KO faithfully reflects all our changes in the DOM!
Mission accomplished!
Or is it? I have tentative plans for another post in the series, but it requires a little more research. I’ll keep you posted.
UPDATE: Keeping you posted, here is the next post.
One last thing: optimized builds
Unlike Steve Job’s famous “one last things” this one is boring, but important. If we try to build our ClojureScript code with :advanced optimization it will not work. This is because Google Closure compiler minifies all names in produced.js file including names like ko and observable. Certainly not what we want.
The solution is to add so-called externs file and feed it to Google Closure compiler, so it would know which names it is not supposed to touch.
Conceptually the externs file is similar to C/C++.h headers files, or.asmmeta files for C#. Ours is called ko.externs.js and looks like this:
var ko = {}; ko. applyBindings = function () {}; ko. observable = function () {}; ko. computed = function () {};
Just declarations, no code. And after adding it to project.clj :
:externs [ "cljs/ko.externs.js" ]
… we can build our optimized code, and it will work correctly:
lein cljsbuild once opt
If you are wondering how big is produced optimized app.js file (I sure was), it is 118'871 bytes.
Source code
Full source code can be found on GitHub.
If you want to build and run it locally, execute:
git clone https://github.com/Dimagog/dimagog.github.io.git -b ClojureAllTheWay3 --single-branch ClojureAllTheWay3 cd ClojureAllTheWay3 lein ring server
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DisqusI've made no attempt to hide my venom for the way Sony has handled the PSPgo at launch. From its ludicrous price point to the lack of features and way upgraders have been completely stiffed, Sony has done an amazing amount of things wrong with the latest PlayStation Portable.
However, spending a few days with the system, and doing my damnedest to like it, has revealed that there are at least few things Sony did right with the machine. It would be unfair to paint the PSPgo in an entirely negative light, as much as it deserves the criticism it's received. With that in mind, we've restored the balance a little by examining some of the things Sony's actually done right with the system, bringing a little positivity to a system that has been surrounded by very little rage and disappointment.
Are these positives enough to justify the system's existence? In the case of many people, not at all. However, perhaps those that bought the system will be able to feel a little less conned by looking on the brightside. Read on as we discuss the things Sony did right with the PSPgo.
The aesthetics:
Obviously scoring huge points for those prone to technolust is the sleek and saucy new design of the PSPgo. I'm not going to praise its "smaller form factor" because that's Sony marketing speak and it makes me cringe when people use it. However, there is no denying that it is a sexy bitch, and that's not something you'll hear from PR. I love the way it's designed, and there's something immensely satisfying about popping the screen up and watching the system instantly buzz into life.
Let's face it, the old PSP models have always been a bit on the bulky side, despite efforts to reduce its size. The PSPgo's lightweight design makes it so much easier to carry around, certainly a blessing for someone who secures a multitude of games devices and gadgets about his person when traveling.
The controls:
I don't care what anybody says about the so-called "cramped" controls. The PSPgo's button layout is superior to previous PSP models, and I'm not even sure how they did it. Despite situating the analog nub, D-pad and face buttons close together and putting the shoulder buttons behind the screen, Sony somehow made the control layout feel comfortable and sensible on the PSPgo. I have been pleasantly surprised by just how nice it feels to play on a PSPgo than an older PSP, and this is coming from someone with great big fat mammoth hands.
One has to get used to the fact that the analog nub is situated within an indent, but when your thumb comes to terms with that, it feels great. I always felt like my hand was about to slip off the nub when playing games on my old system, but with the PSPgo is feels like I've always got a good grip on the thing. The shoulder buttons behind the screen works out great too, with the index fingers unwittingly providing decent support for the screen itself.
It's not perfect, by any means. The volume and brightness controls are hidden between the shoulder buttons and are quite awkward to get to, while the flatness and proximity of the Select and Start buttons make them a hassle to use. However, while actually playing games, which is the important bit, I've found that the discomfort I used to feel when using the PSP is next to nonexistent. Playing an action-intensive game like Undead Knights no longer causes my hands to cramp, and that's good news!
The "pause game" feature:
Imagine you're on an airplane, and you're getting your Final Fantasy VII freak on. The plane is about to touch down and the Nazi-esque cabin crew has demanded that you switch off your electronic devices like a bunch of damn Nazis. However, you're righting Ruby Weapon and you can sense that you're going to beat it! What do you do? Put the PSP on sleep mode and wait silently, paranoid that the pilot can detect your PSP and will kill you, or that the plane will crash thanks to your selfish actions and kill everybody? Do you switch the PSP off like an obedient puppy and destroy everything you have achieved? If you have a PSPgo, the answer is this: None of the above!
The "pause game" feature is one of the best new additions to any handheld, ever. While certain games allow for a temporary "save anywhere" feature, like the DS Castlevania games, the ability to save whenever you want in a game and then come back to it later is nonexistent in far too many portable games. It should have always been a mandatory feature for every handheld title, and thanks to the PSPgo, it now is.
With the "pause game" feature, you can stop playing, temporarily save the game's progress to the PSPgo's internal memory, and then safely power the machine down. This is different from simply pausing the game and putting the PSP into sleep mode, since you can turn the PSPgo off completely and still pick up where you left off during the next play session. What's more, you can exit a game and then do other things with the PSPgo, like listen to music or watch a movie, before going right back to the game. It's not quite as good as having direct access to the XMB while running a game, but it's certainly better than nothing.
The Bluetooth:
Okay, so actually using the Bluetooth is a needless hassle and requires all sorts of roundabout bullshit to pull off, but hey, it's something, right? Having the ability to use a Bluetooth headset and a PS3 controller with the PSP is a pretty cool addition, and maybe in time it will lead to some neat and inventive videogame design opportunities. It probably won't, but the option is there regardless.
I guess this one's a bit of stretch. Sony did right by including it, but didn't exactly do the inclusion itself right. Ah well.
The PlayStation Network rollout:
While not exactly a feature of the PSPgo, it's certainly something that happened because of the PSPgo. The recent boost to the PlayStation Network's content, coinciding with the system's October 1 release date, has been terrific. In just a day, PSN was transformed into a service full of actual choices, with some great deals and cool additions to the PSP library. The PSPgo ushered in 16,000 pieces of digital content, and while only a small percentage of that content was game content, there are loads of cool titles to choose from, and some of the prices really aren't bad.
God of War: Chains of Olympus is totally worth a purchase at $15.99, while some of the discounted NIS games are more than welcome. Perusing the PlayStation Store, I now feel spoiled for choice, which is something I've never really been able to say about PSN before. The huge digital support Sony has shown for the PSPgo is a huge step in the right direction, and if Sony can keep up the momentum, the PlayStation Network will be an awesome, awesome place.
Yeah, the full-priced digital versions of games like Persona and Gran Turismo is utter crap. The stuff that isn't a racket, however, is plentiful and worth scoping out.
The Rock Band Unplugged 'demo':
This was genius. Bullshit, but genius. I've never been a big fan of music games with plastic peripherals, but I like a good old fashioned button-based rhythm game, and Rock Band Unplugged is certainly that. However, by not including the full game, Sony and EA have stumbled upon pure strategic brilliance. They've given me a mere taste of the game, and now I keep wanting to supplement it with downloadable songs. Sure, getting "Still Alive" for free is great, but then I see Spinal Tap's "Back From the Dead" is on there, and I want it. Then I see other songs I recognize, and I want them too.
It was rather shitty of Sony to not provide a proper bundled game, and the whole idea of giving us a free taster and hiking the price up is something that stereotypical drug pushers do in eighties movies. Even despite the somewhat scummy nature of the scheme, it was a very smart move and one that has worked like a charm on this poor sucker.
Even if it's a grift, you have to give credit where credit's due. This was a smooth move.
Oh, and the battery is removable:
Y'know... just saying.
You are logged out. Login | Sign upThe Cajon Pass is Southern California’s link to the high desert. Approximately 12 miles of winding, climbing, multilane highway, often packed with traffic as the tractor-trailers head north towards Nevada and commuters make the often triple digit commute from the only area with a relatively decent home price to a far away job in a city surrounded by homes that cost three times theirs. Early Sunday morning though, the lanes are nearly empty, the air is crisp, and as the sun rises and peaks through a smattering of rare storm clouds left over from the night before, I smile. It’s the first time I’ve smiled in weeks outside of playing with my dogs. Work, family, all the normal stress factors that can drag a person down have weighed heavily on my mind. Nothing unique, but enough that I’ve been tough to be around. The road is dry, the sun is out, the air is cool, it’s beautiful. And I’m on the road.
I’m just an escort today, leading a friend out of town as he heads north to the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. He’d been planning this ride for a while, and when he sprung it on me a few weeks prior I instantly offered to lead him out of town. I was honored and excited when he suggested I tag along a for a night or two, whatever I could manage. A trip like this had long been on my list, I just hadn’t yet made the time for it. A third party played with my emotions all the way up until the afternoon prior, changing the destination from Northern California, to the Grand Canyon, back to Northern California, then to Utah, where I drew the line and backed out, and finally back to Northern California where I jumped back in but on a limited timeline. What was going to be a couple of nights on the road had been dashed to a quiet weekend at home, then returned with compromise to one night, and I was going to make the most of it.
As a surprise rainstorm rolled through the Southland on Saturday, I did my best to ignore the weather reports. The best I could do was be prepared to ride through a downpour. Worrying about it wasn’t going to help anything. Chhun, on the other hand, had a pretty good idea of what we’d run into, and where. I tossed a 10 year old, unopened rain suit into my kit, a relic from my old rock buggy days. After getting caught in a surprise overnight snow storm in the high desert one year back, I no longer COMPLETELY leave these things to chance. Preparedness when moto camping can run the gamut from ultra light backpacking gear, to Thailand style piles of gear strapped to your machine. I was going for something in between, breaking in some new backpacking gear and dusting off some old favorites. While product reviews will come later, suffice to say that I’ve also got some new favorites.
The miles tick by pretty quickly when the weather is this nice and the roads are this open. We pass through the remnants of a 19th century silver mine Sin City. One smile leads to a few more. We pass the exit for a famed Naval Weapons Station. The stress and concerns start to slip away, replaced with epiphany and insight. We pass Whitney Portal, literally the entry point to summit Mt. Whitney. It starts to feel real. The miles tick by and soon we’re in Bishop, home of Schat’s Bakery, Mahogany Smoked Meats & Jerky, and Holy Smokes BBQ. After my helmet filled of delicious BBQ scents while passing through Big Pine, I felt compelled to convince Chhun that we need to stop for lunch at Holy Smokes. That doesn’t take much effort though, and we’re soon lying on a lush grassy knoll in a park just off the main drag, sleeping off a meat coma. Half an hour to rest our eyelids turns into a little more, but it’s pleasant out, and what are we in a rush for? I’ve got all day, he’s got all week.
I’ve been wanting to stop at a hot spring off the 395 since learning that they were really a thing that you could just…pull up to and enjoy, so I found a few to choose from. We choose one that’s a little further, but puts a pin on the map setting a pretty solid first day of mileage. Back on the bikes, we roll past the last of the scrub brush and rocky land as we start climbing towards Mammoth. The change is substantial. Tall trees. That are green. We don’t get much of that in Southern California these days. To match that rarity, the clouds overhead have gotten darker. Dark enough to sprinkle on us, but the road gods are smiling upon us and the sprinkles stay sprinkles.
Nearing our destination, we pull off to visit Mono Lake. Millions of years of geologic activity has combined to form the Sierra’s, and while the current lake is believed to have been formed 760,000 years ago, signs of greater water depth are visible. Volcanic activity continues within the vicinity, with the most recent eruption occurring a mere 350 years ago. The most recognizable feature of the area is likely the tufa’s, limestone and travertine pillars rising from the water.
With one last winding ascent, we drop into the town of Bridgeport. A spec on the map, as many towns are on this route, it’s also home to one of many hot springs in the area. A short dirt road off the highway leads through Forest Service land, and though the sign reads “No Camping”, I interpret various statements I’ve read to mean that we’ll be ok setting up camp on a pullout near the springs. It’s been a long day. We’ve covered nearly 400 miles, and while nowhere near a record, I couldn’t be happier to stake a claim at Travertine Springs.
Just around the bend is the first of the pools. With such direct access, and so close to the parking area, it’s often full. Another 50 yards or so down a trail and over a spine is another series of pools, and if you keep wandering, a fairly private pool with log benches can be found. Despite being a Sunday evening, the springs prove to be a popular destination. a conversation is struck with another visitor who ends up being from my home town. He moved to Chico for school and has stayed after graduation. Our two wheel trek impresses him and he gifts us each an ice cold beer, which couldn’t be more welcome. Between the warm water, the cold beer, and the intermittent sprinkles still falling from the sky, we barely notice the persistent mosquitos. Dinner is simple dehydrated backpacking meals, which aren’t bad either, but best of all they’re quick to prepare. The sunset is pretty fantastic, even if the sky is mostly grey and cloudy. Soon we’re visited by a local sheriff, who straightens me out on my uncertainty over our campsite. Technically, we’re not supposed to stick around. Camping is limited to the pullouts prior to the sign marking the area. But I’m feeling lucky.
Every car that idles past on it’s way to the hot springs while we’re tucked away inside our tents could be the one that makes us break down camp in the dark. We hold our breath waiting for a door to slam shut, followed by boot steps in the loose dirt. But, we’re left alone throughout the night. I haven’t had as good a night’s sleep as that under the stars since….ever. Having spent many nights in the desert, I’m a convert for the Sierra’s. I could lounge around all morning, but Chhun’s got a couple of states to cross, and I’ve got a wife and a few pup’s waiting for me at home, so we break camp, heat up some breakfast, and head to the gas station. It’s the start of something big for Chhun, now he’s on his own and it’s REAL for him. There are route choices to make, and nobody else to set the pace. Roads he’s never seen, views he’s never imagined. And I’m jealous.
I exit the highway and head towards Lake Tioga, the east entrance to Yosemite. It’s beautiful, and the skies have cleared for the most part. It’s tough to top Yosemite, and anything nearby is soaked in a similar beauty. The fuel injection on my Honda shines here, at over 9,000’ in elevation. I don’t notice any power loss, even with the added weight of my kit. Again, i could lounge and consume the view all day, but I’ve got to get home to those pups, so it’s back to munching miles.
A brief stop at the bakery for a donut and some fresh coffee, another to fill up the tank and scarf a sandwich in Lone Pine. Then straight through to Adelanto, back to the outer edges of home. On any normal day, this would be a long ways from home, but today I’m practically home already. I’ve timed my return perfectly for afternoon traffic, so Google Maps routes me on a 30 mile detour to save time. The rain had flooded the roads, and though the water cleared quickly it left sediment on the asphalt. On the few turns I have to make, I’m glad for my recent time at a flat track school up north. The street tires that contribute to the phenomenal fuel economy don’t have anything to offer in the way of traction on the loose surface. That’ll be something to address for another trip. One with a campsite further down the dirt road. Further from signs telling me where to setup my tent. Further from the headaches and the traffic of my day to day. For now though, this was 36 hours and just over 800 miles of pure, unfiltered pleasure. I can’t run from it, it’s the same thing you and all of my neighbors face everyday. There has been no greater understatement than “It could always be worse”, but a short break to refresh my reserves and clear my head was needed.
My wife was at the vet for a follow up with one of our dogs when I pulled onto our street, so I parked the bike in the garage and shed my layers of protective gear as I waited. When they walked through the door and I got to see the surprise and excitement to see me on both of their faces, well who couldn’t smile at that?PROVIDENCE � A North Providence nonprofit that employs people with disabilities and pays them below the minimum wage has agreed to pay more than 100 workers a total of $300,000 in back pay as part of a...
PROVIDENCE � A North Providence nonprofit that employs people with disabilities and pays them below the minimum wage has agreed to pay more than 100 workers a total of $300,000 in back pay as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The department contended that from June 2010 through January 2013 the company, Training Thru Placement Inc., had violated provisions of federal law pertaining to minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping. The settlement was announced Wednesday.
�TTP failed to meet its responsibilities under the law to some of the most vulnerable workers we see,� Mark Watson, the northeast regional administrator for the labor department�s Wage and Hour Division, said in a prepared statement.
The company had been operating under a certificate which exempted it from paying the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour to employees with disabilities. The law, enacted in 1938, was designed to promote employment for the disabled.
The law also allows employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage � with conditions � if their disabilities impair their productive capacities.
At TTP, workers assembled and sorted goods by hand. But federal labor officials found that instead of calculating the wages based on workers� individual productivity levels, as required under the terms of their certificate, the school paid the students flat rates of $1 to $2.01 per day, with no regard to the number of hours they had worked or the amount of work completed, and without calculating the appropriate �sub-minimum wage� allowable based on the prevailing wage rates in the area, labor officials said.
Training Thru Placement also falsified time-study documents needed to calculate legitimate rates of pay, labor officials said. Employees were paid sporadically, sometimes going for weeks at a time between paychecks.
Based on the �severity and willful nature of the violations,� the department revoked retroactively the�company�s permit to pay sub-minimum wages. Therefore the company owes its employees the balance between what they were being paid and the federal minimum wage for that 19-month period it was in noncompliance.
The labor department noted, however, that once it notified the company it was revoking its certificate to pay below minimum wage rates, �TTP took immediate corrective action to comply with the law.�
The company replaced its board of directors and removed managers who held positions when the violations occurred. Further, TTP contracted with a service provider to assume day-to-day operations, hired new staff and provided training�to ensure future compliance, the labor department said.
Because of those corrective actions, the labor department said it was allowing TTP to continue operating and employing�workers with disabilities�under a new sub-minimum wage certificate.
TTP has also agreed to provide free benefits counseling to the workers.
�This settlement,� said Watson of the labor department, �resulted from our ongoing commitment to remedy labor violations and protect the rights of workers with disabilities.
�The law provides workers with disabilities an opportunity to work and receive a paycheck for that work. We will use available enforcement tools to prevent employers from exploiting workers.�Image copyright Family handout Image caption It is not clear if Rosa Maria Hernandez will be allowed to stay in the US
A 10-year-old undocumented Mexican migrant with cerebral palsy, detained last month after undergoing surgery in Texas, has been released to her family.
The release of Rosa Maria Hernandez was confirmed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro.
Her detention, which came after border agents stopped the ambulance taking her to hospital, caused an outcry.
Mr Castro said it was still not clear if she faced deportation from the US.
The ACLU had filed a lawsuit earlier this week seeking the child's release.
"Rosa Maria is finally free," said ACLU lawyer Michael Tan in a statement on Friday.
"We're thrilled that she can go home to heal surrounded by her family's love and support."
He added: "Despite our relief, Border Patrol's decision to target a young girl at a children's hospital remains unconscionable. No child should go through this trauma and we are working to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Where do America's undocumented immigrants live?
US President Donald Trump pledged a crackdown on illegal immigration, particularly from Mexico, during his campaign. He has vowed to build a wall along the Mexican border.
Mr Castro said the release of Rosa Maria was welcome news, but her future remained uncertain.
"The Trump administration has not made clear whether they will proceed with deportation proceedings against her," he said in a statement.
"I continue to call for Rosa Maria's case to be administratively closed. Moving forward, we must address the Trump administration's callous actions."
US border patrol agents stopped the ambulance carrying Rosa Maria to hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, for gall bladder surgery 10 days ago.
Agents allowed the ambulance to continue to the hospital under police supervision and armed officers waited near her bedside and detained her when she awoke, family members told US media.
She was then held at an immigration detention centre in San Antonio, Texas, for young migrants.
Her cousin, who had been travelling with her to hospital, told activists that agents had tried to pressure the family to sign documents in order to transfer Rosa Maria to a hospital in Mexico, but this was refused.
Her mother, Felipa de la Cruz, 39, told the New York Times she had brought Rosa Maria to the US seeking better treatment for her cerebral palsy - a neurological disorder that affects body movements.
The family could not afford treatment in Mexico, she said, adding that she hoped Texas would help pay for her daughter's medical care.
"I'm a mother," said Ms de la Cruz, who is also undocumented. "All I wanted was for her to get the surgery that she needed."I used to have a nervous tick that manifested whenever I spoke in public. My leg shook like a cartoon bunny. The severity of the tick increased the worse I thought I was doing. If my audience folded their arms, checked their watches, or rolled their eyes my brain sent a message to my thigh, “It’s rattling time!” The worst was when the momentum rode up my spine all the way to my neckline. I turned into a chatter-mouthed bobblehead. My words came out in a pulsing vibrato like I was talking into a desk fan.
I went into rabbit mode when I read an essay in class and mispronounced one of my fifty-cent buzz words. It happened when I pitched a script and the producers rolled their eyes toward each other, and when I gave technology tutorials and my coworkers interrupted to ask questions about what I’d just covered.
I hid behind Power Point presentations so thick with content they could stop bullets. I let my slides speak for me, but the moment the projector went on the fritz there went my leg, dancing on its own.
I broke the habit with a trick that had nothing to do with imagining my audience naked. I applied my gift for stories to composing speeches. It turned out plot structure was just what I needed to weigh down my restless leg.
Make Your Speech Easy For the Audience to Remember
You’ve probably heard the expression: “Tell them what you’re going to say, say it, then tell them what you said.” Repetition is great when you’re teaching someone how to navigate the mosaic of menu items in a complex application. When you’re relaying technical information you should repeat yourself several times, but if you’re making a persuasive argument you should do something different.
It’s better to clarify your point by restating it then to repeat it until it sticks.
A good way to do this is to introduce your agenda with a story. Narratives are easier to recall than bullet points repeated ad nauseum. We’ve all seen so many movies our brains are hardwired to remember things in three act structures.
In movies: the first act sets our hero on their quest, the second introduces hardships that force them to evolve, and the third has them approach their problem as a new person. The best films have us identifying so much with the hero that we feel like we’re changing with them. If you’re making a persuasive argument take your audience through the hero’s journey.
Get them personally invested in you, or a sympathetic subject, so they can identify with your goal. Tell them about what’s stood in the way of your goal and how it forced you to grow. Show them how that new knowledge helped you get through your lowest possible moment. If your audience is invested in your plight, they’ll share the same goal by the end of your speech.
So how do you get your audience to get invested in you?
Use Humbling Experiences to Make Speeches More Relatable
Filmgoers identify with characters who are introduced in moments of vulnerability. There’s something sympathetic about someone who’s grasping for an engagement ring that’s fallen through a sewer vent, or someone who double fists a pink slip and an eviction notice at once. Use your embarrassment.
Earn your audience’s emotional investment by recounting a personal failure rather than a triumph. If you want your audience to take your advice show them how your methods had to change over time. Let them know now what you wished you knew then. Spare them the pain of going down the same road, because you’ve already found the dead end.
If you’re addressing people who are interested in starting their own business talk about how disposable you felt working for someone else. If you’re addressing filmmakers thinking of crowdfunding their next project talk about how desperate you felt trying to break into the studio system. If you’re addressing people who want to drive traffic to their blogs confess your social media sins.
This account of your failings should be genuine, none of that Tony Robbins washing his dishes in the bathtub nonsense. Give your audience something real. Remember you’re only oversharing if the tragic part comes at the very end. If you tell the audience how you managed to pull yourself out of a tailspin you’ll seem brave to admit you were ever falling.
I use this technique all over this blog (I opened this article with an example). My journey as a writer has left me with a surplus of embarrassing learning experiences. I feel no shame in marching them out to support the lessons I’ve learned.
Yes, You Can Give A Speech Without Slides
I love me some good visual aids. I’m always looking for an opportunity to flex my Photoshop muscles, to spoof stock photos with my own likeness, and to make my titles look like movie logos, but I know better than to let my designs speak for me.
Too many corporate lecturers talk to their computers, reciting their slides in a drawl monotone. You’re better off sacrificing some of your armor to remind the audience that you’re there. The less you reference your materials the greater your connection with the people in front of you will be.
Try using a Memory Palace to remember your speech. You can do this by breaking it down into a handful of points. Since most people can store 7 items in their short term memory 7 is a good number to start with.
Now come up with big awkward images to remind you of these 7 points. If your introduction involves recalling a time you got fired imagine yourself set aflame. If your argument is that student debt is leaving people with empty pockets imagine someone with inverted pockets dragging on the ground. If your closing argument is that corporate jargon is lowering our reading comprehension imagine a book of forbidden knowledge with a question mark etched into it.
Now take a space you’re familiar with, like your home, and fill each room with these awkward images. Walk through this memory palace over and over again, using your awkward images to trigger your talking points.
Contrary to what you’ve seen on TV Memory Palaces do not give people photographic memory. You’ll still have to practice your speech, but this visualization technique will help structure your preparations.
Ask the Right Questions
When you ask your audience to participate do it in a meaningful way. Don’t use the Socratic method to try to milk each answer from them.
This is how one corporate speaker asked my coworkers to be polite. He set a giant pad on an easel, pulled out a marker, and said. “Now who can tell me some ways that you can be respectful of the speaker?”
He waited until members of the audience, people in their 20s through 60s, raised their hands like grade schoolers.
“Turn off your cellphones?”
The speaker drew a bullet point for CELLPHONES. “That’s a good one.”
“Don’t talk while the speaker is talking?”
The speaker drew another dash. “Don’t Interrupt. Very important.”
“Wait until you’re called upon to ask questions?”
“Wow, this is a smart group.”
This was a corporate function. The speaker’s information was supposed to improve the way employees carried on, but instead of telling us what to do he quizzed us. The speaker kept asking questions to get us to come to his conclusions, but never confirmed which of our answers were the right ones.
This technique is supposed to keep the audience engaged. it does if you save it for ah-ha moments where the listeners are meant to have revelations, but if you use it to tell people to turn off their phones you’re patronizing them.
If you choose to use subtext you need to foreshadow that your speech is going to have a twist. Drop hints like, “This story doesn’t play out the way you might think.” or “The story seems weird now, but just you wait.”
Knowing a twist is coming gives the audience a reason to pay attention. Bring them to the climax and then ask if they can guess what happens next.
Closing Thoughts
If you’re one of those people who suffers from restless leg syndrome whenever you get up to speak in front of anyone try structuring your speech like a story. Restate your message without repeating it word for word. Humble yourself to make your audience sympathetic. Break it down to 7 plot points, place them in your memory palace, and walk through it until each one is as easy to recall as any object in your home. Don’t hide behind the projection screen. Foreshadow twists to engage your audience and save your questions for ah-ha moments.
•••
My audiobook Terms and Conditions is now free on Bandcamp. You can listen to it right here!
After getting a lot requests for prints of my art I decided to open a store on REDBUBBLE where you can find prints and a whole lot more.TEHRAN — Iranian cartoonist Alireza Pakdel won the grand prix trophy Zelio Gold at the 43rd International Exhibition of Piracicaba Humor in Brazil, the organizers announced Saturday.
He received the prize for his untitled work, which shows some European people watching a group of Middle Eastern refugees drowning in an aquarium.
This work also brought Pakdel first prize in the Charge Category dedicated to works with journalistic themes.
Winners were announced during the opening ceremony of the exhibition, which will run until October 8.
Pakdel’s fellow artists, Nasrin Abdosheykhi and Mojtaba Heidarpanah, were also honored at the exhibition. Abdosheykhi won the first prize in the caricature category while Heidarpanah received an honorable mention.
In addition, Brazilian artist Ronaldo Cunha Dias received first prize in the cartoon section and Uzbek cartoonist Mohammad Ali Khoshkam won first prize in comic strips section.
Photo: This untitled cartoon by Alireza Pakdel won the grand prix trophy Zelio Gold at the 43rd International Exhibition of Piracicaba Humor in Brazil.
ABU/YAWNew York Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (22) checks Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) as New York Rangers right wing Mats Zuccarello (36) looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
Mike Heika, Stars beat writer for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answered your questions about the team during a live chat Tuesday. Here are some highlights:
Question: Do you think Tyler Seguin has proved that he's worth extending and not trading? Or will that depend on Dallas' record closer to the trade deadline?
Heika: This is a tough one for me, because I'm starting to think that the expectation for the superstar player is too much. If you look at the scoring leaders, they change quite a bit. So then is a player who can be up there worth $5 million, $7 million, $9 million? The Stars will not trade Seguin this year. The question is will they sign him to an extension next summer or let it run into his UFA year in 2018-19? I think a lot has to do with how this team does in the playoffs. Seguin has not been healthy enough to have playoff success, so that's a huge test for him. If he has success, the bet is he gets signed. If he doesn't (or they don't make the playoffs), the question about trading him before or during next season is very relevant.
Question: How much longer do you think the Stars have before they fall too far behind in the playoff race?
Heika: There is plenty of time to battle for a wild-card spot. They are at the top of that group in the West. However, their ability to battle for a top-three spot in the Central could quickly start to be in danger if they don't keep up with Winnipeg, St. Louis and Nashville.Al-Ahly manager Juan Carlos Garrido has decided to rest leading scorer Emad Meteb without providing the striker any rationale behind the decision.
In the uncertainty of sport, one thing is certain: North Africa's dominance over the continent's Champions League will continue for another year. Eleven of the 16 teams playing in the second round of the competition are from that region, and although that does not guarantee North Africa will have a 13th champion come the end of the year, it does assure them of almost half of the spots in the eight-team group stage.
The six teams involved in regional derbies mean that at least three places in the group stage will go to North African teams and they could have as many as six |
Labouring Poor, Cambridge 1985.
48. Tate op cit 15, p138. These figures are challenged by Curtier, whose The Enclosure and Redistribution of Our Land, op cit 10, is an apology for the landowning class. Curtier, an advocate of smallholdings maintained that thanks to landowners' generosity "there were a considerable number of small holdings in existence" and that "the lamentation over the landlessness of the poorer classes has been overdone". Yet he admits that "the total number of those having allotments and smallholdings bears a very small proportion to the total of the poorer classes." Curtier has a useful account of the effects of the various smallholding and allotment acts (pp278-301).
49. Collings, op cit 15; and Slater, op cit 37.
50. S Fairlie, "Farm Squat", The Land 2, Summer 2006.
51. Tate, op cit 15, p136.
52. Lord Eversley, English Commons and Forests, 1894.
53. George Bourne, Change in the Village, Penguin 1984 (1912), pp 77-78.
54. G M Trevelyan, English Social History, Longmans, p379.
47. Lord Ernle, English Farming Past and Present, Longmans, 1912.
55. Humanby, see J A Yelling, Common Field and Enclosure in England 1450-1850, Macmillan, 1977; Barrowby, see Joan Thirsk, op cit 29. J V, Beckett, The Agricultural Revolution, Basil Blackwell, 1990 provides a summary of this change of approach.
56. J M Neeson, op cit 10. Other key books covering this debate include E C K Gonner, Common Land and Enclosure, Macmillan, 1912; J D Mingay, The Agricultural Revolution 1750-1880, Batsford, 1970; J A Yelling, ibid.
57. Institut National D'Etudes Demographiques, Total Population (Urban and Rural) of metropolitan France and Population Density — censuses 1846 to 2004, INED website; UK figures: from Lawson 1967, cited at http://web.ukonline.co.uk/thursday.handleigh/demography/population-size/...
58. Doreen Warriner, Economics of Peasant Farming, Oxford, 1939, p3.
59.Gonner, op ci 56 p337 and p306; Neeson, op cit 10, pp86 and 156; Thirsk, op cit 29, pp38, 116 and 213.
60. Cited in Curtier, op cit 10.
61. Jeremy Rifkin, Beyond Beef, Dutton, 1992,p60.
62. Neeson, op cit 28 pp 165, 311 and passim.
63. William Cobbett, Selections from the Political Register, 1813, Vol IV.While the National Security Agency has gotten most of the recent flak for spying on people via the Internet and cell phone records, the Federal Bureau of Investigation appears to be doing some cyber spying of its own.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the FBI has been allegedly developing surveillance tools that work much like what hackers use to collect information on suspects -- including Trojans, spyware, and malware. Supposedly, the FBI created some of these tools internally, while others were purchased.
The FBI "hires people who have hacking skill, and they purchase tools that are capable of doing these things," a former official in the agency's cyber division told the Journal. The official also said that these tools are only used when other surveillance methods won't work.
The most alarming technology mentioned by the Wall Street Journal is a tool that allegedly lets the FBI remotely activate the microphones in Android devices. Once activated, the bureau can record conversations without the device's owner knowing. Apparently this tool can do the same thing with laptop microphones.
According to the Journal, the FBI has been allegedly working on these hacking tools for more than 10 years. In fact, CNET reported on almost exactly the same tool in 2006. At that time, it was revealed that the FBI had begun using a form of electronic surveillance called a "roving bug," which also could remotely activate a mobile phone's microphone and use it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.
The FBI actually has a long history of monitoring data and conversations on computers and mobile devices. In 2002, the bureau collaborated with police to wiretap mobile conversations, and in 2004 it renewed efforts to keep that program going. By 2007, the FBI was trying to secretly obtain U.S. citizen's telephone, Internet, and financial records.
Just last week it was revealed that the FBI and NSA were looking to escalate their electronic surveillance even more. On behalf of these agencies, the U.S. government attempted to obtain the master encryption keys that Internet companies use to shield millions of users' private Web communications from eavesdropping.
CNET contacted the FBI for comment. We'll update the story when we get more information.Related Headlines Severe storms likely Tuesday evening
North Texans got creative Tuesday to protect their cars with the threat of severe weather predicted.
Photos submitted to FOX 4 showed people using everything from pillows to mattresses to cardboard to wood to prevent their vehicles from being damaged by hail.
University of North Texas students are also finding creative ways to protect their vehicles.
When UNT runs out of parking pic.twitter.com/ZlZBtwW8qn — meg (@meganaleonard) April 27, 2016
UNT parking garages at full capacity once again. Students using anything and everything to cover their windshields. pic.twitter.com/Sm3Zjeqlcs — Blake Holland (@tblakeholland) April 26, 2016
There have already been several major hailstorms this season that have caused major damage to homes, schools and vehicles. The most recent hailstorm on April 11 hit Wylie hard and people are still working to repair the destruction.
A line of storms is predicted to sweep through North Texas late Tuesday evening and overnight. It could bring wind, hail and high winds and possibly some flooding.Bombings killed 8 and wounded 50 in Iraq on Tuesday. There were two bombings in eastern Shiite neighborhoods in the capital. A boy and two soldiers were wounded near Baqubah.
These attacks are likely to go on for a while. But despite what a lot of commentators imply, the recent bombings have almost nothing to do with the cessation of US patrols in the major cities.
As AFP lets slip, 437 Iraqis were killed by political violence in June, the last month of US military patrols, with 40 attacks per week.
In July, the first month in which there were no regular US patrols in the major cities, 275 Iraqis were killed in political violence and the number of attacks was 29 per week.
One month does not make a trend. The number of deaths in August could well be back up to the June level. But if deaths and attacks dropped by a third during the first month of no US patrols, it is not legitimate to suggest that the patrols need to start back up or their lack is the cause of increased violence!
Moreover, the bombing in Khazna north of Mosul would not have been in any way impeded by patrols of US troops in the big city of Mosul. Small villages have all along been vulnerable to attacks precisely because they are seldom garrisoned by US or Iraqi troops. In August of 2007, truck bombings of two Yazidi villages in the north killed an estimated 500 Iraqis. And that was at the height of the so-called ‘surge.’ US troops could not stop the hitting of a soft target like that 2 years ago, and Iraqi troops cannot stop it today. It is irrelevant to the question of the security fallout from the US withdrawal.
So, to repeat: Violence and monthly death tolls fell when the US troops stopped patrolling. And attacks like that at Khazna were happening when US troops had more security duties.
So whatever has been going on in Iraq during the past week is not an argument for the unwisdom of the troop drawdown. The journalists who are playing up this angle are just not doing the math.
End/ (Not Continued)OVI, Monticello Boulevard: At 9:55 p.m. June 8, police were called to the intersection of Monticello Boulevard and Cambridge Road where a car was in the street, disabled. The driver told police that his car was out of gas, though it was still running. The officer observed that a front tire was almost completely off its rim and a rear tire was flat.
As the officer spoke to the driver, his father arrived on the scene. The driver appeared drunk and went on to perform poorly on field sobriety tests. The driver used vulgar language when speaking to police and, once inside the back seat of a cruiser, he bashed his head against the cage in the car, opening a wound.
The driver was placed on a stretcher as his father tried to calm him. While on the stretcher, he vomited on himself.
Police charged the driver with OVI, failure to control and for not wearing his seat belt.
Theft, Yellowstone Road: At 3:40 p.m. June 8, police were called to a home where a woman informed an officer that four boxes containing cables and computer routers were taken from her front porch. The woman and her family had just moved into the home and left the boxes on the porch.
A man driving a truck that read Purple Heart Foundation was seen parked in front of the house at the time of the theft. The driver waved at the woman as he drove away.
The foundation told police that there was no scheduled pick up for that area on June 8.
Aggravated menacing, Colonial Drive: At 2:45 p.m. June 13, a man was working at his rental property when a car drove up. In the car was a former renter the man knew from past dealings.
The man who arrived in the car brandished a handgun and threatened to kill the property manager. The property manager called 911 and the man with the gun fled.
Police are looking for the gunman, who faces a charge of aggravated menacing.
At 8:10 a.m. June 6, police were called to a Mayfield Road address by a woman, 34, who stated that she had been hit by her boyfriend, who then drove from the scene.
The woman said that the couple was in bed when they argued about his cheating with another woman. The man, 25, became upset and choked the woman, then put his hand in her mouth and held it open. When the woman struggled free, she went downstairs and held her baby son. She told the boyfriend several times to leave. He replied that he would leave when he was ready to do so.
As he did depart, the woman walked to the door to lock it behind him and the man pushed on the door. While she held the baby, the man pushed her and then took her cell phone and stomped on it.
Police located the man's vehicle a short time later and conducted a traffic stop. He did not have a driver's license as he had his driving privileges revoked due to a past incident.
The man was arrested on charges of domestic violence, assault and child endangerment, as well as DUS and driving with a cracked windshield.
Menacing, Desota Avenue: At 8:45 p.m. June 8, a woman went to the police station to report that she has been involved in an ongoing issue with another woman over a boy who is the father of children by both women.
The woman filing the complaint said that the two have gone back and forth at each other on social media. She also said that the other women took a picture of her home's front door and added a caption under the photo on social media that she was going to beat her.
The complainant was advised to go to Cleveland's Justice Center and seek a restraining order.
Menacing, Mayfield Road: At 11:40 a.m. June 10, a man reported that the night before, while he was at Helen's Game Time bar, 3962 Mayfield Road, he encountered his former girlfriend. The woman told him to "watch (his) back" then shaped her fingers into that of a gun. The woman then left the bar.
The man said he filed a report because the two have had incidents involving violence between them in the past.
Assault, Cumberland Road: At 2:30 a.m. June 14, a woman went to the police station to report that she had been assaulted with a lawn chair by her female cousin, 28, while at a family gathering. The lawn chair struck the woman in the face and she had a swollen lip.
At 4 p.m. June 16, the 28-year-old cousin went to the police station and said she was assaulted by the original complainant. She said both cousins were drunk at the time and that when she returned home that night, she received several text messages and calls of harassment.
The second cousin told Cleveland Heights police that she filed a harassment report with police in the city she lives, Euclid.
If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull must use May's 50th anniversary of the referendum recognising Australian Aborigines to finally deliver the promises that have been broken by governments since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
This was the call of Robert Tickner, the Keating government's minister for Aboriginal affairs, who was in charge of implementing the royal commission's 339 recommendations.
"These are fixable social problems, but things won't change and won't be prioritised much unless our current and future prime ministers seize the agenda and become its champion in the same way Paul Keating did for Mabo," Mr Tickner said when addressing a National Archives of Australia media conference on the release of selected cabinet records for 1992 and 1993.
"I think Malcolm Turnbull is a good and decent person who wants to do the right thing in Aboriginal Affairs, but expressed good intentions are not enough without the necessary leadership to generate real change, and I desperately hope he seizes the moment on this.Cloverfield 3: J.J. Abrams-Produced God Particle is Actually the Next Sequel
Cloverfield 3: J.J. Abrams-Produced God Particle is Actually the Next Sequel
Share. Surprise! Surprise!
The J.J. Abrams-produced sci fi flick 'God Particle' actually takes place within the Cloverfield universe, a new report claims.
A source close to The Wrap says that the movie will be next year's Cloverfield entry (after this year's 10 Cloverfield Lane), with a new one expected to be released annually.
Bad Robot and Paramount's God Particle was first announced in 2012, but went into limbo for several years after Paramount's independent arm InSurge went under. It's now back on track with a February 24, 2017 release date. Here's the description of God Particle from our original 2012 article:
"After a physics experiment with a large hadron accelerator causes the Earth to seemingly vanish completely, the terrified crew of an orbiting American space station is left floating in the middle of now-even-more-empty space. When a European spacecraft appears on their radar, the Americans must determine whether it’s their salvation, or a harbinger of doom."
God Particle is directed by Julis Onah, and stars David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki,Daniel Brühl and Chris O’Dowd.
Exit Theatre Mode
Lucy O'Brien is an editor at IGN’s Sydney office. Follow her ramblings on Twitter.Emily Lakdawalla • July 5, 2016
Juno has arrived!
For a second time, NASA has placed a spacecraft into orbit at Jupiter. The spacecraft operated exactly according to plan, and Juno successfully entered orbit at 02:50 today, July 5, 2016, UTC; a further 15 minutes of engine firing beyond that placed Juno into its desired orbit. The actual burn time of 2102 seconds was only 1 second off of the predicted value.
As of the moment I'm writing this, they hadn't yet downlinked telemetry (or if they did, they haven't told the media); they only received tones from the spacecraft's low- and medium-gain antennae that give the most basic information on spacecraft health. But so far, so good, for everything, and it was a pretty euphoric team at the post-orbit-insertion briefing.
Below is the JunoCam approach movie, 17 days and about 1500 images covering an entire Callisto orbit. There is a soundtrack (by Vangelis), so mute your computer if you're at work before you play it! I'm told there will be a version without all the extra produced padding posted at some point this evening, but it's getting late and I have to drive home...
Please accept marketing-cookies to watch this video.
There are several things to notice in this video. You can see Io, Europa, and Ganymede turning off and back on again as they pass into Jupiter's shadow. You can see belts and zones begin to come into focus as Juno approaches. Sometimes, if you squint, you can spot the red spot. You can see Jupiter's belts fall to a steeper angle as Juno begins to rise in latitude. Some of the moons, especially Callisto, look kind of blinky -- this has to do with the way that the JunoCam instrument works. It's designed for extended targets (things that fill many pixels), not point targets. Scott Bolton said on the press panel this evening that at this phase angle, Callisto was dimmer than predicted. Its dim light, combined with the sharpness of the JunoCam optics, meant that its light was focused into a very small area on the detector. On the JunoCam detector, not all of the area is active, meaning that photons can fall in between pixels, or at least in between areas where they would be detected. When Callisto's light fell into those areas, it seemed to dim in the movie.
Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton was repeatedly asked about plans to release the raw images. During the morning press briefing he said that their release "depends on what we see [in them] and how interesting it is," but by the evening he was saying that the mission intends to release them within a few weeks, though he wasn't specific as to the timeline, citing "technical issues." You can bet I'll keep asking!
Emily Lakdawalla Senior Editor and Planetary Evangelist for The Planetary Society
Read more articles by Emily LakdawallaIndia is undertaking exploration of rare earth element (REE) monazite, an essential source of nuclear fuel, and has already set up a plant in Odisha for processing the mineral, Parliament was informed today.
Monazite is an atomic mineral and contains thorium an essential nuclear fuel.
Minister of state for Steel and Mines Vishnu Deo Sai in a written reply to Lok Sabha said, "Exploration and exploitation of rare earth elements are being undertaken. Monazite is a mineral of Thorium and REE and the only commercial source of REE in the country."
He added, "Recently, Indian Rare Earth Ltd (IREL) has set up a plant at Orissa Sand Complex to process 10,000 tonnes of Monazite per annum."
IREL processes monazite to produce rare earth compounds.
The company, under the Department of Atomic Energy, has also set up a facility at its Rare Earth Division in Kerala to produce separated high purity rare earth utilising mixed rare earth chloride produced in the Odisha plant.
India has the highest monazite reserve in the world with 11.39 million tonnes but stopped production since 2004 after cheap monazite became available from China.
The Minister said Geological Survey of India is also carrying out exploration in different parts of the country for other sources of REE.The red carpet will be all-black at the 2018 Golden Globes.
Multiple sources confirm to PEOPLE that many major actresses — including presenters and nominees (Jessica Chastain, Meryl Streep, and Emma Stone are among those nominated) — are planning to wear all-black looks as a symbol of protest against harassment in Hollywood. Sources say that this will start at the Golden Globes on Jan. 7, though it may extend throughout award season. Claudia and Jackie Oshry confirmed it on their show The Morning Breath as well.
“All female actresses attending the Globes are protesting by just wearing black gowns,” a source tells PEOPLE.
Many Hollywood actresses have been vocal in rallying against sexual harassment since The New York Times broke the story about allegations against famed producer Harvey Weinstein. Dozens have spoken out against the once-powerful movie mogul, including Lupita Nyong’o, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Julia Roberts as well as Salma Hayek, who wrote an op-ed in the Times Wednesday calling Weinstein “a monster.”
Weinstein is not the only Hollywood person accused. Since his allegations came to light, Kevin Spacey, filmmaker Brett Ratner, comedian Louis C.K., music producer Russell Simmons, actor Geoffrey Rush, director James Toback, actor Jeffrey Tambor, and agent Adam Venit have all faced allegations from women who have come forward.
Though many stars have worn pins and accessories to express support for causes including the ACLU, the safety pin movement to support marginalized populations, the Charlie Hebdo attacks and more, this is the first time that actresses have banded together in a full show of sartorial solidarity.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, many stars attended the twice-postponed Nov. 4 Emmys in black or pantsuits to reflect the solemnity of the national mood, but it was not a coordinated effort between stars and their stylists, as this #metoo movement appears to be.
When we caught up with stylist Leslie Fremar, who styles Kate Winslet and Charlize Theron, to talk about her goals next year, she told us: “Next year I hope to create something or be a part of something that has an impact beyond the obvious.”
This could be just that.1. Chicago Blackhawks
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 28-13-2 +39 54.4% 1
The Blackhawks are firmly ensconced at the top of our rankings. We've given them a defined role, and are reluctant to bounce them around our lineup.
Joel Quenneville should try this with Teuvo Teravainen.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 27-12-4 +29 55% 4
If you knew back in September that Tyler Johnson would be the other Lightning representative at the 2015 NHL All-Star game then you should stop lying.
3. New York Islanders
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 26-12-1 +12 53.2% 2
Eight months ago, everyone would have thought Aaron Rodgers was referring to Garth Snow. Not anymore.
4. Los Angeles Kings
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 19-13-10 +7 54.7% 3
Are we sure that this man:
Meets the NHL's minimum age requirements? Because...
Tyler Toffoli has mono? Is he ACTUALLY thirteen? — Toni McIntyre (@ToniMacAttack) January 11, 2015
You have to ask the question.
5. Nashville Predators
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 28-9-4 +32 52.4% 6
In this week's edition of Too Many Cookes, Shea Weber plays the role of Smarf.
Smarf Weber has joined Evander Kane in a select class of the most heroic defenders of broth.
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 25-10-6 +24 51.5% 5
Sidney Crosby got kicked in the groin Saturday night and thankfully wasn't injured.
His reaction, though, was priceless:
(Courtesy: Sportsnet)
Usually, the Penguins don't receive a swift kick in the nether regions until playoff time.
7. St. Louis Blues
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 26-13-3 +31 51% 9
The Ken Hitchcock-coached Blues have scored more than five goals in each of their past four games. Perhaps the definition of Hitchcock hockey isn't so much evolving as it is mutating in the radioactive muck. Like Blinky.
8. Winnipeg Jets
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 21-14-8 +4 51.9% 10
Everyone is happy to see the Jets succeeding. Well, everyone except Ondrej Pavelec...
(Courtesy: Reddit)
9. Anaheim Ducks
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 27-10-6 +3 51% 7
Teemu Selanne snubbed NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on a hug attempt during his jersey retirement ceremony Sunday. It was glorious:
(Courtesy: Reddit)
Tough to beat Bettman's Pavelec face:
10. New York Rangers
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 24-11-4 +29 50.2% 13
The Rangers' dominance of the three Californian kaiju this week was overshadowed by the fact that, really? This is a real thing?
Tanner Glass has a fan club at the game tonight? @TheBroadwayHat pic.twitter.com/8PtakKhZmr — Neil B. (@neilbode) January 11, 2015
11. Montreal Canadiens
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 26-12-3 +16 48.7% 8
If P.K. Subban isn't an All-Star, what exactly is the point?
12. Washington Capitals
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 22-11-8 +18 50.6% 11
Barry Trotz got cut when Capitals center Marcus Johansson grazed his face with his stick during a loss to the Flyers this past Thursday:
(Courtesy: CSN)
Quipped Trotz about his temporarily disfigured visage:
Trotz on his forehead cut and shiner: "HD's not doing me any favors right now." — Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) January 11, 2015
Also not doing Trotz any favors: the coaching job being done by current Jack Adams front runner Peter Laviolette.
13. Detroit Red Wings
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 22-11-9 +11 54.1% 12
The Red Wings are the NHL's third-best puck possession team by score-adjusted Corsi For percentage. Now imagine what they could do with more than one bona fide top-pairing defenseman on the roster.
14. Florida Panthers
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 20-11-9 -5 52.1% 15
Among NHL goaltenders who have started at least 30 games this season, Roberto Luongo ranks third in save percentage - behind only Pekka Rinne and Carey Price. If he keeps that up, and the cats can make the playoffs, he'll be deserving of Vezina consideration.
15. San Jose Sharks
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 22-16-5 -2 51.3% 14
That Brent Burns is an All-Star defenseman is impressive. It's even more impressive that he's still more valuable playing forward.
16. Boston Bruins
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 22-15-6 +2 52.2% 18
This week Brad Marchand and Torey Krug got into a scuffle at Bruins practice when one of them (probably Marchand) made fun of the other for being short.
Marchand and Krug got into a fight at practice over a height joke So much for the "big bad Bruins" — Scott Matla (@scottmatla) January 7, 2015
Yeah, now they're just the Bad Bruins.
17. Dallas Stars
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 18-16-7 -9 51% 16
The Dallas Stars briefly shot themselves back into a playoff spot in December, but have now lost four games in a row while giving up three or more goals against in each of those contests.
18. Minnesota Wild
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 18-18-5 -10 52.4% 17
Not only has Minnesota's goaltending been putrid, but their initially-improved puck possession game has fallen off in a major way over the past six weeks:
(Courtesy: War-on-Ice)
Sadly, Wild fans have seen this film before...
19. Vancouver Canucks
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 23-14-3 +9 49.4% 19
Only seven NHL teams have been outscored by a wider margin at 5-on-5 than the Canucks have so far this season.
20. Toronto Maple Leafs
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 22-17-3 +7 44.9% 20
Randy Carlyle was fired because the Maple Leafs felt they were trending in the wrong direction. That's a polite way of putting it:
Leafs cumulative Corsi under Randy Carlyle. pic.twitter.com/uUnMt4B1a6 — Travis Yost (@TravisHeHateMe) January 6, 2015
Is that the Maple Leafs' shot differential or the television ratings for a Phil Kessel-hosted roast of Toronto Star reporter Dave Feschuk?
21. Calgary Flames
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 22-18-3 +9 44.1% 21
Johnny Hockey delivers the goods. Jiri Hudler? He delivers the pizza:
(Courtesy: reddit)
22. Ottawa Senators
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 17-16-8 -3 48.9% 23
The Senators appear to be playing a bit better since Dave Cameron took over, but they'll really take off when and if they decide to sign Todd Bertuzzi to a full NHL deal.
The fans, let us assure you, are excited:
23. Colorado Avalanche
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 18-16-8 -10 44.3% 27
Injuries and brutal shooting luck have conspired to make Nathan MacKinnon look decidedly average in the first half of his sophomore season. Until this week, that is:
(Courtesy: NHL.com)
24. Columbus Blue Jackets
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 18-19-3 -27 46% 24
The Blue Jackets have the 24th-best record in hockey and are due to miss the postseason for the 12th time in their 14 seasons. Three All-Stars, though!
25. Philadelphia Flyers
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 16-19-7 -14 48.5% 22
The Flyers will turn to journeyman goalie Rob Zepp in Steve Mason's absence. The quality of their goaltending will be unchanged.
26. Arizona Coyotes
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 16-21-4 -39 48.9% 25
Here are the five least valuable goaltenders in fantasy hockey this season (in a Yahoo league that counts wins, goals against average and save percentage):
(Courtesy: Yahoo Fantasy Hockey)
That's 1,852 out of 1,852 total players currently listed on Yahoo.
Mike Smith's contract carries a $5.66-million cap hit through 2019...
27. New Jersey Devils
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 15-21-8 -28 48.9% 26
Patrik Elias doesn't think he deserved to be named an NHL All-Star...
Elias said he feels bad for players from other teams who deserve to be all-stars and aren't "because of a slug like me." — Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) January 11, 2015
If it makes him feel any better, he should consider it as recognition for a great career. Like when Al Pacino won his first best actor Oscar for "Scent of a Woman." Or when Martin Scorcese won his first best director Oscar for "The Departed."
28. Carolina Hurricanes
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 13-24-5 -24 51.3% 28
Eric Staal quietly has six goals in his last seven games. His recent hot streak has moved him past Justin Faulk for the Hurricanes' scoring lead!
Yeah, brutal. This is why you can't really blame Hurricanes fans for staying home...
(Courtesy: @theScore)
29. Edmonton Oilers
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 10-24-9 -48 49.4% 29
The Oilers could have moved past the Buffalo Sabres with a victory over the Panthers on Sunday night. It didn't happen, but Connor McDavid will breathe a sigh of relief when it does.
Congrats to the Canadian juniors, except for the poor bastards who will become Edmonton Oilers. — Chris Jones (@MySecondEmpire) January 6, 2015
30. Buffalo Sabres
Record Goal Differential Corsi For% Previous Rank 14-26-3 -66 37.4% 30
Mired in a fully-expected 1-10-1 downturn, Sabres fans should do as Tim Murray does and console themselves with dreams of Reinhart.CURRENT BACKERS: Do not use the pre-order link on our website. In a few weeks, you will get further instructions via email from us where you can enter your delivery address and order more Odins if you'd like. Our timeline below is still accurate and we will send updates as we head towards production. The above link is for people who did not back our Kickstarter only.
We're funded!
Thank you, Kickstarter! Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter or by email:
Website http://www.updogtoys.com
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Twitter http://twitter.com/UpDogToys
Email Newsletter http://eepurl.com/ZVnBH
Dogs don't care how their toys look, they just want to play. So why not make a beautiful dog toy, something that complements your home? With this in mind and other ideas on improving our dog's favorite toys, we created The Odin, a puzzle treat toy that is beautiful for your home and fun for your dog.
The Odin is the first in a series of toys we hope to make to keep your dog happy and your home looking great.
The Odin engages dogs on multiple levels, giving them mental stimulation and physical activity. It's a type of toy that dogs are always interested in. If your dog enjoys food, they will enjoy The Odin. Simply place treats inside The Odin and, as your dog plays, treats will fall out.
Dogs of all shapes and sizes can play with The Odin. We've seen dogs pick it up and drop it, use their nose to push it around and knock it around with their paws. Whether they are tall or short, have a big nose or small nose, all dogs have found a way to get the treats out.
Watch the famous French Bulldog, Sir Charles Barkley, play with the Odin for the first time:
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Minimal, modern design inspired by geometric shapes and art combining aesthetics and functionality. After many drawings, CADs, paper and 3D printed prototypes we created a durable and beautiful shape, exceeding even our expectations of not compromising on any aspect of the toy.
Connect multiple toys to add variation and increase difficulty to make play time longer. With two or more connected, the toy will not roll as easily, there are less holes for treats to come out of and the treats are in different compartments. Also, more treats in total can be put into multiple balls versus just one so you don't need to refill as often. Connect more toys or change treats to make the toy new again for your dog.
Flaps allow treats to easily be placed in but not fall out and four differently sized holes allow treats to spill out at varying rates. This gives your dog the option to lick the treats through the flaps or roll it. Change the size of the dog treats you place inside to make it easier or harder on your dog based on their personality and ability.
All dog toys spend a lot of time in their mouths and so we took great care in choosing a material that is tough, food safe, latex free and phthalates free. We chose a more expensive material to give you a better quality product that will last longer and is even dishwasher safe. You should always supervise your dog when playing with any toy though. They like the attention!
Safe for dogs big and small. We made sure it wasn't too small or weak to be easily broken by a big dog but not too heavy for small dogs either.
Dimensions: 3.6in x 3.3in x 3.8in. Holds 1 cup of food.
Since we're a dog toy company we are focusing on primarily offering our toy with discounts in lieu of stickers and t-shirts. We do have some special awards for higher level backers but our focus is on giving you the best deal possible, especially on 2+ toys since we designed The Odin to be used in groups of 2 and 3 and plan to have our next toy connect to The Odin as well.
We are prioritizing delivery of orders $35 or more, so if you want your toy faster then please consider a higher tier/getting more toys. The dynamics of the toy truly change when going from 1 Odin to 2+ Odin's. We've seen dogs play with the toy differently based on how many Odin's are connected. Otherwise, an extra Odin will be a great gift to other dogs in your life.
All Backer amounts include shipping inside the U.S. For international shipping, select the reward and your location to get the shipping cost.
Your pledges go towards our goal of $25,000. This is the bare minimum to cover $9000 in tooling costs, $10,000 in manufacturing and freight and the other $6,000 covers packing supplies, storage, shipping the product to you and Kickstarter and credit card fees.
We are only offering one color but would like to produce multiple colors of The Odin. Right now we are only offering slate but we'd also like to |
pieces from the show is a giant installation called The Purge by artist Chris Whiteburch who decided to imagine how the house itself would confront the impending doom. The result is a structure purging its contents, all manner of debris and structural material shooting violently through a window into a giant wooden splash.
One of the most fascinating things about this project to me was its similarity to Inversion House, another modified house installation created by sculptors Dan Havel and Dean Ruck in 2005, roughly 150 miles east in Houston. The resemblance is uncanny in that they are essentially exact opposites. Via phone Whiteburch says the similarity is purely coincidental and that he wasn’t even aware of Inversion House until somebody mentioned it after seeing his work. Unfortunately the Last New Year has been taken down, but you can see more images over on Ink Tank’s website. I want to thank both Chris and photographers Julie and Adam Schreiber for providing the imagery for this post.Apple's iPhone 6 has been one of the most anticipated phone releases of the year. A number of rumors have been circulating about the new device, including a release date which keeps changing. This week, we received a major clue about the release.
German phone company Deutsche Telekom has told customers they can expect the iPhone 6 on September 19th. DT gave this information to their call center staff, "to let customers know the date in a bid to stop them swapping operators."
The date does seem like a definite possibility. Historically, Apple launches their new iPhones on Fridays, on which September 19th falls. The iPhone 4S was released in October, but the iPhone 5S was released on September 10th and the 5 on September 12th.
In April, Taiwan’s Business Times was alleging that there were battery production issues, pushing back the launch. This could have led to two iPhone launches, one for the larger phone and another for the smaller device. The new release date information makes this option more likely. If that is the case, we could see the 4.7- inch device out in September and the 5.5 inch closer to the holidays.
RELATED: Google's New Self-Driving Car Doesn't Have a Steering Wheel or Brake Pedals
Of course, Apple could also pull a fast one and release both at once after their Worldwide Developers Conference next week.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/technology/2014/05/german-teleco-reveals-iphone-6-release-date/371725/
Read more from The Wire
• Meet the New Electric Skateboard You Can Control With Your PhoneHey Everyone, summer is here and it's time to get out and play! Here's a list of all the Nerf Games going on in June!
Foam Action Network : It's going to be a busy month for FAN! First off, we have the HvZ event "Triage," where humans scout out a recently infected zone of the city and fight off hordes of zombies. The game will take place on June 8th at 2PM in Washington Park. For more specifics on their HvZ event, check out their event page. There's also the return of "A Friendly Game of Assassin," this time with a team based element in the deadly ongoing competition. Check out the details and sign up today here
HvZ: SFSU : Dealing with Zombies during the summer can be such a pain. You're not only dealing with the hot sun on your back, but also the affect of zombie flesh going rancid in the heat. Lucky for us, the HvZ group in SFSU thought ahead and will be hosting a night game on June 8th at 7:30PM on campus! Check out the details and their promotional video on the event page.
Jericho - The Urban Spy Game : Pop Quiz: how many shots does a good spy need to eliminate their target? Trick question, a good spy doesn't let out that information. Jericho will put your skills to the test at their next event on June 15th at 1PM over by Hayes Valley/Alamo Square, check them out on their meetup page.
Bay Area Urban Recreational Nerf (B.U.R.N.) : Let's get ready to ruuuummmbbblllllllle! This month, B.U.R.N. is hosting a Mike Tyson's Punch Out themed event, stolen bikes and ear chewing not included. Snacks and drinks will be available for purchase on site, and we'll be raffling off another Alpha Trooper and other Nerf Blasters. Come duke it out on June 22th at 11AM down by Braly Park. Check out the event page for more details!
Bridges Rock Gym: I know you guys are practically climbing the walls waiting for the next Bridges Nerf Night event where you can, well, literally climb the walls. Admission is $10 and spots are limited, so fill out their waiver on their website and call today to save your spot! You can also check out their Facebook Group and event page for more details.To thousands of folks passing through the intersection of West Broad and Belvidere streets, the visually aggressive concrete structure taking sculptural form on the southwest corner is increasingly mesmerizing.
It will house Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Contemporary Art, a newly minted organization that should add considerably to the burgeoning cultural scene when it opens late next year.
Only a few blocks away, on the campus of Virginia Union University, efforts to create another university art gallery also are ratcheting up. For a number of months, school officials, friends and alumni have been quietly and methodically making plans and raising money to convert the long-neglected Industrial Hall building into a modern exhibition and study center — which will house VUU’s growing art collection.
Like the ICA, the century-old, craggy, gray-stone-clad, decaying building with its brick smoke stack is visible to thousands of passersby daily — but to those zooming past on Interstate 95. What they now see as a glorious ruin should take its place as a cherished landmark after being restored and re-purposed.
The Industrial Hall is one of the campus’ original eight buildings dating from 1899. And what a beautiful campus it is — an impressive collection of late-19th-century and early-20th-century, castlelike Romanesque revival buildings arranged along a gentle knoll that rises from Lombardy Street and what once was Bacon’s Quarter Branch. The creek is now obscured by railroad tracks and the interstate.
The VUU campus was designed by John H. Coxhead (1865-1943), a Buffalo, New York-based architect who was born the same year the school was founded. Initially, classes were held in the former Lumpkin’s slave jail in Shockoe Bottom. Later, operations were moved to a hotel on Main Street. In 1899, VUU moved to its current campus.
The campus’ Romanesque-flavored architectural unity was interrupted in 1942 with a refreshing jolt of modernity. That was when the Belgian Friendship Complex was dismantled and shipped from New York, where it served as the Belgium Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair. Transported to Richmond via train, the prefabricated building was rebuilt on the Virginia Union campus under the direction of Charles Russell, a black architect who taught at the school.
The minimalist structure has served multiple purposes since, including as a library, gymnasium and now space for the fine arts programs. And the building’s impressive bell tower — minus the chimes since they were given to, and ring daily at, Stanford University in Palo Alto, California — is a North Side landmark, an architectural gateway to this part of town.
Since the Belgian Building’s arrival, additional modern buildings have been built on campus that have contributed to a relaxed and open feeling. Among the newer buildings is the 2006 L. Douglas Wilder Learning Resource Center and Library, at the southernmost end of the campus. It houses the university library, archives and an art collection.
The latter holdings, many of which are displayed in 3,200 square feet of exhibition space, were bolstered considerably in the early 1990s with the acquisition of numerous pieces of African and Oceanic art. Masks, sculptures, utilitarian carvings and textiles from West and Central Africa and Guatemala were gifts of collectors James and Barbara Sellman.
The couple also contributed an impressive collection of African-American folk art, including pieces by Thornton Dial Sr., a self-trained talent who was born in Alabama in 1928. Collections at Harvard University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art also contain his work.
The move from the Wilder building and into a renovated Industrial Hall will triple the university’s art exhibition space, bringing it to 9,692 square feet on three levels. The first floor will have a large gallery, a modest-sized lecture hall, offices, restrooms, storage and a catering kitchen. The second floor largely will be devoted to galleries, with the ability to subdivide the spaces into smaller display areas. The third level will accommodate art storage and perhaps studio space for an artist-in-residence.
Because the building interior was initially built with largely open spaces, interior gutting is unnecessary, adding cost efficiencies to the plan. The $3.7 million construction budget is being raised through private gifts. A $2 million endowment also is being established.
And while the granite building will gleam in the changing daylight, so will its impressive red brick smoke stack, preserved artifact of the industrial age.
“While we have been focusing on STEM, a curriculum of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Dennis Washington, VUU vice president for institutional advancement, “this new facility will allow us to also emphasize the arts to a greater extent — STEAM — for our students.”
As it restores Industrial Hall, Virginia Union might explore how it can leverage the building’s highly visible location next to the interstate. There may be a way to announce not only the museum, but also the campus itself. S26 Stellar No-Bake Holiday Dessert Recipes
How sweet it is! Dessert is one of our favorite parts of the holidays, but with travel and parties aplenty it can be hard to find time to bake. If you’re feeling a little oven-shy or just wonder why those cookies you pop in the oven always come out blacker than golden brown, maybe it’s time to try something new! We’ve found 26 stellar “no-bake” recipes that will satisfy even the pickiest of friends and a few recipes for tricky dietary restrictions, like vegan! If you’re still craving something sweet after reading about these delectable treats try making our No-Bake Peanut Butter and Jelly Pie or our adorable No-Bake Grammy Bon Bons.
1. Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies: a staple around the holidays, these cookies require one pot and a stove top. These cookies contain dangerously delicious amounts of peanut butter and chocolate, and for a different texture, try making them with Crunchy peanut butter. (via Foodista)
2. White Chocolate No-Bake Cheesecake: These very red and white little cheesecakes would add the perfect festive touch to any meal and will wow friends and family! (via Sprinkle Bakes)
3. Thin Mint Cookies: Dreaming about Girl Scout Cookies? Satisfy your crunchy, minty craving by making your own thin mints and if you’re feeling generous, give some as gifts! (via Everyday Reading )
4. Scotcheroo Bar: This classic from Buns in My Oven is always welcome at large gatherings. Added bonus, you can make a whole pan of these treats in one batch making it a low stress contribution. (via Mom’s Galley)
5. Triple Chocolate Brownies: The name alone makes us hungry. Anything with that much chocolate has to be delicious. (via Food 52)
6. Peppermint Fudge: This super simple fudge has color in all the right places. Not to mention the sweet crushed candy cane on top that makes this dessert undeniably festive. (via Shugary Sweets)
7. Vanilla Panna Cotta and Pomegranate Jelly: This elegant dessert requires absolutely no oven and looks amazing in a delicate glass. Make sure the glasses allow easy access for large spoons! (via Inspired Edibles)
8. Rum Balls: “But where has all the rum gone?” In these holiday classics! Nab an easy and boozy dessert by making these petite bites. (via Joy of Baking)
9. Peanut Butter Bar: Another large group friendly recipe, these Peanut Butter Bars from Our Best Bites are sure to please even the pickiest of eaters, think a giant Reese’s cup. (via Runs on Sundae)
10. Mini Grasshopper Pies: We can’t get over how sweet these little desserts are, both visually and to eat! These individual desserts would be a perfect addition to a small dinner party. (Image via A Pretty Life in the Suburbs)
11. Samoa Bars: Okay maybe we’re a little Girl Scout focused but if Thin Mints aren’t your thing why not make Samoa Bars! (via Babble)
12. Vegan Peanut Butter Cacao Fudge Bars: Yes these amazing looking fudge bars are vegan! That means none of your friends and family have to miss out on the holiday goodies. (via Lunch Box Bunch)
13. Oreo Truffles: How do dense and delicious little Oreo truffles sound to you? We’re certainly excited about this finger friendly truffle. (via Bakerella)
14. S’More Pie: If you tried our S’More pie and loved it, you’ll love this version as well! It does take longer to make but maybe you could whip up both and have a blind tasting… (via Brown Eyed Baker)
15. Orange and Cream Pie: To satisfy, dare we say it, the non-chocoholics in the room. This classy pie will be refreshing and sweet. (via Joy the Baker)
16. Easy No-Bake Cheesecake: Ready to wow the folks at your Holiday table? Knock their socks off with this stunning and simple Cheesecake! (via Just a Taste)
17. Chocolate Mousse: No no-bake list would be complete without a mention of mousse. So here is a fabulous chocolate mousse for your palate’s pleasure. (via Food Network)
18. Peanut Butter Pie: And the peanut butter just keeps coming! This light and fluffy peanut butter pie will keep Grandpa coming back for seconds. (via One Ordinary Day)
19. Candy Cane Bark: Chaos is key to a gorgeous candy cane bark. Throw everything together and voila! A dessert that’s ready to be gifted. (via Babble)
20. Thin Mint Puppy Chow: What makes the delectable powdered sugary goodness of puppy chow (or muddy buddies) even better? Some mint! (via Shugary Sweets)
21. Homemade Tootsie Rolls: Looking for a sweet gift for that candy lover in your life or maybe just trying to find an easy item to contribute to that holiday party? Look no further! (via Sprinkle Bakes)
22. Vegan Walnut Pumpkin Pie: A vegan take on a Holiday classic. This pie is the best of both worlds! (via Lunch Box Bunch)
23. Peanut Butter Banana Granola Bites: If massive amounts of sugar and butter make you squirm, there’s no need to miss out on all the dessert fun. Try these slightly sweet and healthy granola bites! (via Joy the Baker)
24. Oreo Layer Dessert: Cool whip and chocolate pudding, nothings better! This low maintenance dessert is perfect for the dessert maker that prefers to keep things simple. (via Brown Eyed Baker)
25. Banana Pudding with Homemade Salted Caramel: Just in case you’re looking for something a tiny bit old fashioned for a family dinner, give these a try! They are a delicious new take on a sweet classic. (via Just a Taste )
26. Gingerbread Oreo No Bake Mini Cheesecakes: Oreos, cheesecake, and gingerbread all in one? I think I just died and went to no-bake dessert heaven. (via My Baking Addiction)
We’re certainly ready to get no-baking! What desserts do you plan to make for your family during the holidays? Tell us in the comments!Afghanistan’s High Peace Council has come in for some tough criticism in Kunduz, where militants briefly captured the provincial capital last year.
The Council was set up five years ago to handle attempts at reconciliation with the Taleban. Although it has persuaded hundreds of former insurgents to come over to the government’s side, speakers at IWPR debates last month emphasised that there was still a long way to go.
Taleban forces seized control of the northeastern provincial capital for a few days in September 2015. Although the militants withdrew from Kunduz city on October 3, their actions were a major propaganda coup and they remain active in the surrounding countryside.
“If the high peace council had been effective in Kunduz, then Kunduz should not have fallen,” said Abdul Wase Basil, the spokesman for the governor of Kunduz. He added that the funds dedicated to reconciliation efforts would have been better spent on infrastructure projects.
Debate participant Sanaullah Sayedzada asked Basil what the governor was doing to hold the work of the Council in Kunduz to account.
“The provincial departments submit their reports every week to the governor’s office. So if the reports submitted by the high peace council to you over the past five years showed that they were unsuccessful, what actions have you taken as the monitoring entity?” he asked.
Basil said that the provincial governor had consistently criticised the Council’s actions, but said that the management of peace efforts was under the jurisdiction of the central government in Kabul.
“Generally speaking, we have not been satisfied with the performance of this council,” he said.
Civil society activist Abdul Shukoor Dost said that ordinary villagers and armed thugs had been presented as former Taleban members to the council.
The whole programme needed to be rethought, he added.
“In my view, the policy designed and developed for bringing peace in Afghanistan is not a well- thought strategy that matches the problems on the ground,” Dost continued. “It has had no success, not only in Kunduz, but in all of the provinces of Afghanistan.”
Young men joined the insurgency partly due to unemployment, Dost said. In addition, the role of Pakistan in fuelling the conflict could not be ignored, he continued.
“Peace will not be ensured in Afghanistan, unless and until our government convince Pakistan [to take action],” Dost concluded.
Kunduz provincial council member Gulam Rabani Rabani agreed, adding, “In order to bring peace to Afghanistan we have to reach an understanding with Pakistan and other world powers.”
He went on to claim that the Council’s achievements had been negligible.
“We have officially investigated this matter,” he said. “Throughout this period, no one from the armed opposition nor a member of Taleban has joined the peace process.”
Rabani gave the example of one militia group that he alleged were still operational even though they had formally surrendered to the National Directorate of Security.
At another debate about the reconciliation process, in Badakhshan, a High Peace Council representative said that their work had had a real impact.
Amrullah Habibi, head of the Council’s provincial public awareness committee, said that their data showed large numbers of insurgents had laid down their arms.
“If we look at the figures, there is no doubt that 20,000 trained and armed fighters joining the peace process is a huge achievement.”
Zofnoon Natiq, head of the department of women’s affairs in Badakhshan, agreed that the Council’s achievements should be recognised.
“Over the past five years, the high peace council has organised public awareness events for women in the provincial capital and in the districts of Badakhshan, which benefit the women financially and they are involved in planning and deciding such events.”
But Badakhshan provincial council member Ahmad Jawed Mujaddidi accused the Council of being dominated by factional politics.
“I think that most of the members of the peace committee have connections to a single political party,” he continued, adding that the Council’s three representatives from Badakhshan “have not participated and have had no achievements”.
University student Shafiq also said the Council’s performance had been lacklustre.
“This council can claim no successes,” he said. “Just that 700 million US dollars was spent with nothing effective done to peace closer.”
In Bagdhis, the provincial head of the Council’s secretariat pointed to specific programmes implemented in the local community.
Mohammad Akbar Hotak said that the Council had rolled out more than ten projects to bring individual fighters into the peace process.
An ongoing lack of security and tribal tensions were the main challenges they faced, he added.
“[For example] people in Muqur district who joined this process are currently living in Qala-e nau, the provincial capital, due to security problems,” Hotak explained.
Mohammad Afzal Afzali, head of Muqur’s development council, said that the Council needed to focus on building public trust.
“People have collaborated with the High Peace Council and their projects have been effective, to some extent,” he continued. “It’s the duty of everyone to work to bring peace to the region.”
His colleague Abo Bakr Azimi, the executive officer of Muqur district, was less complimentary. He said that Council officials had failed to cooperate with the district administration. A close level of collaboration with local officials was essential for programmes to have an impact, he added.
Civil society activist Sher Aqa Ehsas said that Council had just wasted public money. The real solution to the conflict lay elsewhere, he said, adding, “The government should really be negotiating with Pakistan, which controls the leadership of the Taleban.”
This report is based on an ongoing series of debates conducted as part of the IWPR programme Afghan Reconciliation: Promoting Peace and Building Trust by Engaging Civil Society.The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
User interfaces in virtual reality start with your hands. We know that now with the Oculus Touch and the HTC Vive, but even when VR was simply a screen strapped to your head many felt that hands were the future. We began to develop The Gallery on the first Oculus devkit with the Razer Hydra (a Sixense technology) to deliver surrogate hand tracking and body presence back in 2013. And when Valve invited Cloudhead and the first wave of developers to see what would eventually be known as the Vive, Valve showed a commitment to that same vision. Now Valve has invited us and a new wave of developers to begin working with their latest prototype—the SteamVR Knuckles, a wearable VR controller that tracks not just your hand, but each finger too.
Back in 2014, we didn’t realize exactly how accurate SteamVR tracking was—the whole notion of roomscale VR was almost incomprehensible. Up until that point, there was still some motion latency in VR, so you never felt completely attached to the actions in your hands. But once the SteamVR Lighthouses started tracking objects in a 3D space, it was a deep and immediate connection of, “Holy crap, that’s actually my hand in VR.”
Our goal then was to deliver an experience where the player doesn’t have to think about the controller, and has only natural, gestural interactions. We wanted to demonstrate why this kind of input—your hands themselves—was meaningful. When we received our first Vive devkit (wired at the time) we were taping them to our hands in order to feel more immersed, and we even spoke to Valve about crude ways they could strap the controller on.
Those early Vive prototypes already showed an incredible level of fidelity, capable of measuring the tiniest fraction of a movement. It’s like the Moore’s Law of motion control; each incremental improvement in tracking brings with it new possibilities. So as soon as you have that kind of fidelity with your hands in VR, you need your fingers to be more purely represented. And that’s what the Oculus Touch started to do by bringing capacitive, gestural input to the controller.
Where Touch differs from what the Knuckles offer, however, is that you’re still pushing a binary button in the end; Touch feels more grounded in traditional gamepad design. Specifically, you always feel like you’re holding something with buttons—and that works perfectly for gun games and sword games. But the Knuckles take that further by removing the abstractions of first-gen VR inputs. Even though it looks like a more complicated device, it’s actually a much simpler one.
With the Knuckles, you’re not holding a controller; it simply straps to your hand and rests in your palm. If you relax your hand into a natural flex, the controller stays put and keeps tracking your fingers. If you reach out to grab an object in VR, your hand wraps around the base of the controller, giving a tangible feeling of grabbing something. That physicality is something you don’t get from data gloves, or vision based inputs without any device, and that feeling can then be fine-tuned with haptic feedback. Plus, you’re not passing around a sweaty data glove between your friends.
When reaching out to an object with the Knuckles, I’m not thinking about the controller I’m holding in my hand, because I’m not holding one. I’m not thinking about how to use my fingers either, because they’re not assigned to a button press. I’m not even thinking about my hand, and that’s where the magic comes in—I’m just thinking about grabbing the object, as I would in real life. That entire grasping motion is represented in VR, whether I pinch with two fingers, scoop with my hand, or close my fist around it. The Knuckles track your fingers by the distance they are from the base of the controller (your palm), and represent that movement in VR. It’s second nature.
As developers, when we receive prototype hardware like the SteamVR Knuckles, it makes us want to push the capabilities. In the past, that’s meant radically rethinking our stack of interactions and locomotion systems—virtually redesigning the game. We’ve written about what these kinds of changes have meant for The Gallery in the past, but the long story short is that new controllers like the Knuckles aren’t just affecting the complexity of interactions. We now have new possibilities for game mechanics and design that haven’t and couldn’t have been done before. It’s to be seen how these controllers will impact Heart of the Emberstone in September, but they’ll be a core focus in designing Episode 3.
Think of an interface-heavy app like Tilt Brush. Dials can be intuitive, but using your fingers is organic. There’s a possibility for gestural movements to call functions and navigate dense data; there could be an entire language built out of using your hands to manipulate paint brushes and pencils and sizes and colors. Once you take the mental load of an interface off the player—once they stop thinking about the controller—you can leverage that partition into experiential design and organic controls.
The kind of technology that the SteamVR Knuckles offer is not just impactful to the future of input in gaming, but also the future of output. I can go to a social VR space and point to something, or offer a peace sign, or tell somebody to hang loose without having to think about it. The controller doesn’t guess your gesture, or snap to a new position, it represents your fingers based on the distance it calculates. The more natural and intuitive the interface, the less we think about hardware. And the less we fixate on hardware, the more present we can be in VR.
Prior to the Knuckles, hardware developers were looking for something that would be more broadly accepted by the general public. Something that resembled a Wiimote, like the Vive wands, or something that when put together resembled a gamepad, like the Touch controllers, meant that VR input was familiar. Strapping an alien device to your hand in first-gen VR would have been too much too fast. But I think it took the evolution of those two controllers to get VR to the point where the public could be comfortable with the idea of a controller strapped to your hand.
There are so many moments in life in which using your hands is a vital part of the experience. There are implications for education and communication—with audiences who don’t generally understand videogame controllers—because the SteamVR Knuckles open the door to that broader audience. These are pick-up-and-play controllers where you don’t have to think about the input, you just reach out and interact in virtual space.
User interface in virtual reality starts with your hands. And once users are empowered in that way, and don’t have to be told how to use the technology, the next generation of virtual reality is here.Devin Hester will go down as one of the greatest returners in NFL history, and he'll always be remembered as a Bear. However, he knows that his NFL career won't continue in Chicago.
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"I know that Chicago wants to go a different route. All I can say is thanks to the fans for their support. They've always been great to me. Always been loyal. I couldn't have played for a better city.... At the end of my career I do want to retire as a member of the Bears," Hester said Wednesday on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access."
Hester said he knew that the Bears were "parting ways" with him, and he sounded a little down about it. But he expressed hope at joining his former Bears coach Lovie Smith in Tampa, saying it's "possible." NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport believes that reunion is a long shot.
Hester led the league in kickoff returns in 2013, finished fifth in kick-return average and would have been in the top five in punt returns if he had enough returns to qualify. It's tough to make a roster as a 31-year-old return specialist, but Hester should be able to find a job this offseason.
UPDATE: In a statement released Thursday, the Bears announced they will not be re-signing Hester this offseason.
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The powerfully popping veins and sweat-soaked swooped hair partially stuck to his forehead.
These many images of Will Muschamp have some South Carolina fans fearful of their new head coach. Truth be told, these scenes failed Muschamp at Florida, but with a year to recharge his head-coaching batteries and learn from his prior mistakes, Muschamp could be that coach most are overlooking.
Will Muschamp will show that he learned from his first head-coaching stint and succeed in South Carolina. Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Yes, some will be quick to point to his disappointing 28-21 (.571) record during his four years with the Gators. They'll likely crow about his offenses ranking no higher than 103rd nationally in three of his four seasons in Gainesville. He had myriad quarterback issues and failed to consistently recruit top-notch offensive playmakers. His one year back at Auburn resulted in the Tigers ranking 13th in the SEC in total defense (421.8 ypg).
In a world of second chances and evolution, Muschamp has a chance to shine in his new home with less pressure and a clearer mind. Just look at his introductory news conference. The ever-confident Muschamp looked happy and excited. It was as if the four years at Florida and detour through Auburn were mere afterthoughts.
Muschamp looked much more comfortable and at ease than he did during his first news conference as Florida's coach, and while he's yet to produce any results in the South Carolina, he looked and sounded ready for his next challenge.
Even though he hired his former offensive coordinator in Kurt Roper, it sounds like Muschamp has learned his lesson about offense. As a defensive guy, you'd expect him to want to put his defense in good positions as much as possible, but there also comes a time when you must expand your thinking, and Muschamp at least sounds like he's ready to do that with Roper.
Frankly, it says a lot that Roper, who ran Muschamp's most statistically successful offense at Florida in 2014, would come back to his side and work with him in the same capacity. This time, expect to see Roper's true offensive intentions more consistently come to fruition.
With a year to work next to Gus Malzahn's uptempo spread, Muschamp wants to speed things up and spread things out.
"That's really the identity we want to have," Muschamp said during his introductory news conference. "We want to be on the ball; we want to be fast; and we want to be physical. We want to spread the field; we want to make them defend 53-1/3 yards wide and 120 yards down the field. I think our guys are really excited about that."
Obviously, Muschamp will have his hands all over the defense, which needs a major face-lift after ranking last in the SEC in total defense (448.3 ypg) and scoring (30.4 ppg) in conference play. But like Auburn, Muschamp has a major developmental job on his hands. As many as eight starters could return, but while star junior linebacker Skai Moore hasn't officially announced his decision to go to the NFL early, all indications are that he'll make the jump, which would leave Muschamp with a vast hole at linebacker.
However, this is a rebuilding job for Muschamp so expect plenty of early bumps in the road. That doesn't mean Muschamp is doomed by any means. Despite his struggles at Auburn in 2015, Muschamp has proven to be a wonderful defensive mind, as his Florida defenses ranked inside the top 10 nationally three times.
As Muschamp so eloquently put it in his news conference, he can recruit -- which he certainly can defensively -- but he won't be pulling from the same elite talent pool in Columbia as he did in Gainesville. That's just not going to happen, but landing the occasional big fish will under his watch.
Muschamp already has made a couple of hires, including making trusty sidekick Travaris Robinson his defensive coordinator and retaining Shawn Elliott, who served as the interim head coach this season after Steve Spurrier's resignation, to coach the offensive line. Those hires will go a long way for Muschamp on and off the field, as he's getting smart, innovative people around him.
For all his past mistakes, Muschamp can change his image and ways at South Carolina, and he already has the blessing of one of South Carolina's most-beloved Gamecocks.
“I think Will Muschamp is going to do a very good job here," Spurrier told ESPN.com by phone on Thursday. "He’s already got started. It seems like he’s got several good commitments already and recruiting is the priority as we all know, so I think Will Muschamp and his staff are on the way to being successful.”City Football Group have signed 20-year-old Paraguayan international Jesús Medina to a contract and have paid Club Libertad a $4 million transfer fee which includes 20% of a future transfer fee. Libertad’s vice president Rubén Di Torre confirmed the news this morning. Medina will join New York City FC for the 2018 MLS season with hopes of moving on to Girona or Manchester City in 2019.
Asked about which CFG club Medina would head to, Di Torre confirmed that he will go directly to NYCFC: “To start he’s going to New York City. It is my understanding he is going directly there.”
“It hasn’t been ruled out that he’d go to Spain or Manchester City. He’s very serious and I think he’ll adapt without any problems, but first he’s going to the United States,” he added.
City Football Group owns Manchester City, New York City FC and holds 44.3% ownership of Girona (with another 44.3% being held by the brother of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola), among other clubs, and the relationship between the clubs has been blurred heavily at times. It is immediately known which club official purchased Jesús Medina.
Yangel Herrera was the most recent South American player reportedly signed by CFG, it was later announced that he was signed by Manchester City and loaned to NYCFC for two years. As a result of being loaned to NYCFC instead of being purchased by the MLS side, NYCFC was able to avoid the DP charge that would have been automatically assigned given his transfer fee.
Herrera is unable to attain an automatic UK work permit due to the Venezuelan national team’s low FIFA ranking and therefore needs to play more minutes before being granted that permit. NYCFC had the need for a midfielder and welcomed the arrival of the young prodigy and it may be the same case for Medina. It was reported last week that Medina would join NYCFC if he was unable to obtain a UK work permit.
A player needs to have played in 75% of their games over a two-year period, with their country averaging a place in the top 50 of the Fifa rankings, in order to obtain a work permit. Venezuela remains just outside of the top 50 at 52. The number drops to 60% for players that come from countries with an average position between 21 and 30, with Medina’s Paraguay currently in 30th place.
Medina will be the third player on loan from City Football Group in 2018 following Yangel Herrera and Nahuel Ferraresi. The player is set to undergo his medical in the coming days. You can follow along with all of NYCFC’s transfer news here.A right wing nationalist repeatedly said "Britain First" as he shot Labour MP Jo Cox three times and stabbed her in the street, the Old Bailey heard.
Thomas Mair, 53, ambushed the mother-of-two as she arrived for a regular surgery with her Batley and Spen constituents in June this year.
Prosecutor Richard Whittam QC told jurors Mair had planned the attack in advance and carried out the murder because of his "strong political and ideological interests".
Jurors at the Old Bailey were told Mair had researched the Ku Klux Klan, Nazis, serial killers and right wing politicians in the days prior to killing Ms Cox.
He had also used his local library to research Ms Cox, fellow Yorkshire MP William Hague, and Ian Gow, an MP murdered by the Provisional IRA.
"She was brutally murdered by one of her constituents, this defendant, Thomas Mair", said the prosecution.
"It was a cowardly attack by a man armed with a firearm and a knife.
"Jo Cox was shot three times and suffered multiple stab wounds.
"During the course of the murder Thomas Mair was heard by a number of witnesses to say repeatedly ‘Britain First’."
During the attack, a pensioner, 77-year-old Bernard Kenny, tried to save the 40-year-old MP and was also stabbed by Mair, |
months, the panel interviewed all the parties involved. When Mapes was questioned, she showed up with a thick notebook, ready to defend herself. (She still has the notebook, in a box labeled YOU KNOW WHAT.) The panel concluded that typewriters at the time could have produced the memos. In the end, they couldn’t say definitively whether the documents were authentic. But in January, Mapes was fired for what the panel’s report called “myopic zeal.”
Rather left CBS Evening News in 2005, and left the network a year later. He believes the memos are authentic. This is his truth. “Nobody has ever proven that the documents were not what they purported to be,” he says. “They couldn’t attack us on the facts of the story, so they attacked the process by which we arrived at the truth.”
Mapes was in a daze for a while. Her life had been a whirlwind for years. Now it was quiet and still. She was drinking more, taking Xanax. She calls it “a certain level of trying to remove myself from the situation.” Her job had always been her identity. “When I called someone, it was, ‘This is Mary Mapes with 60 Minutes,’ ” she says. “After I got fired, it was, ‘This is Mary Mapes with no one.’ ”
Her husband took a leave from his job at the paper and was told his position was being eliminated. Mapes wrote a book, 2005’s Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power, for which she was reportedly paid $250,000. She went on a brief media tour, defending herself to the likes of Bill O’Reilly.
When her fall ended, Mapes landed back in Dallas, on her comfortable couch, next to her husband and son and their three dogs. One day, her son Robert came home from second grade seeming worried. The boy sat his mother down and, with the kind of grave concern only a child can muster, told her that he’d heard something bad at school. This happened 10 years ago, but she remembers the moment well.
“Mama,” Robert said. “A girl at school says you got fired, and you really got screwed.”
My God, she thought. Even second-graders knew about her professional humiliation. She wanted to protect her son. So she lied. She told him that his friend was mistaken. She also told him, “In this family, we don’t use the word ‘screwed.’ ”
She began focusing more on being a good mother and wife. There were more dinner parties, more walks in the neighborhood, more bumper bowling with her son. She started going to the movies, seeing documentaries by herself in the middle of the day. “A dark movie theater is a great place to hide out,” she says.
In 2006, nearly two years after she was fired, Mapes was contacted by James Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt, who wrote the screenplays for Zodiac and The Amazing Spider-Man, had read an excerpt of her book and decided it would make a good movie. He said he wanted to make it the first film he directed.
“I’m always interested in stories about how the sausage is made,” Vanderbilt says. “And she’s a fascinating character. She’s incredibly intelligent, she’s extremely funny, and she’s caustic in a good way.”
Mapes was hesitant. She had no desire to summon once again the attention of her critics. But Vanderbilt was persistent. He asked if he and his wife could come to Dallas and meet her family.
“My wife is much more charming than I am,” Vanderbilt says.
So they met in Dallas. “We just hung out and talked about everything but this,” the filmmaker says. “She was still shook by all the things that happened, so I got to see this person who was both so strong and shaken to the core.”
Mapes eventually acquiesced. She gave Vanderbilt a signed copy of her book and inscribed it: “You have my life in your hands.”
Vanderbilt says from the beginning he knew he had to get all the details right. He wrote the script and sent it to her. She sent it back with notes about what people may have said and where certain scenes took place. They went back and forth for months. “We knew this wasn’t going to be the least controversial film,” Vanderbilt jokes.
Once they had a script they both liked, it still took years. Vanderbilt had other projects, and they knew much of the movie’s success would depend on the actors cast in the two main roles. Eventually, the production team found their leads and called Mapes to deliver the news. There were a lot of people on the line. “It reminded me of when I got fired,” she says. They told Mapes that Blanchett had been cast to play her.
“I was waiting for Tori Spelling,” Mapes says.
They told her they’d found someone to play Dan Rather, too. “A young, up-and-coming actor named Robert Redford,” she says.
To help accommodate Blanchett’s schedule, the movie was shot in Australia—though you’d never know it. They found a house near Sydney that looks just like Mapes’ house on Swiss Avenue. The film also captures the world of high-end journalism: the long nights working in hotel rooms, the tediousness of combing through files, the thrill of finally reaching someone on the 19th try, the satisfaction of a well-received story. And in a lot of ways, this is her final shot at all the people who have wronged her—including her father.
Vanderbilt wanted to make sure the film isn’t simply a defense of Mapes and her team. “It was very important to have that balance,” he says. “My goal was always to put you in the main character’s shoes as she experienced it. But I give you those moments where you wonder if they did the right thing, and it’s up to you as an audience member to make that call.”
The first time Mapes saw the movie, she missed a lot of it. “It was almost like you black out,” she says. “You fixate on something small, and your mind just goes. You think, That phone was just like my phone in the office, and then you’re five minutes down the road and all this shit has happened.” She says it wasn’t until she saw it the fourth time that she could appreciate it as a film.
After the first public screening, at the Toronto International Film Festival, Rather stood in front of the audience and teared up. “It’s an incredibly accurate film,” he told me. “But it’s about more than our story. The overarching narrative here is what has happened to the news. What the hell ever happened to the news?”
When Mapes works now—on writing and political research, mostly—it’s all behind the scenes, like a ghost. Her name would still be a distraction. It means she can’t do the stories she wants to. It means she’s a news producer without a show, a journalist without an outlet. She misses being in the mix. She misses having a front-row seat for history and the rush of flying off to cover another war while other journalists watched from a safe distance. She misses the close bond her team would build over weeks or months of working together. They were like a family.
It’s a Sunday afternoon, a few days after the Toronto premiere, and the reviews have been good. There is already talk of Oscar nominations. Mapes is at home with her feet up. A few days ago, she broke her ankle walking around the neighborhood. “I’m just a shit happens magnet,” she says.
Sitting here, next to her husband and son, there are a lot of things she doesn’t miss about her old job. She doesn’t miss having her life driven by current events. “I can actually plan to have dinner with someone and show up,” she says. “I like sleeping in my own bed. I like being able to spend time with my husband and son.” She adds: “Journalists always perform for each other. When you don’t have that, it gives you perspective.”
Her husband says seeing the movie gives him a sense of peace. “Finally someone is paying attention to the substance,” he says. “As journalists, the most important quality is to be fair and truthful and honest. It felt like all of those other elements—the corporation, the political world, the blogs—they weren’t being fair.”
Her son, now a teenager, says the movie gave him a new perspective on his mom. “My mother is one of the most phenomenal people I’ve ever met,” he says. “She’s been through so much.” He told her after they first watched it together, “Mom, you used to have a pretty important job.”
Mapes is aware, however, that there is another reality out there, a reality where there was no corporate greed or political power at work. A world where she was riding such a high from her previous stories and was so eager to take a shot at Bush right before the election that she wasn’t diligent enough. Where the documents they used on the air were obvious forgeries, made with the default settings of the most ubiquitous word processing program on the planet, and everyone associated with the story deserved to be fired. She knows there are people who think she was a part of the problem with the media—not the bloggers who attacked her.
“I know,” she says. “Some people will just always believe what they want to believe.”You don't have to be a hair extension pro to pull off this look flawlessly. Our extensions are so simple to apply, you can get a style boost from natural human hair in less than 10 minutes with clip-in hair extensions that add volume and length.
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But where do you go to learn about "Living and Dying in 3/4 Time"?
For legions of Parrotheads across the country, that answer is obvious. And for a Birmingham-area mom whose son joined family members for "his first pilgrimage to a Jimmy Buffett concert," it was an event worth sacrificing a little in-class learning for the coastal kind.
After the concert held recently at Oak Mountain Amphitheater, Amanda Sims (who said her son, Casey, maintains good grades and will not suffer academically for a single missed day), took the time to explain the educational benefits in this excuse letter to the elementary school:
Jimmy Buffett concert at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre 40 Gallery: Jimmy Buffett concert at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
Jimmy Buffett delivers a 'Coconut Telegraph' to fans at Oak Mountain Whether Tuesday's Jimmy Buffett show was the first time you've seen the Mayor of Margaritaville live or the 100th, there's an important thing to know about him: he gets it.Ship Hits Fremantle Bridge in Storm
after two cargo ships break away from their moorings
By MarEx 2014-08-18 20:20:00
Fremantle Ports in Australia has begun an investigation into an incident in which two cargo ships broke away from their moorings in the inner harbor. A severe wind squall with gusts up to 110 kms an hour came through about 10 p.m. on August 17th as stevedoring operations on the two ships were in progress.
The vessels, a general cargo ship (AAL Fremantle) and a car carrier (Grand Pioneer), were at North Quay berths 11 and 12 at the eastern end of the port.
Although the mooring lines at the bow of the ships held good, the ships swung out at the stern.
The stern of AAL Fremantle came in contact with scaffolding on the Fremantle Rail Bridge and one of the power poles on the bridge subsequently fell into the harbor.
The loss of power for the trains has halted passenger rail services between Fremantle and North Fremantle and is also impacting on freight rail services in and out of the port. It is not known at this stage how long the services will be interrupted.
The incident was dealt with immediately and the two ships involved were returned safely to their berths in the early hours of this morning.
Fremantle Ports has begun an immediate investigation into engineering and other aspects of the shipping incident.
The extent of the rail bridge damage is being assessed by the Public Transport Authority.As we continue to grow, CreativeFan is dedicated to working with the best of the best, to bring you continued quality in inspiration, resources, tools, and tutorials. As such, we’ve been teaming up with web designers from around the globe to bring exclusive free PSD files that will help you see how professional web designers work, as well as to give you free Photoshop resources to use in your own designs.
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Were I to lose my legs, I’d ask the lifeguard to wheel me to the side of the pool and dump me in. I’ve even tried to see how far I can swim with my eyes closed, in the event that I suddenly lose my eyesight—if I count my strokes correctly, I can make the flip turn without missing the wall. What is it about the water that keeps us coming back? What so entices us that we’ll offer up our shoulders and knees, not to mention sleep, a cup of coffee while we read the news, morning sex with our spouses?
The monotony and isolation that novice swimmers find so boring, and sometimes try to mitigate with goofy waterproof mp3 players clipped to their goggles, is the aspect of swimming I like best. When I was a junior in college, an English professor played a recording of Robert Lowell reading “Memories of West Street and Lepke.” I walked from the lecture hall to the pool, and two hours later, when I climbed out, I had the entire poem memorized. I can still recite every word. The water is like that: The z-axis that joins memory with imagination. Underwater, I only really see the tiled line along the bottom, only hear the water’s slosh and gurgle. Literary critic and swimming enthusiast Willard Spiegelman writes, “The swimmer becomes part of the element that supports him, part of an ever-changing geometry through which he slices and which then corrects itself as he moves past. The human body is 70 percent water: swimming returns us to ourselves.” Whenever I’m in the pool, I find myself reliving races, remembering friends, laughing at old jokes—alone in the water but surrounded by time.
One of my best races could hardly be called a race at all. I was a senior in high school, gunning to qualify for the USA Junior Nationals. Qualifying times are the benchmarks for college scholarships. The previous summer I’d missed the cut by less than a second in the mile, and just the day before, at the regional meet, I’d come within three-tenths of a second in the 500-yard freestyle—a third of a second in a four-and-a-half-minute swim. The next day, Sunday, I drove to the far side of Houston where a time trial was being held—an informal, unadvertised event thrown together at the last minute. The only races swum were those that swimmers requested; most were short, flapping sprints in which the contestants wanted to shave off a few hundredths of a second. I didn’t have the courage to face the mile. Since I’d struck out in the 500 the day before, I decided to swim the 1,000-yard freestyle—40 lengths of pool. It was a race I’d swum fast enough to believe that given the right circumstances—cold water, an aggressive heat, an energetic meet—I could make the cut. There was no concession stand, no heat sheet. The overhead lights were left off. Two officials and a timekeeper verified the results. If you were lucky, there would be other swimmers in your same event, someone to race against. I was not so lucky.
The top three finishers will hang around to collect their medals, while the other five—the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth fastest swimmers in the world—will leave the pool with no greater prize than their team warm-ups.
By the time I mounted the starting block, I was practically the only one in the natatorium. I needed to drop 15 seconds in order to qualify. I stood behind the block yawning, listening to water trickle into the gutters. The starter spoke through the microphone even though it was just the two of us. He said, “Take your marks,” in the plural. I bent, gripped the block, and the horn sounded. I was angry and disheartened at having missed the cut the day before. So I didn’t dream, I didn’t think. I swam. I sang George Harrison’s “Give Me Love”—I’d heard it in the car on the way down—and listened to water flood my ears, and felt my triceps stretch when I rolled, felt the seams between my fingers trap and move the water. I followed the tiled line along the bottom and I breathed in and out.
About 600 yards in, my coach started to pace. He walked back and forth at the end of the pool, two or three small steps when I swam by him. Then he went farther. Soon he was traveling the entire length of the deck, waving his clipboard and whistling. I stayed steady on, not about to get my hopes up. Then a boy from a rival high school, whom I hardly knew, climbed down from the bleachers and started to cheer. He squatted low to the water and pointed his finger toward the end of the pool, as if to say, that’s where you’re going, now hurry up. I thought, if he’s cheering, maybe I’m close.
I had spent more than a year training for this one swim. When it was finished the world would be no different. The swim was mine alone. But it mattered because it was the task before me now, the thing I wanted now. Swimming is a constant choice between the now and the later: exhaustion now, fitness later; all those Friday nights spent in the water in pursuit of an end that was always one step farther. But I was out of laters. This was the end, and I made my choice. I tucked my chin and cleared my nose. I cashed in the energy I’d kept reserved for the final dash to the wall as well as the energy I’d set aside for climbing out of the pool and unfolding my towel and tying my shoes. I’ve never sprinted harder in my life. I hit the wall and immediately barfed into the gutter. I knew by instinct, by the spasm of my muscles and the ache in my bones, before I turned toward the clock or heard my coach scream, that I’d made it.
Every four years, swimming emerges from its obscure den to stand beneath the bright lights of the world’s attention. For years, I tuned into the Olympics with a mixture of excitement and envy. Not only did I know the names of all the American swimmers, I’d raced against most of them, and as exciting as it was to see someone I knew—someone I had, once upon a time, gotten the better of—ascend to the pantheon of the sport, it was also painful to think about my own dreams.
But these days I’m free to watch the Games with nothing more than nostalgia. And while the sportscasters are busy parsing the odds of whether or not Michael Phelps will beat Ryan Lochte, or vice versa, I’m more drawn to the other swimmers in the race. The men and women whose names don’t incite thunderous applause. Who parade from the ready room to the deck with their heads pointed down, as if refusing to acknowledge that this short moment of pageantry is their reward for all those years of shoulder-tearing, skin-chapping, sleep-depriving, holiday-wrecking time in the water. Because it is. This is it. When it’s over, the race will be forgotten. The top three finishers will hang around to collect their medals, while the other five—the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth fastest swimmers in the world—will leave the pool with no greater prize than their team warm-ups. Quite literally, the clothes on their backs. Michael Mandelbaum writes in The Meaning of Sports: “[T]he most successful team sports, groups selected purely on merit and drawn from different regions, different age groups (when the coaches are included), and different ethnic and racial backgrounds who cooperate for the successful achievement of a common goal, symbolize one of the highest American social ideals, which is expressed in the national motto: e pluribus unum.” But perhaps swimming symbolizes just the opposite: the importance of impractical ambitions of benefit to no one but ourselves. The fact that we’re not always ensconced within our group identities, not always defined by where we live or went to school or who we voted for. The possibility of setting out on our own for the distant shore, powered by nothing more than our bodies and our wits, islands of one.
This past Monday, I met my regular crowd at the pool at 5:30. The sun is just cresting the horizon. The lifeguard sweeps the leaves from the water’s surface and the sleepy teenagers on the club team rub their eyes and complain as they unspool the lane ropes. Scott and Peter say good morning but none of us waste much time talking. Talking is one thing we’re not here to do. We rinse our goggles, swing our arms around to loosen our shoulders, and dive in. Only at the end of the hour, after we’ve logged our yardage, does Peter finally bring it up. “So, did you guys see that 400 IM?” he asks. He means: Did you see Michael Phelps lose?
We nod, look down the lanes toward the far side of the pool. We’ve all been there, losing big—though, of course, never that big. Knowing Phelps is mortal makes me love him all the more.
“I thought he’d win it one last time,” Scott says. “At least medal.”
“Sooner or later, the magic runs out,” Peter says. “Happened to all of us.”
The difference between making it to the wall and coming up short is simply a matter of denying my instinct to breathe.
More nods, this time accompanied by assenting grumbles. I say, “You see how far those guys went underwater? All those dolphin kicks off the wall? Impressive.”
Scott turns to me, “You think you can swim 50 meters underwater? No breath?”
“Let’s see,” I say. I lower my goggles, suck in a few deep breaths, and say “I’ll be right back” before I slip beneath the water. The world goes silent. I glide until I feel my momentum slow, and then I start to pull, both hands making wide S’s as they pass my chest and stomach. Six pulls, I’m at the turn. I spin around. I feel my stomach tighten, but not enough to make me hurry. In fact, I feel better than I expected, so when I hit the 50-meter wall, I spin around again and head back down. Now the difference between making it to the wall and coming up short is simply a matter of denying my instinct to breathe. That I’m able to deny myself such a primal instinct for so long is one of my sport’s lasting legacies in me. I come up gasping, dizzy. “Good one!” Peter calls out.
“Your turn,” I call back.
“I’ll give it a shot,” Scott says. Scott’s in his mid-50s, bald on top, but still lean and strong. He’s swum almost every day for 45 years. He stands tall in the water and starts sucking in air, big gulping breaths that cause his ribs to retract against his lungs, his diaphragm to press down into his stomach. If there’s one thing swimmers have in abundance, it’s lung capacity. Scott goes under silently. The water barely ripples at the first turn. I wonder if he’ll quit at the 50-meter wall, but he turns and keeps going, one long silent underwater pull after another. “He’s going to make it,” I say. Peter nods.
We see Scott hit the wall at 75 meters, but we don’t see him come up. I look underwater and see, incredibly, Scott starting on his fourth length. “I’ve never seen anyone go this far,” Peter says. “Crazy.”
Two pulls and Scott’s head surfaces. He’s just past 80 meters. He comes up hollering. “That felt great,” he says. “I’ve still got it.”
“Amazing,” Peter says.
“You son of a bitch.”
“You think you can go farther?” Scott says, grinning.
“Man,” I say, rubbing my goggles clean, “I can always go farther. As long as you’re here, I’m not leaving.”Senate Panel Passes Authorization For Force Against Syria
Enlarge this image toggle caption Susan Walsh/AP Susan Walsh/AP
A Senate panel has voted to approve a resolution giving President Obama the authority to carry out punitive strikes against Syria for its use of chemical weapons.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the authorization by a 10-7 vote, with one senator voting present. The measure must be passed by a vote of the full Senate to come into force. The vote is likely to take place next week.
The vote marks the first time lawmakers have voted to authorize military action since the October 2002 vote giving President George W. Bush authority to invade Iraq.
The authorization was crafted by the committee's top lawmakers — Democratic Chairman Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee.
Early Wednesday during the debate, Secretary of State John Kerry told the committee: "We are not asking America to go to war."
He later told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that should Syrian President Bashar Assad be "arrogant and foolish enough to retaliate," the U.S. has "ample ways to make him regret that decision without going to war."
As we reported earlier, the resolution on the use of force against Syria has divided Republicans and Democrats alike, with Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Rand Paul of Kentucky representing differing viewpoints in the GOP.
The New York Times says the panel "struggled to draft the resolution," with Menendez and Corker:February 13
Bullseye Arcade Mode
Starting Safe Zone Tweaks
The opening safe zone (gas wall) on dynamic safe zone matches has been increased to 1.5x the normal start size. This is to allow a bit more breathing room and spread of players at the start of matches.
Currently on live (before today's patch) the next safe zone is immediately announced upon the start of the parachute phase at the start of the match. We have added a delay to the announcement of the circle to add a better player spread at the start of the matches. We were seeing a trend of the majority of players flying to the announced safe zone, creating a very small and densely populated landing location for the matches. This change should help to give the dynamic games a better overall pacing.
QoL Changes to the Combat Knife and Machete
Hosted Game Update for CIS Region Server
Bug Fixs
Happy Valentine's Day gamers!A day early I know, but let me be the first to wish you all a great day full of overflowing love, laughter, and fun.Now on to the the patch. Today we have a new Arcade Mode, tweaks to the starting zones/first safe zone announcement, some QoL changes to the Combat Knife and Machete, and a couple bug fixes.As you all know Season 3 is fast approaching and we are going heads down full steam ahead into finishing up everything for March. For the next few weeks leading up to Season 3 the weekly patches will be limited to small bug fixes. This is to allow us to put our undivided attention on wrapping up the Season 3 build and getting it ready for you all to enjoy on March 6th.You can more below to get the full details of all the changes in today's patch.-SUP3RWelcome to Bullseye! Prepare to have your scoped and melee weapon savviness put to the test as you make use of all the limited available weapon set in this Arcade Mode. In this first person only mode you will have the M1 Socom, the Ranch Rifle, the Sniper Rifle, the Crossbow, the Combat Knife, and the Machete available to you as you fight to be the last one standing and take down that coveted #1 spot! Outside of the first person only setting and the weapon set all other standard BR rules apply. GLHF!We rolled the first half of this out last week, but encountered a few issues that forced us to pull it. We have since cleaned up these outlying issues and added in the second phase to give a complete package this week. The following changes will go live with today’s patch:We have made some quality of life changes to the Combat Knife and the Machete in terms of their responsiveness. These are slight, but noticeable changes. Both weapons should now respond to your input much quicker and also should be able to activate while sprinting, previously you had to click twice (one to remove sprint speed and a 2nd click to activate the attack). It will remove the sprint for a split second to activate the attack and then return you to your sprint speed.We have applied a requested update to the Russia/CIS Region Hosted Games server. The server has been modified with a new name and in game logo/graphics asset. Going forward the new name for this server is Emerald Dream.We’d also like to take a moment to give a shoutout to Panchitime who does a ton for this region behind the scenes. We appreciate all the work he puts into translating patch notes, tweets, and videos for the CIS region community group that he runs while also taking the time each week to run and organize Hosted Games for the region. For players in this region that want to get into the Hosted Games and get translated information check out his community group at vk.com/z1battleroyale •Fixed a potential cause in client hitching/crashing.•Fixed “Panning” option in the Audio Settings. You should now be able to swap to headphones mode without it reverting back to speakers.•Beige Golf Pants can now be skinned.•Fixed an exploit where a user could clip through any abandoned building door with the ATV by backing up onto it and getting off.Piskorski explains, "I looked at the geography at the state level, and compared the percentage of log-ins from each state to the percentage of U.S. Internet users in that state. So, if Texas comprised only 8% of US internet population, but contributed 10% of MySpace log-ins, Texas would register as having a quarter more log-ins than expected. Using these data, I created the map, with red indicating 20% or more log-ins than expected, light red 10-20% more, green being in line with expectations (+/-10%), light blue is 10-20% less, and dark blue representing 20% or less than predicted.
"The map shows that the MySpace users are disproportionately represented in Alaska, Hawai'i, Upland South, Lower South, the Southeast, with Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi reporting over 50% more log-ins than expected. Parts of the Midwest as well as California and New York are in line with expectations. The Northeast is well below expectations with Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island reporting only half of expected log-ins. With this map, we are beginning to see that major concentrations of MySpace users are in states which are not traditionally considered as media centers (with one exception...).BOSTON (CBS) — Wanted: A place to park a tiny house in the metro-Boston area.
The residence in question is a 200-square-foot house, which Chris Page built with his father last year on an 11-by-22-foot trailer.
“It’s actually a little big for a tiny house,” Page told WBZ NewsRadio 1030. “I have plumbing, a shower and a bed — all the things that a standard house would have.”
Now the Andover man is looking for a place to park his home, but the task seems to be harder to do, especially in tight residential neighborhoods, like in Cambridge and Somerville.
“I visited with some people in the city and they have a big enough backyard, but the driveway is too narrow,” Page said. “So there’s no way to actually get the house into the backyard.”
Once the house is in place, it would need to be hooked up to electricity and water. Page says the house has what’s called an incinerating toilet, and he’s happy to help pay for rent and utilities.
If you think you can help Page out, visit his Craigslist ad.
Video tour of home:
WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Bernice Corpuz reports:With Washington, D.C., being one of the safest cities in the countries, its local police force has the resources and the time to prioritize executing a no-knock warrant over alleged animal cruelty, perhaps even at the behest of spiteful and petty local politicians. It's what Mark Thorp, the owner of two bars in D.C., says happened to him.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Thorp claims three Washington police officers raided his home with a "defective" warrant alleging animal cruelty. Thorp says when police found no evidence of animal abuse in his home they began to field test capsules for the presence of illegal drugs, and also seized his pet Doberman, Vaughn. Thorp's lawsuit names the D.C. government, one |
but Tress still felt the need to travel back centuries for his style. This was in 1852, the year after the Crystal Palace had shown the world the possibilities of building in glass and steel.
Tress was following the usual approach of the railway age. The stations may have been serving the most powerful and world-changing technology of their time, but the most important thing was to evoke some older, safer period, and to make the buildings look domestic. In the 19th century railways were trebly frightful – they caused terrible accidents, devastated urban and rural environments and prompted gigantic financial collapses and swindles – which was all the more reason to make their public faces look like reassuring old houses. Above all, the horses were not to be frightened, those beasts that were being put out of work.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest William Tress’s gothic 1852 station at Battle. Photograph: English Heritage
So this iron monster was decorated with Jacobean manors, medieval vicarages, Italianate villas, baroque cupolas, a quattrocento arcade in Cambridge, a homage in Huddersfield to the stretched facade of the nearby stately home of Wentworth Woodhouse. This habit went up to the biggest termini, such as St Pancras in London, whose polychrome bespired front looks like the city hall of a fantasy metropolis that the middle ages themselves never got round to creating. A hundred years of critics, from Augustus Pugin to Nikolaus Pevsner via John Ruskin, reviled these stations’ pretension and deceit. “Railroad architecture,” said Ruskin, would have its own dignity “if it were only left to its work. You would not put rings on the fingers of a smith at his anvil.”
All of which makes train stations the archetypal Victorian product, bold and dissimulating at once. Railway magnates were happy to rip through cities and landscapes, make thousands homeless, stink and pollute, but God forbid that anyone approaching their buildings should think that anything had changed. It was like clothing piano legs, but on an urban scale and more productively: hypocritical though they may be, stations like Battle and St Pancras are delightful.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The neoclassical facade of Huddersfield station. Photograph: Alamy
And then it turned out that these creations of capitalist and industrial savagery would come to represent the localities into which they had barged. There are few better places to check the pulse of a big city or a country town than its station. The topographic romance of Newcastle starts with its curving station. Brighton’s vaults seem to be breathed upwards by sea air. The atrocious ugliness of the postwar Birmingham New Street tells you something about the pragmatism of Brum.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The St Pancras Renaissance London hotel, frontispiece of St Pancras station. Photograph: Alamy
They became cultural and social entities. They forced the synchronisation of previously fractional time zones – Barrow, for example, was 13 minutes behind London – and were points of connection with the telegraphic systems that ran along the tracks. They grew hotels, and defined the class system with segregated waiting rooms, eating places and sometimes entrances. For better or for worse, WH Smith opened its first station outlet in the year of revolutions, 1848. Stations became settings for art and films: William Powell Frith, Brief Encounter.
They eventually became objects of nostalgia and preservation, when the energies that sustained them deflated: the loss in 1961 of the Grecian propylaeum known as the Euston arch was the defining defeat of the conservation movement, the later rescue of the nearby St Pancras its defining victory. Hence a new survey from English Heritage, The English Railway Station, written by the historian and scholar of stations Steven Parissien, which informatively recounts their rise and fall.
He describes how competing railway companies would define themselves with architectural styles, rather than the rivalrous repulsive graphics they use now, which contributed to the proliferation of gothic, Italianate, baroque, Tudor and Greek. He tells how the inability of these companies to cooperate led to the wasteful proliferation of non-connecting stations in close proximity to one another. In other European countries and the US, city governments insisted that everyone use the same unified central stations, but in Britain commercial interests were too strong for this seemingly sane idea.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The futuristic station at Southgate, built in 1933. Photograph: English Heritage
Parissien’s book favours smaller places such as Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Boxhill and Westhumble, and the local “chalet” stations created by Brunel, over the grand termini. He describes the Bethlehem stable of ferroequinology, the small brick house adapted to become the world’s first station by the Stockton and Darlington Railway. He tells how in the early days goods were seen as more profitable than passengers, and stations were therefore provisional and modest. He later moves beyond the heyday of stations into the 20th century to include such things as the art deco wonder of Surbiton station and London Underground’s Southgate of 1933, whose illuminated low cylinder makes it into a UFO before its time. You feel Parissien’s pain at the destruction of redundant buildings and his lack of enthusiasm for later works, like the “dismally uninspired” Telford Central of 1986. As it happens, British Rail’s architects’ department produced some not bad late-Miesian stations into the 1980s, but you don’t get much sense of them here.
It is, however, the 19th century that dominates, which was not only the boom time for railways but also the era about which Britain has long had the most complicated feelings. It is our daddy century, a time of exceptional power and creation, but also blatantly wrong and absurd in crucial respects. Train stations capture all of this, so their fascination endures. Parissien quotes one James Scott as saying in 1911 that “no one visits railway stations to look at architecture”. Now they do, and then they write books.
The English Railway Station is published by English Heritage, £25. To buy it for £20 click hereW hen Amazon started printing readers’ book reviews on the net, a window opened briefly on the mental worlds of ordinary people — or, as Harry Dean Stanton so memorably called them, “ordinary fuckin’ people.”
Everyone should have a look at these reviews once in a while, to get an idea of what actually goes on in the heads of the other people who sit in a theater with you, not laughing at all the best lines, and applauding all the stuff you hate.
Hell, it turns out, isn’t other people; Hell is other people reviewing on Amazon.com.
And it’s good to get a glimpse into Hell every now and then. Slaps you awake.
To experience this Hell, just find the book or movie you most love on Amazon and read all the reviews. You will emerge a sadder, wiser aestheto-fascist, I guarantee.
And do it quickly, because Amazon’s remarkable venture in practical free speech is ending. In the nineties, before America’s dullard consensus had really gotten the hang of this internet thing, there really was a time when you could post honest reviews on Amazon. That’s over. First they did away with swearing and libel — the very mainstays of critical prose. Then they started insisting that reviewers use their real names, taking all the fun out of impersonating your enemies and plugging your own books.
Now Amazon’s added a feature the FBI must love: a little button at the end of each reader review, labeled “report this.” If you click the button, you get an invitation to turn in the offending review for “appropriate action” by Amazon.
Naturally, “appropriate action” means deletion. As this new feature goes to work, it will eventually grind away all the rough edges of these reviews. Soon nothing will be left but Amazon’s “top reviewers,” a few hundred bush-league Leonard Maltins incapable of blurting anything odd or new. So cherish these blurts while you can. Steep yourself in them. It’s an essential part of a dissident education. And fun, in a painful way, like swimming through a swarm of low-toxicity jellyfish.
I’ve been swimming through the reviews of the film Election posted on Amazon. I wasn’t sure why I picked Election. I love it, naturally. But I love Big Lebowski too, yet didn’t find much fun reading through Amazon reviews of it. For one thing, nearly everybody who reviews Lebowski loves it. How could you not? And there’s not much fun reading reviews by people you agree with. A big part of the pleasure of reading these things is the whip-sting of Wrong Thought.
That’s why the reviews of Election were so delectable: they were full of horrible wrongness, wrong statements by wrong people. I went through all 213 posted reviews the way kids in my high school used to pore over every page of the crash pictures in Highway Patrol magazine: for the sheer horror of it. What did Kurtz know about horror? He never read Amazon reviews of Election.
Election drew all the wrong viewers, sat them down comfortably… and then slashed them across the face with a bleach-dipped cat-o-nine-tails. When it came out in 1999, it was billed as a chirpy teen comedy, with Reese Witherspoon’s dimply smile fronting the ads. When her cornfed fans sat down with their popcorn, Election subjected them to a pitiless, contemptuous, proudly elitist dissection of the loathsome American polity. And this collision of ordinary fuckin’ viewers and Olympian chill-film makes for some wonderfully painful rat-squeaks from shocked Reese-fans who expected some sort of Legally Blonde prequel.
The reviewers you end up almost admiring are the ones who admit with grace that they didn’t get what they wanted:
“when i rented this film i thought it was going to be a cuetsy lil’ thing about highschool….WRONG! i soon realized i wasn’t watching something wholesome and family like. this movie is very, well it’s different. i don’t think i would buy the movie, but it was an interesting one to rent.”
But there were surprises, too. Small ones, like the number of people who whine about having paid a couple of dollars to rent this movie. When did it become socially acceptable to complain bitterly about a few dollars? I seem to remember a culture in which it was shameful to be that cheap. One of the effects of online discourse for the all-too-common Americans is that they’ve made it OK to be as tight as a snare drum.
And one big surprise: I learned that ordinary fuckin’ viewers require every movie to have a loud, crude, smarmy moral. The most common (and I do mean common) objection to Election is that you can’t “like” any of the characters, and none of them “learn” anything.
A review titled “Immoral Garbage” sums up this argument: “All the major characters are immoral bad people doing immoral bad stuff… nor do any of the characters show remorse or grow in anyway. There is nothing redeming about this movie.”
Some of the disappointed moralists all but plead with the film to help them out a little, like poor Karl Erickson of Dallas, who sobs, “I want to see something redemptive in a movie. I want to see characters – even ONE – change for the better. I want to see people learn lessons. If there are a lot of nasty deeds being done – whether they be sexual, drug-induced, hate-filled, whatever – I want to see someone regret something they’ve done, learn from their mistakes, you know?”
Actually I didn’t know this was such an unbreakable rule. In fact I was in the habit of admiring movies that refused the whole “epiphany” business, like Raging Bull and Fargo. No doubt because I haven’t spent much time in the US for a long time, I’d forgotten that the mainstream there sees all books and movies as so many After School Specials, whose sole purpose is the promotion of public morality.
It seems that not only must the characters learn from their mistake, but there’s a limit on how many mistakes they’re allowed to make, as Karl goes on to imply: “Again, it’s not that I’m a prude, but it isn’t like Broderick’s character is any better off at the end of this movie than he was before he made the MANY mistakes he does here.”
The key phrase here is “it’s not that I’m a prude.” Karl says this twice in his review. Anyone who says “I’m not a prude” once is probably a prude; anyone who has to say it twice definitely is.
And Karl’s not the only one saying it. Jeff Benson of Illinois sums it up in one sentence: “I’m no prude, but I was appalled by the lack of morality of these unlikable characters.” I counted five reviews that contain variations on the phrase, “I’m not a prude.” Helpful hint for prude reviewers out there: don’t use this line. It’s a dead giveaway. There, you can say you learned something from this review, your character grew.
If you know Election, you’re probably wondering what could bother even the grimmest prude. If there’s one thing Election is not, it’s sexy. It’s more like aversion therapy for the lustful. The only sane negative comment on the subject came from a dude in Hawaii who asked the film’s fans, “Are u people crazy this movie sucked a big fat one ….i mean matthew broderick gets it on with a yeti!”
That pretty much sums up the “adultery” which so scandalized most viewers: Broderick lusting after one of the ugliest actresses ever featured in an American film. (And just for the record, he doesn’t even “get it on” with her.)
The other scene which upsets these people is one in which Broderick, less than thrilled with his plain wife’s mating cry, “Fill me up! Fill me up!,” sneaks down to his miserable basement to watch a porn film featuring ugly actors in their 30s as high-school jock and cheerleader fucking in the locker room.
This comic abomination, which would have Jackie Treehorn in tears, apparently qualifies as what one reviewer called “bad smuttyness.” A viewer in Utah calls Election “…loaded to the hilt with sex, sexual innuendos, and language that would turn your mother’s hair white.” Another simply condemns the “cussing.” (Again, Lebowski haunts this other great 90s film: “Just one thing, Broderick…do yuh have ta use so many cuss words?”)
But one thing you can say about our people: we’re verbally cagey. Several of the reviews hint at outrage that one of the main characters is a lesbian, but only one, Brandon from Kansas, had the honesty to say so: “This movie contains some sex, lesbian issues and things worse than that.” Brandon herself is one of those delightful surprises you encounter reading these reviews. She IS Tracey Flick, (even if she is a he — Flicks come in several genders) and admits it: “[Flick] has the aggression just like everyone has running out for something. Like I did running for Student Council Secretary.”
The review which best sums up all the sorry revelations of the lot is by Russell Rubert from King of Prussia, PA: “…this is less a comedy, then an all too possible headline in your local newspaper you’ll skip this travisty. It is the most disapointing thing I’ve ever seen Matthew Broderick in, with the possible exception of “Godzilla” (The remake) Oh yes, the acting is good, it better be, I’d hate to think these people are really like that. If you are in the market for offbeat, quirky fun, buy Rushmore instead.”
Yes, we love that offbeat, quirky fun, as long as it’s not actually offbeat or quirky. Oh, and of course it has to jerk some tears: “Rushmore was far more poignant [than Election].” Another critic advises, “Whoever wrote [Election] could have learned a thing or two from Rushmore. You can have pretentious, annoying characters, but redeem them in the end so we’re not completely turned off!”
The funny thing is, I hated Rushmore; hated that “quirky, offbeat” protagonist; even hated Bill Murray for lending legitimacy to a film which I knew, somehow, was in the enemy camp. Yet everyone whose taste I respect loved it. I even, uncharacteristically, wondered if I might possibly have been wrong.
Seeing all these Amazon idiots praise it by way of damning Election gave me a wonderfully smug sense that I was right all along — thatRushmore was, as I’d argued at the time, nothing but an adoring biopic about the life and adventures of a young David Geffen.
Thus the Amazon reviews serve another important purpose: their endorsement of Rushmore proves, or at least suggests, that my inarticulate loathing of it was right after all.
Yet another pleasure in reading these things is the joy of seeing one’s ideological enemies acknowledge a direct hit. The reviews of Election provide many such yelps of pain, like this one: “As a 38 year old male this movie offended me greatly. It was made by MTV films which says alot about the politically motivated aspects of what happens when a Music Video cable channel decides to starts making movies which are politically based and totally one sided. Its hard to believe that Matthew Broderick went from Ferris Bueller (A Hero) to a conniving, evil, audulterer (Mr McAllister). Another thing that hurt (following MTV’S political agenda) was that it glorified Homosexuality and made men look stupid, evil, and immature.”
There it is, the Bush consensus: terrified, vengeful, and hopelessly confused; blurted out more clearly by an anonymous sucker than it could ever be by its spayed official spokespersons.
Seek out these blurts while they’re around. Go to the movie you most love and read what the bad people have to say about it. As a wiser fella than myself once said, “To defeat the bug, we must understand the bug.”
This article was first published in The eXile on March 11, 2005.
John Dolan is the author of Pleasant Hell.
Buy
“Pleasant Hell”
By John Dolan
Buy John Dolan’s novel “Pleasant Hell” (Capricorn Press).More than a decade after he began defrauding investors out of tens of millions of dollars, Concrete Equities executive Dave Humeniuk has pleaded guilty.
Humeniuk entered the plea in a Calgary courtroom on Thursday to a charge of fraud over $5,000. Humeniuk's scam victimized about 1,200 investors who lost more than $20 million.
Humeniuk was supposed to go to trial next month but his lawyer, Cory Wilson, and prosecutor Steven Johnston worked out a plea deal. Charges of money laundering and theft will be withdrawn by the prosecutor at Humenuik's sentencing hearing.
Last year, Varun Aurora pleaded guilty to the same charge and received a two-year sentence, which he was allowed to serve in the community. Humeniuk will be sentenced at a later date.
From 2006 to 2009, Concrete Equities and associated businesses sold investors securities derived from a fund that invested in office buildings in Calgary and land deals in Mexico.
In 2011, the Alberta Securities Commission found Humeniuk, Aurora and two other former executives of Calgary-based company guilty of breaking provincial securities laws and misleading investors.
The men were involved in a real estate project called El Golfo that deceived investors with "exaggerated and untrue statements," according to an agreed statement of facts read aloud at Aurora's guilty plea.
Investors were promised returns of more than 500 per cent if they purchased a stake in the undeveloped beach property in Mexico, according to RCMP.
A date for Humeniuk's sentencing will be set next month, when 98 victim impact statements are expected to be filed.But Abdul Nour and other opposition activists said the plane had been shot down by "heavy machine guns."
"All eye-witnesses in the area said it was shot down by machine gun, and they were cheering the gunner who brought it down," he said.
Syrian warplanes, lacking the "smart" bombs of their Russian counterparts, are often forced to fly at lower altitudes for their sorties, putting them at risk from ground fire.
Al Eis has been the site of violent clashes since last week, when rebel groups working together wrested control of the strategic village from pro-government troops.
The attack comes at a delicate time in the Syrian civil war, which began six years ago and has killed an estimated 250,000 people and turned a third of the Syrian population into refugees.HALIFAX – Autopsies will be conducted later Tuesday on two young children after a python escaped a pet store in northern New Brunswick and strangled the boys while they slept in an apartment in the same building.
RCMP confirmed the deceased were a five-year-old boy and a seven-year-old boy. The boys are being identified as Connor and Noah Barthe.
Police say a criminal investigation is underway and no charges have yet been laid. The boys’ bodies were removed from the scene late Monday night.
Mounties were called to the home, in Campbellton, at about 6:30 a.m. Monday.
The python** is believed to have escaped from a store called Reptile Ocean and got into the apartment.
Store owner Jean-Claude Savoie called the incident tragic.
“My body is in shock. I don’t know what to think,” he told Global News.
Savoie said the two boys are the children of his best friend and they often sleep over in his apartment. It’s believed the boys lived in the building next to the shop.
“I feel like they’re my kids,” he said.
Savoie said he went into the living room, where the kids were sleeping, and discovered a gruesome sight.
“I thought they were sleeping until I [saw] the hole in the ceiling. I turned the lights on and I [saw] this horrific scene,” he said.
“[The snake] went through a ventilation system. I don’t understand how it did it. It went through the ceiling…and the snake fell through the living room from the ceiling,” he said.
“I found the snake. It was in a hole underneath. I pinned him down and put him in a cage,” Savoie said.
Savoie said the python is not normally handled by anyone, including the two children.
The 45-kilogram African rock python, which is between 3.5 and 4.5 metres in length, was not for sale and was one of Savoie’s pets.
Global News speaks with the owner of Reptile Ocean, the company from where a python escaped and killed two young children.
Neighbours are getting over the shock of something like this happening in the small town.
“It’s very nerve-wracking. If one got out, how many else got out,” said Diane Fournier, who lives nearby.
Fournier said she often saw the two children in the neighbourhood.
“They play around my yard, around my area. I see them every day,” she said.
WATCH: Snake expert talks about what may have caused a Python to attack and kill two children in New Brunswick.
She’s still coming to grips with the fact that they are now gone.
“I feel for the family because losing their kids is not easy,” she said.
RCMP said the python is now in their possession.
Last year, an online petition was started to shut Reptile Ocean down. It was created by someone who said they were an ‘unsatisfied customer’.
Its goal was 1,000 signatures. It garnered 185. The petition is now closed to signatures.
In pictures: Reptile Ocean in Campbellton
**An earlier version of this story said the snake was a boa constrictor. RCMP have confirmed it was a python.
With files from Laura Brown and Mairin PrentissA Roadmap to Version 1.0
Posted by Bjarni on April 27, 2015
My dear Mailpile backers, I am going to go out on a limb here and publish a Roadmap to Version 1.0. I feel it is important to share the current direction of things.
I am hesitant, because I have drafted plans like this twice before and in neither case did the plans work out. Project management and planning is very hard! So please keep that in mind during the coming months and as you read through this post. This roadmap is written with the best intentions, but I may well have overlooked something critical or something unforseen may come up.
That said, there are quite a few tasks on this list which volunteers might be able to help out with. In particular, the Short Setup, Autoajax and Security themes all contain multiple tasks which could be done in parallel and may be relatively low hanging fruit. If something from this list strikes your fancy, please get in touch on IRC and let me know!
So without further ado, I give to you... a GANTT chart:
This chart shows the weeks ahead along the top, and the tasks I have chosen to focus on along the left. Filled in boxes in the area below show roughly when I expect to work on things. Not all the boxes have been filled in, but all the top-level tasks have time allocated. I have also labeled when I plan to be in Iceland for the summer, some of which will be vacation time.
The tasks of course are the most important part of this roadmap. Why these tasks, and not others? That is what the rest of this blog post is about. The order of things and the timing are less important, but when there are specific concerns they are mentioned.
The tasks fall into a few main themes: Website, Short Setup Flow, Simplified UI, Fast Startup, Autoajax, Security 1.0 and the actual releases. I will dedicate a few words to each of those themes.
Although there are admittedly quite a few new features in this plan, the team has actually been working on most of these things for months already. The intent is to not only address symptoms and fix shallow bugs, but to actually fix some of the root causes of our previous releases being so problematic. Our 1.0 will certainly not be bug-free, but it would be nice to ship it without any major known design flaws.
Website
The project website needs to be updated so it does a better job answering the following main questions:
What is Mailpile? Where can I get it? How can I help?
A very basic community site, long promised as one of the initial fundraising campaign perks, has actually been built! It just needs updated content and a launch.
Also, our hosting provider GreenQloud has announced that they are shutting down their public cloud service, so we need to move before the end of the summer. Although not strictly a 1.0-related task, this is critical work that needs to be done before the release.
Short Setup Flow
Although the current setup flow is quite nice, this theme aims to shorten it to only two steps:
Choose your language Choose a password for your Mailpile
Although this is a very simple goal, making this possible requires adding functionality elsewhere in the app, resulting in the largest change planned for the summer.
After these two basic configuration steps, people would be taken directly to the app's home page.
The home page is a new concept. It is the starting point whenever the user logs on or start the app, presenting to the user an overview over the current state of their Mailpile. This would include a list of accounts and basic statistics about each, options to add or remove accounts, and links to a browsing interface. There will probably also be hints on this page, prompting the user towards the next steps needed to configure and use their Mailpile.
The browsing interface allows the user to explore either Mailpile's internal data, the local file system or the mailboxes and contacts associated with a particular account. It will be possible to read mail using this interface, but more importantly the user will be given the option to enable (or disable) background copying, syncing or just indexing of their mailboxes. When browsing other types of data, other appropriate configuration options should be presented instead.
Technicalites
Most of the tasks in this theme have to do with implementing a way to browse local mail or remote servers, adding the concept of accounts and building a nice landing page.
Mailpile currently separates what most users think of as an account into Mail Sources, Profiles and Sending Routes. This division will be maintained internally, but does not necessarily need to be exposed to the end user.
The browsing feature depends on another new internal concept: a "virtual file system" (VFS) which abstracts away the differences between different types of data sources, making them all browsable using the same metaphors and same user interface.
Justification
This theme attempts to address a few key bits of feedback from early adopters:
One of the first questions we got was: "Where is the home page?" The current setup flow is rather long. The setup UI for mapping IMAP folders to Mailpile tags is confusing. There is no way to browse remote mail, short of importing it and adding to the search engine. This can take a very long time and discourages users. Many reports of IMAP bugs were actually configuration problems, which speaks to poor visibility into what the app is doing. Fixing this is key to addressing point #2 in the Beta Rejected blog post.
Other concerns which may also benefit from the VFS concept include:
Some administrators would like to store data in a database instead of the local file system. Mailpile will need to write data to the user's remote IMAP server to implement backups or key syncing. A lot of Mailpile's internal data structures are hard to discover and configure at the moment; a browsable VFS is a very simple way to address this in the near term. This will be useful for debugging and will provide stop-gap functionality until more specialized user interfaces can be developed.
As this is a major change to the user experience, this theme is the 1st priority on the roadmap. It is important to get it shipped to users as soon as possible, so we can perform basic usability tests and get feedback on whether it really is an improvement or not. If people don't like (or understand) it, then there should still be time to respond to their feedback before launching.
Simplified UI
This theme is quite simply about removing unfinished elements from Mailpile's current user interface.
Many such elements would benefit from being split out into external plugins, so they can be developed outside the Mailpile core and have their own independent release cycles. As an example, Mailpile 1.0 may not include an address book. Instead, the current address book interface should be moved to a plugin which users will be able to add to their Mailpile without upgrading at a later date.
This theme addresses point #1 from our Beta Rejected post.
Fast Startup
This theme is about improving the startup-time and reducing the RAM usage of Mailpile.
If a user has a lot of mail, it can take a few minutes to start Mailpile on a slow computer. This is due to the fact that the metadata index (information about subjects, senders, dates, etc.) has to be loaded into RAM before the app can start up. In addition to annoying heavy users, the resulting RAM requirements also causes problems for providers interested in hosting Mailpile for other people.
This component of Mailpile has been largely rewritten already to use an alternate strategy, but the work needs to be finished, published and a migration process needs to be created for our existing users.
A side-benefit of this work will be to improve the encryption of the search index, and reduce the risk of data loss when the app crashes or is shut down uncleanly.
This is the most technically risky part of the roadmap, which is why it is the 2nd theme after the simplified setup flow. Once this works, we release Beta III and ask our users for testing and feedback.
Autoajax
This theme is about improving the performance of the web interface.
Once everything is up and running, the single most annoying thing (IMHO) about Mailpile is how slow the web interface is. This is embarrassing, since from the start we've boasted about performance and being able to outperform many cloud-based web-mail solutions.
This theme will:
Reduce the number of full-page loads Slim down the templates so full pages load faster Implement better in-app notifications and live updates
"Autoajax" is the internal code name for the progressive enhancement work which has already been done on this front. It just needs to get finished and shipped! A stretch goal for this theme is to make the web interface more responsive, so it becomes more usable on larger monitors or mobile devices.
This theme is very low risk; the worst that can happen is not all of the app gets updated and the UI performance stays unchanged for those pages.
Security 1.0
This part of the roadmap is admittedly incomplete.
In general, this theme is about fixing as many issues as possible which pertain to our published Security Roadmap, as well as addressing point #3 from the Beta Rejected post.
The riskiest part of this theme will be to communicate the end result to our users, so they know whether the software is "fit for purpose", given their individual security needs.
Releases
Finally, the roadmap has four releases on it:
Beta III Linux 1.0 Windows 1.0 Mac OS X 1.0
The time allocated to each release will be used for bugfixes and fixes not covered by the other themes; namely packaging work and OS integration.
The purpose of the Beta III release is to solicit feedback on the two largest changes: Short Setup and Fast Startup. It should launch very soon after as those two themes complete.
The 1.0 releases are of course contigent on tests giving positive results and development going relatively smoothly over the course of the summer.
Unlike our previous releases, we are considering the idea of launching on different platforms at different times. This reflects the fact that although most of the code is shared, the packaging and OS integration work is not. Making our Linux users wait while we finish fixing our klunky OS X integration is probably undesirable, except perhaps from a marketing oriented point of view.
What do you think?
That's it! Mailpile's future, for the next few months at least.
Feedback is most welcome. Please find us on IRC (Freenode, #mailpile) or on Twitter.
Thanks for reading!Like SVGnest? Try my new open source nesting project
What exactly is "nesting"?
If you have some parts to cut out of a piece of metal/plastic/wood etc, you'd want to arrange the parts to use as little material as possible. This is a common problem if you use a laser cutter, plasma cutter, or CNC machine.
In computer terms this is called the irregular bin-packing problem
How much does it cost?
It's free and open source. The code and implementation details are on Github
Does it use inches? mm?
SVG has its internal units, the distance related fields in the settings use SVG units, ie. pixels. The conversion between a pixel and real units depend on the exporting software, but it's typically 72 pixels = 1 inch
My SVG text/image doesn't show up?
Nesting only works for closed shapes, so SVG elements that don't represent closed shapes are removed. Convert text and any other elements to outlines first. Ensure that outlines do not intersect or overlap eachother. Outlines that are inside other outlines are considered holes.
It doesn't ever stop?
The software will continuously look for better solutions until you press the stop button. You can stop at any time and download the SVG file.
Some parts seem to slightly overlap?
Curved shapes are approximated with line segments. For a more accurate nest with curved parts, decrease the curve tolerance parameter in the configuration.
I need help?
Add an issue on Github or contact me personally: jack.worksThis weekend's Downtown Hoedown kicks off a lively summer for the riverfront space
An artist’s rendering of West Riverfront Park. (Photo: Olympia Entertainment)
Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker are headlining this weekend's Downtown Hoedown, but the West Riverfront Park may very well be the star of the show.
The space, nestled along the Detroit Riverfront between Joe Louis Arena and the Ambassador Bridge, will be home to several big concert events this summer, including Jimmy Buffett (June 25) and the two-day Mo Pop Festival (July 25-26). When the Hoedown starts up at 4 p.m. Friday, promoters said they hope it marks the kickoff of a new era for concertgoing in the city.
"It's just a perfect, perfect site for an outdoor festival," said Tom Wilson, president and CEO of Olympia Entertainment, which is putting on the Hoedown and Buffett shows. "In the evening when you look to the side and you see the river, and you look behind you and see the bridge all lit up, you'll get a view of downtown Detroit that you really haven't seen before. The city feels good, and you're outdoors and you're on the river."
The grassy site, on West Jefferson behind the main post office, got its first test last August when Detroit R&B singer Kem held his annual Mack and Third benefit concert. Reviews were positive, and the response helped pave the way for this year's slate of shows.
Depending how it is scaled, the site can accommodate up to 50,000 people, promoters say. But public awareness has been a hurdle — "West Riverfront Park" doesn't have any name recognition among concertgoers. "That's one of our battles right now," Wilson said. "People are still trying to figure out, 'OK, I hear it, where is it?'"
Other logistical questions about the site remain: Where do I park? Are there bathrooms? Wilson is confident the Hoedown, which he said will draw daily crowds of 20,000-25,000, will set the record straight.
Questions about the site and its unfamiliarity with concertgoers may have contributed to the cancellation of the season's first concert, a planned May 29 show by R. Kelly. The show was scrubbed from the schedule eight days before the event, and while the official reason was a "scheduling conflict," that is often industry code for low ticket sales. (Kelly, for his part, has pledged to return to Detroit in the fall.)
The 20-acre West Riverfront Park, which had been closed to the public since the 1970s (for years it was home to a newspaper printing plant), was purchased by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy in 2007, and $5 million was spent redeveloping the land |
brother and a guru himself, said there is muscularity and power in the Jaipur shaili or style, that the family follows. The style grew fostered by the royal families of Rajasthan in the temples of the desert, and the themes of their dance usually revolved around veer rasa, bhakti and sringar.
The khandan prides itself on its sure-footedness around taal. “One talks of taal mein naachna but we talk of taal ko naachna – to make the rhythm dance to one’s tune, instead of dancing to it,” said Harish Gangani.
Graphic credit: Neha Dani
It isn’t as if the gurus of Jaipur gharana did not teach women. In fact, two of Kundanlal Gangani’s best-known disciples were women – Urmila Nagar and Prerna Shrimali, who has been known in Delhi for decades for the lyricism and quietude of her kathak. But the dance stayed off limits for the women of the family.
“There was a time when the men made a living with their art by taking it to distant places in the desert,” said Rajendra Gangani. “The women stayed in Badabar and kept the family together. If they had joined us on our journeys on camel-back...But we now live in different times and I was keen that even women in the family who have talent should not be denied a chance to take it to connoisseurs.” Rajendra Gangani was the keenest to get Nayanika on stage.
Innate rhythm
The family moved to Delhi in the 1960s when classical dance was finally beginning to find a place in cultural institutions, colleges and school. Gurus started landing jobs in these institutions as teachers and mentors. The first from the family to arrive in Delhi was the master guru, Kundanlal Gangani. Today those whom he taught, or those who were taught by his sons and nephews, make for three generations of artistes.
“I would say that about 80 per cent of male kathak dancers today are connected in some manner or the other to the extended Gangani family,” said Aditi Mangaldas, a seasoned kathak dancer who has had a long association with the Ganganis’ talent since the early 1990s. “Their percussive style is strong, they have a penchant for intricate laya patterns, and they are incredibly hardworking.” Mangaldas’s dance centre Drishtikon has been manned by percussionists from the Gangani clan for decades now.
Every member of the Gangani family can play the tabla, the pakhawaj and perform kathak – while not with the same level of expertise and talent, but certainly with competence. In the senior league are Fatehsingh Gangani, who plays the pakhawaj, and Yogesh Gangani, who plays the tabla. The two of them are among the most sought-after percussionists in India.
Harish Gangani reciting the bols, i.e padhant with nephews Sanjeet and Bhawani Gangani. Photo credit: Indranjan Banerjee, OddBird Theatre.
As pakhawaj player Ashish Gangani said, it was watching the impressive travel and flight schedules of the taus and chachas that inspired many of the youngsters to take to percussion. “One of our dreams is to be as busy as them, to find as many grand and good stages to play on as them,” he said. Some of those dreams are certainly coming true. Ashish Gangani plays the pakhawaj for Drishtikon, which has a considerable presence on the cultural circuits of the West.
The Gangani seniors pride themselves on never pushing youngsters into kathak or percussion. Mohit Gangani, who plays the tabla for Drishtikon, said it is standard for all children in the family to pick up various skills along the way and let time and interest decide their destination.
“The sounds of pakhawaj or tabla or kathak are like surround sound in our homes,” he said. “I was set on playing cricket as a child, so I would sit for my riyaaz or practise session with the tabla, but my attention was elsewhere. Then I heard the great Anindo Chatterjee play the tabla and suddenly it seemed the most glamorous thing in the world. I then put my mind to my classes with [uncle] Fateh Singhji. I did learn dance. When [Rajendra] guruji would teach other dancers he would say ‘Come!’ and you went, but it didn’t take me long to realise that dance is not my forte. I am way too heavy-footed. But my awareness of dance and rhythm and their interlinking is strong.”
Gangani Family gather for a picture just after rehearsal. Photo credit: Indranjan Banerjee, OddBird Theatre.
Some youngsters take a while to figure out their forte, others know where they want to head – but a solid grounding in all things percussive is a given in the family. Sanjeet Gangani is an emerging kathak dancer but he is emphatic that the years of tabla tutelage in the family have lent his dance a distinct quality.
“It becomes far easier to grab a bandish or a laya pattern if you have some skill with the tabla or pakhawaj,” he said. “There is severe competition among younger dancers today and the fact that riyaaz in multiple disciplines is an aadat, or habit, for us gives us an advantage.”
For both, Nishit and Nayanika Gangani, the youngest members of the clan, kathak and tabla are first on the agenda once their school bags are off their shoulders and homework is out of the way. There really isn’t anything else they would rather do, than follow in the footsteps of their tauji or chacha, they said.When the London riots kicked off in 2011, Daniel Mayrit was living in Tottenham, and he witnessed violent events on his doorstep. A few months later, he received a police leaflet in the post featuring faces of the alleged participants, taken from CCTV cameras, which asked neighbours to help identify them. At the same time, banks were being bailed out and financial scandals were rolling out in the press.
“On the one hand we had the petty thieves that maybe had stolen a TV in the supermarket, and on the other those responsible for the financial crisis,” says Mayrit. “The difference was that in one case we got their images delivered to our homes, in the other we had no idea who they were or what they looked like. There was a representation vacuum, and I wanted to put faces on them the way that power puts faces on criminals.”
Mayrit worked to fill that space. The Spanish photographer tracked down the 100 most powerful people in the City of London (according to Square Mile’s 2014 report) and, after trying to photograph them directly – going to their places of work, or finding out about events they would attend – he gave up and resorted to the internet instead. He carefully selected images that were already in the public domain (in the press, YouTube, and footage from parliamentary appearances) and gave them a treatment that made them look like screenshots from security cameras.
His motivation? Without representation, there can be no action. “It’s very difficult to point your indignation towards something if you don’t even know its face.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The cover of Mayrit’s book. Photograph: Daniel Mayrit
The resulting photobook, You Haven’t Seen Their Faces, questions how presentation can change narratives. “We could not possibly know if the youngsters portrayed by the police were actually criminals,” Mayrit says on his website. “We almost inadvertently assume their guilt because they have been ‘caught on CCTV’.” Likewise, he says, “we cannot assume either that the individuals featured here are all involved in the ongoing financial scandals.”
His book, which won the Paris Photo First Photobook award and is featured in Martin Parr’s Strange and Familiar show, currently on at London’s Barbican Gallery, features photocopies of the faces printed on brown paper and bound together by three golden screws. Mayrit overlays handwritten texts on each face giving information about their earnings, scandals or legal cases they’ve been involved in – all of it information that had already been published by established media.
Strange and Familiar indeed – these photographs of the life I lived are eye-opening | Ian Jack Read more
With editor Verónica Fieiras, he was looking to spark “a sort of physical reaction”. So they included a map that identifies these people and their workplaces. “We wanted for the book to allow readers to take action if they wanted, for them to really use it.”
Meanwhile, in his Suburban Scenes project, Mayrit staged daily anodyne scenes with actors in Tottenham and retouched the shots to give them a Google Street View look. “I wanted to question how those images were interpreted by the viewer, depending on what they knew about Tottenham. They could all be read in one way or its opposite – like this kid jumping a fence: had he just stolen something, or was he taking a shortcut to the shopping centre?”
Despite the activist slant of his art, Mayrit is sceptical that images can change the world: “After Vietnam, their power is relatively small, and I’m infinitely aware of that.” However, he is tackling something that bothers him: “Photographers always seem to focus on the victims, in any type of conflict.”. He wanted to do the opposite: “What about those responsible for it?”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest An image from Thalia Galanopoulou’s project Points of Authority. Photograph: Thalia Galanopoulou
Spending months working on closeups of these faces, “obsessing about getting the right look” affected Mayrit. “I felt like they were part of my life, like I knew them – they felt like the neighbour you see every morning.” But the more he researched, the more he realised that he – and we – are clueless about real life in the City of London. In one particular case, number 71 in the power 100 – he could not even find a photo of the subject, Jonathan Sorrell. “Some of these people have so much power that they’ve managed for their image not to be on the internet. It felt like a metaphor for the whole project.”
What really goes on inside the City of London? Read more
Mayrit is one of a growing number of photographers turning their cameras on the wealthy. Dougie Wallace takes garish portraits of customers outside Harrods; Italian duo Paolo Woods and Gabriele Galimberti photograph tax havens around the world; Zed Nelson visually explores the cost of gentrification in London. In Points of Authority, Thalia Galanopoulou photographed bankers going about their daily business: “Some of them have given me consent, but most of them were just passing by,” says Galanopoulou of her gonzo approach. “I always made myself visible, as I used a 50mm lens. I didn’t want to be hiding … I think this confrontation is an important element.”
No reactions from the City have, as of yet, reached Mayrit, who draws a parallel between the isolation of the financial and art sectors: “Both are a niche. Most people in them don’t really care about what goes on outside of their worlds.”
He is now working on a project around Spain’s controversial “gagging law”, which prohibits the dissemination of pictures of police forces. “They are also trying to create a representation vacuum,” he says of the legislation. “The financial system had a moral vacuum; this is creating a vacuum by law.”A while back I blogged about the utopian vision of a solar-powered roadway system paved in glass. It's been about a year and the producers of " YERT" (Your Environmental Road Trip) returned to the shop of Solar Roadways inventor Scott Brusaw whose company won a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to build a prototype module.
It still seems like a far-fetched vision requiring almost limitless sums of money, but when you factor in the skyrocketing costs of asphalt (which has gone up 10 times in cost in the last two years) and the enormously expensive retrofit of our existing electrical grid for renewable energy, the all-in-one solution of a road system that produces and delivers electricity along with data and LED lighting, it starts to make a bit more sense.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to overcome is the material properties of the glass that has to be glare-free and completely shatter-proof, while being transparent enough to harvest the sun's light. But with major breakthroughs in glass technology, this could one day become a feasible solution for the highways of the 21st century.Final Fantasy 15 is now out and the game’s director, Hajime Tabata, can now relax and reflect on the success of the game so far. It’s been a long road to finally finish the game.
Japanese website, ItMedia, had a chance to speak with Tabata as he talks about the game’s current success and more. The game was a huge success in the West, although what about the numbers over in Japan?
Tabata said that the majority of sales were mostly from overseas. He said that this is to be expected as more people own a PS4 and Xbox One console outside of Japan.
In Japan, sales of Final Fantasy 15 are just over 800,000 units which is kind of low for a mainstream FF video game. To put this into perspective, Final Fantasy XIII sold over 1.5 million units in its first week in Japan.
Despite the numbers, Tabata said the numbers are still good because of the current situation of the gaming market in Japan. If you don’t know, Japanese gamers have migrated over to mobile gaming for some reason. PS4 ownership is not as high as the previous PS3 generation.
As for the game’s launch, he felt it was necessary to launch the game worldwide simultaneously. In the past, Final Fantasy games would have been released in Japan months before coming out to North America and Europe.
The game is also an open world title in order to appeal to Western gamers he said. It was the right decision as people criticized the linear nature of Final Fantasy XIII. Not to mention games like GTA 5, Fallout 4 and more show that open world titles are popular right now.
He is also happy with the many ways that people are playing the game. Many players (like myself), have been enjoying playing all of the sidequests first before doing the story missions.Read the Full Article
Guest essay by Leo Goldstein
“There is no greater mistake than to try to leap an abyss in two jumps” – David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister in WWI
I think the Republican administration should renounce climate alarmism and climate pseudo-science sharply, unequivocally, and irrevocably.
Climate alarmism is a tool used to wreck America and possibly the rest of Western civilization. It is not about science. It is not about energy policy. It is not even about the power and politics. Climate alarmism is like a memetically engineered weapon of mass destruction unleashed on the U.S. and destroying our country from the inside.
Climate alarmism might be the most dangerous threat the U.S. faces today. The magnitude of this danger can be seen even by the sheer size and sophistication of the media’s attempts to push the Trump administration to compromise with climate alarmism. The regulations remaining from Obama’s term are only the tip of the iceberg and are the least important part of the problem.
There is no middle ground between the alarmist and the realist positions today, and there hasn’t been one for about twenty years. Furthermore, the attempts to find a middle ground with climate alarmism eventually led to its growth. Twenty years of trying to appease climate alarmism led to one outcome — many reasonable people came to the conclusion that the basic tenets of climate alarmism are correct, and that those who reject “climate actions” do that for some other, possibly ulterior, motives. These motives and reasons are thought to be economics, national egoism, excessive influence of some industries, libertarian ideology, public misunderstanding of science. But the basic tenets are wrong.Dj Wicked G grew up in Miami, FL. He served proudly in the US Army and music has been his passion since he was a kid. He loves sounds, beats, and experimenting with different genres of music, but more specifically Hip-Hop, Rap, Trap, Dance, and etc.
Dj Wicked G, is principally what has become one of modern music’s most important figures. These are the guys who can make or break, rap and hip hop artists. They deliver those all-important backdrops on which rap artists lay down fiery rhymes and flows. Often referred to as Producers, they are more essentially beatmakers, without whom ninety percent of rappers wouldn’t even exist!
We recently checked out Dj Wicked G’s track, “The Feeling of Power” and straight off the cuff he shows promise as a beatmaker, and it’s exciting to see what he’ll accomplish as his talents refine with time. In fact we quickly moved over to his Soundcloud to checkout his catalog, and it seems that Dj Wicked G has hit the ground running, churning out a series of intriguing beats.
At the heart of “The Feeling of Power” Dj Wicked G showcases both his wide-roaming ear for sounds and his knack for clever manipulation of off-beat source material. He also has the ability to push through cacophonous grit into more melodic territory, as is evident on some of his other tracks.
Ultimately its Dj Wicked G’s army of spindly synth and vocal hooks, cavernous basslines, fast-paced 808 type drums and surefire handclaps that is poised to continue its exploration of Gangsta rap. In fact, his hook line is, “Keeping it Gangsta”!
But tracks like “Acid Tunnel” and “The Rise of Me”, also show that Dj Wicked G is building an inimitable body of work that includes production characterized by ephemeral tracks, full of moody ambience that run diametrically opposed to nearly everything on the radio. Stuff with which to turn mainstream on its ear!
All through his catalog Dj Wicked G’s style is very focused on the almost understated sound he manages to achieve. His beats are spacious and unobtrusive, leaving plenty of room for rappers to spit their teeth into. There are some kicking beats here and if you are interested in the alternative Hip-Hop that is certainly the future of this genre, then make sure that you get Dj Wicked G at all costs.
Dj Wicked G’s beats will take you from happy to melodramatic and bittersweet. As I’ve mentioned before hip hop producers / beatmakers are the most important, and the most underrated pieces in the construction of hip hop music. While rappers are showcased on album covers, creatives like Dj Wicked G, quietly work in the shadows towards the evolution of Rap and Hip hop.
OFFICIAL LINKS:
Soundcloud
Reverbnation
Facebook
Twitter
FlavorsOn September 13, 2015 a Facebook post appeared online and quickly went viral. The post was an image of a woman covering her mouth with her hand while looking fearfully into the camera. Her palm was facing out to reveal a black dot was drawn there in dark ink.
Along with the powerful picture was a message with read:
“The black dot on the hand lets professionals know you’re a really vulnerable domestic violence survivor, and you need help but can’t ask because your abuser is watching your every move. In just 24 hours the campaign has reach over 6,000 worldwide and already helped 6 women. Please spread the campaign, and post a picture of your hand with the black dot, to show your support to all survivors of domestic violence.”
The post clearly asks that people spread the message and the campaign to help abuse survivors everywhere. And that was exactly what the internet did: it spread the message. The post got over 28,000 likes and 83,000 shares before it was taken down by Facebook, along with the Black Dot Campaign’s Facebook page.
Facebook via Jenn Hunton
But why was it taken down? This is a fantastic campaign that gives abuse survivors the ability to call out for help when they are voiceless. Undoubtedly this idea saved some lives and put some bad people in police custody.
Right?
Well, yes and no. The answer to why is campaign is so good and so bad can be found in two subsequent posts published on the Black Dot Campaign’s Facebook group before it was taken down.
According to Snopes, a September 8 post on the campaign’s Facebook page once read:
The Black Dot Campaign is to enable victims who can not ask for help verbally to ask for help with a simple black dot and people recognise this and help. This is a campaign to help the most vulnerable victims of Domestic Violence. They simply draw a black dot on their hands and agencies, family, friends, community centers, doctors, hospitals can recognize this person needs help but cannot ask for it.
Then on September 14, the campaign posted an “Important Notice,” which read:
The original ethos for this campaign was to enable a victim to put a dot on their hand around someone they trusted to enable a conversation to start, so they could open that door and hopefully start a process of seeking professional help. This is an idea, thinking outside of the box, trying to open up the worlds eyes and ears to what is going on in terms of abuse. The idea came from a former domestic violence victim. Professional bodies have not been advised or trained in the Black Dot, what it symbolizes and what it means. When people contact us we open the gates of communication and put them in touch with people who can really help. Putting such a campaign on Facebook was about raising awareness on a social media platform. This isn’t the solution that will help everyone, if anything it should help people realize what abuse is, how it affects people and how to access help. And most importantly SAFETY MUST ALWAYS COME FIRST. If you see a black dot or are approached by someone for help, if safe to do so take them to safety and get them in contact with the relevant agency. Intervention and support should only be done by professionals.
Essentially, what they were saying is that this amazing campaign idea was created, but no professionals were told. Only the internet was.
Of course with the internet having such a long reach, it’s plausible to think that some professionals saw the campaign and were able to participate. However, most men and women who would have been able to assist abuse survivors were not trained to respond to this dot. It was merely an idea to try and help.
Not only that, but critics to the idea quickly pointed out that this campaign could get well-meaning people hurt.
Say you saw someone flashing a black dot on their palm and you rushed to their side or quickly called the police. That would be a just and kind thing to do…but it could also be a dangerous thing to do.
RedOnline
If the survivor in question needs to use this dot to communicate, that means their abuser is watching. He or she could have been made aware of what the black dot symbolized (the internet, like we said, it far reaching) and might go to any lengths to stop someone from calling for help.
Both you and the survivor could end up in a bad situation, when you were only trying to answer their silent cry for assistance.
By the end of that month, domestic abuse professionals were stepping forward to say they could not support the campaign for this very reason. Project Sanctuary was one of the organizations who spoke out against the idea of the black dot.
“The Black Dot Campaign is a very well-meaning idea, but a bad idea nonetheless,” said Dina Polkinghorne, executive director of domestic violence prevention organization Project Sanctuary in a statement. “The campaign is getting a lot of attention, so abusers may also be aware of it. They might question why their partner would have the dot on their hand. A well-meaning family member could also see the dot, and inadvertently compound the violence.”
Despite statements like this, the Black Dot Campaign showed no signs of slowing as 2015 ended and 2016 began. Nowadays, we certainly see less of the symbol online, but it is still used to bring awareness to the problem of domestic violence on various social media platforms.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or via their online chat, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673).The Syrian refugee suspected of planning to bomb a Berlin airport was radicalised only after arriving in Germany, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Friday, citing the suspect’s brother who still lives in Syria.
Jaber Albakr committed suicide in prison in Leipzig on Wednesday after two fellow Syrians had handed him over to police.
Alaa Albakr, told Spiegel by telephone from Syria that a Muslim preacher in Berlin had radicalised his brother and told him to return to his homeland to fight, which he did, before heading back to Germany once again.
“My brother was radicalised in Germany,” he said.
In September 2015, seven months after arriving in Germany where he was granted asylum, Albakr returned to Syria where he joined Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Alaa Albakr said.
If this is confirmed it would mark a major security lapse by the intelligence agencies that monitor potential militants among the some 900,000 migrants who arrived last year.
German security sources told Reuters that Albakr had travelled to Turkey after receiving asylum in Germany and spent several months there this summer.
Albakr’s death makes it more difficult for investigators to track down the network behind his radicalisation, a government spokesman said.
“Something went wrong … and misjudgements were made,” Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference.
“The death of the suspect makes the work of the investigators more difficult as what would have been possible to find out from him is no longer possible.”
Seibert added that the suicide must be thoroughly investigated. The results of an autopsy confirmed on Friday that the 22-year-old Syrian refugee had committed suicide.
Some 1.5 kilograms (3 pounds) of explosives were found at Albakr’s apartment during a police raid on Saturday but he evaded capture and went on the run for two days.
An opposition politician called the incident “an unprecedented sequence of failures by the police and judicial system”.Officers hit in face and shoulder after shots fired at protest outside Ferguson, Missouri, police department, hours after city’s police chief announced his resignation
Two police officers have been shot during a protest in Ferguson, according to the St Louis county police department.
Gunfire was heard at the protest outside the police department of Ferguson, Missouri, shortly after midnight Central time on Thursday morning.
The St Louis County police chief Jon Belmar, said at a press briefing: “These police officers were standing there and they were shot, just because they were police officers.”
The officers sustained “serious gunshot wounds to face and upper torso”, according to Belmar. One was from St Louis County and one was from Webster Groves. The Webster police officer is 32 years old and has been on the force for five years. No information was provided about the other officer.
Belmar also told reporters that “the night was fairly uneventful until about midnight.”
He said the crowd was beginning to break up when several shots were fired. The Webster Grove officer was shot in the face, and the St Louis county officer was shot in the shoulder.
A police source told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that both officers were expected to survive. Belmar said the officers were both conscious and being treated at a local hospital.
Asked to confirm protesters’ accounts that the shots were fired from people outside the group of demonstrators, Belmar said: “I don’t know who did the shooting to be honest with you right now, but somehow they were embedded in that group of folks.”
A few dozen demonstrators fled after the sound with some screaming, “They hit a cop,” around midnight, the photographer said.
Witness told the Los Angeles Times that they had heard around three shots fired. Video shared on social media purporting to be from the scene appeared to confirm this.
Several dozen protesters had gathered in front of the Ferguson police department earlier on Wednesday night, just hours after the city’s police chief, Thomas Jackson, announced his resignation.
Protesters had called for Jackson’s removal since the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on 9 August 2014. The killing triggered nationwide protests and drew scrutiny to police use of deadly force, especially against black men.
Jackson’s departure was the latest in a string of officials who stepped down following a scathing report from the US Justice Department that found widespread racially biased abuses in the city’s police department and municipal court.
Twitter user @search4swag posted video online purporting to be from the scene shortly after the shooting. In it, police crouch behind shields and crawl on the ground while a male voice says that the shot came from Tiffin Avenue. The Guardian has not been able to verify the footage independently.Like any experienced Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke knows how to choose his words carefully. So the triumphalist headline, “How the Fed Saved the Economy,” assigned to his Oct. 4 Wall Street Journal column, probably wasn’t his doing. Still the question remains: did the Fed really save us? Bernanke suggests that it did. But the evidence he musters leaves plenty of room for doubt.
At 5.1 percent, Bernanke observes, the unemployment rate is “close to normal.” One needn’t delve into the statistic to doubt that a return to “close to normal” unemployment after six long years is much of an achievement. But delving in makes the achievement more doubtful still.
As Bernanke himself admits, “other indicators,” including the labor force participation rate, suggest “that there is some distance left to go.” That’s putting things mildly: in fact, two-thirds of the decline in unemployment since 2009 is due, not to the unemployed finding jobs, but to their giving up. Bernanke presumably doesn’t want us to thank the Fed for that.
The inflation rate, Bernanke informs us, is just 1.5 percent—somewhat below the Fed’s 2 percent target, and nowhere near the hyperinflation some histrionic Fed critics warned against. But histrionics notwithstanding, the statistic is, once again, more proof of the Fed’s failure than of its success: as everyone who has followed the Fed’s efforts knows, inflation is low, not because the Fed has taken pains to keep it there, but despite the Fed’s attempts, through several massive rounds of quantitative easing, to raise it.
If the orthodox rules are sound—as Bernanke has repeatedly assured us—then the Fed’s early response to the crisis under Bernanke’s leadership wasn’t.
The Fed’s failure to achieve its inflation target casts doubt on the last bit of evidence Bernanke supplies as proof of the Fed’s success: the fact that the U.S. output is now almost 9 percent above its pre-crisis peak, whereas output in Europe, where the ECB resisted quantitative easing until recently, is still below its pre-crisis level. But conflating the United States higher output with the Fed’s resort to quantitative easing is one thing; establishing a causal link is quite another. In fact, empirical studies so far suggest that the output gains attributable to QE have been modest, if not negligible. Nor is this any surprise: instead of lending them, banks added almost all of the new dollars to their excess reserve holdings. That’s why inflation is so obstinately low. It’s also why the rise in output can’t easily be credited to quantitative easing.
If the Fed may not have made as great a contribution to recovery as Bernanke suggests, did it not at least succeed in avoiding a deeper crisis? Here, again, there’s plenty of room for doubt. When it rescued Bear Stearns in March 2008, the Fed justified the step, not by claiming that Bear, though illiquid, was solvent—as it ought to have been able to do according to the tried-and-true rules for last-resort lending—but by declaring Bear too “systematically important” to fail. That unwise pronouncement set the stage for Lehman’s far more cataclysmic September failure, by leading it to assume that it, too, could count on being rescued.
In the meantime, the Fed lent heavily to other troubled financial institutions through its new Term Auction Facility. But because it “sterilized” these loans by selling off Treasury securities, that lending amounted to a transfer of liquid funds from healthy banks to less healthy ones. Here again, the Fed’s procedures turned orthodox rules for last-resort lending, calling for central banks to leave insolvent firms to their fate, while lending generously to solvent ones, on their head. If the orthodox rules are sound—as Bernanke has repeatedly assured us—then the Fed’s early response to the crisis under Bernanke’s leadership wasn’t.
During the depths of the Great Depression, British economist Ralph Hawtrey published a long essay on “The Art of Central Banking.” Hawtrey had in mind the wisdom and foresight upon which central bankers must draw to successfully manage their way through crises—wisdom and foresight that Hawtrey found conspicuously lacking among the central bankers of his day. But central bankers also practice another sort of art. That’s the art of spinning even their biggest failures into successes. That Bernanke has certainly mastered one of these two arts no one can doubt. But great care must be taken in deciding which.Perennial state power Columbia returned to championship form to capture the Santelli Tournament title last night at the Morristown Armory in Morristown.
Columbia displayed the strength and balance that was a hallmark of the program in its six previous titles since the tournament adopted the full three-weapon format in 2001. It used gold medals in foil along with a silver in sabre and a seventh-place finish in epee to edge second-place Bernards by two points to earn its first Santelli title since 2009.
Gov. Livingston finished third overall.
Columbia coach Ibtihaj Muhammad credited the victory to the team’s coupling of hard work and talent.
“Every weapon, every member of this team stepped up today,” Muhammad said. “No team in the state prepares as hard as these fencers prepare. The conditioning, the hard work, in tournaments like this, that all comes out and you can see the effort that these fencers put in to succeed.”
At the point of Columbia’s victory was its foil line, which lost only three bouts on the day, and made a strong statement - at least until the state playoffs - that it is the best in the state.
The line of Samantha Viqueira, Najiyyah Clark, Marissa Viqueira and Camille Pham was unstoppable in the final pool - with sophomore Samantha Viqueira reprising her undefeated performance at last year's Santelli, while younger sister Marissa matched her sister's feat as a freshman.
Bernards earned silver in the weapon, while the bronze medal was captured by Fair Lawn.
In sabre, the trio of Elysia Wang, Katie Khaw and Celine Demorre secured the schools first Santelli gold with a powerful performance, pushing past second-place Columbia and third-place Livingston.
“I think we all worked together as a unit,” Khaw explained. “When we got to the final pool, our opponents were really on. Everyone in that pool is at such a high level, but our C strip, Celine Demorre, really stepped it up and that was the difference for us.”
Epee came down to a dramatic fence-off for gold between Ridge and Lawrenceville. The Lawrenceville trio of Naina Sahrawat, Aahana Chatterjee and Adrienne Yang came away with a 2-1 victory and the gold medal, while Bernards finished with the bronze.
For Lawrenceville senior Naina Sahrawat the victory was particularly sweet.
"This is the exact same group of girls that finished sixth (in epee) last year," Sahrawat said. "Coming into the tournament, we knew we had all worked hard and gotten better since then and we believed we could improve on last year. It's nice to win this as a senior. I am telling everyone about it, and it's nice to know that the squad will be good next year as well with the rest returning."
2014 Santelli Final Results
Place Team Saber Foil Epee Total 1 Columbia 2 1 7 10 2 Bernards 7 2 3 12 3 Governor Livingston 4 9 4 17 4 Watchung Hills 5 11 5 21 5 Livingston 3 14 6 23 6 North Hunterdon 15 8 8 31 7 Montgomery 18 6 11 35 8 The Pingry School 21 5 16 42 9 Mendham 20 7 18 45 10 Morris Hills 6 20 20 46 11 Ridge 33 12 2 47 12 Ramapo 13 21 17 51 13 Indian Hills 14 15 24 53 14 Montclair 8 38 9 55 15 Academy Of The Holy Angels 12 13 30 55 16 West Windsor Plainsboro South 9 19 31 59 17 Millburn 16 28 15 59 18 West Essex 32 16 14 62 19 Oak Knoll 11 18 34 63 20 Hunterdon Central 26 24 13 63 21 Voorhees 22 10 32 64 22 Fair Lawn 35 3 29 67 23 Newark Academy 28 4 35 67 24 West Windsor Plainsboro North 1 29 40 70 25 Wayne Hills 34 27 12 73 26 Teaneck 29 23 21 73 27 Princeton 31 33 10 74 28 Randolph 30 22 22 74 29 Bergen Tech 10 26 39 75 30 Wayne Valley 24 30 27 81 31 Morris Knolls 27 32 26 85 32 Lakeland 19 35 33 87 33 Chatham 25 41 23 89 34 West Milford 23 42 25 90 35 Gill St. Bernard’s School 38 36 19 93 36 Somerville 37 31 28 96 37 Morristown 17 44 37 98 38 Montclair Kimberley Academy 41 25 41 107 39 Moorestown Friends School 40 34 38 112 40 Northern Highlands 36 40 36 112 41 Butler 39 39 42 120 42 Passaic Valley 42 37 43 122 43 West Morris Central 43 45 44 132 44 The Lawrenceville School 17 1 45 Stratford Classical Christian Academy |
either gender.
Although there is much to be said for the critique in this article, I’m leery of the “feminist values” framing. It reinforces gender stereotyping. And Hillary making her status as a female candidate a prime reason for voting for her preserves all of that cultural baggage. tIn classes as big as men versus women, the differences among the members of the class are greater than the differences between classes.
By Anis Shivani, whose books in the last year include Karachi Raj: A Novel, Whatever Speaks on Behalf of Hashish: Poems, and Soraya: Sonnets (forthcoming June 2016). His new novel is A History of the Cat in Nine Chapters or Less. Originally published at Huffington Post
“I strongly argued that we had to change the [welfare] system…I didn’t think it was fair that one single mother improvised to find child care and got up early every day to get to work while another stayed home and relied on welfare…The third bill passed by Congress cut off most benefits to legal immigrants, imposed a five-year lifetime limit on federal welfare benefits, and maintained the status quo on monthly benefit limits, leaving the states free to set benefit limits…I agreed that he [Bill] should sign it and worked hard to round up votes for its passage…Weeks after Bill signed the law, Peter Edelman and Mary Jo Bane, another friend and Assistant Secretary at HHS who had worked on welfare reform, resigned in protest.” – Hillary Clinton in her 2003 memoir Hard Choices.
Not liking Hillary has nothing to do with her being a woman. It has everything to do with the hypermasculine values she espouses.
Hillary is that rare combination, even in our grotesque political landscape, of a smooth-talking neoliberal with the worst tendencies of a warrior-neoconservative. You couldn’t say that about Bill to the same extent, but there isn’t a regime change opportunity, a chemical or conventional arms deal, an escalated aerial (or lately drone) war, or an authoritarian friend in need, that Hillary hasn’t liked. If we get her, we will only be setting back feminism by decades, because her policies—like welfare “reform”—have always come packaged under the false rubric of caring for women and children. It’s like George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservatism,” the rhetorical cover she needs to enact policies, time after time, that erode women’s and children’s standing even as she claims to be their steadfast advocate.
It has been disheartening for me to read some female intellectuals, particularly in the New York literary world, rage against any criticism of Hillary. We are told it’s only sexism that makes us speak. We’d better check our feminist credentials. Are we, who criticize Hillary, misogynists? Then why do we have kind words for, say, Elizabeth Warren?
We’ve had similar criticisms of Condoleezza Rice, Sarah Palin, and Carly Fiorina. Fiorina, for me, was the scariest person running for president this cycle; you felt that poor autistic Ben Carson, if you begged and pleaded with him for your life, just might spare you, but not Carly! Carly even made a virtue of dragging Hewlett Packard down into the pits, which is not much different than Hillary’s indifference to the erosion that occurred in foreign policy during her tenure as Secretary of State, as she failed to move into a more liberal paradigm, insisting on sanctions and other punitive regimes, in countries like Iran, that disproportionately hurt women. John Kerry, once he took over, quickly picked up the dropped ball and achieved diplomatic success on a range of fronts, including climate change, where Hillary had failed.
There is a palpable deficit of feminist values in this country’s politics, after sixteen dark years of war, surveillance, vigilantism, police controls, economic servitude, and debt. To the extent that we can generalize about feminine and masculine values, the country desperately desires—well, two-thirds of it anyway, those besides Trump and Cruz fans—a reinjection of feminine values. That means compassion, acceptance, and understanding for those left behind by misguided economic policies. That means valuing, once again, as this nation has done for the periods it has shone brightest, imagination, beauty, soft-spokenness, and unexpected generosity.
In the early 1990s Hillary did represent, to some limited symbolic level, a change for the better in terms of feminist values—though this certainly didn’t translate into actual policy improvements for women or children or minorities, rather the opposite occurred in policies engineered by the Clintons. Furthermore, one could argue that it was George H. W. Bush who prompted the relative humanization of the 1990s, after the harsh Reagan-era rhetoric, promising a kindler, gentler nation, and aspiring to be the “education president” and “the environmental president.” The elder Bush’s policies were to the left of either Clinton, when it came to immigration, civil liberties, clean air, disability, and many other issues.
The Clintons went out of their way to pursue—often gratuitously—policies that hurt women and children. The reelection seemed safely in their pockets, yet they went ahead anyway with harmful laws on crime, welfare, telecommunications, immigration, and surveillance, legitimizing right-wing discourse that was to bear full fruit in the following decade. It was the Clintons who set the stage for the massive harm that was to befall women, immigrants, the poor, the elderly, and children once they provided liberal cover to social darwinist ideas that had been swirling around in maniacal think tanks but had not been able to make it through Congress.
The Clintons have somehow managed to convince half the sane world that they should be the natural recipients of African-American votes, despite everything they have done, when in power, to erode the economic security of African Americans and other minorities; the false hope raised during the 1990s was that the economic boom, itself a mirage as it turned out, would eventually lead to significant wage gains, but that never happened.
Poor and minority women and children were drastically hurt by the welfare bill the Clintons so enthusiastically pushed through Congress, and likewise all the policies, from trade to student aid, they pursued in the name of fiscal responsibility, cutting the deficit and the debt, and playing by Wall Street’s tune. On neoliberal disciplinary virtues (which in Hillary’s mouth are twisted in a rhetoric of “empowerment”), she’s little different than Milton Friedman, the greatest post-war popularizer of the “free market” mythos. “Personal responsibility,” separating the virtuous from those deserving of sanctions, is as much a credo for her as it was for Reagan, as it was for Barry Goldwater.Specific parts of Britain ARE being swamped by migrants, David Blunkett insists today.
Writing in the Daily Mail, the former Labour Home Secretary backs claims made by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.
Mr Blunkett says politicians cannot simply avoid the issue and Mr Fallon was right to ‘voice the concerns of ordinary voters’.
He warns of increasing public fears about immigration and says those who claim a large influx of migrants does not create problems are living in a ‘fantasy land’.
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Former Home Secretary David Blunkett (left) has defended the comments of Defence Secretary Michael Fallon (right) who earlier said parts of the UK were'swamped' with migrants
Instead of ‘peddling illusions’ around the impact of immigration, politicians must find solutions, he writes.
Mr Fallon had said at the weekend that some areas felt ‘under siege’ and that action was needed ‘to prevent whole towns and communities being swamped by huge numbers of migrant workers’.
Following a rebuke from Downing Street, he backtracked on his comments yesterday, saying he ‘mis-spoke’.
But Mr Blunkett said there had been no need for an apology, merely a clarification of what he meant.
However, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued an apparent criticism of Mr Fallon, saying he was worried about the language being used in the immigration debate.
The Most Rev Justin Welby claimed local priests were reporting an upsurge in racist abuse and said immigration should not be treated as a ‘deep menace’ that is going to overwhelm the country.
In the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs Mr Fallon was right to ‘correct’ what he had said.
David Cameron told MPs Mr Fallon was right to 'correct' what he had said while the Most Rev Justin Welby warned immigration should not be treated as a 'deep menace' that is going to overwhelm the country
Mr Blunkett said any attempts to make immigration a taboo subject 'plays into Ukip's hands'
But Mr Blunkett, who himself faced criticism when used the word ‘swamped’ to describe the impact of asylum seekers more than a decade ago, writes in the Mail: ‘Just because immigration is deeply controversial, that cannot mean that we should avoid talking about it.’
He says there are constant complaints that politicians are out of touch and refuse to listen to voters, adding: ‘What we need from all politicians is honesty and openness, not a desire for political point-scoring or displays of self-righteous importance.’
Attempts to make immigration a taboo subject ‘plays into Ukip’s hands’, he warns.
Mr Blunkett sets out plans for radical reforms on immigration – going much farther than Labour and Ed Miliband in his calls for change.
New arrivals who have not found work should return home, and only be able to claim benefits and access services if they have first paid into the system, he says.
Tory backbenchers also rallied behind Mr Fallon. Stewart Jackson wrote on Twitter that Mr Fallon was ‘absolutely right to use the word “swamped” about “some” immigration hotspots despite what teenage spin doctors at No 10 might say’.
DAVID BLUNKETT: Yes, specific parts of Britain ARE being'swamped' by migrants - and we politicians must dare to tell the truth
The former Home Secretary believes he and Mr Fallon were right to speak out about immigration
As concern over immigration mounts, public debate on the subject becomes ever more sensitive and controversial. Passions are inflamed, positions entrenched, tensions are palpable.
So whenever politicians speak out on this issue, they are treading in a minefield.
That is certainly what the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon found when he said in a television interview over the weekend that some towns in the East of England now feel ‘swamped’ and ‘under siege’ because of continuing high levels of immigration.
Inevitably, his remarks provoked a political outcry.
His Coalition colleague Ed Davey from the Liberal Democrats declared that all of us ‘need to be responsible in the words we use’ about immigration, while Labour front-bencher Douglas Alexander said that Fallon’s statement showed ‘the desperation of the Conservative Party’ in trying to appeal to disillusioned voters now turning to the UK Independence Party.
All of this may well be true, but it does not address fundamental worries.
So explosive was the row that Fallon was even pressurised by Downing Street into issuing a retraction.
This storm echoed the experience I went through 12 years ago when I, too, used the word ‘swamped’ to describe the anxious feelings of people who were facing the dispersal of large numbers of asylum seekers into their own hard-pressed Northern communities.
Such fears were being fuelled at the time by the tremendous strain put on vital public services such as GPs’ practices, local schools and social housing.
Just as today, my use of the word ‘swamped’ caused a bitter controversy. In contrast to Michael Fallon’s case, I was not told by Downing Street to use different words — but the then PM Tony Blair’s office did distance itself from my language.
Moreover, I was subjected to a barrage of criticism from right across the political spectrum.
In one vivid, if highly unfair attack, the Hackney MP Diane Abbott said my use of the word ‘swamped’ was ‘unfortunate’, adding that ‘we are talking about children here, not raw sewage’.
From the other side, the senior Tory Oliver Letwin donned the mantle of moral superiority to warn that ‘there is a terrible danger here of slipping into language that is emotive’.
Yet for all such condemnation, I believe that both Michael Fallon and I were right to speak out on this issue and to voice the concerns of ordinary voters.
Just because immigration is deeply controversial, that cannot mean that we should avoid talking about it.
There are constant complaints today that politicians are ‘out of touch’, that they refuse to listen to the electorate.
'Unlike Mr Fallon, I was not told by Downing Street to use different words - but the then PM Tony Blair's office did distance itself from my language'
There has been, mistakenly in my view, a perception that mainstream politicians have engaged in a conspiracy of silence on the immigration issue.
Whatever my critics argued in 2002, I was not being remotely prejudiced or incendiary in highlighting some of the problems in Northern constituencies in the face of far-reaching social change.
Nor do I believe such a charge could be levelled against Michael Fallon, albeit that we are talking about very small, specific areas and communities — not large swathes of our country.
In facing up to the problems of particular neighbourhoods where a large number of new arrivals from overseas not only puts severe pressure on the civic infrastructure, but also challenges the ability of the local community to absorb newcomers — who often have different languages, social skills and cultures — we avoid living in a fantasy land where none of these difficulties exist.
As politicians, we have a duty to address them. Our task is to find solutions, not peddle illusions.
It is interesting that in both cases, our critics focused largely on the language we used — not on the points we made.
If we had deployed the word ‘overwhelmed’, which, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, means almost exactly the same as swamped, it is unlikely that there would have been so many protests.
That is because the term ‘swamped’ is so loaded with political history.
It was famously uttered by Margaret Thatcher in a World In Action television interview in 1978, when she was still Leader of the Opposition.
It was uttered by Margaret Thatcher as Leader of the Opposition in the late Seventies when there was deep anxiety about rising immigration
In the late Seventies, there was deep anxiety about rising immigration, which, in turn, fed on a widespread anger over economic paralysis, falling living standards and a fraying social fabric. This does sound depressingly familiar!
Words are important, but so is political courage. What we need from all politicians is honesty and openness, not a desire for political point- scoring or displays of self- righteous importance.
That’s why I was so angered by the audacious piece of hypocrisy from the Ukip leadership. Claiming they would never use the word ‘swamped’, they had the cheek to describe Michael Fallon’s language — and, by extension, my own in 2002 — as ‘inflammatory’.
The hypocrisy would be laughable if it were not so offensive. Ukip’s entire political stance is inflammatory, since it is based on stoking up divisions. They are the masters of scare- mongering and scapegoating.
Unfortunately their negative campaigning seems to be having an impact.
One opinion poll revealed yesterday that a third of the electorate would consider voting for Ukip if they thought the party could win in their constituency, though it should also be noted that Ukip is easily the most disliked and feared party in Britain, precisely because of its remorseless negativity.
But any attempt to turn immigration into a taboo subject just plays into Ukip’s hands. The greatest antidote to the party’s bluster is frank, rational discussion, where voters are treated with maturity.
After all, the British people have proved to be remarkably tolerant about the changes brought about by mass immigration over recent decades.
They understand that the vast majority of migrants come here to work and have not only contributed heavily to our economy, but enriched our society in every field, from the arts and sport to food and fashion.
Yet it is foolish to deny some of the problems associated with immigration, as I have seen in certain parts of my own Sheffield Brightside constituency.
As a result of a substantial recent influx of incomers from Eastern Europe, there has been a host of difficulties, such as a lack of interpretation services, exploitation of migrants by rogue landlords, the stress on normal waste collection because of multiple occupation of terrace housing and the gathering of large groups in the streets.
But these issues will not be resolved by attacking foreigners and creating a climate of fear, as Ukip tries to do.
What we need is, first, an honest, calm reflection on how people feel about their neighbourhoods, and then a search for practical solutions.
That means, for instance, enforcing norms of behaviour, introducing an expectation that all citizens should speak the English language, strengthening borders through agreement with other European nations and stipulating that people can claim benefits only on the basis of the contributions they have made to Britain.
That last point was, after all, one of the reasons I proposed what became known as the ID card: a verifiable register of who was in the country, who was entitled to be here, and who had the right to work and to draw on essential services.
Those who have not found work should return to their countries of origin — a requirement that is perfectly applicable within current EU rules.
In simple terms, if you come here to work, you should work, and there should be no access to social security or state housing without having built up an entitlement.
Such measures would help to lance the boil of immigration concerns and thereby restore faith in our democracy.Wow, what a crazy week it has been! Talk about having a great community! If you haven’t checked out the videos in the October part contest thread, you need to now! I will be doing my best to highlight theses in the next few days!
If you haven’t entered into the October contest, now is your last chance! You know you want to win this bad boy:
As far as development is going, I have made some significant strides this week! The most satisfying thing I have done so far is completely strip all Steam code and plugins from the game. To put this in perspective, I was able to remove over 500 lines of code from the login system alone! That’s about 11 pages of solid text! The big plus is the amount it reduces the complexity of everything as well.
On top of this, I was finally able to track down and fix a long standing multiplayer issue know as the ‘barrel clearing bug’. This bug only impacted multiplayer and only the first shot of each weapon after you spawned. The first shot would not have the same velocity or arc as the other shots. In some weapons, like rockets and howitzers, it was much more extreme. The worst part, it didn’t show up on the clients machine at all! It took about 4 hours of dedicated debugging but I was able to track it down to a simple issue. When the new indirect fire range finders were added, they interact with the projectiles to help ensure they actually go the correct distance. Unfortunately, this bug was setting the range of the first projectile to be ZERO, which caused the first shot to act like it was past it’s intended range as soon as it was fired! Luckily the fix was very simple to implement and it’s been working great!
While I was looking into projectiles, I also investigated some reports that the indirect fire weapons were not actually hitting at the correct ranges. I was able to identify some cases where this was correct and extreme enough to warrant a fix [over shooting by more than 100 meters]. I have made some changes that make them MUCH more accurate from 0%-75% of their range, but there is still some extreme overshooting as you get closer to 100% of the range. I am still working on a solution for this, but I feel it will be a fairly quick fix. This will cause the indirect fire weapons to behave slightly differently.
Oh, before I forget, the change made the AI ~500% more accurate with indirect fire weapons. Support AI are SCARY now! They will NOT miss at close ranges any more!
And for the title bout, I have been working on environmental hazards. These are designated areas that will do damage over time, catch you on fire, or both, or any other variety of things, if you enter their area. They are being designed to either be placed in levels, deployed as a deployable, spawned when something dies [giant oil refinery buildings, I am looking at you!], or when a projectile hits.
Over all I think they can provide a lot of variety to gameplay and how the maps play out. Hanging out in a repair shed while it’s taking damage might get more dangerous, as you will be covered in fire if it dies with you in it!
While these hazards are meant to be ‘alive’ from a few seconds to forever, I am also working on a way to have instant area damage hazards as well. This could be a blast from a classic ‘exploding barrel’ to a death blast from a ejecting MAV.
In a game about trading damage in smart ways, what better thing to do than add more ways to take damage? 🙂
Well, that’s it for this week! Stay tuned to see the contest winners on Thursday!The fact that living with a roommate can save you money shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to most Angelenos. But just how much can you save by splitting rent with someone else? That’s what a new study by Smart Asset sets out to discover, and according to its data, Los Angeles residents can save an average of $6,696 per year by shacking up with someone else.
To get that number, Smart Asset took the average price of an LA two-bedroom (a hefty $3,298), halved it, and compared the resulting $1,649 to an average one-bedroom price of $2,207. By that calculation, roommates stand to save $558 every month they don’t go venturing off by themselves.
That’s great news for those willing to share a living space, though, of course, the bad news is that $1,649 is still a good chunk of change. Not surprisingly, when Smart Asset ranked US cities based on roommate savings, the top spots on the list went to the nation’s priciest rental markets, with San Francisco, New York, and San Jose comprising the top three. LA came in just behind San Diego in the eighth spot.
Those looking to save a tad bit more could always round up a third roommate. According to Smart Asset data, the average monthly price of a three-bedroom in LA is $4,672. Divide that by three and you get $1,557, or a savings of $650 per month and $7,800 per year.
Of course, as many actual roommates are probably thinking to themselves right now, who needs their own bedroom? The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing recommends that landlords allow two occupants per each bedroom in a rental unit, plus one additional occupant. Thus, a two-bedroom apartment could serve up to five people.
So, by our calculations, roommates paying average LA rents could save a yearly total of $17,652 by living in a one-bedroom with two others, $18,564 by sharing a two-bedroom five ways, and $18,480 by cramming seven people into a three-bedroom place. Now those are some savings.War Department,
Document No. 463.
Washington, March 23, 1914
The following Saber Exercise, prepared by Second Lieutenant George S. Patton, Jr., Fifteenth Cavalry, Master of the Sword at the Mounted Service School, and revised by the Cavalry Board, is approved and issued for the information and government of the Regular Army and the Organized Militia of the United States.
By order of the Secretary of War:
Leonard Wood
MajorGeneral, Chief of Staff
SABER EXERCISE
1. For military purposes the nomenclature of the saber is as follows; Blade and hilt.
The blade is divided into the forté, the 18 inches nearest the hilt; and the point, the rest of the blade. The saber, Model 1913, is two-edged. All the front edge, and half the back edge, is sharp, so that it may be more easily withdrawn from a body, and also, on rare occasions, used to cut. Throughout the text the word edge when used alone will mean front edge.
The hilt is divided into the guard, which protects the hand; the grip, which the hand holds, and the pommel, the lower end of the grip, used to strike with in close fight.
2. The saber is solely a weapon of offense and is used in conjunction with the other offensive weapon, the horse, In all the training, the idea of speed must be conserved. No direct parries are taught, because at the completion of a parry the enemy is already beyond reach of an attack. The surest parry is a disabled opponent.
In the charge and in the melee, the trooper must remember that on the speed of his horse in attack, and on his own offensive spirit, rest nine-tenths of his chances of success.
3. Instruction is divided into: Instruction on foot, and Instruction mounted.
Instruction on foot teaches the mechanism of the use of the saber without embarrassing the trooper with the control of a horse. It's chief purpose is to increase the reach, teach accuracy and quickness, and above all, to make the thrust instinctive.
General Plan for Dismounted Instruction.
4. (a) The normal guard; the other guards (four). Practice in assuming the various guards.
(b) The five points (thrusts). Practice in pointing.
(c) Thrusts of precision against instructor.
(d) Increase of distance so as to cause the trooper to take the lunge naturally.
(e) The lung at the right moment.
(f) Exercises to develop the initiative of the trooper.
(g) Replying to attack.
(h) Combat exercises.
(i) Instruction in parrying the lance.
After the trooper, using the exercise saber, has mastered (a) to (d), the last part of the instruction each day should be with the regulation saber, making points and lunges at command, thus developing the muscles and making the trooper familiar with his weapon.
Application of the General Plan for Dismounted Instruction.
5. Grasping the saber. Grasp the grip with all the fingers of the hand, the thumb extending along the back of the grip so as to occupy the lower half of the thumb groove, i.e., the part nearest the pommel. If the thumb occupies the entire groove it will be so near the guard that it may be bruised if the point encounters a strong resistance.
(a) The guards.
6. The normal guard, or guard to the right front. At the command GUARD, carry the right foot about 24 inches to the right and bend the knees to simulate the position mounted. Incline the body to the front from the waist (not the hips). Let the blade fall to the front to a position near the horizontal, elbow well away from the body, forearm and saber forming one straight line, edge of the blade to the right, point at height of adversary's breast, at the same time placing the left hand, closed, 6 inches in front of the belt buckle to simulate the position of the bridle hand. This is the position of guard, dismounted. It is usually taught from the carry, but may be assumed from any position at the command guard. The other guard positions are taught from the normal guard.
In all guards, lunges, etc., the left hand should be kept steady and in place to as to form the habit of not jerking the horse's mouth when exercising mounted.
7. 1. Left front, 2. GUARD. Carry the right hand to the left so that it is above and slightly in front of the left hand. The saber is held as before except that the wrist is bent slightly to the right so as to decrease the angle between the blade and the neck of the horse. If the wrist is not bent the blade points too much to the left.
In all movements of the saber from one side to the other raise the saber slightly when passing over the horse's head so as not to scare him. This movement should be insisted on dismounted so as to form the habit.
8. 1. Right, 2. GUARD. Carry the hand, elbow bent and well away from the body, 90 degrees to the right, forearm and blade nearly horizontal and pointing to the right, point at height of breast of adversary, edge to the rear, finger nails down, head and eyes to the right or in the direction of the point; at the same time straighten the body on the hips so that, if mounted, the trooper would be sitting erect.
9. 1. Left, 2. GUARD. Carry the hand in front of the left breast, fingernails down, elbow well away from the body, forearm and blade nearly horizontal and pointing to the left, point at height of adversary, edge to the front, head and eyes in the direction of the point; at the same time straighten the body on the hips so that, if mounted, the trooper would sit erect.
10. 1. Right rear, 2. GUARD. Carry the hand well to the right rear, fingernails down, blade pointing downward making an angle of about 45 degrees with the ground, body erect and twisted to the right rear at the waist, head and eyes in the direction of the point.
11. In teaching the guards, as in all subsequent instruction, care must be exercised not to teach the movements "by the numbers," as it has been in great measure due to this tendency that, with the former regulations, the idea of the saber as a weapon largely disappeared from the mind of the trooper.
The manual of the saber (that is, the carry, present, etc.) is the only part that should be exact. The guards, lunges, etc., with the saber are to it what range practice is to the rifle. Results are what count, not useless uniformity at drill. This does not mean that details should be slighted, but it does mean that there should be no idea of cadence.
When the various positions of guard, as taught from the normal guard, have been mastered, they should be taken from any guard, from rest, or from any position whatever at the appropriate command.
(b) The points.
12. Being on guard: 1. Right front, 2. POINT. Without moving the body extend the saber in the direction in which it is pointing with maximum force and rapidity, rotating the wrist slightly to the left at the same time, so that edge will be up and to the right; resume the guard at once. In drawing back the hand, rotate the wrist to the right until the fingernails are up; when the guard is reached, turn the fingernails down and resume guard as prescribed. The object of this rotation is to give a more secure hold in withdrawing the saber from a body. It must be insisted upon at all times in points and lunges to the right front and in charge saber.
13. Being on guard to the left front: 1. Left front, 2. POINT. Extend the saber in the direction in which it is pointing with maximum force and rapidity, rotating the hand to the left so that the edge of the blade is up; twist the body slightly to the left at the waist; resume the guard at once. Care must be taken not to move the bridle hand.
14. Being on guard to the right: 1. Right, 2. POINT. Without moving the body, extend the saber to the right with maximum force and rapidity; resume the guard at once.
15. Being on guard to the left: 1. Left, 2. POINT. Extend the saber in the direction in which it is pointing with maximum force and rapidity, rotating the wrist to the rear so that the edge of the extended blade will be up; twist the body slightly to the left at the waist; resume the guard at once. Do not derange the bridle hand.
16. Being on guard to the right rear: 1. Right rear, 2. POINT. Raise the hand until the forearm and blade are nearly horizontal; then extend the arm to the right rear with maximum force and rapidity, rotating the wrist to the right at the same time, so that when the full extension is reached toe fingernails will be up and the edge of the blade to the right; resume the guard at once.
A momentary pause at the horizontal position is necessary in order to get the saber in the desired direction.
17. The points are explained from their respective guards for simplicity. When they have been mastered they should be executed from any other guard as well as from the appropriate one; also two or more points should be made at one command. Examples, being in any guard: 1. Right front and left front; or, 1. Right front and right, or etc., 2. POINT. Point in the directions named with the utmost rapidity and then return to the guard from which the movement started. Or, being in any guard: 1. Right front (left front, or right), 2. Two times, 3. POINT. Point twice in the direction named and resume the guard from which the movement started.
Example of going from one guard to a different point: Being on guard to the left front, 1. Right front, 2. POINT. Lift the saber so as not to strike the horse's head and execute right front point, merely sliding through the normal guard and returning from the extension to the left front guard by the shortest line.
In all the points the eye follows the point.
(c) Thrusts of precision.
18. The trooper uses an exercise saber. The instructor wearing a plastron and mask, but without a saber, approaches him on his right front and causes him to take the position of guard. The instructor verifies the position accurately and in the same way causes him to take the other four guards. He next moves around the trooper, causing the latter to follow him with his point, thus passing naturally from one guard to another.
In this and in all succeeding exercises where men oppose each other dismounted, care must be taken that they do not exactly face each other when practicing combat to the front. If mounted this would be impossible as horses will not run into each other head-on if they can avoid it. Hence if "A," facing north, is attacked by "B," to the right front, "B" will face south, and a zone of indefinite length running from north to south and at least one foot wide will separate, at all times, the lines of advance of the right feet of the combatants.
If "A" is attacked by "B" to the right, they would face as above, but the separating zone would be wider and "B" would be opposite "A."
Similar conventions must be maintained in attacks from left front and left, and from the right rear.
Conditions where men cross each other diagonally will arise in combat and may be practiced mounted; but, dismounted, they cannot be even approximately represented.
Also, in combat troopers should ride down opponents, striking them head-on in the flank, but this cannot be practiced.
When the trooper has gone through all the guards accurately the instructor will begin at the right front, placing himself in the position described and at such a distance the trooper may reach him easily. He will indicate with his finger various places on his body, give the command POINT, and cause the trooper to point rapidly at them and resume the guard quickly each time. He will not advance to a new guard until the trooper is accurate in the one he is in.
This same practice should be carried on with the service sabers against a bag of bran or sand fixed at the height of a man's chest, the instructor using a wire circle 3 inches in diameter on the end of a stick to indicate the spot and cause the trooper to point through it.
(d) Practice with increased distance.
19. When the trooper is accurate at (c) the instructor directs him to take the position of guard and to point at him, gradually increasing the distance to that the trooper must lean farther and farther to the front to touch him.
As the trooper extends his arm and body to the utmost he should rotate his hand to the left so that when fully extended the edge of the saber will be up and the fingernails to the right. The blade should be at the height of the eye, the line of sight parallel to the direction of the blade. The body should be bent forward so as to be nearly horizontal, the trooper making every effort to reach as far to the front as possible.
This is the position of Lunge to the right front, also the position of Charge Saber.
20. Being at any guard: 1. To the right front, 2. LUNGE. The above position is taken, making the extension with maximum force and rapidity and returning to the guard at once.
At the command: 1. Charge, 2. SABER, the above position is taken and held until changed by some appropriate command, such as: Guard, Carry Saber, etc. In returning to any guard or other position from the right front lunge or charge saber, the same rotation of the wrist to the right is made as in returning from the right front point.
21. The instructor now causes the extension to the left front to be taken in the same way. When the extension is completed, the blade should be at the height of the eye and parallel to the line of sight, the edge of the blade up and slightly to the left; the body bent well to the left front so as to be nearly horizontal, left shoulder carried forcibly to the rear so as to be covered by the extended saber. It is taken from any guard at the command: l. To the left front, 2. LUNGE.
22. The instructor causes the lunges to the right and left to be taken in the same way. These two lunges differ only from the corresponding points in having the foot on the side away from the lunge lifted slightly, so as to give the maximum reach, and the foot on the side of the lunge turned slightly out as would naturally be the case in the same lunge mounted. They are taken from any guard at the command: 1. To the right (left), 2. LUNGE.
23. The lunge to the right rear cannot be taken gradually on foot. Being at the right rear guard: 1. To the right rear, 2. LUNGE. Cause the trooper to raise the forearm and blade to the horizontal, as in the right rear point, and then to extend the saber forcibly to the rear, rotating the hand during the extension, so that at it's completion, fingernails will be up and edge to the right (outside); and at the same time keep the eyes to the rear and bend the body vigorously to the rear from the hips. This lunge may be executed from any guard after it is mastered.
(e) The lunge at the right moment.
24. In the charge the trooper is merely a projectile, the saber it's point. He is a unit in a line rushing on the enemy with the one idea of |
walls. The Walkers got some heat earlier this year when they removed a realistic painting by a Milwaukee artist depicting three children of different races playing on a snowy sidewalk. It was replaced with a painting of the bald eagle that was a state military mascot during the Civil War.
But what's driving those who cough up cash to attend the mansion festivities?
About 70 individuals and couples have already signed up as hosts, meaning they are committed to giving between $250 and $1,000. A little more than half of the hosts have previously donated to Walker's campaign fund. For example, one member of the host committee, Mequon businessman Richard Pieper, gave $12,800 to Walker's campaign before the 2010 election, triggering a state complaint earlier this year that he had exceeded the $10,000 donor limit.
The host committee also includes several lobbyists - including former state Sen. Bob Welch and ex-Public Service Commissioner Scott Neitzel - and a trade group, the Wisconsin Beverage Association.
In a brief interview last week, the Republican governor dismissed any suggestion that attendees and donors will be trying to curry favor with him.
"Not at all," Walker said.
He stressed that the executive residence doesn't belong to his family. Plus, he said, he stays as often at his home in Wauwatosa as he does at the mansion.
In short, Walker said, the fundraiser is all about people coming together to raise private dollars to restore a public facility.
Who knew Capitol lobbyists and Wisconsin business officials cared so much about the governor's digs?
"It sounds like a two-part construction project," said Scot Ross, head of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, a frequent Walker critic. "The special interests pay to remodel Gov. Walker's mansion, and he builds them a private entrance to his office."
In Wisconsin, lobbyists cannot give campaign donations to a candidate except in the five months before a general election. So they would be barred from sending a check to Walker's fund.
But Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said it's legal for lobbyists and groups employing lobbyists to give to the nonprofit Wisconsin Executive Residence Foundation. These donations would not be considered campaign dollars, he said.
Magney, incidentally, was not aware of the upcoming event. He was not among the nearly 2,000 VIPs invited to down wine and play wickets.
"I'm just a flack," he said.
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @ NoQuarterr.Seoul, South Korea (CNN) A reserve soldier in South Korea has gone on a shooting spree at a military training camp in Seoul, initially wounding four colleagues before committing suicide, an official at the South Korean Defense Ministry told CNN.
One of the victims died en route to hospital.
The reservist, who is unidentified, opened fire on colleagues while receiving training at a military camp in Seoul at around 10:44 am local time (9.44 pm Tuesday evening Eastern) on Wednesday. The shooter died in an apparent suicide.
All South Korean men are required to serve two years of mandatory military service in light of strained tensions with North Korea.
After completing the military training, they are required to serve and train as reservists. Reservist training in the South Korean military includes live fire exercises at shooting ranges.Taxes paid by profitable companies in the United States are often less than half the statutory 35% tax rate, according to a new study released on Monday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The report, which was prepared for Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) and Sen. Tom Coburn, (R., Okla.), found that profitable companies with at least $10 million in revenue, had an average effective federal tax rate of just 13% on their worldwide income in 2010. The report comes as Sen. Levin, chairman of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has proposed closing some of the tax loopholes he says let companies avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes.
Corporations paid much less than the statutory 35% tax rate to the Internal Revenue Service in 2010, according to the Government Accountability Office.Associated Press
Here are five numbers from the report that explain how much tax U.S. companies are actually paying compared to the profits they earn:
17.4%: Including state and local taxes, this was the average effective tax rate for profitable companies with at least $10 million in revenues in 2010. If unprofitable companies are included the average worldwide effective tax rate can rise as high as 22.7%.
$242 billion: This is the amount of corporate income taxes the GAO says was paid in 2012, citing Office of Management and Budget estimates. That figure compares to $845 billion collected in social insurance taxes and $1.1 trillion collected in individual income taxes. Since the early 1980s, corporate income tax has accounted for about 6% to 15% of federal revenue.
$1.1 trillion: In 2010, profitable companies reported an aggregate $1.4 trillion in pre-tax profits, while unprofitable companies reported losses of $315 billion, resulting in a net pre-tax income of $1.1 trillion for all corporations.
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16.9%: The effective tax rate for profitable companies has declined in the past few years and companies appear to be paying less tax globally. Actual taxes paid on corporate worldwide income, including federal, state local and foreign tax expenses and withholding, declined to 16.9% in 2010 from 20.8% in 2008.
$762 billion: Companies sometimes report different figures to the Internal Revenue Service than they do to investors. When accounting for transactions between corporate units on their tax returns, companies made adjustments in their favor to the tune of $762 billion compared to their 2010 financial statements, and negative adjustments of just $20 billion.Marieme (Karidja Touré) is a shy, bored, put-upon French-African teenager living in the banlieue of Paris. Recruited to join a gang by three tougher girls, she sheds some of her inhibitions, restyles her hair, changes her name—they rechristen her Vic—and tries to take charge of her own life. Teenage girlhood, with its nervous stretches of boredom and its violent, electric upsurges, has been the dominant subject so far for the 36-year-old French filmmaker Céline Sciamma, and this—her third feature—has been widely praised as her best to date. A shoplifting binge, a stint of drug-running, a late-night walk home after a football game, an epiphanic sing-along to Rihanna’s “Diamonds”: Sciamma captures these girls’ lives with a rare empathy and a close, attentive eye. The result is one of the best coming-of-age films of recent years, and one of regrettably few modern French movies to take a deep interest in the country’s urban working class. A Strand Releasing release.
Nominated for two César Awards including Best Director
Cannes Film Festival 2014
“Sciamma revels in the risky, reckless exuberance of adolescence and in the sheer joy of filming it.” —A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“Girlhood is a fascinatingly layered, textured film that manages to be both a lament for sweetness lost and a celebration of wisdom and identity gained, often at the very same moment.” —Jessica Kiang, The Playlist
“Vital, a reminder that there is so much more to be said, so much more beauty and complexity to be explored, in the coming-of-age story.” —Zeba Blay, Shadow and ActBelow the streets of Hobart, Tasmania’s capital and most populated city, lie a network of centuries-old runoff tunnels that are slowly being turned into the backdrop for a growing body of collaborative (and sometimes creepy) art.
Urbexography (previously featured in a tale of Grimm Abandonments) has gone underground this time to capture the current state of the tunnel system and the strangely fascinating works that populate it at the present time.
One series in particular may be best avoided after dark: an array of plaster-cast doll heads, a tribute to catacombs lined with human skulls found elsewhere in the world.
Artist Shaun McGowan is behind much of the work. “I’d love to keep doing this project for years to come,” he told The Mercury. “It’s the opposite of gallery and studio work. There’s no barrier around it saying that other people can’t contribute or break it or do whatever they like. I love that collaborative nature.”
Remarkably, many of his interventions have so far remained intact, drawing tourists and thrill seekers by day and night to these once-forgotten waterways. McGowan does not expect any particular piece to last, however, and accepts that change is inevitable and the place will always be a series of works in progress. Meanwhile, see more photographs of this amazing and evolving set of spaces on Facebook.*QUOTE* THIS BLOG Copyright Rick Doble, 2019 under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may quote this blog as long as I am credited. Please credit me, Rick Doble, and link to this blog URL: http://deconstructingtime.blogspot.com How To View Photos As A Slide Show To see the photos full sized and as a slide show click on any photo in the blog and then on the thumbnail at the bottom of the screen. Or you can use the wheel on your mouse to move to the next photo. About Me Rick Doble Beaufort NC, North Carolina, United States You may *quote* 2 Haiku-like poems or up to 200 words at my blog DeconstructingTime but you must credit and link to the blog.
MAJOR CREDENTIALS:
= Masters in Media, UNC-Chapel Hill
= Bachelors in English, Honors in Creative Writing, UNC-CH
= Author of 15 books
= See full resume at:
https://independent.academia.edu/RickDoble/CurriculumVitae
View my complete profile(Sonic The Hedgehog does not have an ESRB rating.)
Gotta go fast.
That’s the standard go-to when asked to define a Sonic game. “You go fast.” And yes, Sonic is fast, and his games are built around his speed (Blast Processing at it’s finest!). But there is more to the story than “hold right on the D-Pad until you get to the end.” I braved the Choppers in the Green Hill Zone, outran the Marble Zone’s molten inferno, and found my way out of the Labyrinth Zone for this review of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Plot – The Story
Dr. Ivo Robotnik (known in Japan, and more recently in America, as Eggman) has captured your animal buddies and turned them into evil robots to use them to steal the six Chaos Emeralds. Sonic must save his furry friends and stop Robotnik’s nefarious scheme.
Playability – How The Game Feels In Your Hands
The game is, like I said, to some degree designed around Sonic’s speed. Dodging obstacles is hard at high speeds, so solid controls are a must. Luckily, Sega does not fail to deliver on this front: the controls are firm and respond accurately, and the game even features a bit of physics – Sonic moves faster running downhill and slower when heading uphill. Further, he doesn’t immediately start moving from a standing stop, or instantly turn left after you’ve picked up speed heading right. He actually has to slow down a bit before he can start going the other way. This offers a bit of contrast to the “simply holding right until you win” generalization that many people claim the game adheres to. If you’re running at top speed and find yourself jumping off a cliff, you probably won’t have enough time to turn around and get back onto the ledge. Suprisingly you don’t want to blast through most levels at top speed, instead taking care to avoid a bed of spikes or that bouncing fireball. Thankfully, the game’s controls are well geared for both speed and control.
Presentation – How The Game Looks And Sounds
Sonic the Hedgehog really showcases the power of the Sega Genesis. Bright and vibrant worlds accompany colorful and detailed sprites, and the game features parallax scrolling, making objects in the background scroll much slower than objects in the foreground, creating a sense of depth the NES couldn’t produce. Jumping up into the air in the Green Hill Zone and seeing the vast ocean rise up behind you really makes you feel like you’re in Sonic’s world. Alongside the outstanding visuals is a solid audio score; Sonic the Hedgehog really makes use of the (albeit inferior, if we’re comparing to the SNES) sound card. Strong bass notes and crisp highs fill the soundtrack, and the sound effects have real impact. Each stage has it’s own musical track, and it helps sets the mood – Green Hill Zone’s theme is light and happy, seeming almost to encourage you. (“Jump over that rock, and run through that waterfall! You can do it!”) The next stage, Marble Zone, features a track that instills more of a mysterious vibe, with a slower beat and more mellow sounds. This time, the created effect is almost to say, “Sure, you could run under these lavafalls, but have you considered what could be above them?”
Performance – The Sum Of Its Parts
Booting up my Genesis to hear that familiar “Sega” chanted eased my soul. Nostalgia washed over me like a tidal wave of childhood fun and joy. But, that being said, it was purely nostalgic – I hadn’t actually played the game in years. Does Sonic still have enough ‘tude to stand amongst the many other games vying for my attention?
The answer is, emphatically, yes! Sonic the Hedgehog is still fun, and has aged well. The game is still a fair challenge, even more so if you try to collect all of the Chaos Emeralds. Fun platforming challenges, unique boss battles that will keep you on your toes, and the variety of levels and challenges you face makes the game a good experience overall, as long as you don’t start the game with the goal being “run through everything at breakneck speed.”
“Wait, what? This is a Sonic game. Of COURSE you go fast,” I hear you thinking. Yes, Sonic is well known for his fancy footwork, but this game seems to have missed the memo. During the first stage, Green Hill Zone, you can usually win by simply holding right and jumping a lot, completing each level in easily under a minute. However, once you enter the first Act of Stage 2, the Marble Zone, that’s all thrown aside in favor of platforming and puzzles. You still CAN go fast – but this makes everything much harder than if you take your time and tread lightly. If you get past the “This is a Sonic game, I wanna go fast” mentality, you’ll find that it’s still a great game with a lot to offer.
Postlude – Final Thoughts
Sonic has come a long way these last 23 years. We’ve watched him climb the great ladder of victory, basking in the well-deserved glory of such titles as Sonic 2, Sonic & Knuckles, and Sonic Adventure. We’ve seen him faceplant into the gutters with Sonic the Hedgehog (2006, commonly referred to as Sonic ’06), Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic Free Riders, to name but a few. And lately, he seems to have dusted himself off and cleaned up his act, with Sonic Generations and the reasonably well-received Sonic: Lost World. Only time will tell what’s in store for our favorite spiny blue hedgehog, but no matter what the future holds, it’s reassuring to know we can always boot up one of Sonic’s classics and still have a good time.
DSBwizzardscall, 1/14/2014
Advertisements(Billboard) Jamey Rodemeyer was a gay Lady Gaga fan from New York state. Bullied for his sexuality, the 14-year-old became a kind of online activist against harassment, even filming an "It Gets Better" video. Then, on Sept. 18, 2011, he tweeted at Gaga before taking his own life: "Bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done."
Kids like Rodemeyer moved Gaga, 29, to establish the Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit determined to show disenfranchised teens they weren't alone -- the pop star herself had struggled with depression. "So many young people were saying, 'How did you do it, Gaga?' " says her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, 61, who serves as the organization's co-founder and president. "'How did you overcome the issues you had?' "
Born This Way first sponsored the Born Brave Bus Tour, a pop-up resource center that drew 150,000 visitors in two years. But more recently, the foundation has shifted its focus to peer support and preventive initiatives, including research on youth and mental health in a partnership with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and in a forthcoming collaboration with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which will be announced soon.
Gaga's new single, "Til It Happens to You," also aligns with these missions. Released Sept. 17 in conjunction with the 2015 campus-rape documentary The Hunting Ground, the devastatingly personal ballad -- co-written with Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren -- draws upon the sexual assault the artist suffered at the age of 19. "We don't have to be victims," says Gaga. "If we share our stories and stick together, we're stronger."
Why did you create Born This Way?
This foundation was born from the years I spent watching my fans grow up. Many of them were really young: 11- to 17-year-olds in very tumultuous times. They would tell me their stories -- and many of them were very dark. As I began to care for them and to see myself in them, I felt I had to do something that would remind kids they're not alone. When they feel isolated, that's when it leads to suicide.
Was Jamey Rodemeyer's death also a catalyst?
Yes, absolutely. Jamey's death, as well as the suicide of a lot of young teens that year, right around the release of Born This Way. When that album came out, Jamey heard pieces of it and was posting about it on the internet, but unfortunately, he was already in that very deep dark space. Jamey and other teens who take their lives young because they feel different -- I wanted to make [ their deaths] a lesson instead of a casualty of our negligence.
You've met thousands of people who've been affected by the foundation. Who is someone you can't forget?
There are a lot of kids that I could talk about. One I've become very good friends with is this girl, Emma. She has cerebral palsy. She's in a wheelchair. I met her on the [2013] Born Brave Bus, when it followed the Born This Way Ball Tour, and we shared a very deep connection about the pain she was in. There were all these people around -- cameras and journalists wanting to capture the moment between us -- and I said to everyone, "Could you leave us alone?" I just wanted to be alone with her and ask her if she was OK. She was in her chair, kind of hunched over, but still with this very brave smile on her face. I swore I was in the presence of maybe one of the greatest people. Moments like that make you go, "Everyone should learn from this person -- this person knows what it means to self-empower through adversity, this person knows what it means to be strong when you're not."
When you're listening to these kids' stories, what's the fundamental problem?
Depression and anxiety really link them. There is something in the way that we are now, with our cell phones and people are not looking at each other and not being in the moment with each other, that kids feel isolated. They read all of this extremely hateful language on the Internet. The internet is a toilet. It is. It used to be a fantastic resource -- but you have to sort through shit to find the good stuff.
These kids just want to feel human, but they feel like robots. They don't understand why they're so sad. There are scientific reasons, which the foundation researches, why you feel sad when you look at your phone all day.
I've suffered through depression and anxiety my entire life, I still suffer with it every single day. I just want these kids to know that that depth that they feel as human beings is normal. We were born that way. This modern thing, where everyone is feeling shallow and less connected? That's not human.
What makes you proudest about Born This Way?
When I see the friendships these kids have built. When I see a child with an eating disorder sit down with somebody who has a lifelong terminal illness and somebody who's in transition -- that makes me feel like we're doing something no one else is. This is my life purpose, this foundation. This is why I was brought to life, I think.
Where does your social responsibility as an artist begin and end?
They're the same and always have been. Contrary to what many people think about me as a performer, I've never been willing to do anything. Even if my work is sometimes shocking, there's always a message behind it.
Your persona has recently become more traditional. How can you still be a voice for outsiders, when you look --
Glamorous? (Laughs.) There's always a dichotomy within me. If you see me dressing really out there, I tend to be self-deprecating inside. When I dress like a lady, I tend to be feeling very wild and confident. That sounds bizarre, but I get a lot of shit done with that blond hair. I haven't changed. It's just that I'm almost 30. I'm learning how to function effectively in society.
And pretend like you're playing by the rules?
In fact, no. People expect me to show up doing something wild. The thing is, I'll do what I want when I want to do it. Right now, I want to help young kids come together and be friends. If I need to get the president's attention -- whatever I have to do -- I'll do it.
You met with President Obama in 2011 to discuss bullying in schools. What did you learn?
That he really, deeply cared. I hear from [White House senior adviser] Valerie Jarrett a lot. Even with "Til It Happens to You," Valerie said, "The video was hard to watch, but I liked how graphic [the approach] was." That's another thing Born This Way does: Rape survivors, abuse survivors come to us. I've met a lot of kids who have been sexually abused.
What were the personal stakes in recording "Til It Happens to You"?
Never higher. It's hard to listen to that song, it's hard to watch it. Diane [Warren] really held my hand. I was like, "I've done a lot of things Diane, but can I do this?" She was like, "You can do this." It was extremely cathartic to know that not only am I not alone, but that other men and women aren't alone -- we all have each other. Even outside of rape culture, there are a lot of people silently in pain about extremely traumatic things.
The hardest part for me was the self-acceptance. There's an inability to acknowledge to yourself, "Not only did this happen, but I'm pretty f—ed up about it." And nobody knows how you feel. I didn't tell anyone [about my sexual assault] for years -- and I didn't tell anyone for years because I didn't tell myself for years. And my soul just burnt out until it was gone. And then you have to admit you were in pain, and that you died in a way, but you are in control to bring it back, and there are people in the world who'll help you.
You broke down a few times recording.
Oh yeah, the whole thing. Me and Diane holding one another. The vocals on that record, I'm just crying the whole time. It was a moment I shared with another woman that I will never forget.
You're very close with Elton John. How has he influenced Born This Way?
He inspires me in ways I could not even begin to list properly. He is my friend, he is like a parent. He looks out for me, he was there for me during the hardest times in my life. He doesn't allow me to slip into depression without making sure that I'm OK. Everything he has done for AIDS, everything he has done for the LGBT community. He's just everything -- when I'm with him, I just want to help be a part of his genius plan to save the world.
To learn more about the Born This Way Foundation, go to bornthisway.foundation.
A version of this interview appears in the Oct. 24, 2015 issue of Billboard.From the mud flats of Cape May County and up through the waters of Barnegat Bay, a small group of oyster farmers heads to work each day with the flow of the tides, tending their crop amid the hushed lapping of waves on shore.
It's an idyll that belies their other constant companion: worry.
They know the history of oysters in New Jersey, rife with perils that could doom their crop and the once-mighty industry they toil to revive.
Pollution. Poachers. Parasites. Disease.
But what really horrifies them is a more recent tale involving one of their own: Marc Zitter, a rookie farmer who found brief, stunning success growing oysters, only to be brought to his knees in a bizarre two-year battle with the State of New Jersey.
The story, laid out in a lawsuit, interviews, emails, investigation reports and other court documents, began in September of 2013, when camouflage-clad NJ Department of Environmental Protection conservation officers began secretly videotaping Zitter's operations in Delaware Bay and on a barge in Dias Creek, a small tributary in Cape May County.
The following month, 10 officers swooped in and shut down Zitter's operation in a dramatic show of force.
They seized his boat, ATV and tens of thousands of dollars in gear, loaded Zitter's 600,000-plus oysters into pickup trucks, hauled them on a boat to the middle of Delaware Bay and dumped them overboard, basket by basket. It was all videotaped and announced in a DEP press release.
Three days later, Zitter was charged by the DEP with harvesting shellfish from prohibited waters, fined and stripped of his license by the state Department of Health.
In a heated encounter with a pair of DEP conservation officers in the driveway of his home, he was arrested and taken away in handcuffs.
Then, after a year of delays and with the case inching toward trial in Middle Township Municipal Court, the DEP quietly dropped all charges against Zitter. There was a two-sentence court order, but no other explanation.
Now, Zitter is out to rebuild his operation from scratch. And he is suing 12 state employees involved in the case for more then $3 million in damages, charging they violated his civil rights by illegally seizing his business without so much as a single hearing.
Zitter claims the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife, targeted him because he was set to testify against them in a separate case involving a pair of Cape May commercial fisherman charged with illegally harvesting sea bass.
"They caught a tiger by the tail - me. And I'm not letting go," said Zitter 45, with flecks of grey in his blonde hair and flip flops on his feet. "Maybe I can keep this from happening to someone else."
Officials with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and the state Attorney General's office refused to comment on the case, saying they are prohibited from discussing it because of Zitter's pending lawsuit.
AN INDUSTRY HAMPERED BY RED TAPE
Judging by a long list of factors, New Jersey's oyster industry should be poised to explode.
Three decades of tougher water pollution laws have cleaned up New Jersey's waters, just as Rutgers researchers have developed tastier and sturdier breeds of oysters resistant to diseases that decimated the industry after World War II. These new breeds are well-suited to be grown in high-yield aquacultures, eliminating the back-breaking harvests of wild oysters.
At the same time, culinary trends toward healthier, sustainably and locally grown foods have made oysters a hot item in restaurants. And with much of South Jersey's economy still struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy and the implosion of Atlantic City's casino industry, there's no shortage of people looking for jobs.
"We have the making of a very powerful brand,'' said Cape May County Freeholder Will Morey, who sees potential tenfold growth for the industry in his county.
The biggest obstacle, Morey and almost everyone involved in the industry say, is the maddening regulatory disarray in New Jersey - where a person might need permits from as many as 13 agencies to raise and sell oysters.
"I've heard of permitting nightmares," said Bob Rheault, executive director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association. "But it gets pretty special in New Jersey."
Among the state's 17 or so oyster growers, Zitter's case is the cautionary tale that hangs over them like the purple sunsets on the bay.
"It's got us all paranoid as hell," said Richard Cash, a 64-year-old former merchant marine who along with his wife, Stephanie, started a small oyster operation in Delaware Bay three years ago.
Cash and others interviewed fear they could be next, shut down for running afoul of the voluminous, impossibly complicated and outdated laws that govern the industry.
"Every time I look up from my work I look around to see if I can see the glint of a camera and some guy in a ghillie suit," said Cash, waiting for the tide to ebb one day in July. "We're worried we might be taken to 'oyster jail.'"
Zitter concedes no mistakes, besides the shrugging admission, "maybe I would have done a bit more research.''
But even if he did run afoul of rules, growers say, it's likely everyone raising oysters in New Jersey is breaking some rules, too.
That's because New Jersey makes farmers follow regulations largely written as far back as the 1940's, when gathering wild oysters - not aquaculture - was the primary means of production.
Farmers are not the only ones sounding the alarm.
Since 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned New Jersey that its regulations and operations fall far short of federal minimums, warning the entire industry of a possible shutdown.
While DEP officials declined to comment on Zitter's case specifically, spokesman Bob Considine conceded years of legislation and regulation have created regulations that are "unnecessarily complex and burdensome." The agency, he said, is working to have newer streamlined rules in place by next year.
"The state of aquaculture is in disarray and they know it now,'' said Betsy Haskin, an oyster farmer whose late father Harold, a Rutgers scientist, is credited with developing the disease resistant "Haskin" breed of oysters. "That's what the Marc Zitter case brought into the open."
FROM BURNOUT TO DELAWARE BAY
It was a midlife crisis, a divorce and a recession all hitting at once that prompted Zitter, then 42 and living in Bucks County, Pa., to aim his Ford F350 toward the emerald salt marshes of South Jersey in 2009 and never look back.
The divorce left his wife with the couple's Pennsylvania home and custody of their 6-year-old daughter. Zitter got the 1952-built bungalow eight blocks from Delaware Bay.
His career, building sewer lines and other civil construction for private contractors had slowed to a halt amid the economic downturn, the nearest job often a four-hour round trip commute to suburban Philadelphia.
And ever since slurping his first Cape May Salt oyster at the Harbor View restaurant in 2003, Zitter had been obsessed, their briny flavor evoking memories of summers spent on the lifeguard stand in Sea Isle City and the marshes near Wildwood, where he hunted ducks with his grandfather.
"I ate so many I became overwhelmed,'' Zitter recalls. "I remember just wanting to know everything about them. And then I realized I could grow them."
"There are worse midlife crises" he jokes.
So, in 2012, Zitter became one of a dozen or so pioneers applying for a new DEP Aquaculture Development Zone program, designed to give new farmers a start.
"You're not an oyster farmer 'til you kill 100,000 oysters," Zitter recalls being told by industry veterans. "I told them, "I'm not going to kill any. I've got this down."
Despite the boast, Zitter's first 400 oysters ended up as road kill- falling from the back of his truck on the way home from the hatchery.
Still, by all accounts, Zitter came out of the gate swinging.
"A hard charger,'' Cash calls Zitter.
"A man in a hurry,'' said Haskin, who shared a one-room processing facility behind Menz Restaurant in Rio Grande with Zitter. "It was go, go, go, go."
Zitter's operation was entirely unique to New Jersey.
In an elbow of Dias Creek, 100 yards from the open waters of Delaware Bay, Zitter built and anchored a 32-foot by 25-foot barge, where smaller "seed" oysters would grow.
The oysters sat on interlocking trays stacked 12 high in 62 racks hanging vertically into the water from crisscrossing wooden joists. Each rack, containing 2,000 to 8,000 oysters, could be raised or lowered with a mechanized boom.
Just outside the creek, on the tidal flats of the bay, he set up 11 rows of plastic mesh bags attached to metal racks - a "rack and bag" system developed in France and more common on the East Coast. Once the'seed' oysters in the creek neared market size, they would be moved to the flats for final "grow out."
The nursery barge system quickly caught the eye of other growers and scientists eight miles away at Rutgers University's New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center in Cape May.
Because so much of New Jersey's coastline is private property or subject to environmental laws protecting shorebirds and other wildlife, scientists have been searching for ways to grow oysters in the deeper waters of the bay. Zitter's floating nursery looked like just the ticket.
"It was a great, great, system,' said Lisa Calvo, coordinator of Rutgers' Aquaculture Extension Program. To grow the local oyster industry, Calvo added, "It's going to take someone like Marc Zitter to make it happen -- someone who is thinking outside the box and not afraid to put his oysters on a floating raft and put it out there and try it."
Dias Creek runs through the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, snaking its last 2 miles through undeveloped salt marsh and woods, before spilling over sandbars into the bay.
Suspended in the plankton-rich waters, Zitter's oysters grew "like crazy" Calvo said. Growing at twice the normal rate, many reached market size of two to three inches well before Zitter - or anyone - expected.
While the water of Dias Creek is described by one local as "pretty damn clean" the rules about growing oysters there were murkier.
When Zitter chose the spot for his barge March 2013, he relied on a DEP map showing it as approved waters for shellfish harvesting.
But in May, two months after anchoring the barge there, Zitter stumbled over text in DEP regulations listing Dias Creek as prohibited waters.
Put another way: The DEP's map said one thing and its regulations another.
While there were no apparent pollution problems in the creek, the DEP had never conducted water tests needed to classify it as approved for shellfish harvesting.
Still, Zitter wasn't worried.
It was the state's mistake, after all.
And a model ordinance written by the US Food and Drug Administration had long allowed oyster growers to raise oysters in prohibited waters as long as they move them to approved waters 180 days before selling them - long enough for any contaminants to cleanse from their system.
While most east coast states have codified those guidelines into their own regulations, New Jersey has not.
"There's no law against it," Zitter said. "And there's no permit for it."
On May 31, 2013, Zitter emailed to Russell Babb, acting chief of the DEP's Bureau of Shellfisheries, to set up a meeting and discuss the problem.
Calvo, who attended the meeting between Zitter and Babb -- and a second that day with DEP Chief of Water Monitoring Bruce Friedman -- remembers leaving optimistic that a solution could be found.
"We all walked out thinking, 'They're going to figure it out and tell him what to do and he'll do it and it will be OK," Calvo said.
But in an e-mail to Zitter that was part of the discovery in his criminal case, Babb tells the oysterman that testing the creek waters would take three years. He raises other solutions, like creating a special permit, but adds they are complicated and his office was far too short staffed to pursue them.
In subsequent emails to others involved in the case, Babb said Zitter "should relocate that raft out of restricted waters asap" and said Zitter "had permitting issues he needed to handle." But Zitter says he was never explicitly told to get the barge out of the creek.
THE RAID
June and July of 2013 were equally fantastic and maddening for Zitter.
At restaurants like the Pier House and The Washington Inn in Cape May, customers were slurping down Zitter's Salty Lady oysters faster than he could grow them.
"They had as complex a profile as a Cape May Salt for sure, with some salinity and nice minerality and little bit of sweetness," said Michael Craig, owner of the Washington Inn, where the Salty Lady was listed on the top "premium" tier of local oysters. "His oysters were very good.''
But Zitter remained in limbo, working the farm while he waited to hear from the DEP how to settle the creek issue. He said he assumed officials would be working on a solution.
Instead, they were waiting in the weeds for him. Literally.
For six days, beginning Sept.4, records and videos show, DEP conservation officers filmed Zitter and his two employees from the across the marsh as the three of them worked on the barge in the creek and oyster farm in the bay.
"They set up with a camera waiting |
as likely to take up smoking traditional cigarettes as their peers who haven’t tried the devices, a research review suggests.
A man smokes an electronic cigarette vaporizer, also known as an e-cigarette, in Toronto, August 7, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
E-cigarette use, or vaping, was as least as strong a risk factor for smoking traditional cigarettes as having a parent or sibling who smokes or having a risk-taking and thrill-seeking personality, researchers found.
“E-cigarette use among teens and young adults could increase the future burden of tobacco by creating a new generation of adult smokers who might have otherwise not begun smoking,” said lead study author Samir Soneji of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in New Hampshire.
Big tobacco companies, including Altria Group Inc, Lorillard Tobacco Co and Reynolds American Inc, are all developing e-cigarettes. The battery-powered devices feature a glowing tip and a heating element that turns liquid nicotine and other flavorings into a cloud of vapor that users inhale.
Soneji and colleagues analyzed data from nine smaller studies with a total of 17,389 participants ages 14 to 30.
They didn’t examine why many teens and young adults transitioned from vaping to smoking traditional cigarettes, but both options contain nicotine, an addictive drug, Soneji said by email.
The habit of vaping may also make the transition to smoking seem more natural, and teens in particular may gravitate toward friends who smoke once they try vaping, Soneji said.
“To the extent that e-cigarette use mimics the behavior of smoking a cigarette - handling the e-cigarette, the action of puffing, and the inhalation of smoke - it sets the adolescent up for easily transitioning to smoking,” Soneji said. “Like transitioning from driving a Tesla to driving a Chevy.”
Seven studies looked at smoking initiation among more than 8,000 youngsters who had never smoked before. Data pooled from these studies showed that roughly 30 percent of e-cigarette users became smokers, compared with only about 8 percent of people who hadn’t tried vaping. That translates into 3.6 times higher odds of smoking for people who have tried e-cigarettes, researchers report in JAMA Pediatrics.
One limitation of the study is that it included some results from earlier studies with a high drop-out rate, and it’s not clear whether people who left these studies were different from participants who remained in ways that would make them more or less likely to smoke, the authors note. Researchers also lacked data on the type of e-cigarettes used, and they only looked at U.S. studies.
Even so, by pooling data from several smaller studies, the results offer stronger evidence that vaping can encourage young people to progress to smoking, said William Shadel, a researcher at RAND Corporation in Pittsburgh who wasn’t involved in the current study.
“The results are particularly compelling because the studies took into account other variables that put kids at risk of cigarette smoking, like alcohol use and peer cigarette smoking,” Shadel said by email. “These results should help to strengthen arguments for regulatory action that limits young people’s access to e-cigarettes.”
Enticing flavors of liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes, like strawberry or chocolate, may make vaping appealing to some young people who might not like the taste of traditional cigarettes, said Dr. Brian Primack, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh who wasn’t involved in the study. Peer pressure may then encourage them to graduate to smoking.
“Young people report that there is a lot of pressure among e-cigarette only users to smoke a ‘real’ cigarette,” Primack said by email. “It may be somewhat analogous to the fact that teens who use flavored alcohol are often pressured socially to step up their game to harder forms of alcohol.”
There’s one clear way for young people to avoid this.
“The biggest thing that people can do is never start using them in the first place,” Primack said.
SOURCE: bit.ly/2tbQ8JY JAMA Pediatrics, online June 26, 2017.Aug 10, 2012; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; A general view of a football and helmet during the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants preseason game at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Five Criminally Underrated Giants from the 2000’s by Adam Ganeles
New York Football Giants Man Cave Hunt
Around Twitter, you’ll see the occasional tweet pop-up about a New York Football Giants man cave–Amazing stuff like this Tweet from @MUTMastermind about his reasonable life goals:
#LifeGoals To have a room like this in my house pic.twitter.com/yM1tSeFCjz — The Mastermind (@MUTMastermind) June 15, 2014
What die-hard New York Football Giants fan wouldn’t want a room like that? Or perhaps you want something more towards what @AllEyesOnMe212 posted:
The GMEN promise from Gina Menard @gmen_xo:
Dear future husband, I promise to let you build a man cave in our home if you promise to do the dishes every night. pic.twitter.com/MV5DiOIg — Gina Menard ♛ (@gmen_xo) October 2, 2012
That seems like a wonderful proposition. However–Gina–Everyone knows sandwiches, chips and beer don’t require dishes–Sincerely, GMEN HQ. All joking aside, doing dishes might be a pleasure in a situation like that. Who in Big Blue has the best man cave scenario? Let us know.
“Gina–Everyone knows sandwiches, chips and beer don’t require dishes” -Sincerely, GMEN HQ
Show us your most prized GMEN possessions. Really fans, it’s time to see some new GIANT man caves–For instance Alfred Wasilewski also known as @gmenblogger, posted this in 2011:
Perhaps three years later someone has up’d their man cave game. Our Staff Writer – James Pennisi sent in this to our man cave query:
@gmenhq if my office wasn’t a mess I would have to send something in heh — James (@bigbluebloggers) June 21, 2014
To which we replied, “Is it even a man cave if it has to be tidy before anyone sees it?” — We want to make sure you fans know… it doesn’t matter if your FANATICAL space is dirty or unkempt. The more GIANT the mess, the better. James said:
@gmenhq ha its my office more than a man cave but there are a lot of man cavish stuff in it Including my Giants memorabilia — James (@bigbluebloggers) June 21, 2014
Big Blue offices work too… and they don’t have to be clean. Just full of Jints WIN. Let’s see what you got Giants Nation.Others live in cities' vast underground basements, renting unventilated rooms and sleeping in shifts so more people can share a single bed. Still others live in pre-fab dormitories on factory grounds or near workplaces, or camp out in tents near construction sites. Last summer, a small village popped up alongside an apartment complex in one Beijing’s high-rent neighborhoods. Construction workers slept under Army-green tents, hung their clothes to dry alongside sidewalks, and played pingpong in the evenings.
That great influx is helping create the world's largest number of slum-dwellers. Right now, China has 220 million migrant workers. These workers live without "hukou," the permit that allows Chinese people to buy an apartment or send their children to public school. Without hukou, these workers have become second-class citizens in their own home, living in squalid rooms on the outskirts of cities, places with no heat in the winter and no cool air in the summer. They are crowded into communities with only public toilets, where rubbish piles up in heaps.
It’s the biggest migration in human history: China’s population is moving to cities so fast that by 2030, roughly one in eight people on this earth will be a resident of a Chinese city.
"The rules of the game are permanently stacked against them," says Tom Miller, author of China’s Urban Million: The Story Behind the Greatest Migration in Human History. Miller, editor of China Economic Quarterly, has lived in Beijing since 2002 and has visited 85 Chinese cities. His book chronicles this urban explosion and its impact on cities.
So far, he says, not so good. The cities are "shitholes," he says. They are inefficient with their space, they have gigantic problems with traffic, pollution, and sidewalks that open up gaping holes and swallow pedestrians. Plus, they're ugly.
What this is actually doing is creating a huge urban underclass of people who can’t function in the society.
Part of the blame falls on the Soviet Union, Miller says, which revered enormous buildings and sweeping boulevards designed to make the human feel small. Chinese cities also tend to emulate Beijing’s vast monuments to power: Tiananmen’s flat sweep of pavement, dotted with fire extinguishers to discourage protesters who might want to set themselves alight; the Great Hall of the People, which measures 1,849,239 square feet and seats 10,000 in its great auditorium.
"Communists are the least nostalgic people you can think of,” Miller notes, which means that preserving, say, an ancient city wall is not all that important. "It’s all about creating for the future and producing cities that are centers of production, essentially. The entire point of a communist city is to be functional."
But China's cities are designed for a time when people lived in their work units and never went anywhere. "When you have economic transformation into a capitalistic system, which means people buying stuff, and people have to move around the city, then suddenly this model doesn’t work very well," Miller says. China's surging middle class wants to window shop at the Gucci store and buy a BMW and ride their fixed-gear bike in the countryside.
And the cities are only getting bigger. Cities like Chongqing are moving millions of the province’s farmers into the city, expanding the population from 10 million to 20 million by 2020. Those farmers will move into public housing, swapping the land where they’ve tilled a small plot in subsistence farming for an apartment inside the city.
"That kind of displacement could only be disastrous for workers who have no work skills transferrable to urban life," Miller says. "If I’m a farmer... I’m being put into a new tower block, where there’s nowhere I can keep any hens, and I have no chance of getting a job. I have no urban skills. What this is actually doing is creating a huge urban underclass of people who can’t function in the society."GARY Ablett's season appears over after he was subbed off after injuring his left knee against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
The Gold Coast skipper was chasing the football near the boundary line in the first term when teammate Matt Shaw fell into his leg.
Click here for full match coverage of Crows v Suns
He limped from the ground and down into the Suns' room and was subbed out shortly after.
The Suns confirmed he injured his meniscus and will have scans on Monday to assess the damage.
Coach Rodney Eade said he expected the star to miss between three to four games, which would likely end his year.
"It looks like a meniscus, which is cartilage, it's on the medial side which is better news, so you would think those would be three to four weeks," Eade said.
"It's nothing major … but we'll have to wait for the scans on Monday and then we'll work it out from there.
"From our point of view there would be no pressure for him to play [this year], we'll just weigh it up at the time."
Concern for Gaz after he hobbled off after getting a knock to his knee. #AFLCrowsSuns http://t.co/Y1jjhb8ocq — AFL (@AFL) July 25, 2015
The champion midfielder was in significant pain and could barely put any weight through his left leg after the incident.
Shaw was tackling Adelaide's Sam Shaw when he rolled onto Ablett's left foot, anchoring it to the turf, the impact on Ablett's leg then forced it to bend inwards.
WATCH: Rodney Eade's full post-match media conference
The 31-year-old has been in stellar form since his return from a shoulder injury, averaging more than 30 disposals a game since round 14.
He had four possessions to his name when he left the field.
A sore Gary Ablett is assessed after injuring his knee against the Crows. Picture: AFL MediaAny woman who dates men, or has once upon a time dated men, has run into the “nice guy.” The man who hangs out with women, is generally polite, and adheres to the traditional standards of what a “gentleman” is, for the underlying purpose of getting laid. Some “nice guys” expect admiration and love in conjunction with sexy time, some don’t. But the end result of sexing a lady in exchange for basic civility is the fundamental ideology of a “nice guy.” The name comes from the group’s universal battle cry. When a woman doesn’t consent to a man’s naughty parts entering one of her orifices, the dude laments his mediocre effort with a rationale that puts the blame on the entire female gender. “Girls don’t want to date a nice guy like me!”
If you’re reading this article, you probably don’t need this definition. You’ve already met a thousand of these guys. You’ve read trend piece upon trend piece featured on independent lady blogs denouncing the disrespectful attitude these penises attached to humans force on us. This information is not new to you: “nice guys” are awful.
Cat callers objectify women by starring at their asses and yelling out obscenities on a street corner. “Nice guys” objectify women by acting like their vagina is a carnival ride, with a ticket price of a $12 cocktail and holding the door when you leave the bar. They are no better than the guy who yelled “Damn girl! Look those titties!” when you got off the subway this morning.
In fact, the “nice guy” might be worse. On a conscious level because he’s sneaky about it, on an unconscious level because he’s ignorant. He honestly doesn’t realize what he’s doing wrong.
Most women, at some point in time, have felt bad about themselves because of these men. We aren’t breaking any news by acknowledging their existence in Millennial-centric personal essay articles, as worthy of awareness the issue may be.
Now that the whole human race has been made aware of this problem via click-bait headlines and hashtag activism, I’m nervous for two reasons.
First off, I’m nervous for the rare but existent outlier. Call me unrealistic, but I believe in unicorns. I believe in the elusive, mythical creature that is an actual nice guy. Not a “nice guy,” but a man who understands that the door to my bedroom does not have a well-worded, faux-considerate password.
On the other hand, I’m nervous for the “nice guys” that just don’t understand their fault. While insisting on respect from men is a valiant effort, how do we teach these faux-gentlemen how to truly respect women and prevent future generations from continuing this pattern of polite misogyny?
“Nice guy” and nice guy are basically homonyms: the same words with two very different meanings. Women don’t want to date “nice guys,” they want to date nice guys. “Nice guys” aren’t really nice guys. What if nice guys start to believe they’re going about dating all wrong, and that what women really want is a “nice guy” so they stop being a nice guy? “Nice guys” don’t understand the difference between a nice guy and a “nice guy.” How many women are settling for “nice guys” because they believe they’re actually dating a nice guy? How do we teach “nice guys” how to be nice guys?
No wonder everyone is confused.
The objectification of women is hand fed to us every day. It’s in advertising, movies, television shows, everywhere we turn. We’re aware, but effected. While it’s easy to say “nice guys aren’t really nice! They’re actually just assholes!” we have to recognize how confused these men must be. I’m not saying women should let ignorant men who feel entitled to a vagina cry on their shoulder when they don’t get to put their dick in something. But oversimplifying a complex issue that is deeply engrained in American media discredits every Millennial kid whose ever debated the “nice guy” effect.
The issue is not that women secretly want to date assholes. The issue is not that women like a challenge, or enjoy the chase. The issue is not that women are repulsed by nice guys. It’s tempting to brush off a major problem with simple excuses, but it’s damaging our entire generation.
I don’t think it’s impossible to convert these ignorant “nice guys” into penis-having feminist unicorns, but they have to know how to respect women as human beings and not as moving dick receptacles. While getting angry and taking a stand is a start, it’s not a complete solution. So how do we start teaching American men how to be respectful of women in every way, shape and form?
The answer is simple. We go to the source. We change the media.
Figuring out how to do that is a little more complicated.At a town hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, this week, President Barack Obama was asked why he has taken single-payer health care off the table.
It's a great question.
Not only have the Obama administration and top Democrats taken the option off the table, they are excluding single-payer advocates from the official forums on health care reform, while advocates of the for-profit medical system turn up and have their say. All this in spite of the fact that President Obama has repeatedly admitted that single-payer is good policy. (Single-payer health care is a system, like Canada's, in which the government provides health insurance for everyone. It is simple, straightforward, has a much lower cost, and it works.)
The Obama administration believes they have a good plan. It includes an option for public coverage so that families can opt for public health care coverage if they are uninsured or not satisfied with the private insurance they currently receive.
At a conference in Washington earlier this year, I asked Jacob Hacker -- one of the architects of the plan -- why they were not advocating single-payer health care, a system that has proven successful in other industrialized countries, as we showed in a special YES! issue on health care options.
Hacker's response was similar to Obama's response in Rio Rancho. People are afraid to give up their employer-provided plan. Although single-payer may be a better system, the private/public plan is more likely to escape the "Harold and Louise" treatment, and is more likely to get adopted than single-payer health care.
It could be that Obama and Hacker are right.
But here's the thing. Right now, the medical-industrial complex is working hard to eliminate the public option. That way, there wouldn't be a public system to compete with them and set a standard for good quality, non-bureaucratic health care. Why would they want to compete? It's great having a monopoly on our health-care dollars.
Since the private insurance lobby is at the table every day, pushing to eliminate the public option, wouldn't it be smart to allow people on the other side -- the single-payer advocates -- to come to the table, too? Then the Obama plan can take the place it belongs, as a centrist compromise.Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign has been slow to harness the fund-raising power of the Democratic Party’s legions of grass-roots donors, according to reports filed Wednesday, a weakness that her campaign is racing to combat.
Of the $47.5 million that Mrs. Clinton has raised, less than one-fifth has come from donations of $200 or less. That is a far smaller proportion than that of her Democratic and Republican rivals who have excited grass-roots donors on the left and right, such as Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Ted Cruz of Texas. While Mr. Sanders raised far less than Mrs. Clinton over all — about $15 million, including money transferred from his Senate account — about four-fifths of that amount came from smaller donors.
The slow response of grass-roots donors is a consequence, Mrs. Clinton’s aides and advisers said, of the deliberately low-key approach she has taken on the campaign trail — with few of the big rallies and campaign events that can help build voter lists and drive donations — along with the challenge in persuading some donors that Mrs. Clinton, who is far ahead in primary polls, needs their money.
The deficit could represent a financial and strategic liability for Mrs. Clinton if she were to win the nomination. The pool of Republican donors willing to write the maximum $2,700 check has grown so large that no Democrat, not even Mrs. Clinton, is likely to be able to match a mainstream Republican nominee on high-dollar fund-raising over the long term. In 2012, President Obama and his party were able to match the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, only by raising far more money than Mr. Romney from small donors.The swap by Triple Eight Race Engineering from the traditional V8 Supercars brake bias adjuster knob to a lever has rivals pondering its potential advantages and whether they will follow suit.
T8 has been running the lever in the Red Bull Holden Commodore VFs of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes since the start of the season, but the change only became widely apparent to rival teams via in-car vision during the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains in March.
The brake bias adjuster is one of the tools a driver has to control the handling of his car during a race. For instance, the bias would be wound further to the front as the fuel load lightened to prevent lock-ups.
The knob traditionally used in V8 Supercars is a'set and forget' item which might be adjusted every few laps.
However, the belief among rival teams is that the T8 lever would permit constant adjustment during a lap, potentially allowing the brake balance to be changed between consecutive corners.
The lever sits to driver's left, whereas the knob is normally placed down to driver's right. The new set-up was designed by former T8 senior engineer Jeromy 'JJ' Moore, who left the team over the summer to join the Porsche World Endurance Championship program.
Red Bull Racing Australia team manager Mark Dutton admitted the lever did allow quicker changes.
"It is quicker, it is easier to access, and it is in a more natural position. They are the main reasons for it," Dutton told v8supercars.com.au.
"This (lever) is just easier. You could do that (adjust brake bias between corners) with the old one. There are no extra capabilities that you couldn't do with the knob that you can with the lever.
"But if you can do it more easily and repeatedly then you might open up the scope to change it more often around the track."
The move to a brake bias lever might sound like small beer, but in a Championship where much of the technology is controlled, any performance gain is vital.
Dutton emphasised the ergonomic advantage the lever provided the driver, something which potentially also translated into improved performance.
"You don't want the driver to not be able to do what he wants to do because it's not in the right spot or not quite easy enough to do, whether the steering is in the right position, the brakes are in the right position, the right angle of the seat.
"There are a multitude of things that people don't give enough credit to and that's just another one of them... so ergonomics is a huge deal and it might sound boring but that is a performance thing."
Walkinshaw Racing's technical director Mat Nilsson said the lever had been spotted and confirmed there would be an investigation to establish whether the feature developed by WR's Holden factory rival was worth pursuing.
"We have discussed or flagged that Triple Eight have a system," he said. "So at some point we will probably look at it. But you have to pick your priorities and go from there.
"If it is a quick and easy change they can do then you do get an advantage out of it because they can change it more quickly and more regularly than what we can with a traditional bias adjuster. So they are probably in a situation where they can change the setting multiple times a lap."
Prodrive Racing Australia team principal Tim Edwards said the factory Ford squad was also pondering the lever and what - if any - response it might make.
"We have noticed it, it just depends what you are trying to achieve. For a particular corner on the track they might need a certain bias and on another part of the track they might need something different. So it's just a quick way of tuning the balance on the same lap.
"It's like anything, you see another team doing it and you have to evaluate whether you think there is an advantage in it and whether you want to do it or not.
"But I'd like to think there are things that are not so obvious we are doing that they are not doing."
Follow the next event, the SKYCITY Triple Crown from July 19-21 live on FOX SPORTS 506 across the three days and stay tuned to TEN and ONE for highlights.This article originally appeared at Business New Europe
The Russian markets opened on December 1 to a catastrophe. The price of Brent crude oil fell below $70 a barrel, causing the ruble to drop heavily yet again.
There had been some signs that the Russian currency was beginning to claw back some of the ground lost this year, but another step-down in the price of oil to below the psychologically important $70 level kicked the legs out from under the nascent rally.
The irony is that the devaluation of the ruble creates more rubles for the budget as revenue is dependent on the oil price in dollars, but spending is in nominal ruble terms
Against the dollar, the ruble exchange rate had dropped 9.3% by midday, taking it below the key RUB50/$ for the first time. You’d have to go back to January 1999 to find a similarly steep fall.
The currency started the year at RUB33/$ and has gone from the second best performing currency in the world to the worst, reported Bloomberg this year, losing over a third of its value.
But what is freaking traders out is that the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is standing on the sidelines and has not intervened to support the currency. "I think the CBR has misread the script: instead of a free floating ruble we have a free falling ruble," said Tim Ash, head of emerging markets research at Standard Bank, in a widely quoted note that catches something of the panic.
Those that were dismissive of a $60 oil price in 2015 are already starting to look out of touch. The CBR has an $80 price in its pessimistic forecast for 2015, but already at the end of November was suggesting it will have to revise this number down. And the commentaries have started to bring up the $10 price that took Russia into the 1998 crisis.
Things are moving very fast now. The deputy governor of the CBR was being quoted this morning suggesting that inflation next year could rise to 10% in the first quarter. Unemployment, which ticked up slightly in October to 5.1%, will not be directly affected in 2015 if oil prices stay low, but the fall in real wages, which already started this autumn, is expected to accelerate as the Russian population begins to feel the effects of the crisis for the first time. Throughout the crisis that started in 2008 real wage rises have stayed ahead of inflation and were running at about 10% until recently, because of the historically low unemployment rates.
How bad will it get? bne IntelliNews columnist and head of Macro-Advisory Chris Weafer speculated two weeks ago that pure economic theory suggests the ruble should be at RUB42 to the dollar, but that was before oil prices lost another $10 in the meantime.
Much depends on what you think is driving the oil price lower. The Opec meeting in Vienna on November decided not to cut production levels, leading to speculation that Saudi Arabia has started a price war to drive the marginal shale oil producers out of the market. While companies like Russian oil major Rosneft say they can produce oil at a cost of as little as $5 per barrel, the cost of producing US shale oil is anywhere between $40 and $80, say experts. The idea is to put these producers under pressure. They have contributed to the lion's share in the increase in production in recent years in the US' "shale boom" but are not very profitable. Taking oil down to $60-70 and keeping it there for an extended period would bankrupt many of these producers or at the very least kill off their investment plans. This would eventually undermine supply and so drive prices up again.
The other reason being discussed for the fall in oil prices is the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that the demand for oil has slowed sharply.
Can Russia afford $60-$70 oil? The knee-jerk reaction has been that oil under $100 - the break-even price for the current budget plan - will cause the Russian economy to collapse. However, this doesn’t seem to be happening.
The irony is that the devaluation of the ruble creates more rubles for the budget as revenue is dependent on the oil price in dollars, but spending is in nominal ruble terms. This means the government is the biggest winner from a devaluation that simply creates more rubles to spend, albeit less valuable rubles. Although well over half of the Russian budget revenue is derived from oil taxes, it is currently running an unexpectedly large 2% federal budget surplus.
Another assumption is that Russia will burn up its hard currency reserves defending the ruble. But this is not happening either. Russia spent about $200bn of its international reserves in 2009 defending the ruble and managing a 30% devaluation, keeping the exchange rate inside the ruble trading corridor.
This time round it has spent an estimated $100bn managing this devaluation down by a similar amount. However, what changed in November is that the CBR decided to completely free the ruble a month earlier than planned. Currency traders have been expecting the CBR to step in as it has always done in the past, but it has stood resolutely on the sidelines and allowed the ruble to tank. The upshot is the CBR is not spending its reserves, which stood at $420bn going into this crash, or 1.7 years of import cover, way above the three months economists recommend.
"The total absence of the CBR is interesting since they more or less moved to a free float. The CBR now seems to be defending their FX reserves like a troll on a bridge," said Ash in a note to clients.
That was the point of freeing the ruble: it allows the Russian economy to absorb shocks more effectively - and oil falling $10 in a week counts as a big shock.
The hope is that the cheap ruble will eventually act as an economic stimulus once the dust settles. Indeed, the fall in the ruble already caused industrial production to jump by 5% in October. Agricultural production has had the added stimulus of the EU agricultural product ban imposed by the Kremlin earlier this year, which has helped the sector grow by 16.6%.
But none of these benefits will negate the pain of the fall. The spike in inflation will kill investment plans and hurt consumers, who will increasingly feel the pain of falling incomes from here on in. However, the double whammy of tanking oil prices and currency are unlikely to cause the Russian economy to crash as $10 oil did in 1998. During the worst of the 2008 crisis oil prices fell to around $40 and Russia bounced back from that without too much effort thanks to the devaluation effects and the recovery in the oil prices.
This time round it seems likely that oil prices will stay low for longer, especially if the Saudi conspiracy against shale theories have any truth to it, but even at $70-$80 oil Russia is no more than wounded. More importantly, not only will the Kremlin be forced to make the structural reforms it so obviously needs, it might actually want to do them.22일 KBS 예능국 관게자에 따르면 윤아, 이범수, 윤시윤, 류진 등은 23일 오후 서울 여의도 KBS 신관에서 진행되는 KBS 2TV ‘해피투게더3’ 녹화에 참석한다.
이날 녹화는 12월 방송 예정인 ‘총리와 나’ 특집으로 마련됐다. 배우들은 바쁜 촬영 스케줄에도 불구하고 드라마 홍보를 위해 짬을 내 ‘해피투게더3’에 출연하기로 했다. 어울릴 것 같지 않은 네 배우의 입담에 관심이 쏠린다.
특히 윤아의 경우 올해 초 김밥 카레 볶음밥 ‘아이카레보이’를 통해 야간 매점 메뉴에 이름을 올린 바 있기에 이번엔 어떤 요리를 선보일지 관심이 쏠린다.
‘해피투게더3’의 ‘총리와 나’ 특집은 12월 초 방송된다.
한편 이범수, 윤아, 윤시윤, 채정안, 류진 등 화려한 라인업으로 화제가 된 '총리와 나'는 고집불통 대쪽 총리와 그와 결혼하고 싶어 안달 난 20대 꽃 처녀의 코믹 반전로맨스를 담는다. KBS 2TV '미래의 선택' 후속으로 오는 12월 초 첫 방송된다.
[윤아, 이범수, 윤시윤, 류진(왼쪽부터). 사진 = 마이데일리 사진DB]
(전원 기자 wonwon@mydaily.co.kr)
[HOT NEWS]
모두가 인정한 유재석·강호동 이을 MC는 바로…
美빌보드 "씨엘 알몸노출, 사이러스보다 고급"
윤형빈·정경미, 신혼집 공개 ''아침부터 삼겹살''
''아슬아슬'' 손은서, 가린다고 가려봤지만…
"박미선, 관리비용 한달에 2천만 원 써" 폭로
기사 제보 및 보도자료
- NO.1 뉴미디어 실시간 뉴스 마이데일리( [마이데일리 = 전원 기자] 걸그룹 소녀시대 윤아가 ‘해피투게더3’에 출연한다.22일 KBS 예능국 관게자에 따르면 윤아, 이범수, 윤시윤, 류진 등은 23일 오후 서울 여의도 KBS 신관에서 진행되는 KBS 2TV ‘해피투게더3’ 녹화에 참석한다.이날 녹화는 12월 방송 예정인 ‘총리와 나’ 특집으로 마련됐다. 배우들은 바쁜 촬영 스케줄에도 불구하고 드라마 홍보를 위해 짬을 내 ‘해피투게더3’에 출연하기로 했다. 어울릴 것 같지 않은 네 배우의 입담에 관심이 쏠린다.특히 윤아의 경우 올해 초 김밥 카레 볶음밥 ‘아이카레보이’를 통해 야간 매점 메뉴에 이름을 올린 바 있기에 이번엔 어떤 요리를 선보일지 관심이 쏠린다.‘해피투게더3’의 ‘총리와 나’ 특집은 12월 초 방송된다.한편 이범수, 윤아, 윤시윤, 채정안, 류진 등 화려한 라인업으로 화제가 된 '총리와 나'는 고집불통 대쪽 총리와 그와 결혼하고 싶어 안달 난 20대 꽃 처녀의 코믹 반전로맨스를 담는다. KBS 2TV '미래의 선택' 후속으로 오는 12월 초 첫 방송된다.[윤아, 이범수, 윤시윤, 류진(왼쪽부터). 사진 = 마이데일리 사진DB](전원 기자 wonwon@mydaily.co.kr)[HOT NEWS]기사 제보 및 보도자료 press@mydaily.co.kr - NO.1 뉴미디어 실시간 뉴스 마이데일리( www.mydaily.co.kr ) 저작권자 ⓒ 마이데일리. 무단전재&재배포 금지 -Review: Lambchop, 'FLOTUS'
Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page.
toggle caption Courtesy of the artist.
It isn't always easy for an established group to pivot toward a new sound — but it might be a little easier for Kurt Wagner. The mastermind of the Nashville indie group Lambchop has long employed his project as an ever-changing entity rather than a fixed ensemble. Moreover, he's been restlessly reimagining the country-folk idiom since the early '90s: first as a hushed, blackly humorous troubadour, then as an increasingly adventurous singer-songwriter who's as interested in space and texture as he is well-crafted turns of phrase.
Wagner's ambition has taken a hard left on Lambchop's new album. Titled FLOTUS — which has nothing to do with Michelle Obama, standing instead for the evocative phrase For Love Often Turns Us Still — the record ditches the band's typical organic feel. In its place is something far more progressive. In "Howe," Wagner loops and smears his vocals into a softly glitchy wash; in "JFK," a sequence of synthesized orchestration drifts like an iceberg over occasional plunks of piano. "Directions To The Can," despite its throwaway title, is an immaculately chiseled exhibition of icy art-rock. Nowhere is Wagner's new approach more arresting than in "NIV." Chugging along on a Krautrock pulse, a synth-pop hook and robotic vocal modulation straight out of Laurie Anderson's toolbox, it traps Wagner's rootsy air in a startling new context.
It's been more than four years since Lambchop's last full-length, Mr. M, which marks the longest gap the group has ever had between albums. Wagner's put that time to good use. The songs are still slow, sad and dryly witty — this is a |
because she was wearing a headscarf.
The Mean Girls actress, 30, said she was stopped by a woman who asked her to take her headscarf off. “She opened my passport and saw Lindsay Lohan and started immediately apologizing, but then said ‘But please take off your headscarf,’” Lohan told U.K. television show Good Morning Britain. She added: “And I did, it’s okay. But what scared me was in that moment — how would another woman who doesn’t feel comfortable taking off her headscarf feel?”
Lohan, who has been photographed carrying a Koran and says she finds “solace” studying the Muslim holy book, said she didn’t know why she was asked to take her headscarf off but found the experience “really jarring.” She told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid: “I’m from New York — I’m born and raised there, but I was a little intimidated.”
When Reid asked the Parent Trap star why she was wearing the headscarf, she said it was “out of respect” for the Turkish women she had met with on her trip. “I was… leaving Turkey and… when I see certain people I feel more comfortable acting the same way as the other women — that’s just a personal respect issue for me that I have,” she said.
When Morgan asked Lohan about her views on President Donald Trump, Lohan said she thought he should be given a fair chance. “I don’t agree with his policies and the things he is doing,” she said. “But at the end of the day he is the president right now. So what’s the point of picking on someone instead of seeing what they’re capable — or not capable — of.” However, she added that she did think his Twitter account should be taken away “or deleted.” Watch the clip below:
Write to Kate Samuelson at kate.samuelson@time.com.Slides from my PyCodeConf presentation
Many thanks to Github and friends for hosting PyCodeConf in Miami this year. Normally I don't like conferences, and I imagined I wouldn't like Miami either but I was proven completely wrong on both counts. Call it low expectations, but hey, they delivered!
I quite like the way my presentation turned out. It has real actual facts (tm) including two benchmarks where Java loses to python in literally every possible way. This isn't that surprising - since I hate java, I like python, and I wrote the benchmarks - but my angst was somewhat increased since I had been actually trying on purpose to make a biased benchmark that Java would pass in order to make myself appear more well-balanced... and I completely failed. I was not able to make java appear better than python in any way, be it startup time, memory usage, code execution time, library power, or source code readability. This is surely some kind of perverse marketing gimmick: since it's actually literally impossible to make a benchmark that makes java look good, then everyone who publishes java benchmarks automatically looks biased, so java lovers can discount the opinion of the "haters." Insidious.
But enough with the conspiracy theories. Here are Avery's slides from pycodeconf in pdf form including some detailed speaker notes. I thought about giving them to you in Google Docs format, but naturally Docs is totally incapable of showing speaker notes by default, so forget it. Just open the pdf already. I put a lot of work into the notes so you wouldn't have to try to learn from my (rather sparse) slides.
Oh yeah, what's it actually about? My experiences writing fast code (like bup and sshuttle) in python. And how it's possible. And how not to do it.
One audience member said, "I thought about 40% of it was really insightful. The other 60% I had no idea what you were talking about." I consider that a rave review, I think.
Update 2011/10/18: They posted an audio recording of my talk. Also check out the other recorded talks and slides.For apartment hunters who think that Brooklyn has become too glassy in recent years, with some buildings that look like as if they had floated up from South Florida, a new condominium in Boerum Hill may come as a relief, particularly its lower floors.
Most of the facade of 465 Pacific Street, a low-slung 30-unit condo now under construction, will be made largely of brick, a finish that recalls the 19th-century Greek Revival townhouses on surrounding blocks, which are among the most coveted in the borough. Windows aren’t the trendy curtain-wall variety, but are sized more modestly, in keeping with the traditional spirit of the neighborhood.
There will be some unusual touches at the building, which is being developed by Avery Hall Investments and the Aria Development Group. The upper stories are to be faced in dark metal and set back from the street.
“It’s appropriate, it’s contextual, and it doesn’t offend the neighborhood,” Avi Fisher, a founding principal of Avery Hall, said of the overall design, as he led a tour of the L-shaped block-through site, which also is bordered by Atlantic Avenue and Nevins Street.Born on July 14, 1913 Gerald R. Ford was born on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska. Moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan with is mother in 1914. Madison Elementary School Photo Between 1918-1925 Ford attended elementary school at Madison Elementary and East Grand Rapids Elementary in Grand Rapids, MI. Senior Portrait Ford attended South High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he exceled at football, being named to the “All-City�? and “All-State�? teams. Yellowstone Ranger Ford worked as an intern Forest Ranger at Yellowstone Park’s Canyon Station. Eagle Scout On his twelfth birthday, Ford joined the local Boy Scout Troop 15 of Trinity Methodist Church and two years later attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Gridiron Glory Ford attends the University of Michigan and graduates with a B.A. in Economics. Ford also plays center on the football team and receives professional football contract offers from the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions, which he declines. Law School Ford attends Yale University Law School. Military Service Ford volunteers for the Navy. He is assigned to the Navy’s V-5 pre-flight program in Annapolis, Maryland to become a physical training instructor. Marriage Ford and Betty Bloomer Warren wed at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids. Marrying in the middle of his congressional campaign, the couple honeymoon briefly in Ann Arbor Family Life Gerald R. Ford, Jr., Betty Ford, and their children Mike, Jack, Susan, and Steve sit in the dining room of the Ford residence Alexandria, VA in 1958. Congressman Representative Gerald R. Ford, Jr., pages through a bound copy of 1952 Congressional hearings. 1953. President President Ford in the Oval Office. August 11, 1974.
Born: July 14, 1913, Omaha, Nebraska. Moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1914.
Died: December 26, 2006, Rancho Mirage, California.
Personal Data: Height - 6 Feet; Hair - Blond; Eyes - Blue
Ancestry: English
Religion: Episcopalian
Grade Schools:
Madison Elementary School; East Grand Rapids Elementary School.
Boy Scouts: Attained rank of Eagle Scout.
High School:
Grand Rapids South High School, Class of 1931. Member of National Honor Society, Varsity Letter Club, Glee Club, Student Council, Latin Club, and Hi-Y (High School YMCA). Participated in football, basketball, and track. Earned All-City and All-State honors in football.
Assorted Summer and Miscellaneous Jobs:
Filled and cleaned paint cans in family paint business; mowed lawns; handled concessions at an amusement park; washed dishes and grilled hamburgers in a restaurant; Park Ranger, Yellowstone National Park; washed dishes in college fraternity house; model.
College:
B.A., University of Michigan, Class of 1935. Majored in economics and political science. Member of Michagamua (senior men's honor society), Sphinx (junior men's honor society), Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, Interfraternity Council, and Student Council. Played center and linebacker on U-M football team. Started at center and named team MVP in senior year. Played in East-West College All-Star game and Chicago Tribune College All-Star game. Did not earn All-America honors as popularly believed. Received contract offers from the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions (which Ford turned down in favor of law school).
Law School:
LL.B., Yale University Law School, Class of 1941. Member of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, and worked as assistant football coach and freshman boxing coach.
Occupation: Attorney.
Military Service:
During the attack on Pearl Harbor Gerald Ford lived in Grand Rapids and practiced law. He joined the US Navy in 1942 and remained on active duty until 1946. Ford served aboard the USS Monterey and was discharged with the rank of Lt. Commander. He received the following medals and awards: the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-American Campaign Medal with one silver star and four bronze stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two bronze stars. Ford remained in the Naval Reserves until 1963.
Marriage:
Elizabeth Bloomer Warren (b. April 8, 1918), October 15, 1948.
Children:
Michael Gerald (b. March 14, 1950), John (Jack) Gardner (b. March 16, 1952), Steven Meigs (b. May 19, 1956), Susan Elizabeth (b. July 6, 1957).
Congress:
Served Grand Rapids and Kent County in United States House of Representatives, 1949-1973. House Minority Leader, 1965-1973.
Vice President:
Succeeded Spiro Agnew as Richard Nixon's vice president following Agnew's resignation. Confirmed on December 6, 1973.
President:
Sworn-in as president (at the age of 61 years, 26 days) following Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974. Selected Nelson Rockefeller as his vice president. Left office on January 20, 1977, following general election loss to Jimmy Carter.
Presidential Pets:
Liberty, Golden Retriever; Misty, Golden Retriever (Liberty's off-spring); Shan Shein, Siamese Cat.
President Ford's Favorites
Hobby: stamp collecting
Breakfast: orange juice, melon, English muffins, and tea with lemon
Food: pot roast and red cabbage (for recipes see The White House Family Cookbook by Henry Haller (New York: Random House, 1987, pp. 176-179)
Dessert: butter pecan ice cream
Hymn: The Navy Hymn - "Eternal Father Strong to Save"
Drink: coffee, iced tea
Color: red
Participatory Sport: golf, tennis, skiing, swimming
Sports Figure: Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers
Parlor Game: bridge
Flower: apple blossom, azalea
Dance: ballroom
Music: jazz, swing
Book: non-fiction contemporary history
Weather: sunshine on golf course, snow on ski slopes
Place to Visit: Vail, Colorado
Time of Day, Season: dawn, all seasons
Hero: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Most Unforgettable Moment: Noon, August 9, 1974, when sworn in as president.
Most Valued Advice: "That which comes from my wife."
Memberships: American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, 33rd Degree MasonShare
In the lobby of Cloudflare’s global headquarters in San Francisco, there’s a wall packed with 100 lava lamps of various colors. These lamps are recorded with a camera and a live feed sent to the company’s server, so that lava-related data can be extracted from the image and used to generate packets of unpredictable bits. These unpredictable bits are then sent to Cloudflare servers around the world to help generate cryptographic keys, which ultimately encrypt data for around 10 percent of all web requests.
In other words, when you browse the internet, the security of the data you’re sending and receiving is, in part, provided by a wall of lava lamps.
Dani Grant
“True randomness is difficult to achieve in computers because computers are designed to be predictable,” Nick Sullivan, head of cryptography at Cloudflare, told Digital Trends. “When a computer executes a program, it follows series of predetermined steps. To get truly random numbers, you have to involve the physical world. Most companies rely only on their computer’s operating system to provide randomness, which can sometimes lead to security issues like the recent ROCA vulnerability. It’s always best to mix in multiple sources of randomness.”
Sullivan said the idea for the lava lamp came about in the early days of Cloudflare in discussions between himself, CEO Matthew Prince, CTO John Graham-Cumming, and other early employees — all of whom wanted both to achieve high levels of security and also create some groovy functional art for their office design. “In true startup fashion, we iterated,” he continued. “We started with a single orange lava lamp in the kitchen of the old Cloudflare office, and when we moved to our global headquarters we built an entire wall of them into our lobby.”
News of Cloudflare’s unorthodox (but effective) approach to encryption was recently shared with the world in a video by YouTuber Tom Scott. “I make videos about science, technology, and interesting things in the world — and this was all three,” Scott told us. He’s certainly not wrong on that front!*Prices shown are Acura suggested retail prices only and do not include taxes, title, license, destination, handling charges or registration & documentary fees. Acura vehicle accessory costs, labor and installation vary. Dealers set their own prices. Please consult your selected dealer.
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ExploreGuns are deeply rooted within Swiss culture - but the gun crime rate is so low that statistics are not even kept.
The country has a population of six million, but there are estimated to be at least two million publicly-owned firearms, including about 600,000 automatic rifles and 500,000 pistols.
This is in a very large part due to Switzerland's unique system of national defence, developed over the centuries.
Instead of a standing, full-time army, the country requires every man to undergo some form of military training for a few days or weeks a year throughout most of their lives.
Between the ages of 21 and 32 men serve as frontline troops. They are given an M-57 assault rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition which they are required to keep at home.
Once discharged, men serve in the Swiss equivalent of the US National Guard, but still have to train occasionally and are given bolt rifles. Women do not have to own firearms, but are encouraged to.
Few restrictions
In addition to the government-provided arms, there are few restrictions on buying weapons. Some cantons restrict the carrying of firearms - others do not.
The government even sells off surplus weaponry to the general public when new equipment is introduced.
Guns and shooting are popular national pastimes. More than 200,000 Swiss attend national annual marksmanship competitions.
But despite the wide ownership and availability of guns, violent crime is extremely rare. There are only minimal controls at public buildings and politicians rarely have police protection.
Mark Eisenecker, a sociologist from the University of Zurich told BBC News Online that guns are "anchored" in Swiss society and that gun control is simply not an issue.
Some pro-gun groups argue that Switzerland proves their contention that there is not necessarily a link between the availability of guns and violent crime in society.
Low crime
But other commentators suggest that the reality is more complicated.
Switzerland is one of the world's richest countries, but has remained relatively isolated.
It has none of the social problems associated with gun crime seen in other industrialised countries like drugs or urban deprivation.
Despite the lack of rigid gun laws, firearms are strictly connected to a sense of collective responsibility.
From an early age Swiss men and women associate weaponry with being called to defend their country.UFC documents detail the importance of pay-per-view sales to total revenue, and one star shines brighter than the others
Even with media rights deals across the globe, a domestic TV deal with FOX networks at home, and an over-the-top streaming service to reach fans online, pay-per-view is still where the UFC’s bread is buttered.
According to investor documents obtained by MMAjunkie, 38.6 percent of the UFC’s total 2015 revenue of $609 million came from pay-per-view sales, making it the single biggest driver of UFC revenue. Documents also maintain that sales reached record levels for the UFC in 2015, driven in part by a shift in strategy, but also by the emergence of UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who in just two events accounted for slightly more than a quarter of that year’s pay-per-view sales.
The presentation, prepared in July prior to the finalization of the UFC’s sale to WME-IMG, details the UFC’s various sources of revenue as part of its pitch to investors. By far, the bulk of the UFC’s income stems from content, both in the form of domestic and international rights fees, as well as pay-per-view sales and subscriptions to the UFC Fight Pass streaming service.
Those four content categories accounted for $462 million of revenue for the UFC in 2015, roughly 75 percent of the year’s total take. Of that, residential pay-per-view sales made up 42 percent of the content category, accounting for about $194 million of the UFC’s 2015 revenue.
Pay-per-view sales and revenues both hit an all-time high for the UFC in 2015, according to the document, and just one year after taking a noticeable dip in 2014, a year in which the UFC was plagued by injuries, forcing the cancellation of one event and causing changes to the original main event in several others.
According to the document, the UFC fixed this problem in 2015 in part with a practice the company calls “double stacking.” Essentially, it put more effort into promoting a main and co-main event for each pay-per-view, increasing the odds that there would still be a noteworthy fight on offer even if the original headliner changed or was dropped altogether.
For at least two events in 2015, the document claims that the UFC also had “other top fighters on retainer and prepared to step into the fight with minimal notice.”
Those strategies helped the UFC bounce back on pay-per-view in 2015 and in the first half of 2016, despite a rate of main event changes that remained essentially unchanged.
But there’s another factor that explains the increased revenue from pay-per-view, and it’s the current UFC featherweight champion. McGregor (20-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) headlined two pay-per-view events that year which did a combined 2.025 million buys, according to the UFC’s numbers.
Both of those events far outpaced even the top-selling pay-per-views of the previous year, and by the end of 2015, the two events headlined by McGregor accounted for slightly more than a quarter of the year’s pay-per-view sales.
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey also turned in strong numbers, selling a combined 2.6 million pay-per-views over the course of three events in 2015.
Still, after McGregor helped the UFC to 1.3 million more buys in his first fight with Nate Diaz in 2016, the UFC’s own analysis highlights him as not only the biggest pay-per-view star of the moment, but also in all of company history. According to the document, McGregor crossed the one million buy threshold in two of his three headlining efforts, “compared to seasoned fighters (Brock) Lesnar and (Anderson) Silva who have achieved only (one) such fight to date.”
But the UFC’s reliance on pay-per-view is not necessarily put forth as a total positive, especially in a volatile sport where injuries appear to be a constant fact of life.
In fact, one chart notes that the UFC’s business model has become more stable as it has leveraged media rights deals and contracted revenue to become less reliant on pay-per-view sales. While the UFC routinely made over 50 percent of its yearly revenue from pay-per-view buys in each of the years from 2008 to 2011, that dropped to 39% in 2015.
The UFC remains a content-oriented business, with pay-per-view sales and TV rights deals expected to continue dominating the overall revenue picture in the years to come. What’s less clear is whether the UFC can continue to grow revenue if it gets less help from McGregor and Rousey, who together accounted for 56.1 percent of all the pay-per-views sold by the UFC between 2012 and 2015, according to the document.
But with McGregor slated to return at UFC 205 in November, and with Rousey following at UFC 207 in December, how the company might manage without them is a question the UFC doesn’t have to answer – at least not yet.
For more on the business strategy laid out by the UFC in the wake of its $4 billion sale, check out the previous stories on MMAjunkie:
For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.In developments which have seen reality mimicking science-fiction, new technologies have enabled military scientists and research teams to develop robotic armoured suits for warfighters or military exoskeletons, like those seen in Hollywood films such as Ironman, Avatar and The Matrix.
Military exoskeleton suits, designed to fit around a dismounted soldier to give them almost-superhuman capabilities, can be fitted onto the body of a soldier in order to improve physical characteristics, such as strength or endurance, creating huge advantages for inboth combat and carrying out logistical tasks.
Although previous programmes, such as the Handiman project co-developed by General Electric and the US Military, suffered from serious limitations due to weight and mobility issues, companies including Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are now taking advantage of new materials and technologies to make science-fiction become science-fact.
Military exoskeleton armour capabilities
"With both the HULC and XOS exoskeleton suits passing the proof of concept stage, testing and development has commenced."
Enhancing or boosting the capabilities of soldiers using a powered exoskeleton poses many advantages, particularly in the logistical field.
Current programmes, such as Raytheon’s XOS exoskeleton and Lockheed Martin’s human universal load carrier (HULC) have demonstrated greatly improved strength, allowing soldier to carry loads of up to 200lbs for extended periods of time.
This could allow soldiers to undertake tasks such as loading ammunition onto an array of military vehicles without the need of heavy-lift machinery, as well as moving obstacles on the battlefield with ease.
Soldiers would also be capable of running greater distances with reduced fatigue, courtesy of transferring weight to the ground through powered titanium legs.
Human universal load carrier
Originally developed by Ekso Bionics, Lockheed Martin entered into an exclusive licensing agreement in January 2009 in order to co-develop the human universal load carrier (HULC).
HULC is an un-tethered, hydraulic-powered, anthropomorphic exoskeleton designed specifically to fit around the body of a dismounted soldier. The system’s flexible design poses little to no restriction of movement, a crucial element for warfighters using the system in theatre.
There is no joystick or control mechanism, instead sensors detect movement and, using an onboard micro-computer, make the suit to move in time with the body. The system’s titanium structure and hydraulic power augments the soldier’s ability, strength and performance, whereas its modularity allows components to be switched and replaced with ease.
Most recently, the HULC has been evaluated at the US Army Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts, US, with the upgraded system including extended battery life and optimised control software.
Raytheon XOS exoskeleton
Raytheon’s equivalent of the HULC, the XOS 2, was unveiled in September 2010 and highlighted its similarities with the capabilities of the powered body armour suit worn in the ‘Ironman’ series of films. Raytheon considered its predecessor, the XOS 1, a proof of concept and as such used XOS 2 to demonstrate a 50% reduction in power conception.
"Companies including Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are now taking advantage of new materials and technologies."
Raytheon Sarcos vice president of operations Dr Fraser M Smith said: "With XOS 2, we targeted power consumption and looked for ways to use the hydraulic energy more efficiently. That’s resulted in us being able to add capabilities while significantly reducing power consumption.
"They are desperately needed, and I believe the military looks at them as viable solutions to a number of current issues they are trying to address. With a sustained commitment, they could be in place within five years."
The system itself has been developed with the main aim of fulfilling logistical tasks and needs which are faced both in and out of theatre, rather than direct combat, but weapon attachments have been explored.
The main task associated with it, much like the HULC, is heavy lifting, reducing the risk of orthopaedic injuries sustained by soldiers.
The XOS allows the soldier to operate faster and for longer periods of time, often fulfilling the role of two or three soldiers, allowing the reallocation of soldiers for more strategic tasks.
Although the current system is tethered to a power supply, an un-tethered system is in development and the suit works using structures sensors, actuators and controllers that respond to human movement rather than being controlled through a joystick.
Raytheon believe that, with continued support, a form of powered exoskeleton suit could be in place within five years.
Exoskeletons entering development and testing
With both the HULC and XOS exoskeleton suits passing the proof of concept stage, testing and development has commenced and Lockheed Martin certainly appear to have stolen a march on its Raytheon rival, with the HULC having been tested at the Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center.
The proposed benefits of the system were evaluated, with biomechanical testing analysing changes in energy expended by users both with and without the system, while also assessing how quickly a soldier can acclimatise to using the system.
Although both exoskeleton equivalents are geared towards a logistical purpose, if they are to be fielded in theatre then a considerable amount of work is needed in order to ensure the user is protected.
Although constructed out of titanium, the current framework of both systems offers little protection from enemy fire, and the challenges associated with installing body armour onto a platform without adding significant weight are apparent.
The challenges and future development of powered exoskeleton suits
"Enhancing or boosting the capabilities of soldiers using a powered exoskeleton poses many advantages, particularly in the logistical field."
The challenge of balancing the weight of the exoskeleton alongside the protection it offers the soldier has been partly addressed with the adoption of titanium over steel in the framework, along with the possibility of using moulded carbon fibre armour plates as lightweight protection. Both materials are, however, comparatively expensive.
Another challenge that will need to be resolved is the issue of power supply, as each future exoskeleton suit will need to be untethered in order to reach its full capabilities.
Presently, few power sources have the sufficient energy density to support suit with the energy demands placed upon it, however electrochemical and solid oxide fuel cells are being explored as possible options.
Finally, more work is required in the elimination of unsafe or invalid actions or movements, protecting a soldier from injury in the event of accidental collision or movement that exceeds the limits of the human body.
Although partially solved by the restriction of joints, such as the knee or elbow, more work will be needed so that sensors can differentiate between intentional and unintentional movements, such as sneezing or involuntary muscle spasm, in order to truly protect the user.
Related industry project
The Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) is an exoskeleton being developed by Lockheed Martin for dismounted soldiers. The hydraulically-powered HULC enables soldiers to carry heavy loads with minimal strain on their body.
Related videosMartin Chemnitz (9 November 1522 – 8 April 1586) was an eminent second-generation German, Evangelical Lutheran, Christian theologian, and a Protestant reformer, churchman, and confessor.[1] In the Evangelical Lutheran tradition he is known as Alter Martinus, the "Second Martin": Si Martinus non fuisset, Martinus vix stetisset ("If Martin [Chemnitz] had not come along, Luther would hardly have survived") goes a common saying concerning him. He is listed and remembered in the Calendar of Saints and Commemorations in the Liturgical Church Year as a pastor and confessor in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and subsequent Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2005) used by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Early life and education [ edit ]
Chemnitz, born in Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg to Paul and Euphemia Chemnitz, was the last of three children.[2] His older siblings' names were Matthew and Ursula. His father was a successful merchant who died when Martin was eleven:[1] thereafter, the family suffered from financial difficulties.
When he was old enough, Martin matriculated in Magdeburg. Upon completion of the course work, he became a weaver's apprentice. He helped his family with its clothing business for the next few years. When he was 20, he resumed his education at the University of Frankfurt (Oder). He remained in school until his finances were exhausted; he then took a teaching job in the town of Wriezen, supplementing his income by collecting the local sales tax on fish. His time at Frankfurt gave him the basic tools to continue his education on his own, researching areas in which he was interested and applying his naturally inquisitive mind to problems that others had worried over in the past.
In 1545 Chemnitz accompanied his cousin Georg Sabinus to school at the University of Wittenberg in Wittenberg, Germany[1] (1545–1547), where he studied under Martin Luther (1483-1546) and Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). From Melanchthon he learned to shape his theological education, beginning with the difference between "law" and "gospel". In Chemnitz's words, though he heard Luther lecture often, he "did not pay Luther the attention he should have." (cf. Autobiography) Because of Luther's death and political events, Chemnitz transferred to the University of Königsberg (1547–1548). Chemnitz graduated in the first class with a Master of Arts degree (1548). However, a plague soon infested the Baltic Sea Hanseatic German port town of Königsberg in East Prussia, (today renamed Kaliningrad since occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945 at the end of World War II, now annexed into the Russian Federation) so Chemnitz left quickly for Saalfeld. When he judged it safe, Chemnitz returned to Königsberg in 1550, now employed by Albert, Duke of Prussia, as the court librarian for the Konigsberg State and University Library. In return for caring for the library and teaching a few courses as a tutor, he had unrestricted access to what was then considered one of the finest libraries in Europe (and unfortunately later damaged and lost with its contents and elaborate building 400 years later during the battles swirling around the Prussian city on the Eastern Front of the Second World War in 1944-1945).
For the first time Chemnitz applied himself completely to theological study. During these years his interest shifted from astrology, which he had studied in Magdeburg, to theology. He began his own course of study by carefully working through the Bible in the original languages of Hebrew and Ancient Greek with the goal of answering questions that had previously puzzled him. When he felt ready to move on, he turned his attention to the early theologians of the Church, whose writings he read slowly and carefully. Then he turned to current theological concerns, again reading slowly while painstakingly making copious notes. This early method of Lutheran scholastic self-study had been suggested by Melanchthon in his Writings (cf. Autobiography).
His vocation as reformer, churchman, and theologian [ edit ]
Chemnitz moved back to Wittenberg in 1553[1] as a guest of Melanchthon. In January 1554 he joined the Wittenberg University faculty. He lectured on Melanchthon's Loci Communes, from which lectures he compiled his own Loci Theologici, a system of theology. He was ordained to the ministry on 26 November 1554 by Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558), and became co-adjutor of Joachim Mörlin (1514-1571), who was ecclesiastical superintendent for the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. When Mörlin resigned in 1567, Chemnitz became his successor; he held the post for the rest of his life.
Through his leadership, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was brought firmly into Evangelical Lutheranism. There he helped his prince, Duke Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, establish the University of Helmstedt (1575–76). With Jakob Andreae, David Chytraeus, Nicholas Selnecker, Andrew Musculus and others, Chemnitz took part in a centrist movement that brought agreement among German Lutherans in the writing and publication of the Formula of Concord (1577), of which Chemnitz is one of the primary authors. He was instrumental in the publication of the definitive Book of Concord: Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church presented in 1580, containing a series of important earlier confessional theological documents, treatises, commentaries, catechisms as the compilation of the doctrinal standard of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Other major works are Examen Concilii Tridentini[1] (Examination of the Council of Trent) and De Duabis Naturis in Christo (On the Two Natures in Christ). These works demonstrate Martin Chemnitz's abilities as a biblical, doctrinal and historical theologian in the orthodox Lutheran tradition. He died in Braunschweig.
Works [ edit ]
Autobiography [ edit ]
Martin Chemnitii einhändige Lebens-Beschreibung. Nebst denen ihm zu Braunschweig gesetzen Epitaphiis [Martin Chemnitz's Submitted Life-Description {Autobiography}. Together with the Epitaphs Erected to Him in Braunschweig]. 1719. Translated into English as An Autobiography of Martin Chemnitz. A.L. Graebner, trans. Theological Quarterly, vol. 3, no. 4 (1899).
Church government and oversight [ edit ]
Brevis et Simplex Forma Examinis de Praecipuis Doctrinae Caelestis Capitibus [Brief and Simple Form of Examination concerning the Principal Chapters of Celestial Doctrine]. 1571. [3]
1571. Kirchen-Ordnung, wie es mit Lehr und Ceremonien des Fürstenthums-Braunschweig [Church Order, As to Doctrine and Ceremonies, of the Duchy of Braunschweig]. 1569.
. 1569. Ministry, Word, and Sacraments: An Enchiridion. Luther Poellot, trans. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1981. (Originally published in 1593 [German] and 1603 [Latin] as Enchiridion D. Martini Chemnitii.)
Luther Poellot, trans. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1981. (Originally published in 1593 [German] and 1603 [Latin] as.) Ein Schone vnnd richtige Form zu beichten [A Good and Proper Form for Confess{ing} {One's Sins}]. 1603.
Confessions of faith and documents relating to the Formula of Concord [ edit ]
Acta formulae concordiae in Bergensi coenobio prope Magdeburgum [Records of the Formula of Concord in Bergen Abbey near Magdeburg]. 1707 with Nicholas Selnecker. (The deliberations of the writers of the Formula of Concord to finalize that document).
Formula of Concord. 1707 with Nicholas Selnecker. (The deliberations of the writers of the to finalize that document). Apologia, oder Verantwortung deẞ Christlichen ConcordienBuchs, which appeared in Latin translation as Apologia libri Christianae concordiae [literally: Apology of the Christian Book of Concord]. with Timothy Kirchner and Nicolaus Selneccer, 1583. (known as The Apology of the Formula of Concord )
, which appeared in Latin translation as. with Timothy Kirchner and Nicolaus Selneccer, 1583. (known as ) Christliches Bedenken auf Doct. Majors Repetitio und endliche Erklärung belangend den Streit [Christian Reflections on Dr. Major's {work}, "Repetitio," and Finally {an} Explanation As Far As the Controversy Is Concerned]. 1568.
. 1568. Confessio ministeri Saxoni Konfession und Erklärung [Confession of the Ministers of Saxony: Confession and Explanation]. 1571. (Text in German).
. 1571. (Text in German). Corpus doctrinae Prutenicum [The Prussian Body of Doctrine]. 1568. (An Anthology of Lutheran Statements of Faith for the German domain of Prussia)
. 1568. (An Anthology of Lutheran Statements of Faith for the German domain of Prussia) Corpus doctrinae Julium [The {Duke} Julius Body of Doctrine]. 1576. (An Anthology of Lutheran Statements of Faith for Duke Julius's Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
Feiffer once said comic books were “booze for kids.” Starfire as portrayed here is porn for kids. You know what I mean. Feh.
Get a real writer, DC. Or, Scott Lobdell, get a grip.
A blurb at the bottom of the last page promises “To be explained…”
Yes, DC and Scott, I think we deserve an explanation for what you’ve done.
NEXT: Catwoman #1A pastor claimed trial to physical sexual assault and committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature on his adopted daughter. — Reuters file pic
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 25 — A pastor claimed trial at the Special Court for Sexual Crimes Against Children today to physical sexual assault and committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature on his adopted daughter.
The 49-year-old pastor was accused of committing the offences at a house in Petaling Utama, Petaling Jaya in November 2011 and on Oct 7, this year.
The man, clad in a cream shirt and black trousers, would have to remain in a lockup pending trial after judge Yong Zarida Sazali denied him bail upon request by deputy public prosecutor Nordalina Ali.
The judge also set Dec 4 for mention of the case.
On the first count, the man was charged with having carnal intercourse against the order of nature on the girl when she was 11 years old in November 2011.
The charge under Section 377A of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 377C, provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.
The man was also charged with committing physical sexual assault on the girl, at age 17 years, at the same place on Oct 7, this year.
This charge under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, also provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and liable to whipping, if convicted.
DPP Nordalina earlier requested the court to deny bail for fear the accused would harass the prosecution witnesses, particularly the victim.
Counsel S. Sivaperumal who represented the accused, pleaded for bail, saying his client, a pastor, would be prejudiced if bail was not granted as he was presumed innocent until proven guilty. — BernamaEleven Pacific Rim nations and the US agreed Monday to the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership pact—a secret trade accord backed by nations from Australia to Vietnam.
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, "The TPP contains a chapter on intellectual property covering copyright, trademarks, and patents. Since the draft text of the agreement has never been officially released to the public, we know from leaked documents, such as the May 2014 [PDF] draft of the TPP Intellectual Property Chapter [PDF], that US negotiators are pushing for the adoption of copyright measures far more restrictive than currently required by international treaties, including the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) [PDF]."
Negotiating nations include the US, Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, and Brunei Darussalam. Combined, the nations represent about 40 percent of the global economy. The secret accord took more than five years to produce and must be approved by the US Congress. In all, there are 30 chapters, and they won't be made public for at least a month. Negotiating nations thought it would be better to bargain in secret than in public. There have been leaks, but the citizens of the countries negotiating the pact have deliberately been kept in the dark about it.
Knowledge Ecology International's director James Love said that "the agreement was reached under rules set by the Obama Administration that allowed hundreds of corporate representatives to have access to the negotiating text, while freezing out the public."
The EFF said the accord "raises significant concerns about citizens’ freedom of expression, due process, innovation, the future of the Internet’s global infrastructure, and the right of sovereign nations to develop policies and laws that best meet their domestic priorities. In sum, the TPP puts at risk some of the most fundamental rights that enable access to knowledge for the world’s citizens." The group notes that the deal might "require signatory counties to adopt heightened copyright protection that advances the agenda of the US entertainment and pharmaceutical industries agendas but omits the flexibilities and exceptions that protect Internet users and technology innovators."
The member nations released this statement:
TPP brings higher standards to nearly 40 percent of the global economy. In addition to liberalizing trade and investment between us, the agreement addresses the challenges our stakeholders face in the 21st century, while taking into account the diversity of our levels of development. We expect this historic agreement to promote economic growth, support higher-paying jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and to promote transparency, good governance, and strong labor and environmental protections.
Here are copies of previous leaked TPP chapters.Our list of the Top 50 Led Zeppelin Songs demonstrates quite clearly why the group is among the most popular, important and influential acts in classic rock history.
Choosing the best tracks from the eight studio albums Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham made during their time together was both fun and difficult. After all, let's face it, just about any Zeppelin song that's on is -- in that moment -- the greatest song you've ever heard in your life.
We set a few ground rules before beginning our selection process -- first off, nothing from 1982's post-breakup unreleased tracks collection 'Coda' would be eligible. Neither would any live tracks, nor any of the rarities that turned up on later compilations, such as 'Baby Come On Home.'
We hope you enjoy this trip through the catalog of one of the most important bands in classic rock history. Feel free to give us hell about our choices in the comments section below -- like we could stop you!
Top 50 Led Zeppelin Songs :
No. 50:'For Your Life '
No. 49:'The Song Remains the Same '
No. 48:'In the Evening '
No. 47:'Good Times Bad Times '
No. 46:'Ten Years Gone '
No. 45:'The Wanton Song '
No. 44:'Your Time is Gonna Come '
No. 43:'All My Love '
No. 42:'Houses of the Holy '
No. 41: 'Thank You'
No. 40:'Custard Pie'
No. 39:'Since I've Been Loving You '
No. 38:'In the Light '
No. 37:'The Rain Song '
No. 36:'Four Sticks '
No. 35:'Bron-Y-Aur Stomp '
No. 34:'The Rover '
No. 33:'The Ocean '
No. 32:'You Shook Me '
No. 31:'The Battle of Evermore '
No. 30:'Fool in the Rain '
No. 29:'Celebration Day '
No. 28:'Nobody's Fault But Mine '
No. 27:'Communication Breakdown '
No. 26:'Bring it on Home '
No. 25:'Out on the Tiles '
No. 24:'What is and What Should Never Be '
No. 23:'Immigrant Song '
No. 22:'Achilles' Last Stand '
No. 21:'Heartbreaker / Living Loving Maid '
No. 20:'Gallows Pole '
No. 19:'Dancing Days '
No. 18:'Friends '
No. 17:'Going to California '
No. 16:'Trampled Underfoot '
No. 15:'Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You '
No. 14:'Over the Hills and Far Away '
No. 13:'When the Levee Breaks '
No. 12:'That's the Way '
No. 11:'Rock and Roll '
No. 10:'No Quarter '
No. 9:'How Many More Times '
No. 8:'Misty Mountain Hop '
No. 7:'Ramble On '
No. 6:'In My Time of Dying '
No. 5:'Dazed and Confused '
No. 4:'Black Dog '
No. 3:'Stairway to Heaven '
No. 2:'Whole Lotta Love '
No. 1:'Kashmir 'Lemp BrewPub which has found itself in the eye of a massive social media storm after a blog post alleging poor customer service and intimidation by the owners went viral, has issued a formal statement refuting the allegations against it.
In the statement, the restaurant alleges that they have been targeted by a professional digital and social media company, with the sole aim of bringing them down and causing damage to their reputation.
According to the release;
"Those who are a little aware about the social media and the way it works would agree that it cannot be the handiwork of a few to malign Lemp Brewpub & Kitchen alone. The timelines and snapshots of the social media platforms wherein the hate wave was initiated against us is a proof enough. Our digital and social media agency has assessed and analyzed the same. Hundreds of LIKES and posts within a second of posting the content has to be the handiwork of a full-fledged digital and social media agency hired solely with a particular motive."
The release then goes on to give the restaurant's version of the events that transpired when the group of youth, who purportedly wrote the blogpost, walked into the establishment to have the 'Hawaiian brunch'.
The statement unsurprisingly has a very different version of events. This story is one of unreasonable patrons who sought to bully and intimidate the staff of the establishment, ultimately not paying a cent for what they had consumed.
The restaurant also denies that there were 'bouncers' present as claimed in the blog post and even says that before leaving, the group of people had threatened them about what would happen to them on social media.
"They then started threatening that they are the social media "gurus" and that Lemp will have to pay for this "mistake" heavily.
Read the full release here:
Lemp Press Release
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.Although frontman Nick Cave admits: 'I haven't written anything yet'
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds have revealed that they will release a new album in 2011.
However, frontman Nick Cave admitted that he hasn’t started writing the follow-up to 2008’s ‘Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!’ yet.
“There will be a new Bad Seeds record next year,” he told SpinnerMusic.co.uk. “I’ve got to write one, I haven’t written anything yet, but that’s not how I go about things anyway.”
“I have the starting date for the next record and that’s when I go into the office and start it,” he continued. “I’m not doing that until I’ve finished the Grinderman tour, which is amazing. The band is something else.”
Cave is currently on a North American tour with Grinderman in support of their second album ‘Grinderman 2’.Thanks to the Internet, nothing ever really dies. Facebook profiles outlive the people who created them. Massive failures are kept aloft by a cadre of reality-defying obsessives. And everything from embarrassing vacation photos to wildly off-base prognostications is meticulously archived for future generations to feel schadenfreude and shame.
To that semi-proud list we can now add cult TV shows. Community — the little show that couldn’t but somehow did — returns Tuesday as the inaugural original series on Yahoo Screen. (Don’t snicker. Marissa Mayer has to spend that Alibaba cash on something.) Two episodes of this utterly improbable sixth season will be available tomorrow, with a new installment being added every Tuesday thereafter for 11 weeks. For the math-averse and/or Greendale graduates, that means 13 new episodes in total. For the skeptical and/or pessimistic, it means that a show that I’ve personally eulogized twice has now outlived every high-profile comedy NBC invested in to take its place. Chevy Chase’s Pierce may still be dead, but Community is anything but.
This incredible fact has Human Beings the world over in a state of exultation and triumph. It’s deserved — their dedication to Dan Harmon’s spiky passion project, through low ratings, cast departures, and even gas leak years has been unwavering and bizarrely effective. Though cynical graybeards like myself might note that starting a hashtag isn’t the same as, you know, mailing a letter, the result of their advocacy was the same. (Sony, the studio behind Community, has also been steadfast in its support. For a sense of what they’ve been like behind the scenes, let me direct you, in true Abed fashion, to my favorite moment from the 1989 film The Abyss.) Community’s survival can and should be held up as an exemplar of our strange new world, one in which enthusiasm has tangible value to billion-dollar companies and a small, committed audience is better than no audience at all.
Unfortunately, surviving isn’t quite the same thing as living. And while the Community that returns tomorrow is game enough and charming in all the familiar ways, it also feels worn out from its many battles, be they existential, laser tag, or otherwise. What made the show so exceptional, even when it was frustrating, was the way its comedy voraciously gobbled up everything in its path without distinction or delay; each episode was a unique bolus of sincerity and ironic remove all mashed together and lustily swallowed with a sticky-sweet pop chaser. Community had its characters act out Wallace Shawn movies and obsess over D-grade JCVD knockoffs; it sneered at romance and worshipped platonic love. I didn’t always like the many shapes Community took, but I admired the way it never stopped taking them.
Now, though, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Community’s continued existence has taken precedence over purpose. It’s an overall diminishment that isn’t helped by the shrinking cast: Add Yvette Nicole Brown’s name to the actor exodus that has plagued the show since Season 4. With Jonathan Banks otherwise engaged on Better Call Saul — his crusty Buzz Hickey was a welcome addition in Season 5 — and John Oliver busy working weekends, only a core foursome remain: Joel McHale’s Jeff, Gillian Jacobs’s Britta, Alison Brie’s Annie, and Danny Pudi’s Abed. (Jim Rash and Ken Jeong abide, of course, as Dean Pelton and Ben Chang, but they’ve always functioned best as foils, not the focus.) Together with the long-gone Chase and Donald Glover, these departures rob the show of the fractious energy that fueled many of its better story lines. It would seem perverse to say this about any other sitcom, but: Where’s the drama? In the two episodes made available to critics, newcomers Paget Brewster (as Frankie, a type-A insurance adjuster) and Keith David (as a past-his-prime computer genius) make strong first impressions; David in particular has a way of savoring Harmon’s nonsense-bombs like a chewy Cabernet. But there’s no escaping the fact that Community, once a show about disparate weirdos coming together, is now a show about entrenched weirdos who insist on hanging on.
It goes without saying that Community is well equipped to address this sort of entropy directly. “Shirley spun off” is how the perpetually meta-aware Abed puts it in “Ladders,” the sixth-season premiere. And later, he addresses his concerns to Frankie with all the sentimentality of an on-deadline critic, saying the new additions represent “the end of what I call ‘our show’ … what was once an unlikely family of misfit students … is now a pretty loose-knit group of students and teachers, none of whom are taking a class together.” (Frankie, unruffled, replies, “Good shows change. I assume. Personally, I don’t own a TV.”) And once the new reality is established — as opposed to the virtual reality (really!) that defines Episode 602 — Community does some clever work inverting the show’s oldest dynamic. Now it’s Abed who wants to try something new and his old pals who keep dragging him down into genre-based silliness. (This time it’s a speakeasy behind the cafeteria.) There’s a recurring gag about montages — they’re “a movie apologizing for reality” — that’s as fresh as the chicken fingers way back in Season 1.
But it’s hard to shake the feeling that Harmon and his trusty lieutenant Chris McKenna are expending the same amount of energy just to paint a lesser masterpiece on a slightly smaller grain of rice. What’s worse is that they seem to know it, too. The most energetic bits in the first two episodes of Season 6 are also the least essential: an out-of-nowhere freeze-frame, a lovingly constructed trailer for a film that exists only as a punch line. (It’s for the Portuguese version of Gremlins, and it is glorious.) It’s in these moments when it’s once again possible to catch the potent, anarchic vapors of Harmon’s best work, from his early days at Channel 101 to the ongoing performance-art piece that is his actual life. But soon enough it’s back to saving Greendale from itself and tending to Chang’s infected cat bite. It’s all fine, I suppose, but also jarring: In five previous seasons, Community never settled for fine. It was unorthodox, indulgent, sublime, and occasionally infuriating. Once in a while it was even bad. Now Community appears content to be content, making it perfect for the Internet but more than a little disappointing for those of us accustomed to reveling in its remarkable imperfections.This story is about Published May. 2016
Jason Terry: Dallas Mavericks would be 'great fit' for Dwight Howard, but... Share This Story On... Twitter
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Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) and Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) fight for position during the first half of game 4 of the first round of the NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sunday, April 26, 2015. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)
By SportsDayDFW.com Contact SportsDayDFW.com on Twitter: @SportsDayDFW
Soon enough, the Mavericks will be on the hunt for free agents. And if he opts out of his current deal, Dwight Howard could be on the market. So how would the big man fit in with Dirk Nowitzki and coach Rick Carlisle? Former Mavericks guard Jason Terry says Dallas would be a "great fit" for Howard. But he has to accept Carlisle's style of coaching. Terry detailed the idea -- and a potential issue -- in an interview for ESPN Radio's Cowlishaw and Mosley on Tuesday.
"It would be a great fit. I think the key cog in that wheel is Dwight," Terry said. "Are you willing to come in and accept Carlisle's style of coaching? He has a great offensive system. It's all about structure, player movement, ball movement. But the big guy really doesn't touch it a lot on the inside."
Sefko: For the first time in years, Mavs fans have a legitimate chance of watching young players mature
"Obviously Rick is great with personnel, but if he did play in Dallas, Dwight would probably get some touches. But I don't think that's Rick's style of play. Will [Carlisle] adjust it to have a guy like Dwight? Maybe." But Terry rounded back and said that Howard's buy-in is the most important aspect to making it work. "Whatever [Howard's] role is, he would have to be the one to buy in first, and then you go from there. But he and Dirk together? That's a powerful combination." Terry was also asked about the possibility of coaching in the NBA. A few reports about the Rockets' coaching search have floated his name as a possible candidate. "Sometimes there's offers that come up that there's no way you can turn them down, and the head coach job is one of them for me because of where I'm at in my career and where I foresee my future at. And that's obviously in a head coaching position," Terry said. "But my dream, my passion is to play one year."
Another year? What if Mavericks owner Mark Cuban called?
"That's another phone call that you just can't turn down. Cuban always in my heart will have first dibs. It's always a situation at the end of the day that's business, but Dallas is home. My family is here, and I'm a Maverick for life." Terry tried to pitch himself for another season on the court. "I have enough spite, enough dog left in me and experience to realize my value for an organization, and that's in the locker room and then on the court in the fourth quarter when it's clutch time. So I'm still chasing that championship. One was just not good enough for me. Losing that first one is definitely a more lasting memory than even winning in 2011, so that's what drives me these days. Obviously, if an opportunity comes up, I'll have to look at it. But I want to play another year."
This Topic is Missing Your Voice.Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi's expenses scandal could cost her second-best mayor title
Updated
The international body which named Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi the world's second-best mayor in 2012 now says it would not have even considered her for the title given her breaches of ethics.
Ms Scaffidi stepped down from her duties last week to challenge an 18-month ban from office, ordered by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), over her failure to disclose gifts and travel.
A founder of the international City Mayors Foundation think-tank which anointed Ms Scaffidi the runner-up in the prestigious World Mayor Prize said it appeared she had breached the competition's code of ethics.
Ms Scaffidi was given the prestigious award behind acclaimed Bilbao mayor Iñaki Azkuna, who commissioned renowned architect Frank Gehry to design a Guggenheim museum which sparked a tourism resurgence in the Spanish port city.
Third-place getter was Indonesian president Joko Widodo, who was then the wildly popular civic leader of Surakarta.
At the time Ms Scaffidi tweeted: "So thrilled! Only woman in top ten! One for the ladies! Thk you all."
But now founder Tann Vom Hove said he and his colleagues were in no doubt she had breached the World Mayor Prize's code of ethics.
"Had we had all the facts back in 2012, we would not have considered her for World Mayor honours," he told the ABC.
"I will discuss with other City Mayors Foundation colleagues what steps we ought to take. I will also ask her lawyers for comments."
Multiple breaches took place prior to award
In awarding her the runner-up prize, the foundation said Ms Scaffidi had "succeeded in raising the city's international profile while at the same time making local bread-and-butter issues her priority".
"She regards social media as the promotional tool of the 21st century and says she communicates through Facebook and Twitter with many citizens which she could not reach by more traditional means."
The World Mayor Prize was established by the foundation in 2004 to celebrate mayors who had made lasting, positive changes to their cities and to promote good, honest local government.
Like all candidates for the 2012 prize, Ms Scaffidi signed up to the foundation's code of ethics, including the pledge that:
"Mayors shall support and uphold the letter and intent of the laws of their cities and nations as well as relevant international laws. They shall demand the same degree of respect for the law from all members of their administrations."
Yet, as she would later admit to the SAT, she had already breached the Local Government Act five times in the years before.
This included failing to properly disclose gifts and travel provided by companies which had a relationship with the City of Perth, including:
A $46,230 trip to the 2008 Beijing Olympics provided by BHP Billiton
A 2008 trip to Broome's Cable Beach Club, paid for by property company Hawaiian Investments
A hospitality package at the 2009 Leeuwin Estate concert provided by BHP Billiton
These examples were also investigated by the Corruption and Crime Commission, which in a scathing report said Ms Scaffidi had "failed in her duties" by not disclosing the travel.
Mr Vom Hove said he was aware of the CCC report back in 2015 but had chosen not to take any action.
"We gave the Lord Mayor the benefit of the doubt and decided not to take any actions, particularly as she was re-elected shortly afterwards," he said.
"Obviously, the decision of the State Administrative Tribunal changes the situation."
Mr Vom Hove said he was waiting for a response from Ms Scaffidi and her legal team before taking any action.
Topics: local-government, awards-and-prizes, perth-6000
First postedIf anyone has doubts about what it means here at home when the U.S. seeks to militarily dominate the world, take a trip to Chicago, this week. There, you’ll see the Chicago police, the second largest force in the country, reinforced by cops from Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and backed up by two high decibel noise machines that were first used against American civilians in Pittsburgh to blow out the eardrums of protesters, back in 2009. Overall security for the NATO summit meeting is overseen by the FBI and the Secret Service, who in recent months have been given unprecedented police state powers, thanks to President Obama and a bipartisan Congress.
With dignitaries on hand from the more than 50 countries that have done Washington’s bidding in Afghanistan, there will be lots of opportunities for the feds to invoke their new powers to put demonstrators in prison for up to ten years if they set foot on property containing any person under the protection of the Secret Service. That could include huge chunks of the city. And, of course, who knows what kinds of plots the FBI is conjuring up through its squads of agent provocateurs embedded in the ranks of demonstrators.
Thanks to the preventive detention without trial legislation signed into law by President Obama this past New Year’s Eve, every American has lost her Constitutional right to due process of law. Which means that a reconfigured and far more principled U.S. anti-war movement now confronts a growing fascist infrastructure here at home, as it opposes imperial crimes, abroad.
The Chicago police claim they don’t plan to turn the eardrum-busting sound cannons on full volume against the demonstrators – just loud enough to convey “messages” to the crowd.
The protesters are sending their own message, one that has become far more popular and general than could have been imagined, a year ago. Since the emergence of the Occupy movement, last October, millions of Americans have come to understand what Latin American peasants have always known: that the nexus of war in the world is Wall Street, and the Pentagon is its servant – as is the White House and most of the Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court.
War is waged for the purpose of global economic subjugation and, therefore, peace can only be won by dethroning the financial bad guys: the Lords of Capital. So, much of the peace movement now sees itself as an expression of the 99 Percent, against the warlike and greedy 1 Percent.
Once that lesson is learned, it cannot be shouted out by police sound-blasters.
President Obama has made skillful use of NATO, to make it appear that he is not a go-it-alone cowboy, like George Bush. Obama has drawn closely to his side the old imperialists of Europe, who looted and pillaged the earth for five hundred years, establishing the planetary racial hierarchy that has only recently begun to crumble. The Black man in the White House is seen, ironically, as the last best hope of the old colonial racial order and the rule of capital.
The Global One Percent can only be maintained in power by the U.S. war machine. Ultimately, the world needs only one thing from the American people: that they dismantle the machine.Boat arrivals whose claims were frozen by Labor threatened with deportation if they don’t apply by 1 October
Asylum seekers in Australia who are part of the “legacy caseload”, have been given until 1 October to formally apply for protection or face deportation, the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has announced.
“The Turnbull government has today set a deadline … the October cut-off for lodgement of protection claims will ensure that Australian taxpayers are not providing financial support to people who have no right to be in Australia,” Dutton said.
The legacy caseload is about 30,500 asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by sea between August 2012 and January 2014. Their claims for protection were frozen under Labor’s “no advantage” rule.
Manus Island closure does not fix flaws in detention policy, Amnesty says Read more
The majority – 23,000 – of the 30,500 people in the legacy caseload have applied for protection. About 7,500 have not yet formally applied, most because they have not been formally invited or are on a waiting list for legal assistance.
Most were not allowed to apply for protection until December last year and many remain in the uncertain limbo of living in Australia on bridging visas while they are waiting for their claims for protection to be processed by the immigration department.
Senior department of immigration sources have previously told the Guardian there is recognition within the department that it cannot process the volume of applications it has demanded of asylum seekers but that there is political pressure to be seen to clearing the legacy caseload
Speaking in Brisbane on Sunday, Dutton said Australia was a generous refugee resettlement country but could not afford to be “taken for a ride by people who refuse to provide details about their protection claims”.
“We are not going to allow, given the level of debt that our country is in, for more debt to be run up paying for welfare services, for people who are not genuine.”
Dutton said the 1 October deadline was non-negotiable and any asylum seeker who had not lodged an application by then would be deemed to have forfeited their claim to protection.
“They will be subject to removal from Australia, prohibited from applying for any Australian visa, cut from government income support and banned from re-entering Australia.
“The expectation is, if people can’t make their claim for protection, then they need to depart our country as quickly as possible,” he said.
The chief executive of Melbourne’s Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Kon Karapanagiotidis, said the government deadline would face legal challenge if people were cut off, or denied the chance to apply for protection.
“The ASRC will fight in the courts any attempt to take away the right of people to seek asylum in Australia that came by sea. It’s illegal.”
Karapanagiotidis said the government had spent billions denying people seeking asylum their human rights, and was now scapegoating them for its own failures to provide protection.
Human Rights Director with GetUp, Shen Narayanasamy, said under the government’s new timeline, people who have been living and working in Australia for years could be torn from their communities within weeks, and their chance of a fair process destroyed.
“Peter Dutton has sunk to a new low. People who are living and working in our communities with their children attending schools, are now caught up in a bureaucratic nightmare that could cost them their homes and safety.”
Narayanasamy said many had been waiting patiently for years to be properly assessed as refugees, and to be granted protection in Australia.
“Asylum claims are extremely complex, and involve hours of poring over legal documents and paperwork. Legal services are pushed to the limit forcing hundreds to forgo legal advice and interpreters, making their claims impossibly difficult to complete.”
The Edmund Rice Centre described Dutton’s comments as “another unfair and extreme attack” on refugees and asylum seekers.
“Peter Dutton and the Turnbull government are deliberately making the process of applying for protection as difficult as possible,” the centre’s coordinator of campaigns, Dominic Ofner said.
“There are over 21 million refugees worldwide and the international community is facing the biggest humanitarian crisis since world war two. In this context, it is simply beyond embarrassing that our government is doing everything it possibly can to deny basic rights to 7,500 people seeking asylum in Australia.”
Most of the legacy caseload group – 23,000 – have applied for protection, but the “fast-track” process, riven by controversy, legal challenges and department under-resourcing, can take years to finalise.
About 9,500 have had their claims assessed, of which 6,500 have been formally recognised as refugees, that is, they have a well-founded fear of persecution in their homeland, cannot be returned there, and are legally owed protection by Australia.
About 3,000 have had their claims for protection rejected. Some of those remain in the appeals process.
A further 13,500 have applied and are having their claims assessed, while 7,500 have not yet presented their case for protection.
Earlier this year, the government began sending letters to asylum seekers warning them to submit their application for protection – a 60-page document in English, that takes about eight to 10 hours to complete with legal help – within 60 days or face being cut off from all assistance.
Thousands of lawyers, paralegals and interpreters across Australia responded to the new deadlines, volunteering their time and expertise to help people at risk of being left destitute or deported.
Those who failed to meet the deadline risk losing any welfare payments, the right to work or to healthcare, or even the right to ever apply for asylum.
The wait for legal assistance in applying is up to a year at many asylum seeker assistance organisations.
'Welcome to Lorengau': reality of detention camp on Manus belies holiday-style brochure Read more
The fast-track process strips key review rights from asylum seekers and expands ministerial powers to prevent initial decisions being challenged.
Under fast-track, asylum applicants get “one shot”, lawyers say, at presenting their protection claim. They cannot introduce new evidence as their case progresses, even if there are new occurrences of continued persecution in their homeland.
Before fast-track was introduced, 90% of asylum applicants were found to have valid protection claims. Under the new system, that number has fallen to about 70%.
The system has been promoted by the government as a mechanism to streamline the asylum protection system and deter its abuse, but critics have said it sets people up to fail.UNFINISHED BUSINESS UNFINISHED BUSINESS BUSH POLICIES STILL DIVIDE BUSH POLICIES STILL DIVIDE Enlarge By Alex Wong, Getty Images By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
The Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies have generated controversies, lawsuits and indelible images such as those of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
They've also given rise to multiple opinions on whether to investigate, prosecute or just move on.
In his inaugural address, President Obama said that "we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." In his first three weeks as president, Obama altered several Bush administration policies. He has ordered that the CIA close its detention facilities, that Guantanamo Bay prison close within a year, and that U.S. officials abide by treaties and domestic laws that prohibit torture or degradation of prisoners.
He also has named a special task force to look into whether standard military interrogation procedures are sufficient, and whether rendition — sending prisoners to other countries — compromises U.S. compliance with bans on torture.
A poll of MoveOn.org members suggests that even among liberals, there are more pressing priorities right now. Asked their top goals for 2009, members put "hold the Bush administration accountable" in seventh place.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE The Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies have generated controversies, lawsuits and indelible images such as those of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.They've also given rise to multiple opinions on whether to investigate, prosecute or just move on.In his inaugural address, President Obama said that "we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." In his first three weeks as president, Obama altered several Bush administration policies. He has ordered that the CIA close its detention facilities, that Guantanamo Bay prison close within a year, and that U.S. officials abide by treaties and domestic laws that prohibit torture or degradation of prisoners.He also has named a special task force to look into whether standard military interrogation procedures are sufficient, and whether rendition — sending prisoners to other countries — compromises U.S. compliance with bans on torture.A poll of MoveOn.org members suggests that even among liberals, there are more pressing priorities right now. Asked their top goals for 2009, members put "hold the Bush administration accountable" in seventh place. WASHINGTON Even as Americans struggle with two wars and an economy in tatters, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds majorities in favor of investigating some of the thorniest unfinished business from the Bush administration: Whether its tactics in the "war on terror" broke the law. Close to two-thirds of those surveyed said there should be investigations into allegations that the Bush team used torture to interrogate terrorism suspects and its program of wiretapping U.S. citizens without getting warrants. Almost four in 10 favor criminal investigations and about a quarter want investigations without criminal charges. One-third said they want nothing to be done. CALLS TO MOVE ON: Even reversed, Bush policies divide Even more people want action on alleged attempts by the Bush team to use the Justice Department for political purposes. Four in 10 favored a criminal probe, three in 10 an independent panel, and 25% neither. The ACLU and other groups are pressing for inquiries into whether the Bush administration violated U.S. and international bans on torture and the constitutional right to privacy. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and his Senate counterpart, Patrick Leahy, have proposed commissions to investigate. Asked Monday about Leahy's plan, President Obama said he would look at it. He added, "my general orientation is to say, let's get it right moving forward." Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have declined to rule out prosecutions. Leon Panetta, named to head the CIA, said this month that CIA officers would not be prosecuted for harsh interrogations authorized by the Bush White House. Leahy, D-Vt., this week proposed a "truth commission" to assemble facts. He said the panel could offer immunity from prosecution for everything but perjury. "We need to get to the bottom of what happened and why," he said. Conyers, D-Mich., has called for a panel that would gather facts and make recommendations, and could possibly lead to prosecutions. "This isn't payback," he said. "We are getting things straightened out for the future." The Republican viewpoint was summed up recently by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. "If every administration started to re |
Crusader and Burt Ward as his sidekick, Robin. The show aired for only three seasons, but it was a pop culture sensation at the time and a cult classic for future generations. There was also a feature film in 1966. Hide Caption 44 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s China's Cultural Revolution – Chinese leader Mao Zedong, standing front and center, rides through a Tiananmen Square rally in Beijing in 1966. In May of that year, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to enforce communism and get rid of old institutions and his political enemies. The political movement careened out of control and led to massive political purges, deaths and destruction before it ended in 1976. Hide Caption 45 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s First Super Bowl – The Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs played the first Super Bowl on January 15, 1967, in Los Angeles. The Packers won the football game 35-10. Hide Caption 46 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Six-Day War – Israeli soldiers stand in front of the Western Wall on June 9, 1967, in the old city of Jerusalem following its recapture from Jordanian rule in the Six-Day War. Hide Caption 47 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Marshall on Supreme Court – Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, with his family at his side, takes his seat at the court for the first time on October 2, 1967. Marshall was the first African-American to be appointed to the high court. Hide Caption 48 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Anti-Vietnam protests – A demonstrator offers a flower to military police at the Pentagon during an anti-Vietnam protest in Washington on October 21, 1967. Marches such as this one helped turn public opinion against the war. Hide Caption 49 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s First human heart transplant – Dr. Christiaan Barnard is shown after performing the first human heart transplant on patient Louis Washkansky on December 3, 1967, in Cape Town, South Africa. Hide Caption 50 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Tet Offensive – South Vietnamese Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the national police, executes suspected Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem — also known as Bay Lop — on a Saigon street on February 1, 1968. It was early in the Tet Offensive, one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. Hide Caption 51 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s My Lai massacre – Houses in My Lai, South Vietnam, burn during the My Lai massacre on March 16, 1968. American troops came to the remote hamlet and killed hundreds of unarmed civilians. The incident, one of the darkest moments of the Vietnam War, further increased opposition to U.S. involvement in the war. Hide Caption 52 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Martin Luther King assassinated – This photo was taken on April 4, 1968, moments after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed by a sniper as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. Hide Caption 53 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Robert F. Kennedy assassinated – U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of former President John F. Kennedy, was shot shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles. Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of assassinating Kennedy and wounding five other people inside the kitchen service pantry of the former Ambassador Hotel. Hide Caption 54 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Democratic National Convention unrest – Members of the New York delegation protest against the Vietnam War during the 1968 Democratic National Convention held in Chicago. Outside, riots erupted, with tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters clashing with Chicago police and National Guard forces. Hide Caption 55 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Prague Spring – Residents of Prague, Czechoslovakia, throw burning torches in an attempt to stop a Soviet tank on August 21, 1968. A Soviet-led invasion by Warsaw Pact troops crushed the so-called Prague Spring reform and re-established totalitarian rule. Hide Caption 56 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s '60 Minutes' premieres – The iconic Sunday night news magazine "60 Minutes" premiered September 24, 1968, with Harry Reasoner, left, and Mike Wallace, right. At the center is Don Hewitt, the show's creator and producer. Hide Caption 57 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s First men on the moon – Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. salutes the U.S. flag on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. Aldrin and mission commander Neil Armstrong became the first humans to walk on the moon. Their mission was considered an American victory in the Cold War and subsequent space race, meeting President Kennedy's goal of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely" before the end of the decade. Hide Caption 58 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Woodstock Music Festival – Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who perform on stage at the Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel, New York. An estimated 400,000 people attended the festival, which took place in August 1969. Hide Caption 59 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Manson murders – Cult leader Charles Manson is taken into court to face murder charges on December 5, 1969, in Los Angeles. At Manson's command, a small group of his most ardent followers brutally murdered five people at the Los Angeles home of film director Roman Polanski on August 8-9, 1969, including Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate. Manson was convicted for orchestrating the murders and sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Hide Caption 60 of 61 Photos: 60 iconic moments from the 1960s Forebear of the Internet – With the help of a handful of leading universities and other labs, work began on a project to directly link a number of computers. In 1969, with money from the U.S. Defense Department, the first node of this network was installed on the campus of UCLA. The diagram shows the "network of networks" of ARPANET, as it was called. The forebear of the Internet was born. What did the '60s look like to you? Share your photos here. Hide Caption 61 of 61
Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator, was a political consultant for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and was counselor to Clinton in the White House. He is a consultant to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action.
Dasha Burns: Millennials have an existential crisis
Don't hate us -- we're just confused. We've seemingly made " changing the world " with our sparkling idealism, creativity and massive egos trendier than ever. And our generation really is changing the world -- we're upsetting traditional models in just about every sector from hospitality (Airbnb) to transportation (Uber) to advertising (the last time I watched a commercial was Super Bowl 2015).
Dasha Burns at a rooftop in Brooklyn.
But in dismantling old models, we're also making the world more bewildering for ourselves. It's harder to find applicable career advice from the older and wiser generations because what worked ten or twenty years ago won't necessarily work today. The job market is increasingly competitive and our career paths are increasingly less clear.
This is why many millennials I know are in a perpetual cycle of existential crises. We have to make money, change the world, all while showing off our zen skills at company yoga retreats.
Of course, these are the stereotypical millennials that everyone loves to hate. In reality, our generation is very diverse. But for many of us, the challenges brought by overturning traditions are very real, as comforts like the stability of working your way up in one company (or even one industry) for decades becomes a relic of days past.
We're faced with shining examples of 20-something CEOs urging us to stick it to the man and break out on our own. While generations past could decide on jobs based on a decent income and hours, we feel like whatever decisions we make may be upended in a couple of years.
So, take some pity on us when you're judging. And take comfort in the fact that we really do want to be productive members of society. In a lot of cases, it's that desire in overdrive that makes us move back home with our parents while deciding on the next move, or quit a job after three months because it just doesn't sit right.
We're the existential crisis generation because we want so badly to have purpose that we can get lost in the frenzy of looking for it.
Dasha Burns is a writer and works as a strategist and creative content producer at Oliver Global, a consulting agency where she focuses on leveraging media and digital technology for global development.
Pepper Schwartz: Call me lucky, at tail end of greatest generation
For me, it's a tale of two cities.
One city is heterosexual, born between 1945 and 1964 and positioned for greatness and opportunities. This is my city and most of us got inexpensive educations, good jobs out of high school or college, reasonable housing costs and women's liberation.
Pepper Schwartz with her best friend and writing partner, Philip Blumstein, in 1983.
Most of us had the sexual revolution without lethal sexually transmitted diseases. We were vocal and protested the Vietnam War, homophobia, gender inequity and racism. We saw women and minorities gain civil rights -- we feel somewhat smug that we helped them become CEOs, senators and president.
But there is the other city. The one that saw a whole generation of promising young men annihilated. These were the plague years of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s, before there was a "cocktail," general sympathy, organized and effective movements for awareness. Those years were beyond awful: I lost my best friend and writing partner, Philip Blumstein, and then within eight months his life partner, Gary Jordan, unofficial godparent to my son. Every day brought a new victim. So many fallen souls, so much talent cut short.
Our generation was mixed. But I've been personally blessed. I had freedom in my twenties, marriage and children in my thirties, and a lifelong career that was unattainable for most women before my time. I just wish the cost of sexual and personal freedom for gay men had not been so high.
Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Pop culture and politics collided on December 21, 1970, when the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley, visited President Richard Nixon in the White House Oval Office. The '70s may have been many things, but boring sure wasn't one of them. Check out 70 of the most unforgettable moments of the decade. For more, watch the CNN Original Series " The Seventies." Hide Caption 1 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Apollo 13 returns safely to Earth – The Apollo 13 spacecraft was intended to be the third landing on the moon, but the NASA crew aborted its mission after an oxygen tank exploded on board. The astronauts landed in the South Pacific on April 17, 1970. Here, lunar module pilot Fred W. Haise Jr. is about to be hoisted up to a recovery helicopter from the USS Iwo Jima. Hide Caption 2 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Kent State massacre – Four students died and nine others were wounded on May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Ohio. In this Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, taken by Kent State photojournalism student John Filo, Mary Ann Vecchio can be seen screaming as she kneels by the body of slain student Jeffrey Miller. Hide Caption 3 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The Beatles call it quits – The "Fab Four," pictured here in 1970, released their final album, "Let It Be," on May 8, 1970. The album came one month after Paul McCartney announced the group's breakup. Hide Caption 4 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Flying Bobby' – In one moment, Bobby Orr became a hockey legend. On May 10, 1970, Orr scored an overtime goal in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, giving the Boston Bruins their first championship since 1941. In 1971, Orr signed the first million-dollar contract in NHL history -- $200,000 a year for five years -- and in 1979 he became the youngest NHL Hall of Famer when he was inducted at the age of 31. Hide Caption 5 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Gay rights movement gains popularity – Gay rights activists Foster Gunnison and Craig Rodwell lead a gay rights march in New York on June 28, 1970, then known as Gay Liberation Day. The march was held on the first anniversary of the police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village. The raid led to demonstrations and protests by the gay community. The Stonewall riots helped bring together the gay community in New York, and by 1971 gay rights groups had formed in almost all of the major cities in America. Hide Caption 6 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Hey! Ho! Let's go!' – The '70s ushered in a new musical movement that put a premium on speed, simplicity and raw power. Bands like the Ramones, pictured, and the Sex Pistols put to waste the trippy, hippie music of the '60s, replacing it with short, fast songs filled with attitude and angst. It could only be called one thing: punk. Hide Caption 7 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Indira Gandhi re-elected – Indira Gandhi, the only woman to ever hold the office of Prime Minister of India, won a second term in a landslide victory in March 1971. She would be re-elected to a fourth term in 1980, but she was assassinated by two of her bodyguards in 1984. Hide Caption 8 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Disney World opens – A crowd in Orlando waits for Walt Disney World's Main Street to open in October 1971. The park cost an estimated $400 million to build and now attracts around 25 million visitors annually. When Disney World opened in 1971, the price for admission was $3.50. A single-day ticket now is $105 for anyone over 10 years old. Hide Caption 9 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Bloody Sunday' – On January 30, 1972, British soldiers opened fire against protesters in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, who were marching against British rule. Thirteen people were killed on the scene, and more than a dozen were injured. After the shooting, recruitment and support for the Irish Republican Army skyrocketed. Three decades of violence known as The Troubles followed, and almost 3,000 people died. Hide Caption 10 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Nixon in China – Richard Nixon became the first U.S. President to visit China. His trip in February 1972 was an important step in building a relationship between the two countries. Hide Caption 11 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Napalm Girl' – Associated Press photographer Nick Ut photographed terrified children running from the site of a napalm attack during the Vietnam War in June 1972. A South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped napalm on its own troops and civilians. Nine-year-old Kim Phuc, center, ripped off her burning clothes while fleeing. The image communicated the horrors of the war and contributed to the growing anti-war sentiment in the United States. After taking the photograph, Ut took the children to a hospital. Hide Caption 12 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Hanoi Jane' – In July 1972, in the midst of the Vietnam War, actress Jane Fonda visited the North Vietnamese city of Hanoi and criticized the U.S. role in the war, leading many to call her "anti-American." Earlier this year, Fonda called the trip an "incredible experience" but expressed some regret. "It hurts me, and it will to my grave, that I made a huge, huge mistake that made a lot of people think I was against the soldiers," Fonda said during an appearance in Frederick, Maryland. Hide Caption 13 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Porn goes mainstream – In any other year it might sound strange, but in 1972 one of the most popular films of the year was a porno. "Deep Throat" was one of the first pornographic films to receive mainstream attention, and it made $3 million in its first six months of release. It also took on an additional layer of cultural significance when the secret informant in the Watergate scandal went by the pseudonym "Deep Throat." Hide Caption 14 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Cold War chess championship – American Bobby Fischer, right, and Russian Boris Spassky play their last game of chess together in Reykjavik, Iceland, on August 31, 1972. Fischer defeated Spassky to become the World Chess Champion, ending a Soviet win streak that dated to 1948. Hide Caption 15 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Terror at the Olympics – On September 5, 1972, the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, were in the throes of a hostage crisis. Two Israeli athletes had been killed and nine taken hostage by members of Black September, a Palestinian terrorist movement demanding the release of political prisoners by the Israeli government. Hours later, all nine hostages, five terrorists and one police officer were dead. Hide Caption 16 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The perfect season – The Miami Dolphins, coached by Don Shula, win Super Bowl VII in January 1973 and become the only NFL team in history to win a championship with an undefeated record. Hide Caption 17 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'I'll make him an offer he can't refuse' – "The Godfather," directed by Francis Ford Coppola, took home several Academy Awards in March 1973, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was based on the best-selling novel by Mario Puzo and starred, from left, James Caan, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and John Cazale. Brando won the Oscar for Best Actor. Hide Caption 18 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The Triple Crown – Secretariat races toward the finish line, blowing away the field in record time to win the Belmont Stakes in June 1973. With the victory, Secretariat became the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Citation in 1948. The Triple Crown was won two other times in the '70s, by Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978. In 2015, American Pharoah became the first horse to take the Triple Crown in 37 years. Hide Caption 19 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Chicago's record-setting giant – In 1973, the Sears Tower opened in Chicago, overtaking the World Trade Center as the tallest building in the world. The tower, now known as the Willis Tower, is the second-tallest building in the United States today. Hide Caption 20 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Bruce Lee dies – Martial-arts actor Bruce Lee, seen here training in a scene from the film "Enter the Dragon," dies in July 1973 just days before the movie's release. He was 32. The film would cement Lee's legend and bring martial arts to the forefront of pop culture. Hide Caption 21 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Scandal in the Nixon administration – U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew addresses the media on August 8, 1973, saying he would not resign while being investigated on charges of tax fraud, bribery and conspiracy. However, Agnew resigned in October 1973 after pleading no contest to a single count of income-tax evasion. He was the second vice president to resign in U.S. history. Hide Caption 22 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The 'Twin Towers' – From the time of their completion in 1973 until their destruction in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, The World Trade Center's twin towers stood as an iconic part of the New York City skyline. Hide Caption 23 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Battle of the Sexes' – In a nationally televised tennis match on September 20, 1973, Bobby Riggs, a former No. 1 tennis player, took on Billie Jean King, one of the top female tennis players at the time. Earlier in the year, Riggs put out a challenge to all female tennis players, saying no woman could beat him. King beat Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 and claimed a $100,000 prize. Hide Caption 24 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'The Exorcist' hits theaters – "The Exorcist," based off the best-selling novel by William Peter Blatty about a demonically possessed 12-year-old girl, was released in December 1973. It went on to become one of the most popular films of all time. It was the first horror film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, and Blatty won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hide Caption 25 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The pocket calculator – By 1973, Clive Sinclair had introduced a series of pocket calculators that changed the industry, making calculators small and light enough to fit in your pocket. They were not only much smaller and thinner than their competitors, but also much cheaper, making their advanced technology available to the masses. Hide Caption 26 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Energy crisis – Cars in Brooklyn, New York, line up for gas in January 1974. In October 1973, an oil embargo imposed by members of OPEC led to skyrocketing gas prices and widespread fuel shortages. Hide Caption 27 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Hammerin' Hank – Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's career home run record, hitting home run No. 715 at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium in April 1974. Aaron finished his career with 755 home runs, a record that stood until Barry Bonds broke it in 2007. Hide Caption 28 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Baryshnikov defects – Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, left, tapes a TV special in Canada, where he defected in June 1974. Soon after, Baryshnikov moved to the United States and started working with the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. In 1979, he earned an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in the film "The Turning Point." Hide Caption 29 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Nixon resigns – U.S. President Richard Nixon gestures in the doorway of a helicopter on August 9, 1974, after leaving the White House following his resignation over the Watergate scandal. Nixon's resignation marked the end to one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history, which began in 1972 after a break-in at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate complex. Five men were arrested for the burglary, and the FBI and Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were able to trace them back to Nixon and the White House. Hide Caption 30 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Power of the press – Reporters Bob Woodward, right, and Carl Bernstein sit in the newsroom of the Washington Post newspaper in May 1973. Woodward and Bernstein's reporting on the Watergate scandal led to President Nixon's resignation and won them a Pulitzer Prize. In 1976, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman would portray the pair in the film adaptation of their book "All the President's Men." Hide Caption 31 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Cover girl – Beverly Johnson made history in August 1974 when she became the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine in the United States. Hide Caption 32 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Muhammad Ali watches heavyweight champion George Foreman fall to the canvas during their title bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, in October 1974. Ali's upset victory over the undefeated Foreman won him back the titles he was stripped of in 1967 for refusing induction into the U.S. Army. Hide Caption 33 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Cambodian genocide – From 1975-1979, Pol Pot -- seen here at far left -- led the Khmer Rouge communist movement in Cambodia. During his reign, at least 1.7 million people -- nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population -- died from execution, disease, starvation and overwork, according to the Documentation Center of Cambodia. Hide Caption 34 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The fall of Saigon – In April 1975, the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese effectively marked the end of the Vietnam War. Here, U.S. Marines guard civilians during evacuations at Tan Son Nhut airbase. The country became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976. Hide Caption 35 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Birth of the blockbuster – In the summer of 1975, Steven Spielberg had people flocking to the theaters instead of the beaches. The success of " Jaws " -- his first hit movie -- set up summer as the season for Hollywood's biggest and highest-grossing movies. Hide Caption 36 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Arthur Ashe wins Wimbledon – American tennis player Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win Wimbledon when he defeated Jimmy Connors in July 1975. Ashe retired from tennis in 1980 and became a spokesperson for HIV and AIDS after announcing he had contracted HIV from a blood transfusion. Ashe died on February 6, 1993, from AIDS-related pneumonia. Hide Caption 37 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Commander of the Soviet crew of Soyuz, Alexei Leonov, left, and commander of the American crew of Apollo, Thomas Stafford shake hands July 17, 1975 in space, somewhere over Western Germany, after the Apollo-Soyuz docking maneuvers. Hide Caption 38 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Not ready for Prime Time' – Saturday night television changed forever on October 11, 1975, when the sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" made its debut. Comedian George Carlin was the first host, joining a cast of young and upcoming comics known as "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players." "SNL" is now in its 40th year as one of the longest running shows in television history. Hide Caption 39 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Dazzling Elton – English singer Elton John, one of the biggest artists of the '70s, performed two sold-out shows at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium in October 1975, performing for more than three hours each night. John, known for his flamboyant outfits and oversized sunglasses, was decked out for the occasion in a sequined Dodgers baseball uniform. Hide Caption 40 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The Concorde takes off – It broke the sound barrier and cut flight times in half. On January 21, 1976, the first commercial Concorde flight took place from London to Paris, cruising at speeds of 1,350 mph. The Concordes' flights would be short lived, however, as fewer than 20 ever saw commercial use. The last commercial Concorde flight took place on October 24, 2003. Hide Caption 41 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Happy 200th birthday, America! – Fireworks at the Statue of Liberty light up the New York Harbor on July 4, 1976, as the country celebrates the bicentennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Patriotic events took place around the country that year. Hide Caption 42 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Angels' flying high – On September 22, 1976, a blonde bombshell dropped into America's homes with the debut of the television show "Charlie's Angels." Farrah Fawcett and co-stars Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith became an instant hit with audiences. To this day the show remains a lasting image of the 70s despite getting mixed reviews from critics. Hide Caption 43 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Barbara becomes the news – In October 1976, Barbara Walters, seen at left with actress Barbra Streisand, became the first woman to co-anchor a major network evening newscast. ABC made history before she even went on air, signing Walters to a $1 million annual contract to make her the highest-paid journalist at that time. She only co-anchored the show for a year and a half, but she would go on to host ABC shows such as "20/20," "The View" and "Barbara Walters Specials" until her retirement in 2014. Hide Caption 44 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Disco ruled the charts in the late '70s but found some unlikely superstars in the form of the Village People. Their name was inspired by New York's Greenwich Village, which had a large gay population at the time, and the group became known for their onstage costumes and suggestive lyrics. In 1978, their songs "Macho Man" and "Y.M.C.A." became massive hits and brought them mainstream success. Hide Caption 45 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s From peanut farmer to President – Jimmy Carter embraces his wife, Rosalynn, in November 1976 after he was elected as the 39th President of the United States. Carter, a Democrat and former governor of Georgia, defeated incumbent Gerald Ford. During his time in office, Carter created the Department of Energy and Department of Education. Since leaving the office in 1980, he has remained active in fighting for human rights and ending disease around the world with his nonprofit organization, the Carter Center. Hide Caption 46 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'Roots' premieres – Cicely Tyson, left, and Maya Angelou star in the television miniseries "Roots." The series premiered in January 1977, airing for eight consecutive nights and attracting a record number of viewers. Based off Alex Haley's novel, "Roots" told the story of an African boy sold into slavery in America and the following generations of his family. The show was viewed by more than half of the U.S. population in 1977, and it received 37 Emmy nominations. Hide Caption 47 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s 'In a galaxy far, far away' – May 25, 1977, was a historic day for sci-fi fans and moviegoers everywhere. George Lucas' "Star Wars" opened in theaters, introducing the world to characters such as Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, R2D2 and, of course, Darth Vader. The "Star Wars" franchise is still one of most lucrative and popular film series around today. Hide Caption 48 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Son of Sam – Serial Killer David Berkowitz, known as the Son of Sam, was arrested on August 10, 1977, after a series of shootings and murders that police believe began in the summer of 1976. Berkowitz was convicted of killing six people and wounding seven during his crime spree, which garnered large amounts of press coverage. He was known for targeting young women and sending cryptic, antagonizing letters to the New York police. Hide Caption 49 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Apple plants the seed for the digital revolution – In 1977, Apple Computers introduced the Apple II, which became one the first successful home computers. Co-founders Steve Jobs, pictured here, and Steve Wozniak formed the Apple Computer Company in 1976. Along with Bill Gates' Microsoft, which was founded in 1975, Apple helped ignite the digital age we live in today. Hide Caption 50 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s New York City goes dark – In the middle of the summer of 1977, New York City experienced a power outage that caused much of the city to go dark. The blackout lasted two days, from July 13-14. As the city was in the midst of a financial crisis and the terror of the Son of Sam loomed over residents, many took to the streets and began looting. Police reported that looting in some areas of the city continued well into the daylight hours, and thousands of people were arrested. Hide Caption 51 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The King is dead – Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, died August 16, 1977, at the age of 42. He was still touring and recording throughout the 1970s, but his unexpected death sealed his legacy as one of the greatest cultural icons of the 20th century. Hide Caption 52 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Game on – The Atari 2600 was released in September 1977, bringing the world of video games into households everywhere. Packaged with two joystick controllers and one cartridge game, the Atari 2600 sold 250,000 units in 1977. By 1979, 1 million units were sold. What some believed at the time to be a fad has now turned into a billion-dollar-a-year industry. Hide Caption 53 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Mr. October – Reggie Jackson of the New York Yankees hits his third home run of the game on October 18, 1977, leading the Yankees to a World Series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jackson had a.357 batting average over the 27 World Series games throughout his career, earning him the nickname "Mr. October." Jackson and the Yankees would repeat as World Series champions the following year. Hide Caption 54 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Disco fever – Disco music sweeps the nation with the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever" starring John Travolta. Catapulted by a soundtrack containing five No. 1 singles -- including "Staying Alive" and "Night Fever" -- the film became a huge commercial success. The soundtrack stayed on top of the album charts for six months, and Travolta earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Hide Caption 55 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s A test tube produces life – Louise Brown became the world's first test-tube baby on July 25, 1978. Dr. Robert Edwards, left, and Patrick Steptoe, right, pioneered the process of in vitro fertilization, which injects a single sperm into a mature egg and then transfers the egg into the uterus of the woman. In 2010, Edwards won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the development of in vitro fertilization, which has helped families conceive more than 5 million babies around the world. Hide Caption 56 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Peace in the Middle East – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, joins hands with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, right, on September 18, 1978, after the Camp David Accords were signed in Maryland. After 12 days of secret meetings, the two sides agreed upon a step toward peace. U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, personally led the lengthy negotiations and discussions between the two parties. Hide Caption 57 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The world welcomes a new Pope – His name was Karol Jozef Wojtyla, but the world knew him as Pope John Paul II. Born in Poland, John Paul II was the first non-Italian Pope in more than in 400 years when he became Pope in 1978. He made his first public appearance on October 16, 1978, at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, and before his death in 2005 he was beloved for his commitment to human rights around the world. Hide Caption 58 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s Hide Caption 59 of 71 Photos: 70 historic moments from the 1970s The Jonestown massacre – Bodies lie around the compound of the People's Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, |
in capital’s share of income starting around the mid-2000s, as shown in Figure 2. In the model, the increase in capital’s share of income is driven by a technological shift that causes business production methods to make more use of capital rather than labor. This shift raises the return to capital investment, and capital owners reap a large reward. In the long run, capital owner consumption shifts up by more than 10% relative to the alternative scenario.
For workers (panel B in Figure 3), actual consumption (blue line) falls below the alternative path (red line) for a substantial portion of the time from 1970 to 2014. But after 45 years, worker consumption is only slightly below the alternative path. This is due mainly to the growth in redistributive transfers, which help support worker consumption in the face of a shrinking income share.
Worker consumption eventually catches up to the alternative path around 2050 (not shown) and then starts to surpass it. The catching-up effect is driven by capital owners investing more, which contributes to more production and more output per worker, eventually resulting in a higher wage for workers. In the long run, worker consumption shifts up by about 1% relative to the alternative scenario.
One way to assess the welfare consequences of rising inequality is to ask how much a household living in the alternative scenario would need to be compensated to be indifferent about living in the actual scenario. For this calculation we adopt the perspective of a household in the year 1970. The household views gains or losses in the near term as more important than those in the distant future. If the household would need to be paid some amount more than zero, then this household would be better off living in the economy with rising inequality and transfers. But if the required compensation is negative, then the household would be willing to pay to avoid living in the economy with rising inequality and transfers.
For each capital owner household, the compensation needed to make them indifferent is 3% of their annual consumption every year in perpetuity. This figure implies a large welfare gain from living in the economy with rising inequality and transfers. By contrast, each worker household would be willing to give up 1% of their annual consumption every year in perpetuity to avoid living in the economy with rising inequality and transfers. There are four workers for every capital owner in the model. To put these numbers in perspective, 1% of U.S. nominal consumption per person in the year 2014 equaled $372.
Importance of redistributive transfers
If the ratio of transfers to output were held at the 1970 level but income inequality continued to rise as before, then the welfare loss for workers would be magnified by a factor of nine. In other words, workers would now be willing to give up 9% of their annual consumption every year in perpetuity to avoid living in the economy with rising inequality. This result shows that the historical pattern of U.S. transfer payments has done much to mitigate the negative impacts of rising income inequality for households outside the top income group.
We can also use the model to determine how transfers would have needed to grow to deliver equal welfare gains to workers and capital owners over the simulation period. According to the model, the ratio of transfers to output would have needed to increase faster, reaching 19% by 2014 versus the actual value of 15% in the data. In this case, the welfare gain for both groups turns out to be very small, amounting to only 0.12% of their annual consumption every year in perpetuity. This is due to the need for higher tax rates to finance the faster transfer growth. But these higher tax rates would still be near the low end of the range of average tax rates among OECD countries (Piketty and Saez 2013).
Conclusion
The increase in U.S. income inequality over the past half-century can be traced to gains made by those near the top of the income distribution—where financial wealth and corporate stock ownership is highly concentrated. The economic and political implications of this pattern of rising inequality have garnered substantial attention among researchers and policymakers.
According to our analysis, the increase in income inequality since 1970 has generated large welfare gains for households in the top 20% of the income distribution and significant welfare losses for those in the bottom 80%, measured relative to a scenario that holds inequality constant. Alternative simulations imply that a relatively modest boost in the historical growth rate of government redistributive transfers, accompanied by modestly higher average tax rates, could have achieved small but equal welfare gains for all households. Overall, our results suggest that there is room for policy actions that could offset the negative consequences of rising income inequality.
Kevin J. Lansing is a research advisor in the Economic Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Agnieszka Markiewicz is an assistant professor at Erasmus University, Rotterdam.
References
Dabla-Norris, Era, Kalpana Kochhar, Nujin Suphaphiphat, Frantisek Ricka, and Evridiki Tsounta. 2015. “Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: A Global Perspective.” International Monetary Fund Staff Discussion Note 15/13 (June).
Lansing, Kevin J., and Agnieszka Markiewicz. 2016. “Top Incomes, Rising Inequality, and Welfare.” Economic Journal, forthcoming. (Also available as FRB San Francisco Working Paper 2012-23)
Piketty, Thomas. 2014. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Piketty, Thomas, and Emanuel Saez. 2013. “Optimal Labor Income Taxation.” In Handbook of Public Economics, volume 5, eds. A.J. Auerbach, R. Chetty, M. Feldstein, and E. Saez. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 391–474.
Piketty, Thomas, Emanuel Saez, and Stefanie Stantcheva. 2014. “Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 6(1), pp. 230–271.
Wolff, Edward N. 2010. “Recent Trends in Household Wealth in the United States: Rising Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze—An Update to 2007.” Levy Economics Institute Working Paper 589.Popularized by a recent article in Wired magazine, speculation has rapidly spread across the internet about the ad on the dark web for a stolen painting by artist Gottfried Lindauer. Many have suggested the photo of the painting in the ad is photoshopped. I decided to end the speculation and prove it is a composite by tracking down the original photos.
Using free reverse image search technology available to everyone, I searched for the source image of the painting and then the source image of the frame/wall. Once I located the images, I analyzed them using resemble.js, the same image-matching tool I used to help predict the value of a Kandinsky painting recently sold at auction.
The infographic below outlines all the components of the composite, as well as their sources and the results of the image matching.CLOSE A 20-year-old Georgia man, Benjamin Milley, is recovering after he was "savagely" gored and tossed by a large fighting bull in Spain during the festival "Carnaval del Toro." VPC
In this Saturday, Feb. 14 photo, Ole Miss student Benjamin Milley, 20, from Georgia, in the US, is gored by a bull during the "Carnaval del Toro" in Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain. (Photo: Jose Vicente, AP)
MADRID - An American university student who was repeatedly gored and tossed by a fighting bull last weekend is improving but remains shaken after the experience, a spokesman the Clinic Hospital in the western city of Salamanca said Tuesday.
The spokesman said that University of Mississippi sophomore Benjamin Milley, 20, was not ready to talk publicly but was in contact by telephone with his family. The spokesman said he was accompanied by friends at the hospital.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with hospital rules.
Milley suffered several wounds, including a 40-cm (16-inch) goring in the thigh, when he was caught by a fighting bull during a festival in the nearby town of Ciudad Rodrigo on Saturday.
Images showed him being repeatedly tossed by the beast and in obvious pain at being gored and pushed along the ground. He was eventually pulled to safety.
Milley was operated on for nearly three hours before being taken to the Salamanca hospital.
Ole Miss Director of Public Relations Danny Blanton said that Milley is an economics and Spanish major who was studying abroad in Salamanca with the university's International Education of Students program.
Milley's family has not immediately returned communications by The Clarion-Ledger seeking comment.
Fiestas featuring bulls are common in Spain and many people are injured each year. Spain's most famous bull-running event is in the San Fermin festival in Pamplona in July.
In the runs, people test their bravery and speed by dashing ahead of the beasts through the streets to a town's bull ring.
Towns normally have special medical units ready to attend those injured in the festivals.
Spanish officials initially identified the student's last name as Miller but confirmed Tuesday it was Milley after university officials said Milley, from Marietta, Georgia, was a student there and was the person injured.
Clarion-Ledger staff writer Therese Apel contributed to this report.
Read or Share this story: http://on.thec-l.com/1EktWJMMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption North Korean defector Thae Yong-ho said thinking about the fate of his family in North Korea "breaks his heart"
In August last year, Thae Yong-ho became one of the highest-ranking officials ever to defect from North Korea. In a wide-ranging interview in Seoul, he tells the BBC's Stephen Evans he believes leader Kim Jong-un would be prepared to attack the US with nuclear weapons, but that the regime will one day fall.
There are moments when the usually fluent English of the North Korean defector halts. His voice quivers and he pauses. His eyes grow moist.
These moments of silent emotion come when Thae Yong-ho thinks about his brother back in North Korea.
He told the BBC that he was sure that his family have been punished for his defection. This realisation both grieves him and steels him against the regime.
"I'm sure that my relatives and my brothers and sisters are either sent to remote, closed areas or to prison camps, and that really breaks my heart," he said.
If he could imagine his brother shouting to him in anguish from prison in North Korea, what would he reply?
"That is really a question I don't like to even think about. That is why I am very determined to do everything possible to pull down the regime to save not only my family members but also the whole North Korean people from slavery."
It was his closer family in London who persuaded Thae Yong-ho to defect. He found himself defending the regime to his children, particularly his younger son who was a bright kid in a West London state school.
Image copyright AFP Image caption North Korea's London embassy is in a suburban house in Ealing
The lad grew long hair and wondered how he would be treated back in North Korea. Why, the teenager asked, were North Koreans barred from the internet?
Mr Thae said that in the privacy of their home, they started being honest about the regime, because "you can't lie to your family".
He started leading a double life, addressing far-left groups in Britain about the virtues of socialism while denouncing it at home - and all the time having to tell his sons that they mustn't breathe a word.
He increasingly asked those he met from the West about life in Seoul. North Korean diplomats travel in twos so each keeps an eye on the other. So his questions about the West were often while his (presumably) unsuspecting comrade was taking a break with a visit to the toilet at their favourite West London curry house.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In December Thae Yong-ho told the BBC he does not regret his decision
Then, eight months ago, Mr Thae and his family vanished from the embassy where they lived, only to turn up in Seoul. He won't say how that journey was made, whether the secret services of Britain or the United States or South Korea were involved.
But he did expand on the process whereby he changed his mind. The son who prompted the change had won a place in Imperial College in London. But he will now study in South Korea - life as an obviously Korean student in London would have been too dangerous, exposing him to the risk of abduction by North Korean agents.
In London, Mr Thae always seemed at ease. He was well-groomed and softly spoken and would have fitted in well at a suburban tennis club - which is precisely what he did.
"I really miss the life, especially in Ealing. Even now I am really sorry for not saying goodbye to the tennis club members because they are really nice and gentle. If possible, I want to say the official goodbye to my old St Columba's Tennis Club members.
"My younger son even joined this club when he was eight. We had a really wonderful coach and he taught the whole family how to play tennis, me my kids and my wife.
"I really miss the English spring and autumn and I really want to say goodbye and thank you."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption This footage appears to show Kim Jong-chol (L) alongside Thae Yong-ho at the Royal Albert Hall in London
As a diplomat, Mr Thae was the servant of a brutal regime and a servant of its leader.
He denies that he ever broke the law. North Korean diplomats are reputed to engage in all kinds of illegality from dispersing fake money to committing fraud, but Mr Thae said he wasn't involved, because in Europe, law enforcement is too effective to get away with it.
The only crime the embassy committed, he said, was to drive without paying the congestion charge and for that it owes £100,000 ($125,000).
He did, however, escort Kim Jong-un's brother, Kim Jong-chul, to an Eric Clapton concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
Mr Thae said the brother was only interested in music. He'd given him a tour of the sites, like Trafalgar Square, and the visitor showed not a flicker of excitement.
Image copyright EPA Image caption North Korea's tests of missiles and nuclear devices continue to alarm and anger the world
Of Kim Jong-un himself, Thae Yong-ho knows little. He said the North Korean leader lives a secretive life. Nobody knows even where he resides.
But he is ruthless, according to the defector, and his ability to wreak harm should not be underestimated. Mr Thae reckons that if his very survival were threatened, he would lash out and destroy whatever he could.
Mr Kim doesn't have the means to attack the United States at the moment but he is developing the ability. The high-ranking defector said that once there was an effective nuclear arsenal, the leader would be prepared to use it.
"Kim Jong-un knows that nuclear weapons are the only guarantee for his rule. And Kim Jong-un, I think, will press the button on these dangerous weapons when he thinks that his rule and his dynasty is threatened."
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Thae (right) fled to South Korea with his family
Would he even destroy a city like Los Angeles, though the retaliation would surely kill him?
"Yes, because he knows that if he loses the power then it is his last day so he may do anything, even to attack Los Angeles, because once people know that in any way you will be killed, then you will do anything. That is the human being's normal reaction".
Will Kim Jong-un die peacefully in his own bed? "No. I'm sure that Kim Jong-un's regime one day will collapse by a people's uprising."
That uprising, Mr Thae believes will be brought about by the spread of information within North Korea about the world outside.
And will Thae Yong-ho ever see his brother again? "I'm absolutely sure I will and it is my dream to walk back to my home town."When meat companies buy into veggie burgers you know things are changing. Tyson, the largest meat processor in the US is investing in Beyond Meat, a company that creates burgers not from beef, but plants the New York Times reported in October.
Meanwhile in Germany one meat producer is planning to have at least 30 per cent of its sales as vegetarian products by 2019, according to food industry journal Food Navigator.
It's a sign that more of us want our protein to come from plants but it's also something else: a sign of a collaboration between two opposite sides of the fence - an industry that kills animals for profit and one that caters for consumers who'd rather not eat food produced in a slaughterhouse.
That's not such a bad idea, says Marta Zaraska, author of Meathooked, a new book looking at our hard-to-break love affair with meat. If our goal is to improve health, boost our chances of combating climate change and reduce animal suffering, then a purist vegetarian approach may not be the best way, she argues.LEGO lovers unite! BrickUniverse is the ultimate LEGO fan experience. Come build, learn, and play at one of the largest LEGO fan events in the world.
BrickUniverse is LEGO fan event organized by fans, for fans of all ages. Professional LEGO artists from around the world will be at BrickUniverse showcasing hundreds of LEGO creations. There will be small intricate creations as well as massive large-scale creations built with tens of thousands of LEGO bricks. Spend time with these builders and learn the secrets of master building.
There will also be multiple building zones where attendees will have the chance to build their own LEGO masterpieces and showcase them for all to see.
BrickUniverse also has many vendors who sell anything and everything LEGO®-related one can imagine. New sets, old sets, custom sets, new parts, old parts, custom parts, merchandise, t-shirts, jewelry, new minifigures, old minifigures, and so much more.
Since 2015, we’ve inspired creativity through LEGO to hundreds of thousands of attendees at dozens of events throughout the United States. We hope to see you at a future event and until then… Keep Building!Republican senate candidate Mark Callahan, an IT-consultant-turned-political-candidate called out liberal reporter Nigel Jaquiss from the Willamette Week scribbling down “blah, blah, blah” while fellow Republican Jo Rae Perkins was giving an answer during a candidate forum.
The reporters proceeded to kick Callahan out of the room.
Mediaite reported:
Staffers of the alt-weekly newspaper Willamette Week recently met with Oregon Republican U.S. Senate candidates seeking an endorsement and things got quite dramatic after one reporter was caught scribbling “blah blah blah” on his notepad while a candidate spoke.
Jim Romenesko flagged down the dramatic clip, which shows candidate Mark Callahan chastising reporter Nigel Jaquiss for mocking Jo Rae Perkins’ rambling answer to a question (she was on the telephone and could not see the offending notepad).
“I see what you’re writing down there,” Callahan scolded the reporter. “You just wrote down ‘blah blah blah blah’ for everything that Jo Rae said. Jo Rae is a respectful woman. Why are you not respecting her by writing ‘blah blah blah blah’ in your notepad?”
The moderator tried to calm Callahan by declaring that they will now move on, asking the candidate for his views on climate change.
“It’s a myth,” Callahan replied.
“Where are you on the Easter bunny?” Jaquiss interjected.
Of course, the IT-consultant-turned-political-candidate did not find that amusing:CLOSE The national weather forecast for Saturday, September 3rd is all about Hermine. The storm continues to move up the East Coast, bringing heavy rains and dangerous beach conditions in its wake.
Karen Duer-Potts uses her cellphone to take a photograph of the sunset as the outer band of Hermine, which has weakened to a tropical storm, creeps over the beach at Cape Charles, Va., on Sept. 2, 2016. (Photo11: Jay Diem, The Daily Times,AP)
The slow-moving Hermine storm system returned to near hurricane strength Sunday off the Atlantic coast, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people and threatening to create havoc with storm surge from Virginia to New Jersey.
The storm, already blamed for two deaths, was expected to return to hurricane strength later Sunday as it continued its march toward New England.
At 8 a.m. Sunday, the National Hurricane Center reported that Hermine’s top sustained winds were at 65 mph, shy of hurricane strength winds of 74 mph, as it moved east-northeast at 12 mph. The storm was centered about 295 miles east-southeast of Ocean City, Md..
The NHC said it expected the center of the storm would "meander" offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula on Sunday night and early Monday, raising the specter of "life-threatening inundation" from storm surges and tides until Sunday night from Chincoteague, Va., to Sandy Hook, N.J.
As the storm moved northward, only cars, pickups, minivans and sport-utility vehicles without exterior cargo were allowed to cross the 17.6-mile span linking the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula to mainland Virginia.
"Large waves generated by Hermine will affect the U.S. East Coast from the Mid-Atlantic states and expand northward along the coast of southern New England through the weekend," the NHC said. "These waves are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, and significant beach erosion."
On Friday, before hitting the Atlantic, Hermine rolled out of the Gulf of Mexico and across northern Florida as the first hurricane to hit the state in over a decade.
By Monday, Bridgeport, Conn., could face up to 4 feet of water if the peak surge hits at high tide. The center also extended its Tropical Storm Warning to west of Watch Hill, R.I., including Long Island, Long Island Sound and New York City.
In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency for three coastal counties in preparation for Hermine's arrival.
“Anyone along the U.S. East Coast needs to be paying close attention this weekend,” said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.
Staff members for the MRV Outer Banks Pro surf tournament take down a banner in Nags Head, N.C., on Sept. 2, 2016, as Tropical Storm Hermine heads toward the Outer Banks. (Photo11: Tom Copeland, AP)
Amtrak says it has canceled or altered some service on the East Coast as the storm approached.
At least two deaths had been linked to Hermine. In Florida, a homeless man was struck and killed by a falling tree south of Gainesville, according to Gov. Rick Scott.
In North Carolina, a man died after a tractor-trailer overturned Saturday because of high winds on the 3-mile-long Lindsay C. Warren Bridge east of Columbia, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
And The Associated Press reported that on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, a small tornado spawned by Hermine knocked over two trailers and injured four people.
An estimated 325,000 people were without power statewide, many in the Tallahassee area, and more than 107,000 in neighboring Georgia, officials said.
Contributing: Deborah Gates from The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2bXJqvmYou’d expect any respectable list of the top restaurants in San Diego to include Cucina Urbana, Sushi Ota and Juniper & Ivy.
Sure enough, they’re all there on Yelp’s inaugural ranking of the 30 Most Popular Restaurants to Make a Reservation in San Diego, at number 2, 9 and 14, respectively.
And coming in at No. 1? Werewolf.
Were-what?
“I was surprised, too,” said Stacy Simmons, general manager of the 3-year-old spot in the Gaslamp Quarter. “We’re basically a dive bar that takes reservations and there are so many great restaurants in San Diego.”
Taking reservations were essential to be included on Yelp’s list but what propelled Werewolf to the top were its nearly 2,000 reviews — nearly all of them glowing — on the popular crowd-sourced website and its near-perfect 4.5-star rating, out of five.
“We definitely try to build our reputation one drink at a time,” Simmons said. “We want to make sure people have a better day when they leave than when they came in. … It sounds simple; it’s not. But it’s working.”
For its ranking, which had only been done before in Yelp’s hometown of San Francisco, the site factored in a restaurant’s mobile page views, and only those with at least 150 reviews and a minimum 4-star rating. That methodology not only captures an eatery’s relative popularity but how it connects to its customer base online.
“It used to be that reservations were only used for a special occasion, planned over a week in advance, and made on the phone or sometimes (gasp!) in person at the restaurant,” Yelp Reservations General Manager Vish Prabhakara said in an email.
“More and more, diners are searching on their mobile devices for their next meal. They may be on-the-go, or on the couch, but mobile phones are increasingly the primary source for restaurant information.”
Prabhakara noted that the local index spans a wide range of restaurants, from Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop in Mission Hills to Shan Xi Magic Kitchen on Convoy Street, Barbusa in Little Italy to Urban Solace in North Park.
“From this list, we can tell that San Diego residents are wowed by a diversity of cuisines, price point, and they embrace up-and-coming restaurants but don’t forget classic local favorites.”
The full list
1. Werewolf
2. Cucina Urbana
3. Great Maple
4. Submarine Crab
5. Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop
6. Ironside Fish & Oyster
7. Crushed
8. Cafe 21
9. Sushi Ota
10. Dumpling Inn
11. Craft & Commerce
12. Kettner Exchange
13. Urban Solace
14. Juniper & Ivy
15. Barbusa
16. Searsucker
17. Prepkitchen Little Italy
18. Trust
19. Island Prime
20. Rustic Root
21. Puesto
22. Bencotto Italian Kitchen
23. Pardon My French Bar & Kitchen
24. Coasterra
25. Tom Ham's Lighthouse
26. Shan Xi Magic Kitchen
27. Embargo Grill
28. Cafe Sevilla
29. The Prado At Balboa Park
30. GARAGE Kitchen + Bar
CAPTION Learn how to make great pasta at home from the staff at Bottega Americano in San Diego’s East Village. Learn how to make great pasta at home from the staff at Bottega Americano in San Diego’s East Village. CAPTION Learn how to make great pasta at home from the staff at Bottega Americano in San Diego’s East Village. Learn how to make great pasta at home from the staff at Bottega Americano in San Diego’s East Village. CAPTION Celeb chef Brian Malarkey lays down a few guidelines, shares some favorite recipes Celeb chef Brian Malarkey lays down a few guidelines, shares some favorite recipes CAPTION What you need to know about the La Jolla arrival of the long awaited high-end Mexican restaurant. What you need to know about the La Jolla arrival of the long awaited high-end Mexican restaurant. CAPTION Lean, low-fat varieties of white fish call for lower temperatures, less cooking time Lean, low-fat varieties of white fish call for lower temperatures, less cooking time CAPTION Website singles out two-time "Cupcake Wars" winner Little Cakes Cupcake Kitchen Website singles out two-time "Cupcake Wars" winner Little Cakes Cupcake Kitchen
Twitter: @sdeditgirl
michele.parente@sduniontribune.comRoguelikes are my favourite genre of game and Brogue [official site] is one of my favourite roguelikes. It has the genre’s carefully interlocking systems, which drive players towards important decisions and produce plentiful fun anecdotes, but it also presents them via an interface that’s approachable and without the bloat that can make its peers intimidating or fatiguing to play.
I think a large part of Brogue’s appeal lies in its level generation, which creates tight spaces full of interesting environmental detail, with traps to avoid, chasms to fall into, and a strange ASCII beauty. I spoke to the game’s creator, Brian Walker, about what his design goals for those levels are, how you balance a game you can’t predict, and the exact process by which the game creates those levels.
Note: A few months ago I put out a call for article ideas from the Supporter community, called the People’s Games Journalist. I have been slow to move but this article represents the first of hopefully many spawned by your ideas. In particular, this article is a response to a request by reader amateurviking for more interviews that address in detail the creation of a single part of a game. Thanks for supporting the site, amateurviking!
RPS: What were your goals for the level generation in Brogue?
Brian Walker: Primarily, my goal was that the dungeon should feel concrete and exciting — not just a flat substrate for monsters and items, but a living and atmospheric place to explore, filled with useful information and tactical significance. Indiana Jones is a good template: a lone adventurer in a hostile place, guided by torchlight, searching for clues, hunting for treasure, surviving by his wits, never knowing when some infernal machinery will activate and cause the floor to collapse, or flesh-eating rats to burst out of the walls, or water to flood the area. I want it to have a hand-designed quality that is revealed in stages as you discover that a hidden lever opens a twisty worm-filled passage to a key that unlocks a vault of hidden artifacts. Procedurally generated levels will probably never quite close the gap with hand-crafted levels designed by experts, but I want to push it as close to that standard as I can — including for selfish reasons, so that I can explore fresh levels and be surprised by its secrets like any other player.
RPS: What’s the step-by-step – the procedure, say – for the procedural generation of Brogue’s levels? Please be specific.
Walker: The algorithm starts with one room, placed at random in an empty grid. Then, it draws another room on another grid, which it slides like a piece of cellophane over the level until the new room fits snugly against an existing room without touching or overlapping. When there’s a fit, it transfers the room from the cellophane to the master grid and punches out a door. It does that repeatedly until it can’t fit any more rooms.
That first room can sometimes be a “cavern” — a large, winding, organic shape that fills a lot of the space of the level. Those are made by filling the level randomly with 55% floor and 45% wall, and then running five rounds of smoothing. In every round of smoothing, every floor cell with fewer than four adjacent floor cells becomes a wall, and every wall cell with six or more adjacent floor cells becomes a floor. This process forces the random noise to coalesce and contract into a meandering blob shape. The algorithm picks the biggest blob that is fully connected and calls that the first room.
There are a bunch of different techniques for drawing a room, chosen at random each time — for example, two large rectangles overlaid on each other, a large donut shape, a circle or a “blob” produced like the cavern described above but with smaller dimensions. Sometimes, we’ll generate the room with a hallway sticking off of it at a random point, and require that the end of the hallway connect to an existing room.
At this point we have a simply connected network of differently shaped rooms. The problem is that there are no loops in the geometry; the entire map is a single tree, where each room after the first has exactly one “parent” room (that it grew off from) and any number of “child” rooms (that grew off from it). It turns out it’s not much fun to explore that kind of level, because it requires a lot of backtracking and it’s easy to get cornered by monsters. So, we start inspecting the walls of the level. If we can find a wall that has a passable cell on both sides of it, where the two cells are at least certain distance apart in terms of pathfinding, we punch out a door (or a secret door). Do that a bunch of times and you get a level that’s nicely connected.
Then we move onto lakes. Lakes are masses of a particular terrain type — water, lava, chasm or brimstone — that can span almost the entire level. They’re atmospheric, they enable long-distance attacks, and they impose structure on the level at a large scale to prevent it from feeling like a homogenous maze of twisty passages. We pull out the cellophane and draw a lake on it using the cellular automata method, and then we slide the cellophane around to random locations until we find a place that works — where all of the passable parts of the level that aren’t covered by lake are still fully connected, so the player is never required to cross the lake. If twenty random tries fails to find a qualifying location, we draw a smaller lake and try again. If we can find a qualifying location, we drop the lake onto the map there and overwrite the terrain underneath it. Some lakes have wreaths — shallow water surrounds deep water, and “chasm edge” terrain surrounds chasms — and we draw that in at this stage.
Next up are the flavorful local features of terrain — tufts of grass, outgrowths of crystal, mud pits, hidden traps, statues, torches and more. These are defined in a giant table of “autogenerators” that specifies the range of depths in which each feature can appear, how likely it is and how many copies to make. For each one, we pick a random location and spawn it. A lot of them spawn in patches. Those are generated by picking an initial location and letting it randomly expand outward from there, with the probability of further expansion lowering with each expansion — like pouring some paint on an uneven floor and letting it flow outward into a puddle.
The next major step in level generation is what I call the machines. This is the most complicated part of the level generation by far. Machines are clusters of terrain features that relate to one another. Any time you see an altar, or an instance where interacting with terrain at one point causes terrain at a distant point to do something, you’re looking at a machine. There’s a hand-designed table of machines — 71 of them at the moment — that guides where and why each machine should spawn and what features it should create. Each machine feature further specifies whether it should only spawn near the doorway of the room, or far away from it, or in view of it, or never in a hallway, or only in the walls surrounding the machine, and so on.
There are three types of machines — room machines that occupy the interior of an area with a single chokepoint, door machines that are spawned by room machines to guard the door, and area machines that can spawn anywhere and spread outward until they are the appropriate size. Some machines will bulldoze a portion of the level and run a new level generation algorithm with different parameters on that specific region; that is how you get goblin warrens as dense networks of cramped mud-lined rooms, and sentinel temples as crystalline palaces of circular and cross-shaped rooms. Sometimes a machine will generate an item such as a key and pass it to another machine to adopt the item; that is how you get locked doors with the key guarded by a trap elsewhere on the level. Sometimes the machine that holds the key is guarded by its own locked door, and the key for that door is somewhere else — there’s no limit to how many layers of nesting are allowed, and the hope is that nested rooms will lend a kind of narrative consistency to the level through interlocking challenges. The game keeps track of which portions of the level belong to which machines, and certain types of terrain activations will trigger activations elsewhere in the machine; that is how lifting a key off of an altar can cause a torch on the other side of the room to ignite the grass in the room. The machine architecture is a hodge-podge of features intended to translate entries of a table into self-contained adventures with hooks to link them to other adventures.
After the machines are built, we place the staircases. The upstairs tries to get as close as possible to the location of the downstairs location from the floor above, and the downstairs picks a random qualifying location that’s a decent distance away from the upstairs. Stairs are used automatically when the player walks into them, and they’re recessed into the wall so that there’s no other reason to walk into them. That limits the number of locations in which they can spawn, but they’re generally able to connect pretty closely to the locations on adjacent levels.
Then we do some clean-up. If there’s a diagonal opening between two walls, we knock down one of the walls. If a door has fewer than two adjacent walls, we knock down the door. If a wall is surrounded by similar impassable terrain on both sides — think of a wall running down the middle of a lava lake, or across a chasm — we knock it down. This is also where bridges are built across chasms where it makes sense — where both sides connect and shorten the pathing distance between the two endpoints significantly.
Items are next, beyond what was already placed by machines. There’s a cute trick to decide where to place items. Imagine a raffle, in which each empty cell of the map enters a certain number of tickets into the raffle. A cell starts with one ticket. For every door that the player has to pass to reach the cell, starting from the upstairs, the cell gets an extra ten tickets. For every secret door that the player has to pass to reach the cell, the cell gets an extra 3,000 tickets. If the cell is in a hallway or on unfriendly terrain, it loses all of its tickets. Before placing an item, we do a raffle draw — so caches of treasure are more likely in well hidden areas, off the beaten path. When we place an item, we take away some of the tickets from the nearby areas to avoid placing all of the items in a single clump. (Food and strength potions are exceptions; they’re placed without a bias for hidden rooms, because they are carefully meter |
gets it pretty close to ideal. That second option can be found in the New Document window, and the fly-out menu of the Transform panel, for existing documents.
If you need to make some sub-pixel adjustments, the move window can be used (Object → Transform → Move, or pressing enter opens it).
Custom tool panel #
Recently, I’ve been experimenting with using a custom tool panel to remove tools I don’t use very often, and expose tools that are normally behind popup menus.
If you’re trying to add, subtract or exclude shapes (often referred to as boolean operations or constructive solid geometry), Illustrator’s Pathfinder is one of the best executions of the idea in any vector editor.
Of Pathfinder’s abilities, I love Divide the most — It cuts shapes into pieces so each overlapping region is a unique path, making it easy to discard unwanted portions.
Shape Builder #
Shape Builder is newer than Pathfinder, and often faster to use. With some separate, but overlapping shapes and the Shape Builder tool selected, drag to combine, option-drag to subtract.
⇧M selects the Shape Builder tool.
Dynamic round corners #
Illustrator CC 2014 added dynamic round corners, which appear as small handles in all corners. Dragging the handle increases corner radius. This works for all shapes, not just rectangles.
Dynamic round corners allow for creation of shapes that would be difficult or time consuming otherwise. Like many of Illustrator’s other features I love, it’s more about the convenience than anything else.
If you need more accuracy — and of course you do — exact corner radius values can be entered using Illustrator’s control bar.
Warp and Illustrator’s other Envelope Distort features can be used to bend, twist and give life to your shapes.
Outline strokes #
I often turn strokes into paths before moving shapes back into Photoshop for styling. Some other design tools have this ability, but not many. It feels like a mandatory for a vector-based design tool.
Variable width strokes #
Illustrator’s width tool can alter the stroke width anywhere along a path.
With the Width tool selected (shift-W), double click a control point to show the options for more precision. Variable width strokes can be used to accurately construct shapes that may be difficult with other methods.
Dashed lines #
Illustrator contains two modes for dashed lines. One aligns dashes to corners, the other preserves dash and gap lengths. Aligning to corners often looks far better, and isn’t available in most design tools. Dashes can be converted to paths for use in Photoshop.
Transform each #
Scaling, rotating and moving many objects — as individual objects relative to their own origin — is easy in Illustrator. A simple feature, but one that can save hours of work.
Lasso selections #
When marquee selections don’t cut it, lasso selections often do. Lasso selections can be used in conjunction with the ⇧ (add) and ⌥ (subtract) modifiers.
Graphic styles #
I’ve set up some graphic styles in Illustrator to help work faster. If you’re creating an icon set that has similar characteristics across many elements, graphic styles can be a great way to apply styling quickly.
The graphic styles I use are part of my Illustrator screen design template, called Greyprint.
Pixel preview #
The pixel preview in Illustrator absolutely blows. The example below shows why it is a bit of a train wreck. Stray pixels, no gradient dithering, and general jankiness make Illustrator’s pixel preview hard to trust. This isn’t a big deal, because all my paths end up in Photoshop for styling anyway. It is something to be aware of though. You simply can not trust the pixel preview in Illustrator.
Here’s a comparison of the antialiasing in Illustrator’s pixel preview vs shape antialiasing in Photoshop. Illustrator’s antialiasing is embarrassingly poor.
Those stray pixels are dangerous, too. The dimensions of iOS and macOS interface images need to be exact multiples, so a stray pixel making an image 1px wider or taller could cause issues.
Styling in Photoshop #
Once I have the final icon paths, I usually paste them into Photoshop as shape layers. If you need to transfer many paths across, copying them all in Illustrator and pasting in Photoshop will place them all on a single layer. Selecting a single path and pressing ⇧⌘J in Photoshop moves a path into a new layer, ready for styling.
We created our own templates for our app icons, which are now available for free as the open source Bjango App Icon Templates. They cover Android, iOS, macOS, Apple TV (tvOS), Apple Watch (watchOS), Windows, Windows Phone and web favicons. Where possible, they’re set up to automate exporting final production assets.
I do not recommend exporting bitmap images from Illustrator.
And, I don’t use PDFs for iOS assets.
To export PNGs and other bitmap images, I typically use slice sheets in Photoshop. There’s many benefits, including being able to use a single layer for 10s or 100s of icons, which keeps styling consistent and easy to edit. For more detail, please refer to my app design workflow article.
For exporting SVGs, I use a combination of Affinity Designer, Photoshop’s Generator and Illustrator.There is a general appreciation that Sony and Nintendo are cornering the market with nostalgia, and sadly that’s not the case. If anything, the biggest names in the industry right now are coming in very late to the party by offering licensed products that allowed gamers and new ones to relive the glory days of the 4th and 5th generation of gaming. Nintendo was the one to try their hands at it first, and they took an embarrassing hit when they failed to capitalize on the frenzy that was triggered by the announcement of the NES classic. Now Sony joins the party, but it may a little too late for them.
The Product and What it represents
The PlayStation Classic is merely a small version of the original PlayStation, released by Sony in 1995. The main objective of the project is to capitalize on the nostalgia of regular consumers with a tight selection of twenty of the console’s best sellers of its day, much in the same fashion as the mini (more…)Publication date 1945
Digitizing sponsor U.S. Treasury Department, War Finance Division
Shows the daily life and work of the Army nurse, including training and off-duty activities.
Shotlist
Shows the daily life and work of the army nurse, including training and off-duty activities.
Shows the daily life and work of the army nurse, including training and off-duty activities, often in a romanticized fashion. States the narrator: "In her there is the tenderness of all women, of mother and sister and friend. Her voice and touch lend encouragement, instill hope. It's the surgeon who saves a man's life; it's the nurse whose tender care helps him to live." While many of the scenes are staged, some shots appear to be candid. The film opens with a melodramatic near-death sequence of a wounded soldier who is semi-conscious. The narrator urges, "Hang on kid," while the picture becomes wavy. Finally, through his stupor, a smiling woman's face comes into focus. It's the Army nurse, whom the narrator characterizes as "a nurse first, a woman second, an officer third."
The film shows the daily life and work of the nurse including training and off-duty activities often in a romanticized fashion. While many of the scenes are staged, some shots appear to be candid. (Eileen Clancy observes:) Lesbian subtext. Army nurses play softball game against Army WACs. Nurses golfing and swimming together. Hidden history. Slogan suggested by narrator as appropriate: "A nurse first, a woman second, an officer third." "In her there is the tenderness of all women, of mother and sister and friend. Her voice and touch lend encouragement, instill hope. It's the surgeon who saves a man's life; it's the nurse whose tender care helps him to live." Film opens with melodramatic near-death sequence of wounded soldier who is semi-conscious. Narrator says stuff like "Hang on kid." The picture becomes wavy. Finally, through his stupor, a smiling woman's face comes into focus. It's the Army nurse. Shows women (nurses) in basic training on hikes, going through gassed areas and climbing fences. Mobile hospital or field hosptial being built.
Key scenes include: women (nurses) in basic training, on hikes, going through gassed areas and climbing fences; the erection of a mobile or field hospital; an excellent shot of feet going into beat-up army boots; nurses' life in camp, including eating rations, ironing, haircuts and shampooing (all outdoors); a sequence on the uses of a G.I. helmet, as personal washbasin, cooking pot, laundry, and dishpan; writing letters home; a remarkable shot of a man being assisted in smoking a cigarette by a nurse who has rigged up a tin can suspended over his sickbed; much gentle tending to the ill; trains transporting the wounded from the field hospitals to the larger, general hospitals, interiors of trains, showing soldiers in elaborate casts resting on bunkbed cots, reading The Stars and Stripes; evacuation by air ("flying hospitals"); nurses assisting surgeons as they don gowns gloves, laying out surgical instruments and typing up records; Gary Cooper smilingly participating in a show for the troops; good shots of army audience; Army nurses playing softball against Army WACs; nurses golfing and swimming together; excellent closeups of smiling nurses; and a pitch for purchasing war bonds. The film also shows a group of nurses receiving military decorations, including shots of a group of nurses who were Japanese POWs for three years. Says the narrator, "They asked only that they be returned to duty for they could never forget the faces of American men tortured and killed by the enemy."
Excellent shot of feet going into beat-up army boots. Shows nurses' camp life: eating rations, ironing, haircuts and shampooing all outdoors. Sequence on the uses of a G.I. helmet: being used as a personal washbasin, cooking pot, laundry, and dishpan. Writing letters home. Remarkable shot of a man being assisted in smoking a cigarette by a nurse who has rigged up a tin can which is suspended over his sickbed. Much gentle tending to the ill. Trains transport the wounded from the field hospitals to the larger, general hospitals. Interiors of trains show soldiers in elaborate casts resting on bunkbed cots, reading the STARS AND STRIPES. Evacuation by plane as well, "flying hospitals." Nurses assist in the donning of surgical gowns and gloves; lay out surgical instruments and type up records. Gary Cooper smilingly participates in a show for the troops. Good army audience shot. Nurses receiving military decorations. This includes shots of a group of nurses who were Japanese P.O.W.'s for three years. "They asked only that they be returned to duty for they could never forget the faces of American men tortured and killed by the enemy." Excellent close-ups of smiling nurses (real people, not actors). The head army nurse speaks unsmilingly, in a severe uniform, about army nurses and patients. She then makes a pitch for the purchase of war bonds.
nurses and nursing women gender world war II WWII
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Closed captioning no Collectionid 05616 Color B&W Country United States Identifier ArmyNurs1945 Numeric_id 133 Proddate 1945 Run time 16:07 Sound Sd Type MovingImageLiving on Tiangong
by Morris Jones
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 25, 2011
With China's first space laboratory, Tiangong 1, settled into orbit, it's now time to consider the missions that will follow. We're expecting China to perform two docking tests with the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft in November this year. If that mission goes well, astronauts will fly to Tiangong 1 in the first half of 2012 aboard Shenzhou 9.
They will do more than just dock with Tiangong. They will live aboard the laboratory. What, then, will it be like to live on board Tiangong 1?
Prior to the launch of this spacecraft, we had little idea of what was inside. Computer graphics and animation was fairly nondescript. Since then, we've seen actual photographs of the interior of Tiangong 1 in the Chinese media, some of them taken while the module was in space.
Tiangong looks a lot more user-friendly than I had originally expected. The small module has a fair amount of interior room for the crew and also has two sleeping berths.
Chinese media have also described these sleeping berths as allowing astronauts to stretch out and control their own lighting.
We can also observe that there will be more privacy and better isolation from the rest of the spacecraft. The interior is mostly white paneling, with darker tones for the "floor", which also contains foot restraints.
We can certainly admire the interior of China's latest piece of habitable real estate, which makes Shanghai apartment prices look modest by comparison. But what does this tell us about the missions that will fly to it?
Certainly, it suggests that long-term missions could be conducted fairly comfortably. With the added volume of the docked Shenzhou spacecraft, there will be a good amount of personal space for each crewmember.
But how many astronauts will there be? We see two sleeping berths, not three. Does this suggest that Tiangong expeditions will only carry two astronauts? Not necessarily. The third crewmember could easily retreat to the Shenzhou spacecraft and stretch out in a sleeping bag, with nobody else around.
In an earlier article (No Toilet for Tiangong) I speculated that Tiangong 1 would not carry a toilet or a galley. These messy items were best left aboard the Shenzhou spacecraft, which would need to carry them anyway for the flight to the Tiangong module. There's nothing in the photos or the media reports to suggest that this is not the case.
There appears to be a computer terminal on one of the walls, which could be a control system for the Tiangong module. It is less likely to be a control system for any on-board experiments.
Tiangong does not seem to feature much in the way of gloveboxes, greenhouses or any of the typical experimental gear found on a larger space station.
This lack of apparatus ties in with my earlier theory that most of the scientific work carried out on board Tiangong would be biomedical experiments on the astronauts themselves. Much of the gear on board the space laboratory is hidden inside drawers and behind panels.
We can expect that a lot of these compartments contain tools, emergency equipment, and other basic necessities. Somewhere inside lurk some commemorative items that will be returned to Earth by the astronauts.
The interior cameras look fairly advanced, suggesting that we could be treated to broadcast-quality video during the missions.
Some of this will probably consist of science demonstrations and tours of the spacecraft for the general public. We look forward to seeing these shows, which will almost certainly find their way online.
Dr Morris Jones is an Australian space analyst. Email morrisjonesNOSPAMhotmail.com. Replace NOSPAM with @ to send email. Dr Jones will answer media inquiries.The PlayStation 4 Pro will offer half a gigabyte of extra RAM to game developers, thanks to the addition of 1 GB of memory for nongaming uses such as multitasking, reports Digital Foundry.
"We felt games needed a little more memory — about 10 percent more — so we added a gigabyte of slow, conventional DRAM to the console," said Mark Cerny, lead system architect for the PS4, in a lengthy interview with Digital Foundry. The extra DRAM is different from the console’s existing 8 GB of GDDR5 graphics memory; it’s not meant to be used for games.
Cerny explained that the current PS4 uses part of its fast GDDR5 RAM for multitasking, keeping nongaming apps like Netflix in memory to allow for quick switching between a game and something else. That’s not the best use of the graphics RAM, which is why Sony added the slower DDR3 memory to the PS4 Pro.
"On PS4 Pro, we do things differently, when you stop using Netflix, we move it to the slow, conventional gigabyte of DRAM," Cerny told Digital Foundry. "Using that strategy frees up almost one gigabyte of the eight gigabytes of GDDR5."
Half of the freed-up RAM is available to game developers, boosting the total amount to 5.5 GB. (The existing PS4 offers as much as 5 GB of memory for games.) The PS4 Pro uses "most of the rest" of the extra graphics memory, said Cerny, to draw the console’s interface at 4K resolution — four times the pixels of the current 1080p resolution.
In addition to giving game developers more graphics memory, the PS4 Pro offers faster memory. The 8 GB of GDDR5 RAM in the original PS4 is clocked at 176 GB per second; the PS4 Pro boosts the speed by 24 percent to 218 GB/s. Coupled with a technique known as delta color compression — a feature from AMD’s Polaris GPU architecture that makes more efficient use of memory bandwidth — the speed increase should be very useful for developers, according to Cerny.
The PS4 Pro will be available Nov. 10 in Europe for €399, Japan for 44,980 yen, the U.K. for £349 and the U.S. for $399.Long after everyone else in the world realized that Donald Trump is an asshole, Kanye West has finally realized that the guy banning Muslims from entering this country, threatening to wall up our borders, and who openly promoted an anti-Semitic agenda on Holocaust Remembrance day isn’t the sort of person he should be hanging around with. According to TMZ, West has deleted all of his pro-Trump tweets and explained that he no longer supports Trump, and it’s all apparently because of the president’s extremely controversial and racist immigration ban.
For those who don’t recall the weird story tying together Trump and West, it essentially started when West publicly declared that he would’ve voted for Trump (if he had voted). He later visited the then-president-elect at Trump Tower, with West appreciating the chance to highlight some policy issues he cares about and Trump appreciating the chance to be photographed with a famous rapper. In between those events, West abruptly canceled all of his tour dates and was checked into a hospital for over a week to help with his “exhaustion.” Essentially, it sounds like he was going through some stuff.
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Whatever is driving West’s change of heart, it has now given Trump something else to be sad about today, which is really unfortunate.Man who spent 20 years in prison for murder he did not commit describes his long fight for justice and how his children have changed his outlook
"I still trip up on kerbs" says John Kamara, "but maybe that's just because I'm not looking where I'm going."
There are no kerbs in prison. Crossing roads, judging traffic speed and remembering to step up to the pavement were some of the many hurdles Kamara faced when he was suddenly released after serving 20 years for a murder he did not commit.
Today is the 10th anniversary of his release. The decade has seen him plummet from euphoria to despair, wishing he was back inside, before reclaiming his life to forge a new future.
Today, he is the proud father of two young boys. He sits in his London home, telling a stream of funny stories about how he has spent the last 10 years.
The house is crammed with family life. Two years and a day after he stepped out of court an innocent man, Kamara's first son, William, was born.
Willy is a gentle seven-year-old who says his dad's "eyes look sad" in the TV footage of those early, traumatic months of freedom.
It was meeting his partner and the birth of their son that dramatically altered the course of his life.
"I used to think I'd go to the Caribbean, I'll get a brand new Merc, then, when she was pregnant it was like: 'Oh, forget the Merc, better get a family car now,'" he says.
With his partner continuing to work, Kamara, a man who had spent 16 of his 20 years in solitary confinement, faced a new challenge – to become a modern man and embrace childcare.
Father and son made an unlikely addition to playgroups. "You'd go there and there'd be all women with babies. Then there'd be me. It was all tea and biscuits.
"At first, I'd get embarrassed, and then I'd say: 'Don't be worrying about me, I can gab as well.' I used to hear all their conversations about their husbands and then I'd see the husbands on the street and think: 'Oh, I know all about you.'"
He tells these stories with infectious humour, but this warm, easy manner belies the struggle he has faced ever since his arrest in 1981 for the murder of a Toxteth bookmaker. Convicted as a 24-year-old, his prison file shows he wrote more than 300,000 letters to MPs, campaigners and even the pope, fighting for his freedom with only the characters from Radio 4 dramas and the Archers on the radio in his cell for company.
It was the discovery of over 200 previously withheld witness statements that set Kamara's release on course.
Scheduled to last a week, the judges took only three days to quash the conviction. Handed £46 and a travel pass that ran out at 8pm, he rejoined the world with only the clothes on his back and denied the support automatically given to people rejoining society.
In those first months, he faced the prospect of life on the streets. With no national insurance number, he could not access benefits and so had neither a home nor money.
Later, he tracked down and tried to rebuild family relationships with siblings he had not seen for years. He met the father of the victim who, at the time of the trial, had called for him to be hanged.
The criminal justice system is littered with people who have been jailed for crimes they did not commit and most, when freedom came, struggled to release their minds from the injustice done. Kamara's nadir was when he realised he faced a new fight – to get compensation. "I was just waiting and waiting for the compensation, it took too long... about five years to get the full [payment]," he says.
"Then they took £75,000 off me for the board and lodgings."
All the time he fought this deduction, the government refused to settle, instead giving him interim payments. "I think my biggest mistake was getting credit cards," he says. "At first, I couldn't close my wallet."
Unable to sleep at night, he would spend time walking around Alexandra Palace, in north London, near the home of Paddy Hill, one of the Birmingham Six, who he was staying with.
He would sit at the top of the hill and look at the twinkling lights, wishing he was back inside.
He passed his driving test and being on the road gave him the release he needed. "I'd just want to drive. I wanted to get out. I couldn't sleep. I'd drive up to Scotland, wake my brother up have a cup of tea and then say I'd better get back now."
When he was inside, Kamara would borrow books from the prison library. War and Peace was his favourite, and today it sits on the mantelpiece above the gas fire, mid-way through his seventh re-read.
Images from prison library books filled his head with places he wanted to see. Later, when he was in the middle of the driving phase, he would go to those sites.
"I couldn't sleep, and then I found I was parked outside Shakespeare's house in Stratford-upon-Avon or at Warwick Castle," he says.
Then started the foreign trips. "We went to Pompeii... it was a photo I'd seen, apparently it was a bakery. I walked and walked and then found it and said: 'Go on, take a photo of me here' because I'd always remembered it".
Pursuit of a glimpse of the Mona Lisa followed ("rubbish"), the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and a trip to Germany for the 2006 World Cup.
Four years ago, the Home Office accepted that some help must be given to victims of miscarriages of justice and made funding available to the Citizens Advice Bureau to set up a support service.
It helps with accessing services such as counselling or signing up with a GP, and with bureaucracy that can seem insurmountable to someone who has been denied autonomy for so long.
When Sean Hodgson was released in 2009 after serving 27 years for a rape and murder he did not commit, his solicitor, Julian Young, was contacted by the service.
Young says it "works heroically with a small budget" but believes what is needed is a dedicated hostel, with full back-up support, to which miscarriage victims can go on release.
Hodgson's release was assisted by the support service finding him a room in a hotel, but his existence there was a solitary one, left alone to assume responsibility for taking the extensive medication he needs to maintain his mental health and vulnerable to those who sought to exploit his anticipated wealth.
He would often while away time in the sanctuary of his solicitor's offices. "When he had a problem," says Young "he contacted us, somebody gave him drugs, he came to us, we would then call the support service or an ambulance but that kind of assistance should have been on hand."
With typical understatement, Kamara says: "What's helped me has been having a stable relationship with someone and the kids."
His eyes twinkle as he describes the moment his son won the outstanding pupil award at school.
On the way back from picking them up from school, I ask the children what they would like to be when they grow up. "A policeman," says Willy, seriously. His father's eyebrows shoot up.
Kamara concludes: "What really used to make me think was when I used to put the kids to bed.
"I sit there sometimes and think to myself: 'Bloody hell – if I didn't win that appeal, they wouldn't be here.' It really makes me think about why I was fighting."British Anti Airport Expansion Activist Barred from Entering the US
John Stewart Escorted off Plane in NYC and Sent Back to London
Maureen Nandini Mitra
I just learned that John Stewart, a much-respected British activist who campaigns against airport expansion, was barred from entering the United States yesterday.
Photo by Barnali Ghosh
Sixty-two year old Stewart, who heads the London-based group HACAN ClearSkies, was reportedly escorted off a plane by armed guards when it landed in New York yesterday. He was questioned by FBI, Secret Service, and immigration officials for six hours at JFK Airport before being put back on a plane to London.
He may not be a familiar name in the US, but Stewart was a key organizer in the successful decade-long campaign to stop the expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport. In 2008 he was named Britain’s most effective green activist by the Independent on Sunday for bringing together aviation-impacted communities, climate activists, and fiscal conservatives. He has no criminal record.
It appears Stewart was denied entry because he was planning to spend a month travelling across the US on an Aviation Justice Express tour, sharing stories of how activists triumphed at Heathrow. Under US Department of Homeland Security rules, a person can be deemed ineligible to travel to the US if they are a possible “law enforcement or security risk.”
In a statement released this afternoon, Stewart said: “What seemed to concern [the authorities] was that I would be discussing, as part of my talk, the role that peaceful, non-violent civil disobedience played in the Heathrow Campaign. I wouldn’t be able to explain the campaign without doing so. In any case, it is completely legitimate to discuss the role of an activity which has featured so heavily in so many historical campaigns, from the American Civil Rights Movement, to the Suffragettes’ fight for the right of women to vote in the UK.”
US organizers who spent over a year planning the month-long national lecture tour on aviation and the environment, and are shocked and embarrassed at their government’s actions. “John hasn’t flown in years, he was flying to the US only because we had convinced him that it was for a good cause,” says Barnali Ghosh of the Berkeley-based nonprofit Aviation Justice, one of the tour organizers. (Read about Ghosh’s attempt to circle the globe without flying in EIJ’s Summer issue.) Within the US, Stewart was planning to travel from city to city by bus and train.
The plan now is to stick to the schedule and do most of the lectures/meetings with Stewart via Skype, as has been arranged with another invited speaker, award-winning Scottish climate activist Dan Glass.
Glass, who is associated with “Plane Stupid,” a loose association of autonomous anti airport expansion groups in the UK, can’t take part in the tour because his visa application was delayed indefinitely due to special “administrative processing.” He has a criminal “breach of peace” conviction for participating in a civil disobedience movement in UK.
“We hope people will attend the [Aviation Justice Express tour] meetings as a show of solidarity. But some events will obviously not be possible,” says Barnali.
Illustration courtesy MISSBADCHILD
If aviation justice is a term you’re unfamiliar with, it’s because here in the US, there’s little serious conversation about the huge impact of flying. Not even within climate change and social justice movement. This is in part because we are heavily dependent of air travel to get us across even short distances due to lack of other viable public transit options. Yet, flying is the single most environmentally damaging, carbon intense, activity an individual can do.
Worldwide, aviation was the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases that, unless curbed, would soon overwhelm all the cuts in emissions we manage to make elsewhere. Currently, aviation is responsible for nearly 5 percent of the total human impact on our climate.
This is also a social justice issue because only 5 percent of people in the world actually travel by air. Cheaper and more frequent flights haven’t helped make flying socially inclusive. Rather 75 percent of people using budget airlines are from the middle and upper-middle classes, who end up flying more, using cheap deals for quick weekend getaways or conferences etc. The people who are most vulnerable to climate change — the poorest inhabitants of the poorest nations — will most likely never board an airplane.
Aviation also has serious public health impacts, especially on people living close to big airports and under flight paths. Studies show emissions from aircraft, support vehicles and airport related traffic all contribute to a build up of potentially harmful gases such as oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These gases are deposited into the atmosphere across the US every day at rates that far exceed safety limits.
Right now, there are 3,400 airport construction, expansion, and development projects planned in the US, including large projects in New York and Chicago. Yet there’s little talk of the impact of these projects will have on our environment and health.
If we are serious about tackling emissions we need to start having more conversations about aviation and alternatives to it – like more land-based public transit, especially for short distances (like New York to Washington, D.C. or San Francisco to Los Angeles). As Barnali told me earlier: “We aren’t saying people shouldn’t fly at all, but rather that they should think about why and where they are flying and use other travel modes if possible.”
But it looks as if this is a conversation the US administration — already struggling to cope with a series of civil disobedience movements in the past few months, including the ongoing one on Wall Street — doesn’t want us to have.David Sharp, The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine -- A retired RCMP officer is in U.S. custody awaiting trial on charges stemming from the smuggling of narwhal tusks.
Gregory Logan, 58, of St. John, waived the right to a detention hearing Wednesday in Bangor, Maine, after being extradited to face charges of money laundering.
Logan was convicted in a New Brunswick court in 2013 for smuggling narwhal tusks to the U.S., was fined $385,000 and given an eight-month conditional sentence to be served in the community.
U.S. prosecutors say Logan smuggled 250 tusks worth $2 million across the border into Maine in false compartments in his vehicle.
Narwhals are medium-sized whales known for spiral tusks that can grow longer than 2 metres. They are protected by the U.S. and Canada.
Their tusks, like elephant tusks, are valued for their use in carvings and jewelry-making.
"As this case shows, wildlife trafficking can involve millions in illegal transactions, compounding the damage it does to the wealth and diversity of life on our planet," Assistant Attorney General John Cruden said in a statement from Washington, D.C.
Logan, who retired from the RCMP in 2003, was charged along with two U.S. residents.
Andrew Zarauskas was convicted and sentenced to 33 months in prison for his role in the smuggling operation. Jay Conrad pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
According to the indictment, Logan was working as a Mountie when he began bringing narwhal tusks across the border into the U.S. in 2000.
Under extradition terms, U.S. prosecutors dropped the smuggling charges and are pursuing money laundering charges from his transfer of money to Canada after selling the tusks in the U.S.
Court documents don't indicate whether Logan has retained a lawyer.
If convicted of money laundering, he would face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000, prosecutors said.Any company that can afford to turn down $3 billion dollar buyouts is having a very good year, and by most measures that matter for startups, disappearing-photo messaging service Snapchat is having a very good year. The “disappearing”-sharing app is picking up followers faster than a charismatic cult leader. What looked like it might be a novel digital toy for teens is now widely considered an ascendant social network—the next Facebook, the next Twitter, the next thing to make investors see dollar sign upon dollar sign.
But a company that hooks users in by offering a feeling of intimacy has a lot to lose if users decide it can’t be trusted—and it looks like Snapchat users have a new reason to worry.
Australian hacker team Gibson Security published functional code and developer hooks that let anyone infiltrate Snapchat after the messaging service ignored the hackers’ previous attempts to point out security breaches. In a forward published on its website, the GibSec team justified their hack by noting it had been four months since they last pointed out security issues and that “nothing had been really improved upon.”
GibSec released what they call a “full disclosure.” This means that anyone can technically create a clone of Snapchat’s API now, which can be used to track the company’s user base. Which means Snapchat should listen up.
ZDNet’s Violet Blue corresponded with the GibSec team about their decision to publish. The team discovered two separate potentially exploitative scripts: the “Find Friends” exploit and the “Bulk Registration” exploit. For “Find Friends,” the hackers say they can take a list of script-generated phone numbers and obtain “the Snapchat username of anyone with a number in that range.” So, basically, you can find anyone’s Snapchat username based on their phone number. This can help spammers locate active accounts; it can also get lying cheating cheaters with secret Snapchat names in trouble.
The hackers say Snapchat has known about it for around four months—and their team (self-described as poor students with no stable income, scrounging for Bitcoin online) was able to unveil 10,000 phone numbers in seven minutes. GibSec estimates that it would take just 26.2 hours to crunch through all of Snapchat’s numbers. (That was assuming all the numbers were from the U.S., which they aren’t, so it would take longer… but still.)
The “Bulk Registration” exploit is a way to mass-register accounts, as the name suggests. It’s not quite as fecund a hack for malevolence as “Find Friends” but it underlines Snapchat’s lax attitude toward security; a platform of its size and popularity should have a better buffer. And it’s not a matter of these scripts being so complex they evade detection; GibSec told ZDNet they could’ve fixed these issues with 10 lines of code.
It might take some mediating to get past the whole “publishing all the code” thing, but Snapchat should probably just hire GibSec to pay attention to their security lapses, because no one seems to be doing it over there.
[H/T ZDNet | Photo credit: Dani Latorre/Flickr]Sinn Féin is calling for an independent panel to investigate Northern Ireland’s botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.
The party set out the details on Friday of what it believes an independent investigation into the controversy should look like - just as First Minister Arlene Foster issued another defiant riposte to her critics.
Ms Foster, who has repeatedly rejected calls for her resignation, posted an image on Facebook on Friday of a guinea pig wearing a pair of pink love-heart shaped glasses below the phrase: “Can’t see all the haters when I’ve got my love glasses on.”
The post attracted criticism from her political opponents, with Alliance leader Naomi Long saying: “They’re not haters, they’re taxpayers. And angry ones at that.
“We’re in the teeth of a political and financial crisis, much of it of her making, and the First Minister opts for this by way of a response to her critics?
“Let’s hope love glasses also work for people lying on trolleys, waiting on cancer drugs, suffering benefit cuts, struggling to pay their heating and food bills, eh? Because it’s all just a £500 millioni joke, right?”
Ms Long continued: “I was excoriated for suggesting the DUP were even more arrogant and beligerent under Arlene Foster than Peter Robinson. I think even he would have balked at donning ‘love glasses’.”
Earlier, Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister accused the First Minster and Deputy First Minister of letting her down over the “cash for ash” controversy but she said she did not believe Arlene Foster should step aside from her role.
Claire Sugden, the independent unionist MLA, who forms the Stormont Executive with the DUP and Sinn Féin, says they have “reverted to party politics” over the RHI scheme but denied they see her as a “soft touch”.
Sinn Féin’s draft terms of reference were given to the DUP and civil servants on Wednesday after it rejected proposals by the head of the civil service.
Sinn Féin believes its proposals will “get to the truth in an independent and transparent way” and that Ms Foster must step aside from her role during the preliminary investigation into the scandal which is |
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But while farmers have largely welcomed the benefits from the Government's Direct Action approach to climate change, some remain critical of the secrecy around the carbon price, which they say makes it difficult to budget.
Twenty-one graziers in the Cape York region of far north Queensland have secured $36 million, to conduct savannah burning projects, with the money coming just in time to pay down debts and prevent the hottest savannah fires.
Money for savannah burning
Cheree Callaghan, of Fairlight Station, Cape York, is thrilled with the result.
"The news that we're going to be benefitting for the next ten years, it's amazing," Ms Callaghan said.
It will benefit our future generations, it will help our environment on our property, and put money back into the Cape York economy. Cheree Callaghan, Fairlight Station, Cape York
"It will benefit our future generations, it will help our environment on our property, and put money back into the Cape York economy by increased spending.
"While most of us have debt, it will come down, but the benefits will go into the country."
Ms Callaghan said the climate is changing, and they have been fighting some of the worst fires this drought.
"The storms are later than they used to be, we always relied on those," she said.
"Now we have the savannah burning project between January and the end of July."
Nicholas Cameron, of Country Carbon, who helped with the successful bids in the Emission Reduction Fund auction, said some pastoralists had taken their first holiday in years thanks to the first payment.
"I know a number of them are enjoying a cruise at this moment in the South Pacific. It's a long time since they've been able to do that," Mr Cameron said.
Hot late season fires in the tropics contribute 4 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gases, with methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
Mr Cameron says the money will help fund fire control.
"They have to manage the very hot fires that we see in the late dry season," he said.
"We're trying to manage the emissions from those [through methods like] early season burning, managing fire breaks, a lot of vigilance. The landholders are very busy trying to prevent fires or put them out when they do arise."
Graziers to be paid not to clear trees
Other winners in the government's centrepiece of climate action are drought-hit graziers in western Queensland and New South Wales.
Thirty-six landholders in that region have secured $120 million in the Emission Reduction Fund auction over 10 years to not clear native trees.
They'll receive their first payment by Christmas and Ben Keogh, of Australian Carbon Traders, who helped the farmers with the bidding process, said the reaction for some is relief, while others are near tears as the results have also brought financial hope.
"They're just so emotional that this is such an opportunity after so much difficulty with the drought, this is a really good bit of hope for them," Mr Keogh said.
The graziers will receive an average of more than $3 million each over the next decade.
Concern carbon price is too low
The money is welcome but Ben Keogh says the price per tonne of carbon at $12.25 is getting too low to do the work.
"It's getting to close to the cost of production," he said.
"You're asking landholders to change the way they manage their land, and that has a cost. At some point it becomes not worth it and the current price of $12.25 is close to that point."
In some cases, making money out of the scheme can come down to good fortune, with Mr Keogh citing the example of a large western Queensland grazier who received a lot of rain in 2010-11 season and instead of grazing it and clearing the native regrowth, decided to let the forest grow and continue to graze underneath.
Mr Keogh said that increased the carbon savings associated with the parcel of land, with little financial cost to the grazier.
Methane reducing piggeries win contracts
As with the last Emission Reduction Fund auction, piggeries collecting methane emissions have also won contracts.
A Western Australian piggery has been funded to install an effluent waste pond, converting manure with 60 per cent methane to biogas to replace power from the grid.
Other industry projects are for big supermarket chains like Coles, to reduce emissions through efficiencies with lighting, heating and refrigeration.
Bret Harper of carbon market analyst, Reputex, has welcomed the second carbon auction results, paying $550 million for 45 million tonnes of carbon abatement, but said it would not be enough on its own.
"Well Australia's net emissions are increasing, despite the efforts of the Emissions Reduction Fund," Mr Harper said.
"It is difficult to say how much the (Emissions Reduction Fund) ERF is contributing to emissions decreasing, but it's not enough to offset the emissions growth. So overall our net emissions are still increasing."
Ben Keogh, of Carbon Traders, wants the Federal Government to be more transparent about carbon pricing.
"Why do we have to be so secretive about the auction? Why can't you just state what a fair price is and we can make a decision whether it's worth doing the project," Mr Keogh said.
"Having to gamble on doing this activity you're asking us to do a hell of a lot in advance to help Australia reach its emissions target so, you know, it would be nice to know what a reasonable price for carbon is."“Okay, look, I’m not going to rewrite this paper for you, but I will give you a couple of tips that will help you rewrite it. First, the book title Sons and Lovers does not have an apostrophe in it... anywhere. Second, unless your ex-boyfriend is an authority on D.H. Lawrence, don’t base your thesis on something he said while making out.” – Daria Morgendorffer
Much-loved animated sitcom Daria screened on MTV in the United States for five seasons, beginning in March 1997. A spin-off from Mike Judge’s hugely successful Beavis and Butt-head, the series centred on Daria Morgendorffer, a smart, disaffected teenager with a caustic wit.
While Daria’s favourite TV show, Sick Sad World, featured heavily throughout the series, the show was also filled with literary references. Here are 57 books that Daria read or that were mentioned during the episodes, with links to free eBook editions where available in parentheses. As DariaWiki puts it, “If it’s old, morbid, or esoteric, Daria will read the hell out of it.”
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri ( Gutenberg Kindle Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen ( Gutenberg City of Glass by Paul Auster Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad ( Gutenberg Kindle The Red Badge of Courage by by Stephen Crane ( Gutenberg Kindle Fifth Business by Robertson Davies A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe ( Gutenberg Kindle ) The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky ( Gutenberg The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoyevsky ( Gutenberg Kindle Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert ( Gutenberg Kindle As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner On Moral Fiction by John Gardner The Life and Complete Work of Francisco Goya by Pierre Gassier Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg The Chess Garden by Brooks Hansen Catch-22 by Joseph Heller The Iliad by Homer ( Gutenberg Kindle Daisy Miller by Henry James ( Gutenberg Kindle The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka ( Gutenberg Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant ( Gutenberg Kindle The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence ( Gutenberg Kindle Death in Venice by Thomas Mann Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy Moby Dick by Herman Melville ( Gutenberg Kindle Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller 1984 by George Orwell ( eBooks@Adelaide Animal Farm by George Orwell ( eBooks@Adelaide The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe ( Gutenberg Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre Black Beauty by Anna Sewell ( Gutenberg Kindle Macbeth by William Shakespeare ( Gutenberg Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare ( Gutenberg Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ( Gutenberg Kindle Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis ( Gutenberg Kindle The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli ( Gutenberg The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Our American Cousin by Tom Taylor ( Gutenberg Kindle Walden by Henry David Thoreau ( Gutenberg Kindle Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy ( Gutenberg Kindle War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy ( Gutenberg Kindle The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Henry & Glenn Forever by Igloo Tornado The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ( Gutenberg Kindle The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain ( Gutenberg Kindle The Art of War by Sun Tzu Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G.Wells ( Gutenberg Kindle Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton ( Gutenberg Kindle )
All five seasons of Daria are available on Hulu Plus and on DVD.
For more book lists see Ernest Hemingway’s Reading List for a Young Writer and Stephen King’s Reading List: 22 Books Recommended via Twitter.Don't bring on the vans. Murad Sezer/Reuters
Minibus startups like Chariot aren’t succeeding. But transit shouldn’t be judged on whether it turns a profit.
In 1914, during a streetcar strike in Los Angeles, a motorist in a newfangled private car began giving rides for a jitney—slang for nickel. The flexible service and novel automotive technology easily seduced passengers, and soon jitneys swept the nation, challenging run-down and crowded streetcar systems. But they also clogged city streets, caused numerous crashes, and cannibalized transit ridership. Following a public outcry, many cities, including Los Angeles, decided by referendum to regulate them. By the mid-1920’s, jitneys had gone virtually extinct, replaced by tightly regulated taxi companies. Today, a similar story is unfolding for microtransit. Microtransit is a for-profit bus service that caters to commuters willing to pay more for a ride that’s more direct and comfortable than those offered by existing public transportation. Since 2014, microtransit companies have been using sophisticated algorithms to plan fixed routes, based on demand, in San Francisco, Boston, and New York. The model has been hailed—and particularly by CityLab—as having the potential to change urban mobility.
In my Ph.D. research and as an entrepreneur, I’ve developed algorithms to improve transit operations using real-time information. I believe that software can transform the place of transit in metro regions, and I support anything that helps the public move more efficiently. But microtransit is not living up to its promise these days. In just three years, three of the leading companies have gone out of business. In October, the California Public Utilities Commission forced Chariot, a microtransit company recently purchased by Ford for $65 million, to cease operations for several days, after they found that drivers did not have the proper license to operate. Unlike the jitney regulations, which were created in reaction to entrepreneurial activity, microtransit regulations already existed when these start-ups began operating. Class B licenses, which Chariot drivers lacked on three consecutive inspections, apply to tractors, trucks, and mini-buses. These regulations are not the product of overreaching government curbing innovation; they are in place to ensure the basic safety of drivers and passengers. If a private transportation company cannot make a profit while providing a safe service, then it should not be in business. Microtransit is squeezed between the high cost of complying with regulations, and providing a service that people can afford. After raising $2.5 million, Leap Transit went out of business in July 2015 following a cease-and-desist order for failing to meet safety and insurance requirements in California, where it had been operating in San Francisco. Another Bay Area mini-bus venture, Loup, failed despite receiving $1.5 million from Twitter co-founder Evan Williams’ Obvious Ventures. Earlier this year, Bridj shut down after a pilot in Kansas City fell short of expectations, and a large injection of capital, reportedly from Toyota, fell through. In every case, microtransit companies race for private investments to subsidize increasing operating costs as local governments enforce regulations—with the hope, of course, of eventually returning that investment. “Not to sound dramatic [but] no one in the history of the world has created a profitable mass transit service,” Chariot CEO Ali Vahabzadeh told The Verge earlier this year. “That’s our mission.” But public transit is not supposed to be judged on whether it turns a profit. Like private cars, air travel, and freight, public transit needs to be subsidized to offer benefits that extend to society at large. Transit generates economic growth, promotes healthier lifestyles, and enables access to opportunities while minimizing the negative externalities of transportation, like air pollution and traffic congestion. The high occupancy of public transit can make the most effective use of limited space and energy resources. Transit provides mobility for those who would otherwise have no way of participating in society.
To maximize ridership, microtransit companies focus exclusively on the most traveled corridors, which are often the most popular bus routes. Leap, Loup, and Chariot got their start on San Francisco’s Route 30. But with 14-person capacity, microtransit’s mini-buses do not compare to 40-foot transit buses that can carry up to 80 people. It is hard to say whether microtransit increases or reduces traffic overall, which depends on the transportation modes customers switched from. But in any case, microtransit takes away riders and revenue from transit agencies’ most popular routes. This makes it more difficult for transit agencies to provide service to isolated neighborhoods and mobility for those who cannot afford the higher fares charged by private companies.
Chariot aims to be more than a niche business for the advantaged portion of the country. But microtransit is squeezed between the high cost of complying with regulations, and providing a service that people can afford. Other than subsidies, there is no proven, scalable solution to this problem. As Chariot and its competitors expand, the fixed cost of developing software is diluted. But the bulk of their operating costs, such as providing safe vehicles and qualified drivers, will remain high. And the social impact may become a net negative, for as microtransit grows, it threatens to push public transportation further into decline. Traditionally, transit agencies have considered software as peripheral to service. Using crowd-sourced route planning and running smaller vehicles along less traveled routes could help agencies better address some customers’ evolving needs. Perhaps microtransit companies could provide these services, and help agencies expand their impact and operate more effectively. But public leaders should take the reins to envision the kind of service they want to deliver and the tools they need for that. To be accessible to all and benefit society as a whole, innovation should come from within.LOWELL, Mass. — Devin McCourty was still wearing navy and red Wednesday, but his time with the New England Patriots could be nearing an end.
The All-Pro safety is a free agent this offseason and will officially hit the open market March 10 if the Patriots don’t franchise him before that date, but He was still wearing his Patriots gear at Lowell High School for its Fuel Up to Play to Play 60 event. McCourty was on hand to teach students how to eat healthy and “fuel greatness.”
Free agency was on McCourty’s mind at the event, however.
“I’ve kind of broken it down. I guess the worst-case scenario would be, I’d be franchised and come back to play for another year here,” McCourty said, hoping for a longer contract. “For me, that’s no reason to stress. I love it here. The franchise tag is player-friendly now, it’s a good number, so there’s no reason really for me to be stressed. If I hit free agency, I hope there’s some teams that will want me to play there, so hopefully that goes over well, and it’s still exciting.”
After beginning his career with the Patriots and winning Super Bowl XLIX earlier this month, remaining in New England is McCourty’s preference, saying they have “a huge advantage.”
“If all things are equal, I’ll be back here,” McCourty said.
McCourty’s brother, cornerback Jason, already has tried to sway the safety toward signing with his Tennessee Titans. McCourty admitted that he has started to picture himself in a different uniform.
“I guess it was hard, but now, a week away, it’s impossible not to,” McCourty said. “I’ve thought about all the different scenarios of whether I’m here or somewhere else. At this point, I don’t have a contract, so it could happen, I could be playing somewhere else. It would be crazy not to think that that could be reality. I’ve thought about all of those scenarios.”
The Patriots would be insane not to bring McCourty back. He’s far and away the best safety in free agency, and the 2015 draft is shallow at his position. If push comes to shove, the Patriots could franchise McCourty, hoping to work out a longer deal. McCourty has no problem with that possibility.
“I mean, I guess every player, you’d rather have a long-term deal or a chance to get a long term deal, but like I said, it’s not a bad situation to be in,” McCourty said.
McCourty is a three-time captain, and his leadership is one of the key reasons why the Patriots’ secondary rarely blows coverages. He’s fast, instinctual and does a tremendous job of lining up his fellow defensive backs in all of New England’s multiple schemes.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports ImagesA pregnant Chinese piano teacher who has lived in New Zealand since 2013 may soon be forced to leave the country due to a recent change in visa rules.
Since last year, 26-year-old Saber Xie had been on a skilled migrant visa under the sponsorship of her employer, but it is set to expire in March. Under previous rules, she could have been eligible to apply for citizenship in the middle of next year.
However, a new stipulation has been added to New Zealand’s Skilled Migrant Visa back in April requiring skilled migrants to earn a minimum annual salary of NZD $48,859 ($35,300).
As a teacher, Xie earns NZD $500 ($360) per week, which is way below the requirement. Xie had previously asked her employer for higher pay, but it still wasn’t enough to get her over the threshold.
As she and her partner, Jeff McDonald, are expecting their baby to arrive soon, they are worried about how they’ll cope with her possible deportation.
“At this point either she has to take her kiwi son to China and raise it without his dad, or go back and leave him with me,” McDonald told Stuff.
“We want to raise our son in a loving home. We want to look for any possible way we can to be a family.”
Sponsoring Xie as McDonald’s partner is also no longer an option since he’s already sponsored two other people in the past.
Back in 2013, Xie moved from China to New Zealand to study music in University of Auckland. After graduating two years later with a postgraduate diploma, Xie was able to stay in the country via an open work visa and began teaching piano at Able Music, which is a local music academy. The school sponsored her visa that will expire next year.
An immigrant specialist advised that at this point, only a ministerial intervention will be able to help Xie.
“The only way forward for them is to go to the minister,” Malcolm Pacific Immigration’s David Cooper was quoted as saying. He noted that while a lot of requests had been denied, there are some cases which were approved.
Feature image via Facebook
h/t: YOMYOMFBy Lee Min-hyungSINGAPORE ― Lotus Formula One team chief operating officer Thomas Mayer says the team has gained "smarter competitiveness" after adopting Microsoft's business management tools."What has happened since is that we now have the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT), which is all about technology," Mayer told a press conference at Microsoft (MS) Asia Pacific headquarters in Marina Bay, Singapore, last week.The racing team forged a partnership with the software giant in 2012 to use its enterprise resources planning (ERP) solutions in what the team believed was a "game-changing" decision.The Lotus team previously said that its traditional management processes were holding back innovation in a fast-moving environment.Mayer said Microsoft had helped the team to be more competitive in the time-sensitive racing game."We can now streamline data processes in real time, go to big data and immediately get some algorithm," he said.The Lotus F1 team has used the MS ERP solutions software, Microsoft Dynamics AX, for about two-and-a-half years.Mayer said the Lotus team was not just a racing team, but a technology company applying production technology into its vehicles.He said the team was using a supercomputer to manage the whole process of racing."Our aerodynamics engineers are working to design the shapes of the car," he said. "We need to pick the most promising one not in terms of a one-off game because it should be developed throughout the season. For us, it's not about saving money ― it's about getting the most out of the money we invest."Last year, the Lotus team worked on 23,500 parts drawings for each car, and the number is expected to be much higher this year."It's all about integrating different systems in different layers," Mayer said. "We have gotten insights we have never had."The successful deployment of Dynamics ERP solutions has led the Lotus team to adopt Dynamics Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for online use.Microsoft Dynamics Worldwide general manager Christian Pedersen stressed the importance of customer management in all parts of the business world."Think about the connectedness of Formula One, and think about the amount of sensors and data they get, use and analyze," he said.Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns or gray towns, were all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States that practised a form of segregation by enforcing restrictions excluding people not white Anglo-Saxon Protestants via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation, and violence. The term came from signs posted that "colored people" had to leave town by sundown.[1] Sundown towns were primarily a Northern phenomenon.[2] "At least until the early 1960s, …northern states could be nearly as inhospitable to black travelers as states like Alabama or Georgia."[3] Contents
History Edit
Other minorities targeted Edit
African Americans were not the only minority group not allowed to live in white towns. One example, according to Loewen, is that in 1870, Chinese people made up one-third of Idaho's population. Following a wave of violence and an 1886 anti-Chinese convention in Boise, almost none remained by 1910.[10]:51 In another example, the town of Gardnerville, Nevada, is said to have blown a whistle at 6 p.m. daily alerting Native Americans to leave by sundown.[10]:23 Three additional examples of the numerous road signs documented during the first half of the 20th century include:[12] In Colorado: "No Mexicans After Night".
In Connecticut: "Whites Only Within City Limits After Dark".
In Nevada, the ban was expanded to include Japanese. Jews were also excluded from living in some sundown towns, such as Darien, Connecticut,[10] and Lake Forest, Illinois, (which kept anti-Jewish and anti-African-American housing covenants until 1990).[13] In Maria Marulanda's 2010 article in the Fordham Law Review titled "Preemption, Patchwork Immigration Laws, and the Potential for Brown Sundown Towns", Marulanda outlines the possibility for non-blacks to be excluded from towns in the United States. Marulanda argued that immigration laws and ordinances in certain municipalities could create similar situations to those experienced by African Americans in sundown towns. Hispanic Americans are likely the target in these cases of racial exclusion.[14] Chinese were also excluded from San Francisco.[15]
Travel guides Edit
Sundown suburbs and inburbs Edit
Many suburban areas in the United States were incorporated following the establishment of Jim Crow laws. The majority of suburbs were made up of all-white residents from the time they were first created. Harassment and inducements helped to keep African Americans out of new suburban areas. Schooling also played a large role in keeping the suburbs white. The suburbs often did not provide schools for blacks, causing black families to send their children to school in large municipalities such as Atlanta, Georgia.[11] African-Americans were forced to pay a fee to the central municipality in order for their children to attend school there. Despite the fee, they were not provided with transportation to school in the city. The education barrier to African Americans in the suburbs caused many to migrate to cities across the United States. In addition to the educational barriers, home developers in the 1950s built all-white subdivisions, pushing more African Americans out of the suburbs.[11] The African-Americans who lived in suburban areas were janitors, cooks, and gardeners for white families.[citation needed] The few African Americans that lived in the suburbs occupied their own working-class sections of the neighborhoods.[citation needed] Towns with interracial populations such as Chamblee, Georgia, and Pearl, Mississippi, forced their African Americans to leave town as they developed into suburbs.[11]
Sundown towns in popular culture Edit
Films and plays Edit
See also Edit
References EditSince the 1990s, the culture wars have repeatedly been left for dead. Just months after political commentator Pat Buchanan declared a “cultural war” at the 1992 Republican National Convention, neoconservative Irving Kristol remarked, “I regret to inform Pat Buchanan that those wars are over and the left has won.” In 1997, New York Times reporter Janny Scott observed that the term “culture wars” had become as anachronistic as a “leisure suit.” “Not long ago, one could hardly get through a week without stumbling across somebody or other’s culture war—outraged fundamentalists or neoconservatives or righteous multiculturalists raving about Hollywood or political correctness or Robert Mapplethorpe or Allan Bloom,” she wrote. But now the culture warriors had arrived “at Appomattox.” In 2001, in an essay called “Life After Wartime,” Andrew Sullivan also smelled surrender:
It wasn’t that long ago that we were all being rushed to the barricades to defend or attack any number of... hot-button social topics—abortion rights, gay visibility, pop-culture trash, affirmative action, the war on drugs—and not only as separate political issues but as a contest for the very soul of the country. Almost overnight, though, the energy seems to have seeped out of these conflicts.... [T]he crackle of cultural gunfire is now increasingly distant.
More recently, intellectual historian Andrew Hartman argued in 2015 that the culture wars “are history. The logic of the culture wars has been exhausted. The metaphor has run its course.”
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Some evangelicals, frustrated over how little the Republicans they helped to elect have been able (or willing) to deliver, have retreated from cultural politics. Others, convinced that the late, great fusion of evangelical piety and conservative politics is hurting the cause of Christ, have done the same. But evangelicals who have promised to do cultural war no more remain a minority. Every day new conservative Christians take to the Capitol or to the Web to fight the good fight for God and the Good. There they meet up with Tea Party members whose cultural concerns run deep and whose zeal matches that of the most ardent fundamentalists. As a result, there has been no truce in the contemporary culture wars, and no surrender.
In fact, recent years have witnessed an expansion of the culture wars, beyond moral and religious questions into bread-and-butter political matters such as taxing and spending. The modus operandi of the culture wars—the accusations of treason, the rhetoric of good and evil, the character assassinations, and the equation of compromise with surrender—have bled over into politics writ large, infusing government shutdowns and debt-ceiling battles not only with poisonous partisanship but also with the metaphors and mind-set of war. The result is a Culture War of Everything that is rapidly transforming previously bipartisan matters (foreign policy toward Israel, for example) into life-or-death struggles between Democrats and the GOP. Increasingly, we do politics like we have done cultural warfare. We are all culture warriors now.
This persistence and expansion of the culture wars is in some respects evidence of a thriving democracy and a vibrant public square. In a diverse country that welcomes debate, disagreements are inevitable. And in a place where so many different gods mean so much to so many, those differences are going to heat up.
But culture wars are also perennial because of compromises made at the outset of the American experiment, not least the founders’ decision to bequeath to their descendants a republic that was “half slave and half free.” Say what you want about the Obama presidency and the pitched battles it saw over such matters as whether the highest marginal tax rate should be 35 or 39.6 percent (or whether the debt ceiling should be raised by 2 percent), it simply isn’t credible to claim that the polarization that gripped the country in the Obama years had nothing to do with race. Trump rallies are whiter than Utah in winter, and Obama won 95 percent of the African American vote in 2008 and 93 percent in 2012. Despite efforts of many contemporary culture warriors to pivot from race to family matters, culture wars rhetoric continues to be racially coded and the borders of our culture zones still roughly track those of the Union and the Confederacy. “Make no mistake,” The Atlantic columnist Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote in his widely read essay “Fear of a Black President,” “today’s Republican radicalism, with all of its attendant terrifying brinksmanship, is the grandchild of the white South’s devastating defeats in the struggle over racial exclusion.”
Regarding the vexed relationship between church and state, the founders rejected the European model of church-state marriage but never finalized a divorce, so this separation remains ambiguous. Is the United States a Christian country? A secular one? It has always been both. The founders signed on to a godless Constitution and did not require presidents to pass any religious test. But the country has never warmed to the French model of a naked public square stripped of religious influence. In fact, whatever wall of separation Americans built in the early republic was short and weak. Many presidents declared national days of fasting and prayer. Congress funded military chaplains and opened its sessions with supplications to the Almighty. This awkward compromise made prior culture wars over Catholics and Mormons all but inevitable. It also gave Supreme Court justices a lot to try to sort out. Nowadays the nation’s highest court seems to be called upon every year to alchemize the murky into the clear—to determine just how many reindeers are required in a municipal Nativity display or what sorts of town-meeting prayers are sufficiently generic to pass constitutional muster.
Culture wars also persist because of the long-standing affinity between white evangelicalism and free-market capitalism. The Election Day victories that culture wars help to produce for Republicans lead to laws that benefit businesses by cutting regulations and securing corporate subsidies. But free-market capitalism does nothing to conserve traditional culture. In fact, it disrupts it. Capitalism’s bottom line is the bottom line, so retailers feel no compunction about competing with churches for customers on Sunday mornings or about opening big-box stores that will turn beloved Main Streets into ghost towns. As the economy grows, these losses build, and with them come new anxieties and new culture clashes.
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Finally and most basically, culture wars persist because conservatism persists, and because American conservatives from the French Revolution forward have seen cultural warfare as a way to win political power by promising to restore forms of life threatened with extinction. Political scientist Corey Robin is right to see modern conservatism as an effort to maintain hierarchies. Conservatives fight to protect the privileges of superiors—what the Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke called the “chain of subordination” of soldiers to their officers, workers to their employers, tenants to their landlords, and children to their parents. But these political hierarchies are not the only concerns of conservatives, who will also go to the mat to defend cultural, moral, and theological hierarchies. And conservatives fight most fiercely to defend hierarchies that are falling away.
LOST CAUSES
In America’s many culture wars, traditionalists have decried the loss of Protestant consensus, the loss of American power overseas, the loss of theological and moral certainty, the loss of a unified nation, the loss of the hometown, the loss of the traditional family, the loss of a homogeneous society, and the loss of a simpler way of life threatened by the complexities of immigration, urbanization, and globalization. So cultural politics are always a politics of nostalgia, driven by those who are determined to return to what they remember (rightly or wrongly) as a better place, where straight, white, Protestant men ruled the roost and no one dared cluck at their authority.
This is why culture wars are often over before they have begun—because the fights culture warriors pick are almost always “lost causes” that are already moving into the liberal column. In fact, to borrow a term from the financial markets, you can use the culture wars as “leading indicators.” Just as the Dow Jones Transportation Average is said to forecast the upcoming state of the broader economy, increasing anger and anxiety about a cultural issue almost always foretell an impending liberal victory. In this respect, culture wars are, to borrow a term from former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, a “revolt from reality”—a cry against what is coming around the next corner. And reality rarely bends to accommodate.
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Today, the fact that the Left is winning the contemporary culture wars is widely acknowledged by the Right, whose conservative laments over losing the culture wars are commonplace. In an era when even the pope is saying that too much has been made in recent years of abortion, contraception, and homosexuality, much of the current conversation seems to turn on what conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat called “the terms of our surrender.” “We are not really having an argument about same-sex marriage anymore,” he wrote in 2014. “Instead, all that’s left is the timing of the final victory—and for the defeated to find out what settlement the victors will impose.”
Such concessions do nothing to extinguish the culture wars, however. In fact, they rekindle them, since conjuring up losses in cultural politics is a time-honored strategy for securing Election Day victories. The strategy is to speak of losing just enough to keep the base perpetually girded for battle, but not so much to demoralize them. In this way, the culture wars are perpetually rising from the grave. Rather than being killed by any given defeat, conservative culture warriors seem to be revitalized by it. A loss on same-sex marriage only underscores the conviction that the nation is on a slippery slope to hell, and stiffens the resolve to engage a new enemy in a new battle. The “religion of the lost cause” is the faith of Southerners who lost the so-called War of Northern Aggression, but Federalists who lost our first culture war in and around the election of 1800 waxed nostalgic about their own “lost causes.” So did anti-Catholics, anti-Mormons, and drys, who lost their crusades for a more homogeneous nation, and members of the Moral Majority who are a majority no more (and, in fact, never were).
THINGS OUT OF PLACE
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In “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” published in Harper’s in 1964 as the Cold War was crackling hot and Barry Goldwater was realigning the spine of modern conservatism, historian Richard Hofstadter detected in U.S. history a recurring “sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy.” Those who are caught up in this “paranoid style,” as he put it, see conspiracies at every turn and the apocalypse at the end of every road:
[The paranoid] does not see social conflict as something to be mediated and compromised, in the manner of the working politician. Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish. Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated—if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention. This demand for total triumph leads to the formulation of hopelessly unrealistic goals, and since these goals are not even remotely attainable, failure constantly heightens the paranoid’s sense of frustration.
Hofstadter, “the iconic public intellectual of liberal condescension” according to conservative columnist George Will, has been criticized for finding this irrationality largely on the right—in groups such as the McCarthyites and the John Birch Society—and for reducing American cultural politics to a psychological disorder. (As church historian Philip Jenkins drolly put it: “we are liberal; you are mentally ill.”) But Hofstadter was right to home in on psychology as a culture wars catalyst and on the conservative propensity for setting unattainable goals. The psychological style of culture warriors is not paranoia, however. It is anxiety—anxiety about loss, about the passing away of a beloved “way of life.” But it is also anxiety about things out of place: Catholics in public schools, women in the workplace, foreigners in communities, gays and lesbians on the street, and a black man in the White House.
In her classic study Purity and Danger, anthropologist Mary Douglas presented an intriguing reading of kosher food prohibitions in the biblical book of Leviticus. Rejecting the popular view that kosher eating began as a form of primitive hygiene—no pork, no trichinosis—Douglas offered a symbolic interpretation. What drove these food restrictions were notions of purity and pollution, and what made things impure and polluted in the symbolic world of the ancient Israelites was their ambiguity—their stubborn refusal to fit existing systems of classification. Animals of the sea are supposed to have fins and scales and swim from place to place. But what about a lobster? What sort of thing is that? It |
April of 2013, the vice president of Dockers clothing stated that they had noticed the trend in larger phones and have begun to resize the size of their pants pockets “to accommodate the growing size of smartphones”.
Not everyone has adopted phablets though, and you might be one of them. You might stare at a friend’s Nokia Lumia 1520 or Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and wonder when the technology market began to lose their minds. However, here is the deal, the way we use our smartphones are changing and the market is simply adapting to what people want. The Thought Process Think about how you use your phone. While you probably do use your smartphone to make calls, it does not take a social science major to realize that a majority of consumers use the devices more often to browse the web, update their social network statuses (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), take pictures, send text messages, and play games. In a world where smartphones have become more than a way to place a phone call manufactures need to adapt to how consumers are using their devices. Tablets are great, but we cannot always take them everywhere we go. A phablet though, that is a device that can fit in our pocket and act as a “mini” portable tablet. The biggest problem is that some consumers are stuck in the world of Apple’s first iPhone. While many smartphones preceded the original iPhone, Apple made full size capacitive touch screens the new standard back in June of 2007.Annapolis, Maryland. Maryland has the highest median income in the US. Flickr / Charlie Stinchcomb
A recent analysis from Pew Charitable Trusts' Stateline blog found that the middle class shrunk in every state in the US between the years of 2000 and 2013 (the most recent data available).
"Middle class" is a tricky concept. Depending on where you live, you can feel middle class earning as much as $250,000 a year— about five times the US median income of $52,250 from the same time period.
In this analysis, Pew defined middle class households as those earning 67%-200% of a state's median income. So... how much is that?
Below, we took the median income numbers from the US Census Bureau's 2013 American Community Surve y, which Pew used in its analysis and which we've listed in the leftmost column. Then, we did the math to figure out how much middle-class earners make in each state, based on Pew's definition above. The states are listed in descending order based on median income.Unofficial Twin Photos Spark Legal Action by Brad Pitt
Actor and new father of twins,is livid and he will prove it if you push him. A photographer, armed with a special telephoto lens, was able to snap some shots of Brad and partnerand family on the grounds of their secluded estate, Chateau Miraval in the south of France.
The alleged photos are being shopped around now and Pitt has instructed his lawyer to threaten legal action against The Smoking Gun, the source who apparently first put them on their website. Pitt's legal team has issued stern letters to multiple sources, instructing them to immediately remove photos from websites. They have also instructed The Smoking Gun to inform the Pitt legal team of any pertinent information relative to any ongoing attempts by other news sources to purchase photos. They also forbid them from publishing the legal letter - but that didn't stop them from posting it on their site.
Reuters is reporting that the final price in the bid for the first exclusive photos of Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon is $11 million. The couple are said to be donating all proceeds to charity. But if photos hit news stands before the official release - the exclusive photo deal would be worth far less to the top bidder.
This situation may well push forward the release of exclusive photographs. We can't wait to see them.
Photos: WENNAnthony Scaramucci Says Guilfoyle Dating Rumors Had Nothing to Do with Exit
Anthony Scaramucci Says Kimberly Guilfoyle Dating Rumors Had Nothing to Do with Exit
EXCLUSIVE
Anthony Scaramucci's is calling BS on White House sources who say he was fired over rumors he was dating Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Here's what the sources told us -- one of them, in Scaramucci's world, pointed out he and Guilfoyle had been seen together in public a number of times over the last year. Some of the events were public and others were private dinners in and around the NYC area.
The most recent, of course, was the private dinner with the President at the White House on July 26... the dinner which was leaked to the media, triggering Scaramucci's now infamous tirade.
Now to Monday morning... at 9:27 AM PT we reached out to the White House Press Office to get Scaramucci's side of the story. At the same time, we reached out to a well-placed source in the West Wing... again seeking a comment from Scaramucci. We're told our inquiry circulated among various people in the West Wing.
At 9:55 AM PT a source close to Scaramucci told us he and Kimberly were just friends. Likewise, a FOX News spokesperson told us they'd been friends for years, and met through her work at FOX. Sources told us, and now Scaramucci confirms, he went ballistic over the White House dinner leak because Kimberly was at the dinner and he knew about the dating rumors that were circulating.
At 11:35 AM PT... Scaramucci resigned from his post as White House Communications Director.
Our sources say, going into Monday morning, Scaramucci was not out, but "on thin ice." We're told the President told Scaramucci in no uncertain terms to keep his head low and act professionally.
As you know, Monday was General Kelly's first day as White House Chief of Staff, and our sources say the last thing he and the President wanted was another news cycle on Scaramucci on Kelly's first day.
However, Scaramucci insists the rumors were not connected to his demise.With growing populations causing a continual rise in water demands, using less water and using it wisely has never been more important. The water issue is local as well as global; by implementing a few simple practices you can significantly reduce your water consumption and help to conserve one of your most precious natural resources.
Indoor Water Saving Tips
Replace older toilets with high efficiency ones.
Have showers instead of baths.
Install showerheads that use no more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute.
When you shower, first wet your body, then turn off the water as you apply soap. Then turn on the water to rinse the soap off again.
Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth, use water only to rinse and gargle.
Wash your fruits and vegetables in a bowl of water rather than under a running tap.
Fix leaky faucets in your kitchen and bathroom.
Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full.
Outdoor Water Saving TipsIt has been 16 months since Tim Kennedy last set foot inside the UFC Octagon.
The Special Forces Weapons Sergeant's latest UFC fight was his fourth Octagon outing, which ended in a controversial TKO loss against Yoel Romero. Since then, Kennedy has been vocal about Romero's steroid abuse, which was later proved correct when the Cuban-American failed one of USADA's tests. However, Kennedy remains an inactive fighter on the sidelines.
Asked to explain his lengthy absence from the promotion, Kennedy took aim at the Rebook policy.
"Alright, I'm just going to go ahead and say that Reebok is the best apparel company on the planet," Kennedy told Submission Radio. "They spell names correctly, they have impeccable design that they really, really grasp the culture of mixed martial arts and especially all their unique cultures of the athletes that exist within it, and they've done the perfect job of marketing each of us individually and making us look the best that we can in every single fight. Now that I've said that, hopefully I can have a fight.
"Obviously none of that is true and it's like the opposite of every single one of those things, but okay, I've said it - and you can quote me on that, that those were my words - and now I'll probably get a fight. Probably if Anderson Silva beats Bisping - which I don't think he will - but if he does, that would be my dream fight, is to wreck Anderson Silva in a round."
According to Kennedy, he was offered a fight against former light-heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida in March but was unable to accept the offer.
"They offered me Lyoto Machida at the end of March, but I'm going to be deployed for the military and it's for the US Army, and they're really hard to say ‘no' to. Like, by hard, I mean they'll put me in prison if I say ‘no'. Yeah. So I couldn't fight at the end of March, I asked for a different date. Lyoto would be a fun fight; Anderson would be a really easy fight. So obviously I'd prefer to beat up a former champ, steroid user - and stylistically it's an easier match.
"But ether way, as soon as I get back from this deployment I would love to fight whoever they want."Following the lead of rivals Ron Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, GOP hopeful Mitt Romney said Tuesday he will not take part in billionaire Donald Trump’s Dec. 27 debate.
Mr. Romney told Fox News he will skip the Trump-moderated Iowa debate that has been criticized by some Republicans as a distraction and potential embarrassment.
SEE RELATED:
Republican strategist Karl Rove, appearing on Fox News Monday, said: “[Trump] could do a lot of damage to somebody and I suspect it’s not gonna be to the candidate that he’s leaning towards. This is a man who says himself that he’s going to potentially run for president of the United States starting next May. Why do we have that person moderating a debate?”
Sen. John McCain on Tuesday also questioned the wisdom of the GOP identifying its candidate with Mr. Trump:
“There are too many debates and we have lost the focus on from what the candidates’ vision for America is to who’s going to make a mistake … I don’t think it’s helping the Republican Party or our candidates,” the 2008 GOP presidential candidate said on Fox.
Mr. Trump, a New York real estate magnate and reality television star who considered his own run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination earlier this year, has responded to the criticism by calling Mr. Paul and Mr. Huntsman “joke candidates” and referring to Mr. Rove as a “political hack.’
Mr. Trump created a buzz earlier this year with a pro-Trump, anti-Obama media blitz in which he hammered on questions about the president’s birth certificate.
Mr. Paul and Mr. Huntsman earlier declined to participate in the debate, sponsored by hosted by Newsmax and ION Television, but GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have said they will take part.Danny Ferry, a key architect to the Hawks’ current run of success, is returning to the NBA.
Ferry, a former president and general manager of the Hawks, joined the New Orleans Pelicans as a special advisor to the Pelicans’ basketball operations staff, team GM Dell Demps announced Wednesday.
Ferry joined the Hawks in 2012 and remained until his contact was bought out in June 2015. Ferry had been on an indefinite leave of absence since September 2014 after the disclosure of controversial statements Ferry made during a conference call the previous June with team ownership and management.
Ferry was reading a scouting report on Luol Deng, who became a free agent that offseason, and read racially insenstive remarks about Deng, instead of choosing not to read them.
In June 2015, the AJC obtained copies of letters written to Ferry by the law firm Alston and Bird, who conducted an investigation into the matter the previous June, and from co-owner Todd Foreman. Those letters cleared Ferry of racial bias.
Ferry’s moves as a Hawks executive provided the foundation for the Hawks teams that finished 60-22 last season and 48-34 this season.Korean national soccer team forward tests positive for steroid, says he used mustache-growing cream
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (Yonhap) — South Korean national football forward Kang Soo-il has tested positive for a steroid, the sport’s officials announced Thursday.
The K League, the governing body of South Korean professional football, said Kang, who plays for Jeju United in the top-flight K League Classic, tested positive for an anabolic steroid called methyltestosterone. The Korea Anti-Doping Agency (KADA) conducted the test.
Kang had been selected to the national team, which defeated United Arab Emirates (UAE) 3-0 in a friendly match in Malaysia on Thursday and will take on Myanmar in a World Cup qualifier next week.
Under FIFA regulations, players who fail doping tests are banned from representing their nations. The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Kang will return to South Korea on Friday.
Kang told the league that he put on mustache-growing cream.
The K League said Kang’s A sample tested positive, and he may submit his B sample for further tests. Should Kang’s B sample also test positive, he will be subject to a doping hearing.
The K League hands down a 15-game ban for first-time offenders and a one-year suspension is in order for those who fail doping tests for the second time.
Third-time offenders are banned for life.Low riders uplift Christmas for children in East End
Kids run down the street to greet the Latin Fantasy Lowrider Car Club as the club prepares to hand out Christmas gifts, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014, in Houston. The club cruised in their lowrider vehicles, honking their horns and distributing toys and goodie-bags throughout Houston's low-income neighborhoods on Christmas Day. Latin Fantasy's tradition began 23 years ago with one truckload of toys and two lowriders cruising through low-income neighborhoods. less Kids run down the street to greet the Latin Fantasy Lowrider Car Club as the club prepares to hand out Christmas gifts, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014, in Houston. The club cruised in their lowrider vehicles, honking... more Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Low riders uplift Christmas for children in East End 1 / 15 Back to Gallery
With the rumble of a police cruiser and the glitter of an ice cream truck, the caravan of lowriders ambling through the East End likely interrupted more than one Christmas unwrapping Thursday morning.
The dozen cars winding through mostly low-income, Hispanic neighborhoods had flashing sirens, train horns, hydraulic suspensions, custom paint jobs and more importantly than all, Hot Wheels and Glam Girls.
That's what draws scores of children, emerging seemingly from nowhere, out their homes and toward the gifts.
"They know ya'll are coming, so they were waiting," said Jessica Camposano, who walked her four kids to Avenue O in Manchester, and gathered about fives times as many from the block on the way. "I just call them out because sometimes they stay without a gift."
About 30 members of the Latin Fantasy Lowrider Club led its yearly Christmas ruckus on Thursday, spending most of the day distributing toys and candy to the children who sprinted to the stretch of cars looking for what might be their only present of the holiday. Now in its 23rd year, the East End expects the Juguetes Para El Barrio drive, which handed out 3,500 toys and candy bags to Houston families.
"A lot of the kids, they've been around for so long that some of them are already adults, so they bring out their kids," said Shorty Villarreal, who leads the toy drive with his wife and four sons.
Villarreal explained that the tradition has become a bit of a local lore. Families might have heard about the Christmas surprise, but never seen it themselves.
"When we get there, they're always surprised that you actually made it to their neighborhood," he said.
One toy per child
The routine at each stop is similar: The constable's deputies' vehicles awaken the neighborhood with their piercing sirens. Startled young children begin a chase toward the trudging Chevy Stepside carrying the gifts, egged on by the volunteers standing in the trunk who wave and ask the eager kids to follow them to the corner.
The caravan stops, and the gift-giving begins. Over the course of a three-minute stop, boys trample the truck's driver's side. Girls trample the passenger's. "Merry Christmas!" says one volunteer as she hands a lime-green skateboard to one boy. "Feliz Navidad!" another says as kids walk away with bags of Cheetos.
Then a woman's finger lifts and twirls in the air. The cars are off.
That pace affords pajama-clad children little time to decide whether the gift meets their liking, beyond whether the present comes from the toy-gun-stuffed boys' crate or the all-pink girls' crate.
"One toy per kid - if they don't like the toy, they can't be picky because we have a lot of kids to get to," explained Shorty's son, Nicholas.
The Villarreal family and the club, which meets and bonds over an affinity for lowriders, raise money throughout the year at car shows and then spend the proceeds on the gifts. "This is our Christmas," explained Nicholas.
Building camaraderie
They also have some help from Harris County Constable Precinct 6, which provides a detail that keeps the caravan in check. Sgt. Ruben Sorola, a deputy constable at the head of the line of cars, said it was an opportunity for police to build the relationships with the community that can prevent social unrest.
"It's good to have this camaraderie between the community, the people, the Lowrider Club. Everybody comes together so we don't have issues like they do in Ferguson," he explained.
Sorola's team also helped choose the neighborhoods that needed the most help and would most appreciate a Latin Fantasy stop.
"These are the ones that probably don't get a Christmas, and if they do, it's one toy or whatever their parents can afford," Nicholas said. "Seeing their smiles and coming to get a toy - that's everything right there."Terraform allows you to manage your AWS, and other cloud infrastructure, the same way you would manage servers using configuration management products like CFEngine or Puppet. Terraform is idempotent and convergent so only required changes are applied.
I whipped up this example to build:
An SSH public key to be installed on the created EC2 instance. A security group allowing HTTP and HTTPS. A security group allowing SSH. A tc2.micro EC2 instance with the above applied to it.
The 'provider' part of the file indicates to terraform to use its AWS provider with the given credentials. If you know AWS at all the terraform code is not hard to follow.
Create a file in your current directory called demo.tf. When you run terrafrom it searches the current directory for.tf files and reads them according to your instructions. For example:
Terraform plan will report what must be done, but perform no changes.
will report what must be done, but perform no changes. Terraform apply will make the changes shown above.
will make the changes shown above. Terraform show will show the current state.
will show the current state. Terraform destroy will destroy everything that is defined.
Note that there seems to be a built in order in which terraform runs that is not related to the order of the file. This is much like normal ordering in CFEngine. For example, when I run this code with nothing configured in AWS, it will try to build the server instance first, but fails because the groups and keys are not yet defined. But the groups and keys will be created next, so, run terraform a second time and it will converge, by creating just the instance while leaving the already existing groups and keys as they are.
provider "aws" { access_key = "your_key_here" secret_key = "your_secret_here" region = "us-east-1" } resource "aws_key_pair" "neptune" { key_name = "neptune" public_key = "ssh-rsa AAA removed for brevity 1XCr neil@neptune" } resource "aws_security_group" "ssh" { name = "ssh" description = "Allow inbound ssh" ingress = { from_port = 0 to_port = 22 protocol = "tcp" cidr_blocks = [ "0.0.0.0/0" ] } } resource "aws_security_group" "http" { name = "http" description = "Allow inbound http" ingress = { from_port = 0 to_port = 80 protocol = "tcp" cidr_blocks = [ "0.0.0.0/0" ] } egress = { from_port = 0 to_port = 80 protocol = "tcp" cidr_blocks = [ "0.0.0.0/0" ] } egress = { from_port = 0 to_port = 443 protocol = "tcp" cidr_blocks = [ "0.0.0.0/0" ] } } resource "aws_instance" "tfdemo" { ami = "ami-60b6c60a" instance_type = "t2.micro" key_name = "neptune" security_groups = [ "ssh", "http", "default" ] }
I've shown only a small portion of what terraform can do. Most things you might want to do in AWS can be defined in Terraform and not just AWS. Terraform also supports Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Docker, Google Cloud, vSphere, Azure, and more.Three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart walks through the pits before practice for the Coke Zero 400 last month at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Rob Foldy, USA TODAY Sports)
Kevin Ward Jr., a 20-year-old race car driver, was killed Saturday night after he was struck on the track by NASCAR star Tony Stewart, according to Ontario County (N.Y.) Sheriff Philip C. Povero.
During a sprint car race at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, Ward was spun out by Stewart, got out of his car to show his displeasure and then was struck by Stewart's car, sending Ward sliding down the track, fellow sprint car racer Tyler Graves and witness Adam Dulski told USA TODAY Sports.
Povero confirmed the driver was taken by ambulance to Thompson Health and was pronounced dead on arrival.
The Ontario County Sheriff's Department confirmed the dead driver's identity later Sunday morning.
"This is an ongoing investigation of an on-track crash," Povero said.
Povero indicated Stewart, 43, was ''fully cooperative'' and that the incident is not being investigated as a criminal matter.
The sheriff's department said the cars involved were taken to private garages.
"Next is continuing interviews, a continued evaluation of evidence we have, including video, and there is certainly going to be an evaluation of medical evidence when it is collected from the autopsy," Povero said.
STEWART: Will not race at Watkins Glen
Mike Arning, a spokesman for NASCAR team Stewart-Haas Racing, which Stewart co-owns, issued the following statement:
"A tragic accident took place last night during a sprint car race in which Tony Stewart was participating. Tony was unhurt, but a fellow competitor lost his life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. We're still attempting to sort through all the details and we appreciate your understanding during this difficult time."
NASCAR did not respond to USA TODAY Sports' request for comment.
The Ontario County Sheriff's Department confirmed deputies were on the scene and investigating an incident at the track before Povero spoke with the media around 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
Ward, who raced the No. 13 sprint car at the track, started racing go-karts in 1998 at 4, according to kevinwardracing.com.
Kevin Ward, 20, died after being hit by Tony Stewart's car at Canandaigua Motorsports Park Saturday night. (Photo: KevinWardRacing.com)
Coming out of Turn 2, Stewart's car squeezed Ward's car up into the outside wall, turning it around. Ward's car had a flat tire as a result, and he exited the car to show his displeasure with Stewart's move. He marched down the track and was pointing at Stewart's car as he approached on the ensuing caution lap. Stewart's car then clipped Ward, who was run over and thrown a few yards down the track.
"It happened in Turn 2," said the 27-year-old Dulski. "The prior lap, Tony had gotten into him – just spun him, nothing big, just spun him around. The caution came out. He hopped out of the car – the driver of the 13... he hopped out to go and yell and point a finger at Tony, typical thing.
"Tony came around... the back end slid out, and he definitely caught him – I couldn't tell if it was with the front or the back of the car.... The body made contact with the car and went sliding across the track. It was the worst thing I've ever seen."
Graves, 16, of Bolivar, N.Y., said he "grew up watching Kevin the last couple years, then I made the move to sprint cars. I now race a 360. I've raced alongside with Kevin the past two years. …
"Tony and Kevin were battling. … I believe they got together on the frontstretch, Kevin hit the wall and his tire went down. So he spun between (turns) 1 and 2. He got out of the car after the caution was thrown and began to walk down the track, pointing right at the 14, throwing his hands all around. The last thing I seen Kevin do was put his finger to his helmet."
Graves said he saw Ward caught up under the tire and then launched a few yards down the track. Ward hit the ground and didn't move, according to Graves.
Barbara Manning, a nursing supervisor at Thompson Health, said Ward's mother and two sisters went to the hospital after the incident.
"I know that the racing community is a very close family," Manning said. "This is an unfortunate tragedy, but they will pull together. They love the sport and know the risks involved. He was so young and had a very big career ahead of him."
According to Ward's website, he started driving sprint cars in 2010 when he notched five top-five finishes. In 2012, he was named Empire Super Sprint rookie of the year. This season was his fifth racing the Empire Super Sprints.
Stewart, a three-time Sprint Cup champion who suffered a compound fracture of his right leg in a sprint car accident a year ago, had just returned to the hobby he says helps fuel his success in NASCAR.
In July of last year, Stewart also was involved in an incident at the Canandaigua track. He sparked a multi-car wreck that sent two drivers to the hospital with injuries.
After Saturday night's incident, racing was canceled for the rest of the night, according to the track's Facebook page.
In a later post, the track said: "Canandaigua Motorspots Park will not have an official statement on the accident that happened in the ESS race until tomorrow. Please pray for the entire racing community of fans, drivers, and families. Please be respectful in any comments."
Contributing: Steve Bradley, (Rochester) Democrat and Chronicle
PHOTOS: Tony Stewart's careerBy Dick Nichols
February 25, 2019 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Pedro Sánchez, prime minister of Spain’s minority Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) government, announced on February 15 that the country would vote on April 28. The election comes 15 months short of a full term and only nine months after the previous People’s Party (PP) government of Sánchez’s predecessor Mariano Rajoy fell to a PSOE censure motion in the Spanish Congress.
The censure motion was supported by the rest of the all-Spanish left (Podemos and the United Left), the alliances in which they participate in Galicia, Catalonia and the Valencian Country (respectively In Tide, Together We Can and A La Valenciana) and by nearly all nationalist forces, left and right.
These were the conservative Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and the left pro-independence Basque alliance EH Bildu, the conservative Catalan European Democratic Party (PDECat) and the centre-left Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and the New Canary Islands group.
Once in government, Sánchez, with only 84 PSOE seats in the 350-seat Congress, had to negotiate support for his legislative program bill by bill. Nonetheless, he had been saying before the announcement that his government would run its full term. Why did he change his mind?It all started during the icy February of 1996. The night temperatures in Belgrade, Serbia, were already below minus 10 Celsius / 14 degrees Fahrenheit for two weeks. Everything was frozen solid and pack ice floating down the Danube. Hiding from the elements at the riverbank, I was sitting in a Yugo and staring at the murky sky. Whenever the windscreen got frozen, I could not afford to turn the engine on due to petrol shortages (during the UN embargo on the import of fuel to the former Yugoslavia), so I would turn on a mini camping gas stove to defrost the windows and warm up my cocoon, keeping one eye at the sky and the other at the flames, to make sure they do not catch the seat (I am sure all of you have tried, and some of you mastered, that chameleon birding technique – one eye on the road, the other on the birds).
What was I doing there? Back in those days, Pygmy Cormorants Microcarbo pygmeus were considered Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List and were quite uncommon, having just returned to the city after half a century of absence. In that February, my ignorance has finally boiled to crystalise into a question: Why is it that I see only dozens and not the low hundreds of PCs known to overwinter in Belgrade? And asking yourself the right question is more than half the way towards the answer.
Looking for that answer, I found myself sitting in a half-frozen Yugo and staring at the sky, counting numerous black dots mowing from their feeding shallows to their roosting site. Their known numbers at the time were 500 and I was quite surprised to count twice as many – I was a young birder who has just discovered something unnoticed and unknown! And that is how my hanging out with (some call it monitoring of) the cormorants started, almost 20 years ago.
Large windows and unobstructed views of the river are a criterion for the right observation point.
Back to the present time, I am sitting in a cafe spreading a watch, notebook, pen and binoculars over the table and ordering a pint of beer. While choosing a Pygmy Cormorant Watch cafe, the main criterion is that it must have large windows and unobstructed views of the river. And, yes, a cold lager and a good heating – I am getting older. Or wiser, perhaps?
Up to the mid-20th century, Pygmy Cormorants were a common breeding species of wetlands around Belgrade… until the wetlands were drained and the birds were lost, at one moment – from the whole of Serbia. With the construction of the huge Iron Gates dam on the Danube, the birds returned to breed in newly flooded river islands, and in late 1980s returned to Belgrade, too, but only to overwinter within the city.
In the last few hours of daylight, Pygmy Cormorants are commuting back to their roost in the Sava River. During their lunch break, they spread up and down the Danube and, in smaller numbers, up the Sava, and after lunch, they all come back to several willow groves by the Ada Ciganlija Island, using the rivers as the flight corridors. Therefore, you can count them all if you spread enough experienced counters to spend the last hours of the day observing all the corridors and distinguishing distant black PC dots from other equally distant and black Rook and Eurasian Jackdaw dots, all of them melting into treecrowns in winter sunsets.
By both Serbian legislation and the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Pygmy Cormorant is a strictly protected species. In the European Union, PCs are at the Annex I of the Birds Directive and their habitats are therefore a potential NATURA2000 ecological network sites.
I haven’t even finished spreading gear over the table when the first commuters appear. Ones, twos, fives… the birds are flying up the Sava River, then one more serious flock of 90 birds, then those twos and fours again. Sunset takes over, guests are slowly filling up the cafe and the lights are on… which I hate because now I have to count the PCs between the light reflections in the windows.
In order to get to their roosts, Pygmy Cormorants have to negotiate various obstacles.
The biggest threat to Pygmy Cormorants overwintering in Belgrade is urbanisation of its riverbanks and destruction of remaining willow groves. In 2008, one such grove was buried under the 200 metres tall pylon of the new bridge, which sparkled the initiative by the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency, League for Ornithological Action of Serbia (a local NGO) and the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia to protect the remaining roosting sites of this species.
As the Sun gets lower, the flocks are getting more numerous and bigger in size, going commonly up to 15, 30, 45 and more individuals. I am counting them frenetically, scared that I might miss a flock while writing the previous one down.
The monitoring done in the last nine years by the working group from the League for Ornithological Action of Serbia has shown that Pygmy Cormorants reach their peak numbers in November and early December. One such December was in 2007, when PCs reached a record 6750 individuals, or 10 per cent of their European population and 4% of their global population.
According to the European Union Birds Directive, one of the main criteria for creation of the Special Protected Areas is the 1% population threshold and therefore, without any doubt, this area is of great international importance for the birds themselves, as well as for the country that aims towards the EU membership.
The Sun has already set, but for the Pygmy Cormorants, it is a mere signal that it is time for the traffic jam: 100, 150, 200, 100, 500… By now, the flocks are flying one after another, creating one huge continuous mass but, as the sunset thickens, PCs are flying lower, at the height of the treecrowns of the other bank, melting into Rook filled tree branches in the background. Only after the darkness overtakes the twilight, the flocks are finally gone.
In December of 2011, we had 6500 Pygmy Cormorants, but the February next year was very harsh. The Danube got solid frozen from bank to bank, making it impossible for diving birds to find food. Their mortality was huge, but I realised how huge only when we did the December 2012 census to find only 1300 PCs. Four fifths were gone! Yet, they are nothing if not resilient. In December 2013, we already had 2200 birds.
Now I am curious: How many did we counted today?? I cannot wait to get home to sum my counts and to rush the others to hurry with theirs, to discover that we had counted 5000 birds, or 7% of their European population and 3% of their global population!
During the construction of the new bridge inside the roosting sites, I had the opportunity to be hauled up the pylon in a basket, to see the willow groves as the birds see them. This one’s very existence is being disputed by the proposed reserve management authority.
Since the roosts of Pygmy Cormorants should receive official protection, how bright is the future? As the roosting groves lie along the Sava riverbanks within Belgrade, the Beogradvode – Belgrade Water Board was proposed to manage the future nature reserve. And that is where the problem arose: it is their job to clear all the sediments collecting against the embankment. The main willow grove, the one by the Belgrade Fair (the right bank), has overgrown a mud bank, which they haven’t cleared for more than two decades. Now, when the vegetation has fixed the sediments and the birds discovered a perfect roosting site, the Belgrade Water Board want to perform their long delayed duties (and Pygmy Cormorants are protected against any such disturbance by Serbian legislation, too). Because of that opposition, the protection proposal has not yet been discussed nor voted for in the Assembly of the City of Belgrade. And the biggest urban Pygmy Cormorant roost in the World is hanging in limbo.
For the birds protection sake, as well as the future of my country within the EU, I sure do hope that the Ambassador Michael Davenport, Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, follows my blog.
Cover photo (c) by Maciej Szymanski.
Edit: After this blog was published, Vladimir Mladenov from Bulgaria informed me about a larger roost at the Burgas Lakes, so I had to edit the text slightly to reflect that fact.Sheriff's Mind Blown by Dumb Criminal's Bumbling Robbery of Pizza Man
WATCH: Boneheaded Criminal Forgets to Put on Mask Until End of Robbery
A clumsy Canadian shoplifter "fell" a little short of pulling off the perfect crime.
Video from a Walmart store in Fergus, Ontario, shows a woman being chased by an employee as she attempt to make off with more than $650 worth of stolen items in a shopping cart.
She rushes out the door with the cart and then stumbles and falls on her face as the cart hits a parking curb and topples over.
Playboy Model Who Snapchatted Nude Pic of Woman Will Face Trial
Dershowitz: 'This Is the Most Serious Charge Ever Made Against a Sitting President'
The store worker chasing the shoplifter briefly confronted her before she ran off empty-handed.
The incident was reportedly sparked when staff at the store recognized the woman from another theft, days earlier.
In both cases, the woman was aided by unidentified suspects and is believed to be part of a shoplifting gang. Authorities say her |
Neato. The Signature Edition, by the way, features a fancy new color scheme that makes it look significantly more like a ninja.
$400
http://www.neatorobotics.com/product/robotic-vacuums/neato-xv-signature/
Romo
Romo is a smartphone dock on tank treads, but as soon as you plug your phone into it, it turns into all kinds of other things. It has a customizable personality that you can train to recognize you, or you can let it wander around on its own and get into trouble. By leveraging all of the connectivity and brain power in your smartphone (even the old smartphone that you don't use anymore), you can also use Romo as a full-fledged tiny little telepresence platform. For the best performance, you'll want to give Romo an iPhone 4S or better, but it'll be happy even with just a fourth-gen iPod Touch.
$150
http://romotive.com/meet-romo
3D Robotics Iris
3D Robotics makes serious quadrotors, but you don't have to have a serious amount of experience to use one of them, thanks to a sophisticated autopilot system that does all of the actual flying for you (if you want it to). Using an included wireless ground station and Android tablet adapter, you can give the 3D Robotics Iris commands to take off, fly a series of waypoints, and then come right back to you and land. Mount a GoPro on the front (which is that the Iris is built for), and you've got a remote camera platform that's ready to go right out of the box.
$750
https://store.3drobotics.com/products/IRIS
Darwin-OP
We had Aldebaran Robotics' Nao on our list last year, and this year we're featuring DarwIn-OP, the impressive little humanoid robot designed by ROBOTIS and Virginia Tech. Darwin is most definitely research-grade, which is just another way of saying that it's a-lot-of-fun-grade, as long as you can afford it. The robot has many of the same capabilities as Nao does, including 6 DOF legs, 3 DOF arms, a 2 DOF neck, cameras, mics, sensors, LEDs, and some awfully cute eyes.
$12,000
http://www.robotis.com/xe/darwin_en
Sony AIBO ERS-7
Our last gift is something that's going to be very, very difficult to find. It's likely also going to be very, very expensive if you do manage to find one, but totally worth it. It's the final generation of AIBO, Sony's robot dog: the ERS-7 (or ERS-7M2 or 7M3). The AIBO is, arguably, still one of the most sophisticated consumer robots that you can buy, even though the very last ERS-7 was released way back in 2005. It can walk, chase objects, recognize people, follow voice commands, charge itself, and even fetch your email and read it to you. It knows over 1,000 English words, and a sophisticated artificial intelligence along with arrays of LEDs in AIBO's face and body let it express emotion. Brand new in 2005, you could buy an AIBO for $1,600, but the price has only gone up. The best deal you can hope for is to find a used one online from someone who has no idea what it is. And even if you find one in less than stellar shape, AIBOs remain popular enough that you can send it off to an AIBO hospital for refurbishment. Our advice is to try Craigslist or eBay, and keep your fingers crossed.
And if you still need some more tech gift ideas, check out IEEE Spectrum's annual Gift Guide.Sacramento, CA – Today, the Sacramento Kings unveiled an alternative court design for the 2017-18 season. The new black court, reflects the design elements of the team’s global marks, including new logos specific to India and China. As part of the franchise’s mission, the team strives to make basketball the premier sport of the 21st century beyond traditional borders.
The team will use this customizable floor through the season when wearing the Global Uniform at home. Building a brand that connects with fans around the world will help create an authentic connection with emerging international basketball audiences, from the court up through jerseys, apparel and more.
International elements are present throughout the new design. For the team’s biggest global celebrations, Bollywood and Lunar New Year theme nights, interchangeable panels featuring a new regional logo – a Kings crown featuring the team’s name in Hindi or Mandarin – will be added to the floor. The Kings will use these marks, in addition to the primary logo in future India and China endeavors.
For other games, the team’s global crest – a heralding lion, a symbol of leadership and strength recognized around the world – will remain at center court. The granite “S”, inspired by the city’s flag showing the inseparable link between the community and team, will wrap around the floor along the apron.
The team will utilize three courts this season – the purple hardwood design from the 2016-17 season will return when the team wears the Association and Icon Edition uniforms, the new black court will be in place during games with global themes and when the team suits up in the Global uniform, and a third court will debut during the season when the team’s fourth uniform is announced.cash and rewards for the time you spend taking online surveys
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A successful company’s most important consultant is you, the consumer! Companies rely on your feedback to produce new and improved products and services. Opinion Outpost bridges the gap between your opinions and the companies who need them. You can earnwith points you can redeem foror. Not only is it easy to sign up, but it’s also free.By being a member of Opinion Outpost, you may find yourself takingabout electronics, medicine, politics, sports, advertisements, appliances, or even what you ate for breakfast. Companies value your opinions, and will reward you for sharing them. What’s better than takingin your spare time? The more surveys you take, the more opportunities you’ll have to collect points and redeem them for cash and other great rewards.Image caption Martin Freeman stars Sherlock and The Hobbit film series
Sherlock Holmes star Martin Freeman has been cast in the television adaptation of the movie Fargo, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The British actor will play Lester Nygaard, who is based on the character played by William H Macy in the film.
Joel and Ethan Coen directed the 1996 film, which won won an Oscar for leading lady Frances McDormand.
Billy Bob Thornton has already been announced as a lead in the FX 10-part series.
The new version of Fargo will have different characters and storylines to the movie, but the humorous crime stories will remain "remarkably true to the film," said FX network boss John Landgraf.
The Coen brothers, who won a best screenplay Oscar for Fargo, are on board as executive producers.
Fargo was included in the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest American Movies list, and inducted into the US National Film Registry in 2006.
Freeman will play a henpecked insurance salesman who is preyed upon by Thornton's character, Lorne Malvo.
Filming will take place in Canada and the drama is expected to be shown in the US next spring.
Freeman got his big break on the original version of The Office, playing the beleaguered and often-exasperated character Tim.
More recently he has been playing Dr Watson in the BBC's Sherlock, which returns for a third series in 2014.
He also has a starring role in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, in which he plays Bilbo Baggins. The second instalment - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - will be released in time for Christmas.This is the shocking moment a former American football player nicknamed "Beast Mode" narrowly dodged a bus while doing a wheelie on a bike.
Marshawn Lynch, notorious for his way of dealing with the media, was seen riding a BMX bike complete with a Skittles-themed messenger bag.
And the retired Seattle Seahawks player, 30, did not take kindly to onlookers filming him in Paisley, Renfrewshire, today.
The former running back, who helped his team win the Super Bowl in 2014, was in the town filming at the Houston Kiltmakers shop.
This year's Super Bowl is due to be held in Houston, Texas, and it is believed the shop was chosen for its shared name.
In the video, Lynch can be seen performing a wheelie down the High Street in Paisley before swerving out of the way of an oncoming bus.
Robert Hampson, 37, from Paisley, filmed the star after spotting him in a vehicle outside the shop.
He said: "I was just walking down the High Street when I spotted this big people carrier outside a shop.
"I wanted to hang around and see who it was, and I couldn't believe it when I saw that it was Marshawn Lynch.
"He must have been filming something with the kilt shop, but he was riding about on the BMX outside and then I filmed him doing the wheelie.
"I'm a big fan of the National Football League (NFL) and it's crazy that a player like him was in Paisley.
"He wasn't too happy with people filming him, though."
Staff at Houston Kiltmakers confirmed that Lynch was filming something for the upcoming Super Bowl.
A worker said: "I'm not entirely sure what was happening today but I gather he was filming something for the Super Bowl.
"The Super Bowl is in Houston, Texas, this year and our shop is called Houston Kiltmakers.
"It's a bit strange that he came all the way to Paisley, admittedly.
"We didn't really get a chance to speak to him, he mostly kept himself to himself. I know he was filming outside as well.
"Having him here isn't something I expected to see when I came into work this morning."Australian Workers Union says mining company's employees responsible for $47k'member donation'
Updated
The Victorian branch of the AWU has moved to explain a $47,500 payment it received in 2007 that was described in its accounts as a "donation" made by mining company Roche.
According to accounts filed with Fair Work Australia, the payment was made to the union's Victorian branch by Roche Mining, a Queensland-based company owned by engineering group Downer EDI.
The payment does not appear in disclosures by the union to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) that the union makes as an "associated entity" of the Australian Labor Party.
When first contacted about the payment earlier this week, the union provided no explanation. It now says the payment was from AWU members who worked at the company and was to cover legal costs associated with a dispute.
A spokeswoman said the members had made the payment "voluntarily". No explanation was provided for why the payment was attributed to the company in the accounts.
Do you know more about this story? Email investigations@abc.net.au.
The donation was made the same year Bill Shorten ended his time as national secretary of the union.
A spokesman for Mr Shorten said queries about the union or individual companies should be directed to them, and that as previously stated, the Opposition Leader would not be responding to matters before the royal commission until he was able to appear.
The ABC has approached Downer for comment.
The year before the donation was made, a federal magistrate fined the union and four officials a total of $56,000 for an illegal meeting that led to a strike at a Roche Mining site in the Murray Basin in western Victoria.
The AWU said a $22,700 payment described in its 2003 accounts as a "glassworkers service fee" was made by a sub-branch covering workers in that industry and was for services provided by the main branch. The union had previously provided no explanation for this payment.
The union and its finances are under the spotlight in the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, putting mounting political pressure on Mr Shorten, who was Victorian secretary of the union from 1998 until 2006 and national secretary from 2001 until he entered Parliament in 2007.
Mr Shorten has defended his record as a union leader but not responded to the specific allegations raised in the royal commission, where he is due to give evidence on July 8.
In a recent note to members, obtained by the ABC, AWU state secretary Ben Davis described the royal commission as a "witch hunt".
But he told members that during his testimony he had told "the truth, and in some parts of my testimony that was an extremely uncomfortable truth" about the union's activities.
Inconsistencies in how 'other income' was listed
An ABC analysis of the union's accounts has found inconsistencies in the way it has accounted for its revenue, as well as other anomalies.
The accounts show a spike in membership dues in 2006, when they rose nearly $900,000 to just over $6 million, even though membership fell slightly in the same period.
The union has told the ABC this reflected a greater proportion of members becoming "financial members" in 2006, the final year of Mr Shorten's tenure as state secretary.
The accounts show the union categorised more than $700,000, or nearly 10 per cent of its total revenue, as "other income" in each of the accounting years 2010 and 2011.
In all other years, "other income" was used to describe just 1 per cent or less of the total.
The AWU was unable to explain this.
The Victoria branch has changed the way it records income every year since 2002, making year-on-year comparisons impossible.
The number of income categories rose steadily from 12 in 2002 to reach 22 by 2007, but then fell back again. By 2011 there were only 11.
The accounts then became more detailed, and in the last financial year there were 19 categories of revenue. The format of the accounts has also changed to reflect more stringent reporting requirements imposed by law.
A union spokesperson did not accept that these variations made the accounts opaque, saying only that "the more categories of income, the greater the transparency".
Income per member almost doubled since 2002
The AWU Victoria branch accounts show it made a loss of $159,000 in 2002, but has been profitable every year since.
Membership and income were stable under Mr Shorten's leadership and rose to a peak of 29,000 under his successor Cesar Melhem, who was state secretary between 2007 and 2013. Membership numbers have since fallen back to just over 20,000.
But the analysis found the union has managed to sustain revenues amid falling membership rolls. It has almost doubled its revenue per member since 2002 to more than $400.
The other main sources of income have been "grants" from Incolink, a redundancy fund, and payments by insurance companies that have business relationships with the union.
These payments are not detailed in the accounts, although some of them appear in AEC disclosures.
Mr Melhem resigned his position as Labor's whip in the Upper House of the Victorian Parliament this month after questions were raised in the royal commission about deals struck between companies and the AWU while he was in charge.
Since current and former AWU organisers gave evidence earlier this month, the royal commission has reportedly issued further "notices to produce" to the union.
They relate to financial records and membership details dating back to 1998, the start of Mr Shorten's tenure as state secretary.
The royal commission has issued more than 1,300 notices to produce so far. It is due to report by Christmas.
The commission has heard evidence of a deal between the AWU and building firm Winslow Constructions, which paid tens of thousands of dollars for membership fees for its workforce.
A former AWU organiser and now manager with the company admitted the invoices had been falsely issued as being for training, rather than membership.
The royal commission has also been told cleaning company Cleanevent paid an annual $25,000 fee as part of negotiations to extend an enterprise bargaining agreement.
The commission has heard it was done in a way to avoid the scrutiny of regulators, that workers lost around $2 million of potential income, and employee names were provided to the union so that it could inflate its membership numbers and increase its influence in the Labor Party.
Mr Shorten may also have to explain $300,000 paid to the AWU's Victorian branch by Thiess John Holland in a deal that was assessed by the Institute of Public Affairs as having saved the construction company as much as $100 million while it was building a major road project in Victoria.
The EastLink tollway has been lauded as an example of peaceful industrial relations and a job delivered ahead of time.
Topics: unions, government-and-politics, corruption, law-crime-and-justice, bill-shorten, royal-commissions, industrial-relations, vic, australia, qld
First postedIn this holiday season it’s especially appropriate to acknowledge how many Americans don’t have steady work.
The so-called “share economy” includes independent contractors, temporary workers, the self-employed, part-timers, freelancers, and free agents. Most file 1099s rather than W2s, for tax purposes.
It’s estimated that in five years over 40 percent of the American labor force will be in such uncertain work; in a decade, most of us.
Already two-thirds of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck.
This trend shifts all economic risks onto workers. A downturn in demand, or sudden change in consumer needs, or a personal injury or sickness, can make it impossible to pay the bills.
It eliminates labor protections such as the minimum wage, worker safety, family and medical leave, and overtime.
And it ends employer-financed insurance – Social Security, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, and employer-provided health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
No wonder, according to polls, almost a quarter of American workers worry they won’t be earning enough in the future. That’s up from 15 percent a decade ago.
Such uncertainty can be hard on families, too. Children of parents working unpredictable schedules or outside standard daytime working hours are likely to have lower cognitive skills and more behavioral problems, according to new research.
What to do?
Courts are overflowing with lawsuits over whether companies have misclassified “employees” as “independent contractors,” resulting in a profusion of criteria and definitions.
We should aim instead for simplicity: Whoever pays more than half of someone’s income, or provides more than half their working hours should be responsible for all the labor protections and insurance an employee is entitled to.
In addition, to restore some certainty to people’s lives, we need to move away from unemployment insurance and toward income insurance.
Say, for example, your monthly income dips more than 50 percent below the average monthly income you’ve received from all the jobs you’ve taken over the preceding five years. With income insurance, you’d automatically receive half the difference for up to a year.
It’s possible to have a flexible economy and also provide workers some minimal level of security.
A decent society requires no less.Modularising inductive families Hsiang−Shang Ko and Jeremy Gibbons
Abstract
Dependently typed programmers are encouraged to use inductive families to integrate constraints with data construction. Different constraints are used in different contexts, leading to different versions of datatypes for the same data structure. Modular implementation of common operations for these structurally similar datatypes has been a longstanding problem. We propose a datatype-generic solution based on McBride's datatype ornaments, exploiting an isomorphism whose interpretation borrows ideas from realisability. Relevant properties of the operations are separately proven for each constraint, and after the programmer selects several constraints to impose on a basic datatype and synthesises an inductive family incorporating those constraints, the operations can be routinely upgraded to work with the synthesised inductive family.
There is a revised version of this paper in Progress in Informatics.
Supplementary material
The accompanying Agda code can be found here: a plain Agda file or a syntax-highlighted, browsable HTML version.
Two talks were given at DTP'11 and WGP'11: The DTP'11 version (which was reprised in a Shonan meeting on DTP) is more freestyle and includes a development of ornamental-algebraic ornamentation, while the WGP'11 version has a clearer structure and elaborates more on the background.
A related talk on numerical representations, which was more about Pierre and Conor's coherence property, was given at Fun in the Afternoon in Oxford, February 2012.
Book Title Workshop on Generic Programming
Pages 13−24
Publisher ACM
Series WGP'11Have you woken up to #FreeMilo? Here’s why…Milo Yiannopoulous has been permanently banned from Twitter over a “feud” with Ghostbuster’s star Leslie Jones.
No, not the real Ghostbusters. The crappy remake (see Jackass Judd Apatow Shames ‘Ghostbusters’ Critics by… Calling them ‘Trump-Supporters’? and Original Ghostbusters Director: No, It’s Not Sexist to Hate the Remake…). Now, regardless of your opinion on Milo OR Ghostbusters, there are a few key points that really matter here. First, context.
The contretemps has been brewing all week, as Milo engaged in a barbed to and fro with embattled Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones over her Twitter feud with trolls who hated her new movie. At one point the CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey intervened himself, asking Jones to direct message him. Milo himself said nothing racist, though he joked that Jones’ grammatically challenged quips at him were “barely literate”, said America needs better schools and referred to Jones facetiously as “a black dude”. Milo has been suspended from Twitter before and also lost his verification tag. Will tonight’s suspension really be permanent? Earlier today Milo said he was not sorry for his dialogue with Jones. “No, of course, I don’t have any regrets,” Milo told Heat Street. “But feminists on the other hand should have regrets that they have taught strong women that they are victims and attacked people for having different opinions to them on Twitter.”
Naturally, free speech advocates on Twitter revolted.
The reason BLM can threaten cops but we cannot criticize a black or female actor is because the left views one as just, the other unjust. — Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) July 20, 2016
The list of things you can't say is longer than the list of things you can. #freemilo pic.twitter.com/3O4K0PcCpi — Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) July 20, 2016
Here’s the deal: of course Twitter has the right to ban and/or silence whoever they want. This is not a “freedom of speech” issue. It’s a “company lying about supporting freedom of speech” issue. Social media sites are essentially communication platforms. They are only as valuable as the trust of their users. If users don’t trust that Twitter is being fair in their enforcement of the rules, it will continue to hurt Twitter’s value on the market.
Maybe Milo did break the rules. I don’t know, because I don’t know their justification, nor the exact interpretation of their rules. What I DO know is that leftists are currently on Twitter threatening, doxxing, and even inciting violence this very second. It’s a whole lot more than mere “harassment” and it’s entirely allowed. Examples:
In response to police shootings.
https://twitter.com/Slllliiimmeee/status/751242647570944000
And here’s an example of Twitter personally allowing what they KNOW to be libel of yours truly.
The speech police will come for all of you.
NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT! IT’S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE.Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross met with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Nov. 20 in Bedminster, N.J. where Trump and Pence have been holding transition meetings at his private golf course. (The Washington Post)
Wilbur Ross, the billionaire investor considered the “king of bankruptcy” for buying beaten-down companies with the potential to deliver profits, is expected to be President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for commerce secretary, two officials with knowledge of the decision said.
Ross helped shape the Trump campaign’s economic agenda, particularly its hard-line stance on the need to renegotiate — or even withdraw from — free trade agreements. That position resonated with the working class voters who were instrumental in delivering Trump’s upset victory. Elevating Ross to a position in his Cabinet could suggest that Trump intends to nurture the nationalist streak that was one of the hallmarks of his campaign.
In a video released this week, Trump said he is focused on creating jobs and reiterated his pledge to withdraw from the sprawling Asian trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership that became a flash point during the election.
1 of 35 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Here’s a look at Trump’s administration so far View Photos The men and women the president-elect has selected for his Cabinet and White House team. Caption The men and women the president-elect has selected for his Cabinet and White House team. Scott Gottlieb, nominee for commissioner of FDA President Trump is set to nominate Scott Gottlieb, a conservative physician and businessman with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry, to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, a White House official said. Courtesy of American Enterprise Institute/via Reuters Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
“Whether it’s producing steel or building cars or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here on our great homeland, America,” Trump said.
In Ross, Trump would have a like-minded businessman who understands the prospects for both profit and peril in restoring American manufacturing. Ross built his fortune buying the distressed companies that were once at the heart of American industry — steel mills, coal mines and textile factories, to name a few — and then selling them in short order, making billions of dollars along the way.
[Ross: How Trump would stimulate the U.S. economy]
Perhaps his signature investment was the purchase of some of the nation’s largest steel mills in the early 2000s, including Cleveland-based LTV Corp. and Pennsylvania’s Bethlehem Steel. The move was credited with saving manufacturing jobs, with the United Steelworkers calling Ross “a new ally” in news reports at the time.
Since then, however, many steel mills have shut down amid a glut of foreign production, much of it in China. Ross sold his steel conglomerate to what is now ArcelorMittal in 2004 for about $4.5 billion.
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Ross applied a similar strategy to other industries as well. His metallurgical coal company was headquartered in West Virginia, cobbled together from the remnants of bankrupt mining company Horizon Natural Resources and smaller coal companies. Shortly after the company went public in 2005, an explosion at its Sago Mine in West Virginia killed a dozen people. Ross sold the business to Arch Coal in 2011 for $3.4 billion.
[2006: Sago mine explosion: After 44 Hours, Hope Showed Its Cruel Side]
And in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Ross purchased several failed banks, including BankUnited in Florida, as well as some European banks.
More recently, Ross has invested in troubled oil and gas companies, taking advantage of the oversupply and weak demand that have tanked big-name businesses. He remains chairman and chief strategy officer of WL Ross & Co., which is now part of investment firm Invesco.
Trump’s aggressive stance on trade includes a promise to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office, as well as threatening to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement. In addition, Trump has called for double-digit tariffs on imports from China and Mexico. Many economists have warned that adopting those policies could spark a trade war that could undermine the U.S. recovery.
“It’s conceivable that we could engage in some interventionist trade policy through tariffs and other measures that might help some Americans, somewhere, for some period of time,” said Michael Strain, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “But certainly the country as a whole would suffer. … As your time horizon extends beyond a few years, it’s just going to be harder and harder to find anyone better off by those kinds of policies.”
As head of Commerce, Ross would oversee many of the government’s disputes with its trading partners, though it remains unclear how much authority over trade policy Trump might provide him. Ross could ramp up the number of cases brought against China, for example, or increase the penalties for dumping, said Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“I think they are in broad alignment,” Hufbauer said of Ross and Trump’s views. But, he added, “Ross is probably more single-mindedly protectionist than Trump.”
In an interview with Yahoo Finance just days after the election, Ross appeared to walk back at least some of Trump’s remarks. He stressed that withdrawing from trade deals would only occur if other countries refused to negotiate. He also described some more mundane changes, such as relaxation of Chinese quotas on some American imports.
“Everybody says, oh he’s going to slap 45 percent tariff on everything out of China,” Ross told Yahoo Finance. “That’s not what he said, and it’s not what he intends.”
Previously, Ross warned that the economy could enter another recession within the next 18 months, especially if Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton were elected. He told Bloomberg TV last month that stock markets appeared near a top.
“What we’re noticing is there is relatively little demand for any kind of physical product and almost nobody has any kind of pricing power,” he said. “At some point, you just can’t cut costs anymore and therefore you ultimately need pricing power and physical volume growth, and I think that’s what’s really lacking in today’s world.”
Ross is a trustee of the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, and a noted art enthusiast with a taste for Chinese and Vietnamese works who boasts a $100 million collection of works by surrealist René Magritte.
The Commerce Department is also responsible for compiling crucial data about the health of the economy, including the quarterly estimate of the nation’s gross domestic product, or GDP. It also houses the U.S. patent office and the Minority Business Development Agency, among others, and the department has often been led by corporate executives. Current Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker was a wealthy real estate investor whose family helped found the Hyatt hotel chain. Carlos Gutierrez, who served under President George W. Bush, was chairman and chief executive of Kellogg.
No formal announcement about Ross’s position has been made, and the team was still discussing how to make one Thursday morning. Trump met with Ross on Sunday at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, N.J.
Speaking to reporters after their meeting, Trump said he was considering Ross to lead the Commerce Department. Ross demurred when asked if he wanted the job.
“Well, time will tell,” he said.
Meanwhile, internal divisions within Trump’s inner circle over whether he should tap Mitt Romney to be secretary of State are becoming more pronounced due to tensions over whether Romney’s sharp critique of Trump’s career and temperament during the GOP primary ought to disqualify the former Massachusetts governor from a cabinet position.
Conservative Trump supporters Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich this week spoke out against the possibility of choosing Romney.
“I’m still very unhappy that Mitt did everything he could to derail Donald Trump,” Huckabee said on Fox News Wednesday morning. “He didn’t just go after him from the standpoint of ‘I disagree with his policy on immigration, I disagree with his policy on taxes.’ He attacked him on a personal level about his character, integrity, his honor.”
Gingrich said Romney didn’t represent “the kind of tough-minded America-first policies that Trump has campaigned on” later Wednesday on Fox.
Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, advanced those critiques Thanksgiving morning on Twitter, saying she had received a “deluge” of social media and private communications from Trump loyalists warning against the Romney choice, possibly opening the door for former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani or another candidate to be named.
She added that former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George P. Shultz “flew around the world less, counseled POTUS close to home more. And were loyal. Good checklist.”
Jonathan O’Connell contributed to this report.REFLECTIONS: After a week of non-stop reporting on Harvey, I want to reflect on an experience unlike any in my career before. I mostly want to say "thank you" to the people of Houston. You taught us all around the country about selflessness, kindness, fight, grit, compassion, and unity of purpose.I'm so appreciative I had the opportunity to report there. But I'll admit, I was nervous when I first given the assignment.My boss had asked me to join a small group of photographers, reporters and producers from various ABC owned stations.Our job was to assist our sister station in Houston, KTRK. They'd been providing 24-hour, continuous coverage without commercial breaks in torrential downpours for days and simply needed warm, dry bodies to help share the load.Starting off, I was concerned that I wasn't up to the task and wouldn't be accepted in the role.I'd only covered a couple hurricanes and none this serious.Most importantly, I'd never even been to Houston and didn't know the subtle complexities of the neighborhoods that comes with years of street reporting in a market.I thought my colleagues at KTRK and their viewers would think, "Who the hell is this guy from L.A. and what does he know?"Once on the ground, I realized they didn't have time to worry about me. They had bigger problems.The entire city was in crisis.Instead of cynicism and resentment, folks actually thanked us for making the trip from out of town. I couldn't believe their warmth and graciousness in making me feel at home during chaos. They explained their neighborhoods and pointed out people I should talk with.When we stopped for gas far outside Houston, a local said that we should check out their nearby golf course.When we got there a few minutes later, we spotted the 18th hole. But we couldn't find holes 1-17 because they were all already underwater.At first, the rainfall was relentless and there was simply nowhere for all that water to go. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.I'd certainly experienced pounding rains and flash flooding over years of reporting. But, what made this different was how widespread the damage was.Usually, there are a few isolated areas of heavy flooding where first responders and the media all congregate. On TV, it can look like an entire area is devastated...but in reality... it often isn't.During this rain event, there was damage in almost every direction for 70-100 miles. This was simply too wide an area for emergency officials and the media to cover. As a result, we were often the first to broadcast pictures from almost every town we visited.In every neighborhood we saw the same thing over and over -- neighbors were helping neighbors. The usual things that divide us -- race, income, education, religion -- all went out the window. All that mattered was that a fellow human being was in trouble.In Pearland, we observed buddies Colin and Carl paddle out in a canoe going door to door to check on every single home before authorities arrived.We watched a veterinarian named Dr. Terri Stone save the lives of cattle stuck in a pen as flood waters rose.In west Houston, volunteer Joel Marrett invited us onto the back of his pickup truck with 40" wheels as he drove into 5 feet deep water to aid those stuck behind.As we ventured into some of the deepest flooding, we saw a flotilla of volunteers bringing their boats in to rescue everyone they could. Younger, healthier people risked their own lives to ensure babies and the elderly got out safely.While live on the air, we helped a 92-year-old woman with a walker onto our truck.Little did we know, she was the woman we all needed to meet in that moment."Miss" Shirley Sechler surprised us all when her first words were a joke about her wig. She'd go on to flirt with myself and the rescuers...and reflect on the strength of Houston. Her wit, calm, and fight quickly went viral-and served as a symbol of the city's resolve.At the GRB, the city's largest evacuation center, we met volunteers who showed up to brighten up these very dark days for thousands of children.They dressed as characters, painted their faces, organized games...and helped bring a sense of joy back into the world.We also spent time at the "missing persons" desk where volunteers re-united families that had been unable to communicate with each other. The joy and relief we witnessed were some of the most powerful emotions I'd ever seen.Near the Buffalo Bayou, Rock Dawson took us out on his boat to survey the worst flooding we saw all week.He was one of so many volunteers who spent all day making trip after trip into smelly, contaminated water to help desperate neighbors evacuate their homes.Being out on that water is a solemn experience."I never believed anything like this could happen in a thousand years in Houston, Texas. Absolutely devastating. Its surreal," he said.Yet, like so many others, Rock is defiant."Houston: we will be OK, we will come back!" he said.At the NRG Center, we watched as President Donald Trump took on a different role.He's so often criticized for exclusively playing to his base, but on this day, he moved beyond that. He reached out to evacuees-regardless of whether they were supporters-and provided genuine hope and comfort.This week of reporting was a welcome break from my usual day job: reporting on politics. Unfortunately, our politics are too often dominated by both sides blaming the other for inaction. The rhetoric can be dehumanizing and lead to dysfunction.The people of Houston we met weren't looking to blame others or trying to make excuses. Their confidence came from faith that neighbor's would have their backs. These weren't empty platitudes or politically correct statements after a tragedy. These were specific actions that actually help people.As we mourn for those killed by the powerful water, those who survived are counting their blessings and keeping things in perspective.Evacuee Brandt Edwards' home is now under water. But |
not received Tdap, should receive a dose of Tdap to protect against pertussis and reduce the likelihood of transmission. In 2011, in an effort to prevent pertussis in infants, ACIP recommended a dose of Tdap for pregnant women who have not yet received a dose, then in 2012, expanded the recommendation for a Tdap dose during every pregnancy. In 2012, ACIP also updated the adult Tdap vaccination recommendation to include all adults aged ≥19 years who have not yet received a dose of Tdap, including those aged ≥65 years (6). Information on Tdap vaccination of adults aged ≥65 years was collected in the 2012 NHIS for the first time. Overall Tdap vaccination of adults aged ≥65 years was low; the sample size was too small to estimate coverage among adults aged ≥65 years living with an infant aged <1 year. Tdap vaccination coverage in 2012 among adults aged ≥65 years could reflect vaccination of those who received Tdap previously because of close contact with an infant aged <1 year, as well as early uptake in response to this recommendation. Health-care providers should not miss an opportunity to vaccinate adults aged ≥19 years who have not received Tdap previously.
In June 2012, ACIP recommended routine use of PCV13 in series with PPSV23 for adults aged ≥19 years with immunocompromising conditions, functional or anatomic asplenia, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, or cochlear implants.†† Given the high burden of invasive pneumococcal disease caused by serotypes in PPSV23, but not in PCV13, ACIP noted that broader protection might be provided through use of both pneumococcal vaccines. Current ACIP recommendations call for use of PPSV23 in adults aged 19–64 years with chronic conditions that are not immunocompromising, such as chronic heart disease or diabetes, at the time of diagnosis of the high-risk condition (6). All adults are eligible for a dose of PPSV23 at age 65 years, regardless of previous PPSV23 or PCV13 vaccination; however, a minimum interval of 5 years between PPSV23 doses should be maintained. The 2012 NHIS did not estimate the proportion of pneumococcal vaccinations by type (PCV13 versus PPSV23). The overall pneumococcal vaccination estimates in this report could include some respondents who received PCV13.
In December 2011, ACIP recommended administration of hepatitis B vaccine to unvaccinated adults with diabetes aged 19–59 years (category A recommendation) or aged ≥60 years (category B recommendation) (6). The recommendations were based on available information about risk for contracting acute hepatitis B among persons with diabetes, morbidity and mortality among persons with diabetes, available vaccines, age at diagnosis of diabetes, and cost-effectiveness (6). Category A recommendations are made for all persons in an age- or risk-factor–based group. Category B recommendations do not apply to all persons within a group, they provide guidance to clinicians to help determine whether vaccination is appropriate for specific patients. Hepatitis B vaccination coverage in 2012 among persons with diabetes remained similar to estimates obtained before this recommendation and highlights the need to improve awareness of increased risk for contracting acute hepatitis B among persons with diabetes and to increase hepatitis B vaccination in this population.
Herpes zoster vaccination coverage increased in 2012 compared with 2011. Shortages of herpes zoster vaccine that might have contributed to lower uptake during the first years after licensure appear to have been resolved in 2012. The cost of herpes zoster vaccine and billing challenges might pose barriers for some patients and providers.§§
The percentage of age-eligible females who reported having received HPV vaccine increased steadily from 2009 to 2012 but is still low. A significant increase in HPV vaccination in 2012 compared with 2011 occurred among women aged 19–26 years (5.0 percentage points). An increase was observed among women aged 22–26 years (6.7 percentage points), but not among women aged 19–21 years. Because no data on age at vaccination were collected, it was not possible to determine whether vaccination occurred as part of an adolescent vaccination program or at age ≥19 years. In 2012, white women had higher HPV coverage than black, Hispanic, or Asian women. Similar findings have been reported previously (7). The percentage of age-eligible adult males administered HPV vaccine in 2012 was similar to the 2011 estimate. Coverage levels for adult males did not change during the first year following the ACIP recommendation for routine use of HPV vaccine in males aged 11–21 years and males aged 22–26 years at high risk (6). However, among adolescent males aged 13–17 years, 2012 HPV coverage estimates were higher than 2011 estimates (8). Continued efforts are needed to ensure coverage among the primary target group for HPV vaccine, girls and boys aged 11–12 years, and among all racial and ethnic groups. Efforts are also needed to improve catch-up vaccination among young adults who have not completed their vaccinations during adolescence.
The findings in this report are subject to at least five limitations. First, the NHIS sample excludes persons in the military and those residing in institutions, which might result in underestimation or overestimation of vaccination coverage levels. Second, the response rate was 61.2%. A low response rate can result in selection bias if the respondents and nonrespondents differ in their vaccination rates. Third, the determination of vaccination status and identification of high-risk conditions in NHIS were not validated by medical records. Self-report of vaccination might be subject to recall bias and overestimation of rates. However, adult self-reported vaccination status has been shown to be sensitive for all six vaccines in this report and specific for all except tetanus vaccination (9). Fourth, the Tdap estimate is subject to considerable uncertainty. Many respondents were excluded from estimations of Tdap coverage, creating a potential for bias. All respondents who reported a tetanus vaccination during 2005–2012 but were unable to say whether Td or Tdap was used were excluded. Sensitivity calculations were conducted to assess the magnitude of potential bias. Depending on what proportion of excluded respondents actually received Tdap, actual Tdap coverage could fall within the range of 11.2%–39.4% for adults aged 19–64 years and 6.0%–31.0% for adults aged ≥65 years. Comparisons of Tdap coverage across years within subgroups might be affected by bias resulting from excluding persons who did not report the type of tetanus vaccine they received. Finally, age at vaccination is not known for vaccines adults reported having "ever" received (e.g., HPV and hepatitis B vaccines), so it is not clear for younger adults whether vaccination occurred as an adult or as part of a child or adolescent vaccination program.
Vaccination coverage levels among adults are low. Improvement in adult vaccination is needed to reduce the health consequences of vaccine-preventable diseases among adults and to prevent pertussis morbidity and mortality in infants, who need the protection afforded by the Tdap vaccination during pregnancy recommendation. Successful vaccination programs combine 1) education of potential vaccine recipients and publicity to promote vaccination, 2) increased access to vaccination services in medical settings, and 3) use of practices shown to improve vaccination coverage, including reminder-recall systems, efforts to remove administrative and financial barriers to vaccination, use of standing order programs for vaccination, and assessment of practice-level vaccination rates with feedback to staff members (4). Health-care provider recommendations for vaccination are associated with patient vaccination (10). Routine assessment of adult patient vaccination needs, recommendation, and offer of needed vaccinations for adults should be incorporated into routine clinical care of adults (4,5). The adult immunization schedule (2), updated annually, provides current recommendations for vaccinating adults and a ready resource for persons who provide health-care services for adults in various settings.
References
What is already known on this topic? During 2008–2011, coverage with routinely recommended vaccinations among U.S. adults aged ≥19 years remained low. What is added by this report? Compared with 2011 estimates, modest gains occurred in tetanus and diphtheria toxoid with acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap) vaccination among adults aged 19–64 years, herpes zoster vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years, and human papillomavirus vaccination coverage among women aged 19–26 years. Coverage for other vaccines and risk groups did not improve, and racial/ethnic disparities persisted for routinely recommended adult vaccines. Coverage for all vaccines for adults remained low. What are the implications for public health practice? Wider use of practices shown to improve adult vaccination is needed, including assessment of patients' vaccination needs by health-care providers and routine recommendation and offer of needed vaccines to adults, implementing reminder-recall systems, use of standing order programs for vaccination, and assessment of practice-level vaccination rates with feedback to staff members.
TABLE 1. Estimated proportion of adults aged ≥19 years who received selected vaccinations, by age group, high-risk status,* race/ethnicity, and other selected characteristics — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2012 Vaccination, age group, high-risk status, and race/ethnicity† Sample size % (95% CI) Difference from 2011 Pneumococcal vaccination, ever§ 19–64 yrs, high risk Total 9,333 20.0 (18.9–21.1) -0.1 White 5,736 21.4 (20.1–22.9) 1.3 Black 1,605 19.7 (17.4–22.2) -3.1 Hispanic 1,326 13.8 (11.5–16.4)¶ -4.6** Asian 350 13.2 (9.5–18.1)¶ 1.2 Others 316 20.2 (15.2–26.2) -1.5 ≥65 yrs Total 7,076 59.9 (58.4–61.4) -2.4 White 4,993 64.0 (62.3–65.7) -2.5 Black 919 46.1 (41.7–50.6)¶ -1.5 Hispanic or Latino 698 43.4 (39.0–48.0)¶ 0.3 Asian 373 41.3 (35.4–47.5)¶ 1.0 Others 93 44.7 (32.6–57.5)¶ -22.7** Tetanus vaccination, past 10 yrs†† 19–49 yrs Total 16,927 64.2 (63.2–65.1) -0.3 White 8,969 69.7 (68.5–70.9) 0.1 Black 2,491 56.1 (53.5–58.6)¶ 1.3 Hispanic 3,772 53.9 (51.9–56.0)¶ -2.4 Asian 1,195 54.3 (50.6–58.0)¶ 1.9 Others 500 71.9 (66.5–76.8) 2.3 50–64 yrs Total 8,525 63.5 (62.1–64.8) -0.4 White 5,577 67.5 (65.9–69.0) -0.2 Black 1,373 52.3 (49.0–55.7)¶ -2.1 Hispanic 1,031 52.3 (47.8–56.8)¶ -0.3 Asian 371 48.2 (41.8–54.7)¶ 3.1 Others 173 69.9 (60.3–78.0) 2.0 ≥65 yrs Total 6,905 55.1 (53.6–56.7) 0.7 White 4,864 57.7 (55.9–59.5) 0.8 Black 904 44.6 (40.8–48.4)¶ 0.2 Hispanic 678 44.8 (40.1–49.6)¶ -0.3 Asian 366 45.8 (39.5–52.2)¶ 7.9 Others 93 50.2 (36.8–63.6) -13.0 Tetanus vaccination including pertussis vaccine, past 7 yrs§§ ≥19 yrs Total 22,653 14.2 (13.6–14.9) NA White 13,135 16.1 (15.3–17.0) NA Black 3,434 9.8 (8.4–11.6)¶ NA Hispanic 4,051 8.7 (7.6–10.0)¶ NA Asian 1,526 14.7 (12.5–17.2) NA Others 507 21.4 (17.0–26.7)¶ NA Living with an infant aged <1 yr 722 25.9 (22.4–29.8) NA Not living with an infant aged <1 yr 21,931 13.8 (13.2–14.5) NA 19–64 yrs Total 17,695 15.6 (14.9–16.4) 3.2** White 9,729 18.2 (17.2–19.2) 4.4** Black 2,746 10.5 (8.9–12.3)¶ -0.5 Hispanic 3,544 9.2 (8.0–10.6)¶ 1.5 Asian 1,237 16.2 (13.8–19.0) 4.5** Others 439 22.7 (17.8–28.5) 3.0 Living with an infant aged <1 yr 716 25.9 (22.3–29.8) 4.4 Not living with an infant aged <1 yr 16,979 15.1 (14.4–15.9) 3.1** ≥65 yrs Total 4,958 8.0 (7.0–9.1) NA White 3,406 8.8 (7.6–10.2) NA Black 688 5.9 (3.7–9.4) NA Hispanic 507 3.3 (2.0–5.4)¶ NA Asian 289 4.2 (2.4–7.3)¶ NA Others 68 —¶¶ NA Living with an infant aged <1 yr 6 —¶¶ NA Not living with an infant aged <1 yr 4,952 8.0 (7.0–9.1) NA
TABLE 1. (Continued) Estimated proportion of adults aged ≥19 years who received selected vaccinations, by age group, high-risk status,* race/ethnicity, and other selected characteristics — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2012 Vaccination, age group, high-risk status, and race/ethnicity† Sample size % (95% CI) Difference from 2011 Hepatitis A vaccination (≥2 doses), ever*** 19–49 yrs Total 14,834 12.2 (11.5–13.0) -0.3 White 7,887 12.2 (11.2–13.2) -0.1 Black 2,207 11.3 (9.6–13.2) 0.1 Hispanic 3,341 10.5 (9.2–11.9)¶ -0.8 Asian 992 18.7 (15.7–22.1)¶ -0.4 Others 407 16.1 (11.4–22.2) -5.0 Had traveled outside the United States since 1995, other than to Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada 5,259 18.9 (17.6–20.3) -1.2 Had not traveled outside the United States since 1995, other than to Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada 9,548 8.6 (7.8–9.5) 0.2 With chronic liver conditions, overall 121 —¶¶ —¶¶ Hepatitis B vaccination (≥3 doses), ever††† 19–49 yrs total 15,649 35.3 (34.3–36.2) -0.7 white 8,296 37.5 (36.3–38.8) -0.3 black 2,338 34.2 (31.5–36.9)¶ 1.2 Hispanic 3,465 27.1 (25.1–29.2)¶ -1.8 Asian 1,105 39.7 (35.5–44.0) -0.9 others 445 37.4 (31.9–43.3) -6.7 With diabetes Overall 1,286 28.6 (25.4–32.1) 1.7 ≥60 yrs, overall 1,907 15.1 (12.9–17.4) 2.6 Herpes Zoster (shingles) vaccination, ever§§§ ≥60 yrs Total 9,924 20.1 (19.1–21.2) 4.4** White 6,957 22.8 (21.5–24.0) 5.2** Black 1,354 8.8 (6.9–11.2)¶ 0.9 Hispanic 990 8.7 (6.6–11.4)¶ 0.7 Asian 487 16.9 (13.2–21.5)¶ 3.0 Others 136 19.7 (11.5–31.6) 7.7 Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among females (≥1 dose), ever¶¶¶ 19–26 yrs Total 2,300 34.5 (31.7–37.3) 5.0** White 1,165 42.2 (38.5–46.0) 9.7** Black 385 29.1 (23.4–35.7)¶ 0.9 Hispanic 507 18.7 (14.9–23.1)¶ -1.5 Asian 148 15.6 (9.5–24.5)¶ -6.7 Others 95 41.2 (28.7–55.0) 2.2 19–21 yrs, total 760 44.3 (39.5–49.2) 1.2 22–26 yrs, total 1,540 28.2 (25.2–31.5) 6.7** Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among males (≥1 dose), ever¶¶¶ 19–26 yrs, total 1,783 2.3 (1.6–3.4) 0.2 19–21 yrs, total 634 2.4 (1.4–4.4) -0.3 22–26 yrs, total 1,149 2.2 (1.3–3.8) 0.5
TABLE 2. Type of tetanus vaccine received, and proportion that were tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap), among adults aged ≥19 years who received a tetanus vaccination, by selected characteristics — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2005–2012 Characteristic Type of vaccine received Proportion that received Tdap* No. in sample Received Tdap Received other tetanus vaccine Doctor did not inform the patient Could not recall vaccine type % (95% CI) % (95% CI) % (95% CI) % (95% CI) No. in sample % (95% CI) ≥19 yrs All adults 13,145 23.8 (22.7–24.9) 12.6 (11.8–13.4) 52.6 (51.2–54.0) 11.1 (10.2–12.0) 4,699 65.4 (63.5–67.3) Health-care personnel† 1,501 44.0 (40.2–47.8) 13.7 (11.4–16.3) 33.1 (29.8–36.6) 9.3 (7.5–11.4) 857 76.3§ (72.0–80.1) Non–health-care personnel 11,631 21.2 (20.2–22.3) 12.4 (11.6–13.3) 55.1 (53.6–56.5) 11.3 (10.4–12.2) 3,840 63.1 (61.0–65.1) 19–64 yrs All adults 10,932 24.9 (23.8–26.1) 12.5 (11.6–13.3) 51.5 (50.0–53.1) 11.1 (10.1–12.0) 4,065 66.7 (64.7–68.6) Health-care personnel 1,394 44.8 (40.9–48.8) 13.5 (11.2–16.2) 32.7 (29.3–36.3) 8.9 (7.1–11.2) 809 76.8§ (72.5–80.6) Non–health-care personnel 9,527 22.2 (21.0–23.3) 12.3 (11.4–13.3) 54.2 (52.6–55.8) 11.3 (10.3–12.4) 3,254 64.3 (62.0–66.4) ≥65 yrs All adults 2,213 16.8 (14.8–19.0) 13.1 (11.4–15.1) 59.0 (56.2–61.7) 11.1 (9.6–12.8) 634 56.1 (50.8–61.2) Health-care personnel 107 30.1 (19.7–43.0) 16.2 (9.1–27.2) 39.0 (27.9–51.3) 14.7 (7.9–25.8) 48 65.0 (46.5–79.9) Non–health-care personnel 2,104 16.2 (14.1–18.5) 13.0 (11.2–15.1) 59.9 (56.9–62.8) 10.9 (9.3–12.6) 586 55.4 (50.0–60.7)Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.
Diablo III isn't just Blizzard's most preordered effort ever; it's also Amazon.com's most preordered PC game of all time.
Gamers are welcoming this devil's arrival with open arms (and wallets).
A representative with the online retailer told GameSpot this morning that the action role-playing game today became the site's most preordered PC game of all time, beating out previous Blizzard efforts like Starcraft II and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
The news follows yesterday's announcement by Activision Blizzard that Diablo III was the developer's most preordered title ever. However, that assessment came with a catch, as the company's preorder tally included World of Warcraft Annual Pass subscribers, who are entitled to a free copy of Diablo III through a special promotion.
Diablo III is set to launch May 15. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.The New York Jets defensive line is poised to have a completely new look this season. With a new coach in Karl Dunbar, the addition of first round pick Quinton Coples, and New York’s intention to use more 4 man fronts this season, here’s a look at what we should and should not expect from the Jets’ D-Line this year in this week’s edition of New York Jets Fact Or False.
1.) Quinton Coples will be Vernon Gholston 2.0. False. The comparisons that have been drawn between Coples and former Jets’ first round bust Vernon Gholston are completely unwarranted. Work ethic, passion, talent, size, speed, and all intangibles could be taken into account to realize that Coples is the superior player, however the key factor that will keep Coples from turning into Big Vern is that he is being brought to New York to play in his natural position as a defensive lineman.
When the Jets drafted Gholston, he was expected to make the conversion from defensive end to outside linebacker in the Jets 3-4 scheme. This transition proves to be extremely difficult for players year in and year out. Many of them fail to successfully make that transition simply because, as a linebacker, the cerebral reaction time can only be attained by few. For defensive lineman, reaction time and play is based primarily on physicality. Defensive linemen rely on their technique and instinct more so than their ability to read opposing offenses and make decisions on the fly. Of course, there is still a cerebral part of the game for defensive lineman in terms of reading the stances of the opposing offensive lineman, their splits, alignment, and where on the field the tight ends and backs are, but it is nowhere near as complicated and dense as it is for a linebacker.
While Rex Ryan has acknowledged the fact that Coples is athletic enough to play that outside linebacker position, he made it clear he is coming to New York to play with his hand on the ground. This is one of the smartest statements Rex has made since becoming the head coach of the Jets. Coples is a natural talent for the position, and has the size (6’6” 280 lbs) to be extremely versatile along the Jets several defensive fronts this season. There is no need to fix what isn’t broken. Coples will prove to be light years ahead of where Vernon Gholston ever was, starting in week one (Remember, all it will take is a single sack).
2.) Outside of Tony Sparano, the addition of Karl Dunbar will prove to be the most significant of the offseason. Fact. Many people forget that for the past two seasons, the Jets have had a secondary coach coaching the defensive line. While Mark Carrier certainly had a solid work ethic, and likely brought everything he had to his job every day, like a player playing out of position, it is extremely difficult for a coach to adapt to an area outside his realm of expertise, particularly in the NFL. Prior to coming to the Jets, Carrier played in the NFL as a Safety from 1990-2000 for Chicago, Detroit, and Washington, respectively. As a coach, Carrier served as the defensive backs coach at Arizona State for two seasons before joining the Baltimore Ravens as the team’s secondary coach from 2006-2009, just prior to joining the Jets, where he was seemingly given an opening on the staff as the Defensive Line Coach, a position in which he had no previous experience. This is a huge reason for New York’s pass rushing woes over the past two years.
Enter Karl Dunbar. As a player, Dunbar was a second-team All-SEC defensive tackle during his career at LSU, before bouncing around the NFL and other various professional football leagues during the early 90s. Following his playing career, Dunbar came onto the coaching scene in 1998 and, besides two seasons as the strength and conditioning coach at LSU, has coached only Defensive Line throughout his entire career.
Dunbar joins the Jets after six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. During his time in Minnesota, Dunbar orchestrated one of the best d-lines in all of football. Last season, Minnesota led the NFL with 50 total sacks, including a Vikings single season record 22 out of NFC Defensive Player of the year Jared Allen. In fact, since coming under the tutelage of Dunbar, Allen hasn’t had a season with fewer than double-digit sacks, while leading the NFL in the category twice (2007, 2011).
In Dunbar’s six seasons in Minnesota, the Vikings ranked in the top 10 in sacks four different times. In three of those seasons, Minnesota ranked in the top four in the category, two of which led the league. Conversely, Minnesota ranked first in rush defense during Dunbar’s first three seasons, second in his fourth, and in the top eleven during in his final two.
The acquisition of Dunbar is going to pay dividends for the Jets early and often. In Minnesota, Dunbar produced 3 Pro-Bowlers, including Allen, the three time All-Pro Defensive End. Considering he worked with only 4 starters, 75% of his starting line earned trips to the Pro Bowl. Dunbar will undoubtedly be able to maximize the talents of players like Coples, Mohammed Wilkerson, Aaron Maybin, and Sione Pouha. Expect the Jets defensive line to have a completely different look under Dunbar this season.
3.) Quinton Coples will be used solely as a Defensive End. False. Don’t be confused by this. Coples will be used primarily as, but not limited to, a Defensive End, and will see time elsewhere. The common assumption would be to think outside linebacker, however, as previously stated, Coples is coming to New York to play with his hand on the ground. Expect to see several formations that slide Coples to the inside in a defensive tackle role, especially during passing situations.
As a junior at North Carolina, Coples was forced to play defensive tackle for the majority of the season due to the immense amount of players the program lost due to suspension. During his time there, Coples recorded 10 sacks, an astonishing number for an interior defensive lineman. He certainly has the size to compete on the inside, and his speed will give him a superior advantage against guards and centers.
Coples has the potential to turn into what Justin Tuck was early in his career for the Giants, seamlessly switching from the outside and inside on the defensive line, while being able to defend the run and rush the passer from either position. On passing downs, the Jets will likely replicate what so many teams around the league are doing these days by placing their best pass rushers in the game, regardless of their roster position. Don’t be surprised to see Coples and Pouha line up on the interior with Wilkerson and Maybin lining up at end in a variety of passing situations this year.
4.) The Jets will be in a four man front for the majority of their defensive snaps in 2012. Fact. This could very well be 51% to 49%, but don’t be surprised if it is even greater. The Jets know the strength of their team lies in the secondary and in their defensive line depth. While the line backing corps is promising, outside of David Harris there are still some question marks. Bart Scott has reportedly dropped weight and looks rejuvenated in comparison to his play last season. DeMario Davis is turning heads at OTAs, and should eventually prove to be an excellent piece of this defense, but the Jets are wise enough not to depend on the rookie out of Arkansas State too much in his first year. Maybin should have a very promising season, but like Davis, needs to show consistency before the team can lean on him as a pillar of the defense. Bryan Thomas and Calvin Pace are nearing the back end of their careers, and each need to have bounce back years after a disappointing 2011.
In order for the Jets to be successful on defense this season, they need to have their best 11 players on the field for the majority of plays. This includes their defensive line, and their secondary. Although the safety position was a bit of a hole last year, the Jets have certainly addressed the need this off-season by adding LaRon Landry and Yeremiah Bell in free agency, while drafting the young and talented duo of Josh Bush and Antonio Allen. New York also has arguably the best cornerback trio in all of football in Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, and the up and coming Kyle WIlson.
WIth the addition of Quinton Coples via the draft, the Jets now have one of the most youthful, talented defensive lines in the league. The key for their success will be how they mold together. Mohammed Wilkerson is poised for a breakout season after a very impressive rookie campaign. Then, of course, there is Mike DeVito and Sione Pouha who are the heart and soul of this unit. You won’t see too many flashy numbers from either of these two, but their presence alone, presumably both at defensive tackle in a four man front, will not only help with the development of the young guys, but will command respect from opposing offensive lines across the league. Marcus Dixon and Kenrick Ellis should be able to provide some quality depth as well. This could be a very dangerous group as they develop together throughout training camp and into the season.
5.) Mike DeVito will be far less significant this season than he has been in the past. False. The notion that DeVito is slowly going to ride off into the sunset due to the addition of Coples may hold some truth down the road. However, for this season, that assumption could not be farther from the truth. We already know the Jets’ plan to use more four-man fronts this year, and a big part of that is because of DeVito. Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and Rex Ryan realize what DeVito brings as a competitor, player, and leader, and have openly acknowledge the importance of getting him on the field.
Outside of his play, DeVito will play a key role in rebuilding the Jets fractured locker room. While this is certainly already in progress, as displayed by the new attitude we have seen from the team thus far, DeVito is at the point in his career in New York where he is respected as an unquestioned leader of this team. DeVito is one of the hardest working, most blue collared players on the entire roster. His influence over the young guys, particularly on the defensive line, will go miles in terms of their development. Coples, Wilkerson, and Ellis are fortunate to be in an environment with a player like DeVito.
6.) At least one player on the Jets defensive line will get double digit sacks this season. Fact. This is an extremely bold prediction considering the fact that the Jets have not had a single player record double digit sacks since John Abraham notched 10.5 in 2005, a six-year drought. However, the Jets have some serious under the radar talent when it comes to pass rushers. Aaron Maybin, who will likely fluctuate between linebacker and defensive end this year, led the Jets with six sacks last season after missing the first four games. With a full season ahead of him, combined with a complete off-season with the team, and the fact that he has added over 10 lbs since the end of last year, Maybin could turn into a significant force in the Jets pass rush.
Aside from Maybin, Muhammed Wilkerson is due for a big year after his impressive rookie campaign in which he started from day one and recorded 3 sacks. Quinton Coples’ talent level alone will give him the potential to achieve this accomplishment in each year of his career, however he will be asked to live up to that potential and rise to the occasion very early for Gang Green. How he handles this will ultimately be the key to his success, and should determine his degree of achievement.
Each of these young men should benefit greatly from the new scheme, as well as the addition of Dunbar. There is far too much talent and potential on this unit for someone to not reach the double-digit mark in sacks. Adding the expert that is Dunbar will surely maximize that potential, and ultimately allow a player to reach this feat.
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